Trump era: Fascist dawn, or road to liberation?
- Thread starter Cosmos
- Start date
Thanks c.a. for looking that up.
So approval for the ice cream promotion came from the British/Dutch. I was pretty shocked to read that ad. Here is the plan we see unfolding set out clearly for a ice cream flavor! I bet the organizations they are promoting are Soros funded. Introducing Pecan Resist Limited Batch!
So approval for the ice cream promotion came from the British/Dutch. I was pretty shocked to read that ad. Here is the plan we see unfolding set out clearly for a ice cream flavor! I bet the organizations they are promoting are Soros funded. Introducing Pecan Resist Limited Batch!
I like Melania Trump, how she conducts herself and keeps doing what she wants to do regardless of all the fake news being spread about her. She also comes across genuine when she says she wants to help children with her project. Here's a short interview from about a month ago. Ignore the NPC abc News White House correspondents (and the commentator guy).
It's sad that organizations don't want to work with her because of their opinion of the administration (that's how I understood it). The fake news directed towards Trump is having such an effect that even joint efforts that could help people are thwarted. But it's good to see she keeps going!
It's sad that organizations don't want to work with her because of their opinion of the administration (that's how I understood it). The fake news directed towards Trump is having such an effect that even joint efforts that could help people are thwarted. But it's good to see she keeps going!
Well, this is Crazy,
Ben and Jerry's have come out with a new ice cream flavor called, Pecan Resist.
Check out the label. Introducing Pecan Resist Limited Batch! Ben and Jerry's was bought out by a corporation several years ago, not sure which one.
No Ben and Jerry's for me for sure. I bumped into the below tweet by their UK branch yesterday: How ridiculous. There's even a petition attached to that tweet!
The majority of responses pointed out how inappropriate their tweet was so I guess Ben and Jerry's isn't liberals' favourite ice cream brand.
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They're, oh so desperate! LMAO
HBO host Bill Maher slammed deceased US cartoon icon Stan Lee, who passed away on Monday, going so far as to blame him for getting Donald Trump elected.
Shortly after the season finale of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher aired on Friday night, the comedian published a blog post, crushing the comic book industry and Stan Lee in particular.
READ MORE: The World Mourns as Legendary Marvel Comics' Creator Stan Lee Dies at 95
“The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning. Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess,” he said in an opening statement.
Maher criticized the idea that comic books should be defined as “adult” literature, saying that “when you grew up you moved on to big-boy books without the pictures.“ The television host suggested that some twenty years ago people decided not to give up “kid stuff,” and pretended that comics were sophisticated literature.
“And because America has over 4,500 colleges – which means we need more professors than we have smart people – some dumb people got to be professors by writing theses with titles like Otherness and Heterodoxy in the Silver Surfer. And now when adults are forced to do grown-up things like buy auto insurance, they call it “adulting,” and act like it’s some giant struggle,“ Maher quipped.
Whether comic books and graphic novels should be considered adult literature is not new, although in October 2018 the world of literature saw its first graphic novel, Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina, included in the British Man Booker Prize longlist — the first example in the award’s 50-year history. Graphic novels have previously been nominated – and won — the National Book Award, the American equivalent of the Booker. Also, it is impossible not to remember Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” a story about the Holocaust written in a graphic format, which won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992.
Possibly the “comic books” that Maher referred to meant the traditional, serialized publications which Stan Lee’s company, Marvel, is mostly known for. Graphic novels and comics share many artistic and literary characteristics, notes Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, one of the most well-known comic books. Moore suggested that the phrase ‘graphic novel’ be dropped, noting that it is nothing more than a marketing term.
Sidenote: 1963 -Value- 2018
Comics, Beer, and Shakespeare: Bill Maher and the low art of comics
Saturday, November 17, 2018
HBO host Bill Maher slammed deceased US cartoon icon Stan Lee, who passed away on Monday, going so far as to blame him for getting Donald Trump elected.
Shortly after the season finale of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher aired on Friday night, the comedian published a blog post, crushing the comic book industry and Stan Lee in particular.
READ MORE: The World Mourns as Legendary Marvel Comics' Creator Stan Lee Dies at 95
“The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning. Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess,” he said in an opening statement.
Maher criticized the idea that comic books should be defined as “adult” literature, saying that “when you grew up you moved on to big-boy books without the pictures.“ The television host suggested that some twenty years ago people decided not to give up “kid stuff,” and pretended that comics were sophisticated literature.
“And because America has over 4,500 colleges – which means we need more professors than we have smart people – some dumb people got to be professors by writing theses with titles like Otherness and Heterodoxy in the Silver Surfer. And now when adults are forced to do grown-up things like buy auto insurance, they call it “adulting,” and act like it’s some giant struggle,“ Maher quipped.
Whether comic books and graphic novels should be considered adult literature is not new, although in October 2018 the world of literature saw its first graphic novel, Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina, included in the British Man Booker Prize longlist — the first example in the award’s 50-year history. Graphic novels have previously been nominated – and won — the National Book Award, the American equivalent of the Booker. Also, it is impossible not to remember Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” a story about the Holocaust written in a graphic format, which won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992.
Possibly the “comic books” that Maher referred to meant the traditional, serialized publications which Stan Lee’s company, Marvel, is mostly known for. Graphic novels and comics share many artistic and literary characteristics, notes Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, one of the most well-known comic books. Moore suggested that the phrase ‘graphic novel’ be dropped, noting that it is nothing more than a marketing term.
Sidenote: 1963 -Value- 2018
Comics, Beer, and Shakespeare: Bill Maher and the low art of comics
Saturday, November 17, 2018
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angelburst29
The Living Force
A few months back, in June, Soros purchased $3 million-worth of stock holdings in the New York Times:
13 Jun, 2018 - Soros buys up shares in New York Times
Soros buys up shares in New York Times
This "claim" might be part of Soros influence?
Nov. 16, 2018 - Is Mike Pence Loyal? Trump Is Asking, Despite His Recent Endorsement
Is Mike Pence Loyal? Trump Is Asking, Despite His Recent Endorsement
President Trump’s post-midterm election news conference at the White House last week took a surprising turn when a reporter asked about locking down his 2020 ticket.
“Mike, will you be my running mate?” Mr. Trump asked Vice President Pence, who stood up, raised his hand, and nodded.
“Will you? Thank you. O.K., good,” the president said. “That was unexpected, but I feel very fine.”
But in private Mr. Trump is apparently not feeling so fine. In recent weeks, with his electoral prospects two years from now much on his mind, Mr. Trump has focused on the person who has most publicly tethered his fortunes to him. In one conversation after another he has asked aides and advisers a pointed question: Is Mike Pence loyal?
Mr. Trump has repeated the question so many times that he has alarmed some of his advisers. The president has not openly suggested dropping Mr. Pence from the ticket and picking another running mate, but the advisers say those kinds of questions usually indicate that he has grown irritated with someone.
The answers Mr. Trump gets to his question have varied, depending on whom he asks.
Within the White House, most people he has talked to have assured the president that Mr. Pence has been a committed soldier, engaging in activities that Mr. Trump has eschewed, such as traveling to Hawaii to receive the remains of veterans of the Korean War, or visiting parts of the globe that Mr. Trump has avoided.
But some Trump advisers, primarily outside the White House, have suggested to him that while Mr. Pence remains loyal, he may have used up his utility. These advisers argue that Mr. Trump has forged his own relationship with evangelical voters, and that what he might benefit from more is a running mate who could help him with female voters, who disapprove of him in large numbers.
Others close to the president believe that asking about Mr. Pence’s loyalty is a proxy for asking about whether the vice president’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is trustworthy. Mr. Trump has been considering making Mr. Ayers the White House chief of staff to replace John F. Kelly, the retired Marine general — a decision several White House officials say has been with the encouragement of his adult children. But the president has put off making a decision for now.
The conversations were described in interviews with nearly a dozen White House aides and others close to Mr. Trump. But Hogan Gidley, the deputy press secretary, disputed that Mr. Trump had any misgivings, saying, “The president absolutely supports the vice president and thinks he’s doing an incredible job helping to carry out the mission and policies of this administration.”
Mr. Trump has never completely forgotten that during the 2016 campaign Mr. Pence issued a disapproving statement the day after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape was made public, on which the president was heard making comments boasting about grabbing women’s genitals.
But Mr. Trump has kept close counsel about whether he is seriously considering making a change to the ticket, or simply poll-testing advisers as the campaign begins. And few advisers believe he would really go through with it.
Veterans of previous White Houses described this type of questioning as a frequent occurrence before a re-election campaign begins in earnest.
“The idea of changing a ticket has been discussed by at least some aides in every White House and it almost never happens,” said Dan Pfeiffer, a former communications director for President Barack Obama.
“I would also say the electoral significance of the vice-presidential nominee is one of the most overrated things in U.S. politics, particularly in a re-election, which is almost always a referendum on the performance of the president,” he said. “Changing the No. 2 is not going to change that.”
In 2012, Mr. Obama’s aides briefly talked about replacing Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. with Hillary Clinton for the president’s re-election effort.
In recent weeks, Mr. Pence has stepped into public frays to defend the president, saying that “everyone has their own style” when asked if Mr. Trump’s fiery political and personal language have led to violent acts, including the mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue and bomb threats mailed to prominent Democratic figures.
He has repeatedly vowed consequences for the Saudis over the killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And before attending the Asia-Pacific summit meeting in Singapore in Mr. Trump’s absence on Wednesday, Mr. Pence forcefully told Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, that political violence that caused more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee that country was “without excuse.”
On his Asia trip, Mr. Pence has also called for press freedom even as the president continues to assail journalists back home.
The two men speak daily, sometimes multiple times. But some of Mr. Trump’s advisers believe that the dynamic between the president and Mr. Pence has changed in the first two years of Mr. Trump’s term, part of a pattern in many of Mr. Trump’s relationships.
Some of Mr. Trump’s outside advisers have mentioned Nikki R. Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, a post she plans to leave at the end of the year, and former governor of South Carolina, as a potential running mate. Ms. Haley is close with Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Mr. Trump gave her an unusually warm send-off in the Oval Office when she announced she was leaving the United Nations job in September.
And Ms. Haley on the ticket might help Mr. Trump win back the support of women, who voted for Democratic candidates in large numbers in the midterm elections.
But Ms. Haley is less likely to show the same kind of public loyalty as Mr. Pence, a former congressman and governor of Indiana. She recently poked fun at Mr. Trump in a speech at the annual Al Smith Dinner in New York City, where politicians historically make jokes at the expense of themselves and their supporters. And that was after her original speech was toned down, and some of the barbs at Mr. Trump removed, people familiar with the address said.
Some of Mr. Trump’s evangelical supporters feel particularly strongly that making a change would be a mistake.
“Mike Pence is an invaluable asset to President Trump politically, on shaping policy and personnel, and in cementing the epoxy-like bond with evangelicals,” said Ralph Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “He is also fiercely loyal, which is the coin of Trump’s realm. The president has said he plans to keep Pence, and that is an infinitely wise decision.”
But some who have studied evangelical voters and their political activity say losing Mr. Pence wouldn’t necessarily be a disaster.
Robert P. Jones, the chief executive of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, said that the president faced an “at best moderate risk” if he were to drop Mr. Pence from the ticket.
Mr. Jones said that while Mr. Pence may have served as a validating figure for white evangelicals, recent research showed that 7 out of 10 white evangelicals who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party would prefer Mr. Trump over any alternative Republican candidate in 2020.
A third of white evangelicals who support Trump, Mr. Jones said, indicated there was virtually nothing the president could do to shake their trust — which theoretically includes selecting a new running mate.
“At the end of the day evangelicals have become sold not just on Pence but on Trump himself,” Mr. Jones said.
November 17, 2018 - Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pence's loyalty
Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pences loyalty World
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump said Saturday that he does not question the loyalty of Vice President Mike Pence and slammed The New York Times for publishing a story suggesting that he had.
11/17/2018 - Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pence's loyalty
Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pence's loyalty
President Donald Trump on Saturday reaffirmed his confidence in Mike Pence, repeatedly slamming a report in the New York Times that asserted Trump has questioned the loyalty of his vice president, while claiming against available evidence that the newspaper had not sought comment before publication.
“The New York Times did a phony story, as usual, about my relationship with @VP Mike Pence,” the president wrote on Twitter. “They made up sources and refused to ask me, the only one that would know, for a quote....”
Trump added: “....I can’t imagine any President having a better or closer relationship with their Vice President then the two of us. Just more FAKE NEWS, the Enemy of the People!”
In a story published Friday, the Times reported that Trump has recently been querying White House aides and advisers as to whether they considered Pence loyal ahead of the president’s 2020 reelection campaign.
Earlier Saturday, speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for California to survey damage from the state’s wildfires, Trump dismissed the Times’ report.
Trump, who is known to hold personal loyalty as a deciding factor in many of his friendships and hiring decisions, referred to the vice president as “a trooper” and “a terrific person” who has “already been tested, in many ways.”
“I don’t question his loyalty at all,” the president said of Pence, according to a pool report. “He is 100 percent loyal. It was a phony story.”
Trump also suggested that neither he nor White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders were contacted for comment on the Times’ story.
“How do you do a story like that, and you don’t call the principal?” Trump said. “I would give them a quote, I would say it’s not true. And that’s the end of their story. But they don’t do that.”
The president added: “You know what the quote would be? Mike Pence is 100 percent. Now you can't do your story. So that’s why they don’t like calling me for a quote.”
Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for the Times and a co-author of the story (who is also a former POLITICO reporter), disputed the president’s account in a tweet Saturday. Haberman said she corresponded with Sanders via email ahead of the story’s publication, and pointed to a quote from White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley that is featured in the story.
“FACT CHECK: Emailed with @PressSec and spoke with first deputy Hogan Gidley, who is quoted,” Haberman wrote online. “POTUS would need to talk to them about why they didn’t provide us with a quote from him.”
Pence was in Singapore on Thursday for the multinational East Asia Summit, where he and National Security Adviser John Bolton talked briefly with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. On Saturday, Pence represented the U.S. at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Papua New Guinea.
Asked by reporters Saturday about the veracity of the report, Pence said he and the president enjoyed “a very close” and “a very strong” relationship, according to a pool report. The vice president also revealed that the story was mentioned in a recent conversation he shared with the president. “It came up,” Pence said. “We had a good laugh.”
Sun Nov 18, 2018 - US Plans Base in Papua New Guinea to Counter China
Farsnews
The United States announced that it will partner with Australia to redevelop a naval base in Papua New Guinea (PNG) at Manus Island, in an apparent move to ramp up its presence in the South Pacific to counter China perceived influence there.
On a visit to Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby on Saturday, US Vice President Mike Pence stated that Washington “will partner with Papua New Guinea and Australia on their joint initiative at Lombrum Naval Base”, World News reported.
Australia has already announced plans to redevelop the naval base on Manus, the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, which has a strategically vital position overlooking key trade routes across the world.
"We will work with these two nations to protect sovereignty and maritime rights in the Pacific Islands,” Pence said on the sidelines of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) regional summit in Papua New Guinea.
The Vice president did not, however, clarify how much money the administration of President Donald Trump would contribute to the project, or whether US vessels would be permanently based at Lombrum.
China has already launched a multi-trillion-dollar project, known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to connect the country to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond via massive infrastructure projects across dozens of countries.
In back-to-back speeches on Saturday, Pence and Chinese President Xi-Jinping presented opposing visions and even engaged in a verbal trade, with the US diplomat threatening Beijing with yet more tariffs.
We've put tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods and that number could more than double," Pence said, noting that "we hope for better, but the United States will not change course until China changes its ways".
For his part, the Chinese president who addressed the gathering before Pence, denounced the US administration’s “America First" trade protectionism, saying global trade rules should not be applied "with double standards or selfish agendas”.
He urged the world to "say no to protectionism and unilateralism", warning it was a "short-sighted approach" that was "doomed to failure”.
Xi also touched upon Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar project in Papua New Guinea saying “China has made a strategic decision to always stand together with fellow developing countries. China is committed to strengthening trust and commitment with PNG”.
China has injected at least $5.9 billion of infrastructure spending into the island since 2011.
2018-11-14 - What’s Pence Talking About? The US & China Are Already In A Cold War!
What’s Pence Talking About? The US & China Are Already In A Cold War! - Eurasia Future
Pence’s ominous warning about an imminent “all-out cold war” between the US & China is only newsworthy because it bluntly, albeit belatedly, states the obvious.
Pence seemed to shock many observers who were taken aback by his ominous warning about an imminent “all-out cold war” between the US & China, but most people are either feigning surprise or truly haven’t been following the course of bilateral relations between these Great Powers close enough to understand that this is nothing more than a belatedly blunt statement of fact.
The US is keenly aware that China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is the single-greatest long-term threat to its global hegemonic position because of its potential to redirect trade routes away from the West and to the People’s Republic, thereby catalyzing a chain reaction of full-spectrum paradigm changes that will in turn accelerate the emerging Multipolar World Order.
The Liberal-Globalist faction of the American permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies (“deep state”) struggled to respond to this challenge and are sometimes accused of seeking an “accommodation” with China to “responsibility facilitate” this global systemic transition, while the Nationalist faction led by Trump and his ilk are strongly opposed to this trend and are pushing back against it with all their might.
This has seen the US utilize tariffs, sanctions, infowars, Hybrid Wars, the “Lead From Behind” stratagem, and conventional military means (e.g. patrolling the South China Sea) to push back against China’s gradual gains in a bid to retain and ultimately expand its hegemonic leadership.
Seeing as how the US’ methods fall short of a direct kinetic response against China (“hot war”), the present state of affairs between the two is the textbook definition of a “cold war”, albeit one that occasionally flares up in third-party states or non-national domains (e.g. the financial and currency sectors) as a result of this multifaceted hybrid campaign.
Considering the objective reality of International Relations as it presently exists and the most likely trajectory that it’s expected to continue along for the indefinite future, Pence is simply preconditioning the global masses for a more overt intensification of the aforesaid processes that will make it impossible to ignore the ongoing New Cold War between the US and China over the fate of the world order.
November 17, 2018 - As China-US friction rises, their Armies Hold Joint Disaster Drills
As China-U.S. friction rises, their armies hold joint disaster drills | Reuters
U.S. Army and China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) military personnel attend a closing ceremony of an exercise of "Disaster Management Exchange" near Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China November 17, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song
NANJING, China - Soldiers from China and the United States wrapped up a week of joint disaster relief drills on Saturday, in a display of cooperation against a backdrop of worsening ties between the two countries over trade, the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan.
Relations between the world’s two largest economies have plumbed new depths under U.S. President Donald Trump, who is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina starting late this month.
The exercise, held in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, comes a week after Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and top diplomat Yang Jiechi visited Washington, where U.S. officials urged China to halt militarization of the South China Sea.
But there was no sign of those strains as Chinese and U.S. soldiers simulated plucking people from earthquake-destroyed buildings and treating survivors’ injuries at a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) base on the outskirts of Nanjing.
Troops practiced search and rescue in a small mock-up of a devastated urban area post-earthquake, using sniffer dogs and other gear to search for people buried in the fake rubble.
“Only through more contacts, more exchanges and cooperation in areas of common interest can we effectively increase mutual trust and effectively reduce misjudgments,” Qin Weijiang, deputy commander of the PLA’s eastern theater command, told reporters.
“So I think bilateral exchanges can start from humanitarian and disaster relief exchanges and expand to other areas of common interest.”
Robert Brown, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific, said the exchange was “extremely important”.
“Just as our top leaders work towards building a strong working relationship and understanding, we through confidence-building measures like this DME must also at our level build a strong understanding of each other,” he added, referring to Disaster Management Exchange.
This is the 14th time the joint exchange has been held, which last year took place in the United States.
China’s defense ministry has said it hopes the military relationship can become a “stabiliser” for overall ties with the United States.
All the same, Washington and Beijing swapped barbs over trade, investment and regional security at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit on Saturday in Papua New Guinea.
Regular drills and exchanges are helpful to bilateral relations, particularly at a time of increased friction, but they are not going to fundamentally change the direction that ties are headed, said Michael Chase, a specialist in China and Asia-Pacific security at the RAND Corp.
“These exchanges remain important in that respect even if they aren’t going to solve broader problems in the relationship.”
13 Jun, 2018 - Soros buys up shares in New York Times
Soros buys up shares in New York Times
This "claim" might be part of Soros influence?
Nov. 16, 2018 - Is Mike Pence Loyal? Trump Is Asking, Despite His Recent Endorsement
Is Mike Pence Loyal? Trump Is Asking, Despite His Recent Endorsement
President Trump’s post-midterm election news conference at the White House last week took a surprising turn when a reporter asked about locking down his 2020 ticket.
“Mike, will you be my running mate?” Mr. Trump asked Vice President Pence, who stood up, raised his hand, and nodded.
“Will you? Thank you. O.K., good,” the president said. “That was unexpected, but I feel very fine.”
But in private Mr. Trump is apparently not feeling so fine. In recent weeks, with his electoral prospects two years from now much on his mind, Mr. Trump has focused on the person who has most publicly tethered his fortunes to him. In one conversation after another he has asked aides and advisers a pointed question: Is Mike Pence loyal?
Mr. Trump has repeated the question so many times that he has alarmed some of his advisers. The president has not openly suggested dropping Mr. Pence from the ticket and picking another running mate, but the advisers say those kinds of questions usually indicate that he has grown irritated with someone.
The answers Mr. Trump gets to his question have varied, depending on whom he asks.
Within the White House, most people he has talked to have assured the president that Mr. Pence has been a committed soldier, engaging in activities that Mr. Trump has eschewed, such as traveling to Hawaii to receive the remains of veterans of the Korean War, or visiting parts of the globe that Mr. Trump has avoided.
But some Trump advisers, primarily outside the White House, have suggested to him that while Mr. Pence remains loyal, he may have used up his utility. These advisers argue that Mr. Trump has forged his own relationship with evangelical voters, and that what he might benefit from more is a running mate who could help him with female voters, who disapprove of him in large numbers.
Others close to the president believe that asking about Mr. Pence’s loyalty is a proxy for asking about whether the vice president’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is trustworthy. Mr. Trump has been considering making Mr. Ayers the White House chief of staff to replace John F. Kelly, the retired Marine general — a decision several White House officials say has been with the encouragement of his adult children. But the president has put off making a decision for now.
The conversations were described in interviews with nearly a dozen White House aides and others close to Mr. Trump. But Hogan Gidley, the deputy press secretary, disputed that Mr. Trump had any misgivings, saying, “The president absolutely supports the vice president and thinks he’s doing an incredible job helping to carry out the mission and policies of this administration.”
Mr. Trump has never completely forgotten that during the 2016 campaign Mr. Pence issued a disapproving statement the day after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape was made public, on which the president was heard making comments boasting about grabbing women’s genitals.
But Mr. Trump has kept close counsel about whether he is seriously considering making a change to the ticket, or simply poll-testing advisers as the campaign begins. And few advisers believe he would really go through with it.
Veterans of previous White Houses described this type of questioning as a frequent occurrence before a re-election campaign begins in earnest.
“The idea of changing a ticket has been discussed by at least some aides in every White House and it almost never happens,” said Dan Pfeiffer, a former communications director for President Barack Obama.
“I would also say the electoral significance of the vice-presidential nominee is one of the most overrated things in U.S. politics, particularly in a re-election, which is almost always a referendum on the performance of the president,” he said. “Changing the No. 2 is not going to change that.”
In 2012, Mr. Obama’s aides briefly talked about replacing Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. with Hillary Clinton for the president’s re-election effort.
In recent weeks, Mr. Pence has stepped into public frays to defend the president, saying that “everyone has their own style” when asked if Mr. Trump’s fiery political and personal language have led to violent acts, including the mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue and bomb threats mailed to prominent Democratic figures.
He has repeatedly vowed consequences for the Saudis over the killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And before attending the Asia-Pacific summit meeting in Singapore in Mr. Trump’s absence on Wednesday, Mr. Pence forcefully told Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, that political violence that caused more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee that country was “without excuse.”
On his Asia trip, Mr. Pence has also called for press freedom even as the president continues to assail journalists back home.
The two men speak daily, sometimes multiple times. But some of Mr. Trump’s advisers believe that the dynamic between the president and Mr. Pence has changed in the first two years of Mr. Trump’s term, part of a pattern in many of Mr. Trump’s relationships.
Some of Mr. Trump’s outside advisers have mentioned Nikki R. Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, a post she plans to leave at the end of the year, and former governor of South Carolina, as a potential running mate. Ms. Haley is close with Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Mr. Trump gave her an unusually warm send-off in the Oval Office when she announced she was leaving the United Nations job in September.
And Ms. Haley on the ticket might help Mr. Trump win back the support of women, who voted for Democratic candidates in large numbers in the midterm elections.
But Ms. Haley is less likely to show the same kind of public loyalty as Mr. Pence, a former congressman and governor of Indiana. She recently poked fun at Mr. Trump in a speech at the annual Al Smith Dinner in New York City, where politicians historically make jokes at the expense of themselves and their supporters. And that was after her original speech was toned down, and some of the barbs at Mr. Trump removed, people familiar with the address said.
Some of Mr. Trump’s evangelical supporters feel particularly strongly that making a change would be a mistake.
“Mike Pence is an invaluable asset to President Trump politically, on shaping policy and personnel, and in cementing the epoxy-like bond with evangelicals,” said Ralph Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “He is also fiercely loyal, which is the coin of Trump’s realm. The president has said he plans to keep Pence, and that is an infinitely wise decision.”
But some who have studied evangelical voters and their political activity say losing Mr. Pence wouldn’t necessarily be a disaster.
Robert P. Jones, the chief executive of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, said that the president faced an “at best moderate risk” if he were to drop Mr. Pence from the ticket.
Mr. Jones said that while Mr. Pence may have served as a validating figure for white evangelicals, recent research showed that 7 out of 10 white evangelicals who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party would prefer Mr. Trump over any alternative Republican candidate in 2020.
A third of white evangelicals who support Trump, Mr. Jones said, indicated there was virtually nothing the president could do to shake their trust — which theoretically includes selecting a new running mate.
“At the end of the day evangelicals have become sold not just on Pence but on Trump himself,” Mr. Jones said.
November 17, 2018 - Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pence's loyalty
Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pences loyalty World
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump said Saturday that he does not question the loyalty of Vice President Mike Pence and slammed The New York Times for publishing a story suggesting that he had.
11/17/2018 - Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pence's loyalty
Trump disputes NYT report that he asked aides about Pence's loyalty
President Donald Trump on Saturday reaffirmed his confidence in Mike Pence, repeatedly slamming a report in the New York Times that asserted Trump has questioned the loyalty of his vice president, while claiming against available evidence that the newspaper had not sought comment before publication.
“The New York Times did a phony story, as usual, about my relationship with @VP Mike Pence,” the president wrote on Twitter. “They made up sources and refused to ask me, the only one that would know, for a quote....”
Trump added: “....I can’t imagine any President having a better or closer relationship with their Vice President then the two of us. Just more FAKE NEWS, the Enemy of the People!”
In a story published Friday, the Times reported that Trump has recently been querying White House aides and advisers as to whether they considered Pence loyal ahead of the president’s 2020 reelection campaign.
Earlier Saturday, speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for California to survey damage from the state’s wildfires, Trump dismissed the Times’ report.
Trump, who is known to hold personal loyalty as a deciding factor in many of his friendships and hiring decisions, referred to the vice president as “a trooper” and “a terrific person” who has “already been tested, in many ways.”
“I don’t question his loyalty at all,” the president said of Pence, according to a pool report. “He is 100 percent loyal. It was a phony story.”
Trump also suggested that neither he nor White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders were contacted for comment on the Times’ story.
“How do you do a story like that, and you don’t call the principal?” Trump said. “I would give them a quote, I would say it’s not true. And that’s the end of their story. But they don’t do that.”
The president added: “You know what the quote would be? Mike Pence is 100 percent. Now you can't do your story. So that’s why they don’t like calling me for a quote.”
Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for the Times and a co-author of the story (who is also a former POLITICO reporter), disputed the president’s account in a tweet Saturday. Haberman said she corresponded with Sanders via email ahead of the story’s publication, and pointed to a quote from White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley that is featured in the story.
“FACT CHECK: Emailed with @PressSec and spoke with first deputy Hogan Gidley, who is quoted,” Haberman wrote online. “POTUS would need to talk to them about why they didn’t provide us with a quote from him.”
Pence was in Singapore on Thursday for the multinational East Asia Summit, where he and National Security Adviser John Bolton talked briefly with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. On Saturday, Pence represented the U.S. at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Papua New Guinea.
Asked by reporters Saturday about the veracity of the report, Pence said he and the president enjoyed “a very close” and “a very strong” relationship, according to a pool report. The vice president also revealed that the story was mentioned in a recent conversation he shared with the president. “It came up,” Pence said. “We had a good laugh.”
Sun Nov 18, 2018 - US Plans Base in Papua New Guinea to Counter China
Farsnews
The United States announced that it will partner with Australia to redevelop a naval base in Papua New Guinea (PNG) at Manus Island, in an apparent move to ramp up its presence in the South Pacific to counter China perceived influence there.
On a visit to Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby on Saturday, US Vice President Mike Pence stated that Washington “will partner with Papua New Guinea and Australia on their joint initiative at Lombrum Naval Base”, World News reported.
Australia has already announced plans to redevelop the naval base on Manus, the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, which has a strategically vital position overlooking key trade routes across the world.
"We will work with these two nations to protect sovereignty and maritime rights in the Pacific Islands,” Pence said on the sidelines of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) regional summit in Papua New Guinea.
The Vice president did not, however, clarify how much money the administration of President Donald Trump would contribute to the project, or whether US vessels would be permanently based at Lombrum.
China has already launched a multi-trillion-dollar project, known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to connect the country to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond via massive infrastructure projects across dozens of countries.
In back-to-back speeches on Saturday, Pence and Chinese President Xi-Jinping presented opposing visions and even engaged in a verbal trade, with the US diplomat threatening Beijing with yet more tariffs.
We've put tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods and that number could more than double," Pence said, noting that "we hope for better, but the United States will not change course until China changes its ways".
For his part, the Chinese president who addressed the gathering before Pence, denounced the US administration’s “America First" trade protectionism, saying global trade rules should not be applied "with double standards or selfish agendas”.
He urged the world to "say no to protectionism and unilateralism", warning it was a "short-sighted approach" that was "doomed to failure”.
Xi also touched upon Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar project in Papua New Guinea saying “China has made a strategic decision to always stand together with fellow developing countries. China is committed to strengthening trust and commitment with PNG”.
China has injected at least $5.9 billion of infrastructure spending into the island since 2011.
2018-11-14 - What’s Pence Talking About? The US & China Are Already In A Cold War!
What’s Pence Talking About? The US & China Are Already In A Cold War! - Eurasia Future
Pence’s ominous warning about an imminent “all-out cold war” between the US & China is only newsworthy because it bluntly, albeit belatedly, states the obvious.
Pence seemed to shock many observers who were taken aback by his ominous warning about an imminent “all-out cold war” between the US & China, but most people are either feigning surprise or truly haven’t been following the course of bilateral relations between these Great Powers close enough to understand that this is nothing more than a belatedly blunt statement of fact.
The US is keenly aware that China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is the single-greatest long-term threat to its global hegemonic position because of its potential to redirect trade routes away from the West and to the People’s Republic, thereby catalyzing a chain reaction of full-spectrum paradigm changes that will in turn accelerate the emerging Multipolar World Order.
The Liberal-Globalist faction of the American permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies (“deep state”) struggled to respond to this challenge and are sometimes accused of seeking an “accommodation” with China to “responsibility facilitate” this global systemic transition, while the Nationalist faction led by Trump and his ilk are strongly opposed to this trend and are pushing back against it with all their might.
This has seen the US utilize tariffs, sanctions, infowars, Hybrid Wars, the “Lead From Behind” stratagem, and conventional military means (e.g. patrolling the South China Sea) to push back against China’s gradual gains in a bid to retain and ultimately expand its hegemonic leadership.
Seeing as how the US’ methods fall short of a direct kinetic response against China (“hot war”), the present state of affairs between the two is the textbook definition of a “cold war”, albeit one that occasionally flares up in third-party states or non-national domains (e.g. the financial and currency sectors) as a result of this multifaceted hybrid campaign.
Considering the objective reality of International Relations as it presently exists and the most likely trajectory that it’s expected to continue along for the indefinite future, Pence is simply preconditioning the global masses for a more overt intensification of the aforesaid processes that will make it impossible to ignore the ongoing New Cold War between the US and China over the fate of the world order.
November 17, 2018 - As China-US friction rises, their Armies Hold Joint Disaster Drills
As China-U.S. friction rises, their armies hold joint disaster drills | Reuters
U.S. Army and China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) military personnel attend a closing ceremony of an exercise of "Disaster Management Exchange" near Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China November 17, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song
NANJING, China - Soldiers from China and the United States wrapped up a week of joint disaster relief drills on Saturday, in a display of cooperation against a backdrop of worsening ties between the two countries over trade, the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan.
Relations between the world’s two largest economies have plumbed new depths under U.S. President Donald Trump, who is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina starting late this month.
The exercise, held in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, comes a week after Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and top diplomat Yang Jiechi visited Washington, where U.S. officials urged China to halt militarization of the South China Sea.
But there was no sign of those strains as Chinese and U.S. soldiers simulated plucking people from earthquake-destroyed buildings and treating survivors’ injuries at a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) base on the outskirts of Nanjing.
Troops practiced search and rescue in a small mock-up of a devastated urban area post-earthquake, using sniffer dogs and other gear to search for people buried in the fake rubble.
“Only through more contacts, more exchanges and cooperation in areas of common interest can we effectively increase mutual trust and effectively reduce misjudgments,” Qin Weijiang, deputy commander of the PLA’s eastern theater command, told reporters.
“So I think bilateral exchanges can start from humanitarian and disaster relief exchanges and expand to other areas of common interest.”
Robert Brown, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific, said the exchange was “extremely important”.
“Just as our top leaders work towards building a strong working relationship and understanding, we through confidence-building measures like this DME must also at our level build a strong understanding of each other,” he added, referring to Disaster Management Exchange.
This is the 14th time the joint exchange has been held, which last year took place in the United States.
China’s defense ministry has said it hopes the military relationship can become a “stabiliser” for overall ties with the United States.
All the same, Washington and Beijing swapped barbs over trade, investment and regional security at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit on Saturday in Papua New Guinea.
Regular drills and exchanges are helpful to bilateral relations, particularly at a time of increased friction, but they are not going to fundamentally change the direction that ties are headed, said Michael Chase, a specialist in China and Asia-Pacific security at the RAND Corp.
“These exchanges remain important in that respect even if they aren’t going to solve broader problems in the relationship.”
In case you missed it, Trump's statement on 'Standing with Saudi Arabia'. I suggest you read the whole thing!
Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia | The White House
In other words: "Iran is bad, and yeah, the Saudis killed Khashoggi and maybe even the prince himself was involved, but hey, they got the cash and the oil, so case closed."
Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia | The White House
In other words: "Iran is bad, and yeah, the Saudis killed Khashoggi and maybe even the prince himself was involved, but hey, they got the cash and the oil, so case closed."
angelburst29
The Living Force
This might be one reason why Trump bows down to Saudi Arabia?
November 13, 2018 - U.S. Offensive Aerospace Capabilities Directed against the Whole Planet: America’s MUOS Satellite Communications System in Sicily
https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-fake-news-muos-maxi-radar/5659755
The M5S (5 Star Movement) divided about the Sicilian maxi-radar”, headlined the Corriere della Sera, thereby spreading a maxi fake news – not about the directorate of the 5 Star Movement, which, after having won an electoral consensus with the “No MUOS” in Sicily, is now backing off – but about the very object of the dispute.
By defining the MUOS station in Niscemi as a “maxi-radar”, they are fooling public opinion into believing that it is an Earth-bound electronic scanning device, and therefore defensive. But on the contrary, the MUOS (Mobile User Objective System) is a new satellite communications system which extends the offensive capacity of the United States to the whole planet.
The system, developed by Lockheed Martin for the US Navy, is composed of an initial configuration of four satellites (plus one in reserve) in a geo-stationary orbit, and linked to four terrestrial stations – two in the United States (Hawaii and Virginia), one in Sicily and one in Australia. The four stations are linked by a network of terrestrial and submarine fibre-optic cables (the station in Niscemi is connected directly to the station in Virginia).
The MUOS, which is already in function, will become fully operational in the summer of 2019, attaining a capacity 16 times superior to that of the preceding systems. It will simultaneously transmit ultra-high frequency coded messages of vocal, video and data material. So submarines and warships, fighter-bombers and drones, military vehicles and on-the-ground units of the US and their allies, will thus be linked to a single command network of control and communications under the orders of the Pentagon, while they are operating anywhere in the world, including the polar regions. (Comment: Feel safer - YET?)
So the MUOS station in Niscemi is not a “Sicilian maxi-radar” which guards the island, but an essential element of the planetary war machine of the United States.
The same role is being played by the other main US and NATO bases in Italy. The Naval Air Station Sigonella, a few kilometres from Niscemi, is the base for the launching of military operations mainly in the Middle East and Africa, carried out by special forces and drones.
The JTAGS (Joint Tactical Ground Station), a US satellite station of the “antimissile shield” deployed at Sigonella – one of the five with global reach (the others are situated in the United States, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan) – serves not only for anti-missile defence, but also for attack operations commanded from advance positions.
The Joint Allied Force Command in Lago Patria (Naples), is under the orders of a US admiral who simultaneously commands the US Naval Forces in Europe (with the Sixth Fleet based at Gaeta in the Lazio) and the US Naval Forces for Africa, whose headquarters are at Naples-Capodichino.
Camp Darby, the largest US arsenal outside of the homeland, supplies the US and allied forces for their wars in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The US 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, operates in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe.
The bases at Aviano and Ghedi – sites of the deployment of US and Italian fighters under US command, and equipped with B61 nuclear bombs, which, as from 2020 will be replaced by B61-12’s – are an integral part of the Pentagon’s nuclear strategy.
Incidentally, do Luigi Di Maio and the other leaders of M5S [1] remember that they took a solemn engagement with the ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) to ensure that Italy adheres to the UN Treaty, thus liberating Italy from US nuclear weapons?
Published on Nov 6, 2018 (8:18 min.)
June 21, 2018 - Russia warns of a ‘tough response’ to creation of US space force
Russia warns of a ‘tough response’ to creation of US space force
Russian diplomats and politicians are promising repercussions if President Donald Trump’s order to build a U.S. space force is met, citing a treaty banning nuclear weapons in outer space.
"Militarization of outer space is the path to disaster,” Victor Bondarev, head of the Russian Parliament’s Upper House Committee on Defense and Security, told state media Tuesday.
”Let's hope the American political elite still have the remnants of reason and common sense,” Bondarev said. “But if the United States withdraws from the 1967 treaty banning nuclear weapons in outer space, then, of course, not only ours, but also other states, will follow with a tough response aimed at ensuring world security.”
Bondarev appeared to be referencing the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, one of several “non-armament” treaties that sought to prevent “a new form of colonial competition” in the cosmos, according to the U.S. State Department’s archives.
Bondarev’s warning comes after Trump directed Pentagon leadership to set up a sixth, space-oriented branch within the U.S. military.
“When it comes to space, too often, for too many years, dreams of exploration and discovery were really squandered by politics and bureaucracy, and we knocked that out,” Trump said Monday at a meeting of the National Space Council, according to a White House pool report.
The president cited China and Russia as competitors that the United States must return to outpacing in space exploration.
“We don’t want China and Russia and other countries leading us. We’ve always led. We’ve gone way far afield for decades now,” Trump said.
Leadership within the Pentagon and Air Force have appeared mostly opposed to the idea of a separate space force, citing budget constraints and possible impediments to the Air Force’s own ability to wage war.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also criticized the formation of an American space force Wednesday, according to state media.
What makes this piece of news most alarming is the purpose of the instruction was described in very clear terms — dominance in space,” Zakharova said.
"Naturally, we keep the closest watch on Washington’s intentions and analyze the likely effects," she added. "A military buildup in space, in particular, after the deployment of weapons there, would have destabilizing effects on strategic stability and international security.“
While Russia does have a branch of the military described as "space forces," their activities are "purely defensive," the spokeswoman said.
Russian Space Forces are a branch of the larger Russian Aerospace Forces, and provide advanced missile defense services. The units historically incorporated under the Russian Space Forces operate radars and satellites involved in early-warning systems, according to a 2002 article archived by Stanford University.
The branch appears to be comparable to U.S. Air Force Space Command.
"Our country is not interested in tackling any tasks in space with the use of attack weapons,” Zakharova said.
And while Russian officials deny any militarization of space on their end, there have been concerns in the United States that Russian development of hypersonic glide missiles could pose a space-borne threat to the United States.
The glide vehicle could allegedly fly an arced trajectory high into the atmosphere, near or into space, atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, thereby avoiding existing missile defense systems, according to a March speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
November 13, 2018 - U.S. Offensive Aerospace Capabilities Directed against the Whole Planet: America’s MUOS Satellite Communications System in Sicily
https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-fake-news-muos-maxi-radar/5659755
The M5S (5 Star Movement) divided about the Sicilian maxi-radar”, headlined the Corriere della Sera, thereby spreading a maxi fake news – not about the directorate of the 5 Star Movement, which, after having won an electoral consensus with the “No MUOS” in Sicily, is now backing off – but about the very object of the dispute.
By defining the MUOS station in Niscemi as a “maxi-radar”, they are fooling public opinion into believing that it is an Earth-bound electronic scanning device, and therefore defensive. But on the contrary, the MUOS (Mobile User Objective System) is a new satellite communications system which extends the offensive capacity of the United States to the whole planet.
The system, developed by Lockheed Martin for the US Navy, is composed of an initial configuration of four satellites (plus one in reserve) in a geo-stationary orbit, and linked to four terrestrial stations – two in the United States (Hawaii and Virginia), one in Sicily and one in Australia. The four stations are linked by a network of terrestrial and submarine fibre-optic cables (the station in Niscemi is connected directly to the station in Virginia).
The MUOS, which is already in function, will become fully operational in the summer of 2019, attaining a capacity 16 times superior to that of the preceding systems. It will simultaneously transmit ultra-high frequency coded messages of vocal, video and data material. So submarines and warships, fighter-bombers and drones, military vehicles and on-the-ground units of the US and their allies, will thus be linked to a single command network of control and communications under the orders of the Pentagon, while they are operating anywhere in the world, including the polar regions. (Comment: Feel safer - YET?)
So the MUOS station in Niscemi is not a “Sicilian maxi-radar” which guards the island, but an essential element of the planetary war machine of the United States.
The same role is being played by the other main US and NATO bases in Italy. The Naval Air Station Sigonella, a few kilometres from Niscemi, is the base for the launching of military operations mainly in the Middle East and Africa, carried out by special forces and drones.
The JTAGS (Joint Tactical Ground Station), a US satellite station of the “antimissile shield” deployed at Sigonella – one of the five with global reach (the others are situated in the United States, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan) – serves not only for anti-missile defence, but also for attack operations commanded from advance positions.
The Joint Allied Force Command in Lago Patria (Naples), is under the orders of a US admiral who simultaneously commands the US Naval Forces in Europe (with the Sixth Fleet based at Gaeta in the Lazio) and the US Naval Forces for Africa, whose headquarters are at Naples-Capodichino.
Camp Darby, the largest US arsenal outside of the homeland, supplies the US and allied forces for their wars in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The US 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, operates in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe.
The bases at Aviano and Ghedi – sites of the deployment of US and Italian fighters under US command, and equipped with B61 nuclear bombs, which, as from 2020 will be replaced by B61-12’s – are an integral part of the Pentagon’s nuclear strategy.
Incidentally, do Luigi Di Maio and the other leaders of M5S [1] remember that they took a solemn engagement with the ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) to ensure that Italy adheres to the UN Treaty, thus liberating Italy from US nuclear weapons?
June 21, 2018 - Russia warns of a ‘tough response’ to creation of US space force
Russia warns of a ‘tough response’ to creation of US space force
Russian diplomats and politicians are promising repercussions if President Donald Trump’s order to build a U.S. space force is met, citing a treaty banning nuclear weapons in outer space.
"Militarization of outer space is the path to disaster,” Victor Bondarev, head of the Russian Parliament’s Upper House Committee on Defense and Security, told state media Tuesday.
”Let's hope the American political elite still have the remnants of reason and common sense,” Bondarev said. “But if the United States withdraws from the 1967 treaty banning nuclear weapons in outer space, then, of course, not only ours, but also other states, will follow with a tough response aimed at ensuring world security.”
Bondarev appeared to be referencing the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, one of several “non-armament” treaties that sought to prevent “a new form of colonial competition” in the cosmos, according to the U.S. State Department’s archives.
Bondarev’s warning comes after Trump directed Pentagon leadership to set up a sixth, space-oriented branch within the U.S. military.
“When it comes to space, too often, for too many years, dreams of exploration and discovery were really squandered by politics and bureaucracy, and we knocked that out,” Trump said Monday at a meeting of the National Space Council, according to a White House pool report.
The president cited China and Russia as competitors that the United States must return to outpacing in space exploration.
“We don’t want China and Russia and other countries leading us. We’ve always led. We’ve gone way far afield for decades now,” Trump said.
Leadership within the Pentagon and Air Force have appeared mostly opposed to the idea of a separate space force, citing budget constraints and possible impediments to the Air Force’s own ability to wage war.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also criticized the formation of an American space force Wednesday, according to state media.
What makes this piece of news most alarming is the purpose of the instruction was described in very clear terms — dominance in space,” Zakharova said.
"Naturally, we keep the closest watch on Washington’s intentions and analyze the likely effects," she added. "A military buildup in space, in particular, after the deployment of weapons there, would have destabilizing effects on strategic stability and international security.“
While Russia does have a branch of the military described as "space forces," their activities are "purely defensive," the spokeswoman said.
Russian Space Forces are a branch of the larger Russian Aerospace Forces, and provide advanced missile defense services. The units historically incorporated under the Russian Space Forces operate radars and satellites involved in early-warning systems, according to a 2002 article archived by Stanford University.
The branch appears to be comparable to U.S. Air Force Space Command.
"Our country is not interested in tackling any tasks in space with the use of attack weapons,” Zakharova said.
And while Russian officials deny any militarization of space on their end, there have been concerns in the United States that Russian development of hypersonic glide missiles could pose a space-borne threat to the United States.
The glide vehicle could allegedly fly an arced trajectory high into the atmosphere, near or into space, atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, thereby avoiding existing missile defense systems, according to a March speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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The UK's Secret Intelligence Service, otherwise known as MI6, has been scrambling to prevent President Trump from publishing classified materials linked to the Russian election meddling investigation, according to The Telegraph, stating that any disclosure would "undermine intelligence gathering if he releases pages of an FBI application to wiretap one of his former campaign advisers."
Trump's allies, however, are fighting back - demanding transparency and suggesting that the UK wouldn't want the documents withheld unless it had something to hide.
Another said Britain feared setting a dangerous “precedent” which could make people less likely to share information, knowing that it could one day become public. -The Telegraph
The Telegraph adds that the UK's dispute with the Trump administration is so politically sensitive that staff within the British Embassy in D.C. haver been barred from discussing it with journalists. Theresa May has also "been kept at arms-length and is understood to have not raised the issue directly with the US president."
In September, we reported that the British government "expressed grave concerns" over the material in question after President Trump issued an order to the DOJ to release a wide swath of materials, "immediately" and "without redaction."
Trump walked that order back days later after the UK begged him not to release them.
Memos detailing alleged ties between Mr Trump and Russia compiled by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 officer, were cited in the application, which could explain some of the British concern. -The Telegraph
The New York Times reported at the time that the UK's concern was over material which "includes direct references to conversations between American law enforcement officials and Christopher Steele," the former MI6 agent who compiled the infamous "Steele Dossier." The UK's objection, according to former US and British officials, was over revealing Steele's identity in an official document, "regardless of whether he had been named in press reports."
We noted in September, however, that Steele's name was contained within the Nunes Memo - the House Intelligence Committee's majority opinion in the Trump-Russia case.
Steele also had extensive contacts with DOJ official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie, who - along with Steele - was paid by opposition research firm Fusion GPS in the anti-Trump campaign. Trump called for the declassification of FBI notes of interviews with Ohr, which would ostensibly reveal more about his relationship with Steele. Ohr was demoted twice within the Department of Justice for lying about his contacts with Fusion GPS.
Perhaps the Brits are also concerned since much of the espionage performed on the Trump campaign was conducted on UK soil throughout 2016. Recall that Trump aid George Papadopoulos was lured to London in March, 2016, where Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud fed him the rumor that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton. It was later at a London bar that Papadopoulos would drunkenly pass the rumor to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer (who Strzok flew to London to meet with).
Also recall that CIA/FBI "informant" (spy) Stefan Halper met with both Carter Page and Papadopoulos in London.
Papadopoulos accepted a flight to London and a $3,000 honorarium. He claims that during a meeting in London, Halper asked him whether he knew anything about Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails.
Papadopoulos had other contacts on British soil that he now believes were part of a government-sanctioned surveillance operation. -Daily Caller
In total, Halper received over $1 million from the Obama Pentagon for "research," over $400,000 of which was granted before and during the 2016 election season.
Papadopoulos, who was sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying about his conversations with a shadowy Maltese professor and self-professed member of the Clinton Foundation, has publicly claimed he was targeted by UK spies, and told The Telegraph that he demands transparency. Trump's allies in Washington, meanwhile, have suggested that the facts laid out before us mean that the ongoing Russia investigation was invalid from the start.
In short, it's understandable that the UK would prefer to hide their involvement in the "witch hunt" of Donald Trump since much of the counterintelligence investigation was conducted on UK soil. And if the Brits had knowledge of the operation, it will bolster claims that they meddled in the 2016 US election by assisting what appears to have been a set-up from the start.
Steele's ham-handed dossier is a mere embarrassment, as virtually none of the claims asserted by the former MI6 agent have been proven true.
That said, Steele hasn't worked for the British government since 2009, so for their excuse focusing on the former MI6 agent while ignoring the multitude of events which occurred on UK soil, is curious.
Trump's allies, however, are fighting back - demanding transparency and suggesting that the UK wouldn't want the documents withheld unless it had something to hide.
The Telegraph has talked to more than a dozen UK and US officials, including in American intelligence, who have revealed details about the row.
British spy chiefs have “genuine concern” about sources being exposed if classified parts of the wiretap request were made public, according to figures familiar with discussions.
“It boils down to the exposure of people”, said one US intelligence official, adding: “We don’t want to reveal sources and methods.” US intelligence shares the concerns of the UK.
British spy chiefs have “genuine concern” about sources being exposed if classified parts of the wiretap request were made public, according to figures familiar with discussions.
“It boils down to the exposure of people”, said one US intelligence official, adding: “We don’t want to reveal sources and methods.” US intelligence shares the concerns of the UK.
Another said Britain feared setting a dangerous “precedent” which could make people less likely to share information, knowing that it could one day become public. -The Telegraph
The Telegraph adds that the UK's dispute with the Trump administration is so politically sensitive that staff within the British Embassy in D.C. haver been barred from discussing it with journalists. Theresa May has also "been kept at arms-length and is understood to have not raised the issue directly with the US president."
In September, we reported that the British government "expressed grave concerns" over the material in question after President Trump issued an order to the DOJ to release a wide swath of materials, "immediately" and "without redaction."
Trump walked that order back days later after the UK begged him not to release them.
Mr Trump wants to declassify 21 pages from one of the applications. He announced the move in September, then backtracked, then this month said he was "very seriously" considering it again. Both Britain and Australia are understood to be opposing the move.
Memos detailing alleged ties between Mr Trump and Russia compiled by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 officer, were cited in the application, which could explain some of the British concern. -The Telegraph
The New York Times reported at the time that the UK's concern was over material which "includes direct references to conversations between American law enforcement officials and Christopher Steele," the former MI6 agent who compiled the infamous "Steele Dossier." The UK's objection, according to former US and British officials, was over revealing Steele's identity in an official document, "regardless of whether he had been named in press reports."
We noted in September, however, that Steele's name was contained within the Nunes Memo - the House Intelligence Committee's majority opinion in the Trump-Russia case.
Steele also had extensive contacts with DOJ official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie, who - along with Steele - was paid by opposition research firm Fusion GPS in the anti-Trump campaign. Trump called for the declassification of FBI notes of interviews with Ohr, which would ostensibly reveal more about his relationship with Steele. Ohr was demoted twice within the Department of Justice for lying about his contacts with Fusion GPS.
Perhaps the Brits are also concerned since much of the espionage performed on the Trump campaign was conducted on UK soil throughout 2016. Recall that Trump aid George Papadopoulos was lured to London in March, 2016, where Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud fed him the rumor that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton. It was later at a London bar that Papadopoulos would drunkenly pass the rumor to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer (who Strzok flew to London to meet with).
Also recall that CIA/FBI "informant" (spy) Stefan Halper met with both Carter Page and Papadopoulos in London.
Halper, a veteran of four Republican administrations, reached out to Trump aide George Papadopoulos in September 2016 with an offer to fly to London to write an academic paper on energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea.
Papadopoulos accepted a flight to London and a $3,000 honorarium. He claims that during a meeting in London, Halper asked him whether he knew anything about Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails.
Papadopoulos had other contacts on British soil that he now believes were part of a government-sanctioned surveillance operation. -Daily Caller
In total, Halper received over $1 million from the Obama Pentagon for "research," over $400,000 of which was granted before and during the 2016 election season.
Papadopoulos, who was sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying about his conversations with a shadowy Maltese professor and self-professed member of the Clinton Foundation, has publicly claimed he was targeted by UK spies, and told The Telegraph that he demands transparency. Trump's allies in Washington, meanwhile, have suggested that the facts laid out before us mean that the ongoing Russia investigation was invalid from the start.
In short, it's understandable that the UK would prefer to hide their involvement in the "witch hunt" of Donald Trump since much of the counterintelligence investigation was conducted on UK soil. And if the Brits had knowledge of the operation, it will bolster claims that they meddled in the 2016 US election by assisting what appears to have been a set-up from the start.
Steele's ham-handed dossier is a mere embarrassment, as virtually none of the claims asserted by the former MI6 agent have been proven true.
Steele, a former MI6 agent, is the author of the infamous and unverified anti-Trump dossier. He worked as a confidential human source for the FBI for years before the relationship was severed just before the election because of Steele’s unauthorized contacts with the press.
He shared results of his investigation into Trump’s links to Russia with the FBI beginning in early July 2016.
The FBI relied heavily on the unverified Steele dossier to fill out applications for four FISA warrants against Page. Page has denied the dossier’s claims, which include that he was the Trump campaign’s back channel to the Kremlin. -Daily Caller
The FBI relied heavily on the unverified Steele dossier to fill out applications for four FISA warrants against Page. Page has denied the dossier’s claims, which include that he was the Trump campaign’s back channel to the Kremlin. -Daily Caller
That said, Steele hasn't worked for the British government since 2009, so for their excuse focusing on the former MI6 agent while ignoring the multitude of events which occurred on UK soil, is curious.
They(whomever involved in the decision) are allowing to be a mess, the border of San Ysidro had been closed, and there are reports of clashes between immigrants and tear gas. There was a rumor? of a possible agreement with incoming government of Mexico and Trump administration, but Mexico had denied it ...I wonder if they(Mexico) need to be in charge, it will be due until 1st of December... although, his (AMLO and his incoming goverment) latest messages had been quite confusing ... and, no, Mexico cannot be considered a whatever safe country ..
https://fox5sandiego.com/2018/11/25/cbp-suspends-all-traffic-at-the-san-ysidro-port-of-entry/ said:
https://www.rt.com/usa/444807-us-mexico-border-deal-migrants/ said:
_https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/trump-admin-renews-safe-third-country-talks-mexico/ said:
lilies
The Living Force
Russian ships used weapons to stop & seize Ukrainian vessels violating territorial waters – FSB
NATO is already calling for de-escalation, which means they would very much like the situation be escalated, but the Russians know what they are doing. Reading this triplet of articles on RT (this is growing way beyond my usual 1-article news, so I won't post) I was wondering if the NATO CIA think-thank strategists thought the Russians could be infinitely annoyed safely, since they won't respond, so their plan is safe to make this incident go away and develop it later.
So I thought the NATO CIA think-thank idiots were sure the Russians wouldn't open fire, but I thought the Russians indeed would break the NATO fantasy and should and open fire. Then I'm reading the third RT article that the Russians opened fire and handled the situation assertively.
Also there is no danger of WW3 starting over this one either!
NATO is already calling for de-escalation, which means they would very much like the situation be escalated, but the Russians know what they are doing. Reading this triplet of articles on RT (this is growing way beyond my usual 1-article news, so I won't post) I was wondering if the NATO CIA think-thank strategists thought the Russians could be infinitely annoyed safely, since they won't respond, so their plan is safe to make this incident go away and develop it later.
So I thought the NATO CIA think-thank idiots were sure the Russians wouldn't open fire, but I thought the Russians indeed would break the NATO fantasy and should and open fire. Then I'm reading the third RT article that the Russians opened fire and handled the situation assertively.
Also there is no danger of WW3 starting over this one either!