Update
Must Read: The Hundred-Year Marathon: China 's Secret Strategy to Replace America
This is a terrific but frightening book, well written and well documented. China places a very high strategic value on deception and making us believe they are weak and have no intentions of surpassing the US . He cites a Chinese proverb from the Warring States period that China 's military and civilian leaders often use: Wai ru, nei fa--"On the outside, be benevolent. On the inside, be ruthless." He believes that all recent presidents--Republican as well as Democrat, have been fooled by the benevolent outside, as have most China experts, himself included until he started reading things he wasn't supposed to read. The book details how China has stolen technology and IP, built up it's cyber-attack forces, developed "Assassin's Mace" asymmetric weapons to counter our much more expensive weapons, and is working on all fronts to replace us. The military buildup, in their strategic thinking comes last, so as not to alert the "old Hegemon" to their intentions. Very scary read by one of the US government's leading China Experts for about 40 years. Pillsbury speaks and reads Mandarin, and has had access to top Chinese leaders, hawks as well as moderates, and Chinese defectors, as well as obscure books and documents that most westerners never get to see. In my 80-page 2011 book, The Coming Collapse of the American Republic, I cite the rise of China as a military and industrial power as one of four trends that if not reversed, will lead to the collapse of America . Pillsbury convinces me that I didn't go far enough. You should read this book--and send a copy, or at least a recommendation, to your favorite presidential candidate.
I was out-of-pocket most of Friday, rehab in the morning, eye follow up in the afternoon. So at 5:00 pm, I was looking at 109 unopened emails. Good news is the eyes are fine; 20-25 without glasses, 20-15 with the bifocals they ordered for me. Still, of course, need the reading help, as the surgeries don't correct presbyopia. ~Bob
General News and Comment
NYT Slams Clinton
Excerpt: The New York Times is slamming the Clinton campaign and their allies for accusing the newspaper of outsourcing their journalism to "right-wing" authors and sources.
"I wonder is if the Clinton message machine ever decides to kind of recalibrate and dial it back a little bit. Because right now, and this isn't all coming from the Clinton camp itself but from the orbit around them where you have these people whose main goal is to misdirect and obfuscate every time there's the slightest bit of criticism about the Clintons leadership," NYT reporter Jeremy Peters said during an interview with MSNBC. "They are definitely misdirecting here. I mean, this is what Media Matters exists to do."
Team Hillary: Critics Can't Prove Corruption With a 'Shred' of Direct Evidence. By Guy Benson
Excerpt: Perhaps not the most effective messaging in the history of politics, but this is the corner in which Team Hillary finds itself, in the wake of two major bombshells that detonated this morning:
Excerpt: In a preview of Fox News’ upcoming special on the allegations that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traded political favors for donations to the Clinton Foundation, The New York Times reporter Jo Becker revealed that the Clintons straight-up lied to her about whether Bill Clinton had attended a key meeting.
Excerpt: On Thursday, the New York Times verified and confirmed facts presented in the forthcoming book Clinton Cash which reveals that in October 2010, then-Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton approved the Russian government’s takeover of a company named Uranium One—a decision that gave away half of U.S. uranium output to the Russian government, resulted in the deal’s investors giving the Clinton Foundation $145 million, and occurred while Bill Clinton made hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees paid for by Kremlin-connected businesses. Breitbart News has also learned the names of several additional Clinton Foundation donors who were the beneficiaries of Hillary Clinton’s State Department policies beyond those revealed by other sources that have reported on Clinton Cash.
[VIDEO] Report: 'Relationship With the Clintons ' Requirement to Get Contract for Rebuilding Haiti
Excerpt: "Another bombshell set to drop on the growing scandal surrounding the Clintons . Fox News now learning about a direct connection between money flowing to the Clinton Foundation and the effort to rebuild a devastated Haiti in 2010," said host Bill Hemmer.
Hillary Clinton Staffs Up for Grassroots Assault in Florida
Excerpt: Currently, the Clinton campaign is hiring staff in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and American territories as part of its “Ramp Up Grassroots Organizing Program.” These new staffers are working to build a grassroots base for Clinton . A Clinton staffer informed Sunshine State News Friday that Sandy Ducane will be leading the campaign’s grassroots operation in Florida . Ducane will be based in Broward County but will be traveling throughout the state as he works to build a grassroots organization for the Clinton campaign.
Worth Reading : The Disastrous Clinton
Excerpt: The qualities of an effective presidency do not seem to transfer onto a post-presidency. Jimmy Carter was an ineffective president who became an exemplary post-president. Bill Clinton appears to be the reverse. All sorts of unproven worst-case-scenario questions float around the web of connections between Bill’s private work, Hillary Clinton’s public role as secretary of State, the Clintons ’ quasi-public charity, and Hillary’s noncompliant email system. But the best-case scenario is bad enough: The Clintons have been disorganized and greedy. The news today about the Clintons all fleshes out, in one way or another, their lack of interest in policing serious conflict-of-interest problems that arise in their overlapping roles:
Spineless leaders have infiltrated the military. By Patricia L. Dickson
Excerpt: Liberalism has succeeded in infiltrating the U.S. military, America ’s last bastion of discipline, honor, and respect. Liberals have succeeded in destroying the family, education, the economy, and just about everything they set their sights on. It seems that they were not satisfied until they could force their agenda on the world’s most powerful and disciplined military. This week, the Army ROTC cadets at Arizona State University were forced to walk around campus in uniform wearing red pumps for an event called “Walk A Mile in Her Shoes” to raise awareness of sexual violence against women on college campuses. As reported by the Washington Times, in 2014, the Army encouraged participation in the April event. However; this year, the ROTC candidates at ASU were faced with a volunteer event that became mandatory. Or they were voluntold, the term we used to use in the military. As a retired veteran, to see the photo of the young future leaders being humiliated walking around in red pumps made my blood boil. (The head of this ROTC unit should be fired. --Don)
ACLU demands Catholic groups pay illegals' abortions
http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/aclu-demands-catholic-groups-pay-illegals-abortions/
http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/aclu-demands-catholic-groups-pay-illegals-abortions/
Excerpt: The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a lawsuit against the federal government to force Catholic groups that take taxpayer dollars to provide birth control and abortions for illegal immigrants. “We have heard reports that Catholic bishops are prohibiting Catholic charities from allowing teens in their care to access critical services like contraception and abortion, even if the teenager has been raped on her journey to the United States or in a detention facility,” said ACLU staff attorney Brigitte Amiri, Fox News reported.
Needs Verification: Two CIA Agents Arrested By Minutemen While Crossing Mexican Border With 1300 Pounds Of Cocaine. By Barbara Johnson
Excerpt: A group of minutemen watching the Mexican Border for illegal migrants and drug traffickers, have proceeded to the citizen arrest of two men in an SUV, carrying 1300 pounds of cocaine. The volunteers were completely astonished when the two arrestees pulled out CIA ID cards and explained they were actually carrying the drug as part of their duties and that the cargo belonged to the Central Intelligence Agency.
Not surprisingly, HQMC never heard of him. ~Bob
Pat Condell on the coming British election
A Citizen Sounds Off On Women In Ground Combat. By Andy Weddington
Excerpt: On occasion I receive comment from a reader whose words, I believe, need the public eye and ear. Such a note came the other day in reply to my recent commentaries about women in ground combat. What follows is from a parent, grandparent, and one who - though not a Marine nor having served in the military - knows a little something about Marines. Published, with permission, with a couple of minor edits - italics [with explanation] - to protect identity (as requested)...
Man bites dog: Politicians vote against spending public money on soccer stadium. By Eric Boehm
Excerpt: Here’s a story that doesn’t often get written: Politicians in Minnesota voted against spending public money on a new stadium. A bill passed by the state Senate on Tuesday seeks to block any future attempt to get state taxpayers to pay for part of a proposed new soccer stadium in downtown Minneapolis .
Watchdog Podcasts: Behind the Headlines — The economics behind taxpayer-funded stadiums. By Eric Boehm
Excerpt: In this week’s episode, host Eric Boehm sits down with Victor Matheson, a professor of sports economics at The College of The Holy Cross to discuss a stunning development in Minnesota : politicians voted against using public funding for a new soccer stadium.
But that’s only after spending more than $1 billion on four other sports facilities in the past decade. Matheson examines the stadium building craze that has swept the country since the 1990s, tests the claim that stadiums boost economic development and talks about why Minnesota ’s Metrodome is a perfect example for showing why they don’t. (I had a survey call the other night. They started in asking if I knew that the NBA had said the Milwaukee Bucks would move without a new stadium, and that they bring in $XXX millions of dollars that will be lost, etc. Obviously trying to get a biased sample in favor of taxpayers springing for a new stadium. I said I was opposed to taxpayers funding sports, arts or any other form of entertainment and hung up. ~Bob)
Excerpt: So now oppressed zoophiliacs will have to vacation to Hungary , Finland , or Romania for their bestiality fix. Five Danish legislators abstained. I can’t imagine what they were thinking.
Sex club seeks
Excerpt: Nashville Nashville Goodpasture Christian School Universal Life Church
GM, Ford, And Others Want to Make Working on Your Own Car Illegal
Excerpt: Listing the vehicle as a “mobile computing device,” the law would hypothetically protect automakers from pesky owners looking to alter any sort of technology in the vehicle that relates to the onboard computer. Flashing your ECU would be a big no no, which could also lead to all sorts of problems for aftermarket shops. What GM, and even tractor companies like John Deere, argues is that you, as an owner, don’t actually own your car. Rather, you’re sort of just borrowing it for an extended amount of time and paying for the rights to use the technology. If it sounds ridiculous— it is. But it gets even more ludicrous.
Rubio Takes on Export-Import Bank: ‘Government Should Not Be Picking Winners and Losers’. By Melissa Quinn
Excerpt: “I have long supported ending funding for Ex-Im,” Rubio told reporters. “I don’t believe taxpayer money should be used as corporate welfare.”
Excerpt: Ed Schultz went on a screed against President Obama on the Thursday’s broadcast after the president cracked a joke about MSNBC’s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) just moments before. Schultz interrupted his interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders, also an opponent to the TPP, to rip President Obama and challenge him to come on his show and have a “face to face” over the trade deal. “I supported you big time. I was the first liberal talker to support you. I’ve carried your water big time when it comes to health care, I’ve carried your water on the economy and defending your move on the automobile industry, but Mr. President, you can take shots at this network, but I guarantee you, you are wrong on this and you cannot prove to the American people,” Schultz said.
Rising Dragon News
http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-26642
Excerpt: In China, friends and family of the deceased may have to do without a special form of funereal entertainment: strippers. According to a statement from the Ministry of Culture on Thursday, the government plans to work closely with the police to eliminate such performances, which are held with the goal of drawing more mourners.
Excerpt: In China, friends and family of the deceased may have to do without a special form of funereal entertainment: strippers. According to a statement from the Ministry of Culture on Thursday, the government plans to work closely with the police to eliminate such performances, which are held with the goal of drawing more mourners.
Excerpt: The official Chinese government news agency, Xinhua, has demanded the US immediately adopt stricter gun control measures to reduce the number of firearms the US populace is permitted to possess. (Ten times as many people die from pollution in China than from guns here. There is a reason they prefer us disarmed, and unknowing abort firearms. ~Bob)
PM Abe to tell U.S. leaders Japan
Excerpt: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will send a clear message to the United States when he visits Washington next week: Japan is ready to take more responsibility for security on the world stage. Behind that message, the conservative leader will want fresh assurances that America will show up if needed in any clash with China
Gun News
Concealed Carry in Massachusetts
As I emailed you yesterday, my LTC finally showed up. Counting from the date of my "interview," it took 7 months and 5 days to get. Most of that time--nearly 6 months--was waiting for a record on microfiche from 1969 for a motor vehicle infraction--for which I paid a $25 fine, not exactly a serious crime--to be retrieved and emailed to the investigating officer. The rest was waiting for the actual physical license to be produced and sent to the local PD for me to pick up.
It seems to me there are several problems here. First is the time it took to produce the record. Had this been a criminal matter or considered "important," it would've shown up in hours or days, not nearly 6 months later. Second is the lack of accountability in the system. If no one knows "where in the queue" any given item is at any given moment; how can managers control what they can't measure? It's a bureaucrat's dream to have authority without responsibility. The third problem is the length of time it takes to make the physical license. As little as I like the Registry of Motor Vehicles for their poor customer service, I have to admire their ability to turn out high quality, secure driver's licenses and state IDs at a consistent rate of 20,000 to 30,000 every week. So, of course, instead of having them do it, the job was given to the Criminal Records Division that struggles to put out 1,000 a week. Fourth and finally is the sheer amount of time the process took. In law, they say "Justice delayed is justice denied." A process that takes 2 or 3 months seems reasonable; four months isn't. Six months is disgraceful. More than seven is likely an illegal restriction on exercise of a Constitutional Right. But, it takes money and time to fight, and now that I've finally received my LTC, it seems fruitless to pursue it further--not to mention possible reprisals ("Littering again, eh? Here's your ticket, Sir"). --Ron P.
Adamsville PD search for suspect who brought baby to burglary
Excerpt: Police say the man held the baby up when the homeowner fired warning shots...
Suspect shot while attempting to rob north St.
Excerpt: The suspect was shot in the leg when he tried to rob a Gas Mart, located in the 6000 block of West Florissant , around 11:30 p.m., police said.
Race Card News
Police kill more whites than blacks, but minority deaths generate more outrage
Excerpt: Meanwhile, the deaths of whites at the hands of law enforcement typically receive less attention, even when the case is shrouded in controversy. For example, Gilbert Collar, an 18-year-old white student at the University of South Alabama, was shot and killed while naked, unarmed and under the influence of drugs by a black police officer. ... “Adjusted for the homicide rate, whites are 1.7 times more likely than blacks die at the hands of police,” he said. “Adjusted for the racial disparity at which police are feloniously killed, whites are 1.3 times more likely than blacks to die at the hands of police.” Mr. Moskos listed two possible reasons for the racial disparity. The first is that police assigned to largely black neighborhoods face “more political fallout when they shoot, and thus receive better training and are less inclined to shoot.”
Obamacare/Government Healthcare News
Excerpt: Doctors Medical Center
Undocumented Democrat News
Liberal Media In A Frenzy Over Walker
Excerpt: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Monday immigration policy should be American-worker centered, apparently striking a nerve with the liberal media, who called it extreme and used tweets from a disgruntled former employee to criticize the move.
The Washington Post, MSNBC, and Huffington Post said the stance is a dumb move politically, because only a small number of right-wing extremists question the economic value of legal immigration. (I notice that every progressive is in favor of the country taking in an unlimited number of both legal and illegal immigrants, and providing them with food, clothing, shelter, education and health care as a basic human right, but I know of no progressives who have taken even one immigrant family into their own home and provided them with these basic rights at their own expense. ~Bob)
"You're Greener than Gore" News
You can’t go green without some (taxpayer) green. By Steve Wilson
Excerpt: Without generous federal subsidies and a net metering rule, green energy projects in Mississippi probably aren’t worth the effort. Jeff Seabold — a local architect who specializes in sustainable homes that use renewable energy, recycled materials when available and energy-saving concepts when possible — isn’t recommending his customers add solar panels to their homes or businesses.
Religion of Peace News
Saudi Arabia’s Ominous Reach Into Yemen
Excerpt: The Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen threatens to turn what has been a civil war between competing branches of Islam into a wider regional struggle involving Iran . It could also destroy any hope of stability in Yemen . Even before the Saudis and their Arab allies started the bombing, Yemen was in severe distress; on Tuesday, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights warned that it is now on the brink of collapse. (It is refreshing to see a major news outlet NOT pushing the narrative that Iran is the more dangerous nation between Saudi Arabia and Iran . Perhaps the Saudis have finally shown their hand and their brutality, support of terror and blind religious fanaticism can no longer be concealed from the public. After all, every time a Muslim beheads a Christian in the ME, there is some Saudi money behind the evil deed. And the only boots on the ground capable of stopping ISIS are Iranian. Don Hank. The Saudi fear is that they could end up with hostile Shi'a regimes on two borders, Iraq and Yemen , backed by a nuke-armed Iran , and greatly outnumbering them in manpower. Will we protect their oil fields? With what? ~Bob)
Armenian President Warns about Danger of Genocide Denial, Brazilian Congressman Marco Feliciano Denounces Genocide of Armenian Christians
By Julio Severo
Excerpt: Armenian President Serge Sargsyan warned Wedsnesday about the danger to the world of the denial of the genocide of over 1.5 million Armenians by Muslim hordes of the Ottoman Empire . The national day for the remembrance of this massacre, which hit especially Armenian Christians, will be held in Armenia next Friday. “Genocide is a failure of the international community and its impunity is the premise for its repetition,” said Sargsyan in his opening speech in an international forum on the genocide, held in the Armenian capital. (Our thanks to Julio for writing this frank and straightforward article on the glaring absence of the US and some of its allies among the civilised nations who condemn the Armenian genocide these 100 years since this atrocity took place (the anniversary is tomorrow). Though many European countries are too cowardly to acknowledge it (apparently because Turkey is a NATO member -- how it was ever admitted I will never understand), the European Union, along with the the pope, acknowledges it (Pope Francis was threatened for doing so). Obama condemned the Bush administration for not acknowledging it as genocide but is now following suit and also refuses to call it genocide. But of course, when some strident voices first declared that the Christian Serbs were committing genocide against the Muslim Kosovars (who were equally guilty of the kind of atrocities that are routinely associated with Muslim fanatics), the US government under Bill Clinton immediately joined the chorus calling it genocide. A Spanish forensic team declared after the war that the killings did not rise to the level of genocide. Christians are held to a different standard. DESPICABLE! --Don Hank)
Excerpt: These past eight days we've had the sad duty to commemorate two of the past century's fits of human genocide. On April 16th we were asked to remember the Jewish holocaust. And so tragically less known was the Armenian massacre that marks the hundredth anniversary of man's savagery to man. April 24th, 2015...commemorating a day when one of the world's great cultures was nearly wiped from the face of the earth. Two million Armenians...killed over an innocuous little suffix; "ism". An "ism"...totally harmless...until a hateful man, and a hateful philosophy stands in front of it and makes it an ugly thing indeed. The Armenians who survived have been offered all manner of explanations as to why their fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, uncles and aunts and grandparents and great grandparents were raped, tortured, murdered. But when you add up all the excuses, and boil them down, the slaughter was born from two fathers ; hate and greed.
Report: Sharia leads to abuse of women in Britain
Excerpt: Several US states have sought to ban sharia, but these laws have been overturned, and the proponents ridiculed as a phobe-du-jour (I lose track of the phobias that underlie any disagreement with liberal orthodoxy). The argument runs to the effect that sharia law would not be used in criminal cases, it would only be used in cases of arbitration where all parties agreed to the rules to be used. Contrary to what critics would have you believe, this is not an inconsequential problem. For proof of that we need only look at Britain where sharia courts have taken over predominantly muslim communities and have essentially eradicated an vestiges of Western concepts of justice or equality.
Groomed to be a sex slave and branded a racist for bringing my sex abusers to justice: One woman reveals her horrific ordeal in a tell-all book
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3051258/Groomed-sex-slave-branded-racist-bringing-sex-abusers-justice-One-woman-reveals-horrific-ordeal-tell-book.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3051258/Groomed-sex-slave-branded-racist-bringing-sex-abusers-justice-One-woman-reveals-horrific-ordeal-tell-book.html
Excerpt: Two of my abusers had already threatened to kill me. Even in the court, I feared no one could stop these depraved men, all in their 30s, from leaping out to attack me as I gave evidence against them. The court guide assured me I would be safe, but nothing was going to allay my fears entirely.
Denmark
Excerpt: There were both laughing and high fives when a group of young men today sat in the court, accused of a serious assault on Nanna Skovmand and Mads Schøllhammer on Christmas night. A few times during the reading of the indictment, the defendants broke out in laughter – partly when the details of the attack were read.
*****
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304815980&sr=1-5For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here:
http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html. His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com.
