PrairiePundit

Guardian:
North Korea’s main nuclear test site has partially collapsed under the stress of multiple explosions, possibly rendering it unsafe for further testing and leaving it vulnerable to radiation leaks, a study by Chinese geologists has shown.

The findings could cast doubt on North Korea’s sincerity in announcing last weekend that it would stop testing nuclear weapons at the site ahead of Friday’s summit between the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.

The test site at Punggye-ri, in a mountainous area in North Korea’s north-east, has been the location for all six of the regime’s nuclear tests since 2006.

The findings, by scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China, suggest the partial collapse of the mountain that contains the testing tunnels, as well as the risk of radiation leaks, have potentially rendered the site unusable.

The study was published soon after Kim said his country would stop testing nuclear weapons and balli…

Andrew McCarthy:
The absurd ruling by District Judge John Bates in the DACA case — which means that what is lawlessly imposed by executive order may not be lawfully rescinded by executive order — reminds us that justice is being politicized plenty from the bench. No surprise, then, that the pols and pundits are getting in on the act.

Byron York’s Washington Examiner column takes up the question of whether, where Donald Trump is concerned, the “generally accepted standard of justice has been turned on its head.” The matter at issue is the so-called Steele dossier, the Clinton-campaign-sponsored compilation of opposition-research memos that the author, former British spy Christopher Steele, masqueraded as intelligence reports. Byron collects commentary from left-leaning political, academic, and media doyens, all arguing that the dossier’s sensational allegations carry a degree of credibility because, though unverified, they have not been proven untrue.

We’ll come to the law in a moment.…

Katie Pavlich:
Judicial Watch Finds New Classified Emails, Others Confirm Collusion Between State Department and Clinton Foundation The Clinton Foundation material suggests a real pay to play operation.
...
And on the Clinton Foundation:

Several of the emails demonstrate the commingling of Clinton State Department and Clinton family foundation business:

-In a November 2010 email with subject line, “How do I get through to Bill Clinton,” Rafael Anchia, a lawyer with Haynes Boone, asks Clinton campaign official Ed Meier if he could get to the “gatekeepers” to get Bill Clinton to give a speech in Spain, noting that “a large bank is willing to pay for it.”

-Meier forwarded the email to former State Department Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan who forwarded it to former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin. Abedin sent it to Bill Clinton’s scheduler at the Clinton Foundation, Terry Krinvic, who provided Clinton’s contact information, to which Sullivan responded, “Awesome.”

-In September 20…

Warrior Maven:


The Navy’s first newly built Ship-to-Shore Connector maritime warfare craft has launched on the water, introducing a new era in modern amphibious warfare for the Marines.

The new Navy craft brings an unprecedented ability to transport larger armored vehicles, such as an Abrams tank, from amphibious assault ships to combat ashore.

The new SSCs are designed to replace the existing fleet of Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCAC) able to move Marines, weapons and supplies from ship to shore for amphibious operations. The connectors will integrate emerging computer technology able to reduce the needed crew size and perform more functions independently.
... There is more.

The ability to bring Abrams tanks to the landing party is not a small thing.  It is the kind of thing that can turn a battle for the beachhead.  Surviving the move from the ship to the shore is not a given in today's warfare.  It will require suppressing enemy fire during the movement.

Sara Carter:
...
Multiple former FBI officials, along with a Congressional official, say that while there may have been internal squabbling over the FBI’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation at the time, there was allegedly another “stand-down” order by McCabe regarding the opening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of her private email for official government business.

McCabe’s stand-down order regarding Clinton’s private email use happened after The New York Times first reported Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email Account at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules in March 2015 and before the official investigation was requested by the Justice Department toward the end of July 2015.

After The New York Times publication, the FBI Washington Field Office began investigating Clinton’s use of private emails and whether she was using her personal email account to transmit classified information. According to sources, McCabe was overseas when he became aware of the investig…

NY Times:
Majority of Justices Signal Support for Trump’s Travel Ban
By the end of the argument, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready to defer to President Trump’s national security judgments and discount his campaign promises to impose a “Muslim ban.”There is nothing ambiguous about the statute Trump relied upon.  “[The president] may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”

Only a liberal would read that as somehow imposing restrictions on the proclamation of a duly elected President.  But lower courts selected by Democrat forum shoppers refused to apply the statute because they did not like some of the things Trump said on the campaign trail.  Those judges are a disgrace to the rule of law.

Monica Showalter:
Daniel Ortega, the rabid, "freely elected" dictator of Nicaragua, and a guy who's been at it for so long that even the great Ronald Reagan knew about him and loathed him, has been having some problems in the Cuba-style hellhole he created in the name of "social justice." The socialist thug has been siccing his goons to shoot protesters dead in the streets after a few of the youthful ones got the ball rolling with protests against his long, corrupt rule.  Get a load of how bad it was, according to the BBC: Some students said they had been beaten and tortured by police while in custody.  The claims could not be independently verified. Images on social media showed some, visibly distressed and with their heads shaved, as they were released. At least 25 people are reported to have died in days of violent protests. The unrest started last Wednesday when hundreds of people, mainly pensioners, took to the streets of the capital, Managua, to protest against…

Express:
CLIMATE change is likely to be markedly less severe than forecast, a study claimed yesterday.

It predicted that the impact could be up to 45 per cent less intense than is widely accepted.

But the study emerged as other scientists said winter waves pounding the Scottish and Irish coasts have grown grow by up to 5ft 6in (1.7metres) over the past 70 years.

Rising sea levels and more intense storms are in line with global warming forecasts.

The study questioning the future intensity of climate change was carried out by American climatologist Judith Curry and UK mathematician Nick Lewis.

It is based on analysing the warming effect of greenhouse gases and other drivers of climate change, from the mid 19th century until 2016.

It forecast that future warming will be between 30 per cent and 45 per cent lower than suggested by simulations carried out by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel one Climate Change.

The study in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate predicts te…

David Thorton:
Voters are tuning out Democrat claims of Trump-Russia collusion.

Democrats running for office in the country’s center have a message for their party’s leadership. “You’re not helping with all the Russia talk” is what Democrats in battleground states are telling the Democratic National Committee.

“The DNC is doing a good job of winning New York and California,” David Betras, a county Democratic county party chair in Ohio, told Buzzfeed. “I’m not saying it’s not important — of course it’s important — but do they honestly think that people that were just laid off another shift at the car plant in my home county give a shit about Russia when they don’t have a frickin’ job?”

“I haven’t seen a single piece of data that says voters want Democrats to relitigate 2016,” another strategist said. “The only ones who want to do this are Democratic activists who are already voting Democratic.”

Farmers and workers who voted for Donald Trump are unlikely to be lured back to the Democrats by …

Washington Times:
Kanye West’s blizzard of tweets supporting President Trump won the support of another major hip hop artist — Chance the Rapper.

Chance, whose real name is Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, retweeted one of Mr. West’s thoughts about not having to agree with Mr. Trump on everything.

Chance then said Mr. West was fine mentally and the hubbub surrounding him was demeaning.

“Black people don’t have to be democrats,” Chance said in one tweet.
...
Presidential son Donald Trump Jr. retweeted and endorsed Chance’s tweet on non-Democrats.

“It’s always incredible to watch a cultural shift happen in real time. I respect those willing to take the lead breaking with convention. That takes guts… though there’s a better word for it,” Mr. Trump wrote, following the thought with two basketball emojis.
... You can catch some of West's more profane statements about his change in attitude here.  Conservative Candace Owens is a black woman who apparently triggered this change in attitude by…

Fuel Fix:
U.S. crude exports soared to record high this week, doubling from a year ago, the Energy Department reported.

Analysts attributed the surge to lower prices of U.S. crude compared to Brent crude produced in the North Sea. The price gap between Brent and the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate has widened from $3 a barrel in early March to about $6 a barrel this week, according the S&P Global Platts, a commodities research and analytics firm.
... US oil exports show a nearly two million barrels a day increase over two years ago.  Europe has been a receptive market for the US oil as well as China.  The Port of Corpus Christi is becoming a major export terminal.

The Texas Permian Basin is also on track to become the world's largest oil field.

AFP:
Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that his country would attack Russian S-300 air defence systems in Syria if they were used against Israeli targets.

His remarks came a day after the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Moscow could soon start to deliver S-300 systems to its ally Damascus, and cited a source as warning of "catastrophic" consequences if they were attacked.

"What's important to us is that the defensive weapons the Russians are giving Syria won't be used against us," Lieberman told the news website Ynet.

"If they're used against us, we'll act against them."

Russia and Syria signed an accord in 2010 for the S-300 system but the missiles have not been delivered because of Israeli pressure, according to Kommersant.
... The Israelis have been in close communication with the Russians in Syria.  This is another example of how they have made it clear what they will not tolerate.  Earlier they to…

Defense One:
The Pentagon Is Making a Ray Gun to Stop Truck Attacks

A device that resembles an old phonograph may soon be used to jam and shut down vehicles like the one that killed 10 people in Toronto.

The van driver who killed 10 Toronto pedestrians on Monday showed that a terror technique that ISIS pioneered in Iraq and Syria in 2015 remains terrifyingly effective against unsuspecting urban populations. But the U.S. military is working on a new weapon to stop vehicle-born terrorist threats, one that could help police departments as well.
... You can see a photo of the device at the link above.  It looks like a potential must have weapon for large police departments to deal with terrorism.   Hopefully, it will stop homicidal drivers.

Washington Post:
Conservative justices appear to back Trump’s authority for travel ban

The Supreme Court's conservatives questioned how President Trump’s order barring travelers from certain majority-Muslim countries had exceeded his lawful authority, given that Congress had granted the executive branch broad latitude to bar people’s entry to the United States. Democrat forum shopping for judges and appellate courts with an animus toward the President finally reached the end game and it looks like Trump finally got a fair hearing.  The lower courts had to ignore the Congressional authority given the President and made up a new requirement using pretzel logic referring back to statements made during the campaign.

Washington Post:
Racial disparities in school discipline are growing, federal data show

The findings — that black students faced greater rates of suspension, expulsion and arrest than their white classmates — come as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is considering curbing her department’s role in investigating racial disparities in discipline. This is an invidious comparison because it leaves out the most important element.   What was the conduct that led to the discipline?  If the white students are committing the same acts then there is a problem  If they are not, then the problem has nothing to do with race, but is about actions taken by the students who are disciplined.

Rather than focus on race, I suggest they focus on whether there is a father in the home.  I suspect that the kids with the lack of fathers are more likely to have discipline problems.  If that is the case the root problem is not race.

There is also the question of academic fraud in the education system that allows s…

NY Times:
Migrant Caravan Arrives at U.S. Border, but Long Road Awaits Migrants from Central America who plan to apply for asylum in the United States face opposition from President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Those who support letting economic refugees into the country appear to have no limiting principles.  There are roughly seven billion people in the world and given a choice most of them would like to live in the US and many of them would want to get on government benefits.  The open borders crowd does not seem to have an answer for this problem other than to let them in and hope they eventually vote for Democrats.  This is clearly not in the long term interest of the US.

Washington Free Beacon:
Europe Free Riding on American Drug Innovation, Congressmen Warn Trump

Letter calls for strong trade response as Macron, Merkel visit America This is also true of the Canadian and British systems.  These rationed healthcare systems are constantly fighting a losing battle to deliver "free healthcare" which requires rationing of treatments and leaves no money for research and development.  If the US did the same thing the world would have fewer new treatments for disease.

J.R. Dunn:
...

The immediate Russian reaction was telling – a claim that the S-400 had shot down no fewer than 70 of the attacking missiles, including all of the U.S. models. (Evidently, this line is still being pushed by domestic Russian media.)

Since this claim fell apart under the weight of its own absurdity, a number of other excuses have popped up: that the U.S. cheated by flying missiles over Lebanon (this is something widely known as "tactics") or that the Russians failed to carry out any interceptions out of politeness. Both of these, needless to say, contradict the original Russian claim.

Western think-tank spokesmen have rushed to support these claims:
The logic tree suggests we should avoid any hard conclusions, or be a little too triumphal about our ability to penetrate the S-400. All the same, further evidence of the failure of the S-400 has appeared with the news that the Russians have rushed a shipment of the S-300 anti-aircraft system to Syria. While the m…

Kurt Schlichter:
It’s Fun to Watch The Liberals’ and Never Trumpers’ Coup Dreams Die ...

It’s got to frustrate liberals and their Never Trump buddies to know that they are never deposing our elected chief executive. Nor are they ever putting any of these innocent people in jail, and that means the Deep Staters can’t effectively intimidate them into giving false testimony, sadly something the feds have shown themselves willing to do again and again to convict people they dislike.

This whole campaign to undo the 2016 election is a scam and a fraud and we all know it, but unlike the principled Decorumcons who refuse to see the truth of the putrid corruption within their beloved Beltway, Donald Trump (and those of us who support him) feel absolutely no obligation to go along with the charade that this isn’t a corrupt, slow-walking coup pushed by a disgruntled establishment. Our “system” is not endangered by us calling out the lies, or by the President using his power to prevent and/or corr…

Brandon Morse:
Of all the people to help defeat a popular sitting Republican Senator in a red state like Texas, enlisting Massachusetts uber-Dem Elizabeth Warren is definitely not one of them.

According to the Daily Kos, Warren has gone “all in” for Beto O’Rourke to take down incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, which is like asking a very loud cricket to help a jackrabbit take down a lion. This came in the form of Warren sending out an email to Texas Democrats, trying to appeal to whatever “yes we can” feelings they have left over from the Obama era.

From Warren’s fundraising email:
A new poll out last week shows that Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke trails Senator Ted Cruz by only three points in the Texas Senate race.

The political insiders had been writing Beto off – saying it’s just too hard for a Democrat to win statewide in Texas. But Beto hasn’t been listening to the pundits. He’s been busy building the biggest, strongest grassroots Senate campaign since our own 2012 campaign in Massa…

Red States:
The New York Times has an article by Nellie Bowles about Facebook’s Campbell Brown — who is, according to Bowles, seen by some as an “insidious figure — a telegenic personality with close ties to conservative figures who can offer Facebook’s outreach the veneer of journalistic credibility.” (Close ties to conservative figures?! Horrors!) As one example of the kind of alleged right-wing conspiracy mongering that supposedly occurs on Facebook, Bowles cites stories that Palestinians pay millions in pensions to the families of terrorists....
...

Crazy conspiracy nonsense, right?

Not so much, as it happens. As the blog Why Evolution Is True notes, these payments are real. The annual budgets are often hundreds of millions of dollars. Anyone who follows the conflict has heard of this — anyone, that is, except for Nellie Bowles.

Now The Times has had to issue a correction:
An article on Sunday about Campbell Brown’s role as Facebook’s head of news partnerships erroneously included…

Washington Times:
Federal judge orders complete restart of DACA It will probably take the Supreme Court to set this judge straight.  This is an absurd ruling.

Meanwhile, an MS-13 member tries to sneak in as an unaccompanied alien child.

Washington Examiner:
Democrats' hopes for another upset dashed in Arizona as Republican Debbie Lesko wins It was a Republican leaning district, to begin with, and they keep hoping that Republicans will walk away from Trump.  this time the Democrats were disappointed.

NY Times:
Economic Anxiety Is Not Root of Trump Support, Study Says
A study suggests that the white Christian and male voters who supported Donald J. Trump were driven by concerns over privilege. I think this study has got it all wrong.  Trump voters don't like Democrat politicians and Democrat policies.

They do not like control freak regulations.  They do not like Democrats embrace of deviancy.  They do not like Democrat high taxes.  They do not like Democrats rejection of the rule of law on immigration and other issues.  They do not like Democrats embrace of policies that restrict the 1st and 2nd Amendments to the Constitution. None of those things meet my definition of privilege.

I think "white privilege" is a racist concept to denigrate achievement by successful whites.  It is as racist as saying the NBA is about black privilege.  Achievement in both areas is a matter of desire and willingness to work hard to achieve goals.  Privilege has nothing to do with it.

Kristin Tate:
Am I the only one in my spinning class at Equinox in Manhattan who’s fed up paying $200 every month for a gym with clean showers, $3,000 in rent every month for an apartment without cockroaches and $8 every morning for a cup of coffee? Am I the only one moving through the greater part of New York City boroughs and seeing an inexorable march of urban decay matched with the discomfort of crowding and inexplicable costs? I know I am not.

New York is the most expensive city in America. Its lower-cost neighborhoods are riddled with crime and homelessness. Its public schools, some of which are among the worst in the nation, look more like prisons than places of learning.

With between up to 50 percent of their paycheck going to a combination of federal, local and city taxes, not including other consumer taxes baked into every aspect of their consumer practices, residents don’t even have the comfort of knowing that their tax expenditures are going to the improvement of their lives…

Newsmax:
Former CIA Director John Brennan is in a "world of trouble" over statements he has made concerning British spy Christopher Steele's dossier linking President Donald Trump to Russia, former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino said Monday.

"My sources on this are telling me John Brennan is in a world of trouble right now," Bongino told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."

"Back in August of 2016 he gives a private briefing to Sen. Harry Reid, Democrat, of course. He gives that briefing to Reid. Reid fires off a letter to the FBI. In that letter is information that clearly came from the dossier."

That means, at that point, Brennan was aware of the dossier, but in May of 2017, under oath, he denied knowing who commissioned it, said Bongino, a frequent Fox News commentator and owner of "The Dan Bongino Show" podcast.

"The CIA has a central role in the verification of foreign assets and information we get from foreign assets," …

Reuters:
As OPEC’s efforts to balance the oil market bear fruit, U.S. producers are reaping the benefits - and flooding Europe with a record amount of crude.

Russia paired with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last year in cutting oil output jointly by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), a deal they say has largely rebalanced the market and one that has helped elevate benchmark Brent prices LCOc1 close to four-year highs.

Now, the relatively high prices brought about by that pact, coupled with surging U.S. output, are making it harder to sell Russian, Nigerian and other oil grades in Europe, traders said.

“U.S. oil is on offer everywhere,” said a trader with a Mediterranean refiner, who regularly buys Russian and Caspian Sea crude and has recently started purchasing U.S. oil. “It puts local grades under a lot of pressure.”
...
In January-April, U.S. supplies jumped four-fold year-on-year to 6.8 million tonnes, or 68 large Aframax tankers, according to the same data…

Washington Post:
The White House can’t hide Trump’s worry about Michael Cohen

The White House appears to be leaving open the door to a presidential pardon — which would only be necessary if there were a crime to pardon. I have strong doubts that Michael Cohen has any information to trade prosecutors about Trump.  The nature of Trump's business is too big and too involved with banks and other lenders that a single lawyer could help him commit a crime if either was so disposed.

As a former General Counsel to an investment banking firm and later a retailer with nearly a thousand stores, I can assure you that when a financing of a residential tower or hotel is taking place there will be a room full of lawyers representing several parties to the transactions and  stacks of documents that have to be reviewed and signed. 

There will lawyers assigned to do "due diligence" to document the representation and warranties being made to the lenders and any aspect of the deal that would…

Washington Post:
Behind bloody Gaza clashes, economic misery and piles of debt

Gazans are struggling to finance their daily lives. Young people — unable to pay for weddings or homes — are delaying marriage, figures show. Universities say students are dropping out because they cannot afford the fees. Unemployment is nearly 50 percent, data shows. “We are on the edge of economic collapse,” said Judge Mohammed Nofal. The genocidal religious bigots who control Gaza have pursued a faith-based war against Israel that they keep losing, and then they claim their misery on Israel and spend money on tunnels rather than on improving the quality of life of the people who live there.   Instead of educating people on how to make a better life for themselves they indoctrinate them into jihad and Jew hatred.

NY Times:

Deported to Libya, Ex-Gitmo Detainees Vanish. Will Others Meet a Similar Fate?

Senegal deported two former Guantánamo detainees to Libya, raising fears of a broader collapse of Obama-era resettlement deals under President Trump. Obama bought into the storyline that Gitmo created more terrorist than it held.  I never bought and still do not.  It sounded like enemy propaganda to get more of their seasoned fighters back into the battle and this happened often enough to make the releases look like a mistake to most people.  It appears what Senegal did was put them back into the fight in a lawless Libya created by one of Obama and Clinton's bigger strategic blunders.

Heritage Foundation:
Despite the lack of media coverage, evidence of election fraud continues to mount.

This week, The Heritage Foundation added 26 new entries to its election fraud database, bringing the searchable ledger to a total of 1,132 proven instances of election fraud. That includes 983 cases that ended in a criminal conviction, 48 that led to civil penalties, 79 where defendants were enrolled in a diversion program, and 22 cases of official or judicial findings of fraud.

Americans should be alarmed. These entries represent irrefutable evidence that fraud has impacted elections in 47 states, and across all levels of government.

Worse still, they are probably just the tip of America’s election fraud iceberg. The Heritage database is not comprehensive, so the actual volume of vote fraud is likely far higher. Exactly how much higher is anybody’s guess.

Many states lack the robust procedures needed to detect and prevent fraud, and many prosecutors opt not to pursue election fraud cas…

Fox News:
Dr. Jordan Peterson warned of the danger of the "victimization narrative" that is being adopted by many on the far left.

Peterson pointed to the controversy surrounding conservative activist Candace Owens, who shut down a Black Lives Matter protest during a recent event at UCLA.

"Victim mentality is not cool. I don't know why people like being oppressed," Owens said. "'We're oppressed! Four-hundred years of slavery! Jim Crow!' Which, by the way, none of you guys lived through. Your grandparents did and it's embarrassing that you utilize their history. You're not living through anything right now. You're overly privileged Americans."

Owen's remarks went viral after hip hop superstar Kanye West tweeted, "I love the way Candace Owens thinks," creating a huge backlash against both.
...

On "Fox & Friends" on Monday, Peterson, a University of Toronto psychology professor and author, said it's &qu…

Daily Torch:
On Twitter on April 20, President Donald Trump has said if there’s an upside to the DNC lawsuit against the Trump campaign, Wikileaks and Russia, he said “we will now counter for the DNC Server that they refused to give to the FBI…”

But according to the DNC’s filing, the committee may have destroyed all the evidence of the alleged hack by Russia of the DNC emails: “As a result of the persistence of the Russian state-sponsored infiltration, in order to remove the unauthorized users from its network, the DNC was required to decommission more than 140 servers, remove and reinstall all software, including the operating systems, for more than 180 computers, and rebuild at least 11 servers.”

Which sounds familiar. Anyway, 18 U.S.C. 1519 states, for anyone who still cares, “Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigati…

Bloomberg/Fuel Fix:
Crude erased losses as escalating conflict in the Mideast region that's home to almost half the world's oil canceled out an earlier rout in commodity markets.

Futures popped above $68 a barrel in New York on Monday after sliding as much as 1.8 percent. Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launched unsuccessful missile attacks against Saudi Arabia while kingdom-led forces killed a senior leader of the rebel group. The flare-up countered a slump in everything from energy to metals after the U.S. softened its position on sanctions against Russian aluminum giant United Co. Rusal.

"It seems to be an escalation but Saudi Arabia has been very good at shooting these missiles down,"'said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago. "The concern for oil really comes at what happens if it hits?"

Oil has risen more than 5 percent this month amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. At the same time, OPEC's cuts h…

Victor Davis Hanson:
Washington’s self-righteous establishmentarians talk of professionalism when they act unprofessionally. They refer at length to their intellectual and professional pedigrees when they prove incompetent. And they cite their morality and ethics when they possess neither.

And then, adding insult to injury, when the public expresses abhorrence at their behavior, they accuse critics of unprofessionalism, a lack of patriotism, or reckless demagoguery.

A James Clapper can lie to Congress under oath about intelligence surveillance of U.S. citizens; a John Brennan can lie about CIA monitoring of U.S. Senate computers, or mislead Congress about the absence of any collateral damage in the use of drones. Yet we are supposed to give both further credence based on their emeriti titles or to believe their current Captain Renault-like outrage over President Trump’s lack of presidential decorum? But what in their past has earned them the moral high ground? Claiming that the Musl…

Washington Post:
Van plows into pedestrians in Toronto, injuring several. Police say the driver is in custody.

Authorities said it was unclear whether the driver had deliberately targeted the pedestrians. Whether it is unclear to the police, it looks like the driver who was described as Middle Eastern looking did an imitation of Islamic terrorist attacks that started in Israel and have been done in Europe and the UK.   They either steal or rent the heaviest trucks they can get their hands on and deliberate drive into pedestrians.  Ten of the people struck by the van driver died.

NY Times:

The Strategy for Some G.O.P. Candidates? Sound Like Trump

As the midterm elections approach, some Republican candidates are not only embracing President Trump’s policies but also his tone and catchphrases. I think Democrats are making it easy with their support for raising taxes and an open borders immigration policy.

Washington Times:
Tom Steyer is on a multimillion-dollar mission to impeach Donald Trump, but Democrats whose campaigns the California billionaire is helping bankroll aren’t keen to follow his lead.

Steyer, whose appeals you may have seen on TV, is spending $40 million on his “Need To Impeach” roadshow, with advertising and town halls around the country. But Democratic leaders in Congress and many candidates hoping to wrest House control from the Republicans shun the prospect of showy impeachment proceedings. Instead, they’re counting on pocketbook issues and a growing voter interest in checks on the GOP government in Washington.

The tightrope balance for Democrats underscores their dilemma. The question is how to maximize liberal anger against the president, who is under the cloud of a special counsel’s investigation, while not alienating Trump Country independents and moderate Republicans who are unhappy with him but often detest his critics even more.
...  Their problem is they lac…

The Hill:
RNC raises record $13.9 million in March

The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced Friday that it raised $13.9 million in March, setting an RNC record for that month during a non-presidential election year.

The RNC’s March haul, which was obtained first by The Hill, brings the committee’s first-quarter fundraising to $39 million and boosts its total fundraising for the 2018 cycle to $171.6 million.

The RNC ends March with $42.9 million cash on hand, with no debt reported.
...
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has yet to release its March fundraising numbers. The RNC has outpaced its Democratic counterpart for at least 11 consecutive months. The DNC ended February with just $10 million. While Democrats are said to have more enthusiasm in 2018, it is not reflected in party donations although they are doing well in a few individual races.

Some Republicans think that the Democrat suit against everyone over 2016 election is mainly a fundraising ploy.

The House Intelligence Committee finally got its hands on the "Electronic Communication" that was supposed to be the basis for opening the Trump investigation and found it contained no intelligence.   Devin Nunes thinks there was no justifiable basis for the investigation to start with.

Thomas Lifson:
I know, I know: California is supposed to be the bluest of blue states. But the law of unintended consequences is at work and there’s trouble in paradise for Democrats – even beyond the embarrassing fact that their absolute control over the state government seems to have produced the highest poverty rate in the nation. This isn’t just embarrassing; The Dems are worried that they could actually lose some races that matter. The New York Times baldly headlines: Fearing Chaos, National Democrats Plunge Into Midterm Primary Fights  The article covers more than California, but the Golden State is the main event. Here is the nub of the issue for Dems: …the state’s nonpartisan primaries present a unique hazard: State law requires all candidates to compete in the same preliminary election, with the top two finishers advancing to November. In a crowded field, if Democrats spread their votes across too many candidates, two Republicans could come out on top and advance together to the …

Daily Caller:
The Democratic National Committee’s lawsuit against the Trump campaign in relation to the 2016 election has caused some Democrats and their donors to say the strategy is wrong-headed.

The DNC filed their lawsuit Friday alleging Trump’s campaign, WikiLeaks, and the Russian government conspired together in the 2016 presidential election to make public DNC emails.

When asked by PBS’ Judy Woodruff why Democrats are filing the lawsuit, Chairman Perez responded, “We don’t know when Director Mueller will finish his investigation. And he should take all the time he needs to do a thorough job. We have to file within a statute of limitations. And so, if we sit and wait and wait, then we’re frankly committing legal malpractice.”

Prominent Democratic lawmakers, strategists, and donors, however, do not seem to be actively supporting the lawsuit. Two major Democratic donors told freelance reporter Yashar Ali they were not pleased with the move.
...

California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier…

William Jacobson:
What is known about the Fusion GPS role in stoking and implementing an attempted takedown of candidate and ultimately president Trump is one of the greatest political scandals in memory. But it’s a story that only partially has been told.

We now know that Russian-Collusion-mania had as its source-fuel Fusion GPS opposition research funded by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. The culmination of that effort was the so-called Steele dossier, which was used to obtain FISA court warrants to surveil Carter Page, and by extension, likely other members of the Trump campaign and transition team both in real time and historically.

What is less known, but almost certain, is how Fusion GPS pushed Russia conspiracy stories through its close relationship with reporters, and likely continues to do so. Fusion GPS not only was tight with reporters, it was tight with DOJ officials involved in pushing the Russia conspiracy narrative.

Manipulating the political pro…

NY Times:
Neo-Nazi Rally Draws About Two Dozen People and Upends a Small Georgia City

The rally, which was held outside of Atlanta, was monitored by more than 700 law enforcement officers from 42 agencies. Probably the only reason there was not a riot is the Antifa did not show up to start one.  I have no sympathy for Nazis neo or not.  I just think there has been a gross overreaction to fringe groups like this.  Perhaps the law enforcement effort was to prevent attacks.  At least they were not understaffed for that eventuality.

NY Times:
Cubans Doubt a Change at the Top Will Trickle Down
On the streets of Havana, the passing of power out of the hands of the Castro family was met with a collective sense of apathy. It is hard to imagine after decades of ruinous communist rule anyone would still have faith in such a disastrous economy model, but Cuba is not alone in that delusion.  Many in US academia hold that same view of a system that has failed everywhere it has been tried. 

At its heart communism is a system with few if any incentives to increase production other than negative ones.  It is like slavery in that regard. 

The result is increased poverty and a need for control freaks to manage "markets" that lead to the kind of disasters seen in Cuba and Venezuela.  Why any sentient human being could look at that and say that is what they want is a mystery.  It only works for a few corrupt individuals at the top.

NY Times:
Where Facebook Rumors Fuel a Thirst for Revenge
For months, Times reporters tracked riots and lynchings around the world linked to misinformation and hate speech on Facebook. None of these crimes appear to be stimulated by conservative posts on Facebook yet conservatives have born the brunt of Facebook censorship.  When Facebook "determines" that Diamond and Silk, two black Trump supporters are a danger to the community because of their support for the President, it suggests there are liberal snowflakes in charge of restricting the content.

It also reminds me of an odd response Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave when being questioned by Ted Cruz at a Senate hearing.  The question was whether Zuckerberg new whether his employees were liberal or conservative.  Zuckerberg said he did not. 

But if he did not know it had to be based on willful ignorance if those employees actual post material on Facebook like he does because Facebook actually labels users on a…