Posted on

So much for the lunatic charge that Trump is ‘in Putin’s pocket’

Die-hard Trump haters continue to maintain that the President of the United States is in thrall to, or maybe being blackmailed by Russia’s President Putin. As a corollary, they still push the notion that Russia will corrupt the 2020 presidential election, so that if and when Trump wins, they will deny him legitimacy.

The crashing and burning of the Mueller effort to prove this thesis means nothing to the deluded dead-enders. But the stupidity of this charge is refuted by the power play President Trump’s Secretary of Energy Rick Perry carried out over the holiday weekend. Via Reuters:

“We’re helping Poland to reduce its dependence on Russian gas,” U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told a news conference in Warsaw after meeting officials from Poland and Ukraine.

The Polish government official responsible for energy infrastructure, Piotr Naimski, said Poland, which has increased purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States in recent years, would be able to send six billion cubic meters of gas to Ukraine starting from 2021 compared to the current capability of 1.5 bcm.

“We will take every effort to diversify gas supplies to Ukraine, which is now completely dependent on Russian deliveries,” Naimski told the same conference.

Perry, Naimski and Ukraine’s Secretary of National Security Oleksandr Danylyuk signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance security of gas supplies in the region via LNG supplies from the U.S. through Poland’s and Ukraine’s infrastructure which still has to be expanded.

Russia’s domination of natural gas supply to Europe, with multiple pipelines running through Ukraine, has long been a strategic weapon.

Natural gas pipelines from Russia to Europe

Image credit: Samuel Bailey

The threat to let Europeans freeze to death during winter months has been exercised before, and remains active, as this article entitled “Ukraine Faces a Bleak Winter as Russia Prepares to Cut Off Gas” demonstrates.

The ability of the United States to check Putin’s energy weapon is the result of the fracking boom that President Trump has unleashed. Instead of President Obama’s claim that it is impossible “to drill our way out” of energy dependence, President Trump has embraced – and strategically exploited – the mushrooming energy production that the United States is experiencing.

So, pause for a minute and ask yourself which president was behaving as if he were in Putin’s pocket? The one who protected Putin’s energy weapon against Europe (and also enriched the faltering Russian economy that mainly depends on oil and gas exports)? Or the one that checkmated Putin’s energy weapon and impoverished his economy?

Die-hard Trump haters continue to maintain that the President of the United States is in thrall to, or maybe being blackmailed by Russia’s President Putin. As a corollary, they still push the notion that Russia will corrupt the 2020 presidential election, so that if and when Trump wins, they will deny him legitimacy.

The crashing and burning of the Mueller effort to prove this thesis means nothing to the deluded dead-enders. But the stupidity of this charge is refuted by the power play President Trump’s Secretary of Energy Rick Perry carried out over the holiday weekend. Via Reuters:

“We’re helping Poland to reduce its dependence on Russian gas,” U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told a news conference in Warsaw after meeting officials from Poland and Ukraine.

The Polish government official responsible for energy infrastructure, Piotr Naimski, said Poland, which has increased purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States in recent years, would be able to send six billion cubic meters of gas to Ukraine starting from 2021 compared to the current capability of 1.5 bcm.

“We will take every effort to diversify gas supplies to Ukraine, which is now completely dependent on Russian deliveries,” Naimski told the same conference.

Perry, Naimski and Ukraine’s Secretary of National Security Oleksandr Danylyuk signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance security of gas supplies in the region via LNG supplies from the U.S. through Poland’s and Ukraine’s infrastructure which still has to be expanded.

Russia’s domination of natural gas supply to Europe, with multiple pipelines running through Ukraine, has long been a strategic weapon.

Natural gas pipelines from Russia to Europe

Image credit: Samuel Bailey

The threat to let Europeans freeze to death during winter months has been exercised before, and remains active, as this article entitled “Ukraine Faces a Bleak Winter as Russia Prepares to Cut Off Gas” demonstrates.

The ability of the United States to check Putin’s energy weapon is the result of the fracking boom that President Trump has unleashed. Instead of President Obama’s claim that it is impossible “to drill our way out” of energy dependence, President Trump has embraced – and strategically exploited – the mushrooming energy production that the United States is experiencing.

So, pause for a minute and ask yourself which president was behaving as if he were in Putin’s pocket? The one who protected Putin’s energy weapon against Europe (and also enriched the faltering Russian economy that mainly depends on oil and gas exports)? Or the one that checkmated Putin’s energy weapon and impoverished his economy?

via American Thinker Blog

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/

Posted on

‘Devastated’ Vegan Takes Neighbor to Court over BBQ Smoke and Odor

A “devastated” Australian vegan has taken her neighbors to court alleging they deliberately waft barbecue smoke rich in meat and fish smells across their shared boundary fence and into her property.

She also cited the smell of cigarettes and the sound of children playing with basketballs as adding to her profound discomfort.

The woman from Perth, Western Australia, said the amenity of her backyard has been destroyed because her meat eating neighbors on either side deliberately allow their cookout smells to waft into her yard.

“They’ve put it there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish … I can’t go out there,” complainant Carden Carden told local outlet Nine News.

The massage therapist has been embroiled in her battle since late 2018.

After her claims were rejected by a tribunal on lack of evidence, she applied to the Supreme Court of Western Australia for right of appeal. It was also turned down in July.

Lawyer John Hammond said going to a higher court was an “extreme option” — but it hadn’t stopped Carden from seeking further legal relief and redress.

She told Nine News she believed her neighbors were “absolutely deliberate” in allowing their smells to cross into her yard. She highlighted the smell of cigarettes and the sound of children playing with basketballs as adding to her distress.

“It’s been devastating, it’s been turmoil, it’s been unrest, I haven’t been able to sleep,” Carden said.

This is not the first time a vegan has claimed to be victimised by a neighbor’s barbecue smoke.

As Breitbart News reported, in 2015 a Pinellas County, Florida, environmental specialist was recorded in a video telling a resident that it was illegal for the smoke from his home barbecue to leave his property. He offered no evidence to back the legal side of his argument.

A video released at the time shows Pinellas County environmental specialist Joe Graham issuing a warning to resident Scotty Jordan, saying he can be cited for allowing the smoke and odor of his cookouts to leave his property. The video has been viewed on Jordan’s Facebook page over 4 million times.

Pinellas County authorities insist Jordan could have violated air quality rules, although on the video, one of Jordan’s friends can be heard offering a simpler explanation, “We can’t control the wind, God does that.”

Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com

via Breitbart News

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.breitbart.com

Posted on

Ted Cruz Accepts Alyssa Milano’s Challenge to Debate Gun Violence

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accepted a challenge from actress Alyssa Milano to debate gun rights and the Constitution following the left-wing activist’s request to expose his “bullshit” to the American people.

“I’d be happy to sit down & visit next week about uniting to stop gun violence & about the Constitution. If we can have a civil & positive conversation—in the spirit of 1 Peter 4:8 as you suggest—despite our political differences, that might help resolve the discord in our Nation,” Cruz said Monday evening responding to Alyssa Milano.

Cruz’s acceptance follows a tense exchange between the Texas senator and the left-wing actress, who prompted the conversation after snarkily asking Christians to “cite which passage of the Bible God states it is a god-given right to own a gun.”

Cruz chose to address Milano’s question from every angle, using scripture, the founding documents, and real-life examples in defense of the liberty that upholds the Second Amendment.

“An excellent Q, worth considering carefully w/o the snark of Twitter. It is of course not the right to a modern-day firearm that is God-give but rather the right to Life & the right to Liberty. Essential to that right to life is the right to DEFEND your life & your family,” Cruz began.

He continued:

Stephen Willeford exercised that fundamental right when he risked his own life to stop the Sutherland Springs murderer, saving countless others as a result. St. George Tucker, one of the most important scholars in early America, explained the reasons behind the Second Amendment as follows: “This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty. The right of self defence is the first law of nature….”…in most govts it has been the study of rulers to confine this right w/in the narrowest limits possible. Wherever…the right…to keep & bear arms is, under any…pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. That’s also why, post Civil War, disarming Black Americans was a critical objective of the KKK, and was memorialized in countless Jim Crow laws—to strip African-Americans of their God-given right to self-defense from violence.

Cruz ended his thread, discouraging Alyssa Milano and her ideological allies from “playing politics” and using these crimes to “as an excuse to violate the constl [constitutional] rights of law-abiding citizens”:

Milano did not immediately respond to the individual points Cruz made in the thread, dismissing his response and instead requesting a live-streamed meeting so she can expose his “bullshit” to the American people. She also cited 1 Peter 4:8 – “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” – and posted a graphic, showing Cruz’s support from pro-gun groups:

Alyssa Milano has yet to respond to Cruz’s latest tweet.

Cruz has also been under fire from the mayor of Chicago after tweeting a Breitbart News article, detailing the violence that unfolded in the Democrat-controlled Windy City over Labor Day weekend.

“Gun control doesn’t work. Look at Chicago. Disarming law-abiding citizens isn’t the answer,” Cruz tweeted. “Stopping violent criminals—prosecuting & getting them off the street—BEFORE they commit more violent crimes is the most effective way to reduce murder rates. Let’s protect our citizens”:

Mayor Lori Lightfoot took issue with Cruz’s tweet and attempted to blame the mass violence in her city on nearby Republican states.

“60% of illegal firearms recovered in Chicago come from outside IL—mostly from states dominated by coward Republicans like you who refuse to enact commonsense gun legislation,” she wrote. “Keep our name out of your mouth”:

via Breitbart News

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.breitbart.com

Posted on

Soros Spends Nearly $9 Million Lobbying, Now Targets Guns

Liberal billionaire George Soros’s advocacy organizations are lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill to repeal an act protecting firearms manufacturers from liability for gun crimes including murder, disclosure forms show.

The Open Society Policy Center is Soros’s D.C.-based 501(c)4 nonprofit that works on domestic and international advocacy and is affiliated with the much larger Open Society Foundations. The center has poured nearly $9 million into lobbying a range of issues so far this year.

Soros’s group reported spending $2.6 million on lobbying throughout the first quarter, covering international, military, and appropriations issues. In addition, the center moved into gun control advocacy and reported lobbying on "issues related to a bill to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act."

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was passed as a bulwark against frivolous lawsuits attempting to hold gun companies responsible for criminal acts committed by third parties—sometimes decades after the first legal sale of the firearm.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry’s trade group, pushed to pass the bill in 2005. The group said the legal protections are necessary to keep gun control activists from bankrupting the industry through suits they believe have no legal standing.

"The National Shooting Sports Foundation worked with Congress to get the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act passed with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by President George W. Bush," Mark Oliva, a spokesman for the group, told the Washington Free Beacon. "This law correctly protects the firearms industry against frivolous lawsuits that seek claims against manufacturers for the criminal misuse of a firearm. Those who commit crimes with a firearm are the ones who bear the responsibility for the horrific effects of their actions. The PLCAA ensures this is the case."

The PLCAA does not shield the firearms industry from traditional liability. Firearms companies can be sued for making or selling defective products. Remington recently settled a class-action suit related to defective triggers in their 700 bolt-action rifle.

Instead, the PLCAA protects gun companies from being held liable "for the harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products or ammunition products by others when the product functioned as designed and intended."

Oliva compared holding gun companies liable for crimes committed with guns to holding car companies liable for drunk drivers.

"Seeking redress against a firearms manufacturer instead of the criminal is no different than a drunk-driving victim holding Ford responsible for that crime," he told the Free Beacon.

Soros’s center reported $5.92 million in expenditures throughout the second quarter, which included lobbying the House of Representatives and Senate for the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act.

The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act was introduced in the House by Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) and seeks to "repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, and provide for the discoverability and admissibility of gun trace information in civil proceedings."

Schiff previously appeared at a secretive gathering of Democracy Alliance, the left’s largest donor club cofounded by Soros, in D.C. last November. He gave the group a closed-door briefing, the Free Beacon reported. The president of Democracy Alliance, Gara LaMarche, was previously the director of Soros’s lobbying outfit and now sits on its board of directors.

The Senate version of Schiff’s bill was introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), also to "repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act."

Soros has drastically ramped up his lobbying efforts since Donald Trump took office. The financier broke his yearly lobbying record within the first three quarters of 2018 and pushed a total of $31,520,000 into advocacy efforts that year. Gun control has become a higher priority for Soros-funded groups in recent months.

"The Open Society Foundations supported several groups working to reform gun laws in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, but this issue has not been a major area of emphasis for the foundations in the past because other organizations have been and are focused on this effort," said Jonathan Kaplan, the communications officer for the Open Society Policy Center. "In the past few months, we have held discussions with Congressional staff about the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act."

The policy center, which this year has utilized two lobbyists, does not have any direct employees. Instead individuals from the Open Society Institute, the legal name for the Open Society Foundations, perform services for the center, according to its most recent tax forms.

Update: This post has been updated to reflect that Soros’s nonprofit has spent $9 million lobbying on a range of issues this year.

The post Soros Spends Nearly $9 Million Lobbying, Now Targets Guns appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

via Washington Free Beacon

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://freebeacon.com

Posted on

Sidney Powell: My Goal as Attorney For General Michael Flynn From Everything I’ve Seen Is “Complete Exoneration” (VIDEO)

In June General Mike Flynn hired well-known defense attorney Sidney Powell to represent him after abruptly firing his lawyers.

Jack Posobiec reported:

In an earlier interview with The Epoch Times Sidney Powell blasted the appalling two-tiered judicial system in the United States today where General Michael Flynn can get set up and prosecuted by deep state operatives while Peter Strzok can leak and lie and get off scot free.

President Trump praised General Flynn for retaining Attorney Sidney Powell.

In a court filing on Friday Attorney Sidney Powell revealed two very disturbing developments in the Flynn case.

According to Sundance at Conservative Treehouse:

In a filing today (full pdf below) Flynn’s defense lawyer, Sidney Powell, notes two significant issues: (1) Ms. Powell is being denied a security clearance she needs to review all of the documents in the case; and (2) the DOJ is refusing to provide the original FBI notes from their interview of Michael Flynn on January 24th, 2017.

(Source – Page #2 pdf link)

(source – Page #3 pdf link)

This is absolutely outrageous behavior.

On Friday night Sidney Powell went on with Gregg Jarrett on Lou Dobbs Tonight to discuss the recent developments in the case against General Mike Flynn.

From the interview:

Gregg Jarrett: Are you considering withdrawing the guilty plea?

Sidney Powell: That is not what I want to see happen here. I am expecting frankly that we find evidence that warrants dismissal of the case for egregious government misconduct. But like I said we want to know the truth. That’s what I want to know first and I can’t even evaluate the validity of the plea until I have all the evidence.

Gregg Jarrett: In other words, you want to lay out all the evidence and then a judge on his own saying, “Prosecutors on the Special Counsel team you are unconscionable, you are unprincipled, you violated the Brady rules, and because of your egregious misconduct I’m dismissing the case against Flynn. Would that be the optimal result?

Sidney Powell: That would be the optimal result. The man, I believe, from everything I’ve seen now should be completely exonerated.

Sidney Powell is all about business.

Let’s pray General Michael Flynn is given justice and exonerated of all charges against him in the attempted coup of President Donald Trump.

Via Lou Dobbs Tonight:

The post Sidney Powell: My Goal as Attorney For General Michael Flynn From Everything I’ve Seen Is “Complete Exoneration” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

via The Gateway Pundit

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com

Posted on

TV Stations Across America To Bring Back National Anthem

It’s about time this tradition came back. Patriotism wasn’t controversial yesteryear. American was good. Communism was bad. The Bible was true. People worked hard. Marriages stayed together. Kids got spanked. Life was good. And it’s not like life is bad now. By every conceivable measure, we are materially better off (even if our souls appear to…

The post TV Stations Across America To Bring Back National Anthem appeared first on The Western Journal.

via The Western Journal

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.westernjournal.com

Posted on

‘Will & Grace’ Star Refuses To Work With Trump Supporters

Further adding to the fairly proven existence of a Hollywood blacklist against conservatives, "Will & Grace" actor Eric McCormack said he refuses to work with Trump supporters, which should come as little shock to anyone, considering that his show has consistently portrayed Trump supporters as hat

via Daily Wire

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.dailywire.com/rss.xml

Posted on

Ilhan Omar Defends Notorious Somali Terror Group on Twitter

Rep. Ilhan Omar publicly tweeted support for a group who is known to finance terrorism earlier this week.

The tweet went largely unnoticed until the Times of Israel picked up on it.

According to the Times of Israel report, Hormuud Telecom Somalia Inc. is a private Somalian telecommunications company founded by Ahmed Nur Ali Jimale in April of 2002.

“Ali Ahmed Nur Jim’ale (Jim’ale) has served in leadership roles with the former Somali Council of Islamic Courts, also known as the Somali Islamic Courts Union, which was a radical-Islamist element. The most radical elements of the Somali Islamic Courts Union eventually formed the group known as al-Shabaab,” The United Nations Security Council’s Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Somalia reads. “Al-Shabaab was listed for targeted sanctions in April 2010 by the United Nations Security Council committee established pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 concerning Somalia and Eritrea (the ‘Somalia/Eritrea Sanctions Committee’).”

“Hormuud Telecommunications has provided key material and logistical support to al-Shabaab to include weapons, private fighters, and ammunition.”

On 14 October 2017, according to a 2018 UN Security Council Report, a large vehicle-borne improvised explosive device exploded killing as many as 582 people. It was the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history.

“Two employees of the principal Somali telecommunications provider, Hormuud Telecom Somalia Inc., were also prosecuted in connection with the attack, for facilitating the entry of the large vehicle-borne improvised explosive device through the Sinka Dheere checkpoint on the outskirts of Mogadishu.” the report says.

The post Ilhan Omar Defends Notorious Somali Terror Group on Twitter appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

via The Gateway Pundit

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com

Posted on

Lana Del Rey: ‘I’m Really Not More of a Liberal Than I Am a Republican’

Pop star Lana Del Rey responded to questions surrounding her personal political leanings in an interview with the New York Times and said that she is “really not more of a liberal than I am a Republican.”

The “Summertime Sadness” star dropped her fifth album Norman Fucking Rockwell! Friday and spoke to the New York Times about one of her more controversial lyrics in “The Greatest” — “Kanye West is blond and gone” – in the interview published Wednesday.

The Times mentioned the singer’s past decision to call out West’s support of President Trump and asked, “Have you heard anything in response?”

“I don’t want to elicit a response,” Del Rey said.

“You never feel better for having written something like that. But Kanye just means so much to us. And by the way, I’m grateful to be in a country where everyone can have their own political views,” she said before admitting that she does “not necessarily identify as a liberal.”

“I’m really not more of a liberal than I am a Republican — I’m in the middle,” the singer explained. “But it was more like the mood and the vibe around, Yo, this man is the greatest! Really? The greatest? It hurt me. Did I have to say anything? No. But it’s more just a line that represents a lot of things.”

Del Rey made waves earlier this month after dropping partial lyrics of her song “Looking for America” as a response to the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

“Now I know I’m not a politician and I’m not trying to be so excuse me for having an opinion — but in light of all of the mass shootings and the back to back shootings in the last couple of days which really affected me on a cellular level I just wanted to post this video,” she wrote to her nearly 14 million followers on Instagram.

The lyrics read in part, “I’m still looking for my own version of America/ One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly/ No bombs in the sky/ Only fireworks when you and I collide/ It’s just a dream I had in mind.”

The Grammy nominee actively wondered if it “is it the end of an era? Is it the end of America?” in her 2017 album Lust for Life.

via Breitbart News

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.breitbart.com