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TODAY
Friday June 2nd, 2023

"It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
--Geoff Metcalf
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World & Nation

Senate Approves Debt Ceiling Deal, Sending It to Biden


Fending off a U.S. default, the Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, grinding into the night to wrap up work on the bipartisan deal and send it to President Joe Biden's desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline.

The compromise package negotiated between Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy leaves neither Republicans nor Democrats fully pleased with the outcome. But the result, after weeks of hard-fought budget negotiations, shelves the volatile debt ceiling issue that risked upending the U.S. and global economy until 2025 after the next presidential election.

Approval in the Senate on a bipartisan vote, 63-36, somewhat reflected the overwhelming House tally the day before, relying on centrists in both parties to pull the Biden-McCarthy package to passage — though Democrats led the tally in both chambers.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of voting that the bill's passage means “America can breathe a sigh of relief.”


North Korea targets U.S. intel figures on a secret cyber hit list

                                     In this Monday, May 15, 2017, photo, employees watch an electronic board to monitor possible ransomware cyberattacks at the Korea Internet and Security Agency in Seoul, South Korea. (Yun Dong-jin/Yonhap via AP) **FILE**

Details of a secret North Korean cyber hit list are spreading in Washington, with a widening slate of high-level former and current U.S. intelligence officials, media executives and national security scholars finding themselves in the hackers’ crosshairs.

The Biden administration is scrambling to respond.

The FBI, the National Security Agency and the State Department are preparing a new cyber strategy to specifically counter what officials describe as a sophisticated North Korean “spear phishing” threat. The administration remains tight-lipped about the effort, although sources familiar with it say the strategy will be made public over the coming days.



DHS says nurse refused family’s requests for medical treatment; 8-year-old migrant died

                                          The Border Patrol station July 11, 2014, in Harlingen, Texas. U.S. immigration officials say an 8-year-old girl who died last week in Border Patrol custody was seen at least three separate times by medical personnel on the day of her death. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Sunday, May 21, 2023, the girl had complained of vomiting and a stomachache before later suffering what appeared to be a seizure. On May 17, the girl and her mother went to the Harlingen Border Patrol Station’s medical unit at least three times, CBP said. (David Pike/Valley Morning Star via AP)

Homeland Security is blaming contract medical personnel for bungling the handling of an 8-year-old migrant girl who died in Border Patrol custody last month.

The department said a nurse practitioner rejected repeated requests from the girl’s family that she be taken to a hospital.

Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, revealed Thursday that the family was seen at least nine times by CBP’s contract medical team as the girl complained of fever, flu-like symptoms and pain.

She was prescribed some medications and was given ice packs and a cold shower to bring down the fever, which peaked at 104.9 degrees.

But despite her condition and her mother’s entreaties, “contracted medical personnel did not transfer her to a hospital for higher-level care,” CBP said in a statement.

The death of the girl, whom The Associated Press identified as Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, has sparked intense soul-searching and the investigation has already revealed troubling details.



Unearthed Hunter Biden emails with Obama White House slammed by GOP: 'Worse than Watergate'

                                           Rep. James Comer. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Unearthed emails between Hunter Biden and his business partners with the Obama White House may ramp up the House GOP's "influence peddling" investigations into the Biden family, lawmakers say.

The heavily redacted trove of emails, released Wednesday by the conservative nonprofit group America First Legal, come as President Joe Biden has often denied knowledge of Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings. Records, for instance, indicate Hunter Biden's longtime business partner at the since-dissolved investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, Eric Schwerin, emailed Joe Biden's top aides to see if an associate could attend a State Department lunch in 2010 with Chinese government officials.

"The Biden Department of Justice is scrambling to cover up the depth of the Biden family’s corruption because of the vast network of Democrat bureaucrats involved in their scheme," Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), ex-chairman of the Republican Study Committee, told the Washington Examiner. "This is a scandal far worse than Watergate, and they must be held accountable."

Congressional Republicans, particularly on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, have been bolstering new pathways to investigate the Biden family's finances. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the committee's chairman, said Thursday on Fox News he is drafting legislation to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress in connection to his outstanding subpoena in May for records purportedly detailing "a bribery scheme involving a foreign national and Joe Biden when he served as vice president."



White House Official Left Speechless


                                                 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was at a loss for words when he was asked by a reporter if President Joe Biden is "corrupt."

"There have been many developments in the House investigations into the first family's international business dealings recently," New York Post reporter Steven Nelson said during a White House press briefing, where he referred to the Republican-led House Oversight Committee's ongoing investigation into the Biden family.

Nelson spoke about how the committee is trying to get an FBI document that may have “an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions," Politico reported, in addition to pointing out how the potential material came from a "highly credible whistleblower."

"Wow," Kirby said before pausing and thinking about what to say next.



U.S. halts Russian arms inspections, data exchange on missile launches

Countermeasures announced in response to Moscow's suspension of New START treaty
                                             In this file photo taken from a video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, on Dec. 9, 2020, a rocket launches from missile system as part of a ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile test launched from the Plesetsk facility in northwestern Russia. The United States and Russia have stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data under the faltering New START arms control treaty. U.S. officials say they had offered to continue to provide such information to Russia even after President Vladimir Putin suspended Russia's participation in the treaty, but that Moscow had declined to share its own data. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) **FILE**

Russian arms inspections under the New START arms accord were halted by the Biden administration Thursday in response to Moscow‘s suspension of the treaty, the State Department said.

The countermeasures to the Russian suspension of the treaty were outlined in a department fact sheet that asserted that the steps are reversible and that the government is committed to mutual implementation of the treaty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in February that his government is ending adherence to the provisions of the 2010 treaty that limited both the U.S. and Russia to 1,550 deployed warheads.

Moscow was notified of the action earlier.



Biden Trips, Falls During Air Force Graduation Ceremony


President Joe Biden tripped and fell after handing out the last diploma at a graduation ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Thursday.
The White House said he was "fine" after tripping over a sandbag.

Biden had been greeting the graduates in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the front of the stage with salutes and handshakes, and turned to jog back toward his seat when he fell. He was helped up by an Air Force officer as well as two members of his U.S. Secret Service detail.

Onlookers, including some members of the official delegation on stage, watched in concern before Biden, who at age 80 is the oldest president in U.S. history, returned to his seat to view the end of the ceremony.




US: Tanks, F-16 Jets Won't Be Ready for New Ukraine Offensive


Training for Ukrainian forces on advanced U.S. Abrams tanks has begun, and while those systems will not be ready in time for the imminent counteroffensive, those weapons will be critical in the longer-term to Ukraine ultimately pushing Russia out of its occupied territories, Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley said.

Tank training began as the U.S. and allies began to work out agreements to train Ukrainians on F-16 fighter jets — another long-wished-for advanced capability. Ultimately, while the tanks are needed to expel Russian forces from Ukrainian territory, the F-16s would be part of a longer-term security plan to deter future attacks, Milley said Thursday.

Milley said detailed planning on class sizes, the types of flying tactics and locations for training was underway now between the U.S. and allies such as the Netherlands and the U.K. that have already pledged to provide F-16s. The U.S. has not said yet whether or not it will provide jets, but President Joe Biden has said the U.S. will support F-16 training.


Trump, DeSantis in open warfare as they hit the trail in early states


Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Thursday with a torrent of attacks on Ron DeSantis, mocking his rival’s repeated reminders that he can serve two terms to Trump’s one; belittling DeSantis’s alternating pronunciations of his own last name; and criticizing use of the word “woke,” a cornerstone of DeSantis’s stump speeches.

Supporters of former president Donald Trump wait for his arrival at the Machine Shed restaurant in Urbandale, Iowa, on June 1. © Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Supporters of former president Donald Trump wait for his arrival at the Machine Shed restaurant in Urbandale, Iowa, on June 1.

DeSantis renewed his sharpened criticism of Trump, accusing the former president of being “petty” and dismissing Trump’s vow to turn the country around within six months of taking office. “Anyone who says they can slay the deep state in six months should be asked, ‘Why didn’t you do that when you had four years?’” he said in New Hampshire, a reflection of his more hostile stance toward Trump since kicking off his campaign earlier this week.



Comer launches probe into FTC chair over allegations of abuse made by former commissioner


The House Oversight and Accountability Committee launched an investigation Thursday into the conduct of Lina Khan as chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission.

Commissioner Christine Wilson recently resigned from the panel after concerns about the integrity of the FTC under Ms. Khan’s leadership, citing abuses of power and disregard for the rule of law and federal ethics standards.

In a letter to senior officials at the FTC, Sen. James Comer, Kentucky Republican and the panel chairman, requested documents and communications to review these accusations and whether and how Ms. Khan might be implicated.



Thankfully, SCOTUS Still Sees Our Homes as Castles


Last week we saw a huge win at the U.S. Supreme Court for property owners — especially elderly property owners.

And it was a clean sweep — all nine justices agreed.

It centered on a dispute over a Minnesota condominium owned by Geraldine Tyler, a 94-year-old grandmother, who fell behind on her property taxes.

The county sold the unit for $40,000, paid off her outstanding tax lien and then pocketed the $25,000 excess.

And Tyler’s case isn’t even the most egregious example, according to Billy Binion, Reason associate editor..



America must never become a socialist country

Unfortunately, that's exactly where the left wants

America: Freedom & Opportunity for All. Put an American flag on a T-shirt with this slogan, and you have apparel you can wear any month of the year. It is what brings the nation together.

Ironically, today it’s those on the left who seem to be working against unity in our country. They talk about tolerance yet disrespect anyone who does not fall in lockstep with their radical views.

Instead of arguing the merits of their ideas, Marxists attempt to destroy their opposition through character assassination. They do not have a defense for the fact that communism and socialism have failed throughout the history of the world. Even the Danish prime minister acknowledges that Denmark has a market-based economy, not a socialist one. Remove the incentive for people to work or invest, and you remove the ability to prosper outside of a system rigged for the powerful elites.


" It is discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."
-- Noel Coward
     (1899-1973) British playwright

Medal of Honor
                                                                                                                             See the source image
THOMAS JEROME HUDNER JR.

RANK: LIEUTENANT, J.G.
CONFLICT/ERA: KOREAN WAR

MILITARY SERVICE BRANCH: U.S. NAVY
MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION DATE: DECEMBER 4, 1950

MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION PLACE: CHOSIN RESERVOIR, KOREA
CITATION

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a pilot in Fighter Squadron 32, while attempting to rescue a squadron mate whose plane, struck by antiaircraft fire and trailing smoke, was forced down behind enemy lines. Quickly maneuvering to circle the downed pilot and protect him from enemy troops infesting the area, Lt. (j.g.) Hudner risked his life to save the injured flier who was trapped alive in the burning wreckage. Fully aware of the extreme danger in landing on the rough mountainous terrain, and the scant hope of escape or survival in subzero temperature, he put his plane down skillfully in a deliberate wheels-up landing in the presence of enemy troops. With his bare hands, he packed the fuselage with snow to keep the flames away from the pilot and struggled to pull him free. Unsuccessful in this he returned to his crashed aircraft and radioed other airborne planes, requesting that a helicopter be dispatched with an ax and fire extinguisher. He then remained on the spot despite the continuing danger from enemy action and, with the assistance of the rescue pilot, renewed a desperate but unavailing battle against time, cold, and flames. Lt. (j.g.) Hudner's exceptionally valiant action and selfless devotion to a shipmate sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.


From the Archive....

            TO KILL OR FEED A MOCKINGBIRD

                 By Geoff Metcalf
                 July 29, 2002

            Two mutually exclusive and under reported stories have been troubling me.

               *   The apparent penchant for political operatives to leak classified information that jeopardizes national security.
               *   The generational control of information dissemination by powerful controllers.

            So we have another ‘Catch-22’.

            The complicity of the mainstream media to spin, cover, and obfuscate government abuse of power under the color of authority was not unique to the Clinton administration.  It may have been more ubiquitous, and at times even clumsy, but it was not unique.

            It has been reported that in June 1991 David Rockefeller allegedly told a Bilderberg meeting in Baden Baden German, "We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years." He went on to explain: "It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supernational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practiced in past centuries."

            Some argue that quote is apocryphal urban legend.  However, although I have never been able to find three corroborating independent sources for it, it IS consistent in content and tone with other Bilderberg quotes I HAVE been able to confirm.

            “If we had been subjected to the light of publicity….” Indicates the one world, globalist, wannabe controllers were/are successful in managing the message.

            Operation ‘Mockingbird’ was a program supposedly conceived by a brilliant Machiavellian State Department official, Frank Wisner.  Wisner selected Philip Graham, then publisher of the Washington Post to manage the program.  According to Deborah Davis, author of ‘Katharine the Great’, "By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned' respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles, plus stringers, four to six hundred in all, according to a former CIA analyst."

            Over twenty five major newspapers and wire services became willing house organs for the CIA media manipulation.

            Investigators digging into MOCKINGBIRD have been flabbergasted to discover FOIA documents in which agents boast (in CIA office memos) of  pride in having placed "important assets" inside every major news publication in the country.

            I know, this is the stuff of Ludlum novels conspiracy wackos, but not until 1982 did the ‘Company’ finally concede that reporters on the CIA payroll have been case officers to field agents.

            I have too often observed, “Some people don’t like to be confused with facts that contradict their preconceived opinions.”  I have also noted (and struggle to maintain) “It is not WHO is right or wrong…but WHAT is right or wrong.”

            Anyone with almost ‘any’ military experience has no doubt seen the once ubiquitous posters cautioning “Loose Lips Sink Ships”.  It is a left over phrase from WWII and among “lessons learned”.

            In the complex world of intelligence loose lips can and have cost lives.

            Once upon a time, not so long ago, Senator Patrick Leahy (currently the Senate Judiciary committee’s lead obstructionist) used to be the Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the mid 80s.  Leahy allegedly ‘inadvertently’ exposed a top-secret intercept of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak that led to the capture of the Achille Lauro terrorists.  That supposed slip of the tongue “cost the life of at least one Egyptian operative.” http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=2001/1/31/85757

            Loose Lip Leahy was forced to resign in disgrace 14 years ago in the wake of having to acknowledge he leaked secret intelligence to the press.   However today he lords his power over the Senate Judiciary committee.  Congress’ institutional memory must be as short as some of Jennifer Flowers former paramours.

            In our contemporary environment in which whistleblowers have become in many cases heroes it is important to make the distinctions between the appropriateness of corporate and political whistleblowers and the idiot or miscreant who leaks information with genuine national security implications.

            Currently the FBI is investigating national security leaks from specifically the House and Senate Select Intelligence committees.  This is serious stuff.

            Defenders of the indefensible will argue it is a political witch-hunt by politicians in a heavy C.Y.A. mode.  That is not true but a convenient political spin job.

            Sure it is true the white house is p.o.-ed over media reports that the National Security Agency had received but not acted on two early warning messages to 9/11.  Dick Cheney reportedly went ballistic and ripped congressional leaders.  Both House and Senate Select Intelligence committees asked the Attorney General to conduct an investigation (and no doubt quietly prayed it would be botched).

            Justice said in a statement, “…the appropriate department officials will expeditiously review this matter and take any appropriate action.”  Not if congress has anything to say about it.  Don’t expect anything fast.  Remember Leahy resigned in disgrace 14 years ago and today has the chutzpah to pontificate ad nauseum to the Judiciary committee and stall any and all Bush judicial appointments.

            More on Operation Mockingbird http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/

            MOCK/mockingbird.html 

            http://www.grandconspiracy.com/library.html#operation

            © 2002 Geoff Metcalf - All Rights Reserved

            Geoff is a veteran media performer. He has had an eclectic professional background covering a wide spectrum of radio, television, magazine, and newspapers.  A former Green Beret and retired Army officer he is in great demand as a speaker. Metcalf has hosted his radio talk show on the ABC/Disney owned and operated KSFO and in worldwide syndication. www.geoffmetcalf.com


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