Thursday March 21st, 2024

"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

200K Migrant Cases Tossed After DHS Fails to File Paperwork

                                                        5,000 migrants set out on foot from Mexico's southern border, headed for  U.S. - Washington Times

Deportation cases were dropped against approximately 200,000 migrants because the Department of Homeland Security under President Joe Biden failed to file thousands of notices to appear before their court dates, leaving immigration courts no jurisdiction to handle deportation cases or rule on asylum claims, a new report says.

"These large numbers of dismissals and what then happens raises serious concerns," according to the document, released by the Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), the New York Post reported Wednesday night.

It was "troubling" there was an "almost total lack of transparency on where and why these DHS failures occurred," the nonpartisan research organization commented in the report.

"Equally troubling is the lack of solid information on what happened to these many immigrants when DHS never rectified its failure by reissuing and filing new NTAs to restart their court cases," it added.



Partnerships with tech companies aim to help U.S. secure elections

The U.S. intelligence community is ramping up work with technology companies ahead of the November elections as cybersecurity professionals search for new ways to combat foreign threats to the American electoral system that appeared unthinkable four years ago.

A raft of new artificial intelligence tools are fueling the changing threats to U.S. elections, and the intelligence community is finding partners to thwart foreign interference, The Washington Times has learned.

U.S. intelligence agencies are turning to cybersecurity companies like never before for help protecting various forms of infrastructure.



Study: 93 Percent of Palestinians Deny Oct. 7 Atrocities

                                                          A Palestinian man carries a child casualty at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Rafah

Ninety-three percent of Palestinians say they believe Hamas did not commit atrocities during its mass invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, and 72% support the attack, according to recent polling conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR).

The survey of 1,580 Palestinians in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria was conducted March 5-10. The margin of error is 3%.

Notably, among Palestinians who watched videos of the atrocities filmed by the perpetrators themselves, 81% still did not believe they were committed.

Only one in five Palestinians has seen such videos, according to the survey.

During the Oct. 7 invasion, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, thousands more wounded and 253 kidnapped to Gaza. Terrorists committed acts of mass rape, necrophilia, beheadings, torture, mutilation, desecration of corpses, and other atrocities.



Transit ‘theater’ fails to scare criminals; police presence gives riders only a sense of security


Police officers patrolling trains and National Guard soldiers inspecting bags are part of what analysts call a wave of crime-fighting “theater” on transit systems that critics predict will do little to stop criminals from preying on passengers.

A spate of deadly shootings on buses, stabbings outside subway stations and erratic vagrants shoving people onto busy train tracks have persuaded elected leaders along the East Coast to flood their public transit systems with extra security resources.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, ordered the National Guard to conduct random bag searches at subway fare gates in New York City to try to catch gun-toting crooks.



Ken Buck voted out of House Freedom Caucus


The House Freedom Caucus has booted Rep. Ken Buck from the arch-conservative group just days before he resigns from Congress.

Mr. Buck was informed of his HFC membership revocation, which members of the group said was due to his increasingly anti-Republican rhetoric and his early departure further eroding the GOP‘s razor-thin majority in the House.

The Colorado Republican is quitting Congress on Friday, an early retirement that he blamed on the dysfunction of the House Republican leadership.



Biden cancels student debt for public service workers

                                                         A tassel with 2023 on it rests on a graduation cap as students walk in a procession for Howard University's commencement in Washington, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

President Biden said Thursday he is canceling student debt for 78,000 teachers, firefighters and other public service workers under an existing law.

The move forgives nearly $6 million under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and is the president’s latest attempt to wipe out college debt after a marquee debt-forgiveness effort ran into legal and political roadblocks.

Mr. Biden will send an email to persons who benefit from the program.



DOJ sues Apple over iPhone monopoly in landmark antitrust case

                                                                                  History of the Apple Logo designed by ...

The Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday, saying its iPhone ecosystem is a monopoly that drove its "astronomical valuation" at the expense of consumers, developers and rival phone makers.

The lawsuit claims that Apple's anti-competitive practices extend beyond the iPhone and Apple Watch businesses, citing Apple's advertising, browser, FaceTime and news offerings.

"Each step in Apple's course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly," says the suit, filed by the DOJ and 16 attorneys general in New Jersey federal court.

Apple shares fell over 4% during trading on Thursday.

The Justice Department said in a release that to keep consumers buying iPhones, Apple moved to block cross-platform messaging apps, limited third-party wallet and smartwatch compatibility and disrupted non-App Store programs and cloud-streaming services.



Hypersonic missile fired from US bomber

                                                             B-52 crews from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota and Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, participating in hypersonic weapon familiarisation training at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on Feb 27

The US Air Force has conducted a full test of its prototype hypersonic missile, after months of delays and similar drills by Russia and China.

A B-52 bomber took off from the territory of Guam on Tuesday and launched the missile, known as the air-launched rapid response weapon (ARRW), on a missile testing site in the Marshall Islands.

The US air force (USAF) declined to comment on the details of the mission, but the test is thought to be the final drill in a years-long programme to develop the technology.

Hypersonic missiles have the capacity to travel at more than five times the speed of sound, and approach targets from a much lower angle, making them harder to detect by enemy warning systems.



CBO: Republican spending deal improved Uncle Sam’s fiscal outlook


The federal budget is headed for a world of pain in the coming decades, the Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday, but said things are looking a little better because of the spending cuts the GOP pressured President Biden into making last year.

CBO’s long-term outlook shows spending, already larger than usual, will grow even more, powered by the government’s expansive promises of health care for seniors and people with disabilities. Meanwhile, tax revenue will remain steady, at about the historical average.

The result is persistent deficits and debt that will reach record levels by the end of the decade and keep growing.



Congress unveils latest package, tops $1 trillion as funding deadline looms


The heads of the House and Senate appropriations committees dropped the last massive funding package of the current spending cycle Thursday, teeing up an end to the spending fight.

The $1.2 trillion package includes funding for six agencies: the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, State and Foreign Operations, Legislative Branch and Services, Financial Services and Labor. They constitute about 70% of Congress’ constitutionally obligated funding responsibilities.

Congress has until midnight Friday to pass the package to avert a partial government shutdown.



Republicans should not shy away from abortion issue


The Biden administration and Democrats are generally underwater in polling that has consistently shown voters are displeased with their performance on the economy, foreign policy and virtually everything else except one issue: abortion.

The president and Democrats up for reelection in Congress believe they can ride this single issue to victory in November. It is why Vice President Kamala Harris recently visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, becoming the first vice president to tour a site where abortions are performed.

Just as cities clear the streets of the homeless when heads of state arrive so as not to embarrass mayors and governors, Ms. Harris’ visit appeared to go no further than a photo-op in the clinic lobby. Behind her was a sign that appealed to “reproductive freedom.” Controlling the language (homeless people are now described in some quarters as the “unhoused”) often means one gets to control the debate and its outcome.



Not Your Grandpa's Democratic Party Anymore

Older voters need to open their eyes.

The Democratic Party has drastically moved to the left, even though they maintain the influence to hide that fact.

The core of elected Democrats, at local, state, and federal level have pushed so far to the left that it's hard to tell where Democratic stops, and Socialist/Communist begins.

Coincidentally, in the decades since President Ronald Reagan left office, Republicans have also moved towards the left.

Only conservatives have stood fast, or even moved a little to the right.


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