What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread
1. Hillary’s Jedi mind trick. These are not the emails you’re looking for………
Which means they are.
From TheDailyCaller “Sidney Blumenthal emailed Hillary Clinton at least two intelligence reports about Libya which were not included in the trove of 296 emails released by the State Department on Friday.
Clinton has claimed that in December she turned over all official government emails she sent or received from her personal account while in office. In turn, the agency has claimed it turned all Clinton emails related to Libya or Benghazi over to the House Select Committee investigating the Benghazi attack.
But a screenshot of Blumenthal’s email inbox, which the Romanian hacker Guccifer published in March 2013, shows two reports about Libya emailed to Clinton which were not released in Friday’s batch.”
“The State Department release — which was published on the agency’s Freedom of Information Act portal — does not include those two reports. It does, however, include some 20 other intelligence reports Blumenthal sent Clinton about Libya and Benghazi between March 2, 2011. and Dec. 18, 2012.
The discrepancy suggests that the system that Clinton and the State Department have in place to account for her emails failed in some regard. It also raises questions over whether other emails are unaccounted for.”
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2. This is why activities like this should be illegal for current office holders/appointees. Even if it’s all legit, it now appears questionable.
From InternationalBusinessTimes “Even by the standards of arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia, this one was enormous. A consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing would deliver $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets to the United States’ oil-rich ally in the Middle East.”
“But now, in late 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State Department was formally clearing the sale, asserting that it was in the national interest. At a press conference in Washington to announce the department’s approval, an assistant secretary of state, Andrew Shapiro, declared that the deal had been “a top priority” for Clinton personally. Shapiro, a longtime aide to Clinton since her Senate days, added that the “U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army have excellent relationships in Saudi Arabia.”
These were not the only relationships bridging leaders of the two nations. In the years before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, the philanthropic enterprise she has overseen with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Just two months before the deal was finalized, Boeing — the defense contractor that manufactures one of the fighter jets the Saudis were especially keen to acquire, the F-15 — contributed$900,000 to the Clinton Foundation, according to a company press release.
The Saudi deal was one of dozens of arms sales approved by Hillary Clinton’s State Department that placed weapons in the hands of governments that had also donated money to the Clinton family philanthropic empire, an International Business Times investigation has found.
Under Clinton’s leadership, the State Department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to 20 nations whose governments have given money to the Clinton Foundation, according to an IBTimes analysis of State Department and foundation data. That figure — derived from the three full fiscal years of Clinton’s term as Secretary of State (from October 2010 to September 2012) — represented nearly double the value of American arms sales made to the those countries and approved by the State Department during the same period of President George W. Bush’s second term.
The Clinton-led State Department also authorized $151 billion of separate Pentagon-brokered deals for 16 of the countries that donated to the Clinton Foundation, resulting in a 143 percent increase incompleted sales to those nations over the same time frame during the Bush administration. These extra sales were part of a broad increase in American military exports that accompanied Obama’s arrival in the White House.”
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3. Sure Barry, it’s the 3 judges in 2 courts who are “misinterpreting” the law. It couldn’t possibly be the “constitutional scholar” who always seems to be wrong. 🙄
From Breitbart “The White House reacted to the news that the Fifth Circuit court of appeals denied an appeal from the Obama administration to lift a stay on his executive amnesty plan, accusing two judges in the decision of interpreting the law incorrectly.
“Today, two judges of the Fifth Circuit chose to misinterpret the facts and the law in denying the government’s request for a stay,” White House spokesperson Brandi Hoffine said in a statement to Breitbart News.
The court ruled against Obama administrations appeal with a 2-1 vote.
In response Hoffine cited the dissent from Judge Stephen Higginson, who was appointed by President Obama.”
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More here from Reuters/MSN “The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday in favor of 26 states challenging President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, potentially paving the way for a Supreme Court decision on the issue.
Two judges on the three-judge panel ruled that the executive action, which would grant an estimated 4.7 million undocumented immigrants relief from deportation, should remain on hold while the government appeals its blocking.
The immigration order was first put on hold by Texas Judge Andrew Hanen in February after the states, all led by Republican governors, alleged that taking in migrants would be overly burdensome.
“The President’s attempt to bypass the will of the American people was successfully checked again today,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a news release.”
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4. Cowards, every last one of them.
From TheWashingtonTimes “The United Nations said Tuesday that Boko Haram is responsible for an “alarming spike” of suicide bombings in Nigeria that have been carried about by women and children.
Girls between the ages of 7 and 17 years have been used for three-quarters of all such attacks in the region since 2014, the U.N. children’s agency reported. There have been 27 suicide bombings in the region over five months, compared to 26 in all of 2014.
“Children are not instigating these suicide attacks; they are used intentionally by adults in the most horrific way. They are first and foremost victims — not perpetrators,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF representative in Nigeria.
UNICEF estimates that 743,000 have been displaced over the past six years because of Boko Haram’s campaign of terror.”
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Wandering Views 
#2. I am on the last chapter of fClinton Cash. I was going to review it later, but it is pertinent here. Post #2 simply illustrates the point of the book. Contributions to the Clinton Foundation were made by billionaires in The Congo, Ethiopia, and other places where favors were expected. Also Bill got to make 20 minute speeches for $500,000 each. Some less, some more.. He has spoken for as little as $150,000.
People in those countries would give money to the foundation for AIDS support when they could have given directly to charities in their own country. Clintons do not do the charity work themselves, they hire it out. To friends.
Clinton Cash is an important book, but not an easy book to read. The various webs are spun thick, and their rich friends are numerous.
I’m convinced that if Hillary becomes president, the US it will be as bad as Obama, but for a different reason.
Obama is an ideologue. He wanted a fundamental change in America. He has made progress toward his goal. It can be corrected by another president with wisdom, common sense and courage.
With the Clintons, it’s different. It’s about MONEY.
Chapter 1 of the book is “The Lincoln Bedroom Goes Global”. They can be bought and America can be sold. There is an article in my Newsmax post today that says that China is talking about war with the US. I haven’t read it yet. But China needn’t do that. They can wait for the next election, and if Hillary wins, they can buy what they want. With our money.
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Aw, no more Marie. She was very cute, and let’s face it, that’s one really tough job to have. I wouldn’t have done any better, frankly.
I guess she’s been promoted to being a Kerry aide where she won’t be answering reporters’ questions anymore. We will miss her. 🙂
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/27/harf-highlight-reel-state-dept-spokeswoman-leaving-post/
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Part of our problem, I fear. I’m hoping we’re in a transition period when it comes to the media. Diversity of views is great, but we still need some trusted (by both sides) go-to outlets. :
http://www.journalism.org/2014/10/21/political-polarization-media-habits/
“When it comes to getting news about politics and government, liberals and conservatives inhabit different worlds. There is little overlap in the news sources they turn to and trust. And whether discussing politics online or with friends, they are more likely than others to interact with like-minded individuals, according to a new Pew Research Center study. …”
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” … What happened? How did America turn out like this? It’s like living in an episode of The Twilight Zone. Maybe I’ll wake up and realize I’m in a laboratory somewhere, part of an experiment to measure how much degeneracy and how many nonsensical ideas (people can be any sex they want!) an individual of passable intelligence can take before losing her mind.
“No doubt every generation has felt this way, asking, ‘What is the world coming to?’ If I weren’t a Christian yet still appalled by what’s happening in this country, where would I turn for guidance and relief? As a believer, I know God’s plan is unfolding as He decreed it. Though my finite mind often struggles with it, I have moments of spiritual clarity about God’s sovereignty, and the frustration and confusion dissipate. I pray for more of these moments…”
The rest is here: http://www.worldmag.com/2015/05/the_holy_spirit_promised
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