Because you’re worth it !
Yesterday the New York Times posted a story titled: “Researchers or Corporate Allies? Think Tanks Blur the Line”.
[…] Think tanks, which position themselves as “universities without students,” have power in government policy debates because they are seen as researchers independent of moneyed interests. But in the chase for funds, think tanks are pushing agendas important to corporate donors, at times blurring the line between researchers and lobbyists. And they are doing so while reaping the benefits of their tax-exempt status, sometimes without disclosing their connections to corporate interests.
Thousands of pages of internal memos and confidential correspondence between Brookings and other donors — like JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank; K.K.R., the global investment firm; Microsoft, the software giant; and Hitachi, the Japanese conglomerate — show that financial support often came with assurances from Brookings that it would provide “donation benefits,” including setting up events featuring corporate executives with government officials, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. (link)
As a person who has floated though the disconcerting world of Think Tank politics, the Times article was a worthy notation not only because of the substance within it, but also -and perhaps more aptly- because in the world of intellectual property amalgamation such a news article (research proposition) doesn’t just happen organically as a matter of happenstance.
This is a great example of the current state, and competence, of American Journalism. Worse yet, this example shows the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, didn’t even know what’s going on, and Vice-Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine also joins the crew of the clueless.
CNN and The Washington Post are both making an absurd attack Donald Trump story out of the most simple and easy to prove claim.
Donald Trump said there was video (yes, that’s a screen grab of the video above), put out by Iran, showing the United States sending pallets of cash in exchange for U.S. hostages.
Trump stated the Iranian’s were using the video to “embarrass the President“. The Washington Post and CNN jumped on the Trump statement and immediately decried it as ridiculous and set out to prove the claim false: (more…)
Two jihadists wielding knives entered a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, during mass. Two nuns and two parishioners were taken hostage, one nun is seriously injured. The 84-year-old priest, Father Jacques Hamel (pictured left), was forced to kneel down and his throat was slashed while one of the Islamists’ filmed the murder.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack and saying the butchery was carried out by two Islamic State soldiers. The two jihadists were known terror threats and wore ankle monitors, they were later shot by French police. An additional person has been detained as part of investigation.
French President Francois Hollande says he very angry now, and pledges to fight ISIS “using all means possible”. With the ISIS attacks continuing inside France, Mr. Hollande has not ruled out the need for a sternly worded letter. (more…)
The Munich shooter has been identified as Ali Sonboly, an 18-year-old German with Iranian citizenship. The 18-year-old German/Iranian opened fire in a crowded Munich shopping mall and a nearby McDonald’s, killing nine people and wounding 16 others before killing himself.
However, as many are noting, the EU liberal media are trying to disconnect any reference to Islam despite the eye-witness claims. An eye-witness who was inside the McDonalds when Ali Sonboly opened fire gave a first-hand account to CNN:
The media are even dropping his first name “Ali” and instead calling him David Sonboly.
But it doesn’t stop there; check out the pictures that are being distributed of Ali. The Main Stream Media in both the EU and U.S. are going full Trayvon with this killer: (more…)
Attack began 5:15pm Local ♦ At least one gunman has opened fire on citizens in Munich Germany. ♦ There are multiple locations involved. ♦ Multiple deaths and wounded victims. ♦ Islamic Terrorism is suspected. ♦ At least nine people killed ♦ Gunman shouting Allahu Akbar. ♦ One gunman specifically targeted children at McDonalds.
A video has surfaced showing one of the gunman on a cell phone moments before opening fire on citizens outside a McDonalds restaurant. WATCH:
In the video above it appears the gunman (dressed in black) is using his right hand to hold a cell phone to his left ear just before he opens fire with a handgun in his left hand.
We found a man, who killed him himself.
We assume, that he was the only shooter. #gunfire #munich— Polizei München (@PolizeiMuenchen) July 22, 2016
(Via BBC) More than 20 people in Germany have been injured after a man with an axe went on the rampage on a train, German media report.
A police operation including a helicopter is under way in Heidingsfeld, a part of the city of Wurzburg in southern Germany. Details are scant and contradictory at this stage but some local media (in German) are reporting 21 casualties.
https://twitter.com/pzf/status/755166968903143424
Secretary of State John Kerry joins Jake Tapper to discuss the current state of the fight against ISIS following the terror attack in Nice, France:
Political Islam is fraught with coded messaging used to convey intention to Islamic audiences while simultaneously presenting a false face to the West. When you know what signals to look for you are able to fully understand the ideology behind the message.
When Mohammed Morsi rose to power in Egypt his rise was on the back of the Muslim Brotherhood. The “Islamist Spring” brought forth a more radical version of Islamic sentiment – The Muslim Brotherhood, or just “Brotherhood”, is the political branch of various hardline Islamic ideologies.
The foundational ideological block under ISIS, al-Qaeda and Al Nusra, is the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has its own signature; and when you know what to look for you can identify its appearance.
Islamist activists, and demonstrators hold four fingers in the air to display a hand sign referring to the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, the site of a violent confrontation between Morsi’s followers and the Egyptian army.
Reported deaths from the clash range from hundreds to thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters. In Arabic, “Rabba” means “four” or “the fourth;” hence the Rabaa symbol.
(more…)
Some opinion writers have surmised a possibility that Recep Erdogan created the coup in Turkey as a method to smoke out his opposition and exert even more dictatorial power. Having watched the events closely (5 years) which lead up to the coup attempt, we disagree.
All indications are the coup was genuine, albeit a long-shot, driven by the younger military leadership who remained guardians of the state after two years of Erdogan purging the top level generals.
Ideologically, Recep Erdogan has been working earnestly over the past 5+ years to extend his power and control. Erdogan has grandiose plans of rebuilding a modern Ottoman Empire with himself as the figurehead in control.
The fortuitous crisis in Syria evolved into a tool for Erdogan to expand his constituency, and the influx of 3 million non-secular conservative Muslims as refugees into Turkey was part of that dynamic.
Erdogan’s ideological outlook can be captured when you look at the 2015 decision to give safe refuge to five Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders who were living in exile in Qatar and evicted after the Gulf States pressured Qatar to stop supporting extremist terrorists. Erdogan promised the Muslim Brotherhood safe harbor in Turkey and he gave it to them.
(more…)