TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
Russian Nuke Sub Accident Sparks
Additional Concerns
National Security Desk
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Antifa: Role Playing Cowards
By John Glynn
{ americanthinker.com } ~ In our hectic, everyday lives, many of us focus so heavily on work and family commitments that we neglect the idea of play... Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, dear reader, you probably stopped playing. Today, when we somehow manage to carve out some leisure time, we’re more likely to zone out and watch Netflix than engage in actual play. That’s a shame, because play is not just essential for children; it’s an important source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as well. Engaging in play offers one the opportunity to forget about the nagging boss, loan repayments, PTA meetings, and that expanding waistline. Play offers the opportunity to be social in an unstructured, creative way. This can, of course, involve role play, where individuals assume the identity of fictional characters and embark upon adventures. Some of the parameters of these adventures are specified by the game one is playing; play also allows for lots of imaginative improvisation. However, as Fifty Shades of Grey demonstrated, improvised play can take a nasty turn very quickly. In a 2005 article, Vince Londini discussed the dangers associated with extreme improvisation. Players may find themselves swallowed up in an imaginary world, largely detached from reality. They may even confuse the fantasy of the game with the real world. Perhaps Londini should write another essay on Antifa, a group of cowards who engage in sporadic bursts of improvised violence. Though this medley of black-clad anarchists doesn’t have an official leader or headquarters, members tend to worship at the altar of wokeness. The group’s position can be hard to define, but many members claim to support oppressed populations and protest the amassing of wealth by corporations and elites. As we saw with the assault of Andy Ngo, some members are willing to employ radical or militant tactics to get their message across... https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/07/antifa_role_playing_cowards.html .
School Choice Wins Narrow Victory
In Union-Dominated West Virginia
By Jayme Metzgar
{ thefederalist.com } ~ As the West Virginia Senate gathered in special session to vote on a sweeping education reform bill toward the end of June... debate in the Capitol was suddenly interrupted by dozens of phone tornado warnings. When the lights began to flicker, senators were forced to postpone the vote and take shelter in the basement. An EF1 tornado was later confirmed to have touched down nearby. Delayed but not deterred, the senators returned to the floor and passed the bill, 18-16. Four days later, the governor signed it into law—providing a $130 million windfall for public education, a significant return of control to local school districts, and the state’s first authorization of public charter schools. The storm was a fitting metaphor for the tempestuous education debate that has been roiling this state for more than a year. The fight began in February 2018, when public school teachers across West Virginia went on a crippling and unlawful nine-day strike, demanding better pay and benefits. They finally went back to work after the Republican-led Senate found a way to pass a 5 percent pay raise without raising taxes. Gov. Jim Justice, who was elected as a Democrat in 2016 but quickly switched his party affiliation to Republican, promised teachers another 5 percent raise this year. Senate Republicans balked at this second pay raise, contending that such largesse should be coupled with meaningful education reform for students. By almost every measure, West Virginia’s public education rankings are dismal. Even when student demographic factors like poverty and family structure are taken into account, the state’s education performance ranks dead last. Public school enrollment is steadily shrinking, as population declines and families increasingly choose alternatives like homeschooling.“ If the amount of kids who were homeschooled in West Virginia would form a school district, it would be the largest in the state,” says Delegate Dean Jeffries (R–Kanawha). “Public charter schools just may be a saving grace, if they would quit playing political football with education.”... https://thefederalist.com/2019/07/08/school-choice-wins-narrow-victory-union-dominated-west-virginia/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=0c003e7ecb-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_Transom&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-0c003e7ecb-83771801 .
Gordon Chang Discusses China, North Korea
and Hong Kong Freedom as a Contagion
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ Gordon Chang appears on Fox News with Charles Payne (filling in for Bartiromo) to discuss the downstream consequences from the G20 meeting between President Trump and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping... While he generally frames the picture accurately, lately Chang has been hit or miss. He accurately outlines how a win/win trade deal is not possible from the perspective of Beijing and their zero-sum outlook; however, he misses on the issues around Huawei; misses the entire hostage dynamic with Kim Jong Un; and then hits again on Hong Kong.♦ On China President Trump appears to be working on a complete and total decoupling from the U.S. However, there are steps required in the interim that are in flux (EU and USMCA). Once those matters are resolved we will likely see the decoupling. ♦ On North Korea, just because DPRK state media spouts something doesn’t mean Kim Jong-Un has any control over it. Beijing has majority influence over DPRK officials. ♦ On Hong Kong, after the Kim hostage rescue; and while the China decoupling is underway; we can expect Hong Kong to be a larger part of Trump’s Indo-Pacific initiative. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/07/07/sunday-talks-gordon-chang-discusses-china-north-korea-and-hong-kong-freedom-as-a-contagion/ .
The Democrats’ Situational Racism
By Brian C. Joondeph
{ americanthinker.com } ~ Democrats and their media allies are floundering in the face of a covfefe-strength hurricane of great economic news and an incumbent president who is fulfilling his campaign promises... What he hasn’t yet accomplished is not for lack of trying; instead the unfinished agenda is attributable to a hostile Congress and Judiciary. When all else fails for the left, they drag out the race card. Why not? It’s worked in the past, ushering in our first black president in 2008. At least that’s how Barack scumbag/liar-nObama is described. In reality he is only half black, with a black father officially the Kenyan Barack Senior, or possibly Frank Marshall Davis, according to some. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was as white as loose lip liar-Joe Biden or Elizabeth dinky-Warren. The media of the time called for the half-white portion of scumbag/liar-nObama’s heritage to be ignored rather than muddy the waters of his being America’s first black president. Yet during the scumbag/liar-nObama presidency, for different political reasoning the media went out of its way to make a point of the mixed heritage of another individual, specifically George Zimmerman. The situation was George killing, in self-defense, the paragon of virtue and honor, black teenager Trayvon Martin, prompting the New York Times, and then other media to refer to Zimmerman as a “white Hispanic”. From the Huffington Post, critiquing CNN’s repeated use of the expression: “By labeling Zimmerman a ‘white Hispanic,’ they serve their obvious political bias, but also they cynically serve their financial interests by keeping the race angle as part of the story’s subtext.” The situation called for it, creating a racial controversy when it was anything but. “Interestingly, CNN never referred to their former host, Rick Sanchez, as a ‘white Hispanic.’ Wonder why.” For the same reason scumbag/liar-nObama was never referred to as a “white black” or a “white African American”....
European Union: Toward a European Superstate
by Soeren Kern
{ gatestoneinstitute.org } ~ After weeks of frenzied backroom wrangling, European leaders on July 2 nominated four federalists to fill the top jobs of the European Union... The nominations — which must be approved by the European Parliament — send a clear signal that the pro-EU establishment has no intention of slowing its relentless march toward a European superstate, a "United States of Europe," despite a surge of anti-EU sentiment across the continent. Following are brief profiles of the nominees for the top four positions in the next European Commission, which begins on November 1, 2019 for a period of five years. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, the daughter of a prominent EU official, has been nominated to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission, the powerful bureaucratic arm of the European Union. Von der Leyen, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was a compromise choice after the candidacy of Manfred Weber, a favorite of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was rejected by critics, led by French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron had favored the candidacy of European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, a Dutch Social Democrat. Timmermans, however, was rejected by the Visegrád Group — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — due to his frequent criticism of their stance against mass migration and judicial reforms. Von der Leyen has called for the creation of a European superstate. "My aim is the United States of Europe — on the model of federal states such as Switzerland, Germany or the U.S.," she said in an interview with Der Spiegel. She has also called for the creation of a European Army. At the same time, however, von der Leyen has been roundly criticized at home and abroad for her performance as German defense minister. During her tenure, Germany's military has deteriorated due to budget cuts and poor management, according to Parliamentary Armed Forces Commissioner Hans-Peter Bartels....
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Russian Nuke Sub Accident Sparks
Additional Concerns
National Security Desk: On Monday, we received reports regarding the loss of a Russian “research submarine” in the Arctic. On Tuesday, there were Russian media reports about 14 dead after a fire on one of their AS-12 deep-water nuclear submarines, part of Russia’s secret “Losharik” operations in the area.
Speculation about the incident heated up after Vice President Mike Pence cancelled a trip to New Hampshire Tuesday, and his advance team staffer carelessly told reporters there was an “emergency.” At the time of that cancellation, top Russian diplomatic corp officers were at the White House for an unscheduled meeting. There were similar meetings with American diplomatic personnel in Moscow, as Vladimir Putin met with his Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu.
The meetings were considered “standard protocol,” but our source indicates the consultations were to confirm where the incident actually occurred and if there was any nuclear contamination. More ominously, the meeting was to establish assurances that the incident was unrelated to the presence of an American submarine in the same area, which had been in close proximity to the Russian submersible in the prior 24 hours.
Given the recent wide viewing of the Chernobyl docu-drama, which highlighted Russia’s secrecy during that catastrophic 1986 nuclear incident, there is increased speculation about the incident this week. However, according to Norway’s nuclear safety authorities, there is no confirmed increase of radiation in the arctic area where it is believed the incident occurred. ~The Patriot Post
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