~ Featuring ~
A Burning Sensation in Brazil's Amazon
Political Editors
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Monday Top News Executive SummaryMedia Editors: Above the Fold
WEEK-LONG HAVOC: “Hurricane Dorian has now stalled, continuing its Category 5 siege of the northwestern Bahamas, but will track dangerously close to a long swath of the East Coast from Florida to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and southeastern Virginia this week. … Dorian’s forecast track continues to be the razor’s edge between more severe hurricane impacts reaching land, compared to those impacts staying barely offshore. … Regardless of its exact track, Dorian is likely to be a dangerous hurricane this week near the Southeast coast.” (The Weather Channel)
TEXAS MASS SHOOTING: “A 17-month-old girl was among the 22 injured in a shooting rampage around Odessa, Texas, as the death toll increased to seven victims Sunday,” NBC News reports. “The [perpetrator] was killed in a shootout with police.” The assailant, who had just been terminated from his job, launched his rampage following a traffic stop. The circumstances notwithstanding, Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Pat Toomey envision passing gun-control measures. “I’m hopeful,” Sen. Scott declared. And according to Sen. Toomey, “[Trump] is very interested in doing something meaningful.”
Culture & Heartland
EVADING JUSTICE — AGAIN: “A state appeals court in California overturned the sole conviction of a homeless [illegal] immigrant who admitted to handling a gun that killed Kate Steinle, a San Francisco woman who died on a city pier in 2015. … The 1st District Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the trial judge made a ‘prejudicial’ error when he failed to give the jury ‘the momentary possession instruction.’ ‘It is undisputed that defendant was holding the gun when it fired. But that fact alone does not establish he possessed the gun for more than a moment. To possess the gun, defendant had to know he was holding it,’ the appellate court wrote.” (NPR)
STRAIGHT PRIDE: Via NBC News: “A so-called ‘Straight Pride Parade’ in Boston on Saturday drew as many counterprotesters as marchers in addition to a heavy police presence. The parade, which drew several dozen participants, kicked off at around noon to the sound of Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ with some floats displaying messages of support for President Donald Trump, with signs such as ‘build the wall,’ ‘Trump nation’ and ‘Blue Lives Matter.’” The too-clever-by-half commie-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded: “For men who are allegedly so ‘proud’ of being straight, they seem to show real incompetence at attracting women to their event. Seems more like a ‘I-Struggle-With-Masculinity’ parade to me.”
A FITTING VERDICT: “A Montana judge has ordered two men who allegedly lied about having served in the military in an effort to get special treatment in veterans court to wear ‘I stole valor’ signs as part of their parole conditions.” (Time)
SOME PERSPECTIVE ON ‘THE POOR’: America’s poor fare better than average persons in Canada and the UK (Daniel Mitchell, CNSnews.com)
Government & Politics
THE HAZARDS OF GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE: The Veterans Administration failed to stop pathologist who misdiagnosed thousands — and showed up drunk for work (Hot Air)
NEW HANDOUT: “U.S. presidential contender commie-Bernie Sanders proposed a plan on Saturday to cancel $81 billion in existing past-due medical debt for Americans, but offered no details on how it would be financed. commie-Sanders … said in a statement that under his plan, the government would negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills that have been reported to credit agencies.” (Reuters)
TRADE-WAR FALLOUT: “A measure of how Americans view the strength of the economy fell to the lowest level in almost three years, reflecting growing worries about the U.S. trade war with China that’s led to higher and higher tariffs. The final consumer sentiment survey fell to 89.8 in August from an early estimate of 92.3 and a 98.4 reading in July, the University of Michigan said Friday.” (MarketWatch)
World
BREXIT BRAWL: “[Boris] Johnson, who took over as prime minister in July, drove a spike into a raw nerve in Britain when he announced last week that he intends to suspend Parliament for five weeks, sharply limiting members’ opportunity to debate the terms of Britain’s Oct. 31 Brexit divorce from the European Union. That maneuver set up a potentially ferocious showdown on Tuesday, when Parliament returns from its summer recess. Jeremy Corbyn, Johnson’s chief rival as leader of the opposition Labour Party, has promised to fight Johnson in the House of Commons, calling his action a ‘smash and grab’ on democracy.” (The Washington Post)
Closing Arguments
POLICY: Labor policy is jobs policy (The Daily Signal)
POLICY: How “price gouging” can help Floridians in Hurricane Dorian’s path (Reason)
BELIEVABLE HUMOR: Leftists stand in midst of storm signaling hurricane to go kill their political opponents (The Babylon Bee)
~The Patriot Post https://patriotpost.us/articles/65200?mailing_id=4505&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4505&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body .
Over $1 Million Wasted In
Your Forest Your Future Scam
by Evalyn Bennett
{ thewashingtonstandard.com } ~ This article summarizes results from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request I filed about the Forest Service-Salmon Valley Stewardship (SVS) partnership called Your Forests Your Future (YFYF)... The complete set of FOIA documents can be accessed at this link
https://usfs-public.box.com/s/wpev5b7txyn8idxvtbmpztgp0lqwfoz4 .This article focuses on financial information contained on pages 220-243 of the FOIA records. Invoices submitted by the SVS Director to the Region 4 Forest Service office from January 31, 2017 beginning of the partnership to Sept. 30, 2018, total $927,502. When the salary costs of various Forest Service (FS) Intermountain Region and Washington, D.C. office staff that facilitated the partnership are factored in, the partnership easily tops $1 million for that timeframe. Salary information from the FOIA record and
www.openthebooks.com Forest Service and other funds in addition to these invoiced amounts were almost certainly provided for this partnership. The FOIA records did not include SVS invoices from October 1, 2018, to present the time the partnership was administered by the FS Washington, D.C. office. I also did not request financial records pertaining to the second cooperator in the agreement, More Than Just Parks. Finally, the YFYF web site refers to corporate and special interest group sponsors and supporters, but there are no records of those contributions in the FOIA documents. In 2017, while the YFYF partnership’s local personnel were busy supposedly promoting diverse public input about Forest plan revision but actually having very limited contact with the general public in the local planning area, three Salmon-Challis National Forest (SCNF) staff were doing the same public outreach. Taxpayers footed the $436,269 bill for YFYF’s 2017 media campaign AND paid a total of $167,362 in salaries for three SCNF employees to engage local citizens in the SCNF plan revision process. Salary information
fromwww.openthebooks.com Similar Forest Service expenses related to public participation were being incurred throughout the Intermountain Region wherever Forest plan revisions are underway...
https://thewashingtonstandard.com/over-1-million-wasted-in-your-forest-your-future-scam/ .
Fierce opposition to Trump
judicial nominees hits fever pitch
by wnd.com ~ The battles in the U.S. Senate over President Trump's judicial nominees have been epic... During the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, for example, Democrats brought forward salacious and unsubstantiated claims that led to a dramatic, narrow vote along partisan lines. Even nominees for lower courts face partisan opposition, notes a report by First Liberty Institute concluding there is more obstruction of judicial nominees than at "any time in American history." That's even though the American Bar Association found Trump's nominees are as qualified as those nominated by Barack scumbag/liar-nObama and previous presidents. For example, 74.4 percent of Trump's nominees for appeals courts have been rated "well qualified." For district judges, it's about 66 percent. Overall, the figure is 68.4 percent. George W. Bush's overall rate was 65.3 percent and scumbag/liar-nObama's was about 72 percent. Yet at least 54 percent of Trump's nominees have gotten negative confirmation votes. For scumbag/liar-nObama, the figure was only 16 percent, for George W. Bush 4 percent and for scumbag/liar-Clinton 3 percent. First Liberty said the problem boiled down to "partisanship and political theater." "In the last several years, Americans and politicians across the political spectrum have doubled down on the use of the judicial branch as a 'mini legislature,' treating it like a partisan institution to validate their policy preferences. They use the judiciary as a way of working around the normal legislative process in their own states or on Capitol Hill," the report said...
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Hezbollah fires anti-tank missiles at
military jeep, IDF base; none hurt
by JUDAH ARI GROSS
{ timesofisrael.com } ~ The Hezbollah terror group fired several anti-tank guided missiles at an army base and a military jeep just inside northern Israel’s border with Lebanon on Sunday afternoon... causing no injuries, the Israel Defense Forces said. Military sources said that the vehicle was empty when it was struck, but that soldiers had been inside half an hour earlier. IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus initially said that the armored jeep had been painted with a red Jewish star, identifying it as an ambulance, but later retracted the claim and clarified that the vehicle had been used as an ambulance but was not marked as such. In response to the attack, the Israeli military said its artillery cannons and attack helicopters fired approximately 100 shells and bombs at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Conricus said the IDF considered the “tactical event on the ground” to be over as of Sunday evening, but that the larger strategic threat posed by Hezbollah on the border remained. The IDF remained on high alert Sunday evening, officials said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no Israelis were so much as “scratched” by the Hezbollah attack. “There were no Israeli injuries, not even a scratch,” Netanyahu said, smiling, at the opening of a Honduras diplomatic office in Jerusalem. The military said Hezbollah operatives fired two or three missiles at a battalion headquarters outside of the Israeli community of Avivim and at military vehicles nearby shortly after 4:15 p.m. Sunday. Several of the projectiles struck their targets but did not cause any casualties, despite claims to the contrary by Hezbollah, the IDF said...
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Sarah Huckabee Sanders launches
new website amid campaign speculation
By MAX GREENWOOD
{ thehill.com } ~ Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders rolled out a campaign-style website on Monday amid speculation that she is considering a run for governor of Arkansas... Sanders, who signed on as a Fox News contributor last week, reportedly began giving more thought to a potential campaign after announcing her departure from the White House in June. President Trumphas also encouraged a potential gubernatorial bid, tweeting that same month that he hoped she decided to run. It’s not unusual for television personalities to create personal websites to market themselves. Sanders did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) was reelected to a second term in 2018, and the office won’t come up to a vote again until 2022. But Hutchinson won’t be able to seek reelection that year due to term limits, leaving room for a fresh face to enter the race. What’s more, creating a personal website, like the one unveiled by Sanders on Monday, allows prospective candidates to begin building email lists that could be used down the line to solicit donations and rally support. If she does eventually mount a bid for the governor’s mansion, Sanders would enter the race with wide name recognition and deep political connections. Her father, Mike Huckabee, served as the state’s governor from 1996 until 2007, and her ties to the president could come in handy, especially in a state that Trump won by roughly 27 points in 2016.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/458813-sarah-huckabee-sanders-launches-new-website-amid-campaign-speculation .
Trump's confidence about Texas
vexing GOP insiders
by David M. Drucker
{ washingtonexaminer.com } ~ President Trump’s high confidence in winning Texas is vexing some Republican insiders, who fret that his 2020 campaign is unprepared to handle a generational challenge from the Democratic Party... for control of the state’s critical 38 votes in the Electoral College. The Democrats flipped two suburban Texas congressional districts and another dozen seats in the state house in the midterm elections, while Democrat socialist-Beto O'Rourke nearly ousted Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. GOP strategists with deep experience in Texas are bracing for the possibility of more turbulence next year, with some worrying that Trump’s top political officials in the state are ill-equipped for the competition. Others are pleased with the campaign’s Texas leadership, but question party strategy. “Personnel are fine,” said a veteran Republican operative with Texas ties who requested anonymity to avoid publicly criticizing Trump or the Republican National Committee. “But I still don’t believe Trump headquarters understands his exposure in Texas.” Another GOP operative, who is based in Texas, said the party needs to update its pitch to voters to account for an electorate that is evolving and becoming less Republican. “This is a very poor sign about a real and needed focus on diverse populations and areas of the state that deserve to have a different campaign approach than what we saw in 2018,” this operative said, referring to the leadership of “Trump Victory” in Texas, which is a joint effort of the Trump campaign and the RNC. There is virtually no scenario in which Trump wins reelection without Texas. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was recently named honorary chairman of Trump Victory in the state, with Taylor Mattox, a veteran of Gov. Greg Abbott’s successful campaigns, hired as state director. Stephanie Alexander is the regional political director overseeing Texas, along with other states. Patrick is predicting the president will win Texas by more than the 9 points that carried him in 2016. "We have had staff in Texas in 2016, 2018 and 2020. And all we have done is win," RNC spokesman Rick Gorka added. "We fully expect to win in Texas especially when voters compare President Donald Trump’s record versus the socialist policies espoused by 2020 Democrats." Such bold claims have left some Republicans privately uneasy. They wonder if the Trump campaign and the RNC appreciate the Democrats’ growing strength in a state that has supported the GOP consistently in statewide contests since the early 1990s. Democrats there have gained under Trump as white suburbanites that typically voted Republican moved Left. The Democrats also benefited from transplants who brought their liberal politics with them. Hispanic support for Republicans in Texas has generally remained unchanged...
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A Burning Sensation in Brazil's AmazonPolitical Editors: The Cato Institute’s Dr. Ryan Maue recaps some of the ridiculous reporting, international reaction, and the actual truth:The international news coverage of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fires has been a complete disaster. News outlets published inaccurate yet easily verifiable “facts” about the number of fires, declaring the situation “record-breaking” and “unprecedented.” Social media lit up with misleading claims about the loss of planetary oxygen supply (20 percent, said French President Emmanuel Macron) threatening to asphyxiate us all. Stock photos and images of forest fires from the last two decades including Peru and Bolivia were shared widely and wildly. Celebrities and politicians alike heaped condemnation upon Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro leading to an ongoing geopolitical crisis. …
The origin of this Amazon fire crisis traces back to the beginning of August, when Bolsonaro sacked his Space Institute minister for publishing worrisome data about the 2019 fire season. The dry season in Brazil typically runs from August to November, as farmers use these months to burn dried-out timber previously cut during land clearing operations. Ranchers also prepare the land for cattle grazing.
An important point to remember about these fires, however, is that the rainforests themselves are not entirely or uncontrollably ablaze. Natural fire does not typically occur in these tropical forests due to suffocating humidity, wet dense foliage, and daily thunderstorms. What is burning right now is land near the forests where farmers and ranchers have cleared hundreds and hundreds of acres of trees. This is easily seen in satellite imagery, which scientists finally examined and compared to the past two decades.
As for the fires themselves, Maue writes, “The number of fires and cumulative area burned so far in 2019, on the other hand, is on par with previous years and described as ‘near average’ by NASA.”
So why the hysterics? Climate change. When every ecofascist has a hammer (and sickle), every problem looks like a nail. Wildfires in the American West? Climate change. Hurricanes in the Atlantic? Climate change. Extra rainy season? Climate change. Drought? Climate change.
It’s the all-purpose bogeyman, and the agenda is simple: socialistic economic control. Don’t take our word for it; ask commie-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff. ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/65114?mailing_id=4499&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4499&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body
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