by Thomas Gallatin:  Acting to reverse yet another one of Barack liar-nObama’s onerous policies, President Donald Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced a new plan to open up more than 90% of the U.S.‘s Outer Continental Shelf to potential oil drilling and energy development.    Recall back in 2010, following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, liar-nObama enacted severe restrictions on offshore drilling, essentially prohibiting energy extraction on 94% of the Outer Continental Shelf. It was classic liar-nObama, never letting a crisis go to waste. He took advantage of an uncommon disaster as a pretext for aggressively pushing his leftist economic and climate agenda under the guise of needing to protect the environment. liar-nObama’s decision negatively impacted the nation’s economy as well as the federal government’s coffers. From 2008 to 2016, the fed saw a drop from $18 billion down to $2.8 billion in offshore activities tax revenue.

          In announcing the policy change, Zinke said, “We’re embarking on a new path for energy dominance in America, particularly on offshore. This is a clear difference between energy weakness and energy dominance. We are going to become the strongest energy superpower.” The Interior Department then announced that it would hold at least 47 lease sales between 2019 and 2024, the majority of which would be off the coast of Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposal would also free up the waters off the California coast, which have been closed to drilling since 1969.
          From a national security and economic stand point, Trump’s good move will benefit the country. It would significantly further the U.S.’s move toward energy independence, stimulate more economic growth and increase government revenue. However, politically speaking, it will be met with some resistance. Already, two Florida Republicans, Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio, have pushed back on the plan, requesting that Florida’s coastal waters remain under liar-mObama’s moratorium. North Carolina has also responded coldly to the news. The reality is that both these states rely heavily on coastal tourism and fear the potential economic consequences from negative public perception of offshore energy drilling.
          But the fact remains that reversing liar-nObama’s extreme moratorium does not change the fact that the U.S. has the world’s most stringent regulations when it comes to offshore drilling. Trump is simply seeking to level the playing field for the energy industry, which liar-nObama had gone out of his way to actively stack the deck against.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53271

by Jordan Candler:  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is without a doubt one of the most all-around hated members of President Donald Trump’s team. The reason? Under Pruitt’s predecessor, Gina McCarthy, environmental protection was merely a misnomer. The overarching goal was to circumvent Congress by legislating essentially from Barack liar-nObama’s desk. For the Left, this was a desirable exploitation of power that helped fulfill an agenda. Therefore, Pruitt’s federalist-inspired ideology and leadership came under immense scrutiny, which began before he even took the reins.

          Now, after a year’s worth of regulatory rollbacks, a Washington Post article laments on “How Scott Pruitt turned the EPA into one of Trump’s most powerful tools.” The title alone is laughable and entirely backwards, as implies that it is Pruitt, not McCarthy, who turned the agency into a power-hungry leviathan. The story itself explains that Pruitt did nothing of the sort.
          The Post reports, “In legal maneuvers and executive actions, in public speeches and closed-door meetings with industry groups, [Pruitt] has moved to shrink the agency’s reach, alter its focus, and pause or reverse numerous environmental rules. The effect has been to steer the EPA in the direction sought by those being regulated.” Amazingly, the Post goes on to make a baffling comparison between Pruitt and McCarthy: “The two share something in common: a willingness to use the agency’s broad executive authority to act unilaterally.”
          We can’t recall the Post ever making such a big deal out of McCarthy’s abuse of power. In other words, what the media believes wasn’t a problem under McCarthy is today exceedingly dangerous. After all, as the Post writes, “Pruitt has begun to dismantle former president Barack liar-nObama’s environmental legacy, halting the agency’s efforts to combat climate change and to shift the nation away from its reliance on fossil fuels.” Besides, how can anyone possibly draw comparisons between a person who oversteps her role with unconstitutional rules and another who wants things done in a legal manner?
          The fact of the matter is, the EPA was one of Barack liar-nObama’s most powerful weapons in his quest to fundamentally transform America. If the Post’s lousy headline is meant to suggest that Pruitt is one of Trump’s most effective team members in returning toward limited government, then yes. But if it’s implying Pruitt is as power-hungry and corrupt as liar-nObama and his EPA administrator, then absolutely not. The EPA needs to be brought back to an equilibrium, which is what Pruitt is doing. And kudos to him for doing so amidst the unfair treatment and the dirt being thrown at him.  
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53220

by Arnold Ahlert:  “How Can Trump Help Iran’s Protesters? Be Quiet.” —Susan Rice, tweeting a New York Times headline on Dec. 31, 2017

          In two sentences, Barack liar-nObama’s National Security Advisor (and well-documented liar) reiterates the moral bankruptcy of her former boss. In 2009, when hundreds of thousands of demonstrators risked their lives to protest Iran’s rigged elections, liar-nObama decided America shouldn’t “meddle” in Iran’s internal affairs (unlike his administration’s efforts to facilitate meddling in the 2015 Israeli election). “The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States,” he stated at the time.
          What he didn’t state? That he preferred implementing his contemptible nuclear deal to abetting regime change. That he preferred a postmodern U.S. foreign policy requiring apologies, a “leading from behind” strategy that set the entire Middle East on fire, and enabling Iranian dreams of a “Shiite Crescent” across the entire region. A Shiite Crescent largely underwritten by a cash payment of $1.7 billion sent to Tehran’s tyrannical theocrats, even as the administration had the temerity to insist it was necessitated by international sanctions isolating Iran from the international finance system.
          Moreover, in pursuit of that deal, the liar-nObama administration was willing to lie about the timeline of negotiations and the nature of the regime, evade constitutional requirements to win its congressional approval (courtesy of a successful Democrat Party filibuster), and undermine a DEA operation attempting to prevent Iranian client Hezbollah from smuggling millions of dollars of cocaine into the United States.
          In spite of it all — along with the pathetically predictable omission/commission machinations of the Democrat/Media Complex dedicated to reframing the narrative in liar-nObama’s favor — the world is now learning neither the administration’s payoff, nor the additional billions  that poured into Iran following the lifting of sanctions, mollified ordinary Iranians left out of the loop. While the ruling elites have been enriched, real unemployment (as opposed to fudged government statistics) hovers around 22.5%, inflation is running at 10%, pushing up the costs of basic necessities, and government corruption has been, as The New Arab puts it, “widespread, institutionalised, and systemic.”
          In short, the promises of an economic boom the elimination of sanctions was supposed to generate were fraudulent.
          A sampling of the shouts being heard among the protesters is indicative. They include “Death to the dictator,” “Death to Khamenei,” “Today is the mourning day,” “the rights of our nation are plundered by mullahs,” and “We die and will get back Iran.” And when demonstrators were attacked by the police they shouted, “Police, go arrest the thieves.”
          Nonetheless, the protests — and the scores of deaths engendered by them — remain insufficiently persuasive to more cluelessly arrogant liar-nObama administration officials who despise President Donald Trump’s full-throated support of the revolutionaries, “acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime.” Support that began months before the current uprising, when he stood before the UN General Assembly last September and predicted the regime’s demise. “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice,” Trump  stated. “Will they continue down the path of poverty, bloodshed, and terror? Or will the Iranian people return to the nation’s proud roots as a center of civilization, culture, and wealth where their people can be happy and prosperous once again?”
          Such rhetoric stands in stark contrast to that of feckless former Secretary of State John hanoi-Kerry, who insists this is “an Iranian moment and not anyone else’s.” The same John hanoi-Kerry who admitted that a portion of the money derived from the lifting of sanctions would support terror.
          In addition to hanoi-Kerry, we have former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes — who bragged about cultivating, useful idiot, media dupes to disseminate the lies used to sell the Iran deal — also declaring the protests are “about what Iranians want for Iran, and not about us.”
          And last but not least, former Democrat presidential candidate liar-Hillary Clinton, who offered up predictably progressive pabulum. “The Iranian people, especially the young, are protesting for the freedom and future they deserve,” she tweeted. “I hope their government responds peacefully and supports their hopes.”
          As beaten and bloodied Iranian survivors are discovering, hope is not a strategy.
          “The events unfolding in Iran right now are therefore a long time coming, and ought to be welcomed not only by those fearful of the ‘Islamic bomb’ that Iran is hell-bent on possessing and which the liar-nObama administration’s disgraceful, faciliatory ‘deal’ made all but inevitable, but by all adherents of the Western notion of freedom” asserts columnist Michael Walsh.
          Walsh’s heart is in the right place, but as he himself has said in another column, a substantial number of leftists in media and the Democrat Party “have adopted a single unwavering posture toward Republican and conservative presidents: they’re against them, no matter what.” Moreover, he insists the communist-based “critical theory” that drives much of that opposition arises from the idea that “there is nothing foundational about Western Civilization that should not be attacked, countermanded, or demolished.”
          Thus, whether they realize it or not, Democrats and their media enablers have a serious dilemma, especially as it relates to the 2018 election. If they voice full support for regime change in Iran, they will not only repudiate eight years of support for liar-nObama’s contemptible Iranian machinations, but align themselves with Donald Trump. The same Donald Trump they so despise that they have formalized a “Resistance” movement against him.
          Even more ominous, if the Iranian counter-revolution is successful and the American economy maintains its upward swing, Democrats will be forced to face their ultimate nightmare: running against peace and prosperity in the 2018 midterms.
          The alternative? Publicly supporting the demonstrations and privately hoping they fail. Or, if they do fail, attempting to pin that failure on Trump — for his unambiguous support of freedom.
          In the meantime, Trump should “continue issuing condemnations daily, including through Persian-language media outlets, and follow up with sanctions targeting corruption and human-rights abuses,” Wall Street Journal columnists Mark Dubowitz and Ray Takeyh declare. They further insist Congress should “rediscover its once-bipartisan determination to hold the regime accountable for its crimes and push America’s European allies to overcome their mercantile greed and support Iranians striving to be free from theocracy.”
          The former assertion is obvious. The latter assertion? For a Democrat Party determined to delegitimize a Trump presidency by any means necessary, it’s one of the most compelling “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” political decisions they have faced in over a decade.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53234

by Louis DeBroux:  The progressive Democrat outrage over the recently signed Republican tax reform law provides both a fascinating insight into the minds of leftists and a unique opportunity to discuss taxes and spending from a moral standpoint.

          Democrats are clearly infuriated at the idea that the federal government will now be prevented from confiscating quite as much of the earnings of tens of millions of Americans as it did last year. In a bizarre twist of logic, Democrats see tax cuts as greedy American citizens stealing from government. That is evidenced in their rhetoric, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pulosi calling the tax cuts “Armageddon,” and Senate Minority Leader Chuck clown-Schumer accusing Republicans of “giving the richest few a bigger piece of the pie.”
           Socialist Sen. commie-Bernie Sanders (D-VT) called it a “looting of the federal treasury,” at least before conceding to CNN’s Jake Tapper that 91% of the middle class he claims to champion will, in fact, benefit from the Republican tax cuts, and then blaming Republicans for not making the cuts permanent. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) brilliantly trolled commie-Sanders on Twitter, inviting him to co-sponsor legislation doing just that.
          The common thread in the government-loving leftist narrative is that government has a right to whatever portion of our earnings it deems necessary to achieve its ends, with taxpayers as slaves whose labor provides the necessary funding.
          Democrats have hijacked and distorted language and turned it on its face, accusing workers who want to keep more of their money to provide for their families of being “greedy,” while painting government, which takes our earnings by force to give to those who have not earned it, as altruistic. Harvard economist Thomas Sowell captures the essence of this looking-glass logic, stating, “I have never understood why it is ‘greed’ to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else’s money.”
          As to the why of the progressive Democrat pursuit of what renowned economist Frederic Bastiat called “legal plunder,” well, that is a logical political calculation on their part, and it comes down to raw power. For, as socialist playwright George Bernard Shaw smugly noted, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.” Democrats seek to steal greater amounts from a shrinking number of workers, with the clear knowledge that voters benefitting from the redistribution of those ill-gotten gains will keep them in power.
          Democrats claim to be horrified at the thought that tax cuts will (allegedly) increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years (as if keeping money in private hands, rather than ever-expanding government spending, is the problem). Yet an astute observer would note these same Democrats happily ran up the deficit during the Barack liar-nObama years, resulting in $10 trillion in new debt.
          Tax cuts are good policy. As liberal icon John F. Kennedy declared in 1962, in calling for significant cuts to the corporate and personal income tax rates, “In short, it is a paradoxical truth that … the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now.”
          Tax cuts are also morally sound, allowing free men and women to provide for the care of their families, rather than be rendered serfs on a government master’s plantation, retaining just enough of the fruits of their labor to maintain subsistence.
          And while leftists claim taxes need to be higher so the so-called “rich” can pay their “fair share,” let’s remind them they can voluntarily donate more of their money to government if they wish. That is, unless they wish to admit their philosophy is not about caring for the needy, but about cultivating envy and justifying theft.
          Thus, speaking of benevolence with money, another fear regarding the impact of tax cuts is that, with the standard deductions and child tax credits doubling, it will drastically reduce the number of people who itemize and, therefore, reduce the number of people who give to charity.
          Such a thought shows a misunderstanding of the nature of charity, which is a voluntary, individual act (by definition, government cannot be charitable, because it uses force). The American people are empirically the most generous people on Earth, giving twice as much in personal charity as the next closest country, Canada.
          People give to charity not for tax breaks (which would be silly; the taxes saved are far less than the amount given to charity), but out of a sincere desire to help their fellow man. Last year alone, individual Americans donated nearly $300 billion to charity, nearly three times more than was donated by foundations and corporations.
          The reality is that with more money in their own pockets, there will be more available for Americans to donate to charity. Multiple studies show the more conservative and religious a person is, the more they donate to charity, both in hard dollars and as a percentage of income. (Perhaps that’s tied with the way leftists think about taxes and deductions.) There is no reason to think the tax cuts will do anything but encourage even greater charitable giving, since those who were previously barely making ends meet may now have the means, and the desire, to share.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53235

by Nate Jackson:  The never-ending story of Donald Trump, Russia, liar-Hillary Clinton and the FBI continues. Today’s highlights include some important markers.

           On Aug. 24, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray received subpoenas from the House Intelligence Committee to turn over any documents related to the phony anti-Donald Trump dossier produced by British spook Christopher Steele for Fusion GPS. The same dossier that was funded by liar-Hillary Clinton and the DNC. The exceedingly generous deadline for subpoena compliance was yesterday, so, naturally, these officials filled the interim with delays and excuses, waiting until Wednesday evening to agree to a deal with Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes to provide the requested information. Nunes last week threatened the pair with contempt charges if they failed to do so. We’ll see what revelations we learn.
          Speaking of Fusion GPS, its founders, former Wall Street Journal reporters Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, penned a New York Times op-ed claiming victim status in Republicans’ “fake investigations.” The pair seek to rebut the charge at the center of it all — that the dossier prompted the FBI’s investigation into Trump/Russian “collusion” in the first place: “We don’t believe the Steele dossier was the trigger for the F.B.I.‘s investigation into Russian meddling.”
          However, as former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy outlines in what we consider an indispensable timeline of the dossier and the FBI, their claim is less than believable. While the FBI and Justice Department continue to stonewall on their use of the dossier, McCarthy asserts, “Contrary to what I hoped would be the case, I’ve come to believe Steele’s claims were used to obtain FISA surveillance authority for an investigation of Trump.”
          The Wall Street Journal responded to the Fusion GPS op-ed in an editorial thoroughly debunking its claims: “Let’s see. The liar-Clinton campaign hires Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm, to investigate the Trump campaign. Fusion hires a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who produces a dossier based on Russian sources full of rumor, hearsay and an occasional fact to allege collusion between the Kremlin and Trump campaign. The dossier gets to the FBI, which uses it to justify opening a counterintelligence probe of the Trump campaign, perhaps including a judicial warrant to spy on Trump officials. Then Fusion has Mr. Steele privately brief select media reporters, ensuring that the dossier’s contents become public before the election. And now Fusion GPS complains about being a victim? Only in Washington, folks.”
          Meanwhile, there’s the investigation into liar-Hillary Clinton’s illegal activities with her private email server. Republican investigators say they’ve uncovered hard evidence that the FBI knew liar-Clinton broke the law and that at least one witness lied to the FBI — in this case the technical expert who worked for Bleach Bit and wiped liar-Clinton’s server (“like with a cloth or something”) after a congressional subpoena. His admission of lying came one day after James Comey began drafting his statement exonerating liar-Clinton. That and other outstanding FBI evidence gathering, plus interviews with 17 witnesses including liar-Clinton herself, meant that damning information was still coming to light even as Comey was letting liar-Clinton off the hook. The lying witness wasn’t prosecuted; he was given an immunity deal.
          All of the above is how banana republics operate, not republics defined by constitutional Rule of Law. And yet somehow, nothing is surprising any longer.  
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53240

by Nate Jackson:  As we noted yesterday, protests in Iran continue as citizens rise up to object to tyranny and corruption in the Iranian regime. Donald Trump and his administration — particularly UN Ambassador Nikki Haley — have clearly stood with the Iranian people in support of Liberty. Meanwhile, American leftists provide quite the teachable moment.

          In fact, David Harsanyi nailed it, writing, “The Iranian people are in the midst of their largest protests since the 2009 Green movement, and many on the Left don’t seem especially thrilled about the prospects of a free Iran. The muted reaction is partly due to a troubling trend of justifying and excusing Islamic fascism in a broader and confused attempt at signaling tolerance. But almost surely an even more powerful factor is the need to protect Barack liar-nObama’s legacy and criticize Donald Trump.”
          A few examples: The New York Times, in a story that included coverage of the death of 12 protesters at the hands of Iranian government forces, blamed … the protesters. “Iranian authorities have clamped down on Tehran after demonstrators across the country ignored calls for calm,” the paper of record tweeted. Imagine a similar framing of anti-Trump rallies last year had the result been a dozen deaths at the hands of police. That’s right — a similar framing is unimaginable.
          Speaking of anti-Trump protesters, the Women’s March, famous for running around the DC Mall wearing vagina hats, has been utterly silent about the Iranian protests, in which The Washington Times notes “women have become symbolic leaders.” American feminists fancy themselves the oppressed subjects of the dystopian TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” but when they have a chance to stand up for actually oppressed women around the world, their silence is deafening.
          Finally, both The New York Times and Newsweek scolded Trump over his statements about Iran blocking social media sites. When Trump condemned the Iranian government’s crackdown, Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman responded by tweeting, “The president often blocks individual people from seeing the @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed.” Newsweek made the supposed contrast even more clear, tweeting, “Trump bars Americans on Twitter but tells Iran to unblock social media sites.” As if the comparison is even remotely relevant. Hateful leftist Twitter trolls being blocked is not the same thing as shutting down access to Twitter. Oh, and by the way, nearly the entire American mainstream media apparatus is freely opposed to Trump. That’s a contrast from the state-run propaganda in Iran.
          But by all means, leftists will continue to ignore protests for Liberty in Iran all while circling the wagons to defend liar-nObama’s horrible nuclear deal.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53209

by Lewis Morris:  We’ve all heard the jokes about government jobs and the general lack of efficiency in the federal bureaucracy. Yet in some important ways, the size and scope of the federal government workforce is nothing to crack wise about.

          A recent study by OpentheBooks.com, a nonprofit watchdog group, found that taxpayers pay over $1 million a minute to cover the two-million-person federal workforce. Including pay and benefits, that comes out to around $136 billion a year.
          Yes, we have a large federal workforce, so perhaps the numbers aren’t surprising. But working for the government also has significant perks, according to the study, which breaks down salaries by agency and states. The average federal worker in 78 government agencies makes about $100,000 per year. After three years, they get 10 federal holidays, 13 sick days and 20 paid vacation days.
          Moreover, the report says, “Nearly 30,000 rank-and-file federal employees who received more than $190,823 out-earned each of the 50 state governors.” That’s astounding.
          Also, the study does not take into account the Department of Defense or the men and women on active military duty. Of the agencies and departments that were examined, the Postal Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs were the largest employers, accounting for 32% and 19%, respectively, of all federal workers.
          Over 400,000 federal employees take home six-figure incomes. Over the last decade, the number of federal workers making over $200,000 a year increased by 165%. There is even a heart surgeon on the VA payroll who makes more than the president.
          It’s worth noting that many federal employees are hardworking people who take their jobs seriously and only aim to do patriotic service. Unfortunately, that isn’t true for enough of them.
          Public-sector unions have exercised a great deal of power to drive up the wages and benefits for federal workers. And there is a high level of graft and waste that takes place in the federal bureaucracy. This is doubly troubling because it’s this very bureaucracy that manages the government and pretty much all our daily interactions with it.
          These bureaucrats often have more influence over us than our elected representatives. Congress makes laws and the president enforces them, as the Constitution dictates, but it is the bureaucracy that handles everything on a day-to-day basis. The growth of the federal government and the waste that takes place within it has reached epic proportions.
          What makes the situation even worse is the gaggle of Leftists who populate many of these government agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a perfect example of how the inmates are running the asylum. Upset by President Donald Trump’s appointment of Mick Mulvaney to head the agency, CFPB personnel now flout transparency rules and engage in other tactics meant to sabotage the agency’s workings.
          This sort of behavior, which goes on across the federal bureaucracy, is an affront to the American people. Taxpayers deserve to get their money’s worth from federal agencies, but many of the people who work for these agencies act as if they are doing us a favor. With this sort of behavior, it’s no surprise that people don’t trust or even respect the federal government.
          If Trump is serious about draining the swamp, then he needs to pursue measures that call for more accountability and transparency within the federal bureaucracy. It will mean a battle with the public-sector unions that will likely get ugly, but it’s a battle that needs to be waged.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53215

by Paul Albaugh:  In December 2017, some of the best news of the year came out of Iraq. The Islamic State had been defeated — at least in terms of losing its caliphate. The terrorist group had lost control of all of the cities it once held and had lost tens of thousands of fighters from the relentless U.S.-led airstrikes and the ground assaults from the Iraqi troops backed by U.S ground forces. While this is very good news — news the media tried to ignore — the threat of Islamist terrorism still remains.

          How can a group that has for the most part been defeated still remain a security threat to the U.S and her allies? Several reasons exist for this unfortunate reality. First, Islamic jihad is not at all limited to the Middle East. Despite most terrorist activity happening in the Middle East, there is still a worldwide threat from radicalized individuals and groups. With most of the caliphate’s fighters being killed or captured, the chances of smaller scale attacks from those who have escaped remains. Further, the chances of those fighters being able to carry out attacks from their homeland, or another country where a strategic attack can draw international attention, increases as well.
          Second, most of the leaders within the Islamic State remain at large. This poses an additional threat, because they can still plan for attacks in countries where they are not even present. It could also be that many of these leaders within the Islamic State are being tracked closely by the international intelligence community as a means to thwart and prevent attacks.
          The sad reality is that despite a concentrated group of jihadists being defeated, the asymmetric threat of Islamic jihad remains. The caliphate was the goal of the Islamic State and by accomplishing its goal for a time, morale was increased amongst its members and they in turn inspired other radical Islamists to join their cause.
          Was it too early for Iraq’s prime minister to declare victory against the Islamic State on December 9th? Some might say that his remarks were a bit premature, but he did not end with those remarks — a fact that was also largely ignored by the news media. Just three days after Abadi declared victory he warned that the Islamic extremists might “erupt again somewhere else” without there being international cooperation and commitment to combat the extremists. He also warned that “ISIS has this unfortunate ability to recruit young people very quickly.”
          In other words, the Islamic State is on the run, but these jihadis do still have the capability to carry out attacks and they may gain a stronghold again somewhere if countries are not actively seeking to bolster their security posture. Peter Vincent, a counterterrorism expert and former Department of Homeland Security official, had this to say about the current state of the Islamic State: “It’s like a cornered cat that will lash out indiscriminately and viciously to save itself. … The war has yet to be won, and if it’s ever going to be won, it’s going to take many more years, and many more civilians will lose their lives”
          Sadly, Western Europe, specifically the United Kingdom, is likely to see an increase in Islamic terrorism, primarily due to the mass migration of Muslims over the last five years. There is no doubt that there were hundreds if not thousands of Muslims that were already radicalized or have become radicalized and have sworn their allegiance to the Islamic State — what’s left of its physical caliphate notwithstanding. All of Britain’s spy agencies are aware of the impending threat, and are implementing additional security measures to try and prevent Islamic State attacks from occurring.
          In its 2016-2017 oversight report, Britain’s parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) noted, “The scale of the current threat facing the U.K. and its interests from Islamist terror groups is unprecedented.” The report continued, “This threat is predominantly driven by the activities of [the Islamic State], which seeks to maintain the group’s image and narrative of success in the face of military losses.”
          The ISC assesses that 2018 is not going to be much different. In fact, the threat of Islamic State activity in the UK is likely to be higher with there being varying levels of its activity between “directed, influenced and inspired operations.”
          The British spy agency M15 told the ISC that there are at least “3,000 subjects of interest on its radar, sitting on top of a pool of 20,000 individuals who had previously been subjects of interest.”
          Western Europe and the UK will need to remain vigilant and relentless in pursuit to quickly identify potential threats and eradicate them as soon as possible. The war against the Islamic State is not over; indeed the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump may need to consider some additional support to our allies in Europe. As we have long argued, Jihadistan is a borderless nation of Islamofascists with global reach. Unfortunately, not a lot has changed, despite the truly good news finally coming out of Iraq.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53206

by Jordan Candler:  A plethora of sanctions means North Korea must take advantage of clandestine activity for things like nuclear weapons proliferation. A new report reveals that North Korea was recently the recipient of 600 tons of illegally obtained petroleum. A Hong Kong tanker reportedly completed the handover in the East China Sea. This is said to be one of at least 30 such documented cases over the last two months, and every one of these incidents flout UN Resolution 2375, which (on paper) imposes a major petroleum embargo on Kim Jong-un. How much of said under-the-radar oil trade is directly linked to China is not entirely known, but it’s fair to assume the “People’s Republic” is complicit in most, if not all, of it.           After all, going rogue and providing needed materials in order to fulfill the many mutual interests it has with North Korea is China’s tour de force.

Take, for example, “The Decision of General Office of the Communist Party of China on Conducting Communication and Coordination Work between Our Country and The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for Further In-depth Solution of Its Nuclear Issue.” This confidential report, crafted by the Chinese government, was intercepted by the good folks at The Washington Free Beacon. The report proposes more ways to obfuscate sanctions and further ensure North Korea goes relatively unblemished. According to WFB:
          China’s Communist Party adopted a secret plan in September to bolster the North Korean government with increased aid and military support, including new missiles, if Pyongyang halts further nuclear tests, according to an internal party document. The document, labeled “top secret” and dated Sept. 15 — 12 days after North Korea’s latest underground nuclear blast — outlines China’s plan for dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue. It states China will allow North Korea to keep its current arsenal of nuclear weapons, contrary to Beijing’s public stance that it seeks a denuclearized Korean peninsula. Chinese leaders also agreed to offer new assurances that the North Korean government will not be allowed to collapse, and that Beijing plans to apply sanctions “symbolically” to avoid punishing the regime of leader Kim Jong Un under a recent U.N. resolution requiring a halt to oil and gas shipments into North Korea.
          China doesn’t desire to denuclearize or even calm North Korea. What it’s doing is pretending to broker peace while it passively dismisses the UN as a paper tiger. The proof is in the flow of oil that has China’s fingerprints all over it and a secret document that admits to criminal undermining. As Donald Tump put it, “[I’m] very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!” Addressing North Korea is an incredibly difficult task that’s made worse by China’s having its client’s back — perhaps at any cost. If Trump can somehow manage to kill two maniacal birds with one stone, that will be an accomplishment truly worth praising.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53189

by Todd Johnson:  Why is the United States government continuing to support the Saudi monarchy with military resources when it is becoming clearer every day that the House of Saud is indiscriminately killing civilians in Yemen? It’s a question more and more Americans are beginning to ask as evidence continues to mount that the Saudi government is creating a humanitarian crisis in the Arabian peninsula.

          While many U.S. citizens are aware of American military operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, most are unaware of the large conflict involving U.S. personnel in Yemen. The small Arab country, located on the Arabia peninsula, has been in the midst of a political upheaval since 2011 and in 2015 a civil war broke out between the internationally recognized government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi (supported by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia) and Iranian-backed Houthi rebel groups.
          The Saudi response began as an effort to counter Iran, which Barack liar-nObama had just certified with his foolish and dangerous nuclear deal. Iran was backing Houthi jihadists in Yemen in a bid to destabilize the region. But Saudi actions are no longer helpful. The Saudi government has bombed Yemeni civilians and critical infrastructure, stopped humanitarian shipments of food and supplies, and contributed to the worst outbreak of cholera in contemporary history.
          Meanwhile, however, the lack of a cohesive governing body in Yemen has made it a breeding ground for terrorist organizations and the United States has been conducting airstrikes in the area for many years. Just in 2017 there were over 120 American airstrikes against al-Qaida Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS-Yemen (ISIS-Y) fighters.
          Last year also saw Donald Trump’s administration increasing both the conventional and special operations forces on the ground. While the deployment of American ground troops has led to some tactical successes, it hasn’t stemmed the tide of growth in terror organizations in Yemen.
          According to recent reports, ISIS-Y has doubled in strength over the last year. According to one counterterrorism expert, the United States isn’t “ahead of the problem in Yemen.”
          Which leads to the current situation on the ground. The destabilizing effects of a humanitarian crisis in Yemen will only lead to more chaos in the region. The deaths of thousands of innocent people would, in one former U.S. diplomat’s words, serve as a “catalytic effect” for terrorist recruitment. More importantly, it would be a significant blow to the United States’ ability to conduct foreign diplomacy around the globe.
          Now is the time for the Trump administration and Congress to fundamentally examine U.S. policy for Yemen. Rather than continuing to provide military assistance to the Saudi forces, the American government should implement a tactical pause and examine what can be done to mitigate the suffering of the Yemeni people. It’s not enough for the White House to issue statements calling for an end to the suffering of the Yemeni people. Now is the time for action.
          If Capitol Hill and President Trump fail to show leadership on this important issue, it will only reinforce the narrative in the Arab world that the United States is more interested in facilitating killing rather than peacemaking. The long-term interests of the nation will be best served by forcing the Saudi government to change their brutal tactics. Anything less will only extend the misery of the fractured Yemeni society.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53207

by Robin Smith:  It’s the second day of 2018. Have you kept your New Year’s resolutions, or have you already fudged?

          According to a Huffington Post Lifestyle article last week, the top six New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, get organized, learn to say “no,” travel more, spend more time with family and learn a new skill or hobby. Yet, as most can attest, it’s much easier to make resolutions than to keep them.
          Which category do yours fall into? Is your refrigerator stocked with new foods for a new diet? Do you have a new exercise regime planned? Do you plan to stop smoking or avoid unhealthy substances that impair your physical and mental health? Will you focus this year on plans to save more money in your budget?
          Why do we make statements of intent and verbalize promises that don’t materialize? Why do we fail to keep our resolutions?
          Well, much of it has to do with the misguided belief that intentions are equal to actions. But it may be more than just wrongheaded indoctrination in the era when everyone gets a participation trophy just to keep self-esteem hyper-inflated.
          A psychological model, the Self-Completion Theory, teaches that self is defined by the way society responds to the individual who, in turn, defines oneself using symbols of accomplishment and communicates that self-definition to society using these symbols. Let’s use the most common resolution of health improvement as an example.
          Why do we buy, adorn and employ some of the symbols of health without actually following through with exercise and a meaningful change in diet? In our pursuit of a fit physique, we’ll stock the pantry with trendy foodstuffs to be part of the latest consumption craze only available at the upscale markets, and we’ll talk about new exercise plans or the new-fangled piece of equipment we’ve got shoved into the corner of our bedroom. We may even don sleek active wear that’s fashionable while you sweat — or apparently while you shop for overpriced organic baby spinach. We may even abandon our watches for mini-computers worn on our wrists that may tell time but prominently serve notice that you’re into counting your steps, scoring big identity points in the moving crowd.
          To portray a symbol of health as part of an identity, one engages in activities to project these and other symbols to meet that societal definition.
          So we’ve got our goods, gear and go plan, but why don’t we follow through? Interestingly, in this same model of behavioral study, research shows that just talking about these symbols and modeling some of the activities publicly suffices as having obtained a goal or met a certain identity, rather than authentically fulfilling it. Simpler put, for some, good intentions are the same as actually achieving an identity or goal.
          In the May 2009 edition of Psychology Science, a study was published observing this self-completion theory with this fun nugget of truth. The results demonstrated that “identity-related behavioral intentions that had been noticed by other people were translated into action less intensively.” The study added that “when other people take notice of an individual’s identity-related behavioral intention, this gives the individual a premature sense of possessing the aspired-to identity.”
          You want others to see something as you say something about your new self-identity as a person doing healthy things. Observing this model, it simply means when others see us doing something publicly or engage with us about our identity symbols, we receive as much satisfaction as we would in achieving the end goal.
          That fits into the culture of 2018 perfectly. Life is lived on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with selfies rather than substance.
          Ok, so we stink at keeping resolutions, but where did the practice begin? Were they hatched as part of our non-stop retail culture to appeal to our appetites to buy new stuff?
          New Year’s resolutions date back to the Babylonians 4,000 years ago, when promises were made to their gods in mid-March — their new year based on the planting season. The Babylonians would observe a 12-day festival, crown a new king and promise their deities that they would pay their debts and returned borrowed objects. Rome, during the days of Julius Caesar, fiddled with the calendar to make January 1 the start of the calendar, observing the new year with offerings made to their multitude of gods and with gifts of honey and figs given to neighbors.
          Early Christians chose to observe the new year by reflecting on past mistakes with a commitment to correct the same. If you live in the South, the traditions include great food with a dash of superstition. A supper on the first day of the year of black-eyed peas (for luck), collard greens (for financial goodness), hog-jowl or a cut of ham (for health, prosperity and progress) served with a pone of cornbread (for the golden opportunities ahead) rounds out the resolutions with a little lore.
          Whatever your resolutions, it’s worth remembering with a clear mind that meeting your goals isn’t just about the aims themselves, but is most importantly about resolve. Good health existed before the gadgets, gestational gymnastics and gym glamor. Living a healthy lifestyle is a function of one’s decision to avoid bad habits such as excess, sedentary living and poor diet. Being able to save money has always been about making the decision to live beneath your means and having a reserve fund.
          Make 2018 the best year ever! The Law of the Harvest is another of life’s irrefutable formulas that proves you reap what you plant, not what you talk about sowing or intending to sow. Make 2018 about your own resolve.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53163

by Caroline Camden Lewis:  In his first year, President Donald Trump kept his promise to restore law and order in this country, dismantling organized crime, combating the opioid crisis, aiding local law enforcement and confronting human trafficking. His recent statement underscores his commitment: “I promised to restore law and order to our country, and our federal law enforcement agencies are following through on that pledge. We will spare no resource so that every American child can grow up free from violence and fear.”

          The Trump administration continues to aggressively combat organized crime by addressing international criminal organizations, drug cartels and gangs. In February 2017, President Trump signed three executive orders (13773, 13774, and 13776) that confront international criminal organizations, drug cartels and gangs, while also enhancing public safety and preventing violence against law enforcement officials.
          Additionally, Attorney General Jeff Sessions named MS-13 as a priority for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which gives federal law enforcement greater ability to pursue and dismantle this criminal organization. The U.S. also joined with the law enforcement of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to pursue and charge the 3,800 gang members of MS-13 and the 18th Street gang in both the U.S. and in Central America. Under Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice (DOJ) successfully convicted eight members of the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization on federal charges for human trafficking and forced prostitution.
          The Trump administration has also prioritized the destructive opioid crisis as a policy objective. In October 2017, President Trump directed Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Under Attorney General Sessions, the Justice Department formed the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, a data-utilizing division that aids in the detection of opioid fraud. In addition, federal prosecutors have acted in the takedown of the largest health-care fraud case in the history of the DOJ. This case amounted to approximately $1.3 billion in false billings and charged 120 defendants (including doctors) for their participation in prescribing and distributing opioids and other narcotics. DOJ also seized and shut down Alpha Bay, the largest online “Dark Market” for the sale of illegal drugs. Additionally, Sessions deployed assistant U.S. attorneys to 12 areas across the country for three-year terms. Their aim will be to specifically investigate and prosecute health care fraud with prescription opioids.
          The administration has also prioritized local law enforcement. DOJ allocated more than $98 million in grants through the Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, which allows for an increase of 802 full-time law enforcement officers. President Trump signed Executive Order 13809, restoring state and local law enforcement’s access to Department of Defense surplus equipment, including armored vehicles, though we have cautioned about that in the past. DOJ has also directed prosecutors to focus on removing illegal guns from America’s streets. In 2017, there was a 23% increase in criminals charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.
          Sessions also established the new National Public Safety Partnership, a cooperative with local communities to reduce violence and crime, and expanded Project Safe Neighborhoods in which U.S. attorneys cooperate with local communities to create customized crime-reduction strategies.
          The Trump administration continues to address the tragic human trafficking problem with both compassion and action. Just last week, President Trump proclaimed January 2018 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month stating, “An estimated 25 million people are currently victims of human trafficking for both sex and labor. … Traffickers unjustifiably profit from the labor and toil of their victims, who they force — through violence and intimidation — to work in brothels and factories, on farms and fishing vessels, in private homes and in countless industries. … My administration continues to work to drive out the darkness human traffickers cast upon our world. … Our nation is and will forever be a place that values and protects human life and dignity. This month let us redouble our efforts to endure that modern-day slavery comes to its long overdue end.”
          As mentioned earlier, in February 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13773 to address transnational criminal organizations, which includes those involved in human trafficking. The State Department’s $25 million contribution to the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery promotes international collaboration to combat human trafficking. The Labor Department’s mobile app, Comply Chain, helps businesses to identify and end forced labor in global supply-chains. Additionally, this month, President Trump will sign into law S. 1536, the Combatting Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act and S. 1532, the No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act.
          President Trump’s commitment to law and order in 2017 made remarkable gains by combating organized crime, addressing the opioid crisis, supporting law enforcement and acting to end human trafficking. Under his leadership, 2018 holds great opportunity for restoring safety, security, law and order to our neighborhoods and communities.  

~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53157