Photo Credit: Business Insider Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sparked fresh Kremlin fury by warning that his crisis-torn country was fighting a “real war” against Russian aggressors that could escalate at any time.
The pro-Western leader said the weekend capture of two purported Russian special forces members proved the separatist uprising in the industrial east of Ukraine was a guise for a Moscow-orchestrated campaign aimed at breaking up his ex-Soviet state.
“This is not a fight with Russian-backed separatists, this is a real war with Russia,” the 49-year-old Ukrainian leader told the BBC . . .
Ukraine’s military on Tuesday showed off two wounded Russians who had been taken prisoner during a firefight in Lugansk — a blue-collar region that together with neighbouring Donetsk revolted against Kiev’s shift toward the West 13 months ago.
The men testified during a taped interrogation that they entered the war zone nearly two months ago as part of a 200-strong reconnaissance unit from the Russian army’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). (Read more from “After Russian Special Forces Soldiers Captured, Ukraine Says it’s Fighting a Real War Against Russia” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-21 00:53:192016-04-11 11:00:55After Russian Special Forces Soldiers Captured, Ukraine Says it’s Fighting a Real War Against Russia
The last time the Air Force’s super secretive X-37B space plane launched, it didn’t come down until almost two years later–674 days to be exact. On Wednesday, it launched again, and was scheduled to stay in orbit for 270 days. Or maybe more.
No one knows for sure because the largely classified project is shrouded in mystery. The Air Force will only say that it will test a new, experimental thruster. The rocket carrying the space craft will also deliver a small satellite that would fly using a “solar sail.” But the broader mission of the Boeing-made X-37B, which looks like a miniature version of a the space shuttle, is not publicly known.
Space has become an increasingly important part of national security, a realm the Pentagon and the intelligence community is keenly focused on. And the ability to keep an unmanned space craft that could circle the Earth for months at a time and then land on an airstrip so that it could be used again could have all kinds of potential, from keeping an eye on the weather as well as the enemy.
“Space is so vitally important to everything we do,” Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello, the commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space and Missile Systems Center, said in a recent statement. “Secure comms, ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], missile warning, weather prediction, precision navigation and timing all rely on it, and the domain is increasingly contested.”
In Congressional testimony last month, Air Force Lt. Gen John Raymond said that space has become a “warfighting domain,” and he warned that other countries, particularly, China and Russia, “remain concerns for us as we assess threats in the space domain.” Officials have said the countries have the ability to blind satellites with lasers or blow them up with missiles. (Read more from “The Mystery Behind the Air Force’s Classified Space Plane” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-21 00:53:072016-04-11 11:00:55The Mystery Behind the Air Force’s Classified Space Plane
Photo Credit: AP ImagesThe federal government spent $100 billion providing food assistance to Americans last year, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The lion’s share of spending comes from the food stamp program, which gave benefits to an average 46 million Americans in 2014, at a cost of $74.6 billion, according to a testimony from the GAO’s Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security Kay E. Brown before the House Subcommittee on Nutrition Wednesday.
The national school lunch program was second, costing $11.3 billion, followed by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) at $7.1 billion . . .
Brown said there is a potential for overlap and “inefficient use of federal funds” due to the government’s “complex network of 18 food assistance programs, administered by three federal agencies,” which are unsure how effective the programs are.
“In 2010, research GAO reviewed suggested that participation in seven of these programs was associated with positive outcomes, such as improving nutrition among low-income households,” Brown said. “Little was known about the effectiveness of the remaining 11.” (Read more from “Feds Spent $100 Billion on Food Assistance Last Year” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-21 00:53:002016-04-11 11:00:55Feds Spent $100 Billion on Food Assistance Last Year
Photo Credit: FlickrThe National Transportation Safety Board is combing through the cellphone records of the engineer at the controls of the crashed Amtrak train, and said he was using it the day of the deadly derailment, the agency said in a statement Wednesday.
“Although the records appear to indicate that calls were made, text messages sent, and data used on the day of the accident, investigators have not yet made a determination if there was any phone activity during the time the train was being operated,” the NTSB said.
The board will be checking the time stamps on Brandon Bostian’s phone to see if he was using it just before the crash that killed eight people and injured over 200 more.
There were no issues with the train’s signals systems at the time, the NTSB also said.
Investigators have also interviewed the engineer of the SEPTA train that came to an emergency stop when it was struck by an object. That motorman said Bostian announced on the radio, “hot track rail two” to warn him that he was about to pass the train. (Read more from “Investigators Check Amtrak Engineer’s Cellphone Records” HERE)
When Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) induced an abortion-related gaffe from Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, pro-life activists hailed him as one of their most effective messengers in presidential politics — but he doesn’t intend to build his 2016 campaign around such fights.
“I didn’t run for office because of the social issues,” Paul said Monday during a question-and-answer session with conservative-radio host Dom Giordano at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. “It wasn’t what got me to leave my practice. I ran for office mainly because I became concerned that we were going to destroy the country with debt. That we would borrow so much money that we would just destroy the currency . . . There’s also a chance that we get so far overdrawn that we have a calamity. In 2008, we were very close to a calamity.”
The exchange began when Giordano asked if, in light of the House passage of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, abortion should be “handled” at the state level or at the federal level under the Fourteenth Amendment. (Read more from “A Quote That May Come Back to Haunt Rand Paul” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-21 00:52:212016-04-11 11:00:55A Quote That May Come Back to Haunt Rand Paul
United States Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) vows to filibuster any attempt in Congress to extend the eavesdropping powers provided to the government through the US Patriot Act before they expire at the end of the month.
Sen. Paul began speaking out against government surveillance on the floor of the Senate at around 1:18 pm ET on Wednesday, saying “I will not let the Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged.”
Provisions in the anti-terrorism law, passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, are set to sunset on June 1 unless Congress extends them before then. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the Senate majority leader, has advocated for extending the National Security Agency’s ability to conduct such surveillance in certain cases while an alternative solution is sought.
As the end-of-month deadline nears, Senator Paul on Wednesday said he would launch a filibuster to ensure the spy powers are not reauthorized . . .
Earlier in the day, the Department of Justice circulated a memo on Capitol Hill warning lawmakers to act swiftly and be prepared to pull the plug on Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act this week. The memo said this was necessary in order to avoid complications that could arise in the event the program is not renewed before the end of the month. A federal appeals court ruled two weeks ago that Sec. 215 does not authorize the National Security Agency to collect phone records in bulk, contrary to the government’s current interpretation, dealing the biggest blow yet to the previously secret surveillance program first exposed to the public in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. (Read more from “Rand Paul Filibusters NSA Surveillance in Congress” HERE)
Editor’s note: RT News is Russian government affiliated site that is not immune from propagandizing issues.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-21 00:52:052016-04-11 11:00:56Rand Paul Filibusters NSA Surveillance in Congress
Photo Credit: ShutterstockDepartment of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced today the largest and “most complex” auto recall in United States history.
The recall involves the Takata Corporation, which is the manufacturer of air bags for Honda and Toyota automobiles. The number affected by the recall has nearly doubled from 18 million to 34 million vehicles . . .
The defect that has been identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) involves the propellant canister used to inflate front and side airbags. Rather than simply releasing gas into the airbags, in some instances the canister has exploded, sending metal shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
Police responding to accident scenes have described those who have sustained injuries as appearing to have been shot or stabbed. At least five fatalities and 100 injuries have been tied to the faulty airbags, according to CNN Money and Fox News.
“From the very beginning, our goal has been simple: a safe air bag in every vehicle,” said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. “The steps we’re taking today represent significant progress toward that goal. We all know that there is more work to do, for NHTSA, for the auto makers, for parts suppliers, and for consumers. But we are determined to get to our goal as rapidly as possible.” (Read more from “Largest Automobile Recall in History Just Announced, Brands Named” HERE)
Editor’s note: Click HERE to check whether your vehicle is covered in the airbag recall.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-20 00:31:442016-04-11 11:00:56Largest Automobile Recall in History Just Announced – “1 of 7 U.S. Vehicles” – Brands Named
Photo Credit: The Telegraph Millions of boys could be at increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other mental illnesses in later life through playing action video games such as Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed, according to new research.
Scientists say players navigate the screen using a key area of the brain called the caudate nucleus, which leads to loss of grey matter in the hippocampus.
Previous studies have shown reduced volume in the hippocampus, which controls memory, learning and emotion, is associated with neurological and psychological disorders including dementia and depression.
The Canadian team said if action gamers have less grey matter, as people who rely on the caudate nucleus normally do, then they may be more prone to mental illness.
In the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, they tested 26 players and 33 non players who wore skull caps recording their brainwaves and eye movements as they negotiated a virtual maze decorated with trees and mountains from which they had to retrieve objects. (Read more from “Study: Video Games Increase Risk of Mental Illness” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-20 00:31:222016-04-11 11:00:56Study: Video Games Increase Risk of Mental Illness
By Jonah Goldberg. By now everyone has had their say about Jeb Bush’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. The consensus is that Bush misheard Megyn Kelly’s “knowing what we know now” question about the Iraq war. I’m not convinced.
Politicians routinely answer the question they wish they were asked rather than the question they were actually asked. Indeed, those are the only kinds of questions some politicians — particularly ones with the last name Clinton — ever answer. The question Fox News’ Kelly asked is the tougher one, at least for Bush, so perhaps he opted to answer in a way that let him take a shot at Hillary Rodham Clinton, who also supported the war?
But it doesn’t matter. Bush should have murder-boarded every possible variant of that question. His team should have run drills on it, as if he were prepping for a presidential debate. And, he should have given a speech specifically about the Iraq war months ago to inoculate himself against all of this.
In other words, the disturbing thing about his response and the awkward effort to clean it up is that it was necessary at all.
With the possible exception of the Adamses, there’s no family in American history with more institutional knowledge about how to run for president. And of the immediate Bush clan, almost everybody agrees that Jeb is the savviest. (Read more from “Jeb Bush Has Bigger Problems Then Iraq War Stumble” HERE)
______________________________________________________________
How Wannabe King Bush III Flubbed the Iraq War Question Last Week
By Scott Wong. [GOP lawmakers] on Capitol Hill were scratching their heads as Bush struggled during four consecutive news cycles to articulate his position on the unpopular war that defined the presidency of his older brother, George W. Bush.
“[I’m] flabbergasted at the degree of back and forth that’s ensued this week on the Middle East answer, correction, non-answer, correction, etc.,” said one GOP lawmaker from a early primary state who has yet to endorse anyone in the race. . .
Jeb Bush first stepped in it [last] Monday when Fox News’ Megyn Kelly asked if he would have invaded Iraq in 2003 “knowing what we know now” — that U.S. intelligence proved to be faulty and Saddam Hussein didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. Yes, he replied.
The next day, Bush took to Sean Hannity’s radio show to explain he misinterpreted the question and called it a “hypothetical” he couldn’t answer. On Day 3, Bush’s line was that such questions do a “disservice” to those who perished in the war.
By the fourth day, Bush had finally settled on a clear answer: “Knowing what we know now, I would not invade.” (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-20 00:31:152016-04-11 11:00:56Jeb Bush Has Bigger Problems Than Iraq War Stumble
Despite the looming deadlines for several other “must-pass” bills, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (54%, F Liberty Score™) declared his intention to finish debate and pass the trade bill before senators go home for the Memorial Day recess.
Employing a tactic commonly used by his predecessor, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), in a veiled threat to keep the chamber in for part of the upcoming recess, McConnell is using the jet fumes from the tarmac at Reagan National Airport to leverage members into dropping their amendments to the Trade Promotion Authority bill (“TPA”) and agreeing to pass it expeditiously.
This is the level of alacrity McConnell is employing to pass one of Obama’s top priorities. For once, McConnell is willing to play hardball with Senate Democrats (who oppose Obama’s trade deal for their own reasons) and keep them in during recess in order to placate his new friend.
When Obama announced his executive amnesty and nullification of our immigration laws last November, he likely never imagined this would be his “punishment” for violating the separation of powers.
Ironically, McConnell was presented with the same leverage point during the battle to defund Obama’s executive amnesty in February. A belligerent Harry Reid was blocking efforts to proceed with debate to the House-passed DHS funding bill, which funded every aspect of Homeland Security excluding the executive amnesty.
At the time, Congress was approaching a week-long recess in honor of Presidents’ Day. Conservatives called on McConnell to keep the Senate in session through the recess as leverage to wear down intransigent Senate Democrats until they agreed to proceed with debate. Needless to say, McConnell never thought twice about doing that.
Consider this for a moment: executive amnesty represents an existential threat not only to the safety and financial security of the country, but to the future of our system of government itself. We now have a president who is openly nullifying laws and engaging in actions that even King George III lacked the power to do. Local communities and school districts throughout the country are dealing with the crushing costs of the surge in illegal immigration engendered by the promise of legalization and amnesty. There are now 900,000 illegal aliens who have been ordered to leave the country by the courts, yet the administration is refusing to lift a finger. Of those ordered deported, 167,000 are criminal aliens, the very type Obama said he would prioritize for deportation.
Even after the court enjoined his executive amnesty, Obama continues to defy the courts by issuing work permits and abusing the asylum system. He now seeks to end the modicum of state and local immigration enforcement that still exists.
Yet, this was not an emergency legislative situation for Mitch McConnell. And to this day, despite the dangerous and illegal actions taken by this president on a daily basis, McConnell could not care less about restoring our sovereignty, the rule of law, and separation of powers.
What defines an emergency? Passing Obama’s TPA, which, ironically, would cede him de facto irrevocable political power to engage in unilateral actions under the veil of a trade agreement.
As noted before, there is no politically feasible way to block a trade deal once TPA is passed, irrespective of the concerns that may surface in the coming weeks.
Hence, Obama’s “punishment” for abusing his power in the most egregious manner is…Congress ceding him more power!
This is McConnell’s idea of “governing.”
Welcome to the GOP Majority. (See “Guess Whose Priorities RINO Senator Mitch McConnell Is Pushing?”, originally posted HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-20 00:31:092016-04-11 11:00:56The TPA Lives! And Guess Who is Going Overboard to Force its Passage? RINO Senator Mitch McConnell [+video]
