Widget Image
Follow PPD Social Media
follow
1,000 Followers
follow
0 Followers
follow
People's Pundit Locals Community
Thursday, February 6, 2025
SECTIONS
logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 393)
US

Hannity's Anjem Choudary interview was the first since the radical Islamic London imam was released from jail, following his arrest by Scotland Yard.

Hannity’s Anjem Choudary interview was the first since the radical Islamic London imam was released from jail, following his arrest by Scotland Yard.

The U.S. State Department has designated notorious London imam Anjem Choudary a terrorist under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. The British extremist has long been tied to convicted terrorists and extremist networks in the United Kingdom, including the Al-Muhajiroun group.

In September 2014, he was one of 9 men arrested by Scotland Yard as part of a major investigation into Islamist terrorism for pledging allegiance to ISIS and for acting as a key figure in ISIS’ recruitment drive. He was sentenced to prison in September 2016, but has stated that he will continue his recruitment activities from prison.

Shortly before that arrest, Choudary tweeted a number of controversial tweets, including one claiming that “it has already been foretold by Muhammad(saw) that Muslims & Christians will fight a big battle in As-Sham & that Muslims will prevail.”

Choudary is now one of at least 5 other individuals put on a list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), meaning the U.S. can impose sanctions “on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.”

As a consequence of these designations, he will be prohibited from engaging in transactions or dealings with other SDGTs and all of his property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction is frozen.

The designation also includes El Shafee Elsheikh, Sami Bouras, Shane Dominic Crawford and Mark John Taylor. El Shafee Elsheikh is of particular note. He traveled to Syria in 2012, joined al-Qaida in Syria before later joining ISIS. In May 2016, Elsheikh was identified as a member of the ISIS execution cell known as “The Beatles,” which is a group known for their hostage beheadings, believed to number more than 27.

Elsheikh was said to have earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions, and crucifixions while serving as an ISIS jailer.

The U.S. State Department has designated notorious

Politics

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr [R}, accompanied by Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the committee, speaks at a news conference to discuss their probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election on Capitol Hill in Washington, 29 March 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr [R}, accompanied by Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the committee, speaks at a news conference to discuss their probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election on Capitol Hill in Washington, 29 March 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, opened the hearing on Russia meddling into the U.S. presidential election with a widely cited falsehood. Mr. Warner, who barely won his own reelection in 2014 against an outspent and underfunded challenger Ed Gillespie, repeated the false claim Roger Stone “accurately predicted” the WikiLeaks release of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s hacked emails.

Without citing Stone in the opening statement, though everyone knows that is who he and other Democrats are referring to, he said it was the “smoke” that he did not yet know would lead to fire.

Translation: A tweet Mr. Stone sent out on Aug. 21, 2016 could possibly indicate collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, potentially the president himself.

The claim, which was first introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the Ranking Member on the House Intelligence Committee during a public hearing, was just one of several alleged “coincidences” Democrats hope will build a circumstantial case against President Donald J. Trump.

There’s just one problem: It’s not supported by the evidence, as laid out in fact-checking articles at People’s Pundit Daily and now FactCheck.org.

Let’s start with the fact-check at PPD:

While we understand the ranking intelligence committee members may be privy to information that is not in the public record, based on the material that is, this claim in not supported by facts.

Now FactCheck.org:

More information may emerge as a result of FBI and congressional investigations, but based on what is currently in the public domain, it’s not an established fact that Stone knew in advance that Podesta’s emails were hacked and would be published in October.

Mr. Stone volunteered to testify before both the House and Senate intelligence committees following these public accusations, but thus far the chairman and ranking member only confirmed Jared Kushner.

This is the latest comment by Sen. Warner that should raise concerns about the so-called professionalism D.C.-ites have claimed exists on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which allegedly doesn’t exist on the House Intelligence Committee.

On Wednesday, during a joint press with Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., Sen. Warner said Russia doesn’t influence U.S. elections to get an outcome “that is in the best interest of the United States.” That statement of course insinuates only a Hillary Clinton victory in November was in the best interest of the U.S., not the victory that temporarily popped the D.C. bubble.

He went on to talk about President Trump’s tax returns, obfuscate claims of fake news stories with real news revealed by WikiLeaks, and take partisan shots at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., who revealed at a press conference information he had received does in fact confirm members of the Obama administration were conducting surveillance on the Trump transition team.

“I recently confirmed on numerous occasions the intelligence community incidentally collected intelligence,” Chairman Nunes said, adding he was “alarmed” and didn’t understand “why people would need to know that about President-elect Trump and his transition team.”

Immediately following that statement, Democrats have called on Chairman Nunes to either step down or recuse himself, calls that have grown more loud after he said he met with a source at the White House.

Worth noting, Rep. Peter King said Thursday on Fox News that Rep. Nunes has been attempting to share that information with the rest of the committee in a manner that protects his sources. Intelligence agencies have yet to comply with the request. The information indicates the Obama Administration was using the cover of legitimate surveillance operations to collect and widely share unmasked “incidental” intelligence, which would make catching leakers significantly more difficult.

Congressional investigators reportedly do expect obtained information will contain a “smoking gun” that will “leave no doubt the Obama Administration, in its closing days, was using the cover of legitimate surveillance on foreign targets to spy on President-elect Trump.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the Ranking Member

Fact Check

Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., of the House Intelligence Committee, left, and Sen. Mark Warner, Ranking Member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, right, hold press conferences. (Photos: AP/Reuters)

Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., of the House Intelligence Committee, left, and Sen. Mark Warner, Ranking Member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, right, hold press conferences. (Photos: AP/Reuters)

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, is the source of an oft-cited claim that Roger Stone “accurately predicted” the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks would release John Podesta’s hacked emails.

During his opening statement at the March 20 hearing, which featured the testimony of FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers, Mr. Schiff ran down a litany of “coincidences” he and other Democrats hope will help them to build a circumstantial case against President Donald J. Trump. The major “coincidence” was this so-called prediction.

“Is it a coincidence that Roger Stone predicted that [Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman] John Podesta would be a victim of a Russian hack and have his private emails published, and did so even before Mr. Podesta himself was fully aware that his private emails would be exposed?” Rep. Schiff asked.

On Thursday, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, repeated the claim. Though Mr. Stone went unnamed, Sen. Warner said the “smoke” partly justifying the congressional probe was a Trump associate “accurately predicting” the email dump, citing it as evidence of potential collusion.

First, while Mr. Stone is in fact a longtime associate of President Trump, he was not a campaign official. But even if he had been, there is nothing in the public record to indicate he had access to knowledge no one else had 2 months before WikiLeaks released documents now known as the The Podesta Emails.

The claim, which includes an accusation he “communicated” with hacker Guccifer 2.0 and WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange, stems from a tweet that Mr. Stone sent out on Aug. 21, 2016. It stated that it would soon be “Podesta’s time in the barrel.”

That was two days after President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was let go and replaced. Mr. Stone claimed in a column published by Breitbart on Oct. 19 the tweet was in reference to Podesta’s ties to Russia.

This because of a tweet I posted in August at the time my boyhood friend and colleague Paul Manafort was under attack for his perfectly legal work in Ukraine for a democratic political party. I predicted that Podesta’s business dealings would be exposed. I didn’t hear it from WikiLeaks, although Julian Assange and I share a common friend. I reported the story on my website.

While it may be lost in the news cycle now, the FBI’s criminal investigation into “Podesta’s business dealings” with Russia, which as far as we know is still ongoing, was a big story in the summer. President Trump just brought back into the conversation with his own tweet this week. But again, even if Mr. Stone’s tweet was WikiLeaks-related or -specific, the group tweeted during the House Intelligence Committee hearing that they had teased the coming information before Mr. Stone’s tweet.

That also appears to be supported, as reported by CNN of all outlets on July 29 when WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange was interviewed by Anderson Cooper. In fact, the group tweeted that interview out the following day, as well. Further, even as a news source, the hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 made himself available to anyone in the press, not just people with a stake or official position in either presidential campaign.

To his credit, Rep. Schiff has backed off of the claim in a subsequent statement, which received little fanfare in the media particularly juxtaposed to his statement during the hearing. But that didn’t stop Sen. Warner, who was less ambiguous with an unsubstantiated claim supported by tenuous circumstantial evidence, at best.

While we understand the ranking intelligence committee members may be privy to information that is not in the public record, based on the material that is, this claim in not supported by facts.

Adam Schiff and Mark Warner, ranking members

Politics

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detain a suspect as they conduct a targeted enforcement operation in Los Angeles, California, U.S. on February 7, 2017. Picture taken on February 7, 2017. (Photo: Courtesy of ICE/Reuters)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detain a suspect as they conduct a targeted enforcement operation in Los Angeles, California, U.S. on February 7, 2017. Picture taken on February 7, 2017. (Photo: Courtesy of ICE/Reuters)

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report is naming and shaming the worst sanctuary cities ignoring lawful detainers, and the crimes. The report was released in accordance with an executive order signed by President Donald J. Trump requiring what was previously covered up crimes and statistics to be released.

Of the 10 worst jurisdictions that release aliens from their custody regardless of the fact “such aliens are subject to a detainer or similar request for custody issued by ICE,” 6 are in California. The remaining jurisdictions are located in New York, Nevada, Texas and Washington.

The individuals convicted of crimes but given sanctuary by cities in California–including Orange, Contra Costa, Imperial and Merced–committed such crimes as Cruelty Toward a Child, Burglary, Assault, Domestic Violence and Drug Possession.

Los Angeles alone denied 162 ICE detainers, while the second worst offender, New York City, denied 73. Kern, California denied 65; Clark, Nevada denied 54; San Diego, California denied 44; and Orange, California denied 42.

Worth noring, San Bernardino, the location of the heinous terror attack, denied 32 ICE detainers.

In New York City, such individuals have at least been accused if not convicted of crimes including Sexual Assault – Carnal Abuse, Assault, Larceny, etc. Assault is the most common in that particular jurisdiction.

But the report is admittedly incomplete because authorities in sanctuary cities do not necessarily alert the federal government of their lack of compliance, meaning it is highly likely more crimes have yet to be uncovered. The list ICE compiled in this report was based on jurisdictions with detainers that were recorded as declined between February 4, 2017 and February 10, 2017, only.

“It should be noted that law enforcement agencies (LEA) do not generally advise ICE of when a detainer is not honored,” the report states, adding “therefore this report represents declined detainers that ICE personnel have become aware of during their enforcement activities.”

The president’s executive order–Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States–aims to put an end sanctuary cities, which polling shows voters overwhelmingly support. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities this week, stating they “cannot continue” and that federal funds will be withheld.

A recent survey found 62% of likely voters wanted the Department of Justice (DOJ) to punish cities that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Another recent Harvard-Harris poll found 80% of Americans believe local authorities should comply with federal immigration authorities.

“They make our nation less safe by putting dangerous criminals back on our streets,” Attorney General Sessions added.

Democrats oppose the crackdown and officials are actively subverting the president’s authority and ICE operations.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Economy

File photo: Shipping cranes and containers at a U.S. port depicting the trade of imports, exports and overall gross domestic product, or GDP. (Photo: REUTERS)

File photo: Shipping cranes and containers at a U.S. port depicting the trade of imports, exports and overall gross domestic product, or GDP. (Photo: REUTERS)

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly faster pace in the fourth quarter than initial estimates indicated, as consumer spending shows greater strength going into 2017. The Commerce Department said Thursday the third reading on fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) came in at 2.1%.

The median forecast expected GDP to come in at a 2.0% annualized pace, up from 1.9% in the first two estimates. Consumer spending offset the drag the trade deficit has been on overall GDP.

Still, the revision did not change economic growth as measured by GDP for the entire year, which was an abysmal 1.6%. That’s the worst reading in 5 years.

The Commerce Department said Thursday the third

Economy

Weekly-Jobless-Claims-Graphic

Weekly Jobless Claims Graphic. Number of Americans applying for first-time jobless benefits.

The Labor Department said Thursday weekly jobless claims fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 for the week ending March 25. The previous week’s level was unrevised.

The 4-week moving average was 254,250, an increase of 7,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 246,500. No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending March 11.

The gauge for first-time unemployment benefits at the state level has been clouded by revisions over the last few weeks. The 4-week moving average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment was 2,030,750, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since June 24, 2000 when it was 2,028,250. The previous week’s average was revised down by 750 from 2,032,750 to 2,032,000.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 11 were in Alaska (4.0), New Jersey (2.9), Connecticut (2.8), Montana (2.8), Pennsylvania (2.7), Rhode Island (2.7), Massachusetts (2.6), California (2.5), Illinois (2.5), and Puerto Rico (2.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 18 were in Ohio (+4,205), Kansas (+2,313), Missouri (+2,241), New Jersey (+1,019), and Kentucky (+815), while the largest decreases were in California (-4,764), New York (-1,556), Texas (- 759), Massachusetts (-555), and Georgia (-550).

The Labor Department said Thursday weekly jobless

Opinion

A view of the exterior of the Citibank corporate headquarters in New York, New York, U.S. May 20, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

A view of the exterior of the Citibank corporate headquarters in New York, New York, U.S. May 20, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

It is estimated North Korea has a hacker army numbered in the thousands. The regime is becoming increasingly bold in its quest for foreign currency and is using this hacker army to attack banks around the world and steal money, lots of money.

The targets of this illicit campaign have steadily become more formidable, showing the confidence the cyber force has in their anonymity and their ability to defeat even the largest financial institutions in the United States and around the world. According to the New York Times, targets have included the World Bank, the European Central Bank, and big U.S. companies, including Bank of America, State Street Bank and Trust, and the Bank of New York Mellon.

North Korean hackers have recently tried to break into Polish banks and investigators gleaned from that attempt the regime’s desire to hit over 100 financial institutions around the world. Two successful attempts include the theft of $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh and the hack of Sony pictures. “We found multiple links, which gave us reasonable confidence that it’s the same group behind Bangladesh as the Polish attacks,” said Eric Chien, a researcher at Symantec, which studied both attacks, again reported the New York Times.

The hacker army typically lives abroad in China, Southeast Asia and Europe to take advantage of the outside world’s Internet infrastructure, which is minimal at best at home. They are constantly monitored for defection.

The cyber force is also used to spread disinformation, or “fake news,” and to prevent real news about the hermit kingdom from getting released. They also attack the regime’s perceived enemies with harmful propaganda and data theft.

Copyright © 2017 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

[mybooktable book=”lost-bastards” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”true”]

The regime in North Korea is using

Economy

pending-home-sales-sale-sign

Home for sale sign (Realtors) and potential exiting and pending home sales contract. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) jumped 5.5% to 112.3 in February, up from 106.4 in January and far above the Econoday consensus 2.4% forecast. Last month’s index reading is 2.6% above a year ago, is the highest since last April (113.6) and the second highest since May 2006 (112.5).

“Buyers came back in force last month as a modest, seasonal uptick in listings were enough to fuel an increase in contract signings throughout the country,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist said. “The stock market’s continued rise and steady hiring in most markets is spurring significant interest in buying, as well as the expectation from some households that delaying their home search may mean paying higher interest rates later this year.”

The Pending Home Sales Index, or PHSI for short, is a leading indicator of existing home sales, not new home sales. A pending sale is one in which a contract was signed but has not yet closed.

“The homes most buyers are in the market for are unfortunately the most difficult to find and ultimately buy,” Mr. Yun added. “The country’s healthy labor market is translating to greater job security, but affordability is not improving because home prices in some areas are still outpacing incomes by three times or more because of tight supply.”

Mr. Yun said new and existing inventory on the market this spring will determine if sales can reach their full potential and finally start reversing the nation’s low homeownership rate. Under the Obama Administration, despite renewed efforts to loosen lending standards, homeownership in the U.S. has been at the lowest level since the 1950s.

The PHSI in the Northeast rose 3.4% to 102.1 in February and is now 6.6% higher than one year ago. In the Midwest, pending home sales surged 11.4% to 110.8 but remains 0.6% lower than in February 2016.

Pending home sales in the South increased 4.3% to 127.8 and are now 4.2% above last year’s reading. The index in the West gained 3.1% to 97.5 and is now 0.2% higher than a year ago.

[brid video=”126409″ player=”2077″ title=”NAR Economist Lawrence Yun on Pending Home Sales Index for February 2017″]

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) jumped

Elections

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., arrives with Health and Humans Services Secretary Tom Price, R-Ga., for a closed-door GOP strategy session, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. (Photo: AP/Associated Press)

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., arrives with Health and Humans Services Secretary Tom Price, R-Ga., for a closed-door GOP strategy session, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. (Photo: AP/Associated Press)

The race for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District may not be getting a lot of press attention, but it is getting a lot of attention from both parties. The seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price remains Leans Republican on the PPD Election Projection Model, but Democrats see a real chance to notch a much-needed electoral win after being decimated up and down the ballot during the Obama era.

Democrats are hoping to exploit internal party strife in what will now basically be a jungle primary. Eighteen candidates filed to run: 11 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and 2 independents. All candidates will compete in the same general election on April 18 and, if no candidate receives at least 50% of the vote, which is almost a certainty, the top two vote-earners will compete in a runoff regardless of party affiliation on June 20.

There are two top Republicans, at least as of now.

Before she resigned to run for governor, Karen Handel served as the Georgia Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010. While she received more votes than Nathan Deal in the Republican primary, 34% to 23%, she ultimately lost in the August 10 runoff 50.2% to 49.8%–or, about 2,500 votes out of nearly 580,000 cast.

In 2013, Handel announced her bid for the U.S. Senate after incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss did not seek reelection. Despite again receiving the endorsement of former Gov. Palin in March 2014, she finished third in the primary and threw her support behind Jack Kingston.

David Perdue still went on to defeat Mr. Kingston in the runoff and crushed Michelle Nunn, as only the PPD Senate Election Projection Model forecasted would happen.

The Club for Growth, a conservative group that endorsed Bob Gray on March 14, dropped six figures to run an ad appearing on the air Wednesday. It aims to paint Handel as a “career politician” and Big Government Republican tax-and-spend liberal.

“Karen Handel is a career politician who wants to take her big-spending ways to Washington,” said Club for Growth Action president David McIntosh. “She’s wasted taxpayer dollars on trees for government properties and budget increases for her own office. The last thing voters in GA-06 need is a representative who will feel right at home in the D.C. swamp.”

Meanwhile, Democrats have coalesced behind Jon Ossoff, the establishment-picked candidate and are already holding D.C. fundraisers for him. They have recruited a celebrity who doesn’t have any roots in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District to help Mr. Ossoff, who also doesn’t even live in the district.

Democrats tweeted out a phone line voters could call promising actress Alyssa Milano would pick them up to vote early.

But Republicans overall will hammer Ossoff as an out-of-touch D.C. insider who is funded by leftwing radicals, a charge that isn’t necessarily without merit. His personal financial disclosure raised serious questions about monies received from Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based propaganda outlet that has been linked to various Islamic terror organizations.

There are also questions about his qualifications, which can have a significant impact on “candidate strength,” a key variable in the PPD Election Projection Model. Ossoff claimed to have “5 years of national security clearance,” but in truth at least 2 of those years were as a part-time congressional staffer.

“It turns out Jon Ossoff’s ‘national security experience’ includes time when he was a part-time staffer for radical Hank Johnson,” Madison Anderson of the NRCC said in a posted statement. “Not exactly something to brag about.”

He also touts his CEO background as a qualification to bring back jobs.

However, while he is in fact a CEO, it’s of a UK-based business. Not very impressive for a businessman running in the America First era.

The race is a quagmire and anything is certainly possible by the time voters in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District go to the polls. But the fundamentals and the latest data from the PPD Battleground State Likely Voter Metrics still point to a Republican advantage. While it’s true Mr. Ossoff leads the entire crowded field, we do not believe he has the ceiling to defeat an equal Republican in what is likely to be runoff.

The race for Georgia's 6th Congressional District

Entertainment

Judge-Andrew-Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano was pulled off the air by Fox News for claiming the Obama administration used British intelligence to spy on the Trump transition team. Fox made the decision after FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers denied the accusation.

However, they also both denied “wiretap” surveillance was conducted under oath. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has since confirmed that surveillance was conducted on members of the Trump transition team, though it was allegedly “incidental.”

When asked by Bill Hemmer on “America’s Newsroom” if he stood by his story, he was unequivocal.

“Yes, I do and the sources stand by it,” Judge Napolitano said. “The American public needs to know more about this rather than less because a lot of the government surveillance authorities will expire in the fall and there will be a great debate about how much surveillance we want.”

When Mr. Hemmer said “we’ll see” how the story plays out in the future, Judge Napolitano looked and sounded as if he was looking forward to that day.

“We will,” he quickly responded. “I think a lot more is going to come.”

Judge Andrew Napolitano is back at Fox

People's Pundit Daily
You have %%pigeonMeterAvailable%% free %%pigeonCopyPage%% remaining this month. Get unlimited access and support reader-funded, independent data journalism.

Start a 14-day free trial now. Pay later!

Start Trial

Subscribe