Widget Image
Follow PPD Social Media
Saturday, January 11, 2025
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 91)

US: Iran Shot Down Navy Drone in “Unprovoked Attack” Over Strait of Hormuz

PALMDALE, Calif. (May 22, 2013) The Triton unmanned aircraft system completes its first flight May 22, 2013 from the Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. The 80-minute flight successfully demonstrated control systems that allow Triton to operate autonomously. Triton is designed to fly surveillance missions up to 24-hours at altitudes of more than 10 miles, allowing coverage out to 2,000 nautical miles. The system's advanced suite of sensors can detect and automatically classify different types of ships. (Photo: Courtesy of the U.S. Navy via Northrop Grumman)
PALMDALE, Calif. (May 22, 2013) The Triton unmanned aircraft system completes its first flight May 22, 2013 from the Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. The 80-minute flight successfully demonstrated control systems that allow Triton to operate autonomously. Triton is designed to fly surveillance missions up to 24-hours at altitudes of more than 10 miles, allowing coverage out to 2,000 nautical miles. The system’s advanced suite of sensors can detect and automatically classify different types of ships. (Photo: Courtesy of the U.S. Navy via Northrop Grumman)

Iran shot down a high-altitude U.S. Navy drone operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 7:35 p.m. EST on Wednesday. A military leader for the regime said the action “sends a clear message” they are “fully ready for war.”

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a RQ-4A Global Hawk High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) known as a BAMS-D, was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.

A military source told Fox News the drone was over international airspace about 17 miles from Iran.

“Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false,” Captain Bill Urban, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement. “This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace.”

General Hossein Salami, a commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed the drone was shot down over Iranian airspace. He said the action sent a “clear message” to the U.S. that Iran is “ready for war.”

“We do not have any intention for war with any country, but we are fully ready for war,” Gen. Hossein Salami said in a televised address.

In early April, the Trump Administration designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). It marked the first time the U.S. has ever named a part of another government as a FTO, and put the IRGC on par with Hamas and Hezbollah.

The IRGC states its role is to protect the Islamic theocracy by preventing foreign interference, military coups or “deviant movements.”

Its ranks boast 125,000 military personnel including ground, aerospace and naval forces, with the primary force being naval in the Persian Gulf. It also controls the 90,000-strong paramilitary Basij militia, and its media arm Sepah News.

The IRGC claims it shot down the U.S. drone at around 4:05 a.m. on Thursday morning. Iran used the air defense system known as Third of Khordad to shoot it down. The truck-based missile system has a range of up to 18 miles (30 kilometers).

But the regime is claiming the action was taken after it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province, roughly 750 miles southeast of Tehran.

In late April,, President Trump announced the U.S. would not reissue Significant Reduction Exceptions (SREs) for existing importers of Iranian oil. The move aimed to reduce the nation’s oil exports to zero and targets the regime’s number one source of revenue.

Even with SREs, which exempts eight nations from U.S. sanctions, the Trump Administration reduced Iran’s oil exports to historic lows. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would “dramatically accelerating our pressure campaign” when SREs expire in early May.

That expiration date has come and gone, and heightened tensions in the region have been quick to follow. Last week, the increasingly desperate and economically-crippled regime attacked two oil tankers.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently noted the U.S. became the world’s largest oil producer in 2018, and will topple Saudi Arabia as the largest exporter in 2019. By early 2019, the U.S. exported a record 3.6 million barrels per day of crude oil.

At the White House, President Trump held a late-night secret meeting with advisors to discuss the situation.

UPDATE: President Trump tweeted “Iran made a very big mistake!”

Iran shot down a U.S. drone the

A graphic concept of U.S.-Ukraine relations depicting the American and Ukrainian flags. (Photo: AdobeStock)
A graphic concept of U.S.-Ukraine relations depicting the American and Ukrainian flags. (Photo: AdobeStock)

The U.S. Defense Department (DOD) on Monday announced plans to provide $250 million to fund ongoing efforts to buildup armed forces in Ukraine. The Pentagon said the financial assistance, which will assuredly not please Russia, is for “additional training, equipment, and advisory efforts.”

This figure will bring total U.S. foreign assistance for security to Ukraine to $1.5 billion since 2014.

State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met Monday with Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission.

Two two allegedly discussed U.S.-EU relations and a number of common interests and shared challenges facing the United States and Europe, including Ukraine.

Specifically, the funding from the Pentagon will fund:

  • Equipment to support ongoing training programs and operational needs, including capabilities to enhance: maritime situational awareness and operations as part of ongoing U.S. efforts to increase support for Ukraine’s Navy and Naval Infantry;
  • The defensive capacity and survivability of Ukraine’s Land and Special Operations Forces through the provision of sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and counter-artillery radars;
  • Command and control; electronic warfare detection and secure communications; military mobility; night vision; and, military medical treatment.

You Might Also Like

The U.S. Defense Department (DOD) on Monday

On Liberty Never Sleeps, Tom discusses Trump’s run for reelection in the context of weak candidates and an even weaker narrative to sell the American people.

Episode Segment Topics

  • Trump’s Rally
  • Reparations From Sins Past
  • Polls Are Bananas
  • Heeeere’s Hitler…
  • Real Racism Exists

The money pledged thru Patreon.com will go toward show costs such as advertising, server time, and broadcasting equipment. If we can get enough listeners, we will expand the show to two hours and hire additional staff.

To help our show out, please support us on Patreon.

All bumper music and sound clips are not owned by the show, are commentary, and of educational purposes, or de minimus effect, and not for monetary gain.

No copyright is claimed in any use of such materials and to the extent that material may appear to be infringed, I assert that such alleged infringement is permissible under fair use principles in U.S. copyright laws. If you believe material has been used in an unauthorized manner, please contact the poster.

On Liberty Never Sleeps, Tom discusses Trump's

President Donald Trump jokes with the crowd President Donald Trump touts record low unemployment for minorities during a rally in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. (Photo: Laura Baris/People's Pundit Daily)
President Donald Trump jokes with the crowd President Donald Trump touts record low unemployment for minorities during a rally in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. (Photo: Laura Baris/People’s Pundit Daily)

The crown jewel of President Donald Trump’s tax reform legislation — the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — was the lower corporate tax rate.

I appeared on CNBC yesterday to debate that reform, squaring off against Jason Furman, who served as Chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Here are a couple of observations on our discussion.

  • Jason Furman thinks it would be crazy to raise the corporate tax rate back to 35 percent. Yes, he wants to rate to be higher, but rational folks on the left know it would be very misguided to fully undo that part of the tax plan. That signifies a permanent victory.
  • Based on his comments about expensing and interest deductibility, he also seems to have a sensible view on properly and neutrally defining corporate income. These are boring and technical issues, but they have very important economic implications.
  • Critics say the lower corporate rate is responsible for big increases in red ink, but it’s noteworthy that the corporate rate was reduced by 40 percent and revenue is down by only 8.7 percent (a possible Laffer-Curve effect?). Here’s the relevant chart from the latest Monthly Budget Report from the Congressional Budget Office.
  • There’s a multi-factor recipe that determines prosperity, so it’s extremely unlikely that any specific reform will have a giant effect on growth, but even a small, sustained uptick in growth can be hugely beneficial for a nation.
  • There’s a big difference between a pro-market Democrat like Bill Clinton and some of the extreme statists currently seeking the Democratic nomination (just like there’s a big difference between Ronald Reagan and some of today’s big-government Republicans).
  • I close the discussion by explaining why “double taxation” is a profound problem with the current tax code. For all intents and purposes, we are punishing the savers and investors who generate future growth.

P.S. This wasn’t addressed in the interview, but I can’t resist pointing out that overall revenues for the current fiscal year have increased 2.2 percent, which is faster than needed to keep pace with inflation. So why has the deficit increased? Because spending has jumped by 5.8 percent. We have a spending problem in America, not a deficit problem. Fortunately, there’s a very practical solution.

P.P.S. It also wasn’t mentioned, but the other crown jewel of tax reform was the restriction on the state and local tax deduction.

The crown jewel of President Donald Trump's

President’s Total Haul Breaks 24-Hour Record, Biden Raised $6.3M

Supporters of President Donald Trump hold up Make America Great American and Keep America Great signs A supporter of Donald Trump dons a T-shirt with a new twist on an old joke targeting Hillary Clinton during a rally in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. (Photo: Laura Baris/People's Pundit Daily)
Supporters of President Donald Trump hold up Make America Great American and Keep America Great signs A supporter of Donald Trump dons a T-shirt with a new twist on an old joke targeting Hillary Clinton during a rally in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. (Photo: Laura Baris/People’s Pundit Daily)

President Donald Trump raised a record $24.5 million for his re-election campaign in less than 24 hours of his announcement. On Tuesday, the president packed the 20,000-capacity Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, to officially announce his campaign for a second term.

“The enthusiasm across the country for this President is unmatched and unlike anything we’ve ever seen!” Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted.

That amount is nearly as much as the campaign raised the entire first quarter (Q1) of 2019.

The Trump Campaign raised more than $30 million for Q1 2019, an already sizable haul that exceeded all the top declared Democratic candidates, combined. The average donation to the campaign was just $34.26.

“Low-dollar” contributions are defined as $200 or less, and are indicative of grassroots enthusiasm and working-class support.

As People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) previously reported, roughly 98.5% of contributions to the Trump Campaign in Q4 2018 came from donations of $200 or less. That percentage ticked slightly higher to 98.79% in Q1 2019.

The Q4 2019 total was nearly $10 million more than Q4 2018. The Trump Campaign had nearly 21 times more cash-on-hand than the Obama Campaign at that point in the re-election cycle.

For comparison, former vice president and Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden raised $6.3 million in the 24 hours after his campaign announcement.

President Donald Trump raised a record $24.5

Trump Names Secretary of the Army Mark Esper to Replace Pentagon Chief

Patrick M Shanahan Defense Department
Patrick M. Shanahan became the Acting Secretary of Defense on January 1, 2019. Prior to this assignment, he served as the 33rd Deputy Secretary of Defense, appointed on July 19, 2017. (Photo: Courtesy of the U.S. Defense Department)

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew himself from consideration to permanently lead the Pentagon. Mr. Shanahan has been serving as acting secretary since he replaced James Mattis in December 2018.

But his decision follows a report in USA Today, which he denied, stating he was accused of domestic violence by his then-wife in 2010. He and then-wife Kimberley both told police the other punched them, according to the report. The Washington Post detailed another domestic violence incident involving his son.

“Though my marriage ended in sorrow and disappointment, I never laid a hand on my then-wife and cooperated fully in a thorough law enforcement investigation that resulted in her being charged with assault against me—charges which I had dropped in the interest of my family,” Mr. Shanahan told USA Today.

“Bad things can happen to good families … and this is a tragedy, really,” he further told The Washington Post.

In May, President Donald Trump announced he intended to nominate Mr. Shanahan to permanently take over the Defense Department. The president announced Tuesday he’s naming Secretary of the Army Mark Esper as his replacement.

“Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who has done a wonderful job, has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process so that he can devote more time to his family,” President Trump tweeted.

“I thank Pat for his outstanding service and will be naming Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper, to be the new Acting Secretary of Defense. I know Mark, and have no doubt he will do a fantastic job!”

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, which would’ve held hearings on the nomination, still had not received paperwork formally nominating him to the post. Sources told PPD the committee also had not received paperwork on the background check.

Mr. Shanahan, who worked at Boeing Co. (BA) for more than 30 years, spearheaded the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and is the father of the DoD AI Strategy. The unclassified summary of this Strategy was released in Feb 2019 following President Trump’s Executive Order on AI (Maintaining American Leadership in AI).

He also launched two National Mission Initiatives: predictive maintenance and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief. It’s also worth noting that he has been an ally to President Trump on border security.

Under Acting Secretary Shanahan, the Pentagon approved the transfer of $1 billion to construct 57 miles of 18-foot high border in March, and just this week announced the U.S Army Corps of Engineers will build another 256 miles.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew himself

Big Upward Revisions to Housing Starts for April and May Total 77K

Real Estate Market Going Up Concept Illustration. (Photo: AdobeStock)
Real Estate Market Going Up Concept Illustration. (Photo: AdobeStock)

The new residential construction report estimated new housing starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,269,000, beating the consensus forecast.

While new housing starts were down 0.9% (±12.9%) from the upwardly revised estimate of 1,281,000 for April, starts posted big upward revisions to both April and March totaling 77,000.


PriorPrior RevisedConsensus ForecastForecast RangeActual
Housing Starts – SAAR1.235 M1.281 M1.239 M1.205 M to 1.250 M1.269 M
Building Permits – SAAR1.296 M1.290 M1.290 M1.270 M to 1.309 M1.294 M

Starts are still 4.7% (±8.9%) below the May 2018 rate of 1,332,000.

Building permits were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,294,000, meeting the forecast and 0.3% (±1.3%) above the revised April rate of 1,290,000.

Housing completions in May came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,213,000. This is 9.5% (±13.7%) below the revised April estimate of 1,340,000 and is 2.8% (±9.1%) below the May 2018 rate of 1,248,000.

Single‐family housing completions came in at a rate of 890,000, which is 5.0% (±12.7%) below the revised April rate of 937,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 319,000 in May.

On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) came in at a solid 64 in June. Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family has held in the low-to mid-60s for the fifth straight month.

The new residential construction report estimated new

Housing Market Index (HMI) Holds in Low-to Mid-60s for Fifth Straight Month

New residential construction, hew homes, housing starts, building permits, depicted on blueprints. (Photo: AdobeStock)
New residential construction, hew homes, housing starts, building permits, depicted on blueprints. (Photo: AdobeStock)

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) remained solid at 64 in June. Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family has held in the low-to mid-60s for the fifth straight month.


IndicatorPriorConsensus ForecastForecast RangeActual
Housing Market Index66 67 65  to 68 64 

However, even though demand remains strong, builders are reporting rising construction and development costs. There are some concerns over trade issues, as well.

Home prices remain somewhat high relative to incomes and despite lower mortgage rates, which disproportionately impacts entry-level buyers. Finding skilled labor continues to be a challenge, as do regulations and a supply shortage of lots.

Regardless, new home sales have picked up considerably in 2019.

What the New Home Sales Report Found

The new residential construction report found new home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 673,000 in April, only slightly missing the consensus forecast.

While that was 6.9% (±14.0%) below the revised annual rate of 723,000 in March, it was 7.0% (±12.4%) higher than the April 2018 estimate of 629,000. Further, upward revisions for the prior two months totaled a significantly higher 39,000 combined.

The median sales price of new houses sold in April 2019 was $342,200. The average sales price was $393,700. The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of April was 332,000. This represents a supply of 5.9 months at the current sales rate.

About the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index has been conducting for 30 years, and is derived from a monthly survey. It gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.”

Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

HMI Subcomponents

All the HMI indices ticked down slightly in June. The index measuring current sales conditions fell just 1 point to 71. The component gauging 6-month expectations moved down 2 points to 70 and the gauge for buyer traffic ticked down only 1 point to 48.

3-Month Moving Average for Regional HMI

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast posted a 3-point gain to 60 and the Midwest was also up 3 points to 57. The West held unchanged at 71 and the South fell 1 point to 67.

The NAHB Housing Market Index (HMI) remained

There’s a lot of media hatred and bashing of Kellyanne Conway, other Republican women, and female conservative leaders. People think the left just doesn’t like Conway because she worked successfully for Donald Trump.

But there’s a lot more to it. It goes all the way back to Clarence Thomas and his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Do you remember that circus?

He was forced to defend himself against largely unsubstantiated accusations of sexual harassment from Anita Hill. He scolded then-Chairman Joe Biden and the media for running “a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves,” and more.

Up until his nomination, Thomas’ record had been stellar and spotless. It was one of the reasons George H. W. Bush nominated him. He would be only the second black man to be nominated to the High Court, and the first conservative minority in a top government position.

In the end, Justice Thomas won the day, and now sits on the Supreme Court. But he still wrote about the rancor in those days, carrying forward even until today. He has no love for liberals.

Since that time, the left has gone out of its way to discredit, repudiate, castigate and attempt to destroy conservative minorities and women.

Take the case of Alberto Gonzales, the first Hispanic and conservative Attorney General of the United States. nominated by George W. Bush in 2004 after a very nasty confirmation process.

He was only in office a very short time before the left began leveling charges against him. Accusations were made that he was too aggressive with the Patriot Act, and that his interpretations of the legal view of habeas corpus were shockingly pro-government.

The loudest charge was perhaps the dismissal of several U.S. Attorneys, which were characterized as “political firings.” Even though the President has an absolute right to terminate any U.S. Attorney at any time, for any reason, there were calls for him to resign.

Eventually, Mr. Gonzales was forced to resign, despite months of congressional investigations that failed to uncover wrongdoing — other than being ideologically ultra-conservative.

Sound familiar?

And so now we are faced with Conway, who stands a good chance of being a powerful force for successful Republican women in Washington.

So, it’s game on for the left.

Politically, liberals don’t like conservative women, at all, perhaps more so than even Hispanic or Black conservatives. Liberals launch personal and nasty attacks against any woman who declares herself conservative and runs for office.

According to the liberal mantra, women should be pro-choice and support radical feminist issues — not family women who are pro-life. Conway is an anomaly to the left, one that needs to be destroyed before she becomes a bigger threat to their political power.

When Meg Whitman ran for governor in California under the Republican banner, the attacks were downright viscous. Brown was accused of calling her a “whore” and not only did he not deny nor condemn it, the National Organization of Women (NOW) defended the use of the term.

Are you kidding me?

NOW, whose motto is “taking actions for women’s equality since 1966”, said it was okay to call a woman a whore in a pejorative manner. As long as they are conservative, of course.

The reason for this is simple.

If minorities are equally able to run as conservatives just as they are as liberals, it would completely negate their ability to use their minority status as a tool or a weapon against the right. The “race card” would be useless against a conservative minority, and thus take the argument back to the issues and the facts, where it should have been in the first place.

Affirmative action becomes neutered under the possibility of a minority leader achieving high office not by the power of legislation, but through their own abilities and skills. It would destroy a large chunk of their political power base, which has relied on nothing more than the color of their skin, or their gender.

Identity politics at its worst.

If the left were to lose that vote, they would have a tough time maintaining not only power, but the ability to raise funds, as wealthier minority donors would could split off to support Republicans. As more minorities “defected” to the right, the argument that minorities are oppressed or disadvantaged would be blunted.

It would be a disaster for the Democratic Party.

Thus, the left will go out of its way to destroy minorities like Thomas and Gonzales, and even Republican women like Conway. The media will not mention that a large percentage of the 11 new GOP governors in the last 20 years are Hispanic governors, a diversity milestone never met by the Democratic Party.

The media will not mention that many of the Republicans who lost in the House and Senate were women, largely due to personal, not policy attacks from the left.

They won’t mention that NOW failed to support a single female Republican candidate in these contests, or had they thrown their support behind them, there would be the largest percentage of women serving in Congress’ history.

No, instead they destroy women like Sarah Palin, mock women like Conway — the first woman ever to manage a successful presidential campaign — and call Whitman a whore.

A minority should consider these facts about the Democrats the next time they pull that lever in the voting booth. Which party supports equal rights for all, regardless of gender or race, and which simply wants their vote to maintain power?

Thomas Purcell is the host of Liberty Never Sleeps, which airs Monday to Thursday on PPD.

Media bashing of Kellyanne Conway goes deeper

Firms Still Anticipate Positive Growth, Increased Employment for Months Ahead

IndicatorPriorConsensus ForecastForecast RangeActual
General Business Conditions – Current17.8 10.0 7.0 — 15.0 -8.6 
General Business Conditions – Expected30.625.7

The New York Federal Reserve Empire State Manufacturing Survey plummeted 26 points to -8.6 in June, the largest decline on record. It’s the first negative reading for the general business conditions index in more than two years.

General Business Conditions

Twenty-two percent (22%) reported conditions had improved over the month, while 30% reported conditions had worsened. The new orders index fell 22 points to -12.0. The shipments index fell 7 points to 9.7.

Employment Indexes

The index for number of employees fell 8 points to -3.5, the first negative reading in over two years. The average workweek index fell to -2.2, pointing to a slightly shorter workweek.

Prices Indexes

The prices paid index was virtually unchanged at 27.8. The prices received index declined 6 points to 6.8, the fourth consecutive decline indicating deceleration in selling price increases.

Future Indexes

The index for future business conditions fell five points to 25.7. Firms still anticipate “solid increases” in employment, though expect no change in the average workweek.

The capital expenditures index fell sixteen points to 10.5, pointing to slower growth in capital spending plans. Technology spending fell 10 points to 12.8.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey plummeted 26

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