The Hemingway Report

Friday, April 21, 2017

Russia Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses, Calling It an Extremist Group

The pinnacle of cowardly stupidity. Why didn't they ban Islam? How many Jehovah’s Witnesses killed their comrades compared to Muslims the last two decades? If you had a choice between a Jehovah’s Witness or a Muslim for a neighbor...guess I didn't have to ask.

By ANDREW HIGGINSAPRIL 20, 2017

Jehovahs Witnesses gathered last month in a house in the village of Vorokhobino, north of Moscow, where they meet for services.

MOSCOW — Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday declared Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination that rejects violence, an extremist organization, banning the group from operating on Russian territory and putting its more than 170,000 Russian worshipers in the same category as Islamic State militants.

The ruling, which confirmed an order last month by the Justice Ministry that the denomination be “liquidated” — essentially eliminated or disbanded — had been widely expected. Russian courts rarely challenge government decisions, no matter what the evidence.

Viktor Zhenkov, a lawyer for the denomination, said Jehovah’s Witnesses would appeal the ruling. He said it had focused on the activities of the organization’s so-called administrative center, a complex of offices outside St. Petersburg, but also branded all of its nearly 400 regional branches as extremist.

“We consider this decision an act of political repression that is impermissible in contemporary Russia,” Mr. Zhenkov said in a telephone interview. “We will, of course, appeal.”

An initial appeal will be made to the Supreme Court’s appellate division, Mr. Zhenkov said, and if that fails, Jehovah’s Witnesses will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, France.

Hard-line followers of Russia’s dominant faith, the Orthodox Church, have lobbied for years to have Jehovah’s Witnesses outlawed or at least curbed as a heretical sect, but the main impetus for the current campaign to crush a Christian group active in Russia for more than a century seems to have come from the country’s increasingly assertive security apparatus.

Founded in the United States in the 19th century, Jehovah’s Witnesses has its worldwide headquarters in the United States and, along with all foreign-led groups outside the control of the state, is viewed with deep suspicion by Russia’s post-Soviet version of the KGB: the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B.

Summing up the Justice Ministry’s case against the denomination, the ministry’s representative, Svetlana Borisova, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that Jehovah’s Witnesses had shown “signs of extremist activity that represent a threat to the rights of citizens, social order and the security of society.”

During six days of hearings over two weeks, lawyers and witnesses for the religious group repeatedly dismissed the extremist allegation as absurd, arguing that reading the Bible and promoting its nonviolent message could in no way be construed as extremist.

Human Rights Watch, in a statement issued in Moscow, condemned the court ruling as “a serious breach of Russia’s obligations to respect and protect religious freedom.”

Rachel Denber, the human rights group’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, said the decision delivered “a terrible blow to freedom of religion and association in Russia.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses shuns political activity and has no record of even peaceful — never mind violent — hostility to the Russian authorities. But it has faced growing hostility from the state since President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia began his third term in 2012 and put the Orthodox Church at the center of his push to assert Russia as a great military and moral power.

The denomination suffered relentless persecution by the KGB during the Soviet era, and after more than a decade of relative peace following the collapse of Communism in 1991, it again became a target for official harassment under a 2002 anti-extremism law. That law makes it illegal for any group, other than the Orthodox Church and other traditional religious institutions, to proclaim itself as offering a true path to religious or political salvation.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

General Motors says Venezuela illegally seizes auto plant

This is the president of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro a protégé of Chavez. You could say he is the Venezuelan Bernie Sanders. Proof that all the 'free stuff' has to be paid for by hook or by crook.

BTW...with Venezuela teetering on financial collapse what message does this latest 'acquisition' send to foreign investment? Venezuela is cutting its own throat. If you were the CEO of a large company after reading this article would you even consider opening a plant in Venezuela?

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General Motors said on Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had illegally seized its plant in the industrial hub of Valencia and vowed to "take all legal actions" to defend its rights.

The seizure comes amid a deepening economic crisis in leftist-led Venezuela that has already roiled many U.S. companies.

"Yesterday, GMV's (General Motors Venezolana) plant was unexpectedly taken by the public authorities, preventing normal operations. In addition, other assets of the company, such as vehicles, have been illegally taken from its facilities," the company said in a statement.

It said the seizure would cause irreparable damage to the company, its 2,678 workers, its 79 dealers and to its suppliers.

Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for information.

Venezuela's car industry has been in freefall, hit by a lack of raw materials stemming from complex currency controls and stagnant local production, and many plants are barely producing at all.

In early 2015, Ford Motor wrote off its investment in Venezuela when it took an $800 million pre-tax writedown.

The country's economic crisis has hurt many other U.S. companies, including food makers and pharmaceutical firms. A growing number are taking their Venezuelan operations out off their consolidated accounts.

Venezuela's government has taken over factories in the past. In 2014 the government announced the "temporary" takeover of two plants belonging to U.S. cleaning products maker Clorox which had left the country.

Venezuela faces around 20 arbitration cases over nationalizations under late leader Hugo Chavez.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Barack Obama snaps photo of Michelle Obama on yacht

Washington (CNN) The Obamas are having the time of their post-White House lives.

Why do you think this photo was taken from such a great distance?

⬇︎

Former President Barack Obama snapped a photo of former first lady Michelle Obama as she posed on the top deck of a yacht where the couple and celebrity friends spent Friday morning off the island of Mo'orea, in the South Pacific.

The Obamas were vacationing with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey and spent two hours aboard music mogul David Geffen's luxury yacht, the Rising Sun, before leaving Tahiti. They had been staying in French Polynesia for nearly a month.

So far, Obama's post-presidency life has been more glamorous than you can imagine.

In the past few months, his trips have included visiting California for some golf, a private island in the Caribbean -- where he kite-surfed with billionaire Richard Branson -- New York to take in a Broadway play, and then to dine with U2's Bono.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

EXCLUSIVE — Family of Slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry Says Eric Holder Among ‘The Real Criminals’ Responsible

Ever wonder how many cartel members are still killing people with Holder's guns? Will Trump act on his promise to the terry family? I doubt it. Of all the scandals throughout 8 years of Barry, not one person has ever paid a price.

BTW... as I am writing this Lerner and Koskinen are pounding down margaritas lounging on the beach in Playa del Carmen.

by Bob Price

Photo: Facebook/Kelly Terry-Willis

The 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry by a 7-time previously deported illegal alien could have been prevented, says the agent’s brother Kent Terry in an exclusive interview with Breitbart Texas. Terry’s family hopes the Trump Administration will now go after “the real criminals” responsible for putting the “Fast and Furious” guns in the accused killer’s hands.

A task force including Mexican law enforcement officials, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and U.S. Border Patrol Border Patrol BORTAC (Border Patrol Tactical Unit) agents arrested accused killer Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, in Mexico earlier this week, Breitbart Texas reported. Court records obtained by Breitbart Texas stated immigration officials deported Osorio-Arellanes seven times before he returned illegally on December 14, 2010, as part of a Mexican bandit “rip crew.” The accused killer of Agent Terry opened fire on the BORSTAR team in southern Arizona that had been dispatched to find the “rip crew” which had been robbing other drug and human smuggling convoys in the area.

“We just heard that Brian’s shooter had been deported seven times,” Brian Terry’s brother, Kent Terry, told Breitbart Texas. “This is a death that could have been prevented.”

The allegation that Osorio-Arellanes shot Agent Terry with a gun supplied by the U.S. Government in a gun-running operation called “Fast and Furious” made his death even more painful to the family members. To this date, no U.S. law enforcement official involved in supplying over 2,000 guns to Mexican drug cartels under this program have been held to account. The House of Representatives found Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to be in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious program, Breitbart News reported in June 2012. Seventeen House Democrats joined with the Republican majority in finding Holder in contempt.

Photo of Brian Terry in training. (Photo: Brian Terry Foundation)

“Bob, this arrest puts us another step closer to getting those accountable for Brian’s senseless death that could have been prevented,” Kent Terry explained. “But the real criminals that President Trump and Attorney General Sessions need to look at are Eric Holder, Thomas Brandon, Bill Newell, and the rest who started this scandal known as Fast and Furious.”

“Mr. Trump promised me he would open the books in Brian’s death and now is the time,” an exasperated Kent Terry stated. “My family has waited long enough. In the meantime, I will continue to fight for Brian and Zapata.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata was also killed by Mexican cartel members using weapons obtained through the Fast and Furious Program.

“Our family is extremely happy to hear of the capture of one of the subjects involved in Brian’s murder,” Terry’s sister, Michelle Terry-Balogh told Breitbart Texas. “This is just another step forward toward getting the justice he truly deserves.”

“We want to express our gratitude to the Mexican officials and all the divisions of our US law enforcement that made this apprehension possible,” Michelle expressed. She sends a special thank you to Brian’s brothers in green who are part of the elite BORTAC team that assisted in the apprehension of this suspect.”

“The Terry family continues the fight to bring those held accountable for the botched gun program fast n furious that killed my brother and to honor him through the Brian Terry Foundation that was established to honor his legacy,” she said, echoing Kent’s call for justice.

Kent Terry (L) and Michelle Terry-Balogh (R) with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Photo: Kent Terry via Facebook)

Brian Terry’s third sibling, Kelly Terry-Willis also expressed her gratitude to all involved in bringing Brian’s accused killer to justice.

“I would like to thank every person involved from day one in the search and apprehension of the latest suspect,” Kelly expressed. “It does not go unnoticed that they put their lives at risk for this mission to be successful. We are closer to justice for Brian.”

“This latest news gave us more hope than we have had in awhile,” she said cautiously. “My guard is still up with this new administration because of all the lies and cover-ups from the previous one, but I more optimistic and hopeful than I have been in six years. Brian cannot and will not be forgotten.”

Nearly one year ago, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump met with the Terry family about their brother’s murder, Breitbart Texas reported.

“He told us how sorry he was about Brian’s senseless death,” Kent Terry told this reporter after the meeting. “Mr. Trump said it was shameful on this administration for starting a scandal like this and shameful for what they’re doing about it.”

“He also is very sincere about Brian’s death. Yes, he promised us if he becomes president, he will open the books on Fast and Furious.”

The Terry family believes it is now time for President Trump and the Republican led Congress do deliver on their promises.

Monday, April 10, 2017

DECISIONS

On a tip from

Ed Kilbane

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Well, Well, Well… LOOK Who Susan Rice’s Husband Works For!

The taint of corruption adhered to the outgoing regime like super glue to the very end. Don't know how this could get any more obvious before someone finally takes action. Then again, what was the ultimate price paid for the IRS scandal?

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Nancy Hayes April 6, 2017

Have you ever seen the MSM work SO hard to cover up one of the biggest stories of the year if not THE biggest? I mean this is just as big if not bigger than Nixon’s Watergate. Could you imagine, G. Gordon Liddy and the Nixon’s Watergate being covered up? For ABC and the rest of the MSM to cover up Susan Rice’s “unmasking” of Trump administrators and Obama spying on Trump to help Hillary get elected…WOW! That’s a BIG League!

It’s been over 40 years since G. Gordon Liddy walked into John Dean’s office and was asked to participate in an operation against the Democratic Party in the ’72 election. But there’s a funny feeling in the air, like it happened just yesterday, only THIS time the MSM is NOT writing the BIG story.

Maybe it has something to do with connections. Maybe it has something to do with Susan Rice’s husband, Ian Cameron and others like him who are pro-Obama and support the “cover up” or silence on the topic. It’s like the crime never happened, but it DID.

(US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice (R) and Ian Cameron)

The mainstream media is working overtime to cover up this week’s ground-breaking scandal involving former national security advisor Susan Rice, and what do you know, her husband was an executive producer at ABC News.

Can you say “conflict of interest”?!

According to The Gateway Pundit, Senior Fox News Correspondent Adam Housley revealed on Friday that Intel Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) knew who unmasked the identities of President Donald Trump’s close associates. Sources also told him that the unmasking was purely for political purposes to embarrass Trump and had NOTHING to do with national security.

Then, over the weekend, it was confirmed that Rice was the culprit who had ordered the unmasking of incoming Trump officials.

In a nutshell, the Obama administration was using spying techniques put in place to protect Americans from terrorists, in their shameless attempt to take down Trump.

So where has the media been on this scandal, which is inarguably the biggest of its kind to ever hit national headlines?

From The Conservative Post:

The coverage in the Main Stream Media (MSM) was apathetic but the coverage at one major MSM outlet was nonexistent. ABC News this morning had no mention of the story on its home page.

Perhaps ABC isn’t covering the story because Susan Rice’s husband, Ian Cameron, is an ABC News Executive Producer?

Is nepotism keeping ABC from reporting on Rice’s illegal actions?

Who IS Ian Cameron, Susan Rice’s husband, you ask?

H/T Heavy:

Ian Cameron has held many prominent positions in ABC News over a 13-year time span.

His LinkedIn page says he was a “Former Executive Producer” for ABC News, from 2008-2011, based in Washington, D.C.

In 2010, TVNewser reported that “Cameron, the executive producer of ABC’s ‘This Week with Christiane Amanpour,’ is leaving the program at the end of the year.” The news site reported then that Cameron “was named executive producer of ‘This Week’ in 2008, and before that served as senior Washington producer for ‘ABC World News with Charles Gibson.’ He had been with ABC News since 1998.”

Prior to his position with ABC, Cameron was a television producer in Toronto for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at the time, reported the Times. He also worked at television stations in Eureka, California and Ottawa, Canada, in the 1980s.

According to The New York Times, Cameron graduated from Stanford, and “received a Master’s in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.”

The Times reported in the wedding announcement that Cameron’s father was the retired owner of “the Victoria Plywood Company, a lumber company in Victoria.”

According to a Stanford University bio on Rice, “Rice and Cameron met during her freshman orientation at Stanford. He was a senior” and quotes Cameron as saying, “She struck me right away as someone unique. She was more aware and very confident.”

So Ian Cameron and Susan Rice met at Stanford and both came from wealthy backgrounds. They have been married since 1983 and have two children. Cameron worked for ABC and has strong ties to the Obama administration.

Some have seized on Rice’s husband’s media background in their attempt to discredit the media; Trump supporters argue that the major networks, other than Fox, have downplayed the Rice unmasking questions.

However, on April 4th, Rice adamantly denied any wrongdoing; she said unmasking was requested to better understand the context behind reports and not for political purposes; she also denied ever leaking the information, according to The New York Times.

So, let me get this straight. Here’s one of the BIGGEST news stories of the year and ABC chooses NOT to cover it. Like silent crickets. There is nothing.

Even former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann believes the apparent surveilling of Donald Trump and his associates by the Obama administration is “a thousand times worse than Watergate”.

Yet, ABC chose NOT to cover it? Seriously?!

The story is not EVEN MENTIONED on any of it’s pages….anywhere!

Twelve days before, Rice said she didn’t know a thing about it (unmasking). She said she “knew nothing” of Trump data unmasking and “nothing of the sort occurred”. As it happens, SHE requested the unmasking numerous times.

Talk about MSM bias! It’s like you need a chart in front of you to keep track of who’s connected to who. Like this one:

Just at ABC, other than the Ian Cameron and Susan Rice connection, there’s also:

ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman is married to former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

ABC News and Univision reporter Matthew Jaffe is married to Katie Hogan, Obama’s Deputy Press Secretary.

ABC President Ben Sherwood is the brother of Obama’s Special Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood.

ABC News George Stephanopoulos was the chief Washington correspondent for the ABC News and William J. Clinton’s senior adviser.

ABC News Kati Marton was married to Peter Jennings, and Richard C. Holbrooke. Holbrooke was a special envoy to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration.

So you see, it’s really no surprise to many of the MSM bias and their alliance to the Obama administration. The list of connections from the MSM to the Obama administration is pretty long. Due to the MSM connections, It’s not alarming then, that ABC would NOT report about Susan Rice and the “unmasking”, especially knowing that Ian Cameron is Susan Rice’s husband, and of course, all of the other MSM connections listed above.

Remember in 2014, CBS News’ investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson resigned in scandal when she grew frustrated with their network’s liberal bias and lack of dedication ot investigative reporting. She released a book titled ‘Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama’s Washington.’

It looks like not much has changed over the last couple years regarding that same MSM bias. It’s just gotten more obvious and blatant.

Most of us don’t even get our news anymore from the MSM – like CBS, ABC or NBC. We look for the ‘real’ news on sites like Joe For America, Drudge Report, Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh, WikiLeaks or blogs. In fact, it was a blogger, Mike Cernovich who first reported the news on Susan Rice.

And the MSM still wonders why their ratings are down? Seriously?!

It’s very clear, the MSM only wants the public to know THEIR side of things. The MSM is very bias especially when it comes to reporting about Obama or his administration. When it comes to the ‘real news’, most days, you really do have to ask yourself, ‘what country do we live in…Russia or America’? That’s how bias the MSM is.

As Sen. Rand Paul said, If it (unmasking) wasn’t for political reasons and Rice was really seeking the information for foreign intelligence reasons, then why wasn’t the FBI involved? And did Obama direct Susan Rice to unmask the names of the Trump administrators?

Americans deserve the REAL news and the REAL truth! Let’s hope AG Jeff Sessions, Sen. Rand Paul and others, along with a formal grand jury can get to the bottom of all of this. Susan Rice should be facing some time. The real question is ‘How much time?”

The Susan Rice story is one of the biggest stories of the year and for the MSM to just ignore it, as it never happened is just INSANE! It’s like we returned in time to witness Nixon’s Watergate all over again. Only THIS time instead of G. Gordon Liddy….we have Susan Rice.

“I saw Democrats as being dangerous to the country,” he said. “I see the Democrats now as being even more dangerous to the country. I wanted to prevent them from being able to damage the country further. So I chose to make use of the special knowledge that I had as a result of the FBI and so forth. That was it.” – G. Gordon Liddy

Saturday, April 8, 2017

The Trump Divination

Friday, April 7, 2017

The late great Don Rickles

Don Rickles Roasts Sammy Davis Jr Man of the Hour

Video 337

Imagine the left if this took place today!!!

Twitter would explode. Snowflakes would kill themselves. BLM would hold their 100% off sale.

Schumer, Pelosi among Democrats to react to Syria strike

Seems some of the Dems can't adapt to a real man in charge. They miss the old days when their fearless leader, or as Col Ralph Peters would say, "the pussy" was in charge. Barry is the reason Putin is calling the shots in Syria.

There is really only one solution here. Bashar al-Assad and his entire family have to die. Yes, I said his entire family. If this does not occur all we'll do is perpetuate the situation.

That little bastard you see here is responsible for 400,000 dead and the reason Europe is flooded with Muslims.

The image of seven dead children who were gassed in Syria. Frozen in time, eyes open, with not a mark on them.

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Democrats on Thursday responded to reports that President Trump authorized a cruise missile strike on an airbase in Syria, and the reaction appeared to be mixed.

"I support the administration's strike on the air base that launched the chemical attack. I hope this teaches President Assad not to use chemical weapons again," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said.

Trump’s quick action was in response to the chemical attack that left as many as 72 civilians dead, including woman and children.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and former vice presidential candidate, issued a statement: “Congress will work with the President, but his failure to seek Congressional approval is unlawful.”

The statements came as the U.S. launched 59 Tomahawk missiles targeted at an airbase at Shayrat. The attack was targeted at the airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas in the base, officials said.

"Any further action will require close scrutiny by Congress," Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Ill., said.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., also commented on the importance of Congressional approval, saying, "Any longer-term or larger military operation in Syria by the Trump Administration will need to be done in consultation with the Congress."

“This week’s unspeakable chemical weapons attack is only the latest in a long series of horrors perpetrated by Bashar al-Assad on innocent men, women, and children,” Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement issued on the attacks in Syria. “Tonight’s strike in Syria appears to be a proportional response to the the regime’s use of chemical weapons. If the President intends to escalate the U.S. military’s involvement in Syria, he must come to Congress for an Authorization for Use of Military Force which is tailored to meet the threat and prevent another open-ended war in the Middle East.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that, "making sure Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do."

"It is incumbent on the Trump administration to come up with a strategy and consult with Congress before implementing it. I salute the professionalism and skill of our Armed Forces who took action today," Schumer added.

While most came out in support of the strike, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI, released a statement on Thursday condemning the attack.

“It angers and saddens me that President Trump has taken the advice of war hawks and escalated our illegal regime change war to overthrow the Syrian government,” Gabbard said, adding that, “this escalation is short-sighted and will lead to more dead civilians, more refugees, the strengthening of al-Qaeda and other terrorists, and a direct confrontation between the United States and Russia—which could lead to nuclear war.”

Gabbard said the Trump administration had “acted recklessly without care or consideration of the dire consequences of the United States attack on Syria without waiting for the collection of evidence from the scene of the chemical poisoning.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, condemned the Syrian chemical attacks, saying their “actions underscore why the United States should embrace innocent people who are fleeing in terror.”

“The Constitution gives the power to authorize the use of military force to the legislative branch. Expanded military intervention in Syria requires action by Congress,” Warren said in a statement on the U.S. strikes on Syria. “If President Trump expects such an authorization, he owes the American people an explanation of his strategy to bring an end to the violence in Syria. We should not escalate this conflict without clear goals and a plan to achieve them.”

Scrabble

This is a clever E-mail

Someone out there

Must be "deadly" at Scrabble.

Wait till you see the last one!

PRESBYTERIAN :