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Title: The Patriot Post Digest 7-26-2018 Post by: nChrist on July 26, 2018, 05:28:15 PM ________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 7-26-2018 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) _______________________________ The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest Jul. 26, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/57361-mid-day-digest THE FOUNDATION “Harmony, liberal intercourse with all Nations, are recommended by policy, humanity and interest. But even our Commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand: neither seeking nor granting exclusive favours or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of Commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with Powers so disposed; in order to give trade a stable course.” —George Washington (1796) IN TODAY’S EDITION Trump gets results on trade, as EU makes concessions. The other Russian hacking — the electrical grid. New revelations of Twitter, Facebook censoring conservatives. Universal basic income is the nanny state on steroids. A new study says conservatives find life more meaningful. An environmental battle in California highlights who the real preservationists are. How Big Data could affect your health insurance. Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists, and Short Cuts. IN BRIEF Trump Is Getting Desired Results From Tariffs1 Thomas Gallatin Wednesday saw an example of what is widely touted as President Donald Trump’s greatest strength — negotiating a good deal. Following his meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his top trade official, Cecilia Malmström, Trump announced an agreement that effectively avoids a trade war. “This was a very big day for free and fair trade,” Trump stated. “Over the years, the United States has lost hundreds of billions of dollars to the European Union and we just want it to be a level playing field for our farmers, our manufacturers, [and] for everybody.” Juncker also expressed a positive conciliatory note after previously having threatened retaliatory measures for Trump’s proposed 25% automobile tariff on all European imports. He noted, “We are close partners — allies, not enemies. We have to work together.” News of the agreement sent the markets jumping in relief. Trump’s repeated talk of zero tariffs and fair trade seems to have encouraged good-faith negotiations and the recognition that the current state of trade is not the level playing field it needs to be. With this initial agreement, the EU will import more U.S. soybeans and liquid natural gas. It’s important to note that the deal on natural gas directly challenges Vladimir Putin by reducing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy2. Juncker also agreed to pursue badly needed reforms at the World Trade Organization, as Trump has long argued that WTO judges are biased against the U.S. Further, the EU will work to align its regulatory standards to allow for a better and fairer market within Europe for U.S. medical devices. And finally, both Trump and Juncker made a commitment to work toward an eventual zero-tariff trade deal. “The United States and the European Union together count more than 830 million citizens and more than 50 percent of global GDP,” a joint statement noted. “If we team up, we can make our planet a better, more secure, and more prosperous place.” Through this latest deal, Trump has deftly set pieces in place and strengthened his hand, effectively ratcheting up pressure on China to come to the negotiation table. There are also positive signs coming out of Mexico as the newly elected president’s chief trade negotiator, Jesus Seade, indicated on Tuesday that Mexico is open to a new deal: “What I see … to be a very feasible expectation is that we’ll be concluding negotiation in the next two months if possible, or in the next few months a bit further down the road.” He added, “President Trump has a very personal style. He likes to appear chaotic. But the last thing he is is chaotic. I think he’s a very intelligent man.” Clearly, Trump’s tariff gamble3 is paying off, and despite wide criticism from both sides of the political aisle, he has steadily maintained the course and is starting to get the results he has been after the whole time — a fair and level playing field for American workers and businesses. Trump’s moves to achieve fair and free trade are actually reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s strategy to force the Soviet Union to the negotiation table via a nuclear arms race — seemingly counterintuitive but effective. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57354-trump-is-getting-desired-results-from-tariffs The Other Russian Hacking — the Electrical Grid4 Jordan Candler It goes without saying that election meddling is hardly the only threat posed by Russian operatives. According to a new Wall Street Journal report5, “Hackers working for Russia claimed ‘hundreds of victims’ last year in a giant and long-running campaign that put them inside the control rooms of U.S. electric utilities where they could have caused blackouts, federal officials said. They said the campaign likely is continuing.” The hackers were members of a group known as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear, which is backed by the Kremlin. The Journal explains that the group “broke into supposedly secure, ‘air-gapped’ or isolated networks owned by utilities with relative ease by first penetrating the networks of key vendors who had trusted relationships with the power companies, said officials at the Department of Homeland Security.” One DHS official even stated that the hackers “got to the point where they could have thrown switches.” Translation: Portions of our nation’s utilities — which were previously flagged for inadequate security measures6 — were effectively in the hands of foreign enemies. DHS began alerting utility executives to the hazards posed by these specific Russian hackers four years ago. By 2016, the Russian incursion on U.S. utilities was underway, though Russia refuses to admit culpability — which is just as believable as that nation’s pleading innocence on election meddling. Investor’s Business Daily suggests7 “it’s clear the U.S. needs to increase its focus on this threat.” The risk isn’t hyperbole, after all. As IBD goes on to note: “Those who think it can’t happen here need to think again. In December 2015, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine’s power grid that led to electricity outages for hundreds of thousands of people.” Yes, election meddling is serious business and requires a forceful response. But hacking into America’s utility companies is an even more pressing and far-reaching concern — particularly when, as IBD points out, “there is no indication that [Russian meddling] had a significant impact on any election here in 2016.” Some Democrats will no doubt remain unconvinced, so in an effort to persuade them, remind them that they won’t be able to keep spewing “Russia stole the election” nonsense on national television if those same Russians end up causing blackouts. That’ll get ‘em moving. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57332-the-other-russian-hacking-the-electrical-grid New Revelations of Twitter, Facebook Censoring8 Nate Jackson The leftist bias of social media giants isn’t news. But here and there we do find more evidence to support the charge. Both Twitter and Facebook are themselves news this week for more of the same. Twitter is reportedly “shadow-banning” prominent Republicans. In this case, a shadow ban is hiding someone from autofill search lists. According to9 Vice News, no conservative ally to be sure, “Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel, several conservative Republican congressmen [including Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, and Matt Gaetz], and Donald Trump Jr.’s spokesman no longer appear in the auto-populated drop-down search box on Twitter. … It’s a shift that diminishes their reach on the platform — and it’s the same one being deployed against prominent racists to limit their visibility. The profiles continue to appear when conducting a full search, but not in the more convenient and visible drop-down bar.” Title: The Patriot Post Digest 7-26-2018 Post by: nChrist on July 26, 2018, 05:29:15 PM ________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 7-26-2018 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) _______________________________ So is this merely an innocent algorithm issue? Nope. Vice adds, “Democrats are not being 'shadow banned’ in the same way.” A Twitter spokesman blamed the discrepancy not on “the content of Tweets” but on “account behavior.” In other words, Twitter aims to crack down on “troll-like behavior10,” which, to these thought police, apparently means expressing conservative viewpoints. Twitter’s not alone. There is evidence11 that January’s algorithm changes on Facebook’s news feed are also reducing the visibility of and interaction with conservatives and Republicans, while having far less detrimental effect on leftists and Democrats. Facebook explains the effort as being focused on emphasizing friends and family over media organizations, businesses, or politicians. But as we’ve said before12, if we’ve chosen to “like” a page, that means we want to see it. We don’t need or want Facebook determining that for us. Moreover, in order to post some political ads, Facebook now requires submitting Social Security and driver’s license numbers for an individual on the account. The Patriot Post encountered this roadblock just this week. Given the serious questions about what happens to user data13 on Facebook, why would anyone submit to this scrutiny? The bottom line remains that social media giants consider Republicans to be racist trolls and conservative news organizations to be “fake news.” And they’re doing whatever they can to silence that side of the debate. Maybe that’s why Facebook stock is dropping like a rock14. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57352-new-revelations-of-twitter-facebook-censoring Top Headlines15 GOP lawmakers file resolution to impeach Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein (The Daily Wire16) Pompeo infuriates senators with brash defense of Trump (Washington Examiner17) Obama administration knowingly funded a designated al-Qaida affiliate (National Review18) House votes to delay ObamaCare health insurance tax (The Hill19) Republicans actually moved a good piece of immigration reform (The Resurgent20) Budget deficits are only getting bigger under Trump (National Review21) Don’t be fooled by North Korea’s dismantling of rocket test site (The Daily Signal22) Bomb detonated outside U.S. embassy in Beijing (Washington Examiner23) American pastor Andrew Brunson to leave Turkish prison and allowed to return to his home in Turkey (American Center for Law and Justice24) Humor: Trump admits he has no idea why evangelicals keep supporting him (The Babylon Bee25) Policy: Trump’s art of the (trade) deal: U.S.-EU trade war averted — for now (Investor’s Business Daily26) Policy: Why tax reform 2.0 is so important (The Daily Signal27) For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report28. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57359-thursday-top-headlines MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST Universal Basic Income: The Nanny State on Steroids34 — There is nothing remotely free about the transfer of costs from one group of Americans to another. Study: Conservatives Find Life More Meaningful35 — Personal responsibility is empowering to individuals. Victimhood and entitlement are debilitating. Will the Real Preservationist Please Stand Up?36 — San Francisco’s water supply from the Hetch Hetchy Valley is a contentious issue. How Big Data Could Affect Your Health Insurance37 — Insurance companies are collecting data on consumers to better calculate health risk. Humor Video: Stuckey ‘Interviews’ Ocasio-Cortez38 — A little creative editing of these two Millennial women is quite humorous. OPINION IN BRIEF Cal Thomas: “I have at least three takeaways from [young Americans’ support for socialism]. The first is that it’s likely most of those who favor socialism have never lived in a country where it is practiced. A few months in Venezuela might be the perfect cure. Second, people who claim to prefer socialism to capitalism are probably reaping capitalism’s benefits. This group of misinformed comrades includes parents who gave their pampered millennials a lifestyle they likely would never have enjoyed under a socialist regime. The third takeaway is that those who favor socialism over capitalism and socialist countries over America are spoiled rotten. They are part of a generation that has never had to serve in the military and, I would venture to guess, do not know anyone who is serving or has served, other than maybe a grandparent, whose values many seem to have rejected. People seduced by socialism have likely not had to sacrifice much for their country. They seem to take it for granted that the freedoms they enjoy, even the freedom to believe in a political and economic system that is anti-freedom, dropped from the sky and were not achieved by the hard work, blood, sweat and tears (which they think is the name of an old rock group) of others.” SHORT CUTS Insight: “The only kind of freedom that the mob can imagine is freedom to annoy and oppress its betters, and that is precisely the kind that we mainly have.” —H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) For the record: “By the way, the United States is responsible for almost none of the plastic in the ocean. 60 percent comes from Southeast Asia. 95 percent comes from Asia and Africa combined. That leaves 5 percent split between every western country. Your straw is not a problem.” —Matt Walsh Braying Jenny: “You’ve gotta know that I’m here to do the work that I was sent to do, and as [the] pastor said to me when I came in this morning, when God sends you to do something, you just do it!” —Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) The BIG Lie: “I think that’s an exaggeration. The Democratic party is not a socialist party.” —Maxine Waters Non Compos Mentis: “A conservative news outlet spliced together a ‘satirical’ interview38 with Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, published it on Facebook without noting it was satire, and racked up over a million views in less than 24 hours — many from people who appear convinced it’s real. The video is fake, and for the people who are taking it seriously, it’s news. But it’s not ‘fake news,’ and it shows just how confounding talking about misinformation has gotten.” —The Verge And last… “So liberals think calling Ivanka Trump a feckless c—t is ‘hilarious comedy’ but think Allie Stuckey’s hilarious satire of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is fake news & should be banned from Facebook. I don’t think funny means what the left thinks it means.” —Liz Wheeler https://patriotpost.us/articles/57355-thursday-short-cuts Join our editors and staff in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen. Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis Nate Jackson, Managing Editor Mark Alexander, Publisher |