Several random thoughts:
a) There have been a lot of huge mergers taking place of late and a lot of speculation as to why beyond alleged synergism. Some commentators have alluded to the fact that, if the Democrats take over the Senate, we will have more restrictive and onerous legislation like Dodd Frank etc. and mergers will be more difficult to achieve.
Bernie Sanders is an avowed Socialist and most of his economic ideas would be a disaster for our nation. Personality-wise, he is not as dangerous as Elizabeth Warren who is an overpaid, self designated 'half breed' who is out to destroy Capitalism. So with those two economic 'heathens' in charge of the direction of the Democrat Party and Hillary fearful of crossing the growing radical element within her party it is little wonder corporate America is on the move and active. (See 1 below.)
b) Israel is a small country but population-wise is not homogeneous. It too is a melting pot like America. Unlike America, which after 8 years of Obama, is falling apart and more divided than ever, Israel remains a contentious, argumentative society there are at least two factors that unify Israelis. The first is they are surrounded by those who hate and want to destroy them and second everyone must participate in military service. This is like everyone belonging to the same fraternity. The shared experiences that results and the instilling of pride and common purpose are powerful coagulating forces. Seldom will you hear or read about an Israeli acting like members of the NFL, other than some isolated quite radical Arab Israelis.
There are pluses to America having an all volunteer military but there are downsides as well. Only a very small percentage of our population sacrifice their lives for the vast majority and second those who do not serve miss learning the skill sets and self-discipline associated with military service.
I am not advocating compulsory military drafting but I do believe everyone should serve our nation in some capacity and preferably after high school. In my opinion this would provide several opportunities for maturation, unification and building pride and feelings of self-worth .
It will never happen and thus, America will remain divided and vulnerable to the appeal of those who wish to divide and destroy us from within like the Obama's, Soro's and Warren's of the world who breed upon the disaffected.
c) Finally, as the election nears and virtually everyone I speak with are conflicted by the two main choices, I remain steadfast in my willingness to vote for Trump hoping I am making the better of two poor choices. I continue to be of the view that a vote for Hillary leaves me little hope for a positive surprise because I have a thirty year history of being aware of who she is, how she thinks and what she is likely to do. With Trump I also know leopards do not change their spots but he has better ideas and just might surround himself with more competent advisers and has proven he can listen and modify. The risk is that Donald is ego driven and has a thin skin bu, I believe, will strive to be more of a consensus builder unlike Hillary who has a thick skin, is corrupt and an elitist who is stiff as an over starched shirt. Also I do not trust her to protect our nation because of her self-serving ways and attitude. (See 1a below.)
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Ransom pays. (See 2 below.)
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Voting may not be rigged but everything else seems to have been. (See 3 and 3a below.)
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I asked a fellow memo reader what he thought about my memos and this was his response: "My thoughts: I agree with a great deal of what you write, and with your general outlook or approach (i.e. I NEVER trust liberals!)
===A little humor. (See 4 below.)
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Dick
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1) AT&T Sets $85.4 Billion Acquisition of Time Warner, CEOs Laud 'Perfect' and 'Natural' Fit
AT&T has clinched an $85.4 billion agreement to acquire Time Warner in a stock and cash deal that values the media giant at $107.50 per share, capping a whirlwind few days of negotiations that promise to turn AT&T into one of the film and TV industry's largest players.
Including Time Warner's roughly $24 billion in debt, the transaction value is pegged $108.7 billion. The deal calls for AT&T to pay Time Warner shareholders $53.75 per share in cash and $53.75 in AT&T stock. Time Warner shareholders will own between 14.4% and 15.7% of the combined company after the deal closes.
Bewkes added: "This is a natural fit between two companies with great legacies of innovation that have shaped the modern media and communications landscape."
AT&T aims to enhance its DirecTV business, high-speed Internet and wireless offerings by bringing Time Warner's top-tier content -- from HBO and the Turner cable networks to Warner Bros.' vast film and TV operations -- into the fold. Because AT&T owns the industry's largest MVPD in DirecTV and is a player in Internet access, the deal will face an arduous regulatory review process in an uncertain political environment for media mega-mergers.
1a) Pentagon Officials Furious After Clinton Announces US Response Time for Nuclear Launch During Debate
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Dick
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1) AT&T Sets $85.4 Billion Acquisition of Time Warner, CEOs Laud 'Perfect' and 'Natural' Fit
AT&T has clinched an $85.4 billion agreement to acquire Time Warner in a stock and cash deal that values the media giant at $107.50 per share, capping a whirlwind few days of negotiations that promise to turn AT&T into one of the film and TV industry's largest players.
"This is a perfect match of two companies with complementary strengths who can bring a fresh approach to how the media and communications industry works for customers, content creators, distributors and advertisers," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO.
"Premium content always wins. It has been true on the big screen, the TV screen and now it's proving true on the mobile screen. We'll have the world's best premium content with the networks to deliver it to every screen. A big customer pain point is paying for content once but not being able to access it on any device, anywhere. Our goal is to solve that. We intend to give customers unmatched choice, quality, value and experiences that will define the future of media and communications."
Including Time Warner's roughly $24 billion in debt, the transaction value is pegged $108.7 billion. The deal calls for AT&T to pay Time Warner shareholders $53.75 per share in cash and $53.75 in AT&T stock. Time Warner shareholders will own between 14.4% and 15.7% of the combined company after the deal closes.
The deal was approved unanimously by the boards of both companies on Saturday.
Time Warner chairman-CEO Jeffrey Bewkes lauded the union as a deal that will allow the company's content engines to grow with the benefit of AT&T's multi-platform distribution strength.
"This is a great day for Time Warner and its shareholders. Combining with AT&T dramatically accelerates our ability to deliver our great brands and premium content to consumers on a multi-platform basis and to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities created by the growing demand for video content," Bewkes said.
"That's been one of our most important strategic priorities and we're already making great progress -- both in partnership with our distributors, and on our own by connecting directly with consumers. Joining forces with AT&T will allow us to innovate even more quickly and create more value for consumers along with all our distribution and marketing partners, and allow us to build on a track record of creative and financial excellence that is second to none in our industry. In fact, when we announce our 3Q earnings, we will report revenue and operating income growth at each of our divisions, as well as double-digit earnings growth."
Bewkes added: "This is a natural fit between two companies with great legacies of innovation that have shaped the modern media and communications landscape."
The deal marks a transformational play by Stephenson, one that will leave the telco giant with a debt load of nearly $200 billion. It comes just 15 months after AT&T absorbed the DirecTV satellite service in a $48 billion acquisition
Related Content AT&T-Time Warner Questions: What's the Price Tag and Why Now?
For Time Warner, the union with AT&T comes 16 years after the company's fortunes were badly damaged in the ill-timed merger with AOL at the apex of the first wave of dot-com mania, and some 26 years after the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Bros. set the template for the modern diversified and vertically integrated media conglomerate.
But TW chairman-CEO Jeffrey Bewkes has spent his eight-year tenure at the top paring down the company to three core units -- HBO, Warner Bros., and Turner -- squarely focused on film and TV content. The Time Warner Cable and AOL units were spun off in 2009, followed in 2014 by the Time Inc. publishing division. That streamlining process made the company more easily acquired by another sizable industry player and also made it easier for TW to command a premium for its blue-chip assets.
The AT&T deal will wind up paying a TW shareholders a premium of about 35% over the stock's recent trading price. After Bloomberg News reported the first word of the AT&T-Time Warner talks on Thursday afternoon, TW shares spiked more than 10%, closing Friday at $89.48.
AT&T's pursuit of Time Warner was hurried along by the rumblings in the marketplace that Apple was ready to approach Time Warner with a rich offer. Apple is known to have flirted with a Time Warner deal in the not-so-distant past.
AT&T aims to enhance its DirecTV business, high-speed Internet and wireless offerings by bringing Time Warner's top-tier content -- from HBO and the Turner cable networks to Warner Bros.' vast film and TV operations -- into the fold. Because AT&T owns the industry's largest MVPD in DirecTV and is a player in Internet access, the deal will face an arduous regulatory review process in an uncertain political environment for media mega-mergers.
On Saturday, even before the formal announcement, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he would block the AT&T-Time Warner deal if he is elected president.
In a sign of how hotly a contested subject the deal will be, the American Cable Association trade group representing smaller operators was quick to raise concerns about the market power that a combined AT&T-Time Warner would wield.
"As the FCC has found in past mergers, combining valuable content with pay-TV distribution causes harm to consumers and competition in the pay-TV market," the ACA said in a statement issued today. "If an AT&T/Time Warner deal is forged as reported, the vertical integration of the merged company must be an issue that regulators closely examine."
1a) Pentagon Officials Furious After Clinton Announces US Response Time for Nuclear Launch During Debate
Following Wednesday’s presidential debate Pentagon officials found themselves completely dumbfounded as to why former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would feel it appropriate to announce U.S. Special Access Program intel on national television.
According to sources within the Department of Defense speaking under anonymity, Clinton likely violated at least two Dept. of Defense SAP protocols during the debate by announcing on live television the United States Government’s response time for a nuclear launch.
In case you missed it:
“But here’s the deal. The bottom line on nuclear weapons is that when the president gives the order, it must be followed. There’s about four minutes between the order being given and the people responsible for launching nuclear weapons to do so.” –Hillary Clinton
To the dismay of intelligence officials, the fact that this top secret information is now publicly known not only proves that Clinton is “unfit to be commander-in-chief,”but it also poses a direct threat to national security.
One high ranking intelligence official explained that any time frame calculated pertaining to a US nuclear launch “would have merely been an educated hypothesis, absent leaked documents and there have been no such breaches” prior to Clinton’s admission Wednesday.
“Secretary Clinton proved tonight she is unfit to be commander-in-chief,” a top-ranking DOD intelligence source said. “What she did compromises our national security. She is cavalier and reckless and in my opinion should be detained and questioned so we can unravel why she did what she did.”
According to Pentagon sources, the information Clinton disseminated publicly is Top Secret intelligence governed under the U.S. Special Access Program (SAP) which dictates safeguards and protocols for accessing and discussing highly classified and Top Secret intelligence. The specific details of the country’s nuclear response time discussed by Clinton, sources said, are only known by a handful of individuals outside top military brass…
“Targeting options by ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missiles), air or sea, launch order, launch procedures and response are some of the most secretly guarded tenets of national security and nuclear war policy,” a Pentagon source said. “It’s truly incredible that (nuclear) response time as part of an ERO (Emergency Response Option) is now out there in the public domain to our adversaries.”
U.S. Defense sources said according to developed U.S. counterintelligence, military officials in China, North Korea, Syria, Russia, Iran and even actors like ISIS had no previous definitive intelligence to determine the U.S. nuclear response time, especially during an ERO, prior to Clinton’s admission Wednesday night. Sources reluctantly acknowledged her calculations were accurate.
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2) Iranian Ransom Consequences
The mullahs hand 10-year sentences to two more U.S. hostages.
Until recently, the United States had a firm policy of never paying ransom for hostages on the sensible view that it would encourage more kidnappings. Then came the Iran nuclear deal—and a lesson in the human costs of President Obama’s foreign policy.
We say this following Tuesday’s news that an Iranian court has sentenced Iranian-Americans Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father Baquer to 10 years in prison on trumped-up espionage charges. The younger Mr. Namazi, a businessman, was arrested last September, shortly after the nuclear deal was finalized. His father, a retired United Nations official, was arrested in February while visiting his son in prison.
At least one other Iranian-American, Reza Shahini of San Diego, was arrested earlier this year, and former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007, has never been accounted for. Tehran has a long history of imprisoning Iranian-Americans on spurious charges, often for domestic political reasons. But the $1.7 billion cash payment they received in January on the same day they released the last batch of U.S. hostages has created an incentive for them to imprison more Americans to trade for some future concession.
The Obama Administration says the January payment was part of a legal settlement and in no way an act of ransom. The Iranians beg to differ, with defense officials telling Iranian media that the cash was a ransom payment.
“U.S. officials also acknowledge that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible,” Journal reporters Jay Solomon and Carol Lee reported in August. You can be sure Tehran will again demand “something tangible” the next time the fate of their American hostages reaches a negotiating table.
It’s worth noting that, prior to his arrest, Siamak Namazi was a strong advocate of closer U.S. economic ties to Iran, a view shared by his friends at the National Iranian American Council, a pro-Tehran lobby based in Washington. Mr. Namazi had publicly criticized U.S. sanctions against Iran. But the mullahs put their need for U.S. hostages above gratitude for such political assistance. Revolutions tend to devour their foreign sympathizers.
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3)
POLITICS
3)
WikiLeaks’ 10 Most Damning Clinton Emails that Prove Mainstream Media is Scripted & Controlled
By: Jay Syrmopoulos
Washington, D.C. – With information coming out of WikiLeaks at a fast and furious pace, it’s difficult for the average person to keep up with the many bombshell revelations being exposed. This is happening so much that the most damning evidence is ending up as background noise in the 24-hour election news cycle without ever making it into the mainstream news.
On October 7th, 2016, WikiLeaks publish thousands of emails belonging to John Podesta’s private email archives. More emails have been released in the days that followed. Podesta is Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign Chairman. He previously served as Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton and Counselor to President Barack Obama.
The Podesta emails give insight into why there has been such little fanfare in the mainstream media regarding many of the most damning allegations against Clinton.
The fact that most of the newsworthy information contained in the emails is not being reported by the corporate media is indicative of the incestuous relationship between the mainstream media and the Clinton campaign – and is on full display in the Podesta emails.
While there are dozens of bombshell revelations contained within the emails –including transcripts of speeches to Wall St. banks that Clinton had refused to release, hidden policy positions, and evidence of collusion with brutal regimes – the most damning is the collusion and control of the U.S. media on display in the emails.
Essentially, the media has been weaponized as a means of controlling public opinion by propagandizing the American people. World renowned academic Noam Chomsky, in his book “Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media,” detailed how U.S. media frequently serve as an errand boy for U.S. corporate, military and imperial interests.
Chomsky forwarded the idea of what he called a “propaganda model.” Although the book was written in 1988, it speaks precisely to what is currently taking place and clearly revealed in the Podesta emails.
With knowledge of what is currently transpiring, here are the ten most damning Clinton emails regarding the media’s collusion with her presidential campaign, with hotlinks to the original WikiLeaks release.
1. Clinton Staff hosts private “off-the-record cocktail party” with 38 “influential” reporters, journalists, editors, and anchors (from 16 different mainstream media outlets including CNN, NBC, CBS, NYT, MSNBC, & more) with the stated goal of “framing the race.”
2. Donna Brazile (CNN contributor at the time, and current DNC Chairman now) leaked CNN town hall questions to Hillary Clinton’s staff prior to the debate.
3. Clinton campaign and the New York Times coordinating attack strategy against Trump.
4. Glen Thrush, POLITICO’s chief political correspondent and senior staff writer for POLITICO Magazine, sends John Podesta an article for his approval. Writes: “Please don’t share or tell anyone I did this. Tell me if I fucked up anything.”
5. Huffington Post contributor Frank Islam writes to John Podesta in an email titled “My blogs in the Huffington Post”, says “I am committed to make sure she is elected the next president.” “Please let me know if I can be of any service to you.”
6. Clinton staffer “Placing a story” with Politico / New York Times: “place a story with a friendly journalist” “we have a very good relationship with Maggie Haberman of Politico” “we should shape likely leaks in the best light for HRC.”
7. John Podesta receiving drafts of New York Times articles before they’re published.
8. Clinton staff colluding with New York Times and Wall Street Journal to paint Hillary’s economic policies in a “progressive” light.
9. CNBC panelist colluding with John Podesta on what to ask Trump when he calls in for an interview.
10. Clinton staff appearing to control the release times of Associated Press articles.
The reality revealed in these emails is one of media collusion with powerful interests, which only serve to keep the American people in the dark about what is actually transpiring. The exact opposite of transparency.
3a)
Voter Fraud Reality and Trump Myths
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4) A guy walked into a crowded bar, waving his un-holstered pistol and yelled,
"This is a 45 calibre Colt 1911 with a seven-round magazine plus one in the chamber andI want to know who's been sleeping with my wife."A voice from the back of the room called out - "you need more ammo"
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