Testimony like this is rarely reported.
Wow! Watch and listen to young black female conservative activist, Candace Owen, answer
questions in Congress by CO GOP Representative Ken Buck, on push back she
gets from radical leftist groups on college campuses and elsewhere.
She is a stellar patriot and mega supporter of our Constitution, Capitalism and pro life.
My friend and fellow memo readers, Star Parker, and Allen West, are cut from the same "black granite."
After listening to her continue to listen to several more snippets/interviews that follow. I play tennis with a retired Agent who verifies what was written about Hillary.
And:
It is very sad to know only five states mandate education about the Holocaust. This is a must watch.
Not knowing history is why we will lose our democracy/republic. The faster we destroy our public statutes the faster this event will occur. This video is a sad commentary and I bet these pathetic students are all liberal.
And so it goes. (See 1 below.)
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PS Rafael Raif is Venezuelan and first generation Jewish immigrant, and the President of MIT. (See 2 below.)+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I have inquired of a friend who is involved in cyber activity to verify. If he does I will report. (See 3 below.)
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The Democrats begin their debates tomorrow and one of their recurring themes will be the usual demeaning of black voters by progressive liberals engaged offering black bribes. In essence, liberals believe black voters are stupid and can be bought off with reparation bribes.
Ironically Obama tried it on Iran's Ayotollah and it worked because he was delighted to take our pallets of cash so he could fund more of his terrorism.
I did not catch Bernie Marcus' interview but I was told Bernie said 'if the other Bernie won the economy will collapse.' Marcus is no fool.
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Dick
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1)
Iran, Russia, China Continuing Operations to Disrupt 2020 Elections
U.S. intel community, law enforcement monitoring multiple events in lead-up
By Adam Kredo
Getty Images
Foreign governments including Iran, China, and Russia are expanding their covert operations to influence the 2020 U.S. elections, according to multiple senior intelligence and Trump administration officials who disclosed Monday that these countries are using a series of networks to foment unrest in America.
In the lead-up to the 2020 elections, the United States is already laying the groundwork to boost its own counter-operations and detection methods in order to thwart a possible attack on the nationwide election systems, as well as social media efforts by rogue nations to influence any results, these officials said.
Top U.S. intelligence, law enforcement, and military officials have already begun to meet with the 2020 political contenders as well as the respective political parties in a bid to unify data collection and help pinpoint the source of any foreign cyberstrike.
While Russia has been the primary focus since its well-documented efforts to sway the contentious 2016 presidential election and later the 2018 congressional midterms, intelligence officials disclosed that they have expanded their efforts to also monitor Iran, China, and North Korea.
"We're focused on both infrastructure security as well as foreign influence operations," a senior intelligence official said during a Monday afternoon press call that was held only on background. "From our perspective, … we do believe the 2020 elections are a potential target for state and nonstate actors."
"Foreign influence operations remain a considerable area of concern," the official said, noting that Russia’s plan "is to pit Americans against each other" in order to foment discord and undermine the U.S. political system. China, too, has attempted to sway the public discourse through its use of propaganda outlets, and "Iran is increasing their use of social media" toward this end, the official said.
The United States is undertaking what it calls a "whole of government" approach to the problem that includes uniting intelligence, law enforcement, and military agencies.
U.S. officials see the 2020 elections as featuring a "continuing risk environment" that has motivated these agencies "to double down," according to a senior administration official, who also discussed pressing security issues.
At this point, the U.S. intelligence community has "no indication any foreign adversary" has compromised the election network. Officials, however, are tracking multiple countries that have plans that "could affect results."
New security protocols, equipment, and other measures have already been enacted to combat potential threats, officials said, emphasizing that the effort includes scores of local and state-level election sites.
"We’ve learned a lot during the past few years," the administration official said. "We continue to learn, we continue to find ways to do better."
However, officials admitted that not every instance of election interference might be reported to the public. Officials said such disclosure "might do more harm than good," and encourage rogue nations and cyber criminals to continue launching operations.
Computer hacking remains the "highest priority" for officials at the Department of Justice, which has installed election officers across the country to work with local jurisdictions.
"We enter the 2020 election cycle attentive to the threat," another senior administration official said.
The FBI also is "laser focused" on foreign influence operations, according to a senior law enforcement official working on election security. The FBI mounted an extensive effort to secure the 2018 midterm elections and will be "focused on the job ahead" in the 2020 cycle, the official said.
Like the other agencies, the FBI had primarily been focused on Russia, but has expanded its mission to "China, Iran, and North Korea, among others," according to the law enforcement official.
"Foreign influence operations are continuous and not only conducted during election time," the official emphasized.
For the 2020 cycle, the Department of Defense also is playing a role. It will provide specialized support in services of the entire U.S. government, including working to combat threats to America’s critical infrastructure.
The goal is to "stop threats before they reach the homeland," according to a third senior administration official, also speaking only on background about the situation.
While election security may not have been a chief priority for the U.S. military in past years, officials said they "see it for the foreseeable future as an enduring mission."
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2)
| To the members of the MIT community, MIT has flourished, like the United States itself, because it has been a magnet for the world’s finest talent, a global laboratory where people from every culture and background inspire each other and invent the future, together. Today, I feel compelled to share my dismay about some circumstances painfully relevant to our fellow MIT community members of Chinese descent. And I believe that because we treasure them as friends and colleagues, their situation and its larger national context should concern us all. The situation As the US and China have struggled with rising tensions, the US government has raised serious concerns about incidents of alleged academic espionage conducted by individuals through what is widely understood as a systematic effort of the Chinese government to acquire high-tech IP. As head of an institute that includes MIT Lincoln Laboratory, I could not take national security more seriously. I am well aware of the risks of academic espionage, and MIT has established prudent policies to protect against such breaches. But in managing these risks, we must take great care not to create a toxic atmosphere of unfounded suspicion and fear. Looking at cases across the nation, small numbers of researchers of Chinese background may indeed have acted in bad faith, but they are the exception and very far from the rule. Yet faculty members, post-docs, research staff and students tell me that, in their dealings with government agencies, they now feel unfairly scrutinized, stigmatized and on edge – because of their Chinese ethnicity alone. Nothing could be further from – or more corrosive to – our community’s collaborative strength and open-hearted ideals. To hear such reports from Chinese and Chinese-American colleagues is heartbreaking. As scholars, teachers, mentors, inventors and entrepreneurs, they have been not only exemplary members of our community but exceptional contributors to American society. I am deeply troubled that they feel themselves repaid with generalized mistrust and disrespect. The signal to the world For those of us who know firsthand the immense value of MIT’s global community and of the free flow of scientific ideas, it is important to understand the distress of these colleagues as part of an increasingly loud signal the US is sending to the world. Protracted visa delays. Harsh rhetoric against most immigrants and a range of other groups, because of religion, race, ethnicity or national origin. Together, such actions and policies have turned the volume all the way up on the message that the US is closing the door – that we no longer seek to be a magnet for the world’s most driven and creative individuals. I believe this message is not consistent with how America has succeeded. I am certain it is not how the Institute has succeeded. And we should expect it to have serious long-term costs for the nation and for MIT. For the record, let me say with warmth and enthusiasm to every member of MIT’s intensely global community: We are glad, proud and fortunate to have you with us! To our alumni around the world: We remain one community, united by our shared values and ideals! And to all the rising talent out there: If you are passionate about making a better world, and if you dream of joining our community, we welcome your creativity, we welcome your unstoppable energy and aspiration – and we hope you can find a way to join us. |
| * * * |
| In May, the world lost a brilliant creative force: architect I.M. Pei, MIT Class of 1940. Raised in Shanghai and Hong Kong, he came to the United States at 17 to seek an education. He left a legacy of iconic buildings from Boston to Paris and China to Washington, DC, as well as on our own campus. By his own account, he consciously stayed alive to his Chinese roots all his life. Yet, when he died at the age of 102, the Boston Globe described him as “the most prominent American architect of his generation.” Thanks to the inspired American system that also made room for me as an immigrant, all of those facts can be true at the same time. As I have discovered through 40 years in academia, the hidden strength of a university is that every fall, it is refreshed by a new tide of students. I am equally convinced that part of the genius of America is that it is continually refreshed by immigration – by the passionate energy, audacity, ingenuity and drive of people hungry for a better life. There is certainly room for a wide range of serious positions on the actions necessary to ensure our national security and to manage and improve our nation’s immigration system. But above the noise of the current moment, the signal I believe we should be sending, loud and clear, is that the story of American immigration is essential to understanding how the US became, and remains, optimistic, open-minded, innovative and prosperous – a story of never-ending renewal. In a nation like ours, immigration is a kind of oxygen, each fresh wave reenergizing the body as a whole. As a society, when we offer immigrants the gift of opportunity, we receive in return vital fuel for our shared future. I trust that this wisdom will always guide us in the life and work of MIT. And I hope it can continue to guide our nation. Sincerely, L. Rafael Reif MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 77 MASSACHUSETTS AVE, W98-300 | CAMBRIDGE, MA 02139 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3) The Iran Hawk ReturnsNew U.S. sanctions and leaks about a cyber attack on Tehran.
The Donald Trump doctrine, so far as we can tell, is to keep everyone guessing—allies and enemies, members of Congress, even his own national security advisers. So having tacked dovish on Iran by taking a military strike off the table on Friday, Mr. Trump tacked hawkish again on Monday with new sanctions and tougher rhetoric. As Mr. Trump likes to say, “We’ll see what happens.”
Mr. Trump called the sanctions “hard-hitting,” though they are less potent than the previous sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Iranian oil sales and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The new sanctions are aimed at denying financial resources to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his office.
“The Supreme Leader of Iran is one who ultimately is responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime,” said Mr. Trump. “He’s respected within his country. His office oversees the regime’s most brutal instruments, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
The point seems to be to squeeze Mr. Khamenei, though it isn’t clear how much he personally depends on outside sources of financing. Mr. Khamenei has final say over whether to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal, and Mr. Trump has been trying to coax him into talks. The sanctions may not make a difference, but the symbolism matters in holding the Ayatollah accountable.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration leaked over the weekend that it targeted Iranian military installations with a cyber attack after Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. drone last week. The Iranians haven’t acknowledged the attack, but they will certainly have taken the point if it did some damage. The cyber response may make Iran less likely to see Friday’s military restraint as a sign of weakness.
The Administration also sought to reassure Middle Eastern allies by dispatching Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton to send a message of resolve. Mr. Bolton appeared with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn Iran not to test Mr. Trump, and Mr. Pompeo met with Saudi leaders in Jeddah. This is useful as diplomatic damage control and to show Tehran that the “maximum pressure” campaign will continue.
Mr. Trump also reiterated his demands Monday at the White House: “We will continue to increase pressure on Tehran until the regime abandons its dangerous activities and its aspirations, including the pursuit of nuclear weapons, increased enrichment of uranium, development of ballistic missiles, engagement in and support for terrorism, fueling of foreign conflicts, and belligerent acts directed against the United States and its allies.”
The question is how Iran reads all this. Mr. Trump seems to believe Iran’s leadership is under severe political and economic pressure at home and may look for relief by agreeing to renegotiate. But he also has to respond if Iran decides to escalate the violence against U.S. assets on a gamble that Mr. Trump doesn’t want to get into a shooting war as he gears up to run for re-election.
Now would be a good moment for Europe to get off the fence and join the U.S. pressure campaign. European diffidence is giving Tehran’s leaders hope they can ride out Mr. Trump in the expectation that he will lose in 2020.
The same goes for the many Democratic presidential candidates who keep saying they’ll return without conditions to the 2015 nuclear deal. That also gives the Ayatollah reason to think he can wait out Mr. Trump. Democrats can fairly criticize Mr. Trump for being unpredictable, even erratic, but not for being right about Iranian behavior.
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