| President Donald Trump on Joe Biden's 2020 run: 'He's not the brightest lightbulb in the group' Posted: 25 Apr 2019 07:05 PM PDT  President Trump called the former vice president "Sleepy Joe," before adding, "If you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!"
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| White House Counsel: Official Who Cleared Jared Kushner Agrees to Hill Interview Posted: 26 Apr 2019 07:32 PM PDT  Jonathan Ernst/ReutersCarl Kline, the official who green-lit Jared Kushner's security clearance, has agreed to attend a voluntary interview next week with staff for the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, according to a letter from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.The letter, which The Daily Beast obtained, comes at the end of a week of fervid clashes between Chairman Elijah Cummings; Carl Kline, the career official who approved Kushner's security clearance over the objections of other career officials; and the White House Counsel's office. Cummings subpoenaed Kline on April 2 for an interview with his committee staff. Kline and the White House agreed that he would not attend if he couldn't bring lawyers from the White House Counsel's office, arguing that the interview could involve material potentially covered by executive privilege. Cummings' team told Kline he could not bring lawyers from that office, so Kline and the White House decided he would not go to the interview. Cummings subsequently moved to hold Kline in contempt, paving the way to make him the first official held in contempt under the newly Democratic-controlled Congress. That's when Jordan, the top Republican on the committee and a White House ally, stepped in. Earlier on Friday, he wrote a letter to Kline inviting him to come in for a voluntary interview, with White House lawyers on hand. Jordan said the invitation was meant to "avoid unnecessary conflict" and "de-escalate Chairman Cummings' orchestrated interbranch confrontation."Cipollone quickly took Jordan up on his offer—though he said there will be some restrictions. The interview will be "limited to White House personnel security policy and practices," Cipollone said in the letter. The interview is scheduled for May 1, according to Cipollone's letter. A spokesperson for Cummings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.A spokesperson for Jordan said he was happy to receive the letter.The question of how Kushner got a security clearance has become a flashpoint for Democrats, and has drawn significant public attention. Tricia Newbold, a career official who initially blocked Kushner from getting a clearance, has shared detailed information with the committee about the process, along with the issuance of numerous other clearances which she said should not have been granted. Committee staff characterized Newbold as saying that clearances had been issued–despite objections–to people with "a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct."Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Hundreds of migrants in southern Mexico board 'The Beast' heading north Posted: 26 Apr 2019 11:50 AM PDT  The risky move to board the train, known as "La Bestia" (The Beast), followed a mass breakout of migrants from a holding center in the southern border city of Tapachula on Thursday night. Men, women and children from various countries boarded the slow train as it pulled out of the town of Arriaga in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexican media reported. The large group descended from the train on Friday after it reached the town of Ixtepec to the northwest of Arriaga.
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| Oliver North forced out as NRA president amid bitter power struggle Posted: 27 Apr 2019 10:49 AM PDT  North, in conflict with chief executive Wayne LaPierre, says he was 'informed' he would not be renominated when term endsNRA chief Wayne LaPierre, left, and president Oliver North, right, have been involved in a power struggle. Photograph: Bryan Woolston/ReutersOliver North appeared to be heading out of the National Rifle Association amid a dramatic and fast-developing power struggle at the top of the influential gun rights organization.North announced during the annual NRA meeting in Indianapolis he had been told he could not seek re-election as president, ending a brief one-year tenure.The unexpected moved comes less than 24 hours after it was reported that North and long-serving NRA executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre were locked in conflict over the group's future direction and a swirl of legal troubles."Please know I hoped to be with you today as NRA president endorsed for re-election. I'm now informed that that will not happen," North said in a letter read at the NRA's national convention by the group's second vice-president Richard Childress.It was unclear exactly what North's announcement meant amid the apparent power struggle, and it comes before a key meeting of the group's board on Monday, when North's term ends.> There is an empty spot on stage at the members meeting where Oliver North, President of the NRA, should be. pic.twitter.com/VkPRosFQ2e> > — Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) April 27, 2019North, a longtime conservative commentator best known for his central role in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair, said in his letter he was being forced out due to his allegations that NRA leaders engaged in financial improprieties.North's letter did not outline any allegations in detail. His general remarks would seem to lend credibility to reporting from the New Yorker and the Trace from earlier this month, however, detailing allegations of financial mismanagement, nepotism, greed and self-dealing among employees of both the NRA and PR firm Ackerman McQueen, which has helped define the NRA's strategy and talking points for decades."There is a clear crisis and it needs to be dealt with" if the NRA is to survive, North's statement said.It has been a whirlwind of a convention for NRA leadership. On Thursday night, LaPierre wrote a letter to the NRA's board, claiming that he was being pressured to resign by North, and by Ackerman McQueen, the Wall Street Journal reported.LaPierre wrote that he was warned on Wednesday that, unless he resigned, damaging allegations would be made to the board against him regarding sexual harassment of a staff member and "accusations of wardrobe expenses and excessive staff travel expenses".Having seemingly won the internal battle, LaPierre enjoyed a victory lap of sorts Saturday, soaking up two standing ovations from the crowd of more than 1,000 NRA members.His scheduled speech, which followed North's announcement launched off with standard NRA talking points – going after the mainstream media and lawmakers who seek to restrict gun rights. He made no mention of his feud with North."Our enemies have sunk to new lows," LaPierre said, attacking Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, where regulators have scrutinized NRA operations.The NRA has sued the state, claiming its rights under the constitution's first amendment are being violated. In an unusual pairing, the American Civil Liberties Union has joined the NRA in its fight.NRA officials are concerned that regulators in New York where its charter was filed are attempting to strip the group of its nonprofit status.LaPierre told the crowd that efforts to strip away the second amendment right to bear arms will fail."We won't accept it. We will resist it. We won't give an inch," he said.On Friday, Donald Trump appeared at the convention, where he announced that the US will withdraw its support for a United Nations treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade.
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| EU slams Russia citizenship move as new attack on Ukraine Posted: 25 Apr 2019 06:39 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union hit out Thursday at Russia's move to fast-track citizenship applications from people living in conflict areas in eastern Ukraine, slamming it as an attack on Ukraine's sovereignty that undermines an already-fragile peace agreement.
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| F-35s vs. J-20s: How America's 5th Generation Stealth Fighters Would Crush China Posted: 26 Apr 2019 12:32 AM PDT  This can be explained in terms of a well-known Air Force strategic concept pioneered years ago by air theorist and pilot Col. John Boyd, referred to as the "OODA Loop," --- for observe, orient, decide and act. The concept is to complete this process quickly and make fast decisions while in an air-to-air dogfight -- in order to get inside the enemy's decision cycle, properly anticipate, and destroy an enemy before they can destroy you.The Air Force is accelerating development of a special, high-tech, on-board threat library for the F-35 designed to precisely identify enemy aircraft operating in different high-risk areas around the globe - such as a Chinese J-20 stealth fighter or Russian T-50 PAK FA 5th Gen fighter, service leaders said. (This first appeared in late 2017.)Described as the brains of the airplane, the "mission data files" are extensive on-board data systems compiling information on geography, air space and potential threats in areas where the F-35 might be expected to perform combat operations, Air Force officials explained."Mission data files are the key that unlocks the F-35," Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, Director of the F-35 Integration Office said.
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| 'Black sheep': The mastermind of Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombs Posted: 26 Apr 2019 05:55 PM PDT  "His father came and asked, 'Where can he go?'." The school would hear again of Mohamed Zahran. Sri Lankan officials have identified him as the suspected ringleader of a group that carried out a series of Easter Sunday suicide bombings in the country on April 21. Most of the attackers were well-educated and from wealthy families, with some having been abroad to study, according to Sri Lankan officials.
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| South Carolina state House passes 'heartbeat' bill to ban abortions after six weeks Posted: 26 Apr 2019 01:58 PM PDT  The South Carolina state House passed a bill which prohibits abortion when a heartbeat is detectable. Current law in South Carolina permits abortion up to 20 weeks. This bill, called the "South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act" reduces that to a mere six weeks, before many women know that they are pregnant, with exceptions for rape, incest, and if the pregnancy endangers the life or health of the woman.This bill is not the first of its kind, heartbeat abortion bills are becoming more popular in states like Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Oklahoma, and now, South Carolina where the bill passed along party lines.Despite their increasing popularity, heartbeat bills are hard to enforce due to questions on the constitutionality of abortion restrictions beyond those outlined in Roe V. Wade. Anti-choice bills similar to this one have been introduced in the South Carolina state legislature previously, but died before making it to the floor.Despite this bill passing in one chamber of the state legislature, as the 2019 legislative session is ending, it is unlikely the state Senate will have the opportunity to take it up for a vote.Republican governor Henry McMaster has pledged to sign the heartbeat abortion bill into law if it crosses his desk."What is making its way through suits me fine- it's pro-life. This is a pro-life state and I will be glad to sign that bill," Mr McMaster said.South Carolina Democrat David Mack, who serves as a state representative, said. "This waste of time is sickening to me."Mack continues, "We go through this every year and the bottom line is, it's a woman's body and it's her right to choose."
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| Twitter CEO phoned Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar to defend Trump’s tweet that sparked death threats Posted: 26 Apr 2019 01:38 AM PDT  Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey phoned Ilhan Omar on Tuesday and stood by the company's decision to permit a tweet from President Donald Trump that later resulted in a flood of death threats targeting the congresswoman.The previously unreported call focused on an incendiary video that Trump shared on April 12, which depicts Ms Omar discussing the 9/11 attacks interspersed with footage of the Twin Towers burning.The clip did not include the full context of Ms Omar's remarks, which were taken from a public event on the broader issue of Islamophobia.Ms Omar pressed Mr Dorsey to explain why Twitter didn't remove Trump's tweet outright, according to a person familiar with the conversation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the call was private.Mr Dorsey said that the president's tweet didn't violate the company's rules, a second person from Twitter confirmed.He also pointed to the fact that the tweet and video already had been viewed and shared far beyond the site, one of the sources said.But the Twitter executive did tell Ms Omar that the tech giant needed to do a better job generally in removing hate and harassment from the site, according to the two people familiar with the call.On Thursday, a spokesman for Ms Omar declined to comment. Following the president's tweet, Ms Omar said on 14 April that she had witnessed an "increase in direct threats on my life – many directly referencing or replying to the president's video".Other Democratic leaders later condemned Mr Trump as well.In a statement, Twitter confirmed the call took place. "During their conversation, [Mr Dorsey] emphasised that death threats, incitement to violence, and hateful conduct are not allowed on Twitter," the company said."We've significantly invested in technology to proactively surface this type of content and will continue to focus on reducing the burden on the individual being targeted. Our team has also consistently been in touch with Rep Omar's office."The White House did not respond to a request for comment.Mr Trump is one of Twitter's most popular yet controversial users, whose political salvos are broadcast to nearly 60 million followers each day.Critics say his comments often violate site rules that prohibit hate speech, attacks on the basis of one's personal characteristics and incitements to violence.But Twitter ultimately has allowed the president to tweet without limit, arguing there's a public interest in allowing a head of state to communicate such views unfettered.But in recent weeks, Twitter has signalled it is rethinking that policy.Company leaders recently said they are planning to institute a new approach that would provide more context around tweets that its rules would have prohibited but were permitted to remain on the site anyway because of the speaker.Such a policy could result in public notations on Trump's own tweets.Mr Dorsey's outreach to Ms Omar came on the same day that the Twitter chief executive met with Trump at the White House, a meeting convened at the president's invitation.During the conversation, Trump spent a significant amount of time raising his concerns that Twitter deliberately targets and removes his followers, the Washington Post previously reported.Trump has made those claims in connection with his belief that social media sites are biased against conservatives.But Mr Dorsey said that Twitter's efforts to combat spam result in fluctuations in a user's follower count, noting even he had been affected.Asked about that meeting, Twitter noted in a statement that Dorsey and the president also discussed the 2020 election and efforts to stop the opioid epidemic. A source at the time described the meeting as cordial.The Washington Post
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| UPDATE 1-Morgan Stanley sees US Q2 GDP growth at 1.1%, Goldman view 2.2% Posted: 26 Apr 2019 10:12 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Morgan Stanley sees US Q2 GDP growth at 1.1%, Goldman view 2.2%]( "UPDATE 1-Morgan Stanley sees US Q2 GDP growth at 1.1%, Goldman view 2.2%") Morgan Stanley's economists said on Friday they expect that U.S. economic growth is running at a 1.1% annual pace in the second quarter due to a reversal of the surge in exports and inventories recorded in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs analysts marked down their estimate on U.S. gross domestic product in the current quarter, but the pace was still twice as fast as Morgan Stanley's projection. "Our preliminary expectations for growth in the second quarter sees large drags from net exports and inventories after their contributions in 1Q," Morgan Stanley economists wrote in a research note.
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| MetLife’s Departing CEO Urges Executives to Take Public Stances Posted: 26 Apr 2019 05:04 AM PDT  In his parting letter to shareholders, Chief Executive Officer Steven Kandarian urged fellow executives to push for policies that preserve free markets, create wealth and raise living standards. Kandarian cited stances MetLife took during his tenure, which he said helped both the insurer and the country overall.
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| O'Rourke might halt new oil and gas drilling on federal land Posted: 25 Apr 2019 07:00 PM PDT  RENO, Nev. (AP) — Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke said Thursday he's willing to consider a moratorium on new leases to drill for oil and gas on federal lands as a way to help combat climate change.
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| Fighter Fight: Russia's Su-35 vs. America's F-15, F-16 or F-35 (Who Dies?) Posted: 26 Apr 2019 04:00 PM PDT  As history shows us, many times in war you do not always get to chose from the most optimal of solutions.Russia's Su-35 fighter certainly has western defense outlets buzzing--and for good reason.Moscow, despite heavy sanctions and an economy that has certainly seen better days, keeps pumping out new combat systems one after another--items like new tanks, submarines, nuclear weapons platforms and more.While many were indeed designed and planned for ahead of the imposition of sanctions, Russia is clearly making a big effort to modernize its armed forces, especially its air force, and moving past older Soviet platforms. The Su-35 is a good example of such efforts.So how would the Su-35 do against America's best planes? How would it fare against an American air force that is clearly the best in the world. How would, for example, the Su-35 do in a combat situation against Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter? How would Russia's new plane do against older aircraft like the F-15 or say F-16?Such scenarios matter--and not just in the context of a possible NATO/Russia or Middle East situation, but now that Russia is set to deliver the Su-35 to China, such comparisons matter even more. There are many places where all of these lethal aircraft will overlap, making such comparisons even more timely.Compiled below are three articles, written several years ago by TNI's former Defense Editor, Dave Majumdar, that looks at these questions in depth, combined in one posting for your reading pleasure. With that said, let the debate begin.This first appeared in September 2016.
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| AJ Freund cause of death released, parents bond set at $5M each for Joann Cunningham, Andrew Freund, Sr. Posted: 25 Apr 2019 09:30 PM PDT  Andrew "AJ" Freund died of multiple blunt force injuries to the head, the McHenry County Coroner said Thursday.
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| Sri Lanka attack leader 'died in hotel bombing', authorities say Posted: 26 Apr 2019 02:49 AM PDT  The suspected ringleader of the terrorist group accused of carrying out the Easter Sunday bombings died in the blast at the Shangri La hotel, the Sri Lankan authorities claimed on Friday. Mohamed Zahran, the leader of the local jihadi group National Thawheed Jamath, known for his incendiary speeches on social media, was one of the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks on three hotels and three churches, the police said on an official Twitter account. The police also revealed that they had arrested the group's second-in-command and that the assailants' military training was provided by "Army Mohideen" and weapons training had taken place overseas and at some locations in Sri Lanka's Eastern province. Maithripala Sirisena, the president, said the group was driven by "religious fanaticism," suggesting its leader had killed himself to "set an example" and gain more followers. However, in a somewhat confusing statement, Chula Senaviratne, the national security chief, said there was "still ambiguity whether he is dead or not" while DNA tests are being carried out. "There is strong likelihood that the decapitated head of the suicide bomber at Shangri La was the same person we identified in the photographs..." he added. "However, we cannot be absolutely certain." The statements fit a pattern of claims and counterclaims by Sri Lankan officials that have muddied the waters in the chaotic aftermath of Sunday's heinous attack as security forces rush to detain suspects and the government investigates a failure to act on key intelligence that could have prevented the tragedy. Images and photos released by Isil appear to show the attackers pledging allegiance to the group Late on Thursday, Sri Lanka's health ministry drastically revised down its estimated death toll from the coordinated bombings from 359 to 253. Some officials offered the tragic explanation that some bodies had been so torn apart by the blasts that they had been counted as more than one person. The Indian Ocean island remains on high alert as the authorities hunt down suspects linked to the NTJ which is believed to have been inspired by the global Islamic State terrorist network which claimed responsibility for the attacks earlier this week. Security agencies are also trying to track down hauls of explosives, some of which may have been left over from Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war. President Sirisena told reporters in Colombo that some 140 people had been been identified as having links to the Islamic State group, although he reassured the public that the Sri Lankan government has "the capability to completely control ISIS activities." The government has, however, apologised for its failure to act on precise and repeated intelligence from India weeks and even hours before the massacre, warning about named suspects who were planning to attack local churches. Across Colombo, there was a visible increase of security on Friday after the authorities and foreign embassies, including the UK and the US, warned of the possibility of a second wave of attacks. Muslim communities were asked to stay at home to pray on Friday rather than attend communal prayers in mosques that could also be targeted by extremists. Amid fears of further attacks, authorities advised Muslims to pray at home on Friday, but many defied the warnings Credit: AFP Sri Lanka's Muslim minority has been shocked to the core by the atrocity and fears repercussions. Amid the nationwide manhunt, an association of Islamic theologians urged Muslim women not to "hinder the security forces in their efforts" by wearing veils. The Sri Lankan authorities have confirmed that seven suicide bombers carried out the attacks, including Adbul Lathief Jameel Mohammed who studied engineering for a year in the UK. They said all the bombers came from a middle-class, educated background. In new details that emerged on Friday, the police said that the attackers had worked out at a local gym and by playing soccer using their authentic national identity cards. They added that the vehicles used in the attack were purchased from a car dealership in Kadawatha, a suburb of Colombo, the capital. They said that the operator of a copper factory who was arrested in connection with the bombings had helped Mohideen make improvised explosive devices and purchase empty cartridges sold by the Sri Lankan military as scrap copper. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the prime minister, has said investigators are still working to determine the extent of the bombers' foreign links. Police presence is high on the streets of Colombo amid fears of further attacks Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, reported on Wednesday that two of the suspects had recently returned from fighting in Syria and Iraq. The prime minister admitted to Sky News that the authorities knew of the returnees from Syria but legally couldn't do anything about it. "We knew they went to Syria … But in our country, to go abroad and return or to take part in a foreign armed uprising is not an offence here," he said. "We have no laws which enable us to take into custody people who join foreign terrorist groups. We can take those who are, who belong to terrorist groups operating in Sri Lanka." Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, an analyst at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, told the Telegraph that the country's tourism industry would take a long time to recover from the attacks. "They've hit the very sector of the economy that had some momentum," he said. "While the arguments are about it being part of Isis and geopolitical terrorism, the consequences of the attack are very specific to Sri Lanka." ___
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| North Korea demands US pay for comatose student's medical bill: report Posted: 25 Apr 2019 06:56 PM PDT  North Korea demanded that the United States pay a $2 million medical bill for US student Otto Warmbier, who went into a coma after being tortured in the totalitarian country, a report said Thursday. The Washington Post quoted unidentified sources as saying that a US official was made to sign a pledge to pay an invoice for the medical costs before being allowed to fly Warmbier back home from Pyongyang in 2017. The envoy signed the pledge on instructions from President Donald Trump, according to the Post report.
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| Colorado crash: ‘Multiple people’ killed in explosion after truck careens into school bus and 12 cars Posted: 26 Apr 2019 08:07 AM PDT  Multiple people have reportedly died after a fireball crash on an interstate road in Colorado.A large tractor trailer lost control and ploughed into traffic at Lakewood, just west of Denver - hitting four trucks, a school bus, and 24 cars before exploding on the I-70 on Thursday.Disturbing video showed thick black smoke billowing into the air and wrecked vehicles strewn across the motorway. The fire took hours to subside."The vehicle came down and ended up colliding with slower traffic, causing a very big chain-reaction crash that also ignited and started a fire," said Ty Countryman, spokesperson for the local police.One of the trucks hit was carrying lumber, and combined with the diesel spill, helped make the fire more intense.While the children on the school bus sustained only minor injuries, others were killed or seriously injured.Victims have yet to be identified, but the driver responsible - identified as Rogel Lazaro Aguilera - survived, and was treated at a local hospital for his injuries. He was driving down a hill at the time of the crash, and investigators are examining whether his brakes were working at the time. There is no indication that alcohol or drugs played a part in the crash.
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| U.S. sanctions Venezuela's foreign minister, Venezuelan judge Posted: 26 Apr 2019 07:13 PM PDT  The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, saying it would pursue those in President Nicolas Maduro's government for corruption as well as officials conducting diplomacy on his behalf. Arreaza and a judge in the Court of Appeals for Caracas, Carol Padilla, were targeted in the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Maduro's government over the crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said.
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| Amazon delivers record profits on gains in cloud, advertising Posted: 25 Apr 2019 10:16 PM PDT  Amazon on Thursday delivered record profits for the first quarter, fueled by gains in cloud computing and new business segments for the US technology colossus. Net profit in the quarter more than doubled from the same period last year to $3.6 billion, extending Amazon's trend of rising profitability. Seattle-based Amazon said revenue from online sales was up 10 percent billion while money taken in from subscription services and the Amazon Web Services cloud platform leapt some 40 percent.
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| Correction: Confederate Monuments-North Carolina story Posted: 27 Apr 2019 04:28 PM PDT  HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (AP) — In a story April 25 about the toppling of a Confederate monument, The Associated Press reported erroneously that 11 other people besides Raul Arce Jimenez and Shawn Birchfield-Finn have been convicted in connection with the August melee in which the statue was toppled. At least seven other people besides those two men have been convicted in connection with various protests over the statue. The Associated Press also reported erroneously that one of the defendants is named Shawn Birchfield-Finn Jimenez. His name is Shawn Birchfield-Finn.
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| No Pay, No Gain: Huawei Outspends Apple on R&D for a 5G Edge Posted: 26 Apr 2019 02:35 AM PDT  In money terms, its 2018 R&D budget trailed only those of Amazon, Alphabet Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., data compiled by Bloomberg show. Huawei's 2018 research budget grew 149 percent from 2014, outpacing increases by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Korea's Samsung over the same period.
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| Now Is Not the Time to Get Rid of the A-10 Warthog (And Replace It with the F-35) Posted: 26 Apr 2019 01:07 PM PDT  I admit it, as a former infantryman, I'm a partial to the A-10 Thunderbolt II. I don't mind that it's ugly. I don't mind that it entered service all the way back in the mid 1970s, making it older than me. I don't mind that it's slow, basically a flying 30 mm cannon sheathed in a 1,200-pound titanium "bathtub." In fact, these are exactly the things that endear the A-10 to grunts like me. It's our plane. It was made for us and us alone.The Warthog was, is, and will be for the foreseeable future the premier close-ground support plane. And all the things that I mentioned above — its simplicity and weight — are what make it so effective at its job. The titanium armor encasing the plane makes it impervious to high-explosive and armor-piercing projectiles up to 23 mm. It can even take a few hits from 57 mm rounds. Parts of the cockpit interior is covered with a nylon spall to protect the pilot from fragmentation. In other words, this is a plane meant to fly low and slow, mix it up in close quarters with ground targets that can return fire, and get its hands a little bit dirty. The A-10 is notorious for being able to take damage and keep flying. It's battle tested and soldier approved.(This article by Scott Beauchamp originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter. This article first appeared in 2016.)
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| The Western-educated bomber who botched Sri Lanka hotel attack Posted: 26 Apr 2019 08:10 AM PDT ![The Western-educated bomber who botched Sri Lanka hotel attack]( "The Western-educated bomber who botched Sri Lanka hotel attack") His target was the breakfast buffet at the Taj Samudra, a luxury hotel on Colombo's seafront. Abdul Latheef Mohamed Jameel, who was educated in Australia and Britain, was the only attacker out of the eight Sri Lankans pledging allegiance to Islamic State who failed to hit his intended target in the series of Easter Sunday attacks that killed at least 253, according to police. People who knew him said Jameel, like many of the other bombers, was an educated family man who was radicalized after traveling abroad, though an attempt to reach Syria failed in 2014, according to a Sri Lankan intelligence source.
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| Weather: Old Man Winter holds on for another snow storm for 16 million in Chicago, Midwest Posted: 27 Apr 2019 02:16 PM PDT  A late-April snowstorm is forecast to dump up to 10 inches of snow across a 1,200-mile swath of the Midwest and Great Lakes states, including Chicago.
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| A Federal Judge Has Defied the Law to Protect Abortion Posted: 26 Apr 2019 12:57 PM PDT  Honestly, after two years of nationwide injunctions, ludicrously expanded standing rules, and blatant disregard for precedent, it's become hard for the judicial resistance to surprise. If there is a Trump regulation they can block — at least temporarily — they will do so, sound reasoning be damned. But even my cynical heart received a jolt at the sheer brazenness of Judge Stanley Bastian, from the Eastern District of Washington.Yesterday he issued (yes, of course) a nationwide injunction blocking implementation of the Trump administration's new Title X regulations — regulations that were a milder version of the Reagan administration's so-called "gag rule" against abortion counseling by Title X recipients. Whereas the Reagan rule prohibited Title X projects from counseling or referring for abortion, the Trump rule limits the referral. Both the Trump and the Reagan rules required physical and financial separation of Title X projects from abortion-related activities.But here's what makes Judge Bastian's decision so brazen. The stricter Reagan rules were upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Rust v. Sullivan, one of the seminal abortion decisions of the Rehnquist Court. The Court noted that Title X itself states that "none of the funds appropriated under this subchapter shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning" and then held that the Reagan rule — which, again, prohibited even abortion counseling — "plainly allow[ed] the Secretary's construction of the statute" and that the administration's break with past regulatory practice was supported by "reasoned analysis."Given this on-point Supreme Court precedent, you would think that a judge contradicting it would engage in searching analysis of why the Court's ruling doesn't govern the case.The Affordable Care Act, for example, does contain provisions prohibiting regulations that "interfere with communications regarding a full range of treatment options between the patient and the provider" or that create "unreasonable barriers to the ability of individuals to obtain appropriate medical care." But the ACA does not disturb Title X's prohibition against use in programs "where abortion is a method of family planning," and that is the key language the Supreme Court used to uphold Reagan's rule.Oddly enough, Judge Bastian held that the administration's regulation "likely violates the central purpose of Title X, which is to equalize access to comprehensive, evidence-based, and voluntary family planning." Yet that "central purpose" is unchanged since Rust and was no impediment to Reagan's rule.He called the Trump rule "arbitrary and capricious." The Supreme Court called the Reagan rule "plainly allowed."He claimed that the Trump administration offered "no reasoned analysis" for its regulation, but a virtually identical "reasoned analysis" was unequivocally upheld by the Court almost three decades ago.As a general rule, it is far more preferable to legislate than to regulate, but when the Supreme Court has specifically upheld remarkably similar regulations — or when a president is acting pursuant to specific congressional delegations — it is not the role of a mere district-court judge to wave away precedent. It is especially not the role of a mere district-court judge to increase his reach from coast to coast.Moreover, given the relatively glacial pace of even injunction litigation, this same district-court judge knows that he can have his way for months on end as the case winds its way through appeals and as the clock ticks down on Trump's first term. Judicial overreach and judicial delaying tactics are now the new normal.Our nation is moving deeper into contention, division, and stagnation. Thanks to precedents being set now, look for this pattern to repeat itself time and again. Activists and attorneys general from opposing parties will race to favorable jurisdictions, block disfavored policies, then try to hold on for dear life for month after month until the next election.There has been a great deal of hand-wringing (especially on the left) about America's allegedly "undemocratic" institutions. The Senate is under fire now. So is the Electoral College. But I see absolutely no handwringing from those same individuals when unelected district judges defy statutes drafted by the democratically elected Congress or regulations crafted by a democratically elected president.The Constitution trumps Congress and the president, of course, but the hallmark of decisions such as Judge Bastian's is not respect for the Constitution but rather contempt for the administration. Based on the belief that Trump is a threat to America, decisions like this threaten our constitutional order, and they set negative precedents and establish negative practices that will doubtless persist well beyond the end of the present administration. Both sides, at different times, will come to regret the toxic legacy of the judicial resistance.
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| This is how NASA would respond to an asteroid impacting Earth Posted: 27 Apr 2019 10:09 AM PDT  If an asteroid were ever to be come hurtling towards Earth, what would be the plan to stop it from impacting the planet? That's the question NASA and its partners, including the European Space Agency and the U.S.'s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are gathering at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in early May to investigate. SEE ALSO: Behold, the very bizarre Facebook auto-captions from NASA launch During the five day conference, NASA and its partners plan to engage in a "tabletop exercise" that simulates what would happen if scientists and authorities were to learn of a near-Earth Object (NEO) impact scenario. "A tabletop exercise of a simulated emergency commonly used in disaster management planning to help inform involved players of important aspects of a possible disaster and identify issues for accomplishing a successful response," says NASA. In the exercise (detailed by the ESA here), NASA and its partners have to respond to a "realistic — but fictional — scenario" involving a NEO named "2019 PDC," which has a 1 in 100 chance of impacting Earth in 2027. Each day of the #PlanetaryDefense Conference, a press release will be put out, updating participants on the hypothetical asteroid #2019PDC - now (hypothetically) hurtling towards Earth.��☄️More on this year's #ImpactScenario on the #rocketscience blog:https://t.co/kn9xsTABg2 pic.twitter.com/AAC5B9mzje — ESA Operations (@esaoperations) April 27, 2019 Armed with all of the hypothetical information about "2019 PDC," the exercise is intended to see how the various organizations and governments would handle the situation as it unfolds. "The first step in protecting our planet is knowing what's out there," said Rüdiger Jehn, the ESA's Head of Planetary Defence. "Only then, with enough warning, can we take the steps needed to prevent an asteroid strike altogether, or minimize the damage it does on the ground." In such a situation, the ESA says it would live tweet details "so you'll find out the 'news' as the experts do." And for the hypothetical 2019 PDC asteroid exercise at the conference, the agency will indeed live tweet the series of decided actions as if they are made. "These exercises have really helped us in the planetary defense community to understand what our colleagues on the disaster management side need to know," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's Planetary Defense Officer. "This exercise will help us develop more effective communications with each other and with our governments." Despite NASA having participated in six NEO impact exercises before, each scenario is different and the agency says it's learned that the focus is not always on the asteroid details, even though that's still crucial to creating a plan to either deflect it or reduce its impact. "What emergency managers want to know is when, where and how an asteroid would impact, and the type and extent of damage that could occur," said Leviticus Lewis of the Response Operations Division for FEMA. Well, you know what they say...it's better to be prepared. At the very least, NASA and friends won't be panicking as hard if an asteroid were ever to really hit Earth. WATCH: NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine warns India's anti-satellite test could be dangerous for the ISS
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| Joe Biden comforts grieving Meghan McCain by telling her that death gets easier Posted: 26 Apr 2019 11:30 AM PDT  A day after announcing his 2020 presidential bid, former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on ABC's "The View." He was asked by co-host Meghan McCain, whose father, Sen. John McCain, died in August, if death ever gets easier.
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| Dead Falcon: Could Russia's Su-35 Beat an Air Force F-16 in Battle? Posted: 26 Apr 2019 04:45 AM PDT  With an AESA, the F-16 could probably hold its own against the Su-35 at longer ranges—but it would still be a challenge.The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon has been the mainstay of the U.S. and allied air forces for decades. Over the years, the aircraft has evolved from a lightweight visual range dogfighter into a potent multirole warplane that flies the gamut of missions ranging from the suppression of enemy air defenses to air superiority. Though it has been operational since 1980, the "Viper" continues to evolve and will remain in service with the U.S. Air Force and other militaries for decades to come. But while the F-16 remains a potent fighter, potential adversaries have caught up—the latest Russian aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-35 can match or exceed the Viper in many respects.While the Su-35 is more of an analogue to the Boeing F-15 Eagle, Russia is selling many more Flankers than MiG-29 Fulcrum derivatives around the world. Indeed, the U.S. Air Force usually has its "red air" aggressors replicate Flanker variants (usually the Flanker-G) rather than the MiG-29 or its derivatives during large force exercises like Red Flag or Red Flag Alaska. That's because derivatives of the massive twin-engine Russian jet are amongst the most likely aerial adversaries American pilots might face.(This first appeared in September 2015.)
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| Family of slain motorist celebrates after officer sentenced Posted: 25 Apr 2019 08:00 PM PDT  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Corey Jones's family sang the gospel song "Victory is Mine" as they walked out of a Florida courthouse, celebrating after a judge handed a 25-year sentence to a former police officer for killing the stranded black motorist in 2015.
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| Trump says he welcomes China, Russia help over NKorea Posted: 26 Apr 2019 09:08 AM PDT  President Donald Trump on Friday welcomed Russian and Chinese help with North Korean nuclear negotiations, despite Kim Jong Un accusing the US of "bad faith" at a first summit with Vladimir Putin. "I appreciate that Russia and China are helping us," he told reporters at the White House. Putin's first summit with Kim on Thursday was seen as a response to the failure of a Kim-Trump meeting in Hanoi in February, where talks broke down without agreement.
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| Huawei hopes for Britain-like solution in New Zealand 5G bid Posted: 26 Apr 2019 12:43 AM PDT  Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei's equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage. Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world's top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded. In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.
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| Boeing 737 Max: Southwest preps for return, expects some traveler anxiety Posted: 26 Apr 2019 06:27 AM PDT  Airline executives concede some travelers will be concerned after the plane's grounding but say they don't think it will be a "massive issue.''
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| Want a Bugatti Chiron? Better Hurry Up and Wait Posted: 26 Apr 2019 06:00 AM PDT  Fewer than 100 units of this 16-cylinder hypercar are still available.
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| Ford Under Investigation for Emissions Testing Posted: 26 Apr 2019 08:35 AM PDT  Ford Is Under Criminal Investigation for Emissions-Testing Program The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into concerns about Ford's emissions certification process. ...
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| Someone Please Save This Outrageous Corvette Wagon Posted: 26 Apr 2019 06:56 AM PDT ![Someone Please Save This Outrageous Corvette Wagon]( "Someone Please Save This Outrageous Corvette Wagon") The world needs more six-headlight shooting-brake Corvette show cars.
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| Florida man arrested after disabled, bedridden woman in his care was discovered living among trash and feces Posted: 26 Apr 2019 07:54 AM PDT  65-year-old Lawrence Goodwin arrested for the abuse and neglect of a 67-year-old disabled, bedridden woman who was found living in a home filled with trash, feces and rotting trash.
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| White House consents to congressional interview of ex-staffer on security Posted: 26 Apr 2019 08:56 PM PDT  The "reasonable accommodation offer" of a voluntary appearance by former White House Personnel Security Director Carl Kline before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform was disclosed in a letter to the panel's ranking Republican, Jim Jordan. It came after Jordan, better known for stoking than soothing partisan frictions, sought to defuse tensions between House Democrats and the Trump administration with a letter urging the White House to agree to a voluntary committee interview on April 30 or May 1, according to two sources who saw Jordan's letter. The House Oversight Committee is probing allegations that the administration inappropriately granted security clearances to some Trump advisers during Kline's tenure as personnel security director for the White House.
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| Sunday Mass canceled across Sri Lanka a week after bombings Posted: 26 Apr 2019 05:33 PM PDT  COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Catholic leaders canceled Sunday Masses indefinitely across Sri Lanka and officials urged Muslims to stay home for Friday prayers in an extraordinary call by the clergy to curtail worship as fear of more attacks plagued the island nation after the deadly suicide bombings on Easter.
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| The Latest: Biden: Charlottesville was epiphany on 2020 run Posted: 26 Apr 2019 12:06 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on former Vice President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential bid (all times local):
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| India Amory Releases New Table Linens, and Partners with Mottahedeh to Show Them Off Posted: 26 Apr 2019 01:31 PM PDT  Julia Amory, purveyor of colorful block-printed linens, is out with her spring collection of tablecloths and napkins
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| The 7 best sales and deals you can get this weekend Posted: 27 Apr 2019 07:49 AM PDT ![The 7 best sales and deals you can get this weekend]( "The 7 best sales and deals you can get this weekend") Shop and save on the best products this weekend.
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| How Does the GMC Sierra's CarbonPro Bed Compare vs. the Ford F-150's Aluminum Bed? Posted: 26 Apr 2019 11:41 AM PDT  Which material is best for a pickup bed?
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| Tesla CEO Musk strikes deal with market regulators over tweets Posted: 26 Apr 2019 06:01 PM PDT  Elon Musk and US stock market regulators told a US court on Friday that they have reached a deal to settle their differences over the Tesla chief executive's Twitter use. The settlement between Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission sets out clearer guidelines on topics Musk should avoid on Twitter or other social media, including statements about acquisitions, mergers, new products and production numbers. Musk would have to adhere to Tesla rules regarding potentially significant comments by executives, and have tweets or other social media posts pre-approved by "an experienced securities lawyer employed by the company," according to the proposed settlement.
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