Jihad Report Aug 06, 2016 -Aug 12, 2016Attacks 49

Killed 351

Injured 330

Suicide Blasts 8

Countries 15

The Last Nuclear Power Plant

California's last nuclear power plant will close by 2025 under an accord announced Tuesday, ending three decades of safety debates that helped fuel the national anti-nuclear power movement.

The state's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and environmental groups reached an agreement to replace production at Diablo Canyon nuclear plant with solar power and other energy sources that do not produce climate-changing greenhouse gases.

The facility, which sits along a bluff on California's central coast, supplies 9 percent of the state's power.

Environmentalists have pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to close Diablo given its proximity to seismic faults in the earthquake-prone state. One fault runs 650 yards from the plant's reactors.

Worries of earthquakes fracturing the facility have been a dominant theme since PG&E first announced plans for Diablo Canyon in the 1960s. The project helped consolidate opposition to nuclear power within the country's then-fledgling environmental movement.

"This is an historic agreement," said Erich Pica, president of the Friends of the Earth environmental group, founded in 1969 in opposition to Diablo Canyon.

PG&E has long said the plant is safe from the largest potential earthquake in the region. But new research has led to more questions about nearby faults, their shaking potential and how the company evaluates them.

Under the deal, the utility agreed not to renew Diablo Canyon's license. Closing the plant should be cheaper than operating the facility through 2044 as planned, meaning the utility probably won't have to increase rates, PG&E said.

"The important thing is that we ultimately got to a shared point of view about the most appropriate and responsible path forward with respect to Diablo Canyon, and how best to support the state's energy vision," PG&E President Tony Earley said in a statement.

The move ends a power source once predicted to be necessary to meet the growing energy needs of the nation's most populous state. The industry also has waned nationally amid the rising costs of building new plants and maintaining old ones.

Plans to build new nuclear facilities in the U.S. South have faced costly delays, while proposals for others elsewhere in the country have been scratched. An abundance of inexpensive natural gas has owners of older nuclear plants wondering if the expensive repairs and maintenance are worthwhile.

Southern California Edison's San Onofre nuclear plant, between San Diego and Los Angeles, shut down permanently in 2013 after a $670 million equipment swap failed. The same year, Duke Energy announced it would close the Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Florida after a botched repair job left it facing potentially billions of dollars in additional work.

The country has 61 nuclear plants, including Diablo Canyon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. California already has banned construction of new facilities until the federal government finds a permanent disposal site for radioactive waste.

Why Solar Panels Cost so Much

Most solar cells (the best ones) are made from silicon crystal that is grown very slowly. Silicon crystals growth from pure silicon is an extremely slow and expensive process. Because of gravity and how the crystals are grown it is very hard to grow large flawless crystals. The bigger the crystal the harder it is to make it perfectly flawless, a requirement for it to work. Pure silicon crystal ingots are very expensive items flawless or not. It is likely to be more expensive that gold ingots. Fortunately, most chips are small and one wafer which is a very thin slice from an ingot can make thousands of chips, but only one solar cell. There are new types of solar cells now that do not cost so much...but the technology is new and the cost has not come down yet.

A big part of it has to do with demand. In 2011, Germany boasted more than 21 times the solar power, per capita, of the U.S, which helped to drive down the price. And given that imbalance, American companies had a comparatively tougher task recruiting customers, so they spent 10 times as much as their foreign counterparts did on marketing costs.

But the biggest factors keeping American solar from catching up are so-called "soft costs," which include everything from fees and taxes to company overhead. For instance, while German installers added $1.20 per watt to the cost of each panel in 2011, American companies added

$4.36 per watt. And according to the Department of Energy, soft costs make up 64 percent of the price tag on installing residential solar systems in the U.S.

The Best Solar Approach

I developed four design criteria to provide the average home’s energy needs.

Every home in a community must be connected to the grid. Do not sell your cogenerated power to the utility company Develop a separate, designated circuit for the cogenerated power The system must pay for itself in 48 months or less

Every home in a community must be connected to the grid

It’s true. In case you didn’t already know this, you cannot legally occupy a home unless it has an electrical meter. That electrical circuit must be inspected twice. First it is inspected when it is roughed in. And then it is inspected before the meter is allowed to be connected. The good news is that only the rough-in has to be done by a licensed electrician. In fact, if you know a licensed electrician, they will usually allow you to do the work, as long as they get to inspect the work before you call for an inspection. If you fail the inspection, it goes against their permit. Most of the work is grunt work anyway, drilling holes in studs and plate and yanking wire through the holes. The rest has to do with proper connections and loads for circuits. You can also do the trimming, once the system passes its rough-in inspection, usually done after the home is painted inside and before the carpet or floor finishes go in. You buy your own lights, plugs, and switches, and you install them. You can save $5,000 doing this work yourself.

Do not sell your cogenerated power to the utility company

You pay about 11 cents per mil for power. The utility company will pay you only 4-6 cents per mil, and then sell that power back to you for a profit. That’s why it takes 20 years to pay off a system like that. Don’t sell your power to the utility company. As far as they know, your meter hardly ever spins, so you’re going to pay the minimum charge for a meter. That should be about $25 a month. Can you handle that? Consider three things here. Air conditioning is a luxury. Electric heat is going to cost you $200-$200 per month in the winter. Electric water heaters cost about $600 a year to operate and can draw up to 5 kilowatts when they are heating water.

Develop a separate, designated circuit for the cogenerated power

Now, in order to integrate a co-generated system with the maximum payback, you need to install two separate circuits with two separate breaker panels, each with its own main breaker. You cannot tie these grids together, unless you plan on running an AC system with a 120/240 volt inverter. Do not tie these circuits together until AFTER you have your Certificate of Occupancy. I advise that you do use a central inverter, which will cost you about $2,500 for 4.4 kilowatts of power. That’s enough to run lights, TV, water pump, ceiling fans, and even tools.

Now, we’re talking about a built-in, off-grid system that runs right beside your grid circuits. That means, you will have to have a power storage system, because when the sun is shining, you won’t need lights, and when it is dark you will. So, we use the solar system to charge the batteries, with a backup from your grid power when the sun doesn’t shine, and then we rely on the batteries to run the lights and stuff at night.

You will need three main components for this system:

Solar panelso Each panel puts out about 250 watts in good sunlight. South of Interstate 40, you

can see 10 hours of good sunlight in the summer and about 5 hours of good sunlight in the winter.

o Each panel costs about $500o Each panel lasts for 25 years, with a linear loss of efficiency to about 25% at the

end of their life Storage Batteries

o Batteries cost about $300 each for 3.25 volts. You will need 10 batteries in series to charge them with sunlight and make the inverter work properly.

o If you are going to draw 4.4 kilowatts for 6 hours, you will need about 300 amp-hours.

o Batteries cost between $0.85 and $1.30 per amp-hour Power Management System

o Each battery must be protected against overcharging. A BMS board costs about $20 per battery to protect them.

o Solar panel controller is used to send the sun’s energy into the batteries in such a way that they do not overcharge. A controller costs about $80.

o The inverter is what supplies the AC to your house panel. A 4.4 kilowatt inverter costs $2,240 and a display costs about $250.

The system must pay for itself in 24 months or less

Let’s add it up.

10 solar panels = $5,00010 Batteries = $3,000BMS Boards = $200Inverter = $2,240Inverter Display = $250

$10,690

Divide this by 48 months = $222.71

How about that? Now, remember this. Living in a home is all about cash flow. Making house payments or rent is only part of the cost of living in a home. The utilities cost up to $4000 a

year. We just shaved nearly $3,000 off your annual cost of living. Plus, when the rest of the neighborhood goes dark during a power outage and loses all the food in their refrigerator and freezer, you still have lights and have lost zero food.

So, it a very important sense, you have energy security, no matter what the power company does. If you add more power to the system, you can even run your air conditioning, an electric water heater, and your stove and oven. I would highly recommend gas along with the electricity, even if it meant adding a propane tank to your house. You can add propane to almost any home where natural gas is not available. A single 250 gallon tank can last for about three months of moderate use. If you run your stove and water heater off of propane, you can run them for about 4-5 months off a single tank.

Solar physicist sees global cooling aheadVia the GWPF: Recent research by Professor Valentina Zharkova (Northumbria University) and colleagues has shed new light on the inner workings of the Sun. If correct, this new discovery means that future solar cycles and variations in the Sun’s activity can be predicted more accurately.

The research suggests that the next three solar cycles will see solar activity reduce significantly into the middle of the century, producing conditions similar to those last seen in the 1600s – during the Maunder Minimum. This may have implications for temperatures here on Earth. Future solar cycles will serve as a test of the astrophysicists’ work, but some climate scientists have not welcomed the research and even tried to suppress the new findings.

To most of us the sun seems unchanging. But if you observe its surface, it is seething with vast explosions and ejections. This activity has its origin in intense magnetic fields generated by swirling currents in the sun’s outer layer – scientists call it the solar dynamo.

It produces the well-known 11-year solar cycle which can be seen as sunspots come and go on the sun’s surface.

But models of the solar dynamo have only been partially successful in predicting the solar cycle – and that might be because a vital component is missing.

After studying full-disc images of the sun’s magnetic field, Professor Valentina Zharkova of Northumbria University and colleagues, discovered that the sun’s dynamo is actually made of two components – coming from different depths inside the sun.

The interaction between these two magnetic waves either amplifies solar activity or damps it down. Professor Zharkova’s observations suggest we are due for a prolonged period of low solar activity.

Professor Valentina Zharkova: 

We will see it from 2020 to 2053, when the three next cycles will be very reduced magnetic field of the sun. Basically what happens is these two waves, they separate into the opposite hemispheres and they will not be interacting with each other, which means that resulting magnetic field will drop dramatically nearly to zero. And this will be a similar conditions like in Maunder Minimum. 

What will happen to the Earth remains to be seen and predicted because nobody has developed any program or any models of terrestrial response – they are based on this period when the sun has maximum activity — when the sun has these nice fluctuations, and its magnetic field [is] very strong. But we’re approaching to the stage when the magnetic field of the sun is going to be very, very small. 

She suggests it could be a repeat of the so-called Maunder Minimum – a period in the 17th century with little solar activity that may have influenced a cooling on Earth.

Whatever we do to the planet, if everything is done only by the sun, then the temperature should drop similar like it was in the Maunder Minimum. At least in the Northern hemisphere, where this temperature is well protocoled and written. We didn’t have many measurements in the Southern hemisphere, we don’t know what will happen with that, but in the Northern hemisphere, we know it’s very well protocoled. The rivers are frozen. There are winters and no summers, and so on. 

So we only hope because these Maunder Minima will be shorter, the Maunder Minimum of the 17th century was about 65 years, the Maunder Minimum which we expect will be lasting not longer than 30-35 years. 

Of course things are not the same as they were in the 17th century – we have a lot more greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. And it will be interesting to see how the terrestrial and the solar influences play out.

This is promising research – a new insight into our sun with predictions as to its future behavior, yet Professor Zharkova relates than some climatologists resented her discovery.

Professor Valentina Zharkova:  

Some of them were welcoming and discussing. But some of them were quite — I would say — pushy. They were trying to actually silence us. Some of them contacted the Royal Astronomical Society, demanding, behind our back, that they withdraw our press release. The Royal Astronomical Society replied to them and CCed to us and said, ‘Look, this is the work by the scientists who we support, please discuss this with them.’ We had about 8 or 10 exchanges by email, when I tried to prove my point, and I’m saying, I’m willing to look at what you do, I’m willing to see how our results we produced and what the sun has explained to us. So how this is transformed into climate we do not produce; we can only assume it should be. So we’re happy to

work with you, and add to your data our results. So don’t take the sunspots which you get, we can give you our curve. Work with our curve. So they didn’t want to.

Professor Zharkova’s work may have significantly improved our ability to forecast solar activity. If we do enter a new Maunder Minimum, then we are bound to discover new things about our sun and its influences on our climate.

The DEA Now Seizing Cash from US Tourists

August is the travel month. It’s the last ditch opportunity for people to take that vacation before school starts back. Most people realize that when they are on vacation, they can’t write checks. Checks? What the hell are checks? I can remember when people used Traveler’s Checks. “Just like money,” they used to say. People don’t use those any more. 95% of the time, they use a debit card, right? But there are still some people who don’t want a record of their activities. They don’t want the insurance company to find out they are skydiving. They don’t want their spouse to find out they are out at a strip club, besides, those dancers don’t have any place to hide a card scanner; right? You need cash. Cash allows you to do things you can’t do any other way. Buy a hot dog at a ball game. Buy a newspaper. Tip a waitress. But, you had better be careful what you let people see. Cash is the currency of crime. Cash is contraband. Having more than $100 in cash is dangerous and risky, because you might get robbed. And the thief may be wearing a badge.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has a network of informants alerting it to suspicious travel activity, and though it seizes lots of cash, it rarely makes arrests, USA Today reports.

The DEA actually pays employees of airlines and Amtrak to report suspicious itineraries, such as one-way tickets to California, or passengers buying tickets with cash, according to the report. And, let’s not leave out the cost-cutting practice of front end flying round trip tickets. That will get you arrested and searched. That’s the practice of booking two round trip tickets and only flying the front end of both tickets to save money. For example, a one way or a multi-city ticket to Chicago costs more than a round trip ticket to Chicago. So, you buy the round trip ticket, and just stay in Chicago. When you’re ready to the next city, you book another round trip ticket, and fly the front end of that ticket. It has been used for decades by savvy travelers, but the airlines will report you, and if you’re caught with cash over $100, you’re going to be arrested.

The original purpose of the civil forfeiture laws was to seize cash from drug cartels, though typically, arrests are rare, as are attempts to talk to suspects to find people higher up the chain. Of course, the practice turned out to be profitable. Very profitable. And it wasn’t just drug dealers who had cash.

"We want the cash. Good agents chase cash," George Hood, who was in charge of a drug task force at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago before he retired in 2007, told USA Today. "It was just easier to get the asset, and that's where you make a dent in the criminal organization."

It has quickly grown into a multi-billion dollar of theft by lawful taking.

"Going after someone's property has nothing to do with protecting them and it has everything to do with going after the money," Renée Flaherty, a lawyer for the Institute for Justice, told the newspaper.

It is usually not clear that those who have their money seized are actually couriers for drug cartels or that they have committed any crime for which they could be prosecuted.

In one case, a woman who was questioned by agents said she had been given money by her boyfriend from his retirement account to buy a car. Her story ended up checking out, and her $25,000 was returned – minus $4,000 that the DEA kept for handling charges. This is extremely rare. The law says that it is the cash itself that is committing the crime. Just by being outside the bank, it is committing a crime. The red tape and legal fees for recovering cash stolen by law enforcers will often cost more than the cash itself. That’s the idea. It has turned into the second largest source of income for a precinct, buying cruisers, guns, body armor, and high-tech surveillance toys for police.

"They count on this as part of the budget," Louis Weiss, a former DEA supervisor at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, said. "Basically, you’ve got to feed the monster." This monster is large, vicious, and carries a badge. Be careful out there. Hide your cash. And remember, it is against the law to protect your cash. You can protect your life, but you cannot protect your cash. So, make sure you have a banana in your pocket and not a roll of $100 bills.

The Theory of Evolution

Those of you who have listened to X-Squared Radio for many years know that we explore the mysteries of the universe and of the Earth. Yeah, I get a little excited during election time, because the political science can get corrupted if I don’t. It’s important for you to know what is going on, and how to avoid deception. I will never steer you wrong.

So, that’s why I have decided to add this segment on the Theory of Evolution. There actually, is no such thing, but it has become so common a misconception as to enter our Lexicon. Sort of like 25 years ago, no one used the word click for select, or drag for anything but racing. You have been fooled by the high priests of science, and I am going to clear that up right now.

First of all, let’s talk about the scientific method. Like any good problem solving, the first step is to state the problem. In the case of evolution, the problem is that we have fossils of organisms that are not around anymore. The second step is to form a hypothesis. This is a statement of methodology for argument. In fact the word means to place under argument. There is usually an incomplete set of facts, so the next step of the scientific method is employed to gather them.

The next step is to conduct experiments to collect the facts. A fact is a direct observation, which for our purposes must be repeatable by independent means. In other words, just because one person saw it, does not make it a scientific fact. Eye witnesses have sent many innocent people to jail.

There are two outcomes for the hypothesis, or argument. First, it can be proven true. Second, it can be proven false. The latter is often used as the null hypothesis. For instance, if you set out to prove something does not exist, or doesn’t happen, and you fail, then the opposite may be true. You see, the opposite of truth is not necessarily false. It may also be true. It is a principle called complimentarity.

Once, the hypothesis has been proven true, or false, and it has been repeated by others in a verifiably independent fashion, then it may become a theory, a postulate, or an axiom. It then can be used in its short version to argue other things. It is in this latter phase that the scientific method can be seriously corrupted. Countless PhD’s have been awarded for false ideas and poorly executed scientific processes. Entire disciplines of science have been created and developed into multi-billion dollar empires all based on false science.

A disease in science has developed called cognitive dissonance. It is a fatal if left untreated, and it is an entirely preventable disease that can be diagnosed very easily. It results from discovery of facts that refute your argument, and then denying those facts exist. It other words, if it doesn’t fit your conclusion, then it must be removed from your reality. Hence, the cognitive dissonance. The affected person lives in an alternative reality, where only his conclusions are real. It has become a pandemic among those who have received their PhD’s, which is a holy mantel bestowed by affiliated members of the great church of science. In fact, the disease has become so pervasive that it has infected non-affiliated protestants as well. If you don’t believe me, just tune into a flat Earth preacher, and you can get a good look at cognitive dissonance at its best in the protestant community.

But I have strayed. So, I have covered the scientific method. There are some variations, but the important thing is to gather verifiable and repeatable facts, and then honestly and objectively prove or disprove your argument, or hypothesis. So, let’s look at Evolution.

One of the facts collected was the fossil of an organism that is no longer with us. Let’s consider the dinosaur. The method of choice for determining aging was Carbon 14 decay. Carbon, as you know has the atomic number of 6. 6 protons and 8 neutrons makes up a radioactive isotope called Carbon 14. It has been reliable and repeatable to have a half-life of 5,730 years ± 40 years. There exists one atom of Carbon 14, which is created by cosmic radiation, in a gram of regular carbon. Once a gram of carbon is made part of a bone or soft tissue, it starts to decay at a fixed rate. We extrapolate backward to get the age of the organism. Yes, it relies upon the principle of humanism, but it is the best thing we have.

Humanism basically means that the forces acting upon the Earth today are the same forces that have been acting on the Earth since it cooled. It is like a graduated cylinder under a dripping kitchen faucet. Measure the water, count the rate of the dripping, 20 drops per milliliter, and you can extrapolate the length of time the cylinder has been siting there. Right?

Well, there is catastrophism to consider. In reality, someone turned on the faucet, filling the graduated cylinder. The faucet was left dripping, but it has only been there for a few minutes. The point is that there may have events outside the set of data that are special causes. In other words, they don’t happen very often.

So, here we have a dinosaur bone with a Carbon 14 count that says the bone should be 60 million years old. Got it. It is reliable and repeatable, but there are other facts to consider. There is a protein called collagen that is very tough and exists in nearly all soft tissue; that would be most stuff that isn’t bone. Hundreds of measurements have been done to determine the rate of decay for collagen, under the best conditions. At 45 Fahrenheit with the best methods of burial and preservation possible, it will last for about 900 thousand years. That’s it. So, imagine the excitement when viable collagen was discovered in dinosaur bones.

Well, excitement is not what happened, actually. They began having seizures that go with the cognitive dissonance, ripping all the evidence to shreds. Besides, molecular biologists have no business sharing their data with archeologists. That’s not allowed. The problem with the fact of collagen discovery is that without extremely long time spans, allowing for mutation and natural selection, there can be no evolution. Natural selection does exist within species. That has been proven reliably and repeatably. But never, and I do mean never, has there been discovered an example of a jump between species through natural selection.

Hence, there is no such thing as the Theory of Evolution. There is an unproven hypothesis. That’s it.

The Turkish Coup; A Statement of Progress

German and European officials are watching closely as the Turkish and Russian leaders restore a fractured relationship but do not believe the rapprochement – or Ankara’s strained ties with the E.U. – will lead to Turkey abandoning its role in NATO.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown in the wake of last month’s failed coup attempt does, however, continue to bring warnings of harm to Turkey’s E.U. membership aspirations.

Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hailing a “new era” of ties between their countries.

“At these talks with my friend Vladimir, a new page is opened in bilateral relations,” Die Welt quoted him as saying.

Relations soured when Turkey shot down a Russian bomber near the Syrian border last November, prompting Moscow to impose massive economic and tourism sanctions in retaliation.

With the thaw, Putin promised gradually to abolish the economic sanctions against Turkey and to resume projects such a Russian-Turkish gas pipeline and Russia’s building of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.

They also made plans to establish a joint military and intelligence alliance, according to Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The reconciliation comes at a time when relations between NATO member Turkey and the West are strained after the abortive coup attempt.

Still, despite Turkey’s crackdown and the thaw with Russia, European officials do not expect Turkey to walk away from its role in NATO.

The German government’s coordinator for relations with Russia, Gernot Erler, told German radio that it was in Europe’s interest for the “ice age between Turkey and Russia” to end.

He dismissed fears that Russian-Turkish relations would become “so close that Russia can offer an alternative to the security partnership of NATO.”

For his part, Cavusoglu suggested that Ankara is considering its options.

Turkey had tried to cooperate with its NATO partners, he said, but “the results we got did not satisfy us. Therefore, it is natural to look for other options. But we don’t see this [warming of ties with Russia] as a move against NATO.”

Whatever Turkey’s view, Erdogan’s response to the coup attempt has raised criticism from European leaders.

More than 60,000 Turks working in the military, judiciary, civil service and education sectors have been dismissed, detained or placed under investigation.

Erdogan has also been rallying for the reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey, putting both Turkey’s E.U. accession talks and its refugee/migrant agreement with the E.U. at risk.

E.U. foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini warned that there was no hope of Turkey joining the union if it reintroduces the death penalty.

Christian Lindner, leader of Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) went as far as likening

Erdogan's post-coup behavior to that of the Nazi party in the 1930s.

“We are experiencing a state coup from above, as in 1933 after the Reichstag fire,” Lindner told Bild am Sonntag. “[Erdogan] is building an authoritarian regime, tailored solely around his person.”

(The 1933 fire at the parliament building was attributed to arsonists, but Hitler accused the Communists of plotting to overthrow the state and used the event as a pretext for a massive crackdown.)

Rebecca Harms, the Greens’ parliamentary leader in the European Parliament, warned against abandoning Turkey’s accession talks, however.

“I think it would be irresponsible if we would give up our existing relations with Turkey completely in this emergency situation,” she said.

Continuing the talks is considered one of the few ways to push for the rule of law and the protection of Turks.

The president of the E.U.’s executive Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also said the issues should not signal an end to EU membership talks with Turkey.

“Turkey, in the state it is currently in, cannot become a member of the European Union,” he told German public broadcaster ARD. “[But] I don't think it would be helpful if we would unilaterally tell Turkey that the negotiations are over.”

Whatever the future of the accession talks, Erdogan’s hardline response to the coup is putting at risk the opening up the visa-free Schengen zone to Turkey’s 75 million citizens – a key provision of the E.U.-Turkey migrant agreement.

E.U. Commissioner Günther Oettinger said he did not see the E.U. granting Turkish citizens visa-free travel any time this year.

Foreign Minister Cavusoglu told Frankfurter Allgemeine that his government may withdraw from the deal if it fails to secure visa-free travel by October.

Erdogan also threatened to back out of the deal with Europe, accusing it of not behaving “sincerely” with Turkey.

The agreement was largely brokered between Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Concluded last spring, its aim is to prevent migrants crossing from Turkey into E.U. member Greece.

Turkey agreed to take back illegal migrants who arrive in Greece, and the E.U. in return pledged to accept, on a one-for-one basis, Syrians who are seeking refuge in Turkey.

Adding to tensions in the relationship, Turkey last month refused to allow German lawmakers to visit German soldiers stationed at the Incirlik Airbase, and last week, German authorities prohibiting Erdogan from broadcasting a video message to a Turkish rally in Cologne.

Erdogan slammed the decision, demanding, “Where is democracy?”

Wkileaks Links Clinton to Gulenists

A newly-released email and lobbying documents filed with Congress reveals new ties between Clintonworld and members of a network operated by a mysterious Islamic cleric from Turkey.

Connections between Clinton and acolytes of the imam, Fethullah Gulen, could muddle the complex relationship between the U.S. and Turkey, a key NATO ally, if the former secretary of state wins the White House. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has mounted an aggressive crackdown against Gulen and his followers, known as

Gulenists. Erdoğan, who was once allied with Gulen, has even personally asked President Obama to extradite the 74-year-old guru, who has lived in self-exile in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains since 1999.

In addition to muddying that complex geopolitical dynamic, a 2009 email recently released by Judicial Watch provides yet another example of access being provided to a Clinton campaign and Clinton Foundation donor.

In the April 1, 2009 message, a Gulen follower named Gokhan Ozkok asked Clinton deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin for help in connecting one of his allies to President Obama.

Ozkok is founding board member of the Turkish Cultural Center and part of a network of businesses and non-profits affiliated with the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet.

Ozkok served as national finance co-chair of the pro-Clinton Ready PAC. He gave $10,000 to the committee in 2014 and $2,700 to Clinton’s campaign last year. He is also listed on the Turkish Cultural Center’s website as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, one of the non-profit arms of the Clinton Foundation. He’s given between $25,000 and $50,000 to the Clinton charity.

Another link between Gulenists and the Clinton orbit was revealed in a lobbying registration disclosure filed last month with the Senate. It shows that a Gulen-aligned group called the Alliance for Shared Values hired the Clinton-connected Podesta Group to lobby Congress on its behalf. The group seeks to lobby for the “promotion of peace, tolerance and interfaith dialogue.”

The group’s executive director is Alp Aslandogan, a former professor at universities in Texas. He has also donated to Clinton’s political endeavors, campaign finance records show.

The Podesta Group is a natural choice for those seeking influence with Clinton. The firm was co-founded by John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, and his brother Tony, a major Clinton campaign bundler.

Through various non-profit groups, both Gulenists promote the cleric’s teachings, which are relatively moderate and pro-Western. They are also involved in the Gulen movement’s money-making endeavor: a vast network of taxpayer-funded charter schools.

Those schools, which number more than 150, have been a source of controversy for the Gulen movement.

Federal investigators have reportedly investigated some of the schools for using work visas to bring Turkish citizens to the U.S. to teach. In some cases, taxpayer funds were used to pay immigration and legal fees for family members of teachers who worked at the facilities. Funds allocated to the schools have also been funneled to contractors controlled by Turkish nationals with connections to the Gulen movement.

A 2011 New York Times article focused on suspicious ties between Gulenist schools operating in Texas under the name Harmony Public Schools. Harmony contracted with a company controlled by a pro-Gulen non-profit called the Cosmos Foundation. In 2002, Aslandogan purchased property that was later sold to Harmony. He also founded the Texas Gulf Foundation, which has also been awarded taxpayer-funded contracts to provide services to Gulen schools.

Aslandogan did not return a request for comment. Nor did Ozkok, who has affiliations with Gulen-connected education firms Sema Education and Apple Education Services.

The partnerships between the schools and contractors allow taxpayer funds to remain within the Gulen network. Teachers at the schools, many of whom are not fluent in English, are also used to help finance Hizmet, according to one former teacher at a Gulen institute.

The teacher, who is now a government whistleblower, told “60 Minutes” in 2012 that Turkish teachers are required to return a large portion of their salary to the Gulen network. She said that her Turkish husband, who taught at one of the schools, was required to return 40 percent of his salary.

Accusations of visa fraud and other impropriety, which Gulenists largely deny, have contributed to an increased profile for Gulen, who ended up staying in the U.S. permanently after coming here for medical treatment.

Erdoğan’s campaign to rid Turkey of Gulen’s influence has also thrust the recluse onto the public spotlight.

On top of his efforts to crackdown on Gulenists within the Turkish media, judiciary and police, Erdoğan has sought to exert influence over Gulen in the U.S.

During a 2014 visit with President Obama, Erdoğan, who served as prime minister prior to his presidential term, reportedly asked Obama for Gulen’s extradition. The Turkish government has also retained the law firm Amsterdam & Partners in an effort to undermine Gulen and Gulenists in the courts as well as the media.

The connections between the Gulen movement and Clinton are not the first to be revealed. They also add to questions about what it is the Gulenists want from Clinton and whether the Democrat has rewarded their financial support with favors.

Last year The Daily Caller reported that numerous Gulen followers have donated to Clinton’s various political campaigns and to her family charity. One Gulen movement leader, Recep Ozkan, donated between $500,000 and $1 million to the Clinton Foundation.

As senator from New York, Clinton gave a keynote address at the Turkish Cultural Center’s annual banquet.

The email to Abedin, which is the first piece of communication showing that a Gulen follower had direct access to Clinton’s staff, sought a favor.

“Please tell Madam Secretary that it would be great if President Obama can include a 15 minutes [sic] meeting with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of of [sic] the Islamic Conference (OIC), in his trip to Turkey,” wrote Ozkok.

It is unclear if Abedin forwarded Ozkok’s request to Clinton or anyone else in the Obama administration. But Ihsanoglu, who is an ally of Gulen’s and lost to Erdogan in the 2014 presidential election, did meet with Obama in Istanbul several days after the email. There, Obama reportedly extended an invitation to Ihsanoglu to visit the White House. The academic visited in June 2009 and reportedly asked Obama to create a U.S. ambassador to the Muslim world.

Some terror watchdog groups flagged the meetings, pointing to Ihsanoglu’s past praise of the terrorist group Hamas and for Sudanese president and U.S. foe Omar al-Bashir. But Ihsanoglu does not appear to be a radical firebrand like so many Islamists in the Middle East.

As for the Podesta Group, the lobbying firm has connections to several controversial companies seeking to peddle influence at Clinton’s State Department.

Daily Caller investigations have revealed that the Podesta Group has represented Uranium One, a Russia-controlled uranium company that had ties to Canadian mining magnate and Clinton Foundation philanthropist Frank Giustra.

The Podesta Group also lobbied Clinton’s State Department on behalf of BAE Systems just as the U.K. defense contractor was facing stiff government sanctions for illegal arms trading. The Associated Press has sued the State Department for records pertaining to discussions to let BAE Systems off with a slap on the wrist for its infractions.

Clinton’s favorite lobbying firm also started working last year for Islami Bank Bangladesh, a Bengali bank that has been linked to terrorist groups. And earlier this year, Tony Podesta, the Clinton bundler and Podesta Group principal, was hired by the Saudi government.

The End of Cash

To get a glimpse of the future of commerce in America, look no further than Sweden.

The Scandinavian country is largely a cashless society, with consumers relying on mobile phone payments or plastic. While the U.S. is still far from achieving the same level of cash-free existence, increasing numbers of restaurants and retailers are now snubbing the lowly dollar bill.

Some merchants such as SweetGreen, a salad chain, refuse to open their registers for cash, telling customers they can pay only with mobile payments or cards. With some newer vending machines, only a card or mobile wallet will get that cold Coca-Cola to roll down the chute.

The stance may appear un-American -- after all, currency is considered legal tender for all debts or dues -- but the Treasury permits private businesses to set their own policies, which means going cashless is fine with Uncle Sam.

"What we've seen is a push toward electric payments because of convenience, especially for Generations X and Y and onward," said Greg Burch, vice president of strategic initiatives as Ingenico Group, which makes payment systems for merchants. "The phone has become more personal than the wallet has."

While going cashless is still at what Burch said is an experimental level, he predicted that more stores will be adding mobile payment options or their own mobile wallets, similar to Starbucks' (SBUX) payment app. The coffee chain's mobile wallet is gaining in popularity: It now accounts for about one out of every five purchases.

Using cards or mobile apps is increasingly popular with younger generations, but stores have good reason to like the trend, as well. Moving away from cash removes the cost of storing and transporting bills and coins, which merchants like. It also reduces the potential for physical theft.

The downsides? One is a loss of anonymity because cash allows consumers to make transactions without a paper trail.

Another negative impact is stores that refuse cash may be effectively shutting out many lower-income customers. About one out of 13 U.S. households are unbanked, which means they have don't traditional banking accounts, such as checking or savings accounts. Such families tend to be lower-income and rely on cash to make their purchases.

In fact, some 30 million Americans live in what economists call a bankless society. They do not have bank accounts. Most people don’t realize this, but banks take between $180 and $250 a year from your account for the privilege of keeping your money with them. They also report to the DHS cash deposits and withdrawals once they reach $10,000 in any 12 month period. So, many people live, work, shop, and survive totally on cash. The problem is that the banks cannot control the flow of money through the economy if people transact with cash. The goal is to end cash, and force everyone to bank and use plastic or cell phones for payments. This way, they can micromanage interest rates to keep inflation under control. Or that’s their claim, at least. Actually, inflation can only be caused by the government when it prints money or forces an unfunded mandate into the economy, such as the minimum wage.

While federal law allows merchants to set their own rules about which types of payments to accept, at least one state makes it illegal to refuse cash: Massachusetts. The issue came to a head recently after a rash of stores catering to well-heeled young professionals posted "no cash allowed" at their registers. They may have made their move one generation too soon. There is a special liberty and feeling of defiant independence when a person carries cash. As long as you have enough, you can go anywhere and buy anything you want without anyone knowing what you are doing.

SweetGreen, the salad chain, changed its cashless ways in its Boston locations after learning about the rule, according to The Boston Globe. Fort most businesses, around 25% of their revenue is in the form of cash. Like a debit card, when it’s gone, it’s gone, except there is no record of that transaction with your name on it. Very few businesses, such as car rental companies, operate completely without cash.

"We've now adjusted plans in our five Boston test stores to be in compliance with Massachusetts retail law," SweetGreen President Karen Kelley told the publication "As we grow, we learn, and as we learn, we adjust: It's all part of our mission to do right by our customers and our employees." If they don’t, they will join an endless community of businesses that have been forced to close by Federal policies.

Of course, the bigger hassle for consumers might be the flip side of going cashless. Many retailers and restaurants still have cash-only policies, which can prove increasingly irksome as consumers visit the ATM more frequently to cash up. Those fees the ATM’s charge for not having a human teller, something I have never understood, have formed a brand new multi-billion dollar industry. People don’t realize they are paying between 5% and 20% interest to get their cash from some ATM’s.

Cash isn't in any danger of disappearing, but maybe it should: The U.S. has much to gain by phasing out cash, according to researchers from Tufts University. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, they noted that the U.S. spends $200 billion each year to keep cash in circulation. (China also has high costs related to reliance on cash, they noted.)

They added: "Both the U.S. and China would do well to adopt policies in partnership with market actors to nudge their already digitally ready societies towards digital money and unlock massive savings -- in time and money -- in the process."

It will be an easy sale to the next generation. Cash is the currency of crime. Cash can be counterfeited. Cash can be physically destroyed. The bankless millions control trillions each year in undocumented revenue, which cannot be taxed by anything but sales tax. The only thing you will lose when the do away with it, is your liberty. There will be no escape.

Another Prophecy from the Bearth Trilogy Comes True

Manbij women have been ripping off their burqas and burning them, smoking cigarettes, while men cut off their beards, all while rejoicing at their newly obtained freedom after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) drove jihadists from the Syrian city. Manbij women have been ripping off their burqas and burning them, smoking cigarettes, while men cut off their beards, all while rejoicing at their newly obtained freedom after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) drove jihadists from the Syrian city. Embraces and kisses, happy smiles, and even more happy tears have been seen on Manbij’s streets, as this video and these pictures show, with whole-hearted laughter and words of gratitude heard on every corner.  “It was complicated for us to save civilians from the area, but we did it. Terrorists are now fleeing. We will go after them no matter where they are heading to,” said one of the female soldiers with the YPJ, which contributed greatly to the liberation of the city, to RT.

During their rule, IS jihadists imposed a hardline version of Islam, mandating strict social restrictions on Manbij’s residents.  Arab and Kurdish fighters from SDF announced the full liberation of Manbij on Friday after successfully conducting the final assault on the IS-held al-Sirb neighborhood. During this assault, they rescued some 2,000 civilians who had been abducted by the jihadists as they were being driven out of Manjib to be used as “human shields.” Citing a source from the Syrian army, AFP news agency reported that, while some of the abducted residents were able to escape themselves, some, surprisingly, “were freed” by the fleeing terrorists.

Manbij was a key transit point on the route between the Turkish border and Raqqa, the Syrian city proclaimed capital of the jihadists’ “Islamic caliphate.” The SDF launched its offensive with many female soldiers on the city on May 31, with air support from the US-led coalition. The army was able to seize Manjib only two and a half months later, on Aug 6, while still driving terrorists out of some parts of the town. Manbij residents had endured a total of 73 days of constant fighting when the allied forces were driving out the jihadists street by street. 

The NeverTrump Movement

Marginalized former Republican elected officials are still trying to stop Donald Trump just as Trump is picking up newfound momentum.

Exploiting a several-week rough patch for Trump that mostly centered around his initial non-endorsement of Paul Ryan, some aging political relics tried to hurtle themselves back into mainstream relevance. News networks reported on a letter signed by “70 Republicans” calling for Reince Priebus to stop RNC funding for the Republican nominee. But letter organizer Andrew Weinstein told Breitbart News that his group did not even attempt to reach out to currently-serving Republican members of Congress, noting that it would be more difficult for them to buck the party’s nominee.

On Friday, Breitbart News obtained an “An Open Letter To Morton Blackwell” written by Beau Correll, a Ted Cruz delegate in Virginia who took part in the failed anti-Trump “Free the Delegates” movement in Virginia with political casualty Ken Cuccinelli.

Correll’s letter to Blackwell, a Cruz supporter who decided to stop making waves once Trump became the clear nominee, reeks of desperation. It is presented in its entirety below:

Dear Morton,

Thank you for this message.  I am seeing many voter registration efforts by Democrats in my part of the state as well.

As a grassroots conservative, former Republican unit Chairman, and former student at your Leadership Institute trainings, I can tell you that the writing is on the wall.  Short of outside influence, Trump has zero chance of electability at this point due to his many self-inflicted wounds.  He will be blown out in the electoral college.  He is losing on every single metric.  His continued presence and lack of discipline may yield the loss of the Senate, loss of the Supreme

Court, and may cause the dark age for conservatism.  Many people are saying he is intentionally attempting to lose or he is mentally defective.

Please join other members of the RNC in signing this petition to call a meeting under Rule 8 and recall his nomination under Rule 9.  Rule 9 allows a vacancy to be filled in the event of “death, declination, and otherwise.”  Similarly to if a candidate committed a felony and became ineligible to hold office, was medically incapacitated, or impeached and removed under our Constitution, “otherwise” allows for the revocation of Donald Trump’s nomination on multiple grounds.  Rule 4, which deals with officers and committee members, helps to fill in the “otherwise” proviso in Rule 9.  That rule, in pertinent part, allows for declaring a vacancy in the event of removal and disqualification.  Both of which are applicable in this case.

RNC members must recall Trump and hold him to account for his kamikazee campaign and if he does not assuage concerns, remove him and replace him with someone capable of defeating Hillary Clinton.  Donald Trump is not capable.  He/we will be humiliated in the debates due to his extreme deficiency in basic civics-related facts.

The only procedural hurdle is that once 16 signatories are submitted, that the enclosed agenda must be adopted at the RNC meeting.

Recalling Donald Trump’s nomination is required because he broke his word – to all of us.  By carrying our Party’s nomination, he implicitly promised that he would run a credible, disciplined, and successful campaign.  Instead, he made a promise to create Super PACs to attack Republicans and a host of other undeniable, damaging accusations.   He has broken his word to all of us and for that there should be consequences.  The consequence he should bear is the recall of his nomination, immediately.

I have CC’d Senator Humphrey should you have any questions that I cannot answer.

Hack the Vote

Concerns are growing over the possibility of a rigged presidential election. Experts believe a cyberattack this year could be a reality, especially following last month's hack of Democratic National Committee emails.

The ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee sent a letter Monday to the Department of Homeland Security, saying in part: "Election security is critical, and a cyberattack by foreign actors on our elections systems could compromise the integrity of our voting process."

Roughly 70 percent of states in the U.S. use some form of electronic voting. Hackers told CBS News that problems with electronic voting machines have been around for years. The machines and the software are old and antiquated. But now with millions heading to the polls in three months, security experts are sounding the alarm, reports CBS News correspondent Mireya Villarreal.

For weeks, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has told his supporters the outcome of the 2016 election could be out of his control.

"I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have got to be honest," Trump said to Ohio voters last week.

But for the hackers at Symantec Security Response, Election Day results could be manipulated by an affordable device you can find online. You may know the folks down at Symantec by another name; Norton Antivirus. They are also the writers of the Stuxnet Virus that has plagued Iranian nuclear facilities for over a decade and may have been responsible for the Fukushima meltdown. The virus tells the operator that cooling pumps are running and valves are open, when they are not. The reactor chamber overheats, fills with hydrogen gas, and then explodes.

"Brian Varner is principle researcher at Symantec. He simply insert the marked ballot, and then it resets the memory card, the same person can insert another ballot. It can also record a different vote that is marked on the paper ballot. The voter doesn't even need to leave the booth to hack the machine.

"For $15 and in-depth knowledge of the card, you could hack the vote," Varner said.

Symantec Security Response director Kevin Haley said elections can also be hacked by breaking into the machines after the votes are collected, although the machines are closely guarded and audited for such activity while they are not in voting service. "The results go from that machine into a piece of electronics that takes it to the central counting place," Haley said. "That data is not encrypted and that's vulnerable for manipulation."

"How big of a hacking potential problem is this?" Villarreal asked him.

"Well, there's a huge potential," Haley responded. "There are so many places in the voting process once it goes electronic that's vulnerable." In 58 voting precincts in Pennsylvania, for example in the 2012 election, 100% of the votes cast recorded only votes for Obama. Many tens of thousands of votes were cast on numerous machines, and every single vote for Mitt Romney was switched.

According to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice, one reason these voting systems are so vulnerable is their age.

"We found that more than 40 states are using voting machines there that are at least 10 years old,” Brennan Center for Justice researcher Christopher Famighetti said. They are completely vulnerable to off-the-shelf hacking devices that could easily be hidden in place by a voting station worker and then removed after the polls close without a trace.

Denise Merrill, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, said the lack of funding keeps most precincts from updating their systems. But all machines have to meet specific government standards.

"The idea of a national hack of some sort is almost ridiculous because there is no national system," Merrill said.

In fact, the more than 9,000 voting districts across the country all have different ways of running their elections -- down to the type of machine they use.

CBS News learned that only 60 percent of states routinely conduct audits post-election by checking paper trails. That is to say, they recount the paper ballots collected in the bin, but only if the two candidates are within 1%. It is extremely rare to do a recount of the paper ballots. In fact, not all states even have paper records, like in some parts of swing states Virginia and Pennsylvania. 100% of the votes are electronic and cannot be recounted.

The Election Assistance Commission told CBS News that it ensures all voting systems are vigorously tested against security standards and that systems certified by the EAC are not connected to the Internet. However, all the votes are tallied from all the precincts into a central location controlled by a company called SCYTL. This corporation is owned by foreign venture capitalists. It has been demonstrated that a completely electronic trail can be hacked by a few lines of code in the program that will self-delete after the vote is completed by the closing ballot is inserted. The closing ballot is a special sheet of paper that the machines reads to close out and finalize the vote. The special code removes itself at that time, leaving no trace. Thousands of machines are validated with the central accounting software, switching the electronic vote tallies, which leaves no doubt as to the voting record; a record that is false.

President Obama said he would not question the integrity of a vote unless it did not agree with the national polls. These polls are themselves admittedly manipulated, as there is no law requiring them to be accurate. But, if the polls are manipulated by loading the participants with Democrats, and the vote is hacked to agree with those polls, then there will be no cause to doubt the voting results. Every effort, including applying the Supreme Court, will be expended to make sure a result showing Hillary Clinton as the winner is not questioned in any way.

Operation Choke Point

A firearms dealer in North Carolina said his bank asked him to reveal “ridiculous and somewhat illegal” information about his business and its customers after the June 12 terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, and he believes a secretive Justice Department program is to blame.

Luke Lichterman, owner of Hunting and Defense in Tryon, North Carolina, said his bank told him he couldn’t use its services without completing an “addendum” supplying details about his business.

“It all comes back to the Obama administration and Operation Choke Point, the ‘undesirable businesses’ thing,” Lichterman told The Daily Signal. “Something like that from the government has ripples that keep radiating. It’s not something that you can turn on and turn off.”

Lichterman believes that the timing of the request from his bank was no accident, given that gun control once again became a hot issue after the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando.

The Justice Department launched Operation Choke Point in 2013 to fight fraud. The agency made it more difficult for “high risk” industries to gain access to the banking system, as a way to drive fraudulent industries out of business.

However, critics argue the Obama administration also used Operation Choke Point to intentionally make business more difficult for firearms sellers by categorizing them alongside illegal and fraudulent industries.

In February, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to end Operation Choke Point. In April, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a similar measure in the Senate, where it has since stalled.

In the meantime, small business owners from across the country such as the 75-year-old Lichterman continue to complain about the lasting effects of Operation Choke Point.

The Bank’s Original Problem

Lichterman and his wife had maintained personal accounts at HomeTrust Bank in Asheville, North Carolina, since 2012. But this spring, when Lichterman approached the bank for access to an automated clearinghouse payment—ACH payment are used for online sales—for Hunting and Defense, which operates under the legal name Muttburger Marketing LLC, the bank refused his request.

An automated clearinghouse payment service makes it easier—and cheaper—for business owners to transfer and send money online, allowing them to complete transactions electronically. Without it, Lichterman would be forced to front processing fees at 4.5 percent of every transaction that would eat away at his already slim profits.

In early June, after Lichterman fought back and went public with his story—accusing the bank of participating in Operation Choke Point tactics by discriminating against him because he sells guns—HomeTrust Bank reversed its policy and reluctantly agreed to allow Lichterman an ACH account.

But on June 14, two days after an Islamist-inspired terrorist shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in an attack at an Orlando nightclub, the bank again reversed its policy and told Lichterman he couldn’t use their services without completing an “addendum” demanding more information about his business.

The New Demands

Among other demands, the new addendum which seems to have come from secret Federal authors, asks Lichterman to “submit a complete list of all firearms and ammunitions vendors and customers” that he conducts business with. In part, it reads:

After the first/initial submission subsequent lists are to include all relevant parties since the date of last report. Each list is to specify personal and business names and associated FFL [federal

firearms license] numbers and should indicate whether the individual/entity is new or repeat. The list must identify all firearms and ammunitions transaction entities regardless of whether HomeTrust Treasury Management ACH [automated clearinghouse] origination services are used for the transaction.

In other words, it is a list of everyone who bought a gun from that FFL. Currently, that list is held at the gun dealer only and is protected by law the same way medical records are protected. The bank demanded the no later than the fifth day of the first month in each quarter.

The new agreement also requires:

A “complete list of all firearms and ammunitions vendors and customers” that Lichterman did business with.

A “detailed written document explaining how the business is operated, including procedures in place to screen customers” to ensure compliance with federal regulations, rules, and laws.

A current copy of the applicable federal firearms license(s).

The end of the agreement enables HomeTrust Bank to request more information:

“[HomeTrust Bank] may request additional information (such as, but not limited to, personal or business financial statements, tax returns, etc.) for the purpose of evaluating your request to obtain or maintain [accounts].”

Christopher Zealand, senior research lawyer for the National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm, described the agreement as highly improper.

“It’s one thing for a bank to require evidence that a business is operating legally (for example, by requesting copies of relevant licenses, etc.),” Zealand said, “It’s quite another for the bank to insist that a federally licensed firearms dealer divulge identifying information about every customer who purchases, or has purchased, a firearm or ammunition.”

The implications, he said, are even more concerning:

Not only is [the information request] logistically problematic, it is an egregious violation of privacy. And to the degree federal banking regulators would have access to these lists, it could also create a workaround to existing laws meant to prevent federal registries of firearm owners.

The Reason

It is unclear whether the demands originate from HomeTrust Bank employees, or the bank’s federal regulators.

HomeTrust Bank is regulated by the Federal Reserve, which would not comment on Lichterman’s specific case or answer broader questions about the requirements and guidelines the agency sets for gun sellers to ensure safe transactions.

Dillon McConnell, a public affairs specialist at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which regulates the firearms industry, wrote in an email to The Daily Signal that the bank’s addendum for Lichterman appears to originate from a “private institution,” but the language and formatting fits the repealed Operation Choke Point program. It has a Federal feel to it.

McConnell added that while the Federal Privacy Act prohibits his agency from releasing information about federally licensed firearms dealers, gun sellers are not prohibited from disclosing such information. Aside from applicable state and local laws, private institutions are free to request the information, but there are no legal grounds to force them to provide it.

Lichterman said he believes the bank is following orders from Operation Choke Point, and the program’s continued effects:

[Under] Operation Choke Point, it appears than Obama wrote a memo, which was sent to the bank saying ‘Hey, shut this guy off because he might sell a gun that someday might be used by somebody,’ completely ignoring the fact that it might be used for self-defense against one of these guys. The thing is, Obama keeps going after the wrong target. In airports, his soldiers are looking for the bomb, they’re not profiling the bombers. They continually go after the gun, and they ignore the intentions of the gunman. They don’t need to get guns off the street. They need to get the criminals off the street. Obama seems to be focused on stopping the guy that sells the guns legally. His efforts have been so blatantly illegal that the Supreme Court has stopped him numerous times, and he has inspired the sale of millions more weapons as people realize that sooner or later Obama might be successful. In the meantime, gun store owners like Lichterman are enjoying a booming business like never before. The average, law abiding American is preparing for war; a war that our founding fathers gave us the right to win against a tyrannical government. Zealand, the lawyer with the NRA, said he agrees.

“The fallout of Operation Choke Point, however, shall continue,” he said.

The Last Summer

Make the most of this summer because it could be your last decent one: winter is coming as the planet enters the most devastating cooling period since the 65-year Maunder Minimum of the 17th and early 18th centuries.

This is the dire forecast of Professor Valentina Zharkova, a solar physicist at Northumbria University, who has based her prediction on sun spot activity – known to be a significant driver of global climate – which is currently very low and likely to get even lower during the next three solar cycles.

She has spoken about her research and her battle to get it taken seriously by the climate establishment in an interview with the Global Warming Policy Forum. You can see it in this short film.

According to Professor Zharkova:

We will see it from 2020 to 2053, when the three next cycles will be very reduced magnetic field of the sun. Basically what happens is these two waves, they separate into the opposite hemispheres and they will not be interacting with each other, which means that resulting magnetic field will drop dramatically nearly to zero. And this will be a similar conditions like in Maunder Minimum.

What will happen to the Earth remains to be seen and predicted because nobody has developed any program or any models of terrestrial response – they are based on this period when the sun has maximum activity — when the sun has these nice fluctuations, and its magnetic field [is] very strong. But we’re approaching to the stage when the magnetic field of the sun is going to be very, very small.

The Maunder Minimum occurred during the depths of the Little Ice Age, a period of feeble summers and bitingly cold winters, war, pestilence and famine. It wasn’t all bad: rivers like the Thames in London froze so thickly they could accommodate Ice Fairs; and it’s said that the slow tree growth induced by the cold gave the wood in Stradivarius violins their special timbre. On the whole, though, a descent into a new mini Ice Age would be massively debilitating both to the global economy and people’s living standards. Since the Little Ice Age ended in the middle of the Nineteenth century, we have all got used to the comforts and agricultural advantages (such as being able to grow wheat in more northerly latitudes) of living through a period of global warming. A second Little Ice Age will come as a very nasty shock.

That shock will be felt most especially by the world’s climate alarmist Establishment, whose scientists and learned institutions have staked their reputation on the idea that CO2, not solar activity, is the prime driver of climate and that the planet is on a warming trend not a cooling one.

This explains  why when Professor Zharkova first released her findings last year, various climate alarmists went behind her back to the Royal Astronomical Society to try to persuade them to withdraw the press release.

Some of them were welcoming and discussing. But some of them were quite — I would say — pushy. They were trying to actually silence us. Some of them contacted the Royal Astronomical Society, demanding, behind our back, that they withdraw our press release. The Royal Astronomical Society replied to them and CCed to us and said, ‘Look, this is the work by the scientists who we support, please discuss this with them.’ We had about 8 or 10 exchanges by email, when I tried to prove my point, and I’m saying, I’m willing to look at what you do, I’m willing to see how our results we produced and what the sun has explained to us. So how this is transformed into climate we do not produce; we can only assume it should be. So we’re happy to work with you, and add to your data our results. So don’t take the sunspots which you get, we can give you our curve. Work with our curve. So they didn’t want to.

But Zharkova’s ice age predictions have been backed by a number of scientists, among them Australia’s Dr David Evans with his Notch-Delay solar theory and, more surprisingly, by scientists at Germany’s ideologically warmist Potsdam Institute.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian of Vencore Weather has also predicted an imminent solar minimum as the world finds itself in the weakest solar cycle for more than a century.

Evans is so confident of the imminent cooling that he’s helping set up a hedge fund specifically geared to betting against global warming. You can too if you go to their website. It seems to me a very sensible way of getting payback for all that green guff we’ve been sold over the last few decades. Perhaps with the profits, we shareholders might be among the few people able to afford the extravagantly high heating bills during the coming mini Ice Age. If he’s really lucky and we’re feeling generous when he comes knocking at our door begging for help, we might even be kind enough to toss the odd lump of coal or two in the direction of a shivering, starving old man with a tattered tartan tie round his neck.

“See that sad old loser?” we can say to our kids. “That guy used to be a billionaire hedge fund manager. Tom Steyer, his name is. Poor guy went and staked everything on global warming. Go on, kids. Have a pity on him. Chuck him one more piece of coal. And if you can get him on the head this time that’ll score you an extra fifty points.”

Obama High Crimes Update

Last week, I outlined the case for impeachment of Barack Obama for violating the sanctions against Iran and for money laundering. Well after refusing to divulge how the payment was transferred, the State Department has now refused to answer repeated requests about when it sent to Iran a sum of $1.3 billion, which was part of the same settlement for which the Obama administration delivered $400 million in pallets of foreign currency flown aboard an unmarked jetliner in January. The cash was flown in the same day five American hostages were released from Iranian custody.

The details about how and when the additional funds were sent are relevant to determining whether President Obama needed to pay Iran on the same day the hostages were released and whether the payment needed to be made in cash because the two countries had no banking relationship, as the president has said.

If the additional $1.3 billion were transferred around the time of the $400 million, it could raise questions as to why the $400 million needed to be sent separately. And if the $1.3 billion was not delivered in cash, it could raise further questions about the need for a cash drop off a mere hours before the hostages were set free by Tehran.

It has been widely reported that the $400 million was part of a dispute that arose after Iran in the late 1970s had purchased U.S. fighter jets while Tehran was still an American ally. After the country turned into an enemy in 1979, the U.S. halted delivery of the military equipment, thus triggering an international case in which Iran was asking The Hague arbitrators for $10 billion.

Following years of negotiations, the Obama administration finally agreed to settle the case for $1.7 billion – the initial $400 million plus another $1.3 billion in interest.

On Thursday, Breitbart Jerusalem reported that the State and Treasury Departments both told this reporter that the U.S. government transferred the remaining $1.3 billion but that, despite numerous requests, neither State nor Treasury would provide an answer on how the Obama administration allegedly transferred to Iran the remaining $1.3 billion.

The latest twist in the saga came on Friday, when, after refusing to provide the method of transfer for the payment, a State Department spokesperson refused to tell Breitbart Jerusalem when the $1.3 billion was sent.

“We are not going to get into the tick-tock of specifics regarding the Hague Tribunal settlement payments,” the spokesperson stated.

A spokesperson for the Treasury Department did not respond to a request about the timing of the alleged payment.

The State Department’s refusal to comment on the timing stands in contrast to an August 4th press conference in which State Department Spokesman Mark Toner was repeatedly asked about the timing of the $1.3 billion payment and Toner told reporters that he did not know and “can try to find that out.”

Here is a transcript of those remarks:

QUESTION: And then one more. When was the 1.3 billion in interest settled? That was done through a – through the Judgment Fund, which is administered by the Treasury. But when was that 1.3 – I was told it was fully settled. When was that done and how was it done?

MR TONER: Sure. So the payment for the compromise that was reached on interest, that was 1.3 billion, as you note. That was provided out of the Judgment Fund, and that’s the source of funding to pay judgments and settlements of claim against the United States when there is no other source of funding. And I think awards and settlements of tribunal claims have been paid out of that fund in the past, since 1991 I think, to a tune of some 278 million before – prior to this settlement.Your question is when —

QUESTION: When? Was it done several weeks after the 400 million in cash was transferred?

MR TONER: I know that it was done. I don’t know the – I don’t have a date, the specific date on when that actually took place.

QUESTION: Can you find that out, please?

MR TONER: I can try to find that out. I know also that Treasury was speaking to that yesterday, as well as today.

QUESTION: Oh, I didn’t see those remarks, which is – because it’s caused confusion as far as when they were paid.

MR TONER: I understand.

At issue is not simply the curious timing of the $400 million cash handoff, which took place hours before the hostages were released and was described as a ransom payment in Iranian media reports that cited senior Iranian defense officials. The Obama administration has denied the ransom claims, and has said that when the delivery was made in January, the White House publicly acknowledged the full payment amount.

Another issue is the need to transfer the $400 million in foreign cash pallets delivered to Iranian guards, a detail that was not disclosed by the administration until its revelation last week by the Wall Street Journal.

Regarding the need for cash, Obama has explained that the U.S. does not have a banking relationship with Tehran.

“The only bit of news that is relevant on this is the fact that we paid cash,” Obama told reporters last Friday.

“The reason we had to give them cash is because we are so strict in maintaining sanction answers we don’t have a banking relationships with Iran that we couldn’t send them a check. We could not wire the money,” the president added.

Regarding the additional payment, Reuters reported the $1.3 billion was transferred to Iran by the Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund.

The Fund, according to its website:

“is a permanent, indefinite appropriation available to pay judicially and administratively ordered monetary awards against the United States. The Judgment Fund is also available to pay amounts owed under compromise agreements negotiated by the U.S. Department of Justice in settlement of claims arising under actual or imminent litigation, if a judgment on the merits would be payable from the Judgment Fund.”

A spokesperson for the Judgement Fund confirmed that the payment for the compromise that was reached on interest, of approximately $1.3 billion, has indeed been provided out of the Fund.

The Fund spokesperson refused to comment on the mechanics of how a settlement payment was made or when the payment was transferred. The spokesperson did not reply to a follow-up question about whether the remaining $1.3 billion was transferred in cash or by any other means.

When asked about how the remaining $1.3 billion was transferred, a spokesperson for the State Department replied that the agency had “nothing to add beyond what the President and Secretary have already said on the subject.”

While refusing to comment on the timing, the spokesperson confirmed that the remaining $1.3 billion was indeed paid in full to Iran. The spokesperson also refused to provide comment to two separate requests about how the money was transferred.

The lack of clarity has led to the raising of questions about whether the remainder was paid.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) has said that due to Obama administration obfuscation, he is unsure if the U.S. still owed any remaining money on the 1.7 billion judgement.

“I don’t know yet whether there’s $1.3 billion left,” he said. “The administration has continued to dissemble and stonewall Congress on these very questions. In January, we were asking these questions.”

Writing at National Review Online, former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy asked, “What’s the story with the other $1.3 billion in this deal, the money Iran is supposed to get in addition to the $400 million in cash?”

Bloomberg in June reported on the $1.7 billion, which the news agency claimed was transferred by the U.S. Treasury “to Iran’s Central Bank in January.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Deb Fischer put out a press release similarly stating that in January 2016, “the U.S. Treasury transferred $1.7 billion from the Judgment Fund to Iran’s Central Bank.”

Meanwhile, while the Obama administration has strongly denied any link between the cash transfer and the release of the hostages on the same day. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed U.S. officials acknowledging, as the newspaper paraphrased it, “that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible.”

The Journal report sparked an outcry, with Republicans, including Donald Trump, accusing the White House of paying ransom.

Cotton directly accused Obama of paying “a $1.7 billion ransom to the ayatollahs for U.S. hostages.”

“This break with longstanding U.S. policy put a price on the head of Americans, and has led Iran to continue its illegal seizures” of Americans, he told the Journal.

Rep. Paul Ryan fumed, “If true, this report confirms our longstanding suspicion that the administration paid a ransom in exchange for Americans unjustly detained in Iran.”

“It would also mark another chapter in the ongoing saga of misleading the American people to sell this dangerous nuclear deal,” he added.

Former CIA Agent Phil Houston alleged Obama displayed a “high level” of deception with the Iran cash transfer.

Will the Real Electorate Step Forward

By Dave Jolly

Ever since the Democratic Convention, the only poll results being reported by the liberal mainstream media show that Hillary Clinton is slowly pulling ahead of Donald Trump. Of course the same liberal mainstream media had been conducting a biased editing and reporting campaign to show Trump in a bad way and glorify Hillary.

They edited his comments about the Muslim parents of whose son was killed in action while serving in the US military. Trump stated about the mom not speaking, the liberal media intentionally edited out when Trump stated that that’s what others have written. They made it to look like those were Trump’s own words.

Now all of the controversy surrounding the way liberals have twisted Trump’s comment about people who value the Second Amendment. Hillary and even the Kennedy family have twisted it in such a way as declare Trump is inciting violence in some form. However, none of the same liberal media, nor Clinton nor the Kennedy family mention the fact that Hillary once stated that Obama could be assassinated.

The sad part is that so many people today believe everything they hear and see from the liberal mainstream media. They take the reports as gospel.

Did you know that in most of the polls, where they are reporting a Clinton lead, are conducted in such a way as to bias the outcome? Often, they only poll 100 up to 1,000 people. Not only are their sample sizes statistically small, but they often poll areas that are known to be predominately Democratic, hence, it only makes sense that Hillary is ahead.

But you probably have not heard about one poll that was recently taken where they polled 1,000 people from every state. Yep, 50,000 people were polled. They intentionally called 33% Republicans, 33% Democrats and 34% Independents and the results were so astonishing that none of the national liberal media have dared to report it.

The poll was conducted by the Arizona Freedom Alliance and according to their post:

” We’ve been telling you the difference between a media poll and an internal poll.  Media polls are driven by the desire to achieve a certain outcome.  That is why you think Hillary is leading Trump by 10 points.  If you were paying attention, one of these polls had Hillary up by 15 points before the GOP convention.  After the convention, Trump was up 15 points, a 30% jump!  Statistically impossible.  After the democrat convention, Hillary was up 10 points, a 25% swing.  Again, can’t happen.  The media is jerking our chain.  DO NOT believe them.  The only polls that can be believed are internal polls that are rarely made public.  While the poll below is not an internal poll, it was done in a most interesting manner – with no perceived bias.  And it is YUGE!”

“And by the way, it nearly mirrors what internal polls are showing.  By any accurate measure, Hillary is NOT leading Trump in the minds of the voters.”

‘We have just completed our own poll since we cannot get factual information from the mainstream media!! We called 1000 homes in each of the 50 states and asked basic questions on the economy, terrorism, immigration and presidential pick.”

“Economy was the number one factor that Americans are concerned about and terrorism was number two.Presidential pick was Trump by a large percentage.Trump 33478 votes 67%Clinton 9788 Votes 19%Undecided or other 6739 votes 13%”

“My friends and I are all Graduate students from all walks of life.  We meet to discuss stuff… 13 people who like and have served in the Military. It took us most of two weeks to be sure our calls were to all people and not just one party or another.  We called Americans.. our poll is by taking registered voter lists and we accumulated 33% repub, 33% dems and 34% ind.. our poll consisted of 1000 calls per state. all 50 states. 50,000 people are in this poll not the 100 like other polls.”

“Please everyone copy and paste to your status so everyone knows that the other polls are rigged!”

Can you imagine if word got out about the results of this poll, which was conducted with a 50 to 500 times larger sample size than most of the national polls and was conducted equally among Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

They have asked that everyone share their results so please do. Let America and mainstream liberal media, and especially Hillary Clinton know that Trump has a HUGE lead over her in one of the largest independent polls conducted. Let’s blow the liberals out of the water