Kim Jon Un receives a letter "of excellent content" from President Trump

In the Conservative Treehouse, Sundance reports,

Remember, generally speaking President Trump held two connected objectives: (1) removing the threat posed by North Korea by severing the ability of Beijing to use the proxy province as a weapon (Kim hostage); and (2) deconstructing the growing economic influence of China.

President Trump now moves to phase two of the plan.(Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a personal letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and will put serious thought into its content, North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA said.

In a report published early on Sunday in Asia, KCNA did not give details on the letter, but said Kim described it as “of excellent content.”

Chairman Xi Jinping (China) and President Moon Jae-in are scheduled for a G20 meeting. This is the magnanimous panda meeting that was set up first by Beijing. Xi will play the role of magnanimous panda in denuclearizing the DPRK and using Moon Jae-in as the panda optic of peace with Chairman Kim Jong-un.

Chairman Xi will then meet with President Trump for ‘expanded’ talks at the G20. This meeting was set up after the magnanimous panda play was scheduled. Here, Chairman Xi will offer President Trump peace and a denuclearized DPRK (essentially Beijing taking their missile technology back) in exchange for trade concessions.

President Trump is scheduled to travel to South Korea for a meeting with Moon Jae-in after the G20 (that’s new today).

From Xi’s position, Moon Jae-in will fill in the details of the denuclearized DPRK to President Trump. However, what Chairman Xi is about to discover is that Trump doesn’t care about cunning magnanimous panda, and there will be no concessions (except possibly a return to the original commitment by Vice-Chairman Liu He).

The Trump letter to Kim is likely saying congratulations on the threat removal; and now we both know you are less captive… with some new possibilities outlined therein.

Read more here.

South Carolina Democrats bar CSPAN, Fox, and CNN from covering their convention

Yesterday was the state Democratic Convention in South Carolina. CSPAN, which does not take sides in politics, was denied the opportunity to provide us with live coverage. Paul Bedard reports in the Washington Examiner,

It takes a lot to get C-SPAN political director Steve Scully angry.

How rare was the decision by the party to bar C-SPAN gavel-to-gavel coverage? Scully told the Washington Examiner, “This is the first time in C-SPAN's 40-years history of covering 'Road to the White House' that we have been denied live coverage of a state party convention.”

So it was unusual when he let the South Carolina Democratic Party have it when MSNBC was given exclusive live coverage rights of its weekend convention. Along with Fox and CNN, the party barred C-SPAN from live broadcast, and Scully told the Washington Examiner, “We’re not happy.”

In fact, he pulled his cameras out of the event. In his call to the party, he said, “I was pretty direct. I was not happy. It takes a lot to get me angry. This kind of boils my blood. Because of our reputation, because of what we do.”

The City of Secrets

J.J. Green reports in WTOP,

...According to the International Spy Museum in D.C., an educational and historical center of U.S. intelligence documentation and artifacts, there are “more than 10,000 spies in Washington.”

While there may be some quibbling about the actual numbers, the FBI agrees with the premise.

“It’s unprecedented — the threat from our foreign adversaries, specifically China on the economic espionage and the espionage front,” said Brian Dugan, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for Counterintelligence with the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

As this unparalleled wave of international espionage, aided by technology, explodes in D.C., the variety of spies has diversified, as well.

...There are more than 175 foreign embassies, residences, chanceries and diplomatic missions in D.C. Tens of thousands of international students reside in the region. And untold numbers of business people with links to foreign intelligence services flow in and out every day.

The training of highly skilled spies, especially those who work in Washington, makes them virtually invisible to ordinary, unsuspecting people.

Washington, according to current and former U.S. intelligence sources, is normally the place where most countries send their best spies.

Read more here.

Some other companies in addition to Apple who are considering moving out of China.

Fox News has a story about some other companies in addition to Apple who are considering moving out of China.

GoPro

The action camera company is moving the bulk of its production out of China to Mexico by mid-2019. It will still continue to manufacture its local products in the country.

“Today’s geopolitical business environment requires agility,” GoPro CFO Brian McGee said in December. “We’re proactively addressing tariff concerns.”

Hasbro

The toymaker is shifting most of its production from China to Mexico, Vietnam and India due to Trump’s tariffs.

Steve Madden

The footwear and handbag maker, which ships the bulk of its goods from China, is shifting production to Cambodia. Executives at the Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based company previously said prices during the upcoming holiday shopping season would be higher as a result of the increased duties.

"We'd love to make shoes in the United States," CEO Ed Rosenfeld told NPR. But "it's very hard to envision a scenario where we'd make the types of products that we make, at the prices that we make them, in the United States."

Stanley Black & Decker

The firm is shifting production of its hallmark Craftsman brand to the U.S., where it is opening a new facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

The company plans to hire 500 people for the $90 million plant, but will employ robots and other advanced technology to keep production costs in line with those in China.

Brooks Running

The athletic footwear maker owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is moving production from China to Vietnam, largely due to the new tariffs.

“We’ve had to make a long-term decision on this picture. It’s disruptive, but the reality. So we’ll be predominantly in Vietnam by the end of the year.” CEO Jim Weber told Reuters.

Whirlpool Corp.

The company is moving the manufacturing of some of its KitchenAid appliances to the U.S. from China.

Intel Corp.

CEO Bob Swan in June told Bloomberg the company is reviewing its supply chain and whether production can be shifted out of China.

“How do we move goods -- sometimes our customers will move their operations -- and how do we work the global supply chain so less product is coming directly from China to the US that would be subject to tariffs?” he told the outlet.

Read more here.

Buttigieg wades into an "emotional knot of protesters"

Trip Gabriel reports in the New York Times,

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — While his 2020 rivals mingled with large friendly crowds at a Democratic fish fry in South Carolina Friday night, Mayor Pete Buttigieg found himself somewhere very different, wading into an emotional knot of protesters at the South Bend Police Department, some of whom cursed him, interrupted him and shouted a list of demands through a megaphone feet from his face.

Mr. Buttigieg abruptly pulled himself from the presidential campaign trail on Friday for a second time this week, after a South Bend police officer fatally shot a black man last weekend.

...Mr. Logan, 54, was fatally shot by an officer responding to reports of a man breaking into cars downtown. The authorities said Mr. Logan flashed a knife and lunged at the officer, who shot him once in the abdomen. But the officer had not activated his body camera. Mr. Logan’s family questioned why he was taken to the hospital in a police car rather than an ambulance.

At a time when candidates prefer their events as staged and predictable as possible, the result was a chaotic show of raw emotion and anger with grieving black residents facing off with the preternaturally calm 37-year-old mayor.

...“You’re running for president and you want black people to vote for you? That’s not going to happen,” a woman shouted.

“Ma’am, I’m not asking for your vote,” Mr. Buttigieg said.

Read more here.

Trump backs off, again.

Keith Griffith reports in the Daily Mail,

President Donald Trump has said that he is delaying planned enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove thousands of illegal immigrants who have court orders for deportation.

'At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!' Trump said in a tweet on Saturday afternoon.

Enforcement raids had been scheduled to begin at dawn on Sunday in at least 10 major cities, drawing furious protests from local Democrat officials who vowed to fight the deportations.

Trump had been adamant that the raids would go forward as recently as Saturday morning, and his stunning reversal on the ICE raids comes amid a tumultuous week in which it was revealed that he pulled back on a planned strike against Iran at the last minute after learning the casualty projections.

Read more here.

"John Bolton is a kind of bureaucratic tapeworm!"

Tucker is not a fan of John Bolton, who he believes has been planning for war with the Mullahs in Iran for years.

Is Biden toast?

In the Chicago Tribunes, John Kass writes that he thinks Joe Biden is toast.

How will Joe Biden survive next week’s presidential debates now that his fellow Democratic opponents have fitted him for the white hood?

He won’t.

He’s toast, after he was tagged as being racially insensitive at best and an enabler of Dixiecrat segregationists at worst.

It’s always his mouth that got him in trouble, but for years he was forgiven his racial gaffes and his creepiness — including getting all touchy feely and sniffing the hair of young women he didn’t know. But then he was Obama’s vice president and so was absolved.

But that’s over now, and Obama doesn’t seem to be sending any protective hugs Joe’s way.

Biden’s taken a pounding from Democratic politicians who are experts at playing the race card, but it’s all well-deserved, since Biden has also shamelessly played that same race card on others.

Read more here.

Scott Adams' views on the top news stories

This video was instantly demonetized by YouTube!

How many women in America have had a sex dream about President Trump? Scott guesses probably thirty million. Same with Obama, same with George W. Bush. Then, Scott corrects that figure downward to hundreds. Scott has heard of hundreds of stories about encounters involving himself with someone he has never met.

Mass hysteria in the Dominican Republic. Scott guesses that some people died of environmental poisoning. Alcohol? (I don't know anything about this story).

Iran: maybe our drone was in Iran's airspace for a period of time, and by the time they got around to shooting it down, it had left their airspace. Lying to the public about the location of military assets is acceptable. If it helps our cause, Scott wants them to lie to him! He is talking about the short term. In the long term the truth comes out, and that is good. Iran is now saying there was a second aircraft that was manned.

Pete Buttigieg will not be our president. Cringy weak! He was speaking to Black Lives Matter protesters. He said in response to a group member, "I'm not asking for your vote." Scott thinks the replaying of that video will end his chance to be president.

21 Democrat candidates showed up for the Clyburn fishfry in South Carolina. Scott believes Bernie suffered badly in the appearance, appearing old and angry.

CNN anchorwoman wonders if the reason Trump did not attack Iran was that Tucker Carlson was so against it. Scott believes Trump would not win reelection if Tucker turned on him for a good reason. Having a war with Iran at this point is optional. Tucker is in a position to stop it!

Since it is a "quiet" news period, Scott opened the remaining portion of the podcast to questions from the audience.

Ivanka ready

“Inform the Senate that Daddy’s battlestation is fully operational.” pic.twitter.com/nnK8oLC8AG

— Peter Wolf (@peterawolf) June 16, 2019

Without

Guest post by Suzann Darnall

I was listening to my scriptures this morning as I was doing some household chores. In Moroni, Chapter 9, I was struck by some intense language. The descriptive phrases brought home to me much of what is occurring in society today.

“
. . . a people . . . that are without civilization . . .”
“
. . . a people . . . whose delight is in so much abomination . . .”
“
. . . many widows and their daughters . . . wander whithersoever
they can for food; and many old women do faint by the way and die.”
“
. . . people . . . are without order and without mercy.”
“
. . . they have become strong in their perversion; and they are alike brutal, sparing none, neither old nor young; and they delight in everything save that which is good; and the suffering of our women and our children upon all the face of this land doth exceed everything; . . .”
“
. . . the wickedness of this people; . . . they are without principle, and past feeling;”


It made me think of so many trends that degrade humanity. The wholesale slaughter of our unborn children through abortions. The sexualization of our children with Drag Queen Story Time, trangenderism of underage youth, and attempts to normalize pedophilia. The reduction of women to second class status in some areas by allowing transgender men to participate as women in those endeavors. The contempt for the elderly that our government shows by minimizing many of the programs that our senior citizens paid into and yet are now being treated as if it is a government handout.

The really sad thing about all of this is that much of it is being driven by a minority of the population that is running roughshod over the citizenry due to the so-called mainstream media and elitist politicians using these very vocal useful idiots to consolidate as much power on the Left as possible. Most Americans seem to be decent human beings. They want good for their children. They want to take care of their old folks. They may not be perfect, but they are not depraved and uncivilized.

But, if we continue to allow brutality and depravity to run rampant across our nation, we will become a nation without. Without joy. Without refuge. Without future. Without freedom.

Trump vs. Iran

In PowerLine, Steven Hayward addresses the question of Trump vs. Iran. Then, he is joined by many intelligent commenters here.

Toast!

The Babylon Bee has published helpful guide to recognize facial expressions that are unsafe.

The Babylon Bee has published helpful guide to recognize facial expressions that are unsafe.

Flying to the Climate Change Conference

"We have more standards than you!"

From the Babylon Bee:

PHILADELPHIA, PA—During a campaign speech Tuesday, Joe Biden proudly declared that while Republicans have at least some standards, Democrats are going above and beyond with their "double standards."

Biden pointed out that by having two sets of standards, Democrats are leading the race for having the most sets of standards.

"That's two times as many standards," he said proudly. "Double is a lot more than single. Anyone who's ever watched a baseball game knows that."

"Isn't that right, sweetie?" he said to a young girl in the front row of the crowd, asking her to come up and stand on the stage while he put his hands on her shoulders for the duration of the speech.

The presidential candidate then went on to slam Trump for his treatment of women, confident in the knowledge that no one in the Democratic Party would dare call him out for being a hypocritical little creep.

Not to be outdone, Trump quickly took to Twitter to announce that the Republican Party would shortly be debuting its brand new triple standards.

Purchasing Congresspeople

Another good idea from The Babylon Bee:

Congress Members To Wear Barcodes So Lobbyists Can Scan Prices, Self-Checkout



WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a move to make purchasing congresspeople easier and faster for lobbyists, Congress voted to approve a new measure that calls for congresspeople to wear barcodes on their foreheads so lobbyists, activists, and corporations can simply scan them and self-checkout.

Self-checkout machines will be installed at all exits of the Capitol Building, so once they've added congresspeople to their cart, lobbyists can pay right on the way out.

"Purchasing congresspeople used to be a time-consuming, expensive process," said a Planned Parenthood representative. "Now, we can simply walk through Congress, scan all the congresspeople that are for sale, and checkout without having to interact with any humans."

"We hate humans---like, a lot," the PP rep added.

One major military-industrial complex lobby group, Americans For Bigger Bombs, said they are also in support of the new move.

"When you need to make a quick pit stop at our nation's legislative body to purchase a few congresspeople to start a new war, you need to do it fast," said one AFBB lawyer. "An attack on Iran can't wait while you wheel and deal, wine and dine, and negotiate endlessly. Now, I can just scan and go."

Eloquent words by the owner of Gibson's Bakery

Comments by David Gibson:

As the extended legal battle dragged on, many asked why I didn’t just quit. Wouldn’t it be easier to close up shop and move on?

What few understand is that this situation not only affected our business; it touched every aspect of our lives.

In the end, the words of my father inspired me to continue the fight. He said, “In my life, I’ve done everything I could to treat all people with dignity and respect. And now, nearing the end of my life, I’m going to die being labeled as a racist.”

There wasn’t enough time, he feared, to set the record straight. His legacy had been tarnished and he felt powerless to stop it. I had to see this case through.

This experience has taught me that reputations are a fragile thing. They take a lifetime to build, but only moments to destroy.

Legal Insurrection leads the way to the truth here.

Do you really think Big Tech is worried about Washington D.C.?

In AEI, James Pethokoukis writes,

...anti-tech activists and policymakers are pretty pumped on news that regulators and lawmakers are gearing up to scrutinize the tech titans. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have apparently divvied up investigative authority over the companies. The DOJ is getting Alphabet-Google and Apple, with the FTC having oversight over Facebook and Amazon. Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee on Monday announced it will hold hearings into whether there’s enough competition in the tech sector. Taken together, the actions suggest broad support across Washington for the notion that Big Tech has become a problem.

...American antitrust doctrine is all about penalizing companies for being bad, not big, and in ways that harm economic welfare. It’s tough to make a broad antitrust case against companies that offer free, innovative services that consumers greatly value.

...Indeed, it’s market forces, not government actions, that are most likely to erode the dominance of Big Tech, even if the investigations result in European Union-level fines and a change in some business practices. Maybe the activists should try reading some quarterly reports from time to time. Alphabet’s most recent showed a big slowdown in Google’s ad business as it faces a growing challenge from Amazon. And while the online retailer might seem an unstoppable juggernaut, Wall Street analysts see a company surrounded by tough competitors such as Walmart and Costco, as well as the other Big Tech firms. Young adults are fleeing Facebook, which is trying to reinvent its business model to one that focuses less on targeted ads. Can Apple shift from hardware to services?

These “forever” companies face a host of challenges that never seem to get mentioned in the rush to dismantle or regulate. Of course, regulation can often help incumbents, too. This seems to be happening with Europe’s year-old data protection rule, which is increasing the ad market share of Google and Facebook vs. smaller competitors. If Big Tech stays big and avoids the natural churn of a market economy, the unintended consequences of government action rather than anti-competitive behavior might be to blame.

Read more here.

"There is some good that is going to come out of this."

Scott cautions us on what we should and should not believe. Lots of maybes, a few probablies. One certainty: We had a drone. They shot it down. We tested their defense. Do you think the Ayatollah slept in his normal bed? What thoughts went through his mind? What about the citizens of Iran? President Trump said he called the strike back because he was told that 150 innocent Iranians might die. The President of the United States just took sides with the Iranian citizens.

Did Trump get a phone call from Putin? From Xi? From Israel?

Ramp up sanctions? Put more pressure on countries who have not been abiding by the sanctions? The President has created more leverage than he had before this incident.

There is no such thing as a good idea. There are only ideas that fit perfectly with the time and the moment.

Three aspects of modern war: kill people, economic sanctions, address their belief system. We should challenge Iran directly to a war of ideas. Should we threaten to open up their internet?