Not only did Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, he is now using her ideas and taking credit for them.
The post 5 Hard-Hitting Facts Proving Donald Trump Has Become Just Like Hillary Clinton appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
So what’s Kiefer Sutherland’s character swearing an oath to, and how does that square with infringements on the right to keep and bear arms? (“Designated Survivor” Facebook photos)
That ABC’s “Designated Survivor” is a showcase for advancing “progressive” government objectives to include citizen disarmament is not news. I posted a link on my The War on Guns blog last April to a News Busters piece that appropriately described the program’s treatment of guns as “a dumpster fire of misinformation.” But I never watched the episode in question until recently and saw the extent of how bad it really was. (If you haven’t seen the show, this will contain spoilers.)
The premise revolves around efforts to pass a “background check” bill. The catalyst for that was the attempted assassination of the president (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and the execution of the vice president by his wife, both of whom were involved in the plot to kill the president as well as the wider plot that killed off the upper tiers of government by blowing up the Capitol during the State of the Union address. In other words, the “gun violence” was all initiated not by average citizens subject to going through NICS, but by a cabal including plotters in the highest levels of government. To top it off, the VP’s wife was violating the “gun-free zone” at the scene of her crime, Arlington National Cemetery.
The rest of the arguments for ending private sales are equally fraudulent.
The First Lady smacked down the lead “pro-gun” Senator by bringing up shootings in schools, malls and movie theaters. What that has to do with “background checks” was never questioned, leaving the viewer go believe the “solution” is to make them even more “gun-free.”
A woman at a town hall meeting tugged at everyone’s heartstrings recounting how her ex-boyfriend got out of prison (meaning he would have been a “prohibited person”) and shot her daughter to death with a gun he bought from an “unlicensed gun dealer” (which is an intentional deceptive conflating of private sellers with black market criminals).
President Kiefer used all the right buzzwords from the gun-grab narrative, terms like “common sense,” to then expand the prohibition pool with prior restraints on people who have never been convicted of any crime to include those caught in the mental health dragnet and those named on the deeply flawed “terror watch list.” And naturally he couched it as respecting the Second Amendment, all the while assuring the public with the ubiquitous “No one is talking about taking away anyone’s guns.”
Of course they are. “The newspaper of record” published an editorial that flat-out advocates “Repeal the Second Amendment.” Democrats introduced a joint resolution to do just that in 1993. The year before, a Republican introduced a bill to ban handguns. And the current crop of congressional monopoly of violence advocates is still trying to reinstate and expand upon the so-called “assault weapons” ban.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi let it out that concerns over a “slippery slope” were in fact real and part of the plan – as opposed to “paranoia,” which gun-grabbers had previously ridiculed gun owners over for pointing out.
Penn with Jarrett (Obama White House video screen shot)
“Designated Survivor” is lending itself to a propaganda effort the Obama administration made great use of to help “convince” the public to support its agenda: Valerie Jarrett made no secret of her efforts to convince script writers to push Obamacare in popular entertainment. And it’s no accident that series actor Kal Penn, also given a “consultant” credit on the show, served in the Obama White House as Associate Director of Public Engagement.
So just turn it off, right? Rip out the cable! Don’t watch the propaganda and there won’t be a problem?
Not quite.
First of all, some of us have to keep tabs on what the public is being subjected to if we’re going to stay informed on what those who want to disarm us are up to and what they’re doing to manipulate political sentiments of the electorate.
Second, a show like “Designated Survivor” reaches millions of viewers. When you see polls that tell you how the majority of Americans favor background checks, that’s because the only information they’re getting is through the anti-gun news media and through entertainment propaganda. An article like this, that counters the disinformation, will only reach a fraction of that amount, and most readers here will already be on the side of the right to keep and bear arms.
Too often, that’s an echo chamber.
So the questions then become, knowing overwhelming numbers of Americans are being swindled and also knowing the danger to all of us that poses at the polls, what can each of us do to alert more of our countrymen to the lies they’re being fed? And are we doing it?
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If you believe in the mission of Oath Keepers, to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, please make a donation to support our work. You can donate HERE.
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David Codrea’s opinions are his own. See “Who speaks for Oath Keepers?”
The post ‘Designated Gun-Grabber’ Shows Insidiousness of Hollywood Propaganda appeared first on Oath Keepers.
The woman made infamous for flipping off president Donald Trump’s motorcade says she was fired from her job for her childish behavior. Juli Briskman said the marketing company bosses called her in and gave her the boot.
But, nonetheless, the 50-year-old says she has no regrets about flipping off the president’s motorcade. Briskman was cycling in Virginia last month when she offered the gesture in what she described as a “gut reaction” to Donald Trump’s policies. “He was passing by and my blood just started to boil,” she told the Huffington Post. “I’m thinking, DACA (aka, “dreamers,” children of illegal immigrants who were allowed to stay in the United States) recipients are getting kicked out. He pulled ads for open enrollment in Obamacare. Only one-third of Puerto Rico has power. I’m thinking, he’s at the damn golf course again.”
A photographer traveling with the presidential motorcade snapped Briskman’s picture and the image quickly spread across news outlets and social media. Many hailed Briskman as a hero, with some saying she should run in the 2020 election; while others called her disrespectful, emotionally driven, and childish.
“I flipped off the motorcade a number of times,” Briskman added. But her bosses didn’t find her little stunt all that entertaining, or in accordance with how the company perceives the manner in which an employee should conduct themselves in or out of the workplace.
Briskman had been working as a marketing and communications specialist for a Virginia-based federal contractor, Akima, for six months. She thought it best detail to the human resources department that she was now infamous for being emotionally unstable and flipping off the president. With all of the online fuss around her actions, the company would have likely found out about her antics anyway.
Bosses called her into a meeting after she ratted herself out, she said. “They said, ‘We’re separating from you,’” Briskman told the Huffington Post. “‘Basically, you cannot have lewd or obscene things in your social media.’ So they were calling flipping him off obscene.” Unfortunately for Briskman, that’s fairly common among companies. Most want their employees to behave in a manner befitting the company (including on social media), and flipping off the president probably didn’t make Akima look all that great. One would expect the exact same reaction from a boss should a person have been fired for flipping off President Obama’s motorcade.
She said the company was displeased she had used the image as her profile picture on Twitter and Facebook and the bosses told her that using the image violated social media policy and could hurt the company’s reputation as a government contractor. Briskman said she pointed out that her social media pages do not mention her employer. She also tried to shift blame when she said another employee had written a profane insult about someone on Facebook, but had been allowed to keep his job after deleting the post and being reprimanded. Unfortunately, Briskman cannot simply “delete” what she did considering the photo went viral; but it’s oddly amusing she tried to throw a fellow employee under the bus for her misdeeds.
Virginia, however, has “at will” employment laws, meaning private-sector employers can fire anyone for any reason. Suddenly, the emotionally unstable 50-year-old mother of two found herself looking for a new job. Briskman, who votes Democratic (big surprise), said she planned to look for a new job with an advocacy group she believes in, such as Planned Parenthood or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
That seems about right for a Democrat. Advocate for the slaughter of innocent human beings while saving all the animals.
When five former presidents came together for a photo-op with Lady Gaga, the internet forgot all about one title the men have in common—War Criminal
LAS VEGAS (INTELLIHUB) President Donald Trump arrived in Las Vegas following the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.
The post President Donald Trump arrives in Las Vegas following mass shooting appeared first on Intellihub.
WASHINGTON (INTELLIHUB) — Contents of a personal letter ‘cherished’ by President Donald Trump which was authored by former President Barack Obama and left for the incoming commander-in-chief on the day of his inauguration have recently been revealed.
The full letter, obtained exclusively by CNN reads:
Dear Mr. President —
Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure.
This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don’t know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful. Still, let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years.
First, we’ve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune. Not everyone is so lucky. It’s up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family that’s willing to work hard.
Second, American leadership in this world really is indispensable. It’s up to us, through action and example, to sustain the international order that’s expanded steadily since the end of the Cold War, and upon which our own wealth and safety depend.
Third, we are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions — like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties — that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.
And finally, take time, in the rush of events and responsibilities, for friends and family. They’ll get you through the inevitable rough patches.
Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can.
Good luck and Godspeed,
BO
For nearly every decision Donald Trump has announced as president, there seems to be a small collection of Tweets he has published at some point within the last decade that directly contradict his current decisions—raising speculation about just how much freedom he has, and how many of his policies are being decided for him.
The most recent example occurred this week when Trump announced that he will follow in the footsteps of former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama by continuing the War in Afghanistan—the longest war in U.S. history, which has been ongoing for 16 years.
President Trump presented the never-ending war as a cornerstone of American culture by saying, “American patriots from every generation have given their last breath on the battlefield—for our nation and for our freedom.”
However, Businessman Trump shared a very different opinion when he commented on the situation in February 2012. “It is time to get out of Afghanistan. We are building roads and schools for people that hate us. It is not in our national interests,” He wrote on Twitter.
It is time to get out of Afghanistan. We are building roads and schools for people that hate us. It is not in our national interests.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2012
As he campaigned for re-election in May 2012, Obama appeared to share a similar sentiment, making the statement that “By 2014, the war in Afghanistan will be over.”
President Obama: "By 2014, the war in Afghanistan will be over."
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 5, 2012
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“I agree with Pres. Obama on Afghanistan,” Trump wrote in January 2013. “We should have a speedy withdrawal. Why should we keep wasting our money — rebuild the U.S.!”
I agree with Pres. Obama on Afghanistan. We should have a speedy withdrawal. Why should we keep wasting our money — rebuild the U.S.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2013
Trump also previously wrote that he agreed with Ron Paul’s stance on Afghanistan in August 2011. “Ron Paul is right that we are wasting trillions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” He said.
Ron Paul is right that we are wasting trillions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2011
Ironically, Paul was one of Trump’s biggest critics on Monday, publishing a series of Tweets during Trump’s speech on Afghanistan that called out his administration for the blatant hypocrisy it is displaying to appease a neoconservative, war-mongering agenda.
READ MORE: 5 Major Stories Americans Missed While Consumed by the Super Bowl
“Sad that these wars the politicians argue for are unconstitutional yet we are told we are over there defending the Constitution,” Paul wrote, followed by, “The American people deserve to know when we are going to war and MUST give you permission through their representatives in Congress!”
Sad that these wars the politicians argue for are unconstitutional yet we are told we are over there defending the Constitution.
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) August 22, 2017
The American people deserve to know when we are going to war and MUST give you permission through their representatives in Congress!
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) August 22, 2017
Even though the fresh-faced Illinois senator and the New York business mogul expressed support for putting an end to the miserable failure that has been the War in Afghanistan, they both ended up contributing to it. And this is just the beginning of the long list of examples.
Several of Trump’s most contradictory Tweets have been chronicled on a Sub-Reddit titled “Trump Criticizes Trump,” which is a fitting name for a page filled with 140-character rants, jabs and insults that perfectly describe everything that is wrong with the president’s current policies.
In June 2015, as his presidential campaign was just beginning, Trump claimed that if elected, he would cut back on vacation time. “I would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done,” he said. “I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off.”
That comment fell directly in line with one of Trump’s biggest complaints about his predecessor. In October 2011, Trump took to Twitter to ask, “Why is Barack Obama always campaigning or on vacation?
Why is @BarackObama always campaigning or on vacation?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2011
Then in July 2014, Trump wrote, “Obama is on yet another two-day West Coast fundraising swing. Has to fit it in before his 15-day tax-payer funded vacation.”
Obama is on yet another two-day West Coast fundraising swing. Has to fit it in before his 15 day tax-payer funded vacation.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2014
However, instead of setting the example once he took office, Trump decided to take some vacation time of his own. While he criticized Obama for taking a 15-day vacation, Trump just concluded a 17-day vacation, bringing his total to 53 vacation days while in office, which is three times the number of vacation days Obama took in the same time period.
READ MORE: Trump Just Went Full Sanders -- Calls for Increasing Minimum Wage and Higher Taxes
Another aspect Trump criticized Obama on was the amount of time he spent campaigning for re-election, instead of focusing on the American people. However, it should be noted that Trump’s first campaign rally occurred in Florida on Feb. 18—less than one month after he was inaugurated.
Trump’s past Tweets serve as a very real reminder of what happens when a regular citizen assumes the office of president and he is forced to change his policies in order to fit the narrative that has become the status quo for all presidents in the U.S.
As he wrote in March 2014, “It’s almost like the United States has no President—we are a rudderless ship heading for a major disaster. Good luck everyone!”
It"s almost like the United States has no President – we are a rudderless ship heading for a major disaster. Good luck everyone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2014
In the same way that Obama gained votes by criticizing warrantless government surveillance and pushing for an end to the United States’ war-mongering foreign policy, Trump gained votes by speaking out against the establishment and promising to bring an end to a reckless pattern of regime-change wars.
Every 4 years, a new puppet is considered for the White House, and every 4 years the public continues to ignore the fact that the government only continues to grow, armed with a series of all-powerful agencies that face no accountability—from the CIA creating terrorist groups to overthrow foreign leaders, to the NSA illegally spying on innocent Americans, to the Pentagon failing to account for billions, if not trillions, of taxpayer dollars.
READ MORE: Think Obama"s Gone? Think Again -- Ex-Pres Considering Career in Digital Propaganda
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results, then why hasn’t it become clear that the American public is stuck in an insane cycle of believing that simply electing the “right candidate” will solve a sea of problems that seem to stay the same, no matter which individual is in office or which party is in “control”?
(INTELLIHUB) — Federal Election Commission filings show that Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid former vice chairman Huma Abedin $65,000 since Hillary’s defeat for the White House.
According to a report by Joe Schoffstall, published by Fox News: “Records show Abedin, Clinton’s longtime friend and aide who served as the vice chair of the campaign, has been paid $64,415.10 in salary from Hillary for America, Clinton’s campaign committee, since mid-November. […] From mid-November to the end of March, Abedin was paid $52,180.65 from Hillary for America. From the beginning of April until the end of June, Abedin was given another $12,234.45 from Clinton’s campaign committee.”
The report also confirms that Nick Merrill, Robert Russo, and other staffers have also been privy to ongoing compensation.
Shepard Ambellas is an opinion journalist, analyst, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub News & Politics (Intellihub.com). Shepard is also known for producing Shade: The Motion Picture (2013) and appearing on Travel Channel’s America Declassified (2013). Shepard is a regular contributor to Infowars. Read more from Shep’s World. Follow Shep on Facebook and Twitter.
There was something very revealing about Charlottesville and its aftermath. Not the behavior of the president, or the disturbing resiliency of Nazism, or the willingness of some counter-protesters to initiate violence. We saw how the repugnant actions of a very tiny percentage of people can be manufactured into an all-encompassing narrative – while the corporatocracy continues fleecing America.
With his (perhaps intentional) bungled response to Charlottesville, President Trump propelled race onto center-stage, as corporate media piled on to cash in on Trump controversy. Race issues should undoubtedly be part of the national discourse, but Trump and the MSM are using Charlottesville in a manner nothing short of ‘divide and conquer.’
Having a president is a prime driving force in the devolution of debate. Complexity is boiled away, leaving cartoonish characterizations promoted by cable TV personalities armed with clichés and the day’s talking points.
With a president, emotions are channeled into supporting or opposing the words of one person. Rationality is completely overshadowed by fear-based fallacies and the tendency toward violence. Middle ground continually disappears, growing a dichotomous world of fawning followers and rabid dissenters – regardless of which of the two parties is in power.
A president makes it easy to produce ‘fast food’ news, irresistible to short attention spans and poisonous to the system. Every four years, two people are made to represent the myth of ‘liberal vs. conservative,’ directing everyone’s energy into straw man issues. There is no room for nuance, let alone building a rational case on an issue of importance.
If you are against candidate X, then you must be a [insert buzzword] who follows candidate Y. So goes the narrative. And every four years the corporatocracy celebrates another win.
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A president makes it easy to distract the masses with issues that have nothing to do with how government actually spends your money (besides Confederate statues, of course). Trump does it, Obama did it, Bush did it, and so on.
READ MORE: Obama says his is ‘most transparent administration" ever
Under this framework, people are easily labeled and put into neat boxes to be used for cable TV talking heads. Sound bites from shouting matches have replaced well-informed essays. The president makes all of this easy, because he or she is willing to represent one side of the fictional debate.
Much of what is fed to the voting populace is essentially fake, but the power of the president has never been greater – especially since 9/11. The person who gets into the Oval Office has immense power to shape the federal bureaucracy to his or her will.
Every candidate claims to be working on behalf of the people, but every president in reality is paying back the relative few who helped put him in power, while strengthening the centralized State in his own fashion. Trump is pumping up the police state with his “law and order” crusade, just as Obama vastly expanded the surveillance state.
For many, the first thought is “commander in chief.” But nothing prevents a representative body from selecting a commander in times of war (which really isn’t necessary in an enlightened society). The president is really there to convince Americans to ‘rally round the flag’ when the military-industrial complex wants another armed conflict. The president greases the wheels of American hegemony and economic sabotage.
Now, with the help of such things as the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force – given to the executive in the wake of 9/11 – the president can bomb and invade countries at will. A single person can decide to invade Iraq, drone bombs kids in Pakistan, or drop nuclear bombs on North Korea.
Picking a Supreme Court judge? Who says a judiciary panel of representatives can’t select someone? Instead of multiple voices from different parts of the country debating over the best pick, a single person called the president is free to pick someone far more interested in ideology than rationality.
READ MORE: Death Rattle of Mainstream Media: Multiple Corporate Outlets Now Labeling Each Other "Fake News"
This is not a defense of the current legislative and judicial bodies. The executive branch is the focus here. Instead of serving useful functions, presidents serve as lightning rods for creating a false narrative.
And while they’re at it, presidents live a lifestyle that monarchs would envy – costing taxpayers untold billions.
As Ryan McMaken pointed out in February:
“Just last month, the taxpayers were forced to pay more than 100 million dollars to throw an immense party for the new president so he could be honored with fanfare and solemn ceremonies that would have made the Caesars envious.
As the head of this huge unitary executive, Presidents can command a huge national audience and face no opposition from any peer. They hand our awards to their friends, enjoy sumptuous food at state dinners, travel in luxury on Air Force One — at great cost to the taxpayer — and shut down entire highways and city blocks wherever they choose to go.”
McMaken, who argues that the Founding Fathers “were not nearly as insightful as is often pretended,” provides an interesting analysis of what they had to say at the Constitutional Convention.
Alexander Hamilton, in pushing for a strong executive branch, cited the need for “decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch.” Hamilton would be overjoyed today, as the presidency now exerts inordinate amounts of activity and secrecy.
Not everyone was fooled at the Convention, including George Mason who correctly noted:
“If strong and extensive powers are vested in the executive, and that executive consists only of one person, the government will of course degenerate (for I will call if degeneracy) into a monarchy – a government contrary to the genius of the people that they will reject even the appearance of it.”
Mason was not insightful in his prediction that people would resist the slide to an executive branch with monarchic powers. Now, we see more polarization than ever – centered on the president – and more people saying they would support the president no matter what he does.
READ MORE: Here"s How 72% of Fortune 500s Use Congress to Avoid Paying Taxes, Sticking You With the Bill
The pestilence of presidential politics is growing, and it’s creeping more and more into Congressional races – choking out debate about local issues in favor of divisive sound bites about allegiance to or resistance to the sitting president. Thus it serves the purpose of sustaining central authority.
Decentralization is needed now more than ever, especially considering the size of the U.S. in terms of landmass and population. Perhaps we should be looking to our northern neighbor, Canada, which has regional provinces more reflective of local populations.
Different parts of the country have different ideas about doing things; one person called the president will never get even close to getting everyone to agree. Isn’t it uncanny how, despite decades of U.S. presidents who profess a desire to “mend the nation,” America seems more polarized than ever?
Things are not getting better. Having a president is only making it easier for centralized power structures – represented by many factions including the Federal Reserve – to cement control over people’s lives and their economies.
McMaken proposes to break the executive branch into several administrators, which is the way most states govern. It’s difficult to fathom any solution to the situation as long as corrupt money rules politics.
If things are bad now in terms of presidential power and false narratives, there’s one thing that would drive American over the proverbial cliff. A terrorist attack the likes of 9/11, regardless of the potentially questionable circumstances, would sweep away any remaining opposition to virtual dictatorship.
Before that happens, let’s abolish the presidency.
When they consider Thomas Jefferson, many Americans first think of him as the author of the Declaration of Independence or as our nation’s third president, who was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. However, Jefferson’s contributions go deeper than those accomplishments.
Jefferson was a true Renaissance man with a variety of interests and hobbies. He was an accomplished architect, an inventor and a violinist. He could read more than five languages. Jefferson also was a horticulturist who made important contributions to American gardening.
In a letter to Charles W. Peale in 1811, Jefferson wrote, “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. … But though an old man, I am but a young gardener.”
At Monticello, his beloved Virginia estate, Jefferson became a pioneer of gardening practices that are useful for us today. Always passionate about growing things, Jefferson further developed this interest during a diplomatic trip to England in 1786 with his long-time friend John Adams.
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Jefferson’s garden at Monticello
During the two-month trip, he was able to tour and examine many English gardens. Those observations became the basis for his own extensive gardening ideas. Much of what he learned can be applied to any garden of any size.
Here are five examples of Thomas Jefferson’s gardening wisdom.
1. Experiment … extensively
Jefferson once wrote that the “greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” When he traveled throughout our young country and abroad, Jefferson often exchanged seeds and seedlings with other gardeners. He enjoyed cultivating those seeds and young plants in his Monticello garden.
Because he grew a variety of crops, including a mix of tropical species with cool weather crops, he devised a unique terraced landscape for his 1,000-foot-long vegetable garden. By placing the garden on a south-facing slope, he was able to capture abundant sunshine.
Creating this unique form of “hanging garden” involved the removal of about 600,000 cubic feet of red clay and the creation of a 1,000-foot-long rock wall that was 15-feet tall in some places.
2. Grow what you eat
Jefferson loved to eat vegetables. In fact, he wrote that “they constitute my principal diet.” Because of his extensive travels, he was exposed to a wide variety of cuisines. He frequently took recipes back home with him and encouraged his cooks to use Monticello’s homegrown produce in new ways. In this way, he created a new American type of cuisine he described as ‘half-French and half-Virginian.”
His Monticello garden featured 330 different varieties of vegetables and 170 varieties of fruits. According to Monticello gardening expert Peter Hatch, Jefferson’s garden inspired a “revolutionary cuisine.” A Monticello recipe for okra soup, for instance, reflects influences from Native Americans (lima beans), Europe (potatoes and tomatoes) and Africa via the West Indies (okra).
Karen Hess, a noted culinary historian, called Jefferson “our most illustrious epicure, in fact, our only epicurean President.”
3. Go natural
Jefferson would be quite at home with the organic gardening movement of today. When his daughter, Martha, wrote to him while he was in Philadelphia serving as secretary of state, she complained about insects damaging the vegetables at Monticello.
Image source: Pixabay.com
He responded, “I suspect that the insects which have harassed you have been encouraged by the feebleness of your plants; and that has been produced by the lean state of the soil.”
He recommended the garden be covered that winter with “a heavy coating of manure. When is rich it bids defiance to droughts, yields in abundance, and of the best quality.”
In 2009, White House chef Sam Kass reserved a section of the White House garden to showcase Jefferson’s Tennis Ball and Brown Dutch lettuce, Prickly-Seeded spinach and Marseilles fig, a few of Jefferson’s favorite plants.
4. Keep notes
Jefferson had a scientist’s mind, and because of that, he kept scrupulous notes about what worked and what did not work in his garden.
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He recorded his gardening efforts in his Garden Book, a personal journal he maintained from 1766 to 1824. Hatch reports that Jefferson was not afraid to admit defeat in certain gardening circumstances. “On one page in 1809 the word failed is written down 19 times,” Hatch writes. “He had a holistic view, as we say today, of the gardening process. It is the failure of one thing that is repaired by the success of another.”
Jefferson’s garden at Monticello
In his “A General Gardening Calendar,” Jefferson’s only published horticultural work, he offered a monthly guide for kitchen gardening. In the calendar, which was first published in 1824 in the American Farmer, a Baltimore periodical, Jefferson instructs gardeners to plant a thimble spool of lettuce seed every Monday morning from February 1 through September 1.
5. Make your garden an area for retreat
Jefferson enjoyed the restorative aspects of being a gardener and believed that gardens should be seen, experienced and enjoyed.
For example, he designed and built an octagonal pavilion in a central garden location at Monticello and used this spot as a location for reading, writing and even entertaining.
“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth,” he once wrote, “and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
Have you been to Monticello? What other “Jefferson advice” would you add? What do you remember about his garden? Share your thoughts in the section below:
Sources:
https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/historic-gardens
https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/jefferson-scientist-and-gardener
https://www.masshist.org/thomasjeffersonpapers/garden/
A Rich Spot of Earth: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello, a book by Peter Hatch
Bust Inflation With A Low-Cost, High-Production Garden. Read More Here.
Deep State sponsored partisan move lands Trump in a new lawsuit
(INTELLIHUB) — In a partisan move, two democratic Attorney Generals filed a lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump in a Federal Court Monday which alleges that the President is “flagrantly violating the Constitution” with his business entanglements.
Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh spoke at a press conference Monday where they provided the details of their suit.
“Never in the history of this country have we had a president with these kinds of extensive business entanglements or a president who refused to adequately distance themselves for their holdings,” the D.C. Attorney General stated.
Racine claims that the Constitution explicitly bars the President from receiving “gifts or inducements” from foreign or domestic entities.
“President Trump’s businesses and his dealings violate the Constitution’s anti-corruption provisions known as the Emoluments Clauses,” Racine said. “The framers included these two anti-corruption provisions to prevent foreign and domestic entities from seeking to influence the President by bestowing money or other things of value on to him.”
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh also took the mic to say: “This case is about the right of hundreds of millions of Americans to honest government. Elected leaders who serve the people and not their own financial interests are the indispensable foundation of our democracy. And the President, above all other elected officials, must have only the best interests of Americans at the heart of every decision […] and is not acting out of concern for his own business.”
“Never in our history has a President maintained an domestic and international business empire where his personal interests are tangled up with the policy interests of our country,” Frosh said. “The President’s conflicts of interests threaten or democracy [and] he continues to take monies from foreign governments.”
Additionally, Frosh said that they will be seeking the President’s financial and tax records.
Via Intellihub
Shepard Ambellas is an opinion journalist, analyst, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub News & Politics (Intellihub.com). Shepard is also known for producing Shade: The Motion Picture (2013) and appearing on Travel Channel’s America Declassified (2013). Shepard is a regular contributor to Infowars. Read more from Shep’s World. Get the Podcast. Follow Shep on Facebook and Twitter.
Trump sends a strong message to all foreign leaders with this one powerful move
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (INTELLIHUB) — President Trump and the First Lady arrived in the capital city Friday setting a new tone for America — one that implies to all nations that Americans demand respect.
Like a boss, Trump stood his ground firmly in the broiling 100-degree heat while meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud face-to-face on a desert tarmac during the President’s scheduled visit Saturday. During the exchange, which was captured on video, King Salman bowed slightly to an ever-firm Trump, who authored the best-selling book: “The Art of the Deal.”
During the exchange, which was captured on video, King Salman bowed slightly to an ever-firm Trump, who, of course, authored the best-selling book: “The Art of the Deal.”
The President’s stern actions show a distinct contrast between Obama era policies and Trump era policies and offer some insight into where the country as a whole is headed in general.
“LOOK CAREFULLY at these two photos,” musician Vinnie James tweeted. “The one on the RIGHT is a lesson in American exceptionalism: @FLOTUS no hijab, @POTUS no kowtow.”
LOOK CAREFULLY at these two photos. The one on the RIGHT is a lesson in American exceptionalism: @FLOTUS no hijab, @POTUS no kowtow. 🇺🇸❤️-VJ pic.twitter.com/FVnH8rdcIQ
— RealVinnieJames (@RealVinnieJames) May 20, 2017
President Trump told the Saudi King that meeting him was a “great honor” as the two shook hands in a friendly manner.
Later in the day, both parties appeared to be in good spirits and could be seen smiling while talking to one another.
Related video:
#MAGA
(ANTIMEDIA) The price of bitcoin just surpassed $1,800, its second all-time high this week. As governments worldwide eye the blockchain technology and ready new cryptocurrency rules, there is no sign bitcoin’s astronomical rise in value, up 81 percent this year, is over.
According to Coindesk’s Bitcoin Price Index, the average price of bitcoin hit $1,839.23 on Thursday after starting the day’s trade session at $1,732.13. That jump of more than $100 follows the historical achievement Tuesday of bitcoin breaking $1,700 for the first time.
What’s driving this mega surge? Recent comments and developments from officials in the US, Japan, and Russia, according to CNBC.
Though the price of the digital currency had already been steadily mounting, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari spoke favorably of the blockchain technology Tuesday before the record price increase of bitcoin.
“I think sentiment has shifted in the markets, in the Fed,” Kashkari told attendees of a technology conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, according to Reuters. “I would say I think conventional wisdom now is that blockchain and the underlying technology is probably more interesting and has more potential than maybe bitcoin does by itself.”
The blockchain is a digital, public ledger on which bitcoin transactions are recorded. Some proponents of the technology say its implications go beyond disrupting government currencies, threatening the status quo in global finance altogether as well as insurance markets and even governments themselves.
Last week, Russia announced that bitcoin would be legal by 2019, Cointelegraph reported. And in March, Japan legalized bitcoin for payments, which led to more purchases of the cryptocurrency with yen.
Back in the US, the infamous Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, are waiting to hear back from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as it reviews its original decision to reject a proposal for an exchange-traded fund, or ETF, that facilitates the entry of large institutional investors into the bitcoin market, CNBC reported.
This week isn’t over yet, and already since Monday the market capitalization of bitcoin has surged more than $3 billion to $29.53 billion, CNBC reported.
Meanwhile, in the bitcoin community, there is controversy pending over how changes could be made to the blockchain technology, which has been slowing amid a backlog issue. Some people are calling for a “hard fork,” in which two separate bitcoin currencies would operate, though no concrete solution has been proposed yet.
Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo
Sometimes it makes you wonder why everything in America is exactly opposite of what it should be. But even more interesting is the fact that the key members of the deep state keep pushing the Trump-Russian narrative when it has been proven that Hillary Clinton through her foundation has sold one-fifth of the U.S. uranium supply to the Russians and profited from doing so. So I ask: Mr. President, why is she not locked up yet?
Please tweet this to @POTUS.
PRINCETON, Ore. (INTELLIHUB) — As it turns out there’s a lot more to the story behind the Malheur Wildlife Refuge — a whole lot more — and this article is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
As you may or may not know, on Jan. 4 Intellihub reported that the Hammond’s ranch and other ranchlands surrounding the refuge sit atop a vast swath of precious metals, minerals, and uranium that’s heavily desired by not only the federal government but foreign entities as well.
However, at the time of the article’s publication, the federal government’s full motive to seize the land was not yet known other than the fact that these elements do exist in the vicinity and are invaluable.
OREGON — Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Originally set aside by Congress in 1908 primarily to protect migratory birds, this refuge also shelters many other kinds of wildlife. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Headquarters/Flickr)Now, after further investigation, more pieces of the puzzle have been put in place and you’re not going to believe what characters are involved.
I’ll give you a hint — one of them is currently being investigated by the FBI and is also running on the Democratic ticket in hopes of becoming the next President of the United States. That’s right, you guessed it — none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton of the notorious Clinton crime family.
ST. PETERSBERG, Russia — Catherine Palace. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Opening Reception, APEC Women and the Economy Forum 2012 (e_chaya/Flickr)Hillary and her foundation are implicated in the dastardly scheme along with the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation, Rosatom, and a few dubious Canadian elite, which is where the news gets really bad.
Rosatom is ranked #2 globally in uranium reserves and #1 globally for annual uranium extraction. The sheer power, strength, and size of the corporation is undeniable. Rostom is a major power-player in today’s world and didn’t become that way for no reason.
You see, Rosatom wanted to expand their operations into America and needed a way in. So, in 2013, Rosatom acquired a Canadian company named Uranium One as part of a sinister side deal which involved multiple parties. Ultimately the deal opened a typically secure and closed-door, thus allowing the Russians to salt their way into the Continental United States as part of a vast and extensive plan to mine Uranium ore out of states like Wyoming and Oregon.
Mr. Sergey Kirienko, Director General, State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM), delivers his statement at the 57th Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference. IAEA Vienna, Austria, 16 September 2013. (IAEA Imagebank)The deal was essentially brokered by Hillary and was ran through the Clinton Foundation using Canadian-backed contributions as a cover. With one flourish of a pen, just like that, the bitch sold out the American people and one-fifth of America’s uranium resources to the Russians.
In April of 2015, two reporters for the New York Times boldly reported how the plan worked:
At the heart of the tale are several men, leaders of the Canadian mining industry, who have been major donors to the charitable endeavors of former President Bill Clinton and his family. Members of that group built, financed and eventually sold off to the Russians a company that would become known as Uranium One.
Beyond mines in Kazakhstan that are among the most lucrative in the world, the sale gave the Russians control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. Since uranium is considered a strategic asset, with implications for national security, the deal had to be approved by a committee composed of representatives from a number of United States government agencies. Among the agencies that eventually signed off was the State Department, then headed by Mr. Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.
And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.
At the time, both Rosatom and the United States government made promises intended to ease concerns about ceding control of the company’s assets to the Russians. Those promises have been repeatedly broken, records show.
[…]
Soon, Uranium One began to snap up companies with assets in the United States. In April 2007, it announced the purchase of a uranium mill in Utah and more than 38,000 acres of uranium exploration properties in four Western states, followed quickly by the acquisition of the Energy Metals Corporation and its uranium holdings in Wyoming, Texas and Utah.
That deal made clear that Uranium One was intent on becoming “a powerhouse in the United States uranium sector with the potential to become the domestic supplier of choice for U.S. utilities,” the company declared.
[…]
While the United States gets one-fifth of its electrical power from nuclear plants, it produces only around 20 percent of the uranium it needs, and most plants have only 18 to 36 months of reserves, according to Marin Katusa, author of “The Colder War: How the Global Energy Trade Slipped From America’s Grasp.”
“The Russians are easily winning the uranium war, and nobody’s talking about it,” said Mr. Katusa, who explores the implications of the Uranium One deal in his book. “It’s not just a domestic issue but a foreign policy issue, too.”
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amino is met by Mr Victor Matveev, Director of Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Moscow Region, during his official visit to Moscow. 18 May 2013Additionally, BLM documentation shows:
In September 2011, a representative from Oregon Energy, L.L.C. (formally Uranium One), met with local citizens, and county and state officials, to discuss the possibility of opening a uranium oxide (“yellowcake”) mine in southern Malheur County in southeastern Oregon. Oregon Energy is interested in developing a 17-Claim parcel of land known as the Aurora Project through an open pit mining method. Besides the mine, there would be a mill for processing. The claim area occupies about 450 acres and is also referred to as the “New U” uranium claims.
On May 7, 2012, Oregon Energy LLC made a presentation to the BLM outlining its plans for development for the mine.
The Vale District has agreed to work with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on mitigation for the “New U” uranium claims, which are located in core sage grouse habitat. Although the lands encompassing the claims have been designated core, the area is frequented by rockhounds and hunters, and has a crisscrossing of off-highway vehicle (OHV) roads and other significant land disturbance from the defunct Bretz Mercury Mine, abandoned in the 1960s.
However, by the fall of 2012 the company said that it was putting its plans for the mine on hold until the uncertainty surrounding sage grouse issues was resolved.
Once again the Whore of Babylon, Hillary Clinton, her foundation, and other members of the government have literally been caught conducting illicit, illegal, and treasonous, activities right underneath the noses of the American people and are in no way being held accountable. Moreover, she has the nerve to run for president! Are you kidding me?
Governor Kate Brown heads to visit Soldiers with Charlie Co., 7-158. Aviation, who are assisting with firefighting efforts near the Canyon Creek area. Photo courtesy of Oregon Governor’s Office. (Oregon National Guard/Flickr)Now Oregon Governor Kate Brown has stepped in, calling for a ‘swift’ resolution to the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, clearly shilling for the Dems, criminally assisting them with their master plan to sell out every last bit of America’s public lands to foreign entities like Uranium One, fully eviscerating what’s left of the U.S. Constitution.
So there you have it — rogue criminal factions of government are operating at all levels and are actually conspiring together to allow foreign corporations to invade and mine rich American resources, including uranium, from lands owned by the people.
Uranium One’s slogan is:
“Success through aggressive mine and land acquisition.”
Also please note that President Obama has signed executive orders allowing the Department of the Interior to grab publicly owned lands.
Update 1:29 p.m.: World Net daily published an article back in 1998 titled “Federal Land Grab Called ‘Political’.” In the article, the author points out how Utah Republican Jame Hansen authored a bill at the time known as the “Utah Schools and Lands Exchange Act of 1998.”
According to the report, this bill passed in June of 1998, and gave “Utah 139,000 acres of federally held land, certain mineral rights, and $50 million in exchange for all of Utah’s claims to lands within national parks, monuments, forests and federal areas” under then U.S. President Bill Clinton’s orders, further demonstration how the Clinton Crime Family has been using their vast political influence to loot some of the best assets of the Corporation of the United States, selling them for pennies on the dollar to private foreign corporations and one world bodies like the United Nations.
This whole animal goes back the Ronald Regan era and possibly further.
HCN.org reported back in 2004:
[…] President Ronald Reagan and his advisors looked across the West’s public lands and saw dollar signs. Money was something they desperately needed in 1982, as the national deficit hit $128 billion. So James Watt, then U.S. secretary of the Interior, and John R. Block, the secretary of Agriculture, earmarked 35 million acres, or 5 percent of the nation’s public lands (excluding Alaska), for the auction block.
The plan to privatize public lands was met with outrage and skepticism, not only from Western liberals such as Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt, but also from conservatives like Sen. James McClure, R-Idaho, who objected because the states were cut out of the deal. Watt eventually withdrew Interior lands from the sale; shortly thereafter, the Forest Service’s sale lost steam, too.
However unpopular the proposed sales were, they weren’t illegal. And the idea didn’t go away. The framework for selling public lands has inched forward since the Clinton administration, and now the Interior Department wants to give it a higher priority.
The 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) required the Bureau of Land Management to identify lands that were “uneconomical to manage,” or that stood in the way of a community’s development. But the BLM lacked a strong incentive to identify such sellable lands: Under FLPMA, any money received from their sale would go directly into the U.S. Treasury, rather than into the agency’s own coffers.
Then, in 2000, Congress and the Clinton administration passed the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA), which changed how profits from BLM land sales were distributed. Twenty percent of any land-sale revenue would go toward the BLM’s administration costs, while the other 80 percent had to be used to buy private inholdings within BLM lands that contained “exceptional resources.” The act was based on a land disposal and acquisition mechanism in the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998, which was crafted to accommodate Las Vegas’ rapid expansion onto neighboring public lands. But FLTFA’s profit scheme applied only to sellable lands identified before July 25, 2000. At that time, the BLM estimated it had 3.3 million acres of sellable land, but thanks to better inventories, its estimate has since shrunk to as low as 330,000 acres. From 2001 to 2003, the BLM sold almost 11,000 acres under FLTFA.
Note: We know some of the land acquired by Uranium One is in Oregon and we know there are precious metals on and near the Hammond Ranch. Put two and two together. Stay tuned for more updates and confirmation as it is becoming increasingly clear that other companies and government entities are most likely also involved.
The government, alongside private companies (including foreign-owned), are in the middle of a massive criminal land grab which the mainstream media is largely ignoring, instead opting to paint those in Oregon as crazy anti-government extremists. In other words, members of the mainstream media are directly responsible for helping to allow this takeover to happen.
Related: Rancher Dwight Hammond threatened with “bullet”: Exclusive Interview
Other Sources:
Uranium prospecting in Oregon, 1956 — State of Oregon
What is that I spy east of I-17? BLM acquires more land for monument, prevents What is that I spy east of I-17? BLM acquires more land for monument, prevents development — Daily Courier
From Russia with no love for Colorado uranium mining climate — Colorado Independent
All Oregon Dockets — USGS
Presidential Memorandum — America’s Great Outdoors — WhiteHouse.gov
Public Versus Private Property Rights — BLM.gov
About Uranium One — Uranium1.com
What was the Whitewater scandal? — Investopedia
This article was written by Ron Paul and originally published at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
Editor’s Comment: As President Trump continues to be the anti-Ron Paul of the Republican Party, the sidelined former Congressman and 2008/2012 upstart presidential candidate is calling out the commander in chief for his recent support for arresting (and perhaps even executing) Julian Assange, who has been sequestered away in the Ecuadorian embassy for some 5 years after starting a revolution of revelations through his Wikileaks activism.
Not only does Trump seemingly have Wikileaks to thank for his election victory – after leaking emails, corrupt activities inside the DNC, and exposing the unsavory machinations and odd activities tied (however loosely) to the Clintonian sphere of politics – but he publicly praised Assange on the campaign trail. Now, it appears that this could all be turned around, ending an embarrassment and annoyance for the U.S. deep state as the nation gears up for another round of endless wars, and perhaps event the big one. “The first casualty when war comes is truth.“
Candidate Trump: ‘I Love Wikileaks.’ President Trump: ‘Arrest Assange!’
by Ron Paul
“I love Wikileaks,” candidate Donald Trump said on October 10th on the campaign trail. He praised the organization for reporting on the darker side of the Hillary Clinton campaign. It was information likely leaked by a whistleblower from within the Clinton campaign to Wikileaks.
Back then he praised Wikileaks for promoting transparency, but candidate Trump looks less like President Trump every day. The candidate praised whistleblowers and Wikileaks often on the campaign trail. In fact, candidate Trump loved Wikileaks so much he mentioned the organization more than 140 times in the final month of the campaign alone! Now, as President, it seems Trump wants Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sent to prison.
Last week CNN reported, citing anonymous “intelligence community” sources, that the Trump Administration’s Justice Department was seeking the arrest of Assange and had found a way to charge the Wikileaks founder for publishing classified information without charging other media outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post for publishing the same information.
It might have been tempting to write off the CNN report as “fake news,” as is much of their reporting, but for the fact President Trump said in an interview on Friday that issuing an arrest warrant for Julian Assange would be, “OK with me.”
Trump’s condemnation of Wikileaks came just a day after his CIA Director, Michael Pompeo, attacked Wikileaks as a “hostile intelligence service.” Pompeo accused Assange of being “a fraud — a coward hiding behind a screen.”
Pompeo’s word choice was no accident. By accusing Wikileaks of being a “hostile intelligence service” rather than a publisher of information on illegal and abusive government practices leaked by whistleblowers, he signaled that the organization has no First Amendment rights. Like many in Washington, he does not understand that the First Amendment is a limitation on government rather than a granting of rights to citizens. Pompeo was declaring war on Wikileaks.
But not that long ago Pompeo also cited Wikileaks as an important source of information. In July he drew attention to the Wikileaks release of information damaging to the Clinton campaign, writing, “Need further proof that the fix was in from President Obama on down?”
There is a word for this sudden about-face on Wikileaks and the transparency it provides us into the operations of the prominent and powerful: hypocrisy.
The Trump Administration’s declaration of war on whistleblowers and Wikileaks is one of the greatest disappointments in these first 100 days. Donald Trump rode into the White House with promises that he would “drain the swamp,” meaning that he would overturn the apple carts of Washington’s vested interests. By unleashing those same vested interests on those who hold them in check – the whistleblowers and those who publish their revelations – he has turned his back on those who elected him.
Julian Assange, along with the whistleblowers who reveal to us the evil that is being done in our name, are heroes. They deserve our respect and admiration, not a prison cell. If we allow this president to declare war on those who tell the truth, we have only ourselves to blame.
This article was written by Ron Paul and originally published at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
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Author: Ron Paul
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Date: April 26th, 2017
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