[FOX] A new report could prove that President Trump was right when he tweeted about a so-called "Pakistani mystery man" who kept Democratic National Committee documents and servers out of the hands of investigators.
The report, by The Daily Caller's Luke Rosiak, says that Imran Awan -- the IT aide of former DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) -- took a laptop with him in 2017 after being banned from the House computer network for "unauthorized access to data."
The report also says that Awan left the laptop, which had the username "RepDWS," "in a phone booth with a letter to prosecutors" in April 2017.
"This is like straight out of James Bond," Rosiak said on "Fox & Friends First" Tuesday.
[Carnegie - more US central viewpoint] U.S.-Russia relations are unlikely to improve soon, yet they need to avoid future clashes. The years since the Cold War provide some lessons on how to do that.
While future clashes over Eurasia are possible, they are limited to a small number of issues. This is in part because U.S. engagement with Eurasia has declined since former president George W. Bush was in office. Moving forward, however, potential problems could arise from the political dysfunction in Washington, where the Trump administration has yet to develop clear policies toward Russia or Eurasia. An inward-looking United States that is lukewarm toward its NATO commitments or its partnerships with Georgia, Ukraine, or other Eurasian states could lead to fewer frictions with Russia. However, if the administration reaffirms its ties to the region, as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to the region suggests it may do, tension with Moscow could rise.
On the other end of the spectrum, Russia no longer feels bound by the post–Cold War order, which it believes is against its national interests. Kremlin policymakers—many of whom have backgrounds in the security services and are deeply distrustful of the United States—have shown greater willingness to go toe-to-toe with the West since 2014. Eurasia is a relatively easy place for Russia to demonstrate its clout with few costs. Intervening militarily or politically in one of its Eurasian neighbors does not risk the same sort of direct confrontation with the West as an attack on the Baltic states—now NATO members—would. However, such an intervention would still cause tension, risk additional sanctions, and lead to further isolation from the West. It also would reinforce Western views of Russia as a threat to the rules-based international system.
Beyond the politics playing out in both capitals, any surprise events—such as an unintended Russia-NATO military escalation, unpredictable political transitions, tensions between Russia and several of its neighbors, or a populist backlash against a sitting Eurasian state government—could test the U.S.-Russia relationship. In addition, an increase in U.S. military and security cooperation with Central Asia to support a surge of troops in Afghanistan could meet resistance from the Kremlin. The Trump administration’s recent decision to cease security cooperation with Pakistan increases the chances for greater U.S. outreach to Central Asia on Afghanistan and has the potential to increase tensions.
Given Moscow’s growing economic and diplomatic reliance on Beijing, it also is more likely that the Russian media will focus on U.S. military or security activities in Central Asia, as opposed to China’s expanding security activities there. The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy makes clear that it anticipates the renewal of geopolitical competition, with both Russia and China as U.S. adversaries, and it even highlights Central Asia as a likely battleground. Finally, Ukraine will remain contentious at least through its 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections, while the war in eastern Ukraine will remain a barrier to improved East-West ties for the foreseeable future.
#1
many of whom have backgrounds in the security services and are deeply distrustful of the United States
I wonder why?
Could it be the butchery of Serbia?
Or American meddling in Ukraine?
Or the willingness of US "elites" to provoke conflict with Russia for internal political reasons (it's hardly Russia's fault that Hillary is in-electable)?
Neh, it's just unreasonable Russian paranoia.
[Carnegie-Moscow] Russian-U.S. relations are at their worst since the end of the Cold War. The only predictable dynamic in this relationship is that it is likely to be worse tomorrow than today. On both sides, there are multiple explanations for this state of affairs.
The Kremlin’s new pattern of thinking viewed offense as the best defense; Russia would exploit various opportunities around the world to weaken its Western opponents and undercut their interests.
As Moscow embarks on this activist foreign policy, the number of flashpoints around the world where Russian and U.S. interests can clash is on the rise. Much attention has been paid to the Middle East and Europe as the top potential hotspots for incidents and conflict between the two powers. Russia intervened boldly in Syria to support the regime of President Bashar Assad and increased its cyber activities against the United States and European countries. There has also been a dramatic rise in Russian military aircraft encounters with civil and military planes in close proximity to the airspace of U.S. allies in NATO or Asia.
The post-Soviet space, however, is probably the most fertile ground for potential flashpoints between Russia and the United States. The risks of miscalculation and misunderstanding between Moscow and Washington in the republics of the former Soviet Union may be graver than in other hotspots because of the Kremlin and White House’s asymmetry in capabilities and sensitivities in the region. Managing these flashpoints will require special attention from decision makers on both sides.
#1
From what I understand Russia has a huge birthrate problem. If Putin is smart he's got someone working on that. Have a baby for Mother Russia might work if they get moving.
h/t Instapundit
On the domestic and foreign fronts, the Trump administration has prompted economic growth and restored U.S. deterrence. Polls show increased consumer confidence, and in some, Trump himself has gained ground. Yet good news is bad news to the Resistance and its strange continued efforts to stop an elected president in a way it failed to do in the 2016 election.
Indeed, the aim of the so-called Resistance to Donald J. Trump is ending Trump’s presidency by any means necessary before the 2020 election. Or, barring that, it seeks to so delegitimize him that he becomes presidentially impotent. It has been only 16 months since Trump took office and, in the spirit of revolutionary fervor, almost everything has been tried to derail him. Now we are entering uncharted territory ‐ at a time when otherwise the country is improving and the legal exposure of Trump’s opponents increases daily.
We'll remember this one when the shoe's on the other foot after the Republican primary for UT Senator's done, won't we? Money graf:
[Deadspin] - That’s Mitt Romney, wearing what appears to be a Rodney Hood jersey [Update: it’s actually a custom Romney jersey, which is somehow worse] over a button-down shirt, taunting Russell Westbrook after Westbrook picked up his fourth foul in the first half. Sorry, but there’s not really any coming back from this. When you’re doing your job so poorly that a whimpering loser like Mitt Romney‐most recently seen groveling at the feet of the man he last tried to talk shit to‐is rightfully clowning you in an arena full of jeering Patagonia rewards club members, you’ve really fucked up. It’s time to just go home.
I just wanted to wind down the work day with some really sad, sad news...
[MSN] - Matt Lauer is having a tough time as divorce proceedings from wife Annette Roque continue, a source tells ET.
The 60-year-old former Today show anchor has currently been living a very private life in the Hamptons in New York since being abruptly fired from the NBC morning show last November due to "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace." He also put up his lavish, 11-bedroom Manhattan apartment for sale earlier this month.
"Matt cut himself off from the life he knew in Manhattan and has remained for the most part isolated," the source tells ET. "He looks exhausted. Matt is finally coming to terms with the reality that his marriage is over and he is in bad shape. He feels he lost everything important in his life overnight. He is embarrassed and ashamed."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[FOX] A new report could prove that President Trump was right when he tweeted about a so-called "Pakistani mystery man" who kept Democratic National Committee documents and servers out of the hands of investigators.
