US Claims Significant Blow, Cash for Clintons

—From Franklin, Tenn.

 

Permawar: Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the killing of ISIS official Abu Sayyaf inside Syria was “ a significant blow” to the organization, but how serious remains to be seen. While the US showed that its intelligence and killing capabilities can pinpoint an enemy, Sayyaf may have been no more than a middle manager easily replaced. He was responsible for the Islamic State’s oil, gas, and financial operations.

Sayyaf was taken out by a Delta Force team carried in by helicopter and vertical takeoff aircraft. No Americans were hurt, but ISIS bullets punched some holes in their aircraft.

The US had planned to capture Sayyaf and eventually bring him back to the US if they could have built a criminal case against him.

World: At least three people were killed today in a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. The Taliban have claimed responsibility. Many people were reported to have been taken away with terrible wounds. One of the dead was British and two are reported to be teenage girls.

It’s the second major incident in a week. On Thursday a Taliban attack on a hotel killed 14 people.

Second Leg: American Pharoah won a sloppy Preakness in heavy rain yesterday, giving the horse a shot at racing’s Triple Crown in three weeks at Belmont. Pharoah broke out early and won easily, feeding hope for horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

Politic$: Bill and Hillary Clinton earned at least $30 million giving speeches last year through the first four months of 2015, according to their filing with the Federal Elections Commission. They reported their net worth as being between $11.3 million and $52.7 million, not including real estate and personal property.

Frank Bruni says in the NY Times, “Bill’s still charging by the syllable: Damn the optics and full greed ahead.”

Papal Politics: Pope Francis has canonized two Palestinian nuns from the 19th century Ottoman-ruled Palestine as saints. It’s seen as a move to bolster the Catholic faith in Muslim territory. This comes in the same week that The Vatican recognized Palestine as a state.

Weather Report: A powerful storm system stretches from Texas to Minnesota today, bringing high winds and heavy rains to some areas that have already been battered by tornadoes. Severe storms are expected in eastern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and parts of Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas.

The Obit Page: Elizabeth Bing, a natural childbirth advocate who preached the Lamaze method of drug free birth and changed the way babies are born in America, has died at age 100. When she started out, birthing mothers were heavily sedated and fathers were left in the waiting room. The Lamaze method focuses on breathing and relaxation with husbands as the coach. She used to say, “We don’t call it natural childbirth, but educated childbirth.”

Big Screen: The sensation of the Cannes film festival is a movie called “Carol,” in which Cate Blanchett plays a married woman coming to grips with her true romantic attraction to women. Rooney Mara plays the other woman. Set in 1950, “Carol” portrays the then unspoken side of the American sexual revolution, still being fought today.

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Thursday, May 2, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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