Dreams Into Lightning 2

Morning Report: 2012-06-29

Chinese astronauts return home. BBC: 'Jing Haipeng, commander of the Shenzhou-9 crew, was the first to emerge from the return capsule, followed by his flight engineers, Liu Wang and the country's first woman astronaut, Liu Yang. Job well done. But their grin is shared across the whole Chinese nation today. ... The Shenzhou-9 mission posted a series of firsts. Liu Yang's presence in orbit obviously caught the headlines, but I was thinking more about the engineering milestones: the first manned automatic and manual dockings; the first long-duration spaceflight; and the first crew to live aboard a permanently orbiting module, Tiangong-1. ...' Space.com: 'By any measure, Shenzhou 9 — the nation's fourth human spaceflight mission, after efforts in 2003, 2005 and 2008 — appears to have been a big success. The spacecraft docked with the unmanned Tiangong 1 space module by remote control on June 18, and then again on June 24 while being piloted by the taikonauts (as Chinese astronauts are called). ...' The Telegraph has video.

US Ambassador to Kenya quits. 'The U.S. ambassador to Kenya has resigned just over a year after taking up the post, citing differences with Washington over priorities and his style of leadership, an embassy statement said on Friday. Scott Gration's departure came a week after the U.S. embassy warned of a threat of an imminent militant attack in the port city of Mombasa, angering the Kenyan government which said the advisory amounted to "economic sabotage". ...'

Syria: Hamas leader killed in Damascus. Ha'Aretz: 'A Hamas member was killed in Damascus Wednesday night, the French news agency AFP cited a senior official for the organization as saying, adding that Hamas suspected that the Mossad was behind the killing. The official, who spoke anonymously, said that "a group of people entered the home of Kamel Ranaja (also known as Nizar Abu Mujhad), and killed him. According to information that we have gathered, the Mossad is behind the attack." ...'

Holder In Contempt

BBC:

US Attorney General Eric Holder has been held in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over a set of documents on a failed sting operation.

In a majority vote, some Democrats joined with the House of Representatives' Republican majority.

Mr Holder is the first sitting attorney general to be held in contempt.

The White House has refused to hand over files outlining how the justice department discovered problems with Fast and Furious operation. ...

Ace: '255 Yes, 67 No, 1 Present. 17 Democrats voted yes, so bi-partisanship.'

Supreme Court Backs ObamaCare

PowerLine: 'According to SCOTUSblog, the entire Act is upheld, with the exception that the federal government’s power to terminate states’ Medicaid funds is narrowly read. As Tom Goldstein puts it, “Chief Justice Roberts joins the left of the Court.”'

American Thinker: 'Chief Justice Roberts delivered a shocker joining the liberal wing of the Court in finding the mandate is a tax, and therefore permissible. The entire ACA act has been upheld, except for some limitations on the federal power to affect state Medicaid programs. The decision has not yet been posted to the internet, but reporters at the Court are reading sections of the long decision. ...'

Morning Report: 2012-06-28

USA: House vote on Attorney General Holder today. 'The U.S. House will vote Thursday on holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for withholding documents involving the failed Fast and Furious weapons crackdown. ...'

USA: Supreme Court to rule on "ObamaCare" health program today. 'The Supreme Court is moments away from delivering an opinion that will determine whether "health care reform" is in need of more reform. Sometime after 10 a.m. ET, the landmark ruling will be released to the public. The opinion is a secret even to President Obama, who will find out about the ruling just like everybody else. ...'

USA: Federal judge allows Florida voter registration purge to continue. American Thinker:

The DoJ had asked for a restraining order against the state of Florida to halt the process of purging the voter rolls of ineligible voters. A federal judge in Talahassee denied the request, but had some harsh words for the state about determining citizenship....

Read the rest at the link.

SF Gay Activist Larry Brinkin Arrested on Child Porn Concerns

Advocate: 'Longtime San Francisco gay rights activist Larry Brinkin has been arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography, but he has yet to be formally charged. ... Police arrested Brinkin at his home Friday night. In their search warrant, police said pornographic images of very young children were embedded in messages from Brinkin’s email account, the Citizen reports. According to the paper, the search warrant also noted that some emails from his account included fantasy stories involving the rape and torture of African-American children and one contained the words “White Power! White Supremacy!” ...'

Breitbart: 'The search warrant is a comprehensive list of terribles: images of year-old infants subjected to sodomy and oral sex, and perverse racial comments (Brinkin’s email: “I loved especially the 2 year old n----- getting nailed. Hope you’ll continue so I can see what the little blond b---- is going to get. White Power! White Supremacy! White D--- Rules!”).'

Ugh.

Morning Report: 2012-06-27

Iraq: Bombs target Shi'a, kill 7 in Baghdad. 'Bombs planted around a Shi'ite politician's house killed seven people and wounded 21 others in Baghdad on Wednesday, police said, the latest in a string of attacks which have raised fears of a return to widespread sectarian violence. Unknown militants carried out the attack in the al-Wahda district in the south of the Iraqi capital, police said. It was not immediately clear if the politician was one of the victims. ...'

Mexico: Peña Nieto holds lead. 'Mexican presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto goes into Sunday's election with a wide lead over his rivals, opinion polls showed on Wednesday as campaigning wraps up, putting him on track to return the party that ruled for much of the last century to power....'

US / Russia / Israel: Obama's platitudes, Putin's partnership. Breitbart:

Israel rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin and a host of Russian dignitaries this week, showing a desire by both parties to repair strained ties between the two countries. Israel has good reason to be open to strengthening its relationship with Russia. A long series of diplomatic failures in regard to the “Arab Spring” by the Obama administration, and a conspicuous lack of a visit to Israel since Obama’s inauguration, have placed Israel in an increasingly tenuous and isolated position as America’s influence wanes in the region. It is a strategic vacuum that Putin would like to fill.

And while President Obama made Prime Minister Netanyahu come and go through a White House side door and would not deign to have a meal with him, President Putin came to Bibi’s door bearing gifts.

Foremost on the minds of Israelis during Putin’s visit were the Iranian nuclear program and the ever widening sphere of the Syrian civil war. And though no specific agreements were reached on these issues, President Putin did address them, saying, "From my experience, one must think about the consequences of an act before doing it. Look what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. With regard to Syria, one must think carefully whether the opposition that will rise to power will be what the West wants it to be, or whether it will end up being totally the opposite." Regarding Israel in particular he said, "The region in which Israel sits greatly influences the feelings of the entire international community. Russia has a national interest in assuring peace and tranquility for Israel."

While Putin’s words will be considered by many to be empty platitudes on par with Obama’s election year rhetoric, nothing says commitment like investment. President Putin’s gifts came in the form of a raft of Russian dignitaries and businessmen, seeking economic alliances in a variety of areas. ...

Morning Report: 2012-06-26

Egypt army, Muslim Brotherhood work out the details. 'The Muslim Brotherhood has reached some agreements with the army on the powers of Egypt's first Islamist president and the fate of a now-dissolved Islamist-led parliament, Brotherhood officials said on Tuesday. The newly elected president, Mohamed Mursi, toured his palace on Monday. But after savoring the outcome of a vote that installed him in place of the Brotherhood's enemy Hosni Mubarak, he immediately went to see the generals in the Defence Ministry in a scene that seemed to underline who really calls the shots. ..'

Erdogan: Syrian regime "illegitimate". "Any Syrian element that approaches the Turkish border will be regarded as a threat, he said."

Morning Report: 2012-06-25

Morsi declared winner in Egypt elections. Fox: 'Egypt's new president-elect, Islamist Mohammed Morsi, moved into the office once occupied by ousted leader Hosni Mubarak and started consultations Monday on forming his team and a new government, an aide said. Morsi was declared on Sunday the winner of Egypt's first free presidential election in its modern history, following a tight race with Mubarak's last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. ...' Ryan Munro:

The results of Egypt’s presidential election have been officially announced and the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian wing, Hamas, are in a state of jubilation. Mohammed Morsi won with 51.7% of the vote, while the secularist former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq came in a close second with 48.2%. The Islamists shouldn’t get too excited. The fact remains that the Supreme Armed Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) remains in control of the country.

Protests in Egypt swelled as it was reported that Shafiq was going to be declared the winner. By all accounts, it was a close election but the preliminary tally showed Morsi ahead. If Shafiq became president, the population would have understandably seen it as a decision of SCAF and not the voters. By permitting a legitimate election, SCAF has avoided a confrontation with the Egyptian population while maintaining its hold on power. ...

The Glazov Gang hosts video discussion at FrontPage.

Syrian official: Turkish plane violated airspace. 'Syrian air defenses had to react immediately to a Turkish jet flying at 100 meters altitude inside Syrian airspace in what was "a clear breach of Syrian sovereignty", Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said on Monday. ...'

Morning Report: 2012-06-24

Mary Cheney, Heather Poe tie the knot. 'Mary Cheney, the openly gay daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has married her long-time partner Heather Poe, The Daily Caller has learned. Cheney spokeswoman Kara Ahern confirmed to TheDC that the couple married Friday morning in Washington, D.C. ...'

Egypt on alert in advance of election results. 'Egypt's ruling armed forces were on alert on Sunday as fears of violence mounted in the final hours before the state election committee is to name the winner of last weekend's presidential election at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). Mohamed Morsy of the long-oppressed Muslim Brotherhood has already claimed to be the successor to the ousted Hosni Mubarak. Millions of his Islamist loyalists may react with fury if the run-off goes to Ahmed Shafik, a former general and Mubarak ally. ...'

Turkish jet issue heading for NATO. 'Ankara: Turkey said on Sunday Syria had shot down its military aircraft in international airspace on Friday without warning and declared it would formally consult its Nato allies on a reaction. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking some 48 hours after the jet was shot down near both countries’ sea borders, told state broadcaster TRT the plane had been clearly marked as Turkish and dismissed Syria’s earlier statement it had not known the plane belonged to Turkey. ...' Belmont Club:

In that context the shootdown of the Turkish jet provides yet another vector for the involvement of outside powers in the Syrian conflict. If Turkey gets more deeply involved the question will be what its goals are and who will ride in on its coat-tails

The New York Times, citing sources in Israel, write that Israeli officials now believe that a Third Intifada is imminent because the Palestinian Authority itself was at a dead-end. “The root cause of this instability is that Palestinians have lost all hope that Israel will grant them a state.” ...

The desperation of the Palestinian Authority is another way of saying that the Israeli-Arab conflict is no longer the dominant narrative of the Middle East. The Arab Spring has now shifted the basic fault line to the Sunni-Shia schism, with the conflict between old line strongmen and newly restive populations as the undercard. ...

Morning Report: 2012-06-22

Turkish military plane disappears near Syria. Reuters - 'Lebanon's Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar television station said on Friday that Syrian air defenses shot down a Turkish military aircraft, quoting Syrian security sources. ...' BBC: 'urkey's military says it has lost contact with one of its aircraft over the sea close to the border with Syria. Turkish media said the plane, an F-4 jet, crashed in Syria or Syrian territorial waters. The two crew-members were found alive, CNN Turk and the Hurriyet daily said. ...'

Pakistan: Raja Pervez Ashraf elected PM. Hindustan Times: 'Raja Pervez Ashraf was elected Pakistan's new Prime Minister on Friday after the Supreme Court dismissed Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt, the speaker of the lower house of parliament announced. ...'

X-47B moves forward. Via Rantburg, Space Daily:

The first major phase of flight testing the X-47 B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft came to a successful conclusion on May 15 when Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy wrapped up testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The airworthiness test phase, which comprised 23 flights by two air vehicles, proved that the X-47B will perform properly at all speeds, weights and altitudes associated with the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. ...

No, not the mystery space plane - that's the X-37B you're thinking of.

Paraguay's president faces impeachment trial. Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo faces a trial by his country's senate. He's charged with incompetence that resulted in police and civilian deaths in a June 15 clash over land. The Stratfor analysis discusses the role of possible regional pressure from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in the affairs of landlocked Paraguay, which relies heavily upon good relations with its neighbors.

Meanwhile, in Russia ... First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov says protests are the new norm as Russia joins the developed countries with an active, vocal middle class, while some observers wonder: Who does Putin want to be?