DELEITURAS

The IRA claimed responsibility for four letter bombs found in London and Glasgow Tuesday, telling police there is a fifth explosive that has yet to be found.

The four devices arrived at three buildings in London and the University of Glasgow on March 5 and 6, CNN reported. Police issued a statement saying the devices resembled those used by “dissident groups associated with Northern-Ireland related terrorism,” and that police opened a line of inquiry into that possibility.

The IRA first claimed responsibility by contacting a local news station in Northern Ireland on Monday, with police confirming that the caller used a code word common in the IRA, according to CNN. The mail bombs also sported Irish stamps and postmarks, according to The Irish Times.

“This was a reckless and cowardly attack on the entire community. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the people who carried out this act,” Irish Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said. “We must work together to reject those isolated groups who would discard the accomplishments of the peace process for all communities on these islands for their own narrow objectives. Their futile agenda will not succeed.”

The individual who claimed responsibility specified that three devices had been sent to commercial targets and the remaining two were sent to British army recruitment centers, according to The Telegraph. One of those devices remains unaccounted for.

Authorities in the U.K. have contacted businesses with instructions on how to address any explosive devices they receive.

On Christmas Day every year, many Americans relax and enjoy time with their families. For many of our troops, though, it can be a day of sacrifice and hardship.Over the history of the U.S., several big military actions have taken place on December 25. Here are four noteworthy ones.

1776: Washington’s Famous Crossing of the Delaware

The winter of 1776 didn’t start as a good one for Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army. They suffered many defeats in the first few months of the American Revolution and had been pushed out of New York and New Jersey into Pennsylvania. For the troops, morale was low.

Washington needed to renew faith in the battle for independence, so he decided to surprise the Hessians – German troops hired by the British – who were stationed in Trenton, New Jersey. He figured that doing so after the enemy’s Christmas celebrations would find them groggy and unprepared for a fight, especially as a terrible winter storm was brewing.

So late Christmas night, Washington and his troops hopped in boats and waded across the icy Delaware River to test his theory – and he was right. At dawn on Dec. 26, about 2,400 frozen Continentals pushed into Trenton, and they did indeed surprise the enemy, who surrendered within an hour and a half.

The mission, which became known as the Battle of Trenton, was of huge significance to the Continental Army’s cause. Not only did it raise the troops’ spirits, but it revived the hope of the colonists, who were beginning to think their battle for independence wasn’t feasible.

1864: The First Battle of Fort Fisher

For most of the Civil War, North Carolina’s Fort Fisher saw very little combat. But that changed on Christmas 1864, when the Union decided it wanted to capture the last port the Confederates held on the Atlantic Ocean.

It was a debacle for the Union.

First, the Union tried to pack a warship with explosives and blow up the fort’s walls — but that didn’t work. It just blew up their ship and alerted the Confederates of an imminent attack. So on Christmas Eve, the Union tried again, bombarding the fort with heavy gunfire, most of which fell short or missed its target.

On Christmas morning, Union commanders decided to shell an area north of the fort so troops could land and come ashore. But when they did, more disappointment followed — the fort’s heavy artillery was completely unscathed, so that was a no-go, too. It was only then that the Union ordered troops to retreat.

While the first Battle of Fort Fisher was a massive failure for the Union, the second wasn’t. In mid-January 1865, Union troops were finally able to capture the fort, effectively cutting the Confederates off from global trade and supplies. The Civil War ended three months later.

1972: Operation Linebacker II in North Vietnam

American troops were in the middle of the biggest bombing mission in military history during the Christmas season of 1972. The air campaign, called Operation Linebacker II, has largely been considered the action that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

President Richard Nixon ordered the bombings to begin on Dec. 18 after North Vietnamese delegates walked out on peace talks. Nicknamed the “11 Days of Christmas,” the operation consisted of 11 successive days of raids by B-52 Stratofortress bombers flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.

The only day that both sides got a reprieve was Christmas, when troops were given a 36-hour break to celebrate. During that time, Nixon ordered the North Vietnamese to return to the bargaining table. The North Vietnamese refused, so the bombings continued until Dec. 29, when they agreed to resume peace talks.

In 11 days, Linebacker II dropped 15,000 tons of bombs via 729 U.S. Air Force sorties involving about 12,000 airmen. Defense Department records show the raids destroyed or damaged 1,600 structures, 500 rail targets, 10 airfields and 80 percent of North Vietnam’s electric-generating capacity. Fifteen U.S. B-52s were also destroyed in the process, killing 35 men and leading to the capture of nearly 40 American prisoners of war.

The resumed peace talks that came from the campaign led to the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973. The U.S. ended its involvement in the war soon after, but the last American troops wouldn’t leave the country for another two years.

1896: “Stars and Stripes Forever” is Written

While this wasn’t exactly a military action, it’s definitely a symbol of America’s military might.

John Philip Sousa, who grew up during the Civil War, was a talented musician who became a long-time director of the U.S. Marine Band. Known as the “March King,” he was a rock star of his time, eventually starting his own band in 1892.

On Christmas Day 1896, while crossing the Atlantic on his way home from a European vacation, Sousa’s lasting legacy came to him. He said the notes for “Stars and Stripes Forever” were born out of homesickness and fond memories of his time as the Marine Band’s leader.

The iconic song officially became America’s national march in 1987.

So this holiday season, while you’re enjoying leave, family, friends and feasts, think of some of your fellow troops, past and present, who had to forgo their holidays for the greater good of the country.  While you’re at it, you might even want to put on “Stars and Stripes Forever” in their honor.

Have a great holiday season, everybody!

 

by Robert Donachie

A combination of geopolitical events, environmental regulations, and rising demand will beset U.S. commuters with higher-than-average gas prices this summer.

Pump prices typically rise during the summer months as Americans take to the open roads for vacation trips. Currently, the national average price for gasoline is about $2.80 a gallon — a sharp uptick from $2.40 during the same time in 2017. Almost half of all gas stations across the country are selling gas at $2.76 a gallon or higher, and 17 percent of stations are selling at $3.01 or higher, according to a May 4 Axios report. Pump prices are expected to climb even higher in the coming months.

Four main factors are driving prices: OPEC, Venezuela’s economic collapse, environmental regulations and higher demand.

After several years of falling oil prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, more commonly known as OPEC, reached an agreement with Russia two years ago to limit global oil production. Their deal has proven largely successful. Global oil prices have risen from around $30 a barrel in January 2016 to over $65 today.

Venezuela sits atop the greatest oil reserves in the world, but socialism has a way of complicating the easiest of jobs. Once an oil exporting behemoth, the South American country has watched production screech to a halt as the rest of its economy shutters. Output fell by 100,000 barrels a day in February. Production has reached its lowest point in 70 years, according to The Central University of Venezuela. The situation has aided OPEC’s goal in cutting global production.

Non-geopolitical factors will also lead to higher prices this summer. State and federal regulations require the use of summer-grade gasoline, which is more expensive to manufacture. These environmental rules obligate refineries to switch to a cleaner, higher-priced form of gasoline every summer compared to the winter season. Additionally, the summer months are indicative of travel season. Thousands of American families will be driving and flying across the country, consuming more gas and driving demand.

There are fears in President Donald Trump’s administration that costly gas prices will hamper the economic gains made in the past year. GOP-led tax cuts have boosted growth, but pain at the pump could stymie economic progress. In fact, Trump took to social media to voice ire at OPEC for manipulating prices:

Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician, Cruz Ramirez, with her own plan to win, plus inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage!

Disney/Pixar’s Cars 3 opens in theaters in 3D June 16!

In his third Olympic Performance, Michael Phelps won a total of six medals: four gold and two silver. His performances in the thirtieth Olympiad is sure to bring big financial awards, but his performances are also going to cost him.

Every American who won a medal in the London Olympics will receive cash rewards from the U.S Olympic Committee. Each gold medal winner will receive $25,000, each silver medal winner will receive $15,000 and each bronze medal winner will receive $10,000 respectively. This means when Michael Phelps returns to the states, he will be collecting a healthy $130,000 from the USOC.

Phelps with his record breaking 19th Olympic Medal

However, Phelps will also be taxed for each medal he received. For each gold medal, Phelps will have to pay the IRS approximately $9,000, for each gold, $5,400 for each silver, and if he would have earned a bronze, $3,500.

Soon after stories surfaced about U.S. Olympic athletes facing deep financial hardship, some Washington politicians have offered and supported a bill that would offer the athletes a reprieve.

Republican law makers led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown introduced a bill named Olympic Tax Exemption Act last week. The bill has already gained the support of President Barack Obama.

“Our young athletes endure years of grueling training and make enormous sacrifices so they can represent our country on the national stage and make us proud. Our thanks should not come in the form of a giant tax bill from the IRS.” Brown said when asked about the bill.

Follow Me on Twitter @chrisenloe.

As an answer to a question posed in a letter to the editor, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) published an explanation of how survivor benefits work for widows and widowers.

Widower Seeking Answers About Social Security

by AMAC Certified Social Security Advisor Russell Gloor

As a widower, you could have started receiving a survivor benefit from your wife at 60 years of age, though it would have been reduced by about 28.5% for claiming early. But you haven’t really lost those benefits because you can still claim them, and they won’t be reduced as much now because you’d be claiming closer to your widower’s full retirement age (FRA) of 66. In your specific case, your “widower FRA” is 4 months earlier than your normal FRA of 66 plus 4 months, because a survivor’s FRA is determined by subtracting 2 years from their actual birth date. Since you were born in 1956, Social Security uses 1954 as the date to determine your FRA for survivor benefits.

Since you are now 62 (turning 63 soon), you have a choice to collect either your own benefit or your survivor benefit, and which one you should choose depends upon which one would be highest when it reaches maximum. Your survivor benefit will reach its maximum when you reach your widower FRA; your own benefit will reach its maximum at age 70. You might choose to collect your survivor benefit first and allow your own benefit to grow until you are 70 when it would be about 29% more than it would be at your normal FRA. Or, if your survivor benefit at your widower FRA would be more, you could choose to take your own benefit until your survivor benefit reaches maximum at your widower FRA.

But there is one catch you should consider. Any time Social Security benefits of any kind are taken before one’s full retirement age and you continue to work, you will be subject to Social Security’s “earnings test.” That means if your earnings from working exceed the annual earnings limit ($17,640 for 2019), Social Security will take back $1 for every $2 you are over the limit, and they’ll withhold that from future benefits until they recover what you owe. Once you reach your normal full retirement age the earnings limit goes away, and you can earn as much as you like without penalty. For clarity, when you reach your normal full retirement age they will recompute your benefit and give you time credit for any month’s benefits withheld, which will increase your benefit slightly allowing you to recover some (or eventually all) of the withheld benefits. But exceeding the annual earnings limit before your reach your normal FRA will cause you to lose current benefits for some number of months.

Provided that your finances, your health and your expected longevity allow it, and provided that your own benefit at age 70 will be more than your survivor benefit, you may want to consider a strategy of postponing your own benefit, and also delaying your claim for the survivor benefit until it reaches maximum at your widower’s FRA. Then at your widower’s FRA (66) you could claim 100% of your survivor benefit, while allowing your own benefit to grow to maximum at age 70. In this way you would avoid any lost benefits from exceeding the earnings limit, you would collect the maximum survivor benefit between your FRA and age 70, and at that time switch to your own higher benefit for the rest of your life. This, of course, is but one of several scenarios you have available to you being dually-entitled to both survivor benefits and your own Social Security retirement benefit.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity.

Valor can come from those young and old, experienced or inexperienced. During the waning days of World War I, many American soldiers were thrust into the war effort quickly. Army Pvt. Nels Wold was one of them, and in the six months he was in the service, the bravery he showed was enough to earn him the Medal of Honor.

Wold was born in Winger, Minnesota, in 1895 to parents who had emigrated from Norway. He was one of 10 siblings. As a teen, Wold worked a few jobs before joining the Army in April 1918. Shortly after that, his unit — Company I, 138th Infantry, 35th Division — shipped off to Europe.

Much of that summer was spent training, but by autumn, the 22-year-old Wold found himself in the trenches during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, a major part of the final Allied offensive of the war.

On the foggy morning of Sept. 26, 1918, his unit and thousands of other Allied troops near Cheppy, France, made up the spearpoint of a massive drive to finally push Germany out of France.

According to the 35th Division’s history, Wold’s company had been held up by several German machine gun nests, so he volunteered to sneak up on one of them. It was a success – he managed to silence the guns, kill some enemies and bring back some Allied prisoners — so he sneaked up on three more nests. After silencing all four, he had brought back 11 prisoners.

Later that day, Wold jumped from a trench and rescued a fellow soldier who was about to be shot, taking down the would-be enemy shooter in the process.

His success was short-lived, unfortunately. Wold tried to sneak up on a fifth machine gun nest, but the Germans saw him coming and fired. He went down.

When Wold’s company realized he wasn’t coming back, they rushed the nest as a group and took out the enemy inside, dragging the injured Wold nearly a mile to safety, where he died telling his comrades to tell his family he loved them.

Wold didn’t survive, but his company was able to advance thanks to his courage. For that, he earned the Medal of Honor, which was given to his siblings by famed Gen. Leonard Wood during a ceremony in his hometown on Dec. 31, 1919.

Wold was originally buried in France, but three years to the day after his death, his remains were returned and buried next to his parents in a cemetery near his hometown.

This article is part of a weekly series called ”Medal of Honor Monday,” in which we highlight one of the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients who have earned the U.S. military’s highest medal for valor.

10th Mountain Division Soldier in Afghanistan in 2007. Wikipedia photo

America is entrenched in its longest war as its been in Afghanistan since 2001 and has never been further from victory. Nation after nation, empire after empire before the US have been unable to win any war in Afghanistan, and for some reason, the political class, the defense contractors, the media, and every other swamp creature seems to not know why the U.S. has not yet won there.

There are a couple of very big factors that make Afghanistan very difficult to conquer and even more difficult to govern especially when it isn’t locals. Afghanistan is an extremely mountainous country, 75% of the land is mountains and peaks, with a number of mountains being over 20,000 feet tall, this very rough and mountainous terrain makes it extremely difficult to move soldiers and equipment. As if that isn’t difficult enough, the tribes that our troops in Afghanistan deal with, they are influenced in different ways culturally. The Taliban have utilized these caves and mountains whenever they need to retreat or hide as they battle Afghan, American, and NATO forces, and those mountains are extremely effective.

Afghanistan is located on the mainland route between Iran, Central Asia, and India, and with various invasions and settlements many have settled in the country, and the tribes are very hostile to one another. There are 14 different main ethnic groups in the country spread across tribes. Treating any of the ethnic groups – whether we are talking about the Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras or Uzbeks – as a single unified ethnic group shows absolutely no understanding whatsoever of the situation in the country. Conquering the nation is already extremely difficult but governing a tribalist, war-torn land of 35.53 million people who are loyal to different clans, tribes, sheiks, units, ethnicities, religious sects, and even different governments, it is almost impossible.

Afghanistan is a country very ethnically divided but the tribal divisions are even stronger

The US has been fighting alongside the government in Kabul, against the Taliban, bombing the country since 2001, there has been between 10,000 and 100,000 troops on the ground in the time we have been in this war, but the Taliban is stronger than ever, and it is very likely going to take Kabul.

In the Wardak Province, Monday the Taliban infiltrated an Afghan intelligence base and bombed the base killing dozens of people in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in a war, where the Taliban’s attacks regretfully have gotten more devastating. The security situation has gotten worse as the Taliban has been gaining ground, the US has been bombing Afghanistan at a record rate but it hasn’t been able to regain ground against the Taliban, and now Afghan and US military casualties are at record levels and so are civilian casualties, as 20,000 people were killed in the last year, in this war. The Afghan troop losses are particularly devastating because there aren’t anywhere enough people to replace dead Afghan soldiers, as things worsen for the ordinary Afghans in areas controlled by the central government, ordinary Afghans are either leaving the country, or some even joining the Taliban out of desperation for a slightly better life (I nor anyone at the Conservative Daily News in any way condones or excuses anyone who would join the Taliban). It would have probably been smart, that while the US tried its nation-building policy, that they actually tried to do something about the severe corruption in the Afghan government. Things are so bad in Afghanistan that 6/10 people can’t read or write, half the country has no access to drinking water. Troop totals are down 90% from the peak of the war, but the deaths are rising and this is something we can’t sustain. We gave everything we could to build up the Afghan forces, but it has not worked!

Afghan intelligence service training building badly damaged after the terrorist attack by the Taliban

Corrupt criminal governments will always bring suspicion of ulterior motives, and sometimes, that government will vindicate your feelings, and sadly the Afghan government has proved that to be the reality. In October 2018, a “friendly fire” attack which left a US army general and even threatened the top commander in the country. That is just one example of many friendly fire attacks by Afghan government forces against our troops. The Afghan government is either incredibly incompetent or they double-cross us again and again and again.

We can’t fix the problems in Afghanistan, the endless war has not been able to change anything in the country, there is a peace opportunity before us, that yes may take time, but new talks are happening as we speak.

The US and the Taliban are in negotiations in Qatar continued Tuesday as the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement said: “Following American acceptance of the agenda of ending the invasion of Afghanistan and preventing Afghanistan from being used against other countries in the future, talks with American representatives took place today in Doha.” The US has not officially commented on the Taliban’s comments that an agreement, the signs from both the White House and the US Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad do indicate the momentum is building towards a withdraw and an end to America’s longest war. Khalilzad who has been more hawkish than Trump on the question of the war said  “Let me be clear: the US wants peace. … To achieve peace, we are ready to address legitimate concerns of all Afghan sides in a process that ensures Afghan independence and sovereignty and accounts for legitimate interests of regional states. Urgent that fighting end.” What we are hearing from both the US and the Taliban gives reason to be hopeful that an end to this war is near and that the suffering of the Afghan people can finally come to an end.

The opportunity for peace exists, President Trump wants to leave and see a peace deal! Imran Khan led the way, in the beginning, trying to encourage direct talks with the Taliban, the US and Pakistan are working together better now, Afghanistan’s President called Prime Minister Khan to thank him for all he is doing in the effort for peace – THAT’S HUGE considering Pakistan and Afghanistan’s very tense relationship. The Gulf Cooperation Council supports the peace effort! The momentum is stronger than ever, there may just be a peace deal and the long suffering of the Afghan people with endless war, can finally come to an end.

China is trying to stem an economic slowdown, including rising unemployment, continuing into the first two months of 2019 after documenting its worst year of economic growth in nearly 30 years in 2018.

Beijing is trying to counter the slowdown by spending more on infrastructure project and encouraging banks to extend loans to small businesses, reported The Wall Street Journal Thursday.

China’s economic health indicators were released Thursday and encourage far less optimism than they did this time last year. Home sales by value rose 4.5 percent in January and February from a year earlier, compared with a 14.7 percent increase at the same point in 2018, according to TheWSJ. And the country’s value-added industrial output, which “measures the economy’s manufacturing, mining, utilities and other output,” had a 5.3 percent year-over-year increase as of the January-February period compared to a 5.7 percent year-over-year increase in December.

Unemployment numbers also indicate a slowdown. A national urban survey unemployment rate grew from 4.9 percent in December to 5.3 percent in February, according to The WSJ.

Some experts predict the Chinese economy will hit its adjusted economic-growth target of around 6 percent. China is likely to exceed 6 percent in coming quarters because it has “the capacity to boost growth if needed,” Philippe Ithurbide, global head of research at Amundi, told Bloomberg in a video posted Thursday.

TheWSJ warned that “getting an accurate read” of China’s economy is hard in January and February because of the Lunar New Year holiday, prompting economists to combine data from the two months.

The new data comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet in April after months of a tit-for-tat trade war. Trump announced in late February he was delaying tariffs on Chinese imports.

But the U.S. is not done with using tariffs to ensure China plays by its rules.

“We have to maintain the right to be able to — whatever happens to the current tariffs — to raise tariffs in situations where there’s violations of the agreement,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday according to Bloomberg. “I can’t predict success at this point, but we’re working hard and we have made real progress.”

China’s economy slowed dramatically during 2018, dropping to its lowest point in nearly 30 years as the communist country battled a prolonged tariff fight against President Donald Trump.

 

by Michael Bastasch

The U.S. surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of crude oil, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

“U.S. crude oil production exceeded that of Saudi Arabia for the first time in more than two decades,” EIA reported Wednesday. “In June and August, the United States surpassed Russia in crude oil production for the first time since February 1999.”

Indeed, U.S. drillers have continued to smash production records in 2018, including hitting 11 million barrels a day in output in July. That’s about double what the U.S. produced per day just eight years ago.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

It’s good news for President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a platform of “energy dominance.” Trump’s policies have focused on promoting domestic oil and natural gas production and exports.

News from EIA comes after the Interior Department announced record-breaking revenues raised from an oil and gas lease sale in New Mexico. The lease sale raised nearly $1 billion in bonus bids, according to the department.

“Critics of the Administration’s American Energy Dominance policy often falsely claim there is little to no interest in Federal oil and gas leases,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement.

“Today they are eating their words and once again President Trump’s policies are bearing fruit for the American people,” Zinke said.

Booming oil production, however, predates the Trump administration by several years. It started on state and private lands that allowed companies to pioneer hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling that’s now commonplace.

“Much of the recent growth has occurred in areas such as the Permian region in eastern Texas and western New Mexico, the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico, and the Bakken region in North Dakota and Montana,” according to EIA.

As the fracking boom continues, EIA expects “U.S. crude oil production will continue to exceed Russian and Saudi Arabian crude oil production for the remaining months of 2018 and through 2019.”