Russian spy ship located off Delaware coast

What's next for our new president, Iran firing a ballistic missile in spite of our agreement? Oh wait, that already happened .  .  .  so did North Korea.

Now we've spotted a Russian spy ship, the SSV-175 Viktor Leonov, off the coast of Delaware Tuesday morning. The last time this ship sailed near the U.S. was April 2015 and it was also seen in Havana in January the same year. 

The ship is capable of intercepting signals and communications, known as SIGINT, and can also measure U.S. Navy sonar capabilities. It's also armed with surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

One official said that "It's not a huge concern, but we are keeping our eyes on it."

Push is coming to shove.

At least former President Obama made BFFs with the Cuban dictator, Raul Castro, so there should be nothing to concern us--the friend of our new friend is our new friend. 

Duh.

The ship was seen patrolling 70 miles off the East Coast in international waters the same day we learned the Kremlin secretly deployed cruise missiles inside Russia and buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer. The ship was moving north at 10 knots and it isn't known where it may be heading.

A U.S. official said that Russia had deployed ground-launched cruise missiles to two Russian locations in December. The New York Times had reported that the Obama administration had previously seen the missiles, still in a testing phase at that time, and in violation of a 1987 treaty between us and Russia. The treaty bans ground-launched intermediate-range missiles.

Now it seems that Russia is testing our new POTUS which is seeking better ties with Moscow. However, this comes in the wake of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's resignation due to the scandals regarding his communications with Russia.

Playing another trump card, a report from The Washington Free Beacon said that four Russian jets buzzed the USS Porter in the Black Sea on Friday.

"There were several incidents involving multiple Russian aircraft," said Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez, a spokesman for the European Command. "They were assessed by the commanding officer as unsafe and unprofessional."

This is beginning to sound a bit like the previous administration's response to this kind of behavior but maybe President Trump isn't tipping his hand.

Russian spy ships have a history of loitering near our coast in international waters. They have done so off Kings Bay, GA., where our Navy ballistic missile submarine base is located. Most recently, a Russian spy ship was seen in that area in September 2015.

We are able to monitor these waters with satellites. 


Tweet

Obama tries to put the screws to GOP

Lame Duck President Obama is ending a long held immigration policy that allowed any Cuban who made it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident. But now, in a statement, he said the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy was "designed for a different era" of U.S.-Cuba relations.

The new policy will send back to Cuba those who attempt to enter the U.S. illegally without qualifying for humanitarian relief. 

"By taking this step," the outgoing failure of a POTUS said, "we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries" [but where they aren't tortured when we return them like they will probably be once they're back in the Cuban Communist dictatorship].

The Lame Duck Obama said that the Havana government has agreed to accept Cubans ordered to leave the U.S., a concession that was an ongoing dialog between us and Cuba for several months. 

But a senior administration official said the Cuban government gave no guarantees that the returned Cubans would be treated fairly [without torture, and being allowed to keep various body parts]. The official said, however, that political asylum is still an option for those concerned about persecution if they are sent back.

Homeland Security Secretary and Obama sock puppet, Jeh Johnson, said the move "goes a long way to putting our relationship with Cuba on equal terms with our relationship with other neighbors."

And besides, the majority of Cubans who sought asylum here tend to vote Republican.

Obama's administrative rule change can easily be changed by Donald Trump once he's in office. A lot of Obama's "pen and phone" garbage can easily be undone because he circumvented the Constitution by making executive orders rather than law, and executive orders can be undone with new executive orders. 

Trump has criticized Obama's groveling to cozy up to Castro and Cuba but there is a conundrum because Trump has made a commitment to get tough on immigration and this is what Obama has done.

In the past, the U.S. has been averse to sending people back to Cuba, but Fidel Castro has been a hero of Obama because, like his parents, grandparents and mentor, Frank Marshall (he called him "Uncle Frank") Fidel Castro was also a communist. Also, the Cuban government didn't usually take back those we tried to return, or when they did, they were never heard from again.

One wonders if Obama would be doing this if Cubans voted Democratic, like Mexicans.

What do you think?



Tweet

This Justin, from Canada

Being that this is my first posting on Canadian Brain Flushings, I thought I'd go right to the top of Canadian government and write about our new liberal Prime Minister, Justin "Pretty Boy" Trudeau. 

Trudeau told the House of Commons Tuesday that the main reason he attends those posh fundraisers thrown by the Pierre Trudeau Foundation isn't for his benefit, it's to "create economic growth for the middle class." 

Yes, the common folk. 

Justin renounced his official position of the Foundation when he became the leader of the Liberal Party, but admitted he allowed fundraiser attendees to lobby him there, which is a clear violation of Liberal Party bylaws.

Shades of Hillary Clinton.

And like US liberals, Trudeau had nothing but nice things to say about Cuba's Castro dictators, two guys who killed thousands upon thousands of Cubans, and impoverished the Communist island nation. The Liberal Party approval has dropped nine percentage points to Trudeau's credit.

After being confronted by Conservative Party leader Rona Ambrose in the House of Commons, Trudeau said that his presence at the fundraisers was a ploy to defend middle class interests.

"When did money become more important than the integrity of his office?" Ambrose asked.

"No matter where I am or who I am talking to I always talk about the same thing: The fact that our priorities are to create economic growth for the middle class," he answered, then denied any involvement in the foundation in spite of having attended questionable foundation fundraisers.

One fun fundraiser cost $1500 an entry and was attended by Chinese Communist millionaires. They all donated to the Trudeau Foundation soon after partying with Justin. After some time, Justin visited China and, the "human rights" dude that he is, he simply forgot to criticise the nation on their horrible human rights record.

Instead, Justin "did an Obama" and criticised his own country in Hong Kong where he "talked about the fact that Canada is not immune to criticisms on human rights either" with Chinese Communist leaders.

He previously bragged about his ability to get Chinese business leaders to deal with Canada. He said, on the same Hong Kong trip where he criticised our human rights record, "We needed to renew and deepen the relationship between the people of Canada and people of China for the long term and I think it's safe to say we have accomplished just that."

Highly suspicious donations were found by the National Post after Trudeau rose to the head of the Liberal Party in 2013:

Donations went from $172,211 in fiscal 2014 to $731,753 in fiscal 2016. From 2008 to 2013, the Trudeau Foundation had no (zero, zip, nada) foreign donations, but it brought in $53,000 in fiscal 2014 and jumped to $535,000 in fiscal 2016.

When these donations were discovered, it was then the Trudeau acknowledged that he has been lobbied at these fundraisers and engaged in unauthorized political discussions with donors.

The bylaws of the Liberal Party are very clear: "Fundraising events are partisan functions where we do not discuss government business." It also states that "any individual who wishes to initiate a policy discussion is immediately directed to instead make an appointment with the relevant office."

Tweet