The FBI's Power To Spy On Journalists Is Raising Concerns

The Intercept: Secret Rules Make It Pretty Easy For The FBI To Spy On Journalists

Rules governing the use of national security letters allow the FBI to obtain information about journalists’ calls without going to a judge or informing the targeted news organization.

SECRET FBI RULES allow agents to obtain journalists’ phone records with approval from two internal officials — far less oversight than under normal judicial procedures.

The classified rules, obtained by The Intercept and dating from 2013, govern the FBI’s use of national security letters, which allow the bureau to obtain information about journalists’ calls without going to a judge or informing the news organization being targeted. They have previously been released only in heavily redacted form.

Media advocates said the documents show that the FBI imposes few constraints on itself when it bypasses the requirement to go to court and obtain subpoenas or search warrants before accessing journalists’ information.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is an update to the story from last year.

Yemen's Houthi Rebels Attack A Saudi Frigate Killing Two Crew Members

Reuters: Yemen's Houthis attack Saudi ship, launch ballistic missile

The armed Houthi movement attacked a Saudi warship off the western coast of Yemen on Monday, causing an explosion that killed two crew members and injured three others, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

Separately, the Houthis said they launched a ballistic missile at a Saudi-led coalition military base on the Red Sea island of Zuqar between Yemen and Eritrea on Tuesday morning, according to the group's official news channel al-Masira.

There was no immediate coalition reaction to that claim and it was unclear if there were any casualties.

Read more ....

More News On Yesterday's Houthi Rebel Attack On A Saudi Frigate That Killed Two Crew Members

Saudi Arabia says Yemeni rebel boat rams frigate in Red Sea -- AP
Yemen rebel 'suicide boat' attack kills Saudi sailors -- AFP
Yemen conflict: Rebels in deadly attack on Saudi warship -- BBC
Yemen rebel 'suicide boat' attack kills Saudi sailors -- AFP
Two sailors are killed when Yemen SUICIDE BOATS smash into Saudi warship -- Daily Mail
Iran-backed Houthi rebels attack Saudi warship in Red Sea -- FOX News
Deadly 'suicide boat' attack on Saudi warship near Yemen claimed by Houthi fighters -- SKY News
Two killed as Houthis attack Saudi warship off Yemen coast -- Euronews
Yemen Rebels Hit Saudi Naval Vessel with Missile Attack (VIDEO) -- Sputnik
Two dead after Houthi militant suicide attack against Saudi Arabian ship near Yemen -- Business Insider

Iran Carries Out Missile Test

New York Times: Iran Launches a Missile, Testing Trump’s Vows of Strict Enforcement

WASHINGTON — Iran conducted its first missile test since President Trump took office, American and Israeli officials said Monday, posing an early test of whether the Trump administration will make good on its promises to strictly enforce all aspects of the Iranian nuclear deal and a side agreement on missile testing.

The Iranian missile traveled about 600 miles, but its re-entry vehicle reportedly exploded before the flight was complete. It is unclear whether that was accidental or a deliberate detonation.

Israel’s United Nations ambassador, Danny Danon, accused Iran of violating a Security Council resolution passed in 2015, shortly after the nuclear accord was reached in Vienna.

While the agreement itself dealt only with Iran’s nuclear program, then-Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated for days with the Iranians about a revised Security Council resolution on missiles. That last concession by the United States, China, Russia, Germany and France sealed the entire diplomatic package.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: While first refusing to confirm that there was a missile test .... Iran refuses to confirm conducting missile test (AP), Iran is now saying that it did nto violate the nuclear agreement .... Iran: Missile tests not in violation of nuclear deal (Al Jazeera).

More News On Iran's Missile Test

Iran carries out ballistic missile test in violation of UN resolution in direct challenge to Donald Trump -- Daily Mail
Iran tested medium-range ballistic missile: U.S. official -- Reuters
U.N. Security Council to meet over Iran missile test -- UPI
Iran Test-Fires Medium Range Ballistic Missile: U.S. Officials -- NBC
Iran conducts first missile test since Trump's inauguration -- CNN
Iran tests ballistic missile in defiance of UN resolution, US officials say -- FOX News
UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting over Iran missile test -- FOX News
UN Security Council to Meet on Iran Missile Test -- VOA
Netanyahu: Iran missile test must not go unanswered -- BBC
Iranian Ballistic Missile Test is a 'Gift for Anti-Iranian Propaganda' -- Sputnik
Iran missile firing puts Trump strategy to the test -- Financial Times

Former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Wants To Combat President Trump By “Unleashing Drug Cartels”

WNU Editor: This is just one more reason why the border will need to be secured. Hat tip to SHTFplan.com for this story.

Tweet For Today

People gather to remember the victims of a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada #QuebecCityMosqueShooting pic.twitter.com/8Tphd5ZXkD

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 31, 2017

Does The Kremlin Think They Are Already At War?

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C) attends a conference at the main operation centre of the Russian armed forces, with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) and armed forces Chief-of-Staff Valery Gerasimov (R) in Moscow, June 6, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Michael Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

Oscar Jonsson/Thomas E. Ricks, Foreign Policy: Gen. McChrystal is right — in fact, Russian leaders think they already are at war

General Stanley McChrystal perhaps shocked many when he spoke out on the chance of a war in Europe — aside from the continuing conflict in Ukraine. He stated that “A European war is not unthinkable. People who want to believe a war in Europe is not possible might be in for a surprise.” He is absolutely correct, and it is with Russia.

The common idea on how this will happen is that increased activity can lead to incidents and unintentional escalation. That is, however, only focusing on the direct issues. The underlying issue is that Russia believes itself to be in a war with the West, albeit, for now, a non-military one (coincidentally the topic of my PhD).

The economic sanctions imposed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine are not perceived as a moderate response from the West to a breach of international law. Rather, as the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated, they are seen as an attempt to provoke regime change in Russia. Moreover, this perception has a longer story than economic sanctions.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: From my vantage point .... for much of 2016 I sensed that there was a growing unease in the Kremlin that they were entering into a new Cold War with the West. But with the election of Donald Trump .... I can now say that this worry has disappeared.

Picture Of The Day

The warship can carry up to seven metric tons of armaments on 10 stations and can reach a speed of Mach 2.25 (over 2,700 kmph). A new multirole Russian MiG-35 fighter lands during its international presentation at the MiG plant in Lukhovitsy outside Moscow, Russia January 27, 2017. © REUTERS/ Maxim Shemetov

Does China Want A Nuclear Arms Race?

China's road-mobile ICBMs. Chinese Defense

Melissa Hanham, Foreign Policy: China’s Happy to Sit Out the Nuclear Arms Race

While Putin and Trump push for bigger arsenals, Beijing has all the nukes it'll ever need.

While U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin preen and compare the size of their nuclear arsenals, China has been quite modest on the subject. This macho dance doesn’t interest Beijing. Why? Isn’t bigger always better? For decades, when it comes to nuclear weapons, the answer from China has been a resounding no. The rest of the world would do well to consider their reasons why.

In his last defense speech of 2016, Putin argued that his country needed to “enhance the combat capability of strategic nuclear forces, primarily by strengthening missile complexes that will be guaranteed to penetrate existing and future missile defense systems.” It wasn’t clear from the speech whether Putin seeks to improve nuclear warhead delivery systems in order to confuse American missile defense, or whether he will seek to increase the number of weapons deployed to overwhelm them, or even deploy cyber-capabilities to weaken the ability to respond. Perhaps it’s a strategy, perhaps it’s just rhetoric. U.S. ballistic missile defense efforts — particularly in Europe and Asia — have been a sore spot for both Russia and China.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Here is a Russian take on China's nuclear ambitions .... Say Hello to China's ICBMs (Sputnik).

Is The U.S. On The Precipice Of Widespread Civil Unrest?

Demonstrators marching on Market Street in San Francisco on Wednesday after the election of Donald Trump as US president.REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Michael Snyder, Zero Hedge/The Economic Collapse blog: The United States Is On The Precipice Of Widespread Civil Unrest

It doesn’t take much of a trigger to push extremely large crowds of very angry protesters into committing acts of rioting and violence. And rioting and violence can ultimately lead to widespread civil unrest and calls for “revolution”. The election of Donald Trump was perhaps the single most galvanizing moment for the radical left in modern American history, and we have already seen that a single move by Trump can literally cause protests to erupt from coast to coast within 48 hours. On Friday, Trump signed an executive order that banned refugees from Syria indefinitely and that placed a 90 day ban on travel to the United States for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Within hours, protesters began to storm major airports, and by Sunday very large crowds were taking to the streets all over the country…

Read more ....

WNU Editor: President Trump's opponents .... both Democrat and Republican .... were completely shocked by the election results that gave the victory to Donald Trump .... and that is saying it lightly. I have been a devoted student of U.S. Presidential elections since Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980 .... and I have never seen the vitriol and hatred that has been directed at a new President .... even before he has been sworn in .... as I am seeing now. And once he was sworn in .... with the full power of the Presidency .... the intensity of this opposition and hatred has now gone off the scale. The fact that President Trump does not back down .... but in fact doubles down when he is attacked .... only adds to the anger that I am now seeing. And while many protestors and opponents of President Trump now believe that the momentum is in their camp .... I have a completely different take. Support for President Trump among his base and who helped get him elected has not wavered .... in fact .... I sense that they are reveling in it as President Trump continues to deliver on the campaign promises that he made during the election. As for the future .... these protests are going to intensify .... and the media will help to galvanize it .... but it is not going to change the situation, and that situation is that President Trump is the President.

President Trump Has Fired The Acting Attorney General

Reuters: Fired: Trump dumps top lawyer who defied immigration order

U.S. President Donald Trump fired top federal government lawyer Sally Yates on Monday after she took the extraordinarily rare step of defying the White House and refused to defend new travel restrictions targeting seven Muslim-majority nations.

It was another dramatic twist in the unusually raucous roll-out of Trump's directive that put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country, an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and a 90-day bar on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The Friday night ban prompted protests and chaos at airports on the weekend as customs officials struggled to put the order into practise, and the fallout spread to U.S. markets on Monday, where stocks suffered their biggest drop of 2017 and companies affected by the change spoke out against it.

Read more ....

Update #1: Trump fires Justice Dept. head over executive order defiance (AP)
Update #2: Trump fires acting AG after she declines to defend travel ban (CNN)
Update #3: Why Yates Had to Go (NRO)

WNU Editor: The Democrats are calling President Trump a tyrant .... DNC blasts 'tyrannical' Trump for firing acting AG Yates (The Hill). What's my take .... if I was the President I would have fired her also. But this story is going to be forgotten within 24 hours .... President Trump is going to name his Supreme Court Justice Tuesday night .... I already know (as well as everyone else) on what the reaction will be from all sides.