National Security Agency director Robert O’Brien, 2020
U.S. fantasies of expansion, commercial dominion, and military prowess have long hinged on a premise of Pacific exceptionalism. Couched in the millenarian language of manifest destiny, the Pacific region and its multitudinous ecosystems, cultures, peoples, and nations have been vacated in favor of an
aqua nullius that frames the region as an empty space designated for U.S. possession by divine providence.
This manufactured Pacific
idea what David Palumbo-Liu describes as a “repository of the American imaginary” has borne many names.
3 Amid the nineteenth-century annexation of Hawai‘i and the colonization of the Philippines, politician Whitelaw Reid heralded the ultimate conversion of the Pacific into an “American Lake.”
POLITICO Playbook: Trump aide: Ex-prez emboldened by indictment news
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Washington Post fact checker (and former State Department reporter) Glenn Kessler tweeted it was an embarrassment and an outrage. The Trump administration rescinded a Women of Courage award at the State Department for Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro, and two reporters at
A State Department spokesperson said it was due to a “regrettable error,” but Aro and U.S. officials familiar with the internal deliberations tell a different story. They say the department revoked her award after U.S. officials went through Aro’s social media posts and found she had also frequently criticized President Donald Trump.
“It created a shitstorm of getting her unceremoniously kicked off the list,” said one U.S. diplomatic source familiar with the internal deliberations. “I think it was absolutely the wrong decision on so many levels,” the source said. The decision “had nothing to do with her work.”
Podesta to Biden: Release the X-Files!
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And he believes that President
JOE BIDEN can help.
The former White House chief of staff and Democratic party luminary has been pushing the federal government to be more transparent on all things UFO or “unidentified aerial phenomena” for people who want to sound more serious for over two decades.
Now that the Pentagon and the media are taking the subject more seriously, Podesta thinks Biden should move the ball forward by creating a dedicated UFO office inside the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
Rombauer upsets Medina Spirit to win Preakness
8:09 p.m.
Rombauer came from behind to upset Kentucky Derby-winner Medina Spirit to win the Preakness on Saturday, spoiling the latter s chances of capturing horse racing s Triple Crown. Rombauer s odds were 11-1.
Watch Rombauer s run to victory at the #Preakness: pic.twitter.com/MWiesOp7Rc
Medina Spirit, aside from winning the first leg of the Triple Crown and entering the Preakness as the favorite, was the center of attention Saturday because he failed a post-Derby drug test. While the horse was cleared to run at Baltimore s Pimlico Race Course after passing multiple pre-race drug tests, skepticism surrounded his trainer, Bob Baffert. Ultimately, Medina Spirit finished in third behind Rombauer and Midnight Bourbon, who had 3-1 odds. Read more at
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