Photo left: F-35A deployed to North Europe for the first time.
 
Hour One: Dan Henninger; Liz Peek; John Bolton; Thaddeus McCotter.
Too early for a Trump Doctrine, but the start may be Mattis and McMaster. @DanHenninger @WSJOpinion
 
“…The difficult and ultimately tragic question was, what happens after the U.S. leaves? In strategic terms: How does the U.S. stabilize a volatile world without becoming a permanent occupying force? 
Last month, Gen. McMaster brought onto the NSA staff Nadia Schadlow, who has thought a lot about that question. Her assignment is to develop the National Security Strategy Report. The title of her just-released book, “War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success Into Political Victory,” summarizes its core idea: 
Unlike its pullout from Iraq, the U.S. has to remain involved—engaged—in the turbulent political space that always exists between conflict and peace, a space filled with competition for influence and power. What Gens. Mattis and McMaster learned in the wake of Iraq is that if you make allies, you should keep them….”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-presidency-begins-1492036639?tesla=y
 
The Congressional Democrats vs. Trump’s Wall & What is to be done? @LizPeek @FiscalTimes
“…E-verify is an electronic program created by the United States Customs and Immigration Service that allows employers to check whether a job candidate is legally allowed to work. Set up by the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, employee information is sent to the Social Security Administration and the Customs and Immigration Service. The data is checked against government records to determine whether the person is authorized to work in the U.S….”  
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2017/04/19/Here-s-Why-Trump-Should...
 
Documents captured in Afghanistan proved that one of al Qaeda’s earliest objectives was acquiring nuclear weapons, as it almost certainly is for ISIS.
The IRGC is way ahead of them. Tehran’s equal-opportunity assistance as international terrorism’s central banker (aiding Sunni terrorists like Hamas and Taliban as well as Shia terrorists) means that Iran’s nuclear program already has a potential global reach, even before its ICBM capabilities are fully operational.
Given this record, the Guard clearly meets the FTO criteria of being (1) a foreign entity that (2) engages in terrorist activity (politically motivated violence against noncombatants) that (3) threatens US security and our own citizens.
http://nypost.com/2017/04/16/its-time-to-name-and-sanction-irans-terrorists/
 
“Trump-Russia Surveillance” and Adam Schiff’s circumstantial “idiot,” Carter Page.
Unfortunately for the conspiracy theorists, it was Carter Page, the Walter Mitty of Trump world.
Far be it from me to suggest the FBI was just looking for an easy way to fob off Obama administration pressure to validate its Trump-Russia talking points. Mr. Page had been the target four years earlier of a sad little recruitment effort by Russian spies in New York, who eventually were prosecuted and whose monitored communications referred to Mr. Page as an “idiot.”
He later gave an incoherent speech in Moscow in the middle of the campaign decrying U.S. sanctions. Most of all, he was singularly devoid of influence with either Donald Trump or the Russians, though perhaps not the least likely contender to say something foolish on a “wiretap.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/behold-the-master-conspirator-1492555014
 
Hour Two: Michael Vlahos; Gene Marks.
Crisis in North Asia & What is to be done? Michael Vlahos @JHUWorldCrisis
There are renewed fears that North Korea could conduct a nuclear test on April 25, the 85th anniversary of the founding of its military. Last week the Chinese Ministry of Defence denied reports that it would mobilise 150,000 troops to the border, including medical teams, in preparation for any nuclear test by North Korea.
People's Daily, the Chinese government's official mouthpiece newspaper, said on Friday evening that reports that Chinese bombers were on high alert had been denied by the ministry of defence. But it also reported the Ministry of Defence had said it was carrying out a military drill on the border, timed with concern North Korea was preparing for its sixth nuclear test.
 
"Chinese military is maintaining regular combat readiness and carrying out routine training drills at the China-DPRK border," People's Daily reported online.
"The DPRK is reportedly making preparations for its 6th nuclear test, despite oppositions from the international community, which raised the tension of the Korean Peninsula to a dangerous level."
http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-korea-crisis-china-maintains-combat-re...
 
Do you judge the First 100 days of an employee? Of a boss? @GeneMarks @WashingtonPost
“…But like my client’s accounting manager, I’m rooting for Donald Trump. He’s our president. Regardless of Hillary Clinton’s majority, 61 million people voted for him and I respect that. I know and have met a lot of these people – many of them are business owners like myself – and these are smart, good people who want a better country and a better government. If my client’s accounting manager makes mistakes, says the wrong thing or doesn’t do a good job it negatively impacts her company. So the same with Donald Trump. In a much bigger way, of course.
Trump’s 100th day in office is April 29. It will likely be the big story that day– a story that he helped create and has been encouraging. That was another poor decision on his part. The media will look at what he’s accomplished and do a micro-review of his administration to date. It will not be flattering.
But the good news for him is the great majority of those 61 million people will ignore those reviews. Many are employees, owners and managers at small businesses and big corporations somewhere between New York and San Francisco. They would never judge a fellow employee, a supervisor or a subordinate in a mere 100 days. They, themselves, would never want to be judged in so short a time either. That’s why Trump’s voters aren’t going to pass judgment on his performance next week. They’re going to give him more time. They know that being an accounting manager at a 60-person company is tough enough. Being president of the United States is just a wee bit harder….”
 
Do you evaluate a new employee after 100 days? I didn’t think so.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2017/04/18/do-you-evaluate-a-new-employee-after-100-days-i-didnt-think-so/
 
U.S. labor market tightening; mid-Atlantic factory activity cools
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-idUSKBN17M1HTU.S. Mortgage Rates Drop to Five-Month Low With 30-Year at 3.97%
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-20/u-s-mortgage-rates-drop-to-five-month-low-with-30-year-at-3-97
 
Less than one in five start-ups are founded by women
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2017/04/20/less-than-one-in-five-start-ups-are-founded-by-women/
Queens businesses help send medical supplies to aid Venezuelan protestors
http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2017/16/venezuela_2017_04_21_q.html
 
HUNGRY BAD
 
This bank will take cheese as collateral
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2017/04/17/this-bank-will-take-cheese-as-collateral/
Just in in time for 4-20: A ‘Shopify’ for cannabis
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2017/04/19/just-in-in-time-for-4-20-a-shopify-for-cannabis/
Shopify takes on Square with new credit card reader
http://fortune.com/2017/04/20/shopify-credit-card-reader/
@LeenaRao @FortuneMagazine
This entrepreneur is turning grass into green 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/abrams/2017/04/19/rhonda-abrams-entrepreneur-turning-grass-into-green/100627704/
@usatoday
UGLY
Firing Employees for Filing Overtime Claims Violated Public Policy, Calif. Appeals Court Rules
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/firing-for-filing-overtime-claims-violated-public-policy.aspx
Over 1,000 Intercontinental hotels hit by a data breach
https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/20/intercontinental-data-breach/
Hour Three: Gregory Copley; Tyler Rogoway.
What the PRC Xi wanted at Mar-a-Lago. What Xi got instead. Gregory Copley, Defense & Foreign Affairs.
“Sources close to the Xi Presidency have said discreetly that nothing had changed: the Kim dynasty could go, but a US alliance partner (ie: the Republic of Korea) must not be allowed to take control of a unified Korea, if it had a military alliance with the US and a presence of US or other foreign troops.
A neutral buffer state in what is now the DPRK would be acceptable to Beijing. Reunification would be acceptable if the resultant state was neutral.
So the fact that the Trump-Xi meeting was hailed as a success by both sides was that, as it transpired, the goals were limited. It was like elementary salesmanship: keep mov-ing through a series of “yes” answers. The visit was not the high-profile, high-prestige event which the PRC side had originally hoped, but may have been the better for that. Beijing had pushed for Pres. Xi to be invited to Mar-a-Lago, Florida, the resort owned by Pres. Trump, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been in February 2017.
Beijing got its wish, but without the stop for a working visit in Washington, DC, which Abe had made in addition to Mar-a-Lago. So the visit was brief, limited in scope, and possibly not as satisfying as Beijing had hoped; but not a snub. The visit made it clear that the Trump Administration would not directly confront the PRC on currency and trade issues….”
 
War footing: ICBMs in North Korea. Syrian Air Force with Russian Defense.  US Strike Groups to North Asia. F-35s to Europe. @TheWARZone Tyler Rogoway
An unprecedented number eyes were focused on Pyongyang yesterday for this year's Day of The Sun military parade. Largely this was because the rhetoric between the US and North Korea has never been so hot, and there has been real posturing to go along with it. Intelligence agencies and journalists alike watch the display closely to see what new military capabilities the Kim regime will put on display, and as a result you probably woke up to headlines like "North Korea shows off sinister new ICBM" and the like. 
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/9331/analyzing-north-koreas-missile...
 
 
Hour Four: Henry Miller, Host; Joseph Wheelan.
Earth Day & Ecofundamentalism. @HenryIMiller @HooverInst
“…The Earth Day Network, which organizes Earth Day events and advocacy, regularly distorts science to advance its cynical agenda. This year’s event, ironically enough, is dedicated to “Environmental & Climate Literacy,” which is indeed sorely needed, given Earth Day’s manipulation and misappropriation of our commitment to protecting the environment.
Consider, for example, the network’s disingenuousness about fracking: “Fracking causes a lot of environmental harm and poses a threat to the health of a population near a fracking site due to contaminated water and the increased risk of asthma and other respiratory illnesses.” In 2011, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson conceded that she was “not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water.”
http://www.learnliberty.org/blog/earth-day-has-become-polluted-by-ideology-and-ignorance/