Free Republic

Last week we showed that while US natural gas prices have had several catalysts that have propelled them higher in recent weeks, one of the biggest drivers why natural gas is trading at the highest level in over a decade, was the recent surge in LNG exports to Europe as Reuters’ energy expert John Kemp explained in detail. But while the surge in oil exports is bad news for US consumers, it’s fantastic news for LNG tankers because as the FT reports, the world’s largest gas traders are scrambling to secure liquefied natural gas tankers ahead of winter after the...

Several high profile members of the Defense Policy Board were removed on Wednesday by the Trump administration, in yet another purge of longstanding foreign policy experts and national security establishment figures in the final days of the Trump era, according to three defense officials. Members who were suddenly removed include former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger, former ranking member of the House Intelligence committee Jane Harman and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, two of the officials said. The Defense Policy Board is an outside advisory group of former high profile national security officials who "provide the...

Bad morning for Pelosi @ 9:53 am by Eric Zimmermann Two new developments in the "what did Pelosi know about waterboarding" series spell trouble for the Speaker. First, CNN reports that an aide told Pelosi in February 2003 that waterboarding had been used on Abu Zubaydah. This contradicts Pelosi's assertion that she only knew about the legal rationale for waterboarding, not that it had been used. Sheehy attended a briefing in which waterboarding was discussed in February 2003, with Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, who took over Pelosi's spot as the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. This source says...

EXCERPT Others Panetta is naming to the advisory board include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick and former Rep. Jane Harman. Panetta, Albright and Gorelick all served in the Bill Clinton administration. The high-level board provides advice and opinions to the defense secretary on a range of policy issues.

Former U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) urged the Obama administration on Sunday to release the private legal memo sanctioning the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen and al Qaeda leader in Yemen. "The Justice Department should release that memo," said Harman, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former chairwoman of the House Intelligence Committee. "The debate on the legal grounds for that strategy should be more in the open." Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Harman said the "targeted killing of anyone should give us pause," but that the al-Awlaki was a "good...

Secretary of State Debra Bowen conceded the second spot in a Los Angeles-area congressional race Thursday, leaving the runoff between Democrat Janice Hahn and Republican Craig Huey. Bowen, a Democrat who represented the Southland's coastal cities in the Legislature for more than a decade, had been considered a front-runner in the contest to fill the seat vacated by the retirement of Democratic Rep. Jane Harman.

Republican Craig Huey, an advertising executive, could make a surprise advance in California's Democratic-leaning 36th District special election, according to initial results in Tuesday's race to replace Democrat Jane Harman. Due to the Los Angeles County district's Democratic lean, two Democrats were expected to top last night's "jungle primary," which featured 16 candidates of all parties running on a single ballot. But Huey narrowly edged out California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (D) by 206 votes for the second-place spot, according to preliminary results. Staff for Bowen on Tuesday night noted that 9,811 votes remained to be counted. "We are...

Some activists want wealthy Jane Harman to pay for special election voteBy Sean J. Miller - 02/21/11 06:08 PM ET A grass-roots movement fueled by anger over the cost of a special election for Rep. Jane Harman’s (D-Calif.) seat has sprung up in the coastal towns surrounding Los Angeles. Harman announced Feb. 7 that she was stepping down as the representative for California’s 36th district to become head of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, a Washington-based research institution. She’s set to remain in the House until Feb. 28, according to her office. Her departure only two months into...

Pundits have lamented the disappear ance of Republican moderates for years. It's time now to lament the disappearance of moderate Democrats. Last month, Sen. Joseph Lieberman announced he wouldn't seek re-election. He lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006 because of his support of the Iraq war, but won in November as an independent. The irony was that the 2000 Democratic nominee for vice president was re-elected largely by Republicans who spurned their party's little-known nominee. But Republicans seem likely to field a stronger candidate in 2012. Then last week, Rep. Jane Harman announced she'd resign soon to become...

Now that we know Congresswoman Jane Harman is planning to resign from her seat in Congress for a position at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars - is there any chance that we could flip her seat into Republican hands? The likely Republican candidate, Mattie Fein, received only 66,000 votes when she lost badly to Harman just three months ago. And considering Harman has won all five of her campaigns in the 36th congressional district averaging 63% of the vote, Fein would have to not only turnout 100% of her supporters from 2010, but to convince Hawkish Democrats who...

Secretary of State Debra Bowen is considering running for the congressional seat expected to be vacated by Democratic Rep. Jane Harman. "She is very, very seriously considering running for Congress," Bowen campaign consultant Steve Barkan said. "It's brand new news, and so she needs to take all factors into consideration." News broke today that Harman, 65, will leave office to take a job as president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, setting the stage for a special election in the 36th Congressional District. Bowen hails from Marina Del Rey, which is part of the district, and represented the...

Longtime Rep. Jane Harman of California is quitting Congress to lead the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Fox News has learned. Two senior House Democratic officials confirmed that Harman has informed Democratic leaders, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., of her plans to retire. The Wilson Center, whose current head is former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., is expected to announce Harman's new gig Tuesday. The Woodrow Wilson Center would not speak to specifics about Harman but Sharon Coleman McCarter, vice president of outreach and communications, said the board is meeting Tuesday and "will make an announcement on our new...

Three years after he led the charge to require consumers to ditch their comfortable old incandescent lights in favor of those twisty CFL bulbs, Rep. Fred Upton now wants to be the man to help undo that law as the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. That about-face is not unique among lawmakers looking to atone for stances they've taken over the past decade as they seek to gain top posts in a decidedly more conservative Republican Congress, but his reversal underscores how intent the GOP is on proving it has broken with past practices. "We have...

The Washington Post Co. has agreed to sell its money-losing Newsweek magazine to California billionaire Sidney Harman, the firm said Monday. "In seeking a buyer for Newsweek, we wanted someone who feels as strongly as we do about the importance of quality journalism. We found that person in Sidney Harman," said Donald Graham, chief executive of The Washington Post Company. Harman vowed to retain the majority of Newsweek's 325 employees, although that number is not expected to include editor Jon Meacham, who was reported to be stepping down.

It's official. The 77 year old magazine Newsweek will remain safely in politically liberal hands. The Washington Post Company put the financially failing periodical up for sale in May, declined two offers from potential buyers deemed politically incompatible in June and has now agreed to sell to Sidney Harman, the 91-year-old founder of a stereo equipment company who just happens to be married to US Representative Jane Harman (D-California).

Technically it’s a dollar plus an agreement to assume their huge financial liabilities, but if you throw me an opportunity for a headline that sweet, I’m going to take it every time. Hopefully, in a few years and with a few trillion more tacked onto the national debt, the U.S. can get a deal like this from China. According to several people who have been briefed on the process, Mr. Harman’s bid appealed to Mr. Graham and the Post Company because Mr. Harman has said he would retain a significant number of the magazine’s 325 employees. The financial details of...

Although it's not clear if Sidney Harman made the best offer of the suitors vying to purchase Newsweek magazine, there is one reason that was made clear by Donald E. Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO). According to Mike Allen at Politico, Harman's bid was accepted by Graham partly because he felt comfortable with Harman's politics. "Graham felt comfortable with Harman's centrist politics, and was comforted by the idea of selling to a stalwart of the Washington establishment," Allen wrote. "Harman is expected to preserve the serious-minded, essentially New-Democratic tone [outgoing Newsweek editor Jon] Meacham set for the...

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- It's official: Sidney Harman, the businessman who made his fortune selling stereo equipment, has secured a deal to buy Newsweek from the Washington Post Co. and will announce the deal later Monday afternoon. The New York Times and others have previously reported that Mr. Harman was the front-runner to come away with the news weekly, but have cautioned that no deal was certain. Politico's Playbook e-mail newsletter this morning said a deal with Mr. Harman was imminent, but also cautioned that "no deal like this is done until it's done." The deal is now done, according...

A deal to sell Newsweek to a 91-year-old stereo equipment magnate could be announced as early as today, a move that would signal the end of a half-century of ownership by The Washington Post Company.

Sound too conspiratorial to be true? Like the cover-up ops of spy novels? Well, it's reality. And it is possibly the most bizarre, inhumane and abusive way that the White House is expanding its power over the American people. It's not an extremist belief or theory of the far right. It's a fact that has been confirmed by The New York Times, The Washington Post and MSNBC and even documented by the far-left online magazine Salon.com. And it's the gravest nightmare of U.S. citizens and abandonment of our Constitution to date: a presidential assassination program in which U.S. citizens are...