Drug Smuggling Via Drones on Rise in Arizona, Say Feds

Border Patrol officials in Arizona report the use of drones to smuggle drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border is on the rise. Yuma Sector officials ask for the public’s help in spotting and reporting illegal drone activity.

“Drones, more formally called unmanned aircraft systems, have many positive and legitimate uses; however, drones are also frequently being used to smuggle illegal drugs across the international border from Mexico into the U.S.,” Yuma Sector Border Patrol officials said in a written statement. “They are operated from a distance by remote control and are most often used under the cover of night.”

Last month, Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two U.S. citizens who picked up nearly 25 pounds of methamphetamine that smugglers dropped from a drone, according to a November Border Patrol statement. The drone delivered the package of drugs near a residence near San Luis, Arizona. Agents arrested the two U.S. citizens and seize the $225,ooo worth of meth.

“Drones are more easily available and because of this, drug trafficking organizations are using them to transport drugs,” Border Community Liaison Agent Benjamin Rodriguez said this week. He added that drone activity is most prevalent in south Yuma County.

“They can easily fly the drugs over and drop them off (on the U.S. side),” Rodriguez explained.

Officials ask for the public to contact the Border Patrol if they see or hear suspicious drone activity. Arizona residents should call 1-866-999-USBP (8727).

“We are reaching out to the public to help us out should they see anything suspicious that may be a drone being used illicitly,” Rodriguez said. “This is an ongoing effort by Yuma’s chief patrol agent to secure our borders.”

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/12/09/drug-smuggling-via-drones-on-rise-in-arizona-say-feds/

By Not Investigating Historic and Massive Election Fraud, Are Deep State DOJ and FBI Attempting to Invalidate Election Fraud Suits?

It’s really startling to see how much Obama contaminated everything in the US government.

We knew four years ago how corrupt the FBI was after letting Hillary off with no charges after numerous criminal actions were found relating to her email. Before that there were numerous obvious criminal activities that took place during the Obama years: from Benghazi; the IRS targeting conservatives; fast and furious; the Iran deal; Obama spying on Americans and even setting them up; etc.

Obama, the Chicago politician, came into the White House and corrupted what seems like every US government agency. Under the Trump Presidency we have seen corrupt Obama Intelligence and Law Enforcement members embed themselves in Trump’s Administration and spy on his team. We’ve seen them create investigations based on phony evidence and manufactured lies. We’ve seen the corrupt Russia investigation with numerous criminal activities and lies identified out in the open. But no one was ever charged. As Dan Bongino says:

The Russia collusion sham was the greatest lie and a coup against an American President since Abraham Lincoln was murdered in a coup.

Now President Trump faces another coup attempt. One of many in this rolling coup. This time the deep state and most likely foreign entities are attempting to steal the election from the greatest President in history.

Never before has an American President received more than 70 million votes in history. Obama had the record in 2008 with 69 million but this year, President Trump shattered it with over 74 million votes. This man was for the American people and they responded before the election attending massive rallies, car parades, truck parades, boat parades and then voted in the millions.

But the Democrats and their cohorts in crime were not going to let Trump win.

They did every imaginable thing to steal the election. They manipulated millions of votes using voting machines, the same machines used to steal elections in Venezuela. They manufactured hundreds of thousands of fake ballots and mailed them in and when they weren’t enough, carted them in after the election polls were closed. They hired what appear to be BLM members around the country to count the votes. They brought in other similar groups to harass Republican observers attempting to ensure a fair election. Then they forced Republicans out of the rooms entirely despite court orders so they could count the votes in secret.

But where is the FBI, DOJ and other government agencies? How come again it is us average Americans who find the lies and crimes?

Now with Trump going to the courts and trying to fight the current election results which include gross over statements for Biden who likely didn’t even reach 60 million votes, the FBI and others aren’t there.

FBI Director Wray actually claimed before the election that there was no evidence of voter fraud.

Now instead of helping the President and arresting criminals in our midst, Wray’s FBI is harassing witnesses for the President.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2020/12/by-not-investigating-historic-and.html

Hackers are selling more than 85,000 SQL databases on a dark web portal

Hackers break into databases, steal their content, hold it for ransom for 9 days, and then sell to the highest bidder if the DB owner doesn't want to pay the ransom demand.

More than 85,000 SQL databases are currently on sale on a dark web portal for a price of only $550/database.

The portal, brought to ZDNet's attention earlier today by a security researcher, is part of a database ransom scheme that has been going on since the start of 2020.

Hackers have been breaking into SQL databases, downloading tables, deleting the originals, and leaving ransom notes behind, telling server owners to contact the attackers to get their data back.

While initial ransom notes asked victims to contact the attackers via email, as the operation grew throughout the year, the attackers also automated their DB ransom scheme with the help of a web portal, first hosted online at sqldb.to and dbrestore.to, and then moved an Onion address, on the dark web.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/hackers-are-selling-more-than-85000-sql-databases-on-a-dark-web-portal/?ftag=TRE-03-10aaa6b&bhid=21735961543072688253262375158449&mid=13196659&cid=717936240

153 UN states call on Israel to 'renounce possession of nuclear weapons’

The Jewish state was asked “not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons.”

The United Nations General Assembly called on Israel to “renounce possession of nuclear weapons” in a 153-6 vote on Monday, with 25 abstentions.

Israel was asked “not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons.”

The UNGA further called on the Jewish state “to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and to place all its un-safeguarded nuclear facilities under full-scope Agency safeguards as an important confidence-building measure among all States of the region and as a step towards enhancing peace and security.”

Israel is presumed to be one of the world’s nine nuclear powers, but it has never admitted to the possession of nuclear weapons.

There are eight countries acknowledged to be nuclear powers, five of which having signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The five signatories are: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Three additional countries, which are not signatories to the treaty, have admitted to testing and possession nuclear weapons: India, North Korea and Pakistan.

Overall, 191 countries are party to the treaty, including Iran but not Israel.

In New York on Monday, 153 countries called exclusively on Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty and renounce its weapons in the resolution titled, “The Risk of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East.”

The resolution was part of a large package of resolutions approved by the General Assembly in New York, calling for nuclear disarmament globally and in the region. It is also part of a package of close to 20 annual UNGA resolutions considered to be anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian.

The Palestinian Authority was among the sponsors of this non-proliferation resolution, as were Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

The six countries that opposed the resolution were: Canada, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and the United States.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/153-un-states-call-on-israel-to-renounce-possession-of-nuclear-weapons-651457

Bombshell Cambridge Documents: Of All Positive COVID Tests Of 9,000+ Students, 100% Were FALSE POSITIVES

People of the world, you are being deceived! It’s not like we and others haven’t tried to warn, but the powers that be seem to want to silence the truth and give voice to the lies. Well, the documents don’t lie. Cambridge University performed CONvid-1984 screening at the end of November through the first week in December 2020. Guess what they discovered? Of the more than 9,000 students they tested with the PCR test that tested positive, all of them were found to be false positives.

According to the Cambridge report, which can be viewed below, and on the site here, only 10 people tested positive, but all ten were deemed false positive.

The results speak for themselves.

Latest: Most Controversial Supreme Court Case Since Bush v. Gore Will Decide President For Next 4 Years

Remember, Dr. Kary Mullis, the creator of the PCR test said the following.

https://sonsoflibertymedia.com/bombshell-cambridge-documents-of-all-positive-covid-tests-of-9000-students-100-were-false-positives/

Cambridge Pooled Testing Report 30nov-6dec

https://www.scribd.com/document/487549849/Cambridge-Pooled-Testing-Report-30nov-6dec#from_embed

“Anyone can test positive for practically anything with a PCR test, if you run it long enough… with PCR if you do it well, you can find almost anything in anybody… it doesn’t tell you that you’re sick.”

Pornhub bans downloads, disables uploads from unidentified users; here's why

Pornhub, the world’s biggest porn site has announced to ban downloads and said that it will only allow the identified users to upload, a move which comes following the backlash over its content practices.

The adult entertainment website was recently the talk of the town after a Nicholas Kristof's NYT report which alleged that Pornhub carries rape scenes, revenge pornography and other examples of explicit video taken without consent of the participants.

The allegations resulted in Pornhub banning downloads and taking other 'major steps' to further protect their community.

The company said, "At Pornhub, nothing is more important than the safety of our community. Our core values such as inclusivity, freedom of expression and privacy are only possible when our platform is trusted by our users. This is why we have always been committed to eliminating illegal content, including non-consensual material and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Every online platform has the moral responsibility to join this fight, and it requires collective action and constant vigilance"

They said that effective immediately, they have removed the ability for users to download content from Pornhub, with the exception of paid downloads within the verified Model Program.

They added that only content partners and people within the Model Program will be able to upload content to Pornhub.

http://www.sensation-hub.com/2020/12/pornhub-bans-downloads-disables-uploads.html

Easy Contact Lists of State Legislatures in Six Key States – Just Copy to an Email, Draft Your Message and Let Them Know How You Feel About the BIDEN STEAL

Home / News / Easy Contact Lists of State Legislatures in Six Key States – Just Copy to an Email, Draft Your Message and Let Them Know How You Feel About the BIDEN STEAL

Easy Contact Lists of State Legislatures in Six Key States – Just Copy to an Email, Draft Your Message and Let Them Know How You Feel About the BIDEN STEAL

December 10, 2020 - News

Many people have asked us what they can do. Below we’ve provided a list of all Congress members from the keys states in this election.

You can easily copy to your email the list in the link below and send the entire list an email demanding they fight for President Trump.

Give these State Congressmen and women a call or send them an email and demand justice.

We reported that the legislatures in the states are ultimately accountable for the reporting of delegates to the electoral college. There may be a need to have them take on their responsibility this year.

This next week is very important. Please contact these individuals and demand justice.

All you have to do is open the links below and copy the list to your email, draft your message and send. You can send these to any state and you don’t need to reside in that state.

AZ House eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/QxKGWtnB

AZ Senate eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/2RrZPk5u

GA House eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/AKniL3G3

GA Senate eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/YJjF8ci8

MI House eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/0uCm79wK

MI Senate eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/6ZRZ5Dhi

NV House eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/j3nKihWx

NV Senate eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/hjAQy7H7

PA House eMails: <All Hidden>

PA Senate eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/7nmX78KM

WI House eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/4jDJ1v1z

WI Senate eMails: https://pastebin.com/raw/6U8EPJwb

Below is also a list of state legislatures in some of the key swing states the Biden campaign is trying to steal:

Arizona Legislature https://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster/

Georgia General Assembly http://www.legis.ga.gov/en-US/default.aspx

Michigan Legislature https://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(cc0hs5oao0b4zn55a2na5kh4))/mileg.aspx?page=home

Pennsylvania Senate https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/mbrList.cfm?body=S&sort=alpha

Pennsylvania House https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/mbrList.cfm?body=H&sort=alpha

Wisconsin Senate https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/

Wisconsin House https://legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/

Please feel free to contact the Republican congressmen and women in these states and let them know your concerns and demand they stop Big Tech, Big Media, Foreign Countries and the corrupt Democrats from stealing this election.

http://www.cuzzblue.com/2020/12/easy-contact-lists-of-state.html

If the Supreme Court sides with Trump and his allies in Texas v. Pennsylvania, what happens next?

The big corporate news networks are trying to convince us that there is absolutely no way that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of President Trump and his allies in Texas v. Pennsylvania, but what if they are wrong? The case is on the docket, and the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin have been ordered to file their responses by 3 PM on Thursday. It appears that the Court understands the urgency of this matter, and they seem determined to move things along very quickly. One way or the other, we should find out what they are thinking fairly rapidly.

In the first part of this series, I discussed the fact that 18 other states have now joined with Texas in arguing that the election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin cannot be allowed to stand.

And the more I examine the facts, the more I am convinced that their legal claims are right on target.

Everyone agrees that officials in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin changed election rules without consulting their legislatures. But the Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures the sole authority in determining how electors will be selected. The rule changes that officials in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin made were unconstitutional, and they had a material affect on the outcome in each of those states.

Similarly, everyone agrees that voters and ballots were treated very differently in left-leaning portions of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin than they were in right-learning portions of those states. These are textbook violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Supreme Court would have to be completely blind not to see that.

If the Supreme Court is faithful to the U.S. Constitution, the voting results in all four states will have to be thrown out.

But what happens then?

Well, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the Court to declare that all electoral votes from those four states should not be counted…

In the suit, Paxton asks the high court to “declare that any electoral college votes cast by such presidential electors appointed in Defendant States Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin are in violation of the Electors Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and cannot be counted.”

I do not believe that the Court will do that, because that would disenfranchise all of the legal voters in all of those states.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/if-the-supreme-court-sides-with-trump-and-his-allies-in-texas-v-pennsylvania-what-happens-next/

Pelosi Defends Swalwell’s Chinese Spy Scandal – Then Deflects by Saying QAnon is a Danger to Congress

GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy this week said Democrat Rep Eric Swalwell should be removed from the House Intel Committee and ultimately removed from Congress over his ties to Chinese Communist spy and honeypot Fang Fang.

Earlier this week Axios reported that a Chinese spy raised money for Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA) and planted an “intern” in his congressional office.

A Chinese national named Fang Fang, AKA, Christine Fang targeted politicians in California between 2011 and 2015 at the direction of China’s internal spy agency and even had intimate relationships with two Midwestern mayors.

Fang was a “bundler” for Eric Swalwell and other Democrat candidates but it is also believed the Chinese spy and honeypot had an intimate relationship with Swalwell.

When asked if Swalwell had an intimate relationship with honeypot and spy Christine Fang, Swalwell’s office replied they couldn’t comment because that information could be “classified.”

Pelosi appointed Swalwell to the House Intel Committee so McCarthy asked what did Pelosi know about the Chinese spy scandal when she put Swalwell on a committee with access to classified information.

House Speaker Pelosi got very testy with a reporter on Thursday when asked if she was briefed on the Swalwell Chinese spy scandal.

Pelosi deflected by claiming QAnon is a danger to Congress.

‘McCarthy has QAnon in his delegation over there and that I think is a danger in terms of our debate here about what the possibilities are for undue influence to members of Congress,” Pelosi said referring to Marjorie Taylor Greene.

According to Pelosi, an incoming member of Congress who reads threads from an anonymous internet poster is a bigger danger to Congress than Swalwell, who is likely being blackmailed by a Chinese spy.

Perhaps Pelosi is also implicated in this scandal?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/pelosi-defends-swalwells-chinese-spy-scandal-deflects-saying-qanon-danger-congress-video/

President Trump Tweets – “People Are Upset, and They Have a Right To Be…A Coup Is Taking Place In Front of Our Eyes.”

President Trump is right – he’s actually understating it. All across this great country, people are talking about the 2020 election being stolen by senile Joe Biden and his gang of corrupt Anti-American goons.

This morning President Trump tweeted:

People are upset, and they have a right to be.”

We’ve reported how Americans across the country, Republicans and Democrats, young and old are talking about how the 2020 election is being stolen by Joe Biden. Americans are rising up.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/president-trump-tweets-people-upset-right-coup-taking-place-front-eyes/

Rudy Giuliani flashes a thumbs-up as he leaves hospital after COVID-19 diagnosis amid criticism that Donald Trump and his pals are getting preferential medical treatment

Rudy Giuliani has left hospital following his COVID-19 diagnosis, amid criticism from the medical community that Donald Trump and his pals are getting preferential medical treatment in the nation's fight against the virus.

Trump's personal attorney flashed a thumbs-up to reporters and waved as he was driven out of Georgetown University Hospital around 5 p.m. Wednesday, four days after he tested positive.

Giuliani, who is 76 putting him in a high-risk category, was admitted to the medical center Sunday where he was treated with the same 'miracle' cocktail of drugs as Trump.

Now, doctors are voicing outrage that Trump's inner circle are able to get the drugs with ease - which are not available to most of the population.

Dr. Matthew Wynia, director of the Center of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado where they are using a lottery system for Regeneron treatments, said it was deeply unfair to allow privileged individuals to skip the queue.

'That's one of the reasons why we decided that we would allocate this only through the state and only through this random allocation process so that no one could get a leg up by virtue of their special connections,' he told New York Times.

Senior pharmacy director for University of Utah Health, Erin Fox, who helped her state draft criteria for who is eligible for antibody treatments from Eli Lilly and Regeneron, said that patients often met the state's criteria to receive the drug but it was so scarce that it was left to individual hospitals to decide who should receive it.

'We’ve been trying to get the word out so that as patients might get a positive test they could get information that they might qualify for treatment, but that only works for people with a lot of resources,' Dr. Fox said.

Three top officials in the FDA also raised concerns about the seeming ease with which people at the White House could access the drugs while the rest of the country struggled to get their hands on it.

Concerns were raised after numerous members of the Trump administration including the president, Chris Christie and Ben Carson were diagnosed with Covid and treated with Regeneron or Eli Lilly's antibody drugs.

More

http://www.cuzzblue.com/2020/12/rudy-giuliani-flashes-thumbs-up-as-he.html

Pennsylvania Gov Tom Wolf, 72, tests positive for COVID-19 'despite following all precautions' but insists he has 'no symptoms' and is 'feeling well' while quarantining at home

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said on Wednesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home just two days after appearing at a virtual news conference in which he warned of new lockdown measures to contain the spread of the virus.

The second-term Democrat said a routine test on Tuesday detected the coronavirus.

'I have no symptoms and am feeling well,' Wolf said in a statement.

'I am following CDC and Department of Health guidelines.'

Wolf's spouse, Frances Wolf, has been tested but has not received the result, Wolf said.

She is quarantining with him at their home in Mount Wolf, near York.

Wolf is one of several governors who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, including the governors of Oklahoma, Missouri, Virginia, Nevada and Colorado.

http://www.madnesshub.com/2020/12/pennsylvania-gov-tom-wolf-72-tests.html

Billionaire Michael Platt, 52, is fined $170million for lying to investors after he was caught on camera bragging he was the 'highest earning person in finance' last year

A hedge fund tied to a British billionaire who was caught on camera last year bragging about his wealth has been fined $170 million for lying to investors.

Hedge-fund manager 52-year-old Michael Platt who co-founded BlueCrest Capital Management and who is estimated to be worth $8 billion, boasted to a New York taxi driver last December, that he was 'the highest-earning person in the world of finance.'

Platt has been facing federal charges that his fund deliberately used a computer algorithm it knew to be inferior to manage its clients' money but then assigned a different more promising algorithm to make money for insiders.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, BlueCrest made 'material misstatements, and misleading omissions' about how it made its calculations which it's believed occurred when the very top talent was moved to manage employee capital beginning in 2011.

The money from clients, however, languished in BlueCrest's flagship fund and was left to an inferior computer algorithm that generated much poorer returns than the new fund, called BSMA, the SEC alleges.

Clients soon realized what was going on and many decided to pull their cash out of the fund as word quickly spread reports the New York Post.

'BlueCrest repeatedly failed to act in the best interests of its investors,' the SEC's Stephanie Avakian said in a statement. 'Including by not disclosing that it was transferring its highest-performing traders to a fund that benefited its own personnel to the detriment of its fund investors.'

BlueCrest is to pay $132 million to investors along with a $37 million civil penalty.

However, it has neither admitted nor denied the SEC's findings.

Platt received attention last winter after a cab ride in which he bragged about his enormous wealth as one of the highest earners in the world of finance.

In 2018, he managed to earn an estimated $1.2 billion according to Forbes while in 2019 it's estimated he earned $2 billion.

Forbes currently estimate him to have a net worth of $8 billion.

'The thing that's different about me is … I'm the highest-earning person in the world of finance,' Platt said deadpan in the video that was filmed in the back of a taxi.

'I'm the highest-earning person in the world in finance,' Platt repeats. 'In the world.'

'I've transformed my fund into a personal investment vehicle because we made such high returns. And now, it's on the internet, on Forbes,' Platt told his driver.

The video saw him sharing the cab ride with a pretty brunette woman who looked to be several years his junior.

He introduced her as 'my girlfriend, Laetitia, the love of my life.'

More

http://www.womensystems.com/2020/12/billionaire-michael-platt-52-is-fined.html

Rich ARE getting richer: Wages for the top one percent skyrocketed 160% since 1979 while the share of wages for the bottom 90% SHRANK

Wage growth for the nation's richest people has far outpaced average workers over the past 40 years, according to a new study.

In every period since 1979, wages for the bottom 90 percent were continuously redistributed upward to the top 10 percent – and frequently to the very highest 1 and 0.1 percent, according to a report last week from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think-tank.

The wage data comes from published Social Security Administration information on W-2 earnings, which include realized stock options and vested stock awards.

The study shows that from 1979 to 2019, the top 1 percent saw their wages grow by 160 percent, adjusted for inflation, while those in the bottom 90 percent had annual wages grow by just 26 percent, shrinking their total share of income.

Wages for the top 0.1 percent grew more than twice as fast as those of the 1 percent, up a spectacular 345.2 percent.

The disparities in long-term wage growth reflect a major redistribution upward of wages over the past four decade.

The bottom 90 percent earned 69.8 percent of all earnings in 1979 but only 60.9 percent in 2019.

In contrast, the top one percent nearly doubled its share of earnings, from 7.3 percent in 1979 to 13.2 percent in 2019.

The growth of wages for the top 0.1 percent was the major driver, with that group more than tripling it share of all earnings, from 1.6 percent in 1979 to 5 percent in 2019.

The study also found that for the bottom 90 percent of earners, the vast majority of wage growth was concentrated in the two periods of sustained low unemployment representing 11 of the 40 years.

http://www.madnesshub.com/2020/12/rich-are-getting-richer-wages-for-top.html

Eastern Kentucky Doctor Sentenced to Prison for Unlawfully Distributing Controlled Substances

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/eastern-kentucky-doctor-sentenced-prison-unlawfully-distributing-controlled-substances

The Netherlands accuses two Russian diplomats of spying

They were declared personae non gratae and must leave the country, the broadcaster said

THE HAGUE, December 10. /TASS/. The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service has accused two Russian diplomats of spying, the Dutch television and radio broadcasting corporation NTK said on Thursday.

They were declared personae non gratae and must leave the country, the broadcaster said. It claimed that in reality the Russian diplomats were foreign intelligence officers and gathered information in the field of high technologies, such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and nano-technologies.

https://tass.com/world/1233717

Biden selects Susan Rice to lead Domestic Policy Council, McDonough for Veterans Affairs

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Susan Rice, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to lead the White House Domestic Policy Council, and is nominating Denis McDonough as secretary of Veterans Affairs, the transition announced on Thursday.

“The roles they will take on are where the rubber meets the road — where competent and crisis-tested governance can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, enhancing the dignity, equity, security, and prosperity of the day-to-day lives of Americans,” Biden said in the statement.

Rice also previously served as national security adviser during the Obama administration, and will now direct the Domestic Policy Council, a unit with broad purview over Biden's domestic agenda, including health, immigration and education policy. The role does not require Senate confirmation.

McDonough, who served as deputy national security adviser and later White House chief of staff under former President Obama, will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in order to lead the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs, an agency that has for years attracted public scrutiny as a result of management issues.

McDonough received swift praise from Democrats. Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called McDonough an “outstanding pick to lead the VA.”

“Denis is a principled, professional patriot and a great supporter of veterans. A former White House Chief of Staff, he is a distinguished public servant who brings the experience, skill, and leadership to be effective in this new post,” Reed said in a statement.

Biden also officially announced other appointments and nominations, including Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) as his nominee for secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Katherine Tai, a trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, as his nominee for U.S. trade representative; and Tom Vilsack as his nominee to serve as secretary of Agriculture, a role that Vilsack will reprise from his time serving in the Obama administration.

The announcements of Rice and McDonough in particular underscore the degree to which Biden is leaning on officials with deep experience who worked with one another during the Obama administration.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/529623-biden-selects-susan-rice-to-lead-domestic-policy-council

Cotton calls for special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden

Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark), a Republican with his eye on a potential White House run in 2024, on Thursday said a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden’s son.

Cotton alleged during a Fox News interview that Hunter Biden appears to be the subject of a far-ranging investigation and cited allegations of securities fraud, money laundering and “a crooked hospital deal with Jim Biden, Joe Biden’s brother” in Western Pennsylvania.

“These investigations span multiple jurisdictions and if Joe Biden becomes president then all of those prosecutors are in line to be fired next month. If there were ever circumstances that created a conflict of interest and called for a special counsel, I think those circumstances are present here,” Cotton said.

“The Biden family has been trading on Joe Biden’s public office for fifty years,” he added. “Do we really think that that will change if Joe Biden becomes president, the highest office in the land?”

Cotton made his comments a day after Hunter Biden disclosed that the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware is investigating his tax affairs.

“I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Biden said in a statement.

Senate Republicans and Democrats are already set to battle over Attorney General William Barr’s appointment of Connecticut U.S. attorney John Durham to serve as special counsel going into next year to complete his investigation of the FBI’s investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign and its interactions with Russian officials.

Barr’s designation of Durham as special counsel will make it more difficult for the next attorney general to bring Durham’s investigation to a close. The next attorney general can only fire a special counsel for a specific reason such as misconduct, dereliction of duty or conflict of interest.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/529643-cotton-calls-for-special-counsel-to-investigate-hunter-biden

Clinton associate wrote anti-Trump dossier in 2016 claiming he had Russian FSB source

Cody Shearer’s intel, forwarded to FBI via Christopher Steele, should have set off disinformation alarm bells, intel experts say

Evidence released by the Senate this month reveals that longtime Hillary Clinton associate Cody Shearer received anti-Trump dirt in 2016 from a Russian intelligence source and got it into the hands of the FBI through the ex-British spy Christopher Steele.

Shearer’s claim that his information came from a Russian FSB source, experts say, should have alerted senior US officials that the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties Russia was compromised by its sources, Clinton surrogates and alleged Russian spies.

The documents also indicate the State Department played a much larger role than previously reported in shaping the media narrative, and eventually the official Obama administration intelligence assessment that Vladimir Putin wanted Trump to win in 2016, lawmakers said.

“Clinton confidantes and campaign surrogates repeatedly sought information from individuals with links to known or suspected Russian intelligence officers and assets," Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis, told Just the News. "This demonstrates the double standard and bias of the FBI’s investigation of only Trump campaign officials for their contacts with Russian agents. Americans deserve equal justice, and the FBI has a long way to go before its integrity and credibility is restored.”

The new documents released jointly by Johnson’s committee and the Senate Finance Committee chaired by Chuck Grassley sheds significant new light on the extensive network of Clinton associates who participated and exerted influence on the 2016-17 effort to falsely portray Trump as the agent of a hostile power.

One of Shearer’s reports, alleging that Trump was compromised by Russian intelligence, made its way to the FBI shortly before the 2016 election through a series of Clinton allies. It included Steele, the British ex-spy who authored a now-debunked dossier tying the Trump campaign and associates to Kremlin officials. Steele submitted the Shearer memo, titled “FSB Interview,” to the FBI as a supplement to his own Trump-Russia reporting funded by the Clinton campaign.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/clinton-associate-wrote-anti-trump-dossier-2016-claiming

Koch and Soros-Backed Think Tank Honors Former Black Panther for ‘Responsible Statecraft’

The Quincy Institute, a think tank funded by billionaires George Soros and Charles Koch, handed its first-ever "responsible statecraft" award to a far-left former Black Panther who has called for defunding the Pentagon and preventing U.S. military forces from defending themselves against terrorist attacks.

The Quincy Institute, known for its isolationist advocacy, awarded Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.) last week for "her advancement of ideas and actions that move U.S. foreign policy away from endless war and toward vigorous diplomacy in the pursuit of international peace," according to a press release from the think tank.

Quincy's selection of Lee, who has called for defunding the Pentagon and voted against measures to condemn the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, further positions the organization as one of Washington's loudest isolationist voices. While pushing for what it calls a more restrained foreign policy approach, Quincy has been engulfed in controversy since its launch in late 2019 for hiring anti-Israel voices who have attacked American Jews as warmongers.

Lee, a former Black Panther whom the FBI investigated for her ties to the militant group known for its violent tactics, was the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization for use of military force in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City.

"I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States," Lee said of her vote on Sept. 14, 2001, just days after the attacks by al Qaeda.

Lee has also called for defunding the Pentagon and has repeatedly pushed to defund American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has further advocated for the creation of a "U.S. Department of Peacebuilding" dedicated to "the study and advancement of peace."

Lee served as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where she has made common cause with Reps. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.).

In January, Lee joined Ocasio-Cortez and Omar to push a new war powers resolution that would have significantly impeded the United States' ability to counter Iranian terror groups operating in the Middle East. The effort aligns her with Quincy's own advocacy, which has centered around downplaying the threat posed by Tehran. Quincy Institute officials have parroted talking points forwarded by Iran and are central to the push by isolationist foreign policy voices to lessen economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.

Lee also has opposed congressional efforts to combat the anti-Israel BDS movement, which wages economic warfare on Israel by boycotting Jewish-made goods. She was one of 16 Democrats—including Omar, Tlaib, and Ocasio-Cortez—who voted against a 2019 measure condemning the BDS movement. Additionally, Lee appeared earlier this year alongside speakers at a gala for the American Muslims for Palestine, a prominent anti-Israel advocacy group that promotes BDS and works with individuals who have been linked to terrorism.

While Quincy has not taken a public stance on the BDS movement, it has been critical of recent Middle East peace deals that are widely seen to have greatly increased Israel's security.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/koch-and-soros-backed-think-tank-honors-former-black-panther-for-responsible-statecraft/

Feinstein cognitive decline 'evident for several years': New Yorker's Jane Mayer

87-year-old Senator is 'seriously struggling,' sources told the New Yorker

New Yorker staffer writer Jane Mayer published a story Thursday citing people familiar with Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's current situation saying her apparent cognitive decline has been "evident for several years."

Those familiar with the senator's current state told the New Yorker that Feinstein, 87, has been "seriously struggling" and that her short-term memory "has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have."

During a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Big Tech, then-ranking member Feinstein asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey the same question twice. Dorsey answered the question the same way the second time she asked it.

Feinstein's office did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News.

The mental fitness of other aging politicians, including President-elect Joe Biden, President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have also been questioned.

Feinstein, who was first elected in 1992 as one of California's first two female senators, has mostly stayed out of the limelight until the Judiciary Committee hearing flub.

The senator announced on Nov. 23 that she would not seek reelection to keep her role as the top Democrat on the committee after receiving criticism over her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation.

Former aides told Mayer that rumors of the senator's cognitive decline are exaggerated, while others familiar with her situation say it has been ongoing and that she gets upset when she forgets something.

"The staff is in such a bad position," one former Senate aide told Mayer. "They have to defend her and make her seem normal."

Another aide working for a different Democratic senator told Mayer that Feinstein is "an incredibly effective human being, but there’s definitely been deterioration in the last year. She’s in a very different mode now."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/feinstein-cognitive-decline-new-yorker-article

Setting up her defense case!

Taliban Are Megarich – Here’s Where They Get the Money

The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001.

In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the Taliban reportedly brought in $1.6 billion, according to Mullah Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who revealed the Taliban’s income sources in a confidential report commissioned by NATO and later obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

In comparison, the Afghan government brought in $5.55 billion during the same period. The government is now in peace talks with the Taliban, seeking to end their 19-year insurgency.

I study the Taliban’s finances as an economic policy analyst at the Center for Afghanistan Studies. Here’s where their money comes from.

1. Drugs – $416 million

Afghanistan accounted for approximately 84 percent of global opium production over the past five years, according to the United Nation’s World Drug Report 2020.

Much of those illicit drug profits go to the Taliban, which manage opium in areas under their control. The group imposes a 10 percent tax on every link in the drug production chain, according to a 2008 report from the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, an independent research organization in Kabul. That includes the Afghan farmers who cultivate poppy, the main ingredient in opium, the labs that convert it into a drug and the traders who move the final product out of country.

1. Mining – $400 Million to $464 Million

Mining iron ore, marble, copper, gold, zinc and other metals and rare-earth minerals in mountainous Afghanistan is an increasingly lucrative business for the Taliban. Both small-scale mineral-extraction operations and big Afghan mining companies pay Taliban militants to allow them to keep their businesses running. Those who don’t pay have faced death threats.

According to the Taliban’s Stones and Mines Commission, or Da Dabaro Comisyoon, the group earns $400 million a year from mining. NATO estimates that figure higher, at $464 million – up from just $35 million in 2016.

1. Extortion & Taxes – $160 Million

Like a government, the Taliban tax people and industries in the growing swath of Afghanistan under their control. They even issue official receipts of tax payment.

“Taxed” industries include mining operations, media, telecommunications and development projects funded by international aid. Drivers are also charged for using highways in Taliban-controlled regions, and shopkeepers pay the Taliban for the right to do business.

The group also imposes a traditional Islamic form of taxation called “ushr” – which is a 10 percent tax on a farmer’s harvest – and “zakat,” a 2.5 percent wealth tax.

According to Mullah Yaqoob, tax revenues – which may also be considered extortion – bring in around $160 million annually.

Since some of those taxed are poppy growers, there could be some financial overlap between tax revenue and drug revenue.

1. Charitable Donations – $240 million

The Taliban receive covert financial contributions from private donors and international institutions across the globe.

Many Taliban donations are from charities and private trusts located in Persian Gulf countries, a region historically sympathetic to the group’s religious insurgency. Those donations add up to about $150 million to $200 million each year, according to the Afghanistan Center for Research and Policy Studies. These charities are on the U.S. Treasurey Department’s list of groups that finance terrorism.

Private citizens from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and some Persian Gulf nations also help finance the Taliban, contributing another $60 million annually to the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, according to American counterterrorism agencies.

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/12/10/taliban-are-megarich-heres-where-they-get-the-money/

ICE assists Brazil in the arrests of 10 human smugglers

BRASILIA, Brazil - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assists Brazil Federal Police (PF) in the arrests of ten high-profile targets in Brazil, to include several current and former local politicians, who are part of transnational criminal organizations involved in human smuggling.

On Dec. 3, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Brasilia, collaborated with the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in a PF-led enforcement operation as part of Operation Tree of Lies, a parallel initiative to Brazil’s Operation Cai Cai, in Minas Gerais and other locations throughout Brazil. The operation resulted in 21 search and seizure warrants and 10 arrests, to include the arrest of a prolific Minas Gerais-based human smuggler and his close associates who are alleged to be responsible for facilitating the travel of a Brazilian citizen who was found drowned in the Rio Grande river near El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 11. In addition to the arrests, nine vehicles and bulk quantities of valuable stones and cash were also seized as alleged proceeds of criminal activity.

Operation Tree of Lies and Operation Cai Cai is a joint effort by the Government of Brazil and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to combat human smuggling and identity fraud cells that exploit the immigration systems of the U.S. and Brazil by organizing and facilitating the travel of Brazilians posing as family units utilizing legitimate and/or illegitimate travel documents to the U.S.

The operation follows PF’s execution of five search and seizure warrants on Nov. 30 in Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil as part of the joint human smuggling investigation targeting an organization alleged to have smuggled over 500 Brazilian nationals to the U.S. Southwest border.

“This joint enforcement action resulted in the arrest of transnational organized crime members who profit off of inhumane treatment and illegal movement of vulnerable individuals,” said ICE Attaché for Brasilia and Bolivia, Robert Fuentes, Jr. “The migrants who are smuggled across our borders were under serious risks, faced inhuman conditions, and were subjected to guides called coyotes, who are armed criminals responsible for these risky border crossing routes. Thanks to our strong partnership with the Brazil Federal Police and our partnering U.S. agencies, we were able to apprehend high-profile targets and put a dent into the criminal organizations responsible.”

ICE Brasilia initiated Operation Tree of Lies in May 2019 after receiving information from DHS Joint Task Force-West (JTF-W) that Brazilian migrants were presenting themselves as family units to DHS officials along the U.S. Southwest border. ICE Brasilia, corroborating with PF, determined that the Brazil passports presented to DHS officials were attained under false pretenses with fraudulent identities. This further led ICE Brasilia, JTF-W and the PF to the positive identification of over 286 materially false Brazilian passports presented to DHS officials. As a recent example, a group of 10 adults and nine minors traveling from Brazil to Mexico, destined for the U.S., were interviewed in-depth by PF. Although the passports themselves were legitimate, the identity documents to obtain the passports were fraudulent and were created in order to simulate a family unit. It was later identified that the travel documents and the transportation were provided by a major transnational criminal organization in Brazil. PF arrested the 10 adults for the use of fraudulent documents, and the nine rescued victims were transferred to the care of Brazil social services.

This is a joint Brazil Federal Police and ICE Brasilia-led (HSI and ERO) initiative with significant support from HSI El Paso, HSI HQ Human Smuggling Unit, DHS Joint Task Force-West, ERO El Paso, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Embassy Brasilia Public Affairs and Consulate Sections.

The HSI International Operations Division is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative presence overseas. Division personnel serve as liaisons to governments and law enforcement agencies across the globe and work side-by-side with foreign law enforcement on HSI investigations. HSI is the principal investigative arm of DHS and a vital U.S. asset in combatting transnational crime and threats.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-assists-brazil-arrests-10-human-smugglers#wcm-survey-target-id

>>11972071

Parler is run by the (((cabal)))