Dominion Voting Systems Sends Threatening Letter to Attorney Sidney Powell – Demands Retraction of “Defamatory” Accusations

Dominion Voting Systems sent a threatening letter to Attorney Sidney Powell demanding a retraction of her “defamatory” accusations.

Dominion is very upset with the allegations that the Dominion machines were flipping ballots from Trump to Biden something that was proven in court earlier this week!

And there are at least five videos of voting machine companies flipping votes from Trump to Biden on live TV on election night.

This has never been explained.

The Hill reported:

Attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems sent a letter to Sidney Powell, a onetime member of President Trump’s legal team, demanding she retract her claims that the voting machine company helped rig the 2020 election.

The letter, from the Alexandria, Va.-based law firm Clare Locke, warns Powell that she will expose both herself and the Trump campaign to “substantial legal risk for defamation” if she refuses to publicly recant the many unsubstantiated claims she has made about the company.

“As a result of your false accusations, Dominion has suffered enormous harm, and its employees have been stalked, have been harassed, and have received death threats,” the letter states. “We demand that you immediately and publicly retract your false accusations and set the record straight. If you refuse to do so and instead choose to stand by your defamatory falsehoods, that will be viewed as additional evidence of actual malice.”

Powell has been among the most vocal and active proponents of allegations — none of which have held up in court — that the election was stolen from Trump through widespread fraud and corruption.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/dominion-voting-systems-sends-threatening-letter-attorney-sidney-powell-demands-retraction-defamatory-accusations/

Ex-CIA boss Brennan says Pentagon’s declassified UFO videos are ‘eyebrow-raising,’ advises ‘to keep an open mind’

Former Obama-era CIA director John Brennan has described the declassified Pentagon UFO videos as “eyebrow-raising” and has said they should be treated with an open mind.

“I’ve seen some of those videos from Navy pilots, and I must tell you that they are quite eyebrow-raising when you look at them,” Brennan said in a recent interview at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

Among the several recently-declassified videos was the so-called ‘tic tac’ craft captured on camera by Navy pilots in 2004 performing neck breaking and apparently physics defying maneuvers 100 miles off the Pacific shore. Brennan was careful not to confirm nor deny the existence of aliens, but struck a curious tone.

“You try to ensure that you have as much data as possible in terms of visuals and also different types of maybe technical collection of sensors that you have at the time,” the ex-director explained.

“You really have to approach it with an open mind, but get as much data as possible and get as much expertise as possible brought to bear.”

When pressed about whether he thought aliens exist and have visited Earth, Brennan said it is “a bit presumptuous and arrogant for us to believe that there’s no other form of life anywhere in the entire universe,” but added that it may not fit the bill of what we necessarily think of as ‘life’.

He highlighted the importance of thinking outside the box, examining the potential for weird weather phenomena, a go-to for authorities downplaying alleged UFO sightings, among other possible explanations for the baffling videos.

He even strayed into the realm of the supernatural, suggesting the videos may depict “phenomenon that is the result of something that we don’t yet understand and that could involve some type of activity that some might say constitutes a different form of life.”

Brennan cited his position as an agnostic as the main reason he’s so open-minded about the videos, but declined to speculate about aliens, gods, daemons, deities, or superheroes/villains being the source of the bizarre sightings.

Brennan joins the ranks of a growing number of senior officials from around the world who have expressed a particular curiosity about the apparent ‘x-files’ which were declassified by the Pentagon in recent years.

“The federal government all these years has covered up [evidence about UFOs],” former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a recent documentary.

The former head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s space unit, Haim Eshed, caused quite a stir earlier this month when he claimed that humans have made contact with a “galactic federation” of aliens with whom we have, apparently, signed a contract to conduct experiments here on Earth.

He also claimed that there is a manned, underground US base on Mars, but declined to provide any proof, and added that outgoing US President Donald Trump was on the cusp of spilling the intergalactic beans before he was stopped by “The Federation” to prevent mass hysteria on a global scale.

https://www.rt.com/usa/510096-cia-ufo-brennan-open-mind/

Dems Block Stimulus After GOP Moves To Strip Fed's Pandemic Powers

As pandemic relief negotiations continue to stall in Congress, the latest major obstacle has emerged; a battle over the Fed's ability to channel tens of billions of dollars to state and local governments - a largely-unused provision in the Cares Act which expires on Dec. 31.

Democrats want to preserve this option for what the Wall Street Journal editorial board describes as a plan "to use the Fed to go around Congress if they don't control the Senate next year," while Republicans - led by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) - want to repurpose approximately $429 billion in Cares Act funding to finance roughly half of the new spending.

According to the report, the Fed only made $25 billion in loans and other commitments because the majority of businesses and municipalities were able to borrow more cheaply in the private market.

That Democrats are opposing the Toomey language gives away that their plan is to use the Fed to go around Congress if they don’t control the Senate next year. They’re afraid a GOP Senate won’t agree to another spending blowout to rescue profligate states like Illinois and New Jersey. They want to use the Fed’s municipal and state lending facility, which was stood up this year at the height of the pandemic and market disruption, as the bailout vehicle. -Wall Street Journal

At present, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has agreed to return the unused portion of the funding to the Treasury, following the request of Secretary Steven Mnuchin. If the Cares Act is allowed to lapse on Dec. 31, a Biden Treasury would require a new appropriation from Congress to restore the programs.

The Journal also notes that after the $429 billion is repurposed for Covid relief, the Fed will still control some $35 to $40 billion as a cushion for various pandemic facilities - which could then be leveraged as much as 10x to lend to cities and states on terms set by the Biden Treasury and the Fed.

Democrats, meanwhile, say the fight is over the Fed's ability to prevent an economic collapse.

Back in March, the Federal Reserve moved quickly to slash interest rates, flood the financial markets and boost bond purchases. While Congress has struggled for months to extend federal aid programs, the Fed has stuck with its slate of emergency lending programs, and had no intention of winding them down before the recovery was complete. -Washington Post

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dems-block-stimulus-after-gop-moves-strip-feds-pandemic-powers

SCOTUS Throws Out Challenge to President Trump’s Bid to Exclude Illegal Aliens from Being Counted in Determining Congressional Seats

The Supreme Court on Friday threw out a challenge to President Trump’s bid to exclude illegal aliens from being counted in determining congressional seats.

The case was led by a coalition of leftist states like New York and California who believe illegals should be given the rights of US citizens. These states also believe the rest of America should pay for their crackpot policies.

Democrats always believe the rest of America should follow the law — just not them.

CNN reported:

The Supreme Court on Friday threw out a challenge to President Donald Trump’s bid to exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted when seats in Congress are divvied up between the states next year.

The court said the challengers, a coalition of states led by New York and immigrant rights groups, did not have the legal injury necessary to bring the case because the government has not yet announced which individuals it seeks to exclude.

The three liberal justices dissented from the opinion, and the issue is likely to return at a later date.

Friday’s ruling is a narrow victory for Trump as it wipes away a lower court opinion that went against him, but he still has upcoming hurdles. Census officials have indicated that they are having difficulties processing census responses in time to produce the final count by an end of the year deadline.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/scotus-throws-challenge-president-trumps-bid-exclude-illegal-aliens-counted-determining-congressional-seats/

Intel Experts Claim the US Was Hit By a “DIGITAL PEARL HARBOR”

On December 7, 1941 Japanese forces hit the US base at Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack just before 8 AM in the morning. The Japanese managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack.

Today intel experts are comparing the latest intelligence breach on the US government to a “Digital Pearl Harbor.”

There is now a call for Executive Order 13848 – a report is due to the President today:

President Trump has the people behind him and an election win of historic proportions. Democrats and their media claim Biden broke the all-time record by 10 million votes. We all know this did not happen:

We’re facing a digital Pearl Harbor!

America is under attack.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/experts-claiming-us-hit-digital-pearl-harbor/

Pentagon lost track of over HALF of ‘sensitive’ equipment provided to Afghanistan’s military – watchdog

The US military has failed to keep track of assorted “sensitive” devices such as night-vision devices, surveillance systems, and other kit it provided to the Afghan government, a US watchdog has found.

The severe lack of accounting of the military toys provided to Kabul was exposed in a new report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) tasked with providing so-called end-use monitoring (EUM) needed to ensure the provided equipment was utilized exactly as agreed, but failed to track more than half of the items it should have checked on during the latest 365-day period.

“We determined that CSTC-A did not inventory 60 percent of enhanced EUM-designated defense articles – those considered to contain sensitive technology – between May 2019 and April 2020 because of security constraints and travel limitations,” the report reads.

The EUM items are required to be checked on each year by the US military officials. Some five percent of them, supposedly still in use by the Afghan forces, have never been inventoried since the 2017 fiscal year. While the US military strives for 100 percent accountability of EUM-listed items, the CSTC-A has openly admitted it would be never able to achieve this goal, the report stated.

According to CSTC-A officials, the command has never met its 100-percent inventory requirement and is unlikely to ever do so, because the security situation in Afghanistan prevents some inventories from taking place.

Apart from the glaring lack of accountability, the watchdog also noted that a lot of equipment provided to the Afghan forces ends up lost, broken and – presumably – stolen very fast. All of the night-vision devices requested back in the 2019 fiscal year have already been destroyed or lost, according to the report.

According to information ANDSF [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] units submitted to CSTC-A, 19 of the 48 enhanced EUM-designated night-vision devices for which the ANDSF requested the US government’s approval for end-use changes in FY 2019 were captured by enemy forces, and 29 were recorded as destroyed, damaged, or lost.

SIGAR urged the Pentagon to change its monitoring procedures and make them more fitting for Afghanistan, where the US has waged its war for nearly 20 years. During the endless conflict, the US military has transferred more than $28 billion worth of military equipment to the Afghan government.

https://www.rt.com/usa/510105-pentagon-afghanistan-lost-equipment/

Pentagon Abruptly Halts Biden Transition Briefings, Leaving Officials "Stunned"

Axios' Jonathan Swan reports a bombshell potential major disruption in a key part of the presidential transition before President-Elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20: the Pentagon has without warning or explanation halted Biden's intelligence transition briefings.

Reports Swan: "Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department, senior administration officials tell Axios."

Biden's team has so far maintained that it's unaware of the directive while Pentagon officials are said to be stunned and in the dark: "Administration officials left open the possibility cooperation would resume after a holiday pause," the breaking Axios report notes. "The officials were unsure what prompted Miller's action, or whether President Trump approved."

"Miller's move, which stunned officials throughout the Pentagon, was the biggest eruption yet of animus and mistrust toward the Biden team from the top level of the Trump administration," Axios details.

However at least one senior Defense Department official downplayed the halt in Pentagon cooperation with President-Elect Biden, calling it "a simple delay of the last few scheduled meetings until after the new year."

But Jonathan Swan in a follow-up tweet noted this is all spin, saying "there was NOTHING routine about this decision" and appears part of an emerging information and intelligence war between the White House and president-elect Biden's team.

Contrary to this Pentagon spin, there was NOTHING routine about this decision. Senior Trump officials have been furious at the Biden team, privately blaming them for leaks, and this decision was discussed last night with the White House. https://t.co/tH6741ifwV

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) December 18, 2020

Previously scheduled Pentagon meetings with the Biden transition team have been canceled, according to senior national security correspondent for Defense One, Katie Bo Williams.

Acting SecDef Miller informed people of his decision last night, White House was involved in the conversations. https://t.co/w21Filr2jZ

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) December 18, 2020

For now it appears that the sudden halt or pause is being blamed ostensibly on the holidays.

It remains unclear the degree to which the Biden team has been informed or is cooperative in the change, which appears to have involved at least today's briefing being unexpectedly canceled "without notice".

I can now confirm that this two-week break was agreed to by the Biden team. Today’s meetings, however, were canceled without notice. Definitely fair to say Trump officials frustrated with the Biden transition team and blame them for leaks, but FWIW…

— Katie Bo Williams (@KatieBoWill) December 18, 2020

"These same senior leaders needed to do their day jobs and were being consumed by transition activities… With the holidays we are taking a knee for two weeks. We are still committed to a productive transition," the DoD source told Swan.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/abrupt-halt-bidens-pentagon-transition-briefings-leaves-officials-stunned

Brazil's Supreme Court Rules COVID Vaccine Can Be Mandatory

he Supreme Court in Brazil has issued a ruling that could see state and local governments mandate the coronavirus vaccine, with the authority to issue fines and/or restrictions to those who refuse it.

Reuters reports that “Brazilians could be ‘required, but not forced’ by civil authorities to be vaccinated.

The report adds:

Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski wrote in the majority ruling that individuals refusing to take vaccines could face sanctions, such as the inability to partake in certain activities or to frequent certain locations.

Ten justices out of the 11-member court voted in favour of mandatory inoculation, with only one voting against it Thursday.

While a vaccine has not yet been approved in the country, polls indicate that around one-fifth of Brazilians do not intend to get a shot.

Among the skeptics is President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly warned of side effects from vaccinations and declared he is opposed to them.

“Nobody can force anybody to take the vaccine,” Bolsonaro said following the court’s decision, adding “We’re dealing with lives, where is our freedom?”

Sizeable numbers of Brazillians have continued to protest against the prospect of mandatory vaccinations, with Bolsonaro vowing not to buy any coronavirus vaccines, in contrast with the federal health ministry announcing in October that it intends to secure 46 million doses.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/brazils-supreme-court-rules-covid-vaccine-can-be-mandatory

Discredited Steele dossier was ‘intended to influence’ media, ex-FBI agent Strzok says in newly released text message

A report filled with unverified claims about Donald Trump that prompted a probe into his alleged ties to Russia, was tailored to score points with the press, ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok suggests, in a recently declassified message.

Senate Republicans on Thursday released a new batch of text messages from Strzok, who was fired by the FBI in 2018 after internal communications showed that he wanted to use the agency’s investigation into Russian collusion as an “insurance policy” to attack Trump if he won the White House.

In one newly revealed message dated September 23, 2016, Strzok appears to acknowledge that the dodgy dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, and later used by the FBI to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign, could at the very least be used to create a media narrative. Referring to a Yahoo article based on an unnamed source that alleged Trump campaign adviser Carter Page attended a secret summit in Moscow with two Kremlin insiders, Strzok wrote: “I would definitely say at a minimum Steele’s reports should be viewed as intended to influence as well as to inform.”

The FBI ended its relationship with Steele after it became clear that he was leaking information to the press. However, the agency failed to inform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) that Steele had been a source for the Yahoo article, which was used to corroborate the dossier and obtain a warrant to spy on Page. In January 2020, a court ruled that two of the four warrant applications submitted by the FBI to snoop on Page were “invalid.”

Another newly-released Strzok message, from January 12, 2017, shows that the FBI recorded a phone call between former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and an unnamed executive at Fox News. Notably, the Justice Department never obtained a warrant to spy on Papadopoulos or Fox, and likely used a so-called National Security Letter to carry out the surveillance.

Steele’s infamous dossier, which was part of an opposition research campaign commissioned by the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, has been widely discredited since it first appeared in the media four years ago.

In September, it was revealed that the FBI knew that Steele’s primary source for the document had been flagged as a national security threat and was investigated in 2009 as a possible Russian agent.

https://www.rt.com/usa/510069-strzok-texts-fbi-influence-media-steele/

Minister says ‘nothing is ruled out’ for England as Northern Ireland faces six-week post-Christmas Covid lockdown

The British schools minister has warned that the government will not hesitate to introduce tougher Covid-19 restrictions after the Christmas period, but added that he had faith in the English tier system.

Speaking on Friday, Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb told BBC Breakfast that the government would be considering all options in the fight against Covid-19 in England.

Asked if there would be another national lockdown after a period of relaxed measures for Christmas, he said: “We think the tier system is a very effective way, of course, but you know, we rule nothing out. This Government is absolutely determined to tackle this virus.”

Gibb added that the government has faith in the current regional approach to tackling the virus.

“It means that we can identify where, in particular local areas, infection rates are rising, and then we can apply those restrictions on an area-by-area basis through the tier system, and when infection rates are rising we will increase the tier from Tier two to Tier Three,” the minister asserted.

The comments come after Northern Ireland’s administration announced a six-week post-Christmas lockdown for the province.

Speaking on Thursday, Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said she that a “longer and deeper intervention” was necessary but recognised the lockdown would be “disappointing” for many people.

“The health service would be completely crushed in January if we didn’t intervene now, so while this is draconian, it’s about saving lives,” she claimed.

The strict lockdown in Northern Ireland will begin on December 26, with all non-essential shops forced to close. Pubs and eateries will be restricted to takeaway services.

The decision of all UK governments to introduce a five-day period of reduced restrictions for Christmas has sparked condemnation from healthcare professionals and fears of a very serious third wave in the new year.

People in all parts of the UK are now being told to think carefully about their Christmas plans, while Wales and Northern Ireland have made a U-turn on their ‘Christmas bubble’ promises.

Under plans agreed by all four UK administrations in November, up to three households would be permitted to come together from December 23-27.

Healthcare professionals have warned that this household mixing may lead to a “tsunami” of cases after the festive period.

https://www.rt.com/uk/510060-britain-covid19-third-lockdown-christmas/

Credit Suisse faces criminal charges over money-laundering for cocaine cartel

The Swiss prosecutor has filed an indictment against the country’s second-largest bank for failing to tackle money-laundering practices connected to drug trafficking by a Bulgarian criminal syndicate.

Credit Suisse is accused of “failing to take all the organizational measures that were reasonable and required to prevent the laundering of assets belonging to and under the control of the criminal organization,” according to a statement by the Office of the Swiss Attorney General.

The criminal cartel, reportedly established by a top Bulgarian wrestler, was embroiled in international sales of cocaine and large-scale money laundering of proceeds. The cash made from the drug trafficking was allegedly used for purchasing real estate in Switzerland and Bulgaria.

The proceeds were reportedly routed into bank accounts in Switzerland controlled by the criminal cartel from 2004 until 2007, according to the prosecutor’s office. Procedures for opening and monitoring accounts by Credit Suisse employees and superiors didn’t comply with the anti-money-laundering provisions in force as well as with the bank’s internal directives.

The indictments, filed against a former Credit Suisse manager and two members of the criminal organization, came after a 12-year investigation. The Zurich-based lender rejected the allegations.

“The bank rejects the allegations about supposed organizational deficiencies and intends to defend itself vigorously,” Credit Suisse said, adding that it is convinced its former employee is innocent.

https://www.rt.com/business/510042-credit-swiss-drugs-laundering/

FORENSICS REPORT: Dominion Machine Software, Like Those Subpoenaed in Arizona, Designed to Influence Elections

In examination after examination Dominion Voting Systems shows backdoors and vulnerabilities that make questioning election integrity a necessity

An independent forensic audit of the Dominion Voting System machines and software in the troubled Michigan county of Antrim revealed that the very design of the system was crafted to influence elections and facilitate vote fraud.

A preliminary report by the Allied Security Operations Group concluded, “Dominion Voting System is intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results.”

Allied Security Operations Group was co-founded by Russell Ramsland Jr., a former Reagan administration official with Ivy league pedigrees from Harvard and Duke Universities. Ramsland worked for NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“The system intentionally generates an enormously high number of ballot errors,” Ramsland’s team wrote in their preliminary conclusion after examining the machines in Antrim County.

“The electronic ballots are then transferred for adjudication. The intentional errors lead to bulk adjudication of ballots with no oversight, no transparency, and no audit trail. This leads to voter or election fraud. Based on our study, we conclude that The Dominion Voting System should not be used in Michigan. We further conclude that the results of Antrim County should not have been certified,” the report continues.

These exact Dominion Voting Systems machines and software configurations are the focus of the Arizona State Senate’s subpoenas to Maricopa County ordering a full forensic audit of their Dominion Voting machines.

“We conclude that the Dominion Voting System is intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results,” Russell Ramsland Jr., co-founder of Allied #Security Operations Group, said in a report. https://t.co/0qXmg5QYk5

— NTD News (@news_ntd) December 17, 2020

Ramsland’s team examined and performed “forensic duplication” on the Antrim County’s election management server. Forensic duplication is the copying of the contents of a storage device, completely and without alteration, for the purpose of evidence gathering.

The examination revealed that the tabulation log for the forensic examination tallied 15,676 individual events, of which approximately 68 percent were recorded errors.

“These errors resulted in overall tabulation errors or ballots being sent to adjudication,” the report read. “This high error rates proves the Dominion Voting System is flawed and does not meet state or federal election laws.”

https://nationalfile.com/forensics-report-dominion-machine-software-like-those-subpoenaed-in-arizona-designed-to-influence-elections/

‘They Are Finishing the Trees’: Chinese Companies and Namibian Elites Make Millions Illegally Logging the Last Rosewoods

Jacobus Oma

looked sadly at the stockpile of several hundred ancient rosewood logs he had just helped to load onto a Chinese-owned truck in northeastern Namibia. Some were centuries old, so large they dwarfed his small frame.

“The children will never see trees like this in our lives again,” he said, recalling how the rosewood’s seed pods were traditionally a vital source of food for indigenous San people like himself during the dry season.

Oma had accompanied the teams that felled the trees earlier this year on the boundary of Khaudum National Park in Namibia’s Okavango region, a part of the San’s ancestral lands.

Back in Nhoma, a sparse collection of buildings on the southwestern edge of the park where he lives with his family, Oma told OCCRP he helped load the prized hardwoods for one of the Chinese-fronted companies that dominate the local illegal logging trade here.

“I am not being paid. I am only helping out with the timber loading here,” he said, explaining that he had hoped at least to get something to eat.

Oma’s ripped top and pants were smeared with black stains from moving the wood, some of which had been charred by fires set by local farmers in the hope of rejuvenating the land.

The logs are among thousands of protected trees that have been illegally cut down on land leased as “settlement farms” to political elites and war veterans by Namibia’s ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) party.

OCCRP found more than a dozen stockpiles of timber along the routes the loggers use, ranging from hundreds to thousands of logs or blocks — squared off trunks with bark still attached. All appeared to be from three protected hardwood species — African rosewood, Zambezi teak, and Kiaat.

A forestry expert described the stockpiles, all run by two Chinese-fronted companies, as evidence of “industrial wood mining.”

Despite a moratorium on harvesting these prized hardwoods in Namibia since November 2018, and a ban on trading raw timber since early August, the plunder has continued. On two recent road trips through the Okavango and Zambezi regions, together covering 6,600 kilometers, an OCCRP reporter saw not a single mature African rosewood tree left standing.

The farm leaseholders could have made as much as US$1.5 million per year from selling the wood. But the true winners appear to be the Chinese-fronted companies that control the trade, with timber valued at many millions of dollars exported in just months, according to a government official. Forestry department data and figures from wood brokers on the ground indicate that these exports are declared at just a small fraction their value, leading to vast sums being lost in uncollected tax revenues.

SWAPO did not respond to a request for comment.

More

https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/chinese-companies-and-namibian-elites-make-millions-illegally-logging-the-last-rosewoods

Canadian Police Seize Drugs, Weapons Motherlode

Canadian Police Seize Drugs, Weapons Motherlode

Print article

Published: Friday, 18 December 2020 18:10

Written by Zdravko Ljubas

Canadian police have seized more than 18 million Canadian dollars (US$14 million) worth of drugs and firearms in “the largest single-day drug and firearm bust” in Toronto.

Dubajic Weapons CanadaA total of 65 handguns were seized from Dubajić's apartment in Toronto. (Photo: Toronto Police)Authorities said on Thursday that a raid on a private residence in late November had yielded “a total of 57 handguns, eight long guns, nearly 15,000 rounds of ammunition along with high-capacity and extended magazines.”

Among the weapons seized were three Glock 9mm handguns and accompanying overcapacity magazines, a .50 calibre Desert Eagle and a BB gun converted to a .22 calibre handgun, along with more than 180 kilos of drugs including cocaine, crystal meth, fentanyl and MDMA.

“Of the 57 handguns recovered, 39 have been traced, 37 of them to the United States and the remaining two to Canada, while a total of five of the long guns have been traced to Canadian sources,” according to police.

At the residence, police apprehended 45-year-old Danijel Dubajić, of Serbian extraction, who has been living in Canada for more than 20 years. Media in the Balkans cited Dubajić’s landlord as describing him as a calm, normal person, who was locally known as a painter and naturopathy practitioner.

Dubajić’s ostensibly tranquil character seemed to suit the location of the house where he had hidden his massive drug-and-weapons stash, which Inspector Tim Crone described as “a very quiet and peaceful residential neighbourhood, that’s primarily made up of detached homes, low-rise apartment buildings, parks, playgrounds and elementary schools.”Dunajic Drugs Canada copyCrystal meth, fentanyl, cocaine and MDMA were among the drugs seized with the firearms at Dubajić's Toronto apartment. (Photo: Toronto Police)

Stranger still was the fact that Dubajić did not appear to have been at great pains to conceal the drugs and firearms within his home. “Once inside the apartment, officers immediately located significant amounts of narcotics and firearms which were in plain sight of the officers,” according to Crone.

“You never know what’s on the other side of the door in a search warrant – you know why you’re there but not always what you’re going to find,” Ray Direnzo, a detective on the case, said, further describing the police haul as “the motherlode” of seizures.

Toronto Police Superintendent, Domenic Sinopoli, said that the suspect “has no previous history of drugs and firearms.”

Nevertheless, Danijel Dubajić is now facing 78 charges and is set to appear before the court on January 7, next year, according to the statement.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13556-canadian-police-seize-drugs-weapons-motherlode

Spain Busts Alleged Russian Criminal Syndicate

Authorities in Spain have arrested 23 alleged members of a Russian-speaking conspiracy to infiltrate public institutions and launder proceeds from criminal enterprises involving murder, extortion, and drug, arms and human trafficking in several countries around the world.

The sting, announced on Thursday as part of a joint operation between the National Police and Europol, marks the end of a seven year investigation, and has been described as the largest action of the decade against top-level, Russian organized crime in Spain.

In addition to the arrests, police also conducted raids on 18 residences in Alicante, Madrid, Tarragona and Ibiza, seizing a further 23 properties in addition to 16 high-end vehicles and a trove of diamonds.

Officers also seized bank safe deposit boxes, €329,000 (US$400,000) in cash and virtual wallets containing cryptocurrency, as well as almost a dozen high-powered weapons including a sniper rifle and silencer, combat shotguns, an assault rifle and caches of ammunition.

The identities of those detained have not yet been publicly disclosed. The top managers of the alleged organization are reportedly among those arrested.

According to a statement from the Spanish National Police, the probe began in 2013 when investigators noted that the Russian mafia appeared to have intensified its investment in Spanish businesses, targeting nightclubs, restaurants, industrial holdings and real estate in coastal areas, as a means of laundering criminal proceeds from abroad.

Active across Europe, South America and the United States, the alleged enterprises behind those investments revealed ties to some of Russia’s most powerful organized criminal syndicates, including a number of “thieves-in-law” — figures of the highest authority within the Eastern European underworld.

To secure their laundering operation, the detainees had reportedly “deployed a powerful client network within the Spanish administration, achieving a perfect infiltration in the institutions,” of that country to “carry out their business with impunity.”

Peddling influence and paying bribes under the guise of philanthropic public contributions, “both to facilitate their money laundering operations… and achieve a series of administrative favours,” they were able to “protect themselves from police and judicial investigations,” according to the statement.

Such was the level of the alleged conspiracy’s penetration of state institutions that the investigation which eventually saw them caught “had to be carried out with the utmost reserve, due to the danger of leaks.”

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13553-spain-busts-alleged-russian-criminal-syndicate

Report: Disney Chairman Bob Iger Interested in Becoming Biden’s Ambassador to China

Bob Iger, chairman of the Walt Disney Co., has expressed interest in becoming ambassador to China under Joe Biden, reportedly making overtures to people in the president-elect’s team about the plum diplomatic post.

But the possible appointment is already drawing criticism as a weak choice given Disney’s history of appeasement to China’s Communist dictatorship.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Bob Iger has reached out to Biden’s transition team to communicate his interest in the ambassadorship, according to anonymous sources “familiar with the matter.” The newspaper noted that Biden gave $500,000 to the Biden Victory Fund as well as a combined $85,100 towards efforts to elect Democrats in Congress.

Former Dreamworks and Quibi boss Jeffrey Katzenberg also put in a good word for Iger, telling the Biden transition team that he would make a good ambassador to China, according to the Journal.

Presidents have traditionally rewarded big-ticket donors with ambassadorships. On top of that, Iger’s long-running business relationship with Chinese president Xi Jinping could serve as a potential bonus to seal the deal.

But Bob Iger also presents major drawbacks in light of Disney’s past failure to stand up to China’s Communist rulers.

Iger came under fire last year for refusing to condemn China’s crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. Under his leadership, Disney forbade ESPN journalists from addressing any discussion of the relationship between China and Hong Kong. The decision came after the controversy involving Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who tweeted support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

Disney has invested heavily in China, with theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The studio also relies on the Chinese box office to help its blockbuster movies turn a profit. As a result, Iger has developed close ties to China’s Communist Party leaders.

The Journal noted that Iger first met Xi during a trip to China during which Disney apologized for releasing the 1997 Martin Scorsese movie Kundun, a biopic of the Dalai Lama. The movie angered Chinese leaders for its negative depiction of Chairman Mao Tse-tung and for scenes showing Chinese troops slaughtering Tibetans.

Iger’s tenure as Disney chairman is set to expire next year. The Hollywood executive was rumored to be mulling a presidential run during the last election cycle but he ultimately opted to stay out of the race.

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/12/18/report-disney-chairman-bob-iger-interested-in-becoming-ambassador-to-china-under-biden/

Stacey Abrams Celebrates ‘Record’ 7.7 Million Georgians Registered to Vote Ahead of Runoffs

Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams celebrated news Friday a “record 7.7 million Georgians” are registered to vote ahead of the highly contentious Georgia Senate runoff elections.

“A record 7.7 million Georgians are registered to vote ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff election,” Abrmas wrote in a tweet to her 1.6 million followers.

A record 7.7 million Georgians are registered to vote ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff election. 🗳

So many deserve credit for expanding GA’s electorate: @nseufot, @NewGAProject, @BlackVotersMtr, Helen Butler, @Georgia_NAACP and more. Let’s get it done➡️https://t.co/lClnYYPro6 #gapol pic.twitter.com/jY6Ysw97BQ

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) December 18, 2020

Abrams also highlighted certain people and organizations in her tweet she believes “deserve credit for expanding” Georgia’s electorate, including the New Georgia Project and its CEO Nse Ufot, Black Voters Matter, Helen Butler, and the Georgia NAACP.

Late last month, after Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s (R) claimed the New Georgia Project had encouraged non-Georgia residents to register to vote in the state’s Senate runoff elections, the group denied impropriety.

In a statement on the matter, Ufot said:

As Georgians are turning out in record numbers to have their voices heard at the polls, the Secretary of State is resorting to desperate attempts to smear law-abiding organizations and scare eligible Georgians from registering to vote in critical upcoming elections. We will not be deterred.

This attack on our organization comes at a time when people across the country have witnessed the strength of our program and the collective power of a new Georgia electorate that embraces a system of inclusivity and opportunity for all Georgians. The timing is not accidental.

Last week, during an appearance on CNN, Abrams claimed Democrats would win the two U.S. Senate seats up for grab in Georgia.

“Democrats are prepared to win this election,” Abrams told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “This is the first runoff where we have the level of investment and engagement that it takes to win a runoff. We know from the numbers we are in a good place.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/12/18/stacey-abrams-celebrates-record-7-7-million-georgians-registered-to-vote-ahead-of-runoffs/

NGOs Allegedly Helping African Migrants Illegally Enter Greece

A Greek newspaper has blamed NGOs for a surge of arrivals of African migrants, mainly from Somalia, claiming that between 2,000 and 2,500 migrants are currently in Turkey being helped to enter Greece illegally.

Earlier this month, Greek migration minister Notis Mitarakis had claimed that so-called civil society groups were involved in the illegal migration of Africans and that the charities were working with people-smugglers in Turkey.

“NGOs pay for the cost of travel and the issuance of a visa to Turkey, with flights to Istanbul. Then [the migrants] are transported to the Turkish coast, where migrant smugglers, again with NGO support, help them enter the European Union illegally,” he said.

Greek newspaper Proto Thema claimed on Tuesday that between 2,000 and 2,500 migrants from Somalia and the Congo are in the Turkish cities of Izmir and Dicelli waiting to cross into Greece illegally, allegedly with the help of NGOs and the tolerance of Turkish authorities.

German NGOs Accused of Spying on Greek Border Authorities to Help Smuggle Migrants https://t.co/6rY0RkaJzG

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 6, 2020

The claims are not the first time NGOs have been accused of helping people-smugglers in the Aegean Sea.

In October, Greek police launched an investigation into four Germany-based migrant NGOs for helping traffickers, including by using espionage against Greek border forces and the European Union border agency Frontex to help migrant boats evade patrols.

Authorities say the NGOs used the charity Alarmphone, an emergency phone for migrants in distress at sea, to coordinate and guide migrant boats away from Greek and Frontex ships.

Undercover Greek agents also found evidence of two NGO workers, one Austrian and the other Norwegian, having direct contact with people-smugglers in Turkey.

Just two years before, Greek police arrested several charity employees over similar accusations and claimed they had formed a criminal network which had been smuggling illegals to Greece since the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.

Greek Police Arrest NGO Workers Involved in Illegal Migration Assistance Network https://t.co/YAJ18kgfiz

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 30, 2018

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/18/claim-ngos-helping-2000-african-migrants-who-want-enter-greece/

Former Mexican Governor Shot to Death Inside Puerto Vallarta Bar

At least one gunman shot and killed a former governor inside an upscale bar in Puerto Vallarta. The murder comes at a time when the state of Jalisco deals with an uptick in violence due to the dominant criminal organization in the region, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

Former Governor Jose Aristoteles Sandoval was inside a popular restaurant when at least one gunman shot and seriously injured him, state officials confirm. The 46-year-old politician who left power in 2018 died soon after at a hospital.

Governor Enrique Alfaro took to social media to confirm the killing and expressed condolences.

Con un profundo dolor quiero informarles que hace unos momentos el ex gobernador de nuestro estado, Aristóteles Sandoval, fue víctima de un ataque directo en Puerto Vallarta. Lamentablemente ha fallecido. Mi solidaridad con su familia en estos momentos tan difíciles.

— Enrique Alfaro (@EnriqueAlfaroR) December 18, 2020

The assassination took place on Friday shortly after 1:40 am local time inside a bar along one of the main avenues in the beach hotspot, said Jalisco Attorney General Gerardo Solis during a streamed news conference. Aristoteles was siting in a table with several individuals when he stood up to go to the restroom.

“That is when one individual shot him several times in the back,” Solis said.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/12/18/former-mexican-governor-shot-to-death-inside-puerto-vallarta-bar/

WHO Tells Europeans to Wear Masks at Family Christmas Parties

The World Health Organization (WHO) has told Europeans they should wear masks when meeting friends and family over the Christmas period, after previously recommending having a picnic in the park on December 25th to stop the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.

The WHO’s European office said in a briefing paper on Wednesday that Christians should consider “postponing or reducing” religious processions and church celebrations.

“Regardless of location, religious services should take place differently this year. They should be held outdoors whenever possible or be limited in size and duration, with physical distancing, ventilation, hand hygiene and mask use, as appropriate,” the WHO said.

Germany announced that it would go into a strict lockdown this week, with Chancellor Angela Merkel urging her citizens not to attend church. Merkel has also warned against people Christmas shopping and has banned the sale of fireworks to curtail New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The globalist health body also recommended that indoor gatherings — small parties of family and friends — “should be held outside if possible, and participants should wear masks and maintain physical distancing”.

The organisation also suggested that people should offer to not visit older and vulnerable relatives or friends, to save them the anxiety and discomfort of spending the holidays with loved ones and risking catching the Chinese virus.

Corona Passports: Ireland Considers Giving Vaccine Certificate Holders Extra Freedoms https://t.co/9DTl2hg5Y5

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 17, 2020

While Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted pressure to reverse his decision to let Britons have five days of freedom over the holy period, he has advised Britons to avoid elderly relatives, until 2021 when they have been vaccinated.

This is not the first time the World Health Organization has asked Europeans to make extreme sacrifices or adjustments to their holiday plans. Last month, it recommended people skip the Christmas dinner in the warmth of their homes, to instead have a picnic in the park.

Earlier this week, several British scientists were determined to discourage as many Britons as possible from enjoying a normal Christmas, and opt instead to hold it at a later date, which would, however, not be Christmas.

John Edmunds of the influential government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said people should “postpone meeting up with vulnerable relatives for another month or two”, until more vaccinations had been given out. While Robert West, of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), said they should simply replace Christmas with “a summer family get-together”.

While the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, claimed that “Easter can be the new Christmas.”

France’s Emmanuel Macron Tests Positive for Coronavirus https://t.co/Y3uuMJHg7t

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 17, 2020

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/18/who-tells-europeans-to-wear-masks-at-family-christmas-parties/

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER