ICIG Atkinson Refuses to Answer GOP Senator’s Formal Request on ‘Whistleblower’ Ciaramella’s Far Left Bias

Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter on October 9th to Michael Atkinson, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, after his dishonest testimony before the Senate Select Committee on September 26th.

MichaelAtkinson withheld information on the partisan CIA “whistleblower” when he testified before the US senators.

Tom Cotton sent a letter to Atkinson wanting answers.

From Senator Tom Cotton’s office:

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to Michael Atkinson, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, after his evasive testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during a closed hearing on September 26. Inspector General Atkinson repeatedly refused to answer questions about the political bias of the “whistleblower”, despite being in a closed session and despite this information being unclassified. The Inspector General wouldn’t reveal this information to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but later revealed it to the House Intelligence Committee.

The letter outlines five outstanding questions Senator Cotton has for Inspector General Atkinson and asks him to reply no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 11. The full text of the letter is below and can be found by clicking here.

Dear Inspector General Atkinson,

Your disappointing testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on September 26 was evasive to the point of being insolent and obstructive. Despite repeated questions, you refused to explain what you meant in your written report by “indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of the Complainant in favor of a rival political candidate.” This information is, of course, unclassified and we were meeting in a closed setting. Yet you moralized about how you were duty bound not to share even a hint of this political bias with us.

But now I see media reports that you revealed to the House Intelligence Committee not only that the complainant is a registered Democrat, but also that he has a professional relationship with a Democratic presidential campaign. I’m dissatisfied, to put it mildly, with your refusal to answer my questions, while more fully briefing the three-ring circus that the House Intelligence Committee has become.

So, I will ask again and give you one more chance to answer: what are these “indicia of arguable political bias”? More specifically:

Does the complainant have (or did he once have) a professional relationship with a Democratic presidential candidate or campaign?

If so, which candidate or campaign and what is the nature of that relationship?

What other “indicia of arguable political bias” of the complainant did you find?

Did you or anyone subject to your control or influence share with CNN that the “arguable political bias” was merely that the complainant is a registered Democrat?

Why did you refuse to answer my questions at the September 26 hearing?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/developing-icig-atkinson-refuses-to-answer-gop-senators-formal-request-on-whistleblower-ciaramellas-far-left-bias/

NATO at 70: Sclerotic & bureaucratic zombie should be pensioned off

Seventy is normally considered a ripe old age at which people should be enjoying retirement. The NATO alliance, which meets to celebrate its anniversary in London, should have been pensioned off long ago.

The French president, who told the Economist in early November that NATO was “brain dead”, seems determined to jolt the alliance and its members out of their collective coma. In a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Paris on November 28, Macron tried to inject a large dose of realism and clarity into a body which years ago haemorrhaged into a sclerotic and bureaucratic zombie.

Macron’s shock therapy consists of asking the one question which, according to the German political theorist Carl Schmitt (although Macron did not quote him), constitutes the very essence of politics itself: “Who is the enemy?” Without an answer to this question, a military alliance has no purpose whatever. The fact that Emmanuel Macron had to ask it at all shows how badly NATO has lost the plot; in the theatre of the absurd, the Atlantic alliance is a character in search of an author.

NATO lists so many threats in its official Strategic Concepts of 1999 and 2010 that it sounds like Piglet in Winnie the Pooh, frightened of everything… terrorism; piracy; ethnic violence; inadequate economic reform; threats to energy supplies; arms proliferation; drug trafficking; cyber attacks; laser weapons; electronic warfare; health risks; climate change; even undefined “instability.” Yet, the word “enemy” is nowhere in the mountain of challenges NATO says it faces.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/474837-nato-summit-70-london-zombie/

Media in overdrive to label 2016 Ukrainian election interference as ‘conspiracy theory

Maybe Russia and Ukraine both interfered WTF MSM!? is a newsletter that puts a dose of sunlight on the mainstream media and exposes how the media twist facts, selectively report, and outright lie to advance their left-wing agenda. You can sign up for the WTF MSM!? newsletter here.

The media have bought the left's narrative of what happened in the 2016 election — hook, line, and sinker. Anybody in the public square who does their own research, uncovers facts that undermine the narrative, or publicly declares an unwillingness to accept it shall be scorned. The latest media target is Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana.

On Monday, CNN tried to take Kennedy to the woodshed over his comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" about Ukrainian government support for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Here's how NewsBusters explained it:

Let's look at a few examples. On At This Hour, host Kate Bolduan allowed Congressman and fellow liberal John Yarmuth (D-KY) to falsely claim that, regarding attempts by Ukrainian officials to express support of Hillary Clinton in 2016, Kennedy "was bringing up magazine stories yesterday that apparently don't exist."

Andrea Mitchell can say otherwise, but the facts laid out by The Federalist's Chrissy Clark are real articles with real claims about Ukrainians wanting Hillary Clinton to win (including that infamous Politico item).

CNN kept going. According to NewsBusters, the chyron used under its reporting said that Kennedy was "spread[ing] debunked conspiracy theory that benefits Russia." CNN continued that Republicans were trying to shift blame to Ukraine from Russia.

CNN senior political commentator and Obama administration alum David Axelrod even said, "The other person who's very happy with it is Vladimir Putin, of course, who would love to see the blame for what happened here in 2016 shift to the Ukrainians."

Memo to CNN et al.: Both can be true. The Russians could have interfered in the election to sow discord in the United States, and Ukrainian officials could have interfered and been openly rooting for Hillary Clinton. Those two things can both exist.

Glenn Beck and his team have extensively researched what went on in Ukraine in 2016. They have copious notes and have shared them with the public. The media just aren't intellectually curious enough to follow facts where they lead. They've tried to paint anyone affiliated with Beck as spouting "conspiracy theories," including a former Boston-based journalist who tried it on me.

The media has the narrative, and woe those who stray.

https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/media-in-overdrive-to-label-2016-ukrainian-election-interference-as-conspiracy-theory

Top Cop Who Received Award for ‘Keeping Children Safe’ Arrested for Molesting Children

Paulding County, GA — Police sexual misconduct is one of America’s dirty little secrets. Barely a day goes by without news of a law enforcement officer’s arrest for raping adults and children alike. There are so many instances of officers arrested for sexual misconduct that the Free Thought Project cannot report on all of them. However, when exceedingly disturbing cases involving school cops raping students they are tasked with protecting or cops who work with child victims betraying that trust and preying on children they’re allegedly trying to help, we are compelled to do so. The following story out of Georgia is one of these cases.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested 48-year-old Paulding County deputy Steve Sorrells last week on two counts of child molestation and violation of oath of office. While news of a cop molesting a child is not too shocking — because it happens so often — Sorrells’ position in law enforcement makes it so. Prior to his arrest, he was a detective assigned to the juvenile investigation’s division at the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office.

It gets worse.

In February of last year, this alleged child predator was teaching kids how to avoid child predators on line. This detective, whose job consisted of working with children taught Internet Safety Day to children at Rockmart Middle School. Then, in November 2018 he was presented the Commissioner’s Public Safety Award in Paulding County for his efforts, wait for it, of keeping local children safe.

A year after receiving an award for keeping children safe, this man was arrested for preying on children.

According to a post on the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, they received a complaint on November 14 — exactly one year and one day after Sorrells received his award — with allegations that Sorrells had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor. They immediately referred the case to the GBI who launched their investigation.

At that point, Sorrells was placed on paid administrative leave and removed from all of his official duties as a Detective. In the morning hours of November 25, 2019 Sorrells came to the Sheriff’s Office to speak with Agents regarding the incident. As a result of that meeting, he was subsequently arrested. As soon as he was arrested, he was terminated as an employee of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Gary Gulledge stated, “I am disgusted that one of our own has been arrested and charged with child molestation. This type of behavior will not be condoned in our office nor in any law enforcement agency in the county. Our focus is on the victims in this case; we want to make sure they get the justice and compassion they deserve.” He further stated, “This incident has tarnished the badge that we all wear so proudly. We will do everything in our power to assist the GBI during this investigation.”

Indeed, it certainly tarnishes the badge when police officers — the ones who claim to protect us — are caught preying on society’s most vulnerable, children. However, there are a lot of sad days as this situation plays out like a broken record, over and over again.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-arrested-award-keeping-children-safe/

Sudan factory EXPLOSION leaves scores of people dead & injured (VIDEOS)

A huge fire has erupted in Bahri City’s industrial zone, north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD) declared a citywide emergency, and the number of dead is expected to rise.

The incident happened mid-morning local time on Tuesday and forced mass evacuations as huge explosions ripped through the area. Raging fires sent vast plumes of smoke skyward, which were visible across the city.

https://www.rt.com/news/474919-massive-factory-explosion-khartoum/

Hungary: Multiple underground tunnels found along Serbian border, 44 migrants arrested

Hungarian police announced Friday that they had discovered two tunnels used by migrants to illegally enter into Hungary from Serbia.

Police said that two tunnels were found near the southern villages of Asotthalom and Csikeria. 44 migrants who are believed to have used the underground passageways to sneak into the country were arrested in Asotthalom, the Daily Mail reports.

“This time police found two tunnels dug by hand, without support structures, threatening the lives of those using them,” a police statement said.

Police Col. Jeno Szilassi-Horvath said that a Serbian national believed to be involved in human trafficking had been arrested along with the migrants.

The tunnel near Asotthalom was 36 meters long, 50 centimeters wide, 60 centimeters high, and dug as deep as 6 meters or so below the surface without any support beams to prevent its collapse. The other tunnel in the village of Csikeria was 22 meters long. Authorities say no migrants had used it to cross into Hungary.

Szilassi-Horvath told reporters that border agents are using scanners and drones to look for other tunnels that could be present along the Hungarian-Serbian border.

“The number of migrants looking to enter Hungary illegally from Serbia has risen significantly over the past month,” Gergely Gulyás, the Head of the Prime Minister’s Office said during a press briefing on the incident.

Last week alone, over 600 people were intercepted trying to cross Hungary’s border with Serbia compared to about 80 in the same week in 2018.

“Altogether, 11,808 people have attempted to enter Hungary illegally so far this year, with 2,418 of those attempts being made this month,” Gulyás added.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/12/hungary-multiple-underground-tunnels-found-along-serbian-border-44-migrants-arrested/

NBA TV Ratings Collapse After Bowing to China

TV ratings for the National Basketball Association have collapsed this year, a season that kicked off with the league bowing to communist China.

In October, just as the NBA’s 2019 pre-season was kicking off, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted a short message in support of the pro-democracy activists in China-controlled Hong Kong. The league immediately erupted in condemnation for the Rockets boss and bowed to Chinese authorities. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver quickly apologized to China.

League officials were not the only ones in basketball to take a knee before China. Many of the players, including star LeBron James, came to China’s side over the rights of the citizens of Hong Kong to live in a democracy.

Now, two full months after the NBA’s 2019 season launched, TV ratings have crashed over last year’s numbers, according to John Ouand.

On Monday, Ourand tweeted the “NBA’s TV scorecard so far,” and the numbers are not good.

Ourand posted that the NBA’s numbers are a sad story so far this season, with TNT down 23 percent and ESPN off 20 percent over last year. The league is showing “double digit drops nationally.”

TNT down 23%

ESPN down 20%

RSNs down 13%

It is hard to know for sure if the China controversy at the head of the 2019 season is the entire reason for the loss of viewers, but it couldn’t have helped.

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2019/12/03/nba-tv-ratings-collapse-after-bowing-to-china/

Texas Couple Sentenced To Prison For Smuggling More Than 100 Illegal Aliens Across Border

A federal judge sentenced a Texas couple to prison Monday for helping smuggle numerous illegal aliens into the country, the latest punishment of U.S. citizens who have contributed to the immigration crisis.

Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Jack slapped Kevin Kerr, 32, and Brianna Branch, 30, with prison sentences for their efforts in smuggling over 100 illegal immigrants into the country over a three-month period, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Kerr and Branch, according to the Justice Department, were leaders in a conspiracy to illegally transport foreign nationals into the U.S. in early 2019. They recruited drivers around the Houston area to travel to the southern Texas border and place illegal aliens — including some children — in utility trailers, subjecting them to “unnecessary and harsh” conditions, a DOJ press release said.

Illegal aliens were successfully smuggled past South Texas Border Patrol checkpoints under the couple’s leadership.

Their actions sparked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations unit probe, and they both pleaded guilty on Aug. 29. Four other individuals involved in the wide-ranging smuggling scheme have also pleaded guilty.

The judge handed Kerr an 85-month prison sentence and gave Branch a sentence of 70 months. The two are required to serve three years of supervised released upon the conclusion of their prison sentences.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/03/texas-couple-smuggled-100-illegals-into-us/

‘Dangerous’: UK’s six richest people have as much wealth as poorest 13m, study shows, prompting outrage online

New research showing that the six richest people in the UK control as much wealth as the poorest 13 million has prompted anger online, with the authors of the study branding the massive gap in fortunes as “dangerous.”

The study, conducted by the Equality Trust, reveals that the nation’s six billionaires who sit at the top of the wealth league have hoarded a combined fortune of £39.4 billion which is equal to the assets of around 13.2 million people in the UK.

Dr Wanda Wyporska, the executive director of the Equality Trust claimed the report should “shock anyone who cares about the state of the UK,” and that such a huge gap between the very rich and the rest of the country is “dangerous.”

The UK’s extreme inequality is the story of Ferraris and food banks.

Some of those super rich include Indian brothers Gopichand and Srichand Hinduja who own a multitude of businesses including car firms and banks, and top the table with an estimated net worth of £12.8bn. Second on the list is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman and chief executive of the chemicals company Ineos, who has amassed £9.2bn.

At the other end of the scale, the Equality Trust estimate that some 4m people in the UK live in poverty. Four million of these are said to be over 50 percent below the poverty line.

https://www.rt.com/uk/474933-wealth-inequality-billionaires-report/

Trump Trolls Macron by Offering Him ‘Some Nice ISIS Fighters’

President Donald Trump has taunted French President Emmanuel Macron over French Islamist fighters in Syria, asking him if he would like “some nice ISIS fighters” sent back to France.

On Tuesday morning, President Trump had criticised Mr Macron for his “nasty” comments about NATO, who last month had said the defence union was suffering a “brain death”. But the rift appeared to be lifted during the afternoon’s bilateral press meeting between the two world leaders, with the American president ribbing the French premier over his commitment to accept returning foreign fighters.

President Trump told reporters that he had not yet raised with President Macron his repeated calls for European countries to take their citizens home, with the terrorists currently in U.S. custody in Syria.

“We have a tremendous amount of captured fighters ISIS fighters over in Syria, and they’re all under lock and key. But many are from France, many are from Germany, many of them are from the UK.

“They [foreign fighters] are mostly from Europe. Some of the countries are agreeing [to take custody of them].

“I have not spoken to the president about that. Would you like some nice ISIS fighters? I can give them to you. You can take every one you want.”

Mr Macron deflected the question by saying that “foreign fighters coming from Europe” represent only a “tiny minority of the overall problem”.

In response, President Trump quipped: “This is why he’s a great politician, because that was one of the greatest non-answers I’ve ever heard, and that’s okay.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/03/trump-trolls-offers-macron-some-nice-isis-fighters/

150 Los Zetas Cartel Gunmen Crossed into Texas Before Deadly Attack That Killed 22

The Governor of Coahuila, a Mexican state bordering Texas, revealed that approximately 150 cartel gunmen illegally snuck into Texas through dirt roads and the border river as they made their way to the Mexican town of Villa Union for an hours-long shootout that killed 23 individuals–including four cops and two firefighters.

Coahuila Governor Miguel Angel Riquelme revealed that state authorities arrested two gunmen from the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas who disclosed their convoy consisted of approximately 25 SUVs carrying at least six shooters apiece, Zocalo reported. The gunmen took various dirt roads as they made their way to Villa Union, where they fired repeatedly at the city hall building, torched police cars, and then engaged authorities in a fierce gun battle.

In a series of statements made by Riquelme, the politician claimed that as the gunmen traveled through dirt roads from the border city of Nuevo Laredo, they planned to burn buildings and terrorize the community. According to El Norte, the publication spoke with a government spokesman who confirmed the information from the captured gunmen who said the convoy briefly crossed into Texas before engaging in targets back in Mexico.

The official revelation is the first of kind where cartel gunmen crossed into Texas before carrying out a series of attacks. Certain portions of the Rio Grande are shallow enough to allow a four-wheel drive vehicle to cross even without deploying a makeshift bridge. Officials did not specify the means of crossing in this case. As Breitbart Texas reported, four police officers and seven to 10 gunmen died in the initial shootout, with at least seven more dying hours following the incident. Information released since then revealed that the gunmen kidnapped various locals as they fled Villa Union, including two firefighters whose dead bodies were later recovered.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/12/03/150-los-zetas-cartel-gunmen-crossed-into-texas-before-deadly-attack-that-killed-22/

Iran’s Barter Trade Deals with China, By-Passing the US-Dollar, “Dedollarizing” Her Economy

According to a PressTV Report of 24 November, 2019, Iran and China are working on a trade or barter deal that would circumvent US sanctions. It would bypass US-dollar denominated transactions, exchanging Iranian oil for Chinese goods and services and investments. The head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA), Masoud Khansari told Teheran’s Tasnim news agency, on 19 November 2019 that “The mechanism, aiming to increase economic exchanges between Iran and China, is in the process of being finalized and implemented.” He meant indeed, a barter deal between the two countries, avoiding a monetary exchange, is being worked out.

This is nothing new. Already in July 2011, the Financial Times reported that du to US sanctions against Iran, China, Iran’s largest hydrocarbon client was unable to pay Iran in cash, as monetary transactions were blocked. China had at that time accumulated at leas US$ 30 billion in unpaid bills, which deprived Iran from necessary hard currency to purchase goods, and mainly medication and medical equipment from countries that were either daring to go against the US sanctions, or clandestinely on the black market.

The case was similar with India which, together with China purchased then almost 50% of Iran’s oil – Iran’s lifeblood. While India exports almost nothing to Iran, China is a key exporter of a myriad of goods and services to Iran, including building infrastructure and investing in expansion of Iran’s oil sector. That’s when the two countries started making barter arrangements.

In the meantime, agreement was reached in July 2015 on Iran’s Nuclear Deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which for a short time lifted all sanctions, until on 8 May 2018 President Trump canceled Washington’s engagement in the deal – most likely on the behest of Israel – and new deadly US sanctions were imposed, stronger and more brutal as before – “the strongest ever sanctions imposed on any nation” – Trump boasted. And with these sanctions came the threat of punishment for every country that would do business with Iran, including the European Union members who were part of signing the Nuclear Deal, Germany, UK, France.

While at the outset the Europeans did not want to appear as Washington vassals – and more – their corporations had already signed new business deals with Iran and were not keen on canceling them, The EU had attempted to design an international payment system outside of the dollar-dominated SWIFT transfer system, the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX). Designed in January 2019, it is a special European transfer system, serving only European purposes to trade with Iran outside of US-dollar controlled sanctions. However, to this date not one single transaction has been carried out under INSTEX, mostly because of European’s are captive of an unexplainable puppetry dependence on Washington. The leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called Instex “a bitter joke”.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/iran-barter-deals-china-dedollarizing-economy/5696047?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

Leak: UNFCCC received $41.8Mill for 2018-19 budget to save the world. This is how UN spent it…

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/leak-unfccc-received-41-8mill-for-2018-19-budget-to-save-the-world-this-is-how-un-spent-it/

Heavy Gunfire Erupts as DR Congo's Anti-UN Protests Continue

Security forces blocked hundreds of demonstrators attempting to get close to the UN compound housed inside the airport near Beni, one of two UN bases in the area, Al-Jazeera reported.

"We still have heavy gunfire here and local sources are confirming the deaths of two people, including a young boy and a woman," said Al-Jazeera's Alain Uaykani, reporting from Beni, quoting officials from the hospital where the bodies were taken.

"They are saying they don't feel safe and the UN has to leave. They say they will not stop protesting until the UN leaves this area," Uaykani added.

Anger erupted last week over the perceived failure of UN peacekeepers to protect civilians from deadly rebel attacks with several mass demonstrations targeting UN facilities in Northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

On Friday, at least 19 people were killed by attackers believed to be from the feared Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group operating in the dense forests bordering Uganda. Many of the victims were hacked to death or beheaded, according to local rights groups.

Eight Beni residents were killed late on November 24 by suspected ADF fighters, prompting angry protesters to take to the streets.

Last Monday, four people were killed in clashes with security forces after angry demonstrators torched the mayor's office and attacked several UN buildings in Beni.

Christoph Vogel, a researcher at the University of Ghent, Brussels and a former UN expert on DRC, said the situation was extremely concerning with the deadly attacks that began in 2014 and the ongoing Ebola outbreak.

"There is a mismatch between the UN mandate and the reality on the ground," Vogel told Al-Jazeera.

"We also need to see that DR Congo is a huge country and we still have less than 20,000 peacekeepers - most of them with a very restricted mandate. That explains in part the failure to better protect civilians," Vogel stated.

Demonstrators accuse both the DRC's security forces and MONUSCO - one of the world's biggest peacekeeping missions that has operated in DR Congo for the past two decades - of not doing enough to stop rebel attacks on civilians.

"While the army is doing its best to neutralise the ADF rebellion, the rebels are preying on defenceless civilians by way of revenge," noted Donat Kibwana, administrator of the territory of Beni, on Sunday.

Many of the victims have been hacked to death or beheaded, according to local rights and civil society groups.

The DRC's volatile East is home to many armed groups, including ADF, vying for control of the mineral-rich region.

Nearly a month ago, the DRC's armed forces announced they had launched an offensive to wipe out armed groups in Eastern DRC.

Since then, dozens of civilians in the region have been killed, according to officials. During previous military operations against the ADF, its fighters retaliated by attacking civilians, local activists say.

Violence in the region is hampering efforts to halt the spread of the Ebola virus, which has killed 2,200 people since August 2018.

International organisations warned on Friday of a potential resurgence of the virus after deadly militia attacks on health centres forced aid groups to suspend operations and withdraw staff from the epidemic's last strongholds.

https://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13980911000927

SecDef: US Drawdown in Afghanistan ‘Not Necessarily’ Tied to Taliban Deal

Troop cuts may happen with or without deal

In comments on Monday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper tried to clarify the US position on withdrawal of forces, as addressed by President Trump. He suggested the drawdown might or might not be related to any deal with the Taliban.

President Trump had mentioned the drawdown, but his comments focused on resuming the peace talks with the Taliban. Though it would make sense that these would be related, since the peace deal is built around a full withdrawal of US forces, the intention seems to be to do a drawdown whether or not the talks go anywhere.

Since President Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the peace deal with the Taliban before, it seems the administration doesn’t want to link the drawdown, seen as politically important for the 2020 vote, and the talks, because it would make Trump less able to walk away from the talks again in the future.

In disconnecting troop levels from the peace process, the US is risking reducing its relevancy, however, making a solid year of peace talks with the Taliban little more than perfunctory, something just giving the US the ability to say the talks are taking place but not in any way impacting the war.

https://news.antiwar.com/2019/12/02/secdef-us-drawdown-in-afghanistan-not-necessarily-tied-to-taliban-deal/

Marine Smuggled Guns to Haiti so He Could Train Military, Become President, Feds Say

An active-duty U.S. Marine was arrested last month when investigators say he landed in Haiti with boxes filled with guns, ammunition and body armor.

Federal prosecutors indicted Jacques Yves Sebastien Duroseau, a native of Haiti, in North Carolina last week on gun-smuggling charges. Duroseau, described in the indictment as a military firearms instructor, reportedly told investigators he brought the eight guns to the Caribbean country to teach marksmanship to the Haitian army.

Investigators say Duroseau bought some of the guns in Jacksonville, near Camp Lejeune in Eastern North Carolina.

An unidentified "known individual" told federal investigators that Duroseau "wanted to help Haiti and wants to become President of Haiti," according to the indictment filed Wednesday.

The unidentified person helped Duroseau check in to fly to Haiti from an airport in New Bern, North Carolina, according to the indictment. Duroseau had three boxes with five handguns and three military-style rifles and ammunition, which he declared when he checked the luggage, according to the indictment.

Haitian officials told the Miami Herald "that they became suspicious when they saw the three black cases, two of which were long. Most often, the cases mean guns are inside."

Haitian police arrested Duroseau when he landed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Nov. 12, according to U.S. court filings.

Duroseau told investigators he "picked every gun" so he could teach Haitian soldiers how to shoot, according to the indictment. He said he knew that bringing guns and body armor into Haiti was illegal, the court filing said.

According to the indictment, the Marine told investigators that he planned to be arrested when he arrived in Haiti so he could "gain a platform to make a statement."

"I know why I brought [the guns]," he told federal agents, according to the indictment. "It's still a part of the attention I need."

In an interview with Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents in Haiti, Duroseau said he wanted to help the Haitian people, according to the indictment. He told them he wanted to "wear the uniform of the military that's been established" and "defeat the thugs that have been creating a little bit of part of the instability in Haiti."

There is no attorney listed for Duroseau. Federal records show a warrant for his arrest has been sent to the U.S. Marshals Service.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/12/03/marine-smuggled-guns-haiti-so-he-could-train-military-become-president-feds-say.html

Lebanon’s FM suggests government talks near ‘happy ending’

Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, Gebran Bassil, signalled on Tuesday that progress had been made in talks on forming a new government that must pull the country out of its worst economic crisis in decades, reports Reuters.

Talks between the main feuding parties have been deadlocked since Saad al-Hariri resigned as prime minister in late October under pressure from huge protests against the ruling elite.

A previous deal had appeared to be done but unravelled last month after a candidate for premier withdrew.

Political sources said on Tuesday progress had been made in negotiations to form an interim cabinet with Lebanese businessman Samir al-Khatib as prime minister.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191203-lebanons-fm-suggests-government-talks-near-happy-ending/

FBI Warns FaceApp is a “Counterintelligence Threat” Because It Was Made in Russia

This week, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning about the popular smartphone photo application FaceApp, along with every other app developed in Russia, calling them a “potential counterintelligence threat.”

The investigation was prompted by warnings from Democratic U.S. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer this July that the app was suspect because it was made in Russia.

Schumer posted the FBI’s letter to his Twitter profile with a statement that basically implied I told ya so.

However, it doesn’t seem that there was much of an actual investigation into the technical aspects of the application, considering that the statement suggested that “any app or product developed in Russia like FaceApp is a potential counterintelligence threat.”

“The FBI considers any mobile application or similar product developed in Russia, such as FaceApp, to be a potential counterintelligence threat, based on the data the product collects … And the legal mechanisms available to the Government of Russia that permits access to data within Russia’s borders,” the letter read.

The word “potential” implies that they don’t really have any evidence.

Ian Thornton-Trump, intelligence service expert and CompTIA faculty member, told Forbes that this statement is “out of touch” and assumes that FaceApp is a threat simply due to its country of origin.

“I feel like this is a political opportunity to stoke the narrative of ‘tech company in Russia is bad; tech company in USA is good.’ It looks and smells like political pandering to an election base. The data collection practices of firms such as Google and Facebook make this look even more out of touch with the reality on the ground,” Thornton-Trump said.

FaceApp insists that they don’t “sell or share any user data with third parties,” but there is a very good chance that they do. Still, this is no different than the practices that most tech companies engage in.

As with most user agreements for most of the software available in app stores, privacy agreements permits the app to collect a user’s browser history, location, cookies, log files, metadata, and much more.

This much is fairly common, but most FaceApp users don’t know that the company can also use user uploaded photos for advertising, without compensating the people in the photos. This goes for third party advertisers too—if FaceApp wants to give your photo to another company for use in an advertisement, they can. FaceApp may insist that they won’t do this, but again, doing so is nothing unusual.

Obviously, FaceApp isn’t the only application on your phone that harvests your information. Most apps do. It is important to be careful with anything that you download.

The only reason there is so much controversy surrounding the FaceApp is because they have a headquarters based in Russia. If FaceApp were located in London or San Francisco with the exact same policies, it is unlikely that anyone would actually care that their data was being collected.

https://www.activistpost.com/2019/12/fbi-warns-faceapp-is-a-counterintelligence-threat-because-it-was-made-in-russia.html

House Intelligence releases impeachment findings

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released a lengthy memo Tuesday detailing their weeks of evidence-gathering as part of the impeachment inquiry, in which they claim President Trump abused the power of his office.

“The evidence is clear that President Trump used the power of his office to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations into his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and a debunked conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 election. These investigations were designed to benefit his 2020 presidential reelection campaign," three House Democrat chairs said in a statement.

The report, which the Intelligence panel is poised to transmit to the House Judiciary Committee, lays out details that Democrats hope will boost their case as they seek to argue President Trump is unfit for office. They are primarily, if not entirely, resting their case on the claims Trump the most powerful office in the world to press Ukraine to open to investigations that would benefit him politically.

In particular, Democrats allege that Trump sought to use the possibility of a White House meeting and nearly $400 million in U.S. aid as leverage to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to publicly commit to opening probes into unfounded claims of interference in the 2016 election and his 2020 rival former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

The Democrats asserted that the evidence they collected in recent weeks is "clear" that Trump "conditioned official acts on the public announcement of these investigations: a coveted White House visit and critical U.S. military assistance Ukraine needed to fight its Russian adversary."

The release comes one day before the House Judiciary Committee is slated to hear from constitutional lawyers during the panel's public impeachment hearing next week, marking the next phase in the inquiry.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/472825-house-intel-democrats-release-ukraine-findings-ahead-of-impeachment

Jeffrey Epstein’s Private Banker at Deutsche & Citi Found Swinging From a Rope; Executive ‘Suicide’ Before FBI Questioned Him

Jeffrey Epstein’s private wealth banker, who brokered and signed off on untold multiple millions of dollars in controversial Deutsche Bank and Citibank loans spanning two decades for the convicted pedophile, has died from a reported suicide.

The news of yet another mysterious Epstein-linked death comes shortly after the FBI was seeking to interview the bank executive about loans he approved for Epstein and the indicted child trafficker’s labyrinth of US-based and offshore companies.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed Thomas Bowers died by an apparent suicide by hanging at his home before Thanksgiving.

Epstein likewise died from a reported suicide by hanging, according to the New York City Medical Examiner.

Bowers headed the private wealth banking division for Deutsche Bank and signed off on millions in loans to Epstein. Bowers, prior to taking over the private banking arm at Deutsche Bank, served in the same top position at Citibank, as the head of the bank’s private wealth arm. Citigroup also made massive loans to Epstein, according to records and banking sources who spoke to True Pundit.

True Pundit founder Mike “Thomas Paine” Moore previously headed anti-money laundering for a major Citigroup division during the time frame Citi commenced large loans to Epstein.

“The loans to Epstein were personal and commercial,” Paine confirmed. “The Citi loans I can confirm were for more than $25 million. Some were secured, some were not.”

Did Citi bend its lending rules for Epstein? Paine said that appears “quite likely,” with Bowers and other Citi executives he later recruited to work for him at Deutsche all working to secure the approvals regardless of compliance-related red flags.

And sources said Citi loaned Epstein much more money, eclipsing $100 million and also allowed Epstein to use the bank to send thousands of wire transfers from his accounts. Bowers, who turned up dead just days ago, brokered the loans for Epstein, sources said.

https://truepundit.com/jeffrey-epsteins-private-banker-at-deutsche-executive-suicide-before-feds-questioned-him/

Ukraine, Russia sign 10-year oil transit agreement

It was noted that the basic principles of cooperation between companies remain unchanged, including payment procedure for services and the mechanism of interaction at the level of technical services

Ukrtransnafta and Transneft have entered into a 10-year agreement to provide oil transit services across Ukraine, Ukrtransnafta said on Facebook.

"On December 3, 2019, Ukrtransnafta and Transneft entered into an additional agreement to the contract on providing oil transportation services through the territory of Ukraine, which prolongs it for 10 years — from January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2030," the company said.

Director General of Ukrtransnafta Nikolai Gavrilenko and Transneft Vice President Sergei Andronov signed the document. At the meeting, the parties also discussed the prospects for further cooperation, Ukrtransnafta added.

"Apart from prolonging the contract, an additional agreement between Ukrtransnafta and Transneft will update a number of its provisions taking into account the current changes in the oil transportation services market in the region," the company informed.

It was noted that the basic principles of cooperation between companies remain unchanged, including payment procedure for services and the mechanism of interaction at the level of technical services of the two oil transportation operators.

The report also emphasized that concluding the supplementary agreement "guarantees safe and stable operation of the oil transportation system of Ukraine on a long-term basis" and provides for loading the system of trunk oil pipelines with volumes of oil in the direction of European countries.

https://tass.com/economy/1095157

The Oligarch Takeover of US Pharma and Healthcare – And the Resulting Human Crisis

Introduction and Executive Summary

The United States runs the by far biggest and most bloated healthcare sector in the world when measured as a share of the total economy. Its annual value was $3.7 trillion, amounting to 17.9% of GDP (2018). That is nearly double the average of developed Western countries (as a share of GDP). The enormous expense does not buy Americans any better health than the Europeans get for half the price, in fact the health outcomes are far inferior in the US. In life expectancy, the US has fallen down to 33rd place, even overtaken by Cuba.

Exorbitant prices on drugs, medical treatment and health insurances are crushing consumers. Half of working age American adults have either no insurance at all or only an inadequate insurance and therefore risk being financially ruined for any kind of medical treatment – even just checking in at a hospital and leaving the same day could land you with a five-figure bill. Studies have shown that two-thirds of Americans are not able to afford a $500 unexpected cost for medical emergency, a sum which will not get you even past reception at an American hospital. According to the American Cancer Society, 137 million Americans suffered medical financial hardship in 2018. They then had to resort to borrow a total of $88 billion only to cover their necessary medical expenses. Medical bills are now the primary factor in two-thirds of all personal bankruptcies in the United States.

In a unique study covering the entire US healthcare sector, Awara Accounting https://www.awaragroup.com/ has dug into the problems of the US pharma and healthcare industries, and the findings are shocking. The Awara study shows https://www.awaragroup.com/blog/us-healthcare-system-in-crisis/ that in addition to the original sin of corporate greed, the exorbitant costs of the US healthcare system stem from layers upon layers of distortions with which the system is infested. Each part of the healthcare industry contributes to what is a giant monopoly scam: the pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufacturers, drug wholesalers, drug stores, group purchasing organizations, health insurance companies, doctors, clinics and hospitals, and even what should be impartial university research. And on top of that, there’s the government as a giant enabler of monopolized corporations running roughshod over the American consumer and patient.

But it is worse than that. All the monopolists (in official parlance, oligopolies) are in turn owned by the same set of investors in what is called horizontal shareholding. The same some 15-20. investors have the controlling stake in all the leading companies of the entire pharma and healthcare industry.

That’s not all. Two of the investors, BlackRock and Vanguard, are the biggest owners in almost every single one of the leading companies.

Furthermore, BlackRock is owned by Vanguard, BlackRock’s biggest owner being a mystical PNC Services, whose biggest owner in turn is Vanguard. Vanguard itself is recorded directly as BlackRock’s second biggest owner. Moreover, BlackRock and Vanguard are the two biggest owners of almost all the other 15-20 biggest investors, which most are cross-owned and together own the entire US pharma and healthcare sector. Ultimately, then we might have the situation that the whole healthcare sector and Big Pharma are controlled by one giant oligarch clan (and the very real people who stand behind them), one single interest group of oligarch investors.

Besides, it’s the same for the entire US economy. Those two investors control almost all major US companies.

Incredible? Read on, the evidence with charts and details is below in the text.

More

https://thesaker.is/the-oligarch-takeover-of-us-pharma-and-healthcare-and-the-resulting-human-crisis/

Florida Man Gets Life In Prison For Sex Trafficking Teen

Jason Gatlin, 42, of Miami, was sentenced today to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith, after having been convicted by a trial jury of sex trafficking a minor, producing child pornography and witness tampering.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI’s Miami Field Office, and Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.

According to the court record, in October of 2018, the defendant met the 17-year-old victim through another 17-year-old girl. Gatlin knew the victim had a history of running away and being trafficked by others for prostitution. Over the course of the next two months, the defendant tricked the victim into believing that he loved her and wanted to marry her. He enticed her with his attention and drugs, gave her money for sex, took photos of them having sex, and lied to her. Gatlin made the victim believe that he wanted to marry her, that he did not want her to prostitute, and that he wanted her to get a real job. Instead, after gaining her trust, Gatlin bought the victim a cell phone that was used to set up prostitution dates, transported her to motels, and rented motel rooms for her so that she could commit prostitution, and harbored her for days in the Keys while she was advertised on an escort website. Then, at the end of November, when Gatlin felt that victim was not living up to his rules, he beat her up and left her at a gas station down in the Keys with a swollen face, and bloody, ripped clothes. The victim called the police and the defendant was arrested a few days later.

While incarcerated, Gatlin began bribing the victim into committing perjury. Gatlin had a relative give the victim money and Gatlin promised more money if the victim told the authorities that she was never trafficked by the defendant and never had sex with him. In addition, Gatlin’s relative housed the victim for a short period and then drove her to a defense attorney’s office for her to recant in a sworn statement.

If you suspect human trafficking or need resources for victims, please call 1-888-373-7888, text “BeFree” (233733) or live chat at HumanTraffickingHotline.org. All three ways of communication, which can be done anonymously, are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

https://breaking911.com/florida-man-gets-life-in-prison-for-sex-trafficking-teen/

Meet Jason Vukovich, American Vigilante: Alaskan Currently Doing 23 Years in Prison After Targeting Pedophiles

Jason Vukovich is almost 2 years into a 23 year sentence for his brand of vigilante justice against pedophiles.

Technically he was imprisoned for a string of assault and robbery charges, which all happened to be against those who sexually abused children.

National File reports:

A man has been imprisoned for 23 years after numerous assault and robbery charges which many believe were in relation to vigilante action in dealing extrajudicial punishment to pedophiles.

Jason Vukovich, 43, was imprisoned for 23 years, February 2018, for a string of assault and robbery charges.

It was later revealed, however, that all of Vukovich’s victims were pedophiles.

Vukovich believed himself to be an “avenging angel seeking justice,” but won’t be released on parole until serving at least six years behind bars.

Vukovich, who was also a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of his stepfather when he was a child, states that he now takes “full responsibility for his actions” and signals that his crime spree–in spite of the nature of the victims–was not worth the punishment.

All the crimes took place during a five-day rampage where he used his state’s local sex offender registry list to hunt pedophiles, in June 2016.

One of the victims was reported knocked out with a hammer and had his truck and laptop stolen.

According to prosecutors, Vukovich had managed to gain access to a list of pedophiles on a notebook, including some of the victims of his rampage:

https://www.dcclothesline.com/2019/12/03/meet-jason-vukovich-american-vigilante-alaskan-currently-doing-23-years-in-prison-after-targeting-pedophiles/

Department of Justice Announces Indictment Charging Russians, Italians and Others With Attempting to Evade Security Sanctions

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-indictment-charging-russians-italians-and-others-attempting

US Military Outposts In Africa (Map Update)

This map provides a general look at US military garrisons and facilities involved in operations in Africa. While Washington insists that its activities in the region are focused on combating terroism, the real actions of the US demonstrate that it’s actively using its military presence to secure own political and economic interests.

https://southfront.org/us-military-outposts-in-africa-map-update/

Infinity War: Netanyahu Wants 'Mutual Defense' With US; Trump, Graham Eager to Oblige Their Master

Israel will have impunity to start wars with everyone

Last September, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that they were working on a mutual defense pact. Such a treaty, if signed, would officially and permanently mandate an American military intervention if Israel were to ever start a conflict with its neighbors.

The Trump administration is desperate to get this done, but Netanyahu is having trouble selling the idea to his rival Benny Gantz. The Likud party has so far been unable to form a government and Netanyahu is battling corruption charges. As a side note, two major GOP donors, Sheldon Adelson and Larry Ellison, are defense witnesses in Bibi's case.

https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/infinity-war-netanyahu-wants-mutual-defense-us-trump-graham-eager-oblige-their-master