Trump Folds: Will Cancel New China Tariffs, Offers To Cut Existing Tariffs By 50% In Exchange For Pledges

And just like that, confirming weeks of media speculation, Trump has folded with the Dow Jones/WSJ reporting that not only will Trump not impose the new tariffs set to come into effect on Dec 15, but will cut existing tariffs by up to 50%.

U.S. Negotiators Offer to Cut Existing Tariff Rates by up to 50% on $360 Billion of Chinese Imports - Sources

U.S. Negotiators Also Offer to Cancel New China Tariffs Set to Take Effect on Dec. 15 - sources

President Trump will Hold Meeting Thursday to Discuss China Trade - Sources

Moments before the WSJ report, Trump wrote in a Tweet: “Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it and so do we!

So what does Trump get in return for folding like a cheap chair? Why pledges to buy more agri products, pledges which apparently are not even enforceable as they are merely "firm commitments", in other words taking China for its word:

According to the WSJ, the tariff-reduction offer was made in the past five days or so, and in exchange, the U.S. side has demanded that Beijing make firm commitments to purchase large quantities of U.S. agricultural and other products, to better protect U.S. intellectual-property rights and to allow greater access to China’s financial-services sector. Just one problem: this is where China balked in the past when told to make an uinbreakable pledge, and this time was no different. Curiously, a mere pledge was enough for Trump this time. That said, as the WSJ adds, "should China not carry out its pledges as part of the potential deal, the tariff rates would return to their original levels, a clause known in trade negotiations as a “snapback” provision."

Sure enough, according to the report, "Chinese negotiators have balked at Washington’s request that Beijing guarantee its pledge to buy more U.S. soybeans, poultry and other products, saying doing so would run counter to the rules of the World Trade Organization."

In any event, some sort of "deal", in which the US gets a promise from China to buy more pork - which it desperately needs anyway thanks to its pig hyperinflation - is now virtually certain:

“Trade teams from both sides are maintaining close communications,” Gao Feng, spokesman at China’s Commerce Ministry, said at a news briefing Thursday. He didn’t provide any additional information.

In continuation of the move launched by Trump's earlier tweet, stocks have extended their record breaking surge, with the Dow and S&P both now up nearly 1%.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-folds-offers-cancel-new-tariffs-will-cut-existing-tariffs-50-exchange-plefges

McConnell Plans to Acquit Trump at Trial – Clear Him of All Charges

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will move to acquit President Trump if the House of Representatives impeaches him, not just dismiss the charges with a motion.

According to two Republican Senators who spoke to CNN, the GOP want to have a vote on acquittal to clear President Trump of charges brought against him by the House Dems — not just a motion to dismiss the case.

Republicans want to have a vote on acquittal — to clear the President of the charges against him — not simply rely on a 51-vote threshold procedural motion to dismiss the hotly disputed case.

The Constitution mandates 67 votes are required to convict the President and remove him from office, a barrier widely considered too high to be reached in this case.

One vote McConnell can’t rely on is that of Vice President Mike Pence, who has “no role in impeachment,” according to a GOP leadership aide, despite being president of the Senate with the mandate to break ties.

One of the senators, speaking anonymously, said McConnell would not call a vote on a motion to proceed to the impeachment articles unless he knew he had the 51 votes needed to end the trial, which would then set up a final vote on the articles themselves. On that final vote, 67 votes would be needed to convict Trump and remove him from office.

House Democrats announced Tuesday they will bring two articles of impeachment against President Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The House Judiciary Committee began to markup articles of impeachment Wednesday evening.

A copy of the Articles of Impeachment was released to the public and is 9 pages long.

** You can read the articles, as released by Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. here.

The Democrats launched impeachment against Trump after a Brennan CIA plant-turned-whistleblower filed a complaint based on third-hand knowledge alleging Trump threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine unless they investigated the Biden crime family.

The entire hoax unraveled and Speaker Pelosi walked her caucus off the cliff only to watch as the Senate acquits Trump and clears him of all charges.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/breaking-report-mcconnell-plans-to-acquit-trump-at-trial-clear-him-of-all-charges/

Jim Jordan Moves To Strike Article I From Impeachment Resolution, Tears Apart Democrats’ Entire Case Against Trump

Rep. Jim Jordan on Thursday proposed an amendment to strike the first article of impeachment against President Trump, asserting that evidence supporting the article does not prove the allegations of abuse of power.

“This amendment strikes article one because article one ignores the truth,” said the Ohio Republican.

Jordan, who’s been a star on the GOP side throughout the impeachment sham, cited a White House memorandum documenting Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, noting that contains no evidence whatsoever that Trump demanded a quid pro quo related by calling for Ukraine to investigate his political opponents before he would release hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to the nation.

“Four facts, five meetings. We’ve talked about it now for three months. We know that there have been four facts that have not changed, cannot change, will never change and we’ve known it since Sept. 25th, when the call transcript was released,” Jordan said.

“The transcript shows no quid pro quo. What’s interesting is the day the transcript came out, even Chairman [Jerrold] Nadler [D-NY] said there was no quid pro quo in the call transcript,” Jordan said. He also pointed out that both Trump and Zelensky have declared that there was no quid pro quo and that Ukraine never took any action or made any announcement regarding any investigation in a gas company connected to Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

“We know second that the two individuals on the call, President Zelensky, President Trump, have both said no pressure, no pushing, no linkage whatsoever between security assistance money and any type of announcement of an investigation.

“We know that the Ukrainians knew at the time of the call that — didn’t know at the time of the call — that the aid had been held up and most importantly, most importantly, we know that the Ukrainians took no action, no start of an investigation, no promise to start an investigation, no announcement on CNN, via tweet, no announcement whatsoever,” he said.

“Those four facts have never changed.

“Second, five key meetings that took place between July 18th, when the aid was paused, and Sept. 11th, when the aid was released. Five key meetings,” Jordan said before summarizing the meetings.

“In none of those meetings, none, did linking dollars — security assistance dollars — to an investigation come up. Never came up.”

Four facts, five meetings have never changed. Article one in this resolution ignores the truth, it ignores the facts, it ignores the what happened and what has been laid out the American people for the last three weeks. So I hope that this committee will come to its senses, that’ll adopt the amendment and strike article one from the resolution,” Jordan concluded.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/jim-jordan-moves-to-strike-article-i-from-impeachment-resolution-tears-apart-democrats-entire-case-against-trump/

Christine Lagarde's First Press Conference As ECB President

Having got through the ECB statement release unscathed with no changes or surprises, all eyes are now on Christina Lagarde's first press conference appearance as ECB president.

The focus will fall on how Lagarde intends to run the central bank, and its upcoming strategic policy review, which will likely be formally announced at the December confab; but there is a risk that this meeting will be light on details, which may possibly result in horizontal price action. Many believe Lagarde's first task will be uniting a divided Governing Council, where there are mixed views on the efficacy and risks of loose(r) policy, as well as the practicalities of the ECB’s decision-making functions.

Lagarde is also expected to reiterate her call on fiscal authorities to do more to support the Eurozone economy. Elsewhere, updated economic projections may see near-term growth forecasts nudged up slightly, though further forecasts are subject to downside risks; inflation forecasts are seen little changed.

Today's press conference may reveal more information about this, and could come with a formal announcement on the review. And among many other policy/mission tweaks for the convicted criminal-cum-central banking climate crusader, Rabobank sarcastically adds, "will it include a pledge to also do ‘whatever it takes’ to get to the Eurozone to net-zero carbon emissions?"

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/watch-live-christine-lagardes-first-press-conference-ecb-president

California's ammo background checks are blocking legal gun owners from purchase:

Meanwhile, checks stopped only 101 prohibited purchasers.

Madden

California's new background check requirements for ammunition purchases appear to be stopping far more legal gun owners than prohibited purchasers, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The Bee reported Wednesday that numbers from the state's Department of Justice show that nearly 1 in 5 attempted ammunition purchases were rejected by state authorities between July 1 and November.

California's ammo background check law went into effect at the beginning of July. The California Department of Justice administers the program, which cost buyers an extra $1 on top of the cost of their purchase and requires store clerks to check purchaser information against two different databases. The measure was passed by a California voters in 2016 as Proposition 63. The California Department of Justice lists the requirements for ammunition purchase eligibility on its website.

In total, more than 345,000 ammunition background checks were performed in the July-November time frame, according to the figures, but only 101 of those checks flagged someone legally prohibited from buying ammunition. Outside of those prohibited purchasers, there were another 62,000 purchasers who were turned away because the information on their I.D. cards didn't match what was in the state's system or hadn't been entered into it.

One of those rejected purchasers was Sutter County Sheriff's Deputy Zachary Berg, who was barred from buying shotgun shells at hardware store ahead of a hunting trip last month because his information didn't match what was on the state database.

"It's a little ironic the fact I'm a deputy that I can't buy ammunition," Berg said. "But at the same time, anybody else who's legally allowed to, they shouldn't be denied based on address (errors). … It's just crazy."

Former California Highway Patrol officer and Vietnam veteran Dan Logan, 72, told the paper that he tried to register a gun in order to get his information in the Department of Justice system, but was nevertheless denied when he tried to buy shotgun shells in October.

However, the state's former Democratic Senate leader Kevin de Leon says the rejected purchases are merely "technical problems" that can be easily overcome.

"To the NRA and others who don't believe that we should keep our communities safe from gunfire," de Leon told the newspaper, "I would say stop the hyperbole over a technical issue that's easily solvable and be part of the solution to reduce dramatically the numbers of needless killings that happen in our communities every single day."

The figures were made public in the court documents of an ongoing lawsuit against the background check requirement brought by the California Rifle & Pistol Association and Olympic shooter Kim Rhode.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/californias-ammo-background-checks

Roll Call: The 34 House Republicans Who Voted for Farm Worker Amnesty

Thirty-four Republicans voted December 11 to give amnesty at least one million illegal immigrants and to subsidize farm companies with a wave of cheap visa-workers who will lower wages throughout the farm workforce, which includes at least one million American workers.

The Republicans are mostly from rural districts where the local media is skewed in favor of local farm employers and often ignores the economic interest of local American farmworkers.

Some of the pro-amnesty GOP legislators will avoid the pushback from GOP activists and voters by retiring before November.

The recorded vote revealed the amnesty-and-outsourcing Republicans:

Rep. Mark Amodei, Nevada,

Rep. James Baird, Indiana,

Rep. Michael Bost, Illinois,

Rep. Susan Brooks, Indiana,

Rep. Paul Cook, California,

Rep. Thomas Cole, Oklahoma,

Rep. Rodney Davis, Illinois,

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida,

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania,

Rep. Russ Fulcher, Idaho,

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington,

Rep. Will Hurd, Texas,

Rep. David Joyce, Ohio,

Rep. John Katko, New York,

Rep. Peter King, New York,

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Illinois,

Rep. Douglas LaMalfa, California,

Rep David McKinley, West Virginia,

Rep. Paul Mitchell, Michigan,

Rep. Dan Newhouse, Washington,

Rep Devin Nunes, California,

Rep. Thomas Reed, New York,

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington,

Rep. John Shimkus, Illinois,

Rep. Michael Simpson, Idaho,

Rep. Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania,

Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York,

Rep. Steve Stivers, Ohio,

Rep. Glen Thompson, Pennsylvania,

Rep. Scott Tipton, Colorado,

Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan,

Rep. Greg Walden, Ohio,

Rep. Don Young, Alaska.

The agriculture-district Republicans include LaMalfa, Upton, Stefanik, and Newhouse, who owns orchards in Washington state.

The retiring legislators include Walden, Hurd, King, Brooks, and Shimkus.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/12/roll-call-of-the-34-pro-amnesty-pro-outsourcing-gop-legislators/

FBI Agent Who Played ‘Significant’ Role In Surveillance Abuse Wore Several Hats In Trump Probe

The Justice Department inspector general’s report on FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign offers a damning assessment of the bureau’s handling of the Steele dossier, and its investigation of Carter Page.

Among those deemed “primarily responsible” for the “most significant” errors in the investigation is “Case Agent 1.”

The agent, who still works for the FBI, played a key role in several aspects of Crossfire Hurricane, including handling an FBI informant, interviewing a source for the dossier, and applying for warrants to spy on Page.

“Case Agent 1” wore many hats during the Trump-Russia investigation.

The veteran FBI counterintelligence investigator was a handler for Stefan Halper, a Cambridge academic who met covertly with three Trump campaign advisers 2016. Case Agent 1 opened the case file, known as an Electronic Communication, on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in August 2016. He was also the main driver at the FBI for surveillance warrants on Page, and he was put in charge of verifying each strand of evidence included in the documents. He interviewed Page, a former Naval officer, five times in March 2017, and also met in January 2017 with Christopher Steele’s main source for information in the infamous Trump dossier.

Case Agent 1 is also one of the main villains in the Justice Department inspector general’s (IG) report on the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe, known as Crossfire Hurricane.

“Case Agent 1 was primarily responsible for some of the most significant errors and omissions in the FISA applications,” Michael Horowitz, the inspector general, said in a scathing report laying out a series of missteps in the FBI’s handling of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications against Page.

Case Agent 1’s misdeeds are scattered throughout the inspector general’s (IG) 476-page report. That’s in part because the agent, who is not identified by name, was involved in several aspects of Crossfire Hurricane: opening the case file on Carter Page, handling Halper, filing FISA paperwork, and conducting interviews with investigative targets and witnesses.

The report identifies six areas where the agent withheld information that contradicted the FBI’s working theory that Page was an agent of Russia. According to the report, Case Agent 1 withheld exculpatory statements that Page and another Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, made to Halper. The agent also withheld information from Justice Department attorneys about Page’s longstanding relationship with the CIA.

More

https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/12/case-agent-1-fbi-fisa/

Clinton-Appointed Judge Blocks Billions in Military Funding for Border Wall

A Clinton-appointed judge in El Paso has permanently blocked billions of dollars in military funding from being spent on building the southern border wall.

Blocking The Border Wall

In February of this year, President Trump declared a national emergency on the southern border after Democrats and some Republicans in Congress refused to give him the funding that he needed to build the border wall. He argued that the migration crisis was costing the country, both economically and through the crime wave resulting from unchecked mass migration.

With this declaration, the President was able to unlock funding reserved for national crises, including some funding that would be directed from the military. This, of course, upset those on the pro-migration left, and they vowed to stop the President from securing the southern border.

On Tuesday, David Briones, a judge on the Western Texas Federal District Court ruled in favour of El Paso County and Border Network for Human Rights, a pro-migration organisation. Briones argued that the President over-stepped the mark with his declaration, and put a permanent injunction on the use of the money, stopping around $3.6 billion in funding from going to the wall.

Kristy Parker, the counsel for Protect Democracy, a “pro-democracy” non-profit (which thinks that a democratically elected President is a threat to democracy) that assisted the plaintiffs, released a statement praising the judge’s decision.

“The president’s emergency proclamation was a blatant attempt to grab power from Congress,” she said. “Today’s order affirms that the president is not a king and that our courts are willing to check him when he oversteps his bounds. This is a huge win for democracy and the rule of law.”

Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat Leader of the House, was also pleased with the outcome, having worked to block funding for the border wall from the start.

“Once again, the courts have resoundingly ruled against the President’s attempt to negate our system of separation of powers, which is the genius of our Constitution, by assaulting Congress’s exclusive constitutional power of the purse,” Pelosi said. “Despite what the President may think, Article II does not mean that he can ‘do whatever he wants.'”

https://thepoliticalinsider.com/leftist-judge-blocks-military-funding-for-border-wall/?utm_campaign=TPI12122019AM&utm_source=criticalimpact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1d09840caddec138a6473c7b9fa19141&source=TPICI

When Jews stopped being American

The New York Times reports, “Trump to Sign Order Targeting Anti-Semitism on College Campuses”:

The order will effectively interpret Judaism as a nationality, not just a religion, to trigger a federal law penalizing colleges and universities deemed to be shirking their responsibility to foster an open climate for minority students, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter before the announcement.

Zionists may imagine that this is to their advantage. For anti-Zionists, it is an example of what was foreseen and then experienced by Jews around the world as the political Zionist movement took root.

From Edwin Montagu to Rabbi Elmer Berger to American Jewish Committee presidents Joseph Proskauer and Jacob Blaustein, the conflation of the ethnic and faith identity of Judaism (already a difficult combination) to a nationality was seen as a long-acting poison.

Montagu wrote to his fellow UK Cabinet members in 1917 — when considering issuing the Balfour Declaration — that “Zionism has always seemed to me to be a mischievous political creed…”

I assert that there is not a Jewish nation. The members of my family, for instance, who have been in this country for generations, have no sort or kind of community of view or of desire with any Jewish family in any other country beyond the fact that they profess to a greater or less degree the same religion. It is no more true to say that a Jewish Englishman and a Jewish Moor are of the same nation than it is to say that a Christian Englishman and a Christian Frenchman are of the same nation: of the same race, perhaps, traced back through the centuries – through centuries of the history of a peculiarly adaptable race….

“When the Jews are told that Palestine is their national home, every country will immediately desire to get rid of its Jewish citizens,” Montagu continued, “and you will find a (Jewish) population in Palestine driving out its present inhabitants, taking all the best in the country, drawn from all quarters of the globe…”

When the Times broke the story, Jewish- and Palestinian-American Twitter-sphere erupted. “American Jews” and “Judaism” became top Twitter topics. Some examples:

https://mondoweiss.net/2019/12/when-jews-stopped-being-american/

New York bill would require taxpayer-funded medical abortions be available to all students at public colleges

A bill working its way through the New York state Legislature would require all public colleges and universities in the state to make abortion medication available to students — paid for with taxpayer funds, according to LifeSiteNews.

Assembly bill 8743 "Requires SUNY to offer abortion by medication techniques at all on-campus student health centers at colleges or universities within the SUNY system and creates a fund to help finance the implementation of offering such services at SUNY on-campus student health centers."

The bill was authored by Democratic Assemblyman Harvey Epstein, who said his goal is to make abortion more accessible with students who may not have the time or ability to get to a clinic.

"College students' often busy schedules, lack of transportation options, and low-incomes present barriers to accessing abortion healthcare," Epstein wrote in justifying the bill. "Students who want to end an unintended pregnancy have to travel to off-campus providers, potentially missing classes and disrupting their studies."

The bill would create the Public Colleges Student Health Center Abortion By Medication Fund, which would receive money both from taxpayers and private entities and citizens who choose to contribute.

"Monies within the public college student health center abortion by medication fund shall be made available to the commissioner of health for payment of any and all costs and expenditures incurred in performing any of the work required in making abortion by medication techniques available at public college student health centers within the state," the bill says.

Critics of the bill say that it creates potentially dangerous situations for women on college campuses who might take the pill without proper medical supervision, and it's also not the best way to support students dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

"What it doesn't help finance are campus child care centers, any kind of desperately needed prenatal care," said Michele Sterlace-Accorsi, executive director of Feminists Choosing Life of New York. "These are the impediments that interfere with women's ability to carry unplanned pregnancies to term, to choose life for their children and also have a career."

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2019/12/new-york-bill-would-require-taxpayer.html

Operation Condor 2.0 – “Expanded”

According to US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, the US will help “legitimate governments” in Latin America, in order to prevent protests from “morphing into riots”.

From what we are seeing this “legitimization” may be expanded to rest of the world. Because Washington instigated destabilizing unrest goes on throughout the world. We may as well call it “Operation Condor 2.0 – Expanded”. It promises to become devastating, oppressive and murderous on all Continents. A transformation from whatever ‘freedom’ may have existed to neoliberal dictatorships bending towards neofascism.

The original “Operation Condor” was a campaign by the United States to bring ‘order’ into her backyard, i.e. Latin America. In other words, it was a repressive move that started in 1968 and concluded around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. We are talking about more than 20 years of right-wing repression, especially but not exclusively directed on the Southern Cone of South America.

It included such military dictators like Jorge Rafael Videla in Argentina. He came to power in 1976 by a US supported military coup, deposing Isabel Martinez de Perón. Comandante Videla stayed in power during five years until 1981, period in which he brutally oppressed Argentinians, especially the opposition. It is reported that during this period more than 30,000 people ‘disappeared’ – never to return. They were tortured and killed. Some of the dissidents were dropped from helicopters into the Rio de Plata.

Another, better known dictator was Augusto Pinochet, who was directly helped by the CIA and then President Nixon’s National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger – to overturn the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in a bloody coup on 11 September 1973. Pinochet introduced as a first in Latin America neoliberal economics through a group of economists from the Economic School of Chicago, the so-called “Chicago Boys”. The resulting austerity brought extreme poverty and famine to Chileans. The ensuing 17 years were a horror, with over 40,000 people ‘disappeared’ or outright murdered.

https://youtu.be/Nh2-uQxHZLA

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/52684.htm

Lavrentiev: U.S. occupation troops must pull out of Syrian territories

Russian President’s special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev said that U.S. occupation forces must pull out of the Syrian territories, stressing that Washington’s looting of the Syrian oil is unacceptable.

In a press conference in Nur-Sultan city on Wednesday at the conclusion of the 14th round of Astana talks on Syria, Lavrentiev said “our talks focused on the U.S. illegitimate presence in Syria aimed at exploiting its natural resources,” affirming the necessity of withdrawal of US occupation forces from the Syrian lands.

Lavrentiev said “during the current round, we exchanged views on all aspects of settlement in Syria and this helps us assess the stage we are going through to give more effectiveness to this process,”describing discussions and the bilateral and tripartite meetings as “useful” in which they pointed out to the beginning of meetings of the Committee of Discussing the Constitution in Geneva , a process led by the Syrians themselves without any foreign interference in its work.

He added that discussions also dealt with the need for assisting the Syrian people in reconstruction process and providing humanitarian aid to people in need without any politicization or preconditions, underlining the necessity of lifting the economic coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people by America and the West.

Answering a question about compliance of the Turkish regime with its obligations, Lavrentiev said “we are working in this direction with the Turks as we signed a memorandum on creating de-escalation zone in Idleb, yet these obligations are not being implemented currently.”

Lavrentiev indicated that the “White Helmets” terrorists are preparing for a new chemical provocation to accuse the Syrian Government of.

For his part, Head of Iranian delegation to Astana talks Ali Asghar Khaji affirmed the necessity of going ahead in combating terrorism in Syria until its complete elimination and the commitment to Syria’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity.

He indicated that the terrorist organizations seize most of Idleb’s area and pose threat to the civilians there , adding that the Syrian state authority should be extended to all its territories , mainly Idleb.

Khaji said that US attempts to control oil fields in Syria are rejected and work should be done to return all the fields to the Syrian state.

https://sana.sy/en/?p=180291

Israel says defense officials caught in major bribery case

Israel’s Justice Ministry said on Tuesday it plans to prosecute suspects involved in a “serious corruption affair” in one of the country’s defense bodies.

Most details of the case, including the names of the suspects, were unavailable because of a gag order.

But a statement by the ministry said public servants working in the unnamed defense body allegedly received millions in bribes from companies with the aim of promoting sales deals with Israel’s defense establishment.

The suspects are to be charged with bribery, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering, among others offenses, pending a hearing.

The announcement comes after the ministry said last week it would serve indictments for corruption charges in a $2 billion German submarine deal that roped in close associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the country’s former navy chief.

The justice ministry claims those accused in the submarine case personally benefited from the purchase.

Netanyahu was questioned, but not named as a suspect, in the submarine probe, known as “case 3000.”

Netanyahu has been indicted in three other graft cases for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He has denied wrongdoing on all charges.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2019/12/10/Israel-says-defense-officials-caught-in-major-bribery-case.html

Mexico Leaks USMCA True Purpose “Unity of the Americas””It will now be easier to establish panels of regional jurisdictions”

“It will now be easier to establish panels of regional jurisdictions”

It will turn us into the EU! Not getting signed until the 19 of December. Call your congress!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Union

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/mexico-leaks-usmca-true-purpose-unity-of-the-americasit-will-now-be-easier-to-establish-panels-of-regional-jurisdictions/

Trump Signs Executive Order to Punish Critics Of Israel With Jeffrey Epstein's Lawyer By His Side

President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive over to make Jews on college campuses a "protected class" and allow the federal government to pull funding from colleges who don't "love Israel" enough.

Trump was joined by the lawyer for accused blackmailer/Mossad agent Jeffrey Epstein, Alan Dershowitz, as well as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Jared and Ivanka Kushner, Christian Zionists John Hagee and Robert Jeffress and others.

From NBC News, "Trump signs executive order targeting college anti-Semitism, Israel boycotts":

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that would effectively allow the government to interpret Judaism as both a race or nationality and a religion under federal law so that the Education Department can take direct action against what he views as anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Trump, joined by lawmakers and administration officials in addition to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, said the order "makes clear" that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would "apply to institutions that traffic in anti-Semitic hate."

Pointing to past bipartisan efforts to pass similar legislation, Trump said that "they didn't get it done," adding, "This year, there's no roadblock."

The interpretation would allow the Education Department to withhold funding from college or educational programs it believes are discriminating in an anti-Semitic way. The law states that the Education Department can take such action against a program that discriminates based "on the ground of race, color or national origin" — but not on religion.

[…] After wrapping up his address, Trump called upon the evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress to offer some words. Jeffress, who once said Jews were going to hell, said at the White House that Trump is "the most pro-faith president in history" and that God will "bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel."

Jeffress added that Trump is on the "right side of God."

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who has provided Trump with favorable legal analysis, spoke next, saying there had been "no more important event in" the six decades he's spent on college campuses "to turn universities away from being bastions of hatred and discrimination than this executive order being signed today."

"It is a game changer," he added. "One of the most important events in the 2,000-year battle against anti-Semitism."

[…] As The New York Times reported, the executive order was welcomed by the Anti-Defamation League. The Republican Jewish Coalition praised the order, with its national chairman, former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., calling the change a "truly historic and important moment for Jewish Americans."

Note, colleges can still discriminate against white people through affirmative action and teach courses on the hate-filled conspiracy theory of "white privilege."

Such discrimination is actively encouraged.

More

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61014

Pelosi-Approved USMCA Trade Deal Enshrines Big Tech's 'Right to Censor'

Big Tech is already celebrating.

From Breitbart, "Nancy Pelosi: 'I Lost'; Big Tech Legal Immunity Remains in USMCA":

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said during a press conference Tuesday that she "lost" her fight to remove a provision granting big tech companies expanded immunity in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) told Breitbart News that they still have significant reservations over the immunity's inclusion in the trade deal.

Breitbart News reported last week that Pelosi expressed concern over the USMCA inclusion of language that is even broader than Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The provision, Article 19.17, would grant greater legal immunity for big tech companies to censor, or moderate, any content compared to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

As Breitbart reported in October: "The law allows tech companies to censor any content they consider 'objectionable' or 'harmful.' This is similar to Section 230, but broader, because unlike Section 230, USMCA offers no definition of what 'objectionable' content might be, giving tech platforms broad leeway to interpret the law as they see fit."

During a press conference on Tuesday, Pelosi announced their compromise with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer on the USMCA, admitting that the big tech provision will remain in the trade agreement.

Pelosi said that Article 19.17 would limit Congress's ability to change telecommunications law, especially when it would involve big tech companies' legal immunity over content moderation. The California Democrat said that Article 19.17 is a "real gift" to big tech companies.

Pelosi said that Article 19.17 would “hurt our own ability to make our own laws in the United States, and those countries to do so, I have one disappointment which was … Section 230, which I was too late coming in on it.”

“I lost. Here’s the thing: They had 230 in the agreement; there are some members that … it’s a real gift to big tech,” Pelosi said.

No doubt she fought tooth and nail to remove it!

[Senator Ted] Cruz said that “enshrining” big tech’s legal immunity could force lawmakers to “either abandon efforts to hold big tech companies accountable, or revise Section 230 and put the United States in breach.”

https://youtu.be/u07iyMUVFvU

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61015

YouTube Bans 'Malicious Insults' Against Public Officials Who Are Members Of A 'Protected' Class

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's new "harassment policy" bans "malicious insults" against "public officials" who are members of a "protected" class.

From YouTube, "An update to our harassment policy":

A stronger stance against threats and personal attacks

We’ve always removed videos that explicitly threaten someone, reveal confidential personal information, or encourage people to harass someone else. Moving forward, our policies will go a step further and not only prohibit explicit threats, but also veiled or implied threats. This includes content simulating violence toward an individual or language suggesting physical violence may occur. No individual should be subject to harassment that suggests violence.

Beyond threatening someone, there is also demeaning language that goes too far. To establish a consistent criteria for what type of content is not allowed on YouTube, we’re building upon the framework we use for our hate speech policy. We will no longer allow content that maliciously insults someone based on protected attributes such as their race, gender expression, or sexual orientation. This applies to everyone, from private individuals, to YouTube creators, to public officials.

As always, we know certain exceptions will apply!

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61013

U.N. WARNS U.S. IT CANNOT ESCAPE PAYING CLIMATE ‘REPARATIONS’

The United States was warned Wednesday by the United Nations it cannot avoid compensating poorer nations hit by climate change, despite Donald Trump honoring his election promise of leaving the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Delegates and observers at the COP25 negotiations in Madrid told AFP that Washington seeks a change to the U.N. climate convention that could release it from punitive “loss and damage” funding for developing nations which is predicted to run into the billions of dollars.

Under the bedrock U.N. climate treaty, adopted in 1992, rich nations agreed to help developing countries prepare for unavoidable future climate impacts — the twin pillars of “mitigation” and “adaptation”.

But there was no provision for helping countries and small island states now calling for compensation.

A new mechanism was established in 2013, but with damage estimates climbing, there is no agreement on where the money might come from or even if it should be paid, although the U.S. is constantly the target of calls for financial reparations because it is rich, successful and a dominant world economic force.

One of the tasks facing delegates in Madrid is reviewing the framework for how countries might pay and account for this money.

A document said to be circulated by U.S. negotiators to delegation heads, seen by AFP, proposes to transpose a key provision under the 2015 Paris agreement — from which the United States is withdrawing — and apply it to the wider COP process, where the U.S. will maintain a seat at the table.

www.breitbart.com/environment/2019/12/11/u-n-warns-u-s-cannot-escape-paying-climate-reparations/

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/u-n-warns-u-s-it-cannot-escape-paying-climate-reparations/

Army 3-Star General Loses Rank After War College Plagiarism Revealed

An Army deputy chief of staff has been retired at a lower rank after a watchdog investigation found he had plagiarized work for his master's degree at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania as a lieutenant colonel, Military.com has learned.

Lt. Gen. Aundre Piggee, 60, deputy chief of staff of the Army for Logistics, G-4, has retired as a major general, an official confirmed to Military.com. The U.S. Army War College Academic Review Board determined this year that Piggee had committed plagiarism while at the school, where he received a master's in military strategy.

According to a Defense Department Inspector General document reviewed by Military.com, Piggee's master of strategic studies degree and Army War College diploma was revoked based on the findings. The U.S. Army War College Academic Review Board has amended his record "to reflect a failure to complete graduation requirements," according to the document.

According to a published resume, Piggee was at the Army War College from July 2001 to June 2002.

"After an academic review board was conducted by the Army War College appropriate action was taken against Lt. Gen. Aundre F. Piggee," Army spokeswoman Col. Kathleen Turner said in a statement provided to Military.com. "Lt. Gen. Piggee was retired at the rank of Major General on December 1, 2019."

An official said Piggee, who was commissioned into the Army in 1981, had already been planning to retire.

In his position as deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Piggee has been a prominent voice calling for readiness and planning for the future. He made news in 2018 when he told an industry audience that he wanted future Army brigades to be able to fight for a month without resupply.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/12/11/army-3-star-general-loses-rank-after-war-college-plagiarism-revealed.html

Tesla's Third General Counsel In The Last Year Quits

While Tesla's stock price is holding up well into year end, the company's notorious insider defections continue. Jonathan Chang - Tesla's third general counsel in the past year - has now left the company. According to the Detroit News, Chang had just been promoted to the role in February and is leaving Tesla to take on the GC role at startup company SambaNova.

Chang joined Tesla back in 2011 and was put into the GC role after Dane Butswinkas, who was the "adult in the room" hired to help clean up Tesla's legal mess, lasted only two months (~60 whole days) at the company. Preceding Butswinkas was Todd Maron, Elon Musk's former divorce attorney, who had the role since 2014.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/teslas-third-general-counsel-last-year-quits

MATT GAETZ GOES THERE… Tells Hunter Biden Crack Cocaine Stories During Sham Impeachment Hearing (VIDEO)

Matt Gaetz is an American hero.

During the Democrat Party’s sham impeachment hearings on Donald Trump on Thursday Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced an amendment to include proper language on Burisma Holdings into the legislation.

Then Gaetz went on to to tell stories on how Hunter Biden’s crack addiction… OMG!

This was not supposed to happen.

The Hunter Biden crack story at the homeless encampment was especially delicious.

Democrats wanted to hide that from the American public… Too late.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/boom-matt-gaetz-goes-there-tells-hunter-biden-crack-cocaine-stories-during-sham-impeachment-hearing-video/

Pentagon Says Full Syria Withdrawal Many Years Off

US troops can't leave any time soon

In testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley predicted that the US will continue to have troops inside Syria for many years, and that it is “hard to foresee anytime soon” when the US might leave.

The two told the committee that this presence continued to be about the ISIS threat, and that it would be a long time before regional forces in Syria could fight on their own. It’s not clear what regional forces are even being referred to, as the US troops are centered in a very small area at this point.

Moreover, the US presence in Syria has not been presented by the administration as being about ISIS for months, with President Trump insisting ISIS was long defeated. Pentagon officials have continued to cite ISIS because the administration’s alternative is a tough pill to swallow.

President Trump now insists that the US war in Syria is exclusively about oil, and the only reason US troops are in Syria is to take Syrian oil with the help of US oil companies to be named later. President Trump has repeatedly reiterated this stance, despite military officials trying to make the war about something else.

As a practical matter, either military goal, or any combination of the two, is going to be similarly an open-ended military adventure, as there is no sign of ISIS being any more defeated, nor of a single drop of oil coming out of US-occupied Syria, any time soon.

Defense Secretary Esper said ideology would make it difficult to defeat ISIS fully. Gen. Milley predicted the reemergence of ISIS if the US left Syria, even though there is no sign the US is doing anything to fight them, or indeed doing anything at all apart from waiting for a hypothetical situation where oil starts being produced.

https://news.antiwar.com/2019/12/11/pentagon-says-full-syria-withdrawal-many-years-off/

Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace Trashes Trump, Says President “Engaged in Most Direct Assault on Freedom of the Press in Our History”

Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace trashed President Donald Trump as a threat to the free press in a speech given Wednesday at the Newseum–the media’s shrine to its hubris set in the nation’s capital that is closing this month due to lack of public interest. Wallace said, “I believe that President Trump is engaged in the most direct sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history.”

Wallace’s speech was reported by the Guardian:

…“I believe that President Trump is engaged in the most direct sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history,” Wallace said to applause at the Newseum, a media museum in Washington, on Wednesday night.

“He has done everything he can to undercut the media, to try and delegitimise us, and I think his purpose is clear: to raise doubts when we report critically about him and his administration that we can be trusted. Back in 2017, he tweeted something that said far more about him than it did about us: ‘The fake news media is not my enemy. It is the enemy of the American people.’”

Wallace recalled that retired admiral Bill McRaven, a navy Seal for 37 years, had described Trump’s sentiment as maybe “the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime” because, unlike even the Soviet Union or Islamic terrorism, it undermines the US constitution.

The veteran broadcaster added: “Let’s be honest, the president’s attacks have done some damage. A Freedom Forum Institute poll, associated here with the Newseum, this year found that 29% of Americans, almost a third of all of us, think the first amendment goes too far. And 77%, three quarters, say that fake news is a serious threat to our democracy.”

The Newseum tweeted this observation from Wallace warning reporters, ““We are not participants in what we cover, we are observers trying to be objective witnesses. We shouldn’t be drawn into taking sides. We’re not as good at it & we’re abandoning the special role that was created for us in this democracy,” – Chris Wallace, anchor, @FoxNewsSunday”

The same day Wallace trashed Trump, Fox News Sunday announced Wallace will be interviewing Trump antagonists Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)–the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who is leading the impeachment of Trump–and former FBI Director James Comey who was fired by Trump.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/fox-news-anchor-chris-wallace-trashes-trump-says-president-engaged-in-most-direct-assault-on-freedom-of-the-press-in-our-history/

Two German diplomats given seven days to leave Russia, says Russian Foreign Ministry

On December 4, the German Foreign Ministry declared two Russian Embassy employees personae non gratae in the wake of a Georgian citizen’s murder in Berlin on August 23

wo employees of the German Embassy in Moscow must leave Russia within the next seven days and a note to this effect has been handed to German Ambassador Geza Andreas von Geyr, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday.

"A strong protest has been lodged with the head of the German diplomatic mission over the German government’s ungrounded decision of December 4, 2019, to declare two staff members of the Russian Embassy in Berlin personae non gratae," the ministry said.

"In view of that, guided by the reciprocity principle and Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, Russia decided to declare two staff members of the German Embassy in Russia personae non gratae as a countermeasure. They must leave the country within the next seven days. A corresponding note has been handed to the German ambassador," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

On December 4, the German Foreign Ministry declared two Russian Embassy employees personae non gratae in the wake of a Georgian citizen’s murder in Berlin on August 23. A Russian national is allegedly a suspect in the case. Berlin says the decision was due to Russia’s insufficient cooperation with the investigation.

According to German prosecutors, there are reasons to believe that Russia’s state agencies or the authorities of Chechnya, which is part of Russia, were involved in the murder.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier dismissed these suspicions as utterly groundless, when asked whether Russia could have had something to do with the incident.

https://tass.com/politics/1098611

Likud officially sets leadership primary for December 26

The Likud Central Committee, the party’s main policy-making body, approves leadership primaries in a vote tonight and schedules them for December 26.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, beset by looming indictments in three criminal corruption cases, faces his first serious challenge in 14 years after Likud’s former no. 2 and popular ex-education minister Gideon Sa’ar announced last month he would challenge Netanyahu for party leader.

Sa’ar is the only declared challenger at the moment.

Sa’ar vowed yesterday to run a “positive, clean and substantive campaign that will present an agenda for Israel’s future. The country needs to turn a corner and end this ongoing political crisis, to establish a strong government and unite the people.”

The vote comes after Netanyahu supporter MK David Bitan started gathering signatures among Central Committee members earlier today on a resolution to cancel the proposed primaries.

Netanyahu called Bitan and asked that he stop, apparently fearing the effort to cancel the vote would make him look afraid to face Sa’ar.

“Likud is a democratic movement, and its members will decide who leads them,” Netanyahu’s campaign said in a statement earlier today. “Prime Minister Netanyahu is certain he will win their overwhelming support.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-december-12-2019/

Half of All Commonly Used Drugs Seriously Affect The Gut Microbiome, Scientists Warn

The Facts: Many commonly prescribed medications have been found to have a drastic affect on the “good bacteria” in our gut.

Reflect On: It is important to be aware of all potential side effects before taking a new drug to decide whether or not it’s worth it for you.

The link between a healthy gut microbiome and overall well-being has been established in recent years as we are learning that around 95% of the serotonin (commonly referred to as the “happy hormone”) produced in our bodies actually comes from our gut! This is one of many reasons why it is important to take care of our health, be mindful of the foods we are eating and be aware of adverse reactions from any drugs we are taking.

A recent study presented at UEG Week 2019 (United European Gastroenterology) has found that 18 commonly prescribed prescription drugs extensively affect the taxonomic structure and metabolic potential of the gut microbiome. Another eight drugs from different categories were also found to increase antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in study participants, and that’s not good.

According to the official press release regarding the findings of the study,

Researchers at the University Medical Center Groningen and the Maastricht University Medical Center looked at 41 commonly used drug categories and assessed 1883 faecal samples from a population-based cohort, patients with IBD and patients with IBS intermixed with healthy controls. The researchers compared the taxonomic and metabolic functions profiles of drug users to non-drug users, looking at the effect of single medication use and then combined medication use. The changes observed could increase the risk of intestinal infections, obesity and other serious conditions and disorders linked to the gut microbiome.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2019/12/half-of-all-commonly-used-drugs-seriously-affect-the-gut-microbiome-scientists-warn.html

Australian water sold for $490m to foreign company during drought

A multi-billion dollar Singaporean food company is selling 89,000 megalitres of Australian water to a Canadian pension fund.

The mega sale of Australian permanent water rights comes as the country is crippled by one of the worst droughts in its history.

On Tuesday, NSW brought in a complete ban on hoses as part of the toughest water restrictions implemented for more than a decade.

But no such problem existed for food and agriculture giant Olam International, which sold the 89billion litres of permanent water rights for an astonishing $490 million.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/75703/australian-water-sold-for-490m-to-foreign-company-during.html

The Final Full Moon Of This Decade On 12/12 At Exactly 12:12 AM Is Precisely 6,666 Days From 9/11

A few days ago, hardly anyone had heard about “the 12/12 warning”, but now the Internet is buzzing with lots of speculation about what it could possibly mean. On December 12th at exactly 12:12 AM eastern time, we witnessed the very last full moon of this entire decade. As I detailed yesterday, there is only a 1 in 691,920 chance that the last full moon of this decade would fall on that exact minute in time. And many have also pointed out that the individual digits of “2019” also add up to a total of 12. You can believe that all of this is just some sort of grand coincidence if you want, but a lot of people out there are really freaking out about this.

What makes this strange confluence of numbers even stranger is the fact that it happened exactly 6,666 days from 9/11.

If you go to timeanddate.com, there is a handy calculator that allows you to instantly calculate the number of days between two specific dates.

Just a little while ago, I typed in 9/11/2001 as the start date and 12/12/19 as the end date, and it gave me a result of precisely 6,666 days.

And of course two sixes add up to 12, and so adding up the digits in that time span gives us the number 12 two additional times.

As I cautioned yesterday, I don’t know what significance all of this may have. But it is interesting to note that this extremely intriguing confluence of numbers only occurred in the eastern time zone of the United States. And this has happened just as the debate on the articles of impeachment is about to begin in Washington.

Could it be possible that someone is trying to highlight the fact that this is an absolutely critical moment in American history? As the full moon approached, mainstream news sources all over the world ran stories about it. For example, the following comes from the Daily Mail…

The final full moon of the decade will reach its peak in the night sky as the clock strikes 12:12am on 12/12 in the Eastern United States, delighting numerologists.

While only the Eastern United States will have such a notable time and date for the lunar peak, the full moon will be ‘bright and visible’ around the world.

This is a good time of year to watch and possibly photograph the full moon, according to NASA, because it is opposite a low sun.

And needless to say, Twitter was buzzing with plenty of chatter about this very strange full moon.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-final-full-moon-of-this-decade-on-12-12-at-exactly-1212-am-is-precisely-6666-days-from-9-11