Fact Check: No, Trump Admin Did Not ‘Begin’ Hold on Ukraine Funds 91 Minutes After Call with Zelensky

The news media and Democrats are quickly seizing on a government email to paint a misleading picture that the Trump administration requested the Pentagon withhold military aid to Ukraine just 91 minutes after President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The decision to withhold aid was actually announced seven days prior to Trump’s July 25 phone call while the email in question was part of a weeklong discussion about withholding aid and was unrelated to the call, the Trump administration explained.

The email was obtained on Friday along with 146 pages of other documents given to the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

CPI has been openly funded by billionaire activist George Soros’s Open Society, which formally listed CPI as a media “partner.” CPI is also funded by the Soros-financed Tides Foundation.

The email being hyped by the media shows an official with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Mike Duffey, contacted Pentagon officials 91 minutes after Trump’s call with Zelensky to discuss withholding aid.

“Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration’s plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process,” Duffey wrote, according to the documents.

The OMB immediately pushed back explaining the aid hold was announced seven says before Trump’s July 25 phone call and that the Center for Public Integrity was harping on one line to paint an inaccurate and misleading picture of the timing of the aid hold.

The OMB strongly denied the email, one of many, had anything to do with Trump’s phone call, explaining the communication was procedural and part of a process put into place one week early.

Rachel Semmel, a spokeswoman for OMB, told reporters it was “reckless to tie the hold of funds to the phone call.”

“As has been established and publicly reported, the hold was announced in an interagency meeting on July 18,” she said. “To pull a line out of one email and fail to address the context is misleading and inaccurate.”

A senior administration official further said the email was part of a discussion already going on for one week between OMB and the Pentagon about withholding aid.

Despite the known timeline that the decision to withhold aid was taken on July 18, Senator Chuck Schumer already claimed the “explosive” email underscored the need to call new witnesses with new alleged impeachment evidence.

“If there was ever an argument that we need Mr Duffey to come and testify, this is that information. This email is explosive,” Schumer said.

“A top administration official, one that we requested, is saying, stop the aid 90 minutes after Trump called Zelensky and said keep it hush, hush. What more do you need to request a witness?”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/24/fact-check-no-trump-admin-did-not-begin-hold-on-ukraine-funds-91-minutes-after-call-with-zelensky/

https://publicintegrity.org/national-security/trump-administration-officials-worried-ukraine-aid-halt-violated-spending-law/

https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/0025bb89-fc0b-4dd6-b134-5d861e9095ef/a_complete_9.pdf

‘I'm more of a Jew than he is’: Giuliani takes on George Soros and his defenders with out-of-left-field jab

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani tore into billionaire George Soros, insisting he controls central figures in the president’s impeachment inquiry – and that his leftist politics disqualify him from being Jewish. The internet went wild.

Soros not only controls former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, Giuliani told New York magazine on Monday – he had installed “all four ambassadors” involved in the effort to impeach Trump. Indeed, Giuliani continued, the notorious bank-roller of color revolutions and liberal causes was “employing the FBI agents,” too.

After the reporter told him he “sounded crazy” talking about Soros, Giuliani apparently tried to preempt the usual criticism leveled at those who criticize the powerful philanthropist.

“Don’t tell me I’m antisemitic if I oppose him,” the president’s personal lawyer warned. “Soros is hardly a Jew. I’m more of a Jew than Soros is. I probably know more about – he doesn’t go to church, he doesn’t go to religion – synagogue. He doesn’t belong to a synagogue, he doesn’t support Israel, he’s an enemy of Israel. He’s elected eight anarchist DA’s in the United States.”

He's a horrible human being.

Giuliani’s comments kicked off a firestorm on social media, with liberals attacking the “antisemitic” attorney and conservatives doubling down on Giuliani’s criticisms of the shadowy speculator.

He was just trying to cover up his antisemitism with the “not a Jew” comment, some suspected.

https://www.rt.com/usa/476704-soros-controls-everyone-giuliani-jewish/

Spain: Populist Vox supporters call for Spain to exit the EU

Supporters from Spain’s Vox party have called for Spain to exit the European Union after the European Court of Justice ruled that jailed Catalan separatist Oriol Junqueras should have parliamentary immunity.

Talks of a Spanish exit from the EU come just days after officials in Poland claimed that a Polish exit from the EU may be in the cards. Vox’s party leader Santiago Abascal has condemned the ECJ ruling as an offensive infringement on Spain’s national sovereignty, The Telegraph reports.

Junqueras was one of nine pro-independence leaders who were jailed by Spanish authorities following the unauthorized Catalonian independence referendum in 2017.

Despite his arrest, Jungueras was elected to the European Parliament as MEP in last May’s elections.

This week the ECJ rejected Madrid’s argument that Junqueras failed to qualify to be an MEP since he hadn’t sworn an oath to the Spanish constitution. EU judges in Luxembourg then ruled that Junqueras, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for sedition, should be freed due to his parliamentary immunity.

In response to the ECJ ruling, Abascal said: “Because of EU courts, terrorists and rapists (who have raped women again) were released. Now they are slapping us in the face by making Puigdemont an MEP.”

“Spain (as other countries do) should not abide by any judgment of those who attack our sovereignty and security,” the Vox president wrote on Twitter. “Vox is not going to allow any more humiliations.”

According to the latest polls, national populist Vox, which grabbed 52 seats in Spanish parliament at the last election, is still Spain’s third-largest party with 16.2 percent of the vote.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/12/spain-populist-vox-supporters-call-for-spain-to-exit-the-eu/

Trump: ‘Getting Rid’ Of ‘Evil’ FBI Officials ‘One Of My Greatest Achievements’

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he considers “getting rid” of the FBI officials who led the Trump-Russia probe to be one of his “greatest achievements” in office.

“These were dirty people. These were bad people. These were evil people, and I hope that someday I’m going to consider it my greatest, or one of my greatest achievements, getting rid of them,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago, where he is on Christmas vacation.

Trump initially responded to a question about whether he is considering a pardon for Roger Stone, the longtime GOP operative who was indicted in the special counsel’s investigation on charges of making false statements to Congress.

Stone, who worked briefly on the Trump campaign and has known Trump for decades, was convicted on Nov. 15.

Trump said that he has yet to consider a pardon for Stone, but that he believes he was treated “very unfair” in the special counsel’s case.

“I haven’t thought of it. I think it’s very tough what they did to Roger Stone, compared to what they do to other people on their side,” Trump said.

“Now they’re finding out it was a big hoax. They’re finding out it was a horrible thing. We were spied on, my campaign was spied on,” Trump said.

Trump did not specifically identify whom at the FBI he is glad to have ousted. Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017. Andrew McCabe, who served as FBI deputy director, was fired on March 16, 2018, after the bureau’s Office of Professional Responsibility and Justice Department’s inspector general found that he lacked candor during interviews about the authorization of media leaks in October 2016.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/24/trump-evil-fbi-achievement/

Erdogan: Europe ‘will feel’ the new refugee wave

As tens of thousands of people flee to the Turkish border amid the renewed bombardment Idlib province by Russian and Syrian forces, Turkey has warned that it would not be able to handle a “new refugee wave” coming from Syria.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan on Sunday warned that Europe would feel the impact of the new influx of migrants if the violence in northwest Syria isn’t quickly ended, Deutsche Welle reports.

Currently, Turkey hosts nearly 3.7 million Syrian refugees – the largest refugee population in the world. The country worries that a new wave of refugees from the Idlib province – a region that’s home to 3 million Syrians – could prove to be too much for Turkey to handle alone.

While speaking at an awards ceremony in Istanbul on Sunday evening, Erdogan said: “If the violence towards the people of Idlib does not stop, this number will increase even more. In that case, Turkey will not carry such a migrant burden on its own.”

The Turkish leader added that over 80,000 people were currently headed toward the Turkish border from Idlib.

“The negative impact of the pressure we will be subjected to will be something that all European nations, especially Greece, will also feel,” Erdogan said, adding that another migrant crisis like the one seen in 2015 would become inevitable.

“We call on European countries to use their energy to stop the massacre in Idlib, rather than trying to corner Turkey for the legitimate steps it took in Syria,” Erdogan said.

Last fall, Erdogan and top Turkish officials threatened to “open the gates” and let 3.6 million migrants flood into Europe unless European countries provided more support to Turkey.

In August, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu was quoted as saying, “We are facing the biggest wave of migration in history. If we open the floodgates, no European government will be able to survive for more than six months. We advise them not to try our patience.”

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/12/erdogan-europe-will-feel-the-new-refugee-wave/

Report: Hunter Biden Love Child’s Mother Paid by Company Sharing His Hollywood Hills Address

Lunden Roberts, the Arkansan mother of a love child apparently sired by Hunter Biden, filed court documents alleging that his company — with an address in the Hollywood Hills — paid her sometime in the last five years.

The New York Post reports on Roberts’s latest filings in a combative paternity lawsuit that has been raging for the majority of 2019. Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, “submitted an affidavit of financial means on Dec. 16, but the document is sealed,” according to the paper.

“Roberts, meanwhile, released five years’ worth of her tax returns and other financial documents to the court,” the report continues. “The documents list her as having worked for Hunter and his company Owasco PC.” The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette says Roberts’ filing claims she received pay stubs from the business, apparently a law firm, but no tax documents. Roberts further claims that Biden at one time paid for her health insurance through this arrangement.

According to the Post, “That company is registered at the same Hollywood Hills address that court papers list as Hunter’s address.”

Following up on this address, the paper says real estate records show the property was bought in June 2019 for an undisclosed amount. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home is equipped with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a pool and estimated to be worth $2.5 million.

The newspaper notes the swanky neighborhood boasts Hollywood stars Ben Affleck and Halle Berry as residents. The June purchase appears to undermine arguments from Biden, who “claimed in court documents that he’s been out of a job since May 2019 and has significant debts since his divorce in 2017 from Kathleen Buhle, the mother of three of his children.”

In May, Roberts, a 28-year-old stripper, said Biden is the father of her 16-month-old baby — a fact apparently confirmed by DNA testing — and is demanding that he pay child support and pick up the tab for her legal bills. Court documents filed by Roberts in Independence County, Arkansas, allege the two first met at a Washington, D.C., strip club where she was previously employed.

Earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported that Roberts has asked for information regarding Biden’s past business activities, including information about how much he was paid as a board member of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company at the center of allegations of corruption against him and his father. Reports suggest the younger Biden was compensated up to $83,000 per month by the company despite having no experience in the energy field.

Roberts is also seeking information on whether Biden received funds from a Chinese national or entity for investment purposes, court documents show.

Details of Biden’s paternity case have come to light as his business dealings remain under the microscope of Senate Republicans. Last week, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) asked for interviews and records from former Obama administration officials as part of their probe into allegations of corruption against the younger Biden.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/24/report-hunter-biden-love-childs-mother-paid-by-company-sharing-his-hollywood-hills-address/

Germany: Hamburg taxpayers have spent €5.4 billion on migrants since 2015

Taxpayers in the city of Hamburg, Germany have been forced to spend close to 5.35 billion euros on asylum seekers from 2015 to the end of 2019, official reports have revealed.

The figures were released by the Hamburg Senate following a request from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) citizens’ group, Junge Freiheit reports.

In 2015, the city spent just under 735 million on expenses for the accommodations and integration of asylum seekers. The following year, the city’s spending on migrants swelled to 1.5 billion euros, while in 2017 and 2018 spending dropped to about one billion per year.

As of June of 2019, the city’s expenditures on migrants was at roughly 500 million. By the end of this year, the Senate expects German taxpayers to have spent close to 800 million euros to house, clothe, feed, and educate the migrants.

In its response to the AfD citizens’ group, the Senate noted that “proof of the direct and indirect refugee-related costs and investments is not always ascertainable”.

Alexander Wolf, the chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in Hamburg, criticized the city’s enormous expenditures on migrant welfare, referring to them as “the insane cost of [Germany’s] refugee policy.”

The “astronomical sums” spend on migrant welfare “without [Hamburgers] ever being asked whether they want it at all” are “a bottomless bit” Wolf continued while pointing out that five billion euros in five years is as much as the “gross domestic product of many African countries”.

It’s not just Hamburg taxpayers who are being forced to spend astronomical sums of money on migrants. In September, Germany’s Federal Employment Agency released figures which revealed that 40 percent of all welfare recipients in Germany are foreigners, costing German taxpayers more than 4 billion euros each month.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/12/germany-hamburg-taxpayers-have-spent-e5-4-billion-on-migrants-since-2015/

Pollak: Pelosi’s Delay, By Itself, Violates the 6th Amendment and Denies Trump a ‘Fair Trial’

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) insists that she will not appoint House managers for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, nor transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, until she is satisfied that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will provide a “fair trial.”

Her logic completely inverts the concept of a “fair trial,” which applies to the accused and not to the accuser. However, by her actions, she has already made a fair trial impossible.

Democrats repeatedly compared the House inquiry to a grand jury investigation, and impeachment itself to an indictment.

Now, having indicted the president, they want to hold off on a trial, after insisting for weeks that it was urgent to remove him from office, and claiming that principles of justice demanded a “swift” result.

They are not just afraid of losing in the Senate.

They are also holding out hope for more evidence.

On Monday, the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that they want to compel the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn, in the hope of filing additional articles of impeachment related to the “Russia collusion” investigation.

The Department of Justice says the issue is moot, arguing that any decision on McGahn’s testimony would be prejudicial to the president’s trial in the Senate, since Trump has been accused of “obstruction of Congress” merely for resisting subpoenas of senior White House officials like McGahn.

The Judiciary Committee’s case is, arguably, undermined by its own impeachment report, in which it referred to McGahn’s possible testimony as relevant to “these articles of impeachment” (emphasis added). It added that it intended to continue investigating, but not with regard to impeaching Trump.

Now, Pelosi and the Democrats want to change the rules. They want to hold impeachment over the president’s head before they have come to a final decision about what they will be impeaching him for — a Kafka-esque scenario in which the accused must wait for judicial process until guilt is found.

The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution explicitly states: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial.” Impeachment is not a criminal proceeding, but it would be difficult to argue that the president enjoys fewer rights than an ordinary criminal defendant.

That is, unless he is a Republican named Trump.

Democrats have already trampled his rights to due process and his rights to legal representation, departing from the precedents in the Nixon and Clinton impeachment inquiries. Pelosi’s new gambit simply adds to those abuses and mocks the ideal of justice.

A fair trial is impossible under such circumstances. Indeed, Pelosi has no intention of providing a fair trial. She is attempting to exert power that she does not even have, according to the Constitution, to dictate the Senate’s trial procedures.

The only “fair trial” possible now must result in a dismissal.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/24/pollak-nancy-pelosi-delay-trump-fair-trial/

MI5 given the go-ahead to allow informants to commit crimes

HUMAN rights campaigners today vowed to appeal against a “knife-edge” divided tribunal ruling which allowed MI5 to continue authorising informants to commit serious criminal offences.

Privacy International, Reprieve, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) and the Pat Finucane Centre took legal action against the government over a policy the groups claim “purports to permit agents to participate in crime” potentially including murder, kidnap and torture.

The campaign groups said the policy effectively “immunises criminal conduct from prosecution” and asked the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) to declare the policy unlawful and grant an injunction to restrain further conduct.

But the tribunal today ruled the policy lawful by a 3-2 majority.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/75818/mi5-given-the-goahead-to-allow-informants-to-commit.html

Vaccine FAIL: “Whooping cough outbreak closes Texas school despite 100-percent vaccination rate: officials”

Despite a 100% vaccination rate, a Texas school closes early for winter break due to a whooping cough outbreak. Clearly the vaccine is failing to work as advertised.

If ever there was convincing proof that vaccination does not equate to bona fide immunity, it is at St. Theresa Catholic School in Texas…

Reported by FoxNews.com on Dec. 19th, the school experienced an outbreak of whooping cough, causing them to close their doors and start their winter break early.

On Dec. 4th, St. Theresa Catholic School in Memorial Park, reported its first case to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Since then, the outbreak has continued to escalate — and not because of the abuse of religious and medical exemptions, and so-called “anti-vaxxer” parents.

According to the FoxNews report, the school vaccine uptake rate was at 100%:

“Officials with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said that 100 percent of students who attend St. Theresa Catholic School are vaccinated against the illness.”

This was confirmed by the following statement to parents sent by the school:

In response to this incident, Children’s Health Defense (CHD) posted an article titled, “Pertussis: Vaccine Failure, Not Failure to Vaccinate,” explaining how despite propaganda to the contrary, it is clearly not conscientious objectors to vaccination driving outbreaks like these (i.e. so-called “anti-vaxxers”), but a failing pertussis vaccine.

In fact, according to CHD’s article the vaccine itself may be driving increased risk for whooping cough:

“Studies show that by five years after completion of the DTaP series, children were up to 15 times more likely to acquire pertussis compared to the first year after the series.”

There are plenty of additional examples in the published literature of vaccination failure in highly vaccinated populations. View 30+ studies on the topic here.

There are also serious questions as to whether vaccines like DTaP are causing more harm than good. GreenMedInfo.com indexes peer-reviewed, published studies that confirm the unintended, adverse effects of vaccinations. You can view close to a thousand study abstracts on the subject on our Vaccination Database. The DTP vaccine has been linked to over 30 adverse health effects which you can viewed here: Vaccination: Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus.

Due to our advocacy on this subject, we have been systematically censored, including recent successful attempts to de-platform us from Mailchimp, Pinterest, and Google (learn more here). Please learn more and support our cause by becoming a member or donating, and celebrating our 10 year anniversary with us.

https://www.greenmedinfo.health/blog/vaccine-fail-whooping-cough-outbreak-closes-texas-school-despite-100-percent-vacc2?utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter%3A%20Vaccine%20FAIL%3A%20%E2%80%9CWhooping%20cough%20outbreak%20closes%20Texas%20school%20despite%20100

This Christmas, Over Half a Million Americans Will Struggle with Homelessness

The government estimates ending homelessness would cost around $20 billion, less than Americans spend on Christmas decorations, yet there appears to be little appetite to address the growing problem.

While millions of Americans celebrate Christmas this year with loved ones, carving turkey and sharing gifts, others are not so fortunate. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, over half a million of us will spend Christmas on the streets. The government agency estimates that on any given day, around 553,000 Americans are homeless. A third of those are families with young children. African Americans and those with disabilities are particularly likely to become homeless.

Yet these distressing numbers are sure to be underestimates of the true problem as they do not include the many more sleeping in vehicles or other makeshift accommodation, sofa surfing or relying on friends. Around 1.5 million people sleep at a shelter annually, according to figures from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Furthermore, the 500,000 number itself is likely an underestimate. A 2017 experiment done by The Guardian, where it placed actors posing as homeless people on the streets, found that authorities missed around one in three of them. And they were wishing to be seen, not individuals keen to go undetected.

Tens of millions of Americans are barely managing to stave off the same fate. Almost half of America is broke, and 58 percent of the country is living paycheck to paycheck, with savings of less than $1,000. 37 million Americans go to bed hungry and around 130 million admit an inability to pay for basic needs like food, housing or healthcare. After a decade of decline, the homeless population is again creeping up.

The Trump administration is believed to be readying a “get tough” approach to the problem. Singling out California, earlier this year, Trump claimed that its cities were “going to hell” thanks to illegal encampments that increase environmental pollution. The number of unsheltered homeless people in Los Angeles Country alone increased by over 10 percent this year, to 44,214.

Yet the United Nations has decried the already inhumane treatment of homeless Americans, claiming that the state “effectively criminalizes” them “for the situation in which they find themselves.” In many cities, activities like sleeping rough, panhandling or public urination (in locations with zero pubic bathrooms) have been turned into arrestable offenses, ensuring a carceral “solution” to the problem. Homeless people can be given tickets for infractions as innocuous as loitering, leading to warrants and unpayable fines, trapping them in a cycle of criminality which they cannot escape as their record prohibits them from subsequent employment and access to most housing. Thus, the UN report concludes that it is “effectively a system for keeping the poor in poverty while generating revenue” for the state to employ more police to speed the system up.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/christmas-half-million-americans-homeless/263723/

Reports: Israel considers denying entry of ICC investigators in response to war crimes probe

Israel is considering preventing the entry of officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to the chief prosecutor’s decision to investigate its possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, local media reported.

Israel Hayom reported yesterday that representatives from the Israeli ministries of foreign affairs, justice and national security council have discussed practical ways to respond to the ICC chief prosecutor’s decision.

The paper said representatives from the three ministers met on Sunday in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discussed the possibility of preventing the entry of ICC staff into Israel.

According to the paper, Israel is considering taking steps similar to the ones taken by the US administration, which refuses to grant entry visas for ICC employees in response to the court’s intention to investigate American soldiers who participated in the war in Afghanistan.

Netanyahu is to transfer all deliberations on the matter to the Israeli security cabinet and impose a gag order on it to prevent the disclosure of Israel’s future actions on the issue, the paper said.

On Friday, ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced her intention to open a full investigation into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191224-reports-israel-considers-denying-entry-of-icc-investigators-in-response-to-war-crimes-probe/

John Bolton said Trump was never serious about stopping North Korea from building nuclear weapons, as the time for Kim Jong Un's ominous 'Christmas gift' approaches

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton told Axios that he doubts Trump "really means it" over pledges to halt North Korea's plans to developed a long-range missile capable of striking the US.

Bolton told the site that if the Trump administration was serious about stopping North Korea's weapons program "it would be pursuing a different course."

Recent satellite photographs show new activity at two sites key to North Korea's missile program, with officials fearing that Pyongyang's pledge of a "Christmas gift" to the US may take the form of new weapons tests.

Trump has boasted of his ability to broker a deal with Kim Jong Un and reduce the threat from the rogue state, but so far there is little for the US to show for a series of photo-op summits between the leaders and a new wave of sanctions.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton said that he doesn't believe that President Donald Trump "really means it" when he says that he is determined to stop North Korea developing nuclear missiles that could be used to target the US.

Speaking to Axios, Bolton said that if Trump and his officials were serious about stopping North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's ambitions to expand its nuclear weapons program "it would be pursuing a different course."

"The idea that we are somehow exerting maximum pressure on North Korea is just unfortunately not true," Bolton said, referring to Trump's claims his administration was applying "maximum pressure" on the North Korea in the form of punishing sanctions to extract concessions on its weapons program.

He went on to describe Trump's pledges to stop North Korea obtaining a nuclear weapon that could hit the US or its allies as a mere "rhetorical policy."

Bolton's comments came as new satellite images emerged last week, showing new activity at two sites key to North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles program. In a recent statement North Korea's regime warned of a "Christmas gift" to the US if it does not ease up on sanctions.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/john-bolton-said-trump-never-105106485.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYW50aXdhci5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABpCML1aVTvRvl1jYIYzXG1xX9R3-2319L9buFAn4Ayu87blRCYyyDoq1kDP0zX85FS7crFySV0DyvB-7X13JXjO_GpVarnEH8YXTclybELKTW-reZ1gkFdeNERFovoKAoyAp-Hm9YqbT5fDSZp2d1S-7E8-BETlkGE1-v5vy4h5

Sisi to Trump: US citizens held in Egypt are a ‘headache’ for us both

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has told US President Donald Trump that he is detaining US citizens because they are a “headache” for both of them, the Washington Post revealed yesterday.

When Trump raised the issue of US citizens detained in Egypt during Al-Sisi’s visit to the White House in April, the Egyptian president said: “When I let them out, they are a headache, especially that they not only criticise me, but also you.”

Writing in the paper, Jackson Diehl highlighted the case of US citizen Moustafa Kassem, who has spent five years in Al-Sisi prisons without trial and last year was added to a mass show trial of 738 people and sentenced to 15 years.

“Kassem is one of dozens of Americans who are being treated as de facto hostages and bargaining chips by regimes around the world, including Iran, Russia and Syria,” Diehl wrote. “But the most shocking cases, for me, are those Americans imprisoned by governments that nominally are close American allies.”

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191224-sisi-to-trump-us-citizens-held-in-egypt-are-a-headache-for-us-both/

MIT DEVELOPS ‘TATTOO ID’ TO TRACK WHO HAS BEEN VACCINATED

MIT researchers have struck on a novel, and for many surely unsettling, method of keeping track of who has and hasn’t had a particular vaccination – creating an ink that can be safely embedded in the skin alongside the vaccine itself, and only visible using a special infra-red application.

The invisible “tattoo” is a pattern made up of tiny semiconducting crystals that reflect light and thus glows under infra-red light. The pattern will be delivered alongside the vaccine into the skin via hi-tech dissolvable microneedles made of a mixture of polymers and sugar.

“In areas where paper vaccination cards are often lost or do not exist at all, and electronic databases are unheard of, this technology could enable the rapid and anonymous detection of patient vaccination history to ensure that every child is vaccinated,” MIT researcher Kevin McHugh said in a statement.

Strikingly, the research was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – in fact, the project came about following a direct request from the Microsoft founder himself, who has been personally and somewhat controversially involved in efforts to eradicate polio and measles via vaccinations worldwide.

Bill Gates wants to tattoo vaccine records onto people by injecting a QR code under the skin with "invisible" nanoparticles.

Everyone okay with that?

Because that's not dystopian at all. https://t.co/syE8qMTfxF

— Eileen Iorio (@eileeniorio) December 19, 2019

The system has been practically trialled by MIT researchers on rats, with the embryonic patterns still detectable nine months after injection – on human cadavers, the patterns outlasted five years of simulated Sun exposure.

“It’s possible someday this ‘invisible’ approach could create new possibilities for data storage, biosensing, and vaccine applications that could improve how medical care is provided, particularly in the developing world,” MIT professor and senior author Robert Langer said.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation came under intense criticism for a vaccination project in India in 2009.

During the year, several schools for tribal children in Telangana became sites for observation studies for a cervical cancer vaccine, which was administered to thousands of girls aged nine – 15.

The test subjects were administered Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil in three rounds under the supervision of state health department officials.

In all, 16,000 girls in the district, many of whom stayed in state government-run hostels meant for tribal students – months later, many started falling ill and by 2010 five died.

A standing committee on health and family welfare that investigated the studies in India tabled its report in 2013, finding consent for conducting the studies wasn’t properly secured, in flagrant violation of medical norms – in many cases, children gave ‘fingerprint’ consent for the tests despite having no idea about the nature of the disease or the vaccine.

In others, consent forms were simply not secured at all.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/75819/mit-develops-tattoo-id-to-track-who-has-been.html

IDF defends intel for Gaza strike that killed 9 Palestinian civilians

Army says it did not expect to kill civilians in raid during Operation Black Belt; investigation shows home in Dir al-Balah had been used by Islamic Jihad for terror activity

The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday defended an airstrike that killed nine civilian members of the same family in Gaza last month, saying the compound targeted was used by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group and that it did anticipate that civilians would be killed.

Announcing that it had concluded its review of “Operation Black Belt,” which was sparked by Israel’s targeted killing of PIJ commander Baha Abu al-Ata last month, the army said “military activity had been conducted in the compound in the past as well as during the combat days of [the operation].”

“The review also concluded that when planning and carrying out the attack [in Deir el-Balah], it was estimated in the IDF that civilians would not be harmed as a result of an attack,” the IDF said in a statement. “The [review] clarified that even though military activity was conducted in the compound, it was not a closed compound, and in reality civilians were present there.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-defends-intel-for-gaza-strike-that-killed-9-palestinian-civilians/

Western-lauded Romanian Justice System releases Child Traffickers

All the 25 defendants, accused of trafficking almost 200 kids from Tandarei [a small town in Ialomita County, Romania] were acquitted. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal at Targu Mures gave the final, albeit scandalous decision in this sordid case. Not only that, but the now acquitted culprits aim to sue the Romanian state at the European Court for Human Rights. Nine years ago, this case shocked the country as well as the European Union.

The case from Tandarei caught much attention in 2010, after footage and pictures with the trafficked kids were aired on international news channels. The investigation targeted 181 gypsy kids in the United Kingdom, who were used by their handlers to make money for them through stealing and begging. In England, 120 traffickers were caught and arrested. In contrast, back in Romania, a portion of those arrested and prosecuted were released just after a couple of months. Among the crimes involved we count: child trafficking, money laundering, constituting a criminal enterprise, and firearms possession without a licence.

The Tandarei case was delayed over and over again for nine years, six of which by the Harghita Tribunal [where 54 showings took place!], with the clear aim in mind to allow enough time to pass so that the deeds could be prescribed [statute of limitations].

Bernie Gravett, the British policeman who worked alongside the Romanian police on this case, was left perplexed after hearing that Romanian judges acquitted all 25 culprits, with the motivation that “no crime existed.”

https://theduran.com/western-lauded-romanian-justice-system-releases-child-traffickers/

Amid Trump Trade War, China Lowers Import Tariffs On Over 850 Products

Amid an ongoing trade war with the Trump administration, China’s Ministry of Finance made a significant announcement this week that prompted some proud retweets from the president.

“China will lower import tariffs on over 850 products from January 1,” reported Reuters in a post Trump promoted Sunday evening.

“China says it will cut import tariffs for goods including frozen pork, pharmaceuticals, paper products and some high-tech components starting from Jan. 1, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance,” Bloomberg Economics reported Sunday evening in another post tweeted out by Trump.

“U.S. president Donald Trump says a ‘breakthrough’ has been achieved in trade talks with China and he expects a deal to be signed ‘very shortly,’” reported Sky News in another Trump retwee

https://truepundit.com/amid-trump-trade-war-china-lowers-import-tariffs-on-over-850-products/

Trump Campaign Launches SnowFlakeVictory.com to ‘Help You With That Liberal Relative Who Starts an Argument and Then Runs and Hides at Christmas’

How do you win an argument with your liberal family members this Christmas season? Well, you now have an amazing cheat sheet.

President Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale made the announcement on Christmas Eve that the campaign had launched SnowFlakeVictory.com

This amazing website offers a quick guide to all of the President’s amazing accomplishments thus far.

Here’s just a small sample of what the site has to offer you.

We are enjoying the hottest and strongest economy this country has seen in 50 years—and this is due to President Trump’s common-sense, job-creating.

Since day one, President Trump has been clear on this issue: securing our nation from threats, illegal entry and preventing drugs from continuing pouring into our country would be one of his top priorities.

Americans are experiencing the best economy in at least 50 years. And fueling that strong and growing economy, has been President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Impeaching President Trump has been all that Democrats can think of since day one; literally the first article about this was printed by the Washington Post 19 minutes after the President was sworn-into office.

Democrats like to squawk a lot about President Trump, Republicans, and healthcare, but the truth is, the 2020 Democrats are the ones who want to strip you of your private, employer-provided health insurance!

These are just a few tidbits of the amazing information at the website SnowFlakeVictory.com

https://thedcpatriot.com/trump-campaign-launches-snowflakevictory-com-to-help-you-with-that-liberal-relative-who-starts-an-argument-and-then-runs-and-hides-at-christmas/

https://snowflakevictory.com/

TOP KEK

VIDEO BANNED by YouTube — Abortionists really are Satan’s minions

A pro-life group known as “Created Equal” has released a powerful new documentary entitled, Abortion: A Doctrine of Demons that exposes the many inextricable links between Satanism and the abortion industry.

UPDATE: The video was banned by YouTube, but it has been posted to Brighteon.com, the free speech alternative to YouTube. See below…

This 22-minute film, which you won’t want to miss, offers an inside look at the disturbing connections between the pro-death zealotry of Planned Parenthood fanatics and the aggressive “do as thou wilt” religious philosophy of Satanists.

As it turns out, pro-abortionists and Satanists both share the same autonomous mindset with regards to death. The former believe that they have an unrestricted right to death on demand, while the latter see death and blood sacrifice as a form of homage to their god.

Not only that, but many self-avowed Satanists are also aggressive advocates for abortion, illustrating that legalized baby murder directly intersects with the tenets of Satanism.

“Created Equal has been increasingly harassed by abortion advocates who overtly identify as Satanists,” says organization founder and president Mark Harrington.

“And those who love death (abortion advocates) are often quick to embrace Satanism’s [tenets]. We hope to awaken a sleeping church to the spiritual battle we face.”

Be sure to check out Mark Harrington’s The Mark Harrington Show podcast at PodBean.com.

Watch the full mini-documentary at:

https://www.brighteon.com/a2c8f7bc-5689-497a-b655-93667883bec9

The USMCA, Virginia & Possible Deployment Of UN Troops Against Gun Owners

As the situation in Virginia continues to escalate the possibility that they are deliberately trying to lure patriots into committing acts of violence must be considered. It is the Hegelian dialectic at play create the problem by criminalizing legal gun owners, provoke the reaction and offer the solution. The final solution is, the merging of the United States into a one world order headed by the United Nations. As crazy as that sounds the groundwork for such a merger is well established as the United States committed itself to United Nation objectives with the signing of the United Nations Participation Act in 1945.

This law committed the United States to full participation in the U.N. while authorizing the president to appoint representatives and commit the United States military to conflicts based on U.N. objectives. To be more specific, congress would retain the power to determine the size and terms of military deployments but the power to determine what would constitute the type of crisis warranting their use would be solely up to the United Nations Security Council. That is a huge loss of American sovereignty in and of itself because the power to wage war, according to the U.S. Constitution, rests with the United States Congress alone. It was because of the provisions of this law that President Truman was able to commit troops to the Korean War without the consent of congress and instead, the vote of the U.N. Security Council on the pretext of an international emergency. The same could be said for many of the wars and police actions that would soon follow.

Dave Hodges of the Common Sense Show, and Mike Adams of NewsTarget.com are claiming that they have uncovered evidence of a conspiracy to deploy U.N. troops in Virginia to confiscate firearms which democrats intent to outlaw. No solid evidence was provided by either Hodges or Adams. Hodges, in fact, is infamous for publishing alarming articles claiming his information came from “his inside sources.” The idea that the U.N. would be used against Americans in gun confiscation is not new and is something that in the past, was likely to have one labeled as a conspiracy theorist. Sadly, all the pieces are in place for such an event to occur and because most gun owners in America have discredited the idea as a grand conspiracy, we will be caught playing catch up.

https://www.dcclothesline.com/2019/12/24/the-usmca-virginia-possible-deployment-of-un-troops-against-gun-owners/

Yikes! CNN Analyst on Pelosi and her Latest Impeachment Stunt: “I Think She’s Grasping Here” (VIDEO)

CNN legal analyst Paul Callan ripped Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday for her bizarre display following the Democrat Party’s slapdash impeachment vote last week.

Pelosi then told reporters she’s not turning over the articles of impeachment to the US Senate where they will be quickly dismissed.

CNN analyst Paul Callan today said Pelosi was “grasping” by her unconstitutional conduct.

Paul Callan: I think she’s grasping here because the Republicans hold all the cards in the senate. The Constitution says that the trial of impeachment is solely in the discretion of the Senate.

Even CNN is having trouble understanding Nancy’s latest stunt.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2019/12/yikes-cnn-analyst-on-pelosi-and-her.html

Merry Christmas: EU Plans Domestic Surveillance Powers for 10,000 Strong Border Force

Analysis by a UK-based civil liberties watchdog says the European Commission failed to provide an “impact assessment” which would have included “reasoning and justifications” for the planned increase in FRONTEX’s spying powers.

The EU’s border agency, Frontex, is “now an internal surveillance agency”, according to a UK-based charity.

Frontex – aka the European Border and Coast Guard Agency – already had spying powers. But they were limited to the so called “pre-frontier area” such as “the high seas or selected third-country ports”. However, new powers, granted by the EU will now permit Frontex, and its proposed 10,000 person strong force, to spy inside EU states themselves, according to Statewatch.

The EU law in question is Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of the European Parliament and of The Council of 13 November 2019.

​Recital 34 of the regulation sets out part of the reason for the law in the first place. It says:

“[The European Border Surveillance System] should provide an exhaustive situational picture not only at the external borders but also within the Schengen area and in the pre-frontier area. It should cover land, sea and air border surveillance and border checks.” [emphasis added]

New Surveillance Powers Hidden in Technical Language

Article 24 says that Frontext, shall:

“establish and maintain a European situational picture in order to provide the national coordination centres and the Commission with effective, accurate and timely information and analysis, covering the external borders, the pre-frontier area and unauthorised secondary movements”

According to Articles 24 and 26 the European “situational picture” which Frontex must monitor and deal with includes “secondary movements” and “hotspots”.

There is no actual definition of “secondary movements” within the law. But Statewatch says it is “generally used to refer to journeys between EU member states undertaken without permission”. “Hotspots” meanwhile refers to areas where the EU and member states cooperate in dealing with a “significant increase in the number of migrants arriving at the external borders”.

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201912241077776536-merry-christmas-eu-plans-domestic-surveillance-powers-for-10000-strong-border-force/

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201912241077776536-merry-christmas-eu-plans-domestic-surveillance-powers-for-10000-strong-border-force/

Boeing Releases 737 MAX Safety Warnings Withheld From FAA

With the fate of the American manufacturing economy hanging in the balance, Boeing has been struggling to make it to 2020 in one piece. America's largest exporter is dealing with a litany of problems, only some of which are related to the never-ending nightmare that is the Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Yesterday, Boeing lost its CEO in a classic American Christmas shit-canning. And although Dennis Muilenburg's firing was probably long overdue, the end result is that the Chicago-based aerospace giant now seems even more desperate and rudderless than it did before, as it struggles through a difficult leadership change in the midst of corporate scandal without end.

And on Tuesday, reporters at Bloomberg News offered some insight into what finally may have tipped the scales in favor of Muilenburg's firing: Boeing reportedly neglected to turn over a batch of internal messages related to the 737 MAX program to the FAA, despite having turned the messages over to the FBI as part of the DoJ's criminal investigation into the oversight lapses that plagued the program.

This is the second time that Boeing has failed to turn over a batch of internal messages to the FAA, and we imagine the FAA's discovery of the messages probably contributed in some way to Muilenburg's ouster (it's been reported that Muilenburg's failure to play nice with Boeing's main regulator contributed to his firing).

According to Bloomberg, the FAA only learned of the messages' existence over the past few days, but was not told any details. But now that we know the details, we can see why the agency would be angry about being left in the dark.

Because the messages were from a high-ranking Boeing test pilot expressing concerns about the MCAS anti-stall system that is suspected of causing two crashes that killed roughly 350 people.

In October, Boeing disclosed to the FAA instant messages and emails by a high-ranking company pilot who in 2016 expressed misgivings about the software implicated in two fatal crashes on the Max.

Boeing had known about those messages since early in the year and turned them over to the Justice Department in February. It didn’t give them to the FAA immediately because of the criminal investigation into how the plane was approved, Bloomberg News reported at the time.

The delay angered the FAA, which is charged with overseeing Boeing. One of the agency’s key tenets is that entities it oversees must disclose safety issues or possible breaches of regulations. In some circumstances, failing to tell the agency about such an issue may be considered a legal violation.

"The FAA finds the substance of the document concerning," the agency said in a statement on Oct. 18. "The FAA is also disappointed that Boeing did not bring this document to our attention immediately upon its discovery."

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/boeing-releases-737-max-safety-warnings-withheld-faa

Jerusalem rabbi sentenced to 4 years for sexual abuse of children

The indictment against Shalom Hazan says he groomed two boys and two girls at his synagogue, groped and kissed them on multiple occasions; the community rabbi maintains he treated the children 'like a loving grandfather'

A Jerusalem rabbi was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing at least four children at his synagogue.

The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday sentenced Shalom Hazan, a community rabbi in the capital, for committing indecent acts with children under 16.

Hazan was convicted for abusing two boys and two girls, aged 6-12, whom he met at his synagogue where they assisted him with chores and studied Torah. He was ordered to compensate the victims with a sum of NIS 40,000.

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryoONLJJ8

Warning! What Men Need to Know Before Eating Impossible Whoppers from Burger King

Men, before eating your next Impossible Whopper from Burger King, I would kindly suggest you read this.

Is Burger King at the forefront of population control?

Do I sound crazy?

I am, but that is beside the point.

You might want to share my rabbit hold after reading the facts.

From Dr. James Strangle at Tri-State Livestock News:

Now, let’s compare the estrogen hormone in an impossible whopper to the whopper made from hormone implanted beef. The impossible whopper has 44 mg of estrogen and the whopper has 2.5 ng of estrogen. Now let me refresh your metric system. There are 1 million nanograms (ng) in one milligram (mg). That means an impossible whopper has 18 million times as much estrogen as a regular whopper. Just six glasses of soy milk per day has enough estrogen to grow boobs on a male. That’s the equivalent of eating four impossible whoppers per day. You would have to eat 880 pounds of beef from an implanted steer to equal the amount of estrogen in one birth control pill.

Nationalfile did the math and it is staggering:

A doctor recently broke down the facts behind Burger King’s vegan Impossible Burger, discovering that it may not be a healthier option when it comes to caloric or protein intake, and that it has a whopping 18 million times more estrogen than a standard Whopper.

18 million times the amount of the real version?

Wow.

I guess if you are looking to grow man boobs and decrease your libido maybe you’ve found a new burger.

The man boobs are an annoyance, but the decrease in libido and possible reproductive problems are huge.

Here’s more from Regenerative Times:

Those in the know understand the problems with soy protein. Soy protein contains a xenoestrogen called genistein, which is implicated in breast and ovarian cancer in women, and affecting sexual development in males, among many other negative effects. It’s most notable use today is in popular supplements such as this:

https://www.dcclothesline.com/2019/12/24/warning-what-men-need-to-know-before-eating-impossible-whoppers-from-burger-king/

‘Impossible Burger’ Found To Contain 44mg of ESTROGEN

Turkish-based ‘Syrian Interim Government’ Threatens Damascus With Military Action As Army Advances On Maarat al-Numan

Late on December 23, the Turkish-based “Syrian Interim Government” (an entity funded by Turkey in an attempt to legalize its actions in Syria) threatened the real Syrian government with military action.

In a released statement, the “defense ministry” of the Turkish puppets claimed that forces that participated in Turkey’s Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations are now moving to Greater Idlib in order to support their counterparts in repelling an attack by “regime forces, Russia and Iranian militias”.

It remains unclear what “forces” the barely existing “defense ministry” is planning to send to Idlib because Turkish-backed militant groups are already supporting al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the battle against the Syrian Army. The Turkish-backed coalition of militant groups, the National Front for Liberation, has never been able to really hide its ties and cooperation with the terrorists.

https://southfront.org/turkish-based-syrian-interim-government-threatens-damascus-with-military-action-as-army-advances-on-maarat-al-numan/

Ukrainian Parliament Moves to Make ‘Unauthorized’ Contacts with Russia Illegal

Members of Ukrainian parliament proposed legislation that would punish all unauthorized “separate negotiations” with Russia.

The authors of the bill suggest that any attempt to establish any sort of rapport with officials of the “aggressor state” be equated with treason. This would mean that a member of Ukrainian parliament cannot negotiate with a Russian official on any issue, whatsoever, since it could be deemed as treason.

For this crime, MPs wish to send the guilty party to prison for a term of 13 to 15 years with a possible confiscation of property.

The same bill prescribes punishment for mass media that disseminate information justifying “aggression against Ukraine and/or the occupation of the territory of Ukraine”.

According to the MPs, the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting should have the right to fine the guilty media.

Separately, budget payments were blocked in Ukraine, as a sort of Christmas gift to citizens.

Budget payments in Ukraine were halted. A message appeared on the Finance Ministry’s Facebook page that the Treasury would pay the payments that were registered in December “after analyzing their priority.” The reason is a severe lack of funds.

Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk instructed the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the State Treasury ceases making payments and records budget expenditure obligations. This is allegedly done to reduce the budget deficit.

This means that there will be no payments by the end of the year,” said Alexander Slobozhan, executive director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities.

The restrictions will not affect the so-called protected items – pensions, public sector salaries, social benefits, etc.

But various development projects such as construction, investment, infrastructure projects, etc., as Slobozhan says, will be “put on a file cabinet”, meaning they will either not be given money for them at all, or will be divided manually.

As the State Treasury Service reported, as of December 18th, the income to the budget was fulfilled up to 89.8%. The deficit in the budget since the beginning of the year exceeded 100 billion hryvnia ($4.3 billion). At the same time, about 38 billion ($1.8 billion) were missed by customs.

The main reason for the chronic shortage of funds is a sharp strengthening of the hryvnia. This led to a decrease in revenue from duties that are tied to the dollar or euro, as well as import VAT.

“The information that we have certain shortfalls in the state budget is true,” Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said. “Indeed, certain programs will not be financed before the end of the year.”

The authorities are forced to not only recognize the problem, but also urgently look for ways to solve it. After all, there is simply no money to finance all the articles planned for the expenditure side. That is, either it is necessary to revise the budget, increasing its deficit, which the IMF is unlikely to like, which closely monitors precisely this budget indicator, or turn on the printing press.

Thus, payments were stopped.

https://southfront.org/ukrainian-parliament-moves-to-make-unauthorized-contacts-with-russia-illegal/

Donald Trump Rips ‘Bunch of Dirty Cops’ for Investigating Campaign

President Donald Trump ripped top prosecutors and FBI officials like James Comey on Tuesday for spying on his campaign and prosecuting campaign operative Roger Stone and his former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn.

“Now we found out that they are a bunch of dirty cops and paid for by the DNC and paid for by Hillary Clinton in many cases,” Trump said.

Stone was convicted of making false statements to Congress, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering, and Flynn plead guilty to lying to the FBI. Both men were swept up in the Russia investigation pursued by the FBI and the Justice Department and have yet to be sentenced.

The president referred to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to surveil his campaign advisors using the phony dossier created for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS.

“These were dirty people. These were bad people. These were evil people,” Trump said, predicting that removing them from office would be one of his “greatest achievements” as president of the United States.

“We have no place in our country for people like that,” he added.

Trump spoke to reporters after conducting a videoconference call with members of the United States military on Christmas Eve.

Trump was asked by reporters about whether he would pardon political operative Roger Stone, an early informal advisor to Trump prior to his presidential campaign.

“I hadn’t thought of it,” Trump said, but said that Stone’s prosecution was unfair but repeated that he was not part of his campaign.

“I’ve known Roger over the years. He’s a nice guy. A lot of people like him,” Trump said. “He got hit very hard, as did Gen. Flynn and as did a lot of other people.”

Trump referred to the entire investigation as a massive hoax and said what happened to Flynn and Stone was “very unfair.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/24/donald-trump-rips-bunch-of-dirty-cops-for-investigating-campaign/

Black Christmas: Bush fires rage on as hundreds of homes destroyed

As Australians wake to Christmas Day, bushfires continue to rage across the country, with more than 3000 homes lost or destroyed and several lives lost.

Australians are waking to one of the bleakest Christmases in years, with hundreds of homes destroyed by bushfires and road closures sending many holiday-makers’ travel plans into chaos.

At least nine people have been killed this fire season as various uncontained blazes burn across several states. The NSW Rural Fire Service on Tuesday confirmed 873 homes and 2048 outbuildings have been destroyed, while another 353 homes have been damaged. Those figures are expected to rise significantly with teams still assessing properties believed lost in recent days. A further 100 homes are also believed to have been lost since Thursday, but they’re still being assessed due to limited RFS access.

A total of 73 fires were burning throughout the state on Tuesday night, including the huge Gospers Mountain blaze northwest of Sydney, the Green Wattle Creek fire southwest of the city and the Currowan bushfire on the South Coast. Some 28 blazes remain uncontained with more than 2000 firefighters and volunteers working to reduce them.

More

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/black-christmas-bush-fires-rage-on-as-hundreds-of-homes-destroyed/news-story/5dd990beff4a06dd47ab451234cfb88f

The Foreign Policy of Johnson’s Britain

It is likely that Boris Johnson will be prime minister of the United Kingdom for the next ten years, which is a sobering thought, and it is necessary that speculation as to his possible intentions on the international stage include examination of his personality and past record.

When parliament meets for the first time following an election the new government outlines its policies in a speech composed for the long-suffering Queen to deliver in front of all legislators, which she did on December 19. Johnson’s programme included plans for leaving the European Union, further restrictions on immigration, increased prison sentences for those guilty of terrorism, and an increase in spending on the National Health Service.

There was no specific mention of international affairs, although Johnson will forbid such institutions as universities and local councils to express disapproval of any foreign countries’ actions by, for example, refraining from purchasing their exports. Johnson explained that “one innovation this speech introduces is we will stop public bodies from taking it upon themselves to boycott goods from other countries to develop their own pseudo-foreign policy against a country which with nauseating frequency turns out to be Israel.”

In an interview in July 2019 with Jewish News, Johnson described himself as a “passionate Zionist” because Israel is a “great country [that] I love”. He said “I believe in Israel. I support Israel. I will always support Israel,” which is an indication of the UK’s future policy as regards the Middle East, and yet another nail in the coffin of Palestine, concerning which it is notable that Johnson appointed Ms Priti Patel to be Home Secretary in the new government, because she had had to resign as Overseas Aid Minister in 2017 following a series of lies she told to prime minister Theresa May about a shady visit to Israel.

It had been reported that in August 2017 she took “a secret trip to Israel with a lobbyist, during which she held 12 meetings, including one with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, without informing either [Prime Minister] May or Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary.” She claimed, however, that “Boris knew about the visit. The point is that the Foreign Office did know about this, Boris knew about [the visit to Israel].” And it seems that perhaps he did know, because the lies she told about her visit have been forgiven and forgotten, and she is now a most important member of Johnson’s government. So perhaps Boris did indeed know about her visit.

There are few other pointers as to the direction of foreign policy, apart from the Conservative government’s fixation about leaving the European Union which is constantly vilified and blamed for all the ills that have befallen the divided United Kingdom.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/12/24/foreign-policy-johnson-britain/

>>7610518

fell down on it's own kek

Don't be so fucking retarded

https://twitter.com/BarbaraRedgate/status/1209443743507464192

Flynn's Mom