CAN’T HIDE THIS: Times Square Billboard Runs Joe Biden Clip Threatening Ukraine

The Committee to Defend the President—one of America’s largest pro-Trump super PACs—is running a new billboard in New York City, criticizing Democratic candidate Joe Biden over the Ukraine scandal.

The billboard, located at 1500 Broadway and 43rd Street, is two-sided and both sides will feature the video of Biden admitting to withholding aid to Ukraine until its government fired the prosecutor investigating his son, Hunter.

Here is the video:

https://youtu.be/0zqvWDl4K78

The billboard will also direct New Yorkers to visit SubpoenaBiden.com, where the Committee is now running a signature collection petition that will ultimately be sent to Senate Republicans, urging them to subpoena Biden for his Ukrainian corruption.

Committee chairman Ted Harvey sent The Gateway Pundit this statement on the project

“The Biden family name is synonymous with corruption, especially in Ukraine. Our goal is to educate Americans about the shady deals and ruthless power moves that ‘Quid Pro Joe’ executed on behalf of his son, Hunter, and at the expense of the Ukrainian government. The American people deserve to know the truth, and we are committed to sharing it with them.”

In terms of cost, the Committee will spend $40,000 to run the billboard until March 1st, in addition to spending at least $10,000 on Facebook advertising to spread the word.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/cant-hide-this-times-square-billboard-runs-joe-biden-clip-threatening-ukraine-video/

Whole Neighborhoods Destroyed In Houston Plant Explosion: Multiple Fatalities, 1 Still Missing

Houston was rocked by a large explosion in the early dark hours of Friday morning, which could be felt for miles across the city, when a manufacturing facility in the northwest erupted in a massive fireball. Houston police have confirmed that at least two people died in the blast, with one plant employee still missing, and a criminal investigation is underway as to the cause — though there's no evidence thus far to suggest an intentional act or terrorism was involved.

Damage to homes was reported up to a half-mile away after it occurred at about 4:14am, some 18-miles away from the downtown area, though people reported being jolted from their sleep for miles across the city. Later in the morning Friday multiple people were reported hospitalized, and others may still be missing.

"We have no evidence at this point … that an intentional act is involved. Having said that, part of our protocol is always to (start) a criminal investigation" Houston police chief Art Acevedo said, who also ruled out terrorism. "It's going to take days, if not weeks or months, to get a final determination of what's going on here."

Early reports suggest propylene tanks ignited, which is a common but extremely flammable gas used at manufacturing plants. The explosion occurred at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing where emergency crews are still trying to contain a possible gas leak.

Local videos showed a large fireball rising from the site of the plant in the blast's immediate aftermath. Officials say the blast was so big it appeared on weather radar.

https://www.zerohedge.com/health/huge-explosion-houston-plant-destroys-neighborhoods-multiple-fatalities-1-still-missing

Rudy Giuliani on Sham Impeachment: Democrats Should Be Sued for for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States – Should Pay for that Hearing

President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani dropped a bomb Thursday morning warning that he is going to start revealing documents related to the Biden family’s corrupt and criminal dealings in the Ukraine and elsewhere around the world.

Later Thursday evening, Rudy revealed that he’s going to start hitting the swamp tomorrow and unleash on top level Democrats who sold their public office for millions of dollars!

Rudy also said Democrat officials conspired with foreign officials to “destroy” the Trump candidacy!

On Friday morning Rudy Giuliani went on FOX and Friends to reveal his evidence on the Biden family’s Ukrainian corruption. Rudy claims the US State Department will still not give visas to several Ukrainian officials who want to come to the US to testify against the Obama administration corruption.

Rudy Giuliani: I’m going to present over the next two to three weeks shocking crimes at the highest levels of both governments while the senate is listening to a total phony group of stories about non-impeachable offenses. It’s like trying somebody for not a crime. It’s a total waste of money. It’s a complete show on the part of the Democrats. And they should be sued for conspiracy to defraud the United States. And they should pay for that hearing.

Rudy is a national treasure.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/rudy-giuliani-on-sham-impeachment-democrats-should-be-sued-for-for-conspiracy-to-defraud-the-united-states-should-pay-for-that-hearing-video/

Turkey sending military to train UN-backed govt’s forces in Libya – Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he is sending military personnel to Libya to train the forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord.

Erdogan announced the move on Friday, days after he apparently backed off on an earlier promise to deploy ground troops to the war-torn African country. The Turkish leader told journalists on Monday that a group of military “advisers” had been sent to Libya in the troops’ stead.

The Turkish personnel will train the forces of Fayez al-Sarraj, who heads the Tripoli-based and UN-backed Government of National Accord. The GNA has been engaged in a prolonged conflict with the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army, led by General Khalifa Haftar.

Haftar’s forces are in control of most of Libya, and at one point last year threatened to overrun Tripoli. After peace talks in Berlin last weekend, a fragile ceasefire between Haftar and al-Sarraj remains in place, but no lasting agreement has yet been reached.

Though Erdogan has played a central role in peace talks alongside Russia, both in Berlin and earlier in Moscow, he has openly backed al-Sarraj, and vowed earlier this month to teach the “putschist” Haftar “a lesson,” should the LNA’s offensive on Tripoli continue.

Turkey’s intervention in the Libyan conflict drew condemnation from the EU, and from the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. In a joint statement earlier this month, the ministers said that Ankara’s “interference” was “fuelling the crisis.”

Turkey’s neighbor and regional rival Greece responded to Erdogan’s propping up of the GNA by offering to deploy forces on Haftar’s side, supposedly to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire. For its part, Athens bitterly opposes a maritime borders agreement between Turkey and the GNA, which would allow oil and gas exploration in a region of the Mediterranean it claims as its own.

https://www.rt.com/news/479107-turkey-sends-military-libya-erdogan/

Senator Says CDC About To Confirm 3rd US Coronavirus Case

Summary: Here's a glimpse of new virus-related developments that occurred overnight.

Total number of confirmed cases now 900+, 26 dead.

China restricts travel for 40+ million people as the death toll surges.

Two deaths have been reported outside Wuhan.

Some residents displaying symptoms are being turned away from hospitals.

Hospitals in Wuhan make urgent pleas for help and supplies.

Beijing orders PLA medics to assist in Wuhan treating patients

UK and US governments tell citizens to avoid outbreak zones.

Senator says CDC about to confirm 3rd US case

US senators receive briefing on the virus

• • *

Update (1120ET): A senator has reportedly told the press that the CDC is about to confirm a third case of coronavirus in the US. Unsurprisingly, stocks aren't taking the news too well.

SENATOR SAYS CDC ABOUT TO CONFIRM 3RD U.S. CASE OF CORONAVIRUS

That Senator has been revealed to be none other than Connecticut's Dick Blumenthal, a lawmaker with such a reputation for vanity, that it's hardly a surprise that he would murder stocks for his own political gain.

Following the briefing from health officials, Bloomy said the US needs "better relations with the Chinese" to help deal with the epidemic, a indirect slight at Trump.

And dozens more cases are still being investigated.

And just like that, stocks go "whoosh".

More

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/please-help-us-supply-shortages-rock-wuhan-outbreak-overwhelms-chinese-healthcare

'Million-Man March' kicks off in Baghdad to demand US troop pullout (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

A massive demonstration –called for by a prominent Shia cleric– has flooded the streets of the Iraq's capital Baghdad, with thousands voicing their anger at the US military presence there.

Early on Friday morning, throngs of protesters – men and women, young and old – began amassing at al-Hurriya Square in central Baghdad, near the city's main university. The anti-America rally, dubbed the "Million-man March," was called by Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq's top Shiite cleric.

Some were wearing white robes, symbolizing their readiness to die for a religious cause, while others were pictured holding signs that read: "To the families of American soldiers – insist on the withdrawal of [your] sons from our country or prepare their coffins!"

https://www.rt.com/news/479061-iraq-protests-us-troops/

Credit Suisse's Spying-Scandal Scapegoat Has Decided To Fight Back

After being blatantly scapegoated and unceremoniously pushed out of Credit Suisse by his former boss and one-time mentor, Pierre-Olivier Bouee, the former COO of the Swiss megabank, has decided that it's time to fight back.

Those who closely followed media reports about Credit Suisse's spying scandal will likely remember that a pedestrian spat over shrubbery sparked one of the biggest scandals to rock to Swiss banking world since the American government cracked down on tax cheats hiding their money in Switzerland.

Thanks to a personal spat between CS CEO Tidjane Thiam and Iqbal Khan, Khan quit as head of the bank’s head of wealth management in July, and soon found himself with a job offer from UBS. Alarmed by such a high-profile defection, CS hired a security team to effectively spy on Khan to stop him from poaching other employees and clients.

However, this plot soon blew up in the bank's face, when Khan decided to confront one of the security team members after he made them while traveling through downtown Zurich. The confrontation turned physical, and a member of the security team was eventually arrested for allegedly threatening Khan.

Soon after news of the spying scandal hit the press in September, a liaison who reportedly connected CS with the security team committed suicide over the embarrassment. The story quickly spread, sparking a public discussion about corporate espionage. Some reports claimed CS also engaged in this type of surveillance in the US.

Credit Suisse launched an internal probe, prompting some to speculate that Thiam might be dethroned. But the investigation into the spying saga eventually cleared Thiam of any knowledge or involvement, while the full burden of responsibility fell on his COO.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/credit-suisses-spying-scandal-scapegoat-has-decided-fight-back

Would you like brain damage with that? America’s favorite cooking oil causes neurological changes, says animal study

Peter Andrews is an Irish science journalist and writer, based in London. He has a background in the life sciences, and graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in Genetics.

New research has shown that despite being marketed as a healthy alternative, soybean oil, America’s most popular oil, causes neurological changes in the brains of mice, and may contribute to autism and dementia in humans.

Extracted from the seeds of soybeans and used in everything from fast food to animal feed and even baby formula, soybean oil is easily the most widely consumed oil in the US, ubiquitous in the national cuisine.

It’s in McDonald’s fries, Pizza Hut crust, and the “healthy” 9-grain bread used for your Subway sandwich.

A research team from University of California, Riverside has been studying the impact of soybean oil for several years. They previously found that it induces diabetes and obesity in mice, hardly surprising given that vegetable oils are high in saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. By now, most people know that eating too much fried food is bad for your ticker.

https://www.rt.com/news/479111-soybean-oil-change-mice-brain/

WikiLeaks Editor: US Is Saying First Amendment Doesn’t Apply To Foreigners In Assange Case

WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson gave a brief statement to the press after the latest court hearing for Julian Assange’s extradition case in London today, saying the Trump administration is arguing that the First Amendment of the US Constitution doesn’t provide press freedom protection to foreign nationals like Assange.

“We have now learned from submissions and affidavits presented by the United States to this court that they do not consider foreign nationals to have a First Amendment protection,” Hrafnsson said.

“Now let that sink in for a second,” Hrafnsson continued. “At the same time that the US government is chasing journalists all over the world, they claim they have extra-territorial reach, they have decided that all foreign journalists which include many of you here, have no protection under the First Amendment of the United States. So that goes to show the gravity of this case. This is not about Julian Assange, it’s about press freedom.”

Hrafnsson’s very newsworthy claim has as of this writing received no mainstream news media coverage at all. The video above is from independent reporter Gordon Dimmack.

This prosecutorial strategy would be very much in alignment with remarks made in 2017 by then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

“Julian Assange has no First Amendment freedoms. He’s sitting in an embassy in London. He’s not a U.S. citizen,” Pompeo told the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

That, like nearly every sound which emits from Pompeo’s amorphous face, was a lie. The First Amendment is not a set of special free speech privileges that the US government magnanimously bestows upon a few select individuals, it’s a limitation placed upon the US government’s ability to restrict rights that all persons everywhere are assumed to have.

This is like a sex offender who’s barred from living within 500 yards of a school claiming that the school he moved in next to is exempt because it’s full of immigrants who therefore aren’t protected by his restriction. It’s a restriction placed on the government, not a right that is given to certain people.

Attorney and Future of Freedom Foundation president Jacob Hornberger explained after Pompeo’s remarks, “As Jefferson points out, everyone, not just American citizens, is endowed with these natural, God-given rights, including life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. That includes people who are citizens of other countries. Citizenship has nothing to do rights that are vested in everyone by nature and God. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, that includes Julian Assange.”

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/01/23/wikileaks-editor-us-is-saying-first-amendment-doesnt-apply-to-foreigners-in-assange-case/

BoJo accused of ‘making things up’ & forced into climbdown after claiming life expectancy gap between rich & poor closing

British PM Boris Johnson has been forced into an embarrassing retreat after incorrectly claiming that the gap between the rich and the poor in the UK is narrowing thanks to his Conservative Party.

During a parliamentary session on Thursday, Johnson told MPs that the gap was “a disgrace,” before insisting that “nonetheless, it is coming down, and it will come down” – to the bemusement of many opposition lawmakers.

Official statistics published in March 2019 showed that life expectancy for women in the poorest areas of England has fallen by three months – while the life span of women in the richest parts of the nation is growing by almost as much.

The disparity between men in the richest and poorest parts has also increased by around three months, due to a faster rise in life expectancy for the wealthy.

Downing Street initially stood by Johnson’s claim and insisted that that they would provide the data to back it up, but have so far failed to do so, according to the Independent.

Labour’s shadow minister for housing Alex Cunningham, who raised the issue with the prime minister, ostensibly accused Johnson of lying, claiming that he was “renowned for making things up.”

It’s not the first time Johnson has been criticized by opposition MPs for supposedly telling lies. As recently as Wednesday, a Scottish National Party (SNP) lawmaker was heard labeling Johnson a “desperate liar” three times during a heated exchange on education in Scotland between the PM and the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford.

Johnson was sacked from his Times newspaper job in 1988 over allegations he made up a quote from his godfather, the historian Colin Lucas; and in 2004 Johnson was “relieved of his duties” as the Conservatives’ shadow arts minister for allegedly lying about an extramarital affair.

https://www.rt.com/uk/479006-boris-life-expectancy-comment-incorrect/

Cop Arrested for Pulling Woman Over, Raping Her to Deliberately Infect Her With HIV

Fairmount Heights, MD — Over the years, TFTP has reported on outrageous police crimes ranging from hiring hitmen to kill girlfriends for refusing to have an abortion to urinating on children. Crimes committed by those sworn to uphold the law seemingly know no bounds. While rape is an unfortunately common crime among police officers, a cop in Maryland was indicted this week, not only for rape but also attempting to infect a woman with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. We can now add ‘spreading HIV’ to the long list of utterly horrifying police crimes.

Imagine you’re a woman driving home from work one evening and you are targeted for a traffic stop by police. The two police officers then steal your car as one of them takes you away alone in his cruiser. That officer then forces you to have sex with him for your freedom and knowingly attempts to infect you with a deadly disease, HIV. Well, that’s exactly what happened to one woman in Maryland last year and the cop who did it is finally seeing some form of accountability.

According to Prince George’s County Police Department, Fairmount Heights Police Officer Martique Vanderpool, 30, pulled over a woman for a traffic stop last September. He was with his partner, but the two split up and Vanderpool got his victim alone.

As the WaPo reports:

Vanderpool allegedly stopped the woman for speeding around 11:20 p.m. on Sept. 6 in Capitol Heights, not far from the Fairmount Heights town limits in Prince George’s County, according to charging documents. In December, police said they were still investigating whether a traffic violation had occurred. Stawinski declined to comment on what the investigation had determined in that respect.

Vanderpool asked the woman to get out of the car because she did not have a driver’s license, police said. The woman became upset, and Vanderpool told her he was going to have her car impounded, charging documents say.

A second officer handcuffed the woman while Vanderpool called a towing company, according to charging documents.

Vanderpool then took the woman to the police station and “demanded the victim engage in a sex act or be arrested. The victim complied,” according to the release.

After raping her under duress, Vanderpool still issued his victim several citations, then drove her to the impound lot and had her car released back to her.

Police began an investigation into Vanderpool after receiving a question about a motorist’s traffic stop and arrest. During their investigation, police said they found out Vanderpool has HIV. His victim was given preventative medication after coming forward. Her HIV status has not been disclosed publicly.

The charges against Vanderpool include first- and second-degree rape, having sex with a person in custody, attempting to transfer HIV and misconduct in office.

During the investigation, Vanderpool made a move which many criminal cops make and resigned to avoid repercussions.

More

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-indicted-raping-woman-infecting-hiv/

Obama cut Texas’ family planning funds when the state cut out Planned Parenthood. Trump reversed that.

'The Lone Star State was right all along'

Earlier this week, the Trump administration reversed an Obama administration decision to withhold federal women's health funds from Texas due to the state's exclusion of Planned Parenthood from a statewide health program.

The Texas Tribune reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration had reversed a 2013 decision by the Obama administration to cut off some federal Medicaid funds to the Lone Star State after its legislature voted to cut Planned Parenthood out of the Healthy Texas Women program two years earlier, in an effort to keep taxpayer funds from flowing to abortion providers. The Austin American-Statesman explains that the state-level program provides — among other things — family planning services to low-income women and that the restored funds will total $350 million over a five-year period.

"The Lone Star State is once again in partnership with the federal government to provide meaningful family planning and health services while fostering a culture of life," reads a Wednesday statement from Abbott about the funds. "I am grateful to President Trump and his administration for approving this waiver, and for his commitment to protecting the unborn while providing much-needed health resources to Texas women."

Texas health officials asked the federal government to restore the funds in May 2017, just a few months after President Donald Trump took office. On Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services granted the state's request. The decision was announced on the 47th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade abortion decision, which Trump also declared to be "National Sanctity of Human Life Day."

Naturally, Planned Parenthood isn't happy at all about the administration's decision to restore Texas' funding, arguing that it would give a green light to other states to make the same kind of decision.

"This backdoor 'defund' could — and will — pave the way for other states to follow Texas's dangerous lead, with grim consequences for repro health nationwide," Planned Parenthood Action tweeted.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/obama-cut-texas-family-planning-funds-when-the-state-cut-out-planned-parenthood-trump-reversed-that

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