Pompeo names ‘the central threat of our times’ and guess what it is… It’s the Chinese Communist Party

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has labeled the Chinese Communist Party “the central threat of our times,” two weeks after President Donald Trump signed the “biggest deal there is” with Beijing.

Speaking at a conference with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in London on Thursday, Pompeo stated that "while we still have to be enormously vigilant about terror… challenges all across the world… the Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times." The State Secretary then outlined the multiple avenues the US is taking to counter China’s growing influence - right after he admitted that there’s “huge opportunity” for business there.

“…Whether it’s at the World Trade Organization, or whether it’s in how we handle infrastructure and technology, or it’s how we ensure we have the military capabilities…we have to collectively, the West, ensure that the next century is governed by these Western democratic principles.”

Pompeo’s declaration is a starker one than President Trump’s hot and cold statements on Beijing. While the president has overseen a two-year trade war with China, and has accused the country of currency manipulation, stealing intellectual property, and interfering in elections, he has also hailed a recently-signed trade deal with Beijing, and described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a man who “truly loves his country.”

As Trump plays politics with Xi, the consensus in Washington toward China has hardened. The Pentagon created a new job posting in June, aimed squarely at developing ways to oppose China’s rise. The man who took it, Chad Sbragia, said in November that “strategic competition with China really is the defining challenge of our generation.”

https://www.rt.com/news/479603-pompeo-china-central-threat/

No One Is Above The Law? Hillary Clinton Refuses To Be Served Tulsi Gabbard Lawsuit

Hillary Clinton has ducked a process server trying to serve her with Tulsi Gabbard's defamation lawsuit on two occasions, according to Gabbard's attorney, Brian Dunne

"I find it rather unbelievable that Hillary Clinton is so intimidated by Tulsi Gabbard that she won’t accept service of process," Dunne told the New York Post, adding "But I guess here we are."

Dunne said their process server first attempted to effect service at Clinton’s house in Chappaqua on Tuesday afternoon — but was turned away by Secret Service agents.

The agents directed the server to Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, who on Wednesday claimed at his Washington, DC, firm, Williams & Connolly, that he was unable to accept service on Clinton’s behalf, said Dunne. -New York Post

Gabbard filed a lawsuit against Clinton last week, accusing the former Secretary of State of defamation for remarks characterizing the Democratic presidential candidate as a Russian asset.

"Rep. Gabbard’s presidential campaign continues to gain momentum, but she has seen her political and personal reputation smeared and her candidacy intentionally damaged by Clinton’s malicious and demonstrably false remarks," reads the lawsuit.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/no-one-above-law-hillary-clinton-refuses-be-served-tulsi-gabbard-lawsuit-twice

“I’ve Been Taken Hostage – And Subjected to Cruel and Unusual Punishment of Listening to the Rantings of Adam Schiff” – Sen. Rick Scott GOES OFF on Democrats’ Sham Impeachment

Oh my gosh, this is good!

Senator Rick Scott from the great state of Florida published a video on Tuesday lashing out at the Democrat Party’s embarrassingly weak impeachment case against President Trump.

The Florida Senator goes off in an EPIC RANT! …”It’s absurd. Good-bye! Go home!”

Senator Rick Scott: Hi I’m Rick Scott. As you have heard I’ve been taken hostage along with 99 other people in the US Capitol. We are receiving only milk and water. And we are being subjected to the cruel and unusual punishment of listening to the rantings of Adam Schiff, a person from a parallel universe. On a more serious note, everything that is happening in Washington around this impeachment fiasco is political theater. None of it is real and nothing will come of it. This entire drama that has consumed our federal government for months should have been conducted at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts not the US Capitol. One more thing you the taxpayers, you’re funding this entire production. But there’s no plot twist in this drama. It’s all very straight forward. The Democrats HATE Donald Trump. They don’t just dislike the guy. They hate him. They decided to impeach him even before he took office. The case they presented to the Senate was embarrassingly weak. Therefore, they wanted to use the Senate to go fishing for more evidence by calling more witnesses. They have admitted to the jury that their case is lame.

My message to the Democrats is simple. I’ve listened to your case and listened and listened. It’s absurd, good-bye, go home!

Scott is fantastic!

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/ive-been-taken-hostage-and-subjected-to-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-of-listening-to-the-rantings-of-adam-schiff-sen-rick-scott-goes-off-on-democrats-sham-impeachment-video/

Wilbur Ross Says China's Coronavirus Outbreak Will "Help Bring Jobs Back To America"

Anxieties about the knock-on impact to the global economy from the coronavirus outbreak, which appears on track to shave whole percentage points off China's GDP, have pushed stock futures back into the red Thursday morning.

But during an interview with Maria Bartiromo that aired on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross argued that the North American economy might benefit from the outbreak as companies "reevaluate their supply chains" to factor in emergent outbreak risk.

While Ross insisted that he didn't want to appear insensitive, it's pretty clear to him that the outbreak could help "accelerate the return of jobs to North America."

"First of all, every American's heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus. I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate very malignant disease. But the fact is, it does give business another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain. On top of all the other things - you had SARS, you had the African swine virus there, now you have this - it's another risk factor that people need to take into account."

"I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to the US and some to Mexico as well," Ross said.

Bartiromo conceded that Ross had made an interesting point.

"Ah, that's a good point," Bartiromo responds.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/wilbur-ross-says-chinas-coronavirus-outbreak-will-help-bring-jobs-back-america

US sanctions head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization – Treasury

The Treasury Department has announced sanctions on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and its head Ali Akbar Salehi as the US continues its pressure campaign on Tehran after ditching the international Iran nuclear deal.

Though the Trump administration has accused Salehi and his organization of striving to produce a nuclear weapon, the AEOI also oversees the civilian nuclear sector in Iran.

The sanctions are the latest in a string of economic penalties applied to Iran since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal) in 2018, after accusing Tehran of noncompliance. Iran has responded by gradually rolling back its own commitments, but it has continued working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran scrapped all of the limitations imposed by the agreement this month, following the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani by the US.

Salehi first led the AEOI between 2009 and 2010, and he has been in charge ever since his second stint began in 2013. Before his appointment to Iran’s nuclear agency, he represented Iran in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Under Salehi’s leadership, Iran was deemed by the IAEA to be complying with all of the JCPOA’s requirements as recently as last year, even as the US argued otherwise.

Moreover, multiple US and IAEA assessments have failed to link Salehi’s organization with Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

While the Trump administration has been squeezing Iran’s economy with round after round of sanctions, the Treasury Department also announced on Thursday that it has successfully established a channel to allow the sale of essential medical supplies to the Islamic Republic. The humanitarian channel is operated by the Swiss government, which has served as a mediator between Tehran and Washington in the past.

The Treasury will also renew sanctions waivers to allow non-US firms to work at a series of Iranian nuclear sites, Reuters reported earlier on Thursday. The waivers give European, Russian and Chinese companies another 60 days to continue work at the Arak heavy water reactor, the Bushehr nuclear power plant, and the Tehran Research Reactor, among other sites.

https://www.rt.com/news/479604-us-sanctions-iran-atomic-energy/

U.S. Veteran Sentenced to Life in Prison for Selling Less Than a Gram of Weed

Baton Rouge, LA — Derek Harris is an honorably discharged veteran who put his life on the line for his country in Operation Desert Storm. His years of service to his country were but dust in the wind, however, to the state who threw him in a cage for the rest of his life for selling less than a gram of weed to an undercover cop.

The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads as follows: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Here at the Free Thought Project we feel that life in prison without the possibility of parole for selling .69 grams of a plant is not only excessive but extremely cruel. Sadly, however, it is not unusual.

This week, Harris’ case is up for review by the Louisiana State Supreme Court and several of the justices are saying enough is enough. Thanks to a corrupt and defunct system that prosecutes non-violent drug offenders worse than child molesters, however, Harris is facing several major hurdles.

Due to a precedent set by a previous state court, convicts cannot challenge their sentences after they’ve already gone through the appeal process. That means Harris has very few options at his disposal.

Harris’ nightmare began back in 2008 when an undercover cop knocked on his door and asked to buy some weed. Harris had just .69 grams — barely enough to roll two joints — and sold it for $30. He was then raided by police, kidnapped and thrown in a cage. In 2012, 15th Judicial District Judge Durwood Conque found Harris guilty of marijuana distribution, a Vermilion Parish prosecutor invoked the state’s habitual-offender law, and Conque sentenced Harris to life as a four-time loser.

Harris has struggled with mental illness since he came back from Iraq. This led him down a path of addiction and to maintain that addiction, Harris sold drugs and stole small items. However, Harris never hurt anyone and all of his crimes were misdemeanors.

As NOLA.com reports:

Harris’ prior convictions dated back to a 1991 conviction for dealing cocaine, according to court filings. He was subsequently convicted of simple robbery in 1992 and 1993, simple burglary in 1997 and theft under $500 in 2005, said Cormac Boyle, an attorney with the Promise of Justice Initiative who argued Harris’ case Monday.

Boyle said ample evidence suggests a struggle with mental illness linked to his military service, not a penchant for criminality behind his rap sheet. But that mitigating evidence never came up as Conque dealt Harris a life sentence with no shot at parole under a habitual-offender law that gives prosecutors broad discretion.

“Courts have a duty to make sure the punishment fits the crime. That didn’t happen here,” Boyle argued Monday. “This court has always retained the right to say a sentence is excessive.”

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/life-in-prison-less-gram-weed/