Declassified Memo Shows Intel Community Viewed Steele Dossier as ‘Mostly Uncorroborated’ Well Before Mueller Took Over Russia Probe

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Thursday released a newly declassified memo that shows the intel community already knew the Hillary-funded Steele dossier was garbage in December of 2016.

However, the FBI still used the dossier as a pretext to obtain FISA warrants on Carter Page and the dossier was used in the ICA report about so-called Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The FBI insisted information from Hillary’s phony dossier be used in the Intel Community’s assessment report as “Annex A.”

The “Annex A” portion of the ICA report was declassified by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.

Intel officials however pushed back and disagreed with including the dossier in the ICA report given its lack of verification.

“Though Annex A acknowledged that the reports were produced for private clients, it did not disclose that those clients were the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. In the spirit of transparency, Sens. Grassley and Johnson are publicly releasing this document so the American people can know the truth about the information contained in the annex.” – the Senators announced.

The memo revealed that the Intel Community viewed the Steele dossier as “highly politically sensitive” and “mostly uncorroborated.”

“An FBI source, using both identified and unidentified sub sources, volunteered highly politically sensitive information from the summer to the fall of 2016 on Russian influence efforts aimed at the US presidential election. We have only limited corroboration of the source reporting in this case and did not use it to reach the analytic conclusions of the CIA/FBI/NSA assessment,” the appendix stated.

The FBI actually received intelligence reporting that portions of the dossier were part of a Russian disinformation campaign, however they renewed a FISA warrant targeting Carter Page on the same day.

By the time the ICA was completed on December 30, 2016, the FBI had already relied on the Democrat-funded opposition research dossier to obtain authority to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Less than two weeks later, the FBI received intelligence reporting that portions of the dossier were inaccurate and “part of a Russian disinformation campaign to denigrate U.S. foreign relations.” Despite that warning, the FISA warrant targeting Page was renewed the same day.

Why this is significant:

The IG report and now this memo confirm former CIA Director John Brennan did indeed rely on the phony dossier for the ICA report on so-called Russian interference in the 2016 election.

John Brennan claimed in a May 2017 testimony under oath that Hillary’s phony dossier didn’t factor into the Intelligence Community’s Assessment report on Russian interference of the 2016 presidential election.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/declassified-memo-shows-intel-community-viewed-steele-dossier-mostly-uncorroborated-mueller-took-russia-probe/

Biden: I’ve Thought About What Would Happen if Trump Refused to Leave Office

During an interview aired on Wednesday’s broadcast of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden said that he has thought about what would happen if he won the election and President Trump refused to leave office and that he believes the military would remove President Trump “from the White House with great dispatch” if such a scenario took place.

Host Trevor Noah asked, [relevant exchange begins around 16:30] “Let me ask you this, and I know this is a strange question to ask an American politician, may be easier around the world, but have you ever considered what would happen if the election result came out as you being the winner and Trump refused to leave?”

Biden responded, “Yes, I have.”

After a break in the video, Biden stated, “I was so damn proud. You have four chiefs of staff coming out and ripping the skin off of Trump. And you have so many rank and file military personnel saying, whoa, we’re not a military state. This is not who we are. I promise you, I am absolutely convinced they will escort him from the White House with great dispatch.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/06/10/biden-ive-thought-about-what-would-happen-if-trump-refused-to-leave-office/

Swedish Black Lives Matter Protesters Demand Abolition of Police

Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters in the multicultural Swedish city of Malmö handed out flyers calling for the abolition of police, according to local reports.

The flyers were handed out on Tuesday evening during the latest BLM protest in the city at the Möllevångstorget square. The pamphlets demanded that “the police must be abolished” in Sweden, while also mentioning support for migrants set for deportation.

“No matter where on the scale, a capitalist and racial/white supremacy policy is being driven and the structures are the same,” the flyer stated, according to a report by news website Nyheter Idag.

“Although the history of the Swedish police does not have the same relation to slavery as the United States, it is the same structures that have emerged: institutionalised racism, where it is clear who is most persecuted, stopped and controlled, abused, locked up and even murdered,” the flyer stated.

“To put an end to this, we can’t just cut off some ‘rotten branches’; we have to dig up the entire tree with the roots, we have to get rid of the police completely,” the group added.

Swedish newspaper Expressen stated the protest lasted just 30 minutes and was attended by around 500 people, in violation of Wuhan coronavirus measures that state gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited.

Over the last week, Sweden has seen several protests in solidarity with BLM activists in the United States following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Many demonstrations have also demanded defunding or abolishing the police.

One protest in Gothenburg that took place over the weekend saw the demonstration turn to riots as police lost control of the crowd. Rioters smashed shops and went on to loot not only businesses but the moving van of a local Swedish family as well.

Sweden, which already has one of the smallest police forces per capita in Europe according to Gothenburg police chief Erik Nord, has previously had major problems with officers quitting the profession.

A 2016 report claimed that as many as 80 per cent of Sweden’s police were considering a career change. Police have struggled to find recruits, as the government has called for more officers from diverse backgrounds.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/06/11/swedish-black-lives-matter-protesters-demand-abolition-of-police/

Engineering A Race War: Will This Be the American Police State’s Reichstag Fire?

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”— George Santayana

Watch and see: this debate over police brutality and accountability is about to get politicized into an election-year referendum on who should occupy the White House.

Don’t fall for it.

The Deep State, the powers-that-be, want us to turn this into a race war, but this is about so much more than systemic racism. This is the oldest con game in the books, the magician’s sleight of hand that keeps you focused on the shell game in front of you while your wallet is being picked clean by ruffians in your midst.

It’s the Reichstag Fire all over again.

It was February 1933, a month before national elections in Germany, and the Nazis weren’t expected to win. So they engineered a way to win: they began by infiltrating the police and granting police powers to their allies; then Hitler brought in stormtroopers to act as auxiliary police; by the time an arsonist (who claimed to be working for the Communists in the hopes of starting an armed revolt) set fire to the Reichstag, the German parliamentary building, the people were eager for a return to law and order.

That was all it took: Hitler used the attempted “coup” as an excuse to declare martial law and seize absolute power in Germany, establishing himself as a dictator with the support of the German people.

Fast forward to the present day, and what do we have? The nation in turmoil after months of pandemic fear-mongering and regional lockdowns, a national election looming, a president with falling poll numbers, and a police state that wants to stay in power at all costs.

Note the similarities?

It’s entirely possible that Americans have finally reached a tipping point over police brutality after decades of abuse. After all, until recently, the legislatures and the courts have marched in lockstep with the police state, repeatedly rebuffing efforts to hold police accountable for official misconduct.

Then again, it’s also equally possible that the architects of the police state have every intention of manipulating this outrage for their own purposes.

It works the same in every age.

As author Jim Keith explains, “Create violence through economic pressures, the media, mind control, agent provocateurs: thesis. Counter it with totalitarian measures, more mind control, police crackdowns, surveillance, drugging of the population: antithesis. What ensues is Orwell’s vision of 1984, a society of total control: synthesis.”

Here’s what is going to happen: the police state is going to stand down and allow these protests, riots and looting to devolve into a situation where enough of the voting populace is so desperate for a return to law and order that they will gladly relinquish some of their freedoms to achieve it. And that’s how the police state will win, no matter which candidate gets elected to the White House.

More

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/engineering-a-race-war-will-this-be-the-american-police-states-reichstag-fire/

UK Sets Grim Abortion Record with 209,519 Babies Killed in 2019

The UK Department for Health and Social Care released its official abortion figures for 2019 on Thursday, revealing the highest number of abortions in the country’s history.

The UK Abortion Act was passed in 1967, legalising abortion on certain grounds by certified practitioners in England, Wales, and Scotland. Thursday’s report reveals that 209,519 abortions were performed in England and Wales during the 2019 calendar year, the highest number yet recorded.

The “age-standardised abortion rate” for residents is 18.0 per 1,000 women, which is also the highest rate since the Abortion Act was introduced, the report declared. Of the 209,519 abortions performed, 207,384 were carried out on the children of residents in England and Wales.

The report also revealed that 99 percent of all abortions in England and Wales were funded by the NHS in 2019, while 74 percent of abortions took place in the independent sector.

The largest increases in abortion rates by age were among women aged 30-34, which have increased from 15.7 per 1000 in 2009 to 20.9 per 1000 in 2019.

Moreover, 40 percent of the women undergoing abortions in 2019 had had one or more previous abortions, the report states. This proportion has increased steadily from 34 percent in 2009.

“We are looking at a national tragedy here,” said Antonia Tully, Director of Campaigns for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). “This appalling figure shows us that abortion is becoming more and more normalised. Propaganda telling women that abortion is ‘simple and safe’ coupled with easier access to abortion pills is driving up abortion numbers.”

“But behind the figures are real women who have taken an irreversible step and who are likely to be suffering physically or emotionally,” she added. “The lockdown measure to allow DIY home abortions is compounding the myth that abortion is a normal and easy thing to do. It isn’t.”

Ms. Tully insisted that women deserve the truth about the damage that abortion can do to them. “Nothing can bring back a dead baby,” she said.

As occurs in other countries such as the United States, black children were targeted for abortion at a much higher rate than white children, making the abortion industry one of the most racist institutions in the world.

According to the most recent census from England and Wales, the black community in Britain was reported as just 3.4 percent of the population and yet 8 percent of women presenting themselves for abortions in England and Wales in 2019 recorded their ethnicity as black.

This means that black children in the womb have more than twice the probability of being killed through abortion as compared with white children.

Year after year, abortion turns out to be by far the number-one cause of death in the world. While global abortions account for the deaths of over 40 million children each year, the second highest cause of death — heart disease — accounts for less than half that, or some 17.8 million deaths.

https://www.breitbart.com/health/2020/06/11/uk-sets-grim-abortion-record-with-209519-babies-killed-in-2019/

Marion Maréchal: I don’t have to apologize as a white person or as a French one

Marion Maréchal, the niece of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, recently slammed Black Lives Matter activists for “defiling the memory of our ancestors” and “spitting on our history.”

Yesterday, in a video posted to social media, the former National Rally politician, spoke at length about the Black Lives Matter movement, as well the protests, riots, and looting which have ignited across the West in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Adama Traoré.

“I don’t have to apologize as a white person and a French one,” said Maréchal in a video posted to Facebook. “You can see what we have been reduced to by having to position ourselves that way. I don’t have to apologize for the death of an offender, Adama Traoré, an accidental death that occurred after an arrest unrelated to his skin color, but to the crimes he allegedly committed.”

“I don’t have to apologize because I didn’t colonize anyone… I didn’t enslave anyone in the same way that all these political groups and political activists were never colonized or enslaved themselves,” Maréchal continued.

The 30-year-old former politician then commented on BLM, Antifa, and other left-wing extremists who’ve torn down and defaced monuments across Europe and America.

They “defile the memory of our ancestors, spit on our history, purify our heritage and break down our statues,” she said adding that “What is being prepared behind this propaganda is terrifying.”

https://voiceofeurope.com/2020/06/marion-marechal-i-dont-have-to-apologize-as-a-white-person-or-as-a-french-one/

Trump to Issue Executive Order to Protect Military and Intelligence Personnel from International Court

President Trump will announce an executive order on Thursday to authorize sanctions against certain persons directly engaged in any efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Americans without the United States’ consent.

The move comes after an ICC appeals chamber voted in March to allow investigations of U.S. military and intelligence personnel for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and at CIA detention sites following the U.S. invasion in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A senior administration official said the court is pursuing “politically motivated investigations” that are being pushed forward by an organization of “dubious integrity” and may be the target of “corrupt malign influence by Russia and others.”

“Further, we have reason to believe there is corruption and misconduct at the highest levels of the ICC’s office of prosecutor, calling into question the integrity of this investigation into American personnel,” the official added.

“We are concerned that Russia may be manipulating the ICC by encouraging these allegations against U.S. personnel … in an attempt to subvert the purpose of the ICC.”

The senior administration official argued that the ICC has no jurisdiction to prosecute Americans. The U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC and has repeatedly rejected the ICC’s assertion of jurisdiction over U.S. personnel, the official said.

“The ICC claims it has a jurisdiction to prosecute individuals, even if their own governments have not recognized, signed, or ratified the Rome Statute,” the official said. “The actions of the ICC threatens to infringe on our national sovereignty.”

The official called the court “unaccountable, ineffective, and out-of-control international bureaucracy that threatens American service members and intelligence officers.”

“The United States will continue to use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by the ICC and tactics involving the use of misinformation … to distort international accountability efforts,” the official said.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/11/trump-issue-executive-order-protect-military-intelligence-personnel-international-court/

Democrat Mayor Gives Govt Workers 40 Hours Off To Mourn ‘400 Years Of African American Oppression.’ Here‘s The Email.

http://www.domigood.com/2020/06/democrat-mayor-gives-govt-workers-40.html

Coronavirus: Over One Million People Arrived in UK by Sea Without Quarantine This Year

Since January, 1.1 million people have arrived in the UK by sea, with 346,000 arrivals taking place in March and April alone, despite the coronavirus lockdown which saw millions of Britons effectively quarantined in their homes.

On March 23rd, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a police-enforced lockdown, with Britons told to only go out for essential items or exercise once a day in an attempt to slow the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.

However, the prime minister faced criticism for ordering citizens to go into effective house arrest, whilst the country’s external borders remained open to travellers.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage remarked at the time that it was “all too late” as aeroplanes from virus hotspots like Italy, China, and Iran kept arriving.

Britain is still under a relative lockdown, albeit some restrictions have been lifted. But only this week has the government introduced a fortnight quarantine for any travellers arriving by boat, plane, or train from abroad, the exemption being travellers coming from the Republic of Ireland.

It had been observed that the UK was an “outlier” for having imposed no entry restrictions at all, despite some 130 countries worldwide imposing closed borders, travel bans, and quarantines to protect their citizens. The astounding figures of entry since the New Year cast doubt on whether the government had thought through its pandemic strategy.

Sir David Skegg, emeritus professor of epidemiology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, told the Home Affairs Select Committee on Wednesday in comments reported by The Times: “These border measures would be most effective if they were done very early.”

“As with New Zealand, all these cases were imported. This disease did not originate in the UK. It would have been much more effective if you’d done this in February,” Sir David added.

Prof Gabriel Leung of Hong Kong University also told the select committee: “If you look around the world, the places that have imposed border restrictions earlier on have tended to come out much better with local outbreaks.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/06/11/coronavirus-1-million-people-arrived-sea-without-quarantine-since-january/

They’ve Already Stolen $100 TRILLION And Their Plan Is To LEAVE You With NOTHING!!

Wes Christian interviewed by Sean on SGTreport

Attorney Wes Christian joins me to reveal the horrifying truth about Wall Street, the DTCC and your stocks: They’ve already stolen $100 TRILLION and when the music stops, the plan is to leave you with NOTHING.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/theyve-already-stolen-100-trillion-and-their-plan-is-to-leave-you-with-nothing/

Minneapolis Police Chief says he can't release George Floyd bodycam footage and that it has to be shared by the FBI - after one of the indicted cops' lawyers says it will prove 'there was a struggle'

The Minneapolis Police Chief said on Wednesday he cannot share bodycam footage of George Floyd's death because it was now being investigated by the FBI and that they'd have to make the footage public, after one of the officers' lawyers said it will 'prove' there was a struggle.

Chief Medaria Arradondo stood for nearly an hour on Wednesday to take questions on Floyd's May 25 killing, the fiery riots it inspired in the city in the days afterwards, and the now global movement against police brutality that it sparked.

He vowed to reform the department but said it would stay in tact and that there were officers within the force who were committed to change.

He says the problem lies with the police union which makes it difficult for him to fire cops who are guilty of misconduct.

Asked whether the department would share the bodycam footage, he said: 'We do not have the purview of being able to do that.

It would have to be a decision by those two agencies,' referring to the FBI and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) which is also investigating Floyd's killing.

The FBI is notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to its investigations and sharing evidence is rare

It is likely the bodycam footage may not surface until the cops' trial and even then, it remains unclear if media and public will have access to it.

http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2020/06/minneapolis-police-chief-says-he-cant.html

Ex-Baltimore Mayor Will Reportedly Plead Guilty To Perjury

The saga of ex-Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh is coming to a close as the disgraced former official plans to plead guilty to perjury.

Fox News reported that Pugh “is expected to enter the guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge at a June 19 hearing in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, said State Prosecutor Charlton Howard.”

“As indicated in the order of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court scheduling a plea hearing on June 19th, I anticipate Ms. Pugh will enter a guilty plea on that date,” Howard wrote. “Of course, Ms. Pugh may change her mind prior to, or during the course of, the June 19th hearing, as is the right of every criminal defendant.”

Pugh pleaded guilty last year to federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges over a scheme involving a children’s book she published herself called “Healthy Holly.” She was sentenced to three years in prison.

“The perjury charge relates to Pugh’s failure to disclose her business interest in Healthy Holly, LLC on her financial disclosure forms when she was a Maryland state senator,” Fox reported.

As The Daily Wire’s James Barrett previously reported, a sentencing memorandum filed in Pugh’s case accused her “of being a ‘scammer’ guilty of a multiple years of fraud, tax evasion, cover-ups and ‘brazen lies to the public’ in order to personally profit — and all in the name of ‘children’s health.’”

Pugh used her power as the mayor to sell her books through contracts with corporations looking to gain or maintain a government contract as well as city and state contractors.

“The chronology of events since 2011, comprising Pugh’s seven-year scheme to defraud, multiple years of tax evasion, election fraud, and attempted cover-ups, including brazen lies to the public, clearly establishes the deliberateness with which she pursued financial and political gain without a second thought about how it was harming the public’s trust,” the memorandum said.

The Baltimore Sun reported at the time that the memorandum “outlined her efforts to conceal her dealings, including lying to FBI agents who came to her house to seize her cellphone.”

When Pugh was sentenced to three years in prison for her schemes, she was also “ordered to pay $411,948 in restitution and to forfeit $669,688, including property in Baltimore and $17,800 from her Committee to Re-elect Catherine Pugh,” NBC News reported.

http://www.domigood.com/2020/06/ex-baltimore-mayor-will-reportedly.html

>>9576376

Things not looking good Q

Trump shuts down the Seattle bullshit it's going to be shaped as white on black crime.

Need some justice.

Looks like we are the thesis and Soros etc are the anti-thesis

Hegelian dialectic at play

US Troop Levels Finally Up for Talks at US-Iraq Meeting

US expects Iraq will allow them to stay

Many months after the Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to expel US forces, the question of future troop levels is finally up for discussion at this weeks talks.

Iraq is driven by trying to avoid hosting a US-Iran proxy war, and sees not hosting US troops as the path of least resistance. US officials took permanent basing in Iraq as a given and are willing to do anything to Iraq to protect that.

This was why Trump threatened sanctions worse than Iran for the very suggestion the US should pullout. Even then, there was no consideration of leaving.

This is also why these talks cover the full US-Iraq relationship and not just troop levels. This allows the US to threaten cuts everywhere else if they don’t get what they want.

Pentagon officials say they expect Iraq will at least let them stay through the “final final victory” over ISIS. But again, there is no suggestion the US might actually leave after that.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/06/10/us-troop-levels-finally-up-for-talks-at-us-iraq-meeting/

Podcast: Pandemic Profiteering – How Billionaires Are Looting American Taxpayers

In this segment of Mintcast, journalist and author Alan MacLeod discusses how COVID-19 became a boon for the ultra-wealthy and allowed America’s billionaires to accrue more wealth in just three weeks of lockdown than they made in total prior to 1980.

Welcome to MintCast, the official MintPress News podcast hosted by Mnar Muhawesh. MintCast is an interview podcast featuring dissenting voices, independent researchers, and journalists the establishment would rather silence.

In this episode, we are joined by MintPress News senior staff writer, Alan MacLeod. MacLeod covers everything from socioeconomic inequality, the oligarch class in Western nations, U.S. foreign policy in the Global South, and press freedom. He is also the author of “Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent.“

Since April, he has uncovered how COVID-19 came to be a boon for the ultra-wealthy, reporting that America’s billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg and others, accrued more wealth in the first three weeks of the lockdown than they made in total prior to 1980. Billionaire wealth surged by $484 billion in just three months, while a record 40 million Americans filed for unemployment.

This economic phenomenon, the largest radical transfer of wealth out of the hands of taxpayers and into the hands of billionaires, was the largest taxpayer bailout of the wealthy in American history.

As MacLeod reported,

In the last 30 years, U.S. billionaire wealth soared by over 1100 percent while median household wealth increased by barely five percent. In 1990, the total wealth held by America’s billionaire class was $240 billion; today that number stands at $2.95 trillion. Thus, America’s billionaires accrued more wealth in just the past three weeks than they made in total prior to 1980.”

While the pandemic and subsequent lockdown turned the world upside down for working-class people, forcing upon them school closures, long lines at the grocery store, empty shelves, panic buying, record unemployment, and miles-long bread lines, little media attention was given to the Billionaires buying islands and land where they could enjoy life in first-class bunkers built to withstand a nuclear war.

If anything, the coronavirus has lifted the veil to expose the growing inequality in the United States, an unfortunate reality in the world’s richest country.

Macleod leaves us with a salient statistic, explaining that while Amazon owner Jeff Bezos makes $1 million every three minutes, “Amazon staff, directly employed by Bezos, also risk their lives for measly pay. One-third of all Amazon workers in Arizona, for example, are enrolled in the food stamps program, their wages so low that they cannot afford to pay for food.”

Alan MacLeod joins MintCast to explain all of this and how the coming economic crash that is expected to contract the economy by 40 percent will only advance the interests of America’s ultra-wealthy and increase their wealth even further.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/podcast-pandemic-profiteering-how-billionaires-are-looting-american-taxpayers/268320/

China to Skip US-Russia Nuclear Talks

Foreign Ministry rejects US invite

China will not attend US-Russia nuclear disarmament talks on June 22, with the Foreign Ministry considering the US invite ‘ridiculous.’ Russia downplayed this, saying they never expected China to attend.

The US and Russia are to discuss ways to get nuclear arms limitation back going. The US has tried to condition this on limiting China too, even though China has far fewer arms than the US or China.

Russia has said they’re fine with bilateral talks or broader ones. China is not interested at all, and the open question is if the US will keep delaying the talks over China.

Russia has already warned it may be too late to extend New START in time, with or without China. Either way, US officials are threatening a new arms race.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/06/10/china-to-skip-us-russia-nuclear-talks/

Senate panel votes to require Pentagon to rename bases named after Confederates

The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee has approved an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would require the Pentagon to rename bases and other assets that are named after Confederate military leaders, a source confirmed to The Hill.

The amendment, offered by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), was approved by voice vote Wednesday during the committee’s closed-door markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the source familiar with the situation said. The amendment would give the Pentagon three years to remove the Confederate names.

The news, which was first reported by Roll Call, comes after President Trump said he would “not even consider” renaming Army bases that are named after Confederate officers.

During a briefing Wednesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also said Trump would veto the NDAA if the massive policy bill mandated changing the names of the bases.

"These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom," Trump tweeted.

"Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations," he added.

Just two days before Trump’s tweets, an Army spokesperson said Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Defense Secretary Mark Esper were “open” to renaming the 10 bases that are named after Confederate military officers.

The bases, which are in Southern states, are Fort Lee, Fort Hood, Fort Benning, Fort Gordon, Fort Bragg, Fort Polk, Fort Pickett, Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Rucker and Camp Beauregard.

The Army’s Monday position was a reversal from as recently as February, when the service said it had no plans to change the name of any base, including those named after Confederate officers.

The about-face came amid nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died when a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. The officer has since been fired and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The inclusion of the amendment to force the Pentagon to change the base names, coupled with McEnany’s veto threat, potentially puts the White House on a collision course with Congress over what’s generally considered a must-pass bill. Republicans disinclined to confront the president still have opportunities to strip the amendment if they want, such as when the bill hits the Senate floor as soon as next week.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/502218-senate-panel-votes-to-require-pentagon-to-rename-bases-named-after

Mapping Netanyahu’s annexation plan: Experts explain a charged, complex process

Ex-officials tasked with similar challenges in past lay out the complexities of drawing up borders; US-Israeli map committee mum on progress, kept off the ground by pandemic

Members of the US-Israeli mapping committee tasked with drawing up the borders of the Trump peace plan have been seen out in the field just once since Washington unveiled its proposal nearly six months ago.

That expedition, to the northern West Bank’s Ariel settlement, took place in late February, weeks after the plan’s architect Jared Kushner said the joint team would be “going line by line and street by street to decide where to put the borders.”

Over three months have passed since, during which the coronavirus pandemic has somewhat understandably kept the map-drawers from crossing the Green Line to pick up where they left off.

Both Israeli and American officials have recognized, at least behind closed doors, that the mapping committee will therefore be unlikely to complete its work by July 1, the date on which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to move forward with annexation.

But with neither side willing to comment publicly on their progress, Israelis and Palestinians have been left in the dark on the crucial decisions being made that could determine the future borders of their states.

More

https://www.timesofisrael.com/so-you-want-to-annex-the-west-bank-map-experts-weigh-in-on-netanyahus-plan/

Turkey has not told the truth about the murder of Russian Ambassador Karlov

New evidence emerges that the murderer of the Russian Ambassador was not a Gülenist

On December 19, 2016 Andrei Karlov, who had been the Russian Ambassador to Turkey since 2013, was murdered by off-duty police officer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş at an art exhibition in the Turkish capital of Ankara. After gunning down Karlov, Altıntaş was heard saying “Do not forget Aleppo, do not forget Syria” and “We die in Aleppo, you die here.” This was in reference to the November–December 2016 operation by the Syrian Army and its allies, including Russia, to liberate jihadist-held areas of southern and eastern Aleppo.

Turkey claimed that FETÖ, an Islamic movement led by Fetullah Gülen who was a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but now turned enemy, was to blame for the murder. Ankara’s prosecution office claimed that Altıntaş had ties to FETÖ and wanted to push Russia and Turkey to “the brink of war.”

Russo-Turkish relations rapidly deteriorated when on November 24, 2015 Turkey shot down a Russian military jet in Syrian airspace, resulting in the death of a pilot. A Russian soldier was also killed during the operation to rescue the second pilot. Although Turkey did not shy away from taking full responsibility for the incident, Russian Academy of Sciences senior official Ruslan Kurbanov claimed the order to down the Russian plane was given by a Gülenist Turkish Colonel in the NATO-controlled Incirlik Air Base in southeast Turkey. Other high-profile Russians made the same claim.

For most of 2016, Russia showed its intention to restore relations with Turkey, with Putin even calling Erdoğan to show solidarity following the 2016 coup attempt against the Turkish president. Putin did this even before any NATO member heads did. Relations were not only returning to normalcy in 2016 between Moscow and Ankara, but rather accelerating into unprecedented levels. It is for this reason that Erdoğan said following Karlov’s murder that “Turkey-Russia relations are vital for the region and those who aimed to harm ties were not going to achieve their goals,” adding that both he and Putin “agreed the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Ankara by a gunman was an act of provocation by those looking to harm relations of our countries.” Putin stated he believes “a crime has been committed and it was without doubt a provocation aimed at spoiling the normalization of Russo-Turkish relations.”

https://theduran.com/turkey-has-not-told-the-truth-about-the-murder-of-russian-ambassador-karlov/

Twitter’s Appointment of New Director Raises Concerns of Chinese Influence

A petition to the White House has recently been filed calling for investigation into Twitter’s suppression of criticisms of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), after the U.S. social media company appointed a new director having “close ties to top leaders of the CCP.”

The petition, titled “Call for a thorough investigation on Twitter’s violation of freedom of speech,” was filed on May 20. The petition states, “Twitter has suppressed criticisms of CCP and suspended [China’s political] dissent’s accounts while pro-Beijing accounts live well.”

So far the on-line petition has received more than twenty-seven thousand supporting signatures.

The popular San Francisco based social media platform announced on May 11 the appointment of Dr. Li Fei-Fei to the Company’s Board of Directors as a new independent director. Li was former Vice President and Chief AI Scientist at Google Cloud and led the internet search giant in its efforts to build its China AI operations.

Critics Suspended, Propaganda Continues

According to the petition, “on May 18, 2020, not surprisingly, many anti-CCP twitter users found themselves suspended, some permanently.”

One week after Li joined Twitter’s board of directors, Caijinglenyan (財經冷眼), a Chinese twitter handle, was taken down for violating rules against posting identical content on duplicate accounts. The writer of the account found that four of his accounts were deleted.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/twitters-appointment-of-new-director-raises-concerns-of-chinese-influence_3385304.html

China's Communists Aim to Rewrite the Bible to 'Create a New Version of Christianity'

As the Chinese coronavirus distracts the world, the Chinese Communist Party has ratcheted up its crackdown on religious freedom, and sources say President Xi Jinping is working on rewriting the Bible itself to “create a new version of Christianity shorn of its transcendent visions and values.”

Xi Lian, a professor at Duke University Divinity School, told The Wall Street Journal‘s Matthew Taylor King that Beijing doesn’t just want to repress religion — the Chinese Communist Party wants to transform it.

Lian said Beijing wants to “drain Christianity of its spirit.” China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported last year that Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Yang had presided over a meeting of so-called scholars and “religious people from the grassroots level” to discuss “making accurate and authoritative interpretations of classical doctrines to keep pace with the times.”

The Chinese Communist Party sees Christianity, which is likely China’s largest-growing religion, as a unique threat, Lian insisted. He mentioned three key reasons: Christianity’s international connection to believers inside and outside of China; Christianity’s congregational strength — “You have this ability to mobilize a stable, reliable community;” and the faith’s “transcendent vision, transcendent values,” which form a “moral and ideological rivalry” to communism.

Lian argued that Chinese people largely see the party’s Marxist-Leninist foundation as a spent force.

Xi has long insisted that religion should be “Chinese in orientation.” China is notorious for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims in the northern province of Xinjiang, but it also heavily restricts religious freedom for a wide range of beliefs, including Tibetan Buddhists.

According to sociologist Rodney Stark and co-author Xiuhua Wang in A Star in the East: The Rise of Christianity in China, there has been a 7 percent increase in Christians every year in China. In 1980, there were approximately 10 million Christians there. In 2007, that number had climbed to 61.1 million. By 2030, they estimated, there will be 294.6 million Christians — nearly the entire population of the United States.

As a Christian who enjoys the company of Chinese-Americans in my Bible study group, I personally appreciate the international nature of the Jesus movement. I also believe Christianity introduced a new concern for the poor and a new way of living into the world — a way of life that transformed the West and helped form the foundation of modern freedom and prosperity.

The Holy Spirit is real, and so are the Chinese Communist Party’s evil efforts to thwart Him. Yet Chinese Christians have long weathered tremendous persecution, and they will continue to preach the gospel in the Middle Kingdom.

https://pjmedia.com/culture/tyler-o-neil/2020/06/11/chinas-communists-aim-to-rewrite-the-bible-to-create-a-new-version-of-christianity-n516101

Celebs Launch Campaign To ‘Take responsibility’ For Racism, Ask ‘White America’ To Join

A number of popular celebrities are saying they’re ‘taking responsibility’ for racism and hate in our country and are asking other white Americans to do the same, in a new confessional social media video and campaign launched Wednesday.

The campaign, launched with a website, “ITakeResponsibility.org,” “was created to stand up for our Black friends and family in America. Our goal is to rally the white community, to provide education and encourage action. Our mission is to ensure this takes place.”

“We cannot sit idle while systemic racism and police brutality continue throughout our country,” the website states. “Racism is personal, it is local, and every situation needs to be identified, recognized, and addressed. At the most personal levels and regardless of the circumstance, these incidents need to become teachable moments. Enough is enough.”

“This begins with white men and women taking responsibility for their personal role in eradicating racism in America — taking a stand and committing to change.” -iTakeResponsibility.org

https://saraacarter.com/celebs-launch-campaign-to-take-responsibility-for-racism-ask-white-america-to-join/

The EU Continues to Talk Utter Baloney About Libya. But What’s the Real Reason Its Warships Are in the Eastern Mediterranean?

It’s often said that the EU plays no role whatsoever in the conflict in Libya and takes no side. And given that Italy, being the odd man in Europe, supports the incumbent government and its ragtag coalition of soldiers and militias it employs fighting under the so-called GNA – whereas most EU countries are more aligned to General Haftar (supported by Russia, Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia), it’s easy to see how the EU can’t take a single position.

But it has. Although at the end of May there was more waffling by the EU’s foreign policy wonk, Spanish socialist Josep Borrell, who, undoubtedly frustrated by the EU’s initial role of funding dictators in many African countries – which led to the horror of African migrants being treated as slaves in Tripoli – has now resorted to double talk and euro-gibberish which is even confusing EU folk in Brussels.

“Libya is the test of EU credibility, right at our doorstep. We have seen the absurd situation of fighters wearing masks to protect themselves against COVID-19 while exchanging fire with machine guns”, he says.

“We continue to work towards a ceasefire, knowing how difficult this is. We have launched Operation Irini to help enforce the UN arms embargo – even if not everybody is happy with that – but all Member States need to invest in the effort,” he added.

So what’s wrong with this statement? Nothing really, except the minor detail that while most MEPs who gave it the nod in the European parliament thought that it was about blocking arms shipments but also illegal flows of immigrants (or mercenaries) and was widely reported as such, it seems that it has been downgraded to the former.

Now, according to Borrell, when he speaks of Irini, he only talks about it in a context of arms smuggling. And these days the big picture, grandiose speeches about blocking arms shipments has notably been reduced to merely “help enforce” the UN arms embargo.

If only even this was accurate. Or rather if only these statements were less disingenuous in the first place, as the EU’s parades a farcical notion to MEPs and the public that it is neutral in this war.

In reality, the position that the EU has taken, is to very much side with Haftar – and therefore Russia, UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – and with his LNA army which is attempting to overthrow the weak and somewhat illegitimate regime holding out in Tripoli.

Even if we are to take Borrell’s comments as face value, what it all adds up to is simply that the EU will use its military capability at sea to attempt to block arms shipments.

There’s only one problem with this strategy.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/06/11/the-eu-continues-to-talk-utter-baloney-about-libya-but-whats-the-real-reason-its-warships-are-in-the-eastern-mediterranean/

Neocon-Styled U.S. National Security Strategy Project Lays Ground For New Global Conflict

On June 10th, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) released “The RSC National Security Strategy: Strengthening America & Countering Global Threats.”

Spearheaded by RSC Chairman Mike Johnson and RSC National Security & Foreign Affairs Task Force Chairman Joe Wilson, the proposal is a conservative, solutions-oriented plan for preserving American leadership around the globe and promoting a U.S. foreign policy that advances the interests of the American people at home and abroad.

It provides over 130 solutions to counter China, Russia, Iran and other ‘US adversaries’.

The report is separated into five parts, presented briefly below:

Communist China: A New Strategy for Countering America’s Top Threat.

China is now the US top competitor, Russia’s now #2, and that’s reality. In order to rein in China, the US needs to do the following, according to the RSC:

Preserving American leadership: The strategy stands up to the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to reorient today’s world order to one based in authoritarianism by standing strongly for American values of freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and open markets.

A tough but targeted approach to China: The strategy offers the toughest package of sanctions ever proposed by Congress on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It would specifically sanction the entire United Front Work Department and senior CCP leaders, including members of the Politburo for their malign influence campaigns, internment of Uyghurs, and assault on Hong Kong. The strategy proposes targeted measures rather than broad-based tariffs that may hurt the U.S. economy.

A multifaceted strategy to protect American innovation and ideas: The strategy would enhance U.S. laws safeguarding American intellectual property (IP), modernize the Foreign Asset Registration Act (FARA), block Chinese propaganda efforts, and ensure a whole-of-government effort to stop the transfer of critical technology to China.

Bold free trade expansion around the world: The strategy proposes bilateral free trade agreements with democratic partners facing increasing threat or malign influence from China, including Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Brazil, Kenya, and others.

There are numerous recommendations for congress such as introducing a tougher visa regime for Chinese nationals, and even such conditions as “student visa holders to report to the Department of Homeland Security if they change majors and require periodic revetting upon reentering the United States.”

The US needs to review every potential benefit that China receives from it, whether it was intentional or not.

“Congress should require a report detailing the extent China has benefited from U.S. taxpayer funded research and from Chinese funding of U.S. research institutions.”

Furthermore, sanctions on China should be ramped up, with an added graphic presenting who has been sanctioned so far.

https://southfront.org/neocon-styled-u-s-national-security-strategy-project-lays-ground-for-new-global-conflict/

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>>9576780

Congress should cut off U.S. security assistance funding to the Lebanese Armed Forces and prohibit an IMF bailout of Lebanon. Because Lebanon isn’t allied to Israel, Hezbollah is the enemy.

In Syria, Congress should support the Trump administration’s push for a political transition and withdrawal of all Iranian forces from Syria and require the Department of Defense to produce a feasibility assessment for a no-fly zone in Idlib, Syria.

The Houthis should be sanctioned by the US, and should be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

And to further support Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s military intervention in the country, the Congress shouldn’t withhold any arms sale, on the contrary – it should increase them. After all, the indigenous population of the country has no right to fight against the invaders and their puppet government.

In terms of countering extremism, the US Congress should invest funds in the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education so as to help its citizens not join the ranks of Al-Qaeda and other groups.

“Congress should reject partnering with Russia to combat ISIS in Libya and enact the Libya Stabilization Act.”

After all, Russia, together with Iran defeated ISIS, while the US-led coalition was busy attempting to occupy as many oil wells as possible, and paying Kurdish fighters to fight the militants.

Congress should enact a statement of policy supporting the use of U.S. intelligence, reconnaissance, and air strikes to aid local Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIS, prevent the rise of other Salafi-jihadist terror groups, and, in Syria, prevent oil resources from being taken by Iran. Like protect these same oil resources from being taken by the Syrians themselves.

Maintaining an International Order Based on American Values

This really needs no in-depth explanation, if they’re not American values – they’re wrong. It’s the same on the ground, and also even in space, where American values mean right of the strong, blackmailing your allies into submission, and be willing to sacrifices every allied interest for the purpose of fulfilling one’s own goals.

Elevating human rights and democracy: The strategy would elevate these values in American foreign policy by strengthening human rights sanctions and codifying the Ministerial on Religious Freedom. It would support Secretary Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights and reject attempts by international organizations to redefine human rights and curtail economic and religious liberties.

Competing to win at the U.N. and other multilateral organizations: The strategy would counter China and Russia’s efforts to control international bodies. It would also urge Congress to support President Trump’s efforts to withdraw from irreparable organizations and replace them with new mechanisms of multilateral cooperation with democratic countries.

Promoting accountability at the U.N.: The strategy would mandate that U.S. Ambassadors meet annually with their host governments to discuss that country’s voting record at the U.N. It would also audit the use of U.S. funding by the U.N. and condition funding to U.N. bodies on implementation of accountability reforms. The U.N. must cut off assistance to dictatorships such as humanitarian aid that is being diverted to the Assad regime in Syria.

In addition, Congress should remove references in U.S. law that rely upon the UN or other international organizations for human rights determinations.

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Don Lemon Accuses Trump Officials Of ‘White Mansplaining’ About Systemic Racism

CNN host Don Lemon accused Wednesday Trump administration officials of ‘white mansplaining’ over their denial of ‘systemic racism.’

“White men denying the existence of systemic racism. That is the essence of white entitlement. We do not need their permission or their sign off on what we know to be true and what we have lived. That is white mansplaining,” Lemon said.

He continued, “How can you solve this problem? This systemic racism that is killing people of color if you won’t even admit there is a problem? First step is admitting there’s a problem.”

Citing Nascar’s recent ban on confederate flags, Lemon said the only way to fix the problems is to speak up. Under pressure to rename a number of military bases, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he wouldn’t do so despite mounting political pressure.

“These monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom,” Trump tweeted. “The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars.”

Trump’s refusal, Lemon added, is a choice.

https://saraacarter.com/don-lemon-accuses-trump-officials-of-white-mansplaining-about-systemic-racism/

Seattle law enforcement experts urge police to take back CHAZ before it's too late

Law enforcement officials are urging the Seattle Police Department to retake control of the East Precinct after hundreds of demonstrators overtook Monday the six-block area that surrounds it.

Officers effectively abandoned the area during violent clashes with demonstrators calling to defund the police.

Demonstrators have since set up occupancy in that section of downtown Seattle and have renamed it “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ).

“It can’t continue like that,” Jim Fuda, a law enforcement expert and the director of law enforcement services for Crime Stoppers –­ which works with SPD –­ told Komo news.

“Some action is going to have to be taken. Is there federal laws broken? Does the FBI need to come in? But at some point, arrests and these people are going to have to be removed, if they don’t move.”

https://www.foxnews.com/us/seattle-law-enforcement-experts-urges-police-to-take-back-chaz-before-its-too-late

Missouri Dem Will Toast to Abortion With Liberal Mega-Donor

Galloway touts endorsement from NARAL

Missouri Democrat Nicole Galloway is headlining an event with abortion lobbyist and liberal mega-donor NARAL, which opposes any restrictions on late-term abortion.

Galloway, who is running to unseat Missouri governor Mike Parson (R.), is set to toast to abortion at a virtual brunch scheduled for Sunday. The event will see Galloway speak alongside Planned Parenthood of St. Louis chief medical officer Colleen McNicholas and includes a complimentary cocktail delivered to the doors of all attendees.

NARAL endorsed the Missouri Democrat on Wednesday, calling her a "reproductive freedom champion." While the support of far-left abortion groups will likely benefit Galloway's campaign coffers—NARAL has spent more than $14.5 million directly backing Democrats since 2000—it could alienate voters in the Show Me State. A March 2019 poll commissioned by Susan B. Anthony List showed that 82 percent of Missouri voters oppose late-term abortion, including 66 percent of Democrats and 83 percent of independents.

The event sparked criticism from some party activists, who contrasted Galloway's embrace of radical abortion with the success of Democrat John Bel Edwards, who was elected governor in conservative Louisiana by embracing pro-life views. Democrats for Life of America executive director Kristen Day admonished Galloway for her participation in the event, arguing that NARAL's extreme views on abortion are out of touch with Missouri voters.

"We are disturbed that Nicole Galloway is headlining an event for NARAL, an organization whose mission is to violate human rights. If she makes abortion a focus of her campaign, she'll lose," Day told the Washington Free Beacon. "All polling shows that Missouri is a pro-life state. We encourage Ms. Galloway to embrace the position of pro-life Democrats in her party and make her approach to abortion more in line with the beliefs of her state."

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/missouri-dem-will-toast-to-abortion-with-liberal-mega-donor/

Russia Arrests Three After Massive Diesel Spill From Norilsk Nickel Power Plant In Siberia

On June 10th, Russia arrested three power plant employees after more than 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked into the soil and waterways in Siberia.

These arrests came nearly two weeks after the spill, which happened on May 29th. It was a result of a fuel reservoir collapse at a power plant operated by a subsidiary of metals giant Norilsk Nickel in the city of Norilsk beyond the Arctic Circle.

The Investigative Committee, which is probing the accident, said it had arrested the director of the power station, Pavel Smirnov, along with the chief engineer of the power plant Alexei Stepanov and his deputy Yuri Kuznetsov.

If charged, they would risk up to five years in prison.

The Committee said the fuel tank had required major repairs from 2018, but the suspects “continued to use it in breach of safety rules”.

“As a result the accident occurred,” the investigators’ statement said.

“On June 10th, it became known that three employees of TPP-3 were detained in the case of an oil spill. They are planning to indict them in the near future. Nikolay Utkin, vice president of the Norilsk Nickel, director of the Polar Division, said that the company considers this measure unreasonably harsh,” a statement from Norilsk Nickel said.

“There is no reason to believe that our colleagues can interfere with the investigation. The leaders of the combined heat and power plants cooperate with law enforcement agencies and now they would be much more useful at the scene of the liquidation of the consequences of the accident,” Utkin said in a statement.

Documentation was released on June 9th showing information about the reservoir. It was built in 1985 and underwent repairs in 2017 and 2018 after which it went through a safety audit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared an emergency situation and Norilsk Nickel head Vladimir Potanin told the president the company would pay for clean-up efforts estimated at $146m.

Regional officials have said despite efforts to contain the fuel leak using booms on the surface of a river, it has now reached a freshwater lake that is a important source of water for the region.

The pollution could now flow into the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia, which Greenpeace Russia expert Vladimir Chuprov said would be a “disaster”.

The metals giant has said the accident could have been caused by global warming thawing the permafrost under the fuel reservoir.

The company has acknowledged it did not specifically monitor the condition of permafrost at its sites.

https://southfront.org/russia-arrests-three-after-massive-diesel-spill-from-norilsk-nickel-power-plant-in-siberia/

Boards fucked