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Bedfellows: Iran and Al Qaeda by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on December 12th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16841/iran-al-qaeda

In addition, a trove of 470,000 documents, released by the CIA in late 2017, point to close ties between the Iranian regime and Al-Qaeda…. According to the documents, Iran also provided Al Qaeda with “money and arms and everything they need, and offered them training in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon, in return for striking American interests in Saudi Arabia.”

Eight of the 9/11 attack hijackers passed through Iran before coming to the US. Tehran provided funding, logistical support and ammunition to Al-Qaeda leaders, and sheltered several of them in exchange for attacks on US interests.

As sanctions against Iran were lifted during the Obama administration, it quickly became clear that those actions, instead, gave Iran’s brutality to its own people and its adventurism abroad a global legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. This newfound legitimacy and the lifting of sanctions generated billions of dollars for Iran’s military institution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as for Iran’s militia and terror groups. Tehran used those revenues to expand its influence throughout the region, including in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. The expansion campaign proved to be immensely successful.

If Biden becomes the next US president and if he pursues the same policies towards Iran as former President Barack Obama, he will not only embolden this predatory regime, but also empower its allies, as well as terror groups such as Al Qaeda.

While the presumptive President-Elect Joe Biden is advocating for pursuing appeasement policies with Iran’s ruling mullahs as did his former boss, President Barack Obama, it should be noted he will be assisting a regime that has close ties not only to Shia militia groups but also to the terrorist group Al Qaeda.

Some people might attempt to convince you that Iran and Al Qaeda are enemies because the Iranian government is Shia and Al Qaeda is Sunni, but evidence shows strong collaboration between the two.

HISTORY, MOVIES AND TELEVISION Comments turned off

The Windermere Children: Safe at Last: Joe Dolce

Posted By on December 12th, 2020

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2020/12/the-windermere-children-safe-at-last-joe-dolce/

The Montefiore Home in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda is a Jewish residential aged-care facility that opened in 1897, and was named after Sir Moses Montefiore, 1st Baronet (1784–1885), a philanthropist, British banker and Sheriff of London.

Montefiore was from an Italian-Jewish family and had no children of his own, but his long and active life got him a mention in the letters of George Eliot, the diaries of Charles Dickens and James Joyce’s Ulysses. His great-grandnephew Leonard G. Montefiore (1886–1961) was the founding member of the Central British Fund for Jewish Relief, and the driving force behind the Windermere Children Project, a scheme in 1945 to allow young Jewish concentration camp survivors into Britain.

Montefiore had previously helped to bring 10,000 Jewish children to the UK before the Second World War, in a scheme known as the Kindertransport. But Britain was now in an economic crisis and practically bankrupt from six years of war, and assisting foreign refugees was not a priority.

Through persistent letter-writing and lobbying, he secured an agreement with the Home Office to allow 300 children to be air-lifted on two RAF Stirling bombers from the liberated concentration
camp and ghetto of Theresienstadt in northern Czechoslovakia (right). They would be housed in a former seaplane factory, closed at the end of the war, known as Calgarth Estate, on the banks of Lake Windermere in England’s Lake District. The workers’ barracks-style accommodation of the factory would allow each child to have their own room. A team of counsellors, led by German-Jewish psychoanalyst Oscar Friedmann, was tasked with the social experiment of rehabilitating the traumatised children in four months. The Home Office stipulated that Montefiore had to arrange the finance to support the project. He appealed to Britain’s Jewish community and donations started arriving from rich and poor.

This inspiring true story is dramatised in a movie, The Windermere Children (2020), directed by Michael Samuels, co-written by Samuels and Simon Block, and produced for BBC and ZDF.

HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

China’s leaders understand all too well from their historical experience how to control America: Use compradors By Thomas Lifson

Posted By on December 12th, 2020

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/12/chinas_leaders_understand_all_too_well_how_to_control_america_from_their_own_historical_experience_use_compradors.html

There is a very large, rich, and influential class of Americans who owe their wealth and standing to China, having mightily prospered through business ties to the Middle Kingdom.  Every educated person in China understands the way such ties linking a wealthy elite beholden to foreign interests can be used to bring down even the mightiest of nations.

The word “comprador” (买办, pronounced mǎi bàn), referring to the Chinese businessmen who allied themselves with Western imperialists, becoming wealthy and, in the view of the Chinese Communist Party, betraying the nation, is a curse word among Communists.

[T]here are two kinds of bourgeoisie — the national bourgeoisie and the comprador-bourgeoisie[.] … The comprador-bourgeoisie is always a running dog of imperialism[.] 

—Mao Tse-tung  Some Experiences in Our Party’s History, 1956

Dex Bahr, elsewhere in American Thinker today, correctly ties minimal media coverage of (and the previous suppression of) the story of the Swalwell spy scandal to the business interests of their corporate and individual masters:

What does Google/YouTube have in common with media outlets that have ignored the Swalwell Chinese spy scandal? CNN (WarnerMedia), NBC, MSNBC (Universal/Comcast), ABC/ESPN (Disney) and CBS (National Amusements) are all owned by companies that have been reported extensive business ties with Chinese Corporations which in turn are tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  The owners of the New York Times, which include Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim who as of 2018 had a 15.4% stake, and perhaps as much as 17.4% if this account has it right, and at the Washington Post, where Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought it outright, also have business ventures with China based companies (Read this May 2020 story from the Federalist for further details)

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Restaurant Lockdown Massacre New shutdown orders punish minorities and low-income workers.

Posted By on December 12th, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-restaurant-lockdown-massacre-11607730189?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

New York’s Andrew Cuomo on Friday joined the stampede of Democratic governors shutting down restaurants despite scant evidence that they are driving a surge in Covid cases. Their shutdowns are hitting minorities the hardest and increasing economic inequality.

Democratic governors in Michigan, Illinois, Oregon and Washington in recent weeks have closed indoor dining. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has banned outdoor patios in most areas too. Mr. Cuomo said Friday that he’s shutting down indoor dining in New York City as of Monday.

According to state contact tracing data, restaurants and bars account for 1.4% of the virus spread in the state while household gatherings make up nearly 74%. That’s not surprising. In New York City, restaurants were limited to 25% capacity. Who limits capacity in their living rooms during football watch parties or Thanksgiving?

Restaurants and other small businesses have spent heavily to comply with government Covid regulations, including buying personal protective equipment for staff and improved ventilation systems. But now they are being punished because, well, government can’t control the virus and Democratic leaders feel they must appear to be doing something.

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As Swalwell Spy Scandal Spirals, Pelosi Won’t Say How Many Other House Intel Dems Had Sexual Relationships With Spies December 11, 2020 By Jordan Davidson

Posted By on December 11th, 2020

https://thefederalist.com/2020/12/11/as-swalwell-spy-scandal-spirals-pelosi-wont-say-how-many-other-house-intel-dems-had-sexual-relationships-with-spies/

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will not say if any other Democrats sitting on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have had political or sexual relationships with foreign spies.

This week, reporting by Axios revealed that suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang cultivated deep connections with U.S. Democratic politicians in the Bay Area for years, including with California Rep. Eric Swalwell, to send political intelligence and personal information back to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), one of the country’s primary spying agencies.

Fang reportedly developed a relationship with Swalwell, raising millions for Swalwell’s re-election in 2014 and assisting in placing at least one intern in his Washington, D.C. office before abruptly leaving the country in 2015, around the same time a counterintelligence investigation was opened on her.

The Federalist previously reported that in addition to bundling donors for the congressman, officials believe Fang may have been sexually and romantically involved with Swalwell.

The Federalist asked Pelosi if she knew how many other Democrat members of the House Intelligence Committee have had political, sexual, or relationships with spies for hostile foreign countries. Her office did not comment and instead pointed to her statement that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s questions about the influence Fang had on Swalwell, a sitting member on multiple intelligence committees, are simply a distraction from QAnon conspiracy theories.

“You know what he’s trying to do? He’s trying to deflect attention from the fact that he has QAnon in his delegation over there. And that I think is a danger in terms of our debate here about, you know, what the possibilities are for undue influence to Members of Congress,” she said at a Thursday press conference.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Will Anyone Face Any Consequences For Gaslighting Americans On The Hunter Biden Story? By Ben Domenech

Posted By on December 11th, 2020

https://thefederalist.com/2020/12/11/will-anyone-face-any-consequences-for-gaslighting-americans-on-the-hunter-biden-story/

Will anyone in media, Big Tech, or the expert class be held accountable for claiming the Biden family investigations were a fantasy Russian disinformation plot?

So now that it is overwhelmingly evident the New York Post’s initial Hunter and Jim Biden story wasn’t based on hacked material, wasn’t Russian misinformation, is clearly something people deserved to know before voting, and that big tech and America’s corporate media tried to make sure that didn’t happen – and that once again rather than alter their behavior or ask for forgiveness, they’re going to instead attempt to gaslight you about all of it – I have a number of questions.

First, when did Joe Biden first learn that his repeated claims the stories about his son and his brother were Fake News – or in his phrasing, debunked, smears, and the like – were in fact false? When was he briefed on this exactly, and by whom? And why, given that every effort was made to distance Hunter from the campaign, did the defensive announcement come from the Transition instead of just from Hunter himself if Joe, as he has always claimed, has nothing to do with this?

Second, William Barr reportedly worked very hard to keep the Hunter Biden investigation hidden from the public – something that won’t help his standing with the conspiracy minded. While I can understand why this was done, will there be some explanation offered as to why this wasn’t an unusual act of deference, influenced by the 2016 concerns over James Comey’s behavior? Andrew McCarthy offers an explanation here, one which I am not sure will satisfy critics who believe American voters at least deserved to know the rumored investigation was real much earlier in the process.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

All eyes on Supreme Court in Texas fight By John Kruzel

Posted By on December 11th, 2020

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/529839-all-eyes-on-supreme-court-in-texas-fight

All eyes turned to the Supreme Court on Friday after a final round of briefs were submitted in Texas’s unprecedented and widely panned effort to upend President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, teeing up the justices to take action in the case. 

The consensus among election law experts is that the court will roundly reject Texas’s extraordinary request to invalidate Biden’s win in the four key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin. 

With the filing of its reply brief on Friday morning, Texas cleared the way for the court to issue an order on its request for a preliminary injunction, perhaps later that same day. Some court watchers expect the court will act no later than Sunday, ahead of the next day’s Electoral College meetings to formalize Biden’s win over President Trump. 

The Texas brief Friday came after the filing of amicus briefs from dozens of state attorneys general who carved out positions on either side of the dispute, 106 House Republican members who are backing Texas and a request by Trump to join the Lone Star State as a party to the lawsuit.

If legal experts’ predictions are borne out and the court denies Texas’s bid, one variable that could affect the timing of such a move is whether any of the nine justices plan to write a statement accompanying the court’s order. 

In two fairly recent instances, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the court’s most conservative members, expressed disagreement over their colleagues’ dismissal of a pair of disputes that pitted states against each other, noting their belief that the court is obligated to hear interstate suits.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, ELECTIONS Comments turned off

It’s Not Just the STEAL  Jim O’Neill

Posted By on December 11th, 2020

https://canadafreepress.com/article/its-not-just-the-steal

There is a growing, gnawing, seething cold anger among Real Americans, towards the pure evil we’ve watched steal from the citizenry & usurp power by the hand of Lucifer himself, the driving force behind the darkness in their hearts.  

I received the above comment in an email sent to me today by a longtime friend.  I believe that her cold fury speaks for many – myself included.  It is a fury that the “powers that be” ignore at their peril.

e the People know that we did not just merely have an election stolen from us – we had our freedom stolen, we had our rights stolen, we had our future stolen, we had our power stolen.  Trust me when I tell you that if this blatant coup is successful then all bets are off and the fury will erupt.  

You think you’ve seen asymmetrical warfare?  You ain’t seen nothing yet.  It will mean a long, bloody, and vicious civil war, and the ruination of America…but what the hell, the country will be destroyed in any event if the fraudulent election stands.

His [Biden’s] season in the sun—coming decades after he first tossed his hat into the presidential ring—may well usher in a dark winter that will persist long after next year’s first crocuses bloom.—Nick Gillespie ”11 Trillion Reasons to Fear Joe Biden’s Presidency”    

But it’s not just about outrageous election fraud, infuriating as that is.  We the People’s cold fury has been building up for some time – I’m not discussing some spur of the moment hissy fit.  I’m talking about an anger that has been building momentum for years…decades really.   

To keep things simple, I’ll mention just a few recent events of note, events that made our ire seethe.  Former FBI director Comey’s laughably vapid defense of Hillary Clinton’s illegal server was one such event.  She was cleared of all wrongdoing because she didn’t intend to break the law.  Really?  Try that one on for size if you ever get pulled over for speeding.  Let me know how it goes.  No, don’t bother, I know how it will go for anyone not of the elite.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Why We Must Restore America’s Industrial Innovation By Henry Kressel & David Goldman

Posted By on December 11th, 2020

https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2020/12/11/why_we_must_restore_america

Americans take it for granted that they can continue to enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. And with the Dow at 30,000, why worry?

When asked to list major economic problems, Americans are most likely to cite income inequality at the top of the list. That issue dominated this year’s debates among Democrat Party presidential hopefuls. The perceived problem is unfairness in sharing the national wealth. It is assumed that somehow the hidden machine that produces national wealth will continue to function on its own. The golden goose will keep laying eggs; thus, we need to spread more around for everyone.

The reality that the incoming Biden administration will confront is that our trajectory is not sustainable. Today’s concerns about redistributing wealth will give way to worries about how to create wealth in the first place.

The most telling piece of data published over the last 12 months appeared last week, without attracting any comment: for the first time on record, the U.S. dollar no longer was the dominant currency in international payments, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). More transactions were conducted in euros. Eventually, China’s RMB will challenge the dollar as well.

This matters because the dollar’s status as the main global-reserve currency gives the U.S. trillions of dollars of cheap loans from the rest of the world. Central banks held $7 trillion in dollar reserves as of June 30, 2020, mostly invested in U.S. Treasury securities, and private companies hold many trillions more to pay for trade in goods and services.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, ELECTIONS Comments turned off

SOS blocks forensic analysis of the 22 dominion machines in MI By M. Dowling VIDEO

Posted By on December 11th, 2020

https://www.independentsentinel.com/sos-blocks-forensic-analysis-of-the-22-dominio

What happened to the results of the examination of the 22 Dominion voting machines in Antrim County, Michigan? The results are being hidden.

We have been waiting for the results of the examination by an outside group on December 6th of the 22 Dominion machines in Michigan, but that has been blocked by Judge Kevin Elsenheimer. He ruled Thursday that Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office could intervene on behalf of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, The Detroit News reported.

She argued that she had supervisory control over the Antrim County clerk, had an interest in any audit discussions the case may raise and was party to the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems.

The Secretary of State’s office wants to know more about the forensic imaging performed  by a Village of Central Lake resident and Allied Security Operations Group, said Assistant Attorney General Heather Meingast.

“We’d like to know more about what was obtained, what the intent is for the use of the images obtained,” Meingast said, noting the disclosure of some elements of the tabulators could compromise their security in future elections.

Judge Elsenheimer said he’d move this along quickly, but don’t count on it.