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MIB

Best of the Web: FBI monitoring of social media posts pre-Jan 6 raises even more questions of what it REALLY knew prior to Capitol Hill riot

protesters enter capitol building january 6
© AFP / Saul LoebSupporters of US President Donald Trump walk around in the Rotunda after breaching the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Publicly, US authorities have rigidly stuck to the story that no one saw the January 6 Capitol ruckus coming. But the publication of internal documents is casting further doubt on the established version of events.

On June 21, NBC News reported on a recent court filing that raises further questions about whether the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) foresaw what happened in Washington DC on January 6 and, if so, why the agency failed to sound the alarm in good time.

The document in question is an FBI investigative report on social media activity prior to that fateful day, produced in February, showing that enraged Donald Trump supporters were openly talking about bringing firearms to the Capitol in order to instigate a "revolution." The offending posts were used as justification to launch a probe into protest attendee Thomas Webster, a former New York Police Department officer, who was indicted the following month for attacking a Capitol Police officer.

Comment: More and more information is coming out that not only did the FBI have plants in the different groups attending the Jan 6 protests, they were the ones egging on the violence. Couple that with the various "light-touch" and confusing stand-down orders and you have the perfect dragnet for unsuspecting patriots who are now cast as enemies of the state. Tucker nails it:




Putin

Best of the Web: 'Being Open, Despite the Past' - Article by Vladimir Putin in German newspaper

An article by the President of Russia has been published in the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit and is timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic war.
Putin
© Twitter
On June 22, 1941, exactly 80 years ago, the Nazis, having conquered practically the whole of Europe, attacked the USSR. For the Soviet people the Great Patriotic War - the bloodiest one in the history of our country - began. Tens of millions of people lost their lives, the economic potential of the country and its cultural property were severely damaged.

We are proud of the courage and steadfastness of the heroes of the Red Army and home front workers who not only defended the independence and dignity of our homeland, but also saved Europe and the world from enslavement. Despite attempts to rewrite the pages of the past that are being made today, the truth is that Soviet soldiers came to Germany not to take revenge on the Germans, but with a noble and great mission of liberation. We hold sacred the memory of the heroes who fought against Nazism. We remember with gratitude our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, participants in the Resistance movement, and German anti-fascists who brought our common victory closer.

Having lived through the horrors of the world war, the peoples of Europe were nevertheless able to overcome alienation and restore mutual trust and respect. They set a course for integration in order to draw a final line under the European tragedies of the first half of the last century. And I would like to emphasize that the historical reconciliation of our people with the Germans living both in the east and the west of modern united Germany played a huge role in the formation of such Europe.

Comment: In short:

Russia to the EU: "Let us in!"

USA & UK to Russia: "No chance, EU is OURS!"


MIB

Best of the Web: China must allow another international probe into Covid-19 origin or face ISOLATION, Biden's security adviser says

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan
© REUTERS/Leah MillisWhite House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan takes questions during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 7, 2021.
China has a choice of either giving in to the Western powers' demand and allowing another WHO-led probe into Covid-19's origin or being ostracized by the international community, Joe Biden's security adviser Jake Sullivan warned.

The US president's national security adviser issued the stern warning to China during an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. Asked whether Biden intends to insist that a potential second probe into the origins of the virus must be an "independent" investigation, Sullivan said that the president had convinced Washington's allies in the G7 to pile pressure on Beijing.
"It is that diplomatic spadework - rallying the nations of the world, imposing political and diplomatic pressure on China, that is a core part of the effort we are undertaking to ultimately face China with a stark choice," Sullivan said.

Comment: It looks like the Chinese authorities know much more about the virus' origin than they publicly admit.

Whether or not they make public the information they have and reveal the true origin of the virus remains to be seen.

The US accusing the Wuhan lab of creating the virus is probably just a cover story.

The US government and the PTB will never allow real and independent investigations of their Maryland-based bio lab, Fort Detrick.

See also:


Tornado1

Best of the Web: Powerful storms rip through Belgium, including a tornado that obliterates almost 100 homes in country's south

Belgium storm damage
© YouTube/CGTN (screen capture)
Heavy downpours triggered floods in parts of Flanders last night. In Wallonia, strong gusts of wind caused a lot of damage in the municipality of Beauraing, where there are reports of 17 injured people. Beauraing is talking of a "mini-tornado". As many as 92 houses were severely damaged, 10 have been declared unfit for habitation. Over a dozen cars were damaged.


Comment: There's no such thing as a mini-tornado. This was a powerful 'full-grown' tornado. The only reason we can't report where it fell on the EF scale is because Belgium doesn't track such things because tornadoes are (or used to be) so rare there.


Beauraing, a town in Namur province, was hardest hit. The local disaster plan was started after what local authorities are labelling as "a small tornado". 17 people sustained light injuries and some 90 homes were heavily damaged, Beauraing announced in a press report. The local cultural centre offers shelter for those that sustained damage.

Several people got injured when an outdoor construction at a café terrace was swept away by a gust of wind. "The wind was incredibly strong. Houses and cars got damaged, trees were uprooted", Beauraing Mayor Marc Lejeune told the Francophone public broadcaster RTBF.

The VRT's weather presenter Frank Deboosere thinks this phenomenon can be either a local tornado or a strong downwind, triggered by the enormous downpour that created a downward air movement.



Blackbox

Best of the Web: Unindicted Co-Conspirators in 1/6 Cases Raise Disturbing Questions of Federal Foreknowledge

wray biden pelosi maga
Of all the questions asked, words spoken, and ink spilled on the so-called "Capitol Siege" of January 6, 2021, none hold the key to the entire event quite like the question Sen. Amy Klobuchar asked of Christopher Wray.

The Democrat from Minnesota asked the Trump-appointed FBI Director: Did the federal government infiltrate any of the so-called "militia" organizations claimed to be responsible for planning and executing the Capitol Siege?

The full segment is available on YouTube.


Christopher Wray is able to uncomfortably weasel his way out of answering the question directly, partially because Klobuchar does him the courtesy of not asking him the question directly. Klobuchar instead asks the FBI director if he wishes he had infiltrated the militia organizations allegedly involved in 1/6 — assuming from the outset that there was in fact no infiltration, thereby providing the FBI director an easy way to avoid addressing the question one way or another.

Pirates

Best of the Web: Media hushes up US court report suggesting FBI involvement in Capitol riot, as White House turns anti-terrorism efforts on US people


Comment: As we said at the time, the 'Insurrection on Capitol Hill' was an inside job...


Capitol Hill
© Reuters/Jim BourgCapitol Hill • Washington DC • January 6, 2020
Court filings suggest that FBI operatives were among the mob who stormed the US Capitol in January, and may have set up the riot. With the riot used as justification for new terrorism policy, the media is downplaying the story.

Fox News broadcast possibly the most consequential report in recent cable news history on Tuesday night. Fox host Tucker Carlson alleged that the Capitol Hill riot on January 6 - dubbed an "insurrection," an "assault on our democracy," and "domestic terrorism" - may have been, at least partly, an inside job.

Comment: Check out the vindictiveness in some of the above news videos.

See also:


2 + 2 = 4

Best of the Web: The devastating reality of the Arizona forensic audit

arizona ballots
© Courtney Pedroza/Getty ImagesEarly voting lasted from October 7th through the 30th in Arizona, which had a record number of early voters.
Democrats and the mainstream media have been aggressively denouncing the Maricopa County, Arizona election audit from the beginning.

At first I didn't understand why.

I thought that it was because they were afraid of what the results would be, but I now believe it's something far worse.

The Democrats aren't "just" afraid of the outcome - but they're afraid that the audit results will be irrefutable and unimpeachable. They know that their efforts to discredit the audit process in Arizona will not stand up to scrutiny and here's why.

The Arizona audit is being run impeccably, utilizing security and surveillance procedures with a longstanding track record of effectiveness.

To say that I was impressed after viewing the audit process for myself would be a massive understatement. I've spent decades working in security and law enforcement at the highest levels, and this is exactly the level of conscientiousness and attention to detail that I would demand for a sensitive or high-profile investigation.

They're not trying to reinvent the wheel; they're using the same methods casinos have used for decades to catch cheaters.

It's common knowledge that casinos are exceptionally good at catching cheaters, and if anybody tries to pull a fast one during the Arizona audit, they face the same long odds of getting away with it.

Before a person can even enter the premises, their name must be on a pre-approved list. After winding their way through a maze of corridors, they arrive at a security checkpoint where their ID is checked.

Stock Down

Best of the Web: Lebanon's Crippling Financial Crisis

lebanon crisis
Lebanon has been suffering the worst economic crisis in decades. In fact, it could be ranked as one of the world's three most severe financial crises since the mid-19th century. The latest newsletter from Father Daniël - who survived the attempted take-over by jihadis in Syria - included an interview with Sister Carmel van de H. who has been involved in delivering humanitarian aid in Lebanon. Since 1994, she has assisted Syria's sixth-century Mar Yakub monastery in the city of Qara, 90 kilometers north of the capital Damascus. In 1994, she met Mother Agnes-Mariam, the founder of the Mar Yakub monastery, and together they founded the 'Son of Man Association' in 1996. She started providing humanitarian aid in Lebanon after the Beirut port explosion (likely caused by Israel) in August 2020. Since the explosion, they managed to "open three medical centers, provide hot meals for thousands of people, repair or rebuild hundreds of houses destroyed by the explosion and set up long-term agricultural trial projects".

On why the country, which used to economically support the entire Middle East, is currently in more need of help than Syria, she notes: "A plan to destroy Lebanon has been unfolding for two years now. After devastating Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, the West is now attacking Lebanon. Lebanon has the largest gas reserves in the world. Europe is dependent on gas from Russia, so they are attacking Lebanon together with the US to take out Russia. The port of Beirut was blown up and the next day the largest ships were in port to get gas; this is a masked world war. [...] The West has imposed a heavy embargo on our country and our people are starving. All this for gas."

Whistle

Best of the Web: Putin-Biden meeting was step towards de-escalating tensions, but once again the US chose to hypocritically exploit 'human rights'

Lavrov putin biden
© Peter Klaunzer - Pool/Keystone via Getty ImagesMembers of the media film as U.S. President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meet during the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange on June 16, 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland.
On the surface, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, didn't agree on very much when they met on Wednesday for talks, but getting along isn't actually as important as trying to work together.

If they had a healthy partnership, Moscow and Washington would be able to work together as the world's two most foremost nuclear powers to put in place a framework with clear rules and mechanisms for shoring up international security. However, in a dysfunctional state of affairs, irreconcilable differences make that work nearly impossible.

That said, even with troubled ties, cooperation can continue in selected areas of mutual interest. The real danger lies in a collapse of relations, where even mutually beneficial moves get cut off in the hope that it causes more harm for the other side.

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Key

Best of the Web: Who let Capitol protesters into the building on January 6?

Johnson/Cap Riots
© Salon/Getty ImagesWisconsin Senator Ron Johnson and Capitol riots
Judge Amit Mehta thinks no one let protesters into the Capitol building on January 6.

During a pre-trial detention hearing on Friday — Joe Biden's Justice Department continues to demand jail time for nonviolent offenders before their trials even begin — the D.C. District Court judge made that false claim. "No one was let in," the Obama appointee told the lawyer representing Jason Dolan, an alleged Oath Keeper and former U.S. Marine with no criminal record. (Mehta denied the government's motion for detention but admitted it was a "close call.")

Mehta, of course, is flat wrong. Videos taken by people at the Capitol not only show some U.S. Capitol Police officers ushering protesters toward the building and allowing them to enter but, as American Greatness exclusively reported last month, USCP officers also cautioned several protesters how they should behave.

In fact, in an anonymous interview with the Gateway Pundit in May, Dolan himself described how someone inside the Capitol opened the doors. (Dolan was arrested three days after the interview was posted.) The Justice Department, in a motion to keep Dolan incarcerated awaiting trial, called his story a "conspiracy theory."

Comment: See also: