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Sherlock

Best of the Web: Trump witch hunt: Judicial Watch uncovers DOJ docs revealing Bruce Ohr was contact for Clinton operative Christopher Steele


Judicial Watch
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:36 UTC
bruce ohr and chris steele
Christopher Steele, Bruce Ohr, Glenn Simpson
Judicial Watch announced today it received 339 pages of heavily redacted records from the U.S. Department of Justice which reveal that former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr remained in regular contact with former British spy and Fusion GPS contractor Christopher Steele after Steele was terminated by the FBI in November 2016 for revealing to the media his position as an FBI confidential informant.

The records show that Ohr served as a go-between for Steele by passing along information to "his colleagues" on matters relating to Steele's activities. Ohr also set up meetings with Steele, regularly talked to him on the telephone and provided him assistance in dealing with situations Steele was confronting with the media.

Judicial Watch obtained the records through a March 2018 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed after the Justice Department failed to respond a December 2017 request Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-00490)). The lawsuit seeks:
  • All records of contact or communication, including but not limited to emails, text messages, and instant chats between Bruce Ohr and any of the following individuals/entities: former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele; owner of Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson; and any other employees or representatives of Fusion GPS.
  • All travel requests, authorizations and expense reports for Bruce Ohr.
  • All calendar entries for Bruce Ohr.
The timeframe for the requested records is January 1, 2015, to December 7, 2017.
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Star of David

Best of the Web: 3 ways of debunking the myth that anti-Zionism is anti-semitism

Ari Feldman
Forward
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 15:03 UTC
Anti israel protest orchestra
© Gill Getz
It's a bewildering and alarming time to be a Jew, both because anti-Semitism is rising and because so many politicians are responding to it not by protecting Jews but by victimizing Palestinians.

On February 16, members of France's Yellow Vest protest movement hurled anti-Semitic insults at the distinguished French Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut. On February 19, swastikas were found on 80 gravestones in Alsace. Two days later, French President Emmanuel Macron, after announcing that Europe was "facing a resurgence of anti-Semitism unseen since World War II," unveiled new measures to fight it.

Among them was a new official definition of anti-Semitism. That definition, produced by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, includes among its "contemporary examples" of anti-Semitism "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination." In other words, anti-Zionism is Jew hatred.

In so doing, Macron joined Germany, Britain, The United States and roughly thirty other governments. And like them, he made a tragic mistake.
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Handcuffs

Best of the Web: Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months in prison for tax evasion on UKRAINIAN payments - Judge confirms 'zero evidence of Trump-Russia collusion'

Katelyn Polantz
CNN
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 11:11 UTC
manafort prison
Lobbyist and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort learned on Thursday that he will serve almost four years in prison -- far short of what had been expected and recommended -- for financial fraud convictions obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigated Manafort's alleged collusion with the Russian government in 2016.


Comment: Even within its own articles, CNN can't keep its lies straight. Further down this article you'll learn that the judge explicitly said, at the outset, that:

"[Manafort] is not before the court for anything having to do with colluding with the Russian government."


The crimes, though serious among white-collar offenses, did not relate directly to Manafort's work as Trump's 2016 campaign chairman. Manafort, 69, had been facing up to 25 years in prison, a sentence that could have essentially kept him in jail for the rest of his life.


Comment: It was never gonna happen. The US govt, as it is, literally cannot function without middlemen like Manaforts accepting cash for access to US leaders and potential leaders. What is interesting however, is that this particular middleman got any prison time at all...


Comment: 'The mastermind behind it all! We got him! America, you are safe and free and pure again!'

Manafort's trial is the textbook definition of scapegoat.

The reason Manafort was swimming in dirty Ukie money is because he was, for over a decade, an active go-between for US meddling in Russia's neighbor, culminating in the bloody coup of 2014. That's also likely why he's getting jail-time at all (though it could yet be annulled via presidential pardon): Manafort was meddling on behalf of the Clinton State Department...

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Star of David

Best of the Web: House Democrats pull bill equating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism after 'full-scale brawl' erupts over Ilhan Omar

Allison Deger
Mondoweiss
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 10:37 UTC
Ilhan Omar
© WikimediaIlhan Omar
Divides among House Democrats exploded today beginning in a closed door session this morning where lawmakers argued with party leadership over a resolution to denounce anti-Semitism, an apparent move to condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar.

According to the Washington Post the meeting descended into a "full-scale brawl" when representatives, primarily from the Congressional Black Caucus called to cancel the vote, and in an unexpected turn, was delayed indefinitely by early evening. One source in the room said Rep. Jan Schakowsky demanded (D-IL), "Everyone stop tweeting!" as decorum fell.

The Post spoke with several lawmakers who opposed sanctioning one of their own members, while at the same time ignoring anti-Semitic comments from GOP officials. Some raised that Democrats never produced legislation to denounce the White House - comments in likely reference to President Donald Trump's statement about "good people on both sides" in the wake of the Charlottesville march in 2017 where a white nationalist killed a protester:

Comment: Wow, just wow. In the space of just 10 days, both French and US authorities have freaked out over 'anti-anti-semitism' and seriously considered passing legislation banning criticism of Israel.

Given the concurrent 'anti-anti-semitism' crisis in the UK, it is no doubt being considered there too.

What a remarkable succession of events.

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Star of David

Best of the Web: Pakistan intelligence report: India plotted dangerous attack with Israeli help

Meher Bokhari
Dawn
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 21:37 UTC
modi netanyahu
India, with the backing of Israel, and at the peak of its standoff with Pakistan had last week, planned a "dangerous attack" to be executed from its Rajasthan airbase, a highly placed government source revealed on Monday.

Timely intelligence and backdoor messaging made it clear to India that a befitting response would be given if it were to go ahead with the planned attack, one which would possibly take the countries to a "point of no return".

And as the nuclear-armed neighbours wound up a tough week in what was possibly the most near-war situation the two have been in since decades, no one is quite sure of what to expect next.

However, the top civilian source observed that the next possible escalation by India would not be in terms of ground, air or missiles - but more likely in the form of a hybrid conflict in the nature of militant attacks, economic measures etc.


Comment: Israel certainly knows all about that.


Comment: India's debasement from pro-Palestinian supporters to Israeli boot-lickers is repugnant.

But, who else are you gonna call when you want something done?

India is determined to force Pakistan to finally deal with its terrorist problem, and both India and Israel benefit from regional tension thwarting China's leading role in Eurasian integration.

'Someone' here gave the Pakistanis a heads-up. Without it, India and Israel might have escalated this flare-up into something more serious than we've seen to date.

On the other hand, the 'plan' may have been deliberately leaked as psy-op, a bluff to put the Pakistan government on notice regarding what India could do, and what powerful backing its aggressive moves potentially have.

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War Whore

Best of the Web: Ex-president Musharraf admits Pakistani intel ISI used terror outfit JeM to carry out attacks in India during his tenure

Bobins Abraham
India Times
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 21:32 UTC
Pervez Musharraf
© GettyFormer Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf

Comment: This is probably as close we'll get to governments admitting they use terrorists as proxy military forces. And make no mistake; Pakistan is NOT the exception...


Facing global isolation for harbouring terrorists, the establishment in Pakistan seems to have gone into a tizzy. While the civilian leadership is busy defending "unwell" Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar who "cannot even leave his home" the powerful Pakistan Army says there is no Jaish in Pakistan.

And even as Pakistan continues to deny the JeM links to the Pulwama terror attack and acknowledge the evidence handed over by India, the country had more international embarrassment on Wednesday after former Army Chief and President Pervez Musharraf admitted that the ISI has been using the terror outfit to carry out attacks in India during his tenure.

"Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat between India and Pakistan. They were conducting bomb blasts in Pakistan and we were getting it done there (in India)," he said. The exiled former leader made the revelations while talking to a Pakistani journalist for a talk show.
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Russian Flag

Best of the Web: Stephen Cohen: The long history of US-Russian 'meddling'

Stephen F. Cohen
The Nation
Wed, 06 Mar 2019 17:43 UTC
russian flag
© Reuters / Alexander DemianchukA man waves a Russian flag in St. Petersburg in November 1998.
Even though the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee found "no direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia," Russiagate allegations of "collusion" between candidate and then-President Donald Trump and the Kremlin have poisoned American politics for nearly three years. They are likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future, due not only to the current subpoena-happy Democratic chairs of House "investigative" committees.

At the core of the Russiagate narrative is the allegation that the Kremlin "meddled" in the 2016 US presidential election. The word "meddle" is nebulous and could mean almost anything, but Russiagate zealots deploy it in the most ominous ways, as a war-like "attack on America," a kind of "Pearl Harbor." They also imply that such meddling is unprecedented when in fact both the United States and Russia have interfered repeatedly in the other's internal politics, in one way or another, certainly since the 1917 Russian Revolution.

For context, recall that such meddling is an integral part of Cold War and that there have been three Cold Wars between America and Russia during the past one hundred years. The first was from 1917 to 1933, when Washington did not even formally recognize the new Soviet government in Moscow. The second is, of course, the best known, the 40-year Cold War from about 1948 to 1988, when the US and Soviet leaders, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, declared it over. And then, by my reckoning, the new, ongoing Cold War began in the late 1990s, when the Clinton administration initiated the expansion of NATO toward Russia's borders and bombed Moscow's longtime Slav and political ally Serbia.

That's approximately 85 years of US-Russian Cold War in a hundred years of relations and, not surprisingly, a lot of meddling on both sides, even leaving aside espionage and spies. The meddling has taken various forms.
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Megaphone

Best of the Web: UN human rights rep demands 'full investigation' on France's 'excessive force' against Yellow Vests


RT
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 16:02 UTC
Yellow Vests
© Reuters/Benoit TessierYellow Vests hold banner reading "Stop Police Violence."
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has called for a full investigation into reports of excessive use of force by the French police against Yellow Vest protesters resulting in over 2,000 injured and dozens being maimed.

"We encourage the government to continue dialogue - including follow-up to the national discussions which are currently underway - and urge full investigation of all reported cases of excessive use of force," the former Chilean President said in her annual address to the UN Human Rights council in Geneva. Her speech highlighted how the Yellow Vests' demand for "respectful dialogue" has seemingly been met with over the top violence by the state.

Comment: Uhm, there have been 9 deaths in the Haiti protests. There have been 11 deaths in the French ones.

See also:

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Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Former Adviser to Venezuelan President Chavez: 'There's no way to save Maduro'


Sputnik
Wed, 06 Mar 2019 17:05 UTC
maduro
© AFP 2018 / HO / Venezuelan Presidency
Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, returned to the country on Monday and successfully passed immigration control at Caracas Airport, despite fears he might be arrested after flouting a travel ban imposed by the nation's Supreme Court.

After his arrival, Guaido greeted crowds at an opposition rally and called on his supporters to take to the streets for more protests on Saturday.

Sputnik has discussed the situation in Venezuela with Professor Heinz Dieterich, an adviser to the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who now manages a research centre at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City.

Sputnik: The economic crisis that's continuing in Venezuela started in the last century under the former leader Hugo Chavez. In your view has the situation spiralled now even more so under President Maduro?

Heinz Dieterich: Maduro inherited an economic and political model that was already in crisis in the last years of President Chavez's government and that was due to the 2008 world financial economic capitalist crisis which brought down the oil price and the whole model of Hugo Chavez had been based on the foreign income of the high oil price plateau, and that was enough to satisfy the Venezuelan bourgeoisie and the masses and also the US transnational corporations who were omitted from in the oil exploitation.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Bulb

Best of the Web: Universal basic income for every American? In defense of Andrew Yang's Freedom Dividend

Samuel Kronen
Quillette
Wed, 06 Mar 2019 18:06 UTC
andrew yang
We should replace the ragbag of specific welfare programs with a single comprehensive program of income supplements in cash - a negative income tax. It would provide an assured minimum to all persons in need, regardless of the reasons for their need...A negative income tax provides comprehensive reform which would do more efficiently and humanely what our present welfare system does so inefficiently and inhumanely.
~Milton Friedman
I get emotional about facts.
~Andrew Yang
Although we are still a long way from the 2020 presidential campaigns, whispers of who the Democratic candidates will be and what policy platforms will be adopted is steadily droning into an orchestra. We can already predict some of the names that are likely to appear on the ballot sheet and the talking points that will be heard on the campaign trail, and it would not be imprudent to suspect the upcoming election will be even uglier and more contentious than the last.

While the overwhelming majority of political pundits seem to be pouring their energies into slamming the current president-criticizing old models rather than conjuring new ones-many are wondering what will be left standing in the wake of yet another crashing political wave.
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