If you haven't heard by now, let me break it to you: Justice and politics don't mix. And most judges are cowards. Here's the short version of the Kari Lake election trial - from a writer who lives and votes in dysfunctional Maricopa County.

From the get-go: The Judge lowered Lake's 10 submitted counts to only two. Then he set the bar to an unreachable high - by insisting that proving election failures, and massive disenfranchisement of voters, was not going to be enough. Nope. He required proof that Maricopa County fully intended to sabotage our election.

And he gave Lake's team just two days to do it.

The International Court of Justice will study how Israel's policies and actions affect the illegal occupation of Palestine.

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution seeking an official legal opinion from the International Court of Justice regarding the consequences of Israel's ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Adopted on Friday, the measure was celebrated by Palestinian leaders as a first step toward accountability.

The resolution asks the ICJ to advise on the legal consequences arising from Israel's ongoing "occupation, settlement and annexation" of the Palestinian territories, "including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures." The court should explain how specific Israeli policies and actions "affect the legal status of the occupation" and set out the legal consequences that could result - not just for Israel but for the UN and its members.

Government House has confirmed that Attorney General Denise George has been "relieved of her duties" but in a short statement Sunday night declined to say why.

"I relieved Denise George of her duties as attorney general this weekend," Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said. "I thank her for her service to the people of the territory during the past four years as attorney general and wish her the best in her future endeavors. Assistant Attorney General Carol Thomas-Jacobs will serve as acting attorney general."

The termination comes less than a week after George filed suit against JPMorgan Chase Bank in Manhattan federal court, alleging the company facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In a recent article I asked why U.S. intelligence officials were following the coronavirus outbreak in China in November 2019 when there is no evidence anyone in China was aware of or concerned about the virus at that point. I noted that no evidence had been produced to explain how they spotted it and why they were concerned. Combined with a lack of cooperation with investigations into Covid origins and multiple signs of a cover-up, this unexplained early awareness of the virus is not just mysterious but suspicious.

Since publishing that piece I have been reminded about a report from Harvard University produced in June 2020 (apparently with intelligence community involvement) that appeared alongside a companion news report for ABC News and showed satellite images from Wuhan in the autumn of 2019 along with some data analysis, indicating increased hospital activity and other possible signals of disease outbreak.

France, already the main importer of Russian LNG in Europe, has become the world's leading importer of Putin's natural gas, beating even Japan in February and March. It comes as European imports are said to have increased by 40 percent this year.

Between January and October, France imported 4.45 million tonnes of Russian LNG, an increase of 52 percent in one year.

It comes as Russia's deputy prime minister opened the door to a return of gas supplies to Poland and Germany via the Yamal gas pipeline, which is currently unused.

"There is this element of madmen—some of the politicians, some of them military people, many of them in the US State Department, the CIA—who would be willing to do the most reckless and insane of actions to risk nuclear war or even to initiate it."

On December 16, I spoke with Senator Richard Black about Ukraine's long war against the civilians of the Donbass, Russia's Special Military Operation in Ukraine, and the Western warmongers behind it all and their drive for endless war.

Senator Black has had an extensive military, legal and political career, serving in the US marines, and after obtaining his law degree, serving in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps and head of the Army's Criminal Law Division in the Pentagon. He served eight years in the Virginia State Senate.

He is one of the few sane American voices loudly advocating for the end to Ukraine's genocide of the Donbass people, and for an end to the West's proxy war against Russia.


Follow him at:

http://www.senatorblack.com/

"It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it." ~ John Coleman - Meteorologist and founder of the American Weather Channel.

Only 36 percent of geoscientists and engineers believe humanity is causing a climate crisis, according to a survey from the peer-reviewed Organization Studies. In contrast, a large majority of the 1,077 respondents are convinced that nature is the main cause of global warming.

Global warming skeptic scientists do not deny that man-made CO2 is warming the planet. But regard the amount of CO2 emitted by humans as too minuscule to make a difference.

Remember Al Gore's globally promoted documentary ''An inconvenient truth,'' calling for "drastic measures" to reduce greenhouse gases before they reach "the point of no return" within ten years? Well, the ten years have passed. And the doomsday scenarios have not materialized.

"The powerful are panicking, and so they should. Their secrets are leaking." — Miranda Devine

"It's all just snake oil. We want to save the planet, and the life upon it, but we're not willing to pay the price and bear the consequences. So we make up a narrative that feels good and run with it." — Raul Ilargi Meijer

"2023 could be a pivotal year for the USA if the pervasive lying can be exposed, digested, and believed. All that exposure has to happen amidst continuing boondoggles toward the Great Reset agenda." - Truman Verdun

"More borrowing only ever makes sense if you are expecting a larger economy in the future. All economic expansion is based on energy. Countries with energy can expand, those without cannot." — Chris Martenson

"To be an enemy to America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal." — Henry Kissinger

It's hard to contemplate 2023 without spiraling into nausea, tachycardia, and cold sweat. But it is an inescapable duty here to lay out the probabilities ahead. I've been doing this forecast thing for some years now, and, of course, I am often wrong, so take some solace in that and relax. Maybe the new year will be all unicorns, rainbows, talking gerbils, and candied violets.

Why Mauritania is turning into an alliance outpost in the region - a recent report by Nikolay Dmitrievich Plotnikov outlines the potential for a new NATO front with Russia with Mauritania converted into a NATO alliance outpost in the region.

The following is a translation of the article in Russian. Click on images for supporting links that I have added:

Western 'peacekeeping missions' in Mali have failed. Following France and Britain, Germany is now considering the withdrawal of their troops from Mali. The rationale is universally accepted - the increase in Islamist activity in Mali and the alleged expansion of Russian military presence aligned to the much talked about PMC Wagner group.

However, the collective West and NATO does not have any intention of leaving. The alliance outpost and base is the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (IRM). It is first choice because it borders on Western Sahara, Senegal, Algeria, Mali and is at the junction of two key areas of West Africa - Maghreb and Sahel. The IRM has become more important since Mahel was released from the Sahel Group of Five (G5 Sahel) with headquarters in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. The members were Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mauritania.

According to NATO leadership, cooperation with IRM will help maintain NATO influence on the southern flank of the Tropic of Cancer in the Atlantic Ocean and Central Africa. According to the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, this will enable NATO to compete with the growing influence of Russia and China in the region, using 'economic leverage' to advance NATO interests.

It is difficult to determine where Stoltenberg's fears about Russian expansion come from. Perhaps he was worried by Moscow's intentions to hold the second Russian-African summit in 2023? However this is the sovereign business of Russia and African countries. Prevention tactics were to replace the Kremlin's influence with various new alliance delegations. In turn, Moorish officials became welcome guests at NATO headquarters.

Mauritania has been a historical partner of the North Atlantic Alliance in the framework of the Mediterranean Dialogue since 1995 - other partners are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Based on the Individual Partnership Plan, NATO specialists consult and train the command staff of the national army and security structures of Mauritania. They also assist in building the capacity and military infrastructure of its armed forces.

At the alliance summit in Brussels in June 2021 NATO's collective security threat was announced in connection with the escalation in the Sahara-Sahel region. At the summit in Madrid 2022, Mauritania announced the allocation of a new "aid" package. Details of the package were not disclosed. In general terms it is believed that the assistance will be targeting support for the Moorish army - for Intelligence, special operations and ensuring maritime security.

An air base deep in Russian territory has been attacked twice with drones in less than one month. It is not some remote outlying facility either. The air base near the city of Saratov houses nuclear-capable Russian strategic bomber aircraft.

The latest attack was on December 26 in which three Russian servicemen were killed from falling drone debris after the weapon was reportedly shot down. Saratov is 730 kilometers southeast of Moscow and hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

On December 5, the air base was also targeted, again apparently by drones. On the same day, an air base at Rayazan less than 200 kilometers from Moscow was also attacked. The next day on December 6, a military facility at Kursk was targeted.

Ukrainian forces have not openly claimed responsibility for the attacks but there have been reports in the U.S. media hinting at that. The White House and State Department have both denied any American involvement, claiming that the U.S. has urged Ukraine not to strike Russian territory. "We are not encouraging Ukraine to strike beyond its borders," said Ned Price, the State Department spokesman.

Nevertheless, there is the question of how are drones making their way deep inside Russian territory to launch air strikes on strategic targets.

It seems implausible that offensive unmanned aerial vehicles could travel undetected for hundreds of kilometers over Russian airspace, and then mount attacks on highly sensitive military sites. More likely, the weapons have been activated near their intended targets.