There have long been attempts in the anti-Syrian media to claim alignment of the socialist and anti-sectarian Syrian government with western fascist and religious supremacist elements. The latest in this propaganda genre is the just published Intercept piece Why White Nationalists Love Bashar al-Assad.

The Intercept is a rather dubious news outlet founded by Pierre Omidyar, a major owner of the auctioning site eBay and its PayPal banking division. It most recent remarkable moment was its betrayal of a NSA whistle-blower who fatuously had trusted The Intercept to act professionally:

The United States shows the world such a ridiculous face that the world laughs at us.

The latest spin on "Russia stole the election" is that Russia used Facebook to influence the election. The NPR women yesterday were breathless about it.

We have been subjected to ten months of propaganda about Trump/Putin election interference and still not a scrap of evidence. It is past time to ask an unasked question: If there were evidence, what is the big deal? All sorts of interest groups try to influence election outcomes including foreign governments. Why is it OK for Israel to influence US elections but not for Russia to do so? Why do you think the armament industry, the energy industry, agribusiness, Wall Street and the banks, pharmaceutical companies, etc., etc., supply the huge sum of money to finance election campaigns if their intent is not to influence the election? Why do editorial boards write editorials endorsing one candidate and damning another if they are not influencing the election?

What is the difference between influencing the election and influencing the government? Washington is full of lobbyists of all descriptions, including lobbyists for foreign governments, working round the clock to influence the US government. It is safe to say that the least represented in the government are the citizens themselves who don't have any lobbyists working for them.

The orchestrated hysteria over "Russian influence" is even more absurd considering the reason Russia allegedly interfered in the election. Russia favored Trump because he was the peace candidate who promised to reduce the high tensions with Russia created by the Obama regime and its neocon nazis-Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, Susan Rice, and Samantha Power. What's wrong with Russia preferring a peace candidate over a war candidate? The American people themselves preferred the peace candidate. So Russia agreed with the electorate.

Those who don't agree with the electorate are the warmongers-the military/security complex and the neocon nazis. These are democracy's enemies who are trying to overturn the choice of the American people. It is not Russia that disrespects the choice of the American people; it is the utterly corrupt Democratic National Committee and its divisive Identity Politics, the military/security complex, and the presstitute media who are undermining democracy.

With ISIS' three-year blockade of Deir ez-Zor effectively broken by government forces, the offensive against the terrorists continues. The Syrian army, supported by Russian forces from the air, has succeeded in breaking the siege of an important air base, thereby retaking it from the terrorist group.

Military officials said that the recapture of the base, made possible by the support of the Russian Air Force, marks one of the most important victories over IS in the past three years.

Earlier on Saturday, Syrian state TV reported that the Teym oilfield was recaptured from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists. This eastern part of Syria is an oil-rich area.

The forces now aim to retake the remaining parts of Deir ez-Zor from the terrorists. The army is said to be on the verge of fully liberating the city, which is one of the last IS strongholds in Syria.

One lawyer recently sat down with Tucker Carlson and make a very bold claim. Ty Clevenger is claiming that the FBI is holding out on releasing the emails because they tried to cover it all up and don't want to make themselves look bad!

Daily Caller Reports:

Lawyer Ty Clevenger says the FBI is desperately trying to cover its tracks by not releasing former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails.

Clevenger spoke with Tucker Carlson on Fox News Thursday night about his efforts to gain access through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. That request was denied and the lawyer said he originally wondered if former president Barack Obama was still running the FBI.

The FBI told him that his request "wasn't in the public interest."

"They're saying the public doesn't care," Clevenger added.

Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of Martial Law appears to have helped win the conflict.

Rodrigo Duterte's decision to put his home island of Mindanao in southern Philippines under Martial Law has paid off in respect of a consolidated military victory against ISIS fighters.

Beginning in May of 2017, local fighters, augmented by some foreign terrorists laid siege to the Muslim majority city of Marawi on Mindanao.

Since then, Philippine troops have battled heavily armed ISIS fighters in the city while attempting to free as many hostages as possible.

The Asia Times reports,

"The military estimates it has rescued over 1,700 people that were either taken hostage or trapped by the fighting".

According to Philippine Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez Jr, ISIS linked terrorists in Marawi are now limited to an area of between 400 and 600 square meters with as few as 40 militants left.

The recent corruption allegations involving Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Benjamin Netanyahu, is just the latest in a long line of scandals surrounding the Israeli Prime Minister.

Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is currently facing an indictment for allegedly spending over $100,000 of taxpayer money on catered chef's meals and lavish parties in violation of the existing regulations.

China has shot down missiles near the North Korean border in a provocative show of force against Kim Jong-un's hermit kingdom.

North Korea was sent a direct message from Beijing yesterday in an explosive military drill near the border between the two states.

China's air force carried out exercises near the peninsula, practising to defend against a "surprise attack" - presumably from their erratic neighbours.

Chinese state-run media, which effectively acts as a propaganda wing for leader Xi Jingping's government, said the drills took place early yesterday.

As Donald Trump prides himself on being unpredictable, he may well be pleased with a new New Yorker report from Evan Osnos that found North Korea couldn't make heads or tails of the US president.

Pak Song Il, the North Korean tasked with interpreting US politics, statements, and military posture, told Osnos during a trip to Pyongyang that Trump had thrown him for a loop.

"When he speaks, I have to figure out what he means, and what his next move will be," Pak said. "This is very difficult."

"He might be irrational - or too smart. We don't know," Pak said.

Of particular interest in North Korea was Trump's "fire and fury" comment, when he seemed to offhandedly suggest that further threats from North Korea would prompt its nuclear annihilation from the US.

A pair of Japanese F-15 fighter jets conducted a military exercise with a duo of US B1-B bombers in the skies above the East China Sea. The drill comes as Seoul braces for a possible new missile test by North Korea.

The exercise involved two US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying from Andersen Air Force Base on the US Pacific island territory of Guam, joined by two Japanese F-15 jet fighters on Sunday, Japan's Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) reported, as cited by Reuters.

Late last month, Japanese F-15 fighter jets also conducted a military exercise with US B1-B bombers and F-35 stealth fighters in skies south of the Korean Peninsula. The August 31 drill came two days after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over northern Japan.

Japan is on high alert after a series of North Korean missile and nuclear tests, including one which passed over its territory. On Thursday, for the second time in its history, Japan carried out a series of anti-missile drills at a US airbase in the northern Tohoku region, as tensions mount with North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons program.

A crew of 30 set up a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor system capable of intercepting short- and medium-range missiles at Misawa Air Base, Aomori Prefecture. The aims of the exercise were to boost US-Japanese co-operation, and to ready the military for any potential attack by North Korea.

As estimates to fix the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey reach over $100 billion, the U.S. Congress has pushed for a bill that would raise the national debt in order to pay for it. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul suggested a different solution-why not make cuts to foreign aid in order to help Americans in need?

"In Washington, we have a disease-or a syndrome, rather. I call it the 'dinosaur syndrome,' big hearts, small brains. Unfortunately, it's a reoccurring problem. Year after year, bill after bill, day after day," Paul said during a speech on the Senate floor. "In Washington, it is argued that you are more compassionate if you give away more of someone else's money. I would argue that true compassion is in giving your own money away. I would argue that truly rational policy is giving away money that you have. So it's one thing to give away other people's money, it's another thing to give away money that you don't even possess."

According to estimates from three independent groups who specialize in disaster relief and risk management, the cost of Hurricane Harvey "ranged from $70 billion to $108 billion," meaning that the storm has arguably done more damage than any natural disaster in the United States, since at least 1980.

Paul noted that while the price tag of repairs for Harvey may be large, the national debt is even larger, and increasing the debt to pay for this storm makes no sense when the U.S. has the option of making cuts within its current budget.