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SOHR: Turkey to open Damascus-Aleppo highway, agreement with Russia


South Front
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Turk military trucks
© 1 Turkish forces in convoy on main highway between Damascus and AleppoAFP
Turkish forces in convoy on main highway between Damascus and Aleppo
The Turkish military is preparing to reopen and oversee the opposition-held part of the strategic Damascus-Aleppo highway as a part of the Russian-Turkish agreement, which was reached last September, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on March 8.

"Vehicles of the Turkish military were experimentally deployed in positions near Jarjnaz and in the southern Aleppo countryside near the international highway," the SOHR quoted local sources as saying.

More than 100km of the Damascus-Aleppo highway passes through the opposition-held part of northwestern Syria. This strip of the highway is under the control of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria.

Earlier, the Turkish military began patrolling the demilitarized zone around Idlib. Hulusi Akar, Ankara's Defense Minister, said that these patrols are aimed at stabilized the situation there.

Despite this step, HTS and its allies continued their attacks on the residential areas around Idlib and launched several rockets at the government-held town of Mahardah. This led to an exchange of artillery fire.

The hostile behavior of HTS indicates that the group will oppose the Turkish attempt to reopen the Damascus-Aleppo highway. If this happens, it would be another major setback to the Russian-Turkish de-confliction agreement.
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Bad Guys

The tangled web: Testimony provided by Rosenstein and Simpson contradicts Bruce Ohr's testimony

Sara A. Carter
saraacarter.com
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 18:11 UTC
bruce ohr
© Associated Press/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
In this Aug. 28, 2018, file photo, Justice Department official Bruce Ohr arrives for a closed hearing of the House Judiciary and House Oversight committees on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 30, 2016.
Department of Justice senior official Bruce Ohr's testimony contradicts testimony given by other senior government officials and key witnesses who testified before Congress regarding the FBI's investigation into President Trump's 2016 campaign and alleged collusion with the Russian government, according to the full transcripts released Friday.

Ohr's 268-page testimony, released by Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, reveals inconsistency and contradiction in testimony given by Glenn Simpson, founder of embattled research firm Fusion GPS and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is set to leave his post sometime this month.

It also reveals that many questions are still left unanswered.

Comment:

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Bullseye

Ilhan Omar rips Obama: A 'pretty face' who got 'away with murder' - UPDATE: Omar backtracks

Bob Fredericks
NY Post
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:39 UTC
Ilhan Omar and Barack Obama

Ilhan Omar and Barack Obama
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ripped former President Barack Obama in an interview published Friday, belittling his "pretty face" and saying his agenda of hope and change was an illusion.

She cited the "caging of kids" at the Mexican border and the "droning of countries around the world" on Obama's watch - and argued that he wasn't much different from President Trump

"We can't be only upset with Trump," the freshman firebrand told Politico Magazine.


Comment: A politician in the US urging nuance and fair judgment? No wonder she's getting hit from both sides of the political spectrum at the moment. The last thing the Deep State wants is a fair accounting of its chosen leaders like Obama.


"His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was," Omar said.

"And that's not what we should be looking for anymore. We don't want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile."

Comment:

UPDATE 10/3/2019: RT reports that apparently Rep. Omar has been quietly read the riot act and is trying unsuccessfully to back off her comments on Obama:
Ilhan Omar has tried to walk back her scathing criticism of former president Barack Obama by tweeting a clip of her actual response to the reporter and accusing him of distorting her words, only to prove that he got it right.

Calling herself "an Obama fan," Omar claimed she was contrasting the former US leader with President Donald Trump, claiming the reporter had "distorted" her words deliberately.

The only problem? The clip she tweeted confirms the reporter got her words right. We hear Omar saying Democratic leaders have "conducted themselves within the system" in shameful ways - separating families at the border and drone-bombing countries around the world, just like Trump. She says Trump's policies are bad but that "many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies, they just were more polished than he was."

And the line that has everybody talking is there, crystal clear: "We don't want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile," Omar says.

The Politico reporter she'd accused of malicious misquotation, Tim Alberta, was quick to claim he'd been vindicated.
Sadly, Omar is getting a lesson in realpolitik. No matter how accurate her assessment of Obama is, if it goes against the Establishment narrative, she will be targeted by that Establishment. She said what she said, and they will beat her with it if she steps out of line again.

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NPC

AOC hit with three ethics complaints within first three months in office

Joe Schoffstall
Washington Free Beacon
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 17:48 UTC
ocasio-cortez Saikat Chakrabarti
© Mark Lennihan / Associated Press / REX / Shutterstock
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y) and her Chief of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y) has been hit with an ethics complaint alleging that the freshman Democrat improperly used House resources for political purposes in violation of ethics rules.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, filed the complaint Thursday to the U.S. House of Representative's Office of Congressional Ethics requesting that the committee investigate Ocasio-Cortez's use of official resources on her social media accounts.

"In the first two weeks of February 2019, Ocasio- Cortez posted numerous videos of official House floor and committee proceedings on her political Twitter and Instagram accounts," the complaint reads. "Her posts prominently displayed both official House photographs and video footage, on which she commented and instructed viewers to watch the videos."

Comment: The Daily Caller brings more information:
Ocasio-Cortez "improperly converted U.S. House resources to her non-official, personal use by obtaining an official '@mail.house.gov' e-mail address for her boyfriend, despite the fact he was not employed by her congressional office," the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation claimed in a complaint Thursday.

She also falsely designated her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, a "staff" member to help secure the address, the group noted. The Coolidge-Reagan Foundation's website champions itself as a first amendment watchdog group that defends, protects and advances "liberty."

News of the email address first appeared after political consultant Luke Thompson posted a screenshot of a House directory on Feb. 15 showing Roberts listed under "staff," alongside the email address and the phone number for Ocasio-Cortez's congressional office. The New York representative's chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, dismissed Thompson's insinuation that Robert is a paid staff member.

"He's not paid. We have no volunteers in the office. He's not doing any government work," Chakrabarti noted in a tweet responding to Thompson. "He can see her calendar just like spouses/partners/family members in other congressional office. Check your damn facts before you report bullshit. Lazy journos need to learn to do their jobs."
ocasio cortez boyfriend government email address

Screenshot of House Directory site showing Riley’s email address
The second complaint was filed by The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) Thursday and alleges Ocasio-Cortez's political Instagram account contains direct links to her House Instagram account and includes a link for political contributions, alongside posts of official video footage on the House floor. The group claims these actions violate House ethics rules.

House ethics rules prohibit lawmakers from using official resources for political purposes, the complaint notes. The rules also forbid a member from posting a link to her official social media site on a campaign social media site. She solicited donations on the page that used the video footage, according to FACT, a nonprofit group whose past president, Matthew Whitaker, served as President Donald Trump's acting attorney general in 2018 and 2019.

The three complaints came within days of each other. National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative government watchdog, accused Ocasio-Cortez and Chakrabarti Tuesday of illegally funneling money between political action committees (PACs) and private companies that were both controlled by Chakrabarti.

NLPC claims the transfers from the PACs to the LLCs were part of an "extensive" plan to avoid reporting campaign expenditures to the FEC. Ocasio-Cortez, for part, denied violating campaign finance laws in response to the complaint. "There is no violation," Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News.

But she has not yet fully responded to a Daily Caller News Foundation report Wednesday showing that both Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff obtained majority control over the Justice Democrats PAC in 2017, despite the fact that the PAC was credited with being the central force behind her primary victory.

She never disclosed her control over the PAC, leaving open the possibility that they could face serious criminal charges if it is found that they intentionally withheld the ties from the FEC. Ocasio-Cortez's office has not yet responded to TheDCNF's request for comment about FACT's complaint.


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Attention

Balkans of our day - False flags over Kashmir

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 09 Mar 2019 16:51 UTC
Modi and Imran
© Corbett Report
In response to a suicide bombing in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian paramilitaries last month, the Indian Air Force struck targets in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

I imagine that many readers around the world today would read that sentence the way that 105 years ago they would have read the sentence: "A Bosnian separatist shot the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in Sarajevo today." Many would have been saddened by the news or shocked at the outburst of violence and the senseless death . . . and then went about their day. After all, that was way over there in the Balkans. "What does that have to do with us?"

Similarly, many might be tempted to write off the latest news from Kashmir-the disputed territory between India and Pakistan-as just another regrettable flare up of violence. But it is not. As two nuclear-armed nations with deep-seated hostilities sitting at the crossroads of a new geopolitical order, India and Pakistan represent the Balkans of our day. We ignore the events there at our own peril.

So let's take a closer look at what just happened (or didn't happen) between India and Pakistan, and what it means in the bigger scheme of things.
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USA

Voter Fraud and Election Theft: House passes voting rules bill

Sean Moran
Breitbart
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 16:09 UTC
Nancy Pelosi
© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
The House on Thursday passed a sweeping Democrat bill on voting regulations, campaign finance, and ethics rules that conservatives have derided as a "voter fraud and election theft" wish list.

The House passed H.R. 1, known as the For the People Act, which was approved on staunch party lines by 234-193 vote.

"H.R. 1 restores the people's faith that government works for the public interest, the people's interests, not the special interests," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said during a press conference before the vote on Friday.

H.R. would expand early voting, enact redistricting changes, make Election Day a federal holiday, automatically register voters, and force stricter disclosure laws for many political activities. One provision would force presidential candidates and vice-presidential candidates to release their tax returns over the last ten years, which Democrats have tried to force President Donald Trump to do since he first decided to run for president.
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Windsock

India claims 3 airstrikes on Pakistan in the last 5 years, but won't give full details


RT
Sat, 09 Mar 2019 20:01 UTC
india jet
© Facebook / Indian Air Force
India carried out three cross-border strikes in Pakistan in the last five years, the country's Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh has said. One of these three strikes, however, remains shrouded in secrecy.

Singh admitted that Indian forces struck alleged terrorist "launch pads" in Pakistani Kashmir in 2016, after four militants killed 19 Indian soldiers near the town of Uri. India struck again last month, bombing suspected terrorist training camps in Pakistani territory, in retaliation for a suicide bombing attack that had claimed the lives of 40 Indian police officers.

"I want to tell you brothers and sisters that, in the last five years, we have gone beyond our borders thrice and our men have successfully conducted airstrikes," Singh told a public rally in Mangalore on Saturday. "About two I will tell you, but won't tell you about the third one."

Comment: There seems to be a lot of bluff and bluster coming from both sides but at least Pakistan PM Khan is taking action against the foreign backed terrorists, whereas India remains relatively quiet on the real backers of the terrorists: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: What's The Problem With Nationalism?

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Bad Guys

Suicide bomber attacks US-Kurdish patrol in Syria's Manbij


Sputnik
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 10:44 UTC
Manbij
© AP Photo / Hussein Malla
The attack comes amid reported US plans to withdraw its forces from Syria by the summer following the waning of the threat posed by Daesh in the region.

A suicide bomber in a vehicle packed with explosives carried out an attack against a joint US-Kurdish patrol around the city of Manbij, northern Syria on Saturday, Kurdish television reported, citing Manbij Military Council spokesman Sharfan Darwish.

According to the spokesman, the car bomb injured seven civilians in the area and left one Kurdish militia member hurt after the bomber detonated his car as a military vehicle and several civilian cars passed. One of the civilians is thought to be in a serious condition, with five others taken to hospital.

Comment: One wonders whether attacks like these will give the US an excuse to 'adjust its schedule' and extend its war on Syria indefinitely, which, in the end, is what many warmongers in the US, EU, Saudi Arabia and Israel would really like to happen: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Blue Planet

Italy PM says he is working to try to end sanctions against Russia


Reuters
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 10:45 UTC
Giuseppe Conte
© Web
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday he was working to try to end international sanctions against Russia, which the ruling parties in Rome say are ineffective and hurt the Italian economy.

Speaking at a foreign policy conference in Genova, Conte said the sanctions, imposed after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, must never become an end in themselves.

When asked if Italy wanted them lifted, he replied: "We are working for this objective."

Comment: Although Italy is one of the few brave enough to speak out against the US' nonsensical Russian sanctions, many other EU countries are letting business speak for itself:

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NPC

The virtual-reality 'president': Political scientist says Guaido's 'government' exists only in social networks and the media


Sputnik
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 02:31 UTC
guaido
© Associated Press/Fernando Llano
Pretend "president" Juan Guaido
The government of the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, can be called elusive: everyone talks about it, but no one can prove that it really exists, that's what political scientist and Latin American relations expert Arantxa Tirado told Sputnik.

Tirado lived in Venezuela in 2011 and since returning to her native Spain, she has been back to Venezuela four times and has had strong ties to the country for the last 15 years.

During her last trip in February of this year, Tirado admitted that she felt how the economic blockade and crisis had hit the people of Venezuela, so the atmosphere was different from what she was used to.

There was hyperinflation and she faced difficulties when buying certain products outside the CLAP (Local Committees for Supply and Production) programme, through which the government guarantees priority foods and products for the people.

Comment:

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