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Larry Nassar was just one of Comey's disasters as head of the FBI

Tiana Lowe
Washington Examiner
Fri, 17 Sep 2021 02:20 UTC
Nassar/Maroney
© Scott Olson/Getty Images/Mark J.Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports/KJN
Larry Nassar • Olympian McKayla Maroney
The most vexing mystery of Larry Nassar's reign of terror at USA Gymnastics isn't why the organization protected the serial predator. After all, as long as everyone turned a blind eye to the doctor molesting hundreds of gymnasts, Nassar never spoke up about USAG's own brutal non-sexual abuse of the girls. The real question is why, once the FBI did finally find out about the abuse allegations, they refused to do anything about them.

During a congressional hearing on the Nassar affair, Olympian McKayla Maroney revealed that she told the agency about her abuse in September 2015, two months after the FBI was first alerted about Nassar. According to the inspector general report detailing the FBI's failures, the agency did not follow proper procedures, falsified Maroney's statements, and took over a year to finalize its own report — all facts corroborated by Maroney. Ultimately, the inspector general found that Nassar abused at least 70 victims between the time they first learned of his crimes in 2015 and his arrest by local authorities in the fall of 2016.


It's a heartbreaking revelation, but not a terribly shocking one, considering who was running the FBI at the time: James Comey, who oversaw a string of travesties during his four-year tenure as director.

Comment: Along with many current aspects of the US Government and its agencies, the state of the FBI demands a clean up and clean out. It is a travesty to call this agency a service to the people and the country.

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Target

Joe Biden tried to bully Joe Manchin, here's how that went

Bonchie
RedState
Fri, 17 Sep 2021 08:00 UTC
BidenCone
© AP/Evan Vucci
It's melting...Just like his presidency. US President Joe Biden
As RedState reported last night, Sen. Mitch McConnell rejected a plea from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to raise the debt ceiling and fulfill all the left's wildest hopes and dreams. But on the same day, another plea to burn down your grandkids' future was made, this time by President Joe Biden to Sen. Joe Manchin in support of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation boondoggle.

Biden called Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to the principal's office to try to bully them into going along with the party's wants. Apparently, the thought here was that the latter would burn down their political careers to please Bernie Sanders? Here's how that went per Axios:
Defying a president from his own party — face-to-face — is the strongest indication yet Manchin is serious about cutting specific programs and limiting the price tag of any potential bill to $1.5 trillion. His insistence could blow up the deal for progressives and others.

Axios was told Biden explained to Manchin his opposition could imperil the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that's already passed the Senate. Biden's analysis did little to persuade Manchin to raise his top line.
It seems as if Biden's play here was to say to Manchin:
"That's a nice infrastructure deal you have there, and it would be a shame if anything happened to it."

Comment: Biden has long lost the plot and frittered away his edge. Some Dems are on a fast learning curve to seek better alternatives than blind-walking the president's line.


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Footprints

France recalls its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia to protest submarine deal

Brittany Bernstein
National Review
Fri, 17 Sep 2021 04:38 UTC
Le Drian
© Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian
France announced Friday it has recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in a demonstration of its displeasure with President Biden's announcement of an agreement to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia without consulting French officials. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the decision was made by French President Emmanuel Macron:
"At the request of the President of the Republic, I have decided to immediately recall our two ambassadors to the United States and Australia to Paris for consultations. This exceptional decision is justified by the exceptional gravity of the announcements made on 15 September by Australia and the United States."
He added that the partnership is an example of
"unacceptable behavior between allies and partners, the consequences of which affect the very conception we have of our alliances, our partnerships and the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe."
Brian Aggeler, the acting U.S. ambassador in Paris, was called to the Foreign Ministry and told that France's representative, Ambassador Philippe Etienne, would be returning home indefinitely for discussions over the U.S. action and the French response.

The deal, which was kept secret from the French until just before the announcement on Wednesday, effectively cancelled a $66 billion Australian agreement to buy diesel-powered French submarines.

Comment: US is burning its bridges with each clueless act it can muster - a fitting legacy for Biden.
The French and Indian foreign ministers spoke over the phone on Saturday, vowing to deepen their strategic partnership now that Paris' ties with the US and Australia have been strained by a submarine deal debacle.

France and India will "work on a joint program of concrete actions to defend a truly multilateral international order," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said in a statement on Saturday. Released by the French foreign ministry, it also said the two had discussed the situation in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.

The diplomats have vowed to continue building strategic partnership based on a "relationship of political trust between two great sovereign nations." Le Drian and Jaishankar agreed to meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session next week.

Paris furiously protested the new arrangement between Australia, the US and UK, known as AUKUS. Le Drian called the ditching of French-Australian submarine program "a stab in the back."
See also:
As a furious France plots its revenge for America's treachery on its subs deal, will it take the nuclear option of quitting NATO?

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Star of David

Last two escaped Palestinian prisoners surrender to Israel forces


Al Jazeera
Sun, 19 Sep 2021 19:49 UTC
gilboa prison jailbreak palestinians
© Ahmad Gharabli/AFP
A member of the Israeli security forces stands guard at the Gilboa prison in northern Israel
Police say the two men, who escaped on September 6, were found in an eastern district of Jenin city.

Israel says it captured the last two Palestinian prisoners who escaped from a maximum-security prison more than 10 days ago.

The jailbreak embarrassed Israel's security establishment but delighted Palestinians who see members of armed groups jailed by Israel as heroes in the struggle for Palestinian statehood.

Comment: RT adds:
The raid early on Sunday morning in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank was conducted by the Israeli military, the domestic security service Shin Bet, and the police special forces. The two fugitives, Ayham Nayef Kamamji and Munadel Yacoub Infeiat, surrendered without a fight. Two other people, who were helping the fugitives, were arrested as well, according to Israeli officials.

Israel considers them dangerous terrorists, with all six convicted or suspected of planning attacks against the Jewish state. Many Palestinians perceive them as national heroes, fighters of an armed resistance against Israeli occupation. Their prison break became a rallying event, an example of overcoming the much-stronger opponent despite all its technological superiority. Rallies were held in the West Bank and Gaza in honor of the escapees. After the previous arrests, Gaza militants launched rockets at Israel.

The Israeli incursion into Jenin to rearrest the two fugitives was met with resistance. According to Israeli officials, as their forces were retreating from the city, they were pelted with stones and explosives, as well as shot at. There were no casualties among the joint task force, but three Palestinians were reportedly injured in the clashes.

The capture was celebrated by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as a major success, redeeming the failure to keep the Palestinian inmates in their cells. He thanked the security agencies involved for conducting an "impressive, sophisticated and swift operation," adding: "What went wrong can be rectified."


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Bad Guys

New book claims Biden aides set up a 'wall' to shield him from 'unscripted events'

Adam Shaw
Fox News
Sun, 19 Sep 2021 18:50 UTC
biden press conference leaves back turned
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Biden walks away from another round of tough questions
Top White House aides set up a "wall" to shield President Biden from unscripted events and long interviews amid fears of the president's testiness and habit of mangling statements, according to a new book.

Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa cited a number of incidents from the gaffe-prone president in the early days of his administration, including a back-and-forth with a CNN reporter for which he later apologized.

"That side of Biden -- his tendency to at times be testy or mangle statements -- was still with him and now part of his presidency," the book says.

Comment: It's a testament to Biden's complete inability to execute the office he was "elected" to. Short of calling a permanent 'lid' on his activities, there's no way staff can stay on top of Dementia Joe's behaviour.

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SOTT Logo Radio

NewsReal: Winter is Coming - Signs of Impending Economic Disaster


Sott.net
Sun, 19 Sep 2021 00:00 UTC
winter economy lockdowns newsreal
© Sott.net
A steady trickle of media reports about shortages in food, energy and supplies, and increases in prices across the board, has recently become more of a gushing leak - a leak that threatens serious economic consequences for people everywhere.

On this NewsReal, Joe and Niall take stock of such reports, track their likely origin to government lockdowns, and warn that things may come to a head very soon.

In going along with officials' response to the pandemic, people traded temporary loss of freedom for continued prosperity. Ironically, both are now being lost...

** Podcast commences at 00:02:09 **


Running Time: 01:22:53

Download: MP3 — 56.9 MB

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Question

As a furious France plots its revenge for America's treachery on its subs deal, will it take the nuclear option of quitting NATO?

Rachel Marsden
RT
Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:07 UTC
macron
© Christophe Petit Tesson/Pool via REUTERS
The anger in Paris is stratospheric towards Washington, and a wounded President Macron may just follow de Gaulle's example from the 1960s, and say au revoir to the transatlantic military alliance.

"A stab in the back," is how French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described US President Joe Biden's announcement of a new club of three - the US, Great Britain and Australia - under the guise of countering China in the Indo-pacific region.

The defense minister, Florence Parly, was also taken aback by Biden's announcement of the group called "AUKUS." The French are outraged over Biden's unexpected announcement of America's new massive defense contract with Australia, which scuppered a similar one signed by Canberra with France's Naval Group in 2018.
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Phoenix

The so-called 'cradle of the revolution' against Assad has been liberated - the West's campaign to topple him is all but over

Vanessa Beeley
RT
Sat, 18 Sep 2021 13:56 UTC
Syrian flag
© Vanessa Beeley
After three years of a fragile ceasefire and a campaign of assassinations of Syrian government 'loyalists' by embedded fundamentalist armed groups, the Syrian flag has once more been raised in Daraa Al Balad.

Western media persists in portraying the emergence of extremist armed groups in Daraa, south of Damascus, as the "cradle of the revolution" to overthrow the Syrian government. The reality is that Daraa was the touchpaper lit by hardline Libyan mercenaries imported into the city prior to 2011.

From Daraa, the "revolutionary" flames fanned by the US, UK and Israeli-led coalition headquartered in Jordan, funded by Gulf-state blood money, would engulf Syria for ten long years. In Daraa, the CIA/MI6-backed Muslim Brotherhood extremist gangs fronted the orchestrated uprising, power multiplied by Libyan arms and terrorist factions and given credibility by the colonial media complex spearheaded by the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera.
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Eye 2

Indictment of Clinton lawyer proves 'Russiagate collusion' hoax originated with her

Jonathan Turley
The Hill
Sat, 18 Sep 2021 10:50 UTC
clinton
The 26-page indictment of former cybersecurity attorney and Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann by special counsel John Durham is as detailed as it is damning on the alleged effort to push a false Russia collusion claim before the 2016 presidential campaign. One line, however, seems to reverberate for those of us who have followed this scandal for years now: "You do realize that we will have to expose every trick we have in our bag."

That warning from an unnamed "university researcher" captures the most fascinating aspect of the indictment in describing a type of Nixonian dirty tricks operation run by — or at least billed to — the Clinton campaign. With Nixon, his personal attorney and the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) paid for operatives to engage in disruptive and ultimately criminal conduct targeting his opponents. With Clinton, the indictment and prior disclosures suggest that Clinton campaign lawyers at the law firm of Perkins Coie helped organize an effort to spread Russia collusion stories and trigger an investigation.
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USA

Joe Biden backs Milley amid uproar over alleged China calls

Martin Walsh
Conservativebrief.com
Fri, 17 Sep 2021 00:00 UTC
Milley Biden
© Creative Commons
Milley and Biden
The D.C. swamp continues to protect its own.

While speaking to reporters from the White House, Joe Biden was asked about the explosive new book that alleges that General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held secret meetings behind Donald Trump's back and even secretly told leaders not to take military strike or nuclear orders from Trump days after the Jan. 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol.

Biden made it clear that he's standing by Milley and did not make any mention of him resigning. "Sir, did General Milley do the right thing, sir? Did General Milley do the right thing?" a reporter asked.
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