Thursday, January 31, 2019

Iran: We Have A 'Strategic Capacity' To Destroy Israel 'In Three Days'



Top Iranian general: We can destroy Israel 'in three days'



Amid rising tensions between IDF and Iranian forces in Syria, IRGC deputy leader says Jewish state ‘will not find enough graves to bury their dead’



A top Iranian general said Thursday his country has developed a “strategic capacity” to destroy Israel. 
“We warn them [Zionists] that if a new war breaks out, it will result in their termination,” Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, the second-in-command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said at a conference in the Iranian city of Mashhad, according to the regime-linked Tasnim news agency.

Tasnim went on to paraphrase Salami as saying that “Iran has warned the Zionist regime not to play with fire, because they will be destroyed before the US helps them.”

He vowed that a new war “will result in Israel’s defeat within three days, in a way that they will not find enough graves to bury their dead.”

The comments followed a series of reciprocal taunts by Israeli and Iranian leaders in recent weeks amid rising tensions on the Israeli-Syrian border between IDF and Iranian forces.
On Tuesday, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, warned that terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah were prepared to unleash an “inferno” on the Jewish state.


Speaking at a space tech conference, Shamkhani spoke of “hundreds of kilometers of tunnels dug underneath [Israelis’] feet, and when the resistance forces in Gaza and Lebanon have missiles with pinpoint accuracy and are ready to respond to any foolish Israeli behavior with an inferno.”


Also on Tuesday, Iran’s Defense Minister Amir Hatami railed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign against Iran’s missile program. The program was was among the reasons cited by US President Donald Trump for leaving the 2015 nuclear deal last year and reimposing crippling sanctions.


“The enemies say Iran’s missile power should be eliminated, but we have repeatedly said our missile capabilities are not negotiable,” Hatami said, according to Reuters.

On Monday, the IRGC’s Salami told a reporter in Tehran that Iran’s strategy was to eventually wipe Israel off the “global political map.”


U.S. Intelligence: Iran Could Soon Attack Israel, Israel Concerned By Iranian Ground Forces In Syria


US Intelligence Warns Iran Could Soon Attack Israel


America's top intelligence officials are warning that Iran could soon launch a major conventional attack against Israel if the Jewish state continues to attack its military assets in Syria.
US President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that while "Iran seeks to avoid a major armed conflict with Israel...Israeli strikes that result in Iranian casualties increase the likelihood of Iranian conventional retaliation against Israel."
On January 20, Iranian forces fired a medium-range surface-to-surface missile at Israel in what it called a warning to stop harassing its forces.
Israel has made clear that it deems an Iranian military presence in Syria to be a threat to its national security, an existential threat, even. Indeed, Iran has made no secret of the fact that its presence in Syria is meant to threaten Israel. 
As such, Israel has repeatedly stated that it will do whatever necessary to hinder and halt the Iranian military buildup there. And those words have been backed by action in the form of hundreds of devastating airstrikes against Iranian targets over the past two years.
Those airstrikes have primarily focused on infrastructure and weaponry, and not on killing Iranian personnel. But an aerial raid earlier this month did leave at least a dozen Iranian soldiers dead, and this is what concerns Washington.
According to Coats, the risk might not be worth the reward. He noted that the effectiveness of the Israeli strikes notwithstanding, Iran has not been prevented from establishing itself in Syria. "Iran continues to pursue permanent military bases and economic deals in Syria and probably wants to maintain a network of Shia foreign fighters there despite Israeli attacks on Iranian positions in Syria," explained the American intelligence chief.







Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz on Tuesday expressed growing concern over the presence of Iranian ground forces in neighboring Syria.
The embattled regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad has long been propped up financially and logistically by the Islamic Republic. 
But fresh reports suggest Iranian ground forces are now massing in Syria to help Assad remain in power. This in addition to the large-scale presence of Iranian proxy Hezbollah, and the introduction of Russian military forces in recent weeks.
Steinitz stressed in an interview with Army Radio that Israel continues to take no official position on whether or not Assad should be deposed, since most of the rebel forces opposing him are actually worse than the ruling regime, but that permitting Iran to flex its military muscles in such a way is a dangerous mistake.
This move “has opened a direct front [between Israel and] Iran,” warned Steinitz, urging Russia and the international community to “ensure the Iranian army remains in Iran.”
Already Israel fears unintentional exchanges of fire between its own forces and the Russian military in Syria. Such a flare-up between Israeli and Iranian forces could give Tehran the excuse it needs to launch a long-range missile assault on the Jewish state.

Lebanon Seals New Hezbollah Backed Government




Ending months of deadlock, Lebanon seals new Hezbollah-backed government



Lebanese political factions agreed finally Thursday on the formation of a new government, breaking a nine-month deadlock that only deepened the country’s economic woes.
Rival political groups have been locked in disagreement over the make-up of a new government since May, after the country’s first parliamentary elections in nine years.
The breakthrough comes after rival factions worked out a compromise allowing representation of Sunni lawmakers backed by the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah.


Celebrations broke out after the announcement, including huge fireworks that lit up the Beirut sky.
The new government will be headed by Saad Hariri, the Sunni politician who headed the outgoing government since 2016. The post always goes to a Sunni politician under the country’s political system.
The government also sees an increase in the number of ministries affiliated with Hezbollah, which is under tightening sanctions from the United States that labels the group a terrorist organization. The group made significant gains in last year’s Parliament elections while Hariri’s block lost a third of its seats.

The terror group now holds two ministries and a ministry of state, including for the first time the Ministry of Health, which has one of the country’s largest budgets. The Finance Ministry remains in the hands of a Hezbollah ally, Ali Hassan Khalil.


Polar Vortex Brings 'Frost Quakes' To U.S. Midwest


Polar Vortex Brings ‘Frost Quakes', Eerie Weather Phenomena to US Midwest



Dangerously cold weather brought to parts of the US Midwest and Northeast this week by a polar vortex episode has Americans encountering a slew of unusual weather phenomenons.
Everything from snow squalls to steam fog and flash freezes have been causing mayhem in the US, forcing residents in affected areas to either gaze from afar or simply stay put indoors.
Most recently, local news station WGN9 reported that folks living in the Chicago area were beginning to hear loud booms, which were likely the sounds of frost quakes (aka cryoseisms). The sounds occur when the pressure of frozen underground water builds, ultimately cracking both soil and rock.
After the station did a segment on the quakes, their social media pages exploded, with viewers trickling in to share their experiences.
"I thought I was crazy!" wrote one user on Facebook. "I was up all night because I kept hearing it. I was scared and thought it was the furnace. I kept walking through the house. I had everyone's jackets on the table in case we had to run out of here."

"I heard these noises a couple times last night. Very scary. Kept thinking something was breaking," another viewer wrote.

"My son and I were watching a movie, and turned it off because we kept hearing these noises," another wrote. "It sounded like an animal fell on our roof, or someone through [sic] something at the side of the house, or a bird flew into the house."


"There were boom sounds going on for a while. Very odd. Thanks for clarifying this weather related scientific phenomenon. Makes sense," they added.
Earlier this week, folks living in New York, Philadelphia and various other US cities experienced short periods of heavy, near white-out snow conditions known as snow squalls. These weather events can create terrifying driving conditions.

Google And Soros-Backed 'Fact-Checkers' Combine To Control News Search Results



Google & Soros-backed ‘Fact-Checkers’ Join Forces to Control News Search Results



Google has partnered with an organization largely funded by billionaire George Soros to “fact-check” news stories, a move that could affect search results for certain news agencies.
Erica Anderson, Partnerships Manager at Google News Lab, announced that the company will partner with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute to “fact-check” news stories that appear on the search engine.
“With so much information available around the clock and across devices, being able to understand at a glance what’s true and what’s false online is increasingly important,” Anderson said in a statement.

She said Google will work with the IFCN in three ways: increase the number of fact-checkers by holding “global fact-check workshops” and offering stipends for new fact-checking organizations; expanding the IFCN Code of Principles into new regions; and providing fact-checking tools to the IFCN community at no charge.
The code of principles requires news agencies to obey five commitments to ensure news agencies remain honest, transparent and nonpartisan. There are 36 signatories to the Code of Principles, including the left-leaning Washington Post Fact Checker and other fact-checking organizations from around the world.
Alexios Mantzarlis, the director of the IFCN at Poynter released a statement, saying the 12-month partnership will “enable the IFCN to encourage more fact-checking around the world, while also helping raise the standards and impact of existing initiatives.”
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is openly funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Soros, a veteran billionaire vulture capitalist, supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
Soros was recently criticised for transferring nearly $18 billion to his Open Society Foundations, making it the second largest charity in the US after the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation. The charity has been accused of inciting so-called “color revolutions” to install governments friendly to the US.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said through a statement that certain Soros funded organizations “defame the Jewish state and seek to deny it the right to defend itself.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also accused Soros of using his money to fund liberal NGOsinfluencing the European Union to accept asylum seekers in order to create a “new, mixed, Muslimized Europe.”
The Poynter Institute also receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Omidyar Network, which is the nonprofit for liberal billionaire and  eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar.
The Google-Poynter partnership was announced days before executives from Google, Facebook and Twitter are scheduled to testify before the Senate and House Intelligence Committees on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Facebook, which has come under scrutiny for their part in spreading false news stories during the election, has also partnered with the Poynter Institute to launch its “disputed” news tag on stories deemed false by fact-checking organisations working with the social media giant.
Stories flagged by Facebook users as ‘fake news’ are passed on to these fact-checkers for verification. If the fact-checkers agree that the story is misleading, it will appear in news feeds with a “disputed” tag, along with a link to a corresponding article explaining why it might be false.
Google News Lab previously partnered with The Poynter Institute to introduce a “Fact Check tag” that labels news articles the company determines might contain fact-checks in order to “help readers find fact-checking in large news stories.”

Virginia Governor Under Fire For Endorsing That A Pregnancy Could Be Terminated After Birth



Virginia governor under fire for endorsing post-birth abortion



  • Virginia Governor Ralph Northam sparked outrage with his remarks Wednesday
  • He was defending a state bill that would allow abortions even during labor
  • Northam, a pediatric doctor, suggested baby could be born then allowed to die
  • On Tuesday, Democrat Del. Kathy Tran proposed bill to expand abortion access
  • Admitted that her bill would allow abortions as the mother was in labor
  • The bill was killed in committee on a party line vote on Wednesday afternoon 


Virginia's governor has drawn backlash after suggesting that a pregnancy could be terminated after the baby's birth, as the state debates a bill relaxing restrictions on third trimester abortions.
Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, made the shocking remarks in an interview with WTOP-FM on Wednesday, as he attempted to explain a Democrat delagate's earlier remarks.
Northam, a pediatric neurologist, described a hypothetical situation where a severely deformed newborn infant could be left to die.
He said that if a woman were to desire an abortion as she's going into labor, the baby would be delivered and then 'resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue' between doctors and the mother.

Northam was responding to remarks made on Tuesday by Democratic Delegate Kathy Tran, video of which went viral, sparking fury.
In the video, Republican Delegate Todd Gilbert asks Tran whether her legislation would let a pregnant woman who is dilating request an abortion if a doctor certified that the woman's mental health was impaired.
'My bill would allow that, yes,' Tran said. On Wednesday afternoon, the bill was defeated in committee on a party-line vote.
Existing Virginia state law does not put an absolute time limit on abortions and Tran's legislation did not alter that.
Her legislation would reduce the number of doctors who would have to certify late-term abortions are needed from three to one. 
It would also delete the requirement that doctors determine that continuing a pregnancy would 'substantially and irremediably' impair a woman's health. Instead doctors would only have to certify that the woman's health was impaired.

Opponents of the legislation, which has failed in both the state House and Senate, said it would give essentially allow for late abortions on demand.
Prominent Republicans and conservative media outlets helped spread the video exchange to a wide audience, with more than 2 million views as of Wednesday.
'This is insanity. Seems like advocating for Post Term Abortion AKA MURDER by any standard I’m aware of,' Don Trump Jr said of Northam's remarks.  
'What is happening in our country. This literally makes me sick to my stomach,' tweeted Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in response to the video.

Former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin said of Northam's remarks: 'Those who never imagined society would actually get there - state governments sanctioning infanticide - must logically understand what gets accepted next #deathpanels.' 
The controversy came the same week that a new law in New York was passed allowing abortions up until birth.  
Kentucky's Governor Matt Bevin was also motivated to tweet about the proposed legislation. 
'First New York, and now a proposed Virginia bill that would legalize abortion up to the moment of birth... This is a sad commentary on the culture of death that continues to creep insidiously into the laws of our county...' Bevin wrote.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio also spoke out, tweeting that Northam is openly supporting legal infanticide.
Yheskel, the governor's spokeswoman, said Northam was only trying to describe the 'tragic or difficult circumstances' involved in a late-term abortion.
'Attempts to extrapolate these comments otherwise is in bad faith and underscores exactly why the governor believes physicians and women, not legislators, should make these difficult and deeply personal medical decisions,' she said. 





The Emerging Anti-Israel Coalition In U.S. Congress



Foreign Allegiance


Whereas America’s doors have always been open to people of all races and religions who come with hope and gratitude for the opportunities granted in a free society, we were unprepared for those who want to erase our history and accomplishments, destroy our monuments and  customs, and replace our laws with their barbarism, in the hope of replicating their oppressive regimes here.  
Two Muslim women have been voted into office under the cover of deceptive manifestos.  They misrepresented their platform and have thereby candidly sullied the dignity of their positions, insulted the United States, the Executive Office of the President and, specifically, our esteemed President Donald J Trump. 
Ilhan Omar, the new congresswoman from Minnesota, a Somali immigrant with a history of making disparaging statements against Israel, our ally, was appointed to the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Nancy Pelosi, who has also turned her back on Israel and American interests and security.  Wasting no time to investigate and understand America’s ties to Saudi Arabia or to Israel, Omar, prompted by her personal defiance and beliefs as a Somalian Muslim, not as an American, called for decreased financial aid to Saudi Arabia and labelled Israel an evil regime, challenging the latter’s government and actual existence.   
Without once acknowledging Islam’s destructive role in world affairs, how Islamic countries are truly apartheid and violent, she denounces Israel as an authoritative apartheid regime rather than the parliamentary democracy that it is, representing and treating equally every segment of its multi-racial, -religious, -ethnic society.  Her comments are virulently anti-Semitic and, when challenged, she cannot provide a sliver of evidence for her accusations, but has no compunction about repeating them later.  Having been raised in deep-seated enmity, she ignores the Islamic wars waged against everyone, and the discord sown in what had previously been peaceful nations.  


In keeping with the Islamic dedication to taqiyya, an accepted Islamic war strategy, she denied her support of boycotting Israel before her election, but has now admitted her true position.

Omar blatantly supports the effort to debilitate America’s greatest ally – the Democratic State of IsraelThe Arab attacks against Jews have been constant for centuries, throughout the Islamic world, in Israel, and across Europe.  The horrific jihadi attacks include stabbings, beheadings, and an ongoing fire jihad over 8,000-plus acres of forestry and agricultural land, its human and animal inhabitants, while also jeopardizing their own dispensable youth and women.  Jihad continues here in stealth from those who work to fundamentally change our laws and allegiances.   Oddly, with the exception of a Muslim tribe, Yibir, that claims to have descended from Hebrews before the arrival of Somali nomads, there are no Jews in apartheid Somalia, so from where does Omar’s intense animus derive except from the Koran and Hadiths, which are rife with Mohammed’s scorn and teachings. 

Not only did Tlaib not display an American flag at her primary victory celebration, but she also wrapped herself in a Palestinian flag and invited rabid Israeli-hater, Abbas Hamideh, to her celebratory dinner party. 

Hamideh is a co-founder of Al-Awda, a group dedicated to the platform of the delegitimization and eradication of Israel.  In a photo with him, she is wearing a keffiyeh, a scarf of jihad, holy war.  There is no doubt: she is not here as an American, and she will not legislate as an American.  

She and her like-minded friends, including the vast membership of the Muslim Brotherhood, antisemitic jihadas Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory and others are working to control American policies and speech with the goal of establishing sharia law in the West and using the cry of “islamophobia” against any criticism that might alert the public to the scheme.  

A member of the Democrat Socialists of America, Tlaib strongly supports the boycott-divestment-sanctions movement (BDS) to bring about Israel’s economic destruction, and to create an “Islamic state in Palestine” in its place. 

She is tied to the designated-terrorist group, Hamas, known for its political, social, humanitarian and military activities committed to defeating Israel, and which recruits students for suicide attacks, supports intifada, guarantees support and homes for the martyrs’ families, and works to obstruct Israel’s trade agreements with international propaganda and boycotts, while working to flood Israel with terrorist-trained Palestinians.

Aligned with J Street, one of the most virulent anti-Israel organizations in the history of Zionism and Judaism, Tlaib plans to lead a taxpayer-funded mission of lawmakers to Israel’s Judea and Samaria at the same time that the traditional Israel mission is planned – to oppose the truth with the false Palestinian narrative.  

To be noted: recent tax forms for a George Soros Open Society Foundation show an expenditure of $85,307 to Rashida Tlaib (p.97 of a 321-page report), which she failed to disclose when she ran for office. 

Clearly, both women have taken their positions not for their interest in America, but in order to promote their inherent Koranic beliefs, which focus on the destruction of Israel and the supplanting of freedom for worldwide sharia.  Islam is here to be the dominant religion on Earth.  Omar and Tlaib should be removed from their positions, not merely because they are a clear and present danger to our republic, but also because their positions were gained as a result of the misrepresentation of themselves to their constituents. 




EU Parliament Resolution: Recognize Guaido As 'Only Legitimate' Interim President Of Venezuela


EU parliament urges member states to recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president


The European Parliament voted to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela and urged EU leaders to do the same.
The resolution, voted on Thursday, called on the EU leadership to adopt “a strong, unified stance,” and recognize Guaido as the “only legitimate” interim president of the South American nation until new elections are held to “restore democracy.”
The MEPs also pledged “full support” for Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament, the National Assembly, urging the EU states to “accredit” the envoys appointed by the opposition.
The document was adopted with 439 votes to 104, with 88 MEPs abstaining.
Guaido thanked the European Parliament for the vote. “We made a big step in our fight for democracy,” he wrote on Twitter.
European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini had earlier promised“full support” for the National Assembly. On Saturday, Germany, France and Spain threatened to recognize Guaido as the nation’s interim president unless the current head of state, Nicolas Maduro, declared a snap election within eight days. 
Maduro firmly rejected the ultimatum, saying that the EU nations have no right to make such demands and the election will take place, as scheduled, in 2025.

Parliament speaker Juan Guaido declared himself interim president last week, in opposition to Maduro who ruled Venezuela since 2013. Guaido was instantly endorsed by the US and subsequently recognized as the sole legitimate ruler by Canada and the majority of South American countries, including neighboring Colombia and Brazil.
States such as Russia, China, Iran and Turkey continue to recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s democratically-elected president. Moscow stressed that all nations should respect Venezuela’s sovereignty and vowed to defend its national interests in the country “with all mechanisms available.”
Over the years, Venezuela has been plagued by a severe economic crisis that led to numerous protests, some of which descended into violent clashes with police. Maduro accused the US of stoking protests against the government, as well as harboring plots to oust or assassinate him.

Rumors Of War



Armed Services Committee Chairman Warns US And China "Headed For World War III"


Given that China's President Xi Jinping started the year by obliquely warning the US to stay out of Taiwan's business, perhaps it's not surprising that Senators are starting to join US military commanders in warning Americans not to underestimate the threat posed by China's unprecedented military buildup in the Pacific.
In the latest - and perhaps the most stark - warning to date, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma - who recently took over as the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee - warned during a hearing about the challenges posed by China and Russia on Tuesday that people need to better understand the threats both countries pose to the international world order that America helped create, according to the Military Times.
America has stood idly by as China has built airstrips and military bases out of a series of rocky atolls in the Spratley Archipelago, preparing to flex its military muscle in the Pacific. China's increasingly aggressive behavior was on display last fall when a Chinese Navy ship nearly rammed the USS Decaturwhile it was carrying out a "freedom of operation" mission.

While the U.S. military has a presence in and around the South China Sea and the larger western Pacific Ocean, Inhofe said America largely watched China lay claim to its rocks and islets before turning other reefs into fortifications, brimming with arms and stockpiled with materiel.
Beijing’s ongoing expansion into the Spratly archipelago agitates neighboring nations and continues to challenge international law, an assertiveness the U.S. Navy attempts to check through routine freedom of navigation operations, or FONOPs.
The days of absolute military dominance in the South China Sea have ended, Inhofe said. But strangely, many Americans don't seem to understand the magnitude of this shift - or its implications. With its One Belt, One Road initiative, debt diplomacy and other efforts, China has managed to pull some of the US's traditional allies away from its orbit, and closer to Beijing.


It’s like you’re preparing for World War III,” Inhofe said. "You’re talking to our allies over there and you wonder whose side they’re going to be on."
Inhofe and other senators, as well as experts who testified before the committee, noted that the urgency of the Chinese threat against America and today’s world order may not be fully appreciated by U.S. citizens.
"I’m concerned our message is not getting across," said Inhofe, who took over the committee this month.

A military analyst quoted by the Military Times reinforced Inhofe's warning, saying that Americans should be prepared for long-term competition with China.








Russia, China and several other nations are developing powerful high-altitude nuclear bombs that can produce super-electromagnetic pulse (EMP) waves capable of knocking out critical electronic infrastructure, according to several declassified 2017 reports from the now-defunct Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack (see below). 


"Foreign adversaries may aptly consider nuclear EMP attack a weapon that can gravely damage the U.S. by striking at its technological Achilles Heel, without having to confront the U.S. military," reads the report, which notes how foreign actors could use EMP attacks virtually anywhere in the world. 
"Super-EMP" weapons, as they are termed by Russia, are nuclear weapons specially designed to generate an extraordinarily powerful E1 EMP field. Super-EMP warheads are designed to produce gamma rays, which generate the E1 EMP effect, not a big explosion, and typically have very low explosive yields, only 1-10 kilotons ... Even EMP hardened U.S. strategic forces and command, control, communications and intelligence (C3I) systems are potentially vulnerable to such a threat. -Firstempcommission.org

"Nuclear EMP attack is part of the military doctrines, plans, and exercises of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran for a revolutionary new way of warfare against military forces and civilian critical infrastructures by cyber, sabotage, and EMP," the report continues. 
"The Commission sees the high-altitude nuclear explosion-generated electromagnetic pulse as an existential threat to the survival of the United States and its allies that can be exploited by major nuclear powers and small-scale nuclear weapon powers, including North Korea and non-state actors, such as nuclear-armed terrorists." 

Nuclear-electronic warfare is also known as "Blackout War" according to the Washington Free Beacon

EMP attacks will be carried out at such high altitudes they will produce no blast or other immediate effects harmful to humans. Instead, three types of EMP waves in seconds damage electronics and the strikes are regarded by adversaries as not an act of nuclear war.
"Potential adversaries understand that millions could die from the long-term collateral effects of EMP and cyber-attacks that cause protracted black-out of national electric grids and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures," the report said.
The attacks are regarded by enemy military planners as a relatively easy, potentially unattributable means of inflicting mass destruction and forcing opponents to capitulate.
EMP strikes can be adjusted in the size of the area and the intensity of the wave by detonating at different altitudes. The closer to the earth the more powerful is the pulse. The higher the altitude, the wider the area of impact. -Free Beacon

EMP attacks do not require accuracy, nor do the bombs require a re-entry vehicle, heat shield or shock absorbers like standard nuclear weapons, and they can be delivered through several methods - including satellites, short - medium - long range missiles, or even from a jet, commercial airliner or a meteorological balloon






Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Venezuela: Guaido Holds Secret Talks With Military, Security Forces




Guaido Had 'Clandestine Meetings' With Venezuela's Military, Security



Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido in an opinion article published by The New York Times on Wednesday said that the country's opposition has held secret talks with members of Venezuela’s security forces and offered them amnesty in exchange for abandoning President Nicolas Maduro.


"The transition will require support from key military contingents. We have had clandestine meetings with members of the armed forces and the security forces. We have offered amnesty to all those who are found not guilty of crimes against humanity", Guaido said. "The military’s withdrawal of support from Mr. Maduro is crucial to enabling a change in government, and the majority of those in service agree that the country’s recent travails are untenable".


However, Venezuela’s opposition does not support the military option to solve the country’spolitical crisis, self-declared interim president Juan Guaido’s representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), Gustavo Tarre, told Sputnik on Wednesday.


"No", Tarre said on Wednesday when asked whether he would support a US military option. "The problem is going to be solved by Venezuelans".

The opposition has been also in contact with Venezuelan diplomats in the United States who no longer recognize Nicolas Maduro as the country’s head of state, Gustavo Tarre told Sputnik.







We hear that President Nicolás Maduro has the support of the armed forces.  But does he really? 
Remember the Kremlin back in 1991?  They ordered the armed forces to put down the Yeltsin movement, but they didn't.  In other words, soldiers were not willing to fight their own people to support a corrupt and unpopular regime.
I see the same thing happening down in Venezuela.
First, Maduro has not sent a task force to arrest interim president Juan Guaido, as we see in news reports:  
More than 700 opponents of President Nicolas Maduro have been arrested during the latest push by Venezuela's opposition to oust the socialist leader.
But there's one anti-government activist security forces notably haven't touched: Juan Guaido, the lawmaker who declared himself interim president in a direct challenge to Maduro's rule.

So why not?  Why not deliver the knockout punch and put your opponent in jail?
I think that Maduro knows that such a move would provoke one of these three reactions, or all of them at once:
1. The armed forces will not arrest the man supported by the people in the streets.
2. Maduro is afraid that he will be arrested.
3. Best of all, it could bring about a military intervention or some kind of regional force made up of U.S. Marines, Brazilian troops, and others.
Does Maduro really have the armed forces on his side?  He probably has the Cubans, but not much more.


Maduro attempt to expand pro-regime paramilitary gangs is another sign that he has lost confidence in the support of National Guard & military.

Remember, the guardsmen & soldiers & their families are also suffering from the #Venezuela economic crisis.https://t.co/U9m6DQchcS
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 29, 2019



'The World's Most Dangerous Hotspot'




U.S.-China War May Be “Just A Shot Away”



The World’s Most Dangerous Hotspot

By Jim Rickards for the Daily Reckoning



I have warned repeatedly that currency wars and trade wars can lead to shooting wars. Both history and analysis support this thesis.
Currency wars do not exist all the time; they arise under certain conditions and persist until there is either systemic reform or systemic collapse. The conditions that give rise to currency wars are too much debt and too little growth.
In those circumstances, countries try to steal growth from trading partners by cheapening their currencies to promote exports and create export-related jobs.
The problem with currency wars is that they are zero-sum or negative-sum games. It is true that countries can obtain short-term relief by cheapening their currencies, but sooner than later, their trading partners also cheapen their currencies to regain the export advantage.

Is this pattern repressing itself today?
Sadly, the answer appears to be yes. The new currency war began in January 2010 with efforts of the Obama administration to promote U.S. growth with a weak dollar. By August 2011, the U.S. dollar reached an all-time low on the Fed’s broad real index.
Other nations retaliated, and the period of the “cheap dollar” was followed by the “cheap euro” and “cheap yuan” after 2012.
Once again, currency wars proved to be a dead end.
Now the trade wars are well underway. They may be set to resume once the current “truce” between the U.S. and China expires on March 1. If no deal is reached, massive new tariffs will likely take effect.
But the biggest question now is if a shooting war will follow.
There’s little doubt that the most dangerous place in the world today in terms of potential war has been the South China Sea.
I have written frequently about possible confrontations between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea. International law recognizes claims of six separate nations to parts of that sea, and the U.S. is treaty partners with one of them (the Philippines).
China claims the entire sea (except for a narrow shoreline stretch near each surrounding country). China is claiming control based on ancient imperial arrangements and argues that the West and its South Asian allies “stole” the territory from them.
China has aggressively built up man-made islands in the area by dredging sand onto rocks and atolls. These islands are then being fortified with airstrips, anti-aircraft weapons and surveillance technology.
But both the ancient claims and the theft narrative are open to serious dispute. The U.S. and the other nations involved reject those claims and insist on rights of passage and free navigation and sharing of natural resources such as oil, natural gas, undersea mining and seafood among others.
The U.S. and its allies, including Japan and the U.K., have sent naval vessels to cruise waters claimed by China and to uphold rights of passage and their status as open waters.
But the South China Sea is not the only body of water where the conflicts and risks exist.
An even greater potential conflict lies in the Strait of Taiwan, which separates the island of Formosa from the mainland of Red China. China claims Taiwan as a “breakaway province” and part of China. The Taiwanese government claims that it is the lawful government of all of China, although there is a strong independence movement there also.
Two U.S. warships recently passed through the strait as a reaffirmation of rights of free passage and a show of support for Taiwan.
China regards the passage of U.S. vessels as highly provocative and has threatened to block such transits with force. The South China Sea is a problem, but the Taiwan Strait is viewed in existential terms by China.
The entire situation is like a powder keg waiting for the match to light it. The risks include not only intentional combat but accidental shootings and collisions, which are not uncommon at sea, especially when two vessels are shadowing each other.
In fact, the greatest risk might not be an outright attack by either side but an accident or miscommunication that escalates into a firefight. We cannot avoid the real possibility that conflicting naval activities in both bodies of water will result in a violent incident or even war. And once an incident occurs, it could set off a chain of escalation that could result in open warfare.
Trump is not someone to back down when it comes to American interests around the world, and Chinese leadership does not want to appear weak before the U.S.
That’s especially true at a time of great economic uncertainty. Communist Party leadership is desperate to maintain the support of the people, or else it risks losing the “mandate of heaven.”
China does not want war at this time. But diverting the people’s attention away from domestic problems toward a foreign foe is an old trick leaders use to unite the people in times of uncertainty. Rallying the people around the flag is a tried and true method to garner support.
If China’s leadership decides that the risk of losing legitimacy at home outweighs the risk of conflict with the United States, the likelihood of war rises dramatically.
I’m not predicting it, but wars have started over less. Currency wars, trade wars, finally shooting wars. We’re currently two-thirds of the way there.

Things To Come: Global Currency And Financial System




Will Globalists Sacrifice The Dollar To Get Their 'New World Order'?



The idea of "fiat money", money which has no tangibility and that can be created on a whim by a central source or authority, is rather new in the grand scheme of things. It is a bastardization of the original and much more stable money system that existed before that was anchored in hard commodities. While it claims to offer a more "liquid" store of value, the truth is that it is no store of value at all.

Purveyors of fiat, central banks and globalists, use ever increasing debt as a means to feed fiat, not to mention the hidden tax of price inflation. When central bankers get a hold of money, it is no longer a representation of work or value, but a system of enslavement that crushes our ability to produce effectively and to receive fair returns for our labor.

There are many people today in the liberty movement that understand this dynamic, but even in alternative economic circles there are some that do not understand the full picture when it comes to central banks and fiat mechanisms. There is a false notion that paper currencies are the life blood of the establishment and that they will seek to protect these currencies at all costs. This might have been true 20 years ago or more, but it is not true today. Things change.

The king of this delusion is the US dollar. As the world reserve currency it is thought by some to be "untouchable", a pillar of the globalist structure that will be defended for many decades to come. The reality, however, is that the dollar is nothing more than another con game on paper to the globalists; a farce that they are happy to sacrifice in order to further their goals of complete centralization of world trade and therefore the complete centralization of control over human survival.

That is to say, the dollar is a stepping stone for them, nothing more.


The real goal of the globalists is an economic system in which they can monitor every transaction no matter how small; a system in which there is eventually only one currency, a currency that can be tracked, granted or taken away at a moment's notice. Imagine a world in which your "store of value" is subject to constant scrutiny by a bureaucratic monstrosity, and there is no way to hide from them by using private trade as a backstop. Imagine a world in which you cannot hold your money in your hand, and access to your money can be denied with the push of a button if you step out of line. This is what the globalists really desire.

Some people might claim that this kind of system already exists, but they would be fooling themselves. Even though fiat currencies like the dollar are a cancer on free markets and true production, they still offer privacy to a point, and they can still be physically allocated and held in your hand making them harder to confiscate. The globalists want to take a bad thing and make it even worse.


So, the question arises - How do they plan to make the shift from the current fiat paper system to their "new world order" economy?

First and foremost, they will seek a controlled demolition of the dollar as the world reserve currency. They have accomplished this in the past with other reserve currencies, such as the Pound Sterling, which was carefully diminished over a period of two decades just after WWII through the use of treasury bond dumps by France and the US, as well as the forced removal of the sterling as the petro-currency. This was done to make way for the US dollar as a replacement after the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944.

The dollar did not achieve true world reserve status, though, until after the gold standard was completely abandoned by Nixon in the early 1970's, at which point a deal was struck with Saudi Arabia making the dollar the petro-currency. Once the dollar was no longer anchored to gold and the world's energy market was made dependent on it, the fate of the US economy was sealed.

Unlike Britain and the sterling, the US economy is hyper-dependent on the dollar's world reserve status. While Britain suffered declining conditions for decades after the loss, including inflation and high interest rates, the US will experience far more acute pain. 


 A complete lack of adequate manufacturing capability within US borders has turned our nation into a consumer based society rather than a society of producers. Meaning, we are dependent on the demand for our currency as a reserve in order to enjoy affordable goods from outside sources (i.e. other manufacturing based countries).

Add to this lack of production ability the fact that for the past decade the Federal Reserve has been pumping trillions of dollars into financial markets around the globe. This means trillions of dollar held overseas only on the promise that those dollars will be accepted by major exporters as a universal store of value. If faith in that promise is lost, those trillions could come flooding back into the US through various channels, and the buying power of the currency would crumble.

There is a delusion within the American mainstream that even if such an event were to occur, the transition could be handled with ease. It's fantastical, I know, but never underestimate the cognitive dissonance of people blinded by bias.

The banking elites have hinted in the past how they might try to "reset" the global economy. As I've mentioned in many articles, the globalist run magazine The Economist in 1988 discussed the removal of the dollar to make way for a global currency, a currency which would be introduced to the masses by 2018. This introduction did in fact take place as The Economist declared it would. Blockchain and digital currency systems, the intended foundation of the next globalist monetary structure, received unprecedented coverage the past two years.  They are now a part of the public consciousness.


The growing "everything bubble" encompasses not just stock markets or housing, but auto markets, credit markets, bond markets, and the dollar itself. All of these elements are now tied directly to Fed policy. The US economy is not only addicted to stimulus measures and near-zero interest rates; it will die without them.

Without constant and ever expanding stimulus measures, the false economy will implode. We are already seeing the effects as the Fed cuts tens-of-billions per month in assets from its balance sheet and hikes interest rates to their "neutral rate of inflation". Auto markets, housing markets, and credit markets are in reversal, and stocks are witnessing the most instability since the 2008 crash. All of this was triggered by the Fed simply exerting incremental rate hikes and balance sheet cuts.


The specifics of the shift to a global currency are less clear, but again, we have hints from the globalists. The Economist suggests that the US economy will have to be taken down a few pegs, and that the IMF would step in as the arbiter of forex markets through its SDR basket system. This plan was echoed recently by globalist Mohamed El-Erian in an article he wrote titled "New Life For The SDR?". El-Erian also suggests that a global currency would help to combat the "rise of populism".

The Economist notes that the SDR would only act as a "bridge" to the new global currency. Paper currencies would still exist for a time, but they would be pegged to the SDR exchange rates. Currently, the dollar is only worth around .71 SDR's. In the event of the loss of world reserve status, expect this exchange rate to drop significantly.


As the global crisis deepens the IMF will suggest a "reset" to a more manageable monetary framework, and this framework will be based on blockchain technology and a cryptocurrencywhich the IMF has likely already developed. The IMF hints at this outcome in at least two separate white papers recently published which herald a new age in which crypto is the next phase of evolution for global trade.

I predict according to the current pace of the trade war and Fed liquidity tightening that de-dollerization will hit the mainstream by 2020. The process of "resetting" the global monetary system would likely take at least another decade to complete. The globalist preoccupation with their "Agenda 2030" sustainable development initiatives suggests a decade long timeline.

Without ample resistance, the introduction of the cashless society will be presented as a natural and even "heroic" response by the globalists to save humanity from the "selfishness" of destructive nationalists. They will strut across the world stage as if they are saviors, rather than the villains they really are.