VIDEO: The Vortex — Enemies of Truth

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TRANSCRIPT

I’m Michael Voris coming to you from Jerusalem on our final day in the Holy Land as we wrap up production from here on our documentary on the Eucharist — and quickly, because so many have asked, you can preorder a copy of the final production by just clicking on the provided link.

It was here, in Jerusalem, about a 10-minute walk from where we are right now, that Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate asked his question of Our Lord: What is truth?

Enemies of Christ deny truth, they deny its existence as anything beyond whatever is expedient. Pilate denied it, even having truth Himself standing right in front of him.

Caiaphas denied it when he tore his robes in response to Our Lord’s truthful acclamation that He was, in fact, the Messiah and the Son of God.

And so it has gone down through the centuries even to our own day. And it doesn’t even matter what given waters the enemies of Christ may swim in — politics, media, religion — all His enemies are liars.

Which of course stands to reason because it was right over there, on the Temple Mount, where Islam’s Dome of the Rock now stands, that Our Lord brutalized the Jewish leaders for their rejection of truth in His own person.

He railed at them, naming them as offspring of the serpent and saying they were enemies of the truth because their father was the devil, who is the father of lies.

That is pretty severe language all by itself, but when coming as a judgment pronounced on you by the Son of God, it is a horrifying condemnation. Those who lie, who participate in lying to obscure or deny the truth, are the offspring of the devil.

And this isn’t just some historical or even biblical reality rooted in nostalgia or biblical scholarship. This is real today.

Consider CNN with its constant stream of fake news — meaning lies and distortions to get at Donald Trump. And that includes MSNBC, or The New York Times and so forth, the lot of them that want to get at it Him.

And why do they want to get at him? Because he represents to them — rightly or wrongly, a moral America — the head of a political grassroots movement that if successful would completely undo their liberal 1970s America which has ruled the country for nearly half a century. That vision of America was built on lies.

Roe v. Wade was built on the lie that Jane Roe, whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was gang raped by black men. Only decades later did it come out that that was a lie invented by Roe lawyer Sarah Weddington.

Weddington recently sat next to Andrew Cuomo as he signed the most wide-ranging abortion law in world history into effect earlier this year — more lies.

Joe Biden’s entire political career is built on lies — perhaps the biggest one coming to light is he is a creeper, not just friendly “Uncle Joe.”

He has manhandled so many women in public and done creepy things, like smelling their hair, that he has earned the nickname “The Handyman.”

Yet, the hypocrisy of the Left in giving him a pass because he supports child slaughter is revolting — revolting, but telling. They are willing to sacrifice some of their pretended sacred principles in order to keep abortion the sacrament they have raised it to.

So too the news media will do anything to avoid calling Islamic terrorists, Islamic terrorists — more lies.

The horror of what happened in Sri Lanka on Easter was dutifully reported by the fake news corrupt media as being the fault of “religious extremists” — oh yeah, which religion? To simply pin it on “religious” extremists, condemns all religions.

Why would the media not report the full truth of this, especially when they know it. Because it’s better for them to lie by omission if they want to keep up the pretense that Islam is the religion of peace.

They need to keep that narrative going so they can use it against Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.

So too, those on the Left who keep yammering on and lying about man-made climate change. The climate changes. It has since creation. Man does not make the climate change.

The Left — the media, politicians, elitists and so forth — are all engaged heavily in lies because they want to bring about a new order for the world where Jesus Christ is excluded from it.

Islam is based on a lie, Freemasons lie, socialists and Marxists lie, the media lies, Democrats lie, Planned Parenthood lies, all of them enemies of Christ because He is the truth, and they reject truth and the world and civilization created in the West by His Catholic Church after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Pilate, a representative of that empire, you might say got this whole ball rolling, this denial and rejection of truth for the sake of political expediency. It happened right over there, on the Temple Mount the first time, and as we know, it wouldn’t be the last.

Those dedicated to Christ say the truth. You cannot love Christ and not also love the truth, for He is the truth. Truth is sometimes hard to hear. Dealing with its consequences is often hard to bear.

But if you want to spend eternity with truth, you better start living in correct association with Him here on earth. Call out lies. Call out falsehoods. Do it every time you encounter them.

Calling out the enemies of Christ is really, after all, only calling out their father, the devil. That’s what children of the light do. They attack the darkness.

Ending our time here in the land where Our Lord instituted the sacrament of His body and blood, for our whole crew, and Church Militant supporters who made this trip possible for the production of our documentary on the Eucharist, this is Michael Voris.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Church Militant video is republished with permission.

Ignorance, Fear and LGBTQ

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Mary and I met with several black relatives for dinner at a restaurant in Baltimore. The jovial conversation drifted to politics. I was stunned that they know nothing about several important political issues. Because they only watch mainstream media, my relatives are either misinformed or uninformed.

For example: My relatives have never heard of Sharia Law. When I explained the tyranny of Sharia and how leftists are promoting it in America, my relatives were shocked. Overwhelmed, a relative said, “I’ve heard enough. Can we change the subject?”

The second thing that disturbed me was my relatives’ intense fear of pushing back against LGBTQ indoctrination that is impacting their lives. As I said, these are not political people. And yet, they know they had better not get caught opposing LGBTQ activists forcefully infiltrating every aspect of our lives; from public education to entertainment to Sunday morning worship.

A relative said her two granddaughters told her about a picture posted on the internet by their cousin. Their cousin is a girl who posted a picture of her kissing her girlfriend. All these kids are in elementary school. Disturbed, my relative asked her son, her granddaughter’s father, about the picture. He begged his mom not to say anything about the picture. He feared that disapproving of their cousin kissing her girlfriend could lead to him being deemed an unfit parent and losing custody of his daughters.

Another relative said his two little granddaughters were painting their fingernails. Having a little fun, he bent his hand femininely and said, “Paint my nails too.” The little girls immediately turned stone-faced. They said, “That’s not funny Pop-pop. It’s not right to make fun of them like that.” My relative was taken aback by how upset his granddaughters were with him. He did not know that kids are taught beginning in pre-k that homosexuality is superior to heterosexuality. 

Another relative chimed in about a visit at his adult daughter’s home. His granddaughter looked beautiful in her gown for a formal high school event. He was shocked when her date arrived. It was a girl wearing a tuxedo. He thought this was terrible but hid his feelings, fearful of offending his daughter and granddaughter. He knew they would think he was an old-fashion, out-of-date hater if he showed any sign of disapproval.

Folks, LGBTQ activists’ domination of our culture has come a long ways from the days when they claimed they only wanted tolerance. Today, they demand that we bend a knee in total submission and approval of their lifestyle in education, entertainment media and even Christian churches. LGBTQ activists are aggressively seeking to ban the Bible, declaring it bigoted hate speech. LGBTQ activists seek to make it illegal to counsel those who wish to transition from LGBTQ lifestyles. 

Leftists are thrilled about “Corpus Christi” which is a blasphemous movie in which Jesus and his disciples are portrayed as homosexuals. And yet, leftists are demanding that public schools forbid students from drawing pictures of Mohammad because Sharia law says to do so is blasphemy. 

My late dad, Dr Rev Lloyd E Marcus said homosexuals were coming out of the closet and forcing us who believe the Bible into the closet. Truer words were never spoken.

Years ago, I wrote an article about how LGBTQ activists were aggressively seeking to infiltrate and take-down Christian institutions like the Boy Scouts of America. Tragically, LGBTQ activists have transformed the Boy Scouts away from its Christian founding, principles and values. Everything I stated in that article was 100% true. Shockingly, Christians, conservatives and Republicans who usually agree with me backed away from me. My article was branded “mean-spirited” and “anti-Christian”.

At that time, I was Chairman of a PAC which helped to elect conservative candidates. LGBTQ activists attacked our candidate, demanding that they disassociate from this “hater”, Lloyd Marcus. My employer warned that if the bad press intensified, he would be forced to request my resignation. This was my first time personally experiencing the wrath and punishment of LGBTQ activists, simply because I warned people about their mission to bully us into submission.

The surprising intensity of the LGBTQ attacks, reporters chasing me down and sticking microphones in my face, scared me. I could not give a rat’s derriere about what leftists think of me. I had to fight off feelings of guilt as I witnessed LGBTQ enforcers attacking everyone associated with me.

My wife Mary and I prayed about the situation. My wife is awesome. Mary said, “You must spread truth without fear of man.” Life has taught us that while my paycheck came from my employer, God is the true source of our financial security. The heated attacks over my LGBTQ/Boy Scouts article faded away. I was not fired.

However, another of my controversial articles sparked tension between my employer and me. Mary and I concluded that I must be free to write as I am led by God. I resigned from my position as chairman of the PAC.

For years, leftists have accused me of being a black “Uncle Tom sellout” highly paid by the Republican Party. This is not true. Quitting my position as chairman of a PAC was a serious financial decision; an act of faith. God is faithful and has sustained us. Praise God!

I left our family gathering at the restaurant feeling a bit disturbed that my relatives were so politically clueless and so fearful of attempting to stop LGBTQ activists from forcing their anti-Christian agenda down the throats of our children. Still, I am determined to continue spreading the truth and standing up for what is right. God is the source of my strength.

On a positive note, my wife Mary is a crab-cake snob. The crab-cakes at Romano’s restaurant were excellent.

RELATED VIDEO: Drag Queen Showdown – Bill Finley.

Watch Shocking Video of Indoctrinated Muslim Kids in Philly

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The following video, posted by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, shows a shocking display of indoctrinated Muslim kids in Philadelphia.

In the violent and anti-Semitic song, the children are hoping for the future “liberation” of the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Contrary to the song, Muslims have full access to the mosque (save men under 40 in times of Islamist rioting). Since 1967, when Israel gained control of the Jordanian-occupied part of Jerusalem, Israel handed administration of the site back to Jordan. Israel maintains security control of the site.

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Enter Joe Biden, Stage Left

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David Carlin: The former Veep is a liberal Catholic. It will be interesting to see how many bishops will offer corrections to his non-Catholic positions.

Joe Biden, a Democrat who happens to be a Catholic, is now officially running for President of the United States.  And he’s doing so in an effort to save what he calls the “soul” of America.

His assumption seems to be that there are two (more or less Platonic) Ideas of America currently struggling for dominance, the true Idea and the false Idea.  I suppose he sees himself and his views as symbolizing the true America, while he sees Donald Trump and his views as symbolizing the false America.

If Biden is to be the Democratic candidate, he will, of course, have to embrace and endorse the beliefs and values that currently prevail in the Democratic Party, and these beliefs and values include the following:

1. Abortion is a fundamental human right.

2. Homosexual behavior is a fine thing for people who are born that way; and anybody who disagrees is a homophobic bigot.

3. Same-sex marriage is a fundamental human right.

4. The U.S. Constitution, thanks to the theory of substantive due process, protects all human rights; and it’s up to any five members of the U.S. Supreme Court to decide what is, or what is not, a human right.

5. Non-liberal whites are almost always racists.

6. It is a great duty of the U.S. government to protect those among us who are most oppressed; namely, blacks, other persons of color, women, undocumented migrants, Muslims, homosexuals, transgender persons, and criminals (including drug dealers) who have committed no violent crimes.

7. When the rights of churches or religious individuals collide with the rights of the above-listed victim groups, the former must give way to the latter.

8. When the rights of parents collide with the rights of their transgender children, the former must give way to the latter.

9. Almost all our social ills can be cured, or at least significantly mitigated, by actions of the federal government.

Lest anybody think that the above is an invidious description of the Democratic belief system given by a person who is a lifelong Democrat-hater, let me assure the reader that I once possessed very strong Democratic credentials.  I think I first thought of myself as a Democrat on that day when I was about eight-years-old and my father explained to me, “The Republicans are the party of rich people.  The Democrats are the party of poor people, like us.”

Later in life I became a politician in my home state of Rhode Island.  I served twelve years (1981-93) as a Democrat in the R.I. Senate, two of those as majority leader.  In 1992, I was the (losing) Democratic candidate in my district for the U.S. House of Representatives.

By that date, it was clear that my party had become a pro-abortion party.  Yet I, a pro-life Democrat, still hoped that the party’s anti-Christian momentum could be reversed.  That, as it turned out, was quite foolish.

Increasingly, cultural enemies of Christianity have gained ideological dominance in the party.  From abortion they moved on to homosexuality and same-sex marriage; more recently they have advanced to transgenderism; and, in the future, they will almost certainly move on to assisted suicide: first to voluntary euthanasia, later to involuntary.It is with regret that I say it, but my old and dearly loved party has become a party of atheistic anti-Christianity.  This is Biden’s party, and if he doesn’t embrace its values he won’t get its nomination.

Some people may object to what I’ve said. They may point out that today’s Democratic Party still contains many Christians and is far from being a party made up solely of atheists.  True . . . and beside the point.

Many persons who identify as both Christians and Democrats are simple souls who imagine that their party, because it has the same name it had in the good old days of FDR and JFK, is the same party it has always been. They don’t understand, or they won’t allow themselves to understand, how radically their party has changed.

But those people are followers, not leaders. The ideological leadership of the party is in the hands of persons who may be called Secular Progressives.  These people are atheists and near-atheists. By “near-atheists” I mean agnostics, religiously indifferent people, and liberal Protestants (in contrast to Evangelical Protestants).

If liberal Protestants are Christians, it is in a Pickwickian sense of that word only.  For more than a century now, liberal Protestantism, in an attempt to “save” Christianity for persons with a modern mentality, has been shedding one element after another of Christian belief.

Having shed almost all Nicene doctrines, they have more recently, under the impact of the sexual revolution, dropped all traditional Christian sexual morality plus the ancient Christian taboo against abortion.  Nowadays liberal Protestantism, while not quite full-fledged atheism, is far closer to atheism than it is to traditional Christianity.

Liberal Catholicism, while drifting in the same direction, got its start later than liberal Protestantism, and so has not yet traveled quite so far down the road to atheism as has its elder brother.  Its main project at the moment is to persuade the Church to remove its age-old condemnation of homosexuality.  To all appearances, it has had considerable success with this project, not just among tolerant laypersons, but even among many priests and some bishops.

When Joe Biden tries to exploit the “fact” that he’s a Catholic, it will be interesting to see how many Catholic bishops will denounce his spurious appropriation of the faith.  If the denunciation is nearly universal, it will be a sign that the Church in America is recovering its health.  If not, it will be sign that we are still sliding downhill.

As for myself, I’m not optimistic.

COLUMN BY

David Carlin

David Carlin is a professor of sociology and philosophy at the Community College of Rhode Island, and the author of The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. © 2019 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

VIDEO: Antisemitism and the Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) Event in Orlando, FL

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On April 15th, the Heritage Florida Jewish News requested a ‘Press Pass’ by email, to attend the April 20th Emgage Action Gala at the Crowne Plaza Hotel where controversial Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was the keynote speaker.  Our email request for the press pass went unanswered so a ticket was purchased and confirmed on April 17th.

At the check in table, my name and Heritage press credentials were presented and admittance to the event was denied, without cause or reason.   The only excuse given was, “No media allowed” rudely given by one of the organizers who refused to give her name.  However, nothing on the ticket receipt or advertising flyers said “No Media Allowed.”

My assignment was to report on Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s speech, but now we will explore possible reasons why Emgage Action would behave in such a antisemitic way towards the Heritage Florida Jewish News and its readership.

Front Page Magazine journalist Joe Kaufman reported in a March 19, 2019 article about Emgage founder Khurrum Wahid,

“ Khurrum Basir Wahid is a Pakistani-born South Florida attorney, who has built his name on representing high profile terrorists.

His past clients include: Rafiq Sabir, who received a 25-year prison sentence for conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaeda; al-Qaeda operative Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who received a life sentence for plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush; Sami al-Arian, who sought to create a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) infrastructure within the Tampa, Florida-area; and Miami imam Hafiz Khan, who was convicted of sending $50,000 to the Pakistani Taliban with the intent to murder American troops overseas.”

“The Miami New Times reports, Wahid himself was placed on a federal terrorist watch list in 2011. The publication states, “[S]ometimes, a clash between his work and personal life is inescapable. Last year, he landed on a federal ‘selectee’ list – a terrorist watch list. Now he gets a pat down at the airport before flying and can’t print boarding passes at home.”                                  

Besides his controversial law practice, Wahid is the Co-Chairman of Emgage Action (formerly Emerge USA), an Islamist group he founded, in 2006, that attempts to pass its extremist agenda off as political advocacy. The group is part of the South Florida Muslim Federation, a consortium of South Florida’s radical Islamic organizations and terror-related mosques. Ammar Ahmed, the South Florida Director of Emgage, in February 2010, following a debate he participated in at a school, wrote on Facebook, “I hate white people” and joked that he “should have threatened to blow up the school.

The mosque Wahid attends is the Islamic Foundation of South Florida (IFSF). Wahid, as well, is the Registered Agent for IFSF’s corporation. On IFSF Youth Group leader Abdur Rahman al-Ghani’s Facebook page, al-Ghani labels Jews “demonic,” calls the US the “World’s Number One Terrorist Organization,” and says Muslims “will overtake the World.”

Perhaps the examples listed above provide a clue into the corporate culture of Emgage Action and their supporters.  Rep. Tlaib’s positions on BDS, Israel, and the Jewish people have made her a controversial figure among our freshman congressman and women and the nation.

An April 11,2019 Clarion Project article reports,

“Tlaib is known for being a supporter of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Movement against Israel, which according to the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the State Department, is an anti-Semitic movement.”

The Times of Israel in a February 20, 2019 article reports, “

“In a video published on the Facebook page of the Israel Advocacy Movement, founder Joseph Cohen displayed a screen capture of the code used for Tlaib’s website which showed it was created using Wix.com.

“That’s right, the Palestinian queen of BDS has a website that was built and bought from Israel,” Cohen says.   Many of the haters of Israel have no idea that Israeli technology is present in just about every cell phone and computer on the market.

“Tlaib, whose parents are from the West Bank village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa, where much of her family lives, is one of the first-ever US lawmakers to support the anti-Israel boycott movement. She also says she supports a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has called for cutting US aid to the country.”

“Tlaib has gained notoriety for putting a ‘post it’ note labeled “Palestine” over the State of Israel.  This political theater signals Rep. Tlaib likely believes Israel does not have the right to exist.  The policy making implications of such a radical view from a sitting United States Congresswoman is chilling.   In this picture, on the far left, is radical Palestinian activist Rasha Mubarak of Orlando, FL.  Keep your eye on Rasha Mubarak, it is rumored she has her sights on running for public office in Orlando.

Most disturbing is Rashida Tlaib’s social media posts where she says of her most radical supporters, “Every single one of you inspire me to stay true to my roots and who I am.” FB post March 31, 2018.

Two of Rep. Tlaib’s more radicalized supporters are Ahlam Jbara and  Mwafaq Jbara.

Ahlam Jbara is an avid supporter of Rasmeeh Odeh, who was arrested for orchestrating a bombing in an Israeli supermarket where two people were killed.  Another social media post show Ahlam Jbara baked Rasmeeh the murderer a birthday cake.  Ahlam also glorified  another Palestinian terrorist Muhammad Ali who stabbed three IDF soldiers in Jerusalem.

Mwafaq Jbara is a Palestinian terrorist who speaks fondly of meeting the co-founder of Hamas while being incarcerated at Megiddo prison in Israel.  Meggiddo prison is known for housing the most dangerous of Palestinian terrorists.  Jbara’s social media posts are a who’s who of high level terrorists.  Most disturbing is in one post he says, “If you see the roof of an Israeli bus flying in the air you will know it’s Yahya.”  Yahya is on of the chief bomb makers for Hamas.  Mwafaq Jbara is also seen posing with terrorist Rasmeeh Odeh.  Mwafaq Jbara and Rep. Tlaib are also Facebook friends.

We wanted to ask Rep. Tlaib about her friends support of terrorists and the killing of Jews but never got the chance.

The Israel Advocacy Movement made an excellent video exposing Rashida Tlaib’s close associates troubling past.

These associations present a pattern of behavior that should concern all American’s concerned with the State of Israel and our countries Middle East foreign policy.

In law enforcement circles, all the facts and evidence uncovered by the Israel Advocacy Movement is an indicator that Rep. Tlaib has troubling associations she should answer for.   Any individual with such connections would likely be denied even low level security clearances.

Conclusion

Once the the fiery rhetoric of antisemitism becomes accepted in the public square it only grows.  The facts and evidence presented in this article paint a disturbing picture of Rep. Rashida Tlaib,  her politics and nefarious associates.

The Zionist organization of America is calling on pro-Israel organizations and “decent Americans” to urge the removal of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) from the Democratic party and Congressional committees.

In an insightful statement (this link is not working) ZOA National President Morton A. Klein and Chairman Mark Levenson declared,

“Someone who knowingly and enthusiastically consorts with the most virulent anti-semites, blood-soaked terrorists and conspiracy theorists is clearly beyond the pale, or no one is beyond the pale.”

Arabic News Summary

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  • 28 April 2019:  The Qatar-based al-jazeera TV channel reported the view that the Israelis, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), are pushing the Trump Administration into a war with Iran.
  • On the Libya issue, al-jazeera gave a full ½ hour airtime to a spokesman for the UN-recognized Sirraaj government in Tripoli.  The spokesperson’s main point was that the Sirraaj Government would never negotiate with General Haftar.
  • Erdogan said that he would defend Tripoli from attack at all costs.
  • Popular Egyptian talk show host on MBS-Egypt, Amru Adeeb, interviewed General Ahmad   al-Mismarri who reported that Turkey is conveying an-Nusra terrorists (al-Qaeda franchise in Syria), as well as other jihadis, to Tripoli to aid the Sirraaj government.  Al-Mismari also claimed that mercenaries from Chad and other countries have joined the Tripoli militia groups.
  • On another story, Amru Adeeb reported that Turkey is playing games in Sudan as well.
  • Also on 28 April, al-jazeera reported that in Khartoum there were protests in front of the Egyptian embassy, protesting “Egyptian interference.”
  • 29 April, the Saudi-owned, Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel reported that there were protests in front of an Islamists office in Khartoum.
  • Arab Spring 2.0 breaks out in Tunisia (the birthplace of the first Arab Spring in 2011), after government forces killed several farmers.  The crowds shouted ash-sha’b yoreed asqaat an-nizhaam (The people want to bring down the regime) which was the slogan used across the Arab world during the first Arab Spring.
  • Egypt’s state newspaper, al-Ahram, quoted President as-Sisi telling the Italian leader that Egypt supports Haftar and will never negotiate with terrorism (a reference to the Sirraaj government).
  • Popular Egyptian talk show host on MBS-Egypt, Amru Adeeb, reported that during the battle for Tripoli, General Haftar’s army captured some Turkish soldiers.
  • Also, on 29 April, al-Arabiyya TV reported that one of the militia groups from Tripoli went to Iran seeking a weapons deal.
  • 30 April an extremist-run media outlet al-Furqan released a picture of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi which was then shown on most of the world’s TV outlets.

COMMENTARY

Okay, so there is a civil war taking place in Libya.  How can we tell the good guys from the bad guys?

On one side you have the “legitimate” Libyan government headed by Faa’ez Sirraaj, handpicked by the EU, and internationally recognized by the UN.

On the other side you have General Haftar who is attacking that “legitimate” government.  General Haftar rose to that lofty ranking while serving under the dictator Qadhafi.  Most of his army is also made up of people who had also served in the military under Qadhafi.  A lot of people inside and outside of Libya, believe that General Haftar and his army are tainted by their former association with Qadhafi.

Therefore, obviously, Haftar is the heavy here, and Sirraaj is the “good guy” under siege trying to defend international legitimacy.

However, when we take a closer look at who is supporting whom, we get a completely different picture.  While Sirraaj was hand-picked by the EU, and while the EU and the rest of the world may wring their hands over the situation in Libya, the only countries providing direct military aid to the Sirraaj government are a list of the planet’s top three state sponsors of terrorism:  Turkey, Iran, and Qatar.

When Sirraaj was first selected to head the new government, there were groans from some quarters because of a suspicion that Sirraaj was either a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, or a sympathizer.  Then, when we look at his “legitimate” coalition government, who are his coalition partners?  Why, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Ansar ash-Shari’a (of Benghazi scandal fame).

And, who are the supporters of General Haftar?  Egypt, KSA, and the UAE, all three of whom have declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organization and don’t want to see it set up in power on Egypt’s doorstep.

In a bizarre twist, French troops have been noted among General Haftar’s forces attacking Tripoli, even though France, as a member of the EU, theoretically supports the Sirraaj government. Ah, but there is oil in Libya.  Lots of it.  The French have apparently calculated that General Haftar is the only force in Libya capable of eliminating the chaos and establishing law and order over the entire country.  Therefore, they want to get in on the ground floor so that French companies will be granted oil extraction rights in Libya once that hoped for peace and stability are established.

Now, as for General Haftar being tainted by his former association with the Qadhafi regime, he retired before the Arab Spring began.  He therefore never engaged in firing upon the Libyan people.  He came out of retirement to reform the army only after Qadhafi’s removal and only after Libya had fallen into chaos.

This equation then lends support to contentions by al-arabiyya and General Haftar’s intelligence, that the Sirraaj government, and the Tripoli that it controls, are hotbeds of terrorism.  It also supports the Libyan contention that nearly every terrorist on international “most wanted” lists are in Libya.  Some of these, like Saif al-‘Adel, have a 10 million dollar bounty hanging over their heads.   The safest place for these individuals would be in Tripoli under the protection of the Sirraaj government.

Anyone want to bet that ISIS leader al-Baghdadi isn’t there as well?  He has not been seen publicly for five years.  There have been several reports of his being killed in Iraq, then in Syria, with an equal number of reports refuting those reports.

Here are the only things that we actually do know about him:  Several years ago he was wounded during an American bombing raid of an ISIS caravan.  He was then smuggled into Turkey where he was given medical treatment, then the Turks smuggled him into Libya.  There were other reports that al-Baghdadi had told some of his followers that he was going to Libya to set up another center of operations to guard against the possibility of ISIS holdings in Iraq and Syria being lost to the international forces fighting against them.  Since then, there have been no valid reports of al-Baghdadi’s appearance anywhere else, much less valid reports of his death.

SUDAN

We have an equally confused situation in Sudan where it looks like two groups of civilian protestors and a military tainted by its being the same military that served under the ousted dictator al-Basheer.  And here, as in Libya, the only way to tell the players without a program is to look at who is supporting whom.

The Sudanese military junta has thanked Egypt, KSA, and the UAE for their diplomatic support.

We also have reports of Turkey being involved with the protestors combatting the military.

SUMMARY

There are Arab Spring type demonstrations, revolts, and outright civil warfare, taking place in Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria.  There is solid evidence that Turkey is an active participant in the civil war in Libya, along with some evidence that they are involved in the Sudanese Arab Spring.  I cannot help but believe that Turkey is also involved in the Algerian mess, and if not in Tunisia.  Certainly, they will be there too if that Arab Spring 2.0 develops legs there.

All of this must be seen as a part of Erdogan’s grand design to recreate the old Ottoman Empire Caliphate, as is his current military occupations of northern Syria, and ever increasing chunks of Iraq.

ADVICE TO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Make a firm decision to come out in favor of General Haftar in Libya, and delegitimize the Sirraaj government in Tripoli.

Rein in Turkey firmly before Erdogan’s fantasy of an Ottoman Empire caliphate 2.0 become a reality, because that would not only spell the death of Egypt and Israel, but would be a calamity for Europe and the rest of the West as well.

VIDEO: Gun Control & Socialism Is a Recipe for Chaos, and Venezuela Proves It

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“What is now occurring in Venezuela is what happens when you have a socialist leader and disarmament policies.” —Dana Loesch

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‘Blame America First’ Crowd Is Undermining the Fight for Freedom in Venezuela

Gabby Franco: Venezuela and State-Sponsored Violence

Tom King: New York’s Bid To Derail Supreme Court Gun Case Rebuffed

EDITORS NOTE: This NRA-ILA video is republished with permission.

Campus Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Be Offensive

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Question: If you believe in the traditional Judeo-Christian sex ethic—that no one should have sex apart from the bonds of holy matrimony (between a man and a woman)—should you be disqualified from making a presentation at a college campus?

Apparently, some key student leaders at Cornell University think so. Cornell is the only Ivy League school that was not explicitly founded as a Christian school.

Who would have agreed with the traditional Judeo-Christian sex ethic that intimacy is to be reserved for marriage?

  • Rev. John Harvard and the Puritans who founded Harvard University in 1636 and named it in his honor because of the books and money he donated for its establishment.
  • The Puritan businessman Elihu Yale and the Congregational ministers who founded Yale around 1700, likewise to train ministers of the Gospel.
  • The Presbyterian elders who founded the College of New Jersey, which later came to be called Princeton.

And on it goes.

In fact, most Americans subscribed, at least ostensibly, to the Christian view of sex until about a generation or so ago. The sexual revolution upended everything and has brought in its wake ravaging sexually-transmitted diseases, countless divorces and broken families, subsequent poverty, and untold misery.

But now, if you hold those traditional views and have voiced them at some time, you could possibly be censored from speaking at a public event.

That’s what happened to a friend of mine, Jannique Stewart. Jannique, an African-American woman who grew up in Europe, speaks at colleges, high schools, and churches all over the country and even other countries—-providing a traditional view on the pro-life issue, on abstinence, and on sex.

At our church in south Florida, we have had Jannique speak at a couple of our “Salt and Light” events. She’s always been very positive, factually based, and upbeat.

Jannique has her own organization, loveprotects.com. And recently, she has been doing a lot of speaking for Scott Klusendorf’s Life Training Institute, an organization that tries to equip people to defend the pro-life perspective using science and philosophy. She notes: “We’re able to debunk a lot of the common myths and misconceptions” surrounding abortion.

An executive board member of Cornell Political Union contacted the Life Training Institute in January of this year to inquire about Jannique’s availability to speak at one of their meetings. The topic was going to be pro-life versus pro-abortion. They ended up inviting her, securing the date, working out the details—but then later they disinvited her. They did that when they found out two things about her.

She told me on my radio show the views that got her barred from speaking at Cornell: “One, that sex should be reserved for marriage, and two, that I believe that marriage is defined by God, our Creator, as the union of one man and one woman.” Well, I believe that too. So do millions of Americans.

By this criterion, Barrack Obama could have been disinvited in 2011 because he publicly professed to believe marriage was between one man and one woman. In fact, former Supreme Court Justice Kennedy, who wrote the pro same-sex marriage decision in 2015, said that belief in heterosexual marriage has been widely held around the planet for “millennia.” So her views on this are not unique to Jannique.

Jannique told me of her reaction to being disinvited: “That’s a form of viewpoint discrimination, and that’s wrong of them to do that—especially at a university campus, which is supposed to be a bastion of higher learning where we’re supposed to have a free exchange of ideas and then be able to debate those ideas.”

She says, “They felt that the students would not be able to listen to my prolife speech because they would be so focused on my views. And I thought, ‘Now, that really is insulting to their intellect because what they’re saying is that [their fellow] students at this Ivy League school cannot possibly listen, simply because of my views on pre-marital sex and marriage.”

What disturbed Jannique the most was how they viewed her views as being on the same level as racist views. She was told, “having me on campus with the ideas that I hold is very similar to having a racist on campus with pro-slavery and pro-Holocaust views. The board felt that way or the board felt the students would perceive me in that manner, and that is offensive. It’s not only offensive—it’s flat out wrong to try and compare the Biblical standard (and that which is natural marriage) as bigoted.”

When people like Jannique get censored on our college campuses, the students only get exposed to politically correct ideas. And truths that have stood the test of time—for “millennia”—get silenced.

But there is no constitutional right to not be offended.

Pope Francis Accused of Heresy by Clergy and Theologians

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VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – An international group of notable clergy and prominent academics is urging the world’s bishops to investigate Pope Francis for the canonical crime of heresy in an open letter released Monday.

The group, comprised of specialists in theology and philosophy, opens their letter — which was dated “Easter Week, 2019” but published on the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, a saint who influenced several popes with her counsels and admonitions — by stating their two-fold purpose to the bishops. First, they accuse Pope Francis of the canonical delict of heresy; second, they request that the bishops take the steps necessary to deal with the grave situation of a heretical pope.

In a summary of the letter, the clerics and scholars place this open letter to bishops within the context of two previous attempts to correct Pope Francis on matters of faith and morals.

The first attempt was a private letter to “the cardinals and Eastern Catholic patriarchs” in 2016 “pointing out heresies and other serious errors that appeared to be contained in or favored by Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.”

The group notes the second attempt was the widely reported filial correction addressed directly to the Holy Father in 2017 because, as they say, “Pope Francis had continued by word, deed, and omission to propagate many of these same heresies.”

The authors of the filial correction stopped short of judging at that time “whether Pope Francis was aware that he was causing heresy to spread.”

In the present open letter, this group goes a step further by making the claim that the Pope “is guilty of the crime of heresy.” The academics and clerics clarify that such a crime is committed “when a Catholic knowingly and persistently denies something which he knows that the Church teaches to be revealed by God.”

One of the most prominent members of the clergy to sign the letter is English academic and Dominican priest Fr. Aidan Nichols. Nichols served as the first John Paul II memorial visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford from 2006 to 2008.

Nichols is a notable English-speaking theologian and well-published author of numerable books related to theology. Other well-known clerics signing the letter are Fr. John Hunwicke, former senior research fellow at Pusey House, Oxford, and Deacon Nick Donnelly, clerics who are popular on social media.

The group says it’s comprised of “not only specialists in theology and philosophy, but also academics and scholars from other fields.” The list of prominent lay scholars signing the letter includes Professor John Rist, a specialist in classical philosophy and the history of theology. Rist has held chairs and professorships at the University of Toronto, the Augustinianum in Rome, the Catholic University of America, the University of Aberdeen and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Other lay Catholic scholars signing the letter include Georges Buscemi, president of Campagne Québec-Vie and member of the John-Paul II Academy for Human Life and Family. Another signatory is Maria Guarini, S.T.B., from the Pontificia Università Seraphicum in Rome and editor of Chiesa e postconcilio.

Dr. Claudio Pierantoni was another cosigner. Pierantoni is a professor of medieval philosophy at the University of Chile and former professor of Church history and patrology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

Organizers of this open letter invite other clergy and academics to sign this open letter as well. They may request to do so by emailing their name and credentials to the following email address: openlettertobishops@gmail.com. Organizers note each request will be thoroughly vetted.

After taking all things into account, the group says the words, deeds, appointments and omissions of Pope Francis “amount to a comprehensive rejection of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual activity, on the moral law, and on grace and the forgiveness of sins.”

In their 20-page open letter, they list seven heresies that Pope Francis has fostered but make it clear, however, that these heresies do not touch his teaching office as pope.

“It is agreed that no pope can uphold heresy when teaching in a way that satisfies the conditions for an infallible magisterial statement,” they affirmed.

They also are clear that no one has the authority to remove a sitting pope.

“It is agreed,” states the clerics and scholars, “that the Church does not have jurisdiction over the pope, and hence that the Church cannot remove a pope from office by an exercise of superior authority, even for the crime of heresy.” They go on to cite many other canonical opinions that include the opinion that a pope who commits heresy separates himself from the Catholic Church.

They are united in asking the bishops to look into the deliberate lack of clarity from the Pope on matters of faith and morals, statements which seem to contradict faith and morals by the Pope and the appointments of dubious men to key positions within the Church that propagate heretical views.

Despite the evidence that we have put forward in this letter, we recognize that it does not belong to us to declare the pope guilty of the delict of heresy in a way that would have canonical consequences for Catholics. We therefore appeal to you as our spiritual fathers, vicars of Christ within your own jurisdictions and not vicars of the Roman pontiff, publicly to admonish Pope Francis to abjure the heresies that he has professed.

They want the bishops to confront Pope Francis, and if he does not recant his errors, then they ask that he be charged by them with him the canonical crime of heresy.

Since Pope Francis has manifested heresy by his actions as well as by his words, any abjuration must involve repudiating and reversing these actions, including his nomination of bishops and cardinals who have supported these heresies by their words or actions. Such an admonition is a duty of fraternal charity to the Pope, as well as a duty to the Church. If — which God forbid! — Pope Francis does not bear the fruit of true repentance in response to these admonitions, we request that you carry out your duty of office to declare that he has committed the canonical delict of heresy and that he must suffer the canonical consequences of this crime.

COLUMN BY

BRADLEY ELI, M.DIV., MA.TH.

Raised in the great outdoors of Montana, Brad’s at home with horses, camping and farm life.

While putting a Petroleum Engineering degree to work in Alaska’s oil field, he studied Engineering Management and enjoyed Alaska’s rugged outdoors. Catholic from birth, Brad began devoting more time to reading the Bible, prayer and volunteering at Covenant House Alaska, an organization that cares for runaway kids.

At 26, Brad left his occupation to follow a religious vocation with a start-up Franciscan third order community in Connecticut. After completing his seminary studies, Brad taught high school math, science and religion in addition to helping run Catholic summer camps.

After 22 years the religious community ended, so Brad began working as a writer and associate producer for ChurchMilitant.com. Three years later he married a devout Catholic, and God has blessed the couple with a son.

EDITORS NOTE: This Church Militant column is republished with permission.

The Department of Justice’s Brazen Cesspool of Criminal Activity

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If that body (Congress) be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. President James Garfield

Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever persuasion, religious or political. President Thomas Jefferson at first inaugural address

Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit. President James Madison, Federalist No. 51, February 8, 1788

The Russian collusion investigation was a coup…brought to us by those within the Obama administration and his Department of Justice (DOJ).  Indications point to Obama as the director of this insurrection. It was a conspiracy, it was criminal activity with several violations of U.S. Title 18 code; the most shocking violation of the Constitution in criminal activity in the history, not just of America, but of a western government.

Much of this rises to the level of treason, as well as sedition, as it was a clear conspiracy.  There should be indictments especially when the reality is that the collusion was on the Democratic side and the contrived dossier came from Russian intelligence. These people need to be indicted, charged, and sentenced.  If they’re not, then our Constitution is nothing more than a sham.

The Marxist movement within the DNC is in control right now.  The “regressive” goals of the Marxists fully match what the democrat left is promoting today.

Eliminating our sovereignty is one of their top goals. In order to turn this country into a globalist Marxist government, three things must be destroyed. They have to change the Constitution, especially the first and second amendments.  As Marxists, they despise and target Christianity and want it destroyed because it underlines our Constitution and faith in our Creator mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.  And, they must destroy the very founding principles of America…our culture.

All three of these goals are coming to fruition and this rises to the level of treason.

Mueller Shouldn’t Have Taken the Job

Robert Mueller should never have accepted the appointment of Special Counsel for an investigation into Russian Collusion.  He knew from the very get-go that the dossier was a pile of schmutz, yet it is never mentioned in the final Mueller report.

Victoria Toensing, of diGenova and Toensing Law Firm, stated in her recent WSJ article that, “Justice Department regulations authorize appointment of a special counsel when the attorney general ‘determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted.’”  She goes on to say that Rod Rosenstein who was then attorney general because of AG Sessions’ recusal, disregarded the criminal conduct requirement and authorized a broad and vague counterintelligence probe, directing the special counsel to investigate “any links” between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.  This was unprecedented and gave a blank check to Mueller, and his gang of Hillary supporting democrat attorneys, the right to go after anyone or anything related to President Trump.

Toensing explains in detail the changes that are needed in the regulations governing the appointment of special counsels. “The rules were written by the Clinton Justice Department in 1999 after Congress declined to renew the law providing for the appointment of independent counsels.”

Her final statement in this important article is, “Mr. Barr’s Justice Department can amend the regulations without Congress, just as Janet Reno’s department wrote the rules two decades ago.  The democrats will scream and yell, but when they control the executive branch, they’ll love the clarity.”

The weaponization of the intelligence community and other government agencies created an environment that allowed for obstruction in the investigation into Hillary Clinton and the relentless pursuit of a manufactured collusion narrative against Trump.

A willing and complicit media spread unsubstantiated leaks as facts in an effort to promote the Russia-collusion narrative.  Link

Rosenstein Retiring

Rosenstein is retiring as of May 11, 2019, and Barr has said, “Rosenstein served the Justice Department with dedication and distinction. His devotion to the Department and its professionals is unparalleled. Over the course of his distinguished government career, he has navigated many challenging situations with strength, grace, and good humor.”

Oh, Right AG Barr, the man who gave a blank check to Mueller and who allowed this improper, illegal, and unparalleled investigation of a sitting president is a devoted professional. This is the same man who protected the Clinton/Obama people, silent on her illicit emails and who signed off on FISA warrants from the bogus Trump dossier, who wanted to use the 25th amendment against the President and offered to wear a wire to record our President.

Excuse the hell out of me, but this is pure hogwash and I hope Barr knows it.

Mueller Targets

Lt. General Michael Flynn was the first of their targets for good reason and was set-up by the FBI, by Obama, Sally Yates, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok and others.  He never lied to anyone, including VP Pence who I believe was instrumental in working with the FBI to eliminate General Flynn.  Fear of Mike Flynn was of top concern.  He is an expert on China, Iran, Islam and our intelligence community and had to be dispatched. Many were involved in eliminating this brilliant veteran from helping our President.  He should be freed of this horror his family has lived through for over two years.  Please help defray the millions in legal debts by donating to the Mike Flynn defense fund whatever you can.

Paul Manafort was investigated by the DOJ in 2014 and they found his conduct not prosecutable.  But the resurrection of the evidence by Mueller’s team has destroyed him because of his four-month position as campaign manager with candidate Trump.  He spent nine months in solitary confinement because of democrat appointed judges when apparently multiple murderers, Charles Manson and Richard Speck, weren’t even put in solitary confinement.

Investigators accused Manafort of lying in court despite the fact that he denied candidate Trump’s prior knowledge of the June 9th, 2016 meeting he attended with Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

The same goes for Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone who have been pressured to sign a plea deal falsely attesting to being conduits to Julian Assange.  Roger also needs help with his legal defense fund.  Both he and General Flynn have lost their homes.

Democratic Disappointment

The end of the special counsel’s probe shattered the Democrat’s claim of Russian conspiracy.  Of course, we all know where the real Russian conspiracy lies, but main stream media will never divulge the truth.  Americans are more interested in the economy, illegal immigration and health care than this spurious investigation of our President.  Don’t forget that the left not only hates Trump, but they hate everyone who voted for him.

And what is in this final report is as revealing as what is not in the report…there is nothing whatsoever regarding a mention of the fraudulent and manufactured Steele dossier.

The dossier, characterized by Former FBI Director James Comey under oath as “salacious and unverified,” consisted of opposition research compiled by a former British intelligence officer and commissioned by the Hillary Clinton campaign.  This piece of garbage was created by Hillary Clinton and the DNC; and Hillary’s campaign manager was pushing the fake Russia story at the DNC convention the very same day the FBI launched the Trump/Russia investigation. Link  And yes, DNC lawyers met with the FBI on Russia allegations before the surveillance warrant.

At this point everyone should know about the involvement of Obama, Sally Yates, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce and Nellie Ohr, James Baker, Bill Priestap, James Clapper, John Brennan, Susan Rice, Loretta Lynch, former Director of National Security Agency Michael Hayden, and far more, including Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller himself, along with his 17 democrat attorneys who went after President Trump.

Comey was the catalyst that started this when he showed the Steel dossier to the President and then leaked it to the press.  When James Comey was questioned by Congress, he answered, “I don’t know,” “I don’t recall,” and “I don’t remember” 236 times while under oath. But he remembered enough to write a book where he comes off as sanctimonious despite Amazon’s five-star promotion.

James Comey claimed that the Mueller report was deficient.  However, Comey’s statement on Hillary Clinton’s unauthorized home email server that allowed the Chinese to intercept Clinton’s server and classified documents in real time was more than deficient!

The FBI has admitted that those illicit emails from Clinton’s server were also found in the Obama White House.  Yes, Obama knew!  E.W. (Bill) Priestap, assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, made the disclosure to Judicial Watch as part of court-ordered discovery into the Clinton email issue.

Where Were Whistle Blowers

Apparently, no one in the FBI thought it crazy that former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe said “F Trump” many times in a meeting with agents.  And apparently no one in the FBI thought it absolutely insane for Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to offer to wear a wire and record the President!  But wait, there’s more.  Strzok and Page both discussed sending a counter-intelligence officer to Mike Pence’s first transition briefing as Vice President elect.  Where’s the investigation?

VP Pence says that he was deeply offended by Strzok and Page for their talk of infiltrating his transition team.  I don’t hear him being deeply offended by what has happened to the President, to General Flynn, to Paul Manafort, to Roger Stone, to Papadopoulos, or to Jerome Corsi.  This “shadow president” wants more than anything to be the leader of the free world.  Surely the Koch brothers and Dick and Betsy DeVos will fund his campaign for President, just as they’ve funded him from the beginning of his political days.

AG Barr

Our new former Bush attorney general is being excoriated for standing by the President, when in fact, he seems to be standing by the law.  Do I trust this long-time friend of Robert Mueller?  Not yet.  I want to wait and see what he does legally.  So far, he’s been honorable, but I cannot give him credence as a man who would stand by the “rule of law” until the perpetrators of this conspiracy are brought to justice and until those who committed crimes are indicted.

The leftists are accusing AG Barr of a “coverup” and “exoneration,” but the real coverups lie with all of them and Obama’s DOJ, not to mention Robert Mueller who never investigated the dossier pack of lies.  He obviously had no interest in the coup perpetrated by the very FBI which he led from 2001-2013…the last two years under Obama who kept him past the 10-year term via Congressional approval.

Mueller avoided opening the true can of worms…the Steele dossier, and actually covered for his FBI.  He even kept Strzok on his investigation payroll for six months after the Strzok/Page emails became known.  As Kimberley Strassel said in a recent Fox interview, Mueller was to investigate Russian interference in the election, but he never looked at the fact that the fake dossier may have been disinformation from the Russian government.

Strassel asks in her WSJ article,

“How did Mr. Mueller spend two years investigating every aspect of Russian interference, cyber hacking, social media trolling, meetings with Trump officials, and not consider the possibility that the dossier was part of the Russian interference effort?”

Let’s pray that the Inspector General, Michael Horowitz and our new Attorney General William Barr actually answer the questions Mueller refused to touch!

Conclusion

Todd Starnes reports that many advanced placement students across the fruited plain will be using an American history textbook that depicts President Trump as mentally ill and his supporters as racists. The textbook, published by British owned Pearson Education, is titled, “By the People: A History of the United States.” It was first exposed by radio host Alex Clark in 2018.  Pearson promotes common core testing and corporate school-to-work education.

And all of this was brought to us by the Democratic Party’s nominee, Hillary Clinton, who stole the nomination from commie Bernie, stole debate questions, had the FBI bury evidence against her, financed a fake dossier, weaponized the FBI by spying on her opponent, outspent her opponent, and still lost to a man she called incompetent.

Why isn’t she in prison?

VIDEO: Sri Lanka Bombings Revenge for ISIS Caliphate, Not New Zealand

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After remaining quiet for five years, often reported dead, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, appears on a 17 minute video, rallying what remains of his forces to launch further attacks on the “Christian Crusaders”, making excuses for their loses at Baghuz, listing a long list of dead amongst a long list of other subjects covered.

Special thanks to VladTepesBlog for the translation and subtitles.

Jihadists don’t need a reason to kill anyone. Their revenge and retaliation claims are a psychological game to make us feel as if we are responsible for their violence against us.

After a mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand, some people worried that revenge attacks would follow. And indeed, the Sri Lanka bombings of churches seemed to follow that pattern. Soon the media was full of claims that ISIS had murdered hundreds of Christians as revenge for the New Zealand shootings.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s defense minister said Tuesday that the coordinated Easter Sunday attacks that killed at least 321 people were in retaliation for the recent Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand.

“Extremist group named National Thowheed Jamaath carried out Sunday’s terror attacks in response to terror attacks in Christchurch,” Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said.

Like everything coming out of the Sri Lankan government, this should have been taken with a grain of salt. It’s not just the Jihadists who want to shift responsibility for the violence on to us. The Sri Lankan government ignored warnings about the attack. It’s convenient for them to shift the blame. Reports from ISIS and the terrorists have been mixed. But now the Caliph of ISIS has released a video.

“And as for your brothers in Sri Lanka,” he is heard saying while footage of the attackers and attacks rolls, “they have put joy in the hearts of the monotheists with their immersing operations that struck the homes of the Crusaders on their Easter, in vengeance for their brothers in Baghuz.”

This appeal to Baghuz (also spelled Baghouz), the last vestige of ISIS’ caliphate in Syria, reclaimed by coalition and Syria Democratic Forces in late March, is the most critical element of Baghdadi’s statements. The loss was a major blow to the so-called caliphate and a staple of some leaders’ narratives of the group’s “defeat.”

Why would ISIS care, let alone launch a major operation in Sri Lanka over mass shootings in New Zealand?

That never made any sense.

Baghdadi plausibly positions the attacks in relation to the defeat of ISIS in Baghuz.

ISIS badly needs credibility after its losses and the Sri Lanka bombings provided them. The media however has less interest in reporting this statement by Baghdadi because it finds the New Zealand meme far more politically useful for its purposes.

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column with video is republished with permission.

Yemeni Man gets Prison Time for Extortion Plot Involving a Child Bride

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This story has been in my queue for a couple of weeks and am finally getting to it.

What is so galling about the news is that our law enforcement has spent time and (our) money to investigate a crime and now incarcerate a man for something that has nothing to do with us.

We apparently ‘welcomed’ a Yemeni family to live in the Buffalo, NY area who brought all of their cultural/religious baggage to America (and even went ‘home’ for awhile) and we get to straighten out the mess the ‘new Americans’ created.

By the way, Yemen is one of the countries now on Trump’s so-called Muslim ban list!

I first saw this short press announcement at the U.S. Justice Department website and then looked for more news.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Yousef Goba, 45, of Yemen, who was convicted of making extortionate threats to harm and kidnap a minor, was sentenced to serve 41 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch, who handled the case, stated that between February 2015 and April 2015, Goba contacted an individual who resided in Western New York (the victim) through both telephone and text messages. During those communications, Goba threatened to kidnap and injure the victim’s minor child. The minor child went to Yemen with her mother in September 2013. While in Yemen, the minor child, her mother, and siblings lived with Goba for a period of time. When the mother wanted to move from Goba’s residence, the defendant refused to let the minor child leave and threatened that he would have the minor child marry a Yemeni man, if money was not paid to him. On April 8, 2015, during a call recorded by the FBI, Goba demanded that the victim pay him $11,000 as well as money for other expenses for the release of the minor child.

I checked around and found this story from Buffalo News that includes additional information….

….including the fact that Goba is the brother of a Yemeni man convicted on terrorism charges right after 9/11.

Child extortion plot stretching from Lackawanna to Yemen sends man to prison

The girl’s mother, who has since divorced her husband and remarried, took the children to Yemen in September 2013 to live temporarily so the father could save money while working here. [And, we are expected to believe that?—ed]

The following summer, after spending time with the father’s family in Yemen, the mother and children moved in with Goba. When they tried to leave, the defendant allowed the mother and other children to depart, but not the girl, the prosecution maintains. [So this woman moves in with a man not her relative, but the brother of a convicted Islamic terrorist?—ed]

The government also claims Goba threatened to marry off the girl to a Yemeni national willing to pay for her, and that Goba sent the father a photo of the girl pointing to a wedding cake and a second picture of her with a ring on her finger.

In pleading to extortion, Goba said he was just trying to get the father to reimburse him for the money he spent providing for the family while they lived with him in Yemen. He was arrested in New York City in 2015 as he returned to the United States.

Goba is the brother of Lackawanna Six member Yahya Goba, but sources said there appears to be no connection between Goba’s case and his brother’s involvement with the Lackawanna Six.

More here.

Again, why not just leave Yemenis in Yemen?

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EDITORS NOTE: This Frauds, Crooks and Criminals column is republished with permission.

Republican-Run Florida Is Pushing Vaping Ban?

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As of this writing, the Florida Legislature is considering bills that would prohibit adult Floridians over the age of 18 from purchasing non-combustible nicotine products or nicotine dispensing products (“vapors”). The legislation may include an artificial definition of these products as “tobacco.”  Such a move would be in error.

As conservatives, we demand that government’s intrusions upon our lives be as small as possible. Yes, government has a bona fide role in ensuring the health, morale, welfare, and safety of the people, but such an intervention in this case would do neither.

During the late twentieth century, government played an active role in discouraging cigarette smoking.  This campaign was met with resistance from those who believed that it was not government’s role to meddle in their lives. Nevertheless, in that campaign there was direct and incontrovertible evidence that smoking was intimately tied with lung cancer, not only for the smoker, but for those who secondarily inhaled the smoke. In the end, most agreed, because of the incontrovertible, causative correlation between cigarette smoking and cancer, both its regulation and the active discouragement of its use was an appropriate role for government.

In the case of vaping, no such correlation exists.

The tars that plague cigarette smoke are not present in vaping products, nullifying the cancer links. Additionally, the American Cancer Society has stated that that giving up combustible cigarettes is the single most important thing a smoker can do to improve her health, even it if she accomplishes this goal by using e-cigarettes.

Additionally, Moffitt Cancer Center’s Thomas Brandon, PhD., Director of Moffitt’s Tobacco Research and Intervention program in Tampa, Fla., stated on February 28, 2018, that “…e-cigarettes represent the most important change in the landscape of tobacco use [in decades]” and encouraged society to harness this change “to maximize the public health benefit from it.”

Somehow, the discussion regarding e-cigarettes and government’s role in regulating it has gone wildly wrong. Here we do not have a product, as best as science can tell, that is killing people, but one that may be helping them and even saving lives. We have a product that stands unlinked to cancer and may serve as a needed substitute for another that is. For the Florida legislature to consider banning the sale of these products absent the causative link present in smokable and chewable tobacco (and perhaps even representing a net societal benefit) is a clear example of an overstep of government’s proper role.

Yes, there are many who find e-cigarette vapors annoying, but a local annoyance is no reason for government to step in. Rather, it is up to business-owners and individuals to regulate themselves.

Florida ought to avoid policy changes that would inhibit adults from exercising their freedom to access vaping products known to have health benefits and devoid of proven, life-threatening consequences relied on by many, including member of our military, to kick the smoking habit.

The Florida legislature to reject this invitation to excessively intrude into the lives of its citizens.

EDITORS NOTE: This Revolutionary Act column is republished with permission.

Let the Palestinian Authority Collapse

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Despite possible short term difficulties, Israel should seize on the impending collapse of the Palestinian Authority as an opportunity to extricate itself from the deadly cul-de-sac, into which the Oslo process has lured it.

It is all or nothing. We will not take any money if they do not give all of it—even if it means the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and an unequivocal declaration that the Oslo Accords are dead.—Ashraf al-Ajami, former Palestinian Authority (PA) minister for Prisoners Affairs, on Israel’s decision to deduct the sums paid to convicted terrorists and/or their families from the tax revenue that Israel collects for the PA, Galei Israel, April 19, 2019.

If the existential goal of the PA—according Ashraf Ajami as well as according to Abu Mazen—is to persist in paying salaries to terrorists, because if it does not pay salaries to terrorists, it breaks up, then perhaps we need to ask what we signed the Oslo Agreement for, if all we did was establish an Authority whose function is to promote terror –Brig-Gen. (res) Yossi Kuperwasser, former Director-General of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Galei Israel, April 19, 2019.

The Oslo Agreements, which spawned the Palestinian Authority, were born in sin. Today that is beyond any reasonable dispute.

Oslo: The product of betrayal and bribery

After all, without the support of Gonen Segev, who was later convicted and imprisoned for drug trafficking and fraud and, several years later, for treason and espionage, they would never have seen the light of day. Indeed, as readers might recall, Segev was elected to the Knesset on a hardline hawkish platform that opposed the very far reaching concessions that the Oslo Agreements entailed. However, he was coaxed (read “bribed”) by Yitzhak Rabin with the lure of a ministerial portfolio, to betray his voters and cross the political lines to endorse the Oslo initiative –that starkly contradicted the core values of the platform on which he was elected.

As a product of both political betrayal and bribery, the Oslo Accords soon began to deliver its heinous results. Thousands of Israelis paid with their lives and limbs for the ill-considered initiative. What was grotesquely dubbed “the peace process” left café’s, buses, and sidewalks strewn with body parts and gore, while the Oslo advocates doggedly refused to admit error, callously dismissing the dead and injured as “victims of peace”.

Sadly, but not foreseeable, Oslo has brought nothing positive to Israel or to Israelis. Indeed, none of the promises of sweeping benefits by its proponents have been fulfilled; while virtually all the dangers, of which its opponents warned, did indeed materialize.

Accordingly, by any reasonable criterion, the jury is no longer out on the Oslo process. As might have been expected from its ignominious genesis, it has proven itself an indisputable—and irredeemable—failure. The time has come to openly acknowledge this inescapable reality.

PA collapse as an opportunity, not a threat

In this regard, there should be a sea-change in the prevailing perception of the significance for Israel of the collapse of the PA and with it, of the entire mendacious Oslowian edifice.

After all, if the only way for the PA to endure is for Israel to collaborate in the financing of the slaughter of its own citizens by transferring “pay-to-slay” funds to perpetrators of terror, grave doubts must be cast on the prudence—indeed, the sanity—of sustaining this state of affairs.

Moreover, for Israel to back down on this issue would not only greatly undermine its credibility—and hence its deterrence capabilities—but would constitute a sharp slap in the face for its staunch allies in the US Senate, who passed the Taylor Force Act to curtail American support for the PA—unless it halts payments to perpetuators of terror and/or their families.

It is generally considered that the imminent financial collapse of the PA comprises a threat to Israel, heralding increasing instability and security problems.

Although this may be true to some extent in the short run, it must be rejected as a long term constraint on Israeli strategic thinking. Indeed, rather than a threat, the impending collapse of the PA should be perceived as an opportunity to extricate the nation from the hazardous cul-de-sac into which the deceptive Oslo process lured it.

Treating the enemy as the enemy

The key to making the transformation from perceiving the collapse of the PA as a threat to an opportunity is to set aside the dictates of political correctness and confront political truth. Thus, rather than persist with the fiction that the PA is a prospective peace partner, it must be treated as it sees itself—i.e. as an implacable enemy.

Accordingly, Israel has no obligation—ethical or otherwise—to sustain the socio-economic edifice of its enemy dedicated to its destruction. Indeed, if anything, its moral duty is to bring about its collapse.

This is particularly relevant—and immediately feasible—for Gaza, where almost a decade and a half of abysmal government by Hamas has caused the widespread breakdown of the civilian infrastructure. Thus, according to Nada Majdalani, Palestinian Director of EcoPeace Middle East in a recent address to the UN Security Council: “97% of the groundwater under Gaza is not suitable for human consumption…Thirty percent of illnesses in Gaza [is] from water-borne pathogens. With a four-hour average of power supply, waste water facilities fail to operate, emptying the equivalent of 34 Olympic-size swimming pools of raw sewage daily into the Mediterranean…”

Significantly, she warned:

“A humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is happening right now, right before our eyes. If no immediate action is taken in Gaza, people will flee by heading out in boats, just like other Middle Eastern refugees…”

Gaza: A missed opportunity

Regrettably, Israel failed to seize on an earlier opportunity created when head of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a Abu Mazen), cut the funding to Gaza—and acted to relieve the pressures this created by allowing Qatari money to flow into the Hamas-controlled enclave.

This will not only prove futile but detrimental. For as long as Israel remains entrapped within the confines of the policy paradigm that envisions Arab self-rule in Gaza, persisting with the conventional form of humanitarian aid will only perpetuate—but, exacerbate—the humanitarian crisis—see Gaza: Let their people go.

In this regard, I have for decades made the case that the solution to Gaza’s humanitarian plight is not its reconstruction, but its deconstruction. Indeed, there is  rapidly accumulating evidence that the only thing preventing a mass exodos from Gaza is money—or rather, the lack thereof—to facilitate emigration of Gazans to other more stable, less harrowing destinations.

For the humanitarian debacle is Gaza has not been precipitated by a perennial lack of cash (indeed, Gaza has been among the highest per capita recipients of international aid on the planet); or the lack of Israeli largesse in wishing to improve living conditions there (by permitting hundreds of truck-loads a day and millions of tons of merchandize a year into the enclave).

None of this has done anything to blunt the anti-Israel animus of the regime or ameliorate the living standards of the populace. Clearly, persisting with the same policy will serve little purpose other than continuing to enmesh the fate-stricken residents in their present—and deteriorating—predicament.

Callous indifference

Callous indifference to the fate of the people is not confined to the Hamas regime in Gaza. Indeed, it seems no less characteristic of the Ramallah-based PA itself, willing to inflict grave hardship on the public rather than accept a marginally reduced lower amount, with the sums designated for the terrorist recipients deducted from the overall total.

According to UN reports, Israel plans to withhold $140 million in 2019 – approximately $11.5 million each month – in tax revenues over the terrorist payment issue. The sum Israel is withholding comprises 6% of the total tax revenues it collects for the PA. The overall tax revenues collected by Israel represent 65% of the PA’s budget or 15% of the PA’s entire GDP.

Indeed, after over a quarter of a century of endeavor—backed by munificent international aid and almost universal political endorsement—all the attempt to foist self-governance on the Palestinian-Arabs has achieved is a corrupt kleptocracy under the Abbas-led PA, and an arguably no less corrupt tyrannical theocracy under Hamas in Gaza.

Moreover, the cause of peace between the Jewish state and the Palestinian-Arabs has not been advanced one iota. If anything, quite the opposite!

Accordingly, in light of this abysmal and enduring failure, alternative paradigms must be advanced.

If not Oslo, what? A moral alternative.

One of the options for Israel would be of course to stop collecting the taxes (mainly customs duty on imports) and leave it to the PA to collect them itself. But given the perennial culture of corruption, inadequate infrastructure and widespread tax evasion, the net impact on revenues is likely to be dramatic—and unsustainable in the long run.

Another, more radical, but ultimately more effective alternative would be to use the withheld funds to launch an initiative I have long advocated as the only non-kinetic policy option that can ensure the long term survival of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people: A comprehensive initiative for incentivized emigration of Palestinian-Arabs in which non-belligerent Palestinian-Arab residents would receive generous grants that would allow them to find better, more prosperous and more secure lives elsewhere—free from the clutches of the callous cliques, who have led them into their current plight.

The moral rationale for such a measure is clear and compelling: The tax revenues collected by Israel do not belong to Israel. Accordingly, Israel cannot appropriate the money for its own purposes, but it can offer it to the Palestinian-Arabs who have been utterly failed by their leadership, which clearly has no compunction in inflicting further hardship on them!

How to really relieve the humanitarian crisis

Of course, the tax revenues collected by Israel would comprise only a small fraction of the overall sum required for a numerically significant “evacuation-compensation” plan to resettle sufficient numbers of Palestinian-Arabs in third party countries. But the self-induced collapse of the PA, precipitated by its obstinate insistence to sponsor terror, may well be an auspicious opportunity to launch it.

Indeed, the moral superiority of such an initiative over the Oslowian formula, entailing Palestinian statehood, is unassailable.

After all, nobody—not even the most avid two-state proponent—has ever advanced persuasive reasoning why any prospective Palestinian state would be anything other than (yet another) homophobic, misogynistic, Muslim-majority tyranny, whose hallmarks would be: gender discrimination, persecution of homosexuals, religious intolerance and oppression of political dissidents.

Accordingly, the moral question that must be forced into the discourse is this: Why is offering financial inducements to Jews in Judea-Samaria to evacuate their homes to facilitate the establishment of said homophobic, misogynistic tyranny, which, almost certainly, will become a bastion for Islamist terror, morally acceptable; while the notion of offering financial inducements to Arabs in Judea-Samaria to evacuate their homes to prevent the establishment of such an entity, is considered morally reprehensible?

The way forward should therefore be clear—both in terms of moral merit and practical pragmatism. It must, however, begin with allowing the iniquitous and largely dysfunctional PA to collapse. That is the only measure that will allow the eventual humanitarian plight of the Palestinian-Arabs to be effectively addressed.

VIDEO: It All Depends on How You Interpret Islam – NOT!

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Some people think that the answer to a reformed Islam is as simple as interpretation. Good luck

EDITORS NOTE: This Political Islam video is republished with permission.