| WEATHER INTERNAL

Cal Thomas: Watch Democrats’ Trump impeachment inquiry if you want to see real ‘collusion’ in Washington

If the public comes to see the impeachment effort as the partisan assault it is, this could prove the greatest political disaster for Democrats since Walter Mondale lost 49 states to Ronald Reagan.

Laura Ingraham says ‘the two dominant strains’ in today’s Democrat Party ‘spell disaster’

Laura Ingraham took aim at the Democratic presidential field Monday night, criticizing the two options within the party.

Widow of late Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings announces campaign for husband’s seat

The widow of late Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said on Monday that she will launch a campaign to replace her husband’s seat as representative of Maryland’s 7th congressional district.

IG’s report on alleged FISA abuse taking time likely because of potential ‘broadened’ scope, lawmaker claims

As the public awaits Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on alleged FISA abuse ahead of the 2016 election, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs, R-Ariz, predicted the delay is due to investigators broadening their scope.

Biden edges rivals, Buttigieg joins top-tier in new New Hampshire poll

A new poll in the state that holds the first primary in the White House race gives former Vice President Joe Biden indicates slight edge over his main rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. And the survey – from Quinnipiac University – also…

Gabbard campaign accuses Clinton of defamation over ‘fabricated’ Russian asset claim, demands retraction

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is accusing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of defamation over a recent statement that implied Gabbard was a Russian asset and is demanding that Clinton issue a retraction.

Michael Goodwin: Bloomberg is the great centrist hope for Democrats to defeat Trump

It is said that every senator looks in the mirror and sees a future president, and now Michael Bloomberg is having a similar moment of self-infatuation.

Rep. Peter King, R-NY, will not seek re-election in 2020

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the powerful 14-term congressman who once chaired the House Committee on Homeland Security, announced Monday he will not seek re-election in 2020.

Bernie Sanders laughs at idea Bezos urged Bloomberg to run: ‘That’s real class solidarity’

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., laughed so hard Saturday when he learned Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had urged Michael Bloomberg months ago to run for president that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., had to step in to speak, according to a report.

Doug Schoen: Michael Bloomberg is ‘most substantive’ of potential 2020 Dem nominees

Doug Schoen, a Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor, touted former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a “substantive” candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2020.

Daniel Turner: President Bloomberg? Uh, no thanks – America deserves much better

Michael Bloomberg wants to tell us how to live our lives and wants to destroy the jobs of people who work in industries he doesn’t like. He think he know better than we do what is best for us.

AOC appears to accuse Bloomberg of trying to ‘purchase our political system’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., seemed to criticize billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Saturday while speaking at a rally for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. in Iowa.

Republican strategist Kimberly Klacik announces run for Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore seat

As President Trump launches a new initiative to court black voters, Republican strategist Kimberly Klacik hopes to help his efforts by running for respected Congressman Elijah Cummings’s seat in Maryland.

Republican strategist Kimberly Klacik announces run for Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore seat

Spakovsky and Phillips: Bizarre federal court ruling halts Indiana efforts to clean up voter rolls

Leftist organizations have used the National Voter Registration Act to curtail efforts to improve the accuracy of voter lists.

Bill Maher says Trump may rip page from Kentucky gov’s ‘playbook’: ‘I’m not leaving. Make me’

“Real Time” host Bill Maher said Friday night that he feared President Trump’s 2020 “playbook,” should the president lose his reelection bid, may include immitating Republican Matt Bevin’s refusal to concede defeat in the Kentucky governor’s race.

Judge Judy tells Bill Maher that Michael Bloomberg can unite ‘fractured American family’

“Judge Judy” Sheindlin made the case for a Michael Bloomberg presidency Friday night during her debut appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” arguing that the billionaire former mayor of New York City is the “only” candidate who can bring civility b…

MSNBC host gets laughed at by Wisconsin gun owners when asked about buybacks

MSNBC host Ali Velshi was laughed at by Wisconsin gun owners when he asked them about what they thought about gun buybacks, which have been promoted by several 2020 Democratic candidates.

Rev. C.L. Bryant: More black Americans should support Trump – He’s done more for us than Democrats have

President Trump has accomplished more for the black community in four years than the Democratic Party could deliver in 40 years.

Biden on Bloomberg: ‘I have no problem with him getting in the race’

Joe Biden says he welcomes Michael Bloomberg into the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. And the former vice president dismissed suggestions that the likely candidacy by the billionaire business mogul and former New York City mayor is a r…

"These Gates Will Open" - Erdogan Declares As Turkey Begins Deporting ISIS Captives To Europe

12 November 2019

"These Gates Will Open" - Erdogan Declares As Turkey Begins Deporting ISIS Captives To Europe

Have Turkey's floodgates begun to open? For months now the question of what to do with foreign jihadists which flooded Syria over the course of the eight-year long war has been intensely debated. President Erdogan has shocked European officials by repeatedly threatening to unleash them along with some three million Syrian refugees on Europe if his 'Operation Peace Spring' does not gain support, and if the EU rejects his 'safe zone' offer.

But as of Monday Turkish officials announced plans to begin sending hundreds of the some 1200 plus ISIS detainees and other jihadists it has in its custody back to Europe, saying Turkey "is not a hotel for jihadists" — to quote an Interior Ministry statement from last week.

"Turkey deported three foreign jihadists on Monday, with more than 20 Europeans including French and Germans in the process of being expelled to their countries of origin," the AFP reported. This after Turkish officials have repeatedly lashed out at European capitals for refusing to repatriate their citizens caught fighting for ISIS.

ISIS prisoners in Hasakah, northern Syria, via the AFP.

The AFP also reported a “foreign terrorist fighter” from the United States has also been expelled along with others from Germany and Denmark. More are expected to follow in the coming days, amid reports that most are from France.

The reaction of a number of European countries, including Britain, has been to strip suspected terrorists of their citizenship, leaving them as stateless and thus unable to be repatriated to their country of origin.

President Trump previously expressed a desire for the Europeans to deal with their fighters, many of which are still in US-SDF custody in northeast Syria. "The US does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go..." the president said earlier this year.

....The U.S. does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go. We do so much, and spend so much - Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. We are pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Crucially, President Erdogan in a speech Tuesday contextualized the new transfer of ISIS detainees as a punitive action against Europe, per The Guardian:

“You should revise your stance towards Turkey, which at the moment holds so many Isis members in prison and at the same time controls those in Syria,” Erdoğan told European countries in remarks to reporters in Ankara on Tuesday.

“These gates will open and these Isis members who have started to be sent to you will continue to be sent. Then you can take care of your own problem.”

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu put the Europeans on notice last Friday, saying provocatively "There is no need to try to escape from it, we will send them back to you. Deal with them how you want,” and further that “Turkey is not a hotel for Daesh members.”

French nationals in ISIS, via Khaama press news agency.

He also revealed Turkish forces had recently captured nearly 300 more ISIS terrorists during operations in northern Syria, where mass prison breaks have been reported amid the fighting, and as Kurdish-led SDF fighters are forced to abandon their posts at make-shift prisons and refugee camps with known ISIS family members in them.

Though the Islamic State has been driven underground at this point, its media wings have recently put out a series of statements threatening Europe and the US with terror attacks, including calling on followers to start wildfires and other acts of destruction, as one new message said last week in follow-up to others.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/12/2019 - 11:15 Tags Politics

Narrative Managers In Overdrive After Death Of White Helmets Founder

12 November 2019

Narrative Managers In Overdrive After Death Of White Helmets Founder

Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Medium.com,

James Le Mesurier, the founder of the White Helmets, has died. He was found to have plummeted from a height to the street outside his home, and authorities are reportedly calling it a suicide.

Le Mesurier has a history with British military intelligence and was fundamentally involved with an extremely shady narrative management operation geared toward manufacturing support for yet another imperialist military intervention in yet another Middle Eastern nation, so obviously any claims of suicide should be taken with a grain of salt no smaller than a Buick. But it is worth noting that according to Middle East Eye, Le Mesurier’s wife told police that he’d been struggling with psychological issues for which he was taking medications and had previously been hospitalized. Le Mesurier’s home was reportedly only accessible by fingerprint and no video footage of anyone besides Le Mesurier and his wife entering or leaving has been found.

Establishment narrative managers, for their part, have been floating the possibility that the White Helmets founder was murdered by the Russian government. The Washington Examiner has published an article titled “Did Russia kill White Helmets founder James Le Mesurier?”, calling to mind Betteridge’s law of headlines which states that “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.” The BBC’s Mark Urban tweeted out and then deleted a thread (screenshots here) in which he cites an anonymous source who claims to have known Le Mesurier’s flat well enough to be sure that it’s not possible to “fall” from his balcony, then meaningfully pointing to a “black propaganda campaign by Russia and Assad media” against Le Mesurier. He apparently didn’t consider the possibility of suicide until later, saying he deleted his thread due to “new information”.

For more info on Le Mesurier and his White Helmet mates, I highly recommend watching this excellent half-hour video by James Corbett. It’s full of primary-source video footage indisputably confirming the organization’s ties to western governments and to violent extremist factions in Syria, and explaining how an allegedly “neutral” organization on the ground has been used to control the narrative about what’s been happening in Syria.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNwe7yKbwo]

Pundits who’ve built their name on Syria narrative management have been expressing grief over Le Mesurier’s death, including Eliot Higgins, Charles Lister, Julian Röpke and Oz Katerji. Katerji, an especially aggressive imperialism proponent, was particularly stricken, acknowledging that this pervasively corrupt operative was actually a dear friend of his.

“It is with a deeply heavy heart that I do this, but I can confirm my friend James Le Mesurier, founder of Mayday Rescue of White Helmets fame, died at his home in Istanbul last night,” Katerji tweeted.

“I am profoundly saddened by this, Jakes was a brave and decent man who saved countless lives. I will miss him. I am at a loss for words.”

Janine di Giovanni, who in 2016 authored a fawning puff piece on Le Mesurier and the White Helmets for Newsweek, tweeted,

“Terrible news. James was funny, smart, brave,committed. He stood up to bullies. On the right side of history. Believed in the White Helmets, their mission, their drive for good. A loss to humanity.”

Journalist Jonathan Cook criticized di Giovanni’s gushing hagiography, tweeting,

“This is what access journalism looks like: prize-winning war correspondents like Janine di Giovanni hanging out with ‘funny’ spooks like James Le Mesurier who’ve been responsible for stoking the very wars they report on — wars that have destroyed whole societies.”

On the death of James Le Mesurier, western governments' organiser of logistics support and propaganda for the fanatical jihadists in Syria, it is no surprise that today "Philip Cross" makes 48 edits to his Wikipedia page.https://t.co/qei9MnbgRC

— Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) November 11, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Former UK ambassador Craig Murray has flagged the fact that Wikipedia’s imperialist narrative manager “Philip Cross” has made dozens of edits to Le Mesurier’s Wiki page since his death. Cross, who I’ve reported on previously, has made a more-than-full-time job of constantly managing the Wikipedia pages of both pro-establishment and anti-establishment media figures in a very pro-establishment slant; an article by Five Filters which you can read by clicking here documents how the “Philip Cross” account has been working morning to night with precisely zero days off toward this endeavor.

An article published by Murray last year documents the curious fact that although the serial Wikipedia editor had only about 200 followers on Twitter, he was followed by many high-profile narrative managers from huge British news media outlets like The Guardian, The Times and the BBC, as well as none other than James Le Mesurier himself.

Murray wrote at the time:

“Why then does James LeMesurier, founder of the ‘White Helmets’, follow Philip Cross on twitter? Why does ex-minister Tristram Hunt follow Philip Cross on Twitter? Why does Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon, follow Philip Cross on twitter? Why then do so the following corporate and state journalists follow ‘Philip Cross’ on twitter?”

To these questions I would add, why was Le Mesurier seen defending “Philip Cross” from someone voicing suspicion of him on Twitter after George Galloway offered a reward for information about the account? These questions have never been satisfactorily answered. And now this same account is frantically editing the Wikipedia page of his late fan James Le Mesurier. Some excerpts from the editing notes Cross has made to the page (note: according to Wikipedia, “RS” is short for Reliable Source):

not WH alone: “Unfounded conspiracy theories latched onto the White Helmets’ foreign funding and ties to Mr. Le Mesurier” and (earlier in the article) “who has been the target of repeated online disinformation campaigns”

Alternet is not considered RS, the article is by Max Blumenthal

this is the Assadist line which has no usable sources & should not be given undue credibility

rumour/conspiracy theory spread by non-RS

The article also has an editorial discussion section about whether or not it’s appropriate to have a “criticisms” section on the page, and how much any criticisms should be limited. Cross is of course intimately involved in this discussion as well.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FUpbZXaN9w]

There is an immense narrative management campaign dedicated to controlling what people think about what’s happening in Syria, aimed not solely at advancing the longstanding regime change agenda of the US-centralized empire but at protecting the credibility of the warmongering government and media institutions who the public is growing increasingly skeptical of in a post-Iraq invasion information age.

If people become doubtful in the propaganda machine which greases the gears of war, then warmongering itself will become impossible to carry out without waking the masses up from the narrative control matrix they’ve worked so hard to lull us into. Without endless war, the empire will crumble.

Whoever controls the narrative controls the world. Narrative control comes before any other priority the empire might have; before resources, before land, before even war itself. Our rulers and their goons will protect their ability to control the story of what’s happening tooth and claw. It’s up to us to see through their lies and bring an end to the lie factory.

* * *

Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, checking out my podcast on either Youtube, soundcloud, Apple podcasts or Spotify, following me on Steemit, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal, purchasing some of my sweet merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish or use any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge.

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Tyler Durden Tue, 11/12/2019 - 10:55

Another Short-Squeeze Sends S&P Over 3,100 For First Time Ever

12 November 2019

Another Short-Squeeze Sends S&P Over 3,100 For First Time Ever

Perhaps on the heels of hopes that Trump will say something about the China trade deal (of course he will), US equity indices ripped out of the gate as markets opened this morning as the insta-BTFD army of algos squeezed shorts once again...

Sending the S&P 500 above 3,100 for the first time ever...

Source: Bloomberg

"Extreme Greed" it is...

Melt-up, indeed...

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/12/2019 - 10:34 Tags Business Finance

Pat Buchanan Warns, Bernie Is Leading His Party To Open Borders

12 November 2019

Pat Buchanan Warns, Bernie Is Leading His Party To Open Borders

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

Some 100 members of an American Mormon community in northern Mexico, nine of whom - women, children, toddlers - were massacred a week ago on a lonely stretch of highway, just crossed over into Arizona.

Other family members who have lived there for decades will follow.

The atrocity was the work of one of the cartels battling for control of the drug traffic into the United States.

In Mexico’s Sinaloa state in October, an arrest of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of “El Chapo,” who sits in a New York prison, brought a military-style cartel attack on the state capital, Culiacan, followed by a surrender to the cartel gunmen by national guard and army troops, and a release of the captive.

“Is Mexico a failed state?” asks The Washington Times. Its editorial describes “Another Blood-Soaked Year in Mexico” where 17,000 people were murdered by July and the 2019 death toll is expected to reach 32,000.

USA Today reports: “Through August of the current fiscal year, the Border Patrol apprehended 457,871 migrants arriving as ‘family units’ … a 406% increase compared to the 90,554 family unit apprehensions during the same period the previous year. Migrant families from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador made up almost 92% of the total.”

With cartel battles escalating into a war that Mexico City has no stomach for fighting, and a record number of migrants from Central America crossing Mexico to flood into the USA, what is the Democratic Party’s policy for halting the rising tide?

Democrats are moving toward an “open door” policy on the U.S. border, an open borders embrace of any and all who wish to come.

America, apparently, does not belong to those who live here and love the country. America belongs to anyone who chooses to come. America belongs to the world.

Consider Bernie Sanders’ immigration proposal, outlined the week of the massacre of Mormon women and children.

On Day One, President Sanders would declare a moratorium on deportations and offer a “swift pathway to citizenship” for all illegal migrants who have been here for five years.

Bernie would break up ICE.

Border-jumping would cease to be a crime and become a civil offense like jaywalking.

The “Muslim ban” would be abolished.

President Sanders would back sanctuary cities that refuse to work with U.S. law enforcement.

Asylum seekers would not have to wait in Mexico as their claims were processed but would be welcomed into the USA.

Family separations would end.

Trump’s wall, which Bernie calls “racist,” would be history.

The administration’s treatment of illegal immigration “as a criminal and national security matter is inhuman, impractical and must end.”

Migrants who enter illegally would qualify for federal health care and the same social welfare benefits as U.S. citizens.

Immigrant officials say Sanders’ proposals would create an irresistible magnet for millions of migrants from all over the world to stampede into the USA.

The Nation magazine calls Sanders’ plan “one of the boldest immigration plans any major politician has put forward in years, and comes amid a campaign season that has seen a major shift to the left among Democratic candidates on immigration.

“With calls for a total moratorium on deportations, abolishing ICE and providing a path to citizenship for undocumented migration, the plan serves as a road map for what a fair and just immigration can be.”

From another standpoint, Sanders’ proposal is a surrender to the reality that a leftist regime lacks the conviction or will to stop an endless stream of people from migrating here.

Americans troubled over what is happening on the Syrian-Turkish border, or Ukrainian-Crimean border, might take a closer look at what will happen at our own border, and to our own country, if Democrats win the presidency and throw open the doors to unrestricted immigration.

The federal budget, already running trillion-dollar deficits, and state budgets, too, will see huge increases in the cost of social programs, without the commensurate income tax revenues to pay for them.

Even at present levels, illegal immigration is bringing in millions of people without the work, education or language skills to compete and assimilate rapidly in a first world, Western economy.

These migrants pay virtually no income taxes, yet, would qualify for the same benefits as U.S. citizens. The inevitable result: another run-up in an annual deficit already running $1 trillion in the red.

Politically, so massive a migration of peoples who, once they become citizens, vote 70%-90% Democratic means an end of the GOP as a truly national party.

If we open the borders, how do we stop the drugs from coming in? How do we stop the cartels from following MS-13, which is already here?

Socially, this country is as splintered as it has been since the 1960s.

Will a barrage of migrants add to its diversity, or deepen the ethnic, racial and cultural divides that are turning us into two, three, many Americas?

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/12/2019 - 10:15 Tags Social Issues Politics

"Panic, Pure Panic" - Chilean Peso Collapses To 800/USD, Blowing Through Record Lows

12 November 2019

"Panic, Pure Panic" - Chilean Peso Collapses To 800/USD, Blowing Through Record Lows

The Chilean peso extended a four-day losing streak on Tuesday, sinking by the most in eight years, to a new record low at 800/USD.

Source: Bloomberg

Bearish market sentiment, political chaos, and a national strike intended to ratchet up pressure on the government and its plans to change the constitution...

Source: Bloomberg

Bloomberg reports that Chile has been wracked by more than three weeks of protests and riots against the rising cost of living and inequality. While the government has made concessions, including increased spending and a pledge to draw up a new constitution, it has failed to halt the protests with unions at the state-owned copper company Codelco saying they had downed tools.

“This is panic, pure panic,” said Felipe Alarcon, chief economist at EuroAmerica in Santiago.

“It’s the gringos leaving the country.”

However, Bloomberg reports that Citigroup believes that the Chilean peso is not yet at a stage where BCCh would intervene.

The central bank last stepped into market in 2009, when CLP’s real effective exchange rate was ~9% weaker than the current level (REER was about 3% weaker in 2014-15 vs now and the bank didn’t intervene back then).

Citi adds that Chile’s low growth, low inflation environment means country can afford weaker currency without much discomfort.

But, according to Eurasia, President Ivan Duque’s low political capital “heightens social risks as discontent with the administration will probably increase adherence to a national protest” planned for Nov 21.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/12/2019 - 10:00 Tags Politics Business Finance

Country manor owner puts family treasures up for sale

12 November 2019

Henry Berkeley, the youngest son of the late John Berkeley, inherited Spetchley Park in Worcestershire, and now plans to move into the house with his wife and young children.

Eczema-stricken woman makes recovery by 'ditching steroid creams and showering once a WEEK'

12 November 2019

Holly Broome, 24, of London, stopped using steroid creams and began no moisture therapy (NMT) in 2018. The graphic designer is not 'cured', but says her skin is finally under control.

Labour is hit with 'sophisticated and large scale cyber attack'

12 November 2019

A Labour spokeswoman said the cyber attack had 'failed' because of the party's 'robust security systems' and that they were confident that no data breach occurred.

Joe Gomez sports a scratch underneath eye following England canteen bust-up with Raheem Sterling

12 November 2019

Joe Gomez revealed the aftermath of his bust-up with Raheem Sterling as the pair emerged for England training on Tuesday. Cameras picked up a scratch underneath the defender's right eye.

Princess Haya arrives at High Court for custody battle with billionaire Dubai ruler

12 November 2019

The Jordan-born royal, 45, claims to have fled Dubai with their two children 'in fear of her life' after becoming estranged from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.