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2016

Surge in Classification Rate, New ‘Secret’ Document in Latest Clinton E-mails By Brendan Bordelon —

The batch of Hillary Clinton e-mails released Thursday afternoon is the smallest in months. But there’s a higher rate of classified documents in the latest production than in any since the first of her e-mails were released, and one is labeled “Secret” — the first new document found with that highly sensitive classification in four months.

The State Department missed a court-imposed deadline on Thursday, producing less than two-thirds of the e-mails promised to a federal judge and making today’s production the smallest since July. Still, just under 9 percent of the 3,100 e-mails were marked classified by State Department reviewers. That’s up dramatically from last month’s 6.5 percent, the previous high.

Most of the classified e-mails were marked “Confidential,” a middling level of classification used by the federal government. But one e-mail was marked “Secret,” the second-highest classification level, just below “Top Secret.” The last time the department produced a document marked “Secret” was in September.

The e-mail was sent to Clinton by Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary for the Middle East. Both subject line and body of the e-mail were entirely redacted by State Department reviewers. The document was marked “SBU” in multiple places, an abbreviation meaning “Sensitive but Unclassified.”

Clinton is under investigation by the FBI for her use of a private e-mail server while she was secretary of state. Much of that investigation centers on whether she sent or received classified government material through an unsecured server. Clinton and her campaign have maintained that she never knowingly sent or received classified material, and the State Department has said that all the e-mails it has released have been classified retroactively. The CIA and other intelligence-community reviewers dispute that claim, saying that at least four e-mails – including two labeled “Top Secret” — were classified at the time they were sent.

Hawaii Dem Gabbard: Can Iraq Even Hold Onto Ramadi? By Bridget Johnson

“”This is why it’s so important not to just go after one organization called ISIS, but to recognize this radical Islamist ideology that’s driving ISIS, that’s driving al-Qaeda, al Nusra and these groups that go by other names. That’s the only way that we’re actually going to be able to defeat this threat.”

A congressional Iraq War veteran doubted that the gains made against ISIS in Ramadi will be able to hold.

Iraq claimed victory over ISIS in the capital of Anbar province, but sections of the city still remain under the control of Islamic State jihadists.

About 80 percent of the city that once housed 200,000 people is in ruins, Iraqi officials say.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) told CNN that the question is, “Will this be able to be sustained?”

“And if you look at it, the battle was actually, I think, the easier question. The tougher question is, unless there is a plan in place for the Sunni territory to be governed and secured by the Sunni tribes, then I think the likelihood is very high that you will see an opening for ISIS to make their way back in,” Gabbard warned.

Houston ‘Anti-Muslim’ Christmas Day Arson Was Set By Mosque Attendee … Just Like Last Year By Patrick Poole

A Christmas Day fire at a storefront mosque in Houston that Muslim organizations were quick to blame on “anti-Muslim sentiment” was actually set by a regular attendee of the mosque, Gary Nathaniel Moore. He was arrested by authorities yesterday.

Amazingly, I reported here at PJ Media last year that the 2014 Christmas Day mosque arson attack in Fresno, CA, also turned out to have been committed by a long-time attendee.

The Houston Chronicle reports:

A Houston man has been arrested in connection with a suspected arson at a mosque on Christmas Day.

A spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed that the man was arrested early Wednesday, sometime after midnight, and appeared in court 7 a.m. Wednesday.

The suspect, Gary Nathaniel Moore, 37, of Houston, appeared in court at 7 a.m., spokeswoman Nicole Strong said.

According to a charging instrument released by the Harris County District Clerk, Moore told investigators at the scene that he has attended the mosque for five years, coming five times per day to pray seven days per week.

ISIS Fan in Rochester, NY Planned New Year’s Eve Machete Attack By Debra Heine

“New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the news was “sobering” as New York and the nation deal with the “new normal” of terrorism.Via Rusty Weiss of the Mental Recession, Cuomo took the left’s “never let a crisis go to waste” mentality to new, absurd heights when he linked the “new normal” of terrorism to global warming.“We talk about the ‘new normal’ with climate and extreme weather … there’s also a ‘new normal’ when it comes to terrorism,” he said.“Just the way we’ve adjusted to weather … this is part of the new world order,” the governor added. “We’re up to it, but it’s going to take every citizen to do their part also.”

A 25-year-old ex-con from Rochester, New York, was arrested Wednesday on charges he was planning to attack a bar on New Year’s Eve to prove to ISIS he was worthy to join the terror organization in Syria.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that Emanuel Lutchman, a Muslim convert, has been charged “with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State in what authorities described as a plot to attack civilians.”

Prosecutors say Lutchman was snared in an FBI sting. He faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

Hamas Announces Return to Suicide Bombings Inside Israel By Michael van der Galien

In an interview with an Arab media organization, Hamas officials say that their military wing has given the order to strike Israel with a new wave of suicide bombings. These attacks will be carried out by sleeper cells in the West Bank, Ynet reports. Ynet already reported on the purported orders back in October of this year, but today marks the first occasion that Hamas officials have openly admitted their intentions. The attacks are supposed to target Israelis in the Green Line.

The Hamas officials also thanked a terrorist cell whose members were arrested by the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service. The Hamas terrorists — most of whom are students — were, Hamas admitted, planning to stage major attacks. At the moment of their arrest, sources say they were dangerously close to carrying out plans to attack Israeli military and political targets.

The announcement once again emphasizes that Hamas is and will always remain a terrorist organization; one every bit as fierce and anti-semitic as ISIS. But while the entire world agrees that ISIS should be destroyed, the West and Arab countries continue to blast Israel when it tries to take down Hamas. The double standard is appalling.

Hillary Nailed Again on Benghazi Lie in New Hampshire By Debra Heine

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton sat down with the editorial board of New Hampshire’s Conway Daily Sun on Tuesday — and thanks to conservative columnist Tom McLaughlin, it did not go as smoothly as she would have liked. A question Clinton struggled to answer when it was put to her by George Stephanopoulos on December 6 came back to haunt her on Tuesday when McLaughlin asked her about private statements she had made blaming the Benghazi terrorist attack on “an al-Qaeda-like group” while publicly blaming a YouTube video.

She tried to swat away the issue by blaming the “fog of war” and likened the situation to a “40-alarm fire.” She also insinuated that the CIA was behind the video narrative even though the acting CIA director claims his CIA intelligence analysts never said the video was a factor.

Sun Columnist Tom McLaughlin said she told an Egyptian diplomat the Benghazi attack was planned and not a protest but that she told family members of the deceased that the attack was the result of a demonstration. He said she then told George Stephanopoulos that she didn’t tell the families the attack was a demonstration about a film.

“Somebody is lying,” said McLaughlin.”Who is it?

Clinton replied, “Not me, that’s all I can tell you.”

At the time, Clinton said, everyone was emotionally distraught. She said some families didn’t know their sons were working for the CIA or were in Benghazi. Clinton said the information she had about the attack was from the intelligence community.

Year 57 and Raul tells Cubans to get ready for hard times By Silvio Canto, Jr.

For those who may not know, it was 57 years ago today that Batista fled Cuba and Fidel Castro filled the vacuum created. It did not happen as depicted in Godfather II, but he did leave in a military plane with Mrs. Batista, a few friends, and lots of personal belongings. In other words, people were not running for their boats or revolutionaries willing to blow up themselves for the cause. In fact, most Cubans heard the news on radio or TV, as my parents did.

On January 1st, the Cuban government will celebrate another anniversary. Usually, Fidel Castro gave a multi-hour speech that you had to watch on TV unless you had a radio that could pick up a Miami AM music station.

This year, Raul Castro, who is filling in for sick brother, is telling Cubans to get ready for very hard times ahead. My friend Dr. Carlos Eire brought this speech to my attention today and commented this:

Well…. as unpleasant as it is to say “we told you so,” it’s appropriate to do so after reading today’s article in the Washington Post.

Europe is Committing Cultural Suicide: Ruth King

In Europe the influx of Moslem Arabs will only increase the growing anti-Semitism on the continent. Jews, in large numbers, are poised to leave. This will be a major blow to their host nations.
Please indulge me in a little ethnic pride.

Wherever they have alighted, Jews have had a disproportionate impact on every aspect of culture, the arts, science and technology.
Don’t believe me? Just go to the operas, concerts, hospitals, museums and research institutions throughout the United States—even in areas with a tiny Jewish population.

Mark Twain recognized this in 1897: “If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one quarter of one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine and abstruse learning are also very out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world in all ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself and be excused for it. The Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Persians rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greeks and Romans followed and made a vast noise, and they were gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, and have vanished.”

What Twain describes mystifies many commentators. For example, in 2013, in a lengthy interview with The New Republic, British biologist, author and atheist Richard Dawkins expressed his bewilderment at the disproportionate number of Nobel prizes won by Jews. Asked what he thought of it, he responded: “I haven’t thought it through. I don’t know. But I don’t think it is a minor thing; it is colossal. I think more than 20 percent of Nobel Prizes have been won by Jews.”

Dawkins was close. Since the Nobel was first awarded in 1901 approximately 193 of the 855 honorees have been Jewish (22%). Jews make up less than 0.2% of the global population.

More than 30,000 Immigrants Arrived in Israel in 2015

· Aliyah up 10% compared to 2014, at highest level since 2003
· All-time record for Aliyah from France with the arrival of 7,900 immigrants, the largest group for the second year running
· Aliyah from Ukraine up 15% compared to 2014, up 230% compared to 2013

Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel Natan Sharansky: “The high number of immigrants, particularly from western countries, attests to the drawing power of the Zionist idea. The fact that immigrants choose to come to Israel is a sign that Israel invests their lives with meaning that they cannot find elsewhere. This choice requires that we make every effort to enable them to become immediately integrated in the workforce and in the education system, so that they, like those who came before them, may put down roots in Israel and enrich Israeli society.”

Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption Ze’ev Elkin: “We are in a rare window of opportunity. While we are busy with the day-to-day problems of Israel, we did not pay attention to this year’s great development: the number of immigrants exceeded 30,000 for the first time in more than a decade. The number of immigrants rose by 50% in the past two years, and we haven’t heard the last word. It is our duty to do everything necessary to take advantage of this rare opportunity and invest efforts in both immigrant absorption and Aliyah encouragement, so that a figure of 50,000 immigrants in one year does not seem imaginary. If we will it, it is no dream.”

Congress moves to endorse Islamic blasphemy laws By Carol Brown

Creeping sharia no longer creeps.
There is a bill before Congress (HR569) that singles out hate speech against Muslims. And then some. As of this writing, the resolution, which is nothing short of sharia law, has 82 co-sponsors. All of them are Democrats. And while the bill has little to no chance of passing, it is a window into our future if we don’t change the self-destructive course we are on with respect to how we understand and relate to the Quran and those who follow its teachings.

The Gates of Vienna reports on this chilling reality – one we may have called creeping sharia in the not so distant past but is advancing at such a rapid pace and across such a broad spectrum of our society that “creeping” is now an outmoded term. It’s racing, and it’s infecting every nook and cranny of our culture.

HR569 is just one of the latest stabs aimed at the heart of America. It is Islamic supremacy and dhimmitude in action, as it elevates Muslims to a protected class, superior in position to all others.

Here is what the resolution says:

Condemning violence, bigotry, and hateful rhetoric towards Muslims in the United States.