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Hillary Factor: Evidence now shows false Russia collusion story began and ended with Clinton Sussmann trial testimony confirms earlier CIA, FBI evidence that Hillary Clinton approved dirtying up Trump with unproven Russia allegations.By John Solomon

Posted By on May 22nd, 2022

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/hillary-factor-evidence-now-shows-russia-collusion-lie

In an era where the hunt for disinformation has become a political obsession, Hillary Clinton has mostly escaped having to answer what role she played in spreading the false Russia collusion narrative that gripped America for nearly three years.

On Friday, that dodge ended with a most unlikely witness: her former campaign manager Robby Mook, who was supposed to be a witness helping the defense of her former campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann on a charge of lying to the FBI.

Instead, under cross-examination by Special Counsel John Durham’s team, Mook was forced to concede two extraordinary facts.

First, the Clinton campaign wasn’t “totally confident” about the accuracy of computer data suggesting Donald Trump had a secret communications channel to the Kremlin via Russia’s Alfa Bank.

And second, Hillary Clinton herself personally approved spreading the story to the news media, despite the concerns about its accuracy.

“I discussed it with Hillary as well,” Mook testified. “I don’t remember the substance of the conversation, but notionally, the discussion was, hey, we have this and we want to share it with a reporter,” Mook said.

Prosecutors asked Mook if Clinton approved leaking the story to the media.

“She agreed,” Mook testified.

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Lebanon Gives Tehran a Double Whammy by Amir Taheri

Posted By on May 22nd, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18548/lebanon-iran-double-whammy

[A]s official results came in, [Iran’s Supreme Guide Ali] Khamenei and [Major General Esmail Qaani, chief of the Quds Force who is supposed to rule the “Resistance Front” countries as a satrap]… realized that the Lebanese electorate, or at least the 49% who went to the polls, had denied Tehran the “crushing victory” it had hoped for.

That meant a double whammy in two of the four Arab capitals that Ayatollah Ali Yunesi boasts are now under Tehran’s control; the others being Sanaa and Damascus.

What is certain is that a majority of politically active Lebanese seek a new departure for the country.

Numerous direct and indirect messages from Shiites inside Lebanon indicate a growing weariness with a scheme that sees the country, in the words of Tehran’s Kayhan daily, as nothing but a “shield for Islamic Republic” of Iran. Large chunks of the Shiite community have seen the prosperity they had secured since the 1980s melt away as a result of the economic crisis that has plunged 70% of the Lebanese into poverty.

Granting Lebanon urgent relief from its current pains would send a positive message that even a slight distancing of Hezbollah from full control could bear fruits for the average Lebanese. That, in turn, would strengthen the message that Lebanon could do better without a politico-military Trojan Horse in its midst.

There is no doubt that Hezbollah is an illness and the key cause of Lebanon’s sorry state today…. The latest election could signal the start of that process which is bound to be accelerated by positive developments in Iraq and, eventually, in Iran itself.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that the general election in Lebanon made the headlines in Tehran’s official media. “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei had labeled the election as “a referendum on the Resistance Front”, a coalition of Iran-controlled groups that have struck roots in Iraq, Syria, north Yemen, Gaza and Lebanon. He had also publicly donated an extra $25 million to the Lebanese branch of Hezbollah to ensure its victory.

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“They Consider Us Inferior and Want to Rule Us”: The Persecution of Christians, April 2022 by Raymond Ibrahim

Posted By on May 22nd, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18547/persecution-of-christians-april-2022

On Good Friday, Fulani [Muslim tribe] kidnapped eight Christians. Four were released after paying a hefty ransom. One of the women released said that she was “raped several times by two leaders of the Fulani Militants.” A “militant told us, after receiving the ransom money, that they got money to kill more Christians.” — International Christian Concern, April 18, 2022, Nigeria

“It is not the first time that we ourselves have been attacked in Italy because we are Christians… It makes me angry to think that this discrimination also exists here.” — Daughter of a Coptic Christian man who was attacked for smoking during Ramadan, medforth.biz, April 23, 2022, Turin, Italy.

“They want to apply Sharia law because they consider us inferior and want to rule us.” — Coptic Christian man who was attacked for smoking during Ramadan, medforth.biz, April 23, 2022, Turin, Italy.

“They destroyed almost everything in the house, shot holes in the new truck and tried to burn it. The house itself is OK, but its contents are “They seized Sister Suellen from her bed in her nightclothes, with “no glasses, shoes, phone, medicine, etc.” She has not been heard from since. — Marianite Sister Ann Lacour, congregational leader, Clarion Herald, April 5, 2022, Burkina Faso.

“Inside the police station, I was surprised by attempts and pressure to conciliate. The perpetrator’s lawyer steered the writing of the report [in a manner] that contradicted reality, and they forced me to sign the report which contained statements from the pharmacist’s lawyer without taking my statements. …. We were especially shocked to see the report said that ‘the pharmacist is a friend of the family, who was just bantering and joking around with Mrs. Nevin, because he is close to the family.'” — Christian woman who was violently slapped by a pharmacist for entering his store without a head covering during Ramadan; Coptic Solidarity, April 27, 2022, Egypt.

The following are among the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of April, 2022:

The Muslim Slaughter of Christians

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Iran Takes More Foreign Hostages; Biden Administration, EU Stay Silent by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on May 21st, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18546/iran-foreign-hostages

“[T]here are extensive, vague and arbitrary grounds in Iran for imposing the death sentence, which quickly can turn this punishment into a political tool…. In addition, the structural flaws of the justice system are so deep and at odds with the notion of rule of law that one can barely speak of a justice system. The entrenched flaws in law and in the administration of the death penalty in Iran mean that most, if not all, executions are an arbitrary deprivation of life.” — Javaid Rehman, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, October 25, 2021.

The Iranian regime most likely believes that detaining Western nationals will put pressure on the EU and the US to accept its demands and seal the nuclear deal as soon as possible.

The Biden administration and the EU should not remain silent in the face of the Iranian regime taking more foreign hostages. The only language that all rogue and predatory regimes, including that of the mullahs, understand is the language of pressure. Why not try using it?

The European Union appear excited that the nuclear talks have reopened again to revive the nuclear deal that will bring nuclear weapons to the “world largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Iran, and additional billions of dollars to the treasury of the country’s ruling mullahs and to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to practice more terrorism. In the meantime, the Biden administration and the EU have remained silent in the face of the Iranian regime taking more hostages.

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence recently detained two French citizens. The Iranian authorities claimed that they arrested the two because they were planning to cause “chaos, social disorder, and instability”. Iran’s judiciary spokesperson, Zabihollah Khodaian, also stated that a Swedish-Iranian national, Ahmadreza Djalali, has received a death sentence and he will be executed by May 21, 2022. He was arrested in 2016 on the trumped-up charge of spying for a country that the Iranian regime wants to annihilate: Israel.

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Further Proof BLM Is a Scam Sarah Arnold

Posted By on May 21st, 2022

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2022/05/20/blm-cofounder-doled-out-8m-of-groups-money-for-canadian-mansion-n2607606

Remember when every restaurant, store and anyone who catered to the woke mob had “BLM Matter” posters up in the windows asking for donations? Well, that money went to the purchase of million dollar house in Canada.

According to audited financial statements obtained by the Washington Examiner, the Black Lives Matter organization was granted $8 million to purchase a Toronto mansion in 2021, equivalent to a mere $6.3 million in U.S. dollars. 

The money was meant to be used for activities to educate and support black communities, and to purchase and renovate property for charitable use. 

Patrisse Cullors, BLM co-founder, was the only board member of the BLM Global Network Foundation when it gave the funds to the leftist organization or better known as Cullors’s organization. Additionally, Cullors’s spouse served on the board of BLM Canada at the time of the money transfer. Seems convenient. 

Earlier this week, the BLM Global Network Foundation released a 63-page covering the fiscal year from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. In addition to the Toronto home, the documents show that $6 million went towards a Los Angeles mansion equipped with six bedrooms, a pool, a soundstage and an office, which was intended to be used as a campus for a black artists fellowship. 

IMMIGRATION, MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

Monkeypox: That unasked question By Monica Showalter

Posted By on May 21st, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/05/monkeypox_that_unasked_question.html

Scientists, it seems, are baffled by the unexplained appearance of the smallpox-like illness associated with rodents called “monkeypox” in the West which brings unsightly sores to the skin of those who are afflicted with it.

Long a disease seen mostly in parts of tropical Africa, it has now made appearances in the U.S. continental Europe, Canada, and the U.K., all at approximately the same time.

According to the Associated Press:

LONDON (AP) — As more cases of monkeypox are detected in Europe and North America, some scientists who have monitored numerous outbreaks in Africa say they are baffled by the unusual disease’s spread in the West.

Cases of the smallpox-related disease haven’t previously been seen among people with no links to central and West Africa. But in the past week, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, U.S., Sweden and Canada all reported infections, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously traveled to Africa.

France, Germany, Belgium and Australia confirmed their first cases of monkeypox on Friday.

“I’m stunned by this. Every day I wake up and there are more countries infected,” said Oyewale Tomori, a virologist who formerly headed the Nigerian Academy of Science and who sits on several World Health Organization advisory boards.

“This is not the kind of spread we’ve seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West,” he said.

Viruses and bacterias, of course, can mutate, which could explain the sudden rate of the spread.

But the unasked question in all of the stories cited is how the disease got here to start with.

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A Christian Stoned to Death for ‘Blasphemy’ in Nigeria — When Will It End?By Sean Nelson

Posted By on May 21st, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/05/a-christian-stoned-to-death-for-blasphemy-in-nigeria-when-will-it-end/?utm_source=

Last week in Sokoto, Nigeria, a young Christian university student was stoned, beaten, and burnt to death by a mob over allegations of “blasphemy.”  The mob accused her, Deborah Samuel Yakubu, of insulting the Prophet Mohammed in a WhatsApp classroom discussion group. Some of her classmates were outraged after Yakubu thanked Jesus for helping her in an exam. To the mob, the accusation of blasphemy justified murdering her.

Videos of the attack immediately began circulating on social media in Nigeria and worldwide. Against the background of an upcoming and contentious election in 2023 and of widespread kidnappings and terrorist and militant attacks in Northern Nigeria, the horrific murder of Yakubu is generating national uproar.

Unfortunately, some in Nigeria continue to defend the attacks. Violent protesters in Sokoto vandalized and set fire to Catholic churches on Saturday while calling for the release of Yakubu’s suspected attackers. In Maiduguri, another young Christian woman is facing calls for vigilante mob violence after being accused of posting blasphemy on social media.

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The Lies They Tell about the Temple Mount By Erielle Davidson

Posted By on May 21st, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/05/the-lies-they-tell-about-the-temple-mount/

The notion that Jewish prayer must be silenced in order to keep violent rioters at bay is absurd.

Attempts to ban Jews from worship at their holiest site have become normalized and yet would be unimaginable anywhere else.

The Temple Mount has continued to be a political flashpoint in the Israeli–Arab conflict. During the most recent Ramadan, Palestinian Arabs rioted continuously throughout the month, stockpiling rocks and fireworks at the sacred site. The rioters alleged that the violence was “defensive” in response to Israel possibly altering the “status quo” of operations at the Temple Mount.

But what is the actual arrangement at the Temple Mount?

Since Israel liberated Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation in the Six-Day War, the Temple Mount has remained formally under Israeli sovereignty. However, in an effort to cool tensions in the Muslim world, Israel has permitted the day-to-day administration of the Temple to be overseen by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, a Jordanian institution that exercises guardianship over various holy sites. To this point, Article 9 of the 1994 Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty stipulates that both parties agreed to “provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.”

While this arrangement appears reasonably conciliatory, it has developed an inescapable element of absurdity: The current status quo is that Jews are permitted to visit the Temple Mount, but they are not allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, which remains the holiest site in Judaism. Only Muslims are permitted to pray at the site. This may be normal in illiberal Muslim regimes such as Saudi Arabia, but in Israel, this is the only place where a religious group is banned from worship at their holy site — and it happens to be the Jews.

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Another Bit of Academic Foolishness By George Leef

Posted By on May 21st, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/another-bit-of-academic-foolishness/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=corner&utm_term=third

The perceived need among academics to pander to “underrepresented” groups is insatiable. Consider the invented term “Latinx.”

In today’s Martin Center article, Garion Frankel does so and regards it as “failed academic activism.”

Frankel, himself of Hispanic origin, writes, “Every time I receive an email from Texas A&M asking me to take part in a ‘Latinx’ group or activity, it makes my blood boil. It’s another example of the paternalistic panderings of the academic elite. It’s humiliating. Latinx’s similarities to Orwell’s Newspeak (intentionally ambiguous language used to spread political propaganda) have been well-documented, as has academia’s general lack of cultural awareness. But universities’ commitment to the word goes deeper than merely pandering to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. If DEI were the only goal, universities would treat Latino college students as people rather than as potential assets.”

The purpose of this bit of linguistic nonsense is to try to create more students with a revolutionary spirit. That’s always foremost in the minds of “progressives.” Fortunately, it seems to be a flop.

Frankel explains, “The reason Latinx is failing where Chicano succeeded is simple. While the Chicano movement saw academics turning student activists towards the very real problems affecting millions of people with similar backgrounds and values, today’s academics are asking people to change the way they talk and how they see themselves in order to cater to the desires of an extremely small minority of Latinos.”

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When Will Antisemitism Be Taken Seriously? By Robert Cherry (March 22)

Posted By on May 21st, 2022

https://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2022/03/24/when_will_antisemitism_be_taken_seriously_823368.html

Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City have recently increased by 409%, representing more than half of all hate crimes citywide. Many of these incidents targeted Orthodox people dressed in distinctive clothing, like the Jewish man who was punched in Bed-Stuy on Feb. 7 while walking on Shabbat, for which a 15-year-old was charged with assault and committing a hate crime. Yet it has not led civil rights organizations to act, unless they can connect these attacks to rightwing extremists or white supremacists, even when the evidence does not support such a link.

These organizations focus on instances of rightwing antisemitic propaganda rather than on those who are committing actual antisemitic hate crimes. For example, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently issued a report, “White Supremacist Propaganda Continues to Remain at Historic Levels in 2021.” It highlighted flyers posted by three obscure white supremacist groups in New England, none of which were responsible for any other antisemitic acts.

A similar instance occurred when New York antisemitic assaults jumped two years earlier. Then-New York mayor Bill de Blasio repeatedly insisted that the attacks were driven by a white-supremacist movement connected to Donald Trump, and a report by the ADL on the spike in antisemitic assaults in New York followed De Blasio’s lead. The report noted, “In 2018, ADL documented 67 white supremacist propaganda distribution incidents in New York State, 10 of which were antisemitic in nature,” although all the assaults were more specifically in New York City.

As reporter Armin Rosen pointed out, these spurious suggestions were made “despite clear evidence that … many of the attacks are being carried out by people of color with no ties to the politics of white supremacy.” Indeed, FBI statistics demonstrate that black Americans are disproportionately perpetrators of hate crime attacks on other groups, including Asian Americans.