Category: News

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Iran Claims Responsibility For Missile Attack On U.S. Troops Stationed In Iraq

From Axios:

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Al Asad airbase in Iraq, where U.S. troops are stationed, according to Iranian state TV.

Why it matters: It’s the first sign of direct retaliation against the U.S. for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, following three days of mourning. President Trump visited the airbase in December 2018 and said that the U.S. would keep a presence in Iraq in part to “watch over Iran.”

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: “The brave soldiers of IRGC’s aerospace unit have launched a successful attack with tens of ballistic missiles on Al Assad military base in the name of martyr Gen. Qasem Soleimani. … We warn all allied countries of the U.S. that if attacks are launched from bases in their countries on Iran, they will be a target of military retaliation.”

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham: “We are aware of the reports of attacks on US facilities in Iraq. The President has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team.”

CNN reports at least 10 rockets hit the airbase.

On Twitter, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, in direct response to Donald Trump’s USA flag tweet, shared this:

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CNN Agrees To Settlement With Smirking High School Student

L-R Nick Sandmann, Nathan Phillips (screen capture)
CNN has reportedly agreed to settle a lawsuit by MAGA hat-wearing high school student Nick Sandmann, who became famous in January 2019 for staring down Native American Nathan Phillips at a Washington, D.C. event. The amount of the settlement was not made public during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Covington, Kentucky. Sandmann’s lawyer says the damages were sought due to “emotional distress Nicholas and his family suffered.” He also said the family had to move from their home temporarily and that Nicholas was not permitted to attend school directly after the trip to Washington. The initial lawsuit sought $800 million from CNN, the Washington Post and NBC Universal. No trial dates have been set for the NBC Universal and Washington Post portions of the lawsuit. Sandmann reportedly plans to sue Phillips as well. At the time of the incident, people became polarized over what had happened and what, exactly, they saw. To this day, having seen the full video footage, I’m still clear that the boy in the photo above is smirking at an elder. And now, he will be rich for doing so. #MAGA

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Iran Reportedly Considering ’13 Scenarios For Revenge’

Iranian leaders attend funeral of Gen. Qassem Soleimani (screen capture)
The Independent reports that Iran is considering “13 scenarios for revenge” against the US for the killing of top general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike last week, local media reported the country’s top security official as saying in comments later disavowed by senior officials.

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said “the mission to avenge our slain brother will not be limited to a single operation,” according to the hardline Fars news agency.

“Up until now, 13 scenarios for revenge have been proposed,” he reportedly said. “Even if there is a consensus on the weakest scenario, executing it can turn into a historic nightmare for the Americans.”

Reuters adds that Shamkhani would not reveal any specific details of the plans, he said all US forces in the Middle East are being considered for strikes. “Those who crawl into shelters and close the doors hoping to escape our revenge are unaware that the Islamic Republic will open the door to hell.” BUT – the Supreme National Security Council later disavowed the comments saying  Shamkhani never gave the interview. The SNSC secretariat said: “A local paper yesterday committed a criminal act and attributed an interview to the SNSC’s secretary which had not taken place. Legal action is underway to understand how and and why the interview was produced and published.” The SNSC’s claims have not been proven.

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Buttigieg Crushes Trump In 8 Words After The Donald Questioned His Faith

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (image via Instagram)
While speaking at King Jesus International Ministry in Miami, Donald Trump claimed that Mayor Pete Buttigieg and other Democrats are trying to replace religion with socialism. The Donald then openly questioned if Mayor Pete was as religious as he claimed. “And I see Alfred E. Neuman comes out and he’s trying to pretend he’s very religious,” Trump said, referencing the former mayor as the MAD Magazine mascot. “Now all of a sudden, he’s become extremely religious, this happened about two weeks ago,” Trump continued. Buttigieg, a former Catholic who is openly Episcopalian, clapped back with 8 simple words: “God does not belong to a political party.”

Buttigieg elaborated further on Trump’s remarks during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. “I’m not sure why the president’s taken an interest in my faith journey, but certainly I would be happy to discuss it with him,” he said. “I just don’t know where that’s coming from, you know. Certainly, it has been a complex journey for me, as it is for a lot of people, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been a believer longer than he’s been a Republican.”

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News Round-Up: January 6, 2020

Michael J. Reynolds (mugshot via Metro Nashville Police)
Some news items you might have missed: • NBC News: New York City Police officer Michael J. Reynolds (above), who broke into a black woman’s home in Tennessee and threatened her and her sons with a racist slur has resigned from the force. Last month, Reynolds was sentenced to 15 days in jail and three years’ probation after pleading no contest to one count of aggravated criminal trespassing and three counts of assault. • The Advocate: Hate preacher Steven Anderson, the Arizona minister whose death wishes for LGBTQ people have gotten him banned from more than 30 countries, says Australia is being devastated by wildfires because he was banned from the country. • Twitter: Singer Lizzo says she’s done with Twitter for now – “Too many trolls…”

• JoeMyGod: American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer told his listeners gay men founded the Nazi party: “Let’s not forget that the Nazi Party started in a gay bar. The Nazi Party started in a gay bar in Munich, Germany, and the Stormtroopers were Hitler’s enforcers in the early days of the Nazi regime — the S.A., the Stormtroopers. Without exception, the officers in Hitler’s private army were homosexuals. You had no chance of advancing through the ranks unless you were a hardcore homosexual.” • NewNowNext: Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal has secured the rights to produce and star in the film adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical, Fun Home. He will play troubled gay patriarch Bruce Bechdel, who runs the family funeral home. • Delaware News Journal: A Republican County Chairman in Pennsylvania, Chris Rowe, has announced he will resign for using the word “faggots” in a comment on a recent Facebook post. “Faggots cannot handle reality. Bad guy loses FB pisses themselves,” wrote Rowe. He later added on Facebook that he feels he has nothing to apologize for as the comment was “locker room talk” between him and a lifelong friend. #LockerroomTalk • Apple TV: Check out this first look at the five-part series Visible: Out on Television debuting on Apple TV+ on February 14. Apple TV’s The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon was thrilling to watch. Just saying…

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Plurality Of Americans (43%) Support Airstrike That Killed Iranian General

A new poll by HuffPost/YouGov shows a slight plurality of Americans approve of the airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani (43%) versus those who disapprove (38%). Those views fall pretty much along partisan lines with stronger support among Republicans (84%) as opposed to 71% of Democrats who disapprove. More from the poll: • A clear majority (57%) believe the airstrike will lead to further military conflict between the U.S. and Iran • 43% of those polled feel Donald Trump did not think through the repercussions of his ordered attack compared to 35% who think he planned carefully • The public is evenly split – 40% vs 39% – on the decision to send 3,500 U.S. troops to the Middle East • 44% believe Trump should have informed Congress before launching the attack versus 34% who do not

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Former National Security Adviser Will Testify In Trump Impeachment Trial If Subpoenaed

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton in May 2019 (image via White House – public domain)
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has issued a statement saying he will testify during the impeachment trial of Donald Trump if subpoenaed by the Senate.

During the present impeachment controversy, I have tried to meet my obligations both as a citizen and as former National Security Advisor. My colleague, Dr. Charles Kupperman, faced with a House committee subpoena on the one hand, and a Presidential directive not to testify on the other, sought final resolution of this Constitutional conflict from the Federal judiciary. After my counsel informed the House committee that I too would seek judicial resolution of these Constitutional issues, the committee chose not to subpoena me. Nevertheless, I publicly resolved to be guided by the outcome of Dr. Kupperman’s case.

But both the President and the House of Representatives opposed his effort on jurisdictional grounds, and each other on the merits. The House committee went so far as to withdraw its subpoena to Dr. Kupperman in a deliberate attempt to moot the case and deprive the court of jurisdiction. Judge Richard Leon, in a carefully reasoned opinion on December 30, held Dr. Kupperman’s case to be moot, and therefore did not reach the separation-of-powers issues.

The House has concluded its Constitutional responsibility by adopting Articles of Impeachment related to the Ukraine matter. It now falls to the Senate to fulfill its Constitutional obligation to try impeachments, and it does not appear possible that a final judicial resolution of the still-unanswered Constitutional questions can be obtained before the Senate acts.

Accordingly, since my testimony is once again at issue, I have had to resolve the serious competing issues as best I could, based on careful consideration and study. I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify.

ABC News reports Bolton informed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of his statement before it was released, but did not tell the White House. While publicly saying he wants to see witnesses testify at the Senate trial, Trump has repeatedly blocked White House officials from doing so. McConnell has said he doesn’t see the need for witnesses or documentary evidence during Trump’s trial. CNN’s Manu Raju reports that with this new development, Democrats say Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s decision to withhold the articles of impeachment until now has been vindicated.

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Britain’s ‘Most Prolific’ Serial Rapist Gets Life In Prison After 190+ Victims

Reynard Sinaga (mugshot via Greater Manchester Police)
Reynard Sinaga, 36, has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of raping 48 men in Manchester, England. The Guardian reports Sinaga may have sexually assaulted at least 190 men during a two-and-a-half-year period. According to police reports, Sinaga would target young men in the early hours of the morning outside nightclubs in Manchester. Pretending to be a ‘Good Samaritan,’ he would offer them more alcohol or a place to charge a phone, wait for a taxi or sleep off their buzz at his home. Once there, he would drug them (police believe he used GHB) and then record himself raping the men as they slept. Most of his victims were white, heterosexual men whose average age was 21. His crimes included 136 counts of rape, eight counts of attempted rape, 134 counts of sexual assaults, and two counts of assault by penetration. Sinaga’s crime spree only became known to the authorities when one of his victims woke up during the assault in June 2017. The young man fought Sinaga off then reported the incident to the police. Authorities say they found video and photographic evidence of at least 136 rapes on two cell phones. From the video recordings, police were able to identify most of the victims. Once contacted, many had no idea they had been violated while under the effects of the drug. Police also found Sinaga would often keep ‘trophies’ from his attacks including watches, IDs and cell phones. Sinaga was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 30 years. But there’s more. Today’s news ends a two-year media blackout during which Sinaga had already been convicted of similar charges in two earlier trials relating to 25 other victims. For those crimes, he is already serving 88 concurrent life sentences with no chance of parole for 20 years. Britain’s laws require strict media blackouts in such cases while the trials are ongoing. During his trials, Sinaga claimed all of the assaults were consensual and his victims were ‘acting out a sexual fantasy.’ But prosecutors called the defense “ludicrous.” The Guardian reports many of the men could be heard snoring in the video recordings of their assault shown throughout the trial.

Many of his victims came forward to explain the deep psychological consequences they suffered due to the attacks. The effects ranged from anger and anxiety to thoughts of suicide. “I have never been in such a bad place in my life and I don’t know how to get out of it,” said one victim. “I was diagnosed with severe depression and put on anti-depressants. I also started counseling.” Said another: “The perpetrator has taken a part of me that I will never get back, and deserves the largest sentence possible.” “It changed my life forever,” a third told the court. Juries were shown text messages Sinaga had sent to friends during the crime spree often boasting about his conquests. He wrote of one victim: “He was straight in 2014. 2015 is his breakthrough to the gay world hahaha.” Sinaga was found guilty on every charge brought against him. As Judge Suzanne Goddard QC described him as a “dangerous, deeply disturbed and perverted individual with no sense of reality” during sentencing, Sinaga reportedly yawned and played with his hair. After sentencing, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ian Rushton called Sinaga “the most prolific rapist in British legal history.” Sinaga arrived in Britain in 2007 from his native Indonesia on a student visa. He received two degrees from the University of Manchester and was studying for a Ph.D. at the University of Leeds when police finally arrested him. (source: The Guardian)

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Australia Is Burning…Still

My husband Michael and I are devastated by the apocalyptic bushfires spreading across Australia for months now. And they show no signs of slowing down. According to reports, about 12.35 million acres have burned, destroying more than 1,400 homes and killing at least 23 people. It is estimated that more than half a billion wild animals have died in the fires. Entire towns have evacuated to the shores and volunteer firefighters have left their families and careers behind to fight the flames around the clock. If you feel inclined to help, it seems the leading organization to donate to is the Australian Red Cross. Australia’s Red Cross Disaster relief and recovery fund helps support evacuation centers and recovery programs for the affected communities. Additionally, the NSW Rural Fire Service has a donation page to support the firefighting efforts in New South Wales.

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Quick Catch-Up On Trump/Iran Conflict

Donald Trump

Donald Trump (photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr – CC License)
In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate a top Iranian general, the fallout across the Middle East and beyond continued on Sunday. ICMYI: • Iran on Friday vowed “severe revenge” in response to a U.S. airstrike that killed Tehran’s most powerful military commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, and dramatically sharpened tensions across the Middle East. • US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the airstrike ordered to kill top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani “saved American lives,” after Pompeo said on Twitter Friday morning that the decision to eliminate Soleimani was in response to “imminent threats to American lives.”

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Trump administration to immediately brief lawmakers on the U.S. airstrike and what the White House plans to do next. The strike was carried out without an “authorization for use of military force” against Iran and without the consultation of Congress, the speaker said. Today, Trump tweeted his “official notification to Congress.” I kid you not.

• The United States is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast as reinforcements in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by President Donald Trump. • In his first public address since the airstrike, Trump said the U.S. is “ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary” if Iran threatens American lives. “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.” But it looks like the guy who wanted to pull U.S. military out of the middle east may have begun sometime far bigger than he dreamed. • On Saturday, the Trump administration warned members of Congress that Iran is expected to retaliate against the US “within weeks” for the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani even as they failed to convince some that the operation was merited due to an imminent threat against American lives. • As hostilities escalate, Trump has ramped up the pressure on Iran – threatening to hit 52 sites ‘very hard and very fast.’ He also boasted about the U.S. military’s ample resources.

• Iran’s government said Sunday that it was abandoning its “final limitations in the nuclear deal,” the international agreement intended to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. The decision leaves no restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, the statement said, including on uranium enrichment, production, research and expansion. • Lawmakers in Iraq heeded the demands of angry citizens and voted on Sunday to expel United States troops from the country, as hundreds of thousands of mourners poured into the streets of Iran to pay their respects to the slain leader of the elite Quds Force, Maj. General Qassim Suleimani. • The eulogist at the funeral procession of prominent Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iran put an 80-million-dollar prize on US President Donald Trump’s head on live state TV. “We are 80 million Iranians, if each one of us puts aside one American dollar, we will have 80 million American dollars, and we will reward anyone who brings us [Trump]’s head with that amount,” he said, addressing a large crowd in Iran’s north-eastern city of Mashhad. • Having done his tweeting, Trump arrived at his golf course in West Palm Beach today.