Tuesday, February 28, 2017

The Empire Strikes Back at Trump’s White House

The Empire Strikes Back at Trump’s White House

February 21, 2017
cc Flickr Jim Matis, US government, public domain, http://www.usa.gov/copyright.shtml
When Donald John Trump took over as president of the United States a month ago, there were – not many though – reasonable, cold analysts who, based on his pre-election statements, predicted that a man who is going to wage war against the establishment (the empire) is entering a conflict with a very uncertain result. Some of them even did not hesitate to say that Trump is bound to lose this battle. Judging by what is happening now, those who spoke about a war with uncertain results were completely right, and those who predicted Trump’s defeat might be right. We will see in the not-so-distant future.
Trump’s throne – if one can say so – was seriously shaken the moment one of his closest associates, national security advisor general Michael Flynn, was forced to resign. And, let us not be misguided, not because he was “insincere” with Vice President Pence, but because he dared to contact (how horrific!) the ambassador of Russia before the elections and – allegedly – spoke with him about the possibility of abandoning sanctions against his country. And when, immediately after that, a White House spokesman said that Russia is expected to return the Crimea peninsula to Ukraine, there was no doubt whatsoever whether Trump would be able to fulfill what he promised in the election campaign. With those promises, the key ones, he managed – despite his lack of political experience, despite his sexism, and despite his entertainment past – to arouse the hopes of all those in the world who were fed up with the American policy of interventionism and with its imposing of what has been “sold” for decades as democracy, with massive help from an enormous army and more than 700 military bases around the world. Just to remind you: Trump explicitly promised that America will stop imposing regimes, or as he put it in his inaugural address: ‘the American way of life.’ And, very important, he expressed his willingness to normalize relations with Russia, which were deteriorating rapidly and dangerously. General Flynn backed such a policy. And that is the reason why he had to go. His resignation is the first serious blow delivered by the system (establishment) against the new man in the White House. After getting rid of Flynn, influential circles not only in the Democratic party (including the Clinton clan), but in the Republican party too (which never really got to terms first with his nomination as presidential candidate and after that with him as the president), as well as those who are often described as the ‘invisible centers of influence,’ directing the politicians as actors on the stage – they all smelled blood. And this is not a conspiracy theory, this is something quite obvious to everybody who is willing to see, to hear, and to draw the only possible conclusions from what he (or she) saw or heard, without becoming the victim or the hostage of anybody’s propaganda, regardless of whose. Do not be mistaken: those who smelled blood will not stop.
And who is, after all, this general Michael Flynn? He is former chief of the US military intelligence, the most decorated high-ranking American officer in this position over the last two decades. From this position he was relieved when he dared to put into question the way the US intelligence community worked and its results (the very same intelligence community which spies for years now on whomever it wants, around the globe, including heads of states, American allies; this is, by the way a proven fact!). Did he speak with the Russian ambassador prior to the elections? Yes, he did. Did he, by doing so, violate an old act (the Logan Act) which forbids, to put it in the simplest terms, private persons to engage in diplomatic activities? Again: yes, he did. But, did anybody invoke this same act when some 8 or 9 years ago a certain Barack Obama, at that time just a presidential candidate (a private person too) travelled around the world meeting heads of states and governments? The answer is: no! Had Flynn have spoken with ambassadors of, let us say, Germany or France, nobody would have said a word. But he sinned, because he spoke with the Russian ambassador and Russia is, as everybody “knows,” an enemy of the West, an enemy of democracy, a power which is on the verge of sending its armed forces to conquer Europe (if one would believe the mainstream media, or for that matter, the Secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg).
On the tracks of the anti-Russian hysteria, which becomes more and more present, Flynn was accused, without any evidence, that for him “Putin comes first and only then the US.” Demands are being made, imperatively, to investigate all links between the general and Russia. And all this only to be able to repeat the “old song” from the US election campaign: Russia’s role in the US presidential elections should be investigated (although this role was never proved by solid evidence, or what the Americans call a “smoking gun” – it was only talked about). And all of this to repeat that Trump is a puppet in Russian hands, backed now with the “expertise” of more than 30 “shrinks” who have concluded, on the basis of Trump’s behavior and his statements, that he is not fit to be the president of the U.S.
And again: the story will not stop here. The empire (establishment) strikes back and hits a man who thought, because he practically alone, against all odds, won the presidential elections, that he can change the system. It is more than likely that he cannot. The war hero, CIC of the Normandy invasion and later US president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was clever (or wise) enough to mention the military-industrial complex and its dangerous role only at the end of his term in office. Trump, who cannot be compared with legendary Ike in any way, did practically the same thing in the first days of his mandate, challenging this system. And sealed, thus, his destiny – as it seems now. He will be, with the “logistic help” of the Europeans who are already describing him as somebody able to launch in the next two years “a cultural revolution” (allusion to communist China) either be chased out of the White House (under any pretext), or he will be forced to become a tool in the hands of others. After all, one should remember Obama and his big promises with which he won the Peace Nobel price (hand stretched to the Muslim countries, a world without nuclear weapons etc.) He did nothing of that sort, but continued the policy of his predecessors, becoming “famous” because of his bombings of a number of countries and destabilizing the Middle East, not to mention the direct and indirect support to those who are today known as Islamist terrorists. In short: he allowed himself to be “eaten” by the system. And this is the least that could happen to Trump.
Why did this “deconstruction” of Trump begin with General Flynn? The answer is simple: because the general backed the normalization of the relations with Russia, even more he backed the cooperation with Russia in the fight against global terrorism, which means stopping any support and help for the Islamists, who are still called by many in the West “opposition,” “armed opposition,” or “fighters against tyranny and for freedom.” The military-industrial complex lives from wars and it imposed on the West the confrontation with Russia, the policy of enlarging and strengthening of the NATO (which, being a genuine relict of the Cold War, was called “obsolete” by Trump), the policy which resulted in bringing to Europe hundreds of American tanks and thousands of troops.
To put it quite simply: without the confrontation with Russia, without the continuation of the policy of imposing regimes and taking control over energy sources and main energy routes, there is no money, there is no profit. This is the reason why those who evaluated the fall of socialism in Europe as their final victory, only to see how Putin is putting into question this victory (namely standing up against a unipolar world), after absorbing the shock of Trump’s victory and his announced foreign policy, decided to take things into their hands again. Thus we may expect strengthening of anti-Russian sentiments (allegations of Russian meddling in elections, though never proven, are being repeated again and again, now prior to the presidential elections in France). We may expect a changed rhetoric both from President Trump and from the White House. And we should stop hoping for the end of the renewed Cold War. This war means profit, and those who are making this profit are not prepared to let anybody else take it from them, or to stop them making it at all; despite the fact that it is a bloody profit, “earned” at the cost of hundreds of thousands of human lives. General Flynn had this experience. President Trump, from what can be concluded right now, still has to learn the lesson.
And the “rest of the world”? Well, those who survive will tell the story.

Tomislav Jakić is a journalist who served as foreign policy advisor to the second President of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Stjepan Mesic.

The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the authors are theirs alone and don’t reflect any official position of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

And the Oscar for Best Documentary Short goes to…”ISIS – Al Qaeda”

And the Oscar for Best Documentary Short goes to…”ISIS – Al Qaeda”
By Alex Christoforou, Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett, and Patrick Henningsen
Global Research, February 27, 2017
The Duran, RT News 27 February 2017
Url of this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/and-the-oscar-for-best-documentary-short-goes-toisis-al-qaeda/5577036
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If there were any doubts that the Oscars were merely a political tool wielded by the globalist elite,  doubt no more.
It should come as no surprise that a film celebrating the White Helmets scooped up an Oscar for best short documentary. Might as well hand the Oscar to ISIS leader Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Far from a humanitarian organisation, the White Helmets are an Al Qaeda staffed propaganda group that is embedded with brutal jihadists looking to overthrow the sovereign government of Syria.
Watch this CrossTalk episode to learn who the White Helmets represent…
Read these posts from The Duran to see who the Academy Awards honored with an Oscar last night… Al Jazeera reports
Accepting the Academy Award, director Orlando von Einsiedel urged the audience to stand up and call for an end to Syria’s six-year civil war, which led to a standing ovation.
Von Einsiedel read out a statement from White Helmets founder Raed al-Saleh, in which he thanked the academy and said the group had saved tens of thousands of lives since it was formed in 2014.
“We are so grateful that this film has highlighted our work to the world. Our organisation is guided by a verse from the Quran: to save one life is to save all of humanity,” Saleh’s statement said.
“We have saved more than 82,000 Syrian lives. I invite anyone here who hears me to work on the side of life to stop the bloodshed in Syria and around the world.”
Rescue workers in Syria are at risk of being killed in so-called “double tap” air raids that target them as they arrive at the scene of an air strike. The group says that many of its volunteers have been killed.
Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khatib who worked on the documentary was unable to attend after being barred from entering the United States, despite being granted a visa.
US officials reportedly discovered “derogatory information” about him, according to a document seen by the Associated Press news agency.
The film’s producer Joanna Natasegara told AP on Sunday that the decision was “sad and confusing.”
Nothing “sad and confusing” about it. The White Helmets are Al Nusra, aka Al Qaeda, aka ISIS.
Need more proof? WATCH THIS VIDEO. SHARE THESE IMAGES…
boy in aleppo
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White-Helmets-girl-repeat
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article.

The Right Way to Challenge Fake News

The Right Way to Challenge Fake News
By Stephen Lendman
Global Research, February 26, 2017

Url of this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-right-way-to-challenge-fake-news/5576793
fake news
Trump is right challenging fake news. It’s about time someone in high office did it. He’s going about it the wrong way.
Without speech, media and academic freedoms, all other rights are threatened.
Barring certain media outlets from attending Friday’sWhite House press briefing while letting others in was wrongheaded and counterproductive.
The NYT falsely called the move unprecedented, “something no administration of either party has ever done.”
Not quite. In 2009, the Obama White House said it would no longer conduct interviews with Fox News as a member of the press pool, an unprecedented act at the time.
Other media outlets objected. The White House relented. It remained hostile to Fox News criticism of its policies.
On February 24, NYT editors blasted Trump’s move, absurdly calling it “a backhanded compliment to the reporters whose honest work provoked the president’s latest foot-stamping tantrum” – a gratuitous insult, falsely referring to barred news organizations as “trustworthy.”
Far from it! The Times and other media scoundrels feature fake news, suppressing what’s most important to report.
They’re largely anti-Trump, inventing reasons to bash him. Justifiable criticism is warranted. Biased reporting defiles what journalism is supposed to be.
On Friday, Trump called media “the opposition party…mak(ing) up stories and mak(ing) up sources.”
Candidate Trump said he wasn’t “running against crooked Hillary. I’m running against the crooked media,” he stressed – referring to the media as the “lowest form of humanity.”
Throughout the campaign, they went all out to get him, continuing post-inauguration. The power of scoundrel media manipulated public sentiment works.
Fiction substitutes for important facts. News is sanitized, dissent marginalized. Supporting wealth, power and privilege substitutes for full and accurate reporting.
Wars of aggression are called liberating ones. They’re glorified in the name of peace. Civil liberties are suppressed for our own good. Patriotism means supporting what harms the public welfare.
Might is justified as right. Raping nations is called democracy building. Looting them is considered economic development. Free societies are threatened. Tyranny stalks America.
Truth-telling is a vital disinfectant. The way to challenge media scoundrels isn’t by barring them from press briefings. It’s by exposing their fake news with hard, irrefutable facts.
Trump has bully pulpit power. He has over 25 million Twitter followers plus other ways to counter media lies if done responsibly.
On Friday, he tweeted “FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn’t tell the truth. A great danger to our country. The failing @nytimes has become a joke. Likewise @CNN. Sad!”
Most Americans distrust the media for good reason. Growing numbers rely on alternative sources to stay informed. It’s the only way!
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.


Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article.

No. 037/2017 dated 27 February 2017 China as the Next Champion of Globalisation?

RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical issues and contemporary developments. The views of the authors are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced electronically or in print with prior permission from RSIS and due recognition to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email: RSISPublications@ntu.edu.sg for feedback to the Editor RSIS Commentary, Yang Razali Kassim. 


No. 037/2017 dated 27 February 2017
China as the Next Champion of Globalisation?
By Friedrich Wu

Synopsis


As the US under Donald Trump and European powers like Britain and France turn their backs on globalisation, could or would China step in to be the next champion of globalisation? As Beijing attempts to demonstrate leadership and garner global trust through initiatives like AIIB and OBOR, a litmus test awaits President Xi Jinping and his "pro-globalisation" team.

Commentary


SINCE 1979 when China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping  made the world-transforming decision to abandon once and for all the Maoist semi-autarkic model of self-reliant development and pursue an “Open Door” policy, Beijing’s geo-economic goal has remained remarkably consistent. This, namely, is to modernise China’s backward economy and catch up with the developed world by integrating the country with the capitalist global economic order, which was created at Bretton Woods immediately after the last world war.

By joining all the major multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bank for International Settlements (BIS), World Trade Organisation (WTO), etc, Beijing has demonstrated that it is a conscientious and scrupulous rule-abider of the international economic and financial architectures forged by the West, which until recently has consistently championed the economic benefits of globalisation.

China in the Capitalist World Economic Order


China’s conduct in these international organisations has been exemplary. It has acted invariably like a “responsible stake-holder” rather than a disruptor; it has not sought to break, or revise, any codified rule, except to demand (rather unsuccessfully) for more voting rights commensurate with its recent status of being the world’s second largest economy. Conversely, none of these institutions have accused China as a spoiler.       

For examples, both the IMF and BIS argue that the renminbi is not undervalued; while the ADB and World Bank praise China’s financial contributions. In its bi-annual Trade Policy Review of China, WTO repeatedly commends China’s reform and market-opening measures.

As China recognises that it has been a significant beneficiary of the well-entrenched capitalist world economic order, unwavering support for globalisation will continue to serve the country’s enlightened self-interests well. This is because, even though the Chinese economy is currently embarking on a paradigm shift from a hitherto exports-and-investment-driven growth model to one that relies more on domestic consumption and services, still, several empirical studies have found that sharply higher import tariffs and investment barriers erected by major developed countries would shave 2-3 percentage points off from China’s already slower economic growth pace.

The question now is: As the new Donald Trump administration and other major European powers like Britain and France are turning their backs on globalisation, could or would China step forward to fill the leadership void? Any country that aspires to jump into the vacuum will require the possession of three critical tangible and intangible assets, namely, political will; expertise/experience in managing complex multilateral institutions and forging politically-sensitive international agreements; and last but not least, global trust.

Limits to Beijing’s Emerging Ambition


For China, the maiden speech delivered by President Xi Jinping at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, clearly conveys Beijing’s emerging ambition to lead a coalition of like-minded nations to defend globalisation. However, to lend credibility to its loud declaration of political will, China must be able to demonstrate leadership capability and garner international trust, two conditions that Beijing seems to suffer from some serious deficits.

In terms of trust, according to Pew Research Centre’s annual “Global Attitudes Surveys” (of thousands of citizens around the world), the majority of non-Chinese respondents typically views today’s China with awe and dubiety rather than affection. Another survey by Edelman, a global communications marketing firm, reveals that only a minority of global consumers expresses trust in companies (and their products) domiciled in China.

Even in development finance, a proud Chinese economic diplomacy for which Beijing has poured in multiple billions of dollars, recent research by AidData at the College of William and Mary finds that among the 300 government officials from 126 emerging economies it has interviewed, the quality of policy advice from Chinese institutions such as the China Development Bank, China Export-Import Bank, and Chinese embassies is rated rather low by them.

In terms of capability, realistically, China currently still lacks the requisite expertise/experience to spearhead the “for-globalisation” campaign. Facing a sharp learning curve, Beijing is toiling doubly hard to acquire competence in multilateral management through several recent initiatives such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), OneBelt,OneRoad (OBOR), and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

China As Champion of Globalisation?

With 57 founding member-countries including Britain, France and Germany (against the futile opposition of the United States and Japan), the slightly over one-year-old AIIB has another 30 countries applying to join. It is already disbursing multi-million-dollar loans to fund power, housing, environment and transportation projects in half a dozen emerging economies.

It is interesting to note that Beijing has modelled AIIB’s governance structure and standards after the World Bank, albeit with less layers of bureaucracy. With Washington’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the ASEAN-led but Beijing-dominated RCEP, which comprises 16 countries collectively accounting for 40% of world trade and 30% of global GDP, will have a higher chance of reaching fruition. It will enter into its 17th round of negotiations in March 2017.

As for OBOR, unveiled in 2013, it is off to a slow start and is still at the inception stage. As a high political-risk initiative, it will strenuously test Beijing’s political mettle, not to mention the attendant financial perils.

Should there be a stream of positive, win-win outcomes flowing from the AIIB, OBOR, and RCEP, these early successes would inspire higher confidence and trust around the world in China’s commitment and prowess as a champion and defender of globalisation. Conversely, a wave of failures would signal that Beijing’s ambition to claim global leadership would be premature.

A litmus test is awaiting President Xi and his “pro-globalisation” team in Beijing.



Friedrich Wu is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University,Singapore. He was a former economics director at Singapore’s Ministry of Trade & Industry, and earlier the chief economist at DBS Bank. An earlier version of this appeared in The Business Times.

Click HERE to read this commentary online.

Lavrov vs. McCain: Is Russia an Enemy?

Lavrov vs. McCain: Is Russia an Enemy?

Pat Buchanan
|
Posted: Feb 28, 2017 12:01 AM
Lavrov vs. McCain: Is Russia an Enemy?
The founding fathers of the Munich Security Conference, said John McCain, would be "be alarmed by the turning away from universal values and toward old ties of blood, and race, and sectarianism."
McCain was followed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who called for a "post-West world order." Russia has "immense potential" for that said Lavrov, "we're open for that inasmuch as the U.S. is open."
Now McCain is not wrong. Nationalism is an idea whose time has come again. Those "old ties of blood, and race, and sectarianism" do seem everywhere ascendant. But that is a reality we must recognize and deal with. Deploring it will not make it go away.
But what are these "universal values" McCain is talking about?
Democracy? The free elections in India gave power to Hindu nationalists. In Palestine, Hamas. In Lebanon, Hezbollah. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, then overthrown in a military coup welcomed by the world's oldest and greatest democracy. Have we forgotten it was a democratically elected government we helped to overthrow in Kiev?
Democracy is a bus you get off when it reaches your stop, says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, autocrat of Ankara, a NATO ally.
Is freedom of religion a "universal value"?
Preach or proselytize for Christianity in much of the Islamic world and you are a candidate for martyrdom. Practice freedom of speech in Xi Jinping's China and you can wind up in a cell.
As for the Western belief in the equality of all voluntary sexual relations, in some African and Muslim countries, homosexuals are beheaded and adulterers stoned to death.
In Nuristan Province in U.S.-liberated Afghanistan this month, an armed mob of 300 besieged a jail, shot three cops and dragged out an 18-year-old woman who had eloped with her lover to escape an arranged marriage. Beaten by relatives, the girl was shot by an older brother with a hunting rifle and by a younger brother with his AK-47.
Afghan family values.
Her lover was turned over to the husband. An "honor killing," and, like suicide bombings, not uncommon in a world where many see such actions as commendable in the sight of Allah.
McCain calls himself an "unapologetic believer in the West" who refuses "to accept that our values are morally equivalent to those of our adversaries."
Lavrov seemed to be saying this:
Reality requires us here in Munich to recognize that, in the new struggle for the world, Russia and the U.S. are natural allies not natural enemies. Though we may quarrel over Crimea and the Donbass, we are in the same boat. Either we sail together, or sink together.
Does the foreign minister not have a point?
Unlike the Cold War, Moscow does not command a world empire. Though a nuclear superpower still, she is a nation whose GDP is that of Spain and whose population of fewer than 150 million is shrinking. And Russia threatens no U.S. vital interest.
Where America is besieged by millions of illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico, Russia faces to her south 1.3 billion Chinese looking hungrily at resource-rich Siberia and Russia's Far East.
The China that is pushing America and its allies out of the East and South China Seas is also building a new Silk Road through former Russian and Soviet provinces in Central Asia. With an estimated 16 million Muslims, Russia is threatened by the same terrorists, and is far closer to the Middle East, the source of Sunni terror.
Is Putin's Russia an enemy, as McCain seems to believe?
Before we can answer that question, we need to know what the new world struggle is about, who the antagonists are, and what the threats are to us.
If we believe the struggle is for "global democracy" and "human rights," then that may put Putin on the other side. But how then can we be allies of President el-Sissi of Egypt and Erdogan of Turkey, and the kings, emirs and sultans of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman?
But if the new world struggle is about defending ourselves and our civilization, Russia would appear to be not only a natural ally, but a more critical and powerful one than that crowd in Kiev.
In August 1914, Europe plunged into a 50-month bloodbath over an assassinated archduke. In 1939, Britain and France declared war to keep Poland from having to give up a Prussian port, Danzig, taken from Germany under the duress of a starvation blockade in 1919 and in clear violation of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and the Danzigers' right of self-determination. In the two wars, 50 million to 100 million died.
Today, the United States is confronting Russia, a huge and natural ally, over a peninsula that had belonged to her since the 18th century and is 5,000 miles from the United States.
"We have immense potential that has yet to be tapped into," volunteered Lavrov. But to deal, we must have "mutual respect."
Hopefully, President Trump will sound out the Russians, and tune out the Beltway hawks.

Spanish Inquisition was 99% Myth. (BBC)


Monday, February 27, 2017

Russia's Power Play In Middle East Brings Together Nations of Ezekiel 38

Russia's Power Play In Middle East Brings Together Nations of Ezekiel 38

News Image By PNW Staff February 27, 2017 Share this article:

Russia continues to expand its influence in the Middle East and is bringing together more and more countries into its fold.  

Intervention in Syria has been the catalyst to re-establishing its power in the region not seen since the cold war days.  

Iran has been a long time partner with Russia but now we see new developments in both Libya and Turkey to also bring about a stronger alliance.

Iran saw a massive cash influx after sanctions were removed last year, thanks to the Obama administration, and as a result a substantial portion of this money will be put toward military modernization including an estimated $1 Billion air defense missile system supplied by Russia.  

Part of this deal also includes the Russian S-300 air defense missile system, considered one of the most effective anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missile systems in existence.  A clear response to Israel's threat the Iran will never be allowed to become a nuclear power.

Russia, in a bid to regain its previous influence enjoyed in Libya before the overthrow of the Ghaddafi government, has also reached out to a Libyan general named Khalifa Haftar who controls as many as 60,000 men in the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east of the country. 

Russia recently received General Haftar aboard its aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, pledging their support for his bid to control Libya, a move that would give Russia significant influence over North Africa. 

A former colonel under Ghaddafi stated that "Haftar is going to facilitate Russian access to ports in Libya as well as open up airport runways to them."

In the case of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has thrown himself on the side of Russia as Turkey's relations with both Israel and the United States have soured. 

In August of 2016, Erdogan praised Putin as his "dear friend" in a visit to St. Petership that saw the two leaders pledging to strengthen ties. 

The 2015 downing of a Russian jet by Turkish forces seems all but forgotten as the two nations continue to strengthen their military ties.

Turkey's half-century old EU membership bid is also currently tottering on the brink of collapse, after the European Union's legislature asked the bloc to freeze membership negotiations with Turkey over the government's heavy-handed crackdown following a failed coup in July.

Turkish president Erdogan indicated in a recent interview that he was fed up with waiting for the European Union to accept Turkey as a member state, indicating that he would be willing to consider joining the Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as an alternative to the Western bloc.

2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel foretold of a time when a coalition of predominately Muslim Nations would gather together to invade the nation of Israel. This well-known conflict is known as "The War of Gog and Magog." 

According to the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39, this confederacy of nations will attack Israel during a relatively peaceful period that appears to be generated by a recent conflict resulting in a "state of peace" for the Jewish nation. 

According to the prophet, "After many days you shall be called. In the latter years, you shall come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered out of many peoples, against the mountains of Israel which had been always a waste. But its people were brought out of the nations, and they, all of them, are dwelling safely ... and you shall say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates'" (Ezekiel 38:8, 11).
The nations cited by Ezekiel are each referenced in the Old Testament, yet they all represent nations which exist today. 

Long before Russia became a major world power, most Biblical scholars identified Magog as the nation of Russia and Gog as the ruler of Russia. 

These other nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38 are:

" Magog (also said by other experts to include Meshech, and Tubal) = Russia
" Persia = Iran
" Cush = Ethiopia/Sudan
" Put = Libya
" Gomer = Turkey (Some have identified as parts of eastern Europe)
" Beth-Togarmah = Turkey (also said by other experts to include Armenia, and the Turkish-speaking people of Asia Minor).

The Bible indicates that in the "latter days" the Lord will put a "hook in the jaw" of these nations listed and according to the prophet, "you shall ascend and come like a storm; you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you." (Ezekiel 38:9)

Some speculate that "hook in the jaw" could be Israel's newly discovered oil and natural gas riches which directly affect the Russian economy.  

Other analysts believe Russia's alliance with Iran could be a "hook' if Israel pre-emptively attacks Iran's nuclear program, resulting in retaliation by Iran and the ensuing continued draws in Russia.

For now we see the alliance of nations forming exactly as Ezekiel described.  Now we await the "hook".

Inspiring Police Program To Help Addicts Changes The Face Of The “War On Drugs”

Inspiring Police Program To Help Addicts Changes The Face Of The “War On Drugs”

A Massachusetts police department success in treating addicts instead of simply incarcerating them has led similar programs to be adopted in 28 different states.
Credit – gtpolice.com
Drug addiction in America is an ever-growing epidemic and a “war” that we are losing. Throwing addicts in jail has proven ineffective given the nature of drug addiction and so hundreds of police departments around the US have started using drug treatment as an alternative to imprisonment. For instance, the Gloucester County Police Department in Massachusetts has created a revolutionary new policing strategy called the Angel program, aimed at getting addicts the help they need, instead of putting them in handcuffs. This program has had so much success that it has turned heads and convinced other law enforcement departments to follow their lead.
The nature of drug addiction is difficult to understand for many people. Many assume that people who consume drugs lack moral discipline or will power, and that they can stop using drugs whenever they decide to. With this mentality, people look at drug users as criminals or simply a bad element of society that should be locked up and forgotten. Yet, this is not the case for much of the drug consuming population. As a matter of fact, most people use drugs for the first time when they are just teenagers.
There were over 2.8 million new users of illicit drugs in 2013, which comes to 7,800 new users per day. Over half (54.1 percent) were under 18 years of age. Many prestigious colleges are even set in high drug trafficking zones, causing many college students to be exposed to “hard” drugs at a young age. Many of these drugs are extremely powerful, fogging the mind of the user. Some of these users claim to have lost control, committing crimes to buy the drug, selling their belongings, or even resorting to prostitution. These drug users are ultimately caught and released numerous times for the same crimes.
To combat the addiction problem, Gloucester police chief, Leonard Campanello pledged in 2015 that drug users could walk into the police station, hand over heroin, and walk out into treatment within hours — without arrest or charges. The concept of help rather than handcuffs became a national sensation. This initiative to help drug users instead of arresting them has led to what is now called the Angel program. Per the program, if you have drugs or drug paraphernalia on you, the police department will dispose of it for you. They will not arrest you. You will not be charged with a crime or even be taken to jail. Instead, you will be paired with a volunteer “ANGEL” who will help guide you through the treatment process. In Gloucester, records show that 530 people have sought help at the police station since June 2015.
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This article (Inspiring Police Program to Help Addicts Changes the Face of the “War on Drugs”) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and True Activist.

10 Signs The Global Elite Are Losing Control

Media

10 Signs The Global Elite Are Losing Control

Karma is coming for the elite in a big way. As the Powers That Be head toward a devastating defeat in their war plans for Syria, signs are emerging that their rule over humanity is rapidly diminishing.
Over the last decade the global elite have been on a mad dash to consolidate power over the world. It’s always been their plan like some evil villain in a comic book, but after 9/11 the plan went into overdrive and then turbo charged during the financial crisis of 2008.
Yet it’s doomed to fail because humans are meant to be guided by their own free will, not controlled like livestock. The more the elite try to control humanity, the more entropy occurs. Entropy, for those who don’t know, is the lack of order or predictability; a gradual decline into disorder.
Although the elite still enjoy a huge wealth advantage over the masses, they are now resigned to behaving like tyrants to maintain control. This, in turn, exposes their dark side which has been cleverly concealed for ages. Not anymore.
People are waking up in droves, at least as fast as the elite can build their full-spectrum prison matrix. Let them try. To paraphrase Victor Hugo, “No army can stop an idea whose time has come.”
Here are ten signs that the elite are losing control over the people:

1. Official lies no longer effective:

The lies they tell simply don’t work anymore. There was a time when official lies, especially about war and peace, were believed. Because, after all, how evil would it be to lie about such things? Generally people want to believe they are being told the truth when life and death is at stake. The boy who cried wolf has cried one too many times. Even if they told the truth at this point, very few would believe them.

2. No confidence in politics:

US politicians have a paltry approval rating. The trust in government is at all-time lows here and around the world. Mainstream polls show only 10% of the public has confidence in Congress. In other words, 90% don’t believe in them to be competent to govern.
Watch this Town Hall exchange below where a man threatens US Senator John McCain with arrest for treason to his face. This would have never happened just a year or two ago:

3. No confidence in media:

The most recent polls show that 77% of the population no longer trusts corporate TV news. Is it any wonder why the establishment media failed to sell the lies about the alleged Syria chemical event? With all their monopoly might over the airwaves, they can no longer claim that black is white simply because officialdom says so.

4. Bankers rejected:

Hungary recently became the first country to follow Iceland’s lead by shedding international bankers (IMF) and is considering pursuing prosecution of past prime ministers who enslaved the people with debt.
Look for this trend to continue even if nations decide to default to break free.

5. Vatican abruptly cleaning up its act:

Under the previous Pope, Pope Benedict, scandals erupted from the Vatican ranging from covering up pedophile priests to money laundering and fraud. Benedict, in an unprecedented move, abruptly retired to make way for a seemingly much more likable Pope Francis. Pope Francis by all measures is working furiously to reclaim the church’s peaceful and humble reputation. Whether this is genuine or a PR move, it’s telling that the church was forced into such a drastic turnaround to save itself from losing all credibility.

6. Mutiny among soldiers:

Finally. Soldiers, who are outlawed from making political statements, are steadily speaking out against US military adventurism. As Einstein famously said “The pioneers of a warless world are the young men (and women) who refuse military service.”

7. Militarized police state:

One of the darkest signs that the elite are losing their grip on power is the construction of the militarized police state specifically trained to combat domestic civil unrest. Local cops with tanks and other combat gear are working with Feds at Fusion centers, active Army units are on American soil for the first time in history, the NSA spy grid is being used by the IRS and DEA, and the elimination of due process for Americans under the NDAA are just some of the tyrannical moves made to secure the elite criminals from public backlash. They’re clearly scared, and they should be given what they’ve done to the American people and the Constitution.

8. Serious secession movements everywhere:

A state seceding from a larger political entity used to be an ultra-fringe concept, until now. In America, secession movements are winning over the public in parts of Colorado and California. In Europe, serious secession movements are happening in Spain and Scotland, as well as several EU nations flirting with the idea of dropping out the the euro. Decentralization = Entropy!

9. GMO food being rejected everywhere:

Control the food and you control the people. True in theory, but much more difficult in practice. GMO leaders like Monsanto are being exposed. All of their economic and political strength cannot defeat the spread of knowledge about the dangers of pesticide-soaked Frankenfoods. GMO fields are being burned in protest in America and around the world, informed nations continue to reject their products, and labeling laws are gaining traction.

10. Cannabis liberation:

Many reading this will think marijuana legalization is a superficial development. However, it is a major signpost that the elite’s grip is fading. Enormous resources have been spent to keep cannabis illegal. Cannabis has been a powerful medicine for physical, mental, and spiritual health throughout the ages. This single plant represents a huge threat to the power structures and their industries, hence its seemingly senseless illegality. The approaching global reversal of the tyrannical policy of prohibition is the first of many concessions to come.
Credit: Activist Post

Sunday, February 26, 2017

The EU Calls on Chinese President Xi Jinping to Put His Words into Action

The EU Calls on Chinese President Xi Jinping to Put His Words into Action

Jan 25, 2017
The European Union urged China on Wednesday to make "concrete progress" in opening its markets to global investment, after Chinese President Xi Jinping decried protectionism in a speech at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"A speech is a speech and actions are actions," said Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, EU Ambassador to China, adding that he would be "surprised" if Xi was unable to translate words into action.
At Davos last week, Xi called for "inclusive globalization" and for global unity, saying "self-isolation will benefit no-one," two days before the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
During that week, China's cabinet issued measures to further open the economy to foreign investment, including easing limits on investment in banks and other financial institutions. No further details were provided, nor a timetable for their implementation.
So far, the EU has not seen "sufficient signs that China will be willing to grant reciprocity of market access to European companies," Schweisgut told reporters in Beijing.
In June 2016, the European Chamber of Commerce in China warned that foreign companies face an increasingly hostile environment in China, with fewer than half its members saying they planned to expand operations in the world's second-largest economy.
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Trump's choice for commerce secretary, has called China the "most protectionist" country in the world, and said China's officials "talk much more about free trade than they actually practice."
Trump has previously criticized China's trade practices and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports, and while he did not mention China at his inauguration, he pledged to put "America first" in a nationalist speech.
Schweisgut played down chances of a trade war between China and the United States, saying it would be "self-defeating" and that to speculate about the risk is to "look too far down the road."
China has said it is confident it can resolve trade disputes with the new U.S. government, though some state media and government advisors have warned that U.S. aircraft manufacturers, automobile companies and agricultural products could be caught in the cross-fire of increased trade tensions.
When asked whether Europe saw any opportunities in China's warnings of punitive measures against the U.S., Schweisgut said this was "interesting speculation" but that he did not know enough about Trump's trade policy plans to comment.

John McCain Secretly Visited Syria Last Week

John McCain Secretly Visited Syria Last Week

Senator John McCain secretly visited Syria last weekend to meet with American military officials and discuss the campaign against ISIS.
On Wednesday a spokeswoman for the Republican Senator confirmed that McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, made a visit to the Syrian town of Kobani.

She said: “Senator McCain traveled to northern Syria last week to visit U.S. forces deployed there and to discuss the counter-ISIS campaign and ongoing operations to retake Raqqa”
His trip comes as the Trump administration debates plans for an increased military campaign against ISIS.
Press TV reports:
The Republican senator has been one the most staunch critics of US policies towards the Syrian crisis, adopted under former President Barack Obama.
The visit to Kobani, located on the northern border with Turkey, was made as US military officials were evaluating ways to allegedly tackle the Daesh Takfiri group.
“Senator McCain’s visit was a valuable opportunity to assess dynamic conditions on the ground in Syria and Iraq. President Trump has rightly ordered a review of the US strategy and plans to defeat ISIL,” McCain’s spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, the White House was awaiting a strategy by the Pentagon to defeat Daesh (ISIL).
“It will address ISIS globally, and it is not just a [Department of Defense] plan,” said Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis. “We’re charged with leading the development of the plan, but it absolutely calls upon the capabilities of other departments.”
The US and its allies have been conducting air raids against what are said to be Daesh terrorists’ positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. Analysts have assessed the strikes as unsuccessful as they have led to civilian deaths and failed to counter terrorism.
John McCain and Isis

Nuclear accident cover-up? Radioactive Iodine-131 detected across Europe… no one knows why

Nuclear accident cover-up? Radioactive Iodine-131 detected across Europe… no one knows why



Image: Nuclear accident cover-up? Radioactive Iodine-131 detected across Europe… no one knows why
(Natural News) Mysterious plumes of radioactive iodine-131, the same nuclear isotope seen during the Fukushima disaster, have suddenly started appearing all over Europe. And according to reports, nobody seems to know where they’re coming from — that, or authorities are choosing to deliberately keep the undisclosed source(s) out of public view.
Trace amounts of the highly damaging form of radiation, which is known to destroy the thyroid gland, have been found in at least seven European countries, including in Norway, Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, and Spain. Such radiation typically comes from either nuclear energy plants or atomic bombs — and the latter presumably haven’t been set off anywhere recently.
According to The Sun, the source of the toxic particles appears to be somewhere in Eastern Europe, despite the majority of them having been identified in countries to the West and North. The only other source from which such particles could be emerging are certain medical devices, though for their spread to be so wide across so many different regions is highly unlikely.
Finland’s Radiation Safety Authority (STUK) says it also identified trace amounts of the radioactive isotopes cobalt-60, niobium-95, and cesium-134, all of which are also directly associated with nuclear processes. Investigations into the source of these particles are ongoing, and experts are insistent that the levels are so low that they do not pose a significant health risk to the public.
“The preliminary report states it (iodine-131) was first found during the week 2 of January 2017 in northern Norway,” reads a press release issued by the France-based Institute de Radioprotection et de Süreté Nucléaire (IRSN).

Norwegian nuclear officials claim informing public right away about radiation wasn’t necessary because levels were ‘low’

What’s strange about this radioactive presence throughout Europe is that its levels are seemingly so low as to be almost impossibly dispersed. One would think that having the same type of radiation detected in so many places at once would indicate much higher amounts of it, but experts insist that the levels are low enough as to be harmless.
The world heard plenty of this same narrative during and after the Fukushima disaster — and it is still the official story today, despite ongoing problems at the stricken plant that continue to harm Japan, the world’s oceans, and possibly even the West Coast of the U.S.— a majority of the world, essentially.
According to officials in Finland, the levels of radiation detected there were less than one-millionth of a Becquerel per cubic meter of air — not very much in terms of serious safety concerns. But as many Natural News readers are well aware, any amount of radiation is a health threat, and its source a pertinent area of concern.
“We do measure small amounts of radioactivity in air from time to time because we have very sensitive measuring equipment,” the head of Norway’s Radiation Protection Authority, Astrid Liland, told reporters when asked why it took so long to inform the public about the potential looming threat.
“The measurements at Svanhovd in January were very, very low. So were the measurements made in neighboring countries, like Finland. The levels raise no concern for humans or the environment. Therefore, we believe this had no news value.”
Ironically, Norway’s radiation levels were higher than in Finland, and yet Finnish nuclear officials were quick to issue a public statement out of precaution. Like Norway and France, however, Finland insists that radiation levels are far lower than what can have “any effect” on human health.
There are nuclear plants located in Finland, Sweden, and Russia where the nuclear particles in question could have emerged. Investigators are working to trace where they came from as quickly as possible.
Sources:
TheSun.co.uk
YLE.fi

Internet gatekeepers trying to torch all truth across the ‘Net, targeting Natural News, InfoWars and more


Internet gatekeepers trying to torch all truth across the ‘Net, targeting Natural News, InfoWars and more



Image: Internet gatekeepers trying to torch all truth across the ‘Net, targeting Natural News, InfoWars and more
(Natural News) We warned you it would happen, and now it has: The anti-Trump, pro-globalist Left is moving quickly to punish independent media outlets who support the 45th president and treat him fairly with honest coverage of him and his administration.
Earlier this week Alex Jones’ Infowars lost a $3 million-a-year ad content deal when the company, AdRoll, decided to suddenly drop them, despite the high volume of traffic his web properties receive, over charges that the site publishes ‘fake news.’ It doesn’t; in fact, if anyone publishes fake news, it’s the many other web properties the company is continuing to do business with. If this angers you as a liberty-minded person who believes in the constitutional principle of free speech, let AdRoll know you’re angry.
Then there was the takedown this week of conservative provocateur and enthusiastic Trump supporter Milo Yiannopoulos by an alleged “conservative” group called the Reagan Battalion, whom virtually no one had heard of before. The group published a selectively-edited video of Yiannopoulos appearing to condone homosexual sex between adults and 13-year-old boys; the takedown cost him a $250,000 book deal, his job at Breitbart, and an invitation to the Conservative Political Action Committee meeting, which began Wednesday evening. Come to find out, Reagan Battalion actually has ties to the far-Left group Indivisible, as the Gateway Pundit reported. This group is one of those behind the staged protests at GOP lawmakers’ town hall meetings. Board members to the group have indirect links to Alt-Left George Soros groups. (RELATED: Pay attention to these three financial experts if you want to survive the coming financial superstorm)
Shopify, an e-commerce platform, was threatened by organized Left-wing groups to drop Breitbart as a content provider, but the CEO graciously defended his decision not to do so, despite coming under intense pressure from the real purveyors of censorship. He may not like Breitbart’s political slant, but as a true believer in free speech, he refused to cave to the demands of would-be authoritarians.
And now, Natural News is under assault – by Google, a multi-billion dollar company that built everything that it has become on the premise that the World Wide Web ought to be a place where censorship went to die and freedom of speech and expression flourished for all.
We were notified early Wednesday that some 140,000 previously indexed pages – our catalog of stories – has been removed from the search engine giant, almost as if we’d never existed. The reason? We’re not sure yet, but as our founder/editor, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has observed, it’s very likely an arbitrary decision directly tied to our commitment to the truth, to fair, unbiased coverage of President Donald Trump, and our penchant for taking on the medical, social and political establishments with hard-core vigilance and take-no-prisoners style.
Facts are inconvenient things, we are told, and no one epitomizes that more than those on the insane Left. When they encounter people who simply disagree with them, they always defer to the solutions of banishing them, taking away their ability to express themselves, or shouting them into silence. Never have they resorted to open and honest debate, allowing two separate voices to be heard on the issues so as to allow all of us the opportunity to make informed decisions based on all the evidence and all the facts. In the past, voices of conservative dissent were rarely heard because the Left owned the press; today, however, that ownership has been subjugated by the flourishing of the independent, online media. In cyberspace, the competition of ideals is fully achievable, but that’s a problem for the Left because when shown the light of day, they lose the debates.
Barack Obama and Democrats could have never told Americans that Obamacare would result in the loss of personal insurance plans, that deductibles would skyrocket, that out-of-pocket expenses would rise dramatically, and that you couldn’t keep your doctor. So they lied about the law in order to get it passed. George W. Bush and Republicans could not reveal that provisions of the USA Patriot Act would grant presidents carte blanche authority to order American spy agencies to vacuum up all of our personal data, or they would have never been able to pass it. And so on. (RELATED: All you need to know about the discredited mainstream media, in one Mika Brzezinski quote)
The Internet was supposed to be the final answer to free and open debate, real representative democracy and the free-flowing exchange of ideas – but we allowed it to be hijacked by the same anti-choice, anti-free speech forces the ‘Net was supposed to thwart. That’s the Google faction, by the way.
Well, at least there are ways around this abject censorship. Here’s what we need our wonderful Natural News readers and supporters to do:
— Stop using ‘mainstream’ search engines like Google and Yahoo, as well as social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. They are limiting your information.
— Use GoodGopher.com for searching, and become a social media warrior at Share.NaturalNews.com, where there is NO censorship, just liberty.
— Sign up for the Natural News daily newsletter (below) and get our content sent straight to you.
— Bookmark our site, NaturalNews.com, and check in regularly throughout the day, as we update the site regularly with fresh, informative, truthful content. Same with Censored.news.
Thanks for your continued support. We really do appreciate it.
J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
Sources:
NaturalNews.com
TheGatewayPundit.com
InfoWars.com
Soros.news

Reporter fired for questioning vaccines and climate change


Reporter fired for questioning vaccines and climate change



Image: Reporter fired for questioning vaccines and climate change
(Natural News) Fascism is alive and well in the U.S., where a news reporter and meteorologist was recently fired from her job — not for poor performance or because she committed some type of crime, but simply because she supports the freedom of parents not to have to vaccinate their children, and because she questions the legitimacy of some of the science that backs the theory of man-made global warming.
Misha Michaels from WGBH in Boston was told by her bosses at the station that she “is not a good fit” after it was revealed that she had supported a legislative bill allowing parents to forego vaccinating their children. Michaels also posted information on her website contradicting the official narrative on man-made global warming, writing that she believes “strongly that politics has warped the scientific process and natural variation has a much stronger hand than humans do.”
These are quite reasonable positions for a person to take — and more importantly, they’re personal ones that every American is afforded under the First Amendment. But Michaels’ colleagues weren’t too happy once they found out that she held these views, and quickly ratted Michaels out to her bosses. Not long after, Michaels was told she was no longer employed as a science reporter for the “Greater Boston” show.
Even after deleting the “inflammatory” comments from her website, Michaels remained blacklisted from the station, bearing the scarlet letter of a politically-incorrect skeptic in a world that requires 100 percent compliance with the official government narrative. Even though WGBH hired Michaels knowing full well what she believed, that decision was ultimately overruled by the scientific oligarchs who refuse to have their dogmas questioned.
“I am saddened by the sudden end of my position as science reporter at WGBH,” reads a statement issued by Michaels after her firing. “I worked tirelessly for more than two decades as a broadcast meteorologist, storm chaser, and science reporter. Scientific consensus does not equal complacency. It is a challenge to scientists to verify the science or push it forward.”

French reporter also fired for questioning global warming in 2015

A similar browbeating took place in France back in 2015 when top weatherman Philippe Verdier was fired from his position after questioning the politicization of science by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which had been exposed for publishing false data and fake science. Verdier was later hired by Russia’s RT newspaper to cover the United Nation’s climate summit in Paris that same year.
“In 2007, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Al Gore and the IPCC climate change experts,” Verdier said on RT. “They told us ‘if we don’t deal with climate change, there will be more risks to have wars.’ But for 20 years, we are experiencing the warmest years and we have a parallel decline in wars and declining numbers of victims from conflicts.”
Commenting on these types of situations, Dr. Pat Michaels, a climatologist at the Cato Institute, used the word “shameful” to describe them. Rather than allowing freedom of thought and expression, allowing the public to decide on their own what’s true and what isn’t as it relates to climate science, the pseudo-science mafia would rather control the narrative at all costs, even when it means firing good people for doing absolutely nothing wrong.
“… the folks at WGBH could actually really do their listeners a service,” Michaels is quoted as saying by One News Now. “And they would discover it’s not very much like it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be warming up much faster than it is.” (RELATED: More on the developments of climate change science is available at ClimateScienceNews.com)
Sources:
DailyCaller.com
OneNewsNow.com