Tag: 3/28/2019

Brunei’s law mandating STONING TO DEATH of gays & adulterers to come into force next week

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A harsher version of penal code, which includes sharia-based punishments for things like adultery and same-sex relations, is to come into force next week in Brunei. The ‘human rights defenders’ in Washington, however, are silent.

Brunei, a tiny Muslim-majority absolute monarchy located in Southeastern Asia is about to put into force the last amendment to its criminal code as part of a reform initiated back in 2014. The renewed code, which is aimed at reflecting Islam’s tenets of morality and punishment for those who break them, will include caning and even stoning to death of Muslims, who are found guilty of adultery, sodomy and rape.

ALSO ON RT.COMBrunei’s plan to stone gays riles UNCAPThe government wanted to roll in the new laws in stages, but put the process on pause after international public outcry over the milder phase one, which included fines and jail terms for offenders, but not corporal punishment. Last week a rights group reported that Brunei quietly announced earlier this year the date, when the harsher version of the code would come into force: April 3.

“We are trying to get pressure placed on the government of Brunei but realise there is a very short time frame until the laws take effect,” Matthew Woolfe an Australia-based founder of the group, the Brunei Project, told Reuters. “It took us by surprise that the government has now given a date and is rushing through implementation.”

Homosexuality was outlawed in Brunei even before the 2014 reform and in fact since colonial times, with jail sentences of up to 10 years possible. If its government goes ahead with the plan, the nation will become the first in Asia to allow punishing gay people by death. At the moment only a handful of nations like Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have such provisions in their law.

The news has horrified some international rights groups. Amnesty International, in particular, decried the introduction of “cruel and inhuman penalties” and called on the world to “urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel penalties into practice.”

ALSO ON RT.COMIndonesia: 140+ arrested in ‘gay party’ raid, critics say people harassed afterwardsCAPHowever, the US has so far stayed conspicuously silent on the issue. Washington, which actively develops economic ties with the oil-rich nation while regularly holding annual naval drills with a particular focus on maritime security in the South China Sea, has not yet issued a single statement on the latest developments in Brunei.

And neither did London, which also enjoys “close ties” with its former protectorate. Although, one could hardly expect any damning statements from the US aimed at the Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. The man, who recently described the amendment of the penal code as “a great achievement,” has traditionally enjoyed warm relations with the White House, which were sometimes marked by some extraordinary gifts like jewelry worth $71,468 presented to the former first lady, Michelle Obama, by the Queen of Brunei back in 2013.

However, such a situation would probably surprise no one. The fact that another of Washington’s major allies – Saudi Arabia – also punishes same-sex relations by death – alongside adultery, apostasy and blasphemy – never stopped the US from striking billions-worth of deals with Riyadh.

ALSO ON RT.COMPentagon says Riyadh is too important to whip, rolls out $15bn THAAD arms deal insteadThe recent scandal over the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which resulted in global fallout for the Saudis, failed to change the attitude of the White House and the Pentagon to Riyadh.

In theory, Iran-style crippling sanctions of its exports would swiftly change the mind of the Brunei government on whether stoning gays is a good idea. But considering how selective Western powers are in using this tool against nations accused of human right violations, one shouldn’t expect such a development anytime soon.

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PELOSI’S NEW CLIMATE BILL BINDS AMERICA TO PARIS DEAL WHILE CHINA TAKES A PASS

Pelosi’s New Climate Bill Binds America to Paris Deal While China Takes a Pass

China is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter

Chris White | Daily Caller News Foundation – MARCH 28, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues are pushing a new climate bill that could effectively reshape the entire Paris accord and legally bind the Trump administration to the deal.

Pelosi’s Climate Action Now Act, announced Wednesday to media fanfare, aims to prevent President Donald Trump from removing the U.S. from the 2016 accord. The deal, which compels the country to cut greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent by 2025, is a non-binding agreement made after former President Barack Obama was unable to get the required votes in Congress to make it a treaty.

If the California Democrat wants to legally force Trump to abide by the deal, then she needs to go through the complicated legal process to make the deal a treaty rather than a non-binding deal, Competitive Enterprise Institute senior fellow Chris Horner told The Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.

“The bill asserts that Paris is presently binding on the U.S., would bind us to its terms if we remain signatories, and seeks to ensure that Pres. Trump cannot consummate his promise to withdraw by his announced pathway before they have a chance to retake the White House and lock us in,” he said via email.

The globalists have chosen China as the country that will lead the way into humanity’s future. Alex Jones breaks down how a one-sided deal made 50 years ago puts China in the driver’s seat.

Horner added: “Or, if you want legislative involvement suddenly, it’s a treaty, as it obviously is, and transmit it to the Senate for a ratification vote. If Speaker Pelosi wants to formalize matters, let’s do it the way the rest of the world did particularly our European models — by submitting it to our elected representatives for a vote, as a treaty, pursuant to our governing constitution.”

Pelosi’s bill is a watered-down version of New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, which called for a near complete shift away from fossil fuels and toward green energy. The GND was torpedoed in the Senate Tuesday after Republicans voted against the resolution while Democrats voted present.

European officials heavily criticized Trump for deciding to leave the Paris accord shortly after taking office. Democratic governors and wealthy environmental groups created the Global Climate Action Summit in September 2018, bringing together activists to promote the goals of the Paris climate accord.

The new bill could hit some speed bumps, especially if it attempts to bind Trump to the dying deal. Obama joined the Paris accord after years of working behind the scenes to craft what would become a non-binding deal, but he did so without submitting it to the Senate. His signature achievement was ultimately dashed after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost to Trump.

Tethering the president and the country to Paris could affect the other participants in the deal.

(Photo by Andreas Habich / Wikimedia Commons)

China, one of the more than 200 other countries that signed on to the deal, is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and made no commitment to cut greenhouse emissions. Instead, the communist nation said it would reach peak emissions and the amount it emits per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030. China is also not legally obligated to comply with the accord.

China has taken steps in recent years to close down coal mines and shut down coal-fired power plants, but those measures are largely designed to solve the country’s poor air quality. Beijing also recently became the first Chinese city to replace all its coal power with natural gas.

Pelosi’s office has not yet responded to TheDCNF’s request for comment about whether the California Democrat is seeking to make the accord a treaty.

 

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JUDICIAL WATCH SUES FOR RECORDS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CLAPPER, BRENNAN, CNN

Judicial Watch Sues for Records of Communication Between Clapper, Brennan, CNN

Watchdog files FOIA to unearth truth about Steele dossier

Judicial Watch – MARCH 28, 2019

Dossier-Related Communications Between Clapper and ex-CIA Director John Brennan also Sought

(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch announced today it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) seeking records of communications between former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and CNN around the time the Clinton-Democrat National Committee Trump dossier was being pitched to key media outlets.

A House report detailed that Clapper leaked information regarding the dossier to CNN in January 2017. The former ODNI chief signed on as an analyst for CNN in August 2017.

Judicial Watch is also seeking records of communications between Clapper and Obama CIA Director John Brennan regarding the dossier , which was authored by former British spy and FBI payee Christopher Steele.

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch v. Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Central Intelligence Agency (No. 1:19-cv-00776)) after the agencies failed to respond to an April 23, 2018 FOIA request seeking:

All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between officials in the office of the Director of National Intelligence, including but not limited to James Clapper, and employees, representatives and contractors of CNN.

The time frame for the records request is May 2016 through May 2017.

All records of communications between the office of the Director of Central Intelligence and representatives of CNN; DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding the collection of memos known as the “Steele Dossier:” and between DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding CNN.

All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between officials in the office of the Director of Central Intelligence, including but not limited to DCI John Brennan, and employees, representatives and contractors of CNN. The time frame for the requested records is May 2016 through May 2017.

All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding the collection of memos known as the “Steele Dossier”. The time frame for records requested in this bullet item is May 2016 through January 2017.

All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding the news network CNN. The time frame for records requested in this bullet item is May 2016 through January 2017.

In a March 2018, report, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee said, “Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, now a CNN national security analyst, provided inconsistent testimony to the Committee about his contacts with the media, including CNN.” And, “when questioned by the Committee … Clapper admitted that he confirmed the existence of the dossier to the media.

Clapper later admitted he had discussed the Steele dossier with CNN’s Jake Tapper and other journalists in early 2017, shortly before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

In a January 10, 2017 report with bylines from Tapper, Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto and Carl Bernstein, CNN first revealed that then-FBI Director James Comey had briefed then-President-elect Trump on the dossier’s allegations.

The Intelligence Committee’s report said that “Clapper subsequently acknowledged discussing the ‘dossier with CNN journalist Jake Tapper,’ and admitted that he might have spoken with other journalists about the same topic. Clapper’s discussion with Tapper took place in ‘early January 2017,’ around the time [intelligence officials] briefed President Obama and President-elect Trump, on ‘the Christopher Steele information.’”

Shortly after CNN’s January 10, 2017 report, BuzzFeed News published the dossier in full.

The four CNN reporters were awarded the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Merriman Smith Award for their coverage of the dossier story.

Brennan, in an interview with NBC News on February 4, 2018 insisted that the Steele dossier “did not play any role whatsoever” in early intelligence assessments on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Several subsequent reports strongly contradict Brennan’s claim.

In a June 4, 2018 report for National Review, Victor Davis Hanson noted that Brennan “served as a stealthy conduit” to ensure the dossier was “disseminated widely.”

Hanson wrote: “Brennan, in May 2017, as an ex-CIA director, again almost certainly did not tell the truth to Congress when he testified in answer to Rep. Tray Gowdy’s questions that he neither knew who had commissioned the Steele dossier nor had the CIA relied on its contents for any action. Yet both the retired National Security Agency director, Michael Rogers, and the former director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, have conceded that the Steele dossier — along with the knowledge that it was a Clinton-campaign-funded project — most certainly did help shape the Obama intelligence communality interagency assessments and actions, often under the urging of Brennan himself.”

“Judicial Watch is again in court trying to get the truth about the Obama gang illegal leaks and conspiracy targeting President Trump,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “Clapper and Brennan were key proponents of the big lie, exposed by the Mueller report, that President Trump colluded with the Russians. Judicial Watch FOIA litigation is the best hope for getting full accountability on this attack on our constitutional republic.”

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Jussie Smollett is nominated for an NAACP Award, and host Anthony Anderson hopes he wins

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Just days after the prosecutors dropped all charges against Jussie Smollett, who had been indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct, the “Empire” actor could again make headlines.

Smollett is nominated for the 2019 NAACP Image Awards, scheduled for Saturday. Six-time host and “Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson told Variety on Wednesday that he hopes to see the controversial actor there.

“I hope he wins,” Anderson added. “I’m happy for him that the system worked for him in his favor because the system isn’t always fair, especially for people of color. So I’m glad it worked out for him.” 

When asked whether or not Smollett would be in attendance at the award ceremony this year, representative Pamela Sharp told USA TODAY she did “not have that information as of now.” 

This is the fourth consecutive year Smollett has been nominated in the Image Awards’ Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category. He previously won in that category in 2017 and has also nabbed three different music-related Image Awards for his work on “Empire,” according to IMDb. He’s been in attendance for the last three award shows.

“It’s not my place or any other person’s place to judge him or what not, but I’m glad the he’s nominated,” Anderson concluded. “I hope he wins because I’d be interested to hear his speech.”

More: Jussie Smollett case timeline: Charges dropped against actor who went from victim to suspect

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MEMO TO JOURNOS: IF YOU’RE WHITE, GET OUT

By Betsy Rothstein

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“Black press only!”

This was the warning emblazoned on the glass doors of a Savannah church, where an event associated with a Georgia mayoral race took place Wednesday.

Also Scotch-taped to the doors of the Historic Bolton Street Missionary Baptist Church: “No audio or video recording!” And “no media (TV, radio, etc…).”

White political reporters were absolutely S.O.L. As noted by the AP, organizers convening to powwow about an upcoming mayoral race forbid anyone who isn’t black from entering the premises. As reported by the Savannah Morning News, white reporters were barred entry to God’s house while two black reporters were allowed in. TV cameras and recording devices were also absolutely forbidden.

Rev. Clarence Teddy Williams refused to comment to the local newspaper on why white reporters were shunned. Williams organized the event and was a part of a decision making process that concluded that white press was bad news.

But the racial details of the race may give you some idea.

Mayor Eddie DeLoach, who is white, is the town’s first mayor in two decades. Come November, he’s throwing his hat in the ring to continue being mayor. Three black candidates are also vying for the job. At least two of those candidates showed up to the meeting that allowed only black press.

According to the Savannah newspaper, Savannah Tribune‘s Shirley James, a black publisher, was permitted to attend.

In an incredible act of racism, Savannah Alderman Van Johnson, who is black and running for mayor, said people have the right to do what they want to do. He claimed it was not his meeting, so not his rules.

Louis Wilson, the other black mayoral hopeful, also claimed that it wasn’t his meeting.

The Mirror reached out to a reverend at the church to ask questions.

No one picked up the phone and there was no answering machine.

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Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar REFUSE to Condemn Brunei’s Sharia-Directed Stoning of Homosexuals

Neither Congresswoman has spoken out about Brunei’s plan to stone homosexuals to death.

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Two members of the House of Representatives, both Muslims, have refused to condemn the country of Brunei for implementation of the Sharia Penal code, which carries inhumane punishment for homosexuals.

Big League Politics reached out to the office of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), asking if the Congresswoman would condemn the Asian nation, which plans to implement capital punishment for citizens who are found guilty of homosexuality. Her office did not respond to a comment request.

Tlaib, who called to “impeach the motherf*****” in reference to President Donald J. Trump, wrapped herself in the Palestinian flag upon winning her seat in Congress, and has been known to traffic in anti-Semitism on social media.

Likewise, BLP reached out to Jeremy Slevin, spokesperson for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). He did not respond to our request, either. Omar came to the United States as a Somali refugee during her childhood.

Omar’s anti-Semitism caused a national outcry, for which Democrats decided to draft a resolution against all bigotry – except against white males. The party was eventually forced to condemn Omar by name.

Not only will Brunei legalize capital punishment for homosexuals, but it plans to make death by stoning the punishment. This not-so-progressive endeavor has been ignored by the new “progressives” in Congress.

Big League Politics reported:

Government documents reveal that in late December of 2018, the government of Brunei prepared to move forward after it criminalized homosexual acts in 2014. The next step for the small Asian country is to allow capital punishment of homosexuals.

While homosexual acts had already been illegal in the country since 2014, and had previously been criminalized in some form since the country existed under British rule, LGBT activists from around the world are cautioning that the country will soon allow “whippings and stoning to death” as punishment for those caught engaging in homosexuality, according to Gay Star News.

Gay Star News also reports that the Sultan of Brunei hoped to advance Sharia Penal Code in the country much more quickly, and was delayed after international uproar in 2014. Now, according to the website, the Brunei government is attempting to accomplish its goal of punishing homosexuals with barbaric deaths without the international community noticing.

Neither Congresswoman has made any announcement condemning such barbaric behavior, either formally or on social media.

The only religion on earth that enforces the death penalty against homosexuals is Islam.

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Breaking: Rep. Doug Collins Releases Nellie Ohr Testimony Transcript Before House Judiciary Committee — Contributing ‘Author’ of Phony Dossier

by Jim Hoft March 28, 2019

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In December 2017 the head of opposition research firm Fusion GPS admitted in a court filing that his firm paid Nellie Ohr, the wife of senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, to help dig up damaging information on then-candidate Donald Trump.

The connections between Nellie Ohr and the ‘Spygate’ scandal were hidden at a distance for months.

As noted previously at TGP, Nellie Ohr is a Communist sympathizer connected to Russia as well as a corrupt Never-Trumper.

Author Diana West at the American Spectator posted an article on Nellie Ohr last year.  Nellie Ohr is “the “dossier” spying scandal’s woman in the middle.”

To one side of Ohr, there is the Fusion GPS team, including fellow contractor Christopher Steele. To the other, there is husband Bruce Ohr, who, until his “dossier”-related demotion, was No. 4 man at the Department of Justice, and a key contact there for Steele.

What’s more revealing about Nellie Ohr is the men in her life are protecting her involvement in the Russia scandal:

Notably, the “dossier” men in her life have tried to shield Ohr from public scrutiny, even at professional risk. Her husband, as the Daily Caller News Foundation reports, failed to disclose his wife’s employment with Fusion GPS and seek the appropriate conflict-of-interest waiver, which may have been an important factor in his demotion from associate deputy attorney general late last year.

Under Senate and House questioning, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson consistently failed to disclose Nellie Ohr’s existence as one of his firm’s paid Russian experts, let alone that he hired her for the red-hot DNC/Clinton campaign Trump-Russia project.

Even Christopher Steele may have tried to keep Nellie Ohr “under cover.” Steele, put forth as the “dossier” author ever since its January 2017 publication in BuzzFeed, does not appear to have let on to his many media and political contacts that he had “dossier”-assistance from at least two fellow Fusion GPS Russian experts, Nellie Ohr and Edward Baumgartner. Baumgartner, interestingly, was a Russian history major at Vassar in the 1990s when Nellie Ohr taught Russian history there.

It appears that the men in Nellie’s life did all they could to prevent Nellie Ohr from being outed for being involved in the dossier because she also has links to the CIA and therefore to John Brennan.

Now this…

New evidence suggests Nellie Ohr was working for the CIA and Fusion GPS when she passed on the junk Trump-Russia dossier and information on the Trump Children to the DOJ-FBI.

Via The Last Refuge – Conservative Treehouse:

The latest FOIA requests indicate Nellie Ohr was working for the DOJ in 2015-2016.

This means Nellie Ohr was working for Fusion GPS AND the DOJ at the same time.

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On Wednesday night during his interview with Sean Hannity – President Trump called Nellie Ohr the author of the phony dossier.

Nellie Ohr has deep involvement with the creation of this fraudulent document.

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On Thursday Rep. Doug Collins released the Nellie Ohr testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

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‘Nobody is panicking!’ Rachel Maddow sheds 500,000 viewers in post-Mueller slump

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After putting all its eggs in the Russiagate conspiracy-theory ‘basket’ only to be let down by the contents (or lack thereof) of the Mueller report, MSNBC – and its top attraction, Rachel Maddow – are hemorrhaging viewers.

Russian-collusion high priestess Rachel Maddow’s nightly news show has slipped from number one in cable news to number six since Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned in his report on Friday, hemorrhaging half a million viewers in the space of a week. An MSNBC insider spilled the beans to the Daily Beast, assuring them that no one at the network was panicking.

“It was obviously a big couple of nights for Fox,” they said. MSNBC’s second-top-rated program, ‘The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,’ was also down half a million pairs of eyes.

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#Resistance media reactions to Mueller’s “no more indictments” recommendation have varied wildly, from desperate pleas to “wait and see” what’s in the full report to claims that Mueller himself was compromised, or asking the wrong questions, all along. Maddow herself seems to have chosen the “denial” route:

“Can we expect President Trump and the Trump White House to finally accept the underlying factual record that Russia did in fact attack us?” she asked on Monday, interpreting the report summary of Attorney General William Barr, which found no evidence to suggest Russian collusion, as proof that the Russian menace was even more menacing than previously believed.

Maddow’s privileged status as Queen of the Russiagaters has largely insulated her from the standard journalistic responsibilities of telling the truth, fact-checking, and otherwise maintaining a reality-based narrative, but the Beast cited “many producers” at MSNBC who had noticeably backed away from other fiery preachers of the Russiagate gospel, like Malcolm “Russia has been plotting to invade the US for 20 years! Also memes are cruise missiles“ Nance.

‘Opportunistic, xenophobic’: WikiLeaks mocks Rachel Maddow’s latest Russia scare story

Despite the temporary ratings death spiral, network insiders took the long view, speaking of a “pivot to 2020” and keeping the faith that the Trump administration would provide plenty of raw meat for its pundits in the coming months.

And Trumpworld has already begun distributing that meat, blasting a memo to all TV news producers on Monday night that was half victory lap, half threat.

“At this point, there must be introspection from the media who facilitated the reckless statements and a serious evaluation of how such guests are considered and handled in the future,” the missive chided, mentioning some of the worst offenders – including former CIA director John Brennan and Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez – by name.

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