Special Report: Manipulating America—The Chinese Communist Playbook

There is an invisible war raging in the world. Not a war fought with bullets and guns, but a war of bribery, manipulation & propaganda, fought against the free world with their full

Thx to @USAmbIsrael David Friedman for his time: Intvu ran > 2 hours. Lots of important/interesting stuff didn’t make it into piece. But for students of the conflict, it’s worth setting down some of that here. This will take 2 threads. Here goes 1st.

Straining credulity, he insisted there’d been no pressure campaign vs. the Palestinians. “I would call it minimal accountability, not maximum pressure,” he said — “holding them accountable to sort of basic norms of conduct.” /2

E.g., after PA Pres. Mahmoud Abbas defied Congress and urged the Int'l Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis, allowing the PLO mission to remain in Washington would have required the administration to defy Congress, too. “None of us wanted to shut down the mission,” DF said./3

Similarly, he argued that attacking UNRWA was not tantamount to harming the Palestinians, it was about defunding a “corrupt, decidedly unhelpful” agency that “perpetuates rather than relieves” suffering./4

“Almost every single thing that was adverse to the Palestinians by way of aid was completely avoidable” had they conformed to U.S. laws, he said: “These were all unforced errors on their part.” /5

And so; how much less corrupt is the new “democratic” govt of #SouthAfrica. Like;as far as I know, no major hospital has been built in 30yrs. Infr projects are ignored. There’s no mgmnt of anything needing mgmnt. Kids have dark ages pit toilets. And ATROCIOUS teachers/curriculums

Jails haven’t been built; or nowhere near what’s needed; that’s for sure❗️And illegal immigrants reign free in the untaxable underbelly they don’t care about. And it’s not coz they’re stupid. It’s a system to hide corruption in. And to keep voters where they were!

ie: Unable to think critically; without enough information/education. #ThoughtControl And we ALL, the victims of the other side of the SAME placeholder blame game racism card. Still. Like in #Apartheid. Actually.

And then it’s “Afrikaners” who are a problem. Well; Mandela wanted a new start for everyone; his message was the vision of a rainbow nation. 1995 was an euphoric year filled with hope❗️And then as soon as he was out the way, BEE etc started; and the campaign

to blame whites for the STATE NOT DOING ENOUGH. Like if you’re a whizz kid you’ll be hired. Duh. Who doesn’t LOVE a whiz kid. I was never able to resist them. Across the colour spectrum. Folks weren’t not hiring blacks because of racism. It was coz of the lack of

One year ago, the US targeted killing of #Iran’s #GeneralSoleimani in #Iraq became the first known incident outside the context of a declared conflict in which a State invoked self-defence as justification for an attack against a State-actor.

The international community feared its aftermath would see military escalation with devastating consequences. However, while the worst in terms of a global conflict was avoided, worse struck nevertheless.

On 8 January,176 innocent people subsequently lost their lives when their flight, PS 752, was struck down by Iranian missiles. A month later, Iranians were killed, and hundreds arrested, as they demonstrated for accountability and truth from the Iranian leadership for this attack

And what of the young Iraqis killed throughout 2020 because they dared demand a better world? Because they dared reject the rule of the militias? A year later, those demonstrations have been crushed in blood.

So yes, there was no international war. But many paid the highest price, and many more continue, in the name of justice, to risk the same. And didn’t the US attack and its aftermath hammer yet another nail in the coffin of international law and international rule?

1. A brief thread on why we should not panic but should worry, even be a bit...alarmed.

I've been speaking with former Trump Administration officials and with other former senior national security types who remain plugged in to the Pentagon.

2. They think we'll most likely "be ok;" but they are worried about what one called the three I's:
Iran.
The Insurrection Act.
and (White House and civilian DOD leadership) Insanity.

3. Iran.

January 3 is the anniversary of Suleimani's killing, followed shortly by the end of the 40-day mourning period for Fakhrizadeh. So there is the prospect of Iranian retaliation, to which a U.S. response (or conceivably preemptive action) would certainly be legitimate.

4. Iran (cont'd)

But of course there's also the possibility of the Trump Administration using an Iranian provocation to launch an action that's way beyond proportionate, as well as the possibility of simply inventing a predicate for U.S. action.

5. Iran (cont'd)

This obviously wouldn't stop the transition or even endanger it; but it would create an atmosphere of crisis and even chaos in which the second possibility--the Insurrection Act--might seem more doable.

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote,
"AMERICANS LIKE TO LOOK TO THE BILL OF RIGHTS, THE 10 AMENDMENTS TO THE US CONSTITUTION AS THE GREATEST PROTECTION OF LIBERTY,....
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@tedcruz just announced he is one of the 12 Republicans joining the #SeditionCaucus ... call his office right now and tell him you choose #CountryOverParty

DC: (202) 224-5922
North TX: (214) 599-8749
South TX: (956) 686-7339
Central TX: (512) 916-5834
East TX: (903) 593-5130

just announced he is one of the 12 Republicans joining the #SeditionCaucus ... call his office right now and tell him you choose #CountryOverParty

DC: (202) 224-5323
Milwaukee: (414) 276-7282
Madison: (608) 240-9629
Oshkosh: (920) 230-7250

just announced he is one of the 12 Republicans joining the #SeditionCaucus ... call his office right now and tell him you choose #CountryOverParty

DC: (202) 224-5754
Oklahoma City: (405) 231-4941
Tulsa: (918) 581-7651

just announced he is one of the 12 Republicans joining the #SeditionCaucus ... call his office right now and tell him you choose #CountryOverParty

DC: (202) 224-2651
Helena: (406) 443-3189
Billings: (406) 245-6822
Bozeman: (406) 587-3446
Great Falls: (406) 453-0148

just announced he is one of the 12 Republicans joining the #SeditionCaucus ... call his office right now and tell him you choose #CountryOverParty

DC: (202) 224 4623
Baton Rouge: (225) 926 8033
New Orleans: (504) 581 6190
Shreveport: (318) 670 5192

1)
Follow the pen.

At the request of a number of committees of Congress, and for reasons of transparency, the President has directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to provide for the immediate…

2)
...declassification of the following materials: (1) pages 10-12 and 17-34 of the June 2017 application to the FISA court in the matter of Carter W. Page; (2) all FBI reports of interviews with Bruce G. Ohr prepared in connection with the Russia investigation; and (3)…

3)
...(3) all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all Carter Page FISA

4)
In addition, President Donald J. Trump has directed the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to publicly release all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, without redaction, of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.

5)
The specific language chosen in the release, “at the request of a number of committees of Congress” and “for reasons of transparency,”

"We're debating a step that has never been taken in American history" to overrule the voters, says @senatemajldr. "This will be the most important vote I've ever cast."

"Nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale...that would have tipped the entire election," says @senatemajldr.

"We cannot declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids," adds @senatemajldr. Overruling states and courts would damage the republic forever.

Democracy "would enter a death spiral" and "every four years would be a scramble for power at any cost," says @senatemajldr.

"We cannot keep drifting apart into two separate tribes with a separate set of facts and separate realities," adds @senatemajldr.

Military Intel Lays Out Plan to Take Over US: https://t.co/m5z4mZLUQi

1. This election was a military operation to bring down the New World Order.

Who are “WHITE HATS?”

The “White Hats” is an allegorical reference to the “good guys” taken from American movie tradition, in which the good cowboys always wore white hats and the bad guys (bandits, rustlers, thugs) wore black hats.
Used to refer to the secret group;

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Firstly, can I thank you, Presiding Officer, for this recall of Parliament today and join you in wishing everyone all the very best for a new year that we hope, despite its very difficult start, will bring better times."

NS: "The Cabinet met this morning to assess the up to date Covid situation - which I must say at the outset is extremely serious - and to discuss what further action is necessary to minimise further spread of the virus. I will set out our decisions shortly."

NS: "However, I can confirm now, in summary, that we decided to introduce from midnight tonight, for the duration of January, a legal requirement to stay at home except for essential purposes. This is similar to the lockdown of March last year."

NS: "However, before I set out these decisions in more detail, I want to take the opportunity to explain in some detail why they are so necessary.

In the last few weeks, there have been two significant game changers in our fight against this virus."

NS: "One, the approval of vaccines, is hugely positive and offers us the way out of this pandemic.

But the other - the new faster spreading variant of the virus - is a massive blow."

When academic experts like me try to share our knowledge on social media, we attract our own special kinds of reply guys (and gals!).

Here's my list of academic reply guys! 👇

The Traffic Cop. This type wants you to "Stay in your lane!". You can use social media or you can know what you're talking about but you can't do both! The traffic cop understands that democratic debate works best when everybody involved is ignorant.

The Trash Panda. The trash panda is very picky and will only consume information from unofficial sources. Everything else is fake news! People with PhDs, Government officials, World recognized experts. BAD! Facebook posts, WhatsApp viral videos, Youtube comments. GOOD!

The Conspiracy Theorist. This type assumes the only reason you're giving advice is you're trying to control them. So you want them to ask an expert how to solve a problem, then listen to the answer and then do what that person says? No sir! That sounds like mind control!

The Contrarian. There is nothing you can do to convince this type. If what you're saying is unpopular, they will side with you and once your opinion becomes popular, they will be on the other side. That's just how it is.