NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT WEDNESDAY 10/31/2018

(THIS SUMMARY WILL BE EXPANDED, EDITED UPDATE THROUGH 815AM)

President Trump visited Pittsburgh Tuesday to offer condolences following Saturday's massacre at a synagogue.    He was joined by family members and visited those who were injured including police officers.

A protest was held in Pittsburgh, ostensibly by members of the Jewish community, to oppose the President's visit.

Democrat elected officials shunned President Trump's visit to Pittsburgh yesterday including Mayor William Peduto and Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania.   Wolf is running for re-election next week.

Comment and analysis on next weeks mid-term elections.

If the polling data is any indicator and if one assumes its a bit biased towards the Democrats, the Republicans will certainly improve their majority in the US Senate in the mid-term elections with some losses in House seats likely.

Some GOP gains in the Senate likely to include North Dakota where Congressman Kevin Cramer has racked up a significant lead over incumbent Democrat Heidi Heitkamp in the polls.

The polling numbers are closer in Florida where Republican Governor Rick Scott is trying to unseat a long time Senator Democrat Bill Nelson.  Scott seems ahead with the skewed mainstream media polls taken into account.   Scott is well financed with his own money and his own Political Action Committee to back him up.

And then there's the US Senate race in Indiana where Republican Mike Braun is leading in the latest MSM polling over incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly.  Also in that race Libertarian Lucy Brenton whose campaign against government in wallets and bedrooms may just take Democrat votes away as much if not more than Republican ones.

Convicted Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger was found dead in a  federal prison in West Virginia beaten "nearly beyond recognition".    Bulger was transferred to that prison just the day before.   He was 89 years old, confined to a wheelchair and serving a life sentence.

Investigators will probe whether gangsters from Boston are responsible for his death at the Hazleton maximum security prison which has had problems with inmate on inmate violence.

Word today that the United States is pressuring Saudi Arabia to agree to a cease fire in Yemen's civil war where the Saudi's are leading a coalition backing the government in the south against rebels in the north of the country.

Defense Secretary James Mattis  says all parties need to participate in UN peace talks in the next 30 days while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is urging an end to bombings of populated areas by the Saudi-led forces.

The "Sunday Express" in the UK reported last weekend that Jamal Khashoggi was about to reveal Saudi Arabia's use of chemical weapons in the civil war in Yemen, according to sources close to Khashoggi.

The newpaper also said that British intelligence had advance knowledge of a Saudi plot against Khashoggi.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has denied any advance knowledge of a plan to murder Khashoggi.

The UN Secretary General has appointed Norwegian diplomat Geir Pederson as a special envoy for Syria.

The military situation in Syria is very complex at this moment.

Some of the details include the northern Syrian situation where the HTS (Al Qaeda) forces, those backed by Saudi Arabia and various Western nations directly or indirectly over the years, are violating the cease-fire in the deconfliction zone.

They have shelled Syrian government forces and launched sustained attacks on the Turkish backed National Liberation Front (NFL) capturing some territory from them.

Syria's government says Turkey is failing to enforce the cease-fire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that if the terrorist problem continues in northern Syria, military operations can be launched to deal with it.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country's military is ready for operations against Kurdish forces east of the Euphrates River, forces he calls "terrorists".   The Kurds are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces backed by the United States.   The SDF has been used extensively in the fight against Islamic State.

An Indonesian nurse sentenced to death for killing her Saudi employer has been executed.

Tuti Tursilawati was put to death without any notification being given to the Indonesian government.

She claimed she killed her employer because of sexual abuse.   Tursilawati was sentenced to death in 2010.

An advocacy group "Migrant Care" says the Saudi government's secret execution of the woman is an attempt to cover up human rights violations and urges the Indonesian government to take diplomatic steps to protest the execution.

17 Filipina workers arrested in Saudi Arabia last Friday at a Halloween party.   The Philippine Ambassador says the people that organized the party are charged with making too much noise and not having a permit.

The Philippine Ambassador issued a warning that men and women should not be in public together, consume alcohol or publicly practice traditions that are associated with religions other than Islam such as Halloween, Christmas and Valentines Day.

A Christian woman in Pakistan has won her appeal of a death sentence for blasphemy in the Muslim dominated country.  Asia Bibi was convicted in 2010 after being accused by her neighbors during a dispute.

Pakistan's Supreme Court set aside her conviction.

Bibi has spent much of the last eight years in solitary confinement.  Several countries have offered her asylum and she is expected to leave the country in the aftermath of her acquittal.

There is fear of violence in Pakistan as  result of the court decision.  Protesters are on the streets in a number of cities and clashes with police are reported.

The wife of the former head of Interpol has hired lawyers to track him down.  Meng Hongwei disappeared last month when he returned home to China.

The Chinese government says he is under investigation for corruption but has not disclosed where Meng is.

His wife, Grace Meng, says:

"His disappearance could not be for anything other than political reasons."

She is urging that everyone ask China to respect the family's "fundamental human rights"

Lawyers for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange are appealing after an Ecuadorean judge threw out a lawsuit over conditions imposed on Assange.  He is holed up at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

His supporters say the conditions imposed on him are an attempt to force him out and into the hands of British authorities who will ship him to the US for prosecution.

Assange will be prosecuted for outing US government documents and politically charged emails like those of Democrats close to Hillary Clinton unleashed by Wikileaks during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and other family members are suing the federal government.

The suit to be filed today in the US District Court for the District of Columbia is designed to free lands controlled by the federal government for use by farmers and ranchers.

A news conference is set at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas at 10am local time today.  Among family members on hand will be Cliven Bundy's son and Independent candidate for Governor of Nevada, Ryan Bundy.

Federal felony charges against the Bundy's and others were dropped earlier this year by a judge citing "gross misconduct" by federal prosecutors.

But those prosecutors and the US Attorney for Nevada appointed by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions are appealing the dismissal.

BUNKERVILLE STANDOFF: RYAN BUNDY FOR NEVADA GOVERNOR WITH APPEAL TO RURAL AND URBAN VOTERS

"Laxalt has lost the rural vote...."

"Ryan can pull the conservatives from the Republican Party and the Independent parties and non-partisans.  His ideas on prison reform are appealing to many Democrats too"

Angie Huntington Bundy reflects on her husband Ryan Bundy's candidacy for governor of Nevada

"I witnessed and experienced pretty much all of my rights that are supposed to be guaranteed by the Bill of Rights be violated and I realized that there is a great problem.   If I experienced these I also understand that others will experience these.

And yet our Founding Fathers set it up that we never experience those atrocities, never experience a lack of those rights, that's why they're guaranteed in the Bill of Rights"

Ryan Bundy-Facebook Video 10/29/2018

Along with Republican Adam Laxalt, Democrat Steve Sisolak, Libertarian Jared Lord and others Ryan Bundy is on the ballot as an Independent for Governor of Nevada on November 6th.

He's been travelling the state in a motor home, he's greeted people outside a rally President Trump held in Las Vegas.

Bundy has done interviews with the media and addressed the common issues ranging from taxes to education to health care.

He has also supported state control of lands now under federal control and has confronted the corruption of the criminal justice system, something that he's personally acquainted with being jailed without bail for almost two years on charges that he was found not guilty of in Oregon and that were dismissed in Nevada.

In a Facebook video posted Monday October 29th Bundy said:

"In the United States we have the highest incarceration rate in the world by far and I can tell you why that is.

That is because our criminal justice system is not honoring the rights of the people.  They are assuming that people are guilty prior to any determination of guilt."

Links below.......


RYAN BUNDY FOR GOVERNOR FACEBOOK



RYAN BUNDY KNPR INTERVIEW (AUDIO EMBEDDED)



RYAN BUNDY FOR GOVERNOR WEBSITE WITH DONATE LINK ON UPPER LEFT

BREAKING NEWS:  MERKEL WILL NOT RUN FOR PARTY LEADERSHIP IN DECEMBER AT PARTY CONFERENCE

"Der Spiegel" magazine reports that Angela Merkel is not running for re-election as leader of the Christian Democratic Union following yesterday's losses in the Hessian state election.

The CDU will hold its conference in December where a leadership election is planned.

There is a catch because she still wants to be Chancellor according to the German media.

She has apparently not given up the fight against opponents, but is trying to find a way to stay in power.

That is the sense of the situation for now.

Her move today comes after yesterday's dramatic losses for both her own CDU party and its junior partner in government, the SPD (Social Democrats), in the Hessian state elections-HESSIAN ELECTION POST 10/28/2018

With state elections in eastern German states where the AfD (Alternative for Germany) has greater strength next year, plus the national elections looming in 2021, Merkel is being forced to scramble to stay in power with her hope being she may get a few more years out of this.


(BEING EXPANDED MONDAY 830AM EASTERN)

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT MONDAY 10/29/2018

(THIS WAS INITIALLY POSTED LATE SUNDAY AND WILL BE UPDATED UNTIL 815AM MONDAY)

The suspect in the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue is set to appear in federal court today.   Robert Gregory Bowers, 46, told police of his hatred for Jews and his desire that they were dead because they were committing genocide against "my people".

The US Attorney for Western Pennsylvnia, Scott Brady, says federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty.

An interfaith vigil was held in Pittsburgh last evening with thousands in attendance following the mass murder at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday morning.   Clergy members, local public officials and Israeli officials among those speaking.

The synagogue's Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said:

"My holy place has been defiled, we will rebuild"

The 11 victims of the mass murder were identified on Sunday.  They ranged in age from 54 to 97 including a married couple in their 80's and two brothers.

The names of six police officers injured in the Saturday attack were released Sunday.  Three of them are still hospitalized.

President Trump has come under assault in the aftermath of the mass murder in Pittsburgh with the "Washington Post" claiming he was in some way responsible for it.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted in part:

"Is there any tragedy the Washington Post won't exploit to attack President @realDonaldTrump"

The social media posts of the accused expressed hatred for President Trump saying he was a "globalist" among other things.  He also attacked a Jewish group that was helping to bring refugees into the United States.

In many mass murder incidents in this country, the Constitution's Second Amendment is attacked and in some cases weakened.

But this incident is triggering an attack on the First Amendment:

"Gab.com is under attack"

That was the word posted last night on the social media site.

Gab says in addition:

"....We have been systematically no-platformed by App Stores, multiple hosting providers, and several payment processors.  We have been smeared by the mainstream media for defending free expression and individual liberty for all..."

Gab was the social media network used by the accused in the mass murder incident in Pittsburgh and notes that its working with law enforcement to assist them in their investigation.

Gab has also put out this word:

"We are working around the clock to get Gab.com back online...."

Israel says that the rocket barrage into southern Israel from Gaza that began late Friday night and ended mid day Saturday was ultimately perpetrated by Iran.

Israel says its response to the dozens of rockets will not be "limited by geography".

Today, the Islamic Jihad group involved in the rocket barrage is threatening retaliation for the deaths of three Palestinians yesterday.

Turkish forces shelled Kurdish Syrian opposition forces in the Kobani area east of the Euphrates River Sunday.   The  PKK forces were targeted according to Turkish media with the "Southfront" website saying that YPG forces were also attacked.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the Kurdish forces are terrorists that need to be rooted out, but the US and allied nations have used the Kurds in the fight against Islamic State.  He issued a "final warning" to the Kurdish 

Speaking to the media during the four nation summit in Turkey over the weekend, Russian President Vladmir Putin said that jihadist opposition forces have attacked a Russian airbase in northern Syria dozens of times in the last two months.

Putin's comments came just days after Russia's Deputy Defense Minister told a security meeting in Beijing that the United States directed a 13 drone attack on the Russian airbase last January.

(BREAKING NEWS: ANGELA MERKEL IS GIVING UP LEADERSHIP OF THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION IN GERMANY AND A NEW LEADER WILL BE SELECTED IN DECEMBER, SHE TOLD 'DER SPIEGEL' MAGAZINE SHE WILL NOT RUN)

The leader of the junior party in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, Andrea Nahles, says the state of the government is "unacceptable" and she is demanding Merkel's party must lay out future plans.

Her party, the Social Democrats, along with Merkel's Christian Democrats, suffered major losses in yesterday's election in the German state of Hesse.   Merkel's leadership of her party could be tested at its December conference.    Or the Social Democrats could choose to bring down the government more immediately.    BUT THE BREAKING NEWS IS SHE WILL NOT RUN FOR LEADERSHIP IN DECEMBER OF THE CDU.  More at this...LINK HESSIAN ELECTION POST

Jair Bolsonaro, the man called by mainstream media "the Trump of Brazil", has won the presidential runoff election in Brazil.   He won with 55.2 percent of the popular vote compared to 44.8 percent for leftist Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad.

President Trump tweeted this morning that he had a "very good conversation" with Mr. Bolsonaro following his victory.

Bolsonaro, a former Army officer, stressed law and order and family values in his campaign.  Brazil has a serious crime problem and Bolsonaro suggested use of the military to combat it.  He will also confront the massive refugee influx from neighboring Venezuela and can expect to be challenged by the left-wing government there as a scapegoat and distraction from that nation's collapsed economy.

A passenger plane has crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia.   The Lion Air Boeing 737 Max was reported to have 189 on board when it went down.

Ground control lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff at around 730pm Eastern US time Sunday night, Monday morning in Indonesia.  The search for any survivors or wreckage is underway.

Debris has been sighted in the water and there is no sign of survivors.

And the Boston Red Sox are the world champions of baseball defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in the 5th game of the World Series in LA.   Sox fans in LA stormed the field to celebrate and they also celebrated outside Fenway Park in Boston.

GERMANY BREAKING: HESSIAN STATE ELECTION PROJECTIONS SHOW MORE TROUBLE FOR MERKEL WITH MERKEL OPTING NOT TO STAND AS PARTY LEADER IN DECEMBER

(NEW UPDATED INFORMATION HAS BEEN INSERTED EARLY MONDAY AM)

(BREAKING NEWS:  ANGELA MERKEL WILL NOT RUN FOR CHRISTIAN DEMOCATIC UNION LEADERSHIP AT THE PARTY CONFERENCE IN DECEMBER , SHE IS QUOTED AS SAYING THIS BY 'DER SPIEGEL' MAGAZINE IN GERMANY)

The party of Angela Merkel has seen an eleven percent decline in support and its partner party has also lost support in today's election in the German state of Hesse.

In the 2013 election they had 38.3 percent support but now the CDU (Christian Democats) are finishing with 27.0 support in today's election.   In 2013 the SPD (Social Democrats) were at 30.7  percent and today they won only 19.8 percent support.

The anti-mass immigration, anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany will be in the Hessian parliament for the first time with 13.1 percent support in the election.

The Greens have picked up support from 11.1 percent in 2013 to 19.8 percent support in today's vote.

137  have been allocated in the Hessian state parliament with the Free Democrats also going over the five percent threshold to win seats along with the former East German Communists known as Die Linke (The Left).

The results of the election.

CDU   40

SPD    29

Greens  29

AfD       19

FPD       11

Linke       9

Angela Merkel will face her CDU Party conference in December with the possibility of a challenge and her defeat.

The SPD (Social Democrats) could opt to end their involvement and bring down the government of Merkel in the short term.

A link that will disappear later Monday:

ARD German Television Hessian Election

BREAKING NEWS:  GAB SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK SHUT DOWN BY HOSTING PROVIDER AFTER MASS SHOOTING AT SYNAGOGUE

"We will never give up on defending free speech for all people"

"Gab" statement tonight Saturday 10/27/2018

There's word tonight and its confirmed by our attempts to reach it that Gab the libertarian social media network was shut down for a time tonight.   A backup is now in effect but there is also a deadline from the hosting service provider.

The hosting service for the network, San Francisco based Joyent Inc., is owned by Samsung.  Joyent is claiming breach of Terms of Service in its decision to close down Gab with a Monday morning deadline.

The shutdown follows word that the man arrested for the mass murder at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Robert Bowers. posted on Gab.

Joyent has given Gab a 9am Monday deadline to "find a solution".

Last month British political leader Anne Marie Waters switched over to using Gab after she was suspended from Twitter for criticizing the priorities of British police in the midst of mass sexual abuse of children by rape gangs that are Muslim.

Link below........

Anne Marie Waters Suspended From Twitter Story 9/14/2018

OREGON STANDOFF:  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INTERNAL REVIEW STILL UNDERWAY FOR FBI AGENTS IN LAVOY FINICUM KILLING OPERATION

"Hey bro, I'm good....You don't got to ask me that....No, we're good"

Answers attributed to FBI Agent W. Joseph Astarita when asked about firing shots in the January 26, 2016 "felony traffic stop" operation that killed LaVoy Finicum and injured Ryan Bundy

The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General is still investigating FBI Hostage Rescue Team Agent W. Joseph Astarita and his colleagues for what is called a "lack of candor".

The FBI agents were involved in the deadly operation on January 26, 2016 that killed Oregon Standoff protester Robert "LaVoy" Finicum and injured another protester, Ryan Bundy.

A document was filed in federal court in Portland last Wednesday by prosecutors.

They responded to a motion by Astarita's lawyers regarding keeping documents related to his recent trial where was found not guilty of lying under a court "protective order".

In that document there's a footnote about the Inspector General's inquiry.

Agent W. Joseph Astarita was found not guilty in August of lying about firing two shots in LaVoy Finicum's direction moments before Oregon State Police killed him.

LaVoy Finicum's family is pursuing a wrongful death suit that is pending in federal court against the FBI and other agencies involved including the Oregon State Police and US Bureau of Land Management.   

Individuals including Agent Astarita and the Oregon State Police captain who fired the fatal shots are also named in the lawsuit.

Link below....

Maxine Bernstein "Oregon Live" On "Lack of Candor" Investigation


(EDITED AND EXPANDED SATURDAY)

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT SATURDAY 10/27/2018  (NEWSDUMP EDITION)

(EDITING, UPDATES, EXPANSION ETC. UNTIL 815 AM)  

The leaders of four nations are talking about Syria in Istanbul, Turkey today.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The leaders will talk about Syria's future government, reconstruction and the possibility of some of the migrants that have flooded into Europe returning if that reconstruction is successful.

The United States remains opposed to the current Syrian government and Iranian presence in Syria pledging to sanction anyone involved in reconstruction in Syria.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told a security meeting in the Persian Gulf oil nation of Bahrain today that Russia is no replacement for the US in the Middle East.  Mattis attacked Russia for "opportunism" in Syria and its:

"willingness to overlook Assad's criminal activities against his own people"

In Germany, voters go to the polls in the state of Hesse tomorrow with the anti-mass immigration Alternative for Germany set to make its entry into that state's parliament for the first time.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats are expected to lose support along with her federal government coalition partners, the Social Democrats.   This would be a further blow to her government.

The latest polling shows Merkel's CDU at 28 percent (they got 38.2 percent last election), the SPD at 20 percent (they got 30.7 percent last election).  The Greens have almost doubled their support from last election in the pre-2018 election poll at 20 percent.   The AfD running for the first time shows up at 12 percent in the latest polling data.

Turkish President Erdogan has urged the Saudi government to reveal the location of Jamal Khashoggi's body.  Erdogan noted that the Saudi account is that the body was turned over to a Turkish "operator" and he wants the Saudis to reveal the identity of that person.

Erdogan says the Turkish government has more information about Khashoggi's murder than it has publicly disclosed.

Turkey wants the Saudi suspects extradited back to Turkey for prosecution.  Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister says they will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia.

The fiance of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is declining a meeting with President Trump.

Hatice Cengiz says that the President is not sincere in his comments about the investigation into the killing.   She told the "Haberturk" news channel that she saw the invitation as an attempt to influence public opinion in the United States.

President Trump has decried Khashoggi's murder, but has also said important business needs to be done with Saudi Arabia like the 110 billion dollar arms deal.  Trump said once since Khashoggi's killing that 500-thousand US jobs were at stake and on another occasion a million US jobs were involved.

The United States and United Kingdom are the major sellers of armaments to Saudi Arabia.

Israel announced Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had returned from a surprise visit to the Gulf Arab state of Oman.    He traveled with the head of Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, defense and foreign ministry officials and his wife Sara.

The Middle East peace process was among items discussed but also mentioned in the official statement:

"a number of issues of mutual interest to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East"

.Oman is to the east of Saudi Arabia and south across the water from eastern Iran, Israel's sworn enemy.

The last leader of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, says the US decision to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) means:

"A new arms race has been announced"

Gorbachev wrote an article in "The New York Times" also saying the decision increases the possibility of nuclear war.  Gorbachev signed the INF treaty with former President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton is warning that more sanctions against Russia are possible.  This follows his meetings with Russian officials earlier in the week.

Bolton was visiting the nation of Georgia and said the US will consider all options and do what is necessary to deal with both the annexation of Crimea and what he described as Russian interference in US elections.

But Bolton has announced that President Trump's invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit the United States early next year.

Yesterday there was a report of a deal to stop the fight between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

But late last night a rocket barrage was fired into southern Israel that continued overnight and Israel's air force stuck back.   Thirty rockets fired into southern Israel and 80 targets attacked by air in Gaza.

Seven Israelis treated for shock and some minor injuries caused by civilians running for cover in Israel.    Ten of the rockets intercepted by Israel's  "Iron Dome" system.

Alert sirens continued to sound into the middle of today in southern Israel.  Rockets were still being launched at Israel and Israel continued to retaliate with air strikes in Gaza.

BUT LATE WORD IS THAT A CEASE FIRE UNDERSTANDING HAS BEEN REACHED.

The suspect arrested in connection with the non-lethal bomb look alike devices sent to Democrats and people who support Democrats was living a life on the edge.    Cesar Sayoc, 56, lived with his mother recently and sometimes lived apparently in his vehicle.   He was once a stripper and had been arrested a number of times including for assault and making a bomb threat.

He is currently registered to vote as a  Republican and was a supporter of President Donald Trump in 2016.

President Trump campaigned in Charlotte, North Carolina last night ahead of the mid-term elections.

He said Democrats and the media are creating a hostile political environment.

Trump's been tweeting on behalf of Republican congressional candidates frequently.

The  GOP looks set to retain control of the Senate but Democrats are spending millions to try a takeover of the House of Representatives.

They have been helped here in Pennsylvania by a redrawing of the state's House districts ordered by the elected Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, controlled by Democrats.

Intensity of the election situation evidenced last night by three texts from Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Susan Collins related to the election asking for financial support.

Election counting is underway in Ireland with the ceremonial post of President on the ballot.  Michael D. Higgins, the current president, is projected to be re-elected and voters also are projected to have voted in favor of removing a reference to "blasphemy" in the country's constitution.

An intense political crisis is playing out on the island nation of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean at this hour.

The country's president suspended the parliament today after yesterday's dismissal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his replacement with former authoritarian President Mahinda Rajapaske.

The Prime Minister ousted yesterday was seeking to get parliament into session so a majority vote to support him could be held.

The US, UK and other foreign countries are calling for peace, freedom of the media and for all parties to follow Sri Lanka's constitution.

NBC has cancelled the "Megyn Kelly Today".  The cancellation follows on the heels of a controversy over her comments about blackface on her show.   The former Fox News host emailed an apology to her colleagues over the comments,    Kelly attracted controversy when she fired attack-style questions at then candidate Donald Trump in 2016 when she worked for Fox.

THE BODY OF MATTHEW SHEPARD WAS INTERRED YESTERDAY AT THE NATIONAL CATHEDRAL.

HE WAS ATTACKED IN WYOMING IN OCTOBER 1998 AND DIED SIX DAYS LATER IN A COLORADO HOSPITAL.

WHILE HIS DEATH HAS BEEN PACKAGED AND UNIVERSALLY PRESENTED AS AN ANTI-LGBT HATE CRIME, THE PERPETRATORS AND INVESTIGATORS IN THE CASE SAW MONEY AS THE MOTIVE.   MONEY THE PERPS NEEDED TO BUY DRUGS.

There was 3.5 percent growth in the US economy in the third quarter, that's down from 4.2 percent in the previous quarter.

But its higher than the projected growth of 3.3 percent.

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT FRIDAY 10/26/2018

(UPDATES, EDITING, EXPANSION ETC. UNTIL 7AM EASTERN)

Federal authorities are probing the devices sent to people who are prominent Democrats or prominent supporters of Democrats.   They had pipes filled with various materials in them like powder and glass, but no detanators that would make them bombs.

A postal facility in Florida at Opa-Locka is believed to be the location that the suspicious packages containing the devices passed through.   The facility has been searched.

The return address on the packages is a South Florida one for the former Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

CIA Director Gina Haspel has had a face to face meeting with President Trump after hearing the audio recording of the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi during her visit to Turkey.

Khashoggi's eldest son has made it to the United States.  He was in Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the murder and had a strained meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman offering his condolences.   Bin Slaman has been accused by Turkish commentators of being behind the murder.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he asked the Saudi government to allow his travel to the US.

Kahashoggi's fiancé has also returned to the US where Khashoggi lived.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister says the United States coordinated an attack by 13 drones on a Russian airbase in Syria last January.

Alexander Fomin spoke Thursday in Beijing at an international security forum.

Fomin said a US Navy Poseidon 8 reconaissance plane was patrolling as the 13 drones moved towards the airbase in what he called a "common combat deployment".   

He says the drones switched to manual operations when Russian electronic countermeasures went into force.  The drones were then directed by satellite to attempt penetration of Russian defenses.

Seven drones were taken out and six were taken control of by the Russians during the attack.

An Afghan Taliban leader has been freed from prison in Pakistan.  Mullah Abdul Ghani Bardar, also known as Mullah Bardar, was a co-founder of the Taliban.

His release came at the request of the government of Qatar.

Qatar was the site of recent talks between the Taliban and the US Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.

At least fourteen children were injured in a knife attack in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.  A 39 year old woman with a kitchen knife entered a kindergarten where she attacked the children.   She was arrested at the scene.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Hayat reports that a deal has been reached through indirect talks brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas.

Israel is lifting the blockade of Gaza in exchange for an end to attacks at the border fence on the ground and via incendiary devices being launched on balloons into southern Israel along with occasional rocket fire.

The latest poll in Brazil's presidential runoff election continues to show a lead for the candidate of the "Right" Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro is leading leftist Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad 56 to 44 percent ahead of the vote this Sunday.

The European Court of Human Rights has backed the conviction of an Austrian woman whose crime was calling the Prophet Mohammed a pedophile.

A "Mrs. S" as she is identified, 47 from Vienna, held two seminars where she discussed Mohammed's marriage to a child.

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has converted to Islam.

O'Connor was popular in the early 1990's and strirred up controversy when she tore up a picture of then Pope John Paul II on 'Saturday Night Live'.

Shuhada is her new Islamic name.  Her trademark was once a bald head, but she is now pictured with an Islamic head covering.

You can read and see more at this link-BBC Story

THE 'BOMBS':  ITS NOT THE 'LEFT WING' OR THE 'RIGHT WING', ITS THE 'DRUNK NUT WING', MANY POSSIBILITIES

(WARNING: SOME READERS MAY FIND THIS DISTURBING)

We all know that the Republican Party propaganda machine demonizes the Clinton's, Barack Obama,  George Soros etc. and milks resentment of them to drive up voter turnout.

What better way to neutralize that than to stage this kind of activity two weeks before an election to neutralize the GOP game plan.

My own personal experience with hatred and resentment of 'enemies', real or imagined, reminds me of why I say this.

My own experience with political activism reminds me of this and my experience applies to any kind of political activist, "Right" or "Left".

I wasn't sure what side I was on when I was 8-10 years old, but I paid serious attention to the news and read newspapers like York, PA's own "Gazette and Daily", whose publisher J.W. (Jess) Gitt called himself a "Marxist-Leninist".

I read at one point that there were "right-wing radio preachers" who were "anti-Semites" and that intrigued me.

Let me go backwards to note when I was six years old an older female chose to lead me into a sexual situation I was certainly not ready for at that age.

I was hurt, but I don't want to play a victim card as much as to say what followed were other instances of bullying and intimidation, people wanting to lead me into unwanted sexualized situations.

I reacted to that with anger and resentment and a need to find an enemy and an explanation for the harm done to me and I chose dark paths including adult beverage consumption and use of inhalants.

I met an older boy who had a hatred of Jews and began to go down that dark road in my thinking.

Part of my darkness was the need to go after "the Jews" and find ways to harm or hurt them like a prank call to the local synagogue.

But one day I decided to make contact with the media, calling a local radio station to in some way paint a negative picture of Jews, to create a "false flag".   It was a childish primitive thing with no chance of success and I failed miserably.

Eventually, I found the "right-wing preachers" on the radio but they weren't anti-Semites, they were the die hard fans of Israel and my thinking took a dramatic turn in a different direction.

But it would take me many more years to find sanity and sobriety in my life, I was a hypocrite and a religious drunk too for many more decades in the religious subculture listening to words like those sung by Phil Keaggy:

"I was lost in a fantasy that blinded me"-Link to Your Love Broke Thru-Phil Keaggy

I indeed was lost inside the Christian conservative evangelistic subculture.  There's nothing wrong with God or Jesus, but there was plenty wrong with me in my religious-political activist days.

My experience reminds me that crazy, nutty drunk people are behind the acts committed today and that crazy, nutty, drunk people are capable of false flags.

During the Oregon Standoff in 2016 and before that at Bunkerville in 2014, a peaceful God-fearing group of people (the Bundys) took a stand and found themselves confronted by evil militant federal authorities and their handmaidens.

The porn-infused lead BLM Agent Dan Love of Bunkerville  playing a big role in generating a rage that would gun down LaVoy Finicum in Oregon.

In the aftermath of his death, a man inspired by him and the non-violent philosophy of Dr.Martin Luther King, David Fry, would carry on the Oregon protest and end up being found not guilty by the jury of his peers along with the Bundys and other leadership defendants.

Thank God Ryan Bundy is on the ballot for Governor of Nevada November 6th so one doesn't have to vote for the illusion and delusion of differences between the Republicans and Democrats.

George C. Wallace may have gotten a lot wrong in what he said and did during his life but he was dead on target 50 years ago this month as he campaigned against Republicans and Democrats for President;

"There's not a dime's worth of difference between them"

That someone appears to have taken the differences between these two parties to be dramatic and real to the point where they do such things as have been done blows my mind.

Songwriter Jackie Trent and her then husband Tony Hatch cooked up this lyric that Petula Clark sang in the 1960's ("Don't Sleep In the Subway")

"You must realize that its all compromise and the problems are so overrated"

That's what Democrat and Republican politics is at the end of the day.

The healthcare stocks soared for Obamacare and they still soared this year after the Republicans "fixed it" because the fix is in for the healthcare industry and so many others.

Food for thought.

May we all find "peace and serenity, sanity and sobriety" in our lives and find a better way to live.

Wake up to reality.

As Sir Cliff Richard sang it in 1973 ("Power To All Our Friends"):

"....Power to all our friends, To the music that never ends, To the people we want to be, Baby power to you and me..."-LINK TO CLIFF RICHARD-'POWER TO ALL OUR FRIENDS'

(EXPANDED AND EDITED INTO THURSDAY AM)

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT WEDNESDAY 10/24/2018

(UPDATES, EXPANSION, EDITING ETC. UNTIL 8 AM EASTERN, WARNING: CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING)


Sky News reports that the remains of Jamal Khashoggi have been found in the garden of the Saudi consul general's home in Istanbul.   Sources told Sky that Khashoggi was cut into pieces and his face disfigured.

Sources in the Istanbul prosecutor's office have denied that the remains were found at the consul's home.

The Saudis involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi have been sanctioned by the revocation of their visas to visit the United States.  

The move does not affect US business deals with Saudi Arabia.

President Trump spoke of the:

"worst cover-up ever"

in regards to the murder.   He said those involved in organizing the plot:

"should be in big trouble"

President Trump also told "The Wall Street Journal" that he did not believe that King Salman was aware of the operation that killed Khashoggi but did note regarding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that:

"He's running things"

Trump said that if anyone was going to be informed about the matter, it would be the Crown Prince.

One important issue the US is working on with Saudi Arabia and its something designed to help Israel's interests are the sanctions on Iran set to take effect next Thursday November 1st.

The Saudi oil minister says oil production is being ramped up to deal with Iranian oil being removed fromt the market next week.

In the UK Nigel Farage told his listeners on "The Nigel Farage Show" that in spite of dramatic words coming from political figures in the country regarding Khashoggi's murder:

"We will do very, very little"

He notes that business deals providing jobs for people in the UK are at stake.

Farage also appeared on "Fox Business" yesterday saying that Italy and the European Union are on a:

"collision course"

The European Commission has rejected Italy's proposed budget claiming the country is spending too much.   They want a new budget submitted within three weeks.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is in Moscow today.   His visit follows last weeks visit to Russia by the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party.

The possibility of a meeting next year in Washington between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump was briefly discussed during yesterday's meeting between Putin and US National Security Adviser John Bolton.    No firm plans were made for such a meeting.

Israel's Defense Minister will allow shipments of oil from Turkey's ally Qatar into the Gaza Strip.  Avigdor Lieberman's decision came in spite of continued violence at the border fence with Gaza and attacks on Israel with incendiary devices launched by balloons.   There have also been a few rockets shot off into Israel in recent weeks.

Is there a serious attempt underway to remove British Prime Minister Theresa May from power over her Brexit position which many consider to be a sell out to the European Union?   Maybe yes, maybe no.

May will address the Conservative Party's "1922 Committee" today where Tory MP's will hear from her and likely ask her tough questions about the Brexit process.

The "Sunday Times" reported that 46 MP's have submitted letters to the "1922 Committee" chairman asking for a leadership vote.  48 such letters would trigger a leadership vote.

In London yesterday activist Tommy Robinson brought his prison bag, ready to return there if convicted and sentenced by a judge retrying his "contempt" case after an appeals court ordered his release and retrial in August.

Judge Nicholas Hillard decided to hand the case over to the UK's Attorney General for consideration in response to Robinson's written arguments that he was operating within the law when he was live video streaming and reporting at the scene of a child sex abuse trial involving Muslim defendants in Leeds, England May 25th.

It was there that Robinson was arrested, quickly tried without his legal counsel present and sent to prison on a 13 month sentence.

It could take the Attorney General four to six months to make his decision about the case.

The FBI is investigating after a bomb was found in the mailbox at the suburban New York home of George Soros.

Soros wasn't home at the time.  Federal authorities safely detonated the device.

Soros is a major supporter of the Democratic Party in the US and left-wing causes around the world.

In Germany, the latest polling from "INSA" ahead of the Hessian State Election this Sunday show's Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats at 26 percent (they got 37.2 percent last election in 2013).

The Social Democrats are at 21 percent, down from 30.7 percent in the last election.   The Greens continue to surge with a 21 percent showing, they got 11.1 percent in 2013.

The anti-mass immigration Alternative for Germany is pegged at 13 percent in the poll.   This is the first time they are contesting the Hessian State Election.

An "operational emergency" ended without incident at a nuclear weapons plant in Amarillo, Texas yesterday.   A suspicious car triggered the emergency at the Pantex plant that dismantles nuclear weapons no longer being used.

And Megyn Kelly is now apologetic about "blackface' remarks she made on NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today" when she said "Back when I was a kid that was OK".

She sent an email to her colleagues that says in part:

"I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry.....The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent.

The judge who sentenced Bill Cosby to jail last month for sexual assault rejected Cosby's appeal for a new trial and reconsideration of his sentence.

Judge Steven T. O'Neill said that any appeal of his three to ten year sentence should go to  Pennsylvania's Superior Court.    Cosby's new lawyers are planning an appeal there.

    KHASHOGGI: A BIG MESS WITH MANY PLAYERS

"....Beneath the largely specious argument that Saudi Arabia has the US by the cajones economically lies the true factor that has caused the two countries to be glued together.

This factor is the Israeli success in convincing the US government, and more importantly, the American people, that Iran is a deadly enemy, a menace to the entire world, a reincarnation of Nazi Germany, and that Saudi Arabia, a country dedicated to medieval methods of operation, is an indispensable ally in a struggle to save the world from Iran.

The successful effort to convince us of the reality of the Iranian menace reflects the previous successful campaign to convince us all that Iraq was also Nazi Germany come again."

Patrick Lang (USA Ret.) "Sic Semper Tyrannis Blog"-10/23/2018-LINK

"Like a Mafia Boss, Erdogan Plans To Milk The Khashoggi Investigation For All It's Worth..

The Turkish president may have only revealed a couple of new pieces of information in his speech, but the underlying message of his new-found power over a Middle East rival was clear..."

The opening of an analysis by Israel's "Haaretz"-LINK

"The time may be right for President Trump to cease leading from behind, to step out front, and to say that, while he withheld judgement to give the Saudis every benefit of the doubt, he now believes that the weight of the evidence points conclusively to a plot to kill Jamal Khashoggi.

Hence, he is terminating U.S. military aid for the war in Yemen that Crown Prince Mohammed has been conducting for three years, Win-win."

Columnist and former White House aide (Reagan,Nixon) Pat Buchanan-LINK

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had billed his speech to parliamentarians yesterday as the "naked truth" about Jamal Khashoggi's murder but it turned out to be a veiled revelation of what the Turks believe happened when Khashoggi was dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul October 2nd.

Erdogan said the murder was deliberate and premeditated.

He offered his belief in the sincerity of Saudi Arabia's  King Salman bin Abdul Aziz but offered no such affirmation of the sincerity of Crown Prince Mohmmed bin Salman.

Turkish media loyal to the government have spent much time connecting the dots between the group of Saudis they say were involved in the murder to Mohammed bin Salman.

The commentary as the week went on from "Yeni Safak" was very explicit in saying MbS ordered the murder of Khashoggi.  It says as documents are revealed, the "noose will get tighter" around bin Salman's neck.

The Turks are also attacking and seeking the removal of the United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sayed as a party to the whole matter.

Israel, the USA and so on are also painted in a negative light in the commentary.

And I guess its time to bring in the big Saudi backed and US-Israel-European backed project of the last seven years, the Civil War in Syria.

The head chopping jihadists supported by Saudi Arabia, Turkey's now ally Qatar and the rest were bad enough, then they morphed into the more flamboyant Islamic State ones in some cases.

Murder, rape and refugees were the order of the day with many of them migrating to Europe where there was more rape and murder and mayhem.

Glenn Beck was tying to help those people trying to flee Islamic State and it was during that period of time, before his "Never Trump-Ted Cruz" phase that I recall him saying "I am a supporter of Israel, but not of the people who support Israel".

Beck stopped saying that again and I don't believe I have heard him say it since but I'm not a regular listener-viewer of his any more.

It was an apparent reference to the Neoconservative foreign policy elite including the likes of so many folks from the late Charles Krauthammer to Victoria Nuland and the list goes on.

Nuland  was quick to speak and say regardless of the outrageous nature of Khashoggi's murder, the relationship with Saudi Arabia must continue.

(MORE TO COME)

TOMMY ROBINSON BREAKING: TRIAL RESUMES IN LONDON AND IS AGAIN DELAYED

(THIS WILL BE UPDATED EDITED ETC. UNTIL 7AM EASTERN)

(AT LAST WORD THE CASE IS NOW REFERRED TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND TOMMY MAY NOT BE IN COURT  AGAIN FOR FOUR TO SIX MONTHS, MORE DRAGGING OUT)

(LINK-TOMMY ROBINSON SPEAKS OUTSIDE OLD BAILEY AFTER COURT)

"On 25 May 2018 one of the most extraordinary abuses of judicial authority in recent English law occurred.  Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, having seen the jury in the trial of a child exploitation gang to retire to consider their verdict, became aware of Tommy Robinson on the street outside the court reporting into his phone,  A photographer captured the moment as the judge looked down and spoke to a police officer.

Moments later that officer conducted a wholly illegal arrest of Tommy...."

"We Should All Be In Contempt Of This Court"-"For Britain" website-LINK

"Wow, whatever happened today I've already won"

"I'm being tried for who am I, not what I've done"

Tommy Robinson speaks outside Old Bailey this morning

You could call the trial opened and closed, then delayed until today a "retrial".

It follows Tommy Robinson's release on appeal after he was jailed following the May 25th "trial" which was at best summary and not the proper trial under British law Robinson deserved.

But in reality one could argue that Tommy is finally getting a real trial where he gets to present his side of the case in response to the allegations against him.

Robinson discussed the defense he will present in the video posted on the "Rebel Media" You Tube account yesterday.

He will explain how everything that he did was legal and in accordance with legal advice given to him by lawyers who know what reporters can and cannot say in trials where there is a "publication ban" imposed by a judge.

In the hour leading up to the trial a crowd gathered outside the Old Bailey in London.

Robinson's expectation going into court today was that he would be sent back to prison.

Link below.....

LIVE OUTSIDE OLD BAILEY IN LONDON

KHASHOGGI LATEST:  US TREASURY SECRETARY TALKS WITH MBS IN SAUDI ARABIA, ERODGAN PROMISES 'NAKED TRUTH' TODAY

"....a plot gone awry"

President Trump's latest comment on Khashoggi's murder to "USA Today"

US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin was in Saudi Arabia Monday meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

A spokesman for the Treasury Department said economic and counter terrorism issues were discussed as well as Iran, but that the Khashoggi murder was also discussed.

The fact that Mnuchin traveled to Saudi Arabia was fascinating after he had pulled out of an investment conference starting there today.

Mnuchin was apparently acting as an emissary of President Trump.

Mnuchin is in on the Trump Admistration's priority of aligning key nations like Israel and Saudi Arabia against Iran in the Middle East region.

He was a representative of the Trump Administration when the US Embassy in Israel was moved to Jerusalem earlier this year.

CIA Director Gina Haspel is heading to Turkey as well apparently to get a handle on what information Turkey has about Khashoggi.

In Turkey today President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to present the "naked truth" about Khashoggi's murder as he speaks to Turkey's parliament.

Pro-government media have already published articles in Turkish for public consumption that paint a picture of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's close involvement in what happened at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd.

Its reported that Khashoggi was put on the phone with Bin Salman who told him that he must return to Saudi Arabia.

When Khashoggi refused his murder by dismemberment was carried out.

There were phone calls between the consulate and a key aide to the Crown Prince as well with four calls being made to the Crown Prince after the murder according to the Turkish media.

Link below to TRT World home page with video link at right side.......

Turkish TRT TV World in English (Live Video on right side of page)

TOMMY ROBINSON TRIAL IN HOURS: APOLOGY IN RESPONSE TO MEDIA BAITING FOR BRITAIN'S FAILURE TO HELP VICTIMS

"I apologize to every one of them.  I apologize for the fact that Britain allowed this to happen..."

Tommy Robinson responds to mainstream media calls for him to apologize to child sex abuse gang victims

In just hours Tommy Robinson will be at the Old Bailey in London (9am London time, 4am Eastern US) as his retrial resumes after being delayed from last month.

The process has been called a deliberate act by the UK government to torture him psychologically, emotionally and financially.

The mainstream media also joins in the attack to tear down Tommy Robinson claiming he needs to apologize to victims of the child sex abuse gang ('grooming') for covering with his live video stream the trial of the  Muslim defendants in Leeds when the government was trying to suppress news of the trials that often end with little or no punishment handed out to those tired and convicted.

On the same day that Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologized to sex abuse victims in his nation for the nation's failure to believe and help them,  Tommy Robinson took a similar track with sex abuse victims in his country.

In his video today Robinson said in part:

"I apologize to them for the fact that the police done nothing even when they were beaten and bruised, being raped in the malls and fields the police still didn't press charges.....

......I apologize our country wholeheartedly let you down...."

In his video Robinson reminded viewers of how he complied with legal requirements in his live video streaming outside the sex abuse trial in Leeds where on May 25th Judge Geoffrey Marson looked out from a window and sent the police to arrest him, summarily tried him and sent him to prison.

On appeal he was let out for a retrial.

Many supporters are expected outside the courthouse with live video streams expected from the scene.

The Rebel Media was planning to send four reporters to cover the trial.

Link below.....

Tommy Robinson: Media wanted ME to apologize for Muslim grooming gangs

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT MONDAY 10/22/2018

                    (UPDATES, EDITING, EXPANSION UNTIL 8 AM EASTERN)

A high-ranking Saudi Arabian official is now calling Jamal Khashoggi's death "murder".

The word "murder" was used by Foreign Minister Adel el-Jubeir in a Fox News interview Sunday where he also said that those responsible for the murder will be held accountable.  El-Jubeir also described what happened as a "tremendous mistake".

This new characterization by the Saudis comes after President Trump expressed the view that Saudi Arabia has not yet done enough about Khashoggi's death.   

Turkey president is set to reveal more details of  the murder investigation into Khashoggi's killing tomorrow.    The murder took place at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd.

A Turkish news agency reports that President Trump has spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the Khashoggi murder and that both agree the matter needs to be cleared up.

A commentary in the pro-government Turkish newspaper "Yeni Safak" says Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia must be dethroned and that there is a threat of US seizure of hundreds of billions of dollars in Saudi assets.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that she supports an embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the Khashoggi murder.  Germany sells a limited amount of weaponry to the Saudis.

The top Chinese official in the Macau Territory, a former Portuguese colony, is dead after he fell from a tall building.

Zheng Xiaosong, 59, was said by an official Chinese statement to have been suffering from depression.

While there's nothing official about whether "anti-corruption authorities" were investigating Zheng, its been unofficially said that hundreds of officials in China have died by suicide in recent years.

The Central American migrants who were able to make it into southern Mexico after Mexican authorities impeded their crossing of the border are continuing to move slowly northward through southern Mexico with the United States as their ultimate destination.

The Associated Press said the number of migrants on the move was around 2-thousand.

Six were shot with three critically wounded in a drive-by shooting a half mile from the stadium in Jacksonville where an NFL game was being played.  Authorities in Jacksonville believe the Sunday afternoon shooting was gang related.

The retrial of Tommy Robinson is set to resume in London tomorrow morning at 9am.  It was stopped almost as soon as it began with a large crowd of supporters outside the Old Bailey.

Robinson is accused of contempt of court for video streaming outside the trial of 29 people accused of child sex abuse in one of numerous cases of "grooming" involving Muslim defendants.

Ezra Levant of The Rebel Media says the UK government's dragging out of the case against Robinson is because:

"...they're trying to break Tommy psychologically, physically and financially.."

Levant is crowdfunding four reporters to be present to cover events inside and outside the courtroom.

Also in London pro-Theresa May MP's defending the Prime Minister after comments were published in pro-government newspapers amid widespread public and political disgust with her Brexit position.

The possibility of a move within the Conservative Party to replace her is actively being discussed in some circles including online forums and websites.

One of the comments involved the notion that a knife is ready to be twisted into her and the other about "bringing her own noose" to a meeting later this week.

The defenders of May called the comments reported in pro-government newspapers as "vile" and "violent".

Russia says it will respond to the US decision to withdrawal from the INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) treaty signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

President Trump announced the withdrawal over the weekend in Nevada telling a crowd at a campaign rally he wondered former President Obama hadn't taken the action because Russia was violating the treaty.

Obama had criticized Russia for violating the agreement in 2014 but did not pull out at that time with European countries concerned about such a move.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton is now in Moscow where he will deliver his own message about the situation to Russian officials.

Russian Senator Mikhail Bochkaryov returned to Moscow over the weekend after being released from jail in Norway.

He was arrested last month at Oslo's airport where he was leaving after his participation in an international conference.

Norweigan authorities accused  him of spying at the conference, but a judge ordered Bochkaryov's release.

He spoke with the media after his release and said:

"I knew that everything will be fine because I am absolutely innocent"

The United States says it attacked a mosque in eastern Syria that was being used as an Islamic State base after reports of civilian deaths.

Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin said ISIS had taken 700 hostages and was putting some of them to death and he wondered why nothing was being done about it by "our partners".

The latest word from the Russian deconfliction operation in Syria is that Al Qaeda jihadists have moved chemical weapons in their possession further northwest in Idlib Province away from the area covered by a joint Russian-Turkish administered demilitarized zone.

Russia has been consistently warning for weeks of a false flag chemical attack by jihadists that will be blamed on the Syrian government and justify Western military intervention.

Meanwhile, the Russians say there have been shelling attacks in violation of the cease-fire in the north of Syria by militant opposition forces opposed to the Assad government.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison today apologized for the sexual abuse suffered by thousands of Australians in various institutions.

In his formal apology Morrison said to the victims:

"I simply say, I believe you, we believe you, your country believes you"

He was joined by the Leader of the Opposition in Australia, Bill Shorten of the Labor Party, who also apologized.

At around 2am Eastern US time, the first of three strong earthquakes occurred in the Pacific Ocean some 115 miles from the northern side of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.   They were 6.5, 6.8 and 6.5.   There was also a 4.4. aftershock but no damage is reported and there is no tsunami threat.

Also in Canada, there are 24-hour rotating strikes underway in selected cities by workers of Canada Post.   The postal workers union decided to strike after ten months of negotiations failed to reach agreement.

No mail pickup or delivery today in Windsor, Ontario, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Edmonton, Alberta and Victoria, British Columbia.

Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonsaro said Sunday he would deploy the army on the streets of Brazil to fight crime.

Polls show Bolsonaro, the candidate of the "Right", almost 20 points ahead of leftist Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad.    The runoff election between the two candidates is set for next Sunday.

Thousands rallied in support of Bolsonaro on Sunday across the country while on Saturday red shirted left-wing protesters took to the streets in a number of Brazilian cities in opposition to him.

President Trump is on the campaign trail in Texas today for Senator Ted Cruz's re-election.  Hundreds began lining up outside the arena in Houston yesterday.  Trump and Cruz were bitter rivals in the 2016 primary season, but now both are on the same team as Cruz faces a challenge from Democat Beto O'Rourke in the mid-term election.

IN 2014 WE SAID "REMEMBER MISSISSIPPI" NOW WE MUST ACT TO "REMEMBER MISSISSIPPI"

"Cindy Hyde-Smith has been lying to the Mississippi voters, telling them that she can't debate because of her schedule, when in reality she's not doing it because  she lacks the ability to answer difficult questions about her years as a DC lobbyist and her Democrat past"

Conservative candidate  Chris "Remember Mississippi" McDaniel comments on the Special Election campaign for a US Senate seat in Mississippi

In 2014 veteran Washington insider Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi) was forced into a primary runoff with State Senator Chris McDaniel.   The younger more conservative McDaniel looked like the winner but the dirty tricks were rolled out by Haley Barbour and the GOP insiders.

Barbour's tactics helped defeat Ronald Reagan in his quest for the Republican Presidential Nomination at the 1976 convention in Kansas City.   The process was something Reagan called "the world with its pants down".

Money was poured into Democrat operatives in the African-American community and ads rolled out designating Chris McDaniel as a racist.

The disgust with the Republican Establishment led to a battle cry of "Remember Mississippi" as McDaniel was trashed and outvoted by the importation of Democrat voters into the Republican primary runoff.

Cochran won, but his age and health would not be allowing him to serve a full term so he bowed out  early this year  and Governor Phil Bryant opted to appoint Cindy Hyde-Smith as US Senator in April.

Hyde-Smith was a former Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton for President in 2008, then opted for a party switch  to Republican so she could run for statewide office as Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce. 

Then it was decided to create a special election set up that would create an "Open Primary" on November 6th with a runoff of the two top vote getters three weeks later.

Its in this system that two Democrats including former Clinton Administration Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and the Conservative Republican Chris McDaniel were put into a race with the appointed  US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.

This enabled Hyde-Smith to be part of the mid-term general election campaign as an incumbent and  be endorsed by President Donald J, Trump.

Trump told the crowd that a vote for Cindy Hyde-Smith was a vote for him  but the hall was filled with many wearing red t-shirts saying "Trump Voter for Chris McDaniel".

McDaniel has been pointing out Hyde-Smith's record as a "Republican" including advocating to ban firearms on state properties under her control as Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce  and her vote last May against balancing the federal budget.

During the campaign Hyde-Smith has refused to debate McDaniel and other opponents going as far as to claim McDaniel might not be "civil" during a debate.

Hyde-Smith has even said:

"We won't be bullied"

in response to McDaniel's calls for a debate.

It looks like a vote for Cindy Hyde-Smith is a vote for the "swamp" but a vote for Chris McDaniel will vindicate a true conservative who's been demonized by the "swamp" in the worst possible way and send the Establishment a message.

Links below.......


Chris McDaniel On Cindy Hyde-Smith Ducking Debates


Chris McDaniel Twitter


McDaniel Campaign Website

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT-SATURDAY 10/20/2018

(EDITING, EXPANSION, UPDATES UNTIL 815 AM)

The Saudi government came out with its version of what happened to Jamal Khashoggi overnight.

The Saudi government media reports that a fight took place inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd.

18 arrests have been made according to the Saudi government.  Two top officials have also been dismissed from their posts.

President Trump was asked if he found the Saudi account credible and he said:

"I do"

Trump also called the Saudi action:

"A good first step"

The President spoke in Arizona where he did make a campaign speech for Republican candidates in the mid-term election.

The president's remarks to the media about Khashoggi came during a panel discussion at Luke Air Force that included executives of defense contractors who are part of a 110 billion dollar deal with Saudi Arabia.

BBC Defense Correspondent Frank Gardner's analysis about the Saudi version of events includes this:

"There can only be one of two possible alternatives here-either-as many suspect-the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Slaman was to blame or he had lost control of his inner circle, something most observers find hard to believe."

One other loose end in the Saudi story is what happened to Khashoggi's body.   Unnamed officials told mainstream media the Saudis don't know what happened to it because it was handed over to someone in Turkey to dispose of.

A man who is called a "Muslim hate preacher" and a supporter of ISIS, Anjem Choudry, has been released  from prison in the UK halfway through his sentence.

The British government jailed him for his support of ISIS and has released him under restrictions and he is now housed at a "probation hostel" instead of being allowed to return home.

In London within the last hour (7AM Eastern US) Leicester Square was the scene of a rally by the "#IAmSoldierX" Movement protesting the discharge of one British solider and the discipline and threatened discipline of other soldiers for being photographed with activist Tommy Robinson.

The Justice Department is accusing a woman from St. Petersburg, Russia of interfering in the 2018 mid-term elections.

Elena Alekseena Krushyaynova is alleged to be the financial manager of a Russian media effort to spread negative messages about political candidates of both major political parties in the United States including attacks related to issues like immigration and gun control.

In its reporting on this story the Associated Press calls immigration and gun control "hot-button social issues".

Meanwhile, US officials are warning of Russian, Chinese and Iranian interference in the mid-term elections.   They also mention "other nations" that are not named.

Lawyers representing "Wikileaks" Julian Assange are taking legal action in Ecuador in response to the restrictions imposed on him at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

The Ecuadorean authorities took away his internet access to the outside world in March saying he was interfering in the affairs of other countries.

Assange is holed up there seeking refuge from extradition to the United States and the US government has pressured Ecuador to throw him out of the embassy.

The former British Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK, Nick Clegg, has been named the new "Vice President for Global Affairs" at Facebook.

Nigel Farage, Brexit campaigner and former UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) leader tweeted:

"This is bad news for free speech"

The congressional hearings where Republicans and Democrats both went after social media company executives are a strong indicator of major political party efforts to control speech hostile to them on the internet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has joined in the doubt as to whether there is a real fight against ISIS going on in the small pocket of territory Islamic State holds in eastern Syria.   In the last five and a half months the territory held by them as shrunk very little.

ISIS is capable of counterattacks including one recently that took 700 hostages.

US, French and British air and artillery support helps Kurdish fighters on the ground in what are called the "Syrian Democratic Forces".

Putin said this about this situation at a meeting in Sochi, Russia this week:

"This territory is under the patronage of our American partners.  They rely on the Kurdish armed forces.....

But they obviously have a loose end:  ISIS remains in several loose ends and has begun to expand its area of influence recently.   They took 130 families hostage-almost 700 people.

I think few of those present here today know that they have made ultimatums, extended demands and warned that if these ultimatums are not met, they would shoot 10 people every day.

The day before yesterday, 10 people were shot.  Executed.  They have begun to fulfill their threats.

This is just horrifying.  It is a tragedy I think.  We need to do something about it.  Why do our colleagues keep silent?   According to the information, several US and European citizens are among the hostages.

Everyone is quiet, there is silence as if nothing is happening."

President Trump has claimed victory in the war against ISIS in Syria in recent months.

A Pentagon spokesman confirms the attack, but expresses doubt as to the accuracy of Putin's description of the situation.

In the days following Putin's comments there have been some coalition air attacks on ISIS positions in eastern Syria.

LINK  …..Daily Mail" story.....

When an end of World War I commemoration is held in Paris next month on November 11th, both President Trump and Russia's President Putin will be there.   There's talk that the two leaders may meet with each other then or perhaps sometime next month in Argentina.

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is set to visit Moscow next Wednesday to meet the Russian president.   This week the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, visited Moscow.    The Italian government is calling for an end to sanctions against Russia imposed after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

But another visitor is expected to have a less friendly message for Russia next week.  US National Security Adviser John Bolton is set to tell President Putin that the United States is pulling out of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.   That reported Friday by "The New York Times".

The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, tweeted on Friday that he is trying to bring a large group of migrants bound for the US back home.  He has asked Guatemala to allow "civil protection agents" in and is trying to arrange transportation for the trip back to Honduras.

Thousands of Honduran migrants are gathered on Guatemala's border with Mexico and there were clashes at the border fence on Friday as the caravan attempted to move north to reach the US-Mexico border.

President Trump has called on other countries to take action to stop the caravan and Mexico responded deploying hundreds of police to the Guatemalan border.

There's been a setback for Australia's new Prime Minister Scott Morrison.  His Liberal Party lost the suburban Sydney Wentworth seat in today's by election to an independent candidate.   The seat was held by the former Liberal Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who resigned when he was ousted by Morrison.

The Liberals will now have a tougher time keeping control of Australia's House of Representatives.

One other aspect of the by-election was Wentworth's 13 percent Jewish population (Jewish population across Australia is .5 percent) with the Morrison government broaching the notion of moving Australia's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in the days before the election.

A Hasidic Jewish couple who are part of the Chabad (Lubavitch) Movement have been fined 84-thousand dollars by Swedish authorities for home schooling their children.

Rabbi Alexander Namdar and his wife Leah have lived in Gothenburg for 27 years, where they are emissaries for the international movement.   

The couple won cases in lower courts, but authorities have appealed to the Supreme Court.

One of Chabad's leaders who is also one of Russia's chief rabbi's, Berel Lazar, has written a letter to the Swedish government about the matter saying they are involved in "persecution" of the couple.

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT 10/19/2018

                         (UPDATES, EDITING AND EXPANSION UNTIL 745 AM)

The Turkish police conducting the murder investigation involving Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi have searched a forested area.

They believe the pieces of  his body were taken there or perhaps to farmland after his murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul October 2nd.

President Trump has said it appears that Khashoggi was murdered but the US would like to have any audio or video evidence the Turks have.

Turkish sources have revealed details of an audio recording authorities there have of Khashoggi's murder.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has denied hearing any audio recording of the murder and attacked ABC News for its reporting about the matter.

US Treasury Seceretary Steven Mnuchin has pulled out on investment conference in Saudi Arabia later this month because of the Khashoggi case.   British, French, Dutch and German government ministers set to appear there have also pulled out.

Saudi Arabia has denied any murder took place and is threatening to retaliate if any actions are taken against it.

Earlier this year when the Canadian foreign minister expressed concern about the Saudi jailing of a women's rights advocate, the Saudis withdrew their ambassador from Canada and kicked rhe Canadian ambassador in Riyadh out.

There seems to be no eagerness for a major break with Saudi Arabia by either President Trump, the Republicans or Democrats.

Democrat US Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut who's on the Foreign Relations Committee says the US should continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, but on a smaller scale.  Murphy also says its time for the US to stop supporting a Saudi led coalition fighting in Yemen's civil war.

Neoconservative foreign policy veteran Victoria Nuland told National Public Radio this morning that the relationship with Saudi Arabia must continue in spite of the murder of  Khashoggi with cooperation on Persian Gulf security and Syria.

But she noted that the action of the Saudi government was horrific and public opinion was shocked by its gruesome details and some sort of actions must be taken in response.

What is Turkey's end game for the Khashoggi matter?

A commentary in the pro-government "Yeni Safak" newspaper says the matter provides an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to align itself with the Turkish regime against Western interests.

The commentary notes that the incident several years ago when a Russian jet was shot down by Turkey led to closer ties between the two nations and says Saudi Arabia should move in the same direction to oppose Western schemes in the Middle East region.

The Russian government says that a Russian Senator arrested when he visited Norway last month should be released.

The Russians made the demand after a court in Oslo ordered Mikhail Bochkaryov released and dropped charges.

Bochkaryov was detained at the airport in Oslo September 21st after attending an international conference.

The Norwiegan authorities accused him of spying at the conference and are appealing the court ruling.

The Justice Department is investigating the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.

Subpoenas have already been sent out in connection with the probe led by the US Attorney in Philadelphia.

The federal investigation follows the grand jury report on child sexual abuse in the church and how church officials handled allegations of sex abuse.

The investigation will focus on whether clergy violated federal laws in connection with the child sex abuse cases.

The "IAmSoldierX" campaign will rally in London at noon tomorrow.   The rally at Leicester Square in West London will feature speakers discussing issues related to the campaign including the problems British military members and veterans face.

The "SoliderX" campaign is driven by the British military crackdown on soldiers who have been pictured with activist Tommy Robinson.

Robinson posted a video on Facebook to promote the protest.

But Tommy Robinson will not be there because he's spending the weekend with his family ahead of his trial date next Tuesday October 23rd with expectations he is headed back to prison.

What about Brexit?

The latest spin from British Prime Minister Theresa May is that Brexit won't happen next March as required by her invocation of Article 50 of the European Union treaty but there will have to be a "transition period" which will drag the process out for years to come.

Plenty of reaction.  Loyal Conservative Party MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who advocated for Brexit accepting Mrs. May's leadership, calls it:  "kicking the can down the road".

"Mr. Brexit' Nigel Farage sees May "colluding with a foreign power" as in the European Union.

Other "on the street" reactions and reactions from callers to Farage's radio show simply say "treason".

It appears that the Conservative Party-Theresa May strategy is to delay Brexit until after the next General Election which will feature a fear campaign aimed at patriotic, conservative Britons demonizing the Labor Party.

If she can be safely re-elected, then May will complete the process of selling out patriotic, conservative Britons by selling out Brexit keeping the UK tied to the EU.

Polling in Germany following the Bavarian state election shows a continued bleeding of support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats with even more serious declines in support for the Social Democrats who are junior partners in her government.

A national poll by "Infratest dimap" puts Merkel's CDU-CSU parties at 25 percent, the Social Democrats at 14 percent with the Alternative for Germany at 16 percent.   The Green Party is shown at 19 percent in this poll.

In the state of Hesse, where the election for the local parliament is nine days away, Merkel's CDU is shown at 26 percent (it won 37.2 percent in the last election), the Social Democrats at 21 percent (they won 30.7 percent last election), the Greens showing up at 20 percent (11.1 percent last election).    The Alternative for Germany running for the first time in Hessian state elections is at 12 percent.

Germany internal intelligence agency is spying on some of the 22 people who just won election as members of Bavaria's state parliament for the anti-mass immigration Alternative for Germany Party.

The German domestic spy agency is trying to figure out if their spying can continue now that the AfD members are elected officials.  Its been revealed to the media that the AfD people were targeted for alleged links to "extremist groups".

The leaders of four nations will discuss the future of Syria in Turkey on October 27th.  Russia's Vladimir Putin, Germany's Angela Merkel, France's Emmanuel Macron and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan will exchange views on Syria.

Among the topics for discussion are a political settlement, rebuilding, security and stability and creating conditions for the return of refugees who migrated in many cases to Europe.

The wife of the former head of Interpol, Grace Meng, says "cruel China is persecuting him.   Meng Hongwei was detained weeks ago when he traveled back to China, where he was also a high-ranking official in the Communist Party.

She says she has no word of her husband and is not sure if he is alive.   Grace Meng spoke with the BBC-LINK TO BBC STORY WITH VIDEO EMBED

A slowdown in China's economic growth in the last quarter.   6.5 percent growth report compared with 6.7 percent in the previous quarter.

The slowing down comes amidst the trade dispute involving the country with the second largest economy in the world, China, and the country with the world's leading economy, the United States.

UPDATE:  TAKING TIME TO READ AND REFLECT DECOMPRESS

I don't profit from this blog as the "critics" on FR intimate.   I work two jobs to pay my way 70 hours and week and do this in between the work.

For now reading election polls worldwide, looking at material related to Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia.

This BBC piece on President Trump wanting the recorded evidence from Turkey about his murder is one item-BBC "Jamal Khashoggi disppearance: US asks Turkey for evidence

I saw this Turkish article on what's on the audio recording-Saudi journalist Khashoggi decapitated afterr fingers cut off: Reports

Haaretz in Israel has this summary of the Khashoggi matter-Link to Haaretz

The Turks are tough characters with their own agenda to be sure, but even

 Satan tells the truth part of the time.

I will be back with more posts in the hours and days ahead.

Keep looking for the next right thing to do.   The alternative will hurt you and hurt others.

Pray for those who disturb you as well that they would find the peace and serenity we all need to find along with sanity and sobriety in our lives.

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT WEDNESDAY 10/17/2018

                      (EDITING, UPDATES, ADDITIONS UNTIL 815 AM)

At the top of the news the latest on Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A "candid discussion" was reported in Saudi Arabia between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Saudi officials including King Salman.

President Trump spoke by phone with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.  He says both the king and crown prince have denied any involvement or knowledge of what happened to Kashoggi.

Trump told the Associated Press that Saudi Arabia was being treated as:

"guilty until proven innocent"

The President has said that 110 billion dollars in business and 500-thousand jobs are at stake in the US relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Turkish officials say their search of the Saudi consulate where Khashoggi disappeared after entering October 2nd revealed more evidence of his murder.

They say four of the 15 suspects involved are bodyguards for Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Turkish police have not yet had access to the Saudi consul's home and to vehicles they want to search as part of their investigation.

Following his Saudi visit, Secretary Pompeo has gone to Turkey for talks with the Turkish President, Tayyip Recep Erdogan.

Jamal Khashoggi was a resident of the United States and wrote for "The Washington Post".   A reporter for the "Post", David Ignatius, was interviewed by National Public Radio this morning.

Ignatius said that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince has a nasty side to him and that US intelligence has discovered that Mohammed bin Salman wanted Saudi dissidents "brought home".

He also noted that President Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have invested much in a close relationship with the Saudis as the US prepares for a:

"full tilt confrontation with Iran"

There is reaction to the Khashoggi matter from many quarters.

On his "Sic Semper Tyrannis" blog, former US military attache in Saudi Arabia retired Colonel Pat Lang shared his experience with how the Saudis mete out justice:

"....They chop heads off after Friday prayers outside the local mosque.  They also do hands and feet.   They stone to death women found guilty of adultery.  They sew them in bags before the men throw handy five pound rocks at them.  The government is deeply approving of this.."

Reacting to the Khashoggi matter on his radio show yesterday, "Mr. Brexit" and a friend of President Trump, Nigel Farage said:

"Could you imagine if this was a Russian embassy..there would be international uproar"

He noted the harsh reaction of the UK government to the Skripal Affair involving a chemical attack that was blamed on Russia with diplomatic expulsions and other sanctions.  Farage also noted that Saudi Arabia exports a radical Wahabbi Muslim ideology and has built hundreds of mosques in Europe.

An error message appeared on You Tube for some time last evening for the video of Farage's radio show.  You Tube reported a widespread outage for two hours.

Censorship of the internet last week was worse than you may have thought.   Conservatives were targeted like "Right Wing News" and so on but also in the crosshairs of the social media companies like Facebook and Twitter were libertarian sites like "Free Thought Project" and "Police the Police"

With executives of social media companies going through grillings on Captiol Hill from both Republicans and Democrats it appears that their response is to take out accounts linked to forces that oppose both major parties and their supporters.

A deadly explosion in Crimea at a technical college.  The Russian News Agency TASS reports at least 18 have died and at least 50 are injured in the Russian annexed territory after the blast.   An unidentified device exploded and terrorism is one possible explanation, according to Russian officials.

The leader of Crimea, annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, Segei Aksyanov says there is a suspected attacker in the explosion who shot himself and was found dead in the school's library.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

Controversy in Portland, Oregon after last weekend's downtown street fight between the Antifa and Patriot Prayer Group.

Portland's Mayor Ted Wheeler called for restrictions on street protest by groups associated with "violence" Monday and proposed an ordinance to that end.

The American Civil Liberties Union came out in opposition and the leader of the Patriot Prayer Group, Joey Gibson, called on Left and Right to unite and gather signatures to remove Mayor Wheeler from office.

The Portland Police Bureau came out Tuesday after the mayor claimed the day before that the patriot group has brought a cache of weapons to a Portland rooftop for a protest last August.  Police said they found three rifles in cases and that the firearms were unloaded.

Israel launched strikes on 20 targets in Gaza after a rocket hit a house in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva.   Another rocket fell in the sea near the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.  Seven people were treated for shock.

Israel is also investigating why its rocket warning system wasn't activated when the rocket struck the house in Beersheva.

The Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff has cut short a trip to the United States.

Israel's security cabinet is set to meet in the coming hours.

In Syria, Turkish military forces and militia trained by Turkey are moving into Idlib province with a demilitarized zone set to come into force by this Saturday.   The Al Qaeda forces backed by Saudi Arabia fighting the Syrian government are supposed to pull out but so far have refused to budge from their positions.   Turkey and Russia are the guarantors of the demilitarized zone in the populated areas of the northern Syrian province.

The United States has conducted peace talks with the Taliban.  The talks took place in Doha, Qatar, the captial of a Persian Gulf oil nation.   Both sides are reported far apart with the US representative asking the Talbian for a six  month cease fire starting this Saturday October 20th.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is meeting the leaders of European Union nations today in Bruseels with mainstream media reports saying she is trying to get the EU to bend more her way on Brexit.  Brexit's strongest supporters see her current position as a sell out to the EU that keeps the UK under the grip of bureaucrats in Brussels.

Recreational use of marijuana is legal starting today in Canada.   The first purchases were made at midnight in the easternmost province of Newfoundland (1030 PM Eastern US time)

While there are a few private shops selling cannabis products, government owned stores in the various Canadian provinces and territories will be the main distribution points for the moment.

Private shops are expected to be rolled out in the months ahead.

Cannabis products will include items like candy and soft drinks infused with marijuana for consumption.

Nevada brothel owner and reality TV star Dennis Hof has died at the age of 72.  Hof was a Republican candidate for Nevada's State Assembly in next month's election.

He was found dead at his "Love Ranch" in Pahrump, Nevada and a friend tweeted that he died quietly in his sleep.

The Nye County sheriff's office is investigating his death.

When Hof won the GOP primary for the state assembly seat last June, the party refused to endorse him causing one Nye County commissioner to endorse independent candidate for governor Ryan Bundy.