Monday, December 2, 2019

This Concert Brings Entertainers And Members Of The American Intelligence Community Together For A Good Cause

Spookstock helps raise money for families benefiting from the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation

Daily Mail: Spookstock!: The country's most elite concert that brought Lenny Kravitz and the intel community together to raise millions for charities

* Spookstock is one of the most elite annual charity galas for members of the CIA and the intelligence community
* Invitations are exclusive offered to select individuals and the details surrounding the event are tightly guarded
* The Spookstock Foundation has raised millions for the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation
* The money goes to the families and children of special operations forces killed in the field
* Last year, each charity received $400,000 each
* Celebrities like Lenny Kravitz, Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel have attended the weekend-long event

Earlier this year, one of the most elite social events took place in Washington D.C., but only a select number of guests were able to secure the exclusive tickets.

Grammy-winning rocker Lenny Kravitz was among the 1,800 guests allowed into the undisclosed location on a carefully guarded date that eluded many Washington insiders.

The annual charity event, cleverly called Spookstock, is the annual gala that has become the go-to affair for the city's tight-knit intelligence and military operations communities. It raises money for the families of CIA operatives and special operations forces who were killed in the field.

The centerpiece of the event is a concert, and this year it appeared Kravitz performed, but it's not clear who else may have as the event details and its guest list are a closely guarded secret.

Read more ....

Update: Party like a spy: Spookstock is intel world’s hush-hush bash (AP)

WNU Editor: All for a good cause.

Former FBI Lawyer Lisa Page Speaks Out On Russia-Gate

Reuters

Daily Mail: Lisa Page Speaks: ‘There’s No Fathomable Way I Have Committed Any Crime at All’

The former FBI lawyer and ongoing Trump target breaks two years of silence in this exclusive interview. And she has quite a lot to say.

It’s not often that you interview a subject who has no interest in being famous. But recently, I did just that when I sat down with Lisa Page the week before Thanksgiving in my hotel room in Washington. Page, of course, is the former FBI lawyer whose text-message exchanges with agent Peter Strzok that belittled Donald Trump and expressed fear at his possible victory became international news. They were hijacked by Trump to fuel his “deep-state” conspiracy.

For the nearly two years since her name first made the papers, she’s been publicly silent (she did have a closed-door interview with House members in July 2018). I asked her why she was willing to talk now. “Honestly, his demeaning fake orgasm was really the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she says. The president called out her name as he acted out an orgasm in front of thousands of people at a Minneapolis rally on Oct. 11, 2019.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: An over-the-top puff piece if I ever read one. Not one hard question asked ... like the double standard that she applied to investigating Hillary Clinton and President Trump .... The Creepiest Part of the Lisa Page Transcript (American Spectator). Or not asking her how her text messages with FBI Agent Peter Strzok ended with his removal from the Mueller investigation and eventual firing from the FBI .... Former FBI Agent Peter Strzok Who Was Responsible For The Investigation Into Russian Election Meddling Has Been Fired By The FBI (August 13, 2018). She has no remorse on what she did, and her continued hatred towards President Trump is made very clear in this interview.

Tweets For Today











Iran Begins Mass Production of Jask Cruise Missiles



RT: ‘A surprise for the enemy’: Iran’s new submarine-launched cruise missile enters mass production

Iran has launched mass production of its new submarine-launched Jask cruise missile, the country’s Navy chief has said, adding that work on upgraded versions of the weapon is already in progress.

Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi was speaking in Tehran on Saturday at an event showcasing new weaponry and other military projects that his force has been involved with. Announcing the launch of the Jask cruise missile’s mass production, Khanzadi said the munition will be used by all the subs of Iran’s Navy.

Read more ....

More News On Iran's Jask Cruise Missile

Iranian navy announces mass production of 'Jask' cruise missile -- CGTN
Iran Navy Starts Mass Production of ‘Jask’ Cruise Missile, Unveils other Military Projects -- Al Manar
'Surprise for the Enemy': Iran Launches Mass Production of Jask Cruise Missiles -- Sputnik

Picture Of The Day

Marines exit an MV-22 Osprey at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Nov. 24, 2019, after returning from a seventh-month deployment in the Indo-Pacific.

WNU Editor: The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... U.S. Department of Defense (Photo-Gallery).

What To Expect If The United States Withdraws From NATO

Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium, April 19, 2018. Credit: Yves Herman/Reuters

Liana Fix and Bastian Giegerich, War On The Rocks: European Security in Crisis: What to Expect if the United States Withdraws from NATO

It is February 2021. A few months after his re-election as president of the United States, Donald Trump declares that NATO has become obsolete and the United States withdraws from the alliance. All U.S. forces — military personnel and equipment — including nuclear and missile defense assets will be withdrawn from Europe as soon as possible.

This nightmare scenario has been on the mind of many security policy officials, and experts, ever since the New York Times reported in January 2019 that Trump discussed several times over the course of 2018 wanting to withdraw from the alliance. Congress has acted and passed the NATO Support Act, which prohibits the use of funds to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Yet the possibility of such a move cannot entirely be excluded.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The U.S. will not withdraw, Trump or no Trump.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

NATO Leaders To Meet This Week At London



Reuters: Trump off to London for NATO summit, under pressure to steer clear of British election

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump leaves on Monday for a NATO summit in London and he is under pressure from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resist the temptation to wade into the British election campaign coming up later in December.

As a presidential candidate in 2016 and then as president since early 2017, Trump has shown no restraint in showing support for Britain’s exit from the European Union and critiquing the politicians involved in the country’s long-running Brexit debate.

But with Johnson leading polls as he faces Dec. 12 elections, the prime minister who is hosting the London NATO summit wants Trump to mind the guard-rails, putting Trump in the unusual position of trying to avoid his normal impulse to comment on whatever he wishes.

Trump waded into the election in October by saying opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would be “so bad” for Britain and that Johnson should agree on a pact with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: During the Cold War NATO's role was clear and unequivocal. Be a deterrent to the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. Today .... it is an organization looking for a mission, and not really finding one.

More News On This Weeks NATO Summit

This Time Trump Will Be Just One of the Wild Cards at NATO -- Bloomberg
NATO marks 70 years with mutual suspicion and insults -- CBC
NATO allies spooked by Trump despite White House soothing -- Axios
Troubled Nato not in party mood for 70th birthday -- Jonathan Marcus, BBC
NATO's birthday summit in UK risks highlighting splits not unity -- Deborah Haynes, SKY News

Protests And Riots Return To The Streets Of Hong Kong





SCMP: Hong Kong protests: tens of thousands return to streets after days of calm as radicals trash shops with mainland China links

* Peaceful march in Kowloon descends into chaos, ending the near two-week hiatus of extreme protest violence
* Rounds of tear gas, rubber bullets fired by police in Whampoa, where mobs smash up stores for their mainland connections

Tens of thousands of Hongkongers returned to the streets on Sunday a week after the pro-democracy camp’s landslide election victory, but their procession rapidly descended into stand-offs with police and, by nightfall, mobs once again trashed shops with mainland China links.

After nearly two weeks of relative calm, chaos returned to the Kowloon side of the city by evening, as a group of protesters hurled bricks and police fired tear gas, while radicals set about smashing restaurants and shops in Whampoa and vandalised the exits of the railway station there.

Read more ....

More News On Today's Unrest In Hong Kong

Hong Kong police fire tear gas as thousands take to the streets in fresh protests -- Reuters
Hong Kong Unrest Rages On as Police Clash With Protesters -- Bloomberg
Hong Kong police fire tear gas as thousands take to the streets in fresh protests -- Japan Times
Hong Kong protests: Authorised marches held across city -- Al Jazeera

Jihadists Massacre 14 In Attack On Church In Eastern Burkina Faso

Map showing deadly violence involving jihadists in Burkina Faso since 2015 (AFP Photo/Maryam EL HAMOUCHI)

France 24: Armed assailants kill 14 in attack on church in eastern Burkina Faso

Fourteen people were killed in an attack Sunday on a church in eastern Burkina Faso where places of worship have suffered a string of Islamist assaults this year, the regional government said.

“Unidentified armed men” carried out the attack during a Sunday service at a Protestant church in the town of Hantoukoura near the border with Niger, the government statement said.

“This attack unfortunately left 14 dead and many wounded,” it said.

Soldiers in the region were hunting down the assailants, who fled on scooters, a security source said earlier.

Read more ....

More News On Today's Massacre In Eastern Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso leader says 14 slain in attack on church -- AP
At least 14 killed in attack on Burkina Faso church -- Reuters
Burkina Faso: Attack on church kills at least 14 -- BBC
Burkina Faso: 14 people killed in gun attack at church during Sunday mass -- SKY News
Gunmen kill up to 14 in Protestant church attack in Burkina Faso – reports -- RT

21 Killed As Mexican Cartel Battles Police And Army South Of The U.S. Border



The Guardian: Death toll rises to 21 after attack on Mexican town

Suspected cartel members shot at Villa Unión’s mayor’s office before being chased by police

Security forces have shot dead seven more suspected cartel gunmen after a weekend attack on a northern Mexican town, according to authorities, bringing the death toll to 21 and adding fuel to a debate about whether the gangs should be deemed terrorists.

The government of Coahuila state said 10 gunmen and four police were killed in shootouts on Saturday in Villa Unión, days after Donald Trump fanned bilateral tensions by saying he would designate cartels as terrorists.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The U.S. is not going to sit idly by while this bloodshed and mayhem continues at its border .... Mexico will not accept intervention from abroad, president says (Reuters)

More News On This Weekend's Bloodshed In The Northern Mexican Town Of Villa Unión

Death toll put at 20 for Mexico cartel attack near US border -- AP
Shootings in northern Mexico town kill 20, pile pressure on president -- Reuters
Violent clashes in northern Mexico kill more than 20, fueling debate on cartels -- France 24
At least 19 killed as Mexican cartel battles police and army south of U.S. border -- Washington Post
Mexico gunfight near Texas border leaves over a dozen dead -- DW
19 killed in shootout in northern Mexico -- CNN
21 Killed in Hour-Long Gunfight Between Police, Mexican Cartel - Reports -- Sputnik
Mexico will not accept intervention from abroad, president says -- Reuters