Of Course ISIS And Iran Are Related (Daniel 7)

Wikileaks: Podesta Nixed Talking Point That ‘Countering Iran and Defeating ISIS Are Not Distinct Missions’

by FRANCES MARTEL
24 Oct 2016

An email released by the organization Wikileaks Monday reveals that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta requested Hillary Clinton remove a line from her 2015 speech to the Brookings Institute’s Saban Forum referring to the fights against the Islamic State and the government of Iran as “intimately related.”

In a December 4, 2015 email, two days before the event, Clinton campaign speechwriting director Dan Schwerin emailed Podesta a copy of Clinton’s speech to the forum. Among a number of comments, Podesta replied in response to the sentence “Countering Iran and defeating ISIS are not distinct missions–they are intimately related.”

“I think the sentence… is intellectually flabby and can get us in more trouble than it’s worth,” Podesta advised. “Saying that we have to deal with both problems simultaneously is not the same as implying that both need resolution or neither can be solved.”

The final draft of the speech, as it was delivered, did not include the line. Clinton reaffirmed her support for the Iran nuclear deal – which will allow Iran to pursue nuclear weapons in 11 years, as per a secret agreement – and her support of potentially using military force to keep Iran from violating the provisions of the deal:

We all agree that Iran can never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. Now as you know I supported the nuclear agreement negotiated by the United States and other members of the Security Council plus Germany. Is it perfect? No, no agreement like that ever is. But I believe if it is aggressively implemented and enforced this deal will help us prevent a nuclear armed Iran. Now that said it’s not enough to say yes to this deal, we have to say yes and we will vigorously enforce it…

Our approach must be distrust and verify…

They’ve already started to do so with a ballistic missile test and other provocative behavior. We have to response to these provocations including with further sanction designations as necessary.

Of the Islamic State, she says the group is “an exponential force” and accuses “the Saudis, the Qataris, the Kuwaits and others” of allowing citizens to “support radical schools and mosques around the world.”

Clinton confirms that she supports “a military option” against Iran as a last resort and accuses Iran of being a pivotal reason why the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in Syria is still standing. She does not, however, equate the struggle against the Sunni and Shiite terrorist powers in the region.

The Iranian government has used the Islamic State to expand its influence in the greater Middle East, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei claiming that the United States “created” the Islamic State to drum up support for Assad in Syria. Iran funds Shiite militias in Iraq that have been accused of attempted ethnic cleansing, torture, and murder of Arab Sunni civilians in Iraq, and reportedly sent top commander Qasem Soleimani to Iraq in May 2016. These same Shiite militias have threatened to abandon any challenge to the Islamic State if the United States participates in the struggle against ISIS, instead turning their guns against the Americans.

The Islamic State, on its end, has declared jihad on the state of Iran and views the Shiite sect of Islam as an “heretical” sect, worthy of even more scorn that Christians or pagans who do not claim Mohammed as part of their religion.

Don’t Forget About the Sixth Seal (Revelation 6:12)

Don’t forget about earthquakes, feds tell city

Although New York’s modern skyscrapers are less likely to be damaged in an earthquake than shorter structures, a new study suggests the East Coast is more vulnerable than previously thought. The new findings will help alter building codes.

By Mark Fahey
July 18, 2014 10:03 a.m.

New York Earthquake Hazard

The U.S. Geological Survey had good and bad news for New Yorkers on Thursday. In releasing its latest set of seismic maps the agency said earthquakes are a slightly lower hazard for New York City’s skyscrapers than previously thought, but on the other hand noted that the East Coast may be able to produce larger, more dangerous earthquakes than previous assessments have indicated.

The 2014 maps were created with input from hundreds of experts from across the country and are based on much stronger data than the 2008 maps, said Mark Petersen, chief of the USGS National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project. The bottom line for the nation’s largest city is that the area is at a slightly lower risk for the types of slow-shaking earthquakes that are especially damaging to tall spires of which New York has more than most places, but the city is still at high risk due to its population density and aging structures, said Mr. Petersen.

“Many of the overall patterns are the same in this map as in previous maps,” said Mr. Petersen. “There are large uncertainties in seismic hazards in the eastern United States. [New York City] has a lot of exposure and some vulnerability, but people forget about earthquakes because you don’t see damage from ground shaking happening very often.”

Just because they’re infrequent doesn’t mean that large and potentially disastrous earthquakes can’t occur in the area. The new maps put the largest expected magnitude at 8, significantly higher than the 2008 peak of 7.7 on a logarithmic scale. The scientific understanding of East Coast earthquakes has expanded in recent years thanks to a magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Virginia in 2011 that was felt by tens of millions of people across the eastern U.S. New data compiled by the nuclear power industry has also helped experts understand quakes.

“The update shows New York at an intermediate level,” said Arthur Lerner-Lam, deputy director of Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “You have to combine that with the exposure of buildings and people and the fragility of buildings and people. In terms of safety and economics, New York has a substantial risk.”

Oddly enough, it’s not the modern tall towers that are most at risk. Those buildings become like inverted pendulums in the high frequency shakes that are more common on the East Coast than in the West. But the city’s old eight- and 10-story masonry structures could suffer in a large quake, said Mr. Lerner-Lam. Engineers use maps like those released on Thursday to evaluate the minimum structural requirements at building sites, he said. The risk of an earthquake has to be determined over the building’s life span, not year-to-year.

“If a structure is going to exist for 100 years, frankly, it’s more than likely it’s going to see an earthquake over that time,” said Mr. Lerner-Lam. “You have to design for that event.”

The new USGS maps will feed into the city’s building-code review process, said a spokesman for the New York City Department of Buildings. Design provisions based on the maps are incorporated into a standard by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which is then adopted by the International Building Code and local jurisdictions like New York City. New York’s current provisions are based on the 2010 standards, but a new edition based on the just-released 2014 maps is due around 2016, he said.

“The standards for seismic safety in building codes are directly based upon USGS assessments of potential ground shaking from earthquakes, and have been for years,” said Jim Harris, a member and former chair of the Provisions Update Committee of the Building Seismic Safety Council, in a statement.

The seismic hazard model also feeds into risk assessment and insurance policies, according to Nilesh Shome, senior director of Risk Management Solutions, the largest insurance modeler in the industry. The new maps will help the insurance industry as a whole price earthquake insurance and manage catastrophic risk, said Mr. Shome. The industry collects more than $2.5 billion in premiums for earthquake insurance each year and underwrites more than $10 trillion in building risk, he said.

“People forget about history, that earthquakes have occurred in these regions in the past, and that they will occur in the future,” said Mr. Petersen. “They don’t occur very often, but the consequences and the costs can be high.”

The Dirty Scarlet Woman (Revelation 17)

Here’s A (Dirty) Laundry List Of The Clinton Foundation’s Most Questionable Foreign Donations

SAAGAR ENJETI
9:09 PM 10/23/2016

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton vigorously defended the Clinton Foundation’s work at Wednesday night’s final presidential debate.

“I’m thrilled to talk about the Clinton Foundation, because it is a world-renowned charity and I am so proud of the work that it does,” Clinton said in a response to a question from moderator Chris Wallace about possible conflicts of interest and impropriety.

Wallace’s question came after numerous allegations from Republican nominee Donald Trump that the Clinton Foundation took donations from foreign governments, which influenced Clinton’s decision making while serving as secretary of state.

These countries include states accused of human rights violations, economic interests in decisions by Clinton’s Department of State, and countries Clinton has pledged to confront if elected president.

Saudi Arabian Influence:

When Clinton first took office in 2008, the foundation disclosed that Saudi Arabia donated between $10 to $25 million, with some donations coming as recently as 2014 when Clinton prepared her run for the presidency. The foundation received an additional $1 to $5 million donation from the “Friends of Saudi Arabia,” which was cofounded by a Saudi prince. Critics question the ethics of taking such vast sums of money from individuals and a government with one of the worst human rights records in the world.

King Of Moroccan Meeting :

Emails released by WikiLeaks, in a likely attempt to influence the U.S. election, also reveal Clinton arranged for her foundation to host a meeting in Morocco in return for a $12 million donation from the country’s king. The donation came from a Moroccan state-owned mining company, which later received a $92 million loan guarantee while Clinton served as secretary of state.

“This was HRC’s idea, our office approached the Moroccans and they 100 percent believe they are doing this at her request. The King has personally committed approx. $12 million both for the endowment and to support the meeting,” Clintons aide Huma Abedin wrote in a leaked email to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Russian Uranium Ties:

In another troubling instance, foundation donations were closely linked to a uranium mining company tied to the Kremlin. Canadian leaders of a mining company funneled millions of dollars to the foundation while Clinton was secretary of state, at the same time they needed Department of State approval for the sale of their company to Russia. The Clinton State Department-approved deal gave Russia control of one-fifth of the entire uranium supply in the U.S.

The chairman of the uranium mining company donated $2.35 million to the foundation, without any disclosure from the Clintons. After Russia announced its intention to make a bid for the uranium mining company, former President Bill Clinton was paid $500,000 to deliver a speech in Moscow.

Indonesian Tobacco Magnate:

The Clinton Foundation’s ties also extend to powerful individuals seeking assistance from the U.S. government, with the help of the Clinton network. Indonesian tobacco magnate Putera Sampoerna donated and worked with the foundation before he “got the U.S. government to underwrite millions in loans offered by the foundation and secured high-profile support for its activities from Sec. Clinton and other senior federal officials,” according to a report by The Washington Free Beacon.

Algeria, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman:

The Clinton Foundation further accepted donations from several foreign governments while Clinton served as secretary of state, including Algeria, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.

In the instance of Algeria, the Clinton Foundation acknowledged to The Washington Post in 2015 it should have sought clearance from the Department of State’s ethics office before taking $500,000. After Clinton left office, the foundation received a large donation from the United Arab Emirates.

Clinton Foundation officials ignored nearly all “best practices” urged by good governance organizations, a July Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found. When Trump challenged Clinton to return donations from countries that abuse women and homosexuals, a DCNF investigation found it would amount to between $19.3 million and $55.7 million.

The Scarlet Woman Better Be Ready For Nuclear War

Only Hillary Clinton Is Prepared for the Nuclear Threat

By Sam Nunn
Oct. 23, 2016 6:27 p.m. ET

America’s Founding Fathers were determined to avoid a concentration of power in any one person or branch of government. When it comes to the authority to launch nuclear weapons, however, there are no checks or balances. Millions of lives and perhaps the fate of the planet rests on the judgment of a single person, the commander in chief. When voters choose America’s next president on Nov. 8, this is what’s at stake.

Nine nations possess nuclear weapons. In a military confrontation, leaders will have little warning of a potential nuclear attack and only minutes to respond. Sophisticated hackers could deceive warning systems or disrupt command-and-control processes. Moscow and Washington still posture their nuclear forces so that they can be ordered to fire in minutes, a dangerously outdated strategy from the Cold War. Once a missile is in the air, even if fired by mistake, there is no way to order it back.

Proliferation is also a serious problem. With weapons-usable nuclear material in more than 20 countries and the spread of nuclear know-how, nation states no longer have a monopoly on these weapons of mass destruction.

America’s next president must think carefully about these challenges. How would he or she approach a crisis with only minutes to decide how to respond? What would he or she do if confronted with a warning, potentially false, of a nuclear attack on the U.S.? Despite the erosion of trust between America and Russia, the citizens of our two nations have an existential stake in the judgment of both of our leaders.

Several years ago I sat around a conference table in Moscow with Americans and Russians, including President Vladimir Putin. I expressed concern that neither he nor the American president would have more than a few minutes to decide whether to use nuclear weapons if warned of an attack. The two countries’ militaries, I suggested, should work together to give their presidents more time to weigh the options. Mr. Putin made clear that he was fully aware of Russia’s short nuclear window. “Senator Nunn,” he added, “at some point it becomes automatic.”

What about moral considerations? William Swing, a retired Episcopal bishop, recently offered, in a memo sent to about a dozen leaders, a powerful reminder of the importance of this year’s presidential choice: “Whoever wins will have his or her hand on the weapons that could end life, as we know it, on this planet. We are not so much voting for a president as choosing a god. When you put your hand on the nuclear trigger and become the single agent of the Earth’s destruction that is power beyond human imagining.”

Is any human prepared or qualified to make this fateful decision for mankind? I think not. Yet this is the responsibility of the commander in chief. Temperament, composure and sound judgment are essential. So is understanding America’s adversaries and allies and, most important, possessing the leadership qualities required to reduce the risk that such a terrible call will ever have to be made.

One candidate, Hillary Clinton, has the experience, judgment and skills to take on this awesome responsibility. For years, on the Senate Armed Services Committee and as secretary of state, she dealt with the leaders of Russia and China and America’s key allies. She understands the importance of reducing nuclear dangers and keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists. She has helped make decisions about war and peace under intense pressure. Like other leaders, Mrs. Clinton has made mistakes. She has, however, learned from them, a crucial requirement for effective leadership. She knows—like Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev did—that nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has unfortunately demonstrated that he is an apprentice in the nuclear arena. Worse, he has no appetite for learning. Mr. Trump seems not to care what he doesn’t know, and he apparently listens to no one. His colossal ego and disdain for military leaders are far from comforting.

In apparently off-the-cuff statements, Mr. Trump has suggested that the world would be safer if more nations, including Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea, had nuclear weapons and were willing to use them. This is dangerously off base. Mr. Trump has even suggested that he might deploy nuclear weapons against terrorists, seemingly unaware of the devastating damage this would inevitably inflict on thousands of innocent victims.

What Mr. Trump hasn’t thought through—or doesn’t understand—is that adding to the number of nuclear states dramatically increases the risk of proliferation. A terrorist group would have many more ways to get its hands on a nuclear weapon or the material and technology required to make one. Mr. Trump’s suggestion would make American families less safe.

Over the past two years, relations between the U.S. and Russia have been in a downward spiral—from Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and Syria, to evidence that it is interfering in the presidential election. Reducing these tensions and nuclear risks is imperative. But this will require increased and continuous communication between the two countries’ leaders, just as avoiding a nuclear exchange during the Cold War required dialogue between John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev, and Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

The absence of checks and balances in the nuclear age has haunted the world for decades. The risk of conflict can be reduced, but there is no substitute for a president with good judgment who seeks sound advice from experienced military and civilian leaders. I believe that Hillary Clinton is the right choice on Nov. 8 to be America’s president and commander in chief.

Mr. Nunn, a Democrat, represented Georgia in the U.S. Senate from 1972-96.

Scarlet Woman Holds Huge Lead Over Trump (Rev 17)

The Note: Clinton Vaults to Double-Digit Lead in New ABC News Poll

By MARGARET CHADBOURN

Oct 23, 2016, 11:43 AM ET

AP Photo/Getty Images

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at the third presidential debate at UNLV in Las Vegas, Oct. 19, 2016

–POLL: AS VOTERS INCREASINGLY DISAPPROVE OF TRUMP CONTROVERSIES, CLINTON STRETCHES LEAD: Hillary Clinton has vaulted to a double-digit advantage in the inaugural ABC News 2016 election tracking poll, boosted by broad disapproval of Donald Trump on two controversial issues: His treatment of women and his reluctance to endorse the election’s legitimacy, ABC’s GARY LANGER reports. Likely voters by a vast 69-24 percent disapprove of Trump’s response to questions about his treatment of women. After a series of allegations of past sexual misconduct, the poll finds that some women who’d initially given him the benefit of the doubt have since moved away. Fifty-nine percent of likely voters, moreover, reject Trump’s suggestion that the election is rigged in Clinton’s favor, and more, 65 percent, disapprove of his refusal to say whether he’d accept a Clinton victory as legitimate. Most strongly disapprove, a relatively rare result. All told, Clinton leads Trump by 12 percentage points among likely voters, 50 to 38 percent, in the national survey, her highest support and his lowest to date in ABC News and ABC News/Washington Post polls. Gary Johnson has 5 percent support, Jill Stein 2 percent. http://abcn.ws/2ejIDLV

–DONALD TRUMP VOWS TO SUE SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSERS, LAYS OUT PLAN FOR FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE: Donald Trump kicked off a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania about his plan for his first 100 days as president by announcing that he will sue every woman who has accused him of sexual assault. “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication,” the Republican presidential nominee said Saturday afternoon. “The [alleged] events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.” Speaking near the historic Gettysburg Battlefield on a brisk day in the Keystone State, Trump also launched attacks on the “dishonest” media, the “rigged” political system and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton . He questioned why Clinton was even allowed to run due to her handling of emails as secretary of state, ABC’s MORGAN WINSOR, KATHERINE FAULDERS and JOHN SANTUCCI report. “The system is also rigged because Hillary Clinton should have been precluded from running for the presidency of the United States, but the FBI and the Justice Department covered up her crimes,” Trump said. http://abcn.ws/2dwzPR4

–ERIC TRUMP ON FATHER’S THREAT TO SUE ACCUSERS: ‘MY FATHER’S A FIGHTER’: Eric Trump commented on his father’s vow to sue every woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct, saying, “He’s a fighter … and he believes in calling out right and wrong.” “My father’s a guy who will fight. He’ll fight for this country. And he’s always fought for himself and, quite frankly, throughout this whole process he’s needed to fight for himself,” the son of the Republican presidential nominee told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on “This Week,” ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL reports. http://abcn.ws/2ecUWpt

CLINTON FIRES BACK AT TRUMP’S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS, THREAT TO SUE ACCUSERS: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton today criticized her Republican rival, Donald Trump, for threatening to sue the women. Clinton made the remarks with her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, aboard her campaign plane, ABC’s JESSICA HOPPER and JOSH HASKELL report. The two are in the midst of a joint campaign swing through the battleground state of Pennsylvania. “I saw where our opponent Donald Trump went to Gettysburg, one of the most extraordinary places in in American history, and basically said if he’s president he will spend his time suing women who have made charges against him based on his behavior,” Clinton said. “Tim and I are going to keep talking about what we want do if we’re given the great honor of serving as president and vice president.” Earlier today, Trump spoke in Gettysburg, site of a three-day battle seen as the turning point of the Civil War, to give what his campaign billed as a plan for his first 100 days in office. He also attacked Clinton and his accusers. http://abcn.ws/2evCcSL

EVAN MCMULLIN SAYS GOP LEADERS ARE ‘PUTTING PARTY OVER PRINCIPLE’: Riding a surge of support in polls in Utah, independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin said he feels “very good” about his chances of winning the state, and accused the nation’s Republican leaders of putting the interests of their party ahead of conservative principles and the good of the country, ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL reports. “The reality is that the vast majority of Republican leaders are putting party ahead of principle and putting power over the interests of their own country,” McMullin told George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on ABC’s “This Week.” http://abcn.ws/2ekRcpJ

THIS MORNING ON ‘THIS WEEK’: With just over two weeks until Election Day, Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump discussed his father’s campaign for the White House, only on “This Week” Sunday. Clinton campaign chief strategist Joel Benenson weighs in on the state of the 2016 race. Plus, can an independent candidate win the deep-red state of Utah? Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin makes his case, Sunday on “This Week.” And, Martha Raddatz is on the ground in Iraq to talk with Defense Secretary Ash Carter about the battle to reclaim Mosul. And the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics, with ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, Republican strategist and CNBC contributor Sara Fagen, National Review senior editor Jonah Goldberg, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, and editor and publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel.

NOTED: CLINTON’S STRATEGIST REBUTS CLAIMS DEMOCRATS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR VIOLENCE AT TRUMP RALLIES: Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist and pollster refuted claims that Democrats are responsible for inciting violence at Donald Trump’s campaign rallies, saying the blame lays squarely on the rhetoric of the GOP candidate, ABC’s MARGARET CHADBOURN reports.“Donald Trump, day after day, on the stump, was inciting people,” Joel Benenson told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.” “We have video of Donald Trump saying, ‘punch him in the mouth. I want him carried out on a stretcher.’” Over the past week, Trump frequently referred to a secretly recorded video recently released by conservative activist James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas Action. The highly edited video appears to show a Democratic operative bragging about deploying troublemakers at Trump rallies. http://abcn.ws/2ed5nJW

WHAT WE’RE READING — 40 PERCENT OF AMERICANS SAY NEITHER CANDIDATE IS FUNNY: Aside from the qualifications and policy proposals of the two major-party presidential nominees, Americans say it’s important that the country’s next president has a sense of humor, ABC’s RACHEL TILLMAN writes. But 40 percent said neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton is funny. The two candidates took turns making jokes and jabbing at each other at Thursday’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner in New York City, a tradition for presidential candidates every four years, although this year’s event had an edgier tone. ABC News partnered with SSRS survey research firm to ask Americans how important it is for the next president to have ’a sense of humor. http://abcn.ws/2euahny

— IN CASE YOU MISSED IT — SNL SATIRIZES THIRD DEBATE: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton continue to provide “Saturday Night Live” with plenty of fodder. Tonight’s episode spoofed last Wednesday’s third and final presidential debate in Las Vegas, which was moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace. Guest host Tom Hanks played Wallace. As in weeks past, Alec Baldwin and “SNL” cast member Kate McKinnon impersonated Trump and Clinton , zeroing in on the most eccentric and quirky aspects of their behavior. http://abcn.ws/2eiXpQA

–PHOTO –THE MOMENT CLINTON LEARNED THE CUBS ARE WORLD-SERIES BOUND: Nick Merrill snapped the photo Saturday night onboard the campaign plane, where Clinton — who was raised in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge — was handed a phone and watched highlights from the game. http://abcn.ws/2eiU9Ve