The messaging within the attack in Las Vegas is very clear.  A Tesla Cyber Truck (Elon Musk) was used to attack the Trump Hotel.  Obviously, a targeted attack messaging the incoming presidency of Donald J Trump.  Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is from Louisiana, the location of the earlier attack.

The attack in Las Vegas is now linked to the early morning terrorist attack in New Orleans where a truck, also loaded with improvised explosive materials and devices ran into a crowd celebrating the New Year, killing 15.  Both the Tesla Cyber Truck and the pickup truck in New Orleans were rented through the app Turo.

[…] “I’m being told that New Orleans was rented through Turo, and so was ours,” Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a press conference. “That’s another coincidence that absolutely is continuing to bear from our investigation that we have to continue to look into.”

Turo is a car-sharing app that lets private car owners rent out their vehicles. It is similar to Airbnb or Vrbo but for vehicles instead of homes. (more)

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Syria is a hot mess.  There’s only one face with a genuine smile today, Turkish Leader Recep Erdogan who has been attempting to leverage support for the “rebels” in Syria for a decade.  Through the years U.S. policy in Syria essentially armed and supported various factions of al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, and eventually Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), whose leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is essentially the Defacto head of the rebels who now control it.

What happens next is anyone’s guess.  The various elements of Islamic rebellion fall under the political umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood; however, they have yet to show an ability to effectively govern in any region or state without extreme authoritarian rule.  Odds are high that Syria will tilt in that direction and eventually fall upon the only governing mechanism they understand, Sharia Law.

Joe Biden hails the efforts of the Syrian Rebels as a victory; however, these are the same rebels we armed and then fought repeatedly -in various iterations- as an outcome of U.S policy under the Obama/Biden administration. Lessons never learned from Benghazi, Syria is a hot mess.

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(Via Fox News) – Islamist leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who led a lightning offensive through Syria, has a long history of extremism despite a recent appeal to moderate policies.

[…]  Golani would cut ties with al Qaeda in 2016 and lead a merger between HTS and other Islamist groups in northwest Syria in 2017, bringing him control of territory that had fallen out of government hands during the country’s long civil war.

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It looks like Matt Gaetz is done with DC politics. [Video Below]

During an interview today, Mr Gaetz has big praise for Pam Bondi and says he will remain outside government trying to assist President Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda.

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Friday that he doesn’t plan to rejoin Congress after he withdrew his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations.

“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” Gaetz said in an interview with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

“There are a number of fantastic Floridians who stepped up to run for my seat, people who have inspired with their heroism, with their public service. And I’m actually excited to see Northwest Florida go to new heights and have great representation,” he added.

Gaetz, who was first elected to Florida’s state House when he was 28 years old, noted he has been in elected office for 14 years,

“I’m 42 now, and I’ve got other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue — my wife and my family — and so I’m going to be fighting for President Trump,” he said. “I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”

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If you look at the structure of the announcements, there does appear to be a strategy at play; yes, including the likelihood of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State.

Using the announcement of Steven C. Witkoff to be Special Envoy to the Middle East, I’ll try to put it together.

[SOURCE]

If President Trump pulls Marco Rubio out of the Senate, he opens up the position of Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).  Rubio would love the opportunity to load his presidential aspiration resume with Secretary of State, for later use. However, this also opens the opportunity for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to appoint an interim senator who would be more MAGA-minded, trustworthy and loyal (dare I say Gaetz).

With Rubio removed from the equation of the IC problem, the issue becomes mitigating (think neutering) the Secretary of State from undermining the Trump Doctrine; which, as you know, is the key Trump foreign policy approach using economic power combined with diplomacy.

President Trump has long expressed being sick and tired of U.S. mid-east policy, endless wars, endless spending etc.  President Trump in term-1 created the Abraham Accords to establish long-term peace and stability in the region, as a countermeasure to all the prior administrations stirring shit up there.  Essentially, the Abraham Accords create peace, get us out and allow policy to focus on more pressing foreign concerns, vis-a-vis China.

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Eight illegal aliens previously released into the U.S. homeland by border officials, were arrested by ICE after the FBI intercepted their communication related to bomb plots and asked DHS to detain them.

Think about this….  DHS released ISIS terrorists into the USA, the terrorists planned terrorism, the FBI intercepted the plans, then asked DHS to pick them up.

One thing is certain, the FBI usually assists these terror plots, but there are lots of awake people looking at the FBI as suspect and sketchy now.

There must have been a massive paper trail, information system, and too many people who knew the background, which led the FBI to considering the group too dangerous to hide/support this time.

Oh, and the bad guys were from the same place the recent Moscow terrorists came from, which makes this even more interesting.

USA – Eight men from Tajikistan with potential ties to ISIS out of central Asia were arrested over the weekend in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday.

The suspects had been on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force radar and were arrested by personnel with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, the sources say.

All eight men crossed through the southern border into the United States and their criminal backgrounds checks came back clean at the time they crossed the border, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

At least two of the men crossed the border in the spring of 2023 and one of those men used the CBP One app, created by the Biden administration to allow migrants to book appointments to claim asylum, those officials say. (read more)

The New York Post also has an article about it – SEE HERE. “The bureau had been investigating whether dozens of migrants from Uzbekistan crossed the US-Mexico border with the help of a Turkish smuggler tied to ISIS.”

That talking point about “fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.” …  eh?

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While the media are decrying the collateral damage during an Israeli mission to rescue four of the missing hostages kidnapped by Hamas, the same media are avoiding any mention that the hostages were not found in underground tunnels.  The four Israeli hostages rescued were held in houses amid a high-density Palestinian population.

The Israeli forces launched a blitz of rockets and firepower into the areas while the rescue raid was ongoing. Hundreds of Hamas and Palestinian supporters of Hamas were reportedly killed in the rescue operation. One Israeli IDF member was killed, four hostages were rescued.

(Via Politico) – […] The army said it rescued Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, in two separate locations in a complex special daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat in central Gaza.

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What President Trump said this morning about the Israeli hostages held by Hamas is brutally honest and true.

It is always difficult to tell the hard thing to those who need to pretend not to know the truth. However, one of the great benefits of President Trump’s leadership both domestically and on the global stage is his willingness to say the honest thing consistently.

[LINK]

The way this statement is truthfully worded is a pattern of linguistic assembly exclusive to President Donald Trump.

Powerful, remarkable and brutally honest.

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Evidence has been shown to the Biden administration and the United Nations that 12 members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were actual participants in the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel.

Yes, you read that correctly. The U.N. was an actual participant in the premeditated slaughter of Israeli citizens.

(Via Axios) The State Department on Friday said it is pausing additional funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency after Israel alleged 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

The big picture: It’s the first step by the Biden administration against UNRWA since renewing U.S. funding to the agency after the Trump administration completely cut it off.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. is “extremely troubled by the allegations” and the administration has “temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”

State Dept – “The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.  The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.

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It is often said in recent years that events in Europe present as the precursor for events that later follow in the U.S. and North America.  Indeed, there are many points of reference which support this outlook.

According to recent media reporting, various state police agencies in Europe took action against Islamic extremists, identified as ISIS-k affiliates, to stop planned terror attacks against Christian targets, specifically well-known cathedrals, this Christmas holiday season.   The events took place in Austria and Germany, with targets identified in Vienna and Western Germany.

(Jerusalem Post) – Austrian, German, and Spanish police were on high alert at cathedrals in several cities due to concerns that Islamists were planning a terrorist attack on Christmas or New Year’s Eve, with several suspects already arrested in Vienna and Germany, according to German reports.

According to the Bild, several suspects were arrested in the Ottakring district of Vienna, while another was arrested in Saarland, Germany.  The arrested suspects are Tajiks allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, the branch of ISIS in south-central Asia, according to the report.

Vienna Police noted in a press release that there is an “increased terror alert level” and “generally an increased risk in Austria during the Christmas holidays.”

“Since terrorist actors across Europe are calling for attacks on Christian events – especially around [Christmas Eve,] December 24 – the security authorities have increased the corresponding protective measures in public spaces in Vienna and the federal states,” Vienna Police said, adding that there would be increased patrols and surveillance during the holidays, with attention focused primarily on churches, religious events, and Christmas markets. (read more)

I would be remiss if I did not add context to this report, literal boots on the ground reporting, something that many U.S. readers might find of interest.

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While it is good news, excellent news, the Israeli and foreign ‘hostages’ are slowly being released by Hamas, the politics of the dynamic are abundantly clear.

Biden was under extreme political pressure to gain the release of “American” hostages held captive by Hamas and affiliates in Gaza as a result of the October 7th attack and kidnappings.  Prior to Joe Biden taking a victory lap for the release of 4-year-old Abigail Mor Edan, an Israeli-American dual citizen, all of the key players in the region made advanced notification of the impending release.

Qatari [think Muslim Brotherhood] Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Face the Nation the release was imminent. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan also made the same prediction, as did several people associated with Gaza relief efforts and the larger agenda to create the two-state solution for Palestinian and Israeli citizens.  In essence, politically Biden needed an American release, and that message was the driving force from Qatar to their allies in Hamas.  Abigail Mor Edan was released as a result.  Biden immediately took a victory lap.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden confirmed Sunday that the 4-year old American Abigail Mor Edan who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza is now free.  “She’s free and she’s in Israel now,” Biden told reporters Sunday from Nantucket, where he was spending Thanksgiving weekend with his family. (more)

The background effort is also very clear.  The aligned interests of the Muslim Brotherhood and the U.S. Biden administration is to maintain a gauntlet approach where the two-state solution is the only option for Israel, backing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a corner.

[…] “Abigail was among 13 hostages released today from Gaza under the brokered and sustained though intensive U.S. diplomacy. She is now safely in Israel. And we continue to press and expect for additional Americans will be released as well,” Biden said.

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