Dec 052022
 
 December 5, 2022  Posted by at 9:17 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,


Pablo Picasso Chair 1942

 

Elon Musk: Worse Than Hitler (Titania McGrath)
Elon Musk Says There Are More Smoking Guns To Come And He’s Not Suicidal (PM)
Twitter Staff to Face Congress for Censoring Hunter Biden Laptop Story (ET)
A Baseline Understanding Mostly Missing Behind the Twitter Discussion (CTH)
Six Degrees from James Baker: A Familiar Figure Reemerges (Turley)
Katie Hobbs’ Office Contacted Twitter To Censor Posts (PM)
US Republican House Leader Calls For Big Tech Investigation (RT)
EU Desire To Pay For Ukraine Will Ruin Europe For Generations – Orbán (RMX)
EU Must ‘Take Action’ Against US – von der Leyen (RT)
EU Should Sue US – Lawmaker (RT)
Withdrawal Of Russian Weapons Is Key To Nuclear Plant Deal – IAEA Chief (RT)
Italy Justifies Russian Gas Imports (RT)
China Slams US Stationing In Syria, Oil And Grain Looting As Illegal (AlM)
Alameda’s Caroline Ellison Spotted In NY, May Be About To Roll On SBF (ZH)
Database Shows 10,000% Increase In Cancer Reports Due To Covid Vaccines (ARR)
Scientist Who Worked At Wuhan Lab Says Covid Was Man-made Virus (NYP)
What Is The Next Thing That Will Hit Us? It Will Be Huge (Ugo Bardi)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rogan Willink

 

 

 

 

Phones

 

 

 

 

Robert Kennedy Jr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Only a fascist would seek to impose free speech on humanity.”

Elon Musk: Worse Than Hitler (Titania McGrath)

It is no exaggeration to say that Elon Musk’s annexation of Twitter is the most terrifying development in recent history. Only a fascist would seek to impose free speech on humanity. This is why there has been such a chorus of execration from left-wing commentators, celebrities and influencers. On the day that Musk seized control of Twitter, Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz noted that it was “like the gates of hell opened on this site tonight”. Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic wrote that there was “an apocalyptic feel to the ordeal”. But it was the Independent that really grasped the full gravity of this moment. Its headline read — “RIP Twitter, 2006-2022: Dead at the Hands of Elon Musk”. It is a testament to the cool-headed stoicism of left-wing journalists that they have managed not to overreact.

I also am trying my best to keep matters in perspective, but Musk’s takeover of Twitter is far worse than anything Hitler ever did. I do not approve of mass genocide, but it pales in comparison to providing a social media platform where Eddie Izzard might be misgendered. The whole point of Twitter is to ensure that the masses aren’t exposed to wild conspiracy theories. If tweets aren’t censored, people might start to think that Covid-19 could have originated from a lab in Wuhan, or that there was something dodgy on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Musk has argued that Twitter ought to be a place where all political viewpoints can be aired. But keeping people informed can have dire consequences. Democracy has no chance of working properly if people keep insisting on voting for the wrong candidates.

Like many on the left, I have decided to delete my Twitter account in protest. Musk won’t know what hit him. Without my wisdom on the platform, the company will soon collapse into oblivion. There will be an outcry, share prices will plummet, and Musk will come begging for me to return. But I shall stand firm. Come to think of it, maybe I should wait until next week to delete my account. I’ve got a book to sell.

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“Twitter doesn’t know what’s going on at Twitter,” Musk said. He also noted “it appears that Twitter falsely claimed that there was no election interference.”

Elon Musk Says There Are More Smoking Guns To Come And He’s Not Suicidal (PM)

“Well,” Musk said, “I’m somewhat leaving this up to Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss. But I think the natural thing would be to say like, ‘okay, what happened after the election? Y’know, Hunter Biden laptop stuff? This may sound bizarre, but Hunter Biden sounds kind of fun, to be honest.” [..] When asked what the next round of a Twitter Files drop would like like, he said “there are more smoking guns.” “Episode two,” he said, would cover information from after the 2020 president election. Speaking to ALX, whose account was only recently restored to the platform, Musk said that all requests from both the Biden campaign and the DNC to Twitter for the purpose of censoring individual users would be released.

In saying that he would release all the files, Musk reference Nelson Mandela, from his home country of South Africa, saying that he was undertaking something like a “truth and reconciliation.” “If you want reconciliation, there must be truth, so that’s the intention here, to just make it clear what was happening and provide transparency about the past, and in doing so, to build trust in the future,” Musk said. A big issue among many users was the use of the terms misinformation and disinformation, used by media outlets, social media moderators, and government officials to suppress contrary narratives and facts about Covid, vaccines, January 6, elections, voting, and other hot button issues.

He was asked about the situation where currently, the government are the “deciders” of what constitutes misinformation and disinformation. “It’s a big deal, I agree,” Musk said, “because the hard part of the situation is that if you don’t want to have government, and especially if they aren’t even an elected officials, maybe someone who is potentially a mid-level executive ministry is deciding this, who people don’t even know and was never elected, despite being a democratic country.” Others commented on his efforts to remove image of child exploitation from the site. “Twitter doesn’t know what’s going on at Twitter,” Musk said. He also noted “it appears that Twitter falsely claimed that there was no election interference.”

“I am definitely not going to be doing any open-air car parades.”

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Under oath, we may hope.

Twitter Staff to Face Congress for Censoring Hunter Biden Laptop Story (ET)

The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee said that Twitter staff involved in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 presidential elections will face Congress and testify about their actions. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the GOP ranking member on the Committee, made the remarks in a Friday appearance on Fox News after Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk dropped part one of the so-called “Twitter Files,” an expose of the inner workings of Twitter’s censorship machine. “Every employee at Twitter who was involved in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story will have an opportunity to come before Congress and explain their actions to the American people,” Comer told program host Sean Hannity.

Musk and independent journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday unveiled a series of internal Twitter communications that give insight into steps taken by staff at the social media platform around suppressing the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story. Republicans have long accused Twitter—and some media outlets—of suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story, which included reporting that bolstered claims that the president lied when he said he had no involvement in his son’s overseas business dealings. In order to suppress the Hunter Biden report, Twitter executives marked it as “unsafe,” limiting its spread and even blocking it from being directly shared via the platform’s direct message function, Taibbi said in comments on the disclosures.

He noted that such extreme restrictions were reserved for content such as child pornography. Messages between executives in Twitter’s communications and policy departments, shared by Taibbi in screenshots, show some confusion about the actions taken, with a communications executive writing: “I’m struggling to understand the policy basis for marking this as unsafe.” The disclosures show that both Democrats and Republicans had access to Twitter’s censorship system and each side lodged various requests and complaints with the social media platform’s staff. But because of Twitter employees’ predominantly left-leaning political convictions, Democrats had more avenues to press their case, Taibbi said.

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“What Obama and Holder did was take the preexisting system and retool it, so the weapons of government only targeted one side of the political continuum.”

A Baseline Understanding Mostly Missing Behind the Twitter Discussion (CTH)

Musk noted that in addition to Matt Taibbi he has given the Twitter files to Bari Weiss. However, the debate over what DC bureaucrats did -and are doing- from within the Biden administration, to censor speech, take down social media content and stop information adverse to their political interests, is a futile conversation without the full understanding of the current U.S. surveillance state. Some of the stage participants on the call with Mr. Musk have self-identified as targeted by the intelligence community, some are under active and ongoing investigation, yet they do not seem to have an understanding of what this U.S. social media surveillance system is. We cannot fight our way through the issues until we first realize what lies at the root of the problem.

Barack Obama and Eric Holder did not create a weaponized DOJ and FBI; the institutions were already weaponized by the Patriot Act. What Obama and Holder did was take the preexisting system and retool it, so the weapons of government only targeted one side of the political continuum. This point is where many people understandably get confused. Elevator Speech: (1) The Patriot Act turned the intel surveillance radar from foreign searches for terrorists to domestic searches for terrorists. (2) Obama/Biden then redefined what is a “terrorist” to include their political opposition. After 9/11/01 the electronic surveillance system that was originally created to monitor threats from abroad was retooled to monitor threats inside our country.

That is when all of our electronic ‘metadata’ came under federal surveillance. That inflection point, and the process that followed, was exactly what Edward Snowden tried to point out. What Barack Obama and Eric Holder did with that new construct was refine the internal targeting mechanisms so that only their political opposition became the target of this new national security system. The problems we face now as a country are directly an outcome of two very distinct points that were merged by Barack Obama. (1) The post 9/11 monitoring of electronic communication of American citizens; and (2) Obama’s team creating a fine-tuning knob that it focused on the politics of the targets. This is very important to understand as you dig deeper into this research outline.

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“For censors and political operatives in Twitter, Baker likely seemed like a “made man” for a company committed to systemic censorship.”

Six Degrees from James Baker: A Familiar Figure Reemerges (Turley)

As thousands of Twitter documents are released on the company’s infamous censorship program, much has been confirmed about the use of back channels by Biden and Democratic officials to silence critics on the social media platform. However, one familiar name immediately popped out in the first batch of documents released through journalist Matt Taibbi: James Baker. For many, James Baker is fast becoming the Kevin Bacon of the Russian collusion scandals. Baker has been featured repeatedly in the Russian investigations launched by the Justice Department, including the hoax involving the Russian Alfa Bank. When Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann wanted to plant the bizarre false claim of a secret communications channel between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, Baker was his go-to, speed-dial contact. [..]

The Bidens had long been accused of influence peddling, nepotism, and other forms of corruption. Moreover, the campaign was not denying that the laptop was Hunter Biden’s and key emails could be confirmed from the other parties involved. However, at the request of the “Biden team” and Democratic operatives, Twitter moved to block the story. It even suspended those who tried to share the allegations with others, including the White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who was suspended for linking to the scandal. Even inside Twitter, the move raised serious concerns over the company serving as a censor for the Biden campaign. Global Comms Brandon Borrman who asked if the company could “truthfully claim that this is part of the policy” for barring posts and suspending users. Baker quickly jumped in to support the censorship and said that “it’s reasonable for us to assume that they may have been [hacked] and that caution is warranted.”

Keep in mind that there was never any evidence that this material was hacked. Moreover, there was no evidence of Russian involvement in the laptop. Indeed, U.S. intelligence quickly rejected the Russian disinformation claim. However, Baker insisted that there was a “reasonable” assumption that Russians were behind another major scandal. Faced with a major scandal implicating a Joe Biden in the corrupt selling of access to foreign figures (including some with foreign intelligence associations), Baker’s natural default was to kill the story and stop others from sharing the allegations. The released documents may show why Twitter was so eager to hire Baker despite his role in the Russian collusion controversies. What likely would have been a liability for most companies seemed an actual draw for Twitter. For censors and political operatives in Twitter, Baker likely seemed like a “made man” for a company committed to systemic censorship.

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How to really rig a election. What a joke.

Katie Hobbs’ Office Contacted Twitter To Censor Posts (PM)

Arizona Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs is facing backlash as proof that her office requested for certain tweets to be censored came out of Elon Musk’s release of the “Twitter Files,” the internal documents showing collusion between government officials, campaign teams, and other like actors with the social media giant to silence political dissent. On January 7 2021, the communications director for Hobbs’ Secretary of State office emailed the Center for Internet Security (CIS), a 501 nonprofit cybersecurity organization that “makes the connected world a safer place for people, businesses, and governments through our core competencies of collaboration and innovation,” according to their website.

“I’m flagging this Twitter account for your review,” Hobbs’ comms director wrote to misinformation@cisecurity.org, linking to an unidentified profile. The subject line was “Election Related Misinformation.” The “misinformation” department at CIS then forwarded the message along to an employee at Twitter, writing “Please see this report below from the Arizona SOS office. Please let me know if you have any questions.” “Thank you,” Twitter wrote back. “We will escalate.” About seven hours later, a Twitter employee wrote again; “Thank you… both tweets have been removed from the service.” Copied on this response was an employee at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a branch under the federal government’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for an investigation into the matter, writing, “The SOS of AZ and Gov candidate, Katie Hobbs, used the power of the AZ SOS to collude w/ Twitter to unconstitutionally violate 1st Amendment rights of Americans for her own political gain.” “This is communism and Hobbs can not be governor. I’m calling for a Federal investigation,” she added.

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How much does Big Tech donate to the GOP?

US Republican House Leader Calls For Big Tech Investigation (RT)

The Republican Party must be ready to investigate some of the US’ largest tech firms, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has declared, in response to recently released documents showing how Twitter suppressed information damaging to Joe Biden in 2020. McCarthy said on Saturday that the incoming Republican majority “will get answers for the American people” about Twitter’s efforts to “silence the truth about Hunter Biden’s laptop just days before the 2020 presidential election.” This will happen when the GOP takes back control of the House of Representatives in January, McCarthy stressed.

Documents released by new Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Friday showed a top-down effort by the platform’s most senior staff to suppress the spread of a New York Post article alleging that Joe Biden took part in numerous pay-to-play schemes with his son’s foreign business contacts whilst he was vice president of the US. Twitter banned the sharing of links to the story, even in private messages. Facebook also took action to censor the Hunter Biden story, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg later saying he was instructed to by the FBI. Appearing on Fox News on Sunday, McCarthy called on the GOP to look beyond just Twitter.

“Now we need to start looking at Facebook, at Google. These now have become arms of the Democratic Party, arms of the Biden administration,” he said. The prospective Speaker also called for the investigation of dozens of former intelligence officials who falsely claimed that the Hunter Biden story had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” “[The Democrats] also used the intel community as well to lie to the American public. Should those people keep their clearances? Should those people still be allowed to have information?” he asked. “They used every arm not only of the government, but they had taken over businesses to lie to the American public,” McCarthy continued. “This is just the beginning. All this will be held up.”

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Europe has exactly one voice of reason.

EU Desire To Pay For Ukraine Will Ruin Europe For Generations – Orbán (RMX)

European policies which advocate mass joint borrowing among EU member states to further finance Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion of the country will have devastating consequences for the continent, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned on Friday. During an interview on the “Good morning, Hungary!” program on Kossuth Rádió, Orbán slammed the futility of the existing EU sanctions on Russian energy. He also said that “not only our children, but also our grandchildren will suffer the consequences” of the mass joint borrowing scheme proposed by the European Union to continue financing Ukraine’s defense; furthermore, we will also have to pay for the states that become insolvent along the way, he added.

The Hungarian leader reaffirmed his country’s opposition to Brussels financing the operation of the Ukrainian state through joint borrowing, suggesting instead that agreements with Ukraine should be made at the national level through bilateral agreements between individual countries. “We do not want the European Union to become a community or group of jointly indebted states instead of a community of cooperating member states,” Orbán told listeners. He highlighted that Ukraine has now found itself in a situation whereby it is incapable of functioning as an independent nation because of the ongoing conflict, and while it needs help from its neighbors and allies in the short-term, it is not for Brussels to speak on behalf of all member states.

“We accept the need for support, but we are not happy about it; if there was no war, there wouldn’t be this necessity either,” Orbán said. The Hungarian prime minister also discussed the ongoing EU sanctions on Russian energy, including the latest oil sanctions due to come into effect on Dec. 5, which Hungary is exempt from. He warned that any further extension of EU sanctions on Russian gas or nuclear energy would have “tragic consequences” for Hungary, and insisted his nation must be exempt from such a decision. Orbán lamented the failure of the ongoing energy sanctions, which he argued have not brought us “one millimeter closer” to the end of the war.

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In the same breath, she talks about a Russia war crimes tribunal. Relevancy is hard to come by…

EU Must ‘Take Action’ Against US – von der Leyen (RT)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Sunday that to be able to compete with the US’ government-subsidized green industry, the EU must “take action” and step up state aid to its own companies. Signed into law by President Joe Biden in August, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is – despite its name – a $738 billion spending package that allocates $391 billion toward green energy and climate-friendly industry projects, including $270 billion in tax incentives. Initially lauded by liberals on both sides of the Atlantic, von der Leyen now sees the act as a threat to Europe’s industry.

The IRA’s provision of tax breaks for consumers who buy American products, and manufacturers who produce these products in the US, could “lead to unfair competition, could close markets, and thus fragment critical supply chains,” she told a gathering of students in the Belgian city of Bruges. With these incentives on the one hand, and the EU’s struggles with supply chain bottlenecks and record energy costs on the other, the IRA could place European industry at a disadvantage, she continued. Competition between the US and EU “must respect a level playing field,” she declared. “We must take action to rebalance the playing field, where the IRA and other measures create distortions.” To that end, von der Leyen said that the EU must increase state aid to its own industries, and invest in renewable energy, while lobbying the US to “address some of the most concerning aspects” of the IRA.

Earlier on Sunday, the head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, Bernd Lange, said that pressing the US to rewrite the act is a waste of time, and that the EU should file a complaint with the World Trade Organization instead. While von der Leyen blamed the Europe-wide energy crunch on Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the EU’s own sanctions on Moscow impeded critical repair work along Russian-EU gas lines before deliveries were reduced. Moreover, the bloc pressed ahead with imposing a price cap on Russian oil on Saturday. On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is not planning to recognize the measure. He added that the government is currently carrying out a review of the situation.

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Look, you lost…

EU Should Sue US – Lawmaker (RT)

The EU should file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the controversial US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Bernd Lange, head of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee, told the Berliner Morgenpost news outlet on Saturday. “My assumption is that the negotiations between the EU and the US will not be able to help agree even on small changes in the implementation of the IRA. The basic structure of the IRA will remain in place. In this regard, I think it is necessary for the EU to quickly file a complaint with the WTO in the coming months,” the lawmaker said ahead of a meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council on Monday, at which the IRA package is expected to be discussed. He added that the lawsuit would help clarify “that the US’s actions are clearly not compatible with WTO regulations.”

The IRA is a $430 billion climate protection and social package passed by the US Congress in August. The package aims to help battle inflation and reduce energy prices, as well as tackling climate change. It offers generous tax breaks for US companies that invest in clean energy and significant subsidies for domestic electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy projects. The measure has sparked concerns in the EU, with many warning that the “protectionist” legislation may be “discriminatory” towards European companies. French President Emmanuel Macron has slammed the subsidies provision in the IRA as “super aggressive,” while German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has called for a “robust” response to the law from Brussels.

Meanwhile, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told the newspaper Journal du Dimanche that the legislation would cause a “competitive imbalance” between the EU and other buyers of US goods. He called for the creation of a “European sovereignty fund” which would support industrial projects within the bloc. Lange also suggested the EU should step up its support for domestic industry in the face of the US legislation. “We also have to examine whether and how we can reduce energy prices for our industry, as at the moment they are up to ten times higher than in the US,” he stated.

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Yeah, that’s gonna happen…

Withdrawal Of Russian Weapons Is Key To Nuclear Plant Deal – IAEA Chief (RT)

Any deal for the “protection” of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) will involve the withdrawal of Russia’s arms from it, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi has stated. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the site.Speaking to Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper on Friday, Grossi said that a deal to establish a ‘safe zone’ around the plant could be reached “by the end of the year.” The Ukrainian side is pushing for “the withdrawal of armaments” from the facility, Grossi continued, adding that such a pullback “would in any case be part of the general agreement.”

The largest nuclear power facility in Europe, the Zaporozhye plant was seized by Russian troops shortly after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February. The wider region of Zaporozhye, along with three other former Ukrainian territories, eventually joined Russia after holding referendums in September. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in October declaring Russian ownership over the plant. Moscow also stated last month that it is open to establishing a demilitarized “security zone” around it, as long as an international monitoring mechanism were put in place. Without such a mechanism, any agreement would be treated like “an empty sheet of paper” by Kiev, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna, said in November.

Russia has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian military of shelling the plant, and Moscow’s troops have thwarted numerous attempts by Ukraine to retake the facility. Last month, Russian security services said they had foiled a planned “terrorist attack” on the plant orchestrated by the Ukrainian government. Grossi would not say whether he thinks Russia will agree to pull back its weapons, saying only that “Russia is not against an agreement and the principle of plant protection.” The IAEA head added that he hopes to meet Putin, as well as Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, before a deal is agreed.

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Today the total ban goes into effect. Right.

Italy Justifies Russian Gas Imports (RT)

Italy is still reliant on Russian natural gas, which it continues to import despite calls in the EU for a ban, according to Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. In an interview with La Stampa daily, he said 250 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas entered Italy the previous day, including 90 mcm from Algeria, which has become the country’s “main supplier.” The minister added that 30 mcm are still coming from Russia, with the average daily volume from the sanctioned country reaching around 20 mcm. “Fortunately, another 25 million cubic meters come via Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline, about 10 million cubic meters from Norway, and 45 million cubic meters of liquefied gas load at our regasification terminals,” the energy minister explained.

He compared Italy’s energy transition plan to a “reversal of the hourglass that leads us to have to search in the South for the gas that previously came from the North and which in the future can also put Italy in a position of advantage over other European countries.” “We haven’t overturned the hourglass yet; Russia continues to have an interest in exporting gas and we are not in a condition of self-sufficiency. We’re not out of the tunnel yet,” he stressed.

According to Pichetto Fratin, Italy will make it through this winter, “but the concern remains strong because from May we have to fill the stocks to cover the next winter season, and this is a difficult undertaking.” Italy, along with other EU countries, has been battling record-high inflation, driven largely by rising energy costs. The country relies on imports for nearly 75% of its energy. At the start of this year, it was receiving 40% of its gas from Russia, but the imports later plunged due to sanctions on Moscow and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline. In October, energy group Eni said that Russia now accounts for only around 10% of Italy’s gas imports.

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“..the US’s smuggling activities have cost Syria more than $100 billion of losses.”

China Slams US Stationing In Syria, Oil And Grain Looting As Illegal (AlM)

The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, opened fire on the US’ illegal presence in Syria, shedding light on the continuous US looting of Syrian oil and grain and slamming the US occupation’s missile attacks on the country. In a press conference on December 2, 2022, addressing worldwide media outlets, Lijian said, “The US’s stationing of troops in Syria is illegal. The US’s smuggling of oil and grain from Syria is illegal. The US’s missile attack against Syria is also illegal.” Answering a question by the Chinese Shenzhen TV, whereby they asked the spokesperson to comment on the fact that “on the morning of December 1, the US forces sent 54 oil-laden tankers from northeastern Syria to its bases in northern Iraq, the latest shipment of stolen Syrian oil to be delivered,” Lijian said he noted the relevant reports, slamming the US occupation forces for leaving the Syrian people struggling to survive an anticipated harsh winter, as they continue to loot their oil and grain.


The Chinese diplomat also highlighted the financial losses of the continuous US looting and smuggling of Syrian oil, saying, “According to the official data from the Syrian government, between 2011 and the first half of 2022, the US’s smuggling activities have cost Syria more than $100 billion of losses.” According to Lijian, the US keeps violating international laws and rules, contrary to its claims that it advocates what it calls “the rules-based international order.” “When the US talks about ‘rules’, it is often just trying to find a pretext for serving its own interest and perpetuating its hegemony,” he stressed. The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson quoted former French Ambassador to the US Gérard Araud as saying that “when the Americans basically want to do whatever they want, including when it’s against international law, as they define it, they do it. And that’s the vision that the rest of the world has of this order.”

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“..continues his deluded daily media appearances while casually throwing his former alleged lover, co-worker and penthouse-mate, Caroline – and pretty much all other co-workers – under the bus..”

Alameda’s Caroline Ellison Spotted In NY, May Be About To Roll On SBF (ZH)

As Sam Bankman-Fried enters day six of his whirlwind media tour in which he makes one or more daily appearances – against the advice of his lawyers – in hopes of convincing someone that he was too dumb to be a criminal mastermind with billions in crypto in cold storage and in bank accounts in Dubai and Singapore (luckily all his wire transfers can be traced), also known as the Simple Jack defense… the weakest link in SBF’s defense was just spotted in a New York coffee shop, amid speculation she is preparing to blow up SBF’s entire defense strategy. According to Autism Capital, the former CEO of Alameda Capital (which as a reminder was ground zero of the FTX implosion after it blew up $8 billion in FTX client funds on trades gone horribly wrong), Caroline Ellison, was spotted at 8:15am this morning at the Ground Support Coffee on West Broad in SoHo Manhattan.


This, as AC notes, “would mean she is not in Hong Kong and is in NY not in custody.” A statement from a barista at the coffee shop confirmed that it was in fact Caroline. Why does this matter? Because while the prominent Democrat donor, who reportedly is “responsible for Biden being in office” and who – at least according to Musk – donated over $1 billion to democrats…continues his deluded daily media appearances while casually throwing his former alleged lover, co-worker and penthouse-mate, Caroline – and pretty much all other co-workers – under the bus by claiming he has no idea how $8 billion in FTX client funds just vaporized in SBF’s personal hedge fund, Alameda (implying that only Alameda’s CEO, Ellison, was responsible for the theft and fraud) Caroline is two-steps ahead of SBF and is already cooperating with members of the DOJ, and specifically the SDNY, which we previously reported is probing the collapse of FTX.

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VAERS.

Database Shows 10,000% Increase In Cancer Reports Due To Covid Vaccines (ARR)

LifeSite is reporting that a researcher who queried the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) discovered a 10,661.4% increase in cancer reports as a result of experimental Covid-19 gene-base vaccines as compared with all FDA-approved vaccines over the last 30 years. Brian Shilhavy, who is the editor of Health Impact News, traced his steps in the search providing links to documentation of his various findings. Having first queried the cases of ‘the most common cancers [that] had been reported following Covid-19 vaccines,’ he found “837 cases of cancer, including 88 deaths, 66 permanent disabilities, and 104 life threatening events.

He emphasized that even these numbers were not exhaustive, and the VAERS database could not handle the larger search of ‘ALL cancers listed in VAERS’ under this category of Covid inoculations. ‘Using the exact same search terms for cancer,’ he wrote, ‘I then searched ALL FDA-approved vaccines for the previous 30 years and found only 140 cases of cancer reported. ‘That result is for 360 months (30 years), whereas the 837 cases following the experimental Covid-19 vaccines were reported in just 20 months, since the roll out of the Covid-19 shots beginning in December of 2020,’ Shilhavy wrote. ‘That is an increase of 10,661.4%!’ he concluded.

Shilhavy, whose organization is located in Texas, also made note of the significant number of the cancer cases in the database that were of young people, from age 12 up through many young adults in their 20s. Last October, a Swedish lab study found that the spike protein associated with the Covid-19 illness, and its experimental vaccines, enters the nucleus of cells and significantly interferes with DNA damage-repair functions, compromising a person’s adaptive immunity and perhaps encouraging the formation of cancer cells.

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“..the non-profit helped the Wuhan lab put together the “best existing methods to engineer bat coronaviruses to attack other species” for many years.”

Scientist Who Worked At Wuhan Lab Says Covid Was Man-made Virus (NYP)

A scientist who worked at a controversial research lab in China has claimed that COVID was a man-made virus that leaked from the facility, according to a report. Andrew Huff, who worked for a New York-based non-profit that studied viruses, said COVID leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China two-plus years ago and blamed authorities for the “biggest US intelligence failure since 9/11,” Britain’s The Sun reported Saturday. The lab has been at the center of fierce debates about the origins of COVID, with both Chinese government officials and lab personnel denying that the virus leaked from the facility. Huff, an epidemiologist, said in his new book, “The Truth About Wuhan,” that the pandemic was the result of the US government’s funding of coronaviruses in China.

He said that China’s gain-of-function experiments were carried out with lax security, which led to a leak at the Wuhan lab. “Foreign laboratories did not have the adequate control measures in place for ensuring proper biosafety, biosecurity, and risk management, ultimately resulting in the lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” he said in his book, which was exclusively excerpted in the newspaper. Over the last two years, increasing evidence has suggested that the virus was leaked from the lab. Some experts believe that the virus could have escaped through an infected scientist or the improper disposal of waste from the facility.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, told a European politician that he feared that the virus escaped from the lab in “a catastrophic accident” in 2019, according to a report in the Daily Mail earlier this year. Huff is a former vice president of EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based non-profit that studies infectious diseases. The group has been studying different coronaviruses in bats for more than a decade with funding from the National Institutes of Health, and had forged close ties to the Wuhan lab. Huff, who worked at EcoHealth Alliance from 2014 to 2016, said that the non-profit helped the Wuhan lab put together the “best existing methods to engineer bat coronaviruses to attack other species” for many years.

Read more …

“Not only it will harm the evil Putin, but it will reduce oil prices, so everyone in the West should be happy.”

What Is The Next Thing That Will Hit Us? It Will Be Huge (Ugo Bardi)

Do you remember how many things changed during the past 2-3 years, and changed so unbelievably fast? There was a pattern in these changes: one element was that we were told they were just temporary, another that they were done for our sake. We were told that we needed “Two weeks to flatten the curve,” and that “the sanctions will cause the Russian economy to collapse in two weeks,” and many more things. Then, the world would return to normal. Instead, the result was a “new normal,” not at all like the old one. Now, the obvious question is “what next?” More exactly, “what are they going to hit us with, next time?” There is this idea that there may be a new pandemic, a new virus, or the old one returning. But, no. They are smarter than that — so far they have always been one step, maybe two, ahead of us.

They are masters of propaganda, they know that propaganda is all based on memes and that memes have a finite lifetime. Old memes are like old newspapers, they are not interesting anymore. A particular bugaboo can’t scare people for too long, and the idea of scaring us with a pandemic virus is past its usefulness stage. They may have probed us with the “monkeypox” pandemic, and they saw that it didn’t work. It was obvious anyway. So, now what? Let me suggest one possible new way to hit us. You may have heard of it but, so far, it was supposed to be something marginal, not designed to create another “new normal.” But it may. It is huge, it is gigantic, it is arriving. It is the price cap on Russian oil. The idea is that a cartel of countries, mainly Western ones, will agree on prohibiting the import of Russian oil unless it is priced at less than $60 per barrel.

It will also make it more difficult for Russia to export oil abroad even to countries that do not subscribe to the agreement. This idea is, as usual, promoted as a way to help us. Not only it will harm the evil Putin, but it will reduce oil prices, so everyone in the West should be happy. But will it actually work? Unlikely, to say the least, and it is probable that the promoters know that very well. Think about that: it had never happened during the past hundred years that a cartel of countries had intervened to force a certain oil price worldwide. Even during the famed “Oil Crisis” of the 1970s, OPEC never did what it is often accused of having done, fixing a high oil price. OPEC can only set production quotas or sanction certain countries, but it has no power, and never had power, on prices, which are set by the international market.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Maajid George Webb

 

 

Cryptome

 

 

Vivaldi Accordeon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1599380903830048768

 

 

Bird colors
https://twitter.com/i/status/1599356266102411264

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle December 5 2022

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 86 total)
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  • #122645

    Pablo Picasso Chair 1942   • Elon Musk: Worse Than Hitler (Titania McGrath) • Elon Musk Says There Are More Smoking Guns To Come And He’s Not Sui
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle December 5 2022]

    #122646
    Germ
    Participant

    Suck on this, baby!

    “Detection of Messenger RNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Human Breast Milk

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2796427

    We are going to witness, if not already, the collapse of our healthcare systems.

    I have a close friend currently in hospital.
    Three weeks ago she gave birth to her first baby – 10 weeks prematurely.
    The doctors told her that her umbilical cord was “calcified” and they had to perform an emergency C-section.

    Well, well, well ….
    “These placentas are calcified” – https://rumble.com/v1y60t0-dr.-ryan-cole-says-obgyns-are-sending-him-placentas-from-vaxxed-mothers-to-.html

    She’s fully death-vaxxed and recently “boosted”.
    And she’s now so excited that she’s able to pump her own breast milk to feed her baby with.
    The madness won’t end.

    #122647
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    I live a life of great luxury.

    Water comes out of taps whenever I want water. Cold or hot. I have stores of food that I can heat or cook electrically, as desired.

    When I work outside -which I do a lot- there are always birds to entertain me. Mostly sparrows and starlings as permanent residents, with other species such as chaffinches, swifts, fantails and blackbirds visit. Very occasionally, a bellbird and magpies.

    Starlings are nesting in the soffit at the moment, and they get very alarmed if I am nearby: much squawking because they have youngsters to feed and they do not want to reveal the location of their nest. After five minutes of squawking and frantic pacing along the roof, the urge to feed to young overcomes the fear factor.

    Swifts swoop over the stream and catch insects in the air. The stream continues to flow steadily

    There are few nasty creatures -no snakes or deadly spiders or fire ants or hornets- around here. Most of the nasty creatures are about 1.7 metres tall and are bipedal.

    I harvested the first of the new season strawberries a couple of days ago, and blackcurrants. today.

    Much fruit is forming on many trees -apples, plums, pears- but some stone fruit trees have been hit terribly by curly leaf… very bad in the district this year for some reason… wiping out most of the crop on several trees.

    Young fejoa trees are covered with blossom for the first time, and that portends a good harvest.

    Young grape vines are also looking very promising, with dozens of fruit bodies forming as they grow a centimetre a day.

    The sunflowers I grew last summer resulted in hundreds of seeds. So this year I have many dozens of sunflower plants coming along nicely and anticipate getting several kilos of seeds.

    One thing I am very short of is time, which is why my day often starts before 6am and ends around 11pm.

    With criminals and clows running the country and making everything worse by the day, I anticipate the system falling over some time in the next three or four months. As i said to a couple yesterday, what’s coming will be worse than the Great Depression.

    I am far better prepared than most, and can collect water and boil it as necessary without electricity. I have a substantial stock of food and increasing supplies of home produce. I even purchased a fishing rod and tackle recently but have had no time to experiment along those lines. (The nearest beach around 6 kilometres from here, easy cycling distance).

    The experimental solar oven certainly works but needs modification to improve efficiency.

    Played drums in the studio recently as others played ukulele. There’s a grand piano and a cello available to play, and electric guitar.

    I’ll get round to playing my own musical instruments and doing more art once I have the vital projects completed.

    I get intelligent discussion with friends and on TAE.

    I haven’t watch television in over 18 months, Don’t miss it at all. DVDs are good. Catching up on many classics I missed first time round or were in vogue before I was born.

    There are no indications of any intelligence anywhere in government, neither central nor local: just incessant sabotage and lies. And the sabotage carried out by politicians and bureaucrats is very effective in destroying everything of value in what is left of the community. That’s why we are building our own community, as we wait for the politicians and bureaucrats to destroy themselves after destroying everything else.

    .

    #122648
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    I finally got it; critical thinking skills no longer work; because generally, “we” don’t have the “time” to do the work that critical thinking skills require…
    Time to slow down a bit?
    Nah; that’s not fun or emotionally rewarding……..
    Anybody got any questions?
    Yeah; I didn’t think so…………

    #122649
    oxymoron
    Participant

    I got terrible leaf curl in my orchard on the peaches and even some bad sap sucking on the cherry leaves – everything else is golden and similar to yours AFKTT. Building my music studio too. Attended a big pre-christmas wrap up of my local Untermenschen unjabbed yesterday and generally well placed and ready to chill more too.

    There is no shortage of cognitive dissonance out there but what can you do?

    Keep on keeping on.

    #122650
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “US Intelligence Chief Predicts ‘Reduced Tempo’, Waning Morale of Russian Forces Entering Winter”

    Key points:
    Russia doesn’t fight in winter.
    Russia is losing.
    Russia has no tanks, shells or bombs.
    Putin did everything wrong and everyone hates him.
    Ukraine will be in Moscow soon.

    Okay then, we’ll see! When you’re wrong, we can fire you, right? “17 Agencies said!”

    Whose war machine IS going to win this? Why Europe’s of course! By not accepting the oil their own enemy is selling them! Schmartz! Well, nevermind, China will take it all and be warm and dry as they invade Taiwan.

    Question: do wars eat oil? Where does the diesel for Ukraine and now their million new home generators come from?

    But as Europe has no oil or gas, they’ll have to make peace, right? “EU Is Erecting Russian War Crimes Tribunal: “Russia Must Pay”

    In the “World’s Greatest Slow Learners” category: “Norway & Germany Ask NATO To Protect Underwater Gas Pipelines”

    But I imagine this is a shakedown where IF they pay NATO mo’ money, nothing dere should a’happen to their beautiful pipeline.

    “Utterly False”: Musk Blasts New York Times for Hate Speech Report on Twitter: “This reporting is such garbage,”

    BirdTheWord
    https://sinfest.xyz/btphp/comics/2022-12-05.jpg

    Garbage? Totally false? I guess the NY Times should know. I don’t remember the last time they told the truth. Incubator babies? Yellowcake? WMD and ties to Al Qaeda? RussiaRussiaRussia? Pulitzer Prize?

    Speaking of VPs speaking up, whistleblowing about Covid, yet everyone believes the “goodness of their hearts” an “Accident” and the third intern in Marketing summer camp: “Former EcoHealth VP Says Covid “Man Made”, Escaped From Lab”

    Ya don’t say… Nope. Having the literal check stubs from Fauci himself didn’t mean nuttin’ I was framed, I tell ya! But some third intern said “No it isn’t” so we’ll all believe little Brittany instead.

    In a chilling, excruciating interview, former Pfizer medical patent expert reviews the 10,000 pages of documents she read. They’re all official and public. Here’s what she found: https://usawatchdog.com/everybody-knew-cv-19-vax-was-a-criminal-bioweapon-karen-kingston/

    Far too much to go over but the medical creators said, “Hey this Covid is waaaay worse than the one in the wild” and “Wow, those mRNA creations of this far worse Covid are completely immune to all the human antibodies!” “Let’s turn this into a drug to inject in people so they can 1) Have a worse Covid and 2) not develop any antibodies to it!” According to THEM. Written on paper for the FDA.

    Yeah, that’s just one. Try the HIV or lipid nanoparticles parts. You’d think it’s hyperbole, but we have the Pentagon medical papers from the troops.

    “Rate Hikes: The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Declines” –Powell

    This is inexplicable. Despite all direct warnings from Powell, “the market” thinks he will pivot with everyone buying and the Dow at 30,000 and over the 200DMA. When has that ever happened? The Fed pivots AFTER they break something. That is, S&P 666 and Banks collapsing as liquidity halts worldwide. I guess 200-year cycles take longer and all that.

    “Germany bans farmers” They sure hate food! Well people get what they ask for. I’ll eat theirs.

    “Twitter Staff to Face Congress for Censoring Hunter Biden Laptop Story (ET)”

    Why? Congress is the one who told them to censor it.

    “Barack Obama and Eric Holder did not create a weaponized DOJ and FBI; the institutions were already weaponized by the Patriot Act J Edgar Hoover.” Oh wait: long before him too. About 3 months after they were invented.

    “2) Obama/Biden Bush then redefined what is a “terrorist” to include their political opposition.”

    His political opposition were Quakers and Hippies. Just like LBJ. Thankfully the Dixie Chick rebellion was conquered and suppressed. They were unarmed, just like J6, so we assumed they were a military coup.

    “Katie Hobbs’ Office Contacted Twitter To Censor Posts (PM)”

    Legal evidence of election interference. Therefore, we ignore it. If they erase all the voting machines while under law and subpoena, we ignore it. If she’s in the counting rooms, talking to the counters, we ignore it.

    “Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the site.”

    Where one side is shooting bombs straight up…then down on themselves. I mean by the reporters who keep self-owning like this. Over and over. I shot myself! That’s reasonable and smart and all good people believe it!

    “ Italy Justifies Russian Gas Imports Not Dying. (RT)”

    Brilliant! However the rest of Europe is too stupid to follow along.

    “China Slams US Stationing In Syria, Oil And Grain Looting As Illegal (AlM) “

    Mercenary army, on behalf of oil sheikhs. Gotta protect that upcoming pipeline!

    “ Alameda’s Caroline Ellison Spotted in NY, May Be about to Roll on SBF (ZH)”

    Sam Bank Fraud already rolled on her. Does anyone believe they were lovers? I don’t, and I don’t see it.

    Besides, that’s weird: I thought we held all Federal suspects for two years in solitary confinement without trial. How come she gets special treatment? Just because her father’s best friend is SEC regulator Gensler who arranged the whole thing and created special loopholes for them?

    “Tedros … feared that the virus escaped from the lab in “a catastrophic accident” in 2019,”

    Exactly in time for the election, and within a month of saving the financial system we had this giant “Accident”. Uh-huh. But I am a coincidence theorist and that is not suspicious at all. Pandemics exactly replacing the seasonal flu numbers always appear on command to benefit the exact people in power. …Or at least always have during my lifetime.

    “Then, the world would return to normal.”

    They specifically advertised the world would never return to normal. And why not? How would they know? That was the tell. They both PLANNED and INTENDED for a re-set and Build Back Better. Many things change over the years but I’ve never heard anyone predict it before unless it was a plan.

    (Like when a small building fire is used to begin a 100-year worldwide oil war against Muslims? But carefully excludes Saudi Arabia?)

    When governments meddle with prices, the results are always bad.”

    Because Capitalism always exists. It’s the baseline of human reality. “I own stuff and will trade it for your stuff.” So they can outlaw humanity and human reality. But it doesn’t go anywhere: the governments fall instead. This is also the basis of our Bill of Rights. People WILL speak, they WILL believe, they WILL defend themselves, they WILL differ in opinions. Outlawing it is just stupid and the Government that establishes itself in opposition to “Nature”, i.e. #Reality, will fail. So by contract law they are prohibited from it. They can’t help themselves though. What is #Evil, the Dark Side? The short cut, so you don’t have to have real competency in life: just use violence. They’re Trust Fund kids: it goes without saying they have no competency, so how else can they win?

    “Increasing oil prices…is the very minimum that can happen…Europe might lose access to oil completely, and go dark.”

    Gosh I hope so. They might knock it off. Nothing else seems to stop their war mongering and colonialism.

    One reason he doesn’t say, and the most obvious: IT’S TO KILL EVERYONE. Why? Because in winters of disorder, more people are harder to control and the ratio of slaves to slavemasters is too high. Kill half the slaves and your power becomes far more assured, if not great. Also the violence gives reason for your draconian rules and responses. No violence, no premise for lockdowns and top-down control. If I were them, this is exactly what I would do. It’s simple, broad, tested, and foolproof. That is, because it’s a spectrum, it gives you widest latitude for action while constantly curing your problem (uppity people) without having a sort of dangerous flashpoint. They self-select, so you self-shoot them.

    Worked every other time in human history, why not now? Because you can’t conceive of people being that evil?
    Evil? It’s just Logical. “Evil” usually is.

    Grapes are fabulous and have everything going for them: Can live in dry (or wet), live forever, produce lavishly, everybody likes them, can be used as is or preserved. Grows as shelter or in strange, narrow places. There’s nothing not to like. You can even avoid yearly pruning although you really shouldn’t.

    Next up: bees.

    Bee shelters:
    DaleHeadFarm
    https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yC3Os8Z3hnY/W2RRNSoxsbI/AAAAAAABH84/2k1ri3uyF4siKE12DscehFXW9bIJa_hYgCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_1434.JPG (Dale Head Farm)

    People were saying winters are too hard on them, but what were they doing about it?

    #122652
    Oroboros
    Participant

    • EU Must ‘Take Action’ Against US – von der Leyen (RT)

    As Lira refers to her, “the German Horse girl”, Ursula Always Lyin, sure is tilting at windmills (pun intended) when she bahbahbah bleats about the Empire of Lies sodomizing Eurotardistan® with the Giant Sucking Sound of re-industrializing itself by luring Eurotard businesses into Vampire Squid’s waiting Blood Funnel.

    hahahaha!

    She really is the turd in the Eurotard punch bowl.

    The totally tapped out Eurotardistan® is going to do what? Print fiat to incentivize their own industries to stay in cold, dark, over priced, has been permanently uncompetitive in the world market place rump continent!

    Aces Horse Girl!

    .

    #122653
    zerosum
    Participant

    TWITTER Free speech operating guidelines
    Set up discussion categories/labels, for tweets –

    If you are not interested in a certain topic, then don’t go there

    There are many working models on the web.

    ie War, Ukraine, NATO, Russia, Election Related, politics, tinfoil, science, for sale, for rent, UFO, FTX, Covid, Assange. hate speech, coincidence, etc.

    ———-
    @ afewknowthetruth
    I Ilike your description of life
    ——–
    Ukraine
    Demand destruction
    No sanitation
    No water
    Homeless
    Own nothing save pets, useless toys
    Cold
    No energy slaves

    ——–

    #122654
    zerosum
    Participant

    https://t.me/readovkanews/48269
    Retaliatory strikes 3.0 – summary as of 16:30 Moscow time 05.12.2022

    2.5 weeks after the last retaliatory strikes on Ukraine, rocket fire on the territory of Ukraine resumed. Probably, this was facilitated by today’s droneraidson the diaghilevo airfields (Ryazan region) and Engels (Saratov region). Russian rockets have already caused problems with electricity, water and gas in several major cities.

    💥At the moment it is known about arrivals in:

    — Kirovohrad Oblast
    — Odessa
    — Odessa Oblast
    — Zaporizhia
    — Zaporizhia Oblast
    — Vinnytsia
    Oblast — Kharkiv Oblast
    (Lozova and Volchansk Raions)

    ⚠️Affected infrastructure facilities in:

    — Odessa Oblast (Odessa CHPP-2, electric substation)
    — Vinnytsia Oblast
    — Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
    — Zaporizhia Oblast
    — Kirovohrad Oblast (Kirovohrad CHPP)
    — Kyiv Oblast
    — Zaporizhia

    ⚡️Blackout in:

    — Sumy Oblast
    — Mykolaiv
    — Kharkiv Oblast (partial blackout)
    — Zhytomyr (partial blackout)
    — Odessa (partial blackout)

    💧Problems with water supply in:

    – Zaporozhye
    – Zhytomyr
    – Odessa
    – Sumy

    In addition, due to problems with electricity, there are serious delays in trains throughout the country.
    t.me/readovkanews
    /48269

    #122655
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Only a fascist would seek to impose free speech on humanity.
    Is it certain that this line didn’t get pulled from 1984?

    #122656
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    It’s comforting to know that the global crime wave is just due to incompetency and opportunism. Imagine how bad the world energy, food and health situations might be if it was an organized effort by career criminals to collapse civilization, causing loss of civilizations’ capacity to support technology dependent populations. Why, world population could drop by 95%! Sure glad that nobody in powerful positions wants that to happen and is so working so hard to prevent it.

    Incidentally, my myocarditis seems to be under control, and my doctor tells me with a few more chemo sessions my relapsed multiple cancers should go back into remission. I’m so glad for taking that last booster, too, and can only imagine how much worse this last bout of Covid might have been without it.

    #122657
    John Day
    Participant

    That article by Sundance is the core problem we face in our bureaucratic structure in the west.

    A Baseline Understanding Mostly Missing Behind the Twitter Discussion – Govt Influence Over Social Media Influence and the Surveillance State

    After days of research and meetings in DC during 2020; amid a town that was serendipitously shut down due to COVID-19; I found a letter slid under the door of my room in a nearly empty hotel with an introduction of sorts. The subsequent discussions were perhaps the most important. After many hours of specific questions and answers on specific examples, I realized why our nation is in this mess. That is when I discovered the fourth and superseding branch of government, the Intelligence Branch.

    I am going to explain how the Intelligence Branch works: (1) to control every other branch of government; (2) how it functions as an entirely independent branch of government with no oversight; (3) how and why it was created to be independent from oversight; (4) what is the current mission of the IC Branch, and most importantly (5) who operates it.

    The Intelligence Branch is an independent functioning branch of government, it is no longer a subsidiary set of agencies within the Executive Branch as most would think. To understand the Intelligence Branch, we need to drop the elementary school civics class lessons about three coequal branches of government and replace that outlook with the modern system that created itself.

    The Intelligence Branch functions much like the State Dept, through a unique set of public-private partnerships that support it. Big Tech industry collaboration with intelligence operatives is part of that functioning, almost like an NGO. However, the process is much more important than most think. In this problematic perspective of a corrupt system of government, the process is the flaw – not the outcome.

    There are people making decisions inside this little known, unregulated and out-of-control branch of government that impact every facet of our lives.

    #122658
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    If it wasn’t so hard to think and behave properly we would be a lot better at it. I think.

    #122659
    John Day
    Participant

    Thanks for more COVID-context , Pureblood-Germ.

    #122660
    John Day
    Participant

    @AFKTT and Oxymoron:
    It’s good to hear of your spring gardening and communitarian activities, Brothers.

    #122661
    teri
    Participant

    I’m going to post this entire article here, since some people can’t access RT any more.

    ************************

    US funded Chinese lab for intelligence op – whistleblower
    America’s technology transfer to China resulted in the Covid-19 pandemic, a former EcoHealth Alliance executive claims

    US-funded bioresearch on foreign soil appears to be a “giant intelligence operation” for assessing biowarfare capabilities, according to a whistleblower. Collecting and tinkering with bat coronaviruses in China ultimately resulted in the accidental release of SARS-CoV-2, the infection that causes Covid-19, he believes.

    Dr. Andrew Huff once worked as the vice president of EcoHealth Alliance, an NGO involved in funneling US taxpayer dollars to bioresearch projects around the world. One of them, which was conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), was the origin of Covid-19 pandemic, and both Beijing and Washington were involved in a massive cover-up, he claimed. On Saturday, British tabloid The Sun reported on the allegations, which Huff has detailed in an upcoming book.

    According to his revelations, in 2009, EcoHealth Alliance launched a program called PREDICT. Funded by foreign aid agency USAID, it was aimed at collecting samples of potentially harmful diseases throughout the world, ostensibly to prepare humanity for potential outbreaks. The Wuhan lab was one of the foreign partners of the program, studying coronaviruses in bats, Huff said. 

    According to the whistleblower, who has a background in bioweapons threat assessment for the US military, the PREDICT program was not collecting the data that it should have, but appeared to be an intelligence operation for assessing foreign biolab capabilities. 

    Huff was also involved in assessing a 2014 funding proposal for gain-of-function research at the WIV. The work was funded through EcoHealth Alliance by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Gain-of-function is the modification of pathogens to enhance them in various potential ways, including transmissibility. The rationale is that scientists can study new strains and find ways to stop them before similar adaptations emerge naturally.

    “EcoHealth Alliance … was responsible for the development of the agent SARS-CoV-2 during my employment at the organization,” Huff alleged. He believes that the virus was created at the Wuhan lab with technologies it received from the US and accidentally leaked into the general population.

    “It could be reasonably argued that EcoHealth Alliance set up China to fail,” he said, claiming that the Chinese institute suffered from shortage of qualified personnel and that US government officials were well aware of it.

    The ‘lab leak’ theory – that the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese lab – was popularized by then-US President Donald Trump, who made the allegation amid a trade war with China. Major US media organizations and tech platforms initially labeled it as ‘disinformation’ and tried to suppress the theory from public discourse.

    The World Health Organization investigated the origins of Covid-19 and concluded that natural evolution was the most likely explanation. Beijing also says accidental transmission from animals to humans is the most plausible theory, blasting the ‘lab leak’ allegations as ‘lies’.

    https://www.rt.com/news/567682-bioresearch-intelligence-operation-wuhan/

    #122662
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    My earliest formal introduction to the Art of Darkness (spying) was a book called, “The Spy and His Masters” [Christopher Felix, 1963]. Fascinating stuff, and largely true, but there was something amiss about it. I couldn’t put my finger on what was the issue, but the unresolved misgiving proceeded to rankle my mind for the next 50 years.

    Then about a year and half ago it struck me. Not quite ‘right out of the blue’, but nonetheless a realization that was so unexpected that the result was much the same. It gave me real, and serious, pause.

    The sticking point was in the title, “A Spy and his MASTERS.” Hold on just a sec, it occurred to me, how could a spy’s “masters” be anything other than spies themselves? Because if they were NOT masterful spies themselves then the spies who they thought were loyal “employees”, could easily fool them and run the show (which is what being a spy is totally about) without the so-called “Master” being aware that they (not he) were the ones actually in charge.

    Ipso facto, the top guy is a spy. And a good one. Which is not good.

    #122663
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Dr D
    “I own stuff and will trade it for your stuff.”
    Nice!
    However, in more likely scenario, that I observed in a last few decades but is often dismissed by the promoters of the fairy tale, one side would have said:
    “Yes, but I see you desperate,so I SET THE PRICE OF YOUR STAFF.”
    That is called a “fair market pricing”, starting where one side offers a labor then quickly branches into any other type of exchange.
    Nikola Tesla to Edison:
    “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

    #122664
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    And then Edison said to Tesla, “You should compare your bank account to mine.”

    #122665
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Slight revision / addendum to my post about Spy Masters.

    Ipso facto, the top guy is a spy. And the top spy acknowledges no Master.

    #122666
    The Markster
    Participant

    Thanks for the link to the excellent CTH piece on the Intelligence Branch. The context and background going back to the Patriot Act, then politicizing things under Obama, and the gem about Trump appointments getting derailed by the Senate SSCI put a lot of pieces into place. Obama was simply adding a distinct Chicago gangster vibe to what Bush started. Hope and change indeed.

    Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is a perfect example of the criminality in question, a man whose entire career boils down to doing one thing while saying another as he gets filthy rich off the spoils (e.g. his BS about standing up for cheap drug prices for seniors and internet privacy, when in fact he diligently works to undermine both on the SCCI and through championing Medicare Part D). And just re-elected by a landslide! Winning!

    #122667
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    I think it’s a hoot (in a very dark way) that so many people who make a living by diligently conspiring (in groups large and small) to treat other less “developed” or powerful folk like cattle just can’t get it through their thick skulls that somebody else might actually be doing PRECISELY the same thing to them.

    #122668
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Professional lying, in other words lying often and well, is an enormous industry. Maybe the biggest of them all.

    #122669
    Bishko
    Participant

    Coming Headline:

    “Italy not buying Russian gas! Top officials in Italy today claim that the gas being imported is Italian gas.” ‘The moment we paid for it, or decided to pay for it, or possibly, maybe receive it, it became Italian gas, no matter the source!’ We are still complying with all the EU imposed Russian sanctions!”

    #122670
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Today’s Yogi tea tag suggestion: One who brings happiness to others will find it.

    Relevant song: And I Thank You!

    ***

    Last night at the grocery store, I recognized a homeless dude whom I’d helped out a bit a year or two ago. He and his little terrier still looked strong and healthy. Terrier had a new winter coat. His clothes looked well enough. He still had that manic chip on his shoulder of a psychological misfit. Made me happy to see them looking no worse for the wear. I told him I’d be back from the store in a bit with some stuff for him.

    He wasn’t there when I got back. One doesn’t stand outside a Fred Meyers entrance for long before security runs you off.

    I walked around the corner but found no homeless dude and dog.

    Returning to the storefront where my wife was to pick me up, I saw another homeless dude rummaging through the garbage looking for cashable recyclables and stale food. I gave him the sack with paper towels, roast chicken, potato bread, and peanut butter cookies, and a $5 bill.

    It was so easy for me. Meant so much to him. I walked away wondering who received the greater blessing.

    The Big Picture is unsolvable and dire. I feel no reason to believe we’ll fix it or that our efforts to collectively do so will make it anything but worse. But, like I explained to someone last week, I have two social modes: Let me smile and be kind to you, or get the fuck away from me.

    I left with a smile and the usual tears, clutching something-something Christmas to me like a child’s teddy bear. All we’ve got is all we’ve got, and it seems so inadequate. But it’s something. It’s certainly something more than whatever satisfaction we get from trying to convince each other that we know What’s REALLY Happening, or arguing with each other over what is the One True Reason why humanity is so good at hurting itself and anything within strike range.

    Something-something Xmasy music:

    Buxtehude

    ***

    #122671
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Never switch horses in the middle of the stream (unless it is drowned dead in a flash flood and laying on top of you).

    #122672
    jb-hb
    Participant

    US Intelligence Chief Predicts ‘Reduced Tempo’, Waning Morale Of Russian Forces Entering Winter

    “Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has revealed the United States intel community’s current assessment that it expects the intensity of the Ukraine-Russia war to wane going into the winter months, only to ramp-up again during counteroffensives in the spring.”

    “She further assessed that while the cold winter months will have a greater impact on Russians’ morale…”

    so according to our Director of National Intelligence:
    1.) Russians are demoralized by winter in their own country. Not used to it, apparently.
    2.) The proper time for launching an offensive in Ukraine is in the Spring

    gotcha

    I guess she wants to comment about a mechanized land war in Ukraine without reading anything about the most recent mechanized land war in The Ukraine?

    Just pick a German general’s memoirs. Gudarian, Manstien, whoever. She’d get the stories of entire trucks, tanks, halftracks, horse and cart teams, etc sinking below the surface into 15 foot deep mud. She would see every general referring to Fall and Spring as Mud Season and mentioning a halt to offensive operations. She might even read about a bunch of winter offensives that were launched by both sides once the ground hardened in the Winter.

    But she thinks operations will be suspended UNTIL Spring? UNTIL Mud Season?

    Why would she lie about what is likely to occur this Winter or why would she keep herself this ignorant on something she chooses to speak on?

    “Or does he at some point recognize that he’s incapable of doing what it is he intended to originally and sort of downscale what it is that he’s willing to accept?” – Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines

    I too was wondering how Putin could conceive of accomplishing any military objectives in The Ukraine with triple to quadruple the forces as originally deployed and with The Ukraine’s infrastructure, hardware, and manpower seriously depleted as compared to Feb 2022. Surely, Putin is practicing the tactics of defeat.

    It’d be nice if the Director would at least tell us what he was planning to do, so we can gauge his degree of failure at it.

    “She further assessed that while the cold winter months will have a greater impact on Russians’ morale, she hasn’t seen the Ukrainian side lost their will, despite devastating missile attacks on the national energy grid meant to impose additional collective suffering.”

    If Russia has tons of power and heat and Ukraine does not have much of any through the winter, the Russians will be more greatly comparatively demoralized. And it won’t occur to the Ukrainians that they had water, light, heat, roads, trains, electricity, sewers, and internet for 8+ months, right up until the Kerch and Nordstream incidents. They will draw no conclusions from this. Gotcha.

    “Additionally she underscored that Putin is at this point more keenly aware of Russian forces’ “lack of performance and the fact that they did not accomplish more” but yet still may not be fully accepting of “just how challenged they are” – particularly the poor performance of ammo supply and logistics lines.”

    with a continual hail of missiles and MLRS rockets for 10 months along with daily reports that Russia Has Run Out Of Ammunition for 10 months, Russia’s major setback is ammo supply and logistics lines. THIS is the thing they are “particularly” poor with? Everything else, they’re doing EVEN BETTER?!??!?

    Who is this even for? Who cares if average Americans and Europeans think Russia prefers to launch offensives in the Spring, has bad logistics, has worse morale than Ukraine, can’t handle Winter? Why even bother saying this garbage? Is anyone even listening?

    Why wait to say all this so close to when a Winter offensive would start rolling? It could start THIS WEEK depending on ground conditions, with her “analysis” still fresh in everyone’s mind. Is she TRYING to discredit her agency?

    #122673
    Noirette
    Participant

    Afewk posted: (…) When the Taliban began discouraging poppy planting and harvesting, that really was the last straw for the criminal gang that controls America, and they commenced their futile war on the anti-drug Taliban. The pretext for the initial attack was ‘women’s rights’, with a bit of harbouring ‘terrorists’ thrown in.

    Imho, no, not really … as the Taliban did not discourage poppy planting. They destroyed x area poppy fields because prices had sunk desperately low, caused by a glut. Later they expanded somewhat, while prices rose slowly.

    From Brookings, long, sept. 2021:

    “The Taliban’s 2000 ban on opium poppy cultivation was an isolated and likely unsustainable policy move by the Islamist regime. In the post-Taliban era decreases in poppy cultivation and opiate production that periodically took place over the previous two decades have largely been the result of the saturation of global and local drug markets, poppy crop disease, inauspicious weather such as drought, or temporary coercive measures…”

    https://brook.gs/3UCQDWi

    Heh, sounds like even making excuses for the Taliban, by dragging in many factors (crop disease, etc.) while the motivation was purely financial.

    There was no ‘last straw’, the US, the Taliban, and all others knew this trade would continue, via perhaps some different routes, markets, refineries (mostly in Pakistan), profit margins, etc.

    How Opium profits the Taliban by G. Peters, 2009 is interesting. (Haven’t re-read it, so ?)

    https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/taliban_opium_1.pdf

    The real scandal is that this agri. crop could not be made legal (as many, incl. the UN, pushed for.) Afgh. could have been the no. 1 producer of legal medecines based on the poppy. The US opposed it.

    #122674
    Germ
    Participant

    New Zealand hospitals are overwhelmed with formerly healthy people, poisoned by the Covid death-vaxx. In NZ it’s now summer!

    Hospitals nationwide remain stretched to their limits
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/478034/hospitals-nationwide-remain-stretched-to-their-limits

    Covid-19: 34,528 new cases reported over the past week, 418 in hospital
    “There have been 34,528 new cases of Covid-19 reported across Aotearoa over the past week – more than 25% of which were reinfections.”
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300756922/covid19-34528-new-cases-reported-over-the-past-week-418-in-hospital

    #122675
    kultsommer
    Participant

    @ TBS
    And then Edison said to Tesla, “You should compare your bank account to mine.
    Not what the “law of the market” (fairy tale extract) preach, where creators of the best mouse trap raise to the top, isn’t it.
    Exactly the point of my post.

    #122676
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Actually
    @DBS
    and
    ….isn’t it?

    #122677
    John Day
    Participant

    @Boscohorowitz:
    Go-Santa’s-Biographer!
    I keep folded dollar bills in my pocket when bike riding, and used to recognize/subsidize the pan-handlers on my 11 mile (each way) commute to work, when I worked last year, and all the years before that…
    “Hi Brother, Hi Sister”.

    #122678
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @kultsommer “Exactly the point of my post.”

    Yup. That’s what I was alluding to. Edison was in it for the dough and Nick was in it for the love of Universe. Avarice pays better financially. Love pays better in every other way.

    #122679
    Germ
    Participant

    The rate of respiratory infection among German children is now approaching 25% !!!

    https://www.eugyppius.com/p/the-rate-of-respiratory-infection

    #122680
    Dr. D
    Participant

    The Intelligence Branch ALWAYS takes over the Government Branch. ALWAYS. I don’t think there’s another truism quite so certain anywhere in history. Why? Secrecy no doubt, and Sunlight Is the Best Disinfectant. But it doesn’t really matter why. Don’t allow it. Yet they do, and even now, completely done, with Senator Schumer on National TV saying “The Intelligence Branch doesn’t care who is elected, what the people want, and has 6 ways to Sunday to remove anyone in government.” And the people go: “There’s no Derp State, that’s a Myth!”

    WHEN HE AND EVERYONE HAS SAID SO SINCE KENNEDY. Oh, THREE Kennedys. Dead Kennedys as the song goes.

    Hey, what do you want me to do in this? Tell people?

    Nevertheless, how’s this: So why was the person Schumer was specifically warning, at the direct behest of the threaten-er, still walking around, live and free? Hmmm. Sounds like there are two Derp States and two Intelligence branches.

    Where would they be? How about who’s shooting at the CIA worldwide? Well the LA Times reported the Pentagon’s people were shooting the CIA’s people in Syria. They are largely using the same databases and sources. They read each other’s mail.

    Good thing too, because clearly the People will never, ever believe what they are directly told, on national TV. Somehow they know to believe OTHER things told to them directly on national TV. I clearly didn’t get the memo of which I was supposed to believe and ended up believing the Opposite.

    That’s what gets me with charity. Sure you can DO it, but it seems so ultimately it’s just having no effect. The effect appears to be in changing lives. Which means changing hearts. This only comes from love, not money, money is not a heart thing. This is why Christ can change lives, but he’s not the only one.

    “When Bankei held his seclusion-weeks of meditation, pupils from many parts of Japan came to attend.
    Once during such gathering, a man was caught stealing. Whole incident was reported to Bankei. After hearing the case Bankei didn’t took any action and ignored the incident. Just after one day of previous theft same man was caught stealing again. This time other people who were attending the gather demanding his expulsion from gathering. Even this time Bankei didn’t took any action against him.

    Later that day, all people present there drew up a petition, asking for dismissal of thief or else they will all will leave that seclusion. When Bankei read that petition he called everyone before him and said, “You are wise brothers.. You know what’s right and what’s wrong.. You may go somewhere else to study if you wish.. but this poor brother doesn’t even know right from wrong.. Who will teach him if i don’t??

    I am not going to ask him to leave.. I am going to keep him here even if it means that all rest of you leave..”

    Man who was caught stealing was also present there and after listening to Bankei, torrent of tears came down and his all desire to steal was vanished.”

    Why is that? Love and Forgiveness. The desire to live up to the worth and value somebody else believes — or proves — you have. Proves with his sacrifice, not more intellectual bulls–t.

    Or this one:

    Nagarjuna and the Thief – A Zen Buddhist Spiritual Story by Osho

    There are many others, but those outside our own culture we’re much more able to hear.

    #122681
    Germ
    Participant

    ” … many children battling RSV and the flu in Canada right now. The viral illnesses are hitting young patients so hard that children’s hospitals across the country have been overwhelmed.”

    ‘We were rushed into trauma’: A look inside Canada’s RSV and flu crisis

    ‘We were rushed into trauma’: A look inside Canada’s RSV and flu crisis

    #122682
    jb-hb
    Participant

    Anecdotal field report

    Everyone is reported getting Covid at the wife’s office except her. She has rather bad reactions to any comment about the injection that does not vaccinate, so this was not the time to cite figures, statistics, negative efficacy. But when she exclaimed “Everyone keeps getting sick at the office” I did nod sadly, thoughtfully and say “everyone keeps getting sick.”

    That’s my take these days, when SHE exclaims something, I’ll repeat the most telling words sadly. “Her neuropathy is way worse now.” or “he started having fainting spells” etc

    When her brother got boostered AGAIN and soon after needed shoulder surgery, I wondered aloud, sadly, which arm he got the most recent injection in. Oh boy. Major yelling. “CONSPIRACY THEROY!!” I replied “Hey, it’s just that I Believe In Science” and explained there is a statistically measured incidence of shoulder problems after ALL vaccinations. I offered to pull up the medical/scientific info for her but she declined.

    Still trying to get a job. Coming up on 100 applications, still only 1 interview request. I did notice a feature on the website that shows how many applicants there are. I’m seeing things in job listings like:

    “Posted 2 days ago – 1,545 applicants”

    #122683
    jb-hb
    Participant

    Something Is Rigged: Unexplained, Record 2.7 Million Jobs Gap Emerges In Broken Payrolls Report

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/something-rigged-unexplained-record-27-million-jobs-gap-emerges-broken-payrolls-report

    Jobs

    #122684
    jb-hb
    Participant

    oh and about the “Posted 2 days ago – 1,545 applicants”

    also from that one: “Urgently Hiring – Hiring 1 candidate for this role”

    I’m feeling way more hopeful about a different one – a temp job hiring 10+ candidates with only 105 people having applied! This may be the one! Hysterical laughter etc.

    #122685
    zerosum
    Participant

    @Germ
    In Canada, the story is that children’s hospitals are overwhelmed by the flue +2.
    Covid is not mentioned. Of course, vaccines are still being pushed as the solution.

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