News of the World

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Nigel Farage exposes Soros plotters

Prominent UK Brexiteer Nigel Farage has condemned financier George Soros using MEPs to advance his own agenda during a speech in the EU Parliament.
Hungarian leader Viktor Orban previously bore the anti-Soros torch.  Soros himself is Hungarian and Jewish.  But the wealthy financier fiercly opposes the State of Israel.  Mr Farage is going one step further than Mr Orban.  He seeks to investigate fellow EU MEPs who support the globalist anti-Christian vision of Soros.
Mr Bradshaw’s entry in the register of parliamentary interests reveals a reference to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung organisation.  This is linked to Open Society.  Mr Bradshaw also mentions Humboldt University, also receiving Soros money.  Mr Bradshaw is not the only one.  Open Society paid for a £2,713 trip to Washington USA for his colleague David Lammy in September this year. Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg secured a £21,000 grant for a favourite charity from Open Society Institute.
Mr Farage went on to provide an example of an EU parliamentarian working on behalf of George Soros.  This time it was against Hungarian PM Viktor Orban.  Mr Orban has accused the financier of seeking to create ‘a Europe of mixed population.’
We even had last week Mr. [Guy] Verhofstadt lobbying on behalf of Mr. Soros at the Conference of Presidents in a battle that is going on with Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary.

Just last week, the electoral commission, in the UK, launched an investigation to find out whether the “Leave” campaign took offshore money or Russian money.
This came about as a result of questions asked in the House of Commons by one Ben Bradshaw, somebody linked to an organization called Open Society.

Sen. Josh Hawley’s Florida Fundraiser Canceled by Loews Hotels Over Capitol Breach

Loews Hotels Group has pulled out of a planned February fundraiser in Florida for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) saying it’s opposed to “all who supported and incited” the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building.
The freshman Republican senator from Missouri supported an Electoral College challenge before rioters and hundreds of protesters breached the Capitol building, disrupting debates in both the House and Senate as lawmakers were forced to shelter in place or evacuate, and police and security attempted to seize back control.
Some critics have said that President Donald Trump, during a lunchtime Jan. 6 rally near the Capitol, incited violence—despite the president saying that the protesters should protest “peacefully and patriotically.”
News of the upcoming fundraiser’s cancellation came after Florida attorney Daniel Uhlfelder posted a flyer for the event on Twitter Saturday, calling Hawley a “traitor” and asking Loews Hotels why it was backing him.

In light of recent events we have informed the host of this event that it will no longer be held at our hotel in Orlando or at any Loews Hotel for that matter.
Loews Hotels & Co is horrified and opposed to the January 6th events at the Capitol and all who supported and incited those actions.

Open Editorial - Again

Viva the political and ideological harassment!?

The Soros Chapter

It's quite clear that George Soros is strictly linked to the Open Society Foundations. Well, he badly needed to waste, I mean, invest the money he stole from the Bank of England somewhere so he simply chose to found a multinational NGO. However there's more about this guy's story than meets the eye here. He's never been a politician... So how exactly did he join "spiritually" the Conference of Presidents!? Believe me, this gotta be quite mind blowing for sure.

He openly attacked the Hungarian leader and promoted the Leave. Did you know his foundation was behind the Ukraine and Syria crises? Did you know he criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for implementing the Willkommen plan that allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants enter the EU too quickly? His institutions worked with local agitators! They knew about the sleeper agents among the immigrants that would easily slip into Europe and didn't warn any authorities about them! His organizations even boasted about their 226 friends in the European parliament!  

Now I think it was good for UK to leave the EU. Sadly, I can't guarantee you there are no British politicians bought by Soros working against democracy and transparency in the UK.

The Hawley Chapter

Usually you'd think that Hawley is a moron, a traitor, etc. Why? That's only because of the Democrats telling you he's betrayed his state or his own nation. Did he? As far as we know, he only proceeded to vote against a slate of electors, which is one of the two options offered by the joint session. So he's never broken the law nor has come up with his own legal system. Hawley's never threatened another senator and he's not been accused of fraud. Then how the hell does that Floridan lawyer claim he's a traitor?

Now let's compare this situation with House Faker Nancy Pelosi's impeachment procedure. They broke the law from the very same moment they refused to discuss the actual root cause behind calling the sitting US President Donald Trump an irresponsible president or even a provocateur. Right now, the only people that are truly destroying the US democracy are the very same congresspeople that approved the motion to skip a vital step of any impeachment.

If we tell judges to forget about the hearings, why don't we allow them to simply utter their verdicts in situ? We'd save some valuable time for sure! American taxes wouldn't be wasted anymore!
Hmph, surely there's something fishy behind that reasoning. We'd end up telling people there won't be a way for you to assure you that you're innocent till proven guilty of committing any given crime. We'd be taking freedom away from you even if we'd made up some fake claims. So pressing charges against you would have become the ultimate proof of concept here, the non plus ultra.

Beware of any medium or unscrupulous lawyer telling you who's guilty, a traitor, a killer, etc. Innocence is a sane presumption, it defends your rights, your lifestyle, your dreams. Take that away from your target and he or she won't recover from such a terrible blow in case he or she is found not guilty months or years later.

As a bonus, I'll remind you of how the Chinese Communist Party operates, the same way the Soviets had operated. They're the first to blame you for anything wrong that happened to the State or anybody else. You become the scapegoat, the diversion!

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Twitter and its Plans for Political Censorship on Global Scale - Part 2

BREAKING: Twitter Legal, Policy and Trust Lead Vijaya Gadde Details Plans For Political Censorship On Global Scale “We’ve seen violence unfold as a result of misleading information or coded rhetoric...”
“This is our global approach.”
#ExposeTwitter

https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/statu...58498?s=20

Just in case you've been blocked by Twitter, here's a repost on Gab.

https://gab.com/Gee/posts/105577617887801825

Trump Issues Executive Order Preventing Career Bureaucrats From Having Final Word on Federal Rules

The President chooses Federal agency heads who exercise executive authority and implement his regulatory agenda. The American people, in electing the President, thereby have a role in choosing the individuals who govern them.
However, some agencies have chosen to blur these lines of democratic accountability by allowing career officials to authorize, approve, and serve as the final word on regulations. This practice transfers the power to set rules governing Americans’ daily lives from the President, acting through his executive subordinates, to officials insulated from the accountability that national elections bring. This practice undermines the power of the American people to choose who governs them and I am directing steps to end it.

I wonder whether Biden will keep this intact.

New 9,000 Migrant Caravan Headed to US; Clashes With Police

The other day, 9,000 migrants left Honduras in a caravan headed for the United States. However, it looks like they are meeting resistance from police in Guatemala and Mexico.

US B-52 Bombers Fly Over Middle East in Show of Force

B-52H Stratofortress bombers flew over the Middle East on Sunday in the midst of tensions with Iran, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. Central Command wrote that B-52H crews have conducted their “second Middle East presence patrol of 2021 as key part of CENTCOM’s defensive posture.”
The agency, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, included photos of the nuclear-capable bombers flying over the region.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard carried out a drill on Saturday, launching anti-warship missiles at a target in the Indian Ocean, according to state-run media outlets cited by The Associated Press. The regime also fired cruise missiles in the Gulf of Oman, according to state media.
A top Iranian commander downplayed the B-52H bomber flyover.
Tehran also recently seized a South Korean oil tanker and started enriching uranium. Other than B-52 patrols, the United States sent the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine to the region, AP reported.

Pence: ‘Proud’ of No New Wars Under Trump Administration

Vice President Mike Pence said on Sunday that he is proud the Trump administration didn’t get America into a new war.
White House stated in October that President Donald Trump is “the first American leader since Ronald Reagan not to start a war.”
“Instead, he has rebuilt our military, restored American sovereignty, and renewed the ‘peace through strength’ foreign policy that helped the United States win the Cold War,” the statement continues.
Trump pledged to take the “peace through strength” approach even before he came into the White House.

I’m proud to report with just a few days left in our Administration, our Administration is the first in decades that did not get America into a new war. That’s Peace through Strength.

Well, it was about time somebody cared about building new ships and aircraft or improving weaponry rather than just waging wars like crazy. Besides Iran, there's no immediate military threat around. China didn't attack US soil or ships so there's no need to go bomb another country a la Clinton like it happened in Benghazi a few years ago.

Roe v. Wade a ‘Constitutionally Flawed Ruling,’ Trump Says

Alias Respect Your Baby's Right to Live his or her Own Life!

This month, we mark nearly 50 years since the United States Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. This constitutionally flawed ruling overturned State laws that banned abortion, and has resulted in the loss of more than 50 million innocent lives.
But strong mothers, courageous students, and incredible community members and people of faith are leading a powerful movement to awaken America’s conscience and restore the belief that every life is worthy of respect, protection, and care. Because of the devotion of countless pro-life pioneers, the call for every person to recognize the sanctity of life is resounding more loudly in America than ever before. Over the last decade, the rate of abortions has steadily decreased, and today, more than three out of every four Americans support restrictions on abortion.

No matter how many times feminists call abortions "reproductive rights" or the like, the truth is an abortion is a murder.
There's a good way to explain it.
Just imagine a woman owns a plane and she invites you to travel to Barcelona or Athens. Then in the middle of the flight she tells you that you're no longer allowed to stay on the plane, forcing you to jump off the plane without a parachute.
Would you dare to call it her right to get rid of her guest?
Well, that's exactly what happens when a woman lets a so called medician practice an abortion. By the way, the doctor has sworn to protect lives. How ironic!
Did you know that most of the aborted fetuses in the US are black Americans?
Blame Planned Parenthood for it, they crave for ignorant black women that don't know anything about their true intentions: to sell their cells to labs for dubious genetic experiments.

Group Sues Apple for Not Removing Telegram From App Store

A Washington group is suing Apple for not taking action to remove the messaging app Telegram, alleging that the platform is allowing violent and radical discussions related to the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S Capitol.
In its suit, the Coalition for a Safer Web alleges negligent infliction of emotional distress and violation of the California business code, and seeks compensation for damages apart from pressuring Apple to remove the app from its virtual store.
Former U.S. ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg is the president of the coalition.

Curiously, Signal isn't mentioned and its an app that's been downloaded gazillions of times and has become more popular than Telegram itself.  So did Facebook pressure Apple to block or destroy Telegram? How cynical!
They really gotta believe Facebook's WhatsApp should remain a monopoly for many years to come.
Perhaps EU should impose new sanctions on Facebook, they do deserve them.

Sen. Hawley’s Book Picked Up by New Publisher After Cancellation

Washington-based Regnery Publishing confirmed to The Epoch Times on Jan. 18 that it will publish Hawley’s book, after Simon & Schuster canceled its publishing contract following Hawley’s objection to electoral votes from two states earlier this month during a joint session of Congress.
Critics claim Hawley’s objections were somehow connected to the mob that stormed the Capitol on the same day of the joint session.
Regnery noted that the senator has forcefully condemned the storming of the Capitol. The company said Hawley had fallen victim to so-called cancel culture, the movement to ban or bar ideas or speech that run counter to leftist viewpoints.

Good to see there are brave publishers out there!

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WARNING!
News Article Under Scrutiny

COVID Coverup: Trudeau gov’t helped China hide origins of COVID-19

I have obtained secret military documents distributed from the highest ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces in an attempt to cover up a scandal of global proportions. The document, titled “Potential exposure to 2019 Novel Coronavirus during 7th military world games in October 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province China,” was written by Canada’s Surgeon General, A.M.T. Downes, Major General.
Downes's position reports to and obeys Trudeau’s defence minister, Harjit Sajjan. A handful of weeks after sending out this gaslighting letter to every Canadian soldier who was in Wuhan for the Military Games, Major General Downes resigned.
Our source details Canada’s coverup response to a critical pneumonia outbreak in a contingent of 176 Canadian soldiers stationed in Wuhan, over two months before the People’s Republic of China reported outbreaks in the same city, but just a few weeks before the first officially recognized case on November 17, 2019.
While the contingent was returning to Canada on a Polaris jet, one third of the members were quarantined in the back of the plane. They were perhaps the first Canadians to ever quarantine from the Wuhan Virus. Strangely, upon return to Canada, the senior ranks of the armed forces decided to end the quarantine of the soldiers and send them back to their homes across the country.

Last year several media published articles on the Wuhan virus's true origin. One of them claimed it had been released accidentally? on October 2019. The link above will lead you to the full article and a clip. What I don't like about the videoclip is that they've replaced the whistleblower's voice with a voice actor's. Usually nobody would mind but this could let us think there's something fishy about it.

What were the soldiers doing in Wuhan back in October 2019?
Well, they were partaking in the military games China held back then.
So does Canada owes all an apology!?

A Follow-up Article

The secret military documents distributed from the highest ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces covered up a scandal of global significance. The document, titled “Potential exposure to 2019 Novel Coronavirus during 7th military world games in October 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province China,” was written by Canada’s Surgeon General, A.M.T. Downes, Major General. The Surgeon General resigned shortly after sending this letter to the infected CAF members.

I would have wanted some tests done, just to know, just to have the facts,” Benzen said. “We’ll never know now, because they didn’t do the tests.

That might not be totally true for they still could test them by running antigen tests on the soldiers' blood samples.  Later on they can double check their medical records to verify if they had contracted the Wuhan virus weeks or months after their arrival.

---

US Scientist That Condemned Wuhan Lab Leak Theory Admits He Was Shielding Chinese Scientists

U.S. scientist Dr. Peter Daszak, president of the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, led an endeavor in February 2020 to stop ideas that the CCP virus might have spread due to an accidental escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Daszak had written an article published in The Lancet medical journal, castigating ideas or suspicions that the novel virus might not be of natural origin.
The article was written before any rigorous research on the origins of the virus was conducted.
But last Friday, his spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that his widely cited statement, which was used to trample over differing points of view, was utilized to protect Chinese scientists from online criticism.
The revelation is part of a fact sheet released by the U.S. State Department on Jan. 15, which slams the CCP for excessive secrecy around the origin of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Well, both Canadian authorities and a Western scientist gotta love to tell us lies or keep important facts away from us.

Can we politically hang Trudeau now!?

Trump Issues Executive Order to Further Combat ‘Malicious’ Foreign Cyber Activities

President Donald Trump on his last full day in office issued an executive order aimed at the use of cloud computing products for malicious cyber operations against the United States.
The order addresses the use of United States Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) products, a type of cloud computing, by foreign malicious cyber actors.
Trump is ordering the Commerce Department to draft regulations that require U.S. IaaS providers to verify the identity of a foreign person that obtains an account.

Steele Leaked to Media Because FBI Reopened Clinton-Email Case, New Documents Show

Declassified notes of the FBI’s interview with former British spy Christopher Steele show that he betrayed the FBI by leaking to the media at the direction of his client, Hillary Clinton, because the FBI had reopened the investigation into Clinton’s use of an unauthorized private email server to conduct government work.
Just the News obtained and published on Jan. 19 the summary of the debriefing (pdf) and a transcript of the handwritten notes taken by an agent who interviewed Steele in London on Sept. 18 and 19, 2017.
During the first hour of the interview on the first day, Steele was accompanied by his partner from Orbis Business Intelligence, Chris Burrows. Steele and Burrows apologized to the agents for leaking their dossier on President Donald Trump to the media. They decided to go ahead with the leak because then-FBI Director James Comey reopened the Clinton-email investigation. Hilary Clinton was Steele’s client for the dossier.

Trump Grants Pardons to 73 People, Commutes Sentences of 70 More

President Donald Trump has granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70 individuals in the final hours of his presidency.
The full list of presidential pardons and commutations published on the White House’s website includes former White House chief strategist and ex-Breitbart editor-in-chief Stephen Bannon, 67, as well as rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, ex-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and former Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy.
Trump granted Bannon a full pardon. Bannon earlier this year pleaded not guilty to fraud charges relating to fundraising for a private border wall project. He was released on bail in August 2020 and was scheduled to stand trial in May 2021 prior to the pardon.

Trump Issues Memo Protecting Some Venezuelans Living in US From Deportation

President Donald Trump on Tuesday has approved the deferral of deportation of eligible Venezuelan nationals who fled to the United States when an economic crisis swept the socialist country.
Trump issued a memo directing the secretary of state and the secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate measures to defer for 18 months the deportation of any national of Venezuela, or alien without nationality, who last resided in Venezuela, subject to a list of exceptions.
The grant of a Deferred Enforced Departure only applies to individuals who are currently present in the United States and allows recipients of the deferral to live and work in the United States.

Trump Orders Declassification of Some Crossfire Hurricane Documents

President Donald Trump has ordered the declassification of previously confidential documents related to “Crossfire Hurricane,” the FBI’s investigation of his 2016 campaign.
The move comes on his last night in office.
The materials were not immediately made known to the public.
The Department of Justice provided the White House on Dec. 30, 2020, with a binder of materials related to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, portions of which were classified and not released to Congress or the public, Trump said in a memorandum for the attorney general, the director of National Intelligence, and the director of the CIA.

My decision to declassify materials within the binder is subject to the limits identified above and does not extend to materials that must be protected from disclosure pursuant to orders of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and does not require the disclosure of certain personally identifiable information or any other materials that must be protected from disclosure under applicable law. Accordingly, at my direction, the Attorney General has conducted an appropriate review to ensure that materials provided in the binder may be disclosed by the White House in accordance with applicable law.

Iranian Scholar Charged With Acting as Unregistered Agent of Tehran

An Iranian political scientist has been charged for secretly influencing U.S. policy and public opinion on behalf of the Iranian regime, the Justice Department said.
The department said in a press release that Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi was arrested on Monday at his Massachusetts home for violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires individuals working to advance the interest of a foreign entity to register with the Justice Department and regularly file detailed public reports about their activities.

China Has Built 101 Houses Inside Indian Territory: US-based Imaging Company

The Chinese have built a village consisting of 101 houses along the Tsari Chu river in the border Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, according to the US-based imaging company Planet Labs, reported Indian media.
The construction of the village was completed 2.5 miles into the Indian territory by November last year while India and China engaged in a tense military standoff in the far north, Himalayan region of Ladakh and is a matter of grave concern for India, reported the New Delhi Television (NDTV) on Jan. 18.
The area where the construction happened is heavily forested, is an Indian territory according to official maps but has been under effective Chinese occupation since 1959. However, until over a year ago, only a Chinese military picket existed there but now a constructed village with the capacity to house thousands stands there.

Well, you know very well what bullies say "what's mine is only mine and what's yours is mine as well!"

Mike Lindell on Cancel Culture: We Have to Make a Stand and Not Back Down

Mike Lindell, founder and CEO of MyPillow, told NTD on Tuesday that some groups are forcing retailers to delist his products and that Americans “have to stand up” against cancel culture.
Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Wayfair recently notified Lindell that they won’t continue carrying his products. He said the actions came after groups such as Sleeping Giant pushed companies to stop doing business with him.

He's right, cancel culture will only succeed if we let them silence us!
They shouldn't forget about freedom of speech!

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Head of US bishops' conference warns Biden would advance moral evils and threaten human life
Archbishop Gomez said abortion was "also a matter of social justice."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a stark condemnation of President Biden's abortion agenda on the day of his inauguration, arguing that he would advance "moral evil" on the "preeminent priority" for the faithful.
"I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender," said Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, who serves as the USCCB's president. "Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences."
His comments came amid a broader debate about U.S. politicians, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who identify as Catholic but pursue policies that conflict with Church teaching. Biden, during the campaign, reversed his decades-old position on the Hyde Amendment, which blocks most taxpayer funding for abortions. He's also pledged to codify Roe v. Wade, a move that conservatives say would allow abortion up till the moment of birth.

Anti-Biden Antifa attack Portland police officers forcing cops to retreat

Antifa protesters in Portland clashed with authorities Wednesday as they gathered to voice dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden, forcing officers to retreat and taking at least one police bicycle, authorities said.
The Portland Police Bureau said several events were planned in the city just hours after Biden was sworn in and implored the nation to come together. A crowd of up to 150 people gathered at Revolution Hall around 2 p.m. and marched to the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Oregon, Portland police Sgt. Kevin Allen said. 
The so-called J20 protest was a demonstration against Biden and law enforcement.
Some in the group smashed windows and vandalized the building with graffiti. Calls and messages to the party headquarters were not immediately returned.

Justin Trudeau ‘disappointed’ in Biden's decision to cancel Keystone XL pipeline

The controversial Keystone XL pipeline initially proposed more than a decade ago
would sustain about 11,000 U.S. jobs in 2021 and generate $1.6 billion in gross wages

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said his administration was "disappointed" with President Joe Biden’s decision to revoke the permit for construction on the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The 1,700-mile pipeline was planned to carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
The move was part of the Biden administration’s broader goal to crack down on fossil fuels. The new president is expected to direct sweeping environmental regulatory changes over the next four years and reverse some Trump-era deregulatory policies in an effort to tackle climate change.

135 civil rights groups speak out against Congress' proposed new domestic terror law

The failure to confront and hold accountable white nationalist violence is not a question of not having appropriate tools to employ, but a failure to use those on hand

135 civil rights organizations signed an open letter to Congress on Tuesday urging them not to expand terrorism-related authority.
The letter, signed on behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, says that white nationalism and far-right militia violence must be addressed without causing further harm to communities that are already "disproportionately impacted by the criminal-legal system."
The signatories noted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) already have the resources to go after "white supremacist violence" as well as "hate crimes, organized crime, and violent crimes."
The solution, they said, is not to create more laws to prosecute domestic terrorism, but to use the laws already on the books more effectively.
The signatories said that new federal domestic terrorism laws "would adversely impact civil rights and – as our nation’s long and disturbing history of targeting Black Activists, Muslims, Arabs, and movements for social and racial justice has shown – this new authority could be use to expand racial profiling or be wielded to surveil and investigation communities of color and political opponents in the name of national security."

Basically this means they wanna incarcerate any non leftist movement.

Senate confirms Avril Haines as director of National Intelligence

Haines is the first woman in history to lead the intelligence community

The Senate voted to confirm Avril Haines as director of National Intelligence, making her the first woman in history to lead the intelligence community.
The Senate confirmed Haines 84-10, just hours after President Joe Biden was sworn into office. Haines is the first official to be confirmed to Biden's Cabinet.
Haines had her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday and vowed to "set a strategic vision" for the intelligence community to ensure that the U.S. is "well postured to address developing threats and take advantage of new opportunities as they arise."
Haines, under the Obama Administration, served as a principal deputy national security adviser and as a deputy director at the CIA—she was the first woman to hold both positions.
Haines said under her leadership, she would ensure that the intelligence community "has the capacity to understand, warn, protect and defend the United States against the threats we face," and pointed to a number of threats — ranging from "traditional state actors" to "evolving" transnational threats like "climate change, cyber attacks, terrorism, global organized crime and corruption, disinformation campaigns and more."

 Sadly, she already lied to the lawmakers because she doesn't think China is a threat but an adversary in a few key areas.  As if China hasn't been building artificial islands in Asia.

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Commentary

Even if I strongly disagree with some forumers' opinions on how "politicized" the news might look like, it's still true most of them were focused on politics. I rarely found news not linked to some sort of political event. Well, that's not a surprise at all!  This transition was one of the most controversial ever in the US and really changes the way geopolitics are now handled around the globe. Since things aren't as stormy as a few days ago, it should be easier to find other news that are still relevant but not political at all than in the last couple of weeks. Nonetheless, I was wrong.  Even sites like BBC are filled with politics.

Still, I managed to find a few eye catching or curious articles online.

Tokyo 2020 Games may have to be held behind closed doors

The rescheduled Tokyo Games may have to be held behind closed doors if they are to go ahead in Japan this year, athletics chief Lord Coe has admitted.
The World Athletics president remained confident the Olympics and Paralympics would take place despite a Times report suggesting they would be cancelled.
"I would love to have fans, noisy and passionate," Coe told the BBC.
"But if the only way we're able to deliver it is behind closed doors, I think everybody is accepting of that."
Coe, who headed the London 2012 organising committee and is also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, said, in the event of a cancellation, it was "not a realistic solution" to push back Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 in order for Tokyo to host the Olympics in three years' time.

This might not be the large and colorful and joyful event everybody might have been expecting for so long but there are ways not to cancel it. At least athletes won't feel they wasted a great opportunity to test their strength or speed or agility.

Elephants counted from space for conservation

At first, the satellite images appear to be of grey blobs in a forest of green splotches - but, on closer inspection, those blobs are revealed as elephants wandering through the trees.
And scientists are using these images to count African elephants from space.
The pictures come from an Earth-observation satellite orbiting 600km (372 miles) above the planet's surface.
The breakthrough could allow up to 5,000 sq km of elephant habitat to be surveyed on a single cloud-free day.
And all the laborious elephant counting is done via machine learning - a computer algorithm trained to identify elephants in a variety of backdrops.

Since illegal hunt has hit large zones of African conservation areas, this seems to be an improvement on the methods to detect unusual movements in a specific region or a system capable of alerting authorities on other (natural) threats affecting wild animals.

You can find a similar article focused on cattle here: The drones watching over cattle where cowboys cannot reach

$1B Mega Millions prize a result of long odds, slow sales

The jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery game has grown to $1 billion ahead of Friday night’s drawing after more than four months without a winner thanks to bad luck, poor odds and reduced play partially blamed on the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s only the third time a lottery jackpot has grown so large, but much has changed since the last time such a big prize was up for grabs in 2018. The odds of winning a jackpot remain the same — incredibly small — but for a variety of reasons fewer people are playing Mega Millions or Powerball, the two lottery games offered in most of the country.
And even as the huge Mega Millions prize and a $731.1 million Powerball jackpot won Wednesday by a single ticket sold in Maryland have juiced sales for the games, Maryland lottery director Gordon Medenica noted: “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Medenica acknowledged sales were dramatically lower before the pandemic, and they tanked even further in the spring and summer.

Even if sales weren't that good, you can't deny it'd be quite interesting to test your luck and see if you can earn lots of cash  any time soon. You wouldn't reject one billion dollars... would you?

Pfizer to supply 40M COVID-19 shots for poor countries

If you were feeling guilty about living in a developed country where you could surely get access to vaccines, this might be the time to stop worrying about that.  You see, Pfizer already announced a large shipment is heading to poor countries in the upcoming days and weeks.

Pfizer on Friday committed to supply up to 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year to a World Health Organization-backed effort to get affordable shots to poor and middle-income countries.
The deal is a boost to the global program known as COVAX, as wealthy nations have snapped up most of the millions of coming shots.
The commitment, announced at a virtual press conference held by the Geneva-based WHO, is seen as important because Pfizer and its partner BioNTech last month won the first vaccine emergency authorizations from WHO and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Pfizer’s 40 million doses — for a vaccine requiring two doses — are a tiny sliver of what’s needed for COVAX, which aims to vaccinate billions of people in 92 low- and middle-income countries.

It's true this won't be enough to cover the needs of the poor, but take into consideration they weren't supposed to get them this semester.  Somehow we could say the process to "democratize" mass vaccination has begun already.

Germany to ban practice of killing newly hatched male chicks

The German government plans to ban the practice of killing male chicks after they hatch, which results in the death of around 45 million birds per year in the country.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved legislation that will prohibit the practice from Jan. 1 next year. Government spokeswoman Martina Fietz said that Germany will be the first country in the world to do so.
In a second step, the killing of chick embryos in the egg will be prohibited after the sixth day of incubation starting on Jan. 1, 2024.
Fietz said the government has invested over 8 million euros ($9.7 million) over recent years to help research into alternative procedures to identify the sex of chicks before they hatch.

Err, this might not solve all the issues behind that strange practice that affects male chicks but it's a first step to stop mass killings based only on economic benefits. At least Germany is doing something to change that industry.

[kyonides]

Baseball Players' Union Expected to Reject 154-Game Season

The Major League Baseball Players Association is expected to reject a 154-game season proposal from MLB that would have led to the start of the campaign to be pushed back a month until April 28, according to USA Today on Sunday.
MLB presented the proposal to the players union Friday. The proposal calls for 14 playoff teams instead of 10 and use of the designated hitter in the National League for the second consecutive season.
Seven-inning doubleheaders and beginning extra innings with runners on second base also would be utilized for a second consecutive season.
The proposal calls for players to receive 100% of their pay if the 154-game season is completed and not interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred would have authority to suspend the season due to health reasons, according to reports.

I guess traditions still matter in US baseball... or not?

Lionel Messi: Barcelona to take legal action after forward's £492m contract leaked

Barcelona say they will take "appropriate legal action" against Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it published details of forward Lionel Messi's £492m contract.
Barcelona denied "any responsibility for the publication of this document".
According to El Mundo, Messi's four-year contract was worth a possible 555,237,619 euros until 30 June, 2021.
It means the 33-year-old would be receiving up to £123m a season.
Barcelona said in a statement that they "regret" its publication, adding: "FC Barcelona categorically denies any responsibility for the publication of this document, and will take appropriate legal action against the newspaper El Mundo, for any damage that may be caused as a result of this publication.
There remains uncertainty if he will remain with the club when his contract runs out in the summer.

Yeah, a millionaire's lifestyle. A world where you would only care about not telling people how much you might earn a year.

Tica Yokasta Valle Retains World Boxing Title

The Costa Rican Yokasta Valle retained her 105-pound title from the International Boxing Federation, after defeating the Japanese Sana Hazuki, by unanimous decision in a fight held this Saturday night, at the Mall Oxygen.
After the ten rounds, the three international judges gave her a score on their cards of 98-92, 100-90 and 100-90, all favorable to the Tica boxer, who dominated the fight from start to finish.
Although Yokasta’s gloves were not so strong, they did manage to cut Hazuki near the right eye, who, despite this, was able to continue until the end of the contest. In most of the rounds, the Japanese showed little style but a lot of courage, since she was always in front of her rival, although practically without being able to land blows that weakened the champion. On the contrary, Valle was very solid in her defense and smart to attack her opponent.

To be honest with you, I really thought she would lose the fight.
Since it's quite uncommon to read news that show how Costa Ricans have been granted any international title, I thought it was a great opportunity to shamelesslly promote my country here.

UK applying to join Asia-Pacific free trade pact CPTPP

The UK will apply to join a free trade area with 11 Asia and Pacific nations on Monday, a year after it officially left the EU.
Joining the group of "fast-growing nations" will boost UK exports, the government says.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership - or CPTPP - covers a market of around 500 million people.
But they are harder to reach than neighbouring markets in Europe.
Members include Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are also founder members of the bloc, which was established in 2018.
Joining the bloc would reduce tariffs on UK exports such as whisky and cars, as well as service industries, she said.

Japanese woman kept mother's body in freezer for 10 years

Police in Japan have arrested a woman after the body of her dead mother was discovered in a freezer in her flat.
Yumi Yoshino, 48, said that she found her mother dead and hid the body 10 years ago because she "didn't want to move out" of the Tokyo home they shared, local media reported, citing unnamed police sources.
There were no visible wounds on the frozen body, police said.
The authorities could not determine the time and cause of the woman's death.

 OK, I gotta admit this article was creepy indeed. I wonder how did she manage to keep the body for so long not fearing a (non existing) yokai might attack her at any moment.

Researcher Who Developed Coronavirus Saliva Test Dies

Andrew Brooks, a research professor who developed the first COVID-19 saliva test, died of a heart attack recently at age 51, The New York Times reported Sunday.
Brooks, who was a professor at Rutgers University, made the first breakthrough in COVID-19 testing by developing the spit test, which received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration last April.
He then received a multimillion-dollar loan that helped his company, Infinity Biologix, nearly double its staff and add more equipment in order to conduct more tests and determine the results.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Brooks "one of the state's unsung heroes" who "undoubtedly saved lives," The Hill reported, adding "We cannot thank Andy enough for all he did across his career."

 A saddening departure indeed.

[kyonides]

BUSTED: CDC Inflated COVID Numbers
Accused of Violating Federal Law

Government Manipulation Revealed

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stands accused of violating federal law by inflating Coronavirus fatality numbers, according to stunning information obtained by NATIONAL FILE.
CDC illegally inflated the COVID fatality number by at least 1,600 percent as the 2020 presidential election played out, according to a study published by the Public Health Initiative of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge. The study, “COVID-19 Data Collection, Comorbidity & Federal Law: A Historical Retrospective,” was authored by Henry Ealy, Michael McEvoy, Daniel Chong, John Nowicki , Monica Sava, Sandeep Gupta, David White, James Jordan , Daniel Simon, and Paul Anderson.
...
The World Health Organization admits that PCR tests are not totally reliable on the first try and a second test might be needed. This corresponds with CDC’s quiet admission that it blended viral and antibody test results for its case numbers and that people can test positive on an antibody test if they have antibodies from a family of viruses that cause the common cold.

Most notably, the CDC illegally enacted new rules for data collection and reporting exclusively for COVID-19 that resulted in a 1,600% inflation of current COVID-19 fatality totals
...
By the researcher’s estimates, COVID-19 recorded fatalities are inflated nationwide by as much as 1600% above what they would be had the CDC used the 2003 handbooks.

 Draw your own conclusions, guys!

Huge snowstorm hits US east coast

A massive winter storm has pummelled the US east coast, grounding flights, shuttering vaccination sites and bringing New York City to a standstill.
By Monday afternoon as much as 19in (48cm) of snow had already fallen in parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and 17in (43cm) in New York City.
New York City and New Jersey have both declared a state of emergency.
The US National Weather Service said the storm will move up to New England, before tapering off on Tuesday.
Wind gusts of up to 50mph (80km/h) are also forecast for several days creating a blinding, blowing snow storm.
The storm has wrought havoc on local travel. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an order restricting non-essential travel from 06:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Monday, and closing public schools on Tuesday.

Be careful guys!

Groundbreaking biofuel rocket could be 'Uber for space'

Snow swirled and a biting wind sent temperatures plummeting to several degrees below zero as the Stardust 1.0 made its debut at a former military base in Maine.
...
But after several delays and as the Sunday afternoon light waned, Stardust finally lifted off, becoming the first commercial launch of a rocket powered by bio-derived fuel.
Sascha Deri, who invented the biofuel, is cagey about what it's made of, but says it can be sourced from farms around the world. The founder and chief executive of bluShift Aerospace, he and his team have spent more than six years refining the formula and designing a modular hybrid engine, which is also unique.
...
Stardust is a small rocket, just 20ft (6m) long and weighing 550lbs (250kg). But because it's relatively cheap to fly and doesn't need the high-tech infrastructure of larger rockets, it will help make space research accessible to more people. Students, researchers and businesses will be able to conduct experiments and test products with greater control and frequency.

This sounds promising indeed, many countries like Costa Rica could benefit from this technology.

Six arrested for altering iconic Hollywood sign to read 'Hollyboob'

A tarp with the letter "B" was draped over the "W," while a white dash was placed across the "D" in order to make it appear as a "B."
The Los Angeles Times reports that five men and one woman were seen on video surveillance around 1:15 p.m. When a police helicopter arrived, they could see the group move back down the steep terrain toward the famed Mulholland Drive.
The incident cannot be classified as vandalism "because the sign wasn’t damaged," Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Capt. Steve Lurie, the Hollywood area commander said, per the outlet.

I cannot say I support them because it's disrespectful somehow but it's funny indeed.

[DerVVulfman]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stands accused of violating federal law by inflating Coronavirus fatality numbers, according to stunning information obtained by NATIONAL FILE.
CDC illegally inflated the COVID fatality number by at least 1,600 percent as the 2020 presidential election played out...

Wait... by 1600% Then the reported toll is not 447K but 28K? That's less than 1/3rd the UK deaths.


Cuomo should resign if investigation proves 'criminal coverup' of nursing home deaths

The congresswoman told "Justice with Jeanine Pirro" Saturday she believes New York Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker should resign from his post after the state’s Attorney General Letitia James released a report Thursday suggesting the Department of Health could have miscounted deaths by nearly 50%.

I want to see a federal investigation because I think there were criminal acts conducted by the governor, by his senior staff. I want a very public and transparent investigation. I think he should resign if there's a criminal coverup, which I believe there is.

Honestly, I saw him on TV after the announcement of the State Attorney General's report, and blamed everyone but himself for it. He can't say it was partisan politics as the State's AG is also a Democrat. And damn it, Cuomo said "Who Cares?" during his tirade? Really?


2 FBI agents dead, others injured in Florida shooting while attempting to serve a warrant in a child pornography case

Two FBI agents were killed Tuesday morning and three others were wounded while trying to serve a search warrant at a home in Sunrise, Fla., in a child pornography case, the FBI confirmed to Fox News. The suspect is also dead.

This was the first time an FBI agent was shot on duty since 2008.

[DerVVulfman]

China challenges U.K. plan
to give Hong Kong residents a path to citizenship

Under the plan, as many as 5.4 million Hong Kong residents could be eligible to live and work in the U.K. for five years then apply for citizenship. Demand soared after Beijing last year imposed a sweeping new national security law on the former British colony following months of pro-democracy protests.

This move seriously infringes on China's sovereignty, grossly interferes in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, and seriously violates international law and the basic norms of international relations. China will no longer recognize the so-called BNO passport as a travel document and proof of identity starting from Jan 31st, and reserves the right to take further measures.

Violations? China's deal with the U.K was that Hong Kong was to have 50 years of near autonomy, and China violated it halfway through.  Puhleeze.

NY Times faces backlash
after urging Biden to make a 'Reality Czar'

This task force could also meet regularly with tech platforms, and push for structural changes that could help those companies tackle their own extremism and misinformation problems ... And it could become the tip of the spear for the federal government’s response to the reality crisis.

So, they would coordinate all preferred dialog with Big Tech (ie Google, Apple, Facebook).  Didn't they all do that to block the Hunter Biden Laptop story that was actually true?

Looking forward to the Reality Czar deal with Joe Biden's claim to have been arrested for trying to see Nelson Mandela.

Yup. Let alone let the NY Times itself explain the Fake Kavanaugh Story they wrote based on a former Clinton staffer's story in which the so-called victim said she didn't recall.

COSPLAYERS, WATCH OUT!!!

... or not!

Japan to clarify copyright rules for cosplay

While wearing a costume of a character does not infringe copyright in itself, a violation could occur if an individual is paid to do so, such as to make an appearance at an event.

To further promote cosplay culture, it is important to have an environment in which people can feel safe and enjoy themselves.

< --- Not sure anyone cosplays from 'The Ring'... But it seems it's all good unless you're getting paid for it.

[kyonides]

Judge Rules Andrew Cuomo Illegally Withheld Nursing Home Death Totals, Orders Figures Released

A state judge has ruled that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Health Department broke the law by refusing to provide a government watchdog group with the total nursing home death toll from COVID. He ordered Cuomo to release the figures within 5 days.
Albany Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O’Connor criticized Governor Cuomo for telling the Empire Center for Public Policy “that it was unable to respond to the [Freedom of Information Law] request” since it was filed six months ago.
Now Cuomo’s health department has five business days to turn over the death totals to the watchdog group and gave it 60 days to submit its legal and attorney fees so Cuomo’s office could reimburse it.
The Empire Center’s Bill Hammond called the ruling “a great victory,” according to a New York Post report.
Last week, the New York Attorney General released a scathing new report showing that Governor Andrew Cuomo hid the deaths of thousands of nursing home residents. The shocking report confirms what most observers thought to be true for months, that Cuomo’s order putting coronavirus patients in nursing homes killed thousands more seniors than initially thought.

OK, now it's confirmed. Cuomo lied about the number of  cases in New York!

Now what about the deaths at the nursing homes? Are they gonna investigate that as well?

329 Deaths + 9,516 Other Injuries Reported Following COVID Vaccine, Latest CDC Data Show

[01/29/2021]The numbers reflect the latest data available as of Jan. 22 from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System website. Of the 329 reported deaths, 285 were from the U.S., and 44 were from other countries. The average age of those who died was 76.5.
The reports, filed on the VAERS website between Dec. 14, 2020 and Jan. 22, describe outcomes ranging from “foaming at the mouth” to “massive heart attacks” to “did not recover.”
According to the Washington Post, as of Jan. 29, 22 million people in the U.S. had received one or both doses of a COVID vaccine. So far, only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been granted Emergency Use Authorization in the U.S. by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By the FDA’s own definition, the vaccines are still considered experimental until fully licensed.

 I know, guys, you might need to take a shot but keep in mind the vaccines aren't completely safe for the elderly. So take care of your old ones and don't let them get a shot if possible.