News of the World

[kyonides]

Massive data leak uncovers
human rights abuses using Israeli tech

An investigation into a massive data leak by the Guardian and 16 other media organizations published on Sunday suggests "widespread and continuing abuse" of the Israeli company NSO Group's hacking spyware, Pegasus, by authoritarian governments around the world.
While the company highlights its successes in blocking ISIS terror attacks and cracking drug and pornography rings in Europe, Africa and Oceania, critics have long said its software has also been used to abuse human rights in Mexico, Morocco and elsewhere.
...
The leak contains a list of over 50,000 phone numbers that the report estimated were identified as "people of interest" by NSO clients since 2016.
...
The Guardian also reported that forensics analysis of some phones whose numbers appeared on the list showed more than half had traces of the Pegasus spyware.
...
Forensic analysis of his device by Amnesty International stated conclusively that Panyi's phone had been repeatedly compromised by Pegasus during a seven-month period in 2019, with the infection often coming soon after comment requests made by Panyi to Hungarian government officials.
...
Also revealed to be on the list was freelance Mexican reporter Cecilio Pineda Birto, a freelance reporter who was murdered in March of 2017, only a few hours after he broadcast on Facebook live accusing state police and local politicians of colluding with a violent local capo known as El Tequilero.
While his phone was selected as a possible target for surveillance by a Mexican NSO client, it disappeared from the scene of his murder, making it impossible to determine whether the phone had indeed been infected with Pegasus.
...
The report also reportedly uncovered new evidence that NSO spyware was used to try and monitor people close to Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi both before and after his death.

 Yeah, they are mere coincidences, right NSO?

[kyonides]

Soccer-Sweden women end U.S. unbeaten run
Dutch put 10 past Zambia

World champions the United States were dealt a 3-0 drubbing by Sweden to end a 30-month unbeaten run, and the Netherlands put 10 goals past a hapless Zambia on a day of drama as the Olympics women's soccer tournament kicked off.
Several teams including the U.S., Britain, Chile, Sweden and New Zealand took the knee before Wednesday's kickoffs in support of racial equality, while two Brazil veterans set Games records.
...
No team has ever won Olympic gold while world champion since women's football made its Games debut in 1996.

EU rejects UK demand for new post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland

Britain demanded on Wednesday that the European Union agree to rewrite a deal overseeing problematic post-Brexit trade involving Northern Ireland just a year after it was agreed with the bloc, a call immediately rejected by Brussels.
The Northern Ireland protocol was part of the Brexit settlement, backed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that finally sealed Britain's divorce from the EU four years after voters backed leaving in a referendum.
Businesses in Northern Ireland say it is damaging trade, and some pro-British groups have protested at what they say is a weakening of ties with Britain, raising concerns about a return to the violence which plagued the province for three decades.
...
He said London wanted a new "balance" to eliminate EU oversight of the accord,and that Britain already had the right to unilaterally deviate from parts of it.
...
The protocol addresses the biggest conundrum of the divorce: how to ensure the delicate peace brought to the province by a U.S.-brokered 1998 peace accord - by maintaining an open border - without opening a back door through neighbouring Ireland to the EU's single market of 450 million people.

It essentially requires checks on goods between the British mainland and Northern Ireland, which remains part of the EU customs area. These have proved burdensome to companies and an anathema to unionists, who are fiercely supportive of the province remaining part of the United Kingdom.

Colombian children learn to identify landmines buried during country's civil war

A non-profit organization is teaching children in rural Colombia how to identify landmines placed near their communities by armed guerrilla groups during the country's long civil war.
Since 2013, the HALO Trust Foundation has created programs to deactivate anti-personnel mines in the regions of Antioquia, Meta, Tolima, Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Nariño and Putumayo. So far, they have been able to declare 900 free of mines. They also teach children and their communities about the risks of the mines, how to spot them, and what to do if they find one.
...
According to the HALO Trust Foundation, since 1990 around 12,000 people have been injured or died in Colombia because of undetonated explosives.

Israel appoints task force to assess NSO spyware allegations -sources

Israel has set up a senior inter-ministerial team to assess growing allegations that spyware sold by an Israeli cyber firm has been abused on a global scale, Israeli sources said on Wednesday.
One source said the team is headed by Israel's National Security Council, which answers to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and has broader areas of expertise than the Defence Ministry, which oversees exports of NSO Group's Pegasus software.
Another source said the National Security Council is not involved and that the assessment is being carried out by senior defence, intelligence and diplomatic officials.
...
On Wednesday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a series of investigations to be carried out into the Pegasus spyware case.
Macron's phone was on a list of potential targets for possible surveillance on behalf of Morocco in the Pegasus case, France's Le Monde newspaper said on Tuesday.

Can unidentified sources be considered reliable?

Magnitude 6.8 earthquake jolts Costa Rica

A magnitude 6.5 6.8 earthquake shook much of Costa Rica on Wednesday afternoon.
The Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) said the tremor occurred at 3:15 p.m. and had an epicenter on the Burica Peninsula, near the border between Costa Rica and Panama.
Below is the preliminary report of Wednesday’s event from OVSICORI:

Source: http://www.ovsicori.una.ac.cr/index.php/sismos-sentidos

Date: 2021-07-21
Time: 15:15:00
Magnitude: 6.8
Depth: 10
Location: 45 km South from Punta Burica.
Cause: Zona de Fractura de Panamá / Panama's Fault
Intensity: Strong nationwide
Coordinates: 7.4915 N and -82.8555 W

The National Emergency Commission (CNE) says an evaluation of possible damage is underway. Posts on social media described a lengthy shake, with some in the Southern Pacific and Caribbean saying  objects fell off shelves.
Costa Rica’s National Tsunami Monitoring System (SINAMOT) said there is no risk for a tsunami in the country following Wednesday’s earthquake. SINAMOT recommends evacuating to higher ground immediately in the face of strong and/or long earthquakes in the future.
The United States Geological Survey measured the earthquake as a magnitude 7.0 with an epicenter 80 km SSE of Punta de Burica, Panama. It was later recalculated at magnitude 6.8.

 Gladly nothing happened where I live but it was strong and kind of long indeed.

[DerVVulfman]

CONFIRMED: TUCKER CARLSON WAS UNMASKED
The NSA confesses to 'Unmasking' Fox News Host
The NSA (National Security Agency) has confessed that it did reveal Fox News host Tucker Carlson's name, found in communications they claimed they were monitoring, by unmasking him. Unmasking is a process where names are revealed to administration officials when they actively demand to know them. Tucker Carlson had claimed weeks before that he was informed by an NSA whistleblower that he was unmasked, and his name leaked to the press.
As a reminder, an excerpt from this thread three weeks ago can be found here:

By law, I should have been identified internally merely as a US journalist, or American journalist. That’s the law. But that’s not how I was identified, I was identified by name. I was unmasked. People in the building learned who I was, and then my name and the contents of my emails left that building at the NSA and wound up with a news organization in Washington. That is illegal. In fact, it is precisely what this law was designed to prevent in the first place … We cannot have intelligence agencies used as instruments of political control.

Since then, Fox News made the following statement:

For the NSA to unmask Tucker Carlson or any journalist attempting to secure a newsworthy interview is entirely unacceptable and raises serious questions about their activities as well as their original denial, which was wildly misleading…

More information, such as a statement of a former NSA Chief of Staff and his claims, content of the Axios story that confirmed the NSA whistleblower and more are present.
As a reminder, it was just 2016 that General Flynn was illegally unmasked, purportedly by Obama Whitehouse staff, and kickstarted the Russia Collusion Conspiracy, eventually debunked by Robert Mueller.

[kyonides]

Magnitude 8.2 earthquake strikes off Alaska
tsunami warnings issued then lifted

Tsunami warnings were issued for parts of Alaska after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.2 struck off the peninsula's coast early Thursday.
The tremblor struck around 50 miles south of Perryville, a small town of 100 or so people around 500 miles to the south and west of Anchorage, according to Robert Sanders, a United States Geological Survey geophysicist.
“There could be damage and injuries from an event of this magnitude,” he told NBC News, adding that the sparsity of the population mitigated that risk but did not remove it.
...
The warnings were later canceled, but the NTWS warned in a tweet that "strong and unusual currents may continue for several hours."

Tornado touchdowns confirmed as severe storms hit tri-state area

Fast-moving severe storms rolled through our area Thursday evening, causing several tornado warnings and bringing drenching rain to parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The National Weather Service confirmed that at least one tornado touched down near Trenton.
Another two tornadoes touched down in Pennsylvania, with one causing severe damage in Bucks County.
Flash flooding from the storms turned some neighborhood streets in some parts of New Jersey into rivers.
As the storm moves out to sea, the region should largely dry out overnight as temperatures stay in the 60s.

 It seems nature has gone wild in the US as of late...

IRS says another 1.5M will receive unemployment compensation refunds

The Interal Revenue Service says that another 1.5 million taxpayers will soon be receiving refunds as it continues to adjust 2020 unemployment compensation because of the American Rescue Plan.
Refunds by direct deposit will begin July 28 and refunds by paper check will begin July 30. This is the fourth round of refunds related to the unemployment compensation exclusion provision. The IRS says that the average refund is about $1,686, higher for this round because the IRS included an adjustment to the Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC).
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, signed into law by President Joe Biden in March, excluded up to $10,200 in unemployment compensation per taxpayer paid in 2020 The $10,200 is the maximum amount that can be excluded when calculating taxable income; it is not the amount of refunds.
Since May, the IRS says it has issued over 8.7 million unemployment compensation refunds totaling over $10 billion. The IRS will continue reviewing and adjusting tax returns in this category this summer.

I hope these are good news for many people that have suffered during the lockdowns.

Star sommelier accused of Manhattan arsons

A well-known New York sommelier is facing arson charges in connection with a series of fires at outdoor dining establishments in Lower Manhattan.
The FDNY announced the arrest of Caleb Ganzer, 35, on Wednesday.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said Ganzer allegedly set fire to outdoor dining structures and garbage in Manhattan between January and July.
On January 8, 2021, the outdoor dining structure owned by Forsythia Restaurant on Stanton St. was set on fire just before midnight.
On June 26, 2021, a garbage fire was started at about 4:30 a.m. at the corner of Broome St. and Centre St.
In the final incident on July 13, 2021, the outdoor dining structure owned by Prince Street Pizza was set on fire just before 3 a.m.  The FDNY released a surveillance video of that incident.  It showed a man walk across the street, pull out a lighter, and light fires on two sides of the shed before walking away.
No one was injured in any of the fires.
FDNY Fire Marshals initially arrested Ganzer for the July fire and then linked him to the earlier fires.

NC man arrested for allegedly putting

‘I (heart) being White’ stickers on cars

A North Carolina man was arrested after he allegedly put "I (heart symbol) being White" stickers on vehicles and in a restaurant restroom on July 24.
John Kantz, 60, of Cary, North Carolina, was arrested on Saturday after witnesses told police they saw him putting the stickers on cars in an On the Border Mexican restaurant parking lot and inside the restroom of a Totopos Street Food and Tequila restaurant, according to police.
Kantz was arrested the same day and was charged with ethnic intimidation as well as vandalism, according to police reports.
Ethnic intimidation is a misdemeanor in North Carolina, according to Wake County courts.
As of Thursday, Kantz had posted bail, police said.

 Come on! How intimidating could it be to say "I love being white?"
They wouldn't even care about this if he had said something like "I love being Latino" or African or Asian.
Really it doesn't even make anybody a member of the dreadful KKK automatically.
If people really wanna demonstrate they don't care about skin color, let them just promote themselves freely. Preventing a specific race from telling people they love life is discrimination by default. 

[kyonides]

Israeli scientist says COVID-19 could be treated for under $1/day

Double-blind study shows ivermectin reduces disease’s duration and infectiousness
FDA and WHO caution against its use
Ivermectin, a drug used to fight parasites in third-world countries, could help reduce the length of infection for people who contract coronavirus for less than a $1 a day, according to recent research by Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.
Prof. Eli Schwartz, founder of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Disease at Sheba, conducted a randomized, controlled, double-blinded trial from May 15, 2020, through the end of January 2021 to evaluate the effectiveness of ivermectin in reducing viral shedding among nonhospitalized patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.
...
Over the years, it has been used for other indications, including scabies and head lice. Moreover, in the last decade, several clinical studies have started to show its antiviral activity against viruses ranging from HIV and the flu to Zika and West Nile.
The drug is also extremely economical. A study published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Therapeutics showed that the cost of ivermectin for other treatments in Bangladesh is around $0.60 to $1.80 for a five-day course. It costs up to $10 a day in Israel, Schwartz said.

There is a lot of opposition,. We tried to publish it, and it was kicked away by three journals. No one even wanted to hear about it. You have to ask how come when the world is suffering.
This drug will not bring any big economic profits, and so Big Pharma doesn’t want to deal with it.

How weird, Big Pharma hates cheap treatments...

CDC Bucks Supreme Court, Extends Eviction Ban Once Again

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) eviction ban is back from the dead. Just three days after its official expiration date, the much-disputed eviction moratorium is on again -- this time banning evictions until at least Oct. 3 of this year.
The news is significant. Back in June, the Supreme Court said the CDC had no legal grounds to extend the ban further -- at least without word from Congress. And Congress? They failed to pass an extension just last week.
Legal or not, the CDC says the move was a necessary one -- especially with the new COVID-19 delta variant spreading quickly through the nation.

It seems the CDC loves to watch undead movies.  How could they revive a ban that's  totally illegal?

HE LIED: Vindman Reveals in Memoir
That He Was the Whistleblower in Trump Sham Impeachment
After He Testified Under Oath That He Wasn’t the Whisteblower

In November 2019 NSC leaker Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified on day 3 of the Adam Schiff Show Trial.
Ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes (R-CA) straight up asked Vindman if he discussed the July 25 Trump-Zelensky phone call with anyone outside of the White House.
Vindman testified that he spoke to two people about Trump’s call to Zelensky — George Kent, a State Department employee and ‘someone in the intelligence community’ about Trump’s phone call — Vindman would not name the second person.
House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) quickly interjected when Nunes began to drill down to find out which agency this second anonymous person worked for.
Schiff said he wanted to “protect the whistleblower” and wouldn’t let Vindman answer.
Nunes then pointed out that Vindman previously testified in a closed-door deposition that he DID NOT know the identity of the whistleblower and if that were true then how would he know to keep the second person’s name private?
But during his public testimony, Vindman admitted to being the primary source of the leak to the whistleblower (Eric Ciaramella).
It was later discovered that Vindman also lied about the contents of the call. Trump did not offer the Ukrainian official a quid pro quo. Joe Biden did.
In his upcoming memoir, Vindman now describes himself as the whistleblower in Trump’s sham impeachment trial.

 Guess who is promoting his book? The New York Times Books!!

Wildfire reaches Turkey power plant, prompts evacuations

A coal-fueled power plant in southwest Turkey and nearby residential areas were being evacuated Wednesday evening as flames from a wildfire reached the plant, a mayor and local reporters said as sirens from the plant could be heard blaring.
Milas Mayor Muhammet Tokat, from Turkey’s main opposition party, has been warning of the fire risks for the past two days for the Kemerkoy power plant in Mugla province. He said late Wednesday that the plant was being evacuated. Local reporters said the wildfires had also prompted the evacuation of the nearby seaside area of Oren.
Turkey’s defense ministry said it was evacuating people by sea as the fires neared the plant. The state broadcaster TRT said the flames had “jumped” to the plant. Strong winds were making the fires unpredictable.
Authorities have said safety precautions had been taken at the Kemerkoy power plant and its hydrogen tanks were emptied. TRT said flammable and explosive substances had been removed. The privately run plant uses lignite to generate electricity, according to its website.

[DerVVulfman]

Texas Mayor Blames Biden
for Migrant Covid Surge

Emergency Shelters now housing the 1500 Covid Positive Migrants released this week

This week, McAllen's mayor was forced to declare a state of disaster in his city due to surging COVID-19 cases, and he lands the blame square on President Joe Biden.  Of 7000 migrants released into his city in the past week, over 20% of them tested positive for Covid-19.

Lately we’ve been getting about 1,800 immigrants a day. Then, coupled with the fact that 15 percent of the immigrants have COVID, have caused substantial problems to our great city of McAllen.
...
Call your president, call your congressman, and call your senators – if you want to place blame, blame them. Place it on the people who are responsible, and that is Washington.

With this going on, Texas Governor Greg Abbot blamed the immigration surge for the Covid Surge in Texas and issued an executive order for Texas State Troopers to halt vehicles from carrying immigrants on the grounds of public health, a Federal Judge now temporarily blocking that order.
The Biden Administration has been calling out Texas for Covid Surges, but the main hotspot for Covid is the Rio Grande area. And McAllen, Texas is located right there.  Consider who is actually responsible for the surge in Texas Covid Cases.

Cuomo Facing Impeachment
if He Doesn't Resign!

If Governor Andrew Cuomo doesn't resign this week, over half
of the state Assembly members will start impeachment proceedings.

State Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Democrat, called on the assembly to return to session "immediately" to begin impeachment proceedings.

There is no measure left to hide the truth. The governor broke the law so we must hold him accountable.
...
When institutions fail to believe victims, allow predators to act with impunity, or fail to put policies of protection in place, it sends a strong signal that condones this type of unacceptable behavior. We cannot afford to ignore his transgressions any longer: doing so will erode the integrity of our legislative body and demonstrate complicity in sheltering a sexual predator.

Cuomo has been charged with the sexual harassment of eleven women, violating State and Federal law, this by the findings of the NY Attorney General.  And among those assemblymen, nearly half of them are Democrat. Basically, a fully bi-partisan scenario.

The Delta Variant:
China and Asian Countries Encounters a Record Surge

According to latest reports, fifteen cities including Bejing is grappling with positive cases.

Even with the extreme restrictions, lockdowns and curfews, several Asian countries are suffering from a sharp rise in Covid Delta-variant cases. And China is calling it the most extensive domestic contagion since the virus outbreak in Wuhan. And data from the Ministry of Public health showed that Thailand's caseload rose by over 18000 within a day, not including the deathtoll.

Thousands of Pigeons Vanish
in a Bermuda Triangle Styled Mystery

The worst day in Pigeon Racing History as thousands of birds ... VANISH!

Roughly 250,000 birds were released in fifty races all over Britain in June, but only 10% managed to appear.  Some have been spotted as far away as Holland and Majorca. A large number of these birds have been reared from chicks. Homing pigeons can navigate using the Earth's magnetic field as a guide, but it is assumed a freak occurrence could have distorted their sense of direction.

Trump is due $1M tax refund

Discovered! He's owed a refund on a 2011 tax bill in Chicago,
but officials are trying to block the refund!

The Cook County Board of Review's estimation on Trump's Hotel & Tower rooms is at issue, and the refund would come out of Chicago's funds. Chicago's Attorney is filing a lawsuit in hopes of blocking the refund.  This is yet another dispute in long running battles over Trump's taxes that have led to more than $14 million in favor of Trump. 
  Seriously, they've continued to press and it got him $14 million already?  Will they ever learn?  Prolly not.

[kyonides]

Mount Merapi Eruption 2021: Warning Signs of When a Volcano is About to Burst an Avalanche of Lava

According to Phys.org, Indonesia's most volatile volcano erupted on Sunday and unleashed hot ash at least seven times and a series of pyroclastic flows. Mount Merapi has released a mixture of rock, debris, lave, and harmful gases.

Hanik Humaida, who heads the city of Yogyakarta's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Cente, said that the rumbling sound could be heard several miles away from Mount Merapi as ash blanketed nearby villages and towns.

Residents in affected areas, especially those living near the fertile slopes, were advised by Indonesia's Geology and Volcanology Research Agency to stay away from the volcano's crater for at least 3.1 miles (5 kilometers).

Mount Merapi's 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) peak is located near the ancient city of Yogyakarta. It is a place where several thousands of people live and a center for Javanese culture where royal dynasties once lived many centuries ago.

You know what is curious about this? A meteor had struck the volcano's mouth on July 30th.

[kyonides]

Incoming New York Governor Kathy Hochul says
she is "fully prepared" for the job

New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that she is "fully prepared" to lead the state a day after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he is resigning amid sexual harassment allegations.
Hochul said that although she served in the Cuomo administration for years, she and Cuomo are "not close" and there will be turnover from his administration. Cuomo announced he would resign Tuesday after being accused of sexually harassing 11 women, including staffers as well as people who did not work for his administration.
"It is not something I expected or asked for, but I am fully prepared to assume the responsibilities of the 57th governor of the state of New York," Hochul said.
Hochul, who was never a member of Cuomo's inner circle, insisted she is ready for the job. Cuomo's resignation does not take effect until August 24, and Hochul said she will take that time to travel the state and prepare for the job.

 Time will tell if she's not hiding anything as well. Let's hope she doesn't because NY has been going through a difficult situation for the last two years more or less.

ICE deportation agents ordered not to detain crime victims

The Biden administration on Wednesday issued new guidance instructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to refrain from detaining and deporting immigrants who were victims of crimes, barring extraordinary circumstances.
By minimizing the "chilling effect" of potential deportation, interim ICE Director Tae Johnson said in a memo to agents, the policy change can encourage immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission to contact law enforcement and assist investigations.
"When victims have access to humanitarian protection, regardless of their immigration status, and can feel safe in coming forward, it strengthens the ability of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE, to detect, investigate, and prosecute crimes," Johnson wrote in his memo.
The guidance directs ICE agents to use discretion in cases that involve immigrants who have been granted or are applying for an immigration benefit designed to protect victims of crimes like trafficking and domestic abuse.
Under the new policy, deportation officers should also consider not arresting or releasing immigrants who are found to have been victims of crime, even if they don't have a pending immigration application.

I don't think ICE agents will agree with such a weird guidance. Any dangerous alien could easily take advantage of its lax measures to escape or commit crimes.  It's like telling Texas that they should let immigrants flood their state just because.
I know there are people that are real victims of abuse, but let's be honest here. They're not even half of all the immigrants entering US soil!

[DerVVulfman]

China Cranks Up More Greenhouse Gasses

More carbon intensive projects just days after a UN report on Fossil Fuel emissions

China, the largest producer of air pollition and source of geenhouse gasses in the world is also the world's largest coal consumer. And they proposed fourty-three new coal-fired power plant.

Does anyone remember the Paris Accords?  China signed them. But the largest polluter in the world was actually exempt for its funding and any requirements for twenty years.

Biden will have ‘blood on his hands’
over Afghanistan withdrawal

That statement was made by Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas who stated that the US troop pull out from Afghanisttan had been "an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions". President Biden, who stated just weeks earlier, that the exit from Afghanistan would not be like that of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam conflict. But according to McCaul, the administration ignored warnings from the intelligence comunity and was merely painting a "rosy picture" about the talks while in Doha, Qatar. And now, the departure from Kabul has indeed become akin to that of Saigon.

And now they’re sending 5,000 troops in to try to save our embassy personnel.

Meanwhile, Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, is rejecting comparisons of the evacuation to that of Saigon, Vietnam, and is now laying blame at the Afghan security forces that the US has been spending billions for nearly 20 years on extensive training and equipment.

Mayorkas calls Border Crisis
UNSUSTAINABLE

GOP demands Biden administration act after leaked audio

This is unsustainable. These numbers cannot continue. These numbers cannot continue. We cannot get to a point where we were a couple weeks ago, and we're gonna make sure that doesn't happen... we're looking at the policy options...

These remarks come after he reported that there were 212,000 encounters in July alone, a 13% increase from June, and a massive one compared to 41,000 from July 2020. So as of now, even Biden's own head of DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is in full agreement that this is indeed a crisis. And many Republicans blame the surge on Biden's policies such as rolling back of Trump-Era policies.  Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas flatly pointed to the release of migrants into the interior, ending the construction of the border wall, and the ending of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) as but three factors alone. Others were Biden's reinstatement of the failed Catch and release program, and the ending of the Remain in Mexico policy.

Tragedy in Haiti

Earthquake death toll soars to over 1,200

It was only last month that the tiny island nation reeled from the assassination of their prime minister, Jovenel Moïse. But now, a massive 7.2 quake destroyed more than 7000 homes, and damaged nearly 5,000 structures including hospitals, churches and schools. And to make matters worse, the National Hurricane Center is predicting up to 8 inches of rainfall by Monday, adding to threads of floods and landslides to the battered nation.

The hospitals, also drowning in COVID-19 patients, are in need of "everything." Many of the patients have open wounds, and they have been exposed to not-so-clean elements. We anticipate a lot of infections

The Olympics are over, and now...

China Claims They Won
By Boosting their Gold Medal Count

Hong Kong and Taiwan played independent, but China is claiming their medals are China's!

China's state run media is now claiming they had the most gold medals this year, 42 compared to the 39 of the US. And to do this,  they are counting the medals won by Hong Kong and Taiwan in their tally. In difference, the US beat China in other medal counts, with an overall 113 to 88 tally.

So, does that mean China had three times the number of Olympiads than permitted? How about dividing that medal tally by three to be fair?

[DerVVulfman]

FBI CONFIRMS NO INSURRECTION
ON JANUARY 6

The FBI had found scant evidence was the result of an organized plot

For Joe Biden and the Democrats who made attempts to call the even an insurrection, the report is a devastating blow.[/url]

Ninety to ninety-five percent of these are one-off cases. Then you have five percent, maybe, of these militia groups that were more closely organized. But there was no grand scheme with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all of these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages.

None of this excuses the violent rioters, and 570 were arrested with charges. But ask yourself, is there a double-standard when the Biden Administration excuses the Portland riot charges of burglary and arson?

BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
MAN ON CAMERA DRAGGED BY INVISIBLE FORCE

A spooky video caught in a gym goes viral!

  In the post, you will find a the video of a man working out alone in a gym, but things move about on their own. And when he grabs his things to exit, something grabs his legs and upends him and starts to grag him a few feet. The incident was caught from two different cameras.

WORLD LEADERS BLAME BIDEN
EXPRESSES DISAPPOINTMENT OVER AFGHANISTAN

fair to say the U.S. decision to pull out has accelerated things, but this has in many ways been a chronicle of an event foretold

Other world leaders were disappointed and heartbroken over the situation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was heartbroken over the crisis.

BIDEN LIED ABOUT WITHDRAWL

How Dare He Blame Afghanis And Claim People Don't Want To Leave

Army Veteran and former CIA Analyst, Matt Zeller, blasted President Joe Biden over his speech where he labeled blame on the rise of the Taliban and the ensuing violence and drama on the Afghan Army.

I feel like I watched a different speech than the rest of you guys. I was appalled. There was such a profound bold-faced lie in that speech, the idea we planned for every contingency?
...
...and the idea that the Afghan military should be blamed for this? Do you know how many casualties the afghan military took in an average year?

  He's not the only person stating that Biden has been lying about matters...