Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 10:54 a.m. No.76243   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6245 >>6296

Originally Australia #15 >>13415137

 

QAnon Followers Excited by Mike Pompeo ‘Checkmate’ Photo

 

Sabrina Scotus - April 12, 2021

 

Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory have got excited in a way only they know how after Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo of him playing chess while eating dried pineapple.

 

The tweet from Pompeo on Sunday night appears to be in support of Taiwan after China banned Taiwanese pineapple imports citing “harmful creatures” that could affect its own crops, which Taiwan leaders argue is more of a political move than any agricultural concerns.

 

“As a proponent of freedom, enjoying some Taiwanese dried pineapple. Checkmate,” Pompeo tweeted while showing a photo of him playing a game of chess.

 

For QAnon supporters, the tweet and picture has nothing to do with international trade disputes, and instead is a coded reference which justifies their beliefs and proof that yet another prediction for their so-called “plan” may still come true.

 

A major part of the QAnon movement is deciphering coded messages which first appeared on 4chan, before later moving to 8chan and 8kun, from a mysterious figure known as “Q” who they believed to have high-level security clearance from the government.

 

These messages, also known as drops or “crumbs,” were seen as clues which were then interpreted to form the basis of what the conspiracy theorists believe, including that there exists a cabal of satanic pedophiles and “deep state” which Donald Trump would expose during his time as president.

 

Since October 2017, thousands of these messages appeared online, with the frequency drastically slowing down when Trump lost the election in November.

 

There hasn’t been a new message since December 8, with a recent HBO series on QAnon concluding that the person who played a major part in writing the messages was not someone with high-level security clearance from the government but actually Ron Watkins, the former administrator of 8kun.

 

The lack of new drops appearing, or the suggestion their leader is actually an infamous internet troll whose site hosted child pornography, has not affected QAnon.

 

Instead of waiting for new messages to guide them, their supporters merely decipher the catalogue of thousands already online to suit their needs, including attempts to suggest world events were long predicted by Q.

 

In this case, QAnon supporters were excited about Pompeo’s use of “checkmate” because the word appears in a drop from May 2020, albeit in a very vague passage about chess tactics.

 

Others also got excited about the placement of Pompeo’s pieces on the chessboard.

 

“If this isn’t comms, I don’t know what is. He literally won the game with his Knight on D5,” one widely shared post QAnon Telegram account with nearly 15,000 subscribers wrote.

 

The account later clarified his post to note that Pompeo has not in fact won the game despite his checkmate comment, but “the Queen is in danger.”

 

For QAnon, D5 is one of a number of phrases, slogans, and mixture of numbers of letters which they see in everyday life and interpret as a nod to their movement.

 

D5 is meant to reference December 5, a date which QAnon supporters believed for the past few years would see a day of reckoning to show they were right. Again, the reason for this is Q referencing D5 in a number of his drops in late 2018.

 

The specifics of what might occur on December 5 was never stated, but QAnon supporters still eagerly awaited the day each year since 2018.

 

Just like hundreds of failed predictions from QAnon, such as Trump carrying mass executions of satanic pedophiles at Joe Biden’s inauguration or returning as president on March 4, no such major QAnon event has happened in December.

 

Despite this, some influential QAnon advocates are still choosing to see Pompeo’s post on Twitter as significant using their own distorted interpretations of world events.

 

“If Mike Pompeo’s latest tweet isn’t comms then I don’t know what is,” wrote the Telegram account Pepe Lives Matter, which has more than 63,000 subscribers.

 

“Pompeo’s checkmate tweet increased my hopium levels by a factor of 17,” it added. The number 17 is significant in QAnon world because Q is the 17th letter of the alphabet.

 

“What Pompeo is showing is that his next move from D5 to F6 will give him total control of the board, including the most important center of the board to dictate the moves going forward to Checkmate!” another QAnon supporter wrote in a Telegram channel with more than 72,000 subscribers.

 

“The position of the board is also showing that no matter what the other side does, Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming…even though the other side has all their pieces still in the game!”

 

https://thelibertybuzz.com/qanon-mike-pompeo-checkmate-tweet/

Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 12:42 p.m. No.76262   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6264

>>76257

Beyond doubt.

Their confiscations are expected to be initially successful. Then there will be veterans and "other concerned citizens" that will start roadblocks and if needed ambushes to return the stolen firearms and take the ones carried by those doing the stealing.

Know as EROL (Excessive Rule of Law) and planned for over five years ago. What they need to considering is practice doing the above is taking place, regardless of any stupid "laws" about "paramilitary training."

Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 1:18 p.m. No.76268   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6296

Biden administration to restore $235m in US aid to Palestinians

 

US President Joe Biden's administration plans to provide $235m (£171m) of aid to Palestinians, restoring part of the assistance cut by Donald Trump.

 

Two-thirds will go to the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, which has suffered a financial crisis since it lost $360m of US funding in 2018.

 

Mr Biden wants to "restore credible engagement" by the Palestinians in long-stalled peace talks with Israel.

 

Palestinian leaders accused Mr Trump of being heavily biased towards Israel.

 

They rejected a peace plan he unveiled last year that envisaged recognising Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley, and Jerusalem remaining Israel's "undivided capital".

 

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

 

Who will receive the aid?

 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US plans included $75m in economic and development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, $10m for peacebuilding programmes through the US Agency for International Development (USAid), and $150m in humanitarian assistance for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa).

 

The US will also resume security assistance programmes with the Palestinians.

 

The funding is in addition to the $15m in assistance to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and food insecurity in the West Bank and Gaza that the US announced last month.

 

"US foreign assistance for the Palestinian people serves important US interests and values," Mr Blinken said. "It provides critical relief to those in great need, fosters economic development, and supports Israeli-Palestinian understanding, security co-ordination and stability. It also aligns with the values and interests of our allies and partners.

 

"The United States is committed to advancing prosperity, security, and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians in tangible ways in the immediate term, which is important in its own right, but also as a means to advance towards a negotiated two-state solution."

 

Unrwa Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency "could not be more pleased that once again we will partner with the United States to provide critical assistance to some of the most vulnerable refugees across the Middle East".

 

Israel's foreign ministry said its position was that Unrwa "in its current form perpetuates the conflict and does not contribute to its resolution". The renewal of US aid "should be accompanied by substantial and necessary changes in the nature, goals and conduct of the organisation", it added.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56665199

Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 1:36 p.m. No.76270   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6296

13 April 2021

Somaliland and Taiwan: Two territories with few friends but each other

 

Both Taiwan and Somaliland are basically fully functioning territories which proudly declare their independence but neither is recognised internationally and now, as Mary Harper reports, they are moving closer together.

 

"Welcome to our humble office," says Chou Shuo-Wei Amir, the Third Secretary at Taiwan's diplomatic mission in Somaliland.

 

In fact, "humble" is misplaced as the mission is rather swish, located in a large villa next to the ministry of religious affairs in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa.

 

A Taiwanese flag flutters gently in the warm breeze - its red, white and blue colours striking against the clear blue sky.

 

Although some see their relationship as bizarre, Somaliland and Taiwan are in many ways natural bedfellows.

 

Angering China and Somalia

 

Both are unrecognised internationally and both have larger neighbours - Somalia and China - which insist they are part of their territories.

 

Somaliland and Taiwan established diplomatic relations last year to the fury of those neighbours.

 

Somalia denounced Taiwan for becoming friends with Somaliland. Chinese officials travelled to Somaliland and insisted it sever ties with Taiwan.

 

It is possible that China sees Taiwan's relationship with Somaliland as a potential disruptor of its Belt and Road Initiative, whereby it plans to develop sea and land trade routes across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

 

An obstructive Somaliland, with its highly strategic Berbera port, could block the continuity of its Maritime Silk Road along the eastern coast of Africa.

 

China might also be eyeing the Somaliland-Taiwan friendship a little nervously because it has established its first overseas military base anywhere in the world, in neighbouring Djibouti.

 

Taiwan sees Somaliland as the first step in its ambitions in the region.

 

"Somaliland is Taiwan's gateway to East Africa," says the Taiwanese representative in Somaliland, Allen Chenhwa Lou, sitting under a picture of his president, Tsai Ing-wen.

 

"From here I represent Taiwan in 10 East African countries, including Kenya and Ethiopia."

 

Somaliland is one of just two African territories to have full diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The first was the tiny nation of Eswatini, which forged ties way back in 1968.

 

'Somaliland's big brother'

 

Mr Lou describes the relationship between the two territories as "win-win". Taiwan offers assistance in agriculture, technology, education, healthcare, elections and energy. Somaliland has a strategic location, rich fishing stocks, natural resources and tourism potential.

 

"Somaliland calls Taiwan its 'big brother'," says Mr Lou. "But I prefer to see our relationship as a sharing and cooperative one. We will always be together with Somaliland.

 

"We do not need to seek independence right now because we are already independent. What we both need is recognition. Both of us share this difficult situation."

 

But not everyone in Somaliland is impressed with the new-found friendship and wonder whether losing China as an ally is a price worth paying.

 

"Two naked people cannot help each other," says livestock trader Ismail Mohamed. "We need the superpower China much more than we need little Taiwan."

 

Businesswoman Muna Aden is also sceptical.

 

"The relationship with Taiwan shows the madness of Somalilanders," she says.

 

"We thought Somaliland made overtures towards Taiwan as a way of trying to attract China by saying: 'If you don't marry us, we will marry the other one'. We never expected them to forge ties.

 

"It is a big mistake which China will never forget."

 

But the authorities in Somaliland are not budging. Acting Foreign Minister, Liban Yousuf Osman, defends the relationship, saying the two territories have shared values of democracy and freedom.

 

"We welcome any country that wants a relationship with Somaliland, including China. But we won't kick out Taiwan because of China."

 

More:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56719409

Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 1:42 p.m. No.76271   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6272 >>6296

13 April 2021

The Simpsons: Hank Azaria apologises for voicing Indian character Apu

 

Hank Azaria has apologised for voicing the Indian character Apu on The Simpsons.

 

Hank - who's white - had played the convenience store owner since 1990.

 

He first announced he was stepping down from voicing Apu in January 2020.

 

Speaking on Dax Shepherd's Armchair Expert podcast, the actor said: "Part of me feels like I need to go around to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologise."

 

The character has been criticised for years for reinforcing racial stereotypes.

 

A date with destiny

 

Pressure had been mounting on the show since 2017, when Indian-American comic Hari Kondabolu made a documentary saying Apu was founded on racial stereotypes.

 

The criticism stung.

 

But Hank told the podcast he initially didn't know whether to stop doing the voice or not - because he didn't want to make a "knee-jerk reaction" to what could've just been "17 hipsters in a microbrewery in Brooklyn".

 

So he spent the next year or so "doing the work".

 

The actor says he "read, spoke to people who knew a lot about racism, spoke to lots of Indian people and went to seminars".

 

"I realised I have had a date with destiny with this thing for 31 years."

 

Although he insists the character was created with good intentions all those years ago, he says the show was part of "structural racism".

 

"I really didn't know any better. I didn't think about it. I was unware how much relative advantage I had received in this country as a white kid from Queens.

 

"Just because there were good intentions it doesn't mean there weren't real negative consequences to the thing that I am accountable for."

 

Apu: 'A stereotype hiding in plain sight'

Matt Groening: I didn't have a problem with what we were doing

 

He then apologised to the podcast's co-host, Monica Padman, who's Indian-American.

 

"I really do apologise. I know you weren't asking for that but it's important. I apologise for my part in creating that and participating in that. Part of me feels I need to go round to every single Indian person in this country and apologise."

 

Speaking to Radio 1 Newsbeat in February 2021, the show's creator Matt Groening, admitted change was needed - after The Simpsons initially tried to laugh off the criticism.

 

In one episode, Lisa looked directly into the camera, saying: "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?"

 

Now though, the show is re-casting some of the characters - including the news that Harry Shearer is to be replaced as the voice of Dr Hibbert by Kevin Michael Richardson, known for his voice work on American Dad! and Family Guy.

 

Apu is currently sidelined while another actor is found to play him.

 

"Bigotry and racism are still an incredible problem and it's good to finally go for more equality and representation," Matt told Newsbeat.

 

Given the actors on The Simpsons play multiple characters, some people say it's overly sensitive to change the voices.

 

"I have people say to me, 'Oh does this mean you can't play Wiggum because you're not a real cop?' That's just ridiculous," Hank says.

 

"If it's a character of colour, there's not the same level of opportunity there. The first argument is, if it's an Indian character, Latin character or Black character, please let's have that person voice the character.

 

"It's more authentic, they might also bring their experience of their culture to it - and let's not take away jobs from people who don't have enough."

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-56731420

Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 4:04 p.m. No.76280   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6281 >>6296

Originally General Research #16997 >>13419113

 

Vice photoshopped smiles onto Cambodians who were murdered by Khmer Rouge

 

Vice CAUGHT Doing Something Appalling….

 

Apr 13, 2021

 

https://youtu.be/vhc57aDLPo0

Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 8:18 p.m. No.76283   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6296

Originally General Research #17000 >>13421290

 

Wall Street, Corporations Team Up with Soros-Funded Group to Pressure States Against Election Reforms

 

Wall Street firms, multinational corporations, and giant law firms are teaming up with the Brennan Justice Center, which is heavily funded by billionaire George Soros, to pressure states against reforms to their election process.

 

After Georgia lawmakers passed sweeping reform legislation to protect the state’s elections, including requiring photo identification to vote, corporate executives have blasted the move and many are suggesting they will boycott the state by moving business elsewhere.

 

Now, Fortune 500 corporate executives, Wall Street firms, and attorneys at some of the nation’s largest law offices are reportedly working with the left-wing Brennan Justice Center to pressure state lawmakers from passing similar election reforms.

 

The corporate coalition is seeking to sue states for passing such reforms while also threatening to pull their business endeavors from states that do pass reforms.

 

The New York Times reports:

 

Many of Wall Street’s most powerful firms are also part of the effort, including Simpson Thacher; Skadden Arps; Akin Gump; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Ropes & Gray Sullivan & Cromwell; Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Wachtel Lipton. [Emphasis added]

 

“We plan to challenge any election law that would impose unnecessary barriers on the right to vote and that would disenfranchise underrepresented groups in our country,” Mr. Karp said. [Emphasis added]

 

The firms will work with the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit organization, to identify laws that it might challenge in court. Mr. Karp said that could include challenging the voting law that Republicans passed in Georgia last month, and which set off a national debate over voting rights. [Emphasis added]

 

Over the weekend, more than 100 corporate executives discussed in a meeting the importance for them of publicly opposing election reform legislation like Georgia’s. The meeting included executives from credit card company American Express, pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., and clothing company Levi Strauss & Co., among others.

 

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), head of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), has been lobbying GOP leaders to cut ties with corporations and Wall Street in favor of protecting working and middle class interests against the encroachment of concentrated corporate power.

 

No corporation should be more powerful than the government you elect!

 

— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) April 13, 2021

 

The Brennan Justice Center is targeting state lawmakers in Georgia, Texas, New Hampshire, Florida, Michigan, and Arizona whom they claim are promoting “voter suppressive bills” with provisions that require voter ID for those voting via absentee ballot, prohibiting the mass unsolicited mailout of ballots, and increasing fines for state officials who refuse to clean up voter rolls.

 

The group rakes in millions every year from Soros, corporate interests, big banks, and other left-wing organizations. In 2019, the last year for which financial data is available, the Brennan Justice Center’s most high-profile donors included Soros’s Open Society Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Bank of America, the Tides Foundation, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, PayPal, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, PepsiCo, and Comcast NBCUniversal.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/04/13/wall-street-corporations-team-up-with-soros-funded-group-to-pressure-states-against-election-reforms/

Anonymous ID: d22c5e April 13, 2021, 9:44 p.m. No.76287   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6296

Originally General Research #17001 >>13421662

 

FDA Lifts Restriction on Remote Prescriptions of Abortion Drugs

 

Biden admin uses COVID to lift federal prohibition on telemedicine abortions

 

The Biden administration cited the coronavirus pandemic to give the green light to at-home, self-administered abortions on Monday.

 

The FDA said it will allow the prescription of an abortion pill, mifepristone, through the mail, reversing Trump administration restrictions on remote prescription of abortion drugs. The agency wrote that because "the in-person dispensing of mifepristone for medical termination of early pregnancy may present additional COVID-related risks to patients and healthcare personnel because it may involve a clinic visit solely for this purpose," it will allow doctors and nurses to prescribe the medication remotely.

 

The letter, sent on Monday to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, states that the agency will exercise "enforcement discretion" in allowing abortion medication to be prescribed without requiring an in-person doctor's visit.

 

Republican lawmakers warned against removing the requirement that the abortion medication be prescribed in person. Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) accused the Biden administration of exploiting the pandemic to advance the interests of the abortion industry.

 

"This move by the FDA is just using COVID-19 as a cover to dispense abortion-inducing medication remotely," Sasse said. "We are over a year into this pandemic with health care largely returning to safe, in-person delivery. This isn’t about pandemic caution—it’s a political move to increase abortions."

 

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) said the agency should be focused solely on the coronavirus pandemic rather than using COVID-19 to achieve political goals.

 

"By choosing to waive safety requirements and best practices, the Biden Administration is doing the bidding of the radical pro-abortion lobby to make it easier to get abortion-inducing drugs at the expense of the lives of unborn children and the health of mothers," Rubio said. "The FDA should be focused on ending this pandemic, not children’s lives."

 

The Biden administration did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Multiple Republican-controlled states including Montana, Oklahoma, and Texas have passed legislation to restrict access to remote prescriptions of abortion medication. But Democratic states have moved to ease regulations and even limit a doctor's involvement in the procedure. On Monday, Democratic Hawaii governor David Ige signed a bill to allow registered nurses to provide abortion medication or services in the first trimester of pregnancy.

 

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/fda-lifts-restriction-on-remote-prescriptions-of-abortion-drugs/