Defence starts dismissing SAS soldiers in wake of Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

At least 10 current members of the elite SAS implicated in the damning Afghanistan war crimes inquiry have received "show cause" notices from the Defence Department.

Key points:

The soldiers are suspected to be witnesses to alleged murders carried out by other Special Forces soldiers

They are members of SAS's now disbanded 2 Squadron and the Regiment's 3 Squadron

The dismissals come after an inquiry found "credible information" Australian soldiers had committed war crimes while in Afghanistan

The ABC can reveal Defence "initiated administrative action" against serving special forces members within days of last week's landmark Brereton war crimes report being made public.

Defence sources have told the ABC the elite soldiers facing possible expulsion are members of the SAS's now disbanded 2 Squadron as well as the regiment's 3 Squadron.

Other special forces members may eventually be discharged or face a range of disciplinary sanctions, including formal warnings.

The personnel are suspected to have been "accessories" or "witnesses" to alleged murders carried out by other special forces soldiers but are not among the 19 personnel who Justice Brereton recommended be referred to Federal Police.

"Defence can confirm it has initiated administrative action against a number of serving Australian Defence Force personnel in accordance with legislation and Defence policy," a spokesperson told the ABC.

"As the Chief of the Defence Force [CDF] said publicly last week, findings by the IGADF Afghanistan Inquiry of alleged negligence by individuals in the performance of their duties have been accepted by the CDF, and allegations will be managed through the ADF's administrative and disciplinary processes."

Read the redacted IGADF report here.

https://afghanistaninquiry.defence.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-11/IGADF-Afghanistan-Inquiry-Public-Release-Version.pdf

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-26/defence-dismissing-sas-soldiers-accused-war-crimes-afghanistan/12920946

Patsy's pushed forward to protect the corrupt brass

House Democrats Seek to Resurrect Earmarks, Special Interest Cronyism

After making it clear for decades that the people do not want special interest cronyism in the form of ‘earmarks’ to exist in Congress, Democrat want to return to business as usual

If there was ever proof that the elected class couldn’t care less what their constituents want this is it. With a very slim lead forming in the US House, Democrat leadership is looking to reinstate the practice of “earmarking’ pet project funding in piece of legislation going through the chamber.

House Democrat leaders are moving forward with plans to bring back the shady practice of “earmarks” in the 117th Congress.

An earmark, by political definition, is a provision inserted into a non-constitutionally mandated spending bill that directs taxpayer dollars to a specific member of Congress for pet projects in their districts while sidestepping the merit-based or competitive funds allocation process.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), said that once the new Appropriations Committee chair is seated – presumably the week of Nov. 30, they will begin soliciting House lawmakers to “ask for congressional initiatives for their districts and their states.”

Those vying for the position of chair of the House Appropriations Committee include Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).

Hoyer said he’s optimistic that both Republicans and Democrats will embrace the return of the process, noting that Democrats and Republicans have been saber rattling about bringing back earmarks since House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), added a ban to House rules in 2011.

Senate Republicans made their earmark prohibition permanent in 2019, but some party members, including Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL), support resurrecting the practice.

When Democrats regained control of the House in 2019 the embargo on earmarks in that chamber technically ended. Internal discussions immediately began about when and how to bring back “congressionally directed spending.”

https://nationalfile.com/house-democrats-seek-to-resurrect-earmarks-special-interest-cronyism/

>>11798784

sssshhh fighting the terrorists for democracy

Twitter claims it has reversed ban of link to Sidney Powell's Georgia election lawsuit

Plaintiffs seek to decertify the state's 2020 election results

Twitter claims it has reversed its censorship of a link to the lawsuit filed by attorney Sidney Powell that seeks to change the outcome of Georgia’s 2020 election results.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday evening, alleges multiple constitutional violations, citing experts, fact witnesses and statistical improbabilities within the results. The plaintiffs seek to decertify the 2020 election results in the state and have Trump declared the winner.

“The URL referenced was mistakenly marked under our unsafe links policy — this action has now been reversed,” a Twitter spokesperson told FOX Business. The warning still appeared when FOX Business clicked on the link.

Twitter says it sometimes takes action to block links to content outside Twitter. Links are blocked if they are deemed to be malicious and used to steal personal information, spam that mislead people or disrupt their experience or violate Twitter’s rules.

Twitter, and other technology companies including Facebook and Google, have in recent months come under fire from Republican lawmakers who argue the companies unfairly target posts from conservatives.

CEO Jack Dorsey testified earlier this month that between Oct. 27 and Nov. 11 Twitter labeled or removed 300,000 false or misleading tweets about the election. More than 50 tweets from President Trump have been labeled since Election Day.

Twitter’s censorship of conservative voices has been a boon for competing social media platform Parler, which in the days after the election shot up to No. 1 in Apple’s App Store for the first time.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/twitter-claims-reversed-censorship-of-link-to-attorney-sidney-powells-lawsuit-seeking-to-decertify-overturn-georgia-election-results

Twatterfags please confirm

>>11798882

hmm so fox running cover possibly

plot thickens

Admission of mistake in Oxford vaccine dose raises doubts over reliability

Odds of regulators quickly authorising emergency use of inoculation are declining

The announcement this week that a cheap, easy-to-make coronavirus vaccine appeared to be up to 90 per cent effective was greeted with jubilation.

“Get yourself a vaccaccino,” a British tabloid celebrated, noting that the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, costs less than a cup of coffee.

But since unveiling the preliminary results, AstraZeneca has acknowledged a key mistake in the vaccine dosage received by some study participants, adding to questions about whether the vaccine’s apparently spectacular efficacy will hold up under additional testing.

Scientists and industry experts said the error and a series of other irregularities and omissions in the way AstraZeneca initially disclosed the data have eroded their confidence in the reliability of the results.

Results

Officials in the United States have noted that the results were not clear. It was the head of the flagship federal vaccine initiative — not the company — who first disclosed that the vaccine’s most promising results did not reflect data from older people.

The upshot, the experts said, is that the odds of regulators in the United States and elsewhere quickly authorizing the emergency use of the AstraZeneca vaccine are declining, an unexpected setback in the global campaign to corral the devastating pandemic.

“I think that they have really damaged confidence in their whole development program,” said Geoffrey Porges, an analyst for the investment bank SVB Leerink.

Michele Meixell, a spokesperson for AstraZeneca, said the trials “were conducted to the highest standards.”

The biggest questions were, why was there such a large variation in the effectiveness of the vaccine at different doses, and why did a smaller dose appear to produce much better results?

In an interview Wednesday, Menelas Pangalos, the AstraZeneca executive in charge of much of the company’s research and development, defended the company’s handling of the testing and its public disclosures.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/health-pharma/admission-of-mistake-in-oxford-vaccine-dose-raises-doubts-over-reliability-1.4420289

Doctor Who Demanded Mandatory Mask Law Pictured Partying Maskless On Boat Surrounded By Bikini-Clad Women

The world’s so-called “hottest doctor,” who has repeatedly called for mandatory mask laws and social distancing, was pictured maskless partying on a boat in Miami while surrounded by bikini-clad women.

Mikhail Varshavski, known as ‘Dr. Mike’ online, completely contradicted his own advice by throwing a ‘super-spreader’ 31st birthday party for himself on November 12.

“A picture of Varshavski on a boat in Sunset Harbor surrounded by 14 other people — most of them bikini-clad women — has since done the rounds with his fans calling him out for hypocrisy,” reports the Daily Mail.

Another video shows the doctor massaging a woman’s neck on the deck of the boat while wearing a face scarf that isn’t even covering his nose.

Varshavski behavior is completely hypocritical given that he has repeatedly lectured others for ignoring social distancing and demanded mandatory mask laws to save lives.

“If by not wearing a mask you put other’s lives at risk it might make sense to make it mandatory. Wouldn’t you agree?” Varshavski tweeted back in June.

Hahahaha pic.twitter.com/15CrdJgIcA

— Cerno (@Cernovich) November 25, 2020

A month later, the doctor appeared on Fox Business and asserted, “Wearing a mask decreases the spread of this virus and that is of utmost importance for people’s health and the health of our economy.”

“So please, if you’re going outside in public and are going to be around other people, wear a mask,” he added.

During a YouTube interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Varshavski also said, “Social distancing is incredibly important. That’s how we control the spread of this virus.”

Varshavski has also appeared on CNN numerous times telling Americans to abide by coronavirus rules to which he is apparently not subject.

Varshavski’s fans savaged him after the embarrassing photos were leaked.

“You are supposed to be the example. I admired and respected you. Now that is all lost,” said one.

“I never cared about my health, I never trusted doctors before him, now I don’t know what to believe or do anymore,” added another. “I was able to bring my family back to reality only with the information and arguments he has provided in his videos.”

Apparently for Varshavski (and numerous other prominent figures as highlighted in the video below), it’s very much ‘do as we say, not as we do’.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doctor-who-demanded-mandatory-mask-law-pictured-partying-maskless-boat-surrounded-bikini

Politico Exposes Secretive Consulting Firm Set To Dominate Biden Cabinet

A shadowy consulting firm which openly brags about its ability to connect clients to the White House is set to prominently feature in the Biden administration, according to Politico.

Founded in 2017 by Tony Blinken - Joe Biden's pick for Secretary of State - WestExec Advisers advertises itself as "quite literally, the road to the Situation Room," adding "and it is the road everyone associated with WestExec Advisors has crossed many times en route to meetings of the highest national security consequences."

Another WestExec executive, Michèle Flournoy, is a top contender for Secretary of Defense, while former WestExec principal, Avril Haines, is Biden's pick for director of national intelligence.

Meanwhile, WestExec's client list is just as secretive.

Because its staffers aren’t lobbyists, they are not required to disclose who they work for. They also aren’t bound by the Biden transition’s restrictions on hiring people who have lobbied in the past year.

Such high-powered Washington consulting firms are “the unintended consequence” of greater disclosure requirements for registered lobbyists, said Mandy Smithberger, director of the Center for Defense Information at the Project on Government Oversight.

By not directly advocating for federal dollars on behalf of their clients, they don't have to publicly divulge who is paying them and for what activities, such as the connections they make with government agencies, she said. But it is also impossible to assess the influence they have on federal expenditures. -Politico

"They avoid becoming registered lobbyists or foreign agents and are instead becoming strategic consultants," said Smithberger.

What's more, WestExec employs a ton of former Democratic national security and foreign policy officials who have been involved in fundraising for Biden's campaign, have joined his transition team, or have acted as unofficial advisers. In fact, 21 of the 38 WestExec employees listed on the firm's website donated to the Biden campaign - with Flournoy raising over $100,000 alone.

Five WestExec staffers — all veterans of the Obama administration — are on leave from the firm to help staff Biden’s review teams for the Pentagon, the Treasury Department, the Council of Economic Advisers and other agencies, which are charged with coordinating the transfer of power between outgoing Trump officials and Biden’s appointees.

Two other WestExec principals were among those who briefed Biden last week on national security: Bob Work, who served as deputy secretary of defense in the Obama administration and was asked to remain on for the first few months of the Trump administration, and David Cohen, a former deputy director of both the CIA and the Treasury Department who is also in the running for a top post.

Former Obama White House communications director Jen Psaki - also a WestExec employee - is also advising Biden's transition team, while two former WestExec'ers - Lisa Monaco and Julianne Smith - are under consideration for potential Biden administration hires.

The firm was so well positioned to take over in a Democratic administration that they negotiated a clause in their office lease that they can break it if members are called back to public service, according to American Prospect.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/politico-exposes-secretive-consulting-firm-set-dominate-biden-cabinet

>>11798991

Russian Jew aka Khazarian mobster

‘Failing upward on steroids’: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is nominated for TIME’s Person of the Year. Critics have pounced

Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer is under consideration for TIME magazine’s famous annual ‘Person of the Year’ title, a turn of events which has utterly dismayed critics of her record of governance.

On the nominee list, published on Wednesday, Whitmer is featured alongside some fellow Democrats, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Republicans, including President Donald Trump.

Besides politicians, the nominees include singer Billie Eilish, rapper and ex-presidential hopeful Kanye West, Pope Francis and Prince Harry of the British royal family.

While readers do get to vote on who they think should win the title, it’s the magazine’s editors who will make the final decision and announce it, on December 10.

Whitmer’s appearance on the list of nominees considered for the title has rubbed quite a few critics the wrong way and they were not shy about taking to social media to list the governor’s perceived misdeeds.

Many were instantly reminded of Michigan’s perhaps most infamous and ongoing crisis: the lead-poisoning of water in the city of Flint, which began in 2014.

While Whitmer entered office last year on promises to address the serious health issue, some on Twitter were eager to point out that “Flint still doesn’t have clean water.”

“This is failing upward on steroids,” tweeted journalist Jordan Chariton.

Flint still doesn't have clean water. https://t.co/qR4owXsScb

— Dustin Stella 🌹 (@DustinStella) November 26, 2020

This is failing upward on steroids

— Jordan (@JordanChariton) November 26, 2020

Others complained about Whitmer’s efforts to combat the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic – some saying she essentially had blood on her hands, while others felt her orders were authoritarian.

Insane!!! I wonder how all the families of all those seniors who died in nursing home feel about this?

— Darlene (@Katsloving248) November 26, 2020

She’s in a running gun battle with Cuomo for most citizens murdered with horrible rest home policies

— Andrew Campbell (@camp_bean) November 26, 2020

“I hope she wins so she can take her rightful place alongside the 1938 Time Person of the Year,” quipped one person, not-so-subtly comparing Whitmer to Adolf Hitler, once chosen by TIME as ‘Man of the Year.’

https://www.rt.com/usa/507932-gretchen-whitmer-person-year/

Happiest place on Earth? Disney axes 32,000 jobs as Covid-19 pandemic leaves theme parks empty

The Walt Disney Company said it is laying off more than 30,000 employees, mostly at its theme parks, as the coronavirus lockdown renders the very existence of resorts and parks absolutely pointless.

According to the company’s filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the layoff of 32,000 workers, which is 4,000 more than Disney had earlier announced, will happen in the first half of its fiscal year which began in October.

Earlier this month, Disney announced plans for additional redundancies from Disneyland in Southern California amid growing uncertainty over future developments in the entertainment sector. US regulators haven’t revealed whether theme parks will be permitted to open in the near future.

The parks run by the company in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo remain open, while all 12 parks in North America were closed between March and May. Disneyland in Florida and Disneyland Paris were reopened earlier this year, but the latter closed again late last month after the French authorities imposed a new lockdown due to a second wave of coronavirus infections.

The company earlier reported that the pandemic wiped out $7.4 billion in operating income during the fiscal year, with almost all of it – $6.9 billion – coming from the theme parks and experiences division.

Event and entertainment industries were among the first severely hit by the pandemic, along with the tourism and hospitality sectors, with businesses seeing up to an 80-percent decline in revenues, which was reflected in the job losses.

https://www.rt.com/business/507888-disney-axes-jobs-coronavirus/

DS is trying to stop the bull in the China shop