The Gateway Pundit Sues Lead Stories Fact-Check Reporter for Defamation

The Hunter Biden laptop story was a sensational NY Post story involving drugs, hookers, Chinese connections, payoffs, and more. That it involved the son of the former Vice President, who was in a pitched battle for the Presidency against incumbent Donald Trump, left the media with few options to cover for Democrats.

They tried ignoring the story but the ongoing revelations became too explosive. So the left-wing army of fact-checkers came to their rescue to officially ‘debunk’ the story.

A powerful exclusive at the Gateway Pundit featured cutting-edge technology developed by Yaacov Apelbaum, that utilized artificial intelligence in order to determine whether a face in one image ‘matched’ the face of another image, a now-common technology known as “facial recognition” to show that Hunter Biden had an active PornHub account that featured Biden relatives.

Very sloppily, Dean Miller Managing Editor from Lead Stories, wrote the takedown of the Gateway Pundit story. The obvious goal of this article is to discredit the story, Apelbaum, and the Gateway Pundit.

In debunking the Gateway Pundit, though, Lead Stories ran afoul of relevant laws about libel, injurious falsehood, and interfering with business relationships and are now being sued by the Gateway Pundit.

Because all of the items ‘debunked’ are, in fact, true.

“Leftist media organizations – the Mainstream Press – learned one lesson from 2016: destroy alternative media. They lie and then use the lies of others to deplatform conservative media and harass their advertisers. They have successfully run many good outlets out of business, but this conduct is illegal, and we will fight back. Jim Hoft and the Gateway Pundit have been libeled and defamed by Dean Miller and Lead Stories, and we will seek justice,” General Counsel for the Gateway Pundit John Burns, said.

Very confidently, Miller declared that the entire underlying story was “not true” and used “scare quotes” in order to make many of the claims by Apelbaum seem unlikely, extreme, and laughable.

An example of this is when Miller wrote this libelous sentence:

“Lead Stories has reached out to Hoft and to Apelbaum to ask how they made the connection and “authenticated” the content.”

The scare quotes around the word “authenticated” signals to the reader that they should have skepticism or derision about the use of that word.

“Mr. Apelbaum is an expert without peer, a leader in his industry, he’s doing great things in artificial intelligence and what Lead Stories said about him is insulting and harmful to his reputation,” Burns said. “His experience and resume says it all, his reputation as an expert, and the reputation of the Pundit in profiling a leader in this industry, is something we are willing to litigate in order to protect. Lead Stories needs to do a better job checking its facts before defaming honest men and women in America, the law is not on their side.”

Miller went through Apelbaum’s LinkedIn and suggested that his entire resume was fake. In one example, Miller says he searched Dun and Bradstreet’s website for mentions of his name, as they were one of Apelbaum’s past employers and found none. On their own site, they mention they have 4,037 current employees, so the purpose of this search, without context, leaves the reader with the wrongful impression that Apelbaum is a faker. Miller mentioned that he ‘reached out to’ Dun & Bradstreet to confirm Apelbaum’s employment and “will update” the report “when they reply.” Again leaving any reasonable reader on the impression that they have not yet replied, and they have likely not replied because they have no record of Apelbaum.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/gateway-pundit-sues-lead-stories-fact-check-reporter-defamation/

Study: “Cancel Culture” Decimating Free Speech At World’s Leading Universities

A study by leading education focused think tank Civitas has found that free speech at the world’s leading universities is being eroded at an alarming rate owing to the rise of “cancel culture”.

The study found that within the past three years, more than 68 per cent of universities in the UK have seen free speech severely restricted, with academics unable to meaningfully discuss the nuances of issues such as race and gender.

The report notes that universities including Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews, three of the world’s premiere institutions are among those that have fallen into a “red” category for free speech following instances of “no platforming” of scheduled speakers.

The study warns that the situation has gotten so severe that it requires government legislation to stop campus censorship at 48 universities, the equivalent of at least 35 per cent of institutions.

Civitas noted that a further 70 institutions, over half, placed into a “amber category”, have experienced restrictions on freedom of expression that should be looked into by university watchdog The Office for Students.

Researchers noted that freedom of speech “could be curbed by perceived transphobic episodes” in an alarming number of institutions, and that a “cancel culture” of open letters and or petitions from “external pressure groups” is eroding free speech.

Lead researcher Jim McConalogue noted “Our findings suggest that 86 per cent of universities faced either severe or moderate free speech restrictions which need to be addressed.”

“The fundamental issue must be dealt with because students and academics find themselves in educational institutions in which they cannot speak freely of the leading subjects of their day including on race, gender, the outcomes of elections, their views on religion, or on discrimination itself for fear of judgements that lead to eventual penalty or censorship,” McConalogue explained.

A previous Civitas report, published last month, found that “The racialisation of campus relations is driving a wedge between students and undermines any sense of our common humanity”.

The report also noted that there is no statistical evidence that ‘ethnicity’ determines the educational attainment of higher education students:

'The Racialisation of Campus Relations' is available to read for free https://t.co/QALTERkiTk

— Civitas think tank (@Civitas_UK) November 20, 2020

'University leaders should be given anti-racist training on 'white privilege', new guidance says'

What a load of rubbish.

I wrote yesterday about a new @Civitas_UK report on the problem with universities racialising students and treating them as a colour not as individuals. https://t.co/UMuPVTO6Ex

— Joanna Williams (@jowilliams293) November 24, 2020

The latest Civitas study was undertaken before another prominent incident at Cambridge University, with dons rejecting ‘authoritarian guidelines’ from the university that decreed opinions should be “respectful of the diverse identities of others”.

Academics instead said they will promote ‘tolerance’ of differing opinions, and are backing amendments to make it more difficult for public speakers to be ‘no-platformed’ based on their beliefs and opinions.

In one particular incident, some students at Clare College, Cambridge, attempted to get a city councillor (who is also a porter at the college) fired for refusing to support a pro-trans motion.

The decimation of free speech at universities has become so severe that the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced earlier this year that stamping out ‘no platforming’ was a top priority.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/78806/study-cancel-culture-decimating-free-speech-at-worlds-leading.html

SolarWinds Board Member Bought JD Power From Mysterious Chinese Company For $1.8 Billion Months Before Hack

"Most XIO employees knew little about where its funding came from. Some advisers to XIO received differing accounts."

More connections between SolarWinds board members and China continue to emerge as the aftermath of the devastating SolarWinds hack continues to unfold.

SolarWinds director Seth Boro, a man who was instrumental in starting the private equity firm known as Thoma Bravo, “currently serves on the board of directors of several software and technology service companies in which certain investment funds advised by Thoma Bravo hold an investment,” according to his biography on the SolarWinds website.

In 2019, Thoma Bravo bought JD Power for $1.88 billion from XIO Group, a mysterious Chinese company based in Hong Kong.

“Thoma Bravo has agreed to purchase JD Power, a Delaware-based provider of data analytics and market research for dozens of industries, from China’s XIO Group, with Axios reporting a price of $1.88 billion. XIO bought JD Power for some $1.1 billion in 2016,” Pitchbook reported.

XIO Group acquired JD Power from S&P in 2016 for $1.1 billion. The Wall Street Journal in 2018 reported that the Chinese company had “unclear ownership.”

“Most XIO employees knew little about where its funding came from. Some advisers to XIO received differing accounts.

The J.D. Power deal was completed amid a wave of overseas acquisitions by cash-rich, privately owned Chinese companies. Some of them have unclear ownership structures that bankers and lawyers say can be a source of confusion. XIO provided full details of its investors to everyone involved in the U.S. regulatory approval process for J.D. Power, a spokesman for XIO said.

XIO was among the new buyers Western bankers and lawyers started hearing about. A year after it was founded in Hong Kong, XIO opened its headquarters office in London’s Shard skyscraper in 2015. A Shanghai-based fund company called Shanghai Li Hong Investment Center invested hundreds of millions of dollars from mainland China in one of XIO’s acquisitions, according to a public document at China’s Ministry of Commerce. XIO controls Shanghai Li Hong, the XIO spokesman said.”

Following the aftermath of the SolarWinds breach announcement, many mainstream news organizations suggested that Russians were responsible for the attack, but this has not yet been confirmed.

https://nationalfile.com/solarwinds-board-member-bought-jd-power-from-mysterious-chinese-company-for-1-8-billion-months-before-hack/

World Economic Forum Members “Affect to Trade for the Public good”

Major corporations have actively sought to control and dominate the population under the guise of “stakeholder capitalism” for years. The World Economic Forum is the current most prominent of many organizations pushing rhetoric about being accountable to “stakeholders” by implementing social change through corporations. While “social responsibility” and “stakeholderism” is at the forefront of the rhetoric pushed by allied corporations, these organizations also seek increased control over individuals by large companies, in order to achieve their supposedly humanitarian goals.

One of the most prominent advocates for the concept of socially conscious “stakeholder capitalism” is Marc Benioff, CEO and founder of Salesforce.

Benioff is on board with the WEF’s Great Reset, a plan propped up in part by Salesforce’s participation in the creation of a “holistic” software solution for universal population “vaccine management.”

As pointed out by the New York Times, in August, Benioff boasted that Salesforce had generated over $5 billion in sales. He called it a “victory for stakeholder capitalism.” The next day, Salesforce let go of 1,000 employees.

A September study examining the pandemic-era actions of Salesforce and other members of the Business Roundtable, yet another association of companies who believe themselves to be anointed servants of stakeholders, pioneers toward the ultimate reality of corporation-controlled utopia, found many large corporations are not quite the benevolent leaders they claim to be.

The study was published by KKS advisors, as part of their “Test of Corporate Purpose” initiative. KKS itself is a consulting firm focused on “reshaping markets” and emboldening companies to achieve globalist Sustainable Development Goals or “Global Goals.” But its assessment of these corporations offers a unique window into the integrity, or lack thereof, of global partner companies and their supposed promises.

“Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s largest and most influential companies made promises to their stakeholders. In 2019, 181 CEOs in the Business Roundtable – a group that includes major companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Bank of America – redefined the purpose of a corporation to one that delivers value to all stakeholders, not just shareholders,” KKS explained upon releasing the study. KKS concluded that when it comes to companies’ commitments to their “stakeholders,” actions speak louder than words:

“Overall, our results suggest that corporate commitments to purpose are less informative about a company’s future performance on social and human capital issues than other indicators. What matters more is whether a company has a strong track record of proactively managing issues that may become material during a crisis, and whether a company is an early responder on relevant issues during a crisis.”

https://humanevents.com/2020/12/18/world-economic-forum-members-affect-to-trade-for-the-public-good/

Drug overdoses skyrocketing in US with over 81,000 deaths: CDC

Drug overdose deaths have substantially increased in the U.S., and set a new record for fatalities in the year ending in May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced.

The CDC’s Health Alert Network released a report Thursday saying 81,230 drug overdose deaths occurred during that time starting in June 2019.

“This represents a worsening of the drug overdose epidemic in the United States and is the largest number of drug overdoses for a 12-month period ever recorded,” the agency said.

The CDC noted that “after declining 4.1% from 2017 to 2018, the number of overdose deaths increased 18.2% from the 12-months ending in June 2019.”

Drug overdose fatalities were already on the rise before the start of 2020, but accelerated once the COVID-19 pandemic stuck, the CDC says.

Synthetic opioids have been the primary source of the increases in overdose deaths, the agency continued, and that, “The 12-month count of synthetic opioid deaths increased 38.4% from the 12-months ending in June 2019 compared with the 12-months ending in May 2020.”

The CDC recommends expanding the use of naloxone, a medication that treats overdoses during emergencies, and that people should take overdose prevention classes.

https://nypost.com/2020/12/18/us-drug-overdoses-skyrocketing-cdc/

This is an official CDC HEALTH ADVISORY

https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/pdf/CDC-HAN-00438.pdf

https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1340093987873501184

Raheem Kassam

@RaheemKassam

I’ve warned people about Heritage for years. Loyal only to itself and the neoliberal status quo.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/rupert-murdoch-gets-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-for-christmas-20201219-p56owb.html

>>12085724

Rules are rules

TITS OR GTFO.

>>12085724

>https://8kun.top/qresearch/welcome.html

Stay at home: NSW Premier urges Sydneysiders to stay indoors as concerns grow over COVID cluster

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has urged all residents of Greater Sydney to stay at home and only engage in essential travel as the cases linked to the Northern Beaches COVID cluster rise to 21.

From 5pm today, Northern Beaches residents will only be able to leave their homes for essential purposes such as for work, for compassionate grounds, for exercise or to go shopping.

The restrictions will remain in place until Wednesday.

Reasons to leave your premises include work, shopping, medical appointments, exercise, visiting takeaway cafes and restaurants and to visit your partner.

NSW recorded 23 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, with seven reported in overseas travellers.

Ms Berejiklian said all other Sydney residents must take precautions to ensure the disease does not spread.

“Please, please, do not go out tonight or the next few days unless you really have to do. Please don’t leave your home unless you have to,” she said.

“If we need to, we may very well revert back to what we had previous to the last couple of weeks where restrictions were eased from four square metres to two square metres.

“So they are the things we will be considering and looking at and consulting with the relevant people today but it will be based very much on health advice.”

https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6217239012001

Just in time for Xmas

Zimbabwe Bans Christmas Parties Citing Coronavirus Concerns

Zimbabwe’s government announced on Wednesday that police will enforce a nationwide ban on Christmas parties this holiday season to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking at a press conference to launch Zimbabwe’s “2020 Festive Season Awareness Campaign” on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe warned: “We are not yet out of the Covid-19 [Chinese coronavirus] woes but the country is in the second wave of the virus. Parties will not be permissible during the festive season.”

The interior minister, quoted by the local newspaper New Zimbabwe, added, “However, weddings will be allowed but still with limited numbers. Police will be out in full force to enforce Covid-19 [Chinese coronavirus] regulations and to make sure that they are being followed.”

The newspaper noted that Kazembe’s announcement followed his conspicuous appearance at a “birthday bash” for Interior Minister Monica Mutsvangwa on November 28, which reportedly boasted dozens of guests in violation of the federal government’s ongoing coronavirus restrictions on large gatherings.

“Images of ministers and a host of other guests partying, hugging and merrymaking with her [Mutsvangwa] were shared by the information ministry’s secretary Nick Mangwana on Twitter,” New Zimbabwe reported on December 2.

Other Zimbabwean government ministers also attended the event, including Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza.

“That was obviously a very personal dinner, a small gathering where a few friends were just there for dinner,” Mutsvangwa claimed when asked about the birthday party by journalists at a press briefing on December 2.

“All controls were put in place including a walk-in booth for disinfecting. We are much concerned about reducing and containing the spread of this disease,” she added.

Images of the event shared on social media contradict the information minister’s statements, according to New Zimbabwe. The photos reveal “there was no social distancing at the party” and that none of the guests wore sanitary masks, which the Zimbabwean government currently requires people to wear during public gatherings.

https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2020/12/17/zimbabwe-bans-christmas-parties-citing-coronavirus-concerns/

>>12085910

that's a given