HSI, Australian Federal Police identify 245 victims of child exploitation by predator posing as popular YouTube star

WASHINGTON — An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) resulted in the arrest of a 25-year-old Australian citizen who is now facing a total of 247 charges related to 245 alleged child victims in the United States.

In 2019, HSI special agents in Tallahassee, Florida, received information from the Leon County (Florida) Sheriff's Office (LCSO) regarding the exploitation of minors throughout the U.S. by an individual in Australia. The individual was masquerading as a popular YouTube star in order to befriend minor females and gain their trust. He then blackmailed the minor victims and instructed them to film themselves doing various sexually explicit acts, many of which involved physical contact with other minors and/or animals.

HSI reached out to the AFP to help identify the predator in Australia. With the assistance of Western Australia Police (WAPOL), AFP quickly identified the subject in Western Australia and initiated Operation ESK. HSI Canberra provided support to Operation ESK by obtaining subscriber details from YouTube for the offender, and both the previous and potential victims. Forensic examination of the subject’s social media account led to the identification in October 2020 of 112 U.S. victims of online child exploitation and upon continued investigation an additional 134 by January 2021. The subject was arrested by AFP and is currently in custody.

“Child exploitation is a heinous crime that is happening far too often on social media sites used by our children,” said HSI Regional Attaché for Oceania, Adam Parks. “These investigations will continue to be our top priority to ensure that children around the world are protected from sexual predators. Thanks to our close partnership with the Australian Federal Police and Western Australia Police, we were able to identify this predator and protect future children from falling victim to this monster.”

Operation ESK is a joint investigation between HSI Canberra, AFP, and WAPOL, with assistance from HSI Tallahassee, LCSO, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).

HSI is the principal investigative arm of DHS and a vital U.S. asset in combatting transnational crime and threats. One of HSI’s top priorities is to protect the public from crimes of victimization, and HSI’s child exploitation investigations program is a central component of this mission set. HSI is recognized as a global leader in this investigative discipline, and is committed to utilizing its vast authorities, international footprint and strong government and non-government partnerships to identify and rescue child victims, identify and apprehend offenders, prevent transnational child sexual abuse, and help make the internet a safer place for children. The HSI International Operations Division is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative presence overseas. Division personnel serve as liaisons to governments and law enforcement agencies across the globe and work side-by-side with foreign law enforcement on HSI investigations.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/hsi-australian-federal-police-identify-245-victims-child-exploitation-predator-posing

Tulsi Gabbard Asks Biden: “Have You Declared Martial Law?”

“What is it that they are trying to accomplish now by creating an enduring presence?”

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard asked Joe Biden if he had declared martial law after it was revealed that thousands of troops stationed in the capital will remain there until March.

As we highlighted earlier, at least 5,000 National Guard soldiers will remain in DC until the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump is completed, a process which won’t be concluded for at least six weeks.

“President @JoeBiden, have you declared martial law? Because that is what it’s starting to look and feel like. Let our troops get back home to their families,” Gabbard tweeted.

President @JoeBiden, have you declared martial law? Because that is what it’s starting to look and feel like. Let our troops get back home to their families. pic.twitter.com/FCbJTyAH3K

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) January 25, 2021

During an appearance on Fox News, Gabbard was asked if it was justified to have so many troops guard the Capitol building given that there was absolutely no unrest during or after Biden’s inauguration.

While asserting that troops had been “mistreated” after they were made to sleep on cement floors, the former Congresswoman said that the 25,000 troops used to occupy the capital was a massive overreaction given there was no evidence of an imminent attack.

“The militarization of our nation’s capital was not only uneccesary…to send that message both to the American people but to the world that somehow our nation’s capital us under attack and threat of a siege of taking over, I just don’t think that’s the message that we want to send to the American people and to the world,” she said.

The military veteran said there was no justification for keeping 5,000 troops in the capital, asking, “What is it that they are trying to accomplish now by creating an enduring presence? That sounds a lot like a lot of the stuff that we’ve seen happen overseas.”

Gabbard also called out Rep. Adam Schiff, who she said is “advocating for targeting half the country as potential domestic terrorists.”

.@joebiden Your leadership is needed now to denounce those like John Brennan & Rep Schiff who are advocating for targeting half the country as potential domestic terrorists. Truly unite the American people around our Constitution & the rights that are endowed to us by our Creator pic.twitter.com/OpemBm4biS

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) January 24, 2021

https://summit.news/2021/01/25/tulsi-gabbard-asks-biden-have-you-declared-martial-law/

The Elderly Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine are Dropping Like Flies

James Mulder, writing for Syracuse.com, reveals that “[a] Covid-19 outbreak at a Cayuga County nursing home that began two weeks ago has infected 137 residents, 24 of whom have died.” The article was published on January 9, 2021. So, going back two weeks from that date we arrive at December 26, 2020, as the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the article, “[t]here had been no nursing home Covid-19 deaths in Cayuga County until the first three deaths at the Commons were reported Dec. 29.” So, 24 nursing home residents have died since the outbreak, with the first one dying on December 29th.

So what accounts for the upsurge in deaths? The article states: “The nursing home began vaccinating residents Dec. 22. So far 193 residents, or 80%, and 113 employees, or less than half the staff, have been vaccinated.”

Thus, we have zero deaths from COVID-19 at the nursing home throughout 2020. Then suddenly we have a surge of 24 Deaths from COVID-19 within 18 days of vaccinating 80% of the frail elderly nursing home residents.

It seems that the deaths from COVID-19 vaccines are being underreported. For example, in a January 16, 2021 article from Health Impact News, it was reported that there have been 55 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccines in the United States. It is odd that a single county (Cayuga County) in the United States with a reported 24 deaths accounts for fully 44% of all COVID-19 vaccine deaths in the entire country. It is particularly suspicious when one realizes that Norway, with a total population of only 5 million people, has reported 29 deaths of people over 75 years old from COVID-19 vaccines. Could it be that the deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. are much higher than is being reported but because the deaths largely impact the elderly that they are being reported as a death from some other cause?

Post hoc ergo propter hoc is often viewed as a fallacy. but when an event is so closely associated with another, as in this case with vaccination for the very disease from which that the patients subsequently die, it is irrational not to see the causal link.

Indeed, it seems that there has been a large number of elderly people who have died from the COVID-19 vaccine, but the deaths are going unreported in the mainstream media. There are approximately 7,000 adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines reported for 2020 in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). This author uncovered seven deaths of elderly people after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

https://greatmountainpublishing.com/2021/01/24/the-elderly-receiving-the-covid-19-vaccine-are-dropping-like-flies/

Professors Demand Publishers Refuse To Publish Books From Anyone Associated With Trump Administration

A small group of professors have joined a letter urging members of the publishing industry to refuse to give book deals to members of the Trump administration.

More than 550 publishing professionals, including some who are professors, signed a letter claiming, “our country is where it is in part because publishing has chased the money and notoriety of some pretty sketchy people.” The letter, which was reported by Campus Reform, comes after leftists successfully stopped Simon and Schuster from publishing a book from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) due to his vote objecting to certification of the 2020 election in certain battleground states. Hawley’s book was quickly picked up by Regnery Publishing.This new letter contains signatures from authors, editors, agents, and others insisting the Trump administration committed crimes against the American people and should not be allowed book deals that would allow them to profit off those alleged crimes.

“As members of the writing and publishing community of the United States, we affirm that participation in the administration of Donald Trump must be considered a uniquely mitigating criterion for publishing houses when considering book deals,” the letter says.

“Consequently, we believe: No participant in an administration that caged children, performed involuntary surgeries on captive women, and scoffed at science as millions were infected with a deadly virus should be enriched by the almost rote largesse of a big book deal. And no one who incited, suborned, instigated, or otherwise supported the January 6, 2021 coup attempt should have their philosophies remunerated and disseminated through our beloved publishing houses,” it continues.

The letter then brings up “Son of Sam” laws, which were enacted in some states in the late 1970s following a belief that serial killer David Berkowitz, who called himself the “Son of Sam,” would profit by selling his story after he was caught. New York and a few other states have passed such laws and revised them after the Supreme Court ruled they were unconstitutional in 1991.

“‘Son of Sam’ laws exist to prevent criminals from benefiting financially from writing about their crimes. In that spirit, those who enabled, promulgated, and covered up crimes against the American people should not be enriched through the coffers of publishing,” wrote the authors of the publishing letter. “We are writers, editors, journalists, agents, and professionals in multiple forms of publishing. We believe in the power of words and we are tired of the industry we love enriching the monsters among us, and we will do whatever is in our power to stop it.”

The letter is not the first attempt by students and academics to punish the Trump administration. As The Daily Wire previously reported, students at Harvard University circulated a petition to keep former Trump administration officials from speaking, attending, or teaching at the Ivy League school. A similar move was made at George Washington University.

http://www.tathasta.com/2021/01/professors-demand-publishers-refuse-to.html

Biden Is Blundering Us Into World War 3

This Is So Bad

The Joe Biden administration is blundering America into a World War 3 scenario as tensions rise globally. We are looking at a WW3 in which the regime controlling America does not represent the American people, there is zero national cohesion, and there are no clear objectives except the profit-oriented destabilization goals and petty rivalries of the Oligarchs. Such a war is not winnable for the American government, and could spark a massive bipartisan antiwar movement to challenge the bellicose decisions of the Biden regime.

Biden is backing the anti-Vladimir Putin opposition effort in Russia while moving American troops into Syria. Putin is likewise moving Russian troops into Syria to engage in a staredown with the Americans. The Islamic State (ISIS) is back, committing terrorism in Iraq. China is flexing on Taiwan in the South China Sea, sparking U.S. warship entry into the region. Israel is bombing Syria. And Americans are beginning to realize that the globalist Biden regime is leading us blindly, cravenly into potential disaster.

Bombings in Baghdad

Dozens of civilians were killed or injured at Tayaran Square in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday after a pair of suicide bombings. “One (terrorist) came, fell to the ground and started complaining ‘my stomach is hurting’ and he pressed the detonator in his hand. It exploded immediately. People were torn to pieces,” reported an observer. Reuters and other news agencies reported that the Islamic State, aka ISIS, took responsibility for the deadly terrorist attack.

South China Sea

Meanwhile, China is not happy that the Biden regime sent the USS Theodore Roosevelt and three warships into the South China Sea. Taiwan said that China moved into its airspace with fighter jets.

“The United States frequently sends aircraft and vessels into the South China Sea to flex its muscles. This is not conducive to peace and stability in the region,” stated a spokesman for the Chicoms.

Everyone in politics knows that Biden is easily manipulated by the Chinese Communists, who quietly set up a military base in the Bahamas less than 200 miles off the U.S. coast. Look for more erratic and concerning moves from the Biden administration with respect to China as the world situation grows more alarming by the day.

https://nationalfile.com/biden-is-blundering-us-into-world-war-3/

Mexican authorities find 19 charred bodies near US border

Mexican authorities said they have found 19 shot and burned bodies near a town across the Rio Grande from the US state of Texas in an area that has seen violent territorial disputes between organised crime groups in recent years.

The Tamaulipas state prosecutor’s office said late on Saturday that the bodies were discovered along a dirt road outside Camargo after residents reported a burning vehicle.Authorities found two vehicles on fire, containing the remains of 19 victims. Some rifles were also found.

All 19 victims had been shot, but shells were not found at the site, leading investigators to believe they were killed somewhere else.

“In one of the vans there were two bodies in the front seats, another body on the side of the driver’s door, one more on the side of the passenger door and 15 bodies in the back of the vehicle,” a statement by the state police read.

“Initial investigations show that death was caused by firearm projectiles and then [the victims] were set on fire,” it added.

A Camargo official, who requested anonymity due to security concerns, said the killings occurred on Friday, but people had been afraid to report them.

A separate source from the prosecutor’s office told AFP news agency that an investigation has been launched to determine whether the victims were undocumented migrants, as some local media have reported.

The official said they have contacted Guatemalan consular authorities in Mexico “to provide the necessary information and try to identify some of the people believed to be Guatemalan migrants.”

Camargo, a town of about 15,000 people, borders Texas and the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.

http://www.scoopyweb.com/2021/01/mexican-authorities-find-19-charred.html

World's richest ten people – including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg – 'are half a TRILLION dollars richer since Covid-19 pandemic began'

The world's ten richest people, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, have seen their collective wealth increase by half a trillion dollars since the start of the Covid pandemic, according to a new report.

The business magnates could even pay to vaccinate the entire world with their profits from the last year, the Oxfam study claims.

The anti-poverty campaigners used figures from the Forbes 2020 Billionaire List and wealth data from Credit Suisse to investigate the financial impact of the pandemic on the world's wealthiest.

They found that the fallout from the virus will lead to the biggest increase in global inequality on record unless governments radically rejig their economies.

The report is geared to inform discussions at the World Economic Forum's online panels of political and business leaders this week.

Oxfam said the richest 1,000 people have already managed to recoup the losses they recorded in the early days of the pandemic because of the bounce back in stock markets.

By contrast, Oxfam said it could take more than a decade for the world's poorest to recover their losses.

http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2021/01/worlds-richest-ten-people-including.html

New York teacher, 31, at an all-girls 'leadership school' is arrested for 'flying to Florida to have sex with a teenage girl he met online'

A New York teacher has been arrested after flying to Florida to have sex with an underage girl he met online.

Zeshaan Naqvi, 31, teaches social studies at the all-girls Young Women’s Leadership middle school in Jamaica, Queens.

Last week he flew to Tampa after allegedly grooming his victim online for around three months, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

He picked the teenager up at her home and took her to a hotel where he engaged in illegal, sexual acts with a minor, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Officers arrested Naqvi at the hotel the next day where he allegedly admitted knowing his victim was underage.

He has been held on a $60,000 bond.

Sheriff Chad Chronister, said in a statement: 'It never ceases to amaze us the lengths predators will go to, to get what they want', as reported by New York Daily News.

He added: 'In this case, a middle school history teacher booked a ticket, boarded a plane, and traveled across the country to meet with a minor who he had been chatting with for about three months. This behavior is deeply disturbing and serves as a grim warning to parents to monitor their child’s online activity.'

Naqvi has worked for the New York City school system since 2014.

Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for New York's education department, said: 'These allegations are extremely disturbing, and we have zero tolerance for this behavior.'

She added: 'The teacher was immediately reassigned from his current position pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.'

The victim's age was not released by the office, who cited a recently passed victim’s rights law.

In Florida it is illegal for any adult aged 24 or older to have sex with an individual under the age of 18-years-old.

The charges that Naqvi faces usually apply to victims aged between 16-17-years-old.

http://www.stationgossip.com/2021/01/new-york-teacher-31-at-all-girls.html

Mastercard is blasted for 'greed' and 'opportunism' by charging British card users FIVE TIMES the fees on items ordered from EU then blaming Brexit

Mastercard is hiking fees for UK shoppers buying from EU-based companies

The European Union brought in a cap in 2015 amid fears over hidden fees

Mastercard says the cap does not apply to some transactions following Brexit

Payments between UK and the EEA are now 'inter-regional', the company saysMastercard has been accused of 'opportunism' and 'greed' for increasing fees for British shoppers using debit or credit cards to buy from EU-based companies five-fold.

Visa and Mastercard levy 'interchange' fees on behalf of banks for card payments that used their networks.

The European Union brought in a cap in 2015 amid fears over hidden fees costing companies hundreds of millions of euros, meaning higher prices for consumers.

Mastercard has now revealed that the cap does not apply to some transactions following Brexit, as payments between Britain and the European Economic Area are now technically 'inter-regional', the FT reports.

The company will raise its credit card charge from Britain to the EU from 0.3 per cent of the transaction's value up to 1.5 per cent from October 15, with debit card payment fees jumping from 0.2 per cent to 1.15 per cent. The change will reportedly be a benefit for British banks and card issuers rather than Mastercard, but it has sparked a backlash from companies who rely on online payments.

Chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Fair Business Banking, Kevin Hollinrake, said the change was 'alarming'.

He added: 'This smacks of opportunism and I would urge the regulators to step in as a matter of urgency to ensure that financial institutions do not use Brexit as an opportunity to hike up costs that consumers will ultimately bear.'

Head of policy at the Coalition for a Digital Economy, Joel Gladwin, said: 'Some people might put this change down to Brexit, but it is actually just greed. It is well within the power of the card schemes to make merchants' lives easy and keep things operating as they were pre-2021.

http://www.scoopyweb.com/2021/01/mastercard-is-blasted-for-greed-and.html

Trudeau Celebrates Biden: We Have ‘So Much Alignment’

On Friday, asked about the decision by President Joe Biden to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted the “alignment” between himself and Biden as well as Canadians and Biden, saying they were “much more aligned on values.”

A reporter asked, “Can you tell us more about your conversations with the premiers last night over Keystone XL and your chat with President Biden today? What were some of the specific measures or some of the specific points the premiers want you to make to Biden? What were they telling you about what Biden was doing, the president was doing? Can you give us a sense of sort of their mood about this decision which obviously some of them would not have been pleased about?”“The call with the ministers, which lasted just over an hour, included discussions on the raging coronavirus pandemic but was dominated by the president’s order, which was signed just a day earlier,” Global News reported. “According to aides who participated in the meeting, ‘some premiers want to go to war with the United States over the Keystone XL cancellation. The aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the discussion ‘got pretty heated.’”

After noting that some Canadians would lose jobs as a result of the Keystone XL cancellation, Trudeau answered the reporter, “I think the fact that we have so much alignment not just me and President Biden, but Canadians and President Biden on values of creating jobs and prosperity for everyone and opportunities for everyone, investing in the fight against climate change as a way of growing the economy, looking to be coordinated and aggressive in stepping up in our measures against COVID-19. These are things that we’re going to be able to dig into significantly.”

“It’s not always going to be perfect alignment with the United States, that’s the case with any given president,” he added, “In a situation where we are much more aligned on values, on focus, on work that needs to be done to give opportunities for everyone while we build a better future. I’m very much looking forward to working with President Biden.”

Yet later in the day, Trudeau reportedly voiced his displeasure with Biden’s decision about Keystone XL. The White House website stated, “The President acknowledged Prime Minister Trudeau’s disappointment regarding the decision to rescind the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.”

One of Biden’s first executive orders after taking office was to rejoin the Paris Accords, announcing on January 21, “I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the Paris Agreement, done at Paris on December 12, 2015, do hereby accept the said Agreement and every article and clause thereof on behalf of the United States of America.”

Trudeau signed the Paris Accords in 2016. In June 2017, after former President Trump left the agreement, Trudeau stated, “We are deeply disappointed that the United States federal government has decided to withdraw from the Paris agreement.”

http://www.scoopyweb.com/2021/01/trudeau-celebrates-biden-we-have-so.html

10 Internet Conspiracy Theories That Proved To Be True

Biden begins Syria military build up. Region braces for "Assad Must Go" narrative

Biden begins Syria military build up. Region braces for “Assad Must Go” narrative

A Large US Military Convoy Rolled Into Syria On 1st Day Of Biden Presidency

https://theduran.com/biden-begins-syria-military-build-up-region-braces-for-assad-must-go-narrative/

Biden's 'nothing we can do' comments on coronavirus trajectory cause stir

Claim is 'the opposite' of what Biden said during his campaign, National Review writer said

President Biden has drawn backlash for providing a pessimistic view of his administration's ability to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the near future.

Biden's campaign featured harsh criticisms of former President Trump's approach to COVID-19, and in his first speech as president-elect he said his administration's work "begins with getting COVID under control." On Friday, however, he indicated that the trajectory of the pandemic can't be changed in the coming months, no matter what Americans do.

"If we fail to act, there will be a wave of evictions and foreclosures in the coming months as this pandemic rages on, because there's nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months," Biden said.

The idea that nothing will change the pandemic drew confusion and ire from figures in politics and the media.

"Haven't we been told for months that restrictions and mandates were necessary to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months?" former Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, a libertarian, tweeted.

Fox News contributor and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, criticized Biden for his fatalist sentiment.

"Already giving up," Chaffetz tweeted. "Banner headlines in all major media outlets? Nope. Most will bury this but it is a stunning admission. Biden says 'nothing we can do' to change pandemic 'trajectory' in coming months."

National Review's David Harsanyi said the idea that there was nothing that could be done was "the opposite" of what Biden said during his campaign.

On Sunday, Biden's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra tried to clarify the president's message.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-coronavirus-trajectory-nothing-we-can-do-reaction

DOJ Must Appoint a Special Counsel to Investigate Evidence of Biden Family Corruption

Judicial Watch started this petition to Department of Justice and

There is substantial evidence, from documents and witness statements, that the Biden family, including President Joe Biden, may have been involved in criminal activity involving, among other issues, foreign entities tied to Ukraine and China.

Joe Biden's son Hunter has already acknowledged that he is the target of a FBI criminal investigation.

A special counsel should immediately be appointed because the Biden Justice Department is conflicted in investigating any matter that could implicate President-elect Biden or his immediate family.

https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-doj-must-appoint-a-special-counsel-to-investigate-evidence-of-joe-biden-corruption?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=6515d460-57a2-11eb-8221-2364990c1217

How the FBI Created Domestic Terrorism: 80 Years of Psychological Warfare Revealed

The “war on terror” is now expanding to target a broad spectrum of the American population who would be morally resistant to the sorts of anti-human policies demanded by Great Reset Technocrats, Matthew Ehret writes.

Since it has become increasingly evident that a vast extension of the Patriot Act will soon be unveiled that threatens to re-define “the war on terror” to include essentially anyone who disagrees with the governing neoliberal agenda, it is probably a good time to evaluate how and why terrorism – domestic or otherwise – has tended to arise over the past century.

If, in the course of conducting this evaluation, we find that terrorism is truly a “naturally occurring phenomenon”, then perhaps we might conclude alongside many eminent figures of the intelligence community and Big Tech, that new pre-emptive legislation targeting the rise of a new conservative-minded domestic terrorist movement is somehow necessary. Maybe the censoring of free speech, and the surveillance of millions of Americans by the Five Eyes is a necessary evil for the sake of the greater good.

However, if it is revealed that the thing we call “terrorism”, is something other than a naturally occurring, self-organized phenomenon, but rather something which only exists due to vast support from western political agencies, then a very different conclusion must be arrived at which may be disturbing for some.

But how to proceed?

Before it was revealed that ISIS was being supported by a network of Anglo-American intelligence agencies and their allies in a failed effort to overthrow Bashar al Assad, an exhaustive 2012 study was conducted by the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School. This study provides a convenient entry point to our inquiry.

In this course of its investigation, researchers at Fordham discovered that EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 138 terrorist incidents recorded in the USA between 2001-2012 involved FBI informants who played leading roles in planning out, supplying weapons, instructions and even recruiting Islamic terrorists to carry out terrorist acts on U.S. soil. Reporting on the Fordham study, The Nation reported on this scandal stating:

“Nearly every major post-9/11 terrorism-related prosecution has involved a sting operation, at the center of which is a government informant. In these cases, the informants—who work for money or are seeking leniency on criminal charges of their own—have crossed the line from merely observing potential criminal behavior to encouraging and assisting people to participate in plots that are largely scripted by the FBI itself. Under the FBI’s guiding hand, the informants provide the weapons, suggest the targets and even initiate the inflammatory political rhetoric that later elevates the charges to the level of terrorism.”

More

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2021/01/25/how-the-fbi-created-domestic-terrorism-80-years-of-psychological-warfare-revealed/

Twitter launches Birdwatch, an initiative to combat ‘misleading information’

Twitter on Monday launched a new “community-driven” initiative to combat “misleading information” called Birdwatch, and the website is asking for volunteers.

“We’re looking for people to test this out in the US –– you can add notes with helpful context to Tweets that you think are misleading,” Twitter explained. “For now, these notes won’t appear directly on Twitter, but anyone in the US can view them at” a webpage for the initiative.

“We’ll use the notes and your feedback to help shape this program and learn how to reach our goal of letting the Twitter community decide when and what context is added to a Tweet,” the company added.

This move from Twitter comes as large technology companies are censoring conservatives because of their political beliefs and after then-President Donald Trump was banned from the platform following the January 6 deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol by his most extreme supporters to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden‘s 2020 election victory.

With their announcement of Birdwatch, the company posted a one-minute video breaking down the concept.

The video depicts one fictional user posting the obviously false claim that “Whales are not real! They’re funded by the government to watch us!!!” and a growing amount of other users repeating and debating this claim which has gone viral in the video.

The cavalcade of tweets aggregating the claim then reaches its climax when one user comments, “Can anyone who actually knows what they’re talking about chime in?”

🐦 Today we’re introducing @Birdwatch, a community-driven approach to addressing misleading information. And we want your help. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/aYJILZ7iKB

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 25, 2021

Then a message flashes across the screen, saying: “Spoiler alert: You can’t trust everything you see online.”

“That’s why we’re introducing Birdwatch,” it continues.

The video then shows how a user can “contribute” a tweet to Birdwatch, using the one about whales as an example.

When someone clicks “Contribute to Birdwatch,” Twitter provides a checklist of criteria asking “Why do you believe this Tweet is misleading?” and to click all option that apply. The options include: “It contains a factual error,” “It contains a digitally altered photo or video,” “It contains outdated information that may be misleading,” “It is a misrepresentation or missing important context,” “It is a joke or satire that might be misinterpreted as a fact,” and “Other.”

After selecting the options that apply, Twitter asks the user: “If many believed this Tweet, it might cause” either “little harm” or “considerable harm.”

The site then asks the user to “explain the evidence” for the reasons they stated the tweet needs context.

After this, Twitter generates a “note” providing context for the offending tweet and asks the user if the note is helpful and whether they agree with the note’s conclusion.

https://saraacarter.com/twitter-launches-birdwatch-an-initiative-to-combat-misleading-information/

Joe Biden Seems To Have No Idea What He’s Doing. MSM Does Not Agree

On January 21st, a video was shared on Twitter of Joe Biden’s inauguration as US president.

The video allegedly show Biden simply repeat what he was told in his earpiece.

It has since been removed from Twitter, and the associated account has been deleted, however MSM rushed to defend Biden’s honor and the narrative.

“Someone in Biden’s earpiece told him to salute the marines, and Biden just repeated the words ‘salute the marines,’ because he is so used to just repeating what comes from his earpiece. The marines were not saluted,” the tweet read.

https://southfront.org/joe-biden-seems-to-have-no-idea-what-hes-doing-msm-does-not-agree/

Ex-LA City Councilman Mitch Englander Sentenced To 14 Months In Prison For Pay-To-Play Scheme

LOS ANGELES – Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitchell Englander was sentenced this morning to 14 months in federal prison for his conduct surrounding his obstruction of a public corruption investigation into his acceptance of gifts – including $15,000 in cash – from a businessman during trips to Las Vegas and Palm Springs in 2017.

Englander, 50, of Santa Monica, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who noted that Englander’s “elaborate and clandestine scheme” to cover up his conduct has “undermined the public trust.” In declining Englander’s request for probation, Judge Walter stated that “justice [was] owed to society.” In addition to the prison term, Judge Walter ordered Englander to pay a $15,000 fine.

At the conclusion of this morning’s two-hour hearing, Englander became the first person to be sentenced in relation to Operation “Casino Loyale,” the ongoing corruption investigation into Los Angeles City Hall that has also led to criminal charges against former City Councilmember Jose Huizar and 10 other defendants. Englander, who represented Los Angeles City Council District 12 in the San Fernando Valley for more than seven years before resigning at the end of 2018 with almost two years left on his term, pleaded guilty last July to one count of scheming to falsify material facts.

Englander schemed to cover up cash payments, expensive meals, escort services and other gifts offered to him from an individual identified as Businessperson A, who sought to increase his business opportunities in the city. From August 2017 until December 2018, Englander knowingly and willfully falsified and concealed material facts pertaining to the federal public corruption investigation. Specifically, Englander covered up facts that he had accepted items of value during June 2017 trips to Las Vegas and Palm Springs and that he directed a witness to lie to and mislead federal investigators.

Englander, while serving as a city councilmember and a reserve officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, “illicitly cashed in on his status as a purported public servant in casino bathrooms and through VIP bottle service, luxury dinners, and behind hotel room doors,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Over numerous incidents of escalating corruption and self-preservation, [Englander] sold out both oaths, cheaply and repeatedly.”

During the trip to Las Vegas, Englander accepted from Businessperson A an envelope with $10,000 in cash, a hotel room, $1,000 in casino gambling chips, $34,000 in bottle service at a nightclub, and a $2,481 group dinner. Businessperson A also paid for two female escorts to arrive at their hotel and later instructed one of the escorts to go to Englander’s room.

https://breaking911.com/ex-la-city-councilman-mitch-englander-sentenced-to-14-months-in-prison-for-pay-to-play-scheme/

Swiss Court Sends Beny Steinmetz to Prison for Bribery in Guinea

Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday for bribery and ordered to pay a 50 million Swiss francs (US$56 million) fine.

In a landmark verdict that could send shockwaves through the global mining industry, a Swiss criminal court found Steinmetz, 64, and two colleagues guilty of bribing public officials to win access to lucrative mining rights in Guinea in the 2000s.

Prosecutors accused Steinmetz of masterminding a “corruption pact” with former President Lansana Conté and his ex-wife, Mamadie Touré to gain access to the world’s richest untapped deposits of iron ore in Guinea’s remote Simandou mountain range.

Steinmetz, who denied the charges, immediately said he would appeal.

“This judgment goes completely against the course of international justice,” he said in a statement.

One of the mining world’s biggest ever corruption cases, the trial has shone a rare spotlight on the struggle for control of Africa’s highly prized mineral resources, where unscrupulous business practices can often go unchecked.

Steinmetz and two business associates affiliated with mining firm BSG Resources (BSGR) were accused of paying around US$10 million in bribes to Touré through a web of shell companies and forging documents to cover it up.

Central to Steinmetz’s defence was his claim that he was not involved in the management of BSGR, which stands for Beny Steinmetz Resources Group.

“I am not BSGR. I was only a spokesperson,” Steinmetz told the court.

When confronted with evidence of emails, meetings and money transfers which prosecutors said proved that bribery took place, Steinmetz frequently claimed not to know the details. “I wasn’t involved,” he said.

But prosecutors described Steinmetz as BSGR’s “true director and leader.”

Judge Alexandra Banna on Friday agreed, finding in a verdict that took two hours to read that Steinmetz was “the effective head” of the group.

“All the important decisions were taken with his consent and he personally intervened in several stages of the corruption operation,” the Geneva criminal court said in a statement.

The case hinged on bribe payments to Touré, whom prosecutors said was late President Conté’s “fourth wife and a very influential person” who was “directly and personally involved in the Guinean BSGR project.”

Lawyers for Steinmetz argued that Touré was not a public official and had no influence over President Conté. They even questioned whether the pair had been married at all.

Steinmetz claimed he only met Touré once and his attorney Marc Bonnant told the court that “Beny Steinmetz never paid a cent to Mme. Mamadie Touré.”

The trial took place in Switzerland because Steinmetz lived in Geneva until 2016. Some of the bribes were channelled through Swiss accounts, prosecutors said.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13712-swiss-court-sends-beny-steinmetz-to-prison-for-bribery-in-guinea

Chief Justice Roberts Will Not Preside Over Trump Senate Impeachment Trial

Chief Justice John Roberts will not preside over Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.

If was previously reported that Roberts was eager to avoid presiding over the sham impeachment of Trump because he doesn’t want to become a political lightning rod.

Senate President Pro Tempore, Pat Leahy (VT) will preside over the sham trial instead.

The Hill reported:

A Senate source said Leahy, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is expected to preside at the trial.

A spokesman for Leahy said the decision on presiding over the trial is up to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“Leaders have been negotiating all process issues about the trial, and all along we have deferred to them for any announcements about this and all other process matters,” the aide said.

Republican critics say this creates a conflict of interest because Leahy voted in February to convict Trump on two articles of impeachment.

The Democrats announced Trump’s impeachment trial will begin on February 8.

There is also talk that Republican senators may choose a secret ballot so their voting base will not know how each member voted.

If they do that the party is over. It’s already floundering after House leaders Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney blamed President Trump for the violence in the US Capitol on January 6th.

The Democrats are also floating barring Donald Trump from ever running for office.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/just-chief-justice-roberts-will-not-preside-trump-senate-impeachment-trial/

Millions of Users Flee WhatsApp After Update to Terms of Service

WhatsApp had to delay the implementation of the new terms, slated for 8 February while its competitors have welcomed fleeing users.

WhatsApp's user numbers recently took a sharp dive with millions of people choosing alternative messaging apps like Telegram or Signal instead.

The company's poorly executed change to its terms of service is behind the sudden exodus. WhatsApp informed users that it will be allowed to share data including location and contact details from chats on its "Business" app with parent company Facebook.

At first, the company announced that users had to agree to the new terms before a set deadline, otherwise their accounts would be deleted. The backlash, however, forced the messaging app to issue a statement saying that accounts would not be suspended or deleted, adding that there had been “a lot of misinformation” and that the changes have been delayed until May so people have more time to review them.

But the damage has already been done – according to figures shared by the UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee, in the wake of the announcement Telegram gained 25 million users worldwide, while Signal now has 7.5 million new users.

Analytics firm App Annie shared data showing WhatsApp falling from the eighth most downloaded app in the UK at the beginning of the month to the 23rd by 12 January.

WhatsApp’s director of public policy for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa Niamh Sweeney confirmed that the exodus was believed to be related to the update.

The messaging app migration has also affected the world of big politics, with many world leaders joining Telegram. Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram messenger, claimed that this was potentially the largest digital migration in human history, saying that Telegram channels were the best way for politicians to reliably connect with people.

https://sputniknews.com/science/202101251081875466-millions-of-users-flee-whatsapp-after-update-to-terms-of-service/

Arab Spring is back on

How Biden Can Support a New Arab Spring

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-biden-can-support-a-new-arab-spring/ar-BB1c3152

Why Israel is now delighted about the Arab Spring

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/why-israel-now-delighted-about-arab-spring

The unfinished business of the Arab Spring

The forces that unleashed uprisings across

the Middle East remain as potent as ever

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/arab-spring-10-year-anniversary-lost-decade/

Tunisians question whether life is better after Arab Spring

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/tunisians-question-whether-life-is-better-after-arab-spring/ar-BB1d2n8r

Egypt Battles Over Memories of the Arab Spring

https://www.wsj.com/articles/egypt-battles-over-memories-of-the-arab-spring-11611327357?mod=newsviewer_click

Right on Schedule, COVID Pivots for Biden

Imagine changing the rules in the middle of the game, so that hits rather than runs, or first downs rather than touchdowns, determine the game winner. That is exactly what is happening with COVID reporting, just as many of us predicted. This confirms the lingering question of how much of COVID was about the actual virus versus a political club to hurt President Trump and drive him from office, quite successfully.

As an interesting coincidence, the first case of the novel coronavirus arrived in the U.S. on the same day the House walked articles of impeachment to the Senate. The next impeachment was based on Trump’s supposed calls for violence at a pre-planned Capitol riot just before Congress was to certify (or not) the Electoral College vote, the riot blamed on a speech he gave after the rioting already started.

In politics, there are no coincidences, and the recent rule changes for tallying COVID case are no exception. What happened after Orange Man went from bad to gone?

The World Health Organization, on Biden's inauguration day, released a notice that the COVID PCR test was overly sensitive based on its cycle threshold. A positive result, rather than simply being added to the case counts broadcast constantly by Fox News and MSNBC, must consider other factors such as test specifics, symptoms, and patient history, as would be done for most other laboratory tests in medicine.

Lowering the cycle threshold means fewer cases going forward, not due to anything Trump or Biden did or did not do but simply because of a new way of counting cases. Interestingly this notice was created on Jan. 13, but not released until Jan. 20, Biden's inauguration day. What a coincidence!

Did the basic concept of interpreting a medical test based on context just dawn on the medical experts at the WHO? Physicians do that all the time. A single high blood pressure reading in the doctor’s office may be due to “white coat syndrome” rather than true hypertension and is viewed in that context.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/01/right_on_schedule_covid_pivots_for_biden.html

Joe Biden Executive Order Could Have Taxpayers Fully Funding San Francisco Homeless Hotels

President Biden signed an executive order on Thursday which could have American taxpayers covering 100 percent of the cost of “homeless hotels” in cities such as San Francisco through September.

Biden signed an executive order on Thursday aimed to increase reimbursements and other assistance to states in the battle against the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Per the order, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shall “make available under Category B of the Public Assistance program such assistance as may be required by States (including territories and the District of Columbia), local governments, and Tribal governments to provide for the safe opening and operation of eligible schools, child-care facilities, healthcare facilities, non-congregate shelters, domestic violence shelters, transit systems, and other eligible applicants.”

“FEMA shall make assistance under this section available at a 100 percent Federal cost share until September 30, 2021,” the order adds.

While the specific details have yet to be determined, the move represents a shift from the Trump administration, which agreed to reimburse such activities up to 75 percent. Biden’s order could result in U.S. taxpayers covering the cost of the homeless hotels used in San Francisco throughout the pandemic entirely. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city is sheltering roughly 2,200 homeless in over two dozen hotels.

City Controller Ben Rosenfield said it remains unclear if the order is retroactive. If so, the city could be entitled to millions of dollars.

“I think it’s safe to say it will apply from now until September, for those that are eligible,” Rosenfield stated.

“Rosenfield said about 85% of the hotel guests are likely eligible for reimbursement, though it was unclear Friday whether the Biden administration changed the definition of who qualifies,” the outlet added, reporting that Biden’s executive order is welcomed among city officials, as the previous administration did not specify when federal funding would come to a halt.

“Fantastic!” supervisor Hillary Ronen said of Biden’s order. “Now we can open more spots for people experiencing homelessness to stay safe during the rest of this pandemic”:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/01/25/biden-executive-order-could-have-taxpayers-fully-funding-san-francisco-homeless-hotels/

Grace Tame, sexual assault survivor and advocate, named 2021 Australian of the Year

Grace Tame was 15 when she was raped by her 58-year-old teacher – what she did next saw her today named the 2021 Australian of the Year.

Sexual assault survivor Grace Tame, 26, from Hobart, has been named 2021 Australian of the Year for her bravery in shining a light on child sexual abuse, trauma impacts, and the warning signs of grooming.

Grace is the first Tasmanian to win the top gong in the awards’ 61-year history. She rose to prominence via News Corp’s #LetHerSpeak campaign which in 2019, took her legal case to be able to publicly self-identify as a rape survivor to the Supreme Court of Tasmania, and won.

At the time, it was against the law for many sexual assault survivors in Tasmania to speak out under their own names due to an archaic victim gag-law. The legal victory then helped pave the way for the campaign to overhaul oppressive victim gag laws across the country, and another 16 sexual assault survivors have received legal assistance via the campaign support since.

At an emotional awards ceremony on Monday night, Grace said the win was “for all survivors of child sexual abuse” adding that she would use the year ahead to focus on “education as a means of prevention”.

“Discussion of child sexual abuse is uncomfortable. But nothing is as uncomfortable as abuse itself,” she said.

“I lost my virginity to a paedophile. I was 15, anorexic. He was 58, my teacher. For months he groomed me, then abused me every day: Before school, after school, in my uniform, on the floor. I didn’t know who I was.

“Publicly, he described his crimes as ‘awesome’. Publicly, I was silenced by law. Let Her Speak helped give me a voice. Campaign creator – Nina Funnell, campaign partners, the 16 other brave campaign survivors: thank you.

“Together, we can redefine what it means to be a survivor. Together, we can end child sexual abuse. Survivors, be proud. Our stories are changing history.”

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/letherspeak-grace-tame-wins-2021-australian-of-the-year/news-story/7211e0c41e1dff111ffe9bf273472cb6

What Medical Data Is Israel Sharing With Pfizer - and Is It Protected?

Israel is considered a world leader in medical data, which is partly why it has received priority access to the COVID-19 vaccines. Experts agree that the Pfizer deal offers reasonable protection of citizens’ personal data - but some parts of the deal prompt questions that need answering

The coronavirus pandemic has created much public discussion on issues that would normally only interest the scientific community, such as the infection coefficient or herd immunity.

In light of the data-sharing agreement between Israel’s Health Ministry and Pfizer for its COVID-19 vaccine, considerable attention has been paid in recent days to the matter of research using medical data, a substantial chunk of which is conducted in Israel by designated institutes belonging to the health maintenance organizations. There have also been questions asked about existing protections to safeguard the privacy of the public whose personal information is being used for the vaccine research.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-what-medical-data-is-israel-sharing-with-pfizer-and-is-it-protected-1.9480691