Texas Desperate For Out-Of-State Plumbers Amid Broken Water Pipe Chaos

Since the deep freeze and two winter storms rolled through Texas earlier this month, disrupting power grids and knocking out power and heat to millions, homeowners and businesses have been swamped with broken pipes with the urgent need for plumbers.

The Arctic blast swept through the state cut power to millions of customers, with estimates of 15 million people had no electricity for days as temperatures were well below freezing. Across much of the state, some homes and businesses were not properly winterized for cold weather, experienced broken water pipes and values that caused immense damage.

Accuweather estimated last week that total damage and economic loss for the Lone Star state could be billions of dollars.

At the tail end of the crisis when power was being restored, around last Thursday, we showed readers how internet search trends for "pipe burst" erupted across the state.

It's like when roofers are in high demand after a major hurricane; plumbers are being called up at once, and due to the high number of residential and commercial structures that sustained broken pipes, the state is lacking these handymen or women.

In response, Gov. Greg Abbott has waived regulations for some plumber apprentices to work without direct supervision to help those in need. Out-of-state plumbers are being welcomed to assist in the storm-ravaged region.

Plumber Andrew Mitchell drove his family 22 hours from Morristown, New Jersey, to Houston with a truckload of pipes, according to WaPo.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/texas-desperate-out-state-plumbers-amid-broken-water-pipe-chaos

Texas threatens to leave the union and has been under attack ever since

Schumer Mulls Penalty For Big Businesses That Don't Pay $15 Minimum Wage

As top Democrats defy their own Senate parliamentarian and forge ahead with a $15 minimum wage provision in the upcoming $1.9 trillion stimulus package - a provision which may kill the entire package thanks to opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and others, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is weighing a provision which would penalize big companies that don't pay workers at least $15 an hour, according to Bloomberg, citing a Democratic aide.

The idea had been floated earlier by two Senate committee chairs following the Senate parliamentarian's ruling that the minimum-wage proposal fell afoul of the rules for the legislative process which Congressional Democrats are using to advance Biden's aid bill, requiring that measures be primarily fiscal in nature.

Democrats are seeking a phased-in increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/schumer-mulls-penalty-big-businesses-dont-pay-15-minimum-wage

Looking into Palantir: Activists want NHS to come clean about secretive deal with data-mining company

Under a deal negotiated in secret with the British government, shady data firm Palantir will continue to manage NHS data for two years. Activists calling for transparency have now brought the NHS to court.

When the British government unveiled its ‘Covid-19 data store’ last March, controversial “spy tech” firm Palantir was given control of the data collected from the public, which included sensitive data such as patients’ ages, addresses, health conditions, treatments, and whether they smoke or drink, among other private information. Awarded the contract for a nominal fee of £1 ($1.40), Palantir was only supposed to hold this data until the end of the coronavirus pandemic, but was awarded a second £23 million contract in December, ensuring the data-gathering project will continue until at least December 2022.

The government’s data store – used to inform its pandemic response – was criticized last March for its reliance on US tech firms, like Microsoft, Amazon, and the aforementioned Palantir, to handle Britons’ data. According to an NHS impact assessment, Palantir processes data that includes details on patients’ sex lives, political views, and religious beliefs.

The government inked the deal behind closed doors, and large sections of the contract are redacted – including sections laying out who has access to patient data, how it will be used, and with which third parties it will be shared. Readable in the contract is a line stating that after the coronavirus pandemic subsides, the database may be repurposed for “general business-as-usual monitoring.”

Activists with OpenDemocracy and lawyers with Foxglove Legal this week sued the NHS, claiming that the renewed deal with Palantir warranted a fresh impact assessment and demanding public consultation over the deal, which was awarded without the usual tender process.

As news of the lawsuit broke on Wednesday, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism also revealed that Palantir executives had been lobbying the NHS for access to patient data since summer 2019, six months before the coronavirus first cropped up in China. According to emails seen by the bureau, Palantir’s UK boss, Louis Mosley, hosted a meal attended by Lord David Prior, chair of NHS England, in July. In the days afterwards, Prior thanked Mosley for supplying him with “watermelon cocktails,” and asked him to get in touch with ideas to help the NHS “structure and curate our data.”

In the months afterwards, Palantir offered demonstrations of its services to Prior and his colleagues at its San Francisco offices, and at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

https://www.rt.com/uk/516695-nhs-lawsuit-palantir-data/

As Americans Wait for $2,000 Checks, Biden Has No Problem Bypassing Congress to Bomb Syria

In her first interview after her defeat in the 2016 presidential election by Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton called on the United States to bomb Syria. Only hours later, in lock step with his formal alleged ‘rival,’ Trump sent 59 Tomahawk missiles hurling into Al-Shayrat air base in Homs, Syria using two US Navy destroyers. This illegal act of war was carried out in less than three months into his presidency on April 4, 2017.

This strike came with zero approval from Congress, zero investigation into the alleged crimes of Assad, and, in spite of Trump’s longstanding history standing against US meddling in Syria.

In true war hawk fashion — following in the footsteps of his predecessor — President Joe Biden, in less than two months into his presidency, launched an airstrike in the same country. Like Trump before him, Biden carried out this act of war with absolutely zero Congressional approval and, according to several sources, without evidence.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/biden-bombs-syria-americans-suffering/

Stew Peters lays it for everyone

Founder Of Chinese Front Group Spoke At CIA Nominee’s Think Tank Amid Beijing Propaganda Push

William Burns, the nominee for CIA director, testified before the Senate about links between a think tank he leads and a Chinese foundation that serves as a front group for the communist party.

Burns said that he cut ties with the group, the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), “not long after” he took over as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

But the founder of the foundation gave a pro-Beijing speech at a Carnegie event more than 14 months after Burns took over the think tank.

CUSEF donated between $200,000 and $500,000 to Carnegie between 2015 and 2017.

The founder of a front group for the Chinese Communist Party appeared at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in May 2016, where he pushed a pro-Beijing argument regarding a decades-long stalemate over control of the South China Sea.

The speech, by Tung Chee-hwa, the founding chairman of the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), was held more than 14 months after William Burns, President Joe Biden’s nominee for CIA director, took over as president of the Carnegie Endowment.

The timing of Tung’s visit to Carnegie would appear to conflict with Burns’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that he cut ties between Carnegie and CUSEF “not long after” he took over as president of Carnegie in March 2015.

Tung, a billionaire who was formerly chief executive of Hong Kong, gave a speech at Carnegie’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. on May 11, 2016. The Daily Caller News Foundation has reported that CUSEF donated between $200,000 and $500,000 to Carnegie between 2015 and 2017.

https://dailycaller.com/2021/02/26/william-burns-carnegie-tung-chee-hwa/

San Francisco to Redistribute $120 Million from Police to Black Community

San Francisco Mayor London Breed released a plan Thursday to redistribute $120 million from the city’s law enforcement budget to projects aimed at helping the city’s black minority.

Bay Area public radio station KQED reported:

San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Thursday announced a plan for how the city will spend $120 million over the next two years, pulled from law enforcement budgets, to reinvest in the city’s long-underserved Black communities.

“The Dream Keeper Initiative,” as it’s dubbed, increases investments in workforce development, health campaigns, youth and cultural programs and housing support. The allocations reflect spending priorities conveyed by Black residents during a series of community meetings and public surveys led last year by the city’s Human Rights Commission, Breed said.

…

Black people make up only about 5% of San Francisco’s population — a proportion that has consistently decreased in the last 50 years — but make up nearly 40% of its homeless residents. Black residents have among the city’s highest mortality rates and lowest median household incomes, and are involved in a disproportionately high percentage of police use-of-force incidents.

Breed is the city’s first African-American mayor.

The city’s plan follows similar plans in Los Angeles, where Mayor Eric Garcetti promised last year to cut up to $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department — more than 10% of the total — for investment in “communities of color.”

The move was a response to activists’ demands to “defund the police,” which accompanied the Black Lives Matter protests.

San Francisco is in the midst of a massive crime wave, with homicides rising 35% in 2020. The city has also become synonymous with petty crime and public nuisances, such as open drug use and defecation on the sidewalks, leading many residents to consider moving elsewhere.

https://www.breitbart.com/law-and-order/2021/02/26/san-francisco-to-redistribute-120-million-from-police-to-black-community/

Report: China Raping Tibetan Women in Separate Crop of Concentration Camps

Women detained in Chinese government-run camps in Tibet are “routinely raped” by their guards, Bitter Winter, an online human rights magazine, alleged on Thursday.

“Just like Muslim women in Xinjiang, lay Buddhist girls and nuns are also submitted to systematic rape in Tibet’s transformation through education camps,” the magazine claimed on February 25.

Some of Bitter Winter‘s Tibetan correspondents allegedly told the news site that guards at Tibetan re-education camps use cattle prods “to control and torture inmates, and it is common that they are used to rape women by inserting them in their private parts.”

“[T]his routinely happens to nuns, who are told that their bodies ‘belong to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]’ rather than to the monasteries,” a Tibetan source told Bitter Winter.

“There is a political reason for this,” the magazine explained. “Once raped, a nun will difficultly be taken back by her monastery, and should settle for a secular life [sic].”

China allegedly forced over 500,000 Tibetans into military-style camps designed to train “rural surplus laborers” into industrial workers in the first half of 2020, according to a study published in September by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. After completing “vocational training” at the camps, which includes political indoctrination designed by the Chinese Communist Party, Tibetans are transferred to work in factories across China according to the study, which cited Chinese government labor quotas.

Chinese government officials often use the term “vocational training” to refer to state-run detention camps. The CCP has used the term to describe detention facilities in its western territory of Xinjiang, where state officials have allegedly detained one to three million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities since 2017, according to estimates by human rights organizations. Survivors of Xinjiang’s camps have said they were subjected to communist ideological indoctrination, forced labor, physical torture, and sexual abuse.

A BBC report published on February 2 alleged that guards at Xinjiang’s state-run detention camps implement “systematic rape” as a form of torture. The British broadcaster interviewed several people who said they were previously detained in or worked at the camps, some of whom said they witnessed actions similar to those described in Tibet’s forced labor camps by Bitter Winter on Thursday.

“They [the guards] had an electric stick, I didn’t know what it was, and it was pushed inside my genital tract, torturing me with an electric shock,” a woman named Tursunay Ziawudun told the BBC.

“It is impossible to verify Ziawudun’s account completely because of the severe restrictions China places on reporters in the country, but travel documents and immigration records she provided to the BBC corroborate the timeline of her story,” the broadcaster noted.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2021/02/26/report-china-raping-tibetan-women-in-separate-crop-of-concentration-camps/

Statue of Queen Elizabeth II Beheaded in Victoria, Canada

A stone bust of Queen Elizabeth II has been decapitated in Canada, with its severed head nowhere to be found.

Police in Victoria, British Columbia were called out to the headless stone bust in Beacon Hill Park on Wednesday afternoon, according to local media. No arrests have been made, and the authorities are urging anyone with information on the crime to approach either then or the independent Crime Stoppers charity.

The Queen, who is the head of state in a number of Commonwealth realms including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Bahamas in addition to the United Kingdom, has reigned for a record-breaking 68 years alongside her consort Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The beheading of the 94-year-old monarch’s statue comes as Philip, a 99-year-old Second World War veteran described by the Queen as “quite simply my strength and stay all these years”, is in hospital, with an “exceptional” visit to his bedside by Prince Charles fueling speculation that he is seriously unwell.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/02/26/statue-queen-elizabeth-ii-beheaded-victoria-canada/

UN Begins Effort to Transport 300 Asylum Seekers to U.S. Per Day

United Nations agencies have begun efforts to return asylum seekers currently residing in Mexico under the Trump Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) back to U.S. soil. An estimated 25,000 asylum seekers are eligible for transfer under President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the MPP. The UN received 12,000 applications over a three-day period beginning February 19.

According a United Nations press release, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), are conducting in-person registration and are performing COVID-19 tests.

Other platforms to assist the asylum seekers in their return to the United States will include email, in-person, social media, and telephone hotlines.

Many of the asylum seekers in the MPP program moved away from the immediate border area to other parts of Mexico. Others simply returned to their home country. The IOM will coordinate and provide transportation for those asylum seekers to the United States border as well.

At the border, UN agencies reported an in-person effort to register approximately 750 in Matamoros at a makeshift camp. The population of the informal camp across the border from Brownsville, Texas, once offered refuge to thousands.

Law enforcement sources confirmed that Border Patrol personnel are being re-directed from patrol routes to process the re-entry of former MPP seekers. The program has yet to meet the original goal of 300 asylum applicant returns per day, according to sources.

The effort to accommodate the asylum seekers threatens to further stretch community resources along the border.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2021/02/25/un-begins-effort-to-transport-300-asylum-seekers-to-u-s-per-day/

Update homeless encampment in Venice Beach new skid Row

Fascist Twitter Censors CPAC By Blocking All Links To Their Website

Twitter is blocking links to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) website, with users being told they are sharing an “unsafe” URL.

CPAC is an annual political conference attended by activists, journalists and elected officials from the United States.

The organization’s 2021 gathering will get underway tomorrow Orlando, Florida, with former President Donald Trump scheduled as the headline speaker.

However, Twitter users attempting to access CPAC’s website from the social media platform are now shown a warning that tells them clicking the link “may be unsafe.”

The warning message goes on to list four categories, which includes “violent or misleading content that could lead to real-world harm.”

Users are still able to get to the website, but they have to agree to continue at their own risk.

Back in October, Twitter caused controversy by blocking a New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s alleged attempts to influence his father, Joe Biden, to shut down a probe into Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

The company claimed the story violated their “hacked materials” policy but did an about-face after CEO Jack Dorsey admitted that blocking URLs without context was “wrong.”

However, even after admitting its error, Twitter then blocked a follow-up story about Hunter Biden’s alleged effort to get his father a cut of a deal involving Shanghai-based CEFC China Energy Co.

https://en-volve.com/2021/02/25/fascist-twitter-censors-cpac-by-blocking-all-links-to-their-website/

Bank Of America Begins First Round Of Layoffs Since Pandemic-Inspired Freeze

After being cancelled last year, the annual culling of the underperformers is underway once again at BofA.

Following a slowdown in layoffs during the pandemic as a coterie of megabanks (including BofA and Deutsche Bank) announced plans to suspend layoffs, Wall Street's talent-churning machine is firing back up. Bank of America's Global Banking and Markets division is reportedly preparing to move ahead with layoffs now that 2020 is finally over. Last year, BofA CEO Brian Moynihan promised that BofA would hold off on any further layoffs until 2021, even as other Wall Street banks started handing out pink slips again once the fall months arrived.

The cuts impacted employees in capital markets, research and investment banking according to Business Insider. Sources from inside the bank said the cuts are part of the typical cycle of Wall Street layoffs, as banks seek to preserve top talent and cull underperformers. They added that the number of people fired was in line with prior years.

Some of those being handed pink slips are senior staffers who volunteered for buyouts.

It's not exactly clear what percentage of staffers from the Global Banking and Markets division are being cut.

Staffers across Wall Street already had to contend with what was by all accounts a disappointing bonus season, despite the blowout profits reaped by big banks in 2020 as markets boomed. Investment banking and trading operations posted blowout performances in 2020, but institutions as a whole suffered steep profit declines as they braced for loan losses tied to the pandemic.

At BofA, management's decision to waive a new bonus policy for veteran traders and dealmakers has caused "internal drama", as the new rules were supposed to be applied broadly. Those who weren't subject to the policy have been "gathering on calls to vent frustrations and discuss options". In some ways, the divisiveness dates back to BofA's 2008 takeover of Merrill Lynch, the Wall Street investment bank that nearly went under during the financial crisis.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bank-america-begins-first-round-layoffs-pandemic-inspired-freeze

>>13054230

puppet masters always control both sides

We've temporarily limited some of your account features

These days, this is not much of an event but… it finally happened to us here at Blacklisted News. We have been put in Twitter time out for being a bad user. We may be back, but it's not trending in a good direction at the moment.

The only thing shocking about this, is that it did not happen sooner.

This event spurred me to pen some personal thoughts on Social Media itself and the peoples fight against the silicon valley controllers.

Unlike many that have been banned from one social media platform or the other, we are not going to ask you to boycott Twitter. We will continue to use the social media platform to distribute Blacklisted News as long as they allow it. When we are permanently banned for some random post, deemed to dangerous for their users, it is time to say goodbye. When enough people say goodbye for one reason or another, the Twitters of the world vanish. Think it can't happen? Perhaps you are too young to remember AOL chat rooms or MySpace.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/79357/weve-temporarily-limited-some-of-your-account.html

African governments are crushing opposition using Israeli spyware

As internet penetration and smartphone usage increases across Africa, digital spaces have become increasingly important for organising political uprisings and opposition movements. In response, several of the continent’s regimes have shut down the internet or blocked social media apps. To sidestep the economic costs and global criticism that these online shutdowns incur, governments have turned to digital surveillance technology as a shrewder way to crush all opposition.

In a recently-released report titled “Running in Circles: Uncovering the Clients of Cyberespionage Firm, Circles”, the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab — which investigates digital espionage against civil society — details how government agencies in Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe are using the surveillance technology developed by Israeli telecom company Circles to snoop on the personal communications of opposition politicians, human rights activists and journalists. These seven African countries are among 25 around the world using Circles, which is affiliated with the notorious NSO Group whose invasive Pegasus spyware has been used to target human rights defenders and journalists around the world.

How does it work?

Circles technology is sold to nation states only, and intercepts data from 3G networks, allowing the infiltrator to read messages and emails, and listen to phone calls in real time. Using only the telephone number, a Circles platform can identify the location of a phone anywhere in the world within seconds.

Circles exploits flaws in Signalling System No.7 (SS7), the set of protocols that allows networks to exchange calls and text messages between each other. This allows government agencies to track individuals across borders without a warrant, bypassing international conventions.

In 2019, 3G became the leading mobile technology in Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for over 45 per cent of all connections. With the faster — and possibly more secure — 4G networks being at least five years away from becoming the standard for mobile connectivity on the continent, Circles’ 3G-manipulating technology is ideal for power-hungry African leaders looking to cling to power by spying on critics.

The spying revelations came as African governments — including some named in the Citizen Lab report — are cracking down brutally on protestors and opposition groups.

Nigeria

Recent #EndSARS protests triggered a deadly response from Nigeria’s state security apparatus, with the government able to infiltrate the movement’s organisational structures successfully.

Citizen Lab identified two Circles systems in Nigeria that both began operating in June 2015. One of them was being used by the Nigerian Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). In 2016, the governors of Delta and Bayelsa states also purchased Circles systems to spy on political opponents and critics. The presence of Circles products in Nigeria goes back more than a decade, when former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, became the first Nigerian politician to use the surveillance technology in 2010.

Circles’ government clients in Nigeria have a long history of abusing surveillance technologies to conduct mass surveillance of citizens’ telecommunications. Femi Adeyeye, a Lagos-based political activist who has been detained several times for criticising the Nigerian government, is not surprised that Muhammadu Buhari’s regime is using the invasive spying technology.

Adeyeye cited several cases where Nigerians were swiftly traced, arrested and detained after criticising the government. These include journalists Omoyele Sowore, Abubakar Idris Dadiyata and Stephen Kefas. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also reported numerous cases of the Nigerian authorities abusing phone surveillance by targeting journalists’ phones to reveal and track sources for stories investigating government corruption.

“We are already in the worst stage of dictatorship,” warns Adeyeye. “Freedom of expression, media, and political association have been further weakened by this spying technology.”

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/79356/african-governments-are-crushing-opposition-using-israeli.html

Lavrov: Russia Has Information that US Plans to Stay in Syria Forever, Destroy the Country

During its first month in office, the Biden administration did not reverse its predecessor's policy of keeping troops deployed in northeastern Syria to "keep the oil". On Thursday, the White House approved airstrikes against the bases of Baghdad-allied Iraqi militia groups in eastern Syria following attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq.

Moscow has evidence of US plans to keep forces deployed in Syria indefinitely, and will ask Washington about this directly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

"We have recently received different information from various sources. We cannot confirm it for now, and want to ask the Americans about this directly. Supposedly, they are making the decision to never leave Syria, even to the point of destroying this country," Lavrov said, speaking to reporters at a press conference alongside Afghani Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar on Friday.

Commenting on Thursday night's US airstrikes against "Iranian-backed" militia bases in eastern Syria, the foreign minister said that the US side only provided the Russian military a few minutes' warning before carrying out the attacks.

"Our military was warned four or five minutes ahead of time. Of course, even if we are talking about deconfliction, as is customary in ties between Russian and US military personnel, this is nothing. This was a kind of notification when the strike was already being carried out," Lavrov said.

Military concerns aside, the Russian diplomat also suggested that it's impossible to consider the strikes separately "from the fact that the US are present on Syrian territory illegally, in violation of all norms of international law, including Security Council Resolutions on reconciliation in the Syrian Arab Republic."

Lavrov went on to blast Washington over its efforts to pressure other countries to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria, and efforts to obstruct reconstruction efforts.

"They continue to play the separatism card. They continue to block, using their levers of pressure on other states, any supply even of humanitarian aid, not to mention equipment and materials necessary to restoring the economy in the territories controlled by the government, and in every way possible force their allies to invest in territories outside Damascus's control," he said. "At the same time, they illegally exploit Syria's hydrocarbon resources."

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202102261082197048-lavrov-russia-has-information-that-us-plans-to-stay-in-syria-forever-destroy-the-country/

British Ship Hit by Explosion in Gulf of Oman, UKMTO Says

The incident occurred at 20:40 GMT on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said without providing further details.

A ship was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, the UKMTO said on Friday.

"Investigations are ongoing. Vessel and crew are safe…Vessels transiting the area are advised to exercise caution," the notice reads.

The UKMTO did not give details on the possible cause of the explosion.

The International Maritime Security Construct, a consortium of countries officially tasked with maintaining order and security in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden and Southern Red Sea, issued a statement about the reported incident.

According to unconfirmed reports by some maritime security groups, that was an Israeli vessel travelling under the Bahamian flag from Saudi Arabia to Singapore.

​The Gulf of Oman connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs in to the Persian Gulf. It borders Iran and Pakistan to the north, Oman to the south and the United Arab Emirates to the west.

The region has been a scene of tension between Iran and the US in recent years after Washington unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and tightened sanctions on Iran's oil sector. After Tehran announced that it was suspending some of its commitments under the nuclear deal in response, the US strengthened its forces in the Gulf, claiming the risk of Iranian attacks. In late 2020, the US decided to increase its military movements in the Persian Gulf, sending a strike group, led by the USS Nimitz and including two guided-missile cruisers, the USS Princeton and USS Philippine Sea, and a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Sterett.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202102261082197840-british-ship-hit-by-explosion-in-gulf-of-oman-ukmto-says/

US bombs Syria and ridiculously claims self defense

On orders of President Biden, the United States has launched an airstrike on a facility in Syria. As of this writing the exact number of killed and injured is unknown, with early reports claiming “a handful” of people were killed.

Rather than doing anything remotely resembling journalism, the Western mass media have opted instead to uncritically repeat what they’ve been told about the airstrike by US officials, which is the same as just publishing Pentagon press releases.

Here’s this from the Washington Post:

The Biden administration conducted an airstrike against alleged Iranian-linked fighters in Syria on Thursday, signaling its intent to push back against violence believed to be sponsored by Tehran.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the attack, the first action ordered by the Biden administration to push back against alleged Iranian-linked violence in Iraq and Syria, on a border control point in eastern Syria was “authorized in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats.”

He said the facilities were used by Iranian-linked militias including Kaitib Hezbollah and Kaitib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

The operation follows the latest serious attack on U.S. locations in Iraq that American officials have attributed to Iranian-linked groups operating in Iraq and Syria. Earlier this month, a rocket attack in northern Iraq killed a contractor working with the U.S. military and injured a U.S. service member there.

So we are being told that the United States launched an airstrike on Syria, a nation it invaded and is illegally occupying, because of attacks on “US locations” in Iraq, another nation the US invaded and is illegally occupying. This attack is justified on the basis that the Iraqi fighters were “Iranian-linked,” a claim that is both entirely without evidence and irrelevant to the justification of deadly military force. And this is somehow being framed in mainstream news publications as a defensive operation.

This is Defense Department stenography. The US military is an invading force in both Syria and Iraq; it is impossible for its actions in either of those countries to be defensive. It is always necessarily the aggressor. It’s the people trying to eject them who are acting defensively. The deaths of US troops and contractors in those countries can only be blamed on the powerful people who sent them there.

The US is just taking it as a given that it has de facto jurisdiction over the nations of Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and that any attempt to interfere in its authority in the region is an unprovoked attack which must be defended against. This is completely backwards and illegitimate. Only through the most perversely warped American supremacist reality tunnels can it look valid to dictate the affairs of sovereign nations on the other side of the planet and respond with violence if anyone in those nations tries to eject them.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/516647-caitlin-johnstone-us-bombs-syria/

27% Of All Household Income In The US Now Comes From The Government

Following today’s release of the latest Personal Income and Spending data, Wall Street was predictably focused on the changes in these two key series, which showed a surge in personal income (to be expected in the month when the $900BN December 2020 stimulus hit), coupled with a far more modest increase in personal spending.

But while the change in the headline data was notable, what was far more remarkable was data showing just how reliant on the US government the population has become.

We are referring, of course, to Personal Current Transfer payments which are essentially government sourced income such as unemployment benefits, welfare checks, and so on. In January, this number was $5.781 trillion annualized, which was not only up by nearly $2 trillion from the $3.8 trillion in December it was also $2 trillion above the pre-Covid trend where transfer receipts were approximately $3.2 trillion.

https://www.activistpost.com/2021/02/27-of-all-household-income-in-the-us-now-comes-from-the-government.html

Explosion hits Israeli-owned cargo ship in Gulf of Oman, no injuries

Maritime intelligence firm says blast likely stemmed from ‘asymmetric activity by Iranian military’; ship identified as MV Helios Ray owned by Israeli shipping magnate Rami Ungar

An explosion struck an Israeli-owned cargo ship sailing out of the Middle East on Friday, an unexplained blast renewing concerns about ship security amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran.

The crew and vessel were safe, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by the British navy. The explosion forced the vessel to head to the nearest port.

The site of the blast, the Gulf of Oman, saw a series of explosions in 2019 that the US Navy blamed on Iran against the backdrop of steeply rising threats between former US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders. Tehran denied the accusations, which came after Trump abandoned Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on the country.

In recent weeks, as the administration of Joe Biden looks to re-engage with Iran, Tehran has escalated its breaches of the nuclear accord to create leverage over Washington. The deal saw Tehran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions.

Iran also has blamed Israel for a recent series of attacks, including a mysterious explosion last summer that destroyed an advanced centrifuge assembly plant at its Natanz nuclear facility and the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top Iranian scientist who founded the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program two decades ago.

Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence firm, identified the stricken vessel as the MV Helios Ray, a Bahaman-flagged roll-on, roll-off vehicle cargo ship. A United Nations ship database identified the vessel’s owners as a Tel Aviv-based firm called Ray Shipping Ltd.

Ray Shipping confirmed that one of its vessels carrying a “Bahamas flag” was damaged “when an explosion was heard in the Persian Gulf near the Straits of Hormuz.”

“The ship has 28 crew members. No one was hurt. The engine room was not damaged. It is on its way to the port of Dubai to fix everything necessary,” the company told the Times of Israel.

Satellite-tracking data from website MarineTraffic.com showed the Helios Ray had been nearly entering the Arabian Sea around 0600 GMT Friday before it suddenly turned around and began heading back toward the Strait of Hormuz. It still listed Singapore as its destination on its tracker.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/explosion-hits-israeli-owned-cargo-ship-in-gulf-of-oman-no-injuries/

Herschel Walker: ‘Slavery ended over 130 years ago’ and Black Americans Shouldn’t Get Reparations

NFL Hall of Famer and Great Herschel Walker testified before the U.S. House hearing that Black Americans shouldn’t get reparations for slavery, and that it was a ridiculous notion as most Americans feel.

“We use Black power to create white guilt,” he said early in his opening statement. “My approach is biblical. How can I ask my Heavenly Father to forgive me if I can’t forgive my brother?”

He added: “Reparations teach separation. Slavery ended over 130 years ago. How can a father ask his son to spend prison time for a crime he committed?”

“Reparations, where does the money come from?” he asked the House Judiciary Committee subcommittee. “Does it come from all the other races except the Black taxpayers? Who is Black? What percentage of Black must you be to receive reparations? Do you go to 23andMe or a DNA test to determine the percentage of Blackness?”

He added: “Some Black immigrants weren’t here during slavery, nor their ancestors. Some states didn’t even have slavery.”

Walker closed out his thoughts with,

“I feel it continues to let us know we’re still African American, rather than just American. Reparation or atonement is outside the teaching of Jesus Christ.”

Walker echoes the sentiments of the 45th President’s followers, and the majority of Americans thoughts on the insane left constantly being offended by anything and everything.

https://thedcpatriot.com/herschel-walker-slavery-ended-over-130-years-ago-and-black-americans-shouldnt-get-reparations/

Bezos’s Post Silent on Amazon Fiasco

Paper has yet to cover ban of transgender book by parent company

The Washington Post professes an interest in tech and avows a no-holds-barred relationship toward owner and tech titan Jeff Bezos, but the paper remains silent after Amazon banned a bestselling book without explanation.

Author Ryan T. Anderson tweeted on Monday that Amazon had removed his book When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment from its platforms. Amazon refused to give an explanation to Anderson or his publisher and has not responded to requests from the Washington Free Beacon or from four senators concerned about its use of monopoly power.

The Post covered Anderson's book extensively when it came out in 2018. The piece, headlined "Ryan Anderson's book on transgender people is creating an uproar," originally contained several misstatements of Anderson's positions. The original version said, "Anderson makes an inflammatory claim—that transgender people are mentally ill." It also claimed Anderson had championed "conversion therapy." When critics pointed out the falsehoods, the Post amended the piece to say, "Anderson makes what some feel is an inflammatory case against transgender people."

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, bought the Washington Post in 2013. Post editors say they have never experienced editorial pressure from Bezos on stories.

Marty Baron, the current executive editor, stressed in a New Yorker interview that Bezos "actually believes in the mission of journalism; that he thinks it's really important for a democracy." Baron also said the Post had "significantly expanded its coverage of technology." Baron will leave the paper at the end of February.

When asked by the New Yorker if the Post covered Amazon differently than other companies, Baron strenuously denied it: "In fact, sometimes I wonder whether we feel that we have to be even more aggressive just to prove that we're not being controlled in some way by our boss."

Neither Baron nor Washington Post tech reporter Jay Greene returned requests for comment.

https://freebeacon.com/media/bezoss-post-silent-on-amazon-fiasco/

Google Demonetizes Information Liberation For Sharing Video Of Capitol Police Shooting Ashli Babbitt

Information Liberation has been suspended from Google AdSense after some 15 years for sharing video of Capitol police shooting Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt in an article without any Google ads – video which CNN and NBC paid $35,000 each to air on live TV and tons of other corporate media sites have fully monetized with Google's approval.

The article Google cited over the weekend to justify suspending the site, "SHOCK: New Footage Emerges Of Capitol Police Shooting Air Force Vet Ashli Babbitt At Point-Blank," never contained any Google ads so as not to violate their arbitrarily enforced "shocking content" policies.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=62067

British American Tobacco Fights Dirty In West Africa

Billions of cigarettes, most made by BAT, are smuggled north through Mali every year on their way to the gray markets of the Sahel and Northern Africa.

The profits of cigarette smuggling fuel the bloody struggle between jihadists, armed militias, and corrupt military officers that has turned northern Mali into a lawless warzone.

BAT started to oversupply Mali soon after the north fell to militants, knowing its product would be fodder for traffickers, according to dozens of interviews.

Internal documents show BAT used informants in West Africa to keep abreast of the illicit trade.

Mali’s government has ignored years of blatantly false tax figures from Imperial Brands, a shareholder of the state tobacco company that distributes Dunhills in militant-run areas.

Stashed inside pickup trucks and guarded by armed militias and jihadists, every year billions of illicit cigarettes wind their way through the lawless deserts of northern Mali bound for the Sahel and North Africa.

The profits from their long journey fuel north Mali’s many armed conflicts, lining the pockets of offshoots of al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, as well as local militias, and corrupt state and military officials. This violence is now spilling out across West Africa, displacing more than two million people in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger.

Cigarettes made by one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, British American Tobacco (BAT) and distributed with the help of another major, Imperial Brands, through a company partially owned by the Malian state, dominate this dirty and dangerous trade.

Now an investigation by OCCRP can show this is no accident.

Secrets contained in leaked documents, backed up by trade data and dozens of interviews with insurgents, former BAT employees, experts, and officials, show BAT started to oversupply Mali with clean-labelled

cigarettes soon after the north fell to militants, knowing that its product would be fodder for traffickers.

For years the company partnered with Mali’s state-backed tobacco company, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands, to distribute cigarettes in regions controlled by rebel militias and throughout the country. Sources say these cigarettes, trucked north with the help of the military and police, then fall into the hands of jihadists and militias. An internal document suggests BAT used informants in West Africa to keep abreast of the workings of the illicit trade.

The dirty business goes well beyond the desert. OCCRP’s reporting found the Malian government not only helps to distribute BAT’s cigarettes, but also apparently turns a blind eye to gross accounting irregularities at its partner Imperial and even possible trade fraud.

And it continues today. Public trade data and expert analysis show BAT and Imperial continue to oversupply the country with billions more cigarettes than it needs. Meanwhile, BAT’s annual revenue in 2019 alone exceeded the total GDP of Mali and Burkina Faso.

More

https://www.occrp.org/en/loosetobacco/british-american-tobacco-fights-dirty-in-west-africa

United Airlines to Pay $49 Million to Resolve Criminal Fraud Charges and Civil Claims

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-airlines-pay-49-million-resolve-criminal-fraud-charges-and-civil-claims

And how much does Biden want to give them in their Covid stimulus ????

Israel Getting Ready to ‘Take Action’ to Stop Iran From Going Nuclear, Defence Minister Says

Joe Biden’s campaign promise to get the US back into the Iran nuclear deal has yet to bear fruit, with Washington demanding that Tehran reduce its enrichment activities first. In the meantime, media reports suggest that Israel – the Middle East’s only alleged nuclear weapons state, is engaged in major construction at its Dimona research facility.

The Israeli military is “currently working to build up” its forces “and is preparing itself for any scenario, including one in which we would need to take operational action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Defence Minister Benny Gantz said, his remarks cited by the Times of Israel.

Gantz, who also serves as Israel’s alternate prime minister, said the military preparations were being taken in parallel with Tel Aviv’s diplomatic efforts to pressure the Biden administration into modifying the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear deal, if not scrapping it entirely.

“We all need to make sure that if an agreement is signed with Iran, it will be one that ends its nuclear project, enables long-term effective oversight and inspection, and puts a stop to Iranian entrenchment in Syria, Yemen and Iraq,” the minister said.

Iran maintains that it has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons, and has warned both the Trump and Biden administrations that it will not accept any effort to modify the terms of the JCPOA in any way. The US has a binary choice – take the deal or leave it, according to Tehran.

Calling Iran a “global and regional problem” that “certainly also threatens Israel,” Gantz suggested that Tel Aviv needs to “work together with our allies; with the US, with Europe, and with our new partners in the Middle East,” to tackle this “problem.”

Gantz’s Soft Line

The defence minister’s comments on the prospects of a US return to the JCPOA differ from sentiments expressed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called on the Biden White House to scrap plans to rejoin the JCPOA entirely and warned that Tel Aviv would not be bound by its terms.

“Israel isn’t pinning its hopes on an agreement with an extremist regime like [Iran’s]. We already saw what these agreements are worth…with North Korea,” Netanyahu said Tuesday. “With or without an agreement, we will do everything so [that Iran isn’t] armed with nuclear weapons.”

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202102261082198991-israel-getting-ready-to-take-action-to-stop-iran-from-going-nuclear-defence-minister-says/

>>13054479

>Iran retaliation or USA military Industrial Complex

one and the same

>>13054581

I spoke of this the other week.

According to this war will start and mass deaths from the vaccines will start.

Male Infertility Threatening ‘Future of Human Race,’ Says Author of New Book

Shanna Swan, Ph.D., author of “Count Down,” says endocrine-disrupting chemicals are causing decreased sperm counts, plunging testosterone levels and rising levels of erectile dysfunction.

Scientists are witnessing an alarming trend: Men’s sperm counts are down, testosterone levels have plunged and erectile dysfunction is increasing. Male infertility is on the rise — and exposure to synthetic chemicals known as phthalates could be to blame, according to fertility scientist Shanna Swan, Ph.D., author of the new book, “Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race.”

Citing Swan’s book, the New York Post reported that the global fertility rate has dropped 50% between 1960 and 2016, with the U.S. birth rate 16% below where it needs to be to sustain the population.

Although girls are experiencing early puberty, and women are experiencing declining egg quality and more miscarriages, emerging science is shifting the focus toward men as more couples suffer from infertility.

Scientists report sperm counts have been dropping, infant boys are developing more genital abnormalities and men’s problems with conception are on the rise. Erectile dysfunction is increasing and testosterone levels are decreasing 1% each year.

In 2017, Swan, one of the world’s leading environmental and reproductive epidemiologists, co-authored a meta-analysis that came to a staggering conclusion: The sperm count of average Western countries had fallen by 59% between 1973 and 2011.

Normal sperm counts range from 15 million sperm per milliliter to 200 million per milliliter. A rate below 15 million is considered “low” by the World Health Organization (WHO), but Swan argues that anything below 40 million creates challenges for reproduction. The average male is nearing that number at 47.1 million sperm per milliliter compared to his father who had an average of 99 million sperm per milliliter at the same age.

“If you look at the curve on sperm count and project it forward — which is always risky — it reaches zero in 2045, meaning the median man would have essentially no viable sperm,” Swan writes in her book.

Men are also experiencing lower testosterone levels. A 2006 study showed that a 65-year-old man in 2002 had testosterone levels 15% lower than a 65-year-old man in 1987. A 2020 study in the Urology Times Journal showed a similar drop with young adults and adolescents.

As a result, more men are getting prescriptions for testosterone replacement therapy, which increases testosterone levels but causes an even greater reduction in sperm count. “Ninety percent of men can have their sperm counts drop to zero while they’re on it,” according to Swan.

Sexual desire among men is also declining. Swan, who has studied infertility for more than 30 years, says men are seeking help for erectile dysfunction on average seven years earlier than they did in 2005, with 26% of men falling under the age of 40.

According to the New York Post, research shows an overall increase in genital abnormalities, including a higher rate of undescended testicles and unusually small penises. Growing numbers of sperm appear defective with some having two heads or wandering aimlessly instead of pursuing an egg.

Exposure to phthalates is a particular problem during pregnancy when fetuses are sexually differentiating in the first trimester, says Swan, and infants with greater exposure to phthalates during pregnancy are shown to have smaller penises.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/79372/male-infertility-threatening-future-of-human-race-says-author-of-new.html

Wisconsin: 28-Year-Old Healthcare Worker Has Aneurysm – Brain Dead 5 Days After Taking Second Experimental Pfizer Jab

As I spoke about on Thursday morning’s The Sons of Liberty morning show, a young, 28-year-old female healthcare worker from Wisconsin suffered an aneurysm following her second dose of the experimental COVID injection produced by Pfizer, the same people that are producing millions of doses of this chemical poison while telling you they see “no serious safety concerns.” She died on February 17, 2021.

The young woman’s name is Sara Strickles.

MADISON, Wis. (WTVO) — COVID-19 restrictions are keeping a Rockford family from visiting their loved one in a Madison hospital. Instead, they have to pick up the phone and hope she can hear them on the other end.

We caught up with the family who tell us it’s been a heartbreaking week, to say the least.

The Stickles family is now left to picking up their devices to be able to see their sister, Sara, for just a few minutes. They say that all they wish they could do is to be able to hold Sara’s hand.

Sara has a condition called arteriovenous malformation. That’s when a group of blood vessels are abnormally interconnected with one another. Over a week ago, the AVM ruptured.

“Because of the AVM rupture, the aneurysm ruptured and she had a stroke in her brain stem at the same time,” explained Sara’s sister, Jamie Stickles.

She is now in a coma. Sara’s twin sister Kara says she wishes she could hold her hand, but she can’t due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“It’s hard for nobody to be able to just touch her, feel her, feel our presence,” Kara said. “And this is how we have to see our sister now..that.”

That followed Strickles second jab.

https://www.dcclothesline.com/2021/02/26/wisconsin-28-year-old-healthcare-worker-has-aneurysm-brain-dead-5-days-after-taking-second-experimental-pfizer-jab/

Scott Morrison, senators and AFP told of historical rape allegation against Cabinet Minister

Australian Federal Police have been notified of a letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison detailing an alleged historical rape by a Cabinet Minister in the federal government.

Key points:

A letter detailing a historic rape allegation against a Cabinet Minister has been sent to the Prime Minister

The alleged offence took place in 1988 before the man entered politics

The matter has been referred to the AFP

The letter requests urgent action be taken by the Prime Minister to investigate the alleged rape, which occurred in 1988 before the accused man entered politics.

The matter has also been referred to the Australian Federal Police.

The letter was forwarded to AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw by Labor's Leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, and Greens Senator Hanson-Young, who were also recipients of the letter.

Four Corners understands that Commissioner Kershaw has briefed South Australia Police and NSW Police.

The letter, shared with Four Corners by a friend of the complainant, attaches a detailed statement prepared by the complainant for her lawyer about the brutal rape she alleges took place.

NSW Police set up strike force

Last year, NSW Police set up a strike force with a view to commencing an investigation into the historical allegations about the Cabinet Minister after the woman came forward.

Strike Force Wyndarra was established by police after she reported in Sydney in February 2020 to detectives from the NSW Police Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad that she had been raped by the man.

The woman had engaged a lawyer and told many friends about the allegation, but took her own life in June last year.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

Lifeline on 13 11 14

Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800

MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978

Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467

Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636

Headspace on 1800 650 890

ReachOut at au.reachout.com

Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774

In a statement to Four Corners on Friday, Ms Hanson-Young said: "This morning I received information regarding a disturbing and a very serious allegation of a criminal nature against a senior member of the government.

"Following the advice given to the Prime Minister by the AFP Commissioner this week, I have spoken with the Police Commissioner today, who is now taking steps in relation to this information."

Senator Wong told Four Corners in a statement on Friday that she had notified NSW, SA Police and the AFP, and would assist in any investigations.

"I have also written to the Prime Minister and Senator Hanson-Young to outline the steps I have taken, following receipt of this anonymous letter," Senator Wong said.

"It is my hope that appropriate action is taken to examine the allegation."

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement: "As per the AFP Commissioner's instruction, any complaints or allegations of this nature made to anybody — whether they're parliamentarians or journalists — should be referred to the AFP.

"As the AFP Commissioner outlined in advice to all parliamentarians on February 25, 2021, rereporting to the police is the way to ensure any alleged crimes are properly investigated."

South Australia Police are investigating the circumstances of the woman's death for the state coroner.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-26/pm-senators-afp-told-historical-rape-allegation-cabinet-minister/13197248

CNN’s Jim Acosta Confronted at CPAC — ‘Cuomo Killed 10,000 People and You Want to Talk About Ted Cruz!’

CNN’s activist “reporter” Jim Acosta was confronted at CPAC about the network’s lack of coverage about Andrew Cuomo’s scandals.

Cuomo was recently accused of sexual harassment by a former staffer and hid data about deaths of nursing home residents after he ordered them to accept Covid-19-positive patients.

While attempting to conduct interviews to make Trump supporters look bad, Acosta was confronted by a Federalist reporter about when they will start covering Cuomo.

“When are you guys going to start covering Cuomo?” the reporter asks.

“We do,” Acosta claimed, before claiming that CNN does cover the governor.

“No you don’t. He killed 10,000 people and is accused of sexual assault and you guys want to talk about Ted Cruz,” the Federalist reporter fired back.

Acosta attempted to weasel out of the confrontation by lying about the fact that the network is covering the scandals, saying “we agree to disagree,” but the real reporter wasn’t letting him off the hook.

“No, we don’t agree to disagree,” the reporter asserted. “You’re not covering Cuomo.”

The exchange concluded with Acosta asserting that “I’m here to do a job” over and over.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/02/watch-cnns-jim-acosta-confronted-cpac-cuomo-killed-10000-people-want-talk-ted-cruz/

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