Florida furious over release of genetically modified mosquitos

The Florida Keys will soon be buzzing with close to a billion 'fraken-squitoes' – gene-hacked mosquitoes aimed at eradicating a disease carrying mosquito.

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec, a British biotech company, are starting the first-ever U.S. release of genetically engineered (GE) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes this week, which will see up to a billion over a two-year period.

The project aims to reduce the numbers of Aedes aegypti, one of several mosquito species that can carry diseases including dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever.

Floridians, however, are calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to end 'this live experiment' saying they are being subjected to terrorism by the FKMCD.

The trial is set to begin this week, with the first phase releasing up to 144,000 GE mosquitoes over the next 12 weeks. Ultimately, up to a billion will be released in Monroe County.

The GE mosquitos, developed by Oxitect, have been modified to pass on a particular protein when they mate, which ensures female offspring do not survive the next generation.

With fewer females in each subsequent generation, the researchers hope overall mosquito populations in the region will decrease along with transmission rates of disease passed through mosquito bites.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/79792/florida-furious-over-release-of-genetically-modified.html

Afghanistan Travel Advisory

Travel Advisory

April 27, 2021

Do not travel to Afghanistan due to COVID-19, crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.

U.S. citizens wishing to depart Afghanistan should leave as soon as possible on available commercial flights.

Read the Department of State’s COVID-19 page before you plan any international travel.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Afghanistan due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country. Visit the Embassy’s COVID-19 page for more information on COVID-19 in Afghanistan.

On April 27, 2021, the Department ordered the departure from U.S. Embassy Kabul of U.S. government employees whose functions can be performed elsewhere.

Travel to all areas of Afghanistan is unsafe because of critical levels of kidnappings, hostage taking, suicide bombings, widespread military combat operations, landmines, and terrorist and insurgent attacks, including attacks using vehicle-borne, magnetic, or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide vests, and grenades.

Terrorist and insurgent groups continue planning and executing attacks in Afghanistan. These attacks occur with little or no warning, and have targeted official Afghan and U.S. government convoys and facilities, local government buildings, foreign embassies, military installations, commercial entities, non-governmental organization (NGO) offices, hospitals, residential compounds, tourist locations, transportation hubs, public gatherings, markets and shopping areas, places of worship, restaurants, hotels, universities, airports, schools, gymnasiums, and other locations frequented by U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals.

The U.S. Embassy's ability to provide routine and emergency services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is severely limited, particularly outside of Kabul. Evacuation options from Afghanistan are extremely limited due to the lack of infrastructure, geographic constraints, and the volatile security situation.

Family members cannot accompany U.S. government employees who work in Afghanistan. Unofficial travel to Afghanistan by U.S. government employees and their family members is restricted and requires prior approval from the Department of State. U.S. Embassy personnel are restricted from traveling to all locations in Kabul except the U.S. Embassy and other U.S. government facilities unless there is a compelling U.S. government interest in permitting such travel that outweighs the risk. Additional security measures are needed for any U.S. government employee travel and movement through Afghanistan.

Last Update: Reissued with updates to post’s operation status.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/afghanistan-advisory.html

China’s “Social Credit Scoring” Is Expanding Globally, Now Openly Operational In Western Canada

China’s Orwellian “social credit system” that records the social and financial behaviour of individuals and corporations across China, using a vast surveillance system, has expanded globally, and is now openly operational at the renowned Haidilao hot pot restaurant, in Western Canada.

Ryan Pan, a manager with Haidilao Hot Pot in Vancouver confirmed that over 60 surveillance cameras have been installed in the restaurant at the request of the Haidilao corporation, as part of the social credit system in China. He said that the Vancouver location has 30 tables with two cameras assigned to each table.

When asked specifically why Haidilao required so many cameras to monitor staff and patrons, Ryan Pan said that the cameras were installed to “punish” staff if they didn’t adhere to corporate standards and to “people track”. Pan also said that the video is sent back to China but declined to say why this was, other than to say the reason for this was “secret.”

Founded in Sichuan, China, the Haidilao opened up at two locations in the Vancouver region, the most recent of which was opened in 2018 in a former Swiss Chalet restaurant in the trendy Kitsilano district of Vancouver. The location is within walking distance of the home rented by Huawei for staff temporarily re-located to Vancouver to assist Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer (CFO) of the telecom giant. Following her arrest and hearing over a provisional US extradition request for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in order to circumvent US sanctions against Iran. The Haidilao location is no more than 10 minutes to Meng Wanzhou’s mansion and the Peoples Republic of China Consulate. Haidilao has over 935 locations around the world and more than 36 million VIP members and 60,000 plus staff.

We reached out to Ivy Li, with the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong, who is a well-known public speaker, writer and activist on matters related to China and pro-democracy, to ask why Canadians should be concerned that China’s social credit system is now operational in Canada.

Ivy, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, had this to say in response: “Not only ethnic Chinese Canadians and residents, and businesses with Chinese ties are put at risk, but the privacy and safety of all Canadians and our society are compromised. Customers at a popular ethnic cuisine restaurant, especially in an upscale area, could be diplomats and politicians entertaining their guests, CEOs discussing their business strategies, professionals talking about company projects, journalists conducting interviews, etc., etc. Dinners discuss a wide range of subjects, especially after a couple of wine. The dining table in a popular restaurant is one of the best places to eavesdrop on someone and to get the pulse of a society.”

CHINA’S SOCIAL CREDIT SYSTEM

China’s social credit system was officially rolled out nationwide in 2014 with a plan to build “trust” in the marketplace and broader society. According to a report by USA Congressional Research Service (CRS) in 2020, China’s social credit system has developed into two connected but distinct systems: a system for monitoring individual behaviour, still in early pilot stages, and a more robust system for monitoring corporate behaviour.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/79796/chinas-social-credit-scoring-is-expanding-globally-now-openly-operational-in-western.html

VIDEO: Joe Rogan Advises Young, Healthy People NOT To Get Vaccinated

"I'm not injecting my daughter with something to f**king virtue signal," added comedian Dave Smith. "Like, I'm not doing that."

Joe Rogan, the self-made podcast host who recently made the jump from YouTube to Spotify, made the case for young Americans not to take one of the controversial COVID-19 vaccines, suggesting that potential side effects from the under tested vaccines may outweigh risks of contracting COVID-19.

Speaking with comedian Dave Smith on the April 23 episode of his Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Rogan spoke extensively about his thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccines. People say, do you think it’s safe to get vaccinated, and I’ve said, Yeah I think for the most part, it’s safe to get vaccinated, I do, I do. But if you say to me, you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I’ll go no, are you healthy? Are you a healthy person? Like, look, don’t do anything stupid, but you should take care of yourself. If you’re a healthy person and you’re exercising all the time and you’re young and you’re eating well, I don’t think you need to worry about this.” Rogan then continued, expressing concern, “But there’s a lot of jobs that will tell you that you need to have this.”

“I can tell you as someone who, both my children got the virus, it was nothing. I hate to say that if someone’s children died from this, I’m very sorry that that happened, I’m not in any way diminishing that. But I’m saying, the personal experience that my children had with COVID was nothing. One of the kids had a headache, the other one didn’t feel good for a couple days.” He added, “No coughing, no aching, no in agony, there was none of that. It was very mild, it was akin to them getting a cold.”

https://nationalfile.com/video-joe-rogan-advises-young-healthy-people-not-to-get-vaccinated/

Pfizer says antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 could be here by year's end

Pfizer CEO and chairman Albert Bourla says that the biopharmaceutical company behind the COVID-19 vaccine could publicly release an antiviral drug designed to treat the coronavirus by the end of 2021.

Bourla on Monday told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that the drug — called PF-07321332 — is an antiviral drug intended for oral ingestion in COVID-19-positive patients when the illness is first detected. The company is also testing an intravenous option.

The treatment is anticipated to be effective against varying strains of the deadly virus.

Bourla said that the company is zeroing in on the oral option as it "provides several advantages" and can be taken in the comfort of the patient's home. The option, he added, would be a "game-changer."

"The compound that we are talking about and you said very well the numbers, it is a protease inhibitor," he explained. "The good thing is that this is also the first molecule that is coming from this type of class, this is good thing because you can combine it with other classes. Also, the mechanism of action, it is such that it's not expected to be subject to mutations, particularly because it's not acting on the spike, as we all know, all the mutations that we are hearing right now are seeing this in the proteins of the spike."

"This one doesn't work there so that allows us to believe that will be way more effective against the multiple variants," Bourla added. "So, all good news. We are now progressing the studies and we will have more news around summer."

Bourla added that he hopes the drug could be released to the public by the end of 2021.

"[I]f all goes well, and we implement the same speech that we did so far and we are and if regulators also do the same and they are, I hope by the end of the year," he said.

What else?

The company in March announced it had begun Phase 1 clinical trials of the antiviral treatment.

From a Tuesday Forbes report:

Pfizer announced late last month they had begun Phase 1 clinical trials of the drug, called PF-07321332. Its effectiveness is due to protease inhibitors in the drug that bind to viral enzymes, preventing viruses from replicating in the cell. "Tackling the Covid-19 pandemic requires both prevention via vaccine and targeted treatment for those who contract the virus," said Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief scientific officer, in a press release. "Given the way that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating and the continued global impact of COVID-19, it appears likely that it will be critical to have access to therapeutic options both now and beyond the pandemic." According to Pfizer, protease inhibitors have proven effective in combating other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/pfizer-antiviral-drug-covid-years-end

VIDEO: Biden Denies Science, Wears Huge Mask In Public After CDC Calls Masks Unnecessary

Biden's obsession with masks continues even after CDC deems it unnecessary to wear them outdoors

President Joe Biden was seen walking around outside while wearing his trademark oversized black face mask just a few hours after the Center for Disease Control admitted that masks are unnecessary for people who are outdoors. Biden was roundly mocked on social media for what many view as his nervous fanaticism about masks.

“Fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask outdoors, except in certain crowded settings and venues,” the CDC stated this week. Biden was among the first people in the U.S. to be vaccinated.

On Tuesday, Biden walked around the White House grounds in the oversized face mask that he has become known for .

https://nationalfile.com/video-biden-denies-science-wears-huge-mask-in-public-after-cdc-calls-masks-unneccessary/

UK Sanctions 22 Individuals for ‘Serious International Corruption’

The U.K. government has imposed asset freezes and travel bans against 22 individuals from six countries in its first set of measures under the nation’s new Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime.

The move, announced this week, seeks to “prevent those responsible from entering the U.K. or laundering their ill-gotten assets here,” and “ensure that the U.K. is not a safe haven for those involved in serious corruption, including those who profit from it,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote in a statement delivered to Parliament on Monday.

The first group of individuals sanctioned under the new regime hail from Russia, South Africa, South Sudan and three Latin American countries. They have been involved in “some of the most notorious corruption cases around the world,” the Foreign Secretary said in the announcement.

These include 14 individuals implicated in the tax fraud scheme uncovered by Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Russian government officials were involved in the theft of US$230 million from Russian taxpayers.

In South Africa, members of the infamous Gupta family and one of their associates, Salim Essa, have been sanctioned for their involvement in “serious” corruption. The Gupta family has been the subject of a series of OCCRP investigations, the most recent of which uncovered how they used an investment firm and a network of shell companies to launder a fortune’s worth of money allegedly stolen from the state.

Sudanese businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali, widely known as ‘Al Cardinal’ and also the subject of an OCCRP investigation, was sanctioned for his involvement in the “misappropriation of significant amounts of state assets in one of the poorest countries in the world,” contributing to ongoing instability and conflict.

Three unnamed individuals in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala were also sanctioned for “facilitating bribes to support a drug trafficking cartel,” which contributes to “citizens being deprived of vital resources for development.”

The announcement noted how every year, over 2% of global GDP is lost to corruption which “exacerbates” conflict and “facilitates” serious and organized crime.

As one of the easiest places in the world to register a company, the U.K. has been at the center of some of the world’s biggest corruption scandals. This was acknowledged by the Foreign Secretary who, in his speech to Parliament, called the country a “a honeypot, a lightning rod for corrupt actors who seek to launder their dirty money through British banks or through businesses.”

He ended by saying that more designations will follow as part of the bid to send “the clearest message to all those involved in serious corruption around the world. You can’t come here. You can’t hide your money here.”

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/14297-uk-sanctions-22-individuals-for-serious-international-corruption

Climate change an ‘existential threat,’ says SECDEF

Senior Pentagon officials are sounding the alarm on the threat climate change poses to military bases in the U.S. and abroad over the next few decades, and a new report offers an overview of the risks.

“We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday in remarks delivered at the Leaders Summit on Climate. “The climate crisis does.”

The Defense Department also released an expanded climate change report Thursday providing an overview of the threat that climate change poses to nearly 1,400 DoD installations around the world.

The report utilized the Defense Climate Assessment Tool, a statistical model developed by the Army Corps of Engineers, to screen the installations for potential climate threats under competing temperature rise scenarios (“higher” and “lower”) in 2050 and 2085. The predominant threats identified for installations are “hazards more directly tied to temperature change” such as excessive heat, drought, and wildfires.

Other climate-related threats will increase over time, though to a lesser extent, according to the report. The risks assessed include coastal and river flooding, increased energy demand, and land degradation.

Importantly, “there is no…[scenario] under which installation exposure to climate hazards is projected to decrease,” said the authors in the report’s “key takeaways” section.

While the worst is yet to come, according to climate scientists and the authors of the report, Austin said Thursday that “extreme weather caused by climate change” is already posing a major threat to military bases and readiness.

“Hurricane Michael inflicted billions of dollars of damage at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. Severe flooding of the Missouri River…damaged Offutt Air Force Base, costing hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Austin. “The wildfires in California have threatened other military installations, forcing repeated evacuations.”

“The homeland is no longer a sanctuary,” said Richard Kidd, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience. “Going forward, we’re going to have to embed climate change as a consideration in all that we do.”

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/04/27/climate-change-an-existential-threat-says-secdef/

Former Attorney for Municipalities in Puerto Rico Sentenced for Bribery

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-attorney-municipalities-puerto-rico-sentenced-bribery

Windham, New Hampshire Officials May Choose Far-Left Group to Conduct Forensic Audit — PLEASE CONTACT STATE OFFICIALS TODAY!

On Monday night, the Windham Board of Selectmen held a public meeting to discuss their choice of an analyst for the forensic audit team that will investigate the largest discrepancy between machine and hand counts for any election in the history of New Hampshire. This meeting was already shrouded in controversy when the Town Administrator announced 13 days ago that this meeting would be held in a non-public session when legally there were no grounds to qualify it for such secrecy. There was such outcry to this decision to hide their deliberations from the public, that the Selectmen’s phone lines and email inboxes were flooded by outraged citizens. As a result, a week ago today, the Selectmen reversed this misguided choice and announced Monday’s evening’s meeting would be held in public.

At the meeting last night 3 of the 4 selectmen announced their support for the team of Dr. Andrew Appel and Verified Voting.

State and local officials will still select two more members to round out the forensic audit team.

But by this morning the latest developments blew up in New Hampshire.

It was discovered this morning that New Hampshire officials selected an operative who said the election fraud claims were fake and worked to try to get the Maricopa County audit shut down!

The people should expect no less than such from compromised state officials.

Mr. Linderman already tried to stop the Arizona audit, why would he do anything different in New Hampshire?

YouTuber Neil Johnson posted a video earlier today on the Windham, New Hampshire audit.

The Trump supporters are VERY CONCERNED that an organization who does not believe in the audit and who spoke out AGAINST the Arizona audit was chosen to participate in the Windham, New Hampshire audit.

https://youtu.be/LmWll5mJExA

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/04/emergency-alert-windham-new-hampshire-officials-may-choose-far-left-group-conduct-forensic-audit-please-contact-state-officials-today/

Biden to Deploy 650 More Troops to Afghanistan

Afghan news outlets, citing CNN, reported Tuesday that the administration of President Joe Biden would soon deploy another 650 troops to Afghanistan, where Biden expanded the U.S. presence through at least September in an order this month.

Afghanistan’s Khaama Press and Pajhwok Afghan News reported the alleged troop number increase as meant to protect American forces as they withdraw. CNN claimed the news originated with “several defense officials,” none of whom went on the record.

“The deployment was approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin late last week as part of a package of military assets being sent to the country to facilitate the US withdrawal, which is due to be complete by September 11,” CNN alleged.

Former President Donald Trump arranged an agreement with the Taliban, which the United States has been fighting in Afghanistan for two decades, last year that would have resulted in a full American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1. The deal required the Taliban to cut ties to foreign terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and no longer attack American forces. Biden broke the deal this month, disregarding Trump’s May 1 deadline and claiming all American forces would leave by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the jihadist attacks on the U.S. homeland that prompted the Afghanistan invasion.

The Taliban denounced Biden’s breach of the agreement and asserted their jihadists now had no reason to abide by their vow not to attack American forces between May and September.

According to Khaama Press, citing some American sources, the Pentagon has attempted to increase its forces in the region to ensure the security of troops departing, allegedly, by September. This includes requests for the deployment of an aircraft carrier in the region that could allow for swift air attacks on the Taliban if necessary. Voice of America independently reported Monday that the Pentagon had moved two B-52 bombers to Qatar meant to provide “air cover for the approximately 10,000 U.S. and NATO forces set to depart Afghanistan over the coming months.”

Voice of America quoted the Pentagon’s press secretary, John Kirby, telling reporters that the withdrawal from Afghanistan would occur only after a military buildup: “I think you can expect there will be an addition of posture in Afghanistan.”

Biden announced in mid-April that he would postpone America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan because “it’s time for American troops to come home,” leaving open the question of why he allowed the already established deadline for withdrawal to expire without pulling America’s remaining troops in the country out. Biden’s announcement was followed by effusive assurances from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that America would remain a prominent presence in Afghanistan after the troop withdrawal through civilian diplomatic efforts. Blinken visited Kabul and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani the day after Biden’s announcement.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2021/04/27/report-biden-deploy-650-more-troops-afghanistan/