MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Murder and Attempted Murder
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ms-13-member-pleads-guilty-racketeering-conspiracy-involving-murder-and-attempted-murder
China "Indefinitely" Suspends Economic Dialogue With Australia As Relations Continue To Deteriorate
China on Thursday announced the "indefinite" suspension of all activity under a China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue amid strained relations between the two countries, its state economic planner said on Thursday.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/china-indefinitely-suspends-economic-dialogue-australia-relations-worsen
Hillary Alleges ‘Russian Involvement, If Not Influence or Interference, In Brexit’
Failed U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has claimed that Russian interference in the U.S. election in 2016 is now “beyond a doubt” and that the country was likely involved in the Brexit vote, too.
Mrs Clinton, who was First Lady during Bill Clinton’s presidency and U.S. Secretary of State for part of Barack Obama’s presidency, made the allegations during a Chatham House conversation with former Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary and Tory leader William Hague, chaired by fellow ex-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt MP.
The two notionally conservative Britons adopted a sycophantic posture, with Hague, who now sits in the House of Lords as Baron Hague of Richmond, having been created a life peer on the advice of David Cameron, describing himself as a “great admirer” and “such a fan” of the U.S. Democrat.
“Let’s plunge in… to this vast subject of the future of liberal democracies… because since you and I were in office the Arab Spring has turned to dust in most respects, Russia has become more authoritarian, China has turned in an even more totalitarian direction, global surveys have shown youth satisfaction with democracy in decline, the U.S. Capitol itself has been stormed by a mob refusing the accept the result of an entirely fair election,” Hague began, asking Mrs Clinton: “Are we in a crisis of democracy, if not, what would a crisis look like?”
“I do think we’re in a crisis of democracy,” she replied, warming to the theme of “foreign interference” after Hague suggested that she had “been on the receiving end of that, perhaps more than anyone else in the world,” citing Russian activity in the context of her failed run for the U.S. presidency in 2016.
“Russia is the primary adversary when it comes to interfering in elections and democracy more broadly,” Mrs Clinton agreed, alleging that Russian interference “has now been proven beyond a doubt in our election in 2016, but in the continuing efforts to interfere even in the 2020 election, particularly the lead up to it — but I think there was also significant evidence of Russian involvement, if not influence or interference in Brexit.”
“Leaders must be willing to stand up to and speak out against Russian interference, or frankly interference from any foreign power — but let’s focus on Russia,” she added.
No Collusion, Brexit Edition: Clegg Admits ‘Absolutely No Evidence’ Russia Influenced Vote via Facebook https://t.co/9fQYAtpZww
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 24, 2019
Lord Hague, who posed as a strong eurosceptic during his time as Tory leader in the late ’90s and early ’00s but campaigned against Brexit when a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU was finally granted in 2016, said nothing to challenge Mrs Clinton’s assertion’s concerning Russian interference, despite an extensive parliamentary investigation to possible Russian involvement in Brexit turning up very little of substance.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/05/06/hillary-alleges-russian-involvement-if-not-influence-or-interference-in-brexit/
US Establishment Recycling “WMD” Iraq War Propaganda For Iran
As the United States seems to be nearing re-entry into the Iran Nuclear Deal, the corporate media are whipping out every piece of war propaganda in order to drive a wedge between the Biden Administration and the Iranian government.
This Monday, in a piece so outrageous that it verges on the comical, Fox News published a piece which directly claim’s Iran has been seeking technology to develop “Weapons of Mass Destruction” as of last year.
The article, written by Benjamin Weinthal, using widely over-inflating reports which carry no evidence to back them up, added the finishing touch to the current mainstream media vernacular about Iran, bringing us from 2021 back to 2003. “WMDs” they are now crying, in a blatant attempt to side with Washington’s neoconservative tank and place pressure on the Biden administration to scrap the idea of peace with Iran and to maintain its brutal sanctions regime.
But it does not end there, Iran is also now meddling in the Scottish elections, or at least the “experts”, quoted by The Telegraph, are “almost certain” of it. The source for this claim, a neoconservative think tank named the ‘Henry Jackson Society’ again presents no tangible evidence to support their claims, but any chance to mix Iran into something that British conservatives oppose – a possible Scottish Independence referendum – they’ll take. If history is any indication, when a think tank, talking about a topic they are clearly biased on, says that they are “pretty sure” or “almost certain” about something, that typically means that they are either flat out lying and/or have zero evidence to corroborate their theory.
If the SNP (Scottish Nationalist Party) wins the national elections on May 6, it is likely that the country will head to a second independence referendum, which could facilitate the breakup of the United Kingdom. But despite independence being a genuine demand of many Scots, a vote which could steal away land on which Britain’s ever developing nuclear weapons stockpile sits, seems to be too good a story for the corporate media not to accuse the “evil Iranian regime” of manufacturing as part of a conspiracy to take down the UK.
These above-noted anti-Iran claims, which have zero evidence to back them up, are just the tip of the iceberg. For the sake of this piece, as a book could be written analyzing the claims made against Iran, let’s look at a few more in order to demonstrate how blatantly similar the propaganda is to that which was used to manufacture consent for the invasion of Iraq.
Last year, former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, claimed that “the new home base of al-Qaeda, is the Islamic Republic of Iran”, which was again unsubstantiated and all based upon hearsay. It has also been repeatedly claimed, by both US and Israeli politicians, that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and/or that Iran has a nuclear weapons program.
https://www.activistpost.com/2021/05/us-establishment-recycling-wmd-iraq-war-propaganda-for-iran.html
White House supports social media’s ability to silence ‘misinformation’
According to the White House, social media companies have the responsibility of shutting down misinformation. During a press conference Wednesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Facebook’s decision to uphold its ban of President Trump.
Specifically, she was asked if Big Tech oligarchs can muzzle a former president, what’s to stop them from silencing anyone? Psaki said she had no comment on Trump, but said Joe Biden’s view is that the major platforms have the job to stop amplifying “untrustworthy content.”
“His view is that there’s more that needs to be done to ensure that this type of misinformation, disinformation, damaging, sometimes life threatening information is not going out to the American public,” stated the press secretary.
The question came in the wake of Facebook’s Oversight Board upholding a ban of President Trump from using the platform. The board did note, however, that the ban was inappropriate and Facebook has six months to revisit the decision.
https://www.oann.com/white-house-supports-social-medias-ability-to-silence-misinformation/
'The summer of love became a summer of blood': Mom of teen shot dead in Seattle's CHOP zone files wrongful death against city's mayor Jenny Durkan after she branded anarchist area a harmless 'block party'
The mother of a teenage boy shot dead in Seattle's CHOP autonomous zone says the 'summer of love' hailed by city mayor Jenny Durkan became 'a summer of blood.'
Donnitta Sinclair launched a furious attack on Durkan, as well as Seattle's Emergency Services, Police Department, City Council and the State of Washington over her 19 year-old son Horace Lorenzo Anderson's murder in CHOP in 2020.
Speaking in a federal wrongful lawsuit filed against Durkan and multiple official agencies last month, Sinclair says: 'Considering the more than adequate knowledge of the danger and violence associated with the CHOP area, Seattle leaders failed Lorenzo and the community.
'The “summer of love” predictably became the “summer of blood.”
'Only after the preventable death of Lorenzo and others did Mayor Durkan finally announce Seattle would take back “CHOP”.'
Anderson, a rapper known as 'Lil Mo,' was shot dead while visiting CHOP in the early hours of June 20.
Anderson's trip to the seven block police-free zone set up in one of Seattle's most desirable neighborhoods in the wake of George Floyd's murder allegedly saw him clash with Marcel Long.
Long is said to have been held back by friends after he and Anderson, who had graduated from high school the day before, exchanged words.
He allegedly shot his rival dead minutes later.
Long fled the scene shortly afterwards, and is yet to be apprehended.
The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Lorenzo Anderson Estate, alleges that Seattle Police Department, Seattle Emergency Medical Services, and Seattle city officials were negligent and 'breached the duty of reasonable care' in failing to care for Anderson after he was shot four times within the CHOP area.
http://www.cuzzblue.com/2021/05/the-summer-of-love-became-summer-of.html
IEA: U.S. lacks critical minerals, Biden’s policies benefit China
The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned Joe Biden’s policies are bolstering Chinese control over the global supply of critical minerals.
In a new report, the IEA said the U.S. is lacking a stable supply of rare earth materials along with copper, cobalt and lithium. The agency pointed out that China controls between 60 and 90 percent of the supply of such minerals, which are mainly used in advanced electronics and clean energy production.
Back in 2019, President Trump took steps to boost America’s own supply, but the IEA said those efforts were not enough and the U.S. must diversify its sources of rare elements.
“As you can see on the screen for lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements, the world’s top three producing nations control well over three quarters of global output,” explained Tim Gould, the IEA’s head of division for energy supply outlooks and investment. “And in some cases ,a single country is responsible for around half of worldwide production.”
However, Democrats believe the mining for rare earth minerals is bad for the environment and must be stopped, which ultimately benefits China.
https://www.oann.com/iea-u-s-lacks-critical-minerals-bidens-policies-benefit-china/
The Human Rights Campaign says the White House is preparing to directly confront the flood of anti-trans and LGBTQ legislation. The Department of Justice may also join the fight.
The Biden administration is preparing to directly confront the rash of anti-LGBT, and specifically anti-trans bills proliferating in state legislatures, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country’s leading LGBTQ advocacy organization.
Separately, the Department of Justice has told The Daily Beast it will “fully enforce our civil rights statutes to protect transgender individuals,” giving hope to campaigners that the DOJ is preparing to challenge in the courts the legality of bills that have been introduced—and some passed—in a number of states, outlawing transgender youth’s access to health care and sports.
The White House’s move and DOJ declaration follow President Biden’s address to the joint session of Congress last week, in which he said that he hoped “Congress can get to my desk the Equality Act to protect LGBTQ Americans. To all transgender Americans watching at home, especially young people who are so brave, I want you to know your President has your back.”
Biden’s words were warmly welcomed by campaigners as a stirring statement of support, although they also attracted criticism for not mentioning the multiple legislative attacks on trans youth, and what having their “back” meant in practical terms at such a critical moment.
As Kai Shappley, a Texas trans fourth-grader, who eloquently testified in the state Senate, put it in a tweet: “I’m very thankful for this. But, what does having my back mean? Like, if the bills pass in Texas will you keep them from putting my mom in jail?” (Shappley was referring to SB 1646, one of many anti-trans bills being considered in Texas.) Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project, said in another tweet: “I guess I appreciate the platitudes. But we need action. Things are desperate.”
At the time of writing, 253 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in the current legislative session. 124 of the bills are anti-trans, including 66 focused on playing sports, 33 focused on access to healthcare, and 14 focused bathroom and locker room access. Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, West Virginia, and South Dakota have introduced bans on trans girls playing school sports. Arkansas has enshrined a ban on gender-affirming health care.
Many other bills are on governors’ desks awaiting signatures, or being debated in state legislatures. According to a recent GLAAD survey focused on the first 100 days of Biden’s presidency, 77 per cent of LGBTQ Americans say the bills make them “feel unsafe in their own community.”
https://archive.fo/9nML0#selection-917.0-949.146
Gates Foundation, DARPA funding self-replicating, weaponized vaccine technology that began under Apartheid, to exterminate Blacks… and now it’s powering the covid vax
Research on race-specific, self-replicating (self-spreading), weaponized vaccines was being conducted by doctors and scientists under the Apartheid regime in the 1990s, with the goal of causing self-spreading infertility and deaths among Blacks.
This same research continues today, predominantly in the United States, funded by DARPA and the Gates Foundation.
The technology, known as “self-replicating vaccines,” spreads through the population like a virus, causing the spread of infertility and death, all for the purpose of extermination and population reduction.
This same technology is now believed to be behind covid-19 vaccines, which are transmitting harmful spike proteins to the unvaccinated, causing widespread bleeding, bruising, blood clots and other harmful effects, even in the unvaccinated.
Proponents of self-replicating vaccine technology are self-avowed depopulation advocates who wish to exterminate most of the human beings living today.
In 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published a well-researched article documenting the history of self-spreading vaccines, warning about its implications for humanity. Such technology is prone to “unintended consequences” and cannot be undone, warns The Bulletin in this article entitled, “Scientists are working on vaccines that spread like a disease. What could possibly go wrong?”
That article documents the horrifying history of our self-replicating, race-specific weaponized “vaccines” were under development by the Apartheid regime to exterminate Blacks and keep the White racist regime in power.
The article is outstanding and is extensively quoted below. The authors are Filippa Lentzos and Guy Reeves, both Europeans, which explains why they are able to publish dangerous truths that no American journalist would dare utter, out of fear of retribution from the tyrannical medical science establishment that now controls nearly every institution in the United States.
For the record, these two authors are not asserting in their article that covid-19 vaccines are self-replicating vaccines. That’s a connection that we have only been able to make recently, after witnessing the explosion of bizarre symptoms emerging in unvaccinated people who are merely in close proximity to the vaccinated. Over the last two weeks, thousands of reports of this phenomenon have been received by the top whistleblowers and front line doctors who are sounding the alarm over the experimental “vaccine” injections being aggressively, coercively pushed in the United States, despite the complete lack of any credible evidence that shows such vaccines are safe and effective for widespread, long-term use in healthy, asymptomatic individuals.
From the Bulletin article (selected passages, edited for length):
A small, but growing number of scientists think it’s possible to exploit the self-propagating properties of viruses and use them to spread immunity instead of disease.
For at least 20 years, scientists have been experimenting with such self-spreading vaccines, work that continues to this day, and which has gained the attention of the US military.
The biologists Scott Nuismer and James Bull generated fresh media attention to self-spreading vaccines over the summer after publishing an article in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Once released, scientists will no longer be in control of the virus. It could mutate, as viruses naturally do. It may jump species. It will cross borders. There will be unexpected outcomes and unintended consequences. There always are.
Self-spreading vaccines are essentially genetically engineered viruses designed to move through populations in the same way as infectious diseases, but rather than causing disease, they confer protection. Built on the chassis of a benign virus, the vaccines have genetic material from a pathogen added to them that stimulates the creation of antibodies or white blood cells in “infected” hosts.
The idea, essentially, is to vaccinate a small proportion of a population through direct inoculation. These so-called founders will then passively spread the vaccine to other animals they encounter either by touch, sex, nursing, or breathing the same air. Gradually, these interactions could build up population-level immunity.
http://www.sensation-hub.com/2021/05/bombshell-gates-foundation-darpa.html
Campaign urging Facebook users to delete their accounts takes off after oversight board upholds Trump suspension
A campaign urging Facebook users to delete their accounts is gaining traction after the company's oversight board ruled to uphold the tech giant's decision to ban former President Donald Trump from using Facebook and its sister platform, Instagram.
After the board's Wednesday decision, #DeleteFacebook began trending across social media as GOP leaders demanded the company be broken up and held accountable for stifling free speech.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that the company seems "more interested in acting like a Democrat super PAC than a platform for free speech and open debate."
Trump himself issued a statement on the decision, condemning the company.
His remarks read, "What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process."
#DeleteFacebook, according to a Newsweek report, began trending on various platforms, as users expressed their disappointment with the tech company and debated deleting their related social media profiles.
According to the Washington Examiner, "thousands" of Twitter posts with the hashtag were made on Wednesday.
"Some of the tweets," the outlet wrote, "were encouraging Facebook users to delete their accounts on the platform, alleging unfair censorship, while others were simply using the hashtag in a humorous fashion."
A contingent of Twitter users also reportedly shared detailed steps on how to permanently delete Facebook.
On Wednesday, USA Today published an article titled "Delete your Facebook profile: How to quit after Trump ban decision."
According to USA Today writers Brett Molina and Josh Rivera, there are two ways to disable your Facebook page — either deactivate or delete your account.
http://www.stationgossip.com/2021/05/campaign-urging-facebook-users-to.html
Why paedophiles love the gender revolution
They get shorter sentences and even escape jail because of judges acting on advice from….someone
A couple of years ago it was revealed that one in 50 male prisoners identify as women, four times the figure in the general population, which led to theorising that some male prisoners were simply saying they identified as a woman in the hope they could receive certain privileges, potentially even a transfer to a women’s prison or an early release from jail altogether.
April 2021 taught us that it’s surprising the figure is only one in 50.
In that month alone, at least three separate UK trials took place involving child abusers, in which the defendant claimed they now identify as a woman, and that this identity means they should receive a lesser sentence, or even none at all.
Incredibly, in two of the three trials, the judge agreed.
The first involved Alex Smith, formerly known as Matthew Burren, a convicted child rapist (the child was a five-year-old boy). As Matthew, after being released from jail, he was given a community order after being found with sexualised drawings of youngsters and in 2015, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after being found with prohibited images of children. There was also evidence that he had tried to contact children online.
Since then, Matthew has become Alex and the SHPO has been breached FIVE times. In March, when police paid Alex an unannounced visit and found a hidden mobile phone that hadn’t been declared for inspection, Alex threatened suicide in front of the officers.
The case went to trial in April - but the judge, who said that Alex presents a “danger to children”, did not send Alex to jail.. because of Alex’s transgender status.
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/why-paedophiles-love-the-gender-revolution
STUDY: Media Gives Biden Less Negative Coverage Than Any President On Record
One of the most trusted names in research has found that President Joe Biden has received less negative coverage from the legacy media than any president in 30 years.
Among other surprising findings, the Pew Research Center notes that half of all stories about the Biden administration mention former President Donald Trump.
Pew also finds that conservatives follow political news more closely than liberals — and that Americans as a whole think the media spend too much time covering systemic racism and not enough time talking about the illegal immigrant crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Pew Research Center has analyzed the media coverage of the first 60 days of every presidency since Bill Clinton. There most recent findings suggest that media coverage of the Biden-Harris administration ranks among the most favorable, and the least critical, it’s ever seen.
“While the media landscape has changed dramatically since Clinton’s presidential inauguration, the Center has been able to conduct a long-term comparison for each of the recent administrations,” it says.
More than one of every four media stories about Biden has been positive (27%), tying Clinton in 1993 — when there was only the legacy media. Both fell well behind the media’s adulatory coverage of Barack Obama in 2009 (42%).
The media ran more than five times as many positive stories about Joe Biden’s first days in office than it did about President Trump in 2017.
Donald Trump received just 5% positive stories, as the media often fixated on lurid — and ultimately discredited — details of his dalliances with Russian prostitutes in the Steele dossier. Most of Biden’s coverage has focused on his ideology and agenda, Pew says.
Now, even though he’s out of office, the media can’t stop talking about Donald Trump.
“Trump himself was mentioned in about half the stories about the new Biden administration,” the study states. Pew finds “virtually no difference in the frequency of those mentions [of Trump in Biden stories] across outlets with left-leaning audiences (50% of stories), outlets with right-leaning audiences (47% of stories) and outlets with a mixed audience (47% of stories).”
One reason may be that the media hope to juice sagging ratings, because Joe Biden is boredom personified.
http://www.hideoutnow.com/2021/05/study-media-gives-biden-less-negative.html
The passage below is what led the UK Government / Health department to suspend use of AstraZeneca jabs in the under 30s
So the theory that these jabs only give sore arms is a bit ridiculous.
Thrombo-embolic events with concurrent low platelets
Up to 21 April 2021, the MHRA had received Yellow Card reports of 209 cases of major thromboembolic events (blood clots) with concurrent thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) in the UK following vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca.
These events occurred in 120 women and 89 men aged from 18 to 93 years and the overall case fatality rate was 19% with 41 deaths. Four cases have been reported after a second dose. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis was reported in 84 cases (average age 47 years) and 123 had other major thromboembolic events (average age 55 years) with concurrent thrombocytopenia. Diagnosis was unclear in the remaining two cases.
The estimated number of first doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca administered in the UK by 21 April was 22 million giving an overall case incidence of 9.3 per million doses. The data suggest there is a higher incidence reported in the younger adult age groups and the MHRA advises that this evolving evidence should be taken into account when considering the use of the vaccine.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting
Tucker Carlson claims that '30 people a day are dying after getting COVID vaccines' and calls for an independent inquiry: Health expert slam him for misrepresenting data
Tucker Carlson claimed that 'roughly 30 people every day' are dying after taking a coronavirus vaccine, sparking backlash in the scientific community on Wednesday night.
The Fox News host expressed his anger at President Joe Biden's encouraging people to get vaccinated, saying that the 'social pressure is enormous'.
Carlson said that many viewers will have had their shot - 'and good for you' - but said people were not being told enough about the potential risks.
Carlson then cited data from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) - a site run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which records any adverse response to a vaccine.
Carlson pointed out that, according to the VAERS statistics, 3,362 people died after receiving a COVID vaccine in the United States between December and April 23.
'That is an average of roughly 30 people every day,' he said.
But health professionals have said he is misrepresenting the VAERS data.
They pointed out that the VAERS database is heavy with disclaimers, which point out that someone dying after receiving a vaccine is not the same as someone dying as a result of a vaccine.
The CDC says that 148 million Americans have now been vaccinated, with huge benefits to the health of the nation. Health experts pointed out that the risks have been studied, and deemed minimal.
Tucker claimed that there were far fewer deaths reported by VAERS after other vaccines, such as the flu jab, and suggested that the Democratic administration currently in power needed to investigate what was happening.
'Vaccines are not dangerous,' he said.
'That is not a guess, we know that pretty conclusively from the official numbers.'
But he said more investigation was needed into the COVID jabs.
'It is clear that what is happening now, for whatever reason, is not even close to normal,' he claimed.
'It's not even close to what we see in previous years with previous vaccines.
'Most vaccines are not accused of killing large numbers of people.'
The CDC said: 'CDC and FDA physicians review each case report of death as soon as notified and CDC requests medical records to further assess reports.
'A review of available clinical information including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records revealed no evidence that vaccination contributed to patient deaths.'
Anyone is able to upload data to the VAERS site, meaning that its conclusions are not necessarily accurate.
Furthermore, the VAERS site states the system 'has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines.'
Health professionals emphasized that Carlson did not know the specifics of the reported deaths. The first people to be vaccinated were the elderly and most vulnerable, who were more likely to die whether they had the vaccine or not.
Dr Dana Mazo, an assistant professor of medicine who specializes in infectious diseases at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, told Reuters that it was important to distinguish between association and causation when looking at post-vaccine death records.
'The idea is that we are vaccinating millions of people,' Mazo said.
http://www.womensystems.com/2021/05/tucker-carlson-claims-that-30-people.html
Theory: Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos’ divorces are both designed to liquidate huge amounts of their company’s stock at all time market highs
It is incredibly tricky to unload stock as a corporate insider, board member or CEO. It has to be scheduled far in advance, cannot be linked to any inside information (these people get a constant stream of inside information), and is often interpreted by investors as a huge bearish signal and can bring down the price of a stock massively if it is a “key” insider, as both of these men clearly are
When Enron execs were charged with insider trading stemming from a 2001 accounting scandal that showed they lied about corporate debt and falsely inflated profit numbers. A bunch of executives got jail time, the CEO initially got a 24 year prison sentence most also got very substantial fines and/or forced to pay restitution to burned shareholders. One guy mostly got away with it however. Lou Pai was the chairman and Chief Executive of Enron’s retail energy division and sold almost 300 million worth of stock before the company went bankrupt. But in his case a judge ordered him to sell these shares as part of a divorce settlement.. He did end up getting fined ~30 million after a settlement that included no jail time or even an admission of wrongdoing, which comes out to about 10% of what his profit was
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/theory-bill-gates-and-jeff-bezos-divorces-are-both-designed-to-liquidate-huge-amounts-of-their-companys-stock-at-all-time-market-highs/
www.investopedia.com/updates/enron-scandal-summary/
www.wsj.com/articles/SB121736918825994755
US Launches New Airstrikes Against Taliban in Afghanistan’s Helmand
New attacks threaten to disrupt reported negotiations
In this first week after the US failed to withdraw from Afghanistan on May 1, as initially agreed, there was early hope of a resolution of the crisis. Reports emerged of the US and Taliban quietly negotiating to get the Taliban to a Turkish peace conference, with talk of a ceasefire, and that the US was offering to move the pullout date to early July as a compromise.
That looks less likely Wednesday, as US forces are carrying out airstrikes against Taliban targets around Helmand Province. Officially, the US is presenting this as “support of Afghan national security forces.”
This is a particularly surprising time for such a move, as it comes just a day after the US transferred the Helmand Post to the Afghan Army. The Afghan military was fighting the Taliban in several provinces, including Helmand, but the US was not involved. Conspicuously, as part of the ongoing talks the Taliban had not been attacking the US forces, seemingly trying to avoid starting up a big fight as deals near for a pullout.
The US clearly is less concerned with avoiding lengthening the war, as having taken the provocative step of reneging on the May 1 pullout date, they are now attacking Taliban targets outright, which certainly isn’t going to lend credence to the idea that they are willing to pull their small remnant force from Afghanistan in just two more months.
https://news.antiwar.com/2021/05/05/us-launches-new-airstrikes-against-taliban-in-afghanistans-helmand/
Czech prime minister urges de-escalation of tensions in relations with Russia
The prime minister assured the parliamentarians that the reaction of Czech authorities to the incident at warehouses in the Czech settlement of Vrbetice, in which Prague suspects Russian secret services, was correct
PRAGUE, May 6./TASS/. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has spoken in favor of defusing tensions that are running high in relations between Moscow and Prague. His answers to the questions from parliamentarians of the lower house of parliament were broadcast by Czech TV channels on Thursday.
"I think we must calm down this tense atmosphere fuelled by emotions," Babis said.
He mentioned a possibility of seeing the Czech Republic on the list of states unfriendly to Russia, which is being drawn up, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. "I don’t know, maybe this [possible listing among unfriendly states] is not enough for you?" the prime minister asked the legislators. "Our diplomatic relations are in a crisis," he added.
The prime minister assured the parliamentarians that the reaction of Czech authorities to the incident at warehouses in the Czech settlement of Vrbetice, in which Prague suspects Russian secret services, was correct. "We acted as a sovereign state. We received a show of solidarity from our allies [in the EU and NATO]," the prime minister said.
He once again emphasized that Prague dismissed as "lies and misinformation" media reports saying that landmines banned by international agreements had been kept at Vrbetice. The prime minister pledged that the country remained fully committed to its international obligations.
He said it was a big problem that the Czech army had leased the depots at Vrbetice to Imex Group company. "I could not understand why we had leased depots to that suspicious firm. It is necessary to have better state control of what military hardware is stored on our territory," the prime minister said.
He failed to answer legislators’ question whether the Czech Republic would issue an international warrant for the arrest of Russian agents that Prague suspects of organizing the explosions at Vrbetice. "I cannot answer this question. This is a matter of the police and the general prosecutor’s office, which are investigating it," the prime minister explained.
He also reiterated that the government had removed Russian state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom from the list of participants in the tender for the construction of a new power unit of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant.
The Czech authorities claim that Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, whom London accuses of attempting to assassinate the Skripals, allegedly had a hand in the 2014 ammunition depot blasts in the eastern Czech village of Vrbetice. On April 17, Prague announced the expulsion of 18 employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague, who, according to the Czech authorities, are "officers of Russia’s SVR and GRU intelligence agencies." The Russian Foreign Ministry protested against the move and declared 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow personae non gratae.
https://tass.com/world/1287053
Maricopa County withholding subpoenaed hardware from election audit, citing alleged 'security risk'
Surrendering the materials could "put the lives of law enforcement personnel at risk."
Officials in Arizona's Maricopa County are withholding materials subpoenaed by the state legislature as part of its audit of the county's 2020 election, claiming that surrendering them would constitute a security risk for both law enforcement and federal agencies.
A Monday letter sent from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office to Ken Bennett, the former Arizona secretary of state and the liaison between the state Senate and the auditors, said the county had elected not to turn over "several routers" requested by the legislature due to an alleged "significant security risk to law enforcement data utilized by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office as well as numerous federal agencies."
"We had previously believed that the risk would be eliminated by redacting the law enforcement data on the routers and not producing it," the letter states. "But we were informed that redaction did not eliminate the risk."
Bennett told Just the News that the state Senate's subpoena had requested "access or control of all routers and tabulators … used in connection with the administration of the 2020 election" as well as "the public IP of the [routers]."
"I don't know why the routers in a tabulation and election center have anything to do with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office or numerous federal agencies," Bennett said, noting that "the sheriff's department and the Maricopa County tabulation and election center aren't even in the same building."
Maricopa County spokesman Fields Moseley on Thursday afternoon said the county had "determined the information contained in Maricopa County's routers can be used as blueprints to intercept sensitive county data."
"Maricopa County has more than 50 different county departments, and the routers the Senate subpoena commanded the County produce support all of these departments, not just elections operations," Moseley said. "This includes critical law enforcement data that, by law, cannot be disclosed, as well as Maricopa County residents' protected health information and full social security numbers."
"By providing the routers, or even virtual images of routers, sensitive data and the lives of law enforcement personnel could be endangered," he added, stating that the routers "remain in the county's custody for the time being."
https://justthenews.com/government/state-houses/maricopa-county-withholding-subpoenaed-routers-election-audit-citing
Judicial Watch Statement on Facebook Oversight Board’s Decision to Support the Censorship of President Donald Trump
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement in response to the decision of Facebook’s Oversight Board to uphold President Trump’s Facebook censorship:
Today’s Facebook Oversight Board decision upholding President Trump’s Facebook ban undermines the First Amendment and free speech. The brazen deplatforming of President Trump is already chilling the speech of other Facebook users and Internet users generally, who fairly worry about Facebook and Big Tech censoring and deplatforming them.
It is notable that Facebook refused to disclose to its designated Oversight Board whether the Trump ban resulted from collusion with other government officials and politicians. Indeed, Judicial Watch recently uncovered that state government officials in California and Iowa successfully pressured Facebook, Youtube/Google, and Twitter to censor election social media posts by Judicial Watch and other citizens. (I have been locked out of Twitter for four months over a tweet previously found not to be in violation of Twitter’s rules.)
Judicial Watch had argued that Facebook’s Oversight Board should have reversed the president’s ban because the ban is an affront to First Amendment protections of free speech, peaceable assembly, and the right to petition the government. There is no credible evidence that President Trump either morally or legally incited violence. He was resoundingly acquitted by the United States Senate after the impeachment “prosecutors” failed to produce credible evidence he incited violence. For Facebook and its Oversight Board to suggest President Trump incited violence and that complaints about the administration of an election could incite violence is a political position aligned with the Left and political opponents of President Trump and his supporters.
https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/jw-statement-fb-oversight-board/
House Dems Owed D.C. Thousands in Unpaid Property Taxes, Records Show
At least six Dem members penalized by D.C. for failure to pay
Several members of the House Democratic caucus were penalized for failing to pay taxes on their Washington, D.C., properties on time, according to city tax records.
Records show that at least six Democratic members were penalized by the District of Columbia for failure to pay 2020 property taxes due at the end of March. Included in the group is Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D., Texas), who owed a combined $9,145.61 on the two Capitol Hill homes he listed on his financial disclosure forms.
Gonzalez’s fellow tax delinquents were Democratic representatives John Garamendi (Calif.), Sean Casten (Ill.), Andy Kim (N.J.), Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.), and Deborah Ross (N.C.). Each was charged interest and a penalty, in addition to the balance they already owe on their homes in the nation’s capital.
The decision to stiff D.C. came as House Democrats unanimously voted last month to make it a state. On April 22, the House passed a 216-208 party-line vote to admit the District of Columbia as the nation’s 51st state. After the House’s vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) boasted that "I often say that statehood for the District of Columbia is in my DNA."
According to his D.C. tax records, Gonzalez had the biggest debt—he owed $9,145.61 on his two properties after missing the city’s March 31 deadline. On one of his homes, he owed the property tax itself of $4,682.95, as well as hundreds of dollars in penalties assessed by the district; Gonzalez owed property interest of $70.24 and a property penalty of $468.30. On his other district home, he owed the property tax itself of $3,519.39, along with $52.79 in interest and $351.94 in penalties, according to MyTax DC, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue’s online tax system.
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/house-dems-owed-d-c-thousands-in-unpaid-property-taxes-records-show/
Swiss Billionaire Gave Millions to Eric Holder’s Partisan Gerrymandering Group
A liberal Swiss billionaire known for meddling in U.S. elections has funneled millions of dollars to former attorney general Eric Holder's effort to redraw electoral maps in favor of Democrats, newly obtained documents reveal.
The Berger Action Fund, the advocacy arm of Swiss megadonor Hansjörg Wyss's Wyss Foundation, passed $3 million to the National Redistricting Action Fund (NRAF) between 2018 and 2020. The NRAF is the 501(c)(4) lobbying arm of Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a self-described "centralized hub for executing a comprehensive redistricting strategy" to give Democrats an edge in congressional races.
Holder, who chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, launched the group in 2017 with the goal of electing Democratic majorities in state legislatures in order to control the 2021-2022 redistricting process. While Holder has claimed his group wants to create "fair maps," the committee's stated goal in its IRS forms is "to build a comprehensive plan to favorably position Democrats for the redistricting process through 2022."
Holder has repeatedly decried the influence of foreign money in U.S. politics, even comparing Russian interference in the 2016 election to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. In a 2017 Washington Post op-ed about starting the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, Holder wrote, "There is nothing more fundamental to the well-being of our nation than the right to cast a ballot in fair elections, free from foreign interference." And in October 2020 he told Bloomberg that "we need to be prepared" for foreign "attempts to interfere with our electoral system."
Wyss's contributions reveal that the foreign billionaire supplied as much as 40 percent of the NRAF's total funding in 2017-2018 and 24 percent in 2018-2019, making him one of the largest donors to the organization in those years. Wyss is a Swiss citizen who stated that he does not hold permanent U.S. residency in 2014 and recently declined to tell the New York Times if he is an American citizen.
In 2016, the Daily Caller reported that Wyss had made $41,000 in illegal contributions to Democratic political action committees in violation of the federal government's strict ban on foreign support for U.S. political campaigns. Wyss's substantial spending through his nonprofits, while legal, raises serious ethical concerns about the far-reaching impact of foreign "dark money" in American elections and redistricting processes.
But Wyss has donated over $650 million since 2002 to environmentalist and left-wing groups through the Wyss Foundation. The New Venture Fund, a dark money nonprofit managed by the consulting firm Arabella Advisors, has received roughly $56.5 million from the Wyss Foundation since 2007.
Wyss's Berger Action Fund has passed at least $12.4 million to Arabella’s Sixteen Thirty Fund since 2010. The donations help fund the group's Hub Project, a campaign run by veteran Democratic Party operatives to help liberal groups with messaging strategy. The Hub Project is credited with doing "remarkable damage" to former president Donald Trump's reputation among Wisconsin voters in the 2020 election and helping Democrats defeat Republicans on "health care, taxes and the economy" in the 2018 midterms.
Wyss's groups have also supported Democratic-aligned nonprofits such as Priorities USA, the League of Conservation Voters, and Planned Parenthood Action Fund. The Wyss Foundation boasted it gave $1 million to leftist groups for "civic participation" just prior to the 2016 election.
Wyss and the Wyss Foundation declined to comment to the Washington Free Beacon on his funding of partisan groups involved in U.S. elections, particularly as it concerns his opaque immigration status. The Berger Action Fund, which does not maintain a website, could not be reached for comment.
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/swiss-billionaire-gave-millions-to-eric-holders-partisan-gerrymandering-group/
GOP Congresswoman calls on Facebook to remove human smuggling and cartel ads
After her recent trip to the southern border, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) is demanding that Facebook remove human smuggling ads from the platform. Cammack believes ads like these are facilitating illegal border crossings.
“Facebook’s role in the crisis at the border is urgent and must be addressed immediately,” Cammack wrote in a letter she shared with Fox News. The original letter was addressed to Facebook CEO Zuckerberg.
Just a month ago, Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA) also asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the ads directly in a hearing before the Energy and Commerce Committee. At the time, Zuckerberg promised that those ads go against Facebook’s policies. But, Cammack points out, “but the advertisements are clearly continuing to be posted.”
The Florida congresswoman called on Zuckerberg to remove existing ads and prevent more in the future.
“Facebook clearly has no problem monitoring and censoring conservative voices on a daily basis,” Cammack said, “so I am confident your company has the capabilities and resources to detect and prevent criminal enterprises from posting content that encourages and facilitates illicit activity.”
Facebook did not respond to requests for comment.
https://saraacarter.com/gop-congresswoman-calls-on-facebook-to-remove-human-smuggling-and-cartel-ads/
A Light Slap: Honeywell Fined For Sharing F-35, Other Secrets To China
On May 5th, the US State Department announced that it had reached a $13 million settlement with defense contractor Honeywell.
The settlement is over allegations it exported technical drawings of parts for the F-35 fighters and other weapons platforms to China, Taiwan, Canada and Ireland, according to the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ charging document.
“Honeywell voluntarily disclosed to the Department the alleged violations that are resolved under this settlement. Honeywell also acknowledged the serious nature of the alleged violations, cooperated with the Department’s review, and instituted a number of compliance program improvements during the course of the Department’s review. For these reasons, the Department has determined that it is not appropriate to administratively debar Honeywell at this time.”
The State Department alleged some of the transmissions harmed national security, which Honeywell acknowledges with the caveat that the technology involved “is commercially available throughout the world. No detailed manufacturing or engineering expertise was shared.”
Overall, the materials pertained to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the B-1B Lancer long-range strategic bomber, the F-22 fighter, the C-130 transport aircraft, the A-7H Corsair aircraft, the A-10 Warthog aircraft, the Apache Longbow helicopter, the M1A1 Abrams tank, the tactical Tomahawk missile; the F/A-18 Hornet fighter, and the F135, F414, T55 and CTS800 turboshaft engines.
Honeywell would only pay its fine, essentially, and keep working for the US government, because it voluntarily admitted to violating national security.
Between 2011 and 2015, Honeywell allegedly used a file-sharing platform to inappropriately transmit engineering prints showing layouts, dimensions and geometries for manufacturing castings and finished parts for multiple aircraft, military electronics and gas turbine engines. Its first disclosure of violations to the government came in 2015.
“The U.S. Government reviewed copies of the 71 drawings and determined that exports to and retransfers in the PRC [People’s Republic of China] of drawings for certain parts and components for the engine platforms for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, B-1B Lancer Long-Range Strategic Bomber, and the F-22 Fighter Aircraft harmed U.S. national security,” the charging document read.
In a statement, Honeywell said it has since taken steps to ensure there are no repeat incidents.
“Under an agreement reached with the State Department to resolve these issues, Honeywell will pay a fine, engage an external compliance officer to oversee the Consent Agreement for a minimum of 18 months, and will conduct an external audit of our compliance program,” Honeywell’s statement on the matter reads in part.
“Since Honeywell voluntarily self-reported these disclosures, we have taken several actions to ensure there are no repeat incidents. These actions included enhancing export security, investing in additional compliance personnel, and increasing compliance training.”
Interesting enough, the US was concerned that the F-35 flying disaster’s secrets would be shared through Turkey’s purchase of an S-400 missile defense system.
Turns out, a US corporation simply sold the secrets to China and others, simply for profit.
But it is all well, since it apologized after the fact, reinforcing the notion that it is much simpler to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.
https://southfront.org/a-light-slap-honeywell-fined-for-sharing-f-35-other-secrets-to-china/
Defender-Europe Begins In Estonia, NATO Surprised Russia Has Forces Along Its Own Border
On May 5th, the Defender Europe series of exercises began at the Central Range of the Estonian Defense Forces.
It included live firing of multiple launch rocket systems, and in the evening of May 6th American paratroopers will land at Nurmsi airfield, the press service of the Estonian Defense Forces said.
Defender Europe is the largest US Army exercise series in Europe in 25 years. The maneuvers cover 16 countries. In Estonia, defending the country in times of crisis will be practiced through the Swift Response exercise.
Hundreds of paratroopers will take part in the largest landing in the history of Estonia, equipment and heavy equipment are dropped from planes, and the operation itself can take two or three hours.
Around 2,500 troops from Estonia, the United States and Great Britain will take part in the maneuvers. They also involve more than 20 aircraft and 25 helicopters. The Estonian side is represented by the Defense League squads (Viru, Alutaguse and Järva), the Special Operations Forces, the 1st Infantry Brigade, the Logistics Service and the Air Force.
Defender-Europe 21 involves about 28,000 U.S., NATO and partner militaries from 26 nations conducting live fire exercises, airborne operations, missile defense activities and a multitude of complex, bilateral operations simultaneously.
To outfit an operation of this scale requires a lot of equipment. Several hundred pieces of equipment were shipped to Europe from the U.S. by cargo vessel, but over 1,000 pieces were drawn from the 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s Army Prepositioned Stock-2 sites here in Europe.
Despite it being the largest exercise, and it being held next to Russia’s borders, there is still surprise that Moscow is keeping some of its forces position along its own border.
The New York Times reported that senior Defense officials estimated around 80,000 Russian troops were still at the Russia-Ukraine border, though a few thousand have been withdrawn.
An unnamed NATO official also told The Wall Street Journal that troops had been withdrawn, but noted many weapons had remained.
“So Russia’s military presence remains higher than it was before the recent escalation,” the official told the Journal.
A Ukrainian official told the WSJ that Putin was playing a long game and was waiting for Western support of Ukraine to falter.
US President Joe Biden said on May 4th that he hoped to meet with Putin during an upcoming June trip to Europe for a Group of Seven (G-7) summit.
“That is my hope and expectation. We’re working on it,” Biden told reporters.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he would be visiting the Ukraine by May 9th. He is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelensky and foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Blinken will “reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” according to the State Department.
https://southfront.org/defender-europe-begins-in-estonia-nato-surprised-russia-has-forces-along-its-own-border/
Russia files fines against Facebook, Google alleging failure to remove “banned content”
Russia is filing protocols against tech giants Facebook and Google for what the country’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has said is a failure by the social media networks to remove banned content.
According to Kyiv Post, citing Radio Free Europe, Russia’s TASS news agency quoted a court source stating that five protocols against both Facebook and Google were received by the court, with fines potentially amounting to 200 million rubles ($267,000 US) each.
Twitter has already received protocols for similar violations, which may see the company fined as much as $320,000, the source added.
Russian critics of the Kremlin routinely use social media to bypass state control of media and reach tens of millions of Russian citizens with anti-government messaging.
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was imprisoned in January, used social networks to organize some of the largest government protests since 2011-12.
Russian authorities have threatened to ban social media altogether, but have recently stepped back from such threats, although Russian regulators have throttled user connections to social media platforms.
A date has yet to be set for the hearing, TASS stated. Roskomnadzor, Twitter and the court did not respond to requests for comment.
https://www.rebelnews.com/russia_files_fines_against_facebook_google_alleging_failure_to_remove_banned_content
The Arizona GOP Now Claims the DOJ Is Trying to Interfere with the Maricopa Audit – Ironic that Same DOJ Ignored ‘THE BIG LIE’
The Arizona Republican Party announced that the DOJ is trying to interfere in the Maricopa County audit.
We reported on this last night:
Maricopa County election audit facing Department of Justice interference as Feds and Democrats conspire to stop audit. Where was DOJ last November?
Here’s their tweet:
This is America today – the good people and deeds are punished – the evil people and actions appear everywhere.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/05/arizona-gop-now-claims-doj-trying-interfere-maricopa-audit-ironic-ignored-big-lie/