Tunisian president OUSTS government, warns opponents that ‘army will respond with bullets’ if they try to unleash street violence

Tunisia's president has dismissed the government and froze parliament, amid unrest over the “dysfunctional” political system and crumbling healthcare. His opponents decried the move as a “coup” and called for street protests.

Following an emergency meeting at his palace on Sunday night, President Kais Saied announced his decision to sack prime minister Hichem Mechichi and suspend the parliament. In a televised address, he promised to consolidate power and “save” the country with the help of a new PM.

We have taken these decisions… until social peace returns to Tunisia and until we save the state.

Hundreds of people, who had rallied against the government earlier in the day, celebrated this drastic move in the streets, cheering, honking and singing, as military vehicles surrounded the parliament building and the state television.

The parliament speaker and leader of the Muslim Brotherhood-inspired ‘moderate’ Islamist Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, has defied the order but was blocked from entering the parliament. Ghannouchi denounced Saied's move as “a coup against the revolution and constitution,” and called for street protests in a video message to supporters.

We consider the institutions still standing, and the supporters of the Ennahda and the Tunisian people will defend the revolution.

Saied, however, warned his political opponents against unleashing street violence, saying that the military won’t hesitate to use guns to quell the unrest if it turns deadly.

I warn any who think of resorting to weapons… and whoever shoots a bullet, the armed forces will respond with bullets.

Under the constitution, Tunisian president is only directly responsible for military affairs and foreign relations, but last week he put the army in charge of the Covid-19 pandemic response – after PM Mechichi sacked the health minister, blaming him for the collapse of the country’s healthcare system.

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https://www.rt.com/news/530218-tunisia-government-president-coup/

A 10-year-old girl has died from the plague in Colorado, officials confirm

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is investigating an outbreak of the plague that reportedly claimed the life of a 10-year-old child.

Currently, there have been laboratory confirmed reports of plague in animals and fleas from six counties. This includes LaPlata County, where the 10-year-old girl died “from causes associated with plague,” health officials said. The girl’s identity was not revealed.

Laboratory testing has since confirmed the presence of plague in a sample of fleas collected in the county. CDPHE wants people to learn about plague and take precautions.

Plague is caused by bacteria (Yersinia pestis) that can be transmitted to humans by the bites of infected fleas or by direct contact with infected animals. Plague is frequently detected in rock squirrels, woodrats, and other species of ground squirrels and chipmunks. Prairie dogs are very susceptible to plague. Since they are active above ground, if they suddenly disappear, they serve as a visible alert that plague may be present. If you notice decreased rodent activity in an area where you normally see active rodents, contact your local public health agency. Residents should not kill prairie dogs on their property. If plague is present this could increase the risk of transmission and contracting plague.

Pets can also be infected with plague by infected fleas. The use of veterinary-approved flea control products is strongly advised.

If detected early in infection, plague is treatable in both people and pets. Symptoms include the sudden on-set of high fever and/or swollen lymph nodes.

“In Colorado, we expect to have fleas test positive for plague during the summer months. Awareness and precautions can help prevent the disease in people. While it’s rare for people to contract plague, we want to make sure everyone knows the symptoms. The disease is treatable if caught early. Let a medical provider know if you think you have symptoms of plague or if you think you’ve been exposed,” said Jennifer House, Deputy State Epidemiologist and Public Health Veterinarian for CDPHE.

The risk of contracting certain animal-borne diseases, while present year-round, increases during the summer when humans and animals are frequently in close contact. Most human plague cases are acquired directly from fleas. Control the presence of wildlife and fleas around homes through the following measures:

Avoid fleas. Protect pets with a veterinary approved flea treatment and keep them on a leash and out of wild rodent habitats.

Stay out of areas where wild rodents live. If you enter areas inhabited by wild rodents, wear insect repellent and tuck your pant cuffs into your socks to prevent flea bites.

Avoid all contact with wild rodents, including squirrels. Do not feed or handle them.

Do not touch sick or dead animals.

Prevent rodent infestations around your house by clearing plants and materials away from outside walls, reducing access to food items, and setting traps.

Consult with a professional pest control company to treat the area around your home for fleas.

Contact a veterinarian if your pet becomes ill with a high fever and/or an abscess (i.e. open sore) or swollen lymph nodes. Pets with plague can transmit the illness to humans.

Children should be aware of these precautions and know to tell an adult if they have had contact with a wild animal or were bitten by fleas.

https://breaking911.com/a-10-year-old-girl-has-died-from-the-plague-in-colorado-officials-confirm/

Syrian air defense units intercept Israeli missiles near Damascus, thwarting THIRD raid in a week – Russia's Defense Ministry

The Syrian military has intercepted another two missiles fired by Israeli fighter jets at Damascus suburb of Set Zaynab over the weekend, thwarting the third airstrike in just a week, using Russian-made air defense systems.

The airstrike was carried out from outside the Syrian airspace, around 5:40am Sunday morning, when two Israeli F-16 jets fired two guided missiles, targeting unspecified facilities in the town of Set (Sayyidah) Zaynab some 10km south of Damascus.

Syrian air defense units – equipped with Russian-made Buk-M2E systems – successfully intercepted both of them, the head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, said in a daily briefing.

On Wednesday night, two Israeli F-16 jets fired four guided missiles from Lebanese airspace at Syria’s Homs province. All of them were shot down, also using Russian-made Buk-M2Es.

On Monday night, four Israeli jets penetrated Syrian airspace through the area of At-Tanf on the Jordanian border, controlled by the US military, and fired eight missiles into Aleppo province. Seven of them were reportedly shot down by Buk-M2 and Pantsir-S systems, but the remaining one struck a scientific research facility in the town of Safira.

While Israeli officials rarely acknowledge such raids, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warplanes routinely rained down missiles on Syrian territory over the past years, under the pretext of self-defense against the “Iranian threat.”

Damascus has always protested the repeated attacks as blatant acts of aggression, while Russia, Turkey and Iran recently jointly condemned Israeli raids as violations of sovereignty and international humanitarian laws.

https://www.rt.com/news/530217-syria-intercepts-israeli-missiles/

Maricopa County Witness Evidence Confirms SharpieGate Effort To Hurt Trump In Election

Big Revelations In The Desert

President Donald Trump supporters and American patriots nationwide are emboldened after an Arizona state Senate hearing on the Maricopa County election audit proved massive fraud. Among the audit’s findings so far: 11,326 people in the county who voted in the November 3 election were NOT on the voter rolls on November 7, but were added to the voter rolls by December 4. This number is higher than Joe Biden’s supposed statewide “lead” in Arizona of 10,457 votes. Additionally, more than 74,000 mail-in ballots were counted in the county even though there is no recorded evidence of the ballots being sent to the “voters” in the first place — and Maricopa County withheld all photographic evidence of the mail-in ballot envelopes from the Republican audit team (meanwhile, photographs show ballot printers and boxes getting loaded onto a “Destruction” truck in Phoenix during the Senate hearing). Thin ballot paper used for approximately 168,000 ballots led to markers “bleeding through” the paper, damaging ballots, after a Maricopa County official ordered staff to hand out Sharpie markers to same-day voters even though she knew about concerns with the Sharpies. Now, new witness evidence provided to NATIONAL FILE proves, once and for all, that the SharpieGate scandal is completely true. (READ: Maricopa Official Who Demanded Republicans Use Sharpies On Election Day Donated To Democrat Mark Kelly Campaign).

WITNESS STATEMENT: On November 3rd 2020 I went to go vote around 2:00pm. I live in North Scottsdale somewhere along Thompson Peak Parkway. I went to go vote at this address 8600 E Anderson Dr, Scottsdale AZ 85255 which was a particularly large building. I parked my car and I was talking to a lady who was handing out drinks. She was a Republican just like me. I spoke to her for about 10 minutes and we were excited about Trump. After the 10 minutes was up I went inside to go vote. As soon as I entered the building I gave the lady my voter registration card which of course verifies my political party and if I am registered to vote. She proceeds to hand me a sharpie. I told her why the hell would I use a marker for my ballot when I can use my own ball point pen? She immediately argued with me for refusing to use a sharpie. I told the lady I wasn’t stupid! I was once an engineering student and I know that these machines are programmed to only read ball point pen only. It was even stated on the sample ballot to use ball point pen only. She then argues with me about the machines being a “New System” and that I need to trust the system because it can now read sharpies. I told her why would I trust this new system?

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https://nationalfile.com/exclusive-maricopa-county-witness-evidence-confirms-sharpiegate-scandal/

People have had a 'gutful' of lockdowns: Hanson

Sky news

https://youtu.be/J2B05LPqop8

Australian Parliament House closes doors to public under strict COVID-19 protocols

Parliament House in Canberra will move into strict COVID-19 protocols from next week as the nation's capital readies itself for an influx of politicians.

From next Monday until September 3, Parliament House will be closed to members of the general public, including all public galleries.

The numbers of members and senators attending sittings in person will be "substantially reduced", while the technology to encourage remote participation will be rolled out around the houses.

Under COVID-19 restrictions, politicians are classed as essential workers.

"Parliamentarians have been requested to only bring essential staff to Canberra and Parliament House. We expect that this will be limited to ministerial, shadow ministerial, party spokesperson and whips' staff," the Presiding Officers said in a statement.

"All external departments and agencies should minimise attendance of public servants unless on essential business."

https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-parliament-house-to-lockdown-to-general-public-covid19-rules-restrictions/f5efb8a2-8096-46ac-b0db-22ba4d65342b

What Do You Think of Facebook's New 'Prayer' Button?

The pandemic has disrupted all aspects of people’s lives, including interfering in how we commune with the Almighty.

For a while, church-going was virtually banned or severely restricted. The essence of worship — gathering together in a community of believers sharing love and understanding — was made illegal.

But Facebook reaped the benefits when many church services were forced online and keeping in touch meant visiting the church’s Facebook page every day. And now, Facebook is looking to further monetize its presence in the religious community through a series of targeted programs. The New York Times reports, “The company aims to become the virtual home for religious community, and wants churches, mosques, synagogues, and others to embed their religious life into its platform, from hosting worship services and socializing more casually to soliciting money.”

Virtual religious life is not replacing in-person community anytime soon, and even supporters acknowledge the limits of an exclusively online experience. But many religious groups see new opportunity to spiritually influence even more people on Facebook, the world’s largest and arguably most influential social media company.

The partnerships reveal how Big Tech and religion are converging far beyond simply moving services to the internet. Facebook is shaping the future of religious experience itself, as it has done for political and social life.

Many faith leaders are up in arms over the effort to include a “prayer” button feature.

OAN:

Social media giant Facebook has received massive backlash from religious communities after launching its newest feature of a prayer button. On Friday, several members of various faith communities spoke against the new “prayer” feature by calling it a sick attempt at monetizing religion.

Catholic writer Simcha Fisher went on to express, “the button was adding a layer of impersonality and a layer of artificiality, which just felt very foreign to what we were doing when we pray for each other.”

The social media giant slowly began to roll out the feature back in May, which allows users to click and respond to prayer requests. Experts have warned the use of the new feature gave Big Tech access to sensitive user data and added it was ultimately about revenue for the social media company.

“You are in one way or another providing more information to an organization that thrives on finding ways to monetize your information,” cybersecurity expert Adam Levin told OAN. “You’re essentially a product, but now you are a religious product as opposed to just a secular product.”

Several mainline Protestant denominations have jumped on board the effort, and why not? Forget the collection plate when you can reach a few billion worshippers just by hitting “send.”

The company is trying to reassure a skeptical public. “I just want people to know that Facebook is a place where, when they do feel discouraged or depressed or isolated, that they could go to Facebook and they could immediately connect with a group of people that care about them,” Nona Jones, the company’s director for global faith partnerships, told the Times.

“Faith organizations and social media are a natural fit because fundamentally both are about connection,” said Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s chief operating officer, at a virtual religious summit hosted by Facebook last month.

“Our hope is that one day people will host religious services in virtual reality spaces as well, or use augmented reality as an educational tool to teach their children the story of their faith,” she said.

Welcome to the Brave New World of cashing in on God.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/07/25/what-do-you-think-of-facebooks-new-prayer-button-n1464609

FBI Sexcapades: Bureau rocked by illicit office romances, workplace harassment

Reports and lawsuits cite examples of "skilled predator" supervisor, "frat house" workplace and unwanted sexual advances.

In April 2015, well before the advent of the #MeToo movement, a senior FBI official assured Congress the bureau had a handle on sexual misconduct In the workplace. "The FBI does not tolerate sexual harassment or sexual misconduct," then-Associate Director Kevin L. Perkins told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Less than a year later, the bureau's top Russia counterintelligence agent, Peter Strzok, was reportedly entangled in an affair with Lisa Page, the counsel for the FBI's deputy director, as the two played key roles in the Russia collusion investigation. Strzok eventually would be fired, and Page would resign in a controversy over their text messages.

While the "FBI lovebirds" — as conservatives once panned them — made headlines with their politically charged insults about Donald Trump on their government-issued phones, their relationship was a harbinger of far more extensive problems between the men and women of the FBI workplace, which ranged from other illicit relationships to stunning cases of boorish sexual harassment by supervisors.

The challenges have burst into full view in recent months with the release of several explosive investigative reports by the Justice Department inspector general. The latest came last Thursday, revealing an FBI assistant director violated agency policy by failing to timely report a romantic relationship with a subordinate.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz noted the romance involved more than a rules infraction, it disrupted the workplace.

"The OIG investigation also found that the Assistant Director allowed the relationship to negatively affect an appropriate and professional superior-subordinate relationship and to disrupt the workplace by interfering with the ability of other FBI employees to complete their work," Horowitz wrote in his report.

He also raised concerns about the appearance of a conflict. "The Assistant Director participated in a hiring or organizational decision involving the subordinate, all in violation of FBI policy," he noted.

The case has been referred to the agency Office of Professional Responsibility. You can read the report here:

File

21-098.pdf

Back in April, Horowitz released a stunning investigative report revealing that a senior FBI supervisor sexually harassed eight female subordinates in one of the bureau's most egregious known cases of sexual misconduct. The supervisor was allowed to retire and was not further punished, despite findings that his colleagues found him to be a "skilled predator" who touched female employees inappropriately and solicited one for sex in a conference room.

The report described one female employee who told investigators she acquiesced to a sexual relationship with the boss for fear her career would be ruined if she didn't. "He was in a powerful position, and she worried about what he would do if she did not respond to his advances," the report noted.

The Associated Press late last year reported it had identified at least six cases of sexual assault or harassment by FBI supervisors, including an assistant FBI director who retired after he was accused of drunkenly groping a female subordinate in a stairwell, and a high-ranking FBI agent who was accused of blackmailing a young employee into sexual encounters.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/monfbi-sexcapades-bureau-rocked-illicit-office-romances-workplace