Leon Black accused of raping woman at Jeffrey Epstein’s NYC townhouse

Leon Black’s sexual assault accuser claims the billionaire raped another woman inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse massage room in 2002, new court documents claim.

Russian model Guzel Ganieva claims another woman’s newly surfaced allegations against the former head of Apollo Global Management help bolster her defamation case against him from June. Ganieva claimed Black was sexually violent toward her for years and falsely accused her of trying to extort him to keep her quiet about the nature of their relationship. Black vehemently denies the claims.

The other woman — who was referred to as Jane Doe in court papers filed by Ganieva’s team on Monday — met Epstein in 2000 after a Ukrainian woman and Epstein’s alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell encouraged her to do so since he “was a powerful businessman” who could help her as a struggling single mom, the filing alleges.

The woman gave Epstein massages on several occasions in exchange for $300 per encounter, according to court documents. But she eventually stopped after Epstein pressured her “to do more,” which she repeatedly refused, the court papers claim.

Then when the woman was “in desperate need for money,” Epstein arranged for her to meet Black, telling the woman Black could “help” her, the filing alleges.

She met Black in 2002 at Epstein’s townhouse massage room, where he gave her $300 before allegedly brutally raping her, the papers claim.

In the weeks following the attack, she met Black in public places — as she was scared and traumatized — where “he told her he felt ‘bad'” and on another occasion handed her an envelope with $5,000 inside before pressuring her to see him again, according to the filing.

A spokesman for Black vigorously denied the new claims, emphasizing that they were brought anonymously 20 years after the fact and long after the statute of limitations had expired.

“This claim is complete fiction and has no basis in fact or law,” the spokesman’s statement said.

The rep also highlighted that this is Ganieva’s third time changing the allegations in her lawsuit and claimed that the previous allegations were proven false by evidence brought in the case.

“Having failed in their first two attempts to destroy Mr. Black’s reputation,” the law firm representing Ganieva, Wigdor, “is now manufacturing new allegations that will be shown to be as false and defamatory as the last two pleadings Wigdor filed,” the statement continued.

“It is abundantly clear that the only goal here is to publicly destroy Mr. Black’s personal and professional reputation and to defame him by perpetrating a baseless smear campaign,” the spokesman continued. “Mr. Black is confident that those who have abused the court process so egregiously and attacked his reputation so recklessly will be held responsible for their misconduct.”

https://nypost.com/2021/09/21/leon-black-accused-of-raping-a-woman-at-epsteins-nyc-home/

7 Arrested In Middle Tennessee Human Trafficking Operation

COOKEVILLE – Seven men face felony charges following an undercover operation aimed at addressing human trafficking in Middle Tennessee.

The two-day joint operation by the TBI Human Trafficking Unit and Human Trafficking Task Force, the Cookeville Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the office of 13th District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway sought to identify individuals seeking to purchase illicit sex from minors and recover potential victims of human trafficking. On Wednesday and Thursday, authorities placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex cases.

Those arrested include:

Michael Blair, 68, of Sparta: Patronizing Prostitution of a Minor

Daniel Dubree,41, of Cookeville: Trafficking For A Commercial Sex Act

Christopher Garcia-Perez, 18, of Washington, NC: Patronizing Prostitution Of A Minor

Steven Howard, 58, of Cookeville: Trafficking For A Commercial Sex Act

Jonathan McDonald, 37, of Sparta: Trafficking For A Commercial Sex Act

David McGee, 26, of Cookeville: Trafficking For A Commercial Sex Act

Eric Trobaugh, 33, of Celina: Patronizing Prostitution Of A Minor, Soliciting Sexual Exploitation Of A Minor

The operation had the support of Grow Free/Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking and WillowBend Farms, which work to provide wraparound services to survivors of human trafficking.

https://breaking911.com/7-arrested-in-middle-tennessee-human-trafficking-operation/

Bait and Switch: Johnson & Johnson now suggests a booster shot after two months for their one-dose jab

Didn’t a lot of people get this one because it was a one-jab deal?

Now they’re suggestion a booster shot after 2 months.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/bait-and-switch-johnson-johnson-now-suggests-a-booster-shot-after-two-months-for-their-one-dose-jab/

>>14632579

2 dicks indeed

'US Hegemonic System' Has 'Failed Miserably', Iran's Raisi Tells UN

Speaking at the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, City on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi blasted US attempts to rule the world.

Raisi pointed to two recent examples of shocking incidents inside and outside the United States: the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, during which supporters of then-US President Donald Trump stormed the national legislature in an attempt to block certification of the recent election results, and the scenes last month of Afghans falling from the sides of US aircraft as US troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

"One clear message was sent to the world: the United States' hegemonic system has no credibility, whether inside or outside the country," Raisi said, adding that "not only the hegemonist and the idea of hegemony, but also the project of imposing Westernized identity, have failed miserably."

Raisi said the result of the US seeking hegemony has been "blood spilling and instability, and ultimately defeat and escape," noting the US has failed in its attempts to subdue countries across southwestern and central Asia. He also named US taxpayers who foot the bill of US wars as victims of this policy.

"The world doesn’t care about 'America First' or 'America is Back,'" the recently inaugurated Iranian leader said, referring respectively to the presidential slogans of Trump, who left office in January, and US President Joe Biden, who replaced him.

The Iranian president attacked the US' "double standards" of foreign policy, saying the US had helped to create terrorist groups in some places - giving the example of Daesh* in Syria, while fighting terrorism in others. He also noted the rise of domestic terrorist groups inside the United States and condemned US policy supporting the Saudi war in Yemen and the Israeli war and blockade of Gaza.

https://sputniknews.com/20210921/us-hegemony-has-failed-miserably-irans-raisi-tells-un-1089277910.html

Taliban Asks To Address World Leaders at UN

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)—The Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the United Nations in New York this week and nominated their Doha-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan's U.N. ambassador, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made the request in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday. Muttaqi asked to speak during the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly, which finishes on Monday.

Guterres' spokesperson, Farhan Haq, confirmed Muttaqi's letter. The move sets up a showdown with Ghulam Isaczai, the U.N. ambassador in New York representing Afghanistan's government ousted last month by the Taliban.

Haq said the rival requests for Afghanistan's U.N. seat had been sent to a nine-member credentials committee, whose members include the United States, China and Russia. The committee is unlikely to meet on the issue before Monday, so it is doubtful that the Taliban foreign minister will address the world body.

Eventual U.N. acceptance of the ambassador of the Taliban would be an important step in the hardline Islamist group's bid for international recognition, which could help unlock badly needed funds for the cash-strapped Afghan economy.

Guterres has said that the Taliban‘s desire for international recognition is the only leverage other countries have to press for inclusive government and respect for rights, particularly for women, in Afghanistan.

The Taliban letter said Isaczai's mission "is considered over and that he no longer represents Afghanistan," said Haq.

Until a decision is made by the credentials committee Isaczai will remain in the seat, according to the General Assembly rules. He is currently scheduled to address the final day of the meeting on Sept. 27, but it was not immediately clear if any countries might object in the wake of the Taliban letter.

The committee traditionally meets in October or November to assess the credentials of all U.N. members before submitting a report for General Assembly approval before the end of the year. The committee and General Assembly usually operate by consensus on credentials, diplomats said.

Others members of the committee are the Bahamas, Bhutan, Chile, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Sweden.

When the Taliban last ruled between 1996 and 2001 the ambassador of the Afghan government they toppled remained the U.N. representative after the credentials committee deferred its decision on rival claims to the seat.

The decision was postponed "on the understanding that the current representatives of Afghanistan accredited to the United Nations would continue to participate in the work of the General Assembly," according to the committee report.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool)

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/taliban-asks-to-address-world-leaders-at-un/

Victorian earthquake was magnitude 6.0, SES says Victorian earthquake was magnitude 6.0, SES says

The earthquake in Victoria, which was felt as far away as Tasmania and the NSW Central Coast, was 6.0 on the Richter scale, according to seismologists.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/australia-news-live-fears-melbourne-protests-may-continue-lockdowns-begin-for-northern-nsw-lgas-20210921-p58tku.html

Melbourne has just been rocked by an earthquake, with residents reporting strong shudders, offices being evacuated and tremors being felt as far away as Sydney, Canberra and Tasmania.

VicSES says a magnitude 6.0 earthquake — that was 10km deep — has occurred with an epicentre near Mansfield in Victoria.

“Widespread felt reports. If you have building damage or require SES assistance, phone 132500 and please be patient as lines may be busy,” it said. “There is no tsunami threat.”

Residents from as far away as Dubbo in NSW have reported tremors from the quake.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/earthquake-alert-for-melbourne/news-story/f10fd7a4227cce625c98fa28a0818592

Premier slams ugly scenes as police warn protesters to stay home

Premier Daniel Andrews and Chief Commissioner Shane Patton have slammed the ‘thugs’ who terrorised the city on Tuesday.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-protests-live-police-braced-for-more-violence-as-rioters-set-to-swarm-city-streets-again-20210922-p58tou.html

Corruption at the Fed: Are America’s Money Masters Engaged in Self-Dealing?

America’s central bankers are tasked with impartial oversight over aspects of the American economy. But could these individuals be making decisions on interest rates and bailout operations based on what is best for their own personal investment portfolios?

After some embarrassing revelations regarding the trading activities of two senior officials, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell abruptly ordered a comprehensive examination last week into internal compliance with an ethics rule directing Fed employees to avoid “actual and apparent conflicts of interest.”

According to the Fed’s official code of conduct, Fed officials are “prohibited from participating personally and substantially in an official capacity in any particular matter in which, to the employee’s knowledge, the employee has a financial interest if the particular matter will have a direct and predictable effect on that interest.”

Documents revealed that Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren made several trades of individual stocks, in some cases worth $1 million or more, in markets where Fed actions have impacted financial performance.

Additionally, several Fed officials personally held the same type of assets the Fed itself was buying.

According to CNBC, Chairman Powell held between $1.25 and $2.5 million of municipal bonds. The bonds were purchased in 2019 but they were in Chairman Powell’s control while the Fed bought more than $5 billion in municipal bonds to support that market.

Fed President Rosengren held between $151,000 and $800,000 worth of real-estate investment trusts that owned mortgage-backed securities – all while the Fed was active in that market.

More specifically, Rosengren made as many as 37 separate trades in four investment trusts contemporaneous to the Fed’s own purchase of almost $700 billion in mortgage-backed securities.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve announced last year that it would open a corporate bond-buying facility and purchased almost $47 billion of corporate bonds.

Rosengren wasn’t the only Fed official making money on corporate bonds. CNBC noted that Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin held $1.35 million to $3 million in individual corporate bonds of Pepsi, Home Depot, and Eli Lilly purchased before 2020.

And according to Reuters, Fed President Kaplan’s financial disclosure included several sales or purchases of at least $1 million in individual company shares or investment funds, including Apple Inc. (a stock that’s almost doubled since COVID-relief efforts began in March 2020). In July 2020, the Federal Reserve bought $25.5 million in Apple’s corporate bonds.

https://www.activistpost.com/2021/09/corruption-at-the-fed-are-americas-money-masters-engaged-in-self-dealing.html

The SEC vs. Ripple Case Is Now Making Waves and Getting the Attention It Deserves

The SEC vs. Ripple case is gaining more attention. The SEC’s actions in this cryptocurrency case are beginning to raise eyebrows.

We first reported on the XRP – Ripple case against the SEC in July. This excellent summary will bring you up to speed on the SEC’s shocking actions and efforts against XRP while SEC leadership aligned with Bitcoin and Ethereum while helping China.

This past weekend Charles Gasparino on FOX News picked up the story.

A seemingly esoteric legal battle involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and fintech startup Ripple Labs could provide clarity on how much authority the SEC has over regulating the $2.2 trillion crypto market.

The bad blood between Ripple and the SEC began in December 2020 when the SEC filed a lawsuit alleging Ripple Labs, a global payments platform, had violated securities laws by failing to register its XRP cryptocurrency as a security. The move was one of the last made by then SEC Chair Jay Clayton before he left office following Joe Biden‘s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

At the time, Ripple was using XRP as a vehicle to finance its core business of seamless cross-border transactions for financial institutions, the SEC charged, something it had been doing for seven years since its founding in 2013.

The lawsuit not only caught Ripple by surprise but added even more confusion to an already convoluted regulatory conversation over whether cryptocurrencies should be considered securities, commodities or something else. If cryptos are securities, as defined by court precedent, they must be approved and regulated by the SEC which demands various company disclosures.

Ripple believes XRP isn’t a security, thus it doesn’t need the SEC’s green light. Moreover, it says the SEC currently allows other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to be traded like commodities; the blockchain networks of these cryptocurrencies aren’t being required to register as a security.

The SEC argues that Ripple is different because XRP was actively used to fund Ripple’s business and essentially represents an investment in the company itself. Thus it constitutes security, not a commodity, and falls under the SEC’s regulatory purview under court precedent known as the Howey Test.

Gasparino was on FOX in an interview hours ago discussing the SEC’s case with XRP.

It’s hard to square what happened to Ethereum and with what’s happened to Ripple and why Ripple is held to this level and Ethereum is not.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/sec-vs-ripple-case-now-making-waves-getting-attention-deserves/

'Obey the Constitution': Sen. Rand Paul comes out for scrapping FISA court

In an exchange with the Kentucky Republican at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray credited FISA with keeping Americans safe after 9/11.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky announced his opposition to using FISA warrants on American citizens, specifically political candidates, during an exchange Tuesday with FBI Director Christopher Wray.

At a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Paul questioned Wray about the surveillance of American citizens via the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

"The problem is the system can be abused," Paul said. "We should obey the Constitution. I don't think Americans nor political candidates should be investigated using a foreign intelligence surveillance court."

Wray responded to the senator's comments saying he believed FISA warrants were constitutional and that they have a "difference of opinion on how to characterize" its legality.

Wray went on to credit FISA for keeping America safe following the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"A lot of the reforms that have occurred thanks to this Congress, the courts, and the executive branch to make sure there is not an information wall between agencies is what kept this country safe," he continued,

FISA was enacted into law in 1978 at the height of the Cold War. Attempts to reform or abolish it would take an act of Congress.

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/sen-rand-paul-blasts-fbi-director-over-fisa-warrants

Biden Tells United Nations Assembly It Will Take “Collective Political Will” To Force The COVID Vaccine into Global Population

Something uniquely telling about these remarks today before the United Nations. Something transparently obvious that most will miss.

While bragging about how the United States is the world’s leading provider of COVID-19 mRNA gene therapy, Biden notes it will take a “collective act of political will” to deal with a public health emergency. Think about that carefully. WATCH:

https://youtu.be/-uT_-IbxJz0

TRANSCRIPT – “Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants. To fight this pandemic, we need a collective act of science and political will. We need to act now to get shots in arms as fast as possible and to expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments to save lives around the world.

And for the future, we need to create a new mechanism to finance global health security that builds on our existing development assistance, and Global Health Thr- — and a Global Health Threat Counc- — Council that is armed with the tools we need to monitor and identify emerging pandemics so that we can take immediate action.

Already, the United States has put more than $15 billion toward global COVID respon- — the global COVID response. We’ve shipped more than 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to other countries. This includes 130 million doses from our own supply and the first tranches of the half a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine we purchased to donate through COVAX.

Planes carrying vaccines from the United States have already landed in 100 countries, bringing people all over the world a little “dose of hope,” as one American nurse termed it to me. A “dose of hope,” direct from the American people — and, importantly, no strings attached.

And tomorrow, at the U.S.-hosted Global 19 — COVID-19 Summit, I’ll be announcing additional commitments as we seek to advance the fight against COVID-19 and hold ourselves accountable around specific targets on three key challenges: saving lives now, vaccinating the world, and building back better.” (Transcript Link)

The “vaccine” is the variant creating system. Joe Biden is bragging about how we are distributing the variant to the world. The vaccine creates the variant, that requires a vaccine, that requires a passport, that requires permission…. that opens the door for government to control everything.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/09/21/biden-tells-united-nations-assembly-it-will-take-collective-political-will-to-force-the-covid-vaccine-into-global-population/

https://twitter.com/CortesSteve/status/1440444021810163718

Steve Cortes

@CortesSteve

·

1h

It’s time for biological war reparations…

Quote Tweet

Raheem J. Kassam

@RaheemKassam

· 2h

677,000 Americans are dead as a result of a Chinese lab experiment and your government hasn’t done shit to hold them accountable.

Experts Tell FDA Vaccines ‘Harm More People Than They Save,’ But NIH Director Believes Boosters Will Be Approved in Coming Weeks

During the Sept. 17 meeting of the FDA advisory panel to recommend whether to approve a third dose of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, physicians pointed to data they said confirm the risks of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine don’t outweigh the benefits.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins said he would be “surprised” if COVID booster shots were not recommended for other Americans in the upcoming weeks even after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) advisory committee on Sept. 17 overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to distribute booster shots of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID vaccine to the general public.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) recommended the agency approve Pfizer’s application for boosters only for people 65 and older and certain high-risk populations.

In a conversation with “Fox News Sunday,” Collins dismissed the FDA’s decision as being subject to change upon further review of the science.

“I think the big news is that they did approve the initiation of boosters,” Collins said, for older and at-risk Americans. “Remember, they’re taking a snapshot of right now, we’re going to see what happens in the coming weeks.”

Collins said it would surprise him if it does not become clear over the next few weeks that the administration of boosters may need to be expanded. “Based on the data we’ve already seen both in the U.S. and in Israel, it’s clear that the waning effectiveness of those vaccines is a reality and we need to respond to it,” Collins said.

Collins said he was not sure whether boosters will be recommended for all — pointing to concerns of risks outweighing benefits for younger people — but he maintained that boosters for people under 65 will be approved.

Two FDA officials and a group of other leading scientists recently asserted that available evidence does not yet support encouraging COVID booster shots for all Americans.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Biden, said the FDA’s final decision on making booster shots available is expected later this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is separately expected to weigh in on Pfizer’s booster request.

Fauci on Sunday told ABC’s “This Week” that Biden planned to have booster shots ready as soon as this week, pending FDA approval, because “we wanted to be ready.”

“These are the kind of things that when you make a decision, you don’t snap your finger and it gets rolled out the next day,” Fauci said. “When the FDA makes their final determination and very soon thereafter this coming week, you’re going to see the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that advises the CDC to perhaps even fine-tune that, so it can be implemented expeditiously.”

Fauci said FDA decisions on booster shots for people vaccinated with Moderna’s or Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines are a few weeks away.

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/fda-vaccines-harm-people-nih-boosters-will-be-approved/

>>14632763

Yes.

1. Too much hype

2. FBI

3. refer to 2

Delta

Dr. Fauci Says He Supports Vaccine Mandates For Children

Dr. Fauci on Monday said he supports vaccine mandates for children as the FDA works to fast-track its approval of the Pfizer jab for kids ages 5 to 11.

Scott Gottlieb, the FDA Commissioner-turned-Pfizer-board-of-directors – AND CNBC contributor (who also happens to be selling a book about Covid) said he hopes to have the jab approved for children as early as the end of October.

“Subject to the FDA’s careful review, a vaccine for children ages 5-11 could be available as soon as the end of October,” Gottlieb said Monday.

Fauci was asked if he supports a vaccine mandate for school children once the jab gets approved.

“Would you support schools mandating the COVID vaccine for kids?” MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson asked Fauci.

“People think that having children be required to get vaccination is a very novel thing — it isn’t. Right now, if you want to go to many schools, most public schools, you’ve got to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis,” Fauci said.

He continued, “So it’s nothing new. When you hear, “would I be in favor of mandating?” In fact, I would be, but that gets taken out of context like I’m trying to impose some novel, new restriction on somebody, of taking away their rights. Look at what’s been going on for decades in schools… the requirement for vaccination.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/dr-fauci-says-supports-vaccine-mandates-children-video/

>>14632934

look here

don't look there

Former Fall River Mayor Sentenced to Six Years in Federal Prison

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/former-fall-river-mayor-sentenced-six-years-federal-prison

MS-13 Leader In Texas Gets Life Sentence Without Parole For Murder Of 16-year-old Witness

HOUSTON – A 28-year-old leader of a Houston-area cell of the transnational gang MS-13 was sentenced to life in prison without parole for capital murder on Thursday.

Omar Torres was behind bars in the Harris County Jail in 2016 when he ordered several other gang members to kill a witness who was cooperating with authorities and had implicated Torres in the deadly ambush of a rival gang member four months earlier.

“Instead of showing remorse after being arrested for gunning down someone in cold blood, this defendant doubled down and had a witness killed to cover his tracks,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “Someone who can take life so easily deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars without the chance of ever getting out.”

Torres, 28, was first arrested for his role in the death of rival gang member Noe Mendez who was fatally shot by several MS-13 gang members at 5720 Rampart in the Gulfton area on Feb. 24, 2016.

During that shooting, 16-year-old Estuar Quinonez was present, and he later told police about the shooting and agreed to testify against Torres, who was arrested and put in the Harris County Jail.

Four months later, gang members acting on orders that Torres phoned in from the jail ambushed and fatally shot Quinonez at Buffalo Run Park in Missouri City on June 13, 2016.

A Harris County jury in state District Judge Brian Warren’s court convicted Torres of capital murder after almost two weeks in trial. He was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole. Killing a witness, or retaliation, is a capital crime.

Torres was prosecuted by the Gangs and Organized Crime Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the murders were jointly investigated by the Houston Police Department and Missouri City Police Department.

MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, is a transnational gang that has members across the United States.

https://breaking911.com/ms-13-leader-in-texas-gets-life-sentence-without-parole-for-murder-of-16-year-old-witness/

Melbourne protests: Police make arrests despite Victoria earthquake

Heavily armed police have blanketed Melbourne, cracking down on protesters who have persisted despite the Victoria earthquake.

A heavy police presence has blanketed Melbourne in an effort to prevent further chaos after yesterday's mass protest turned violent.

Multiple arrests have already been made in the vicinity of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) headquarters, where a brawl erupted on Monday as furious construction workers protested against mandatory Covid vaccinations.

Lines of police officers, including mounted police and others bearing riot shields, are in the area around the CFMEU building. Police helicopters are patrolling overhead.

A group of protesters has started to march through the streets nearby.

At a media conference alongside Premier Daniel Daniel Andrews this morning, Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton lamented the "significant unrest" Melbourne had already suffered.

It's worth noting that all of the remarks below came before the earthquake.

"I certainly understand that people are fatigued. They're tired. They have got grievances and they're frustrated. But now is not the time for protest," Mr Patton said.

"The chief health officer is still determined that there are guidelines in place that prohibit mass gatherings, large gatherings. The risk of the spread of the coronavirus is quite real in those gatherings.

"We don't get to pick and choose which laws we enforce. I'd simply say this. I would implore, I'd plead, I'd ask - any other word I can use - to say to people who are contemplating coming in here today to protest, to not do so.

"You're not going to be welcomed with open arms, I can assure you of that. We have significant tactics in place. We will be agile in our response, we will be very swift in our response, and conduct as we have seen yesterday will not be tolerated."

Mr Patton declined to specify which new tactics, exactly, police would deploy, or how many police would be involved, though he described their planned presence as "significant".

"I do not want to be giving any context whatsoever to anybody who may be considering coming in here to engage in unlawful activity," he said.

"I'm not going to talk about the tactics we'll deploy today, but I'd be very surprised if you see any cat and mouse games today."

He repeated his plea for protesters to ditch any plan to come into central Melbourne again.

"We will take all actions that we can to stop this. I would really ask people not to come in," said Mr Patton.

"We have a range of crowd control equipment that we have already deployed, and I have instructed my police command that if it's necessary to use it, then they are to use it.

"We will of course factor in the safety of all individuals, because that's what we're about, but the reality is this protest can't be allowed to occur again."

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/every-day-melbourne-faces-chaos-again-as-protesters-vow-to-keep-marching-until-their-demands-are-met/news-story/9f0b57eaeda566cacfbfc89dc69d4a8d

House Passes Debt-Limit, Government Spending Bill, Sends It To A Senate Showdown

As expected, in a surprisingly close, 220-211 vote, the Democratic-controlled House passed a bill that would suspend the U.S. debt ceiling into December 2022 and provide the government funding to operate past Sept, 30 if it passes the Senate which it most likely won't because Senate Republicans, even RINOs such as Mitt Romney, have vowed to block it over the debt limit provision which Democrats purposefully included in the provision.

The political standoff raises the chances of twin fiscal disasters a government shutdown and a default that could have devastating consequences for Wall Street and the broader American economy.

It's not yet clear what Democrats' plan B would be if the effort to avert a shutdown and suspend the debt limit runs aground in the Senate, as it appears is on track to happen.

If Machin sides with Senate Republicans to block the stop-gap funding measure over the debt limit, there could still be enough time to strip the debt limit measure out and pass a stand-alone spending bill to avoid a shutdown. But the vote would take place perilously close to the shutdown deadline - the drop dead date is sometime in mid/late October - and would likely require cooperation on both sides to process a quick Senate vote. It also would leave the debt ceiling problem unresolved, setting up yet another flashpoint issue to be dealt with by Congress in the weeks to come.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/house-passes-debt-limit-government-spending-bill-sends-it-senate-showdown