"Proceed With Caution At Your Own Peril" - Merck's COVID 'Super Drug' Poses Serious Health Risks, Scientists Warn

As it turns out, all the scientists and doctors who insisted that Merck's "revolutionary" COVID drug molnupiravir is extremely safe weren't faithfully adhering to "the science" after all. Because according to a report published Thursday by Barron's, some scientists are worried that the drug - which purportedly cut hospitalizations in half during a study that was cut short - could cause cancer or birth defects.

So much for having a "strong safety profile," as Dr. Scott Gottlieb claimed in an interview on the day Merck first publicized the research.

It's perfectly understandable why Merck might choose to play down this safety risk: assuming it's approved, the drug is widely expected to be one of "the most lucrative drugs ever" - which is one reason why Merck's shares soared into double-digit territory after the announcement.

As we reported earlier this week, Merck and its "partner" Ridgeback Biotherapeutics will profit immensely by charging customers up to 40x what it costs to make the drug, which Ridgeback originally licensed from Emory University for an "undisclosed sum". The drug was developed with funding from the federal government.

According to Barron's, some scientists who have studied the drug believe that its method of suppressing the virus could potentially run amok within the body.

Some scientists who have studied the drug warn, however, that the method it uses to kill the virus that causes Covid-19 carries potential dangers that could limit the drug’s usefulness.

Molnupiravir works by incorporating itself into the genetic material of the virus, and then causing a huge number of mutations as the virus replicates, effectively killing it. In some lab tests, the drug has also shown the ability to integrate into the genetic material of mammalian cells, causing mutations as those cells replicate.

If that were to happen in the cells of a patient being treated with molnupiravir, it could theoretically lead to cancer or birth defects.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/proceed-caution-your-own-peril-mercks-covid-super-drug-poses-serious-health-risks

REVEALED: Letter with Insider Information Shows the Teachers Union, AG Merrick Garland and the FBI’s Plan to Monitor Parents was a Political Setup for Midterms

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/revealed-letter-insider-information-shows-teachers-union-ag-merrick-garland-fbis-plan-monitor-parents-political-setup-midterms/

https://www.scribd.com/document/530945691/America-First-L

Barbarism behind bars: Rape & torture in Russia’s prisons laid bare by thousands of leaked videos, human rights activists tell RT

A chilling archive of footage purportedly showing the abuse of inmates in Russian prison colonies has already sparked a probe and cost several officers their jobs. The group behind the leak tells RT there’s still more to come.

A decade ago, Vladimir Osechkin was sentenced to seven years behind bars over fraud allegations brought by the daughter of an influential Moscow politician. Released quickly on parole, he left the country as soon as travel restrictions imposed upon him were relaxed and is still reportedly wanted for questioning on a number of charges. Now, though, as the founder of human rights group Gulagu.net, he has managed to upend the country’s penal system from afar.

Earlier this week, a tranche of videos that Osechkin and his colleagues say were taken by officers inside a prison hospital in Russia’s Saratov region have caused shock and outrage in the country. In one, a man believed to be an inmate at the tuberculosis facility can be seen laying strapped to a bed and screaming while staff repeatedly violate him with a stick in a horrifying minutes-long ordeal.

Other clips released by Gulagu.net claim to show prisoners being urinated on and forced to perform sexual acts in front of the camera. The outcry in the wake of their publication has even reached the Kremlin, with President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, saying that, “if the authenticity of these materials is confirmed, then of course it is a pretext for a serious investigation.”

However, the director of the country’s federal prison services, Alexander Kalashnikov, has quickly moved to dismiss four officers from the region over the incident. After the clips were released on Wednesday, the top penal boss fired Pavel Gatsenko, the head of the Saratov hospital where the incidents were alleged to have taken place, as well as a number of senior officials. Kalashnikov has apparently also moved to sack the overall head of Saratov’s prison service, Colonel Alexey Fedotov, “for serious miscalculations in operational and service activities.”

Among the four officers dismissed in Saratov is Sergey Maltsev, head of the institution’s security department. Osechkin alleges that he was “the main proponent and organizer of the whole process… he co-ordinated it, led it, gave commands. He told them to make video recordings, he controlled them and took the results to security agencies.” Osechkin alleges that the clips were later used to blackmail and coerce prisoners.

However, Osechkin told RT that the galling episode is just the first of a series of revelations that his group will publish over the course of the coming weeks. According to him, similarly shocking footage has been passed over featuring prisons like “SIZO-1 and SIZO-6 in Irkutsk, SIZO-1 in Vladimir, SIZO-1 in Omsk, SIZO-1 in Krasnoyarsk” and others. “We are reviewing the archive and publishing it step by step,” he went on.

“We have identified almost everyone to whom this happened. Now, lawyers and investigators will be working with them and there are at least 10 criminal cases coming over these terrible acts. The perpetrators have been known for a long time,” the activist added.

https://www.rt.com/russia/536883-prisons-torture-video-activist/

PA State Rep. Introduces 'Parody' Bill To Limit Men To Having 3 Children Before Mandating Vasectomies

Legislation is being introduced in Pennsylvania that would limit the number of children men could father to three. The bill, being called "parody legislation", would mandate vasectomies for men at age 40 or following their third child, whichever comes first, according to Patch.

State Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia) has acknowledged the legislation is supposed to be satirical and poke fun at recent restrictive anti-abortion legislation that was passed in Texas.

Despite Rabb using his taxpayer funded salary to spend time thinking of new and interesting ways to make political points via bad jokes, we don't really understand the point of wasting resources to try and advance the bill forward. Maybe we're just not woke enough…

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/pa-state-rep-introduces-bill-limit-men-having-3-children-mandating-vasectomies

Indiana Business Offering Pole Dancing Classes for Children as Young as SEVEN

An Indiana business is offering pole dancing lessons for children as young as seven-years-old.

The business, Tiffs Pole Fitness Inc., claims that pole dancing is not just for strippers, but is now an “international sport.”

A disturbing flyer for the classes features a likeness of Disney’s Rapunzel hanging upside down on a pole in what appears to be lingerie.

The owner, Tiffany Huebner, says that children must wear “mid/short shorts” and a tank top to the classes.

n a Facebook post, Huebner wrote “thank you to those who have shown your support for my Kids Pole Classes! I know that it’s going to take time for everyone to drop the stigma of “it’s a stripper pole” & understand that pole is an international sport now. I have patience & hope for our future generations of pole olympians & want to share an example with the public of what an international pole sport competition for kids looks like.”

They included a video of a nine year old pole dancing in a bikini.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/indiana-business-offering-pole-dancing-classes-children-young-seven/

Gazprom Plant Connected To Russia-China Gas Pipeline Shuttered Due To Fire

China's energy crunch has resulted in power rationing in more than half of the provinces and affected the world's biggest production base for electronic gadgets to semiconductors to appliances, among other things. Beijing has ordered energy firms to "secure supplies at all costs" as winter fast approaches to avoid shortages. But as we learn this morning, a Gazprom gas processing plant, connected to Russia's sole gas pipeline to China, shuttered operations following a fire at the facility, according to Bloomberg.

Irina Dmitruk, the spokeswoman for the Gazprom unit, said the blaze at the Amur processing facility in eastern Siberia was extinguished around 0500 London time.

Bloomberg's top energy analyst Javier Blas tweeted what appears to be a video of the fire at the processing plant. He said, "still unclear what's the damage."

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/gazprom-plant-connected-russia-china-gas-pipeline-shuttered-due-fire

Metropolitan Police is worst in country at solving sexual & violent crimes, new policing study finds

The Met, the UK’s largest police force, has reportedly been ranked the worst in England and Wales for solving sexual and violent crimes. A new analysis found charges were brought in only one in 20 offences probed by Scotland Yard.

The rankings, which are based on official police data, showed that the proportion of sexual and violent crimes where the Metropolitan Police charged a suspect was 5% as of August 2020. Five years earlier, that figure apparently stood at 14%.

At the national level, police forces now solve about 9% – fewer than one in 10 – of sexual and violent offence cases. According to the new analysis by Poliscope, that number was 19% – roughly one in five – in 2016. A study published by the group in May projected sex and violent crimes to rise by 13% by 2022 and reach 20% by 2023 compared to figures from 2019.

“Too many rape victims in London are being failed and we need to see an urgent overhaul of the criminal justice system’s approach to rape, from the police through to prosecution and courts,” London's Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman told The Telegraph.

Without drastic changes, we won’t be able to restore the trust and confidence of survivors that they will be able to get justice.

Waxman also criticised the current “disproportionate focus placed on discrediting a victim and their case,” while calling for police forces to shift towards an “offender-centric” approach to investigations.

In October 2020, the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee cited figures gathered from the Met Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to show that reports of rape and sexual offences in London had increased by 25% between 2015 and 2020, while convictions dropped by nearly the same percentage over that period.

The rankings come at a time when the Met Police is facing a credibility crisis after the kidnap, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard in March by former police officer Wayne Couzens. Earlier this week, British Home Secretary Priti Patel declared that the murder had “exposed unimaginable failings” within the police force, and announced an inquiry to probe the “systematic failures” that led to Everard’s killing.

https://www.rt.com/uk/536971-metropolitan-police-worst-sexual-violent-crimes/

Los Angeles sheriff refuses to enforce vaccine mandate, says ‘politicized’ order would cause him to lose up to 10% of workforce

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has vowed not to enforce a local vaccine mandate, saying he’s not willing to lose employees by demanding that they get their Covid-19 shots or be fired.

“I’m not forcing anyone,” Villanueva said on Thursday. “The issue has become so politicized. There are entire groups of employees that are willing to be fired and laid off, rather than get vaccinated.” He added that he would lose 5-10% of his staff “overnight” if he enforced the mandate as enacted by the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday.

The sheriff noted that the county’s slashing of his department’s budget would make a loss of staff over forced jabs all the more crippling. The budget was cut by $145.5 million in June 2020 amid the defund-the-police movement. At the time Villanueva said that his department was already underfunded, and that he would have to fire 345 employees due to the lack of funds.

Murders in Los Angeles County have surged, with the city reporting a 31% increase in homicides in the first six month of the year from the same period last year.

“This is like the worst of two worlds right here, so we have to pick and choose,” Villanueva said of the mandate.

The mandate passed by the City Council, one of the strictest in the nation, requires people entering such venues as bars, restaurants, gyms and sporting events to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test. It will go into effect on November 4.

Los Angeles also has ordered that city employees get vaccinated. About 24% of the Los Angeles Police Department’s 12,000 employees last month sought religious or medical exemptions to the jab requirement.

https://www.rt.com/usa/536923-sheriff-defies-vaccine-mandate/

Original Facebook Whistleblower Exposes How Frances Haugen Only Helps Big Tech and Gov’t

In case you’ve been under a rock, earlier this week, an alleged “Facebook Whistleblower,” Frances Haugen came forward to inform the world that Facebook is destructive — as if the entire world didn’t already know the dangerous effects of social media.

While Haugen did hand over tens of thousands of documents that show Facebook executives are well aware of the troubling impact of their site to the Securities and Exchange Commission, her entire argument and alleged exposé on Facebook is anticlimactic at best. What’s more, it will only serve to benefit Facebook and the rest of Big Tech in the long run.

In fact, after Haugen came forward with her information, Facebook’s director of policy communications Lena Pietsch released a statement — temporarily writing off her claims — but then agreeing with her proposals!

“We don’t agree with her characterization of the many issues she testified about,” wrote Pietsch. “Despite all this, we agree on one thing; it’s time to begin to create standard rules for the internet. It’s been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act.”

That’s all the world needs, Facebook — whose been handing your information to the feds, spying on users and selling their data, and allowing children to be sold on their platform — creating the rules for the internet.

In what world does a high level executive issue a statement agreeing with someone who is allegedly exposing them? The entire premise is silly, to say the least — but also extremely suspect.

When whistleblowers like Reality Winner, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, or Julian Assange, blow the whistle and expose election fraud or US war crimes, these people are exiled, kidnapped, imprisoned, or worse. But when Haugen blows the whistle on Facebook, she’s given a red carpet rollout, a legal team, a verified profile on Twitter, and a podium in Congress.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/exclusive-original-facebook-whistleblower-exposes-how-frances-haugen-only-helps-big-tech-and-govt/

Beijing Rebranded Confucius Institutes in Response to Rising International Criticism: Report

Around the world, the Chinese regime has partnered with universities and academic institutions to install language centers known as Confucius Institutes (CIs). Drawing upon the name of China’s most famous philosopher, Beijing has promoted these centers as an educational gateway to the country’s language, culture, and history.

But these centers are not as benign as they sound, warns a recently released French military think tank report.

Rather, they serve as vehicles through which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can spread its propaganda and censorship to foreign students and institutions, it said, jeopardizing academic freedom and integrity.

The regime has offered universities generous financial packages in exchange for hosting CIs, a September report by the French Military School Strategic Research Institute said. But once they’re set up, the institutes foster self-censorship by host universities, while promoting CCP narratives to foreign students.

Amid rising criticism from Western officials, researchers, and the broader public, many universities around the world have closed their CIs in recent years.

But in response, the CCP has launched a rebranding campaign designed to obscure the institute’s connection to Beijing, the report said. In some instances, schools are adopting new Chinese learning programs run under a different name that uses the same textbooks, courses, staff, and even funding from Beijing.

https://www.ntd.com/beijing-rebranded-confucius-institutes-in-response-to-rising-international-criticism-report_686411.html

Confucius Institutes: A Chinese Trojan Horse

https://www.theepochtimes.com/confucius-institutes-a-chinese-trojan-horse_3351504.html

China’s Global Supply Chain

https://www.chinaownsus.com/app/uploads/2021/09/ChinaOwnsUs_WhitePaper_August2021.pdf

Facebook Blacklists Developer Whose Tool Helps People Spend Less Time on Platform

Facebook has reportedly banned the developer of a browser extension that allows Facebook users to automatically unfollow friends and groups on the platform. The blacklisting demonstrates that for all their talk, the Masters of the Universe despise anything that may cause users to take their eyes off the platform.

The Verge reports that the developer behind the “Unfollow Everything” browser extension tool that allows users to mass unfollow users and groups on Facebook claims that he has been permanently banned from the social media platform. Louis Barclay developed Unfollow Everything to allow users to unfollow friends, groups, and pages, removing their content from the Facebook News Feed.

Discussing his experience using the tool with Slate, Barclay stated: “I still remember the feeling of unfollowing everything for the first time. It was near-miraculous. I had lost nothing, since I could still see my favorite friends and groups by going to them directly. But I had gained a staggering amount of control. I was no longer tempted to scroll down an infinite feed of content. The time I spent on Facebook decreased dramatically. Overnight, my Facebook addiction became manageable.”

Facebook sent Barclay a cease-and-desist letter earlier this year, claiming that he had violated the Facebook terms of service by making software that automated user actions. Barclay then claim that Facebook “permanently disabled my Facebook and Instagram accounts” and “demanded that I agree to never again create tools that interact with Facebook or its other services.”

He noted that the “Unfollow Everything” tool was being used by researchers at the Swiss University of Neuchâtel as part of a study examining the effects of the Facebook News Feed on user happiness and as he couldn’t risk a legal battle with a tech giant like Facebook, he was forced to remove the tool.

Breitbart News has reported extensively on the “Facebook Files” series from the Wall Street Journal which made a number of damning claims about the tech giant based on a series of internal company documents in recent weeks.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the internal documents reveal that the tech giant Apple threatened to remove Mark Zuckerberg’s company from its App Store in 2019 following a report from BBC News that detailed the human trafficking taking place across the social media platform.

In another report titled “Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show,” the Wall Street Journal claims that the company is aware that its photo-sharing app Instagram can have a negative effect on the body image of young women.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/10/08/facebook-blacklists-developer-whose-tool-helps-people-spend-less-time-on-platform/

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/10/08/facebook-blacklists-developer-whose-tool-helps-people-spend-less-time-on-platform/

Spain: Poverty up 50 Per Cent Since 2018 as Pandemic Adds Economic Problems

Six million people in Spain are in severe poverty, a figure that has increased by 50 per cent since 2018 as the pandemic fuels even more economic problems for Spaniards.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound effect on Spanish people, with at least 58 per cent of households struggling to make ends meet and cover their expenses, while an estimated six million people live in poverty, up 50 per cent since 2018.

According to a report from the newspaper La Vanguardia, the situation would have been far worse if not for government benefits helping to prop up households such as the Temporary Employment Regulation File (ERTE), which was extended another five months in late September.

Those most affected by the pandemic crisis have been large families and single parents, particularly single mothers, as well as those from immigrant backgrounds, according to a study released by Caritas and the FOESSA Foundation.

At least 25 per cent of households in Spain are experiencing major hardships in terms of employment as landing a well-paying job in Spain has become more difficult during the pandemic. Insufficient wages have also led to 24 per cent of households struggling to cover all of their utility bills and of those that do, 14 per cent are left in poverty.

The study also notes growing social exclusion during the pandemic, a phenomenon that was recently highlighted by a French study among seniors that revealed as many as half a million French seniors live in a state of “social death”, rarely seeing or interacting with others.

The association Les Petits Frères des Pauvres (the Little Brothers of the Poor) published the study and stated that the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns had “accelerated the elderly who had a fragile relational fabric into intense isolation”.

Energy poverty is also looming on the horizon for many in Europe this winter as energy prices are rising in many parts of the continent. Alexandre Viviers, an energy expert at Sia Partners, stated that some vulnerable Europeans may have to choose between heating their home and eating.

“You have people who face important consumption levels, which they have difficulty paying for,” Viviers said and added: “You will have other households who will self-deprive and turn off the heat, for instance, if they still want to be able to eat. So you will meet different forms of energy poverty.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/10/08/spain-poverty-up-50-per-cent-since-2018-as-pandemic-adds-economic-problems/

French Police Arrest Briton for Wearing Wrong Type of Mask on Eurostar Train: Report

French police boarded a Eurostar train to remove a British traveller at the request of a train manager because he was wearing the wrong kind of mask, according to reports.

The unnamed male passenger in his forties had boarded the London-bound train at Paris’s Gare du Nord on Thursday afternoon, before being taken off the train by around eight officers after the Eurostar made an unscheduled stop in Lille, leaving the businessman stranded in France.

The Mirror reported that within minutes of departure from Paris, the Eurostar manager had allegedly accused him of wearing the wrong kind of mask and of taking it off, however other passengers in Coach 13 had taken their masks off to eat and drink, which is permitted.

It was then alleged the manager had gotten into an argument with the traveller and called another member of staff, saying that she would call the police and have him removed “as quickly as possible”. The businessman then replaced his mask with a blue one that had been given to him by another passenger and apologised.

However, the train made the unscheduled stop at Lille just to remove a passenger. Video obtained by the Liverpool Echo show the officers ordering the businessman, who can be heard pleading his innocence in a calm tone, off the train. French police confirmed the man had been arrested, according to the regional newspaper.

While being led away, he said: “I’ve done nothing wrong and respect all coronavirus rules – this is absolutely outrageous.”

Adding: “I have absolutely no idea what this is all about, except that a Eurostar staff member has taken a very strong dislike to me, and accused me of not wearing the right type of mask.

“Now I’m going to be left alone in France, when all I wanted to do is get home from a work trip. This is very cruel treatment. We should all be getting on, not treating each other like this.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/10/08/french-police-arrest-briton-for-wearing-wrong-type-of-mask-on-eurostar-train-report/

This is NOT a Halloween costume and they are not members of the Addams Family. It is Kamala Harris’s 22-year-old stepdaughter and her boyfriend showing what young American socialists are supposed to look like.

Do you live near a FEMA concentration camp? FEMA has authority to SUSPEND LAWS and put you in one of their COVID isolation camps located across the United States

Most Americans really have no idea the power that FEMA wields; they mostly think it’s just some government rescue-type workers that help out after hurricanes, earthquakes and floods happen. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is actually a covert government with far more power than any other agency in this country. Did you know FEMA can seize people, detain them without a warrant, deny them phone calls to lawyers or loved ones, take their home, food and vehicles, with no trial or judges even involved at all? FEMA can temporarily freeze the Constitution.

If there were a nuclear war, or an EMP attack, or say, a (media-hyped) pandemic, FEMA can function by circumventing Congressional authority and stuff to capacity their 800 prison camps around the United States, some of which are currently fully-staffed, heavily guarded and holding prisoners. Most of these concentration camps consist of several fortified structures, barbed wire fencing, and can hold a population of 20,000 prisoners.

From old airports and prisons, to military bases, WWII Japanese detention camps, and railroad facilities, most of these Nazi-style camps are fully operational right now and ready to take in prisoners. What kind of prisoners you ask? Those who will not take the Covid vaccines.

Should Martial Law be implemented in the Democrat-run metropolitan cities, all it would take is for Resident Biden and the Attorney General to sign a warrant with every person’s name on it who has not yet been vaccinated for Covid, and voila, a Civil War. FEMA created these camps under the Rex 84 Program, designed in case of a “mass exodus” of Mexicans crossing over all at once, then the US government could toss them all in FEMA prisons, but that is not what FEMA is preparing for right now, obviously (with the Biden open-borders forever program).

Operation Garden Plot (population control) and Operation Cable Splicer (feds take over state and local governments) listed in FEMA concentration camp plan

https://worldtruth.tv/list-of-fema-camps/

https://www.cracknewz.com/2021/10/do-you-live-near-fema-concentration.html

Son of Afghanistan’s Former Defense Minister Buys $20.9 Million Beverly Hills Mansion

He already owns a $5.2 million Miami Beach condo at the prestigious St. Regis Bal Harbour resort, but Daoud Wardak apparently also wants a West Coast outpost. To that end, he’s heading for Beverly Hills — records reveal the semi-mysterious businessman, who is a son of former Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak, has bought a $20.9 million mansion on a prime Trousdale Estates street.

Built all-new this year and designed by local architecture firm Woods + Dangaran, the nearly 9,000-square-foot house was described in an off-market listing as a fusion of “modern meets midcentury.” The 0.58-acre property last sold in 2016 for $9.5 million to the Woodbridge Group, a now-defunct Ponzi scheme; Woodbridge demolished the original house on the lot, and the new structure was sold to Wardak on behalf of Woodbridge’s bankruptcy proceedings by Viewpoint Collection, a premier developer of high-end Los Angeles homes.

The new house replaced a smaller but seductively curvaceous 1960s midcentury modern long owned by Sally Hershberger, a Kansas oil heiress-turned-L.A.’s infamous “hairstylist to the stars.” During her ownership tenure, Hershberger leased the property to Candace Nelson, founder of the Sprinkles Cupcakes and Pizzana food chains, before selling it in 2013 for $6.9 million to a Florida-based businessman.

https://news.yahoo.com/son-afghanistan-former-defense-minister-172358560.html

Bannon bucks Jan. 6 committee subpoena

Former White House strategist Stephen Bannon doesn’t plan to comply with a subpoena from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol following reports former President Trump advised him and three other former aides to buck lawmakers’ orders.

Thursday at midnight was the deadline for Bannon and former chief of staff Mark Meadows to comply with subpoenas sent on Sept. 23.

The committee also sent subpoenas to Dan Scavino, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications, and Kashyap Patel, the chief of staff to then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and a former House and White House staffer.

Bannon alerted the committee he did not plan to comply with the subpoena, a detail first reported by CNN. Meadows also responded to the committee, but the nature of his response was unclear, the outlet reported.

A copy of Bannon’s letter to the committee obtained by The Hill references a threat from Trump’s lawyers earlier this week to challenge the subpoenas.

“We must accept his direction and honor his innovation of executive privilege. As such, until these issues are resolved, we are unable to respond to your request for documents and testimony,” Robert Costello, Bannon’s attorney, wrote in the letter.

“We will comply with the direction of the courts.”

A spokesman for Meadows also did not respond to a request from The Hill seeking clarification on his response to the committee.

The committee has reportedly been unable to locate Scavino to serve him with a subpoena.

According to a letter reviewed by Politico on Thursday, Trump told his former aides he would challenge the order in court, arguing they are a violation of executive privilege, which can shield White House employees from testifying before Congress.

“President Trump is prepared to defend these fundamental privileges in court," the letter stated.

Speaking with reporters late last month, Rep. Jaime Raskin (D-Md.) expressed doubts that Trump would be able to prevail in court, calling the former president's argument “so off-base.”

“First of all, the executive privilege applies to a sitting president, not former presidents, because the focus is on the national security interests of the country. It's a very limited doctrinal privilege,” he said.

“In any event, even if the court were to weigh the public's overwhelming interest in getting at the truth of events, versus the interest in national security, in this case both factors are on the side of disclosure. The public has an interest in knowing everything about the attack on our democracy, and that truth-seeking function will improve national security. So national security argues for disclosure, not for secrecy.”

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/575926-bannon-bucks-jan-6-committee-subpoena

Bannon bucks Jan. 6 committee subpoena

Former White House strategist Stephen Bannon doesn’t plan to comply with a subpoena from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol following reports former President Trump advised him and three other former aides to buck lawmakers’ orders.

Thursday at midnight was the deadline for Bannon and former chief of staff Mark Meadows to comply with subpoenas sent on Sept. 23.

The committee also sent subpoenas to Dan Scavino, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications, and Kashyap Patel, the chief of staff to then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and a former House and White House staffer.

Bannon alerted the committee he did not plan to comply with the subpoena, a detail first reported by CNN. Meadows also responded to the committee, but the nature of his response was unclear, the outlet reported.

A copy of Bannon’s letter to the committee obtained by The Hill references a threat from Trump’s lawyers earlier this week to challenge the subpoenas.

“We must accept his direction and honor his innovation of executive privilege. As such, until these issues are resolved, we are unable to respond to your request for documents and testimony,” Robert Costello, Bannon’s attorney, wrote in the letter.

“We will comply with the direction of the courts.”

A spokesman for Meadows also did not respond to a request from The Hill seeking clarification on his response to the committee.

The committee has reportedly been unable to locate Scavino to serve him with a subpoena.

According to a letter reviewed by Politico on Thursday, Trump told his former aides he would challenge the order in court, arguing they are a violation of executive privilege, which can shield White House employees from testifying before Congress.

“President Trump is prepared to defend these fundamental privileges in court," the letter stated.

Speaking with reporters late last month, Rep. Jaime Raskin (D-Md.) expressed doubts that Trump would be able to prevail in court, calling the former president's argument “so off-base.”

“First of all, the executive privilege applies to a sitting president, not former presidents, because the focus is on the national security interests of the country. It's a very limited doctrinal privilege,” he said.

“In any event, even if the court were to weigh the public's overwhelming interest in getting at the truth of events, versus the interest in national security, in this case both factors are on the side of disclosure. The public has an interest in knowing everything about the attack on our democracy, and that truth-seeking function will improve national security. So national security argues for disclosure, not for secrecy.”

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/575926-bannon-bucks-jan-6-committee-subpoena

Registered Foreign Agent Gave $200K to McAuliffe Campaign

Digital marketing firm Terakeet took over $1 million from UAE to rehabilitate country's image=

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe raked in a $200,000 donation from a registered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates, according to campaign finance and lobbying disclosure records.

The August donation came from Terakeet, a digital marketing firm that specializes in search engine optimization cofounded by a McAuliffe adviser. The company registered as a foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates last year as part of a larger campaign to rehabilitate the country's image. Activist groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have accused the country of committing war crimes and targeting civilians in airstrikes while leading a military coalition with Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

The Persian Gulf monarchy paid Terakeet over $1 million for "public relations activities relating to the embassy of the United Arab Emirates," including search engine optimization to "positively influence search results" in the United States, according to lobbying disclosure records filed with the Department of Justice.

The Terakeet donation comes as McAuliffe's links to foreign money and lobbying activities are under increased scrutiny. McAuliffe recently received a $350,000 contribution from a company owned by a Sri Lankan-British national—whose businesses are at the center of a money laundering case in France—in a potential violation of federal campaign finance laws, the Washington Free Beacon reported last week.

Terakeet did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for McAuliffe did not respond to a request for comment.

The National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group, said it was concerned about foreign financial influences on McAuliffe.

"McAuliffe’s ability to raise so much money from so many different sources with foreign interests should make any voter in the state of Virginia worry about his priorities if elected," said Tom Anderson, director of the NLPC’s Government Integrity Project.

Records show that the company hired at least eight tech specialists last year to support its work for the UAE. The UAE contract was scheduled for automatic annual renewal in March, according to a copy of the contract.

Last December, Human Rights Watch called for a U.S. arms embargo on the UAE, and activists have lobbied for prosecuting top officials for alleged war crimes before the International Criminal Court.

Terakeet was cofounded by MacLaren Cummings, a McAuliffe adviser and former finance aide to Hillary Clinton. The company also did digital outreach work for the Clinton campaign in 2016.

Terakeet’s $200,000 donation is one of the largest McAuliffe received from a private company this election.

Last week, ethics watchdogs raised questions about a $350,000 donation McAuliffe received from LycaTel, a company owned by a British national. Ben Freeman, director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy, told the Free Beacon that donations from foreign-owned companies are "effectively a really easy way to launder foreign money into the U.S. political process."

In 2016, the FBI reportedly investigated a $120,000 donation McAuliffe received from a company owned by a Chinese businessman who was a delegate to China’s national legislature.

https://freebeacon.com/elections/registered-foreign-agent-gave-200k-to-mcauliffe-campaign/

Judicial Watch Sues for Info on Biden Administration Shut Down of China-COVID Investigation

Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State for records related to an investigation into the origins of COVID by the Bureau of Arms Control and Verification (AVC) (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:21-cv-02147)).

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, after the State Department failed to respond to a May 28, 2021, FOIA request for:

All records regarding the investigation into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and/or COVID-19 by the Bureau of Arms Control and Verification. This request includes, but is not limited to, the following:

All reports created pursuant to the investigation.

All related to the actual or proposed termination of the investigation.

All related records of communication between any official, employee, or representative of the Department of State. This includes communications with any official, employee, or representative of the World Health Organization, the government of China, and any branch, agency, department, or office of the Federal government.

Judicial Watch filed the FOIA request after it was reported in the media that the Biden administration shut down an investigation by the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control and Verification ordered by the Trump administration in Fall 2020 to “investigate the origins of COVID-19 and whether the virus stemmed from a leak out of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.” On January 15, then-Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued a statement saying:

The COVID-19 pandemic was avoidable. Any responsible country would have invited world health investigators to Wuhan within days of an outbreak. China instead refused offers of help – including from the United States – and punished brave Chinese doctors, scientists, and journalists who tried to alert the world to the dangers of the virus. Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one.

“The Biden State Department shut down a national security investigation of China’s role in the COVID pandemic,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The American public deserves to know why.”

In July 2021, Judicial Watch uncovered emails and other records from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials in connection with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, revealing significant collaborations and funding that began in 2014. The records reveal that NIAID gave nine China-related grants to EcoHealth Alliance to research coronavirus emergence in bats and was the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) top issuer of grants to the Wuhan lab itself. The records also include an email from the Vice Director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor surfaces.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/jw-sues-covid-investigation/

Health Ministry: All forms of exercise OK after COVID vaccination

Nachman Ash tells ‘Post’ that health officials decided no new restrictions are necessary after getting the jab.

People who receive a Pfizer coronavirus vaccine can exercise and carry on with their lives as usual, the Health Ministry’s advisory committee for epidemic control and coronavirus vaccines almost unanimously decided earlier this week.

Health experts discussed the possibility of asking newly vaccinated individuals to avoid strenuous exercise and other physical activity for one week after receiving each dose due to cases of myocarditis that were detected in a small percentage of vaccinated people, The Jerusalem Post learned.

However, Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash told the Post that there is no intention to roll out any such restrictions.

“To the best of my knowledge, there is no reason not to exercise after vaccination,” Ash said. “There is a theory and there are some who believe that it [strenuous exercise] is connected to heart inflammation - that the intensity causes the heart inflammation - but I don’t think there is any scientific basis for this.”

He said the vaccine committee discussed it but there will be no change in the guidelines that are given to vaccinated people after getting the jab.

“There are no plans to place any such restrictions,” Ash stressed.

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/health-ministry-all-forms-of-exercise-ok-after-covid-vaccination-681465

This is why Biden is trying to give them money

Taliban Lacks Necessary Finances To Deliver Functioning Government

The U.S. could not vanquish the Taliban, failed to defeat Al-Qaeda, and were unsuccessful in leaving behind a pluralistic, tolerant and economically-sustainable Afghan state. Washington failed to induce good governance in Afghanistan and to stop Pakistan’s multifaceted support for the Taliban. After twenty years of war with the U.S., the Taliban now confronts the hard challenge of governing and managing the economy.

Formal legal incomes make up a small portion of Afghanistan’s revenues as it is dependent on foreign aid and illicit economies. In July 2020, former President Ashraf Ghani said that 90% of Afghans live below the government-determined poverty line of $2 a day and 30% are acutely food insecure. For an economy suffering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the withdrawal of U.S. forces has the effect of spurring a drastic economic decline as Afghanistan becomes more globally isolated.

Pakistan has been engaging with key international and regional stakeholders with a message that Afghanistan should not be left alone and that the incoming government, likely to be led by the Taliban, should be given a chance. Recently, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan sought the world’s support for the Taliban. During the high-level ministerial meeting on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan convened by the UN, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi linked the observance of human rights by the new Taliban government to the financial aid Afghanistan receives. Khan’s key cabinet members, like Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, regularly calls for the Taliban government to receive international financial assistance.

Currently, the Taliban faces the loss of billions of dollars that had been allocated to Afghanistan. The U.S. immediately froze $9.5 billion worth of central bank assets. The International Monetary Fund blocked access to $460 million, and the EU has suspended aid. International donors had been providing 75% of the government’s operating budget, and the U.S. and NATO paid around $4 billion each year to fund the Afghan military. Iran, although struggling economically because of U.S. sanctions, is seeking good relations with the Taliban but cannot offer generous economic aid. Only China and the monarchies of the Gulf have deep pockets, but the question is if they will. Although Pakistan has been providing military and intelligence aid, its own economy is stagnating and wholly reliant on China.

The Taliban has no experience in delivering or maintaining existing state services, such as electricity or water, let alone tackling complex issues like setting macroeconomic policies. The immediate effects of the financial squeeze saw cash liquidity in Afghanistan drop, driving up inflation – including food prices, resulting in immense hardship to the population.

https://southfront.org/taliban-lacks-necessary-finances-to-deliver-functioning-government/

The Evidence That Operation Mockingbird Is A Reality – Now Apply This To The Current Coronavirus Freak Show

PEDO BUN 8 October 21

Suspects arrested for sex trafficking of Alexandria teen

https://www.kalb.com/2021/10/08/suspects-arrested-sex-trafficking-alexandria-child/

Tucson Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Child Pornography Charges

https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/tucson-man-sentenced-10-years-child-pornography-charges

Pittsfield Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material

https://www.justice.gov/usao-nh/pr/pittsfield-man-pleads-guilty-distribution-child-sexual-abuse-material

Former Santa Fe resident arrested in prostitution sting

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/man-with-santa-fe-ties-arrested-in-child-solicitation-sting/article_95715432-2569-11ec-82c3-473186a84c91.html

Mahoning County Grand Jury indicts ten arrested in human trafficking sting

The Mahoning County Grand Jury has handed up indictments against ten men who were arrested this summer during a two-month-long sting operation targeting alleged predators going online to arrange sexual activity with children.

https://www.wfmj.com/story/44921904/mahoning-county-grand-jury-indicts-ten-arrested-in-human-trafficking-sting

Girl `gang-raped'; four including boyfriend arrested

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1761553-girl-gang-raped-four-including-boyfriend-arrested

East Hartford man admits conspiring in sex trafficking of girl in East Windsor, Windsor Locks

https://news.yahoo.com/east-hartford-man-admits-conspiring-150200266.html

Georgian Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Distribution

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdga/pr/georgian-pleads-guilty-child-porn-distribution

Printing shop for forged documents dismantled in Barcelona

Officers found almost 2 000 counterfeit passports and ID cards of 56 nationalities

Officers from the Spanish National Police (Polícia Nacional) and the Barcelona City Police Force (Guàrdia Urbana de Barcelona), supported by Europol, dismantled an organised crime group involved in property crime, facilitation of illegal immigration and document fraud.

Results from 28 July 2021

3 locations searched

3 arrests

Seizures:

mobile devices

almost 2 000 forged passports and ID cards of 56 different nationalities

about € 13 000 in cash

notebook containing accounting records of the criminal activity (orders, prices, deliveries)

equipment for forging documents, including two printers, one machine for laminating and one scanner, a dedicated laptop, a press machine, tools to professionally cut the documents, UV inks, sprays, plastics with official security measures, kinegrams, chips for ID cards, needles and threads to sew passport booklets

11 000 fake ID documents were on their way

The criminal network was involved in the counterfeiting and distribution of forged documents. It was also trafficking genuine documents, stolen in Spain. These were used by people with similar physical characteristics from Middle Eastern countries to facilitate their illegal entry into the EU.

During the action day in July, a raid in the house of the main suspect in Barcelona led to the dismantling of a printing shop for fake documents. He produced the fake documents with high-quality security features such as UV holograms. The investigation uncovered that he had ordered 1 000 similar features for the manufacturing of French ID documents and 10 000 for Spanish ID documents.

Europol facilitated the exchange of information and provided analytical support. On the action day, Europol deployed a virtual command post to enable the real-time exchange of information and cross-checking of operational information against Europol’s databases to provide leads to investigators in the field. Europol also deployed an expert to Barcelona to provide technical support with data extraction and analysis of digital evidence.

The investigation was developed as part of EMPACT’s Joint Operational Team Doc Fraud to combat document fraud in the EU, targeting organised crime groups involved in the production of fakes and the trafficking of forged or illegally obtained documents.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/printing-shop-for-forged-documents-dismantled-in-barcelona

45-Count Indictment Unsealed Charging 18 Individuals with Drug, Gun Crimes

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdga/pr/45-count-indictment-unsealed-charging-18-individuals-drug-gun-crimes

Former Nantucket Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Role in Two Fraud Schemes

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/former-nantucket-bank-employee-pleads-guilty-role-two-fraud-schemes

Ringleader of Gloucester City Drug Ring and His Son Sentenced for Trafficking Prescription Pills and Engaging in SNAP Fraud

https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/ringleader-gloucester-city-drug-ring-and-his-son-sentenced-trafficking-prescription-pills

Federal Grand Jury A Indictments Announced- October

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndok/pr/federal-grand-jury-indictments-announced-october

Climate Lies and Green Energy Propaganda: Time for Truth-Telling in Glasgow

For 26 long years the UN and their tame media have promoted their expensive annual climate carnivals. This month they will flock to Glasgow for COP 26 but they will not arrive on Shetland ponies, penny farthings or sailing boats – hydro-carbon energy will get most of them there and keep them warm and well fed.

These jamborees are designed to spread climate lies and green energy propaganda.

In the beginning, the witch-doctors of the global warming religion spread lurid tales of drowning polar bears, rising sea levels, dying corals and spreading deserts – all blamed on the wicked coal, oil, cattle and cars that they claim are destroying our green planet. Those disasters never happened. Now truant school kids (who learn their version of climate “science” from smart-phones and social media) are promoting emission reduction by gluing themselves to roads.

The media love scare stories. But despite alarming model projections, decades have passed with no unusual global warming, so their shock stories changed to “wild weather” and every cyclone, tornado, drought, bushfire or flood was trumpeted as proof of looming disaster. “Storms” morphed into “super-storms”, “bushfires” became “fire-storms” and now the media can report “super-tornadoes” without defining them.

It’s time for: “Truth-telling in Glasgow”.

The coming northern winter will confirm the first energy truth – wind, solar, batteries and electric vehicles will not keep people warm and well fed. The soaring demand for hydrocarbon fuels, the coming electricity blackouts and rationing, and bare grocery shelves will reveal what the media won’t. In the interests of accuracy, COP26 should be rebranded “Cut Our Power 26”.

t’s also time for truthful climate models. Even with sneaky revisions of past records and reinvention of the Hockey Stick, the model forecasts have been wrong for over 40 years – there is no dangerous global warming.

It’s also time to bury the myth that “the science” supports global warming alarm. Hundreds of thousands of qualified and experienced scientists have joined sceptic lists over many years.

The Glasgow tourists should take a pre-COP trip to cold Norway where yet another group of sceptical scientists will launch at the University of Stavanger on the 12th of October.

Maybe they will get a chance to take pictures of iced-up wind turbines or snow-covered solar panels. However the one-eyed media probably prefers pictures of immature school girls chanting slogans and blocking roads?

It looks likely that Glasgow will kick some spectacular own goals. Only an incompetent alarmist would organise a Global Warming meeting in cold Glasgow, with winter approaching and with threats of food, electricity and fuel shortages. Maybe Boris is secretly on our side?

https://www.globalresearch.ca/time-truth-telling-glasgow/5758009

Israel Strikes Targets in Homs, Syrian Reports Say

'An Israeli aggression is targeting the central region, and air defenses are responding,' Syrian state TV reports

Israel struck targets in Syria's Homs, triggering air defenses, Syrian reports said Friday.

"An Israeli aggression is targeting the central region, and air defenses are responding," Syrian state TV reported.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes inside Syria in the course of the country’s civil war, targeting what it says are suspected arms shipments believed to be bound for Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces. It rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

In September, Israel fired missiles over Damascus, also activating air defenses, according to Syrian state media.

Also that month, an unidentified aircraft hit a base run by Iranian-backed militias in Syria's eastern province of Deir al Zor near the Iraqi border where Tehran has in the last year expanded its military presence, according to residents and military sources.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-strikes-targets-in-homs-syrian-report-says-1.10279059

China's Largest Bank Restricts Forex And Commodity Trading For Retail Investors

It's no longer just bitcoin.

Several weeks after Beijing's seemingly final ban in a long series of crackdowns on bitcoin trading, when the PBOC said that all crypto-related transactions are illegal which ironically backfired spectacularly and helped spark the latest surge in cryptos…

… China is now scrambling to contain other, far more conventional conduits for potential capital flight.

On Friday, China's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said it will restrict certain types of retail businesses involving foreign-exchange and commodities trading. The move by China’s biggest bank and reported by Reuters, comes alongside a range of actions by regulators to curtail financial risks that include dampening commodity price rises, banning cryptocurrency transactions and restricting property speculation. The bank’s restrictions also come as global energy prices have surged in response to power shortages in China and some other parts of the world.

ICBC said in a statement that starting Oct 17 it will suspend new account openings for so-called “account forex business”. Under this business, individuals can trade forex against the yuan for speculative or hedging purposes, and cannot withdraw or transfer the foreign currencies from the trading accounts, a move which may be aimed at avoiding cross-border (mostly USD) FX exposure, allowing local traders to gain exposure to foreign currencies without actually holding the currency.

Then, starting from Nov 14, existing clients will be barred from opening new trading positions.

ICBC will also stop taking in new clients from Oct 17 in a similar trading business involving energy, base metal, agricultural products and precious metal indexes, ICBC’s statement said.

“Risk is high these days in global forex and commodities markets, so please pay attention to controlling risks,” the bank said.

Reminding the world for the nth time that in a centrally-planned economy market access can be shut down at the flick of a switch, in recent months ICBC and other banks, including Bank of China and China Merchants Bank closed foreign exchange trading businesses that had let individual clients bet on non-yuan currency pairs.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chinas-largest-bank-restricts-forex-and-commodity-trading-retail-investors

(WARNING GRAPHIC) A real look at organ harvesting Dark web behind the scenes VIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK

https://www.bitchute.com/video/gZWqeVMfqfkR/