Bill Gates says nuclear power ensures ‘reliability’ of energy supply, warns of public ‘backlash’ against carbon tax, price hikes

Billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates said that completely abandoning nuclear power makes it harder to guarantee stable energy supply. He warned against making climate change decisions that may anger the public.

The Handelsblatt newspaper asked Gates whether Germany’s move to completely phase out nuclear power next year was a mistake.

The businessman said each country must decide for itself if it wants to shut down existing reactors, but doing so “makes it harder to guarantee the security of [the energy] supply and favorable prices.”

“We must not forget: The demand for electricity will increase dramatically because we will need it not only to power our cars, but also have our homes heated and convert many factories into using it. That's why the reliability of power supply is so crucial,” Gates said.

If we achieve a miraculous breakthrough in the cost of electricity storage, we won’t have to worry about nuclear power. But in the meantime, forms of energy not dependent on the weather – which produce electricity even when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine – will be helpful in delivering the reliability we need.

“We must not rule out any solution as long as we have carefully examined the costs and safety,” the Microsoft co-founder said.

Gates, who is funding the research and construction of an experimental nuclear reactor in the US, criticized Germany’s plan to expand the use of gas-fired power plants. “Natural gas is not a true ‘bridge technology,’” he argued, adding that the work of gas-fired plants involves with emitting CO2 and gas leaks pose risks for the environment.

https://www.rt.com/news/538821-germany-bill-gates-nuclear/

‘Coercion is not consent’: Firefighters and police rally against vaccine mandate outside New York mayor’s residence

Firefighters and police officers protested against the mayor’s vaccination mandate in New York City as first-response services are scrambling to deal with looming staff shortages there.

Hundreds of firefighters, police officers and other first responders rallied outside Gracie Mansion, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s official residence, on Thursday. They held signs that said “My body my choice” and “Coercion is not consent.”

“Finally we are out, because we are not taking this anymore, this is insanity,” a protester told Ruptly video agency.Most municipal workers have until 5pm Friday to submit proof of receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. Those refusing to do so will be placed on unpaid leave for at least 30 days.

Andrew Ansbro, the president of the FDNY Firefighter Association, whose members participated in the protest, warned that 45% of the city’s firefighters are unvaccinated, and up to 40% of New York firehouses will be forced to close down due to staff shortages after the deadline to receive the vaccine expires.

“The response times are going to go through the roof. We’re just not going to be able to get to the emergencies in time,” Ansbro told Fox News Radio on Wednesday, adding that “fires are going to burn longer.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/538780-nyc-firefighters-police-protest/

Federal Judge Temporarily Bans Biden Administration from Firing Unvaccinated Employees

A federal judge for the district court in Washington, DC, issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday barring the Biden administration from firing both unvaccinated civilians and active-duty military members, Fox News reported.

The order comes after 20 plaintiffs sued the Biden administration for its handling of religious exemptions in its Chinese coronavirus vaccine mandate for federal employees. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on September 9 requiring all employees working for a federal contractor or subcontractor to get vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus by November 24 to be considered “fully vaccinated” by a December 8, 2021, deadline. The mandate will also order private companies with more than 100 employees to implement required vaccinations or weekly testing for employees.

“None of the civilian employee plaintiffs will be subject to discipline while his or her request for a religious exception is pending,” District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered, according to a Minute Order obtained by Fox News.

In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly also ordered “active duty military plaintiffs, whose religious exception requests have been denied, will not be disciplined or separated during the pendency of their appeals,” the report states.

The Biden administration must file a supplemental notice by noon on Friday stating if they will agree to comply with the court’s ruling that no plaintiff will be fired or disciplined before the court rules in the case.

The administration has faced intense backlash since Biden announced the mandate, especially since he repeatedly promised to make vaccination voluntary. After much pressure, on Wednesday, the White House Coronavirus Response coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, claimed federal contractors “will not be required to immediate [sic] lay-off workers” and will allow time for “education, counseling and other measures before potentially ending employment,” Reuters reported.

In a statement obtained by Fox News from the plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Yoder, Yoder said the Biden administration has displayed “an unprecedented, cavalier attitude toward the rule of law and an utter ineptitude at basic constitutional contours.”

The statement continued:

This combination is dangerous to American liberty. Thankfully, our Constitution protects and secures the right to remain free from religious persecution and coercion. With this order, we are one step closer to putting the Biden administration back in its place by limiting government to its enumerated powers. It’s time citizens and courts said no to tyranny. The Constitution does not need to be rewritten, it needs to be reread.

Notably, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) administration announced on Thursday that it also filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for its Chinese coronavirus vaccine mandates, suing both Biden and NASA.

This case is Church v. Biden, No. 1:21-cv-2815 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/10/29/federal-judge-temporarily-bans-biden-administration-firing-unvaccinated-employees/

Italian Who Shot Migrant Home Invader Who was Pointing Gun at Him Investigated for Murder

An Italian man who fatally shot a home invader who was pointing a gun at him has been placed under investigation for murder.

Tobacconist Sandro Fiorelli has been placed under investigation for murder after he surprised several criminals at his home in the town of Santopadre and fatally shot one of them, who was allegedly armed and pointing his firearm at him.

The man shot, 34-year-old Romanian migrant Mirel Joaca Bine, collapsed to the ground and the other three criminals fled the scene. They soon returned but were scared off when Fiorelli fired several more shots in the air, Il Giornale reports.

“I realised that there was someone upstairs and so I took the shotgun because I was scared… while I was walking around the house a man stood in front of me. He was holding a gun, he pointed it at me and at that point, I shot,” Fiorelli told Italian media.

Some details of the incident remain unclear, including whether the firearm brandished by the home invader was a real firearm or a blank gun. The Romanian’s three accomplices are said to be still on the run as of Tuesday.

Several members of populist Senator Matteo Salvini’s League (Lega) party reacted to the incident, defending the use of force by Fiorelli as a legitimate case of self-defence.

“If… armed people enter, well … then self-defence is legitimate,” League Senator Gianfranco Rufa said.

Francesca Gerardi, a League member of the Italian chamber of deputies, highlighted the reforms made by Matteo Salvini when he served as Interior Minister on self-defence.

In 2019, the Italian Senate passed a law liberalising self-defence that allowed Italians possessing legally acquired weapons to use them to protect their homes from burglars and other intruders.

“A thief comes into your house, company or store, and you defend yourself? It will be your right to do so, and the thug (and his relatives) will not be able to ask for a euro of compensation,” Salvini said at the time, adding: “Besides, you won’t end up on trial for years and you won’t pay your own pocket: the state will cover any legal expenses of those who defended themselves.”

Earlier this year, one of Salvini’s fellow party members was placed under house arrest after fatally shooting a Moroccan migrant outside a bar in the town of Voghera.

League councillor Massimo Adriatici claimed that his firearm had gone off after the Moroccan had assaulted him and forced him to the ground and claimed the incident was self-defence. Adriatici was allowed to go free from house arrest last week.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/10/29/italian-who-shot-migrant-home-invader-who-was-pointing-gun-at-him-investigated-for-murder/

Dozens Charged in Connection with Violent BLM Riot in Sweden

A total of 36 people have been charged by Swedish prosecutors in connection with a Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration last year in Gothenburg that escalated into a riot.

The group of 36 people are charged with a number of crimes connected to the violence that took place on June 7th of last year, including violent rioting, sabotage of emergency services operations, vandalism, violence against a public official, and charges of assault.

The incidents of violence took place after the BLM demonstration when the organiser ended the event after speaking with the police. Prosecutors say that the situation then descended into a full-blown riot, broadcaster SVT reports.

“The violence has mainly consisted of participants in the crowd kicking, beating, and throwing stones and other objects at the police and their vehicles,” prosecutor Elisabeth Trouvé stated in a press release on Thursday.

Investigators say they have at least 145 hours worth of footage from public CCTV cameras as well as police body camera footage, videos posted on social media, and footage from shops in the area. The trial for the 36 people involved is scheduled to start in November.

In the days after the riot, Gothenburg police chief Erik Nord admitted that he did not foresee the amount of violence that would take place on the day which saw at least 15 to 20 cars set on fire.

“These are quarrelsome people who just wanted riots and that is the most difficult thing a police organisation can face. It took quite a few hours before we had it under control,” Nord stated.

The Gothenburg riot was not the only BLM protest last summer in Sweden. In the multicultural city of Malmo, for example, BLM protestors demanded the abolition of the police.

“Although the history of the Swedish police does not have the same relation to slavery as the United States, it is the same structures that have emerged: institutionalised racism, where it is clear who is most persecuted, stopped and controlled, abused, locked up and even murdered,” the leaflet alleged.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/10/29/dozens-charged-in-connection-with-violent-blm-riot-in-sweden/

Pfizer adds ingredient used to stabilize heart attack victims in vax for kids

Buried on Page 14 in the Pfizer paperwork submitted to the FDA for the Covid vaccine for children is this disturbing nugget.

Vaccine formulation

Authorization is being requested for a modified formulation of the Pfizer‑BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. Each dose of this formulation contains 10 μg of a nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding the viral spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 that is formulated in lipid particles and supplied as a frozen suspension in multiple dose vials.

To provide a vaccine with an improved stability profile, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for use in children 5-11 years of age uses tromethamine (Tris) buffer instead of the phosphatebuffered saline (PBS) as used in the previous formulation and excludes sodium chloride and potassium chloride. The packaged vials for the new formulation are stored frozen at -90°C to – 60°C. The frozen vials may be thawed and stored at refrigerator at 2°C to 8°C for up to 10

weeks.

Tromethamine (Tris) is a blood acid reducer which is used to stabilize people with heart attacks. Here are known side effects: Respiratory depression, local irritation, tissue inflammation, injection site infection, febrile response, chemical phlebitis, venospasm (vein spasms), hypervolemia, IV thrombosis, extravasation (with possible necrosis and sloughing of tissues), transient decreases in blood glucose concentrations, hypoglycemia, and hepatocellular necrosis with infusion via low-lying umbilical venous catheters

https://presscalifornia.com/2021/10/28/pfizer-vax-kids/

https://www.fda.gov/media/153447/download

Ontario's bill mandating vaccines for education and health workers defeated

https://www.bitchute.com/video/UEd7tkS7MhA/

Queensland senator speaks out about adverse effects of vaccines

SENATOR Gerard Rennick puts Sky News presenter back in his place as he lists SERIOUS adverse reactions happening to young people after the vaccine across the country.

Senator Rennick speaks up for the people who have suffered adverse events from Covid shots. He said it’s bad enough people weren’t given a choice, which is their right, but it’s downright inhumane to force someone to take a second shot if they suffered an adverse event from the first. Furthermore, Senator Rennick will continue to fight to ensure people receive immediate income support for those who cannot return to work while they have to recuperate. No one should be left behind.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/queensland-senator-speaks-out-about-adverse-effects-of-vaccines/

Mike Pompeo: Israel might need to attack Iran due to US 'appeasement'

The former US secretary of state also spoke on a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, a Saudi addition to the Abraham Accords and the "lie of occupation."

An Israeli last-resort military action against Iran is a risk of American appeasement and emboldens the Islamic Republic, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said Tuesday at the Jerusalem Post Conference.

Military action is “not in the best interests of anyone,” he told Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz.

Pompeo defended the Trump administration’s decision to leave the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iranian nuclear deal, in 2018, saying the policies it adopted had made the world safer from the Iranian regime.

“We denied them resources, and we denied them the ability to build out a Gulf-threatening culpability,” he said. “The strike on [former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander] Qasem Soleimani demonstrated our willingness to defend American interests around the world. The work we were engaged in would have prevented Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”

In a speech to the UN General Assembly in September, US President Joe Biden said the US was seeking a return to the JCPOA.

“The current administration wants to re-enter the deal, longer, better, stronger? Well, I want it longer, I want it better, and I want it much, much stronger,” Pompeo said.

Had the Trump administration stayed in office for another year or two, the cooperation between it and Israel would have been able to prevent Iranian nuclear advancements, he said.

“We were never going to let Iran get a nuclear weapon on our watch,” he added.

Pompeo criticized the Biden administration for complying and returning to a “false principle that Israel is an illegal occupier” and called on Israel to confront that narrative, which he said is the beating heart of modern antisemitism and dubbed the “lie of occupation.”

“Occupation is a legal term whose definition does not apply to the State of Israel under the law,” Pompeo said, adding that US support of Israel is an expression of American patriotism.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/mike-pompeo-israel-might-attack-iran-because-of-american-appeasement-681777

Dr Fauci says that if his kids were between ages five and 11 he would 'vaccinate them in a second' after FDA advisory committee recommends approval of Pfizer's shot

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said that if his children were aged five to 11, he would 'vaccinate them in a second' following a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel recommending the jab for that age group.

Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has three adult daughters who are already eligible for the COVID-19 shot.

He told Axios this week that he is confident the vaccine is safe and effective in kids and he trusts it enough that he would use it on his own theoretical young children.

The vaccine will likely receive controversial authorization from regulators within the coming weeks with a large percentage of parents saying they do not want their children to get the jab even if gets a greenlight from the FDA due to the low risk of severe disease in youngsters.

http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2021/10/dr-fauci-says-that-if-his-kids-were.html

Democrats Are ENRAGED As Tucker Carlson Plans To Expose FBI’s Jan. 6 Hoax on Monday — Now They Are Trying To Shut Him Down

Democrats have vowed to use every trick in the book to censor an upcoming Tucker Carlson report exposing the FBI’s Jan. 6 hoax.

Tucker reacted to a tweet posted by RINO Rep. Liz Cheney on Thursday in review of his upcoming expose she hasn’t even seen. Here is the tweet:

“According to Liz Cheney, this show is dangerous, because we dared to report on what actually happened on January 6th. This show is somehow, she says, abetting violence.”

“Now, if that argument sounds familiar, there’s a reason that it does. That argument is a staple of those hysterical purple-haired college activists you see yelling at people in viral videos. ‘Your speech is violence!’, they shout, ‘Our violence is speech!’”

“That is not how a free society works. Politicians don’t get to put parameters around your thoughts or conversations. Free people are permitted to ask any question they want.”

“What we found in the end bore no resemblance whatsoever to the story that you have heard repeatedly from Liz Cheney and from Nancy Pelosi, as well as from their many obedient mouthpieces in the media. They were lying.”

“It turns out that Liz Cheney is not simply a liar, she is also a coward.”

https://en-volve.com/2021/10/29/democrats-are-enraged-as-tucker-carlson-plans-to-expose-fbis-jan-6-hoax-on-monday-now-they-are-trying-to-shut-him-down/

Fauci’s wife approved NIH puppy experiments…

https://youtu.be/9-igXDyuNkI

Chinese state media vows military ‘will show up at US doorstep’ soon and ‘China will win’

Chinese state-run Global Times media outlet published an op-ed from its editorial board on Wednesday vowing that China’s military will soon confront the U.S. in a hostile exchange.

“The US will definitely see the PLA show up at its doorstep in the not-too-distant future,” the op-ed said. “The two sides’ warships and aircraft on the seas will carry huge mutual strategic hostility, and the two countries will not yield to each other.”

“Once the situation gets out of control and triggers military clash between China and the US, we must give full play to our home field advantage. China will definitely win once there is a war,” the Global Times op-ed said.

The op-ed came in response to U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold conducting a freedom of navigation operation near the Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea on Wednesday.

“What the US has done is a naked provocation, and this is obvious to all,” the Global Times op-ed said, adding that the ship “posed a threat” to the “many Chinese people and facilities” on the island.

americanmilitarynews.com/2021/09/chinese-state-media-vows-military-will-show-up-at-us-doorstep-soon-and-china-will-win/

www.globaltimes.cn/page/202109/1233756.shtml

Israeli Military Sets Up Shop at US Central Command With Eye on Iran

Israel previously fell under US European Command

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent a representative to US Central Command’s headquarters in Florida this week, solidifying Israel’s move under CENTCOM’s area of operations.

“As part of his position, he will be responsible for coordinating joint orders between the IDF and CENTCOM, in peace and wartime, strengthening operational cooperation and exchanging operational knowledge, among other things,” the IDF said, according to The Times of Israel.

Previously, Israel fell under US European Command since Washington’s Arab allies in the Middle East did not have formal relations with Israel. The Trump administration ordered the change early this year after Israel normalized with the UAE and Bahrain.

The idea of the move was to boost cooperation between the US, Israel, and the Gulf states on Iran. “Through cooperation in training, intelligence and operational planning, we will continue to tackle current challenges, chief among them the Iranian threat. I have no doubt that the joint work with CENTCOM and Gulf countries will continue to lead Israel and its security to great achievements,” said IDF Maj. Gen. Tal Kalman, who heads the military unit that focuses on Iran.

Israel recently approved a $1.5 billion military budget boost that will go towards preparing for attacks on Iran. IDF leaders have said they are “accelerating” plans to hit Iran, and the Israeli Air Force has resumed practicing bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Biden administration has been coordinating closely with Israel on Iran. Biden and his cabinet claim they want to pursue diplomacy to revive the Iran nuclear deal but have also hinted at military action against Iran alongside Israeli officials.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/10/28/israeli-military-sets-up-shop-at-us-central-command-with-eye-on-iran/

Hunter Biden Admitted Shady Chinese Deal Had “Everything to Do with My Last Name”

In newly released emails from Hunter Biden, the son of the President admitted in an email that one of his shady business deals in China had “everything to do” with his last name considering he was the son of then Vice President Joe Biden.

“Biden and his associates met in April 2010 with businessman Che Fung to lay the groundwork for a partnership to invest in companies in China and the United States, according to emails from Biden’s abandoned laptop,” the Washington Free Beacon reported. “Other emails show the Biden consortium discussing a deal with Che’s company, Ever Union Capital, to invest up to $150 million in partnership with China’s sovereign wealth fund. In a Sept. 23, 2011, email to his partner Devon Archer, Biden admitted Che wanted to work with him because of his father, then-vice president Joe Biden.”

This is just the latest example of how Hunter Biden abused his last name for financial gain.

The Washington Free Beacon continues:

The emails provide another example of the younger Biden using his family name to further his foreign business interests, undercutting Joe Biden’s claims to the contrary. Hunter Biden landed a high-paying position on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings in 2014, just as his father was taking over the Obama administration’s Ukraine portfolio. Some of Biden’s associates recognized the importance of his family ties to their business deals. One Biden partner touted the “political and strategic value of the Biden family” during 2017 negotiations with a Chinese energy conglomerate.

Che’s fate raises the likelihood that Chinese authorities knew of Biden’s business dealings. Che, who is reported to be the son-in-law of a former chief of China’s central bank, was arrested on Feb. 2, 2015, on charges that he laundered $15 billion. According to one report, Che provided investigators with details of his business activity. It is unclear if he discussed his links to Biden, though the Chinese government would likely have been interested in details of his interactions with the son of an American vice president.

The issue with Hunter Biden’s business deals is that it appears President Joe Biden was directly involved, a clear ethics violation.

In 2013, according to Peter Schweizer’s Secret Empires, Hunter Biden’s firm signed a billion dollar eal with the Bank of China, “ironically” just ten days after Joe and Hunter Biden flew to China on Air Force Two.

Chuck Ross with the Free Beacon reports:

[T]he businessmen involved in the discussions would later partner on one of Biden’s most controversial business deals. One email from the laptop describes Che as a “close business partner” of Chinese investment banker Jonathan Li.

Biden has come under scrutiny for introducing his father to Li during an official U.S. government trip to Beijing in 2013. Emails show that Li, Biden, and two other businessmen, James Bulger and Michael Lin, discussed the investment fund with Che. According to one email, Che planned to commit $100 million to the partnership while granting an investment stake to China Investment Corporation, the Chinese government’s sovereign wealth fund, and other “high power” Chinese firms.

Biden, Archer, Li, Lin, and Bulger in 2013 formed the private equity firm Bohai Harvest Rosemont Partners, known as BHR Partners. Biden has come under fire for failing to divest a 10-percent ownership stake in the partnership, even though he pledged to do so in 2019. The White House has refused to answer questions about the investment.

https://thedcpatriot.com/wow-hunter-biden-admitted-shady-chinese-deal-had-everything-to-do-with-my-last-name/

Police nab 15 in suspected forex investment scam of German citizens

Raid on Petah Tikva call center carried out at request of German police; group allegedly persuaded investors to invest in fictitious financial operations, authorities say

Israeli police on Wednesday raided a call center in Petah Tikva and detained 15 individuals suspected of online investment fraud against citizens of Germany.

The raids were carried out at the request of German authorities, Israeli police said in a press release.

After questioning the 15 suspects, police released all but four, who were brought to Jerusalem Magistrate’s court today for a remand hearing and a request to extend their remand. The court prohibited publication of the names of the suspects until the next hearing in their case.

However, court documents showed that the suspects allegedly ran the websites IntegraOption, SolidCFD, Tradesolid, BitCapitalMarkets, Mycoinbanking, Getfinancial, Procapitalmarkets, Profitstrade, FXPace, Acceptrade and Gainfintech. Their websites used the platforms SpotOption and Tradologic. They allegedly ran call centers in Israel, Georgia, Armenia, and Moldova.

The suspects are part of a group of Israelis who allegedly established call centers in Israel and other countries, persuading individuals to invest money in forex, binary options, and other financial instruments. By the time those duped realized that the investments were fictitious, their money had already disappeared, police said.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-nab-15-in-suspected-forex-investment-scam-of-german-citizens/

GOP Sen. Burr under SEC investigation for stock sell-off when pandemic emerged

The SEC says that it "appears" to be the case Burr had nonpublic information when deciding to sell almost all of his stock holdings.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is still investigating whether North Carolina GOP Sen. Richard Burr violated federal insider trading laws when he sold more than $1.6 million in stocks shortly before the market crashed during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

A recent court filing shows the federal agency is probing the senator's decision to sell close to his entire stock portfolio on Feb. 13, 2020 after he received classified briefings about the emerging coronavirus pandemic. The agency is also taking a look at Burr's brother-in-law, Gerald Fauth, who made a similar decision for his own portfolio after receiving a call from Burr on that day, just weeks ahead of the declaration of a pandemic.

"Among other things, the commission is investigating whether [Burr] sold stocks on the basis of material nonpublic information," the agency said in a declaration filed in the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

On Feb. 13, Burr allegedly called his stockbroker in the morning and told him to sell more than $1.6 million in equities held in his and his wife's joint IRA accounts. Later in the day, he called Fauth. Three minutes after that phone call ended, Fauth called his stockbroker with instructions to sell several stocks in his wife's IRA.

The market began to crash roughly two weeks after Burr's sudden sale. It has since recovered and then some, though the initial sell-off likely spared Burr and his wife and wife's family hundreds of thousands of dollars in initial losses.

It is federally illegal to buy or sell securities based on nonpublic information that will probably impact the asset's value once it becomes widely known.

The STOCK Act, which was passed in 2012, bans members of Congress from using information gained through their positions and access to sensitive intelligence to game the financial markets.

The Justice Department investigated Burr's stock sales but declined to bring charges against the senator, who is set to retire when his term ends in 2022.

Burr has said that he based his significant sell-off on coverage of the unraveling pandemic's early impact on Asia and its markets.

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/senator-richard-burr-under-sec-investigation-stock-sell-coinciding-pandemic

U.S. Urges Allies To Lift Restrictions On Lethal Aid For Ukraine

The United States, which has been providing Ukraine with lethal “defensive” aid is urging allies and partners to lift restrictions on security assistance.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper said that at an online event “U.S. Defense and Security Engagement in the Black Sea Region,” held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The first thing I would mention is I would like to see all allies lift their restrictions on defensive lethal assistance,” Cooper said.

She reminded that the United States had handed Javelin anti-tank systems to Ukraine and Georgia, which she said was a clear example of defensive lethal assistance capability provided by the U.S.

“We have a number of allies who have that as a restriction – some have it as a restriction in terms of their security assistance programs, but some also have it as a restriction in terms of their sales,” the Pentagon spokeswoman said.

” I believe that Ukraine should be able to purchase the capabilities it needs to defend itself, so I’d like to see that restriction lifted,” Cooper stressed.

At the same time, she noted that Ukraine continues to be the focus of U.S. attention so Washington will continue to provide defense assistance to Ukraine as the country needs to defend itself.

Cooper also reminded of the importance of reforms in defense and other areas, reaffirming U.S. support in their implementation.

Previously, on October 26th, for the first time since Ukraine acquired Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles, one of them engaged an enemy target in ​​the Joint Forces Operation zone.

Today, October 26, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Valery Zaluzhnyi, the Bayraktar reconnaissance and strike UAV was for the first time employed in ​​the Joint Forces Operation zone,” the statement said.

Two Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in that shelling, one of whom later succumbed to his wounds. With the start of the shelling, Ukraine immediately demanded through the OSCE SMM that the enemy cease fire, and a note was sent through diplomatic channels.

“In order to force the enemy to cease fire, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Bayraktar was used. The UAV did not cross the line of contact and destroyed with a guided bomb an artillery gun with the crew from the Russian occupation forces,” the statement reads.

After the strike, the shelling of Ukrainian positions stopped.

https://southfront.org/u-s-urges-allies-to-lift-restrictions-on-lethal-aid-for-ukraine/

From Press Freedom to Prison Systems, Everything Assange Touches Gets Illuminated

The bombshell revelations of the imprisoned journalist were arguably small potatoes compared to the criminality Assange exposed by simply standing his ground, writes Caitlin Johnstone.

The U.S. appeal of a British court ruling on the Assange extradition case has concluded, and the judges will probably not have a decision ready until at least January — a full year after the extradition was denied by a lower court. Assange, despite being convicted of no crime, will have remained in Belmarsh prison the entire time.

During that time the judges will be weighing arguments they’d heard about the cruel nature of the U.S. prison system, which formed a major part of the reasoning behind Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s rejection of the U.S. extradition request. They’ll be considering the draconian policy of Special Administrative Measures, whose victims are cut off from human contact and from the outside world.

They’ll be considering the brutality of the supermax ADX facility in Florence, Colorado, where inmates are kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, and where Assange could easily wind up imprisoned despite the prosecution’s flimsy assurances.

Assange probably never set out on this journey with the goal of calling attention to the abuses of the U.S. prison system as his foremost priority, but, as is so often the case with anything his journey touches, those abuses keep getting pulled into the light of public awareness anyway.

His case now goes beyond press freedom, U.S. war crimes, corrupt governments collaborating to stomp out inconvenient truth tellers and the malfeasance of U.S. alphabet agencies. It’s about the abusive nature of the U.S. prison system as well.

And this is a big part of what I find so endlessly captivating about the life of this extraordinary individual. No matter what he’s doing, no matter where he is, no matter how beaten down and silenced and immobilized he may appear, his life keeps exposing things. Keeps bringing things into the light.

It’s been a constant throughout his life as near as I can tell, from when he was a young man using his technical prowess to help Australian police bring down distributors of online child pornography in the mid-nineties. This curious impulse to bring what is hidden in the dark out into the light where it can be seen is what gave birth to WikiLeaks and all the major revelations about the criminality and corruption of the powerful which resulted from its publications.

And as paradigm-shattering as those many bombshell revelations were, they were arguably small potatoes compared to the criminality Assange exposed by simply standing his ground until the most powerful institutions in the world conspired to drag him from the Ecuadorian embassy and lock him in Belmarsh Prison for telling the truth.

https://youtu.be/SLcZnKqalqk

https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/29/from-press-freedom-to-prison-systems-everything-assange-touches-gets-illuminated/

Just the Beginning: Ten Afghan Evacuees Detained as National Security Risks

The Biden administration is giving America gifts that will keep on giving for generations to come, and one of the foremost of these gifts is the newly-arrived group of Afghan evacuees: 70,000 are now in the U.S., and the total number is expected to exceed 124,000 before long. One of Biden’s handlers, unnamed in a Wednesday Wall Street Journal report, has admitted that ten of these evacuees have already been detained as risks to national security. Only ten out of 70,000 isn’t bad, right? Sure. But Biden’s handlers’ catastrophic mishandling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan makes it virtually certain that there will be many more.

The reasons for this are clear. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted in late September that 60,000 Afghans had been brought to the United States by that time, including nearly 8,000 who were American citizens or residents of the country, and 1,800 had Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) issued to them for aiding the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

What about the rest? Mayorkas explained:

Of the over 60,000 individuals who have been brought into the United States [from Afghanistan]—and I will give you approximate figures and I will verify them, approximately 7 percent have been United States citizens. Approximately 6 percent have been lawful permanent residents. Approximately 3 percent have been individuals who are in receipt of the Special Immigrant Visas. The balance of that population are individuals whose applications have not yet been processed for approval who may qualify as SIVs and have not yet applied, who qualify or would qualify—I should say—as P-1 or P-2 refugees who have been employed by the United States government in Afghanistan and are otherwise vulnerable Afghan nationals, such as journalists, human rights advocates, et cetera.

The upshot of this is that over eighty percent of the Afghan evacuees were neither American citizens nor SIV holders. So who are they? No one knows. Certainly Biden’s handlers don’t. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) recently discovered that 12,000 of the Afghans who were sent to Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar and then went on to the U.S. were not just “individuals whose applications have not yet been processed for approval,” as Mayorkas put it, but had no identification at all. Issa stated: “They came with nothing. No Afghan I.D., no I.D. of any sorts. Those people were all forwarded on to the U.S., and that’s quite an admission. So many people had no I.D. whatsoever and yet find themselves in the United States today based on what they said.”

This is no reason to be concerned, say Biden’s handlers. Another (or maybe the same one quoted before) unnamed “senior official” in the Biden administration assured the Wall Street Journal that “the use of biometric and biographic data was a robust screening strategy, as the U.S. had decades to build up databases of information related to national security threats and crime. The official said it was sufficient to address the lack of paperwork or other identifying information.” The official downplayed any risk: “In the case of Afghanistan, we had quite a lot [of data] because we’ve spent almost 20 years in the country. It was actually a particularly rich set of information in those various databases.”

National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne added: “The fact that some have been flagged by our counterterrorism, intelligence, or law enforcement professionals for additional screening shows our system is working. Many of the same people criticizing us for bringing in Afghans were on TV calling for us to evacuate as many Afghans as possible in August.”

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/robert-spencer/2021/10/29/just-the-beginning-ten-afghan-evacuees-detained-as-national-security-risks-n1527904

https://thelawdictionary.org/mandatory/

12 targeted for involvement in ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure

These cyber actors represented a dangerous combination of aggressive disruption and high-stake targets

A total of 12 individuals wreaking havoc across the world with ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure have been targeted as the result of a law enforcement and judicial operation involving eight countries.

These attacks are believed to have affected over 1 800 victims in 71 countries. These cyber actors are known for specifically targeting large corporations, effectively bringing their business to a standstill.

The actions took place in the early hours of 26 October in Ukraine and Switzerland. Most of these suspects are considered high-value targets because they are being investigated in multiple high-profile cases in different jurisdictions.

As the result of the action day, over USD 52 000 in cash was seized, alongside 5 luxury vehicles. A number of electronic devices are currently being forensically examined to secure evidence and identify new investigative leads.

The ticking time bomb of undetected malware

The targeted suspects all had different roles in these professional, highly organised criminal organisations. Some of these criminals were dealing with the penetration effort, using multiple mechanisms to compromise IT networks, including brute force attacks, SQL injections, stolen credentials and phishing emails with malicious attachments.

Once on the network, some of these cyber actors would focus on moving laterally, deploying malware such as Trickbot, or post-exploitation frameworks such as Cobalt Strike or PowerShell Empire, to stay undetected and gain further access.

The criminals would then lay undetected in the compromised systems, sometimes for months, probing for more weaknesses in the IT networks before moving on to monetising the infection by deploying a ransomware. These cyber actors are known to have deployed LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Dharma ransomware, among others.

The effects of the ransomware attacks were devastating as the criminals had had the time to explore the IT networks undetected. A ransom note was then presented to the victim, which demanded the victim pay the attackers in Bitcoin in exchange for decryption keys.

A number of the individuals interrogated are suspected of being in charge of laundering the ransom payments: they would funnel the Bitcoin ransom payments through mixing services, before cashing out the ill-gotten gains.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/12-targeted-for-involvement-in-ransomware-attacks-against-critical-infrastructure

Gree Appliance Companies Charged with Failure to Report Dangerous Dehumidifiers and Agree to $91 Million Resolution

Gree U.S. Subsidiary Agrees to Plead Guilty to Felony Charge – Resolutions Follow Indictment of Company Executives

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/gree-appliance-companies-charged-failure-report-dangerous-dehumidifiers-and-agree-91-million

Former Australian PM Paul Keating

Global media pursue Keating's daughter over Epstein sex ring

https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/global-media-pursue-paul-keating-s-daughter-over-epstein-sex-ring-20190821-p52j5z

Two Former Silicon Valley Executives Charged With Defrauding Tech Company Through Kickback Scheme

Defendants Steered Their Company’s Work To Outside Software Company, Then Laundered Nearly $17 Million In Kickbacks Through A Shell Company

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/two-former-silicon-valley-executives-charged-defrauding-tech-company-through-kickback

FG declares war against commercial sex workers in FCT, arrests 26 ‘prostitutes’

The Federal Government has declared war against commercial sex workers and the operators of brothels in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as part of efforts to safeguard the health of residents.

This was made known on Friday by the acting Director, Social Welfare Services, FCT Social Development Secretariat (SDS), Malam Sani Amar, when he led a team of security agencies and evacuation squad of SDS, to raid a brothel in the nation’s capital.

According to him, the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Aliyu had directed the social development secretariat to sanitise the entire city and ensure that all human nuisances and social vices such as commercial street workers and brothels are stopped.

He disclosed that no fewer than 27 commercial sex workers were arrested and handed over to the police for prosecution, reiterating the commitment of FCTA to ensure that rule of law propel in the city.

He said that the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria, the Immigration Act and NAPTIP Act stipulates that operation of the brothel, street commercial sex work, child abuse, child labour, human trafficking were criminal activities.

“The FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu and the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola and the acting Secretary Social Development Secretariat (SDS), Dr Kevin Ike, are committed to safeguarding the health and lives of the residents.

“The minister has declared war against operators of brothels in FCT and gave us matching order to ensure to rid the city of such illegal activities and business.

“This is a clear demonstration of the commitment of the minister of state to ensure that the rule of law propels in the FCT,” Amar said.

The director, therefore, appealed to the public, especially those that were into the operation of brothels, commercial sex work to have a change of mind and business.

“COVID-19 pandemic is real and a commerce sex operator and their patronisers don’t have the luxury of time to check or ensure how healthy they are.

“Therefore, it is an avenue for easy spread of COVID-19 and it is the duty of the FCT Administration to safeguard the lives and health of residents,” he said.

https://dailypost.ng/2021/10/29/fg-declares-war-against-commercial-sex-workers-in-fct-arrests-26-prostitutes/

New York Attorney General Letitia James Announces Run for Governor Amid Cuomo's Criticism

Last month, James dismissed Cuomo’s complaints that the sexual harassment investigation that led to his resignation was politicised.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has officially announced that she is running for governor.

"I'm running for Governor of New York because I have the experience, vision, and courage to take on the powerful on behalf of all New Yorkers," James said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Reuters reported that the spokesman for the former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accused James of using her office for political gain.

This came a day after a misdemeanour sex offence complaint was filed against Cuomo.

The former New York Governor stepped down in August following the five-month, non-criminal investigation by James' office - it concluded that 11 women had been sexually harassed by Cuomo. He denied intentionally mistreating women but said he was resigning to avoid "months of turmoil" that an investigation would have caused.

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/ex-ny-governor-cuomos-spokesman-accuses-state-attorney-general-of-using-office-for-political-gain-1090321843.html

Former NJ Wells Fargo Adviser Arrested For Stealing Nearly $3 Million From Clients

More positive press for Wells Fargo! This time it was a now-former adviser for the company who is in the news for allegedly stealing almost $3 million from his clients and using the money for personal expenses and gold coins.

Adviser Kenneth A. Welsh was arrested at his home in River Edge, NJ, Thursday morning, according to Bloomberg.

He was booked on charges of "misappropriat[ing] funds from the accounts of five investors between 2016 and 2021," the report says. His victims are alleged to include some people who were "elderly and financially unsophisticated".

Welsh was fired in June of this year by Wells Fargo when his conduct was discovered, the report says.

He transferred "at least" $2.59 million from client accounts to credit cards of his family members and is accused of also drawing checks on customers accounts. Seven of the more than a dozen checks in question were made out to a New Jersey coin dealer for gold coins, the report said.

He allegedly stole $1.8 million from one single victim who lives in Whitehouse, NJ, the report said. That victim had established a brokerage account with Walsh at his previous business and then followed him to Wells Fargo, Bloomberg noted.

Now, he is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He was freed on bail after making an initial appearance earlier this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre.

Welsh is also facing a concurrent civil suit from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A Wells Fargo spokesperson commented: “At Wells Fargo we hold our employees to the highest ethical standards. We notified regulators of this matter, the financial adviser was terminated, and we are working directly with clients to reimburse them.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/former-nj-wells-fargo-adviser-arrested-stealing-nearly-3-million-clients

Gladys Berejiklian told Daryl Maguire she would sack public servant managing Wagga Wagga grant proposal, ICAC hears

A corruption hearing has heard former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian telling her secret MP boyfriend Daryl Maguire that a public servant's "head would be gone" but only after he "fixed" a grant proposal in his electorate.

Key points:

Gladys Berejiklian could offer only "speculation" about her reasons for supporting the grant

The former premier was met by a large media scrum when she arrived for the hearing

Ms Berejiklian will also be giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday

Ms Berejiklian today began her evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) as it investigates whether she breached public trust due to the undeclared relationship with the disgraced Wagga Wagga MP Mr Maguire.

During a dramatic day of evidence peppered with secretly-recorded phone calls, Ms Berejiklian insisted Mr Maguire's level of access to her as premier was no different to other colleagues and she never regarded the relationship as of sufficient status to declare.

In a November 2017 phone call played to the ICAC today, Mr Maguire spoke about a multi-million-dollar project for the Riverina Conservatorium of Music.

Mr Maguire made reference to a senior public servant involved in the process.

"I can't stand that guy, his head will be gone soon," Ms Berejiklian is heard saying.

"Not until he fixes my conservatorium," Mr Maguire replies.

Ms Berejiklian then says: "Good, tell him to fix it and after he fixes it, I'm sacking him".

Under questioning from Counsel Assisting the inquiry, Scott Robertson, Ms Berejiklian was reluctant to accept the prospect she deliberately delayed firing the bureaucrat because she wanted the Wagga Wagga proposal dealt with first.

"No, that person is still in the public service today," the former premier told the commission.

"Obviously I didn't do it."

One project at the centre of the investigation is a $5.5 million grant for the Australian Clay Target Association, which went before a cabinet committee Ms Berejiklian chaired as then-treasurer in December 2016.

At that time, treasury advice was to not support the project because a net benefit to the state had not been adequately demonstrated.

The watchdog heard a recorded conversation in the lead-up to Mr Maguire's appearance at a separate ICAC investigation in July 2018, where he told Ms Berejiklian he had been called as a witness but had nothing to worry about.

"Two rules; be honest and listen to your lawyers," Ms Berejiklian tells him.

Mr Maguire then equates the process to "worse than the Spanish f***ing inquisition".

"People can't even talk anymore," he says.

"They could be taping your conversation with me right now, you wouldn't know."

Ms Berejiklian insisted she did not suspect Mr Maguire had engaged in corrupt conduct because he told her he did nothing wrong.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-29/gladys-berejiklian-cant-remember-why-ignored-treasury-advice/100579534

Principal who got 'Man Pageant' lap dances from HS students also was touched, rubbed by male student during raunchy 'Like a Virgin' routine in 2020 video

The Kentucky high school principal under fire over photos that show him receiving lap dances from scantily clad students during a "Man Pageant" this week also watched a male student in a white gown writhe on a gym floor — and even touch and rub him — to the tune of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" in a newly surfaced 2020 video.

What are the details?

Kentucky sports journalist Nate Bryan posted the video to Twitter and said Hazard High School Principal Donald "Happy" Mobelini — who's also mayor of the eastern Kentucky city — watched the action from the "front row."

In the clip, the male student in the white gown imitates Madonna's infamous live rendition of "Like a Virgin" in which the legendary singer writhed onstage in sexually suggestive ways.

In the 2020 video recorded during Hazard's homecoming week, the male student rubs his hands on and places his arms around Mobelini's neck, and later the principal claps along to the beat.

Bryan's "taking this outta context" remark in the tweet appears to be in reference to a local mom who vehemently defended the "Man Pageant" controversy and appeared annoyed that it made the news in the first place: "People don't know how to keep their mouths shut," she told reporters.

Fox News said Mobelini has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

The Courier-Journal made note of still another Hazard High video from several years ago showing a male student dressed in a bra, shorts, and wig grinding on two other male students sitting in chairs in the middle of the gym, while a fourth student throws a wad of what looks like cash into the air.

Plenty of local support for Mobelini

Despite the district superintendent saying discipline was handed down over the "Man Pageant" fallout — though who received it and what it amounted to are being kept under wraps — Mobelini has been getting a lot of local support.

About 100 residents and students gathered in a Hazard city park as rain fell Thursday to rally for the high school and for the principal-mayor, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported in a separate story.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/video-principal-man-pageant-lap-dances-like-a-virgin-routine

QCs’ open letter: Daniel Andrews’ pandemic powers ‘entrench rule by decree’ as a long-term norm

An open letter from a group of prominent barristers criticising Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ new pandemic powers has said the legislation breaches “basic democratic principles”.

A group of QCs has urged the Victorian parliament to amend or block the Premier’s new pandemic powers, arguing the bill will allow the government to “rule by decree” for an extended period of time.

The letter, signed by 14 barristers, said the group was “deeply concerned” about new legislation which would give the Premier the ability to declare a pandemic and extend it in three-month blocks.

Their primary concern is that the bill will allow the government to “effectively rule the State of Victoria by decree for the foreseeable future without proper Parliamentary oversight or the usual checks and balances on executive power”.

“It is one thing to allow temporary rule by decree to deal with an unforeseen and extraordinary emergency in circumstances of extreme urgency,” the letter said.

“It is something else altogether to entrench rule by decree as a long-term norm.

“In our view, this is antithetical to basic democratic principles and should not be allowed to happen.”

The powers, passed in the lower house on Thursday, will also give the Health Minister the jurisdiction to make “pandemic orders” as well as broad legislative power.

The threshold to make a pandemic order requires the minister believe the order is “reasonably necessary” to protect public health, which the barristers said was “practically impossible” to challenge in the courts.

“This effectively confers an unlimited and practically unreviewable power on the Minister to rule Victoria by decree on a long-term basis,” the letter said.

“This will make it practically impossible to challenge the merits of the order in a court. A person wishing to challenge the order on the merits will need to establish legal unreasonableness.

“This is a very high bar that might catch only the most extreme forms of overreach.”

Legislative powers were defined as “any order” with broad examples not designed to limit the minister’s scope.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/qcs-open-letter-daniel-andrews-pandemic-powers-entrench-rule-by-decree-as-a-longterm-norm/news-story/88720d377deaa3b43b089128f95b2635

US Trade Chief Tai Says She Wants to Dial Down Temperature in US–China Relations

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said her focus in engaging with China will be reducing tensions in the fraught trading relationship between the world’s two largest economic powers.

Bilateral ties have come to a point where “it feels kind of like a pile of dry tinder,” Tai said at an Oct. 28 meeting at the National Chicken Council, adding that one misunderstanding “is likely to spark basically just a giant fire with really, really drastic implications for all of us.”

Liu He, China’s top trade negotiator and vice premier, has at least twice over the past month expressed a desire to see the United States lift its tariffs and sanctions, including during a virtual meeting with Tai on Oct. 9. Tai viewed that meeting as a test for how future engagement should proceed, officials from her office said at the time.

Under the phase one trade agreement, signed last January during the Trump administration, China pledged to buy at least $200 billion worth of additional U.S. products over a two-year period. Analysts at Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics found that China’s purchases have reached about 68 percent of the target during the first nine months this year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that chicken exports to China will increase by roughly 3 percent over the next year, to 900,000 metric tons.

In her first speech outlining the Biden administration’s China trade policy, Tai criticized China’s past trade abuses, vowing to defend America’s economic interests and make China fulfill its purchasing promises. She believes a complete decoupling with China isn’t an option.

“Our objective is not to inflame trade tensions with China,” she said at a think tank event on Oct. 4.

Tai expressed a similar sentiment on Oct. 28, describing her goal as to “bring the temperature down so that we can have a sober relationship and a sober conversation about how we can stabilize the parts of our trade that are working.”

“China has a huge market, a huge population—and they all need to be fed. It needs ag imports. That is something that we can supply,” Tai said.

https://www.ntd.com/us-trade-chief-tai-says-she-wants-to-dial-down-temperature-in-us-china-relations_695141.html

Two men sentenced to 17 years’ jail each for record Australian cocaine seizure

The record 1.89-tonne seizure is the largest cocaine seizure in Australian history

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/two-men-sentenced-17-years%E2%80%99-jail-each-record-australian-cocaine-seizure