Illinois Legislature Votes to Eliminate Right of Religious Freedom from COVID Rejection Measures

On Thursday the Illinois Legislature Limited Religious Objections to COVID Prevention Measures.

Miller Canfield reports:

Late on October 28, 2021, the Illinois legislature took steps to severely limit challenges to COVID-19 prevention measures. The legislature amended the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, 745 ILCS 70/1 et seq. (the “Act”), to prohibit the Act from being used as a tool to challenge COVID-19 prevention measures implemented by any person or entity. The Act allows an action for treble damages to those who are discriminated against on account of their refusal to accept or participate in medical treatment. The new amendments clarify that no action will be allowed when the refusal to accept treatment involves steps taken to reduce the risk of COVID transmission. The full text of the amendment may be found here.

The Act was originally passed in response to Roe v. Wade, with the intention of protecting health care workers from having to participate in abortions or other procedures that offended their religious principles. The Act was broadly phrased to include not only religious objections, but also conscientious objections that are part of a “set of moral convictions that … arises from a place in the life of its possessor parallel to that filled by God among adherents of religious faiths.” The Act prohibits discrimination of any kind by any person on account of a person’s refusal to participate in delivering or accepting medical services based on a conscientious objection. Recent cases had held that the anti-discrimination ban was absolute and not subject to the concepts of “reasonable accommodation” or “undue hardship” that apply to claims of disability or religious discrimination. Thus, an employee refusing to comply with a mandatory vaccination policy based on a claim of religious belief could argue that any effort by the employer to limit their activity (social distancing) or take other precautions (masking/testing) due to their unvaccinated status was unlawful discrimination under the Act without regard to whether the lack of compliance constituted an undue risk to others, or the additional restrictions were reasonable.

Governor Pritzker of Illinois is expected to sign the bill as reported at the City Square.

Changes are coming to a state law prohibiting discrimination against people for conscientiously objecting to medical procedures in the name of enforcing COVID-19 mandates, but the changes won’t go into effect until July 1, 2022.

The Health Care Right of Conscience Act that’s been on the books in Illinois state statute for decades prohibits discrimination against anyone for objecting to a medical procedure for religious reasons.

Over the past 20 months, COVID-19 mandates from Gov. J.B. Pritzker have evolved, including a mandate for health care workers and educators get vaccinated. In Chicago, thousands of police could be punished for not complying with the mayor’s vaccine mandate…

… It’s expected the governor will sign the measure.

“We have effective tools to fight this pandemic – namely, vaccines, masks and testing – and all of our communities are safer when we use the public health and workplace safety protocols we know to work,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement.

These people really don’t like freedom of religion. They are really sick.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/illinois-legislature-votes-eliminate-right-religious-freedom-covid-rejection-measures/

10,086 South African Police Officers Charged with Murder, Rape and Assault since 2013

A total of 10,086 South African Police Service (SAPS) members have been charged for serious criminal offences between 2013 and 2021, according to firearms rights group Action Society. The offenses include murder, rape and assault with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm. Only 50 of these, more than 10 000 members, have been formally suspended by the South African Police Service.

“Action Society is especially concerned about the amount of rape charges, where the alleged perpetrators did not face any suspension at all. Out of the 282 members that were charged for rape, only 11 were suspended this in a country that has a less than 3% rape conviction rate,” said Ian Cameron of Action Society.

Cameron reiterated that South Africa is facing a gender-based violence pandemic of immense proportions and now it seems police are not only failing to combat these crimes, they are also guilty of committing them.

It is important to understand that suspensions were, in most cases, meant to occur while the Independent Police Investigation Directorate (IPID) were conducting their investigations into the alleged rape cases.

Recently it was reported that National Police Commissioner, Khehla Sitole, was served with a notice of intention to suspend. The notice came in light of the High Court decision in January which found that Sitole and two of his lieutenants, had “breached their duties” by intentionally frustrating the IPID investigations into corrupt procurement deals within the Crime Intelligence environment. Deputy National Commissioner, Ntombenhle Vuma has also taken ‘indefinite leave’.

In July, 5 policemen were arrested in conjunction with the ghastly crucifixion murder of farm supervisor Brendin Horner, as Gateway Pundit reported. During widespread riots in July, police officers were also sighted participating in the looting.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/10086-south-african-police-officers-charged-murder-rape-assault-since-2013/

Large-Scale Russian Troop Movements Along Ukraine Border Spark Alarm In US & Europe

There's new allegations of a Russian troop build-up along the Ukrainian border, and Western leaders are sounding the alarm over what's perhaps becoming another brewing showdown near Donbass and the Crimea region.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that "A renewed buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border has raised concern among some officials in the United States and Europe who are tracking what they consider irregular movements of equipment and personnel on Russia’s western flank."

The fresh allegations of Russian muscle-flexing aimed at Kiev come after last April's West-Russia showdown and tensions due to large-scale Russian drills along the border wherein tens of thousands of additional troops were deployed from their home bases to border areas near Ukraine. However, the Kremlin pointed out at the time that it's free to move troops anywhere within its sovereign borders that it wants.

The new weekend Washington Post report admits that the purpose of this current troop build-up remains "unclear" - while detailing the following:

Videos have surfaced on social media in recent days showing Russian military trains and convoys moving large quantities of military hardware, including tanks and missiles, in southern and western Russia.

"The point is: It is not a drill. It doesn’t appear to be a training exercise. Something is happening. What is it?" said Michael Kofman, director of the Russia studies program at the Virginia-based nonprofit analysis group CNA.

The concern comes just after the conclusion of the major 'Zapad 2021' military drills primarily held between Russian and Belarusian forces in September, including a handful of other allies. Analysts say large units never returned to their 'home' bases after the drills, but instead went to outposts near the Ukrainian border.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/new-large-scale-russian-troop-movements-along-ukraine-border-spark-alarm-us-europe

Utah Lawmaker Who Pushed for Forensic Audit Resigns Following Attacks on His Wife and Family

In June Utah state Rep. Steve Christiansen visited the Arizona forensic audit center in Phoenix, Arizona. Christiansen was in Arizona on the basis of preserving election integrity in Utah.

Gateway Pundit reporter Jordan Conradson spoke with Rep. Christiansen at the time. President Trump won Utah by 20 points in the 2020 election.

On Thursday Rep. Christiansen resigned from the Utah legislature following recent attacks on his wife and family.

Yahoo reported:

Utah Rep. Steve Christiansen abruptly resigned from the state legislature on Thursday evening, writing obliquely to colleagues that the decision was motivated by “attacks” on his family after he pushed for an audit of the 2020 election results, despite no proof of fraud.

“While I expected, unfortunately, to be to be personally maligned and ridiculed as a public servant, I did not expect to see individuals attack my wife as they have, nor to see the significance of the impact of those attacks on her and our family. Primarily for that reason, it has become necessary to ‘pause,’ ” Christiansen, 60, wrote in the letter sent to the Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives.

The Republican — who has served in the legislature since January 2020 — further used the letter to resign from his position at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, writing, “I do not wish to infer that my views represent those of [the church.] I therefore believe it is best to retire from Church employment to avoid potential misunderstandings.”

According to his LinkedIn page, Christiansen served as director of Presiding Bishopric Projects at the church.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/utah-lawmaker-pushed-forensic-audit-resigns-following-attacks-wife-family/

‘Internet sleuths’ claim to have proof that ‘China created Covid,’ despite US intelligence reporting none

An upcoming book is being touted by the media as potentially providing proof that China created the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Its narrative is based on open-source documents and clashes with what US intelligence has told the public.

The content of the book, titled ‘Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19’, was previewed by one of its co-authors, Matt Ridley, in the Daily Mail. The tabloid posited that its authors would offer evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic could have started as a “laboratory leak of a possibly engineered coronavirus” followed by a “cover-up of epic proportions”.

The article came days after US intelligence declassified its own assessment of the origins of the disease. The report from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the opinions of the “internet sleuths” behind the book differ quite a lot.

‘Viral’ promises readers “a gripping detective story” based on the discoveries of a group called DRASTIC (Decentralised Radical Autonomous Search Team Investigating Covid-19). They are a bunch of people from all around the world trying to use open-source intelligence, or OSINT, to determine the origins of Covid-19.

One member is an anonymous person living in India, who goes by the moniker ‘The Seeker’. Indian media described him as a man in his 20s who is “an architect, a filmmaker and a former science teacher.” He said he used “OSINT skills (like advanced google tricks, Boolean search operators etc)” in his search for the truth.

The idea of an amateur computer whiz using mad skills to piece together damning truths from information available to everyone on the internet is hardly original. Bellingcat’s Eliot Higgins, for example, was promoted by The New York Times as being suitable to do exactly that with Syria, not because of “any special knowledge of international conflicts or digital data” but due to “the hours he had spent playing video games, which, he said, gave him the idea that any mystery can be cracked.”

Ridley’s retelling of DRASTIC’s work doesn’t seem to offer any new facts about Covid-19 and Chinese research of pathogens. The story of their probe into the “keenest mystery of our lifetime” occasionally makes some unusual turns.

While describing the work that scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) did, Ridley said the researchers “synthesised and altered their DNA to insert specific sequences.” The implication is that this work may have resulted in the creation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. That virus doesn’t have DNA at all – its genetic code is stored in the form of RNA.

Ridley cites US intelligence sources as saying that “three of the early Covid-19 cases were workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology”. That information was directly addressed in the ODNI assessment. It said reports that several lab researchers had “symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in autumn 2019 is not diagnostic of the pandemic’s origins.”

The ODNI report actually stresses that the US intelligence community doesn’t believe China had any foreknowledge about Covid-19. It does state that a lab leak origin of the disease is plausible, but the scenarios it suggests are far less dramatic. It said somebody in the lab could have gotten infected during a sampling field trip, had an asymptomatic case, and unknowingly brought the infection back to Wuhan. Or scientists may have mishandled a yet-unsequenced sample during experimentation.

https://www.rt.com/news/538983-china-covid-conspiracy-book/

Clinton Campaign Spread Alfa Bank Ruse Throughout Obama Admin to Press Trump-Russia Probe

A Hillary Clinton campaign operation to plant a false rumor about Donald Trump setting up a “secret hotline” to Moscow through a Russian bank was much broader than known and involved multiple U.S. agencies, according to declassified documents and sources briefed on an ongoing criminal investigation of the scheme.

In addition to the FBI, the 2016 Clinton campaign tried to convince the Obama administration’s State Department, Justice Department and Central Intelligence Agency to look into the hoax, and continued pressing the issue even after Trump was inaugurated in January 2017.

The goal was to trigger federal investigative activity targeting her Republican rival and leak the damaging information to the media.

“The Clinton machine flooded the FBI with pressure from a number of angles until investigations of Trump were opened and reopened,” said one of the briefed sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive law enforcement matter. "The deception was wide-ranging."

Special Counsel John Durham outlined the FBI part of the scheme in a felony indictment of Michael Sussmann. The former Clinton campaign lawyer was charged last month with making a false statement to the former general counsel of the FBI when he claimed he was not working “for any client” in bringing to the FBI’s attention allegations of a secret channel of communication between computer servers in Trump Tower and the Alfa Bank in Russia.

According to the indictment, Sussmann was in fact acting on behalf of clients including the Clinton campaign, and an unnamed tech executive who RCI has previously reported is Rodney L. Joffe, a regular adviser to the Biden White House on cybersecurity and infrastructure policies.

Internal emails reveal the Clinton operatives knew the links they made between Trump and Russia were “weak,” even describing them as a “red herring,” but fed them to investigators anyway.

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/10/28/clinton_campaign_spread_bogus_alfa_bank_story_obama_admin-wide_to_press_trump-russia_probe_800927.html

Prince Andrew asks US court to dismiss sex assault lawsuit by Epstein accuser Giuffre, or provide ‘more definitive’ allegations

The UK’s Prince Andrew has filed a motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit launched by Virginia Giuffre, an accuser of the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein who alleges the Duke of York sexually abused her when she was underage.

The prince filed the motion in the District Court in Manhattan on Friday, arguing that Giuffre’s civil suit fails to “state a claim upon which relief can be granted” while calling on the judge to scrap the case. Should the court decline to do so, Prince Andrew requested an order requiring Giuffre to “provide a more definitive statement of her allegations,” which he denied entirely.

“Virginia Giuffre may well be a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and nothing can excuse, nor fully capture, the abhorrence and gravity of Epstein’s monstrous behavior against Giuffre, if so,” the prince’s legal team said in the filing.

However, and without diminishing the harm suffered as a results [sic] of Epstein’s alleged misconduct, Prince Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre… He unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him.

Now 38, Giuffre launched her lawsuit against the prince in August, alleging that he forced her into sex at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell – one of Epstein’s closest confidantes who also faces sexual abuse allegations – when she was just 17 years old. She also accused Andrew of further abuse at Epstein’s lavish Manhattan home, and on one of the late financier’s private getaways in the US Virgin Islands, and previously leveled similar charges against Epstein himself.

While Andrew, 61, has not been charged in the US and “categorically” denies Giuffre’s claims, earlier this month he was ordered by a US judge to answer questions from her lawyers sometime before July 14, 2022, and to offer some initial response by October 29 – the latter of which appears to have come in the form of Friday’s motion for dismissal. British authorities, meanwhile, declared that they would take “no further action” against the royal after conducting a review prompted by Giuffre’s civil case.

https://www.rt.com/uk/538909-prince-andrew-dismiss-giuffre/

VIDEO: McAuliffe Insists ‘Everybody Clapped’ When He Called Parents Racist And Said They Shouldn’t Be Involved In Education

"Everyone clapped when I said it."

Democratic candidate for Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe claimed that “everyone clapped” when he slammed parents as racist for objecting to racist anti-white racist material and demanded that they stop having a say in the material taught to their children.

“Out of thousands of books you could look at, why did you take the one black female author? He’s ending the campaign on a racist dog whistle,” McAuliffe said of his opponent Glenn Youngkin. “The question should be, should parents be allowed to take books off of shelves? Should that be left to parents or left to school boards and others who do this every single day? Everyone clapped when I said it.”

Todd replied, “They would say this is not about banning a book, this is about informing parents that a book may have some material that not all parents will be crazy about, we should let you know your kid is going to be dealing with this material.”

McAuliffe made headlines last week after resurfaced footage from 2009 showed him railing against the type of career politician that he went on to become:

Twelve-year-old video footage from 2009 of former Virginia governor and current Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe shows the 64-year-old career politician railing against career politicians and calling for term limits, proudly stating that “too many people stay in politics too long.”

“You know, listen, I’m also open if people want to talk about term limits, I just think sometimes too many people stay in politics too long,” McAuliffe said. “Get in, make your mark, and go and do something else. Let’s continually bring new people into politics with lots of new ideas, it’s good for the process, it’d be great for Virginia, it’d be great for this country.”

https://nationalfile.com/video-mcauliffe-insists-everybody-clapped-when-he-called-parents-racist-and-said-they-shouldnt-be-involved-in-education/

COP26: Prince Charles Claims It’s the ‘Last Chance Saloon’ to Save the Planet

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/10/31/cop26-prince-charles-claims-its-the-last-chance-saloon-to-save-the-planet/

Private Jets Swarm Glasgow for COP26: Emit more CO2 than Scots Churn out in a Year

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/10/31/private-jets-swarm-glasgow-for-cop26-emit-more-co2-than-scots-churn-out-in-a-year/

Hunter Biden abandons gun in trashcan near school. Media silent.

On October 2018, the Department of Defense became aware of an incident involving Biden Hunter abandoning a gun in a trash can near a school.

The incident was kept quiet by the media. This bombshell was dropped by Senator Grassley

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/hunter-biden-abandons-gun-in-trashcan-near-school-media-silent/

Twitter Censors Trailer of Upcoming Documentary Exposing Anti-White Racism

The following article, Twitter Censors Trailer of Upcoming Documentary Exposing Anti-White Racism, was first published on Big League Politics.

Twitter is censoring the trailer of the upcoming documentary, “Anti-White,” which details the racism against whites that is being all pervasive throughout Western society.

The monopoly tech corporation did not remove the trailer but censored it from being shown in retweets in an attempt to prevent the video from going viral.

Screenshots of the censorship conducted by Twitter against the trailer can be seen here:

Big League Politics has reported on the documentary that intends to change the popular narrative with regards to institutional and systemic racism:

“A new documentary, “Anti-White,” intends to expose the agenda of the radical left and how they are targeting white people with a campaign of coordinated hatred.

“Across America, white people are being attacked in the streets and in the media,” the trailer for the documentary states.

The trailer cites hatred from CNN propagandists against white people and a string of anti-white hate attacks that are largely ignored by the leftist media and only covered briefly by mainstream right-leaning outlets.

“While most people thought the racially-charged protests and influence would quiet down after the 2020 election, instead, the culture of America appears changed to its core,” the trailer states.

“What started as an awareness campaign against police brutality has quickly become an all-out assault against white Americans… Is there a war on white people? What is driving this rising hatred and violence against white Americans. How far will this anti-white movement go and who’s next?” the trailer continues…

The documentary, produced by Maggie Vandenberghe a.k.a. Fog City Midge and co-directed by Andrew Meyer and Jon Du Toit, can be pre-ordered at AntiWhiteMovie.com.“

Twitter does not want the truth about racism to be known to the public and for consciousness to develop against this sinister agenda pushed by far-left extremists.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/81075/twitter-censors-trailer-of-upcoming-documentary-exposing-antiwhite.html

Iranian civil defense chief says US & Israel behind cyberattack that disrupted thousands of gas stations this week

Iran’s civil defense chief has accused the US and Israel of paralyzing the work of the country’s gas stations this week. He said “internal factors” may have also been involved in the cyberattack.

The head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization, Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali, compared the recent cyber intrusion to last year’s attack on the Shahid Rajaee terminal near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on the coast of the Strait of Hormuz, and the hack that disrupted the country’s rail service in July.

“This attack is similar to cyberattacks on the railways and Shahid Rajaee, and we think it was definitely carried out by the Americans and the Zionists,” Jalali was quoted by IRNA as saying, referring to the Israeli government.

Reuters quoted Jalali as saying on Iranian state TV that while he was “still unable to say forensically,” he believed “analytically” the US and Israel were responsible for the attack. The general added that “internal factors” may have been involved as well, and said security services were investigating the matter.

Iran has seen a wave of explosions, fires, and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure since the beginning of last year amid heightened tensions with Washington and Tel Aviv. Iranian officials regularly accuse the US and Israel of carrying out various subversive activities on Iranian soil. American and Israeli officials either deny or do not comment on such claims.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi confirmed on Wednesday that a cyberattack had disrupted the work of thousands of gas stations across the country. The intrusion disabled the government-issued smart cards that many drivers use to buy fuel.

Raisi said hackers wanted to make “people angry by creating disorder and disruption.” Jalali told IRNA on Sunday that 60% of the stations resumed work 12 hours after the hack.

Israeli media reported this week that the Black Shadow hacker group had broken into the servers of an Israeli internet hosting company, Cyberserve, bringing down a number of websites, including a data storage company, a transport company, and an LGBT dating service. According to reports, the group, which has targeted Israeli companies in the past, has links to Iran.

https://www.rt.com/news/538978-iran-gas-station-hack/

Japan ends vaccine-induced pandemic by legalizing IVERMECTIN, while pharma-controlled media pretends masks and vaccines were the savior

Japan just flattened their biggest covid curve yet, and they did so by legalizing and using ivermectin. In almost every country, infection rates and daily death records have increased with each new wave of sickness. The public health advice of lockdowns, isolation, mask mandates and mass inoculation programs has only continued to cause larger curves of sickness and hospitalization. The withholding of viable treatments, a crime against humanity, has all but crippled humanity’s ability to adapt to and recover from respiratory infections. But there’s hope in Japan, where ivermectin has been deployed to help people recover from covid-19 so they can have more durable, lasting immunity.

Japan is wary of vaccine companies, more aware of the damage they cause to human life

When it comes to trusting vaccine companies, Japan is one of the most cautious nations in the world. When the first covid-19 vaccines came out, Japan waited two additional months before offering the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to the public. Historically, the Japanese are quicker to acknowledge vaccine injuries and will move more swiftly to protect the public from poisonous shots.

For example, Japan recommends the fewest number of vaccine doses to infants under one year of age. Not coincidentally, Japan also has the third lowest infant mortality rate among all developed nations. This isn’t a mere correlation. In fact, a study of thirty-four developed nations finds that infant mortality rates regress against the number of vaccine doses routinely given.

Pandemic not nullified by vaccines

Before Japan released the Pfizer covid vaccines to the public, the country was still struggling to come up with a treatment plan and even recorded over 9,000 new infections in early January. Over one hundred deaths were recorded on February 4th, as governments put pressure on Japan to come up with a vaccine campaign. As the vaccines were rolled out, COVID seemed to fade away for a month or two. However, by May 12, infections were peaking again, with over 7,000 new infections recorded. By May 25th, the nation recorded over one hundred deaths in a single day.

By the time July rolled around, the number of shots administered daily rose to about 1.5 million per day. By the end of the August, close to 70 percent of the Japanese population had lined up to get their shots. However, the high vaccination rate showed negative results. On August 20, 2020, when there were no vaccinations, there were 832 new infections. A year later, after most of the population was vaccinated, there were 22,301 new infections on August 22, 2021! The number of recorded deaths in August 2021 was, on average, five times higher each day, when compared to the year before — when there were no vaccines.

https://www.cracknewz.com/2021/10/japan-ends-vaccine-induced-pandemic-by.html

Facebook, YouTube censor Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for pointing out that covid vaccines destroy immune function

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro got censored by Facebook after he posted a video saying that statistics and data proved that those who received Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines ended up with what looked like Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

According to Facebook, the video was removed because its “policies don’t allow claims that COVID-19 vaccines kill or seriously harm people.” Alphabet’s YouTube took the same step later, saying the video had violated its medical disinformation policy.

But Bolosano merely shared concerns after reading the data provided by government officials in the U.K. and what happened raised a very important issue – those unwilling to go along with the official narrative will be silenced and censored.

In his article for SHTFplan.com, Mac Slavo said that “whether the information is true or not, the free flow of information will always be a cornerstone of basic human rights and everybody should be able to hear, read or otherwise absorb any information we wish and decide for ourselves if it rings true to us or not.”

“That’s discernment and it will take critical thinking. Since the political overlords want obedient slaves, they will silence those who promote the idea of thinking for themselves. What we do with that information and how we interpret the data is on us,” Slavo wrote.

However, Slavo noted that Bolsonaro must also be unmasked. “He’s a member of the ruling class. He is promoting the idea that COVID-19 does exist when there is far more evidence out there that they simply renamed the common cold so people would be scared into taking a shot.”

In 2020, Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19. He praised hydroxychloroquine for helping limit his symptoms. Earlier this year, the Brazilian president vowed not to take any COVID-19 vaccine despite pledging to work to inoculate Brazilians.

“This story makes little sense, almost like it was scripted to read this way as some kind of a psychological operation,” noted Slavo, who stressed that everybody must stay alert and don’t trust any ruler. “Never put anything past them. This guy vowed to vaccinate the entirety of Brazil. They are all working against us.”

Over 32,000 Brazilians died following COVID-19 vaccination

http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2021/10/facebook-youtube-censor-brazilian.html

‘It’s a lie that we’re criminals and terrorists, we’re simply freedom fighters to liberate our land,’ Hamas co-founder tells RT

Exclusive: Mahmoud al-Zahar talks about potential prisoner exchanges, May’s Gaza-Israel war, the current shaky ceasefire and the likelihood of further conflict, and affirms the movement wants Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti freed.

In May, the Israeli military and Gaza’s armed groups engaged in 11 days of brutal warfare, resulting in the deaths of 270 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. Since then a mutual ceasefire has largely held, but many speculate that this may soon change. In order to get a better grasp of the ongoing tensions between the two sides, I spoke to Mahmoud al-Zahar, the co-founder of the Hamas movement, to get the perspective of the organisation currently designated as a terrorist group in most Western capitals.

Born near Gaza City on May 6, 1945, making him, at 76, older than the state of Israel, Mahmoud al-Zahar is known as many different things to different people. To some he is a co-founder of an armed liberation movement, to others he is known as an international terrorist leader and conservative Islamist. He previously served as the Palestinian foreign minister as part of the democratically elected Palestinian Authority (PA) government of 2006 following a landslide victory for Hamas at Palestine’s legislative elections. In 1988, one year after the launch of Hamas, he was detained by the Israeli authorities and was later, in 1992, exiled to southern Lebanon. He has survived multiple assassination attempts and currently resides inside besieged Gaza, where he remains a high-profile leader of the Hamas organisation.

Al-Zahar currently has a target on his head, meaning that any time he could be assassinated by Israeli airstrikes, as they view him as a major terrorist leader. When I spoke to him over a live link from London, he told me that the building which he was speaking from had been bombed four times.

One of the primary issues I asked him about was that of the ongoing prisoner swap talks, which are being carried out through Egypt acting as intermediary. Hamas currently holds four Israeli soldiers captive: Hisham al-Sayed, Avner Mengistu, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. It is unclear whether they are alive or dead, but according to Hamas they will only be handed back to Israel under an prisoner exchange agreement, similar to the 2011 deal struck between the two sides, under which 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were freed for the release of one Israeli soldier.

I asked al-Zahar what were the primary considerations for Hamas and what would constitute a fair prisoner exchange deal in its eyes?

Calling the swap as being based on “humanitarian principles,” he replied: “We hold to the principles that we should release the old age prisoners, the people that suffer from chronic diseases, people representing every area in Palestine, not only in Gaza Strip but also the West Bank… The aim is to set free prisoners in urgent need for freedom, in order to save their lives, in order to treat them…and to also allow people to continue their activities [work] in order to help their families.”

When asked how his organisation would respond to the capture and detainment of the four Israeli soldiers as being labelled as an act of terrorism and criminal in nature, he stated:

“They came and occupied our land, it was a very disastrous step for Europe and America in particular to put foreigners in our land to dismiss our people, to allow them [Palestinians] to live in refugee camps, without any reason, without any crime [being committed by Palestinians]. Just because they are Jews, as a Holy people, and our people as the owners of the land have no chance to live in our lands, so for this reason I think it is a fabricated story that we are criminals, that we are terrorists – we are very simply freedom fighters to liberate our land…”

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/538848-statement-hamas-co-founder-rt/

Watchdog Hits McAuliffe With Campaign Finance Complaint Over Foreign Money

McAuliffe took $350,000 donation from a foreign-owned company linked to an overseas money laundering probe

A government watchdog group hit Terry McAuliffe with a campaign finance complaint on Friday over a $350,000 donation he received from a foreign-owned company linked to an overseas money laundering probe, according to a copy of the filing obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The National Legal and Policy Center is asking the FEC to "promptly investigate" whether the contribution to the Virginia gubernatorial candidate violated federal laws prohibiting campaigns from accepting political donations from foreign nationals.

"Terry McAuliffe has a history of accepting foreign contributions. The FEC must fully investigate these serious charges that he accepted $350,000 in illegal foreign contributions for his current campaign," said Washington, D.C. attorney, Paul Kamenar, counsel to NLPC, who drafted and filed the complaint with the FEC.

LycaTel LLC, owned by Sri Lankan-British national Allirajah Subaskaran, gave McAuliffe $350,000 in July, the Free Beacon first reported in early October. The company is a New Jersey subsidiary of Subaskaran’s U.K.-based telecom conglomerate, which boasts a complicated web of offshore businesses and has been the subject of tax-fraud and money-laundering charges in France.

Federal law prohibits campaigns from accepting money from foreign nationals and entities, directly or indirectly, in local, state, and federal elections. While U.S.-based subsidiaries of foreign corporations can contribute, the donation can't be made under the direction of the company's foreign leadership—which legal experts said can be a murky legal distinction.

"This is effectively a really easy way to launder foreign money into the U.S. political process and to avoid the FEC prohibition on foreign nationals making contributions in U.S. elections," Ben Freeman, director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy, told the Free Beacon earlier this month.

LycaTel does not appear to have contributed to previous Virginia campaigns or federal races. In July, the company retained D.C.-based lobbyist Robert Thompson to lobby on "Telecom" issues, according to disclosure records. Prior to that, Thompson had registered as a foreign agent representing Subaskaran as part of a "business expansion within the U.S.A.," according to records filed with the Department of Justice.

Thompson was a lobbyist for the Sri Lankan government from 2013 to 2014, according to disclosure records. Thompson did not respond to a request for comment about his lobbying work.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/watchdog-hits-mcauliffe-with-campaign-finance-complaint/

Universities require Christian clubs to promote non-Christian views to get funding: lawsuits

Appeals court punished University of Iowa twice this year for similar actions against Christian clubs.

Public universities in conservative-leaning states are discriminating against a Christian student apologetics club on the basis of religion and viewpoint, violating their members' constitutional rights, according to two lawsuits filed days apart.

University of Houston Clear Lake (UHCL) policies were invoked to withhold recognition from Ratio Christi unless it allows non-Christians to run for leadership positions, while the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) withheld funding for a Ratio Christi event because it didn't include a non-Christian perspective, the suits allege. Both were filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

Selective applications of nondiscrimination policies to conservative, Christian and pro-life groups have faced particular scrutiny in the federal courts in recent years.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals twice sanctioned the University of Iowa this year for derecognizing religious groups that violate its "human rights policy" while exempting Greek life, sports teams and racial affinity groups.

Tellingly, the university took action against Christian student groups that required leaders to eschew same-sex relationships while leaving alone a Christian student group that required leaders to support such relationships.

The UHCL lawsuit targets school officials as well as UH system chancellor Rena Khator, all of whom have the authority to "review, approve, or reject" decisions related to Ratio Christi. They all "knew, or should have known," that registered student organization (RSO) policies are discriminatory.

It closely resembles the University of Iowa litigation, claiming UHCL not only recognizes groups that limit leadership eligibility, such as those for foreign students and Palestinian rights activists, but also those that restrict membership by protected categories, including veteran status and sex.

File

ratio-christi-university-of-houston-clear-lake.pdf

Ratio Christi is allegedly the only group denied RSO status for its leadership requirements: that leaders must "profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" and observe their faith consistently. It has been seeking recognition since July.

RSO status comes with benefits including meeting space, participation in student involvement fairs, and funding covered by mandatory student services fees. Because their club isn't recognized, "Ratio Christi's members are compelled to support … ideas and philosophies that they oppose" while being denied reciprocal support.

https://justthenews.com/nation/free-speech/universities-require-christian-clubs-promote-non-christian-views-get-funding

Black Shadow hackers demand $1 million in order to not leak data

The Black Shadow hackers have demanded $1 million, threatening to leak data if the ransom is not paid

The hacker group Black Shadow demanded on Sunday that $1 million be paid to it within 48 hours, or it would leak or sell the rest of the information it collected from the database of the gay dating app Atraf.

In its latest attack on an Israeli company, Black Shadow leaked data from a number of companies serviced by the Israeli Internet company Cyberserve, including Atraf, the Kavim and Dan bus companies and the tour booking company Pegasus.

The latest attack was announced by the group on Friday, with Black Shadow claiming it had damaged the servers. Cyberserve is a web hosting company, meaning it provides servers and data storage for other companies across industries. The data seized by the hackers includes a wide variety of businesses, from travel bookings company Pegasus to the Dan bus company and even the Israeli Children’s Museum.

Black Shadow claimed on its Telegram channel on Sunday that neither government officials nor Cyberserve contacted them about their ransom demand, so they had decided to allow the public to provide the $1 million ransom they were demanding. “It is obvious this is not an important problem for them,” said the group. “We know everybody is concerned about ‘Atraf’ database. As you know we are looking for money.”

The group promised that if it got the ransom, it would not leak the information of about one million people it had collected from Atraf. The group did not make any promises about any of the other data it had collected.

The National Cyber Directorate in Jerusalem (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

“Under no circumstances should you submit to the demands of the attackers,” stressed the director-general of the Israel Internet Association, Yoram Hacohen, on Sunday in response to Black Shadow’s demands.

“There is no guarantee that if the amount is paid the information will not be published and more importantly such a surrender will lead to further and increased attacks due to what is perceived by them as an achievement,” warned Hacohen. “Moreover, if private surfers receive messages with demands for payment of ransom they must immediately report it to the police and not take any action beyond that.”

“What needs to be done now is to refine online safety and privacy regulations and provide all the support, physically and mentally, to those about whom information has been revealed,” added Hacohen.

The Agudah – The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel and the Israel Internet Association advised those affected by the cyberattack to make sure to change their usernames and passwords and to use strong passwords. The two stressed that in any incident of ransom demands or blackmail, those affected should contact the Israel Police.

“The natural human tendency may succumb to the demands of the attackers, but past experience shows that there is no guarantee that the personal content will be removed. Moreover, it is an opening that may lead to additional ransom demands,” stressed the two organizations. They also advised those affected to notify social media platforms if their information is published on social media.

Those affected in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community can contact a hotline set up by the Agudah between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and between 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday at *2982 and on WhatsApp at 058-620-5591.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/black-shadow-hackers-demand-1-million-in-order-to-not-leak-data-683607

Russian Forces And Syrian Army Kick Off Joint Ground, Aerial Drills In Al-Hasakah

On October 31, Russian forces and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) kicked off their first ever joint ground and aerial drills in Syria’s northeastern region.

The drills are being held in the northern countryside of al-Hasakah, in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

According to the SDF-affiliated Hawar News Agency, during the joint drills SAA troops moved near the town of Tell Tamr along the frontlines with Turkish forces as warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) dropped flares and launched rockets.

The Analytical Network News Agency (ANNA) revealed that 12 Mi-8 and Ka-52 helicopters as well as 12 Su-34 fighter bombers and five Su-35 fighter jets of the VKS are taking part in the drills along with a few Mig-29 fighter jets of the Syrian Arab Air Force. For that purpose, the warplanes were deployed in al-Qamishli Airport.

Earlier, several videos showing a number of Russian warplanes flying over different parts of al-Hasakah surfaced online.

Russian and Syrian air-defense units will also train on counter-drone warfare and other tactics as a part of the joint drills.

https://southfront.org/russian-forces-and-syrian-army-kick-off-joint-ground-aerial-drills-in-al-hasakah-photos/

Meta (Facebook) is scooping up upcoming VR companies to cement its dominance

Big Tech is once again scooping up future competition.

While lawmakers are working on building an antitrust case against Facebook for its earlier acquisitions of platforms like Instagram, Facebook in the present day is rapidly scooping up many smaller companies in a bid to cement its dominance in a new underdeveloped world of VR.

Meta (previously Facebook), in an effort to become relevant in the fitness industry, has acquired Within, the company behind subscription-based fitness app Supernatural. The app was already available on Oculus Quest, which might soon be called Meta Quest.

Supernatural was one of the first subscription fitness apps on Oculus Quest, a virtual reality headset made by Oculus, which is owned by Facebook (Meta). The VR fitness app provides instructions to users using avatars and motion-tracked workout movements, including boxing.

Supernatural lets users connect their Apple Watches, allowing them to track heart rate in real-time. The support for smartwatches during VR-based workouts might just be the thing that separates Facebook’s Oculus Quest from the competition in the fitness sector. The company already has a similar app Oculus Move, but it does not support smartwatches.

“Our partnership with Meta means we will have more resources to expand and bring you even more music, more creative ways to work out, more features and more social experiences for VR,” Within CEO Chris Milk said in a statement Friday.

“Together we will also explore ways we can enhance future hardware to support VR fitness apps, encouraging other developers to bring new fitness experiences to VR. We believe fitness will be a massive success in VR where multiple third-party fitness apps can succeed,” Meta’s VP of Play Jason Rubin said in a statement.

Facebook’s aggressive move of scooping up small players (in what some would say is a big to nip upcoming competition in the bud) is one that is largely overlooked by lawmakers who say they’re interested in antitrust action, and yet is an increasingly common phenomenon.

https://reclaimthenet.org/meta-facebook-is-scooping-up-upcoming-vr-companies-to-cement-its-dominance/

New Zealand announces it will halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

New Zealand has announced it will add an additional layer to its plan to tackle a major worldwide issue, in stark contrast to Australia.

New Zealand has added an additional layer to its climate action plan, in stark contrast to Australia.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an ambitious new emissions reduction target, with a pledge to halve its net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

It comes as a key UK government adviser accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of showing “no indication” of delivering on his 2050 net zero climate plan.

New Zealand’s new target, announced as world leaders gather in Glasgow for the critical COP26 summit on climate change, is substantially higher than the previous goal of a 30 per cent reduction set as part of the 2015 Paris agreement.

New Zealand’s enhanced contribution to the global fight on climate change “represents our fair share, and is in line with what’s needed if we are to avoid the worst impacts of global warming,” Ardern said in a statement on Sunday.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/new-zealand-announces-it-will-halve-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-2030/news-story/212753cf9bf884a817a81f3c45472838

Uncovering the CIA: Whistleblower Philip Agee interviewed with John Marks (1976)

Philip Agee was a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who turned into one of the agency’s most vocal critics, and who exposed the inner workings of Unites States regime change and destablizations operations all over the world. During his nearly four decades in the intelligence game, Agee became disillusioned with his work for the agency, and later went on to publish numerous books including “Inside the Company: CIA Diary” (1975) which infuriated US officials after identifying some 250 officers, front companies and foreign agents working for the CIA. Agee passed away in Havana, Cuba in 2008. During his activist career, Agee inspired a new wave of publications including Covert Action Information Bulletin, as well as numerous films detailing the clandestine exploits of the American deep state.

https://21stcenturywire.com/2021/10/31/uncovering-the-cia-whistleblower-philip-agee-interviewed-with-john-marks-1976/

Mathew 24 "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."