NATO member will withdraw troops in event of war with Russia – president

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic blamed the US for escalating the crisis and said his country would stay out of a conflict

With tensions growing on the border between Russia and Ukraine, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic has announced that Zagreb will pull its troops out of NATO contingents stationed in the region should the situation spiral into a full-scale conflict.

Speaking on Tuesday in a televised address, the leader said he sees “reports that NATO – not a separate state, not the US – is increasing its presence and sending reconnaissance ships.”

He insisted that Zagreb’s authorities “have nothing to do with it and we won’t have anything to do with it, I guarantee you that.”

“Not only will we not send the military, but if there is an escalation, we will recall every last Croatian military man,” Milanovic said. “This has nothing to do with Ukraine or Russia, it has to do with the dynamics of American domestic politics, [US President] Joe Biden and his administration, which I supported.”

However, the Croatian president pointed out that he “sees dangerous behavior in matters of international security.”

Milanovic’s comments come amid high tensions between Moscow and Kiev, with a number of Western leaders sounding the alarm in recent weeks over a purported build-up of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine. On Monday, the US-led military bloc announced that its members will order more fleets and fighter planes into the waters of Eastern Europe as Russia “continues its military build-up” amid the growing row.

Spain and France are focusing on southeastern Europe, with Madrid reportedly contemplating dispatching ships to “join NATO naval forces and is considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria.” Meanwhile, Paris “has expressed its readiness to send troops to Romania under NATO command.”

Amid accusations in the West of an impending invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin has repeatedly denied, Moscow is seeking a written response on its security proposals from American officials following a string of diplomatic meetings this month.

In December, Russia handed over two draft treaties, one addressed to Washington and the other to NATO. As well as blocking Kiev from NATO membership, Moscow is insisting that the bloc should refrain from military activity on the territory of the former Warsaw Pact states that joined after 1997, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has refused to compromise on issues the organization deems crucial to its core values to meet Russia’s demands. He also criticized Moscow’s requests, saying that Moscow has no veto on Ukraine’s efforts to join the bloc, and that it will not accept a “two-tier” membership system that prevents it from deploying troops in certain states.

In 2020, the Croatian parliament backed the country’s armed forces deploying as part of nine separate missions, including NATO contingents stationed in Poland.

https://www.rt.com/russia/547307-croatia-withdraw-nato-troops/

US Preps Export Rule That Hammered Huawei To Target Russia's Access To Global Electronics

The White House has informed the US chip industry that it must be prepared for potential new restrictions on exports in the event Russia attacks Ukraine, according to Reuters, as the Biden administration is still mulling the unprecedented move of preventing Russian consumers from getting US phones, computers, and cars - which would be an expansion of the Foreign Direct Product Rule previously used by Trump against Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.

"We have been very clear that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States is looking at a range of options – with allies and partners – to deliver severe costs to the Russian economy," a White House spokeswoman said, after being asked about a phone call made Friday with the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the foremost chip lobbying group in D.C

It's yet more "all options" talk and imposing severe "costs" on the Russian economy as the White House since last week has echoed its belief Russia is poised for a Ukraine offensive, even as urgent high level diplomatic engagement between Moscow and Western powers continues in Europe.

An official with SIA described the call with the White House as follows: "The NSC relayed in blunt and stark terms the gravity of the situation they are currently grappling with in Ukraine, noting that this is an extraordinary situation and potentially the worst cross border invasion to take place since WWII," according to Reuters. "The NSC indicated that the administration is actively considering any and all options."

Should such a retaliatory move be enacted, it would be akin to Trump-era actions taken against China's telecoms giant Huawei - and also resembling current far-reaching export controls on Iran, which have devastated key sectors in the Middle East country.

Meanwhile there are already signs the Ukraine crisis and growing war-rhetoric surrounding it is hitting Russia's business elite hard, also as the ruble continued its steep slide Monday:

Russia’s business elite is bracing for possible military conflict, billions in lost value and new rounds of hard-hitting Western sanctions in silent despair — unable to influence the course of events and unwilling to speak out publicly, business owners and representatives told The Moscow Times.

Russia’s stock market has been in steep decline in recent weeks and the value of the ruble has cratered to an almost all-time low as the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine shows no sign of abating.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/us-preps-export-rule-hammered-huawei-target-russias-access-global-electronics

Billionaire predicts rise of China as US empire collapses

Ray Dalio compares political risks in the US with recent economic growth in China

China is winning the economic competition against the United States, according to Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge-fund firm, Bridgewater Associates.

The US is in “relative decline,” while “China has been rising,” Dalio said on Monday during a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg. He noted that the US Federal Reserve has been “behind the curve” on monetary policy, adding that “rising interest rates means all other assets have to adjust.”

Dalio contrasted political risks in the United States with recent economic growth in China, saying there’s a “reasonable chance” neither major US political party will accept the results of the 2024 election.

“There is a worry that one should have about the divisiveness and what it means for each other,” he said.

The billionaire has long predicted that the Chinese economy will overtake the US in size to become much more powerful.

Earlier this month, Dalio praised China’s drive for common prosperity while urging nations including the US to narrow wealth gaps.

https://www.rt.com/business/547304-china-rise-us-empire-collapse/

Ukraine dismisses suggestions of imminent Russian invasion

An attack on Ukraine in the near future is unlikely, the country’s defense minister said

The US will not make any concessions to Russia on potential security guarantees, and the only possible way to make bilateral agreements will be mutual steps to benefit both nations, the US State Department said on Monday.

Talking to gathered journalists at a press briefing, State Department spokesman Ned Price also added that Washington would consult closely with its partners, including Ukraine, before making deals with Moscow.

His comments come less than a week after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva for consultations over security guarantees.

“The key point in that is that any steps that we would take would not be concessions,” Price said. “They would need to be on a reciprocal basis, meaning that the Russians would also have to do something that would help improve our security – our security posture.”

At the end of last year, Russia published drafts of proposed treaties it had sent to NATO and the US. The documents include a long list of security guarantees sought by the Kremlin, including a demand that NATO signs a legally binding agreement not to expand eastwards. The proposals also include a clause on banning the placement of missiles near Russia’s borders and the withdrawal of NATO soldiers to pre-1997 positions. Discussions over the propositions began in January.

Despite agreeing to consultations, Washington has insisted that many of Moscow’s proposals will simply not be considered.

“We were firm, however, in pushing back on security proposals we have heard from Moscow that are simply non-starters for the United States,” he said, noting that the US would never agree to ban Ukraine from joining NATO but would consider various reciprocal agreements on missiles and transparency of troop movements.

https://www.rt.com/russia/547285-us-stays-firm-ukraine-deal/

Michael Madsen’s son Hudson dead at 26 in suspected suicide

Michael Madsen’s son, Hudson Madsen, has died at 26 in a “suspected suicide,” authorities told the Sun on Monday.

The outlet reports that the 26-year-old was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Hawaii’s island of Oahu.

“I can confirm Hudson Lee Madsen, 26, died by a gunshot wound to the head in a suspected suicide on the island of Oahu,” a spokeswoman for the Department of the Medical Examiner in Honolulu told the Sun.

Hudson was the godson of Oscar-winning director Quentin Tarantino. His father, Michael, 64, and Tarantino, 58, have collaborated on multiple films together, including “Reservoir Dogs” and the two-part “Kill Bill.”

Michael is also dad to sons Calvin, 25, and Luke, 16, whom he shares with his wife, “The Price of Air” actress DeAnna Madsen.

He also shares sons Christian, 31, and Max, 27, with ex Jeannine Bisignano.

Hudson’s Facebook profile indicated that he lived in Wahiawa, Hawaii, with his wife, Carlie. According to photos posted to his social media pages, he served in the US Army and spent time in Afghanistan.

A source told the Sun that Hudson’s mother, DeAnna, 61, was traveling to Hawaii to deal with the tragedy.

Chicago native Madsen was the subject of a biopic, “American Badass: A Michael Madsen Retrospective,” released in 2021 from Playmaker Pictures. Tarantino, John Travolta and Daryl Hannah are featured.

A rep for Michael Madsen did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

https://pagesix.com/2022/01/24/michael-madsens-son-hudson-26-dead-after-suicide-report/

Kamala Harris Warns Vladimir Putin of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Invades Ukraine

Vice President Kamala Harris warned Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine on Tuesday, in an interview in Wisconsin.

“If Russia and Vladimir Putin violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine there’s going to be serious consequences, and we’re very clear about that,” Harris told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday.

Harris’ comment is the highest level response from the administration on the escalating tensions in Ukraine since President Joe Biden commented on the issue last week.

Biden raised the alarm in Ukraine after he suggested it was a foregone conclusion that Putin would act in some way to challenge the nation’s territorial boundaries.

“My guess is he will move in, he has to do something,” Biden said at his press conference on Wednesday.

Despite the administration’s efforts to clean up Biden’s comments, Ukrainian leaders have expressed their outrage by Biden’s handling of the crisis.

News of the State Department ordering family members of embassy staff in Ukraine to leave the country only further signaled the United States was preparing for inevitable hostilities.

A source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told Buzzfeed Americans were safe.

“Quite frankly these Americans are safer in Kyiv than they are in Los Angeles…or any other crime-ridden city in the US,” the source said.

The president refused to answer questions from reporters on Ukraine on Monday, during an event on the administration’s struggle to address inflation.

The White House said Biden participated in a video call with European leaders on the issue of Ukraine and discussed “joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/25/kamala-harris-warns-vladimir-putin-of-serious-consequences-if-he-invades-ukraine/

Could This Anthony Fauci Conspiracy Theory Actually Be Real? Just Look At The Dates

Newly-released emails by the House Oversight and Reform Committee reveal the lengths that the top U.S. health officials went to in order to suppress the lab-leak theory of COVID-19 origin.

Emails to and from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, show that the two men were engaged in efforts to suppress the lab-leak theory and portray it as a “conspiracy.” Their concerns began after reputable scientists from a number of institutions began floating the idea that COVID-19 had originated in a lab setting in early 2020.

In June 2021, emails to Fauci from Dr. Kristian Andersen at the Scripps Research Institute and three of his colleagues were unearthed by a Freedom of Information Act request. In them, Andersen said that he and his colleagues, Dr. Edward C. Holmes of the University of Sydney, Dr. Robert F. Garry of Tulane University and Dr. Michael Farzan at Scripps, found that qualities of SARS-CoV-2 were “inconsistent” with natural evolution and that it was possible the virus originated in a lab.

That email was sent Jan. 31, 2020, and those experts echoed those sentiments at a teleconference the following day, Feb. 1, as Nicholas Wade reports for City Journal. Yet, just a few days later on Feb. 4, Andersen emailed Fauci to call the idea of a lab origin a “crackpot” theory that was “demonstrably” inaccurate.

Andersen then publicly campaigned with numerous colleagues against the lab-leak theory, including in an influential Nature Magazine article published in March 2020.

Now, the newly-released emails by the House Oversight Committee Republicans shed new light on actions taken by Fauci and Collins in 2020 to suppress the lab-leak theory.

One day after the Feb. 1 teleconference, Collins wrote in an email that the “voices of conspiracy will quickly dominate, doing great potential harm to science and international harmony.”

He called for a “swift convening of experts in a confidence inspiring framework” to put down the theory, and said that the World Health Organization was likely the only body that could do so.

Fauci, on the other hand, wrote that the lab-leak theory was a “shiny object that will go away in times.”

https://dailycaller.com/2022/01/24/anthony-fauci-francis-collins-emails-covid-19-coronavirus/

Pfizer Board Member Suggests End to Mask, Vaccine Mandates

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and current board member at Pfizer, said that declining COVID-19 cases should signal to policymakers that it is time to lift more pandemic-related restrictions.

“I think certainly on the east coast where you see cases declining dramatically we need to be willing to lean in and do that very soon I think as conditions improve we have to be willing to relax some of these measures with the same speed that we put them in place,” he told “The Squawk Box” in a Monday interview when asked about whether mask mandates should be dropped.

Gottlieb said that “a lot of the acrimony” in the United States stems from a lack of “clear goalposts” about when some of the measures will end.

The former FDA commissioner also cited the Connecticut government’s recent decision to rescind vaccine mandates for state workers as a policy that other policymakers should adopt in the near future as COVID-19 cases decline nationwide.

“The only way to get compliance from people and get accommodation [is] if we demonstrate the ability to withdraw these [mandates] in the same manner in which we put them in,” Gottlieb added.

The call for COVID-19 restrictions to be dropped comes as the overall infection rate in the United States has sharply declined in recent days. Data from the Johns Hopkins-run Our World in Data shows that 4,110 out of every one million Americans recorded infections on Jan. 10, but that rate was 2,643 as late as Friday and dropped to 615 per one million as of Sunday.

https://www.ntd.com/pfizer-board-member-suggests-end-to-mask-vaccine-mandates_731812.html

Ukraine is yet another FF to populate Greater Israel and start a new war to distract

Israel, Jewish Groups Discuss Airlifting Ukraine's Jews if Russia Invades

As threat of Russian invasion looms, top officials examine possibility of emergency evacuation for up to 75,000 Ukrainians thought to be eligible for Israeli citizenship under Law of Return

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-israel-jewish-groups-discuss-airlifting-ukraine-s-jews-in-case-russia-invades-1.10559464

Rogin: Many in Corporate World, Some in Media ‘Don’t Care’ about China’s Abuses, ‘Our Elites Are Often up for Bribery’

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” author, Washington Post columnist, and CNN political analyst Josh Rogin said that Golden State Warriors part-owner Chamath Palihapitiya has a point when he says people don’t care about China’s treatment of the Uyghurs and that “reveals an ugly truth about our society, which is that our elites are often up for bribery, that they’re often easily corrupted, even in the face of the world’s worst atrocities.” And that there are “a lot of people in Silicon Valley and in the corporate world who don’t care, some in the media, actually.”

Rogin stated, “I don’t think he’s right. I think he’s just more right than wrong. Because if you look at these corporations that we’re talking about, the International Olympic Committee. We’re talking about Airbnb, we’re talking about the German insurance company Allianz. We’re talking about all of the sponsors. They’ve made a financial calculation. They’ve decided, apparently, that not enough people care that the shame of them paying for and endorsing a genocide Olympics is greater than the benefits that they’re going to get from it financially, and those benefits could be access to the Chinese market, the benefits could just be whatever they think they’re going to get out of participating. And it’s — it reveals an ugly truth about our society, which is that our elites are often up for bribery, that they’re often easily corrupted, even in the face of the world’s worst atrocities.”

He continued, “And that, of course, is what the Chinese Communist Party thinks of us, that we can all be bought off, that all of our morals are just happy talk, and that we don’t really believe them when push comes to shove. But I’m here to tell you, Brianna, that actually a lot more people, especially because of these atrocities and how horrible they are, are now starting to care. And we have more activism and more groups and more calls for justice and for attention to the suffering of not just Uyghurs, but Tibetans and Hong Kongers and lots of other Chinese dissidents and other people who are suffering greatly under the repression of the Chinese Communist Party right now. So, yeah, there’s a lot of people in Silicon Valley and in the corporate world who don’t care, some in the media, actually. But Americans do care. Americans are actually — and people around the world are actually awakening to the reality of these mass atrocities. And I think the Olympics has actually contributed to that.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/01/24/rogin-many-in-corporate-world-some-in-media-dont-care-about-chinas-abuses-our-elites-are-often-up-for-bribery/

NSO chairman steps down, says departure unrelated to spyware strife

Asher Levy says he submitted his resignation due to ownership change, as company comes under fire from public and lawmakers over allegations that police surveilled civilians

The former chairman of the controversial NSO Group confirmed on Tuesday that he had stepped down from his position weeks earlier, but said his departure was planned months ago and was not connected to recent outrage over allegations that Israeli police had used the company’s technology to spy on civilians.

Asher Levy’s departure as head of NSO’s board of directors was first reported Tuesday by the Calcalist newspaper, amid ongoing turmoil at home and abroad over sales of phone hacking technology sold to governments and used against dissidents, activists, journalists and others.

“Contrary to recent reports about the end of my role as chairman, I would like to clarify that there is no connection between the end of my role and the recent reports about NSO,” Asher Levy said in a statement.

He claimed he had submitted his resignation last summer, and finished his term as chairman at the end of the year, following ownership changes at the firm.

“I can understand why people are making the connection,” he told The Associated Press. “In reality it has nothing to do with the breaking news, so to speak, around NSO.”

Last week, reports by the Calcalist business daily said Israel Police had used NSO Group spyware to track Israeli civilians, including activists and mayors, without any judicial oversight.

The allegations sparked outrage from the public and lawmakers, and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit launched an investigation. Police have not denied using NSO Group technology, but said they did not break any laws.

Levy said he remains on good terms with what he called an “important company” and will continue to offer his assistance.

The company’s former owners, Novalpina Capital, appointed Levy as chairman in April 2020. He said he submitted his resignation when Berkeley Research Group, a US investment firm, took control of NSO Group in July.

He said he gradually wound down his involvement over several months, completing his term at the end of the year.

“I did what you are expected to do” when a new fund takes over management of a company, he said.

He said he told them, “I’m not your guy. You may want to bring on your own guy. That’s the common practice.”

NSO Group also said Levy’s departure was linked to the ownership change.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/nso-chairman-steps-down-says-departure-unrelated-to-company-turmoil/

University Drops Name of Paedophile Schrödinger from Lecture Hall

A university in Ireland has dumped the name of physicist Erwin Schrödinger from one of its lecture halls after it emerged that the Nobel Prize winner was a paedophile.

Trinity College Dublin, located in Ireland’s capital city, has dropped the name of Erwin Schrödinger from one of its lecture halls after it emerged that he was a paedophile.

The lecture hall had previously played host to the physicist — one of the world’s best known for his easily-comprehended thought experiment featuring a cat of uncertain health sealed inside a box — with one of the famous ‘What is Life’ lectures given in the room in 1943.

According to a report by The Times, the name of the lecture hall will now revert simply to the original name of “Physics Lecture Theatre”, after an Irish Times report revealed evidence that Schrödinger was what the publication called “a serial abuser whose behaviour fitted the profile of a paedophile in the widely understood sense of that term”.

“There was a diversity of opinion on how the school and college should react, but it was clear that a large majority of both staff and students now favour changing the name [of] the lecture theatre in the Fitzgerald Building that has borne his name since the 1990s,” The Times reports the TCD School of Physics head, Jonathan Coleman, as saying.

Coleman went on to mention that a renaming of the lecture hall would not take place for the time being over the worry that Schrödinger’s legacy “would be seen as a tainted honour”.

However, a notice commemorating the ‘What is Life’ lectures, at least one of which was held in the hall in question, may still end up being present within the room, according to the academic.

Although Austrian by birth, Schrödinger came to Ireland by invite of Irish revolutionary Éamon de Valera to help found the nation’s “Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies”.

The physicist eventually become an Irish citizen in 1948.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/01/25/university-drops-name-of-paedophile-schrodinger-from-lecture-hall/

The FBI Has Become an Arm of the ADL at This Point

FBI director Christopher Wray admitted on a call with Jonathan Greenblatt that the FBI works directly with the ADL for tips and targeting of those they have labeled “anti-semites.” This can be as straight forward as someone criticizing Israel.

ADL is of course not a politically motivated organization at all. They are always completely objective, non-partisan and never exaggerates or hype up claims in order to push a specific narrative that is conducive to their goals.

It’s good to know that the FBI which also is a non-political law enforcement agency takes leads from the ADL and have such personal and close cooperation with them.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/the-fbi-has-become-an-arm-of-the-adl-at-this-point/

The BBC Quietly Censors Its Own Archives

Reflecting upon George Orwell’s many authoritative predictions can grow tiresome for writer and reader alike. And yet, given our present predicament, one might ask what choice one truly has. “The sinister fact about literary censorship in England,” Orwell wrote back in 1945, “is that it is largely voluntary.” And so, indeed, it is. Over the weekend, the Daily Telegraph reported that “an anonymous Radio 4 Extra listener” had “discovered the BBC had been quietly editing repeats of shows over the past few years to be more in keeping with social mores.” To which the BBC said . . . well, yeah. In a statement addressing the charge, the institution confirmed that “on occasion we edit some episodes so they’re suitable for broadcast today, including removing racially offensive language and stereotypes from decades ago, as the vast majority of our audience would expect.” Thus, in the absence of law or regulation, has the British establishment begun to excise material it finds inappropriate by today’s lights.

The deployment of the word “broadcast” in the BBC’s affirmation was both deliberate and misleading. Historically, a “broadcast” was a one-off event, like a newspaper or stage performance. But, as the BBC presumably knows, in the age of streaming, “broadcasts” tend to be more permanent than that. Because it is so old, much of the material that the BBC has been altering is not available to purchase or download, nor broadly owned on physical media, which means that when the BBC elects to change it, it is changing the only working copy that the majority of the public may enjoy. In a free market, one might be obliged to throw up one’s hands and lament that the copyright holder was such a philistine. But the BBC is a de facto government agency — an agency for which all Britons who own televisions are forced by statute to pay — and, as a result, the material that it is modifying is effectively publicly owned.

This raises a host of important questions — chief among which is: Why, if “the vast majority” of the BBC’s audience expects the organization to render its archives more “suitable,” has it been doing so in secret? Again: In the Internet age, changes made to source material tend to be iterative rather than additive. When the New York Times updates a story in its newspaper, one can plausibly obtain both copies. By contrast, when the New York Times updates a story on its website, the original page disappears. By its own admission, the BBC has been deleting entire sketches from comedy series that are 50, 60, or 70 years old, many of which can be heard only with the BBC’s permission. Are we simply to assume that the public supports this development? And, if so, are we permitted to wonder why the BBC was not open about it?

Orwell based the job that Winston Smith held in the Records section of the Ministry of Truth on the job that his wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, had held at the British Ministry of Information’s censorship department early in World War II. The “process of continuous alteration” in which Smith was engaged, Orwell wrote in 1984, “applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs—to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance,” such that “day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date.” What better description could one find of what the BBC is now doing to its canon? Some of the revisions — the removal of “racist and misogynistic jokes used in several of its classic radio comedies” — are, indeed, the result of changing mores. Others, however, smack of cynical self-protection. Per the Telegraph, the BBC has “purged mentions of disgraced stars Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris” from its collections. And down the memory hole goes that.

http://www.stationgossip.com/2022/01/the-bbc-quietly-censors-its-own-archives.html

Klaus Schwab Discusses The “European Chips Act” With EU Commission Leader, Von Der Leyen And The Need For A “Physical Brain For Digital

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/klaus-schwab-discusses-the-european-chips-act-with-eu-commission-leader-von-der-leyen-and-the-need-for-a-physical-brain-for-digital/

Tel Aviv greenlights construction of “Tower of Babel”

The Tel Aviv local planning and building committee gave the final go-ahead for the construction of the 91-story Spiral Tower being planned by the Azrieli group.

Construction on the 1,150-foot tall structure is expected to take four years at an estimated cost of $800 million The Azrieli Group, an Israeli real estate and holding company, announced their plan to build Israel’s tallest building as an addition to their already impressive Azrieli Center Complex in Tel Aviv. The new tower will take its place next to the iconic circle, square and triangle towers that make up the Azrieli Complex. By building the Spiral Tower, the Azrieli Group will compete with itself as they built the current tallest building in Israel, The Azrieli Sarona Tower which stands 782 feet high with 53 floors, just four years ago.

But the Spiral Tower will not be the tallest in the country. This title will go to a 400-meter high structure, the Bein Arim Tower, is under construction near the Israel Diamond Exchange, the Bursa, on Menachem Begin Road in Tel Aviv. Its construction is expected to be completed in 2023.

The plans are ambitious, with around 150,000 square meters containing commercial space, offices, residences, and a hotel. Six underground parking levels, covering an area of 45,000 square meters, will be built at the base of the structure, in addition to a commercial floor connected directly to the light rail. The tower’s peak will include space for conferences and meetings, recreational space, and a 360-degree view of Tel Aviv and the surrounding area. it is predicted that approximately 100,000 people will pass through the center every day.

The unique design was produced by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), a New York-based architecture firm which is responsible for five of the 10 tallest skyscrapers in the world. According to the press release, the architects took their inspiration from nature as well as Jewish heritage.

The tower was planned and developed in a unique geometric shape, never before seen in Israel, which captures the eye and the imagination. The main challenge for the initiators and architects was to create harmony between the three iconic towers that form Azrieli Center and the new tower, an impressive, one-of-a-kind structure which stands on its own. The tower’s design takes inspiration from the twists of a snail’s shell, attempting to imitate their natural form. The design also draws inspiration from ancient biblical scrolls and the way they unfurl upwards.

More cynical critics of the design might draw a comparison between the elegant design presented by the developers and certain depictions of the Biblical Tower of Babel. Though the Biblical account contains no details other than it builders aspirations for it to reach great heights.

https://www.israel365news.com/265510/tel-aviv-greenlights-construction-of-tower-of-babel/

Biden Under Fire for Failing To Nominate Ukraine Ambassador as Russian Invasion Looms

Top Republican on House Armed Services Committee: ‘It is a dereliction of duty’

President Joe Biden's failure to nominate an ambassador to Ukraine more than a year into his presidency is raising concerns among U.S. officials and regional experts as Russia moves closer to launching a full-scale invasion.

"President Biden has undermined the U.S.-Ukraine relationship by failing to even nominate an ambassador to Ukraine—it is a dereliction of duty and contributes to the instability we're seeing unfold today," Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Ala.), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon.

Currently, the United States only has a deputy chief of mission in Kyiv, career foreign service officer Alan Purcell, who was appointed in May 2021. Without an ambassador, the Biden administration has conducted the majority of its diplomacy from Washington, D.C., causing confusion as the stand-off with Russia escalates. Biden said last week a "minor incursion" by Russia would likely be tolerated. This prompted fierce pushback from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who responded in a tweet saying, "There are no minor incursions."

Regional experts say diplomacy through social media is not helping the tense situation. A qualified American ambassador would have been able to reassure Zelensky in person and prevent a public disagreement with the White House that many saw as a boon for Russia.

"It is a horrible time for the United States to not have a Senate-confirmed ambassador in Kyiv," said Brad Bowman, a former Senate defense adviser who serves as senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Center on Military and Political Power. "A year into the Biden administration, there is zero excuse for the White House's failure to nominate someone."

"Deputy chiefs of mission can be incredibly effective, but there is simply no substitute for an ambassador," Bowman said, adding that "the Senate can be slow in confirming nominees, but you can't blame the Senate if you haven't even nominated someone. This borders on diplomatic malpractice by the Biden administration."

Russia began stationing more than 100,000 troops and military equipment along Ukraine's border earlier this month, amplifying fears that it will make good on its long-held desire to invade the country. Ukraine has positioned itself as a top Western ally and a bulwark against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

Senate Democrats obstructed former president Donald Trump's ambassadorial nominee to Ukraine, Keith Dayton, for the entire last year of his presidency. Dayton, a retired three-star general with an intelligence and security background, is still seen by many in Congress as a viable ambassador to Ukraine. Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) is said to have pushed for Dayton to be renominated earlier this year, but the administration did not move on it, according to those familiar with the matter.

Republican officials said the Biden administration could nominate a partisan State Department official to fill the post. They fear such a nominee would do little to combat Russian aggression.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/biden-under-fire-for-failing-to-nominate-ukraine-ambassador-as-russian-invasion-looms/

North Korea fires two more missiles amid ongoing tensions with the South

This is the North's fifth such test this year.

North Korea has fired two additional missiles, marking their fifth test of such weapons this year as regional tensions reach new heights.

The South Korean military says the missiles were fired into the sea on its east coast, though it did not mention the range or trajectory of the projectiles.

This year, the North has already deployed tests of a tactical guided missile – two "hypersonic missiles" and a railway-borne missile system. The country is now warning that it may once again begin nuclear tests.

Such missiles can carry a nuclear warhead.

Last week, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un declared that his country is looking to strengthen its military forces, while simultaneously warning that he has considered throwing away a ban on the testing of atomic bombs and long-range missiles that he once imposed.

North Korea has not deployed an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 – the United Nations Security Council expressly forbids it, though cruise missile launches are allowed.

South Korea is attempting to encourage diplomatic conversation rather than continuing to monitor tense missile testing activity. "While thoroughly preparing for additional tests, we'd like to emphasize again that dialogue and cooperation is the only way to peace," said Lee In-Young, the Unification Minister in Seoul.

https://justthenews.com/world/asia/north-korea-fires-two-more-missiles-amid-ongoing-tensions-south

DOJ awards anti-crime grants to Soros-tied groups backing anti-cop reforms linked to crime explosion

Grantee urges "seismic shift in power away from police, police unions, and the justice system towards a transformative investment in community-led safety and health solutions."

The Department of Justice has awarded crime-reduction grants to some groups that back the same anti-police, soft-on-crime policies implemented by George Soros-funded district attorneys that critics argue have unleashed a surge in urban crime.

Those policies — including the defunding or restructuring of police departments, bail reform, less incarceration, decriminalizing and deprioritizing a broad range of criminal offenses — have been linked to skyrocketing criminal violence in many Democrat-led cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City.

The DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance has awarded the grants to organizations and municipalities to "reduce serious and violent crime" and "make neighborhoods safer" under its 2021 Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program. Some of those grantees, Just The News found, have ties to district attorneys and groups funded by progressive megadonor Soros.

In Los Angeles, for instance, the Urban Peace Institute (UPI) received $1 million for its South Los Angeles Peacemakers program to make the city safer. The UPI has called for the "radical restructuring" of American policing, including shifting power from police to community "peacemakers." The nonprofit was instrumental in progressive Los Angeles DA George Gascon's criminal justice changes in the city, according to a report.

"In December 2020, newly-elected Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon unveiled sweeping changes to the criminal justice system in Los Angeles County," the California Wellness Foundation reported. "These groundbreaking changes were a direct result of decades of tireless advocacy, education, awareness-raising and research by activists, grassroots organizations and community members in Los Angeles County. Among these grassroots groups were the Urban Peace Institute (UPI), a grantee in our Community Well-Being portfolio, which has championed community-led solutions to public safety, justice and public health for over 17 years.”

Amid the anti-police protests and rioting roiling Democrat-led cities following the May 2020 death of George Floyd, UPI urged radical overhaul of law enforcement and the criminal justice system. "Change is only going to come from a seismic shift in power away from police, police unions, and the justice system towards a transformative investment in community-led safety and health solutions," UPI proclaimed on its website. "American policing needs radical restructuring. Public safety should be redefined by communities that experience over-policing and violence."

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/tuedoj-crime-reduction-grantees-tied-soros-anti-police-changes-linked-urban

Quebec: Unvaxxed Must Be 'Accompanied At All Times' by Store Escort Upon Entering Walmart, Costco to Use Pharmacy

Quebec's new insane vaccine passport scheme banning the unvaccinated from big-box stores like Walmart and Costco provides exceptions only for "groceries and pharmacies," though you'll apparently need to be escorted around by an employee to make certain you're not buying anything else, at least for the pharmacies.

This CBC newsreader said the policy requires the unvaxxed to be followed around while buying groceries or medicines "to make sure they do not go and buy other products or other items that might be in the store."

The CBC on their website seems to be saying the store escort is only for the pharmacies:

In a bid to persuade COVID-19 vaccine holdouts to get the jab, Quebec has expanded the vaccine mandate to include all businesses with surface areas of 1,500 square metres or more – with the exception of groceries and pharmacies.

The province's health ministry released a ministerial decree detailing the parameters of the new directive Sunday night.

For pharmacies located in big-box stores, such as Walmart or Costco, an unvaccinated person must be "accompanied at all times during his or her travels by an employee of the business, the pharmacy or any other person mandated by them for this purpose," the decree reads. This person may not purchase products other than those related to the pharmaceutical service they are receiving.

Gas stations affiliated with big-box stores and vehicle service stations are also exempt from the vaccination requirement.

The media is working to manufacture compliance with propaganda pieces like this:

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=62837

Half of Global Cybersecurity Investment Has Been in Israel, PM Bennett Says

Israeli cybersecurity firms profit immensely from the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed the world to work from home and increased global internet traffic

Around half of global cybersecurity investment in the past few years has been in Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the World Economic Forum by video.

As more work is done remotely, Bennett said, companies will be increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks.

"This means we need good cyber defense and Israel has massively invested in cyber defense technologies," Bennett said.

"I believe roughly half or almost half of the global investments in cyber companies over the past few years has been in Israel. So Israel has become a powerhouse in cyber defense. I see a bunch of opportunities, and we intend to seize them."

Israeli cybersecurity firms have profited immensely from the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed the world to work from home and increased global web traffic. As a result, companies have needed to enable remote working and have quickly undergone digitization processes that also necessitate security.

Israeli cybersecurity startups in particular have found themselves at the center of venture capitalists' attention. Unicorns, startups valued at over $1 billion, have become a common occurrence in the past year. While 2020 only saw five new Israeli unicorns in the field of cybersecurity, 2021 saw seven of them in just the first six months.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/half-of-global-cybersecurity-investment-has-been-in-israel-pm-bennett-says-1.10546684

More on the Government-Sponsored ‘Patriot Front’ Showing More Government Ties

We first saw this group in Khakis and blue jackets in Washington D.C. this past fall. Since then they have shown up in Chicago and at the March for Life Rally in D.C.

Today we have more on the Patriot Front which looks like just another Deep State government-supported group.

After looking at the individuals who attended the Patriot Front in Chicago we were able to determine that this group was government-sponsored. It was not some ad hoc group that came out of nowhere. We released the following piece where we shared our observations.

One of our observations was that this group is more fit than groups like the KKK. This upset the Patriot Front members and we know this from items we located that they shared with each other after our article was released.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/01/exclusive-government-sponsored-patriot-front-showing-government-ties/

CEO of South Florida Armored Transport Company Pleads Guilty to Committing Customs Fraud as Part of a Multimillion Dollar Dirty Gold Money Laundering Conspiracy

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/ceo-south-florida-armored-transport-company-pleads-guilty-committing-customs-fraud-part

Wow, watch Klaus Schwab brag about placing world leaders, including Trudeau!

This is VERY important info right before a war, it proves Klaus is king and they are ALL ON THE SAME TEAM!!! Putin is the enemy too!!!

Can;t embed video

http://198.46.190.126/pages/zz1.html

$4M in fundraising frozen by GoFundMe days after trucker convoy leaves Vancouver

GoFundMe has frozen the $4 million in funds raised by the trucker convoy now wending its way across the country toward Ottawa in a protest against vaccine mandates.

“We require that fundraisers be transparent about the flow of funds and have a clear plan for how those funds will be spent. In this case, we are in touch with the organizer to verify that information,” Rachel Hollis, a spokeswoman for the crowdfunding platform, said in an email.

“Funds will be safely held until the organizer is able to provide the documentation to our team about how funds will be properly distributed.”

As of Tuesday morning, those funds stood at more than $4.2 million raised from 55,300 donors, according to the GoFundMe page of the “Freedom Convoy.”

Tamara Lich, who is also secretary of the fledgling Western separatist Maverick Party, launched the campaign on Jan. 14. It states that the money will go toward fuel as well as food and lodgings for big-riggers taking part.

“Our current government is implementing rules and mandates that are destroying the foundation of our businesses, industries and livelihoods,” the convoy's GoFundMe page states.

“We are a peaceful country that has helped protect nations across the globe from tyrannical governments who oppressed their people, and now it seems it is happening here.”

As of Jan. 15, the federal government required Canadian truckers to be fully vaccinated if they want to avoid a 14-day quarantine when they cross the border from the United States.

Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan has also announced that vaccination will become mandatory for all workers in federally regulated industries, though no timeline has been laid out.

The Canadian Trucking Association, which has condemned the convoy protest, says more than 85 per cent of the 120,000 Canadian truck drivers who regularly traverse the border are vaccinated, but that up to 16,000 may be sidelined due to the new restriction, exacerbating supply chain problems.

The big-riggers are bound for a protest set for Saturday in Ottawa, where drivers from across the country are planning to converge.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/trucker-convoy-s-4-million-in-fundraising-frozen-by-gofundme-days-after-protest-leaves-vancouver-1.5753677

The Death Document - Evidence the UK Government Authorized "Mass Murder" of the Elderly and Vulnerable by Midazolam Injection and Then Blamed COVID-19

In March 2020 the UK Government announced that the country “must stay at home” in order to “protect the NHS” and “save lives”. But little did the public know, the UK Government was in the process of implementing policies that would lead to the unnecessary killing of the UK’s elderly and most vulnerable, who you were told had died of Covid-19, and the “Death Document” proves it.

Between 2 March and 12 June 2020, 18,562 residents of care homes in England died with COVID-19, including 18,168 people aged 65 and over, representing almost 40% of all deaths involving COVID-19 in England during this period.

Of these deaths, 13,844 (76%) happened in care homes themselves; nearly all of the remainder occurred in a hospital. During the same period, 28,186 “excess deaths” were recorded in care homes in England, representing a 46% increase compared with the same period in previous years.

A number of decisions and policies adopted by authorities at the national and local level in the UK violated care home residents rights to life, to health, and to non-discrimination. These include, notably:

Mass discharges from hospital into care homes.

Imposition of blanket Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) orders on residents of many care homes around the country and restrictions on residents’ access to hospital.

Suspension of regular oversight procedures for care homes by the statutory regulating body, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Serious illness in Covid-19 presents pneumonia and accompanying respiratory insufficiency. Therefore typical symptoms include breathlessness, cough, weakness and fever. We’re also told that people who suffer deteriorating respiratory failure and who do not receive intensive care, develop acute respiratory distress syndrome with severe breathlessness.

With that in mind here is an important warning applied to Midazolam courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine –

Midazolam injection may cause serious or life-threatening breathing problems such as shallow, slowed, or temporarily stopped breathing that may lead to permanent brain injury or death. You should only receive this medication in a hospital or doctor’s office that has the equipment that is needed to monitor your heart and lungs and to provide life-saving medical treatment quickly if your breathing slows or stops. Your doctor or nurse will watch you closely after you receive this medication to make sure that you are breathing properly.

So can the UK Government explain why the “Death Document” published in April 2020 instructs doctors to treat Covid-19 patients with Midazolam, and why during the same month out of hospital prescribing for Midazolam was twice the amount seen in 2019?

https://www.globalresearch.ca/death-document-evidence-uk-government-authorised-mass-murder-elderly-vulnerable-midazolam-injection-blamed-covid-19/5767691

BEYOND THE BS: US and Russian Threats Over Ukraine- What They’re About and Who’s the Aggressor

Are the US and its allies bluffing over a war with Russia? Is NATO willing to start a world war over the issue of its own expansion?

A military confrontation seems unlikely, and not at all practical for either side. At present, a new bill sits before the US Senate which would impose unprecedented new sanctions against Russia, as well as Russian individuals said to be ‘close to President Vladimir Putin.’ These measures would be implemented immediately in the event that Russia is deemed to have ‘invaded’ Ukraine.

While an alleged “Russian invasion” is all but certain according to nearly every western politician and media platform, this rumor does not correspond with reality.

Dee Knight from Covert Action Magazine writes…

New York Times senior reporter David Sanger jumped on it: “Mr. President, it sounds like you’re offering some way out here, some off-ramp—an informal assurance that NATO is not going to take in Ukraine… and we would never put nuclear weapons there.” Sanger went on to say Russia “wants us to move all of our nuclear weapons out of Europe and not have troops rotating through the old Soviet bloc.” Biden quickly said “No, there’s not space for that.”

Biden’s blink was a break in the warlike atmosphere that has prevailed endlessly. Katrina van den Heuvel wrote the day before in The Washington Post that “Hotheads [were] having a field day. A White House task force that includes the CIA [was] reportedly contemplating U.S. support for a guerrilla war if Russia seizes Ukraine; Russian hawks talk of a military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela.” Biden had “installed a team of national security managers from the ‘Blob,’ marinated in successive debacles in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and more.”

Guns and sanctions are the U.S. empire’s preferred options, van den Heuvel said: “with about 800 military bases outside the United States,” the U.S. has “more bases than diplomatic missions. (Russia’s only military bases outside the former Soviet Union are in Syria.)” She added that Secretary of State Blinken and the Blob “talk about a rules-based international order but respect it only if we make the rules, often exempting ourselves from their application.”

https://21stcenturywire.com/2022/01/25/beyond-the-bs-us-and-russian-threats-over-ukraine-what-theyre-about-and-whos-the-aggressor/

WHITE HOUSE: Calling Afghanistan Withdrawal A Failure Is 'Russian Propaganda'

https://nationalfile.com/white-house-calling-afghanistan-withdrawal-failure-russian-propaganda/

Afghan 'Refugee' Comes To America, Rapes 3-Year-Old Afghan Girl On Marine Base, Says It's His 'Culture'

An Afghan migrant who worked with U.S. troops before being evacuated to the United States has been convicted of raping a 3-year-old girl on a Marine Corps base in Virginia, telling authorities that the molestation of children is merely a part of his people’s culture, and no reason to throw him in prison.

24-year-old Afghan, Mohammed Tariq was found guilty of abusive sexual conduct in Alexandria’s U.S. District Court last Friday, after being arrested in September at Quantico’s Camp Upshur when a group of Marines caught the Afghan refugee imported by the Biden regime in the act of raping a toddler.

According to a statement from the United States Department of Justice, while Tariq and the 3-year-old victim were unrelated, both were Afghan migrants who arrived in the United States amid the Biden administration’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.

The DOJ statement goes on to detail that Tariq was seen by Marines at Camp Upshur “inappropriately touching the victim over her clothing, on her chest, genitals, and buttocks,” before his arrest.

During questioning, Tariq told authorities through an interpreter that he’d done nothing wrong and that molesting children is simply part of Afghan culture.

https://nationalfile.com/afghan-refugee-comes-america-rapes-3-year-old-afghan-girl-marine-base-says-culture/

Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission head Alan MacSporran resigns

The head of Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has resigned following increasing pressure for him to quit the role.

Key points:

Mr MacSporran said it "saddens me deeply" to resign

He defended his time in the role, saying he came to the position with decades of experience in the criminal justice system

He said investigating corruption and major crime was "inherently complex"

Alan MacSporran said he had today advised the Attorney-General that he would resign from the position as chairperson effective from this Friday.

"Many people have urged me to continue in this important role, despite the recent finding contained in the report of the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC)," he said in a statement.

"However, I find myself in a position where, despite a career spanning in excess of 40 years, where my honesty and integrity have never been questioned, it is clear to me that the relationship between myself and the PCCC has broken down irretrievably.

"This saddens me deeply."

His resignation comes after a parliamentary committee last year recommended a commission of inquiry be held into the CCC's structure after finding it breached its duty to remain independent and impartial.

The recommendation was made after the bipartisan committee looked into the CCC's decision to charge eight Logan City councillors with fraud in 2019.

The PCCC also found the CCC discretion to charge the councillors miscarried "because all material considerations and evidence were not taken into account and weighed".

The damning report also found that Mr MacSporran did not ensure the watchdog acted at all times independently and impartially, a "serious" failing that reflected "poorly" on the CCC.

The fraud charges, which prompted the entire council's dismissal, were discontinued in a Brisbane court in April, almost two years later.

In final submissions in October, the counsel assisting had suggested the possibility of recommending parliament terminate Mr MacSporran's appointment.

PCCC chair Jon Krause told the house it did not proceed with that recommendation and said it was of the view "this report speaks for itself".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-25/queensland-ccc-alan-macsporran-resigns/100781220

Serial rapist Mustafa Kayirici dies in prison, aged 31

Mustafa Kayirici – the man behind a horrific 2016 rape spree, including the daylong sexual assault of a 13-year-old schoolgirl – has died behind bars aged 31.

“He was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced deceased at 10.25am. Corrective Services NSW and NSW Police are investigating the incident,” a CSNWS spokesman said in a statement.

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/serial-rapist-mustafa-kayirici-dies-in-prison-aged-31/news-story/21e1ee0dc6c66157415162914ec243fd

MSM Propaganda

Anti-vaxxers have been caught out selling legal letters to parents ahead of school’s return

A prominent anti-vax group are selling letters for parents to give to their children’s schools, demanding vaccination not even be discussed around them.

On its website and when asking for donations, Human Rights Activists Australia said it “employs research teams and legal counsel”.

But high profile Sydney lawyer Danny Eid has told news.com.au the business should be cautious in providing legal advice if they are not qualified to do so.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/antivaxxers-have-been-caught-out-selling-legal-letters-to-parents-ahead-of-schools-return/news-story/b8863e541e9782cb3e3e06fa2957b792

All good they bought in their Jewish lawyer to discredit

They actually said this

Denmark, New Zealand and Finland top list of least corrupt nations while South Sudan is the worst and US drops out of top 25 amid 'continuous attacks on free and fair elections'

Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries on a scale of a 'highly corrupt' 0 to a 'very clean' 100

Denmark, New Zealand and Finland tied for first place with 88 points each

South Sudan was at the bottom of the list with 11 points, making it the worst country for corruption

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10438219/Anti-corruption-fight-stalled-COVID-not-helping.html

Luke 8:17

17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.