PP NewsBrief: 2021-04-21
We need to begin to reclaim control over the institutions which have such oversized roles in our lives. As you read this people work tirelessly to see to it that you are dumb and docile. Let's stop them.
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‘No hurry to open borders’: Australian PM signals ‘essential travel’ restrictions might be eased only in second half of 2021
"Australia is in “no hurry” to lift its international travel restrictions, PM Scott Morrison has said. There may be an easing of the rules on “essential travel” in the second half of the year, but that option is still under review.
Australia’s external borders have already been closed for over a year, with any non-citizens and non-residents barred from entering the country. Citizens and residents are also banned from leaving the country unless they obtain an exemption, which is provided only on grounds such as essential business travel or the funeral of a close relative.
While Morrison said last week that allowing vaccinated travelers to quarantine at home would be a “sensible next step,” he signaled on Sunday that it would not happen anytime soon.
“Australia is in no hurry to open those borders, I assure you. There are three million people who have died from Covid. The Covid pandemic is raging around the world,” he said.
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“If we can get into a position in the second half of the year where Australians, for essential purposes, can travel and return to the country without going into hotel quarantine, if they’ve been vaccinated, [that] is a good incentive to get vaccinated,” Morrison said, adding that such a move was still only in the “planning stages.”"
2020: The year Australia once again became a penal colony.
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Senator Josh Hawley wants to make it harder for Big Tech to acquire smaller tech companies
"A new proposal by Sen. Josh Hawley may make it almost impossible for Big Tech giants to acquire companies and the existing legacy antitrust laws will also be made more stringent.
“Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act” by Sen. Hawley (we obtained a copy for you here) would essentially:
- Ban any merger or acquisitions done by firms that have a market cap that exceeds $100 billion.
- Lower the threshold for prosecution by making changes to the existing antitrust laws. “The protection of competition” will take the front seat and will replace the “consumer harm” standard which long dictated the federal antitrust laws for the basis of prosecution.
- Make companies that lose federal antitrust lawsuits do away with all the profits that come from their “monopolistic conduct.”
- Allow FTC to regulate “dominant digital firms” in online markets.
Hawley, while discussing the proposal with Axios, said that the government and the country “shouldn’t be run by a few mega-corporations” and that the Republican Party “has got to become the party of trust-busting once again. You know, that’s a part of our history.”
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Nextdoor adds “anti-racism” warning when users say “Blue Lives Matter” or “All Lives Matter”
"Tech platforms are constantly trying to change and mold people’s speech.
Nextdoor, a social networking platform that connects neighbors, will introduce a new “anti-racism” notification, an alert asking a user to consider revising speech that it thinks might be offensive.
In 2019, the platform introduced a Kindness Reminder, which pops up when a user is about to say something Nextdoor thinks might be hurtful to others.
Nextdoor claimed that the Kindness Reminder has helped reduce “incivil content” by 30%.
“The new anti-racism notification detects certain phrases such as ‘All Lives Matter’ or ‘Blue Lives Matter,’ and prompts the author to consider editing their post or comment before it goes live,” Nextdoor said in a statement."
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George W. Bush: Online “misinformation” is “really troubling”
"During an appearance on the Today show, former President George W. Bush responded to a question about the January 6 storming of the US Capitol by lamenting the amount of “misinformation” and the “kinds of untruth” that spread online.
Bush said the events on January 6 made him feel “sick” and “ill” but he was optimistic that America would survive because of his strong belief in the institutional stability of the country. He then steered the conversation to something he finds “really troubling” – online misinformation.
“You know, what’s really troubling is how much misinformation there is and the capacity of people to spread all kinds of untruth,” the former President stated. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do about that. I know what I’m doing about it. I don’t do Facebook, Twitter, or any of that stuff.”"
Jan 6th was obviously way worse than the WMD misinformation. That only killed nearly a million Iraqis & thousands of Americans, took the limbs and other body parts of thousands of Iraqis & Americans, helped lead to the rise of ISIS...
Bush's point of view only gets sillier once you recognize the case for 2020 election fraud rests on far better foundations than the WMD nonsense ever did.
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As Capitol Defendants Rot in D.C. Jail, Portland Rioters Get Leniency
"Politico on Wednesday reported federal prosecutors are seeking “deferred prosecution” for at least six people charged with disorderly conduct, attacking police officers, and interfering with law enforcement in that city last year. “Some lawyers attribute the government’s newfound willingness to resolve the Portland protest cases without criminal convictions to the arrival of President Joe Biden’s administration in January and to policy and personnel changes at the Justice Department,” Josh Gerstein wrote April 14. “Some of the assaults described in the Portland cases bear similarities to the Capitol violence.”
This includes assaults on law enforcement with various weapons including a shield—a few Capitol defendants face multiple charges for use or possession of a “deadly weapon,” a riot shield, inside the building on January 6—and flashing a laser at police aircraft. Offenders also face “civil disorder” charges similar to the “obstruction of an official proceeding” charge filed against more than 130 Capitol protestors.
Portland protestors, once the quasi-plea arrangement is settled, will come away with a clean record and serve no jail time. But legal observers admit the special treatment poses a stark difference in how Biden’s Justice Department is handling its “unprecedented” manhunt for January 6 perpetrators. “There are already signs the Portland deals could create contrasts or anomalies with the Capitol cases,” Gerstein wrote. “While the Portland defendants now face no jail or criminal conviction in connection with assaulting law enforcement, prosecutors in Washington have sought pretrial detention in virtually all the Capitol riot cases involving alleged assaults on police.”"
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China Launches Hotline for Netizens to Report 'Illegal' History Comments
"China's cyber regulator has launched a hotline to report online comments that defame the ruling Communist Party and its history, vowing to crack down on "historical nihilists" ahead of the Party's 100th anniversary in July.
The tip line allows people to report fellow netizens who "distort" the Party's history, attack its leadership and policies, defame national heroes and "deny the excellence of advanced socialist culture" online, said a notice posted by an arm of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Friday.
"Some with ulterior motives ... have been spreading historical nihilistic misrepresentations online, maliciously distorting, denigrating and negating the history of the Party," said the notice.
"We hope that the majority of Internet users will actively play their part in supervising society ... and enthusiastically report harmful information," it said.
"Historical nihilism" is a phrase used in China to describe public doubt and skepticism over the Chinese Communist Party's description of past events."
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Headmaster of Elite NYC School Admits 'We're Demonizing White People for Being Born'
"The headmaster of an elite New York City school who relieved a math instructor of his teaching duties for ripping the institution’s extremist “antiracism” policies in a taped telephone conversation admitted that “we’re demonizing white people for being born.”
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“We’re demonizing kids, we’re demonizing white people for being born,” George Davison, principal of the private Grace Church School, told whistleblowing teacher Paul Rossi on audio released via Twitter Tuesday.
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Rossi was ousted from the classroom over the weekend after he accused the school of “indoctrinating” students with antiracist lessons “at the cost of students' psychological and intellectual development.”
"The well-being of our community is our first priority, and we take it seriously whenever students raise concerns about the professionalism of a teacher," Davison wrote in a letter Sunday notifying faculty, staff and administrators that parents had expressed discomfort following Rossi’s public criticism. "It is clear to me that Paul cannot be effective as a teacher at Grace any more. I have informed him that he is relieved of his teaching duties, and we've asked two support teachers to take over his math classes for the final quarter. He has been asked to not come into the building without prior coordination."
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“So, you agree that we're demonizing kids,” Rossi states.
“We're demonizing kids,” Davison says. “We’re demonizing white people, for being born.”
“And are some of our students white people?” Rossi asks.
“Yes,” the head of school replies.
“Okay, so we're demonizing white kids,” Rossi says. “Why don't you just say it?”
Davison replies, “We are using language that makes them feel less than, for nothing that they are personally responsible for.”"
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‘HUGE MISTAKE’: Florida Gov. DeSantis blasts Covid-19 lockdowns, including the one he ordered last year
"Florida's Ron DeSantis can boast being one of the most pro-freedom US governors in terms of Covid-19 rules, but he now regrets even going as far as ordering a 30-day lockdown last year, calling it a “huge mistake.”
“We wanted to mitigate the damage,” DeSantis said on Friday, in an exclusive interview with the Epoch Times.
"Now in hindsight, the 15 days to slow the spread and the 30 – it didn't work. We shouldn't have gone down that road."
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DeSantis also spoke out on Friday against recommendations by Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's top medical adviser, to continue social-distancing precautions after someone has been fully vaccinated.
“My view is, if you get a vaccine, the vaccines are effective,” DeSantis said. “You're immune and so, act immune.”"
At least he admits his mistake. Hopefully he will be as forthcoming once he realizes the vaccines were a terrible idea.
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Back the Blue That Backs You
"Unfortunately, short of state nullification of federal actions, there is very little we can do about the rogue federal law enforcement agencies operating out of Washington, D.C.. Trust me when I say that those agencies are way past caring about what you think of them; that battle has been lost for now. But we haven’t lost our communities . . . yet.
Traditional America needs to make our communities our communities again. In other words, we need to take control of our local government and shape it to reflect the values and culture of its citizens. This means the citizens need to step into the breach when it comes to deciding how local law enforcement agencies should protect and serve their communities. This isn’t about dissing law enforcement or defunding the police. This is about setting boundaries as a community, and making sure the people you pay to protect and serve your community are actually protecting and serving your community, not the coastal elites.
The U.S. Marines pride themselves on making leaders—at all levels. One of a Marine leader’s primary missions is taking care of their Marines. Taking care of your Marines doesn’t mean making life rosy and easy for them. It means looking out for their welfare, giving them meaningful work, being direct with appropriate guidance, and holding them accountable for their actions. Maybe there’s a lesson here.
If a local law enforcement organization’s culture views the citizen with contempt, then the community does not have an organization committed to protecting and serving it.
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...You don’t have to back the blue when it doesn’t back you.
Just as holding law enforcement leadership accountable is important, it is also critical that when you have a sheriff or chief of police who is truly dedicated to protecting and serving the members of the community—and who has set an organizational culture that supports that mission, you actively protect them. That means being vocal and active in your support when that law enforcement leadership is under unwarranted attack from those with malicious political agendas.
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Law enforcement is made up of humans, and not all humans are good or honest people. We ended up with James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strozk at a weaponized FBI because, instead of holding that organization accountable, we repeatedly gave them the benefit of the doubt under the guise of backing the blue.
There is an authoritarian leviathan coming for traditional America. Local government and, in particular, local law enforcement can be one of our most effective lines of defense—if we choose to create the conditions for that defense. We simply cannot afford to make the same mistakes we made at the federal level in our local communities.
Like it or not, America’s default view of law enforcement has been a mostly childlike belief in the good guys, like Norman Rockwell’s Officer Friendly and the untouchable Elliot Ness. It is a bug, not a feature, of the GOP that it has embedded this childlike illusion so deeply into conservative thought. It has led to some incredibly foolish and self-destructive decisions, as we saw during the Trump Administration, when we placed our trust in those law enforcement officials who were undeserving of it. It’s a tough illusion to break."
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DNA/RNA Vaccines: “Can They Alter Our Own Genetic Codes”
"Most people don’t know very much about DNA or RNA, so I’ll start with a 30-second chemistry discussion. DNA and RNA are both polymers, long strings (in this case, very long strings) composed of seemingly endless repetitions of a single basic chemical building block, called a nucleotide.
The resulting structure is often likened to a string of pearls, or to the rungs of a very, very long ladder. A single human cell contains some 6 billion nucleotide building blocks in its chromosomes.
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Viruses have no lives of their own. They can grow only in host cells, such as, for example, your cells. In order for a virus to infect you, it needs to recognize a “receptor” on your cell surfaces. If — and only if — the virus can recognize such a receptor, then it has its own clever way of attaching itself to that receptor and sneaking its DNA (or RNA — viruses can have either one) into your cells.
Once inside, the DNA (or RNA) virus chromosome proceeds to reproduce itself, giving rise to hundreds or thousands of exact copies. These are then turned into complete virus particles by being covered with a protective protein coat. Next, the cell is broken open and the new progeny viruses disperse, infecting hundreds or thousands of other cells.
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Even though the chemical differences between DNA and RNA are relatively small, the cell is smart enough to instantly recognize those small differences and act accordingly.
DNA is replicated in our cells by means of an enzyme called “DNA polymerase.” RNA, however, will not ordinarily be replicated by our cells because that’s simply not the way things work. So how does the RNA virus reproduce?
Some RNA viruses have an enzyme called “reverse transcriptase,” which begins each new viral life cycle by converting the virus’ RNA chromosome into DNA. This DNA copy can then be replicated by the cell’s own DNA polymerase-based system.
But other RNA viruses, including the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus, bring in their own special reproductive enzyme called “RNA polymerase,” which has the ability to directly produce numerous copies of the virus’ own RNA chromosome without any help from the cell’s native DNA polymerase system.
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...The interaction between a virus and the host cell is generally classified as being one of two distinct types of interaction.
Historically, the first type of interaction (discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) was what we now call, in retrospect, a “productive infection.” Here the virus reproduces and kills the cell, releasing the many progeny as described above.
It was only in the later years of the 20th century that it became clear that there is a second sort of interaction, very different in nature, known as a “transforming” interaction (also called a “latent” infection). In a transforming interaction there is no virus growth at all. Instead, the single chromosome of the virus uses its bag of genetic tricks to insert itself into one of the 46 chromosomes of the host cell. There the viral DNA remains, sometimes forever.
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...even now — 68 years after the publication of the “Watson-Crick double-helix” structure for DNA — the dream of curing disease via human genetic re-engineering, employing custom-made viruses, remains in its infancy.
On the other hand, certain questionable forms of hastily-contrived human genetic experimentation, empowered by “executive orders,” and facilitated by “fast-track” bypassing of safety protocols, have become alarmingly commonplace.
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...the question virologists were asking in the 1970s was this: Is the insertion of viral genes into host cell chromosomes a process uniquely associated with cancerous transformations? Or might the insertion of viral genes into host cell chromosomes take place in any and every sort of viral infection, whether it was a “productive” infection leading to virus multiplication and cell death, or whether it was a “transforming” infection where there was no virus multiplication at all?
We looked into this question by studying the infection of mammalian cells by herpesviruses. In the end, we published three papers, all in leading virology journals....
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By the third paper...all reasonable doubt about the integration of viral DNA into host chromosomes had been laid to rest.
Another line of investigation going on at about the same time, in the laboratory of W. Munyon, led to the same conclusion. Munyon and his associates studied an enzyme called “thymidine kinase.” What that enzyme does is extraneous to this discussion. What matters is that the gene for the enzyme is normally found in human chromosomes, and also in herpesvirus chromosomes.
Munyon and his team had a mutant strain of cells that lacked the thymidine kinase gene. They infected those cells with herpesvirus that had been irradiated, and thereby rendered incapable of multiplying in and killing the cells.
But the virus did, nevertheless, carry in its own thymidine kinase gene. Upon infection, the cells were shown to suddenly have acquired that enzyme, even though they were mutants who had none of their own. Because the virus had been irradiated, it did not kill the cells, which continued growing in the laboratory.
Eight months — which is hundreds of generations — later, the progeny of those cells were still producing thymidine kinase!
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In the 1970s, the adenovirus researchers were asking the same questions that the herpesvirus workers were asking. And they were coming up with the same answers: In “productive infection,” where adenovirus was supposed to only replicate and destroy the cell, there was indeed extensive integration of viral genes into the host cell chromosomes — even though there was no obvious biological reason for the virus to do that.
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The question then arises: If this is the case, why do vaccine manufacturers “assure” us that their marginally tested products are genetically “safe?”
I would suggest three possible explanations, all equally reprehensible:
- It may be that the scientists in these companies simply do not know the history of this field. What can one say? “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
- It may be that anything in industry which does not improve the quarterly profit report is at great risk of being ignored.
- It may be that calling a new vaccine “safe,” in the pharmaceutical world, means little more than that the company has the legal resources to deal with any liability claims that arise.
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We’ve been discussing DNA vaccines. What about RNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna?
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The RNA vaccines are alleged by their promoters to be genetically “safe” because RNA cannot be directly incorporated into human chromosomes.
Is that true? Yes. But does that make them “safe?” Perhaps not.
What the vaccine companies forgot to tell you is that our cells have several types of “reverse transcriptase” of their own, which can potentially convert the vaccine RNA into DNA.
In December 2020, a team of researchers from Harvard and MIT (Zhang et al) posted an article at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory-hosted bioRxiv preprint server showing that, in all probability, incorporation of coronavirus spike protein genes, into the chromosomes of infected cells, does indeed take place, and is mediated by the so-called “LINE-1” type of human reverse transcriptase. (For more on the Harvard-MIT study and its implications, read this article previously published by The Defender).
To be clear, this was not a vaccine study, but a study in which cells were deliberately infected with whole, non-inactivated virus, as happens in nature, and which apparently can result in genetic transformation of the cells after all.
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It could be said, in defense of the genetics-based-vaccine lobby, that since infection with whole, functional coronavirus clearly appears capable of transforming the human genetic code, causing our cells to forever manufacture the viral spike protein, there may therefore be some justification in mimicking this natural transformation via an unnatural RNA vaccine.
In condemnation of that lobby, however, we cannot overlook the obviously unwarranted assurances of vaccine manufacturers that alteration of our genetic code “will not happen.” Such a statement casts doubt on (a) their competence in their own field, and (b) their willingness to accept the consequences of their own actions.
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In the case of the current vaccine-borne corona spike protein gene, no one has any clue as to where in our genomes it will wind up, or what it will do when it gets there.
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It is my view that the massive and barely studied global human genetic experiment going on right now is the biological equivalent of a drunk driver, speeding down the highway with impunity at 60 mph — at night without headlights — because he says that “he knows the road.”"
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EMA says J&J Covid-19 vaccine benefits outweigh the risks despite finding possible link to rare blood clots
"The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given its backing to the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, saying the overall benefit-risk remains positive, despite warning about the very rare possible side effect of blood clots.
The EU drug regulator’s safety committee conducted an investigation into the side effects of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended its use in America earlier this month “out of an abundance of caution.”
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Having conducted its review, the EMA said on Tuesday that a warning about “very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets” should be added to the list of side effects for the vaccine, but that overall the benefits outweigh the risks."
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France becomes 1st EU state to trial Covid vaccine certificate for all of Europe
"France has become the first country in Europe to embrace a “digital coronavirus travel certificate” system – a controversial electronic vaccine passport similar to those that have surfaced in Israel and parts of the US.
The TousAntiCovid app is slated to debut next Thursday, a year after the concept was devised in Brussels to serve as the root framework for a contact-tracing program and immunity passport for France. Going forward, it will be expanded to include vaccine data as well, with the relevant information stored on users’ smartphones.
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Starting on April 29, the trial system can be used to verify whether the carrier has been vaccinated or not, an official told Le Monde on Tuesday. The system will subsequently serve as one part of a “reinforced, consolidated, and standardized” pan-European system, according to Minister of Digital Transition Cedric O, who has been in contact with other countries and major airlines in an effort to set up a functional, glitch-free system going forward.
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The officials involved have deliberately avoided referring to the program as a “vaccine passport,” lest it go down in flames or scare away French people who are disturbed by the idea of a vaccine passport – though it’s not clear what those people are expected to do once confronted with the actual vaccine passport, since there’s little other way to describe it.
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The French have already ruled out TousAntiCovid’s use to control entry to bars and restaurants, though it has been approved for use in “concerts, festivals, [or] trade shows.” Denmark is reportedly working on a similar system, and while the country’s citizens have taken to the streets by the thousands to demonstrate against what many regard as police-state-like measures, Copenhagen hopes to have the system rolled out by the summer. The use of such mandatory vaccine systems has proven extremely polarizing across Europe, with about half of the population insisting such safety measures are key to reopening society safely, and the other half warning they will open the door to a disastrous new totalitarianism."
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WATCH crowds in Minneapolis & around US cheer Chauvin guilty verdict
"Groups gathered around a Minneapolis courthouse to await the verdict in ex-cop Derek Chauvin’s murder trial erupted into cheers and celebrations after he was convicted on three counts, joined by crowds around the country.
Jurors found the former Minneapolis officer guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Tuesday, charges that stemmed from the death of suspect George Floyd in custody last May.
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Following widespread fears over potential rioting and unrest in the event the officer was not found guilty, Chauvin’s conviction won unlikely support from Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld, who endorsed the verdict “even if he might not be guilty on all charges.”
“I want a verdict that keeps this country from going up in flames,” he said, prompting groans from Fox colleague Janine Pirro.
“We do not sacrifice individuals for the sake of how people feel,” Pirro shot back, as Gutfeld argued “I’m at least being honest. My neighborhood was looted. I don’t ever want to go through that again,” apparently referring to previous unrest over Floyd’s death, which kicked off weeks of heated protests in Minneapolis and dozens of American cities.
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While Chauvin’s bail was revoked and he was immediately remanded into custody after being found guilty, scenes from his trial this week hint that his legal battle may not be finished. After the ex-cop’s defense attorney requested a mistrial over inflammatory comments about the case from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) last weekend, Judge Peter Cahill noted the congresswoman may have given the defense “something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned.” So far it is unclear whether Chauvin will launch an appeal, though his lawyers are required to notify the court within 60 days if they intend to do so."
The idea that this will lead to less riots overall seems naive. If anything this will embolden those types as clearly they were on the "right side."
I also wonder these days if we're acknowledging enough the extent to which juries are being intimidated into giving the mob what it wants.
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Scientists create first chimeric human-monkey embryos which can survive up to 20 days
"An international team of scientists based in China and the United States have successfully grown human-monkey chimeric embryos for up to 20 days, a world first, pushing the boundaries of both science and ethics simultaneously.
The research was led by gene expression expert Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte from the Salk Institute in California who, along with his team, implanted human stem cells into primate embryos which then grew for up to up to 20 days.
While the ethics of such research will be hotly debated for years to come, the potential benefits with regards to unlocking the remaining secrets of developmental biology and evolution, as well as for the development of new models of human biology and disease, proved significant enough to warrant the risk.
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By analyzing the samples, the researchers were able to determine which communication pathways between the monkey and human cells were viable in the generation of future chimeras and which were not.
This will expand the possibility of producing future chimeras with species more genetically distant from humans than monkeys, throwing open the doors to unique research pathways, including growing transplantable organs for use in humans but grown in animals."
Excuse me I don't remember being consulted on whether that was "enough to warrant the risk." I'm tired of all these creepy and clearly unethical scietists hiding their horrors behind solving tragedies for humans. Some people are going to die of organ failure and some people will never walk again. A world where the previous sentence is true will always be far better than the one these technologies will bring about. These scientists aren't heroes, they're at best naive and at worst manipulative sociopaths preying on the fear and grief of others.
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False Perception Fabrication Inc.
"Mainstream Everything can create a pandemic out of anything, even out of a Low Infection Fatality Rate virus that arguably has not been properly isolated, purified, or replicated.
And that is exactly what they did.
The process of turning the truth on its head did not happen overnight. It involved changing words and nomenclature to align with pre-planned existing agendas.
Prior to the H1N1 Swine Flu “pandemic” of 2009, for example, the WHO deleted “severity of illness” from the definition of a high level, “level 6” contagion. How convenient. Whereas the word “pandemic” usually conjures up images of devastating, high mortality-rate plagues, in reality, thanks to the changed nomenclature, the term is now used to define COVID-19 which has Low Infection Fatality Rates.
Coding changes to Death Certificates, for COVID-19 only, also continue to distort reality. Had coding changes not been altered in March 2020, the COVID death rates would be substantially lower. When people see high numbers of deaths falsely attributed to COVID, they become fearful — which is part of the plan– but the fear is not reasonable. It is not based on real mortality rates."
Some good additional examples and screenshots of the redefinition of words & concepts.
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Seoul students shave heads in front of Japanese embassy to protest Tokyo’s plan for dumping Fukushima nuclear wastewater
"More than 30 college students in South Korea’s capital have shaved their heads in front of the Japanese embassy to show their opposition to Tokyo’s plan to dump more than a million tons of nuclear wastewater into the ocean.
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As their heads were shaved, the students wore protective sheets covered in messages for their cause. One read: “The Japanese government should immediately cancel the plan to release the contaminated water” and “We will continue to work until Japan stops the discharge of contaminated water.”
The crowds were met by a sizeable police presence, which attempted to move protesters on and enforce Covid-19 measures which limit gatherings to no more than 10 people.
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Last week, the Japanese government said it would be releasing the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which went into meltdown in 2011, into the ocean “in around two years.” The plan, which has been touted as Tokyo’s favorite proposal for a while, was met with condemnation by Japan’s neighbors."
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Capitol Police officer media claimed was ‘killed’ in January 6 riot died of NATURAL CAUSES, says medical examiner
"Officer Brian Sicknick of the US Capitol Police died after suffering two strokes, but there was no evidence of internal or external injuries from the January 6 unrest, the Washington, DC medical examiner has finally revealed.
Sicknick, 42, died after suffering two strokes at the base of the brain stem caused by a clot in an artery, medical examiner Francisco J. Diaz said on Monday. The autopsy found no evidence of internal or external injuries, or an allergic reaction to chemical irritants, Diaz added.
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Monday’s revelation undermines the official narrative about the January 6 “insurrection” – as it was labeled by the Democrats and the corporate media – in which hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol grounds during a joint session of Congress meeting to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Capitol Police initially said that Sicknick “succumbed to his injuries” on January 7. Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said on January 8 that Sicknick died of “the injuries he suffered defending the US Capitol.” Sicknick’s cremated remains were honored in the Capitol rotunda before he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in early February.
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Sicknick’s death was even cited in the impeachment claims against Trump by congressional Democrats, who sought to disqualify the 45th president from federal office in the future by claiming he “incited insurrection” against the government that resulted in the officer’s death.
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Commenting on the findings, the Capitol Police issued a statement saying that “this does not change the fact Officer Brian Sicknick died in the Line of Duty, courageously defending Congress and the Capitol.”
“The attack on our officers, including Brian, was an attack on our democracy,” the Capitol Police added."
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H.R. 1 Is the Pillow Over the Face of Federalism
"...far more was lost than was gained by cutting the state governments out of the process altogether. It is not too much to say that direct election of senators—ratified in 1913—mortally wounded federalism. A century later, the constitutional power of the states wheezes along, alive in name only. H.R. 1, to a large degree, is just a pillow over the face of a terminally ill patient.
The framers saw a “double advantage” in their scheme: favoring senators with judgment and experience (rather than mere popularity), while also giving the states some “agency in the formation of the federal government” that would strengthen their constitutional powers and authorities and “form a convenient link between the two systems.”
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The framers specifically rejected the idea of pure democracy, or mob rule, that had characterized the city-states of ancient Greece, where no one’s freedoms were safe. It was precisely because the American founders wanted to ensure that government derived all of its legitimate powers from the consent of the governed that they looked for ways to “refine and enlarge the public views.” The indirect election of senators, along with the Electoral College and similar institutions, were meant to strengthen the sovereignty of the people by elevating their deliberative judgment over fleeting and momentary passions or fads.
At the same time, the founders regarded federalism—with important constitutional duties given to the state legislatures—as a democratic principle, since the states are closer and more accountable to the people than the central government in Washington, D.C. Representation, as the authority of the people to choose their political leaders (whether directly or indirectly) is a vital aspect of self-government. Yet, in the end, it is a means for securing the more fundamental idea of consent. In particular, federalism promotes good government devoted to securing the conditions for the people’s safety and happiness.
Today, as Ralph Rossum points out,
"with the Senate no longer answerable to state legislatures, it has felt increasingly free to join the House in legislating on every social, economic, or political problem which it perceives as confronting the nation, even if the resulting measures are little more than blank checks of authority to the executive branch and the federal bureaucracy."
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Elihu Root. A highly respected and accomplished statesman in his time, Root is largely forgotten today. In a moving speech a few years later, titled “Lincoln as a Leader of Men,” the senator reminded his fellow Americans that in a constitutional republic the obligations of self-government are demanded of all the citizens.
“It will be useful to remember,” Root said, “that Abraham Lincoln was a politician.” Then, as now, however, the word politician was in bad repute. But as Root explained:
"Politics is the practical exercise of the art of self-government, and somebody must attend to it if we are to have self-government; somebody must study it, and learn the art, and exercise patience and sympathy and skill to bring the multitude of opinions and wishes of self-governing people into such order that some prevailing opinion may be expressed and peaceably accepted. Otherwise, confusion will result either in dictatorship or anarchy.
The principal ground of reproach against any American citizen should be that he is not a politician. Everyone ought to be, as Lincoln was."
Recovering a vigorous federalism is only part of the larger project of recovering our liberty. And that will only happen if patriotic Americans become “politicians” in the sense that Root, and Lincoln, and the founding fathers expected, or hoped, might be possible."
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Trump Didn’t Form a Populist Coalition; He Was the Result of One
"Political analysts, who often have little cultural connection to Republican voters, tend to say “Trump the man” is why his supporters voted for him. So, using that same line of thinking, if they came here and saw the Trump signs, they likely would proclaim these people were Trump cultists and end their curiosity.
They are wrong in two ways.
First, “Trump the man” did not form this coalition. Rather, he was the result of it. This was evident during the 2006 midterm elections when Republicans lost power. Analysts ignored the fact that Main Street Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters were voting against the Republican establishment because they were unhappy with the establishment ignoring their needs, not because they loved Democrats.
The pendulum swung further away from Republicans again in 2008 and then toward them again. By 2016, the voters who were to become Trump’s base already knew who they were. Trump was the only one of 17 Republicans and five Democrats who stood out to this group of politically homeless voters. He knew how to tap the aspirations they were looking for from a presidential candidate.
Second, many people who have left their support for Trump visible to others have not left those flags or signs up because they think the election was stolen. It’s not a testament to their undying support for one man; they’ve left them up because it is their only way to show the political class that they are not going away.
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Cultural curators in the media, corporations, and the so-called social justice warriors just can’t dislodge themselves from their narrow idea that if you voted for Trump or any other Republican, you are part of this thing that needs to become extinct.
These voters are telling you through their signs that that is not going to happen.
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The next time you see a Trump sign in someone’s yard, try to suppress your conditioned impulse and consider that it might be something more nuanced, more complex than the lazy stereotypical hot take anyone can post on social media."
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Dershowitz to Newsmax TV: Chauvin Guilty Verdict Product of Jury Fear, Not Due Process
"''I have no real confidence that this verdict, which may be correct in some ways, but I have no confidence that this verdict was produced by due process and the rule of law, rather than the influence of the crowd," Dershowitz said on Tuesday’s edition of ''Spicer & Co.'' on Newsmax TV.
The ''outside influences of Al Sharpton and Maxine Waters,'' he said, was like the ''sword of Damocles hanging over the jury,'' and that they were ''basically saying [indirectly to the jury] if you don't convict on the murder charge and all the charges, the cities will burn, the country will be destroyed.''
Prior to Tuesday's guilty verdict in the Chauvin case, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said at a demonstration in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, ''If nothing does not happen, then we know that we’ve got to not only stay in the street, but we’ve got to fight for justice.''
She added: ''We’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business,'' as the Los Angeles Times reported.
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''The fears, the threats — every juror in that room knew about these threats and when they sit, deliberate, they have to be saying to themselves, consciously or unconsciously, 'If I render a verdict other than a murder verdict, what will the consequences be for me, my family, my friends, my business.' That should never, ever be allowed to seep into a jury room,'' he emphasized.
''I can criticize Waters, I can criticize Sharpton," he said. "These folks took what they did right out of the playbook of the Deep South in the 1920s when prominent public officials would whoop up the crowds in front of the courthouse, demanding conviction of Black people or acquittal of white people."
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We Are Human, We Are Free – Building Worldwide Nonviolent Resistance to the Great Reset
"We Are Human, We Are Free is a worldwide nonviolent resistance movement to free ourselves from Elite control and resist the forces of fear and dehumanisation.
Our aim is to build a mass civil resistance movement to undermine the power of the Global Elite to control us, and to regain the freedoms that make our lives worth living. Because we are human, we are free to make choices. The time has come to choose – are we on the side of love, life and freedom or fear, self-imprisonment and tyranny?
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We Are Human, We Are Free recognises that to defend our human needs and rights it is necessary to noncooperate with the forces of fear, and this involves many types of courageous and conscientious individual and collective action. While legal and political challenges within the system help raise awareness of the unhealthy nature of tyranny, we need to trust ourselves to make the final decisions about how to meet our own needs when existing political and legal systems are corrupted and fail. When we cannot defend ourselves according to legal or conventional political rules, we must step outside these rules and draw upon the more natural and fundamental powers of human solidarity, conscience and courage.
Some powerful acts of nonviolent noncooperation, such as boycotts, will remain legal and risk free. Increasingly, however, noncooperation will require civil disobedience, as the forces of fear attempt to reign us in ever more tightly. The Global Elite and their agents have already used arrests, fines, imprisonment, psychiatric committal, property seizure and direct violence against pro-freedom activists in different countries to try to intimidate us into giving up. They will continue to use violence against us. In these challenging circumstances, nonviolent processes and interactions provide the greatest degree of physical and psychological/emotional safety possible for activists and will help build the greatest number of participants in our growing movement
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We hope that the We Are Human, We Are Free website will provide a user friendly resource for developing a worldwide nonviolent campaign against the Global Elite’s Great Reset, encouraging many acts of noncooperation from ordinary, empowered people. We look forward to your participation!"
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Big Corporations Now Deploying Woke Ideology the Way Intelligence Agencies Do: As a Disguise
"The British spy agency GCHQ is so aggressive, extreme and unconstrained by law or ethics that the NSA — not exactly world renowned for its restraint — often farms out spying activities too scandalous or illegal for the NSA to their eager British counterparts. There is, as the Snowden reporting demonstrated, virtually nothing too deceitful or invasive for the GCHQ. They spy on entire populations, deliberately disseminate fake news, exploit psychological research to control behavior and manipulate public perception, and destroy the reputations, including through the use of sex traps, of anyone deemed adversarial to the British government.
But they want you to know that they absolutely adore gay people. In fact, they love the cause of LGBT equality so very much that, beginning on May 17, 2015 — International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia — they started draping their creepy, UFO-style headquarters in the colors of the rainbow flag. The prior year, in 2014, they had merely raised the rainbow flag in front of their headquarters, but in 2015, they announced, “we wanted to make a bold statement to show the nation we serve how strongly we believe in this.”
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Large corporations have obviously witnessed the success of this tactic — to prettify the face of militarism and imperialism with the costumes of social justice — and are now weaponizing it for themselves. As a result, they are becoming increasingly aggressive in their involvement in partisan and highly politicized debates, always on the side of the same causes of social justice which entities of imperialism and militarism have so effectively co-opted.
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...they are now going far beyond clandestine corporatist control of the government for their own interests. They are now becoming increasingly powerful participants in highly polarizing and democratic debates. In the wake of the George Floyd killing last summer, it became virtually obligatory for every large corporation to proclaim support for the #BlackLivesMatter agenda even though many, if not most, had never previously evinced the slightest interest in questions of racial justice or policing.
One of the very few companies that refused to do so was the Silicon Valley-based cryptocurrency exchange platform called Coinbase — which announced that it would remain apolitical and not involve itself in partisan debates or causes of social justice unrelated to its core business mission. When announcing that policy of political neutrality, the company’s co-founder Brian Armstrong explained that “the reason is that while I think these efforts are well intentioned, they have the potential to destroy a lot of value at most companies, both by being a distraction, and by creating internal division.” That once-anodyne announcement — to stay out of politics as a corporate entity — produced instant backlash. And exactly two months after, the notoriously censorious and politicized “tech reporters” of The New York Times punished the company for its heresy of neutrality with a lengthy article depicting Coinbase as a bastion of racism and toxic bigotry (the company was also savaged by journalists because of its audacity to reveal and respond to the NYT’s allegations in advance of the paper’s decision to publish).
Ever since, large corporations are diving into numerous other political debates with great vigor and force — provided that their views are in alignment with affluent liberal culture and prevailing social justice pieties (though, like NBA officials and stars, they confine themselves to easy domestic causes and scripted liberal platitudes while they steadfastly avoid commenting on any injustices that may implicate their business interests, such as debates over labor abuses in China or Amazon’s abuse of its workers). The Wall Street Journal on Sunday reported that “dozens of chief executives and other senior leaders gathered on Zoom this weekend to plot what several said big businesses should do next about new voting laws under way in Texas and other states.” The campaign against these laws includes not just corporate giants but also the nation’s largest and richest corporate law firms.
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...whatever the motives, the dangers of growing corporate involvement in U.S. political debates are manifest. In its healthiest form, the way democracy would function is that citizens vote for the representatives they believe will best serve their interests, and those representatives then enact laws they believe their constituents favor. But when giant corporations use their unparalleled economic power to override that process — by forcing state and local governments to rescind or reject laws they would otherwise support due to fear of corporate punishment — then the system, by definition, far more resembles an oligarchy than a democracy....
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When it comes time to identify the root causes of social pathologies, we will look elsewhere. The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the corporate class and the ways they abuse and eliminate labor, control government, and destroy the working and middle classes will be impossible to see, as we are all blinded by the glare of their virtuous Instagram posts about racial justice and their unified campaigns against voter suppression. In an instant of swooning over their benevolent devotion to social justice, we will forget what they actually exist to do. When we work to harness their power to support our own political causes, we forget about how out of control and menacing that power is, and what it is most often used for. And that is exactly the way they want it."