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Musk Neuters Twitter ‘Ministry Of Truth’ Ahead Of Midterms

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Musk Neuters Twitter ‘Ministry Of Truth’ Ahead Of Midterms

Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation may recall the episode where extra-dimensional dickhead “Q” is stripped of his powers for spreading chaos throughout the universe.

Well, Elon Musk just did that to Twitter’s content moderation thought police with just weeks to go before midterms – cutting the number of employees who can access censorship tools from hundreds to around 15 people last week, and reducing their ability to influence discussion on the platform.

According to Bloomberg, Musk and his ‘war cabinet‘ have frozen some employee access to internal tools used for content moderation and the enforcement of other policies, neutering staff’s abilities to ‘alter or penalize accounts that break rules around misleading information, offensive posts and hate speech.’

They also won’t be able to banish highly credentialed doctors and researchers posting divergent Covid-19 narratives.

All but the most ‘high-impact violations set for manual review’ will remain on the platform, according to people familiar with the matter.

Twitter staff use dashboards, known as agent tools, to carry out actions like banning or suspending an account that is deemed to have breached policy. Detection of policy breaches can either be flagged by other Twitter users or detected automatically, but taking action on them requires human input and access to the dashboard tools. Those tools have been suspended since last week, the people said.

This restriction is part of a broader plan to freeze Twitter’s software code to keep employees from pushing changes to the app during the transition to new ownership. Typically this level of access is given to a group of people numbering in the hundreds, and that was initially reduced to about 15 people last week, according to two of the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal decisions. Musk completed his $44 billion deal to take the company private on Oct. 27. -Bloomberg

On Sunday,Twitter employees had limited access to the internal tools to police Brazil’s presidential election.

Meanwhile, the company is still using automated enforcement technology as well as third-party contractors.

The restricted ability to restrict free speech has given Twitter’s Trust and Safety Team the vapors – with employees worried that the company will be short-handed during the runup to the Nov. 8 midterm election. Recall the Trust and Safety Team was headed by now-fired Vijaya Gadde – who would have had a large role (perhaps even the final decision) to ban ZeroHedge in February, 2020 for suggesting that Covid-19 was the result of a lab leak (and that we ‘doxxed’ a Wuhan lab employee using publicly available data – aka not doxxing).

Photo via Latestfinancenews

Internally, employees say, Musk has raised questions about a number of the policies, and has zeroed in on a few specific rules that he wants the team to review. The first is Twitter’s general misinformation policy, which penalizes posts that include falsehoods about topics like election outcomes and Covid-19. Musk wants the policy to be more specific, according to people familiar with the matter.

Musk has also asked the team to review Twitter’s hateful conduct policy, according to the people, specifically a section that says users can be penalized for “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.” -Bloomberg

On Monday, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity, tweeted on Monday that the company was addressing an increase in offensive posts.

“Since Saturday, we’ve been focused on addressing the surge in hateful conduct on Twitter. We’ve made measurable progress, removing more than 1500 accounts and reducing impressions on this content to nearly zero,” he wrote, adding “We’re primarily dealing with a focused, short-term trolling campaign.”

In short:

Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/01/2022 – 05:45

Britain Spending Almost £7 Million A Day On Hotels For ‘Asylum-Seekers’

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Britain Spending Almost £7 Million A Day On Hotels For ‘Asylum-Seekers’

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The total cost to British taxpayers is now close to exceeding £2.5 billion a year and is likely only to increase as a processing backlog grows…

People thought to be migrants who undertook the crossing from France in small boats and were picked up in the Channel, arrive to be disembarked from a small transfer boat which ferried them from a larger British border force vessel that didn’t come into the port, in Dover, south east England, Friday, June 17, 2022. Britain’s response to the increase in migrants crossing the English Channel on small boats is poor and officials are clearly overwhelmed on some days, an independent inspection found in a report published Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

The British government is currently spending £6.8 million (€7.84 million) a day on housing prospective asylum seekers and Afghan nationals in hotels across the country, the Home Affairs Select Committee learned on Wednesday.

Hearing testimony from Home Office staff and border chiefs, U.K. lawmakers sitting on the parliamentary committee were briefed that over 38,000 prospective asylum seekers had landed in Britain via the English Channel in 936 small boats so far this year, while a further 28,000 crossing attempts had been thwarted by French authorities.

The majority of those who arrived have been placed in hotel accommodation due to makeshift processing centers already reaching full capacity.

Abi Tierney, the director general for customer services at the Home Office, revealed the total cost to the British taxpayer for the hotel accommodation being block-booked for months in advance by the U.K. government is £5.6 million per day for Channel migrants, while a further £1.2 million per day is being spent on accommodating Afghan nationals evacuated from the country following the Taliban’s return to power last year. That is a total figure of £2.48 billion (€2.87 billion) per year.

When the committee chair Dame Diana Johnson asked Ms. Tierney whether that figure was “likely to go up,” the Home Office staffer replied: “Yes.”

It is likely to increase because many of those residing in hotels have been doing so for at least a year, with Ms. Tierney revealing that of the thousands of asylum seekers who arrived via the Channel last year, 96 percent are still awaiting a decision to their asylum request. Furthermore, of the 4 percent that have been processed, 85 percent of the claims have been successful.

The Home Office typically prioritizes claims whereby applicants are deemed vulnerable, and the triage of claims is not necessarily based on how long an applicant has resided in temporary accommodation.

The hotel accommodation is not only a costly measure but has had a knock-on effect with a number of weddings and celebratory occasions booked months in advance having been canceled by hotels who have taken up commercial contracts with the Home Office to block-book rooms intended for asylum seekers.

With more and more arrivals, a huge backlog in processing and an ever-rising bill to the taxpayers, the crisis is only deepening.

Clandestine Channel Threat Commander Dan O’Mahoney revealed that of the 38,000 people who have arrived via small boats onto British shores this year, 12,000 are Albanian nationals of which 10,000 are single, adult males.

This figure shows an exponential rise in Albanian nationals arriving through irregular channels in Britain, O’Mahoney said.

“Two years ago, 50 Albanians arrived in the U.K. in small boats. Last year, it was 800,” he told the committee.

Overall, roughly 1-2 percent of the whole single male population of Albania has attempted to come to the U.K., O’Mahoney added.

The rise has been exponential, and we think that is in the main due to the fact that Albanian criminal gangs have gained a foothold in the north of France and have begun facilitating very large numbers of migrants.

Clandestine Channel Threat Commander Dan O’Mahoney

Despite reiterated pledges by Conservative politicians to take back control of the English Channel, the world’s busiest shipping lane which now plays a pivotal role in Britain’s migration crisis, the number of arrivals has continued to rise sharply throughout this parliament.

Home Secretary (at the time – and now freshly reinstalled) Suella Braverman told the Conservative party conference last month that it was “her dream” to see a plane full of asylum seekers be sent to deportation centers established by the Home Office in the African country of Rwanda, a keystone policy of Boris Johnson’s administration introduced by Braverman’s predecessor Priti Patel.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called last year’s processing figures for asylum seekers “shocking and irresponsible,” claiming it plays into the hands of criminal gangs and “leaves refugees without the support they need.”

It is so far unclear how Labour would handle the migration crisis on Britain’s southern shores in a more efficient manner, or how the party would tackle bogus claims, with its leader Sir Keir Starmer simply stating previously that a Labour government would implement an “immigration system based on compassion and dignity.”

Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/01/2022 – 05:00

“Another Stab In The Back”: Climate Movement Miffed After UK’s Sunak Snubs Cop27 Climate Talks

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“Another Stab In The Back”: Climate Movement Miffed After UK’s Sunak Snubs Cop27 Climate Talks

Several developing countries are more than a little upset after newly minted UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided to snub the Cop27 climate talks, and to keep King Charles from attending, The Guardian reports.

“I can understand why the king was asked not to attend – keeping him out of the fray. However, as the principal UK policymaker and the Cop26 president, the PM should have led the summit,” said Belize’s ambassador to the UN, Carlos Fuller. “It seems as if they are washing their hands of leadership.”

Sunak’s reason for not going – to concentrate on the UK’s economic statement – was questioned. Mohamed Nasheed, speaker of the Maldives parliament and former president, said: “[It’s] very worrying that the UK thought there was anything more serious than climate change. You can count the pennies but might lose the pounds.”

Developed countries were also concerned. One senior government aide said: “It appears as if the new UK prime minister wants to wash his hands of the previously strong role the government played on international climate action. It’s another stab in the back for [Cop26 president Alok] Sharma.” -Guardian

Last year’s Cop26 talks held in Glasgow were notably headed by Boris Johnson, and ended with a global consensus that global temperatures need to rise no more than 1.5C. The conference was chaired by cabinet minister Alok Sharma – who will not be at Cop27.

Sunak will instead speak at a reception for businesses and environmental leaders at Buckingham Palace this Friday, just 48 hours before Cop27 starts.

“The prime minister is not expected to attend Cop27 and this is due to other pressing domestic commitments including preparations for the Autumn Budget. The UK will be fully represented by other senior ministers as well as the Cop president Alok Sharma,” said a #10 spokeswoman on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson may attend this year’s talks, following precedent set by former leaders including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

“For all Boris Johnson’s ills, no one can reasonably accuse him of ignoring or not prioritising climate action. The UK has benefited from the leadership of Alok Sharma and Lord Goldsmith,” one Commonwealth diplomat told The Guardian. “One hopes [Sunak’s stance] is not a backsliding of the positions the UK has taken in recent years on both areas.”

It is unusual for the head of state of an important Cop not to attend the handover. After convening the landmark Paris agreement of 2015, French president François Hollande was warmly received at the following UN climate Cop, in Marrakech.

The UK still holds the presidency of the UN negotiations, until the reins are handed over to the Egyptian government at the Cop27 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. This puts the British government in a key position in the long-running climate talks, and the prime minister would normally be expected to hold closed-door bilateral meetings with counterparts around the world, focusing on the climate but including other subjects, such as the Ukraine war and the global economic crisis.

Egypt is particularly miffed at Sunak’s decision for some reason, voicing “disappointment” according to the report.

Perhaps it’s time to send the Gretas. Or the bees. Or the Gretas with bees in their mouth so that when they bark they shoot bees at you.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/01/2022 – 04:15

Potentially Lethal New Super Strain Of COVID Created In London Lab; Report

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Potentially Lethal New Super Strain Of COVID Created In London Lab; Report

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

A potentially deadly new strain of COVID has been created in a University lab in London, according to a report.

The Daily Mail reports that researchers at Imperial College London have hybridised the original Wuhan strain of the disease with both the Omicron or Delta variants separately.

The College is yet to reveal how effective the strain they have created is, and has denied that the work constitutes gain of function, the process now widely believed to have been responsible for the original strain in Wuhan.

Molecular biology expert Dr. Richard Ebright warned that the new mutant strain, which was injected into hamsters in London, “is insanity, both in terms of the redundancy and waste,” and that it has zero “foreseeable practical applications.”

“This should be a wake-up call,” the biologist urged, adding “If the world wishes to avoid new pandemic waves and pandemics caused by lab-generated enhanced potential pandemic pathogens, then it is urgently necessary to restrict senseless high-risk, low-benefit research that creates enhanced potential pandemic pathogens and to implement effective national oversight, with force of law, on such research.”

Dr. Ebright further warned that the development is huge “especially, in terms of the risk of triggering a new pandemic wave upon accidental or deliberate release of the laboratory-generated viruses.”

The development comes after Boston University created a new strain with an 80 percent KILL RATE in a similar fashion.

A former director of the Israeli Government’s Institute for Biological Research, Professor Shmuel Shapira, described the research as “playing with fire.” 

Last week, a new interim report released by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions concluded that the origins of Covid-19 more likely than not came from a “research-related incident,” rather than “natural zoonotic spillover.”

“While precedent of previous outbreaks of human infections from contact with animals favors the hypothesis that a natural zoonotic spillover is responsible for the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 that resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic was most likely the result of a research-related incident,” the report states, while conceding that “This conclusion is not intended to be dispositive.”

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/01/2022 – 03:30

UK Warns About Cold Winter As Warm Spell Set To End

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UK Warns About Cold Winter As Warm Spell Set To End

While many parts of Europe, from Germany and France to the UK, enjoy unseasonably warm weather, a new three-month forecast indicates the increasing possibility that ‘Old Man Winter’ is set to move in. 

Bloomberg reports UK’s Met Office’s three-month outlook shows a colder-than-normal winter is ahead. The forecast said there’s a 25% chance the season will be cold, a 60% chance of it being around average, and 15% of it being mild. 

“The likelihood of a colder three-month period overall is slightly greater than normal,” the forecasts said.

Warm weather has been an important factor in plunging natural gas prices across Europe. Dutch natural gas futures, Europe’s benchmark, have fallen more than 70% since late August to 92.50 euros per megawatt-hour. 

We wrote a note a little more than a week ago titled “Germany May Stave Off Worst Of Energy Crisis As Mild Temps Forecast Through Mid-November.”

However, abnormally warm weather is set to dissipate by mid-November across North West Europe and be more in line with 30-year averages. 

Colder weather is also ahead for Germany. 

And the UK. 

The good news is EU NatGas storage is 94% full despite reduced NatGas shipments from Russia. Shipments via Ukraine are one of the last remaining Russian supply lines to western Europe after the bombing of Nord Stream pipelines. The US is set to ramp up LNG shipments this winter. 

“The weather is quickly becoming a major factor as an unusually hot October kept gas demand in check across Europe and brought some relief for policymakers. The start of the heating season has been pushed back, allowing more gas to be injected into storage sites. The safety buffer could play a key role when the temperatures do drop, and consumption picks up again,” Bloomberg said. 

Even with NatGas storage levels above a 10-year average for this time of year, colder weather in the second half of November could start drawing on inventories — and at some point, NatGas prices will reverse. 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/01/2022 – 02:45

First Nuclear Power Plant In Poland To Be Constructed By US Company

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First Nuclear Power Plant In Poland To Be Constructed By US Company

Via Remix News,

The construction of the nuclear plant will commence in 2026 on the Baltic Sea shore in northern Poland…

Poland has chosen the Westinghouse group from the U.S. to construct the country’s first nuclear plant, with a government resolution on the matter to be adopted on Nov. 2, announced Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday.

Morawiecki said the project will be realized using the proven and safe technology offered by the U.S. Westinghouse Electric Company. He delivered the news following successful talks with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

The markets had expected Poland to choose the U.S. technology but the two other offers from French and Korean companies were also taken into consideration by the government. However, Poland and the United States feature the strongest cooperation dialogue in the nuclear sector going back many years.

In January 2022, the Westinghouse Electric Company signed a memorandum of cooperation with ten Polish companies regarding the potential construction of six AP1000 reactors as part of the Polish Nuclear Energy Program. The company specializes in producing devices utilizing nuclear energy and their flagship projects are the AP1000 reactors that are used in countries such as China.

Poland’s decision to choose the U.S. firm does not mean that the other offers submitted by French EDF group and Korean KHNP are not at play, as two nuclear plants are to be constructed in Poland. According to unofficial information reported on Monday, KHNP will sign a letter of intent with Polish Energy Group and ZE PAK concerning the construction of nuclear units in Pątnów in central Poland on land owned by ZE PAK group. On Tuesday, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin will be visiting Shin-Kori nuclear plant in South Korea.

The Polish nuclear program envisions the construction of six reactors, one every two years.

The construction of the first reactor is to begin in four years, and its launch is planned for 2033. It will be able to provide energy to 4 million households. The last reactor of the second power plant will start functioning in 2043.

If both investments are completed, Polish nuclear power could amount to between 8.8 and 11.8 gigawatts, with the government estimating the cost of their construction at around €39 billion (185 billion Polish zloty).

In December 2021, Polish Nuclear Plants (PEJ) reported that the seaside area of Lubiatowo-Kopalino was selected as the preferred location for the construction of the first nuclear plant in Poland. The second possible location is in nearby Żarnowiec, where a nuclear plant of the Soviet-era remains unfinished to this day.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/01/2022 – 02:00

COVID-19: A Universe Of Questions In A Time Of Universal Deceit

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COVID-19: A Universe Of Questions In A Time Of Universal Deceit

Authored by Michael Bryant via Off-Guardian.org,

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act

-George Orwell

As we approach the third year of the ‘Covid Crisis’, the once unassailable Covid Story – reported and repeated by politicians, public health mandarins and all mainstream media – has been replaced by contradictions and inconsistencies.

The original Covid Story narrated by health ‘experts’ and government officials told of a particularly virulent pathogen which besieged the planet in 2020 and spread like wildfire– terrorizing, infecting, and killing people en masse. 

It was the story of a “pandemic level event” in which people were told to stay indoors, entire sectors of society were forced to shut down and humans were told to do everything possible to avoid contact with one another. 

It was a story of closed down schools, closed down businesses, closed down churches and soon-to-be overwhelmed hospitals.

In later chapters the Covid Story morphed from ironclad truths, “Follow the science”, to ever changing definitions, “The science evolves.” Countless aspects of the “official” narrative changed overnight. Gradually the tale became fraught with pages of questionable statistics and ever shifting storylines.

What was one to make of all of these contradictions and ministerial mutations? 

Did today’s story make sense with yesterday’s? Will tomorrow’s make sense with today’s?

Soon the only certainty within the Covid narrative became its uncertainty– the moment the Covid story “you thought you knew” was on solid footing the sands shifted yet again.

Attempting to make sense of the Covid conundrum soon required navigating a complex labyrinth of deceits, manipulations, obfuscations and concealments. Separating fact from fiction became more challenging each day.

While most persisted with the media storyline and government edicts, some began to take notice of the numerous anomalies and started asking questions.

The most glaring question was simply: “Why was no one allowed to ask questions?” Once this Pandora’s Box opened, a stream of questions came tumbling out. 

Why wasn’t the media asking any questions? How were they all operating in lockstep?

Were we alerted to this “pandemic-level event” by our direct observations and experiences? 

Were we surrounded by sick people, in our homes, neighborhoods and workplaces who were succumbing to a quick-spreading and dangerous virus?

If we were truly in a pandemic of biblical proportions would there be so much discussion of the epidemiological minutiae?

Bit by bit as most of the accepted narrative began to unravel, questioning the “official story” became more than a revolutionary act it became an obligation.

If you have to be persuaded, reminded, pressured, lied to, incentivized, coerced, bullied, socially shamed, guilt-tripped, threatened, punished and criminalized. If all of this is considered necessary to gain your compliance — you can be absolutely certain that what is being promoted is not in your best interest. Ian Watson

To sell the Covid Story a mass marketing campaign rife with its own nomenclature was launched. The constant drumbeat of the Covid battle cry became inescapable resembling  military grade propaganda rather than public health messaging.

“Hospitals and doctors are getting rich off a sickened mass population.

– Steven Magee, Hypoxia, Mental Illness & Chronic Fatigue

One of the earliest Covid Campaign methods used to alert the public to the coming storm of dire illness centered on the belief that hospitals were going to be overwhelmed by a cascade of the Covid infected.

“Two weeks to flatten the curve” became a national rallying cry.

The public was flooded with stories of overflowing hospital corridors and swamped ICU’s. Makeshift hospitals were swiftly constructed to take in the excess casualties. The unquestioning media amplified these stories creating a climate of widespread panic and hysteria.

Was any of this true?    

“Fear is a market. To instill fear in people also has advantages. Not only in terms of drug use. Anxiety-driven people are easier to rule.”

– Gerd Gogerenzer, Director Emeritus, Max Planck Institute for Educational Research

As the pandemic picked up speed, the “Covid death toll” became a daily marker hammered home by media bullhorns and mortality scoreboards.

Ghastly tales of the “first wave” of Covid fatalities were plastered all over media channels in lockstep. Harrowing tales of overflowing morgues and refrigerated trucks filled with Covid cadavers saturated the evening news. While a simpler explanation for these trucks was readily available, a compliant and complicit media plugged its ears and continued to manufacture mass hysteria. 

Again all questions that might sow seeds of skepticism were kept away from public discussion. 

But was this advertised death march verifiable or was this yet another feature of the Covid fear campaign?

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth.

– Carl Sagan

As the purported wreckage of the “first wave” subsided and the body count failed to add up to the predicted totals, the narrative abruptly shifted.

“The Covid Death” was replaced by “The Covid Case” as the main vector of fear. What defined a “Covid Case” generally seemed up for grabs. “Case” definitions ranged from anyone “suspected of having Covid” to those who were ‘positive’ as established through PCR testing.

Nowhere in the media could one find an inquiring reporter who would question what it meant to be a “probable case.” Even as the PCR became a regular feature of daily life never was the soundness of its usage as a diagnostic tool examined by any mainstream source. 

Were these case counts and the methods used situated on solid scientific ground?

“Big Pharma needs sick people to prosper. Patients, not healthy people, are their customers. If everybody was cured of a particular illness or disease, pharmaceutical companies would lose 100% of their profits on the products they sell for that ailment. What all this means is because modern medicine is so heavily intertwined with the financial profits culture, it’s a sickness industry more than it is a health industry.

– James Morcan

Once it was firmly established in the public’s mind that a pathogenic menace was lurking just outside their door a non-stop barrage of messaging, gaslighting and coercion kicked in from all angles. 

The entire world was repeatedly informed that the only salvation for the human species was a genetically engineered experimental medical product concocted at “Warp Speed” by giant Pharmaceutical companies. This and only this medication could save humanity from catastrophe.

Like many other facets of the Covid Story, the tale of Big Pharma and their magical potions unraveled upon further scrutiny. Multiple questions arose:

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.

– Malcolm X

When the mass rollout of the experimental Covid vaccines was launched, a compulsory campaign silencing all voices who dare question the vaccine imperative was set in motion. Even so, some voices of apprehension slipped through the cracks. Many of these voices were some of the most renowned medical practitioners in their field. 

Why were their voices not allowed into the mainstream conversations? 

Ultimately a comprehensive and complete reckoning with the ‘Covid Story’ is not possible without a thorough examination of the policies which unfolded in hospitals and nursing homes and the catastrophic consequences.

While hospital workers were feted as heroes, reports began to leak out hinting that what actually occurred inside these medical institutions was contrary to the sustained media narrative. As more stories surfaced, suspicions escalated that this too was part of the Covid mythology.

Questions concerning treatments in hospitals and nursing homes emerged and allegations about monied interests materialized. 

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In the early chapters of the Covid Story, perhaps no other storyline trapped our imaginations and pulled on our heartstrings quite like the “Saving Grandma” shibboleth. We were told that “Covid-19” targeted the old and the sick and multiple reports from across the globe revealed a consistent pattern of how ghastly situations in long-term care facilities unfolded. 

As more information on this piece of the sordid Covid puzzle surfaced more questions came to light.

Did thousands of elderly die because of Covid or was the management of their end-of-life treatment withdrawn actively putting them in a situation that ensured their death?

“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.” The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.

– C.S. Lewis

All intricate stories require a cast of characters and the Covid Chronicle was no different. Neil Ferguson and Christian Drosten played significant supporting roles behind the scenes while others, like Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates, took center stage. As we moved through the Covid narrative we “came to know” these personalities through the portraits painted by a uniformly deferential media. 

Were these images of our Covid cast of characters accurate depictions? How much about them did we really know?

“They failed to see that globalisation was merely a tactic to prise power from nation states towards international conglomerates. Once the power was siphoned from the people and democratic control was circumvented, the ability to assert global governance without any democratic restraint was available.

James Tunney

Finally, to understand the totality of the Covid Story it’s necessary to understand how the public health industry is inextricably linked to global financial markets and operates based on the demands of those financial conglomerates. Manufactured pandemics are now considered one of the biggest investment opportunities to increase the wealth of billionaires and consolidate their power. 

The medical industry is no longer a system whose primary focus is to serve the health and well-being of the public. It is a system whose primary function is as a financial instrument for investors. The present-day policies that define the medical industry are designed to serve socioeconomic and political agendas which benefit these same financial elites.

Was the entire ‘Covid Crisis’ a genuine health emergency or was it an agenda rooted in fear to enrich the pockets of Big Pharma and their monied investors.

Here again the mainstream media remain dutifully silent, refusing to ask the most basic of questions:

After a deeper dive into the Covid Hall of Mirrors one wonders if even a single strand of the story withstands scrutiny. Three years on and the wreckage from the fusillade of Covid policies continue to pile up. With every passing day more holes appear in the official narrative and more admissions come to light as officials scurry to avoid accountability.

As the dust settles in the aftermath of the Covid carnage we are left asking one final question: 

“Was the entirety of the Covid Story a lie?”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 10/31/2022 – 23:45

“Dangerous Escalation”: US To Deploy Six Nuclear-Capable B-52 Bombers To Australia

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“Dangerous Escalation”: US To Deploy Six Nuclear-Capable B-52 Bombers To Australia

America’s great power competition against China is gaining momentum as the Pentagon plans to deploy a fleet of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in northern Australia in what is being dubbed a “signal” to Beijing, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. 

“Having bombers that could range and potentially attack mainland China could be very important in sending a signal to China that any of its actions over Taiwan could also expand further,” Centre for New American Security’s Becca Wasser told the ABC. 

The Australian broadcaster’s current affairs show, Four Corners, revealed the US documents detailing up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers were set for deployment at the Tindal air base, south of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. The airbase would also receive $100 million in upgrades for the maintenance and parking areas for the bombers, expected to be finished by 2026. 

“The ability to deploy US Air Force bombers to Australia sends a strong message to adversaries about our ability to project lethal air power,” the US Air Force told Four Corners.

Meanwhile, Greens Senator David Shoebridge tweeted: 

“This is a dangerous escalation. It makes Australia an even bigger part of the global nuclear weapons threat to humanity’s very existence — and by rising military tensions it further destabilises our region.” 

The long-range heavy bombers send a clear “signal to the Chinese” that the Americans and its allies are “planning for a war with China,” Richard Tanter, a senior research associate at the Nautilus Institute and anti-nuclear activist, explained to Four Corners. 

A recent op-ed in the Australian Financial Review titled “Australia’s alliances in Asia are a tale of two regions” points out that the Biden administration’s chip restrictions on China to crush its technological capabilities “is unambiguously a new cold war.” He said Australia has a complicated juggling act of catering to its top trading partner China and its top security partner, the US, while Washington pressures Canberra and other countries in the region to distance themselves from Beijing.

Besides the bombers, Australia, the UK, and the US recently announced a new security deal known as AUKUS, allowing the Australian military to procure a fleet of nuclear submarines by 2040. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded to the news Monday and wasn’t all too thrilled:

“The US’s move escalates regional tensions, gravely undermines regional peace and stability, and may trigger an arms race in the region.” 

The US military’s expanding footprint in northern Australia shows Washington’s quest to build a ‘friends circle’ of bombers and stealth fighter jets around China. 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 10/31/2022 – 23:25

Democrats ‘Fearful’ Over Where ‘Momentum Is Going’ In Midterm Elections: Former Press Secretary

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Democrats ‘Fearful’ Over Where ‘Momentum Is Going’ In Midterm Elections: Former Press Secretary

Authored by Lorenz Ducahmps via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Oct. 28 that Democrats are worried that the momentum has shifted toward Republicans as polls continue to tighten in the leadup to the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki attends Vox Media’s 2022 Code Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Vox Media)

Psaki was asked to comment on an Oct. 27 hot mic moment when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was overheard telling President Joe Biden on the tarmac of a New York airport that Democrats are “in danger” of losing a seat and are “going downhill” in Georgia.

What we heard there and what you saw on the screen is similar to a lot of the conversations Democrats are having behind the scenes and a lot of people I talked to as well,” Psaki said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“People are fearful about where the momentum is going in some of these races,” she added. “Yes, there are very encouraging signs like the record early vote numbers, but numbers in some of the House races are not where they should be.”

The former White House official also said that it appears Democrats are encouraged to vote for candidates “at the top of the ticket” but lack enthusiasm for down-ballot races.

“A lot of people I talked to are worried about voters being encouraged and excited about people at the top of the ticket, and maybe not excited enough to vote for the congressional candidates, and that’s a real concern,” Psaki said.

It isn’t the first time Psaki expressed concern about the Democratic Party ahead of the midterms. In late September, she said the party will lose if they are seen by the electorate as a “referendum” on the leadership of Biden.

Republicans now consistently lead Democrats on the generic congressional ballot. As of this writing, the RealClearPolitics average has Republicans up 2.9 percent in the generic congressional ballot polling average; only two of the past 15 polls show a Democratic lead.

Last-Ditch Effort

Psaki also said witnessing “all these people out on the trail,” including former President Barack Obama and Biden, is a reflection of Democrats’ concerns over where the midterm elections are headed.

“That’s why I think you see Barack Obama, Joe Biden all these people out on the trail because they’re trying to light a fire with Democrats right now,” she said.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris wave to supporters during the Democratic Party’s Independence Dinner in Philadelphia on Oct. 28, 2022. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

Obama recently traveled to Georgia to attempt to bolster Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. In an event outside Atlanta, the 44th president said that the “basic foundation of our democracy” is under threat and that voters should elect Democrats.

Last week, Obama also campaigned in Michigan and Wisconsin, two key Midwestern states. He will visit Nevada on Tuesday and then hold multiple events in Pennsylvania alongside Biden on Saturday.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, made a rare joint appearance on Oct. 28 in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania in an effort to boost Senate hopeful John Fetterman, a fellow Democrat, in the closing stretch ahead of the midterm elections.

Democracy is literally, not figuratively, on the ballot this year,” Biden told the event. “I’m going to be spending the rest of this time making the case that this is not a referendum. It’s a choice, a fundamental choice.”

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke five months ago, appeared on stage on Oct. 25 to debate rival Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz as the two vie for a key Senate seat. The impact of the stroke was apparent during the debate as Fetterman used closed-captioning posted above the moderator to help him process the words he heard, which led to occasional awkward pauses.

The Senate stands at 50–50, with Harris serving as a tiebreaker. In the House, Republicans need to gain a total of five seats. Historically, the party that occupies the White House tends to lose seats in Congress.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 10/31/2022 – 23:05

NASA Captures Creepy ‘Jack-O’-Lantern’ Image Of Sun

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NASA Captures Creepy ‘Jack-O’-Lantern’ Image Of Sun

NASA’s space-based Solar Dynamics Observatory tweeted what appeared to be a jack-o’-lantern-esque creepy smile of the sun — just in time for Halloween.

“Seen in ultraviolet light, these dark patches on the Sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space,” NASA said, adding the sun appeared to be “smiling.” 

The United Kingdom’s Science and Technology Facilities Council responded to the space agency’s tweet with a photoshopped pumpkin of the sun. 

According to NASA, coronal holes are areas of high magnetic field that emit solar wind streams into the universe. If the coronal holes are Earth-facing, a flow of protons, electrons, and other particles collide with Earth and cause geomagnetic storms, ranked on a scale from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme). 

And solar storms can cause a whole lot of disruption if powerful enough. 

The coronal hole trio prompted a minor geomagnetic storm watch over the weekend. As of the late afternoon, SolarHam indicates there’s no notable space weather event today. 

As a reminder, the sun goes through 11-year solar cycles. It’s currently in Solar Cycle 25 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 10/31/2022 – 22:45