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Red Flag

Best of the Web: Joe Biden's disturbing connection to the socialist 'Great Reset' movement

Biden
A pledge by Biden to support the Great Reset would pose a grave threat to liberty and free markets in the United States

A radical movement called the Great Reset embraced by some Democrats poses a grave threat to liberty and free markets in the United States and around the world. While former Vice President Joe Biden hasn't endorsed the movement, his ties to it are growing as he changes his long-held policy views to appease the far-left.

While it hasn't gained widespread attention, the Great Reset is perhaps the biggest danger to capitalism and individual rights since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

What is the Great Reset? Simply put, it's a growing movement backed by many of the world's most powerful business leaders, government officials and left-wing activists that aims to "push the reset button" on the global economy. It would destroy the current capitalist system and replace it with progressive and modern socialist systems, with a special emphasis placed on eco-socialist policies like those contained in the Green New Deal.

Comment: Yet another strong indication that Biden is largely a puppet for economic, political and social Globalist policies and interests that seek accrue more power to centralized organizations and forces. And the truth is he probably doesn't give a hoot what policies hurt or help people - as long as it helps him to reach his own political aims.


Attention

Best of the Web: Coronavirus: WHO backflips on virus stance by condemning lockdowns

empty streeut
© News Corp AustraliaAn empty St Kilda street during lockdown
The World Health Organisation has backflipped on its original COVID-19 stance after calling for world leaders to stop locking down their countries and economies.

Dr. David Nabarro from the WHO appealed to world leaders yesterday, telling them to stop "using lockdowns as your primary control method" of the coronavirus.

He also claimed that the only thing lockdowns achieved was poverty - with no mention of the potential lives saved.

"Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer," he said.

David Nabarro
© TwitterDr. David Nabarro from the WHO appealed to world leaders yesterday, telling them to stop “using lockdowns as your primary control method”.
"We in the World Health Organisation do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus," Dr Nabarro told The Spectator.

"The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganise, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we'd rather not do it."

Comment: So, if the lockdowns aren't coming from the WHO, where are they coming from?? See also:


Putin

Best of the Web: Putin trolls Biden, lauds 'common values' shared by Soviet Communists & Democrats, points out Trump's harsh record on Russia

Biden Putin
© TASSThen U.S. Vice President Joe Biden meeting with Putin in 2014 in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin has attempted to mark a positive resemblance between Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Soviet communists in a wide-ranging interview with the Rossiya TV channel, released Wednesday as the 2020 vice presidential candidates prepared to debate.

The president said the Kremlin would be open to working with whoever sits in the Oval Office in 2021, despite U.S. intelligence reports indicating that Russia is trying to undermine Biden in the same way it did Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But Putin linked Biden to communist ideology during the interview. While Putin — a former party member, KGB colonel and intelligence operative — made the comparison in positive terms, his comment lines up with GOP talking points about the Biden-Kamala Harris ticket. Trump and his allies have tried to frame their opponents proposing a far-left, extremist platform dictated by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Comment: A Harris-Biden presidency would likely be as neocon-influenced as one can possibly imagine. After all, they are the party that has authored the Russiagate and Russian Collusion narratives. So the idea that such an administration would somehow be more constructive towards Russia is, unfortunately, highly improbable. But Putin can still express hope and the urgency for talks so the world can hear it.


Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: World Bank: Lockdowns may push 150 million people into extreme poverty


Comment: And that may be a conservative estimate...


madrid food bank poverty
© ReutersPeople queuing up at a food bank in May, in Madrid, Spain
The World Bank said on Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic could push as many as 150 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2021, wiping out more than three years of progress in poverty reduction.

Releasing its flagship biennial report on poverty and shared prosperity, the multilateral development lender said that an additional 88 million to 115 million people will fall into extreme poverty - defined as living on less than $1.90 a day -in 2020. The report said this could grow to 111 million to 150 million by the end of 2021.


Comment: With soaring demand at food banks throughout the Western world, those in extreme poverty won't just be in so-called 'developing countries'.


That would mean that 9.1-9.4% of the world's population would be living under extreme poverty this year, about the same as 2017's 9.2% and representing the first rise in the extreme poverty percentage in about 20 years.

Comment: Bear in mind the lockdowns aren't over, with France, Ireland, Spain, the UK, Scotland and Germany locking down regions and contemplating even harsher measures. That, along with the 'furlough' schemes, that have buffered the massive unemployment just waiting in the shadows, and it's clear that the devastating economic impact of the tyrannical lockdowns have not yet even begun to be felt:


Evil Rays

Best of the Web: Pentagon to dish out $600M in contracts for '5G dual-use experimentation' at 5 US military sites, including to 'aid lethality'

Pentagon, 5G
© Reuters/Al Drago/Pascal Rossignol
The US military has partnered with more than a dozen companies for "large-scale experimentation" with 5G technology, including efforts to enhance the "lethality" of certain systems, in what's slated to be a $600 million project.

Dubbing 5G tech a "foundational enabler for all US defense modernization," the Pentagon announced the massive research initiative on Thursday, which will hand hundreds of millions to 15 private contractors to conduct testing at five US military installations. The Pentagon, adding that it would bring together experts from several industries and disciplines, said in a statement:
"Today, the Department of Defense announced $600 million in awards for 5G experimentation and testing at five US military test sites, representing the largest full-scale 5G tests for dual-use applications in the world.

"Projects will include piloting 5G-enabled augmented/virtual reality for mission planning and training, testing 5G-enabled Smart Warehouses, and evaluating 5G technologies to enhance distributed command and control."

Attention

Best of the Web: President Trump and first lady test 'positive' for The Covid - UPDATES


Comment: Whatever is going on here, the timing - weeks before Trump's likely re-election - is strange...


Donald Melania Trump
© AP Photo/Julio CortezPresident Donald Trump stands on stage with first lady Melania Trump after the first presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted early Friday.

Trump's positive test comes just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hicks came down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week. Trump was last seen by reporters returning to the White House on Thursday evening and looked to be in good health. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has now killed more than 200,000 people nationwide.

"Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!" Trump tweeted.


Trump announced late Thursday that he and first lady Melania Trump were beginning a "quarantine process" after Hicks came down with the virus, though it wasn't clear what that entailed. It can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test.

The diagnosis marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise with four weeks before Election Day. And it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.

Comment: Trump is reportedly experiencing 'mild' symptoms. Pence and his wife have tested negative, but RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel reportedly tested positive on Wednesday. Stocks slumped after the announcement about Trump.

Biden and Jill are reportedly 'praying' for Trump and Melania's health and safety - very presidential, very fake. Many are now worried that Trump gave Biden Covid during the debate:



Putin also wished the Trumps a swift recovery, saying: "I'm sure your vitality, strong spirit and optimism will help you beat this dangerous virus." The Sputnik V vaccine creators offered their vaccine to the White House staff.

UPDATE: Trump is reportedly fatigued but in good spirits, and has been treated with the "Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail and several supplements." Melania has a cough and a headache, but the rest of the family has tested negative. Trump will be flown to Walter Reed for a few days as a "precautionary measure." The campaign has shifted to "virtual mode" while Pence has assumed more White House duties.

Rachel Maddow had the decency to pray for the President and First Lady, only to be blasted by her audience.

Pelosi discussed continuity of government plans and discussion with the military on MSNBC:


Biden tested negative today, for what it's worth.

UPDATE: Now at Walter Reed, Trump is "doing very well", according to his doctor, but notes that the Covid hasn't yet entered the inflammatory phase (assuming Trump even becomes symptomatic). He says Trump hasn't needed supplemental oxygen, and has started a course of Remdesivir antiviral therapy.

Senators Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, along with Kellyanne Conway, are the latest to have tested positive. (So far no one seems to be showing any actual symptoms besides a mild cough, unsurprisingly.) Also Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.

Also unsurprisingly, Democrats are happy to see Trump get Covid, according to a new poll. It's more than that, of course. For example (more at the linked article):


Twitter says it will remove posts calling for the death of Trump. (So far, many of the examples linked to above are still up, however. For another large collection of such tweets, go here.)

Update: Trump's doctor has had to clarify his clarification of the time of Trump's test, and whether or not he has needed oxygen: "The president was first diagnosed with Covid-19 on the evening of Thursday, October 1st and had received Regeneron's antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd." While saying he hadn't needed oxygen today, he dodged the question of whether he had needed oxygen at any point. Trump's chief of staff had revealed that his condition was "very concerning". Oh, and Chris Christie (who helped Trump prepare for the debate) also has the Covid, and has checked himself into a hospital as a precaution.


Bullseye

Best of the Web: Meet the Biden-supporting general deploying military grade information warfare tools against Trump supporters

McCrystal
© UnknownGeneral Stanley McChrystal
General Stanley McChrystal delighted the left and the war-loving neoconservatives today by joining his name to the ranks of military-industrial complex "national security" professionals supporting Joe Biden.

This development should not be surprising. While Trump enjoys overwhelming support from the military rank and file, the brass has been largely corrupted for some time. As the President himself pointed out, many of the generals and national security bigwigs have their fortunes tied to the continuation of precisely the never-ending war policies that Trump successfully ran against in 2016.
General Stanley McChrystal is a certified military brass swamp creature deep in the bowels of the military-industrial complex. His specific business ventures are disturbing, even by swamp standards. According to a Fox News report, General McChrystal was involved in a venture that aimed to redeploy information warfare tools-originally designed to combat ISIS-against Trump supporters. From Fox News:

Comment: A McChrystal conspiracy in the offing...? Rolling Stone magazine called McChrystal "The Runaway General" and others deem him a psychopath.

See also:


Bullseye

Best of the Web: The mask and the bump

pregnant woman
© Shutterstock
I was on the bus the other night with my wife. There were only 3 of us not wearing masks on our public transport, which mandates mask wearing but with medical exemptions. Across the aisle was an attractive, healthy looking young woman, perhaps mid 20s wearing a mask.

She was pregnant, I'd guess in the 2nd trimester. According to the US NIOSH (National Institute for Safety and Health) there are now millions of pregnant women wearing masks — primarily because they're mandated to do so. But there doesn't appear to be any data for how long they're worn and under what circumstances, i.e. indoors, outdoors, working, exercising or whatever.

Given what I've learned about masks I had a strong urge to warn her that there were serious risks to her and I assumed the unborn baby. I assumed because I really didn't know. The problem is there are virtually no reliable studies which link mask wearing to postnatal outcomes. But as I've come to understand the lack of a specific study need not inhibit an accurate risk/benefit analysis. So let's do that.

The wearing of masks to attempt to prevent the spread of a virus has never been widespread in the general population in the Western world. (An exception to that was during the 1918 flu pandemic, masks were mandated in some cities, USA, but not others.

Subsequent studies showed no difference in infection rates or deaths between the mask wearing cities and those that chose not to.) In Asia where mask wearing is more common they are worn for a multitude of reasons including, significantly, for protection against car exhaust and industrial air pollution. Most studies everywhere have concentrated on "fit for purpose" or effectiveness analyses.

Comment: See also:


Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Covid rules are destroying our humanity

woman tasered
There is not much special about Logan, Ohio. Sure, there's the Paul A Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum in South Logan, and every year musicians strum a bunch of washboards at the Washboard Music Festival (cancelled this year because of the Covid apocalypse, of course). But Logan usually has a pretty relaxed, 'small-town America' vibe. That was until what can only be described as a violent confrontation over a face mask.

On the evening of 23 September, in the stands of an outdoor stadium at Logan High School, a school resource officer - effectively a cop for schools - spotted something. A 34-year-old woman called Alecia Kitts was not wearing a face mask. Kitts, who was there to watch her son play football, is said to have told the officer that she was exempt from wearing a mask due to her asthma. The officer was not satisfied with her answer, and instructed her to leave immediately. Kitts refused, so the officer proceeded to use a taser gun on Kitts before arresting her. It is worth pointing out that witnesses to the incident, including one of the school's glassy-eyed bureaucrats, simply looked on without intervening.

Kitts' story is indicative of a much greater social problem right now. In the name of protecting us from Covid, authority figures are being worshipped by us, and given absolute power over us. Every semblance of morality, proportionality and empathy is being tossed aside in our attempts to thwart a 100-nanometer-small virus. And so it comes to pass that a school cop zapping a woman with several thousand volts for not wearing a mask is applauded. The Milgram Shock Experiment, it would seem, has escaped the laboratory once more.

Yellow Vest

Best of the Web: UK Covid rebellion: Lockdown rules REJECTED by Middlesbrough Mayor saying 'we will defy government'

Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston britain covid lockdown
© North News and PicturesOn October 1, 2020 Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston has said he won't obey new rules
Statement comes just days after he asked for more help

COVID lockdowns were thrown into chaos today after a mayor declared war on tough new restrictions - and vowed: "We will defy the government" despite asking for new measures just days ago.

Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston fought back after Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the latest measures in a Commons address.

A ban on different households meeting will be introduced after a spike in infections. It will be illegal to meet in settings, such as pubs and restaurants, in the Liverpool City Region, Warrington, Halton and Hartlepool.

Comment: The British government is pushing its citizens closer and closer to a fully-fledged rebellion: