Society's ChildS

Eye 1

Best of the Web: Steve Bannon is behind bogus study that China created COVID

steve bannon
The study goes against basically all scientific evidence and expert opinion. But it fits with the former Trump adviser's anti-China posture.

A new study purporting to show that the novel coronavirus was manufactured in a Chinese lab was published by a pair of nonprofit groups linked to Steve Bannon, the former top Trump strategist now facing felony fraud charges.

The study, co-authored by a Chinese virologist who fled Hong Kong this year, claims that "laboratory manipulation is part of the history of SARS-CoV-2." Its findings were quickly picked up by a handful of prominent news organizations such as the New York Post, which hyped the "explosive" allegations that run counter to virtually all existing scientific literature on the source of the virus.

The study is the work of the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation, sister nonprofit organizations that Bannon was instrumental in creating. According to documents posted on the Society's website last year, he served as that group's chair. The Bannon connection was first spotted by Kevin Bird, a Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University, and shared by Carl Bergstrom, a biology professor at the University of Washington, who called the study "bizarre and unfounded."

Comment: Regardless of whether or not it was intentional, it seems the current fraudulent study will be used to further discredit the actual evidence that SARS-CoV2 was man-made. Rather predictable.

See also: Chinese defector virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan publishes report claiming COVID-19 was made in a lab


Eye 1

New virus facts ignored by politicians too stubborn to change

Melbourne business district
© Joe ArmaoA deserted street in Melbourne's central business district. There must be more sustainable and humane alternatives than draconian shutdowns.
"When the facts change, I change my mind," John Maynard Keynes famously said.

The evidence on COVID-19 has changed since governments imposed hard lockdowns in late March when the virus was so uncertain.

The World Health Organisation now says that serological surveys show the infection fatality ratio has kept falling, so far to between 0.5 and 1 per cent, substantially below the 2-3 per cent originally feared.

The survival rate is above 99 per cent. People aged under 60 are far more likely to die in a road accident, but we don't ban them driving cars.

The second wave of the virus during the European summer is killing far, far fewer people. It is spreading mainly among the young and healthy, while older and vulnerable people are sensibly isolating and health systems are getting better at managing the virus.

Dollar Gold

Violent rioters busted in NYC reportedly come from privileged backgrounds: yacht clubs, modeling jobs, second homes in Connecticut

New York City
A group of Black Lives Matter rioters recently busted for smashing windows and causing mayhem in Manhattan reportedly come from privileged backgrounds that include yacht club performances, modeling gigs, and second homes in Connecticut, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

The would-be revolutionaries had their mug shots tweeted out by the New York City Police Department this week after they were booked for rampaging through the Flatiron District and reportedly causing at least $100,000 in damage.

Their activities were part of a protest allegedly put on by groups who referred to themselves as the "New Afrikan Black Panther Party" and the "Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement."


Light Saber

Americans against unconstitutional mask mandates

sheep with masks
Good news: The anti-mask mandate movement is gaining steam. Americans yearning to breathe free are waking up from their pandemic stupor. Common sense and constitutional principles, now more than ever, are vital to a sovereign nation's health.


On Monday, a federal judge rescinded Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's shutdown orders restricting gatherings, forcing "nonessential" business closures and directing citizens to stay at home to combat COVID-19. U.S. District Judge William Stickman determined that the sweeping measures violated "the right of assembly enshrined in the First Amendment." He noted Wolf's hypocrisy in severely limiting indoor and outdoor fairs, festivals, concerts and other gatherings and condemning a small anti-lockdown protest of small-business owners (whom he called "selfish," "cowardly" and "unsafe") โ€” while marching with thousands of non-socially distancing Black Lives Matter radicals in Harrisburg in June.

Comment: See also:


NPC

TV host slams Joe Rogan as 'misogynistic, racist & homophobic' after Trump says he wants him to host presidential debate

Joe Rogan
© YouTube / PowerfulJRE
Podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan was blasted by 'The View' co-host Sunny Hostin as "misogynistic, racist, homophobic" in a segment tearing into him as "inappropriate" to host a presidential debate.

Rogan, who recently signed a $100 million deal with Spotify for his podcast 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' has been a frequent critic of the left, many of whom have taken to sharing quick, out-of-context clips of the comedian saying things deemed inappropriate.

Those certainly came in handy after the 'number one' podcaster, comedian and UFC commentator offered to host a debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump - an idea that Trump immediately liked on Twitter, but many on the Left apparently disliked.

"I think it would be inappropriate for Joe Rogan to host a presidential debate," 'The View's' Hostin said. "I mean, I think given his use of the n-word, I think given his, comparing a black neighborhood to 'Planet of the Apes,' given the fact that he has called a transgender woman a man, I think all of that disqualifies him to be the host of a presidential debate."

Comment: Rogan really isn't much of a racist, homophobic, misogynist as he has gays, females, and minorities on his show regularly and treats each of them with the utmost respect and courtesy. But that's beside the point as a person can have wrong-headed beliefs and still be a good debate moderator. Which Rogan is if his massive following is anything to go by.


Snakes in Suits

New evidence makes Hunter Biden's 'business' deals reek worse than ever

Hunter Biden, Joe Biden
© Teresa KroegerFormer Vice President Joe Bidenโ€™s son Hunter faces questions over his business deals with foreign entities.
Foreign entities looking to influence American politics sometimes devise lucrative commercial deals involving a politician's family. While the deals can, and do, ensnare politicians of all stripes, those involving the Biden family are particularly troubling: The transactions implicate US national security.

While Joe Biden served as vice president, his son Hunter received offers from foreign governments and oligarchs in areas where he had little or no expertise. That his foreign partners included a rival state, Communist China, makes these arrangements particularly brazen, even by Washington's swampy standards.

Newly released Secret Service travel records for Hunter paint a clearer picture of how extensive these efforts were. The documents, reviewed by Judicial Watch, show that between 2009 and 2014, Hunter made 411 trips across 29 countries. While some of those trips were perhaps leisure and others related to his volunteer work for the World Food Program, many of them appear to be connected to deals that he or his associates either secured or sought with foreign governments and oligarchs.

For example, Hunter visited China five times between 2009 and 2014. Most notoriously, he traveled with his father aboard Air Force Two in December 2013 as part of an official visit with Chinese officials. Ten days after their return to Washington, Hunter and his associates partnered with the state-owned Bank of China to formally establish BHR, a new, first-of-its-kind fund aimed at making investments outside China through the newly established Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

When this deal was first revealed in Peter Schweizer's book "Secret Empires," Team Biden attempted to paint Hunter as a passive participant involved in the formation of BHR, arguing that "other business partners" had laid the groundwork for it in a June 2013 meeting. But the new travel records reveal that Hunter was, in fact, in Beijing in June 2013.

Hunter's trips to China are also of interest in light of what happened with another company he co-founded and served as a board adviser, Rosemont Realty. In 2015, that firm sold a majority stake to Gemini, a Chinese state-owned company.

Sheriff

'Too many liberties being taken from us': Oasis musician Noel Gallagher ridicules coronavirus rules, refuses to wear a mask

Noel Gallagher
© REUTERS/Henry NichollsMusician Noel Gallagher (September 20, 2018, file photo).
Coronavirus: Noel Gallagher refuses to wear face mask despite UK laws The former Oasis guitarist said: "I choose not to wear one and if I get the virus it's on me, it's not on anyone else."

Noel Gallagher says he refuses to wear a face mask while shopping, as he goes against laws brought in during the pandemic to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The former Oasis guitarist said he had been challenged in a shop for not wearing one and a person on a train also said he should use one.

Wearing a face covering over your nose and mouth is mandatory by law in all UK shops and supermarkets.

There are exemptions for children under 11 and people with health issues.

Comment: RT reports:
"Why do you have to wear one when you're having a f***ing haircut, but you don't have to wear one in the pub?"

He even called Morgan a "cowardly germophobe" when the host argued in favor of masks.

Gallagher is best known as the songwriter, singer and guitarist of the rock group Oasis, which he left in 2009 to record with his own band, High Flying Birds.

British authorities have mandated face masks since June, hoping to curb the spread of the coronavirus. On Monday, London imposed new restrictions, banning gatherings of more than six people and urging citizens to report violations to police.
See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Objective:Health - Deconstructing the Covid Narrative with Investigative Journalist Rosemary Frei


Hammer

3 charged for involvement in confrontations at Pittsburgh restaurants during BLM protest

blm pittsburgh resturant protest harass patrons
© Twitter
Three people are facing charges for their involvement in confrontations caught on video at Pittsburgh restaurants during a protest over the Labor Day weekend.

Charges were filed Monday against Shawn Green, who goes by Lorenzo Rulli, as well as Kenneth McDowell and Monique Craft.

One of the incidents occurred in front of Sienna Mercato on Penn Avenue. A social media video showed Black Lives Matter protesters yelling and cursing at people eating outside the restaurant. One woman walked up to a table and drank someone's drink while several other people smashed glasses on the ground.

Comment: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette adds:
Craft is charged by summons with third-degree misdemeanor theft, third-degree misdemeanor conspiracy and summary simple trespass; Mr. McDowell is charged with first-degree misdemeanor possessing instruments of crime, third-degree misdemeanor conspiracy, summary harassment and two counts of summary disorderly conduct; and Mr. Green faces charges of third-degree misdemeanor conspiracy, summary criminal mischief, summary disorderly conduct and summary simple trespass.

The maximum sentencing for first-degree misdemeanors, third-degree misdemeanors and summary offenses in Pennsylvania is up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine; one year in prison and/or a $2,500 fine; and 90 days in prison and/or a $300 fine, respectively, according to the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing.

Police issued arrest warrants for Mr. McDowell and Mr. Green, a criminal complaint states, because their appearance in court is "not guaranteed." A preliminary hearing for Craft is scheduled for Nov. 3 at City Court in Downtown, according to court records.



Chalkboard

Rubberhose cryptography and the idea behind Wikileaks: Julian Assange as a physics student

BeachAssange
© Niraj Lal (CC) BY-NC-NDJulian Assange on the Woomera Missile Test Area, South Australia, 2002.
"There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy." โ€” Joseph Pulitzer

The last dinner that Julian Assange had in relative freedom, 18 June 2012, was takeaway pizza and cheap red wine with a couple of the Wikileaks team and myself in a small flat in London, discussing possible trajectories of American politics for the coming decade. The next morning he walked into the Ecuadorian Embassy to claim political asylum; he hasn't seen sunlight unguarded since.

I first met Julian in the Redmond Barry Physics Lecture Theatre ten years earlier, in 2002, on our first day at the University of Melbourne. The lecturer, the affable Professor Geoff Opat with curly hair and thick-rimmed glasses, in that first hour transformed the topic of 'units' โ€” of length, time, and mass โ€” into the powerful concept of 'dimensional analysis', a method of answering physics problems simply by determining the underlying units involved. It was a technique later applied to understanding structural opposition to government transparency.

Mail

Appeals court blocks Democrats' bid to expand mail-in voting in Texas

box of mail
© George Frey/Getty ImagesBox of Ballots
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit blocked the Democrats' attempt to expand mail-in voting in the Lone Star State after the Texas Democratic Party challenged the state's age restrictions for voting by mail.

Texas Democrats challenged the state's rules on voting by mail, which require those under the age of 65 to meet another eligibility requirement to qualify. Those 65 and older automatically qualify, as do those who are disabled, out of the county on both Election Day and "during the period for early voting by personal appearance," and "confined in jail, but otherwise eligible."

Democrats argued that the rule discriminated against younger voters, who may seek an alternative voting method in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The panel, however, did not see it that way. The panel wrote:
"In sum, the plaintiffs based their Twenty-Sixth Amendment claim on the argument that differential treatment in allowing voters aged 65 and older to vote by mail without excuse constitutes, at least during the pandemic, a denial or abridgment of a younger citizen's right to vote on account of age. The claim 'fails' because 'adding a benefit to another class of voters does not deny or abridge the plaintiffs' Twenty-Sixth Amendment right to vote."