Society's ChildS


Light Saber

SOTT Focus: If Sweden Succeeds, Lockdowns Will All Have Been For Nothing


Comment: The following criticism of the draconian lockdowns is from the mainstream media (alt-media criticism on this topic is in short supply these days). It takes the 'COVID-19 pandemic' as a given - that is, its author assumes the officially-reported numbers are correct and that the virus is of course something governments and people ought to take precautions against.

Nevertheless, the author points out that Sweden - the ONLY country in Christendom whose government did not go 'full Hitler' on its population - is reporting essentially the same (low - really low) 'COVID-19 death numbers' as every other country, a 'fly in the ointment' that completely exposes the lockdowns as having ZERO EFFECT on preventing or mitigating the so-called 'pandemic'...


people outside
When foreign commentators discuss Sweden's light-touch response to Covid-19, they tend to adopt an affronted tone. Which is, on the surface, surprising. You'd think everyone would be willing the Nordic country to succeed. After all, if Sweden can come through the epidemic without leaving a smoking crater where its economy used to be, there is hope for the rest of the world. So far, many signs appear encouraging. The disease seems to be following the same basic trajectory in Sweden as elsewhere.

Although we must wait for complete data, modelling by country's authorities suggests that the infection rate in Stockholm peaked on 8 April. If so, we need to consider the implication, namely that, once basic hygiene and distancing measures are in place, tightening the screw further perhaps makes little difference. Which would be good news for the rest of us. Adopting Sweden's more laissez-faire response might not restore our economies to full health, but it would at least allow us to bring them out of their induced comas.

Sweden is, broadly speaking, sticking to the approach that Britain followed in the week before the lockdown - the approach, indeed, that our strategists had wargamed in cooler-headed times. On 23 March, in an abrupt shift, Britain's shops were closed and its people told to stay at home.

What had changed? Was it the hysterical media demand for a Continental-style crackdown? Or the furious reaction to people visiting beauty spots on Mothering Sunday? Or was it the Imperial College model, published a few days earlier, which warned of hundreds of thousands of deaths unless there was a mass quarantine? Whatever the explanation, the lockdown soon took on a momentum of its own, with every new death turned into an argument for tighter restrictions.

Comment: See also:


Airplane

Lower your expectations: Boeing CEO says 'it will be years' before global aviation returns to pre-pandemic levels

Boeing
© EPA-EFE/Arhiva
Air traffic may not bounce back for two or three years, Boeing Co. Chief Executive David Calhoun said, outlining the tough outlook for global aviation to the plane maker's shareholders on Monday.

"The health crisis is unlike anything we have ever experienced," Mr. Calhoun said at the annual meeting. "It will be years before this returns to pre-pandemic levels."

Mr. Calhoun laid out the coronavirus pandemic's toll on the industry: Global airline revenues are set to drop by $314 billion this year. In the U.S., more than 2,800 planes are idled. Passenger demand is down 95% from last year.

"We are in an unpredictable and fast-changing environment, and it is difficult to estimate when the situation will stabilize," he added. "But when it does, the commercial market will be smaller and our customers' needs will be different."

Handcuffs

Hundreds charged worldwide in takedown of largest child pornography website

child porn
South Korean national and hundreds of others charged worldwide in the takedown of the largest darknet child pornography website funded by bitcoin Dozens of minor victims who were being actively abused by site users rescued

Jong Woo Son, 23, a South Korean national, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for his operation of Welcome To Video, the largest child sexual exploitation market by volume of content. The nine-count indictment was unsealed today along with a parallel civil forfeiture action.

Son has also been charged and convicted in South Korea and is currently in custody serving his sentence in South Korea. An additional 337 site users residing in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington State and Washington, D.C. as well as the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Brazil and Australia have been arrested and charged.

Comment: Executive Order Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption

Issued on: December 21, 2017

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114-328) (the "Act"), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) (INA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the prevalence and severity of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, such as those committed or directed by persons listed in the Annex to this order, have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.

I therefore determine that serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.

I hereby determine and order:

Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:

(i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order;

(ii) any foreign person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General:

(A) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse;

(B) to be a current or former government official, or a person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in:

(1) corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery; or

(2) the transfer or the facilitation of the transfer of the proceeds of corruption;

(C) to be or have been a leader or official of:

(1) an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, any of the activities described in subsections (ii)(A), (ii)(B)(1), or (ii)(B)(2) of this section relating to the leader's or official's tenure; or

(2) an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order as a result of activities related to the leader's or official's tenure; or

(D) to have attempted to engage in any of the activities described in subsections (ii)(A), (ii)(B)(1), or (ii)(B)(2) of this section; and

(iii) any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General:

(A) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of:

(1) any activity described in subsections (ii)(A), (ii)(B)(1), or (ii)(B)(2) of this section that is conducted by a foreign person;

(2) any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(3) any entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, any of the activities described in subsections (ii)(A), (ii)(B)(1), or (ii)(B)(2) of this section, where the activity is conducted by a foreign person;

(B) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(C) to have attempted to engage in any of the activities described in subsections (iii)(A) or (B) of this section.

(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order.

Sec. 2. The unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens determined to meet one or more of the criteria in section 1 of this order would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and the entry of such persons into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, is hereby suspended. Such persons shall be treated as persons covered by section 1 of Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011 (Suspension of Entry of Aliens Subject to United Nations Security Council Travel Bans and International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions).

Sec. 3. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the types of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

Sec. 4. The prohibitions in section 1 include:

(a) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and

(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

Sec. 5. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 6. For the purposes of this order:

(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;

(b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and

(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

Sec. 7. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render those measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to this order.

Sec. 8. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including adopting rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to me by IEEPA and the Act as may be necessary to implement this order and section 1263(a) of the Act with respect to the determinations provided for therein. The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States. All agencies shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to implement this order.

Sec. 9. The Secretary of State is hereby authorized to take such actions, including adopting rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to me by IEEPA, the INA, and the Act as may be necessary to carry out section 2 of this order and, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the reporting requirement in section 1264(a) of the Act with respect to the reports provided for in section 1264(b)(2) of that Act. The Secretary of State may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States consistent with applicable law.

Sec. 10. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, is hereby authorized to determine that circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of the property and interests in property of a person listed in the Annex to this order, and to take necessary action to give effect to that determination.

Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to submit recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).

Sec. 12. This order is effective at 12:01 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, December 21, 2017.

Sec. 13. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 20, 2017.


Stormtrooper

Cops wage elaborate undercover scheme to arrest woman for giving a manicure out of her home

Arrest Woman for Giving a Manicure Out of Her Home
Two Texas police officers went undercover in an elaborate sting operation to catch citizens giving salon services for money in their own home. The cops posed as regular citizens needing to get a manicure. Tipsters (also known in some neighborhoods as "rats" or "snitches") pointed police to a woman who was advertising manicure services on social media — the horror.

Laredo police arrested Ana Isabel Castro-Garcia, 31, at the 1200 block of Harding Street after she allegedly agreed to provide an undercover officer with a manicure. Again, the horror. Castro-Garcia was arrested and charged with "Violation of Emergency Management Plan C/B" and was taken to the Webb County Jail where she was offered a $500 bond.

In a separate and unrelated case Brenda Stephany Mata, 20, was arrested at the 1100 block of Hubner Street after she allegedly offered to do an undercover cop's lashes. Just like Castro-Garcia, she was charged with "Violation of Emergency Management Plan C/B" and was also taken to Webb County Jail for booking.

Only 11 of the nearly 300,000 residents of Laredo, Texas have reportedly died of COVID-19 complications. Had the ladies not been making money for their salon services the police would never have been tipped off by citizens ratting out their neighbors for presumably trying to feed themselves and their families.

Comment: And again: We need more of these conversations, now; everyone needs to be thinking through and discussing what's occurring with those open enough to consider the dire implications of authoritarianism gone wild.


Cow Skull

SOTT Focus: Why You Can't Trust The UK's "Daily" Covid-19 Updates

UK Dept of Health
The daily Covid19 deaths reports, issued by the UK government, are generally misleading and being so misrepresented by the media they amount to little more than a lie.

Each day, the UK's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) releases a report titled "Daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths in hospital".

The media then report these numbers as the "daily death toll", presenting the total as if all these people:

A) Died of Covid19.
B) Died in the preceding 24 hours.

Neither of which is true.

Comment: The Big Lies surrounding the "danger" of Covid-19 being repeatedly told by the UK government - and numerous governments from around the world - has not only induced mass hysteria among authoritarian-bent individuals (of which there are many), but is literally paving the way for a bigger badder Western technocracy; which is aiming to control where you go, what you eat, how you spend, what you say, how you heal, and what you think - among other things. If the freedom to choose in any of these areas means anything to individuals - one should be sharing, where appropriate, what they're seeing with others, and shoring up one's own psychological, emotional, material and spiritual defenses for this unprecedented and monumental onslaught against non-elite people everywhere.


Eye 2

UK teacher found guilty on 13 counts of sexual assault, victims were girls as young as 7

Jonathan Philip Clayton
© Getty Images / SolStock; North Yorkshire Police
A supply teacher has been sent to prison for eight-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting six girls at a North Yorkshire school.

Jonathan Philip Clayton, aged 27, from Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty on all 13 sexual touching charges on 4 February 2020 following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

At the sentencing today (Monday 27 April 2020), Clayton also received an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Comment: Learning how sexual predators think and operate is vital in protecting yourself and your children. You can listen to (or read) the Sott editors' interview with Anna Salter, PhD, author of Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders, Who They Are, How They Operate, and How We Can Protect Ourselves and Our Children to learn more.


Binoculars

Virgin Media internet & TV services down across whole of the UK

Virgin media
Virgin Media's broadband and TV service appears to have stopped working properly.

The outage comes as huge numbers of people across the country rely on their internet connections to help them study and work from home.

Affected users complained on Twitter and other social networking sites that their broadband connections had gone down or they were unable to watch television.

Outage tracking website Down Detector saw a huge surge in reports of people struggling to use their TV and internet connections.

The problems appeared to be affecting users all across the UK, the site showed.

Comment: Billionaire bail out beggar and tax evader Richard Branson set up Virgin Media, however it is not clear who the current owners are. On Wikipedia we find:
Virgin Media's UK operations are ultimately controlled by a US Delaware organisation named Virgin Media (UK) Group Inc.[98] Interested stakeholders cannot confirm who actually owns and controls Virgin Media due to Delaware company law not requiring disclosure of controlling ownership in annual reports made to the state.[99]. The company named Virgin Media (UK) Group LLC was closed and dissolved in 2016. [100]
See also: £7.5 billion bailout needed by UK airlines, carriers throughout EU & US to appeal for aid


Briefcase

Coronavirus has forced a delay in US extradition case against Assange

Julian
© Keystone/Facundo ArrizabalagaJulian Assange
Hearings in the U.S. extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not go ahead next month as scheduled because of the coronavirus lockdown which prevents lawyers from attending court, a British judge decided on Monday.

The 48-year-old is held at London's Belmarsh Prison where he is fighting a request by the United States to send him to stand trial for conspiring to hack government computers and espionage.

Assange was dragged from the Ecuador embassy in London last year after a seven-year stand-off. He says he could spend decades in prison if convicted, and calls the case against him political and a threat to free speech. The United States says he put the lives of informants in danger by publishing secrets.

In February, hearings took place for a week and the case was adjourned until May 18 for a further three weeks of arguments. However, in the meantime, Britain imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which have made it difficult to hold normal court proceedings.

Comment: Irony here! What informants were harmed in the service of truth and knowledge? Will taking Assange to trial protect those informants, given likely questions asked and answered? It is Assange's life that is endangered by neutering his rights and liberties in a disproportional lockup of staggering severity.


Clipboard

First Amendment violations: 77% of colleges use secret social media blacklist to censor public

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© unknown
  • Colleges block over 1,800 unique terms on their social media pages
  • Secret filters automatically remove comments mentioning political figures, corporate partners, sports teams, faculty members, and even an emoji
  • 87% of colleges block users on Facebook or Twitter
  • Administrators abuse social platform tools to quietly censor posts and users — transforming their pages from public forums into vehicles for positive publicity
The majority of top public colleges and universities use a blacklist of secret words, created by Facebook, to automatically censor comments on university social media pages, according to a new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. As campuses sit empty and much of student life moves online, this censorship has an amplified importance.

Colleges also compile custom lists collectively banning more than 1,800 words and phrases: from profanities to posts referencing matters of local and national concern, campus controversies, criticism of colleges' corporate partners or sports teams, and even the weather. The findings, gleaned from public records from nearly 200 top institutions, show that public universities — bound by the First Amendment — are impermissibly censoring public dialogue.

Comment: See also:

Pre-crime goes to school: University campus police are monitoring students' social media accounts


Yellow Vest

Two hair salon owners in California defy stay-at-home orders, both reopen to pay bills

salon owner reopen
Hair salons and barbershops across the state have been closed since March under the state's stay-at-home order.

After more than a month without income, two business owners in Auburn have decided to defy that order and reopen their doors to customers anyway.

For Clip Cage owner Breann Curtis, it was either defy the state's stay-at-home order or face collections. "I have to do what I have to do. I'm fighting to provide for my children and myself and my family right now," explained Curtis.

After losing thousands of dollars, Curtis told FOX40 that it was time to take a chance and reopen. "It's been very hard. I'm pregnant. I have children at home," said Curtis.

Comment: A salon owner in Dallas, Texas has reopened despite a county order that says her business is "non-essential." She said she has missed a mortgage payment and has 19 employees who are out of work.