Comment: The author skipped a key episode along the road to GWOT...

What history leaves out: The remarkable silence surrounding Israel's car-bombing campaign in Lebanon

Comment: NOAA recently admitted that their forecasts were so wrong that they were no longer going to be forecasting solar cycles a year in advance, and instead they were now going to issue monthly predictions.

And NASA, who is apparently equally baffled, acknowledged the research of some independent scientists who predicted that this solar cycle may conclude with a 'terminator' event:

But suddenly and without warning, this localized field disappears, releasing the brake and enabling solar activity to ramp up. This drastic change is what the team dubbed solar cycle termination events, or terminators. (Because solar terminators occur at the exact moment solar minimums end, they occur after each solar cycle has officially begun.)

Taken together, whilst these official bodies do appear to have some idea of how the Sun usually behaves, there are other accredited researchers whose research shows that there are not only other phases to the solar cycles, but there are other factors, such as ours Sun's twin, that are likely modulating its rhythms.

This is of particular import when one considers the potential threat that a Carrington-like poses to life on our planet, but also with regards to solar activity and the potential correlation that has with extinction, and evolutionary episodes.

There have already been a number of anomalous events associated with solar activity that seem to reveal we have already entered unprecedented times:

• Extinction and evolution: Extreme solar blasts coupled with Earth's weakening magnetic field could have dramatic impact on life
• A warning from history: The Carrington event was not unique
• Powerful Solar storm has unusually strong impact on Earth, delays SpaceX rocket launch, stalls oil rigs in Canada
• Earth's thermosphere reaches highest temperature in 20 years after being bombarded by solar storms
• Rare quadruple 'super-sympathetic' solar flare event captured by NASA
• Solar maximum could hit us harder and sooner than we thought
• 'Terminator' events on the Sun trigger plasma tsunamis and new solar cycles - Expect them next year
• NOAA scientists finally admit their solar cycle 25 predictions are WRONG, peak is approaching faster than expected

And check out SOTT radio's:

• Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?
• MindMatters: The Holy Grail, Comets, Earth Changes and Randall Carlson
• Behind the Headlines: The Electric Universe - An interview with Wallace Thornhill

Comment:

Footage of the event appeared to show asteroid 2024 RW1 beam brighter than the moon over Luzon Island at 12:46 a.m. local time.

Does not match the time of this observation posted on Twitter:

𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗛, 𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗜𝗗 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗥𝗪𝟭! Here's a clear shot of the much-awaited small asteroid 2024 RW1 (#CAQTDL2) burning bright into a greenish 'fireball' over Lal-lo, Cagayan around 12:39 AM PhST, 05 September 2024. Did you see it too?

The last time and place matches this record:
Which is the second in the screenshot of the CNEOS Fireball list.
Calculated total impact energy was 0.2 kt of TNT.

If we include this observation, we now have for 2024 the following list of events that have both entered the CNEOS list and have been caught by the "public eye", not merely satellites over remote areas.

• Best of the Web: Moment asteroid hits Earth's atmosphere like a ball of fire over the Philippines on September 5 (local time) [Update: Calculated total impact energy: 0.2 kt of TNT]
• Meteor fireball spotted in South Africa on August 25 [Update: Calculated total impact energy 0.092kt TNT]
• Meteor fireball over Brazil on July 13 - [Update: Calculated total impact energy 1.5 kt TNT]
• Best of the Web: Bright meteor fireball illuminates night sky over Spain and Portugal on May 18 [Update: Calculated total impact energy 0.13kt TNT]

Comment: Indeed. And all of those in power who presided over weaponised mass migration must accept responsibility for the chaos they created. Because over in the UK the pathocrats have been deploying a divide and conquer strategy whereby the general public is encouraged via the propaganda media to blame each other, whether that be the 'far-right', liberals, or the migrants themselves. Whereas the guilty parties are those in the Western establishment, who even acknowledged that they deployed migration on their peoples.

Then, with that in mind, as is the case in countries like Russia, those migrants - not only Muslims - who cannot integrate can be helped to return to their homelands: Russia begins stripping citizenship from draft-dodgers

Unfortunately, with a well and truly ponerized political class in the majority of Western countries, who seek to destroy their communities, so to better control them, and as they provoke ever greater conflicts - in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Asia - this is unlikely to happen; and their descent into madness is likely to create even more economic migrants, and legitimate refugees, than is being dealt with at present.

The situation is sufficiently dire for those in the West that Russia is now even offering a new temporary residence visa for people trying to escape 'destructive neo-liberal ideals'.

• The Burqa Ban Question
• Video shows Spanish Civil Guard patrol boat 'plough' into migrant speedboat
• UK's migrant crossings reach highest level since PM Starmer's new gov't came to power, 703 people in 1 day

Comment: As noted above, a number of media outlets and journalists have been targeted by the Western security apparatus of late, including: Scott Ritter, The Cradle, Judge Napolitano, Comedian Tadgh Hickey, and X was forced to shut down its offices in Brazil.

Furthermore, this comes on the heels of numerous coup and assassination attempts, and successes, in just the last 6 months or so, including: Georgia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, DR Congo, Central African Republic, Turkey and President Erdogan, Donald Trump, Putin, Saudi's MBS, Serbian President Vucic, former Iranian President Raisi - the list goes on.

The West-Israel establishment is certainly cracking down on dissenters, big and small, and it's getting away with it. However, this may also reflect an increasing desperation on its part

World Socialist Web Site reports on Medhurst's arrest, and those that came before it, setting a precedent:

The arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights

The arrest of independent journalist Richard Medhurst under anti-terrorism legislation is a dramatic intensification of the assault on democratic rights in Britain and internationally.

Medhurst's arrest is part of a broader effort by the Labour government to criminalize and intimidate opposition to the genocide in Gaza that has seen mass demonstrations in Britain and throughout the world.

The UK has been harrassing, and arresting, people for social media posts for years now, and often because their opinions were 'offensive'. However the recent unrest, and the subsequent arrests, seems to reveal that the establishment is not only trying to set a precedent amongst the public that draconian policing is acceptable, but also that the public should self-censor out of fear that anti-terror police might turn up at their door.

© Richard Medhurst/XRichard Medhurst

Medhurst was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport on August 15 as he disembarked from his plane, under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act (2000). He was held for almost 24 hours, questioned, and had all his electronic devices and journalistic equipment confiscated.

Given the fact that Medhurst had only booked his plane ticket back to London earlier that day, the arrest confirms that he was under state surveillance. That same day he had criticised on his X account the "fascist 'terrorism act' being used to hold activists without charge or trial because they tried to stop actual terrorism and genocide by the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]."

Medhurst was arrested under draconian provisions in the 2000 Act, amended in 2019, which allow a person to be jailed for up to 14 years for what is tantamount to a thought crime — "express[ing] an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation" and in doing so being "reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation."

Medhurst's journalism focuses on exposing US, British and Israeli war crimes in Gaza and across the Middle East. He was arrested by a state whose leading politicians, Labour and Conservative, have for the last 10 months denounced protests against Israel's genocide as antisemitic and "hate marches."

The crackdown on democratic rights is necessitated by the war and austerity agenda of the ruling elite, with every major imperialist power backing the slaughter of the Palestinians by the fascistic Israeli regime and supporting NATO's war against Russia in Ukraine.

Faced with mass popular opposition and the need for a stepped-up offensive against jobs, wages and essential services to pay for war, the Labour government and the ruling class everywhere must turn ever more decisively to state repression, including targeting those journalists and political activists who oppose and expose war, war crimes and genocide.

The British ruling class has escalated its attacks on left-wing journalists as part of a broader offensive against democratic rights, ever since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The invasion was deliberately provoked by decades of NATO encroachment to Russia's borders, and following the 2014 regime-change operation that brought a right-wing pro-US regime to power in Kiev.

• On April 17, 2023, French publisher Ernest Moret was arrested as he arrived in London St Pancras Station under anti-terror laws, justified by his participation in mass protests in France against Macron's pension cuts. Moret was stopped under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, allowing "examining officers" at ports and airports to stop, question and/or detain people to investigate suspected acts of terrorism.
• On May 17, 2023, British journalist Kit Klarenberg was arrested at Luton Airport after arriving from Belgrade, Serbia. Klarenberg, a writer for The Grayzone, was interrogated, had his bank cards, electronic devices and SD cards seized, and his fingerprints, photo and DNA taken, under Schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

• On October 16, 2023, Craig Murray, a human rights activist, former British diplomat and prominent defender of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — imprisoned at the time in London's maximum security Belmarsh prison — was detained under Section 7 of the Terrorism Act (2000) at Glasgow Airport. Murray was returning from Iceland where he met with senior figures in the Julian Assange defence campaign.

The Assange precedent

Medhurst too was a trenchant opponent of Assange's incarceration. He reported from inside the High Court in London as recently as June as Assange battled the attempt to extradite him to the US for exposing the war crimes of the imperialist powers.

The detention of Assange from 2010 until his release in June this year was a milestone in the offensive of the ruling class against democratic rights. Assange was for 14 years the most prominent victim of the campaign to silence journalists involved in the exposure of imperialist war crimes, and many of those targeted for state repression were involved in the fight for his freedom.

This includes the late David Miranda, partner of then-Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who in 2013 was detained by the British government at Heathrow Airport under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Miranda was carrying a thumb drive with classified material provided by US National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

In a June 24 Perspective column on Assange's release, the World Socialist Web Site editorial board warned:

Though Assange is free, the global capitalist offensive against democratic rights is only accelerating. For every tactical retreat by imperialism, there is a more brutal counterattack... In fact, by effectively torturing a journalist into admitting violations of the Espionage Act by disseminating true information in the public interest, the Biden administration has set a dangerous new precedent for the attack on press freedom.

The election of the Starmer Labour government one month later confirmed this warning.

Sir Keir Starmer played a central role in Assange's persecution as director of public prosecutions at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008-13. At a time when the CPS was overseeing moves to extradite Assange to Sweden to face questioning over bogus sexual assault allegations, Starmer made four trips to Washington--in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2013, the CPS pressured Swedish prosecutors into maintaining their fraudulent investigation into Assange as a pretext for his onward extradition to the US, with uncovered emails from the CPS to their Swedish counterparts warning, "Don't you dare get cold feet!"

Now, in a move that would have been agreed to by Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Labour has pioneered the use of an amendment to the Terrorism Act passed by the Tories to once again attempt to silence and criminalise a journalist and political activist.

The same course is being pursued by governments throughout the world.

In April this year, hundreds of police officers broke up a Palestine Congress in Berlin, Germany. The Ministry of the Interior banned former Greek finance minister and chairman of the pan-European party DiEM25 Yanis Varoufakis from entering the country, together with Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, a medical doctor and rector of Glasgow University. Sittah had worked with Doctors Without Borders in Gaza hospitals during the war and testified at the International Court of Justice, where Germany stands accused of aiding and abetting genocide.

In May, anti-Zionist Israeli historian Ilan Pappé — who was visiting the United States to speak at public meetings — was stopped and interrogated at Detroit airport. Agents from the Department of Homeland Security confiscated and copied the contents of his cell phone before returning it to him.

Earlier this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the upstate New York home of Scott Ritter, the former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and United Nations weapons inspector who is a vocal opponent of the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine. Ritter was raided based on a potential violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

In Britain, Germany, France and many other countries, the attack on anti-war sentiment has even seen the criminalisation of the slogan, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," leading to dozens of arrests.

This war on journalism has reached its horrifying conclusion with the murder of at least 116 media workers and journalists by Israel during its extermination of the Palestinians in Gaza.

The arrest of Medhurst is a confirmation of the analysis of the Socialist Equality Party regarding the pro-imperialist character of the Labour Party and the impossibility of fighting genocide and police-state rule by pressurising or making appeals to capitalist governments. Capitalism is no longer compatible with the preservation of democratic forms of rule under conditions of war and escalating social reaction.

Defending Medhurst and essential democratic rights such as freedom of the press and stopping the genocide in Gaza require mobilizing the working class against Britain's Labour government and its counterparts internationally. It means building a mass movement against imperialist war, rooted in the working class and centred on the fight for socialism.

And the following satirical (?) account sums up the UK's descent into a genocide supporting, police state:

Following a spate of arrests in the UK, British counter-terrorism police have announced they will no longer tolerate opinions the government doesn't like, primarily criticism of Israel.

Asking why the government is determined to protect Israel is now a "hate crime" and feeling a twinge of empathy for Palestinians is a "thought crime". Expressing firm disapproval of British politicians counts as a "death threat" and mentioning any of the prime minister's 357 U-turns is "misinformation".

In the latest police crackdown, two journalists have been arrested for criticising Israel and a bunch of ordinary people have been targeted for their dodgy opinions. Excitingly, police battered the shit out of a man in Basingstoke, following reports he looked suspiciously "Middle-eastern". Turns out he was white British but had sat in the sun too long. Nevertheless, the man is being held in custody under suspicion of having unreasonably dark skin. I hope they send the bastard back to where he came from.

A woman was arrested in Liverpool for saying "Netanyahu is going a bit too far, isn't he?" and a manhunt is underway for a terrorist who said he doesn't like "seeing Palestinian children suffering horrible injuries". Not only was this considered hate speech, it was also misinformation because the BBC has explained that Palestinian children probably can't feel pain and therefore don't matter. Plus, Israel has the right to bomb children in self-defence, and when they do, we sensibly avoid naming the killer. This is why mainstream media is more trustworthy than social media.

Unfortunately, the BBC let its standards slip by reporting a Palestinian blogger was killed by an "alleged Israeli airstrike". This was stupid because everyone knows only Israel is doing airstrikes in Gaza. The correct approach was to pretend the blogger was a Hamas terrorist and it was okay to wipe him off the face of the earth.

I can confirm the BBC journalist who wrote the headline has been reported to counter-terrorism police. I'm told his front door will be broken down at 6am tomorrow morning while his kids are sleeping. It's only what he deserves for making Israel look bad.

To help you avoid making the mistake of the BBC journalist, a website has been set up by the government, detailing acceptable opinions. You will be reassured to know some of them differ ever-so-slightly from one another because pluralism matters.

For example, you're allowed to say you fully support genocide (when Israel does it), but you are equally allowed to say this issue is "too complicated" for a simpleton like you to understand. Neither of those opinions will get you in trouble.

Surprisingly, you are allowed to criticise the government, but only if you think they are not going far enough.

For example, you could say you support austerity, but that it needs to be even more brutal. You cannot say you oppose austerity, but you are allowed to pretend austerity is not happening. Denial is fine, however, if you suggest austerity is based on economic illiteracy or wilful cruelty, you are guilty of a hate crime.

A mixture of opinions will help muddy the waters so feel free to argue with others, as long as you're staying within acceptable parameters. If the person you're arguing with goes too far, always ensure you report them to the police. Thought criminals need to be dealt with robustly.

Anyone who strays from pre-authorised opinions risks up to 14 years in prison and a lifetime ban from social media. Thankfully, the UK is not alone in taking such sensible steps because the European Union has joined us in taking action against "toxic behaviour and misinformation".

"Misinformation" includes things like telling the truth about Hunter Biden's laptop and "toxic behaviour" includes saying Macron should respect the French election results.

Mark Zuckerberg let slip that western governments have pressured Meta to remove factual information and satire from its platforms. It's just as well that serious reporters like me never tell the truth, otherwise we'd be buggered, wouldn't we?

If you were under the impression this censorship was all Zuckerberg's idea, remember the Biden administration accused Facebook of "killing people" and were ready to give Zucks the Julian Assange treatment, unless he behaved. This was in no way a violation of the first amendment.

Here is a feel good story for you: since the US started threatening to steal TikTok from its owners, it has become one of the good platforms. For example, it has been censoring the likes of journalist Chris Hedges for "hate speech" because he criticised Kamala Harris.

The collective effort of the West should hopefully force social media companies to remove troublemakers, but if any slip through the net, counter-terrorism police are ready and willing to deal with them. You might be forgiven for thinking the role of counter-terrorism police is to track down the terrorists who make bombs, but not anymore. They now track down people who have bad takes online. I bet that makes you feel much safer.

As someone who loves, and heavily praises, the establishment, I will never be in their sights because I'm one of the good ones. If you're not one of the good ones, I have no sympathy for you, but it's not too late to change your ways. Just ensure you follow the rules and you will not be jailed, but we might use tweets from when you were 16 to stop you getting a job. Nobody should be allowed to forget saying stupid things when they were a teenager. It's important we have a society of robots.

The government's Good Think website has published a number of sensible steps to program the public and stop them from diverging from group think. Here are my favourites:

• Social media users must pledge allegiance to neoliberalism when they open an account.
• Social media companies must quadruple the likes of government ministers to make them look popular.
• All memes must be vetted by the Ministry of Truth prior to publication.
• All bloggers must register with the government and wear an electronic tag on their ankle.
• Police dogs will be set on anyone who calls Rachel Reeves a red Tory.

Perhaps the greatest plan is to abolish end-to-end encryption and get rid of online privacy once and for all. Not only does this mean your data will no longer be secure, but bored intelligence agents can access your webcam to keep children safe. If you don't like bored intelligence agents accessing your webcam, I'm going to assume you oppose child safety.

If, like me, you were concerned censorship efforts are not going far enough, you will be relieved to hear British lawyers are threatening to take action against the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Also, it appears the ICC is dithering on arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his accomplices because its judges are being blackmailed by Mossad.

It's not just journalists, bloggers, social media users, and your neighbour who's had a few too many who need to be censored, it's the judges at the world's highest court. This is because western democracies value freedom of speech, unlike the bad countries where people have the wrong religion and/or skin colour. We're much better than them, aren't we? x

Thank you so much for reading! If you love my outstanding journalism as much as I do, you can support my work here:

Comment: Privacy and free speech advocate Mike Benz weighed in on the matter in an interview with Tucker Carlson, August 28, 2024. The dangers are deeper and more pervasive than anyone probably realizes.
(includes ads)


Update:
Here are some titles from the above YouTube:

Chapters: 00:00 Get Tickets at TuckerCarlson.com 01:20 Who Was Involved in Pavel Durov's Arrest? 15:50 How Telegram Is Used by the CIA 27:22 Domestic Policy Doesn't Exist 34:19 The Redefining of Democracy 39:21 The Biggest Threat to NATO 44:16 What Is DARPA? 1:02:53 WhatsApp and the Facebook Files 1:13:34 Does Putin Have a Back Door to Telegram? 1:19:12 The Red Lines Memo to Zelensky 1:28:09 The Real Motive Behind Durov's Arrest 1:43:51 The Deep State vs. Donald Trump 1:50:46 Will They Take Out Elon Musk Next? 2:04:27 Would Benz Join a Trump Administration?

RT carried an article relating to this chapter: 15:50 How Telegram Is Used by the CIA

29 Aug, 2024 04:48
The CIA loves Telegram - ex-State Department official
The encrypted app was used by US spies to attempt color revolutions and encourage riots according to Mike Benz

The US and its CIA-controlled "soft power" arm have used the encrypted social media app Telegram to foment riots and protest movements against foreign governments it deems undesirable, former Trump administration official and free speech activist Mike Benz has said.

He added that Telegram has been "the darling of the CIA, the State Department, and USAID" for political operations worldwide, due to its nearly billion users and the ease with which they can be directed to necessary channels for recruitment.

The comments were made during an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson on Wednesday. Benz, a State Department official under the administration of former President Donald Trump, now runs the free speech watchdog Foundation for Freedom Online.

Carlson asked Benz about a potential US role in the arrest of Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France last week. A court in Paris charged Durov on Wednesday with complicity in several crimes perpetrated through his app, as well as failing to cooperate with the French authorities.

While the former diplomat did not speculate, he noted that Durov's arrest aligns with the pattern of "soft power" tactics the US has pursued in the past.

The US has championed free speech globally for decades, "in large part" because it allows the country to build resistance and political or paramilitary movements "in countries where the US State Department seeks political control," the former official said. Durov's end-to-end encrypted social media app Telegram has been instrumental in this effort, Benz claimed.

The reason "26 US-government-funded NGOs" condemned Russia for attempting to ban Telegram in 2018 was that "the US State Department was using Telegram," utilizing its encryption and local popularity "to foment protests and riots within Russia - just as they did in Belarus, Iran, Hong Kong, and attempted to do in China," the former State Department official said.

The app's encryption is a powerful means of evading state control over media and allowing "US-funded political groups or dissidents to garner tens of thousands of supporters with relative impunity," he added.

Benz claimed that Telegram was the "main channel" when the US was "effectively orchestrating a color revolution in Belarus" in 2020.

"The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was actually paying the main administrators of the Telegram channels that orchestrated those riots," he said, calling the NED "one of the most prolific CIA cutouts in the arsenal."

This practice is part of a long-running campaign by the US, UK, and other NATO partners to gain political control over the territories of the former Soviet Union and their resources, according to Benz.

The current move against Telegram may in part be because its overall "usefulness" is becoming less.

Comment: This all would be a rather fitting end to Macron's reign, and it's notable that he chose to announce this refusal amidst the scandal over the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

Moveover, France has been relatively quiet in terms of protests, especially compared to the last decade which has seen massive protests, and egregious police brutality, one would suppose that this point hasn't gone unnoticed by the Western deep state, who will surely seek to capitalise off of it.

As the UK riots showed,the discontent and general malaise amongst the public means that all that's really needed is a trigger: Telegram CEO Durov arrested at French airport over apps 'lax moderation rules'; Top Russian MP calls for his release

Macron is delaying the appointment of a new prime minister to justify invoking a special article of the constitution, according to Florian Philippot, leader of the "Patriots" party.

France's constitution includes Article 16, which can be invoked in cases where the normal functioning of government bodies is disrupted. This article allows the president to be granted extraordinary powers.

In the history of the Fifth Republic, this provision has been used only once — by Charles de Gaulle in 1961 during the military coup attempt.