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Wed, 13 Oct 2021
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'Worst is yet to come' - Biosecurity Theatre

Biosecurity Threat
© Corbett Report
You know about "security theatre," right? That's the kind of take-off-your-shoes-and-belt nonsense that was instituted at the airport post-9/11 to give passengers the feeling that the government was protecting them from those dastardly Al-CIA-da terrorists.

Of course, these measures do nothing to actually prevent terrorism. Even the MSM mouthpiece media was forced to admit that the TSA never caught a single terrorist with such practices.

But that's not the point. These procedures are only there to give the impression that agencies like the TSA are actually keeping the public safe.

Well, guess what? As we transition from the post-9/11 "homeland security" paradigm to the post-Covid "biosecurity" paradigm, there is now an equivalent to the security theatre phenomenon taking shape: biosecurity theatre.

I know you've noticed it already. The stickers on the floor at the supermarket telling you exactly where to stand when lining up at the cash register. The "one-way aisles" telling you which way to walk as you do your shopping. The infrared thermometer guns pointed suggestively at your head before you enter a public building, as if such a device could actually detect a fever within a fraction of a second of "scanning."

Of course these gadgets and procedures are not meant to stop the spread of any infectious pathogen. They are merely there to make the public feel better.

Hiliter

Pompeo inks deal to support more US troops in Poland

Pompeo/Blaszczak
© Janek Skarzynski/AP
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Poland's Minister of Defence Mariusz Blaszczak greet each other after signing the US-Poland Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement in the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sealed a defense cooperation deal Saturday with Polish officials that will pave the way to deploy more American troops to Poland.

Pompeo, in Warsaw at the end of a four-nation tour of central and eastern Europe, signed the deal with Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak that sets out the legal framework for the additional troops. Poland's President Andrzej Duda said during the signing ceremony:
"This is going to be an extended guarantee: a guarantee that in case of a threat our soldiers are going to stand arm-in-arm. It will also serve to increase the security of other countries in our part of Europe."
The deal would also further other aspects of U.S.-Polish cooperation, he added, citing primarily investment and trade ties.

Dollar

Former Fed Chair, Janet Yellen, advises Biden and Harris

Yellen
© Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Former Fed Reserve Chair Janet Yellen
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris received their first joint economic briefing on Thursday, which included former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

Two of Biden's longtime economic advisers, Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey, were among those in the briefing, as well as Yellen, Raj Chetty, a Harvard University professor; and Lisa Cook, a professor at Michigan State University. Jake Sullivan, a top policy adviser to Biden, was also in the briefing.

The Biden campaign has been very secretive about the economists who have been advising the former vice president during his campaign. But in April, Bloomberg News reported that Larry Summers was advising the campaign, which drew the ire on progressives who called on Biden to promise he would not appoint him to his administration.

A Biden campaign official said only Bernstein and Boushey are official advisers to the campaign and the others, including Yellen, are experts who were briefing the candidates.

Fire

'Muscular liberalism': WaPo columnist roasted after using strange label to describe Biden/Harris strategy

BidenHarris
© Reuters/Carlos Barria
Presidential candidate, Former VP Joe Biden • VP candidate Kamala Harris
A piece on how the Biden and Harris ticket sticks it to the Democrats has drawn an outpouring of mockery after describing the duo's foreign policy platform as 'muscular liberalism'.

A Washington Post column penned by political commentator Josh Rogin heaped praise on Joe Biden's Vice President pick, Kamala Harris. Together they would usher a
"return to the way world politics used to work, with a strong America leading a strong multilateral system," he argued. Once they take the White House, the centrist dream team would firmly oppose the vision of the likes of Bernie Sanders, who want "smaller defense budgets, less foreign intervention, more respect for sovereignty in other countries and the withdrawal of US troops abroad."

Comment: Rogan's comments are akin to throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what sticks.


Star of David

Drones and jets: Israel launches strikes on Gaza Strip for the fourth straight night

Rafah mural
© Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Rafah, southern Gaza Strip July 14, 2020.
The Israeli military has pummeled the Gaza Strip for a fourth consecutive night. The air raids are said to come in response to explosive and incendiary balloon attacks by Palestinian militants.

At least three locations, including the Khan Younis port, were targeted by Israeli aircraft late on Friday. Drones, as well as several fighter jets, were spotted in the area, local media reported.

Propaganda

'Come on, don't do this': Yahoo slammed for shoddy story accusing RUSSIA of antifa.com prank of Joe Biden

biden antifa
© REUTERS/Carlos Barria / Stephanie Keith
The latest chapter in the conspiracy theory blaming Russia for 'meddling' in US elections accuses Moscow of somehow redirecting the website Antifa.com to Joe Biden's website, thanks to some major internet illiteracy at work.

On Wednesday, Republican activist Matthew Foldi pointed out that typing Antifa.com in one's browser redirected to Biden's campaign page, just as the Democrat candidate and his freshly chosen running mate Kamala Harris were about to do their first joint public appearance.


Comment: Their narrative is so laughably predictable at this point it's rather stunning that it's still working. People have, quite literally, lost their minds.

See also:


Info

Trump lays down gauntlet for Barr on Durham probe: Either 'greatest attorney general' or 'average guy'

bill barr
© Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS
President Trump on Thursday said he hopes U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is investigating the origins of the Russia probe, is "not going to be politically correct" and warned that Attorney General William Barr could go down as "the greatest attorney general" or just "an average guy" — depending on what comes out of the monthslong probe.

During an exclusive interview with FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo, the president was asked about the Durham probe, which the Justice Department has said could yield some results by next month.

"I hope he's doing a great job, and I hope they're not going to be politically correct," Trump said. "Obama knew everything. Vice President Biden, as dumb as he may be, knew everything, and everybody else knew."

Comment: See also:


Bullseye

The CIA is behind Russiagate and still wants you to believe in 'Russian interference'

William Binney
© REUTERS/Thomas Peter
William Binney is the former technical director of the U.S. National Security Agency who worked at the agency for 30 years. He is a respected independent critic of how American intelligence services abuse their powers to illegally spy on private communications of U.S. citizens and around the globe. Given his expert inside knowledge, it is worth paying attention to what Binney says.

In a media interview this week, he dismissed the so-called Russiagate scandal as a "fabrication" orchestrated by the American Central Intelligence Agency. Many other observers have come to the same conclusion about allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections with the objective of helping Donald Trump get elected.

But what is particularly valuable about Binney's judgment is that he cites technical analysis disproving the Russiagate narrative. That narrative remains dominant among U.S. intelligence officials, politicians and pundits, especially those affiliated with the Democrat party, as well as large sections of Western media. The premise of the narrative is the allegation that a Russian state-backed cyber operation hacked into the database and emails of the Democrat party back in 2016. The information perceived as damaging to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was subsequently disseminated to the Wikileaks whistleblower site and other U.S. media outlets.

Comment: See also:


Star of David

The politics of war: What is Israel's endgame in Lebanon and Syria?

Israeli soldiers drive military vehicles
© Ariel Schalit | AP
Israeli soldiers drive military vehicles during an exercise in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, Aug. 4, 2020.
On August 4, hours before a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued an ominous warning to Lebanon.

"We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this," Netanyahu said during an official tour of a military facility in central Israel.

Netanyahu's warning did not bode well for Israel when, hours later, a Hiroshima-like blast devastated entire sectors of Beirut. Those who suspected Israeli involvement in the deadly explosion had one more reason to point fingers at Tel Aviv.

In politics and in war, truth is the first casualty. We may never know precisely what transpired in the moments preceding the Beirut blast. Somehow, it may not matter at all, because the narrative regarding Lebanon's many tragedies is as splintered as the country's political landscape.

Judging by statements and positions adopted by the country's various parties and factions, many seem to be more concerned with exploiting the tragedy for trivial political gain than in the tragedy itself. Even if the explosion was the unfortunate outcome of an accident resulting from bureaucratic negligence, sadly, it is still inconsequential. In Lebanon, as in much of the Middle East, everything is political.

Comment: And, ultimately, Israel's 'end game' is well summed up here: 'Greater Israel': The Zionist plan for the Middle East

Though it is not likely to turn out how the Israelis planning.


Bad Guys

Three French secret agents arrested for 'private' murder plot

headquarters
© AFP
Three men speak in a corridor at the headquarters of the General Directorate for External Security (DGSE)
French authorities have arrested three members of the country's external intelligence service for planning a murder outside the exercise of their functions.

Two of the men from France's General Directorate for External Security were arrested in the night between July 23 and July 24 in Créteil, a southeastern suburb of Paris, because it looked like they were "about to carry out a criminal act on a 54-year-old woman," the prosecutor's office revealed in a statement on Wednesday.

Police, alerted by a local resident, found them in a stolen car with a fake licence plate. Both were wearing gloves and had army-issue knives. Officers also retrieved a 9 mm-calibre handgun.

Police also identified and arrested a third person — a private security agent — believed to have assisted in the organisation of the murder plot.

Comment: A 'private murder' plot as opposed to...?