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America forced Tokyo to give away Kuril islands but is now claiming they're Japanese - Australian diplomat


RT
Wed, 09 Dec 2020 14:26 UTC
Kuril
© Reuters / Yuri MaltsevFILE PHOTO. A general view shows the Island of Kunashir, one of four Russia's Southern Kuril islands.
The US' decision to label residents of the disputed Kuril Islands as Japanese is a "very strange and irregular" move, former Australian diplomat Gregory Clark has told RT, adding it shows "rampant revisionism" on the US' part.

The bizarre move by US officials first caught the eye of Japanese media last week. It transpired that Russian citizens born on the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir, and Iturup were considered Japanese by the US immigration authorities for the purpose of drawing green cards.

The sneaky designation sparked an angry reaction in Moscow, with Russian diplomats stressing that the country's sovereignty over the four islands is not the subject of any dispute.

Comment: American exceptionalism included the belief that the US could create its own reality, however, with its power waning, its ability to coerce others into sharing in their delusions is also waning:

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Black Magic

Airline chief joins growing list of COVID vaccine passport pushers, claims it's 'essential for tourism'


CNN
Mon, 07 Dec 2020 17:06 UTC
plane
A top official of a local airline sees the proposal of requiring a "COVID passport" for future travelers as essential — especially for the tourism industry's bid to recover from the global health crisis.

"We do think that's essential, especially as we open up international travel," Cebu Pacific President and CEO Lance Gokongwei said in a briefing in Malacañang on Monday.

"I think we have to work on a global COVID passport, so that each country respects the passport and recognizes that if you do have this COVID passport, that you have already been vaccinated by a credible vaccination source," he added. "If the tourism and travel industries recover, this is an absolute necessity."

Comment: See also:

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Info

Judge formally dismisses Flynn case but says pardon doesn't make him innocent

Harper Neidig
The Hill
Tue, 08 Dec 2020 14:30 UTC
michael flynn
Retired General Michael Flynn
A federal judge on Tuesday agreed to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn following President Trump's pardon of his former national security adviser but in a parting shot at the administration said the grant of clemency does not mean Flynn is innocent of lying to the FBI.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan granted the Department of Justice's (DOJ) motion to dismiss the case as moot following the pardon in a 43-page decision that took issue with Flynn's conduct in the case as well as prosecutors' sudden to decision in May to drop charges against one of the president's allies.

"The history of the Constitution, its structure, and the Supreme Court's interpretation of the pardon power make clear that President Trump's decision to pardon Mr. Flynn is a political decision, not a legal one," Sullivan, who was appointed by former President Clinton, wrote. "Because the law recognizes the President's political power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case as moot. However, the pardon 'does not, standing alone, render [Mr. Flynn] innocent of the alleged violation.'"

Comment: See also:

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Dollars

Ilhan Omar's husband received $635k in Covid-19 bailout money for his consulting firm, despite congresswoman paying his company a staggering $2.25M this year alone

Cheyenne Roundtree
Daily Mail
Mon, 07 Dec 2020 08:15 UTC
Ilhan Omar
© Probe-Media for DailyMail.comIlhan Omar's husband received $635,000 in Covid-19 bailout money for his consulting firm, despite the congresswoman paying his company nearly $2.25 million this year, according to a new report
Ilhan Omar's husband received $635,000 in Covid-19 bailout money for his consulting firm, despite the congresswoman paying his company nearly $2.25 million this year, according to a new report.

Tim Mynett's E Street Group was given $134,800 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and an additional $500,000 in Economic Injury Disaster loans (EIDL) in April, records show.

Mynett co-owns the Washington D.C. firm, which has also been paid $2,256,700 since the start of 2020 from Omar's campaign for services that include digital advertising, fundraising consulting and website production, campaign records show.

DailyMail.com revealed that Omar married the political consultant back in March, which sparked scrutiny and a complaint to the Federal Election Commission by a conservative group that alleged campaign funds paid for Mynett's personal travel.

The FEC has taken no public action on that complaint, and Omar, 38, has said payments to Mynett's firm were legitimate.

Still, Omar announced in mid-November that her campaign was terminating its contract to 'make sure that anybody who is supporting our campaign with their time or financial support feels there is no perceived issue with that support'.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Israel justifies murdering a Palestinian child by saying its sniper used a "low muzzle velocity"

Jonathan Ofir
Mondoweiss
Mon, 07 Dec 2020 09:00 UTC
ALI ABU ALIA
© TWITTERALI ABU ALIA
Not only did the Israeli military use lethal force in murdering Ali Abu Alia, but it was aided and abetted by the United States.

On Friday, Palestinian teenager Ali Abu Alia was killed by Israeli occupation soldiers, shot in the abdomen. It was during a demonstration at his home town of Al Mughayyir, against a nearby Jewish Israeli settlement expansion. According to Defense for Children International Palestine he was on the sideline, merely "observing clashes" .

Now if you read the Israeli military statement on this, as featured in the Haaretz report, it seems to get really complex, as it were:
The Israeli military said that there were riots in the area, but denied using live fire. Rioters used burned tires and tried to block the road, an IDF spokesperson said, and Israeli forces responded with rubber bullets and "Ruger" guns, which have a low muzzle speed.
So the logic, as formulated here, is that the "Ruger" gun is not "live fire", since it has "low muzzle speed".

Comment: Israel's atrocities against Palestinians are happening on a daily basis, and still nobody is holding Israel responsible.

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Arrow Down

The crack-up at the Federal Reserve is coming - and so is hyperinflation

Ron Paul
The Ron Paul Institute For Peace And Prosperity
Mon, 07 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
federal reserve
Some Federal Reserve officials are calling for tougher banking regulations in order to prevent the Fed's low interest rate policy from leading investors to take "excessive" risks that will create asset bubbles. The Fed is understandably worried that these bubbles will burst leading to another market meltdown. However, the boom-and-bust cycle will not end because regulators stop investors from taking "excessive" risks. Almost every bubble and economic downturn America has experienced over the past 107 years was caused by the Federal Reserve's manipulation of the money supply.

The Federal Reserve's actions artificially lower interest rates, thus distorting the signals sent by the rates, which are the price of money. Artificially low interest rates cause investments to be made in projects that are not supported by the real underlying market conditions. This results in a boom, inevitably followed by a crash, then by a new round of money creation and government bailouts restarting the cycle.

Comment: See also:

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War Whore

Caitlin Johnstone: Biden's prospective new defense secretary is another professional war profiteer

Caitlin Johnstone
RT
Tue, 08 Dec 2020 01:43 UTC
Gen. Lloyd Austin III
© Getty Images / Chip SomodevillaGen. Lloyd Austin III
Joe Biden's possible new secretary of defense pick may be celebrated by the MSM, but his nomination only serves to underline the grim truth: corporations are running America's war machine, and they're doing it for profit.

The mass media are reporting that the Biden camp has selected former general Lloyd J. Austin III to be the next secretary of defense, assuaging fears among antiwar activists that the position would go to bloodthirsty psychopath Michele Flournoy as commonly predicted.

As has become the standard ritual for Biden's cabinet picks, the mass media are holding a parade to celebrate the fact that Austin would be the first black chief of the US war machine, while virtually ignoring the murderous agendas he has facilitated throughout his career. As head of Central Command, Austin actively campaigned to resurrect the Pentagon's spectacularly failed program of trying to arm "rebels" in Syria to fight ISIS, and in 2014 he backed immunity for US troops from war crimes prosecutions by the government of Afghanistan. He helped spearhead the Iraq invasion, and he is a member of the same private equity fund which invests in defense contractors as Flournoy and Biden's warmongering pick for secretary of state, Tony Blinken.
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Red Flag

Axios exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute
Axios
Tue, 08 Dec 2020 22:06 UTC
california china
© Sarah Grillo/Axios
A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China's main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015, Axios found in a yearlong investigation.

Why it matters: The alleged operation offers a rare window into how Beijing has tried to gain access to and influence U.S. political circles.
  • While this suspected operative's activities appear to have ended during the Obama administration, concerns about Beijing's influence operations have spanned President Trump's time in office and will continue to be a core focus for U.S. counterintelligence during the Biden administration.
swalwell fang
© Renren, Facebook, FacebookClockwise from top left: Fang with then-Dublin City Councilmember Eric Swalwell at an October 2012 student event; undated photo of Fang, now former Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison and Rep. Judy Chu; Fang with then-Rep. Mike Honda and then-San Jose city Councilmember Ash Kalra at a March 2014 event at the Chinese Embassy in D.C.
The woman at the center of the operation, a Chinese national named Fang Fang or Christine Fang, targeted up-and-coming local politicians in the Bay Area and across the country who had the potential to make it big on the national stage.

Comment: See also:


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Syringe

Oh, pul-eeeeze: UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock sheds tear as first male candidate gets Covid-19 vaccine


RT
Tue, 08 Dec 2020 20:40 UTC
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock
© British Health Secretary Matt HancockBritish Health Secretary Matt Hancock
Oscar-worthy performance or sincerity?

The British Health Secretary Matt Hancock teared up live on air talking about the UK starting to administer the Covid-19 vaccine, with the first male candidate to receive a jab sharing a name with world-famous English playwright.

Hancock appeared emotional on the Good Morning Britain program this Tuesday. "It's been such a tough year for so many people," the MP said, after host Piers Morgan noticed him wiping away a tear.

"There's William Shakespeare putting it so simply for everybody, that we can get on with our lives, though there are still a few months to go," Hancock uttered, referring to the 81-year-old Shakespeare saying that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine could "make the difference to our lives."

Comment: Hope the doctors are watching carefully. Things can rapidly go pear-shaped.

Public needs to prep for vaccine side effects
This summer, computational biologist Luke Hutchison volunteered for a trial of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. But after the second injection, his arm swelled up to the size of a "goose egg," Hutchison says. He can't be sure he got the vaccine and not a placebo, but within a few hours, Hutchison, who was healthy and 43, was beset by bone and muscle aches and a 38.9°C fever. "I started shaking. I had cold and hot rushes," he says. "I was sitting by the phone all night long thinking: 'Should I call 911?'"

Hutchison's symptoms resolved after 12 hours. But, he says, "Nobody prepared me for the severity of this."

He says the public should be better prepared than he was, because a subset of people may face intense, if transient, side effects, called reactogenicity, from Moderna's vaccine. Some health experts agree.


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Clock

Elections undecided by midnight are void and preempted by Federal Law - Foster v Love (1997; 9-0 decision)

Ren Jander, JD
The Post & Email
Wed, 18 Nov 2020 00:00 UTC
US Supreme Court
© FindLawUS Supreme Court
"When the federal statutes speak of 'the election'... they plainly refer to the combined actions of voters and officials meant to make a final selection of an officeholder... By establishing a particular day as 'the day' on which these actions must take place, the statutes simply regulate the time of the election, a matter on which the Constitution explicitly gives Congress the final say." Foster v. Love, 522 U.S. 67, 71-72 (1997)
We will take a closer at this binding precedent below, but in preview, please understand that it emanates from a 9-0 decision of the United States Supreme Court, wherein the entire Court joined, not just the outcome, but also the opinion on this very point.

The voters vote. The officials count. These combined actions form "the election," and the election must be decided on the day. States that failed to make a final selection of officeholder by midnight after Election Day have violated the statute, subjecting the nation at large to the very evils Congressionally mandated deadlines were drafted to prevent.

Federal Election Day statutes were designed to curtail fraud, and to infuse a prima facie sense of integrity in our electoral process. But these States - in failing to obey Congressional deadlines - have flagrantly attempted to preempt federal law. This is certainly prohibited, and this is why the late election results are void.

Citizens may file actions in the Federal District Courts and appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. Get this information to your State Representatives and Senators. Forward it to the White House if you know anyone with connections. Blog it. Video it. Podcast it. Share it in comments, please. The President's team has not made this argument yet. They have not plead it. And they must get up to speed.
You were disenfranchised by the failure of States to follow federal law.
Your pursuit of happiness is directly infected. You have a cause of action.
This is the peaceful, legal battle plan of the Republic. Let's roll.

Comment: Officials are still counting ballots, in fact, recounting ballots. This action was not completed on Election Day as stipulated by law. Thus, according to the legalities outlined above, it seems the 2020 election is void. We shall see if and how this plays out in the Supreme Court, the states and political parties.

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