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Rules for thee, not for me: Psaki defends Biden after he's busted violating DC mask rules


The Post Millenial
Mon, 18 Oct 2021 19:17 UTC
psaki mask
After President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were spotted walking through a restaurant with bare faces, in violation of Washington, DC's indoor mask mandate, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tried — and failed — to defend his actions.

"There is a mask requirement inside DC restaurants," Fox News' Peter Doocy asked, "yet President Biden, the First Lady, were not wearing masks while walking around, a DC restaurant and on Saturday, why?"

"Well I think what we're referring to," Psaki said, "is a photo of them walking out of a restaurant after they, they had eaten, masks in hand, where they had not yet put them back on yet."

Biden was seen inside the upscale DC eatery without a mask. There was video, too. DC still requires all indoor diners to wear a mask unless they're actively eating and drinking.
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Light Saber

Russian billionaire Deripaska blasts FBI raid over Trump election allegations: 'Staggeringly dumb'


RT
Wed, 20 Oct 2021 18:21 UTC
Oleg Deripaska
© Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters
Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Deripaska, once hailed as Russia's richest man, has hit out at US officials after a property in Washington reportedly linked to the sanctioned businessman was searched by security agents in connection with a court order.

In a fiery rant posted online on Wednesday, the aluminum magnate suggested the raid had been in connection with claims Moscow had interfered in the 2016 American presidential election to secure a win for Republican candidate Donald Trump.

"As I watch what is going on in the US, my astonishment only grows at how staggeringly dumb the American establishment can be," Deripaska said, arguing that authorities are "hell-bent on exploiting this tall tale of how the Russians allegedly played a decisive role in the 2016 election."

Comment: Deripaska is another character in the Russiagate farce who is being placed (unwillingly) back in the public eye. What is going on here?

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Light Sabers

Group of bipartisan lawmakers claims Amazon may have lied to Congress in anti-trust hearings

Steve Stecklow, Aditya Kalra and Jeffrey Dastin
Reuters
Tue, 19 Oct 2021 17:59 UTC
Bezos
© AFP/Alex Wong
Amazon founder-CEO, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos
Five members of the U.S. House Judiciary committee wrote to Amazon.com Inc's chief executive Sunday, and accused the company's top executives, including founder Jeff Bezos, of either misleading Congress or possibly lying to it about Amazon's business practices.

The letter also states that the committee is considering "whether a referral of this matter to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation is appropriate."

Addressed to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, the letter followed a Reuters investigation last week that showed that the company had conducted a systematic campaign of copying products and rigging search results in India to boost sales of its own brands - practices Amazon has denied engaging in. Jassy, a longtime Amazon executive, succeeded Bezos in July.
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Wolf

Rehabbing the dossier: Christopher Steele stands by his ludicrous claims in a fawning ABC interview

Michael McCaffrey
RT
Wed, 20 Oct 2021 17:09 UTC
christopher steele George Stephanopoulos

Trump dossier 'author' Christopher Steele, (inset) ABC host George Stephanopoulos
Former MI6 man Christopher Steele is the subject of an obscenely vapid ABC documentary, with a contemptible interview by George Stephanopoulos that's so deferential it's like watching a first date that should be an interrogation.

Just as MI6 super spy James Bond is back in theatres with No Time to Die, former MI6 agent Christopher Steele is back in the spotlight with the story that refuses to die, in an ABC 'documentary' titled Out of the Shadows: The Man Behind the Steele Dossier, now streaming on Hulu.

Steele came to fame as the shadowy force behind the Steele Dossier, the document which was the spark that lit the Trump-Russia collusion fire that was doused in gasoline by obsessive partisan media coverage and numerous, spurious government investigations for the last five years. The dossier claimed that then-candidate Trump was "colluding with Moscow" and that those devious Russians had "kompromat" on Trump in the golden form of a "pee tape."

Comment: The question is, why now? Why are the dodgy figures of the 2016 election, from Steele, to Hillary, to Andy McCabe on down, being rehabilitated and placed back in the publc eye? Could it be a distraction from John Durham's investigation circling closer to Clinton?

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Radar

Are an ex-NSA chief's calls for a 'global cyberattack radar' really a way for Washington to sow chaos via false flags?


RT
Tue, 19 Oct 2021 18:32 UTC
cyber
© Pixabay / Gerd Altmann
America's well documented history of exaggerating enemy capabilities, coupled with NATO saying cyberattacks could be met with a military response, should make everyone nervous about any new 'cyberattack detection system.'

Keith Alexander, who served as Director of the National Security Agency from 2005 to 2014, has called on the US and its 'Five Eyes' allies to construct a global unified cyber-defense 'radar' to protect critical infrastructure from foreign hackers.

Speaking at an Australian Strategic Policy Institute webinar alongside Abigail Bradshaw, head of Australia's Cyber Security Centre, he stated that creating a collaborative mechanism for detecting and battling cyberattacks was vital in the modern era.

Comment: It's becoming clear that the rise in cyber attacks and the 19 months of the contrived coronavirus crisis share a number of similarities, and, interestingly, both were noted by the World Economic Forum as issues that our planet may face in the near future. Incidentally, the solution to both of these problems seems to provide the Build Back Better bunch - the strange slogan proclaimed by leaders the world over - with the excuse and the means for furthering the 'Great Reset' agenda' proscribed by the WEF. And, judging from recent events and announcements, it would appear that the ground is also being prepared for a variety of other avenues of attack by these same groups: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Why You Should Question Media Reports About China 'Causing Covid' And 'Invading Taiwan'



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Blue Planet

Germany & France REJECTED Moscow's proposal to add US to Normandy Format discussions on Ukraine

Jonny Tickle
RT
Tue, 19 Oct 2021 14:19 UTC
Zelenskiy Merkel Macron Putin
© REUTERS / Charles Platiau
FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russia's President Vladimir Putin attend a joint news conference after a Normandy-format summit in Paris, France December 9, 2019.
Moscow proposed inviting the US to join the Normandy Format discussions on the war in east Ukraine, but Germany and France categorically refused to allow Washington in, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed on Tuesday.

Speaking at the 18th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Lavrov noted that the US is the country wielding the strongest influence over Kiev, and its inclusion in the discussions could be beneficial for peace in the east of Ukraine.

The format talks began in June 2014, when France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine met in Normandy, on the sidelines of a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day allied landings. This group eventually came together to sign the Minsk Protocol a few months later, the agreement that led to a ceasefire in Donbass, in the east of Ukraine.

Comment: See also:

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Fire

Navy report blames crew for devastating fire on USS Bonhomme Richard


The Independent
Wed, 20 Oct 2021 16:24 UTC
USS bonhomme Richard fire
© Associated Press
A Navy report has concluded there were sweeping failures by commanders, crew members and others that fueled the July 2020 arson fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard
A Navy report has concluded there were sweeping failures by commanders, crew members and others that fueled the July 2020 arson fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard, calling the massive five-day blaze in San Diego preventable and unacceptable.

While one sailor has been charged with setting the fire, the more than 400-page report, obtained by The Associated Press, lists three dozen officers and sailors whose failings either directly led to the ship's loss or contributed to it. The findings detailed widespread lapses in training, coordination, communication, fire preparedness, equipment maintenance and overall command and control.

"Although the fire was started by an act of arson, the ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire," the report said, concluding that "repeated failures" by an "inadequately prepared crew" delivered "an ineffective fire response."

Comment: 21 injured as massive blaze & explosion cripple US military ship in San Diego

The lax discipline and lack appropriate training wouldn't have anything to do with the U.S. Navy's focus on 'diversity and inclusion' now would it?

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Eye 1

DOJ says Guantánamo detainee can testify about his CIA torture

Joseph Choi
The Hill
Mon, 18 Oct 2021 19:49 UTC
guantanamo
© Getty Images
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a letter to the Supreme Court last week that a Guantanamo Bay detainee will be allowed to testify about the alleged torture he experienced.

Acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher wrote in a letter to the Supreme Court on Friday that Abu Zubaydah would be permitted to tell authorities in Poland about his alleged torture.

In his letter, Fletcher wrote that the Defense Department "has informed this Office that under the circumstances presented here it would allow Abu Zubaydah, upon his request, to use such a process to send a declaration that could be transmitted to Polish prosecutors."

Comment: See also:

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Stock Up

Biden's climate ambitions are too costly for voters

Bjorn Lomborg
Wall Street Journal
Thu, 14 Oct 2021 21:19 UTC
net zero price
Politicians across the world routinely promise unprecedented reductions of carbon emissions but make little mention of the cost, often covering with vivid projections of green jobs. Yet the economic damage these policies would do is much greater than what most voters would tolerate, while the climate benefits are smaller than many would imagine.

The annual cost of the promises to which President Obama signed on under the Paris climate agreement would have hit roughly $50 billion in 2030, or about $140 per person. Many studies show Americans are willing to pay a couple of hundred dollars a year to remedy climate change, but this data is highly skewed by a small minority willing to spend thousands of dollars. A recent Washington Post survey found that a majority of Americans would vote against a $24 annual climate tax on their electricity bills. Even if they'd hand over $140, it'd buy them little. If Mr. Obama's agreement were sustained through 2100, it would reduce global temperatures by a minuscule 0.06 degree Fahrenheit.

President Biden is pushing much stronger climate policies with much higher price tags. Before his election, he promised to spend $2 trillion over four years on climate policies — equivalent to $1,500 per person per year. And Mr. Biden's current promise — 100% carbon emission reduction by 2050 — will be even more phenomenally expensive.
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Network

Tehran will host Russia for military cooperation talks in 3 months time, says Iranian military chief visiting Moscow

Golnar Motevalli
Bloomberg
Tue, 19 Oct 2021 17:52 UTC
iran russia flag
Iran and Russia will convene a "joint military commission" in Tehran within the next three months in order to discuss defense and security cooperation, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, Mohammad Bagheri.

Bagheri, who is in Moscow for meetings with his Russian counterpart, Valery Gerasimov, said the commission will also be tasked with outlining areas of cooperation in the field of military training, without giving more details, according to IRNA.

Comment: It may be that there comes a time when Russia decides it is no longer in the best interests of the world that it observes US starvation sanctions on Iran: Also check out SOTT radio's:


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