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Wed, 27 Oct 2021
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Question

Two-tier societies are emerging, with dwindling rights for the unvaccinated. Why do governments consider them such a threat?

COVID-19 vaccine syringe
© AFP / Adrian DENNIS
A COVID-19 vaccine syringe.
While the authorities keep saying that Covid-19 vaccination isn't obligatory - at least, not yet - good luck trying to live a normal life without it. It's clear the ostracization of those who haven't had the jab is well underway.

Last year, at this time, Covid-19 cases fell significantly without any substantial measures, as everything opened up for the summer and the powers-that-be in some countries allowed life to return to normal for a few months, all in the absence of vaccination.

This year, exactly the same phenomenon observed in 2020 is being attributed to mass inoculation. The narrative is that this is what's saving us from Covid. And now the pressure's on to force everyone into compliance, lest they want to live any semblance of normal life, beginning with summer travel.

Holiday options are shaping up to be quite different, depending on whether you're vaccinated or not. France is now exempting vaccinated travelers from Europe and zero-Covid countries from quarantine and testing. But even vaccinated travelers from the US and elsewhere need to produce a negative test result before their flight, which begs the question, if the vaccine is so reliable, why do you need to test at all?

Comment:
The totalitarian state - a phenomenon of modernity - consists in the attempted extension of the secular state into all dimensions of life, and the only way this would be possible is through the imposition of a totalitarian ideology that can brook not a single dissenter or heretic. In an ideocracy, the greatest criminal is imagined by ideocrats to be the dissenter, the one who by his very existence reveals the totalistic construct imposed on society to be a lie.

- Arthur Versluis, The New Inquisitions



Bad Guys

Russia blasts US flight of 'Dr. Strangelove' nuclear bombers near its borders, warning move could darken Putin-Biden meeting

Stratofortress
© Reuters / J.T. Armstrong/U.S. Air Force photo
FILE PHOTO. B-52H Stratofortress at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, U.S.
Moscow's embassy in Washington has warned that the presence of nuclear-capable American warplanes at recent NATO exercises is a serious escalation and could overshadow the upcoming summit between the leaders of the two nations.

Responding on Friday to news that US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers had flown over the Baltic Sea on several occasions earlier this week, the envoys slammed the maneuvers as "yet another provocation."

In a statement, the officials said that "this saber-rattling is fueling tensions in Europe," as well as arguing that it "darkens the atmosphere in anticipation [of the] Russia-US summit meetings." Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to sit down for talks with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, in Switzerland next week. The White House pitched the summit as part of efforts to achieve "a stable and predictable relationship with Russia, consistent with US interests."

Comment: A similar provocation occurred when Trump was in China trying to thrash out a trade deal and US warships sailed through the South China Sea - twice. Considering the impact such an incident would have on a meeting it's unlikely either President would make such an order, which leads one to suppose that maybe a sitting US President doesn't have as much control over the military as perhaps other agencies do:


Arrow Down

Moscow sold $5 billion in May as part of oil fund dollar dump

putin oil dollars russia wealth fund dedollarize
Russia sold $5 billion of U.S. currency from its oil fund in May as part of a drive to reduce exposure to the greenback and vulnerability to Western sanctions.

The National Wellbeing Fund converted $4 billion into yuan and $1 billion into euros, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. That leaves $35 billion of dollar holdings still to cut after the ministry said last week that it would eliminate all greenback exposure in the fund. The transfer is taking place within the central bank's huge reserves so any market impact will be limited.

Comment: A prudent move by Putin, which other countries are beginning to take notice of, especially those in the cross-hairs of US sanctions. As Russia excels in long-terms thinking, this plan has been in effect since at least 2018, but smaller steps were begun much earlier. It's clear that Russia has given up on any mature, mutually beneficial relationship with the US.


Headphones

Schiff and Swalwell crying foul, as Trump DOJ obtained data on the two long-time champions of domestic spying

swalwell adam schiff
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) (L) and committee member Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) return to a closed-door hearing at the U.S. Capitol March 06, 2019 in Washington, DC.
The two California Democrats join the long list of politicians who enable spying on ordinary citizens, then angrily object when they themselves are targeted.

The Trump Justice Department in 2017 and early 2018 issued subpoenas to Apple to obtain the communications records of at least two Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee, Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA). According to The New York Times, DOJ prosecutors attempting to determine who leaked classified information to the media about Russiagate suspected the two House Democrats were the culprits, and to prove that, they obtained their communications records as well as those of family members, including minor children.

A DOJ leak investigation aimed at sitting members of Congress is highly unusual. Both the Obama and Trump administrations, in a hunt for leakers, created controversy by obtaining the communications records of journalists, including — in the case of the Obama DOJ — the family members of those journalists. But investigating members of the House Intelligence Committee for leaking crimes — as opposed to corruption or other standard criminal charges — can present different dangers. Neither Congressman was charged with any crimes and the investigation reportedly bore no fruit.

Comment: Two hypocrites hoist on their own petard


Bomb

How Israel bombed Gaza's economy

zgrada gaza
© AFP / Mahmud Hams
One objective of Israel's 11-day bombing campaign in Gaza last month was to further damage the territory's already depleted economy.

During the Israeli attack, more than 250 Palestinians were killed, including at least 67 children.

In addition, Israel inflicted material losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, according to initial estimates.

"This is destruction," Muhammad Abu Halima, the director of a factory in Gaza, told The Electronic Intifada.

"They destroyed our economy, our families, they've ruined the workers, the accountants, the companies, the employees. What did they get out of it?"

Israel bombed factories, commercial buildings, stores, farms, restaurants and businesses. More than 500 enterprises were destroyed or damaged, including 50 factories.

Israel bombed the Gaza Industrial Estate, a major economic center southeast of Gaza City founded in 1996 with support from the US government, the European Union and the World Bank.


Eye 1

Ice Age Farmer Report: WEF's "Invest in Forests" Exposed - Global Surveillance Grid

ice age
The World Economic Forum's "Investing in Forests" program sounds great - who doesn't want to plant more trees? But behind its philanthropic appeal lies a global surveillance grid, monitoring all activity on the planet -- just as prescribed by Agenda 2030 and their 4th Industrial Revolution. Christian shares an unreleased document and reveals the truth in this special Ice Age Farmer broadcast.


Sources

Laptop

Emails reveal plans by Hunter Biden, associates to conquer a turbulent world ... for money

Hunter Biden
© Fox Business
Hunter Biden
The world was on fire in February 2014, and Joe Biden was President Obama's point man for many of the crises. Russia had shocked the West by invading the Crimean region of Ukraine. Syria was engulfed in a bloody civil war with ISIS. And Iraq was rocked by a wave of terrorist bombings that killed more than 100 civilians.

Hunter Biden, the vice president's son, and his colleagues at Rosemont Seneca Partners and related businesses found it the perfect time to conquer a turbulent world for more business, according to emails on a Hunter Biden laptop hard drive seized by the FBI in December 2019 from a Delaware repair shop. One of their plans was to target the sovereign wealth funds of America's richest allies, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East.

Daniel McHale, the RSP Investments managing director, wrote Hunter Biden and a colleague named Eric Schwerin an email dated Feb. 3, 2014. RSP Investments was the broker arm of the Rosemont Seneca empire that Hunter Biden helped engineer:
"I've been researching sovereign wealth funds lately in hopes of coming up with a plan to add another large manager (multi-billion dollar fund) to RSPI's platform, without over-relying on the Taft Hartley channel. I think this would provide us additional near-term cash flow while increasing the odds of landing a large allocation. Also, similar to Taft Hartley funds, it's a segment of the market where we could have a definable edge."
The email attached a "list of the largest sovereign wealth funds" in the world with a combined wealth of more than $3 trillion, from China and Russia to Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar.

Comment: Devil is in the details, particularly for slipshod Hunter Biden. That these confirmations as to his various activities are just trickling out, shows to what extent there has been, and still is, a cover-up in play.


Dollars

Follow the money: Qatar accused in London of funding terrorism

Hamad bin Jassim
© AP/Getty Image/unknown
Qatar's Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani
A court case is making its way through the commercial division of the UK High Court in London, which alleges Qatar funneled money to the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, Jibhat al-Nusra. Qatar National Bank and Doha Bank stand accused of facilitating the transactions. The UK and Qatar are close allies, and Doha Bank does business in London.

Nine unnamed Syrians filed a claim for damages against two Qatari banks, multiple charities, businessmen, politicians, civil servants, and other defendants, alleging that the Gulf state's monarch's private office was central to a scheme of illicit money transfers to Jibhat al-Nusra. The accusers are claiming damages for financial losses, torture, arbitrary detention and threats of execution at the hands of Jibhat al-Nusra. Matthew Jury, the managing partner at McCue & Partners, said:
"British justice is the envy of the world, a refuge for victims to hold perpetrators of international crimes to account and we must ensure it remains that way."
The case alleges that the conspiracy includes the Muslim Brotherhood, meetings in Turkey and money laundering. The defendants include Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar's former prime minister, and Abdulhadi Mana al-Hajri, the owner of Ritz hotel in London.

Comment: Pull the right string and the fabric unravels, exposing all the hidden threads.


Pumpkin 2

Troll-master Trump to Biden: 'Good luck' with Putin meeting, 'don't fall asleep!'

Trump laughing
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
President Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday wished President Biden luck in his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and also encouraged him to stay awake.

"Good luck to Biden in dealing with President Putin — don't fall asleep during the meeting, and please give him my warmest regards!" Trump said in an emailed statement.

Trump nicknamed Biden "Sleepy Joe" during last year's presidential campaign and repeatedly claimed he was in mental decline.

His snarky well wishes to Biden follow the president's meeting Thursday with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The leaders showered each other with compliments and Biden even gave Johnson a new bicycle.

Star of David

Ex-Mossad chief indicates Israel was behind Iranian nuclear facility explosion and military scientist assassination

yossi cohen
© AP Photo/Oded Balilty
The outgoing chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence service has offered the closest acknowledgment yet his country was behind recent attacks targeting Iran's nuclear program and a military scientist.

The comments by Yossi Cohen, speaking to Israel's Channel 12 investigative program "Uvda" in a segment aired Thursday night, offered an extraordinary debriefing by the head of the typically secretive agency in what appears to be the final days of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rule.

It also gave a clear warning to other scientists in Iran's nuclear program that they too could become targets for assassination even as diplomats in Vienna try to negotiate terms to try to salvage its atomic accord with world powers.

"If the scientist is willing to change career and will not hurt us anymore, than yes, sometimes we offer them" a way out, Cohen said.