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Thu, 30 Sep 2021
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Light Saber

Caitlin Johnstone: The empire depends on your psychological compartmentalization

Assange arrest van
© Reuters / Henry Nicholls
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange in a police van after his arrest in London, on April 11, 2019.
Britain's High Court has granted the US government limited permission to appeal the denial of Washington's request to the UK for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

This means that the acclaimed journalist will continue to languish in prison for exposing US war crimes while the appeals process plays out.

If the western media were what it purports to be, every member of the public will be acutely aware of the fact that a journalist is being imprisoned by the most powerful government on earth for exposing inconvenient facts about its war machine. Because the western media are propaganda institutions designed to protect the powerful, this fact is far from the forefront of public attention. Most people are more aware of the smears about Assange being a Russian agent or an alleged rapist than they are of his victimization by a tyrannical assault on world press freedoms.

Syringe

No: 'Alarmed' Arizona rejects Biden's door-to-door search for unvaccinated

vaccine close up
Arizona's attorney general has rejected the Biden administration's plan to go door-to-door to seek out the unvaccinated and encourage them to get the anti-COVID-19 shot.

A day after the president and spokeswoman Jen Psaki issued the plan, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said that he was "greatly alarmed" by the idea.

In a letter to Biden provided to Secrets, he said, "I, along with many Arizonans, was greatly alarmed by your White House indicating that it might be in possession of medical records revealing the contact information for Americans who have not been vaccinated. If this is the case, this is a severe breach of privacy, and I will not tolerate such intrusions within Arizona."

NPC

Parents concerned about critical race theory indoctrination are now 'QAnon' according to NBC

joy reid
Joy Reid has been vocal of late in discussing critical race theory, the divisive concept that demands that all events both current and historical be first viewed through the lens of race and racism. Now Reid claims that parents who are concerned about critical race theory indoctrination are QAnon, Trump supporting, white nationalist, evangelical Christians.


Comment: It's a well-worn tactic to tie a newly emerging group to an existing, already smeared group in order to make the two one in the same in the minds of the public. If people who are against critical race theory, or "race conscious education," are perceived as Qanon followers, no one will take them seriously (which is the entire point).

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Vader

China's gaming giant Tencent starts scanning nighttime players' faces to bust curfew-breaking kids

gamer
© Getty Images / wonry
People playing popular mobile games during nighttime in China are now required to prove they are adults. Tencent has started using its face ID system to catch minors violating a government-mandated curfew.

The feature was launched on Tuesday for over 60 games owned by Tencent, the biggest player in the mobile game industry in China. Dubbed "Midnight Patrol," it will occasionally ask adult players playing at night to verify their identity through a facial scan. The verification database is linked with the central public security system.

The measure enforces a government ban on gaming between 10pm and 8am, which was introduced for minors in 2019, along with other restrictions. The prohibition was meant to curb gaming addiction among children, which, the authorities argue, leads to health problems like short-sightedness and to harmful behavior in kids, like stealing money to top their accounts, and to downward sliding in school grades.

Red Flag

'We're all vaxxed!' Teletubbies announce Covid 'vaccination,' bewildering fans and angering anti-jab activists

Teletubbies
© Ferdaus Shamim/WireImage
Children's television stars the Teletubbies announced on Wednesday that they had been fully 'vaccinated' against Covid-19 - drawing mixed reactions from current and former fans of the show.

"We're all vaxxed! Just in time for a Tubby hot summer," announced the Teletubbies on their official Twitter account on Wednesday, along with four photos showing the vaccination cards of the four characters: Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po.

All four received their first dose on July 1 and their second dose on July 22, according to the cards, despite July 22 still being two weeks away. Tinky-Winky and Laa-Laa received "Noo-nson & Noo-nson" vaccines - a play on Johnson & Johnson - while Dipsy and Po received "AstraTubbica."

Light Sabers

Chinese gene tech firm rejects 'factually incorrect' Reuters claims about providing prenatal test kit customer data to military

pregnant
© Getty Images / Trendsetter Images / EyeEm
China's largest genomics firm has hit back at assertions it shares data from a popular prenatal test kit with the country's military, branding the claims raised in a Reuters report "deeply disappointing" and "factually incorrect."

In the article published on Wednesday, Reuters contended that Shenzhen-based BGI Group could be sharing data collected from its NIFTY (or non-invasive fetal trisomy) test - used by more than eight million women worldwide - with Chinese authorities when it was "directly relevant to national security or national defense security."

Citing a number of "publicly available documents," the agency also reported that the company had "collaborated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA)" to develop and improve the non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), which screens early pregnancy blood samples for fetal abnormalities.

Microscope 1

Trust the science? More than half of scientists admit to research misconduct, landmark survey with 6,800+ participants reveals

scientist microscope
© Pixabay
A major survey conducted across academia in the Netherlands has found that more than a half of scientists admitted to engaging in some type of questionable research practice in their work.

The landmark study was conducted through the Dutch National Survey on Research Integrity, funded by the Dutch government.

The scientists sent out anonymized questionnaires to nearly 63,780 academics working in 22 universities and research centers across the Netherlands. The survey asked about various questionable research practices, ranging from insufficient attention to equipment and the use of unsuitable measurement instruments to improper citations and unfair reviews of manuscripts.

Comment: This is one reason why blindly "trust[ing] the science" is a questionable strategy. There are corruptions of science at multiple levels, including right down to the scientists who do the studies. Everything must be questioned - including 'the science'.

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X

Hungary declares LGBT+ activists will be barred from schools as EU opens inquiry into law restricting promotion of homosexuality

lgbt hungary
© REUTERS/Marton Monus
People gather in front of a huge rainbow balloon put up by members of Amnesty International and Hatter, an NGO promoting LGBT rights, at Hungary's parliament in Budapest, Hungary, July 8, 2021.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared on Thursday that his country would bar LGBT+ activists from schools under a new law restricting promotion of homosexuality, despite pressure from the EU to rescind the legislation.

In a post shared on his official Facebook page, Orban responded to the European Commission's decision to open an inquiry into the country over the legislation that prohibits the promotion of homosexuality within schools.

"The European Parliament and the European Commission want that we let LGBTQ activists and organisations into the kindergartens and schools. Hungary does not want that," Orban said, standing by the legislation.

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Info

'Won't go back into the building': Reporters who 'SURVIVED' Capitol riot mocked as Vice says they're still struggling with trauma

Shane Jason Woods
© Reuters
Shane Jason Woods (center in black coat) is one of four alleged Capitol rioters who have been charged with crimes involving the press, such as destroying camera equipment.
The Capitol Hill press corps found little sympathy on social media after Vice News posted an article saying that some journalists remain so traumatized by the January 6 riot that they're undergoing therapy and struggling to sleep.

In fact, Tuesday's Vice article said, some of the reporters who "survived" the riot still won't even go back into the Capitol to do their jobs, despite the fact they continue to cover Congress. "One longtime Capitol Hill reporter opted for early retirement shortly after living through the riot," the media outlet said.

Bloomberg News reporter Erik Wasson told Vice that he's suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and he fears that such an incident will happen again. "It feels like one of those horror movies, like the end of 'Jaws,'" he said. "Everything feels copacetic on the beach, but you wonder if there's anything out there."

Comment: Reporters definitely used to be made of sterner stuff than this. Whether they've bought into the hype about the events of January 6th, or are simply basking in the glory of being a "survivor," their response is disingenuous. Things may have been a little hairy at times during the event, but this was hardly on the ground war reporting. If grandmas snapping selfies and people walking unimpeded into a building causes "trauma," you're probably in the wrong business.

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Attention

Vienna terror attack: Police search suspects' homes in Germany

german police

The homes of two alleged accomplices were searched in Germany
German police announced Wednesday they raided the homes of two alleged accomplices of the November 2020 terror attack in Vienna that left four dead and more than 20 injured.

The German Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said the two accused, Blinor S., a national of Kosovo, and Drilon G., a German national, are believed to have had advanced knowledge of the attack and failed to report that such an attack was imminent.

The raids were carried out in their homes in Osnabrück and Kassel.

Before Kujtim Fejzulai, a dual citizen of Austria and North Macedonia, was killed by police following the attack, the two alleged accomplices visited him for several days in July 2020. Shortly before their visit, Fejzulai acquired the weapon he used in the attack.

Comment: See also: