Sources
SOTT
SIGNS
OF THE
TIMES
OF THE
TIMES
Welcome to Sott.net
The World for People who Think
Society's ChildS
Sources
© Leon Neal/Getty Images
The article, published earlier this week, blames "Russia, China, and Iran" for using "disinformation and online propaganda to amplify anti-vax sentiment and foment political tensions in Europe and the US."
The FT says Mikael Tofvesson, head of the Swedish Navy's new Psyops division, believes "foreign aggressors" are trying to "sow division by targeting areas of public concern such as crime, Covid vaccinations, the government's response to the pandemic, and immigration."
© sadyr_japarov/Instagram
Crowds gathered outside Kazakhstan's embassy in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, on Sunday, demanding that Kazakh authorities release well-known jazz musician Vikram Ruzakhunov, after he appeared in a "confession" video.
A man with bruised face shown by Kazakhstani media, identified as the touring performer, was shown admitting to having been paid to participate in a protest that led to riots. Concerns were expressed that the clip was recorded under duress.
Comment: UPDATE: Ruzakhunov has been released:
A Kyrgyz jazz musician has been released from custody by Kazakhstani security officials after appearing in a "confession" video, in which he admitted to taking part in violent demonstrations for payment, media reported on Monday.© Sputnik Казахстан
Vikram Ruzakhunov was accused of terrorism by the Kazakh authorities, a charge leveled against thousands of demonstrators who took part in last week's anti-government protests, which eventually turned into rioting and looting. The jazz musician's identity was revealed on Sunday when Kazakhstani media released a video of the performer with a bruised face, where he verbally conceded being a paid protestor. Concerns were expressed that the clip was recorded under duress.
Kyrgyzstan is a neighbor of Kazakhstan, and Ruzakhunov is well known in both nations.
Following a public outcry, protests, and statements by Kyrgyz officials, Ruzakhunov was released on Monday morning and is reportedly being taken back to his native country.
© AP Photo/Claudia LauerUpper Darby, Pennsylvania firefighters stand near a medical helicopter that crashed in a residential area of suburban Philadelphia, January 11, 2022.
A medical helicopter transporting an infant to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia crashed in a nearby suburb, narrowly missing power lines and a church. Everyone on board survived without life-threatening injuries.
Photos from the scene on Tuesday afternoon showed a broken road sign and the wrecked helicopter just outside the Drexel Hill United Methodist Church in Upper Darby, an eastern suburb of Philadelphia.
© Evan Agostini/Invision/APAlec Baldwin performs emcee duties at the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award Gala at New York Hilton Midtown on Dec. 9, 2021, in New York. Baldwin said Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, any suggestion that he's not cooperating with a probe into last fall's shooting on his movie set that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is a lie. He responded via Instagram to stories that discussed why authorities who served him with a search warrant for his phone haven't gotten it yet.
The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico state district court by Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer who oversaw firearms, ammunition and related training on the set of "Rust" along with two colleagues. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on Oct. 21 from a gunshot wound during a "Rust" rehearsal at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe in northern New Mexico.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office that is leading an investigation into the cause of the death has said it is too soon to determine whether charges will be filed. Investigators have described "some complacency" in how weapons were handled on set.
Comment: This sounds like a desperate ploy. What are the chances the ammo company included live rounds in a box of blanks? And that still leaves the question of why Baldwin pointed the gun at the cinematographer and pulled the trigger. Either a string of highly unlikely coincidences lead up to the murder, or more likely, something is being covered up.
See also:
- Alec Baldwin still has not handed over cellphone to police despite search warrant: report
- Alec Baldwin and Rust crew had been told never to point a gun at a person: Attorneys question how live ammo made its way into 'dummy' rounds box
- Live bullet was in gun fired by Alec Baldwin in fatal movie-set shooting, sheriff said 500 rounds of ammunition seized
- Baldwin shooting incident: Court documents reveal Assistant Director - who worked on The Crow sequel - unknowingly handed actor loaded gun
- Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin shoots dead cinematographer, wounds director... on set of movie about an accidental killing
Above, Lt. Michael Byrd, the officer who shot Ashli Babbitt, told NBC News he gave fair warning, but under penalty of perjury he refused to say anything to investigators.
"There's an investigative process [and] I was cleared by the DOJ [Department of Justice], and FBI and [the D.C.] Metropolitan Police," he told NBC News anchor Lester Holt in August, adding that the Capitol Police also cleared him of wrongdoing and decided not to discipline or demote him for the shooting.
Byrd then answered a series of questions by Holt about the shooting, but what he told the friendly journalist, he likely never told investigators. That's because he refused to answer their questions, according to several sources and documents reviewed by RealClearInvestigations.
Comment: See also:
- Report reveals 'no legitimate justification' for murder of Ashli Babbitt
- Lt. Michael Byrd, Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt, breaks silence
- He who must not be named: Cop who shot US Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt cleared after internal probe
- Ashli Babbitt's family to sue Capitol police for $10million claiming cop who shot her 'ambushed' her, gave no verbal command before pulling the trigger
- Recent report and video reveals name of officer who shot Ashli Babbitt
- Donald Trump says Babbitt shooter linked to top Democrat
- Husband of US Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt sues police for records revealing identity of officer who killed her
- Ashli Babbitt's family to sue police, officer who shot her at US Capitol: Beyond 'rookie' blunder
© Ina Fassbender/AFPA person uses the Luca contact-tracing app in Havixbeck, Germany, 2021.
Dieter Kugelmann, the chief data protection officer in Germany's western Rhineland-Palatinate region, launched an investigation into a "worrying" case of police collecting personal information of pub visitors through contact-tracing app Luca.
"The procedure shakes citizens' confidence in the legality of government's actions and sends a completely wrong signal, especially in times of a pandemic that is challenging society as a whole," Kugelmann said on Tuesday.
In November, police investigated the death of a man who passed away after collapsing outside a pub in Mainz. Officers decided to look for potential witnesses using the app that records the length of time spent in an establishment, the patron's full name, address, and phone number. Police contacted 21 people after extracting data from Luca.
Comment: Contact trackings apps have been from the beginning, ripe for abuse by the authorities. This should come as no surprise.
© Stefan Jeremiah for New York PostThe success of Catholic schools in New York City have shown that United Federation of Teachers chief Michael Mulgrew is wrong to want to shift to remote learning again.
Mayor Eric Adams has commendably signaled his intention to ignore United Federation of Teachers chief Michael Mulgrew's suggestion that public schools close and shift to remote learning, insisting that after two years of "lost education," we simply "can't do it again."
He's right — and Catholic schools have demonstrated that most of the two years of lost learning and socializing, along with the attendant burdens families faced, were unnecessary.
While public schools got bogged down in pandemic politics, union-driven closures and a year and a half of mostly ineffective remote learning, Catholic schools in major cities have been continually open for in-person instruction since September 2020.
© Pentagon/The InquisitorGuantanamo Bay
Speaking during a regular press briefing on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that 20 years after its creation, Guantanamo is still a cause of "great indignation" among the international community.
He stated that despite numerous US promises to close the Cuba-based jail, it still holds 39 people, and only a handful of them have been charged or convicted of any crime. Wang claimed that if there is a "detention camp for Muslims in the world, it is Guantanamo," seemingly a reference to accusations that China is abusing the human rights of the Uighurs.
Wang, citing reports, noted that the US has set up a large number of secret prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq:
"In fact, the secret prisons set up by the United States are all over the world, and Guantanamo is just the tip of the iceberg. The atrocities, torture and murder of Iraqi civilians by the US military after the invasion of Iraq caused a world uproar over the scandal of the abuse of prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison."
Comment: These facilities fly under the radar and the particulars involved are rarely reported.
See also:
- At least 20 prisoners still missing from CIA 'black sites'
- US administration abandons plan to reopen CIA 'black sites' - media (Trump)
- New CIA deputy director Gina Haspel used to run 'black site' torture prisons
- Floating Guantánamos: US government running black site prisons on the open seas
© UnknownRonald McDonald House gives patient family eviction notice
Austin Furgason, from Kelowna, British Columbia, the father of a 4-year-old boy with leukemia who has been undergoing treatment since October, posted the video to Facebook showing a letter from Ronald McDonald House Charities - British Columbia & Yukon that made the announcement of the evictions. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with costs. He wrote:
"All tenants, adults and children over the age of 5 who are not vaccinated are out by the end of January. How absolutely wicked and vile. They are evicting my son with leukemia and any other children or adults who are suffering with sick children into the snow. The Covid cult is far more dangerous than Covid. If they will evict families with cancer, what won't they do."The letter in the video, which was provided to True North dated January 10, 2022, said that everyone five years and older unvaccinated against the coronavirus can no longer stay at the facilities.
"Beginning January 17, 2022, everyone five years and older who are working, staying or visiting our facilities (both the House at 4567 Heather St. Vancouver and at the Family Room in Surrey Memorial Hospital) must show proof of full vaccination (two doses), in addition to completing our existing screening, unless an Accommodation has been sought and has been explicitly approved and granted by RMHC (Ronald McDonald House Charities) in writing."Families already in the facility have a grace period to get at least one dose of the vaccine which ends on January 31.
Comment: See also: