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Thu, 27 Jan 2022
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Top Human Rights Watch investigator allegedly hacked with Pegasus spyware

Stephanie Kirchgaessner
The Guardian
Wed, 26 Jan 2022 21:08 UTC
Lama Fakih
© Human rights watch
Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch’s crisis and conflict director and the director of the Beirut office.
The mobile phones of a senior Human Rights Watch staff member are alleged to have been repeatedly hacked by a client of NSO Group at a time when she was investigating the catastrophic August 2020 explosion that killed more than 200 people in Beirut.

The alleged hacking of Lama Fakih, a US-Lebanese citizen and director of crisis and conflict at HRW, marks the latest example of how NSO's powerful surveillance tool, Pegasus, has been used by the company's clients to target campaigners and journalists.

HRW said that Fakih had been alerted by Apple on 24 November 2021 that her personal iPhone could be under state-sponsored attack. An investigation by HRW's security team, which was reviewed by Amnesty International's Security Lab, found that Fakih's iPhones had apparently been infected with Pegasus through a so-called "zero-click" exploit that allows operators of the spyware to infect a phone without the mobile user doing anything, such as clicking on a link.




Comment: Israeli spy tech firm infected ALL iPhone devices with 'Pegasus' malware


The news comes as NSO has faced a raft of bad news at home and abroad. In November, the company was placed on a US blacklist by the Biden administration, which said it had evidence that the Israeli company was enabling foreign governments to conduct "transnational repression".

Comment: See also:

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Light Sabers

Spotify sides with Joe Rogan, removes Neil Young's music: 'A costly move'

Hannah Frishberg
New York Post
Wed, 26 Jan 2022 23:46 UTC
Joe Rogan Neil Young
© Getty Images
Spotify has sided with Joe Rogan following an ultimatum from Neil Young.
Spotify has sided with its podcast superstar over Neil Young.

The legendary folk singer gave the streaming behemoth an ultimatum earlier this week, saying he refused to allow his music on the same platform as Joe Rogan. The "Heart of Gold" singer accused Rogan and his podcast of spreading false information about COVID-19 vaccines.

Spotify reportedly paid more than $100 million deal to be the exclusive home of Rogan's show. Young, meanwhile, stands to lose 60% of his streaming income from his defiant stance, he said in a statement on his website.

"We want all the world's music and audio content to be available to Spotify users," a spokesperson for the company told the Wall Street Journal. "With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators."

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Powerful explosion causes extensive damage to buildings in central Athens

Tasos Kokkinidis
Greek Reporter
Wed, 26 Jan 2022 12:00 UTC
explosion athens
© Twitter/pentzouridis pan
A powerful explosion shook Athens on Wednesday morning.
At least one person was injured from a powerful explosion in central Athens early Wednesday which damaged an office block and smashed nearby storefronts.

The pre-dawn blast occurred 200 meters from the ancient Temple of Olympian Zeus on the busy Syngrou Avenue.

The blast caused a fire on the mezzanine floor, which spread to the first floor, while extensive damage has been done to other buildings in the area due to the shock wave. The wreckage caused damage to many vehicles.

Comment: Other explosions in the news recently:

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Target

Extremists see US power grid as target, government report warns

Ben Fox
AP News
Tue, 25 Jan 2022 00:00 UTC
Utility lines
© AP/Robert F. Bukaty
Central Maine Power utility lines
Extremist groups in the United States appear to increasingly view attacking the power grid as a means of disrupting the country, according to a government report aimed at law enforcement agencies and utility operators.

Domestic extremists "have developed credible, specific plans to attack electricity infrastructure since at least 2020," according to the report from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The document, dated Monday, was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

The report warns that extremists "adhering to a range of ideologies will likely continue to plot and encourage physical attacks against electrical infrastructure," which includes more than 6,400 power plants and 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines that span the country.

Experts on the U.S. power grid have pointed out that it would be difficult to knock out power to the nation given the size and decentralized nature of the grid. The DHS report also notes that attackers, without inside help at least, would be unlikely to produce widespread, multistate outages, though they could still do damage and cause injuries.

It comes as both the FBI and DHS have repeatedly warned in recent months that the U.S. faces a heightened threat from domestic extremists.
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X

Don't pose with Russians, Ukraine warns Olympians


RT
Mon, 24 Jan 2022 13:15 UTC
athletes
© Yaroslava Mahuchikh/Getty Images
Mariya Lasitskene (C) posing with Yaroslava Mahuchikh (R)
Ukrainian athletes should avoid standing beside their Russian competitors at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the country's sports minister has said, warning about potential "provocations."

Reports in Russia last week stated that Ukrainian athletes had been told to avoid speaking Russian in interviews at the Games or being photographed alongside their Russian rivals.

Ukraine's minister of youth and sports, Vadim Gutzeit, now appears to have confirmed those recommendations in comments shared by public broadcaster Suspilne. Amid heightened tensions between the two neighbors, 50-year-old former fencing gold medalist Gutzeit said:
"We had an online meeting with all athletes and coaches on how to behave in situations where there will be provocations, as it was at the Summer Olympics. All athletes are aware, they know how to behave in such situations. They should not stand together when athletes from Russia stand with a flag, so they aren't together. They should know that, we worked on it. After the Summer Olympics, it's not the first time we've met with athletes and it's been discussed."
During the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh came under fire in her homeland when the youngster was photographed smiling alongside Russian gold medal winner Mariya Lasitskene.

Bronze medalist Mahuchikh, 20, is a junior sergeant in the Ukrainian armed forces and was ordered to attend a meeting with officials to discuss her actions. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar claimed that Mahuchikh's behavior could become "the object of the enemy's information special operations."

Comment: Playing political games at the expense of their athletes, Ukraine is tarnishing one of the sacred aspects of the Olympics.

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Eye 2

How George Soros funded progressive 'legal arsonist' DAs behind US crime surge

Isabel Vincent
New York Post
Thu, 16 Dec 2021 18:40 UTC
george soros district attorneys
© NY Post photo composite
Billionaire George Soros (center) funnels cash through a complicated web of federal and state political action committees as well as non-profits to support soft-on-crime DAs across the country.
For the last several years, billionaire philanthropist George Soros has been quietly financing a revolution in criminal justice reform, doling out tens of millions of dollars to progressive candidates in district attorney races throughout the country amid movements to abolish bail and defund the police.

Working with an activist attorney, Soros, 91, mainly funnels cash through a complicated web of federal and state political action committees as well as non-profits from coast to coast, public records show.

Last year, the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a nonprofit in Soros' orbit, gave $3 million to the Community Resource Hub for Safety and Accountability, according to a recent report. The group provides resources to "local advocates and organizations working to address the harm of policing in the US."

Comment: Soros does not confine his activities to the state level. He is actively creating chaos all over the world.

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Light Saber

DeSantis furious after FDA pulls authorization of antibody drugs: 'Sudden and reckless'


WESH2
Wed, 26 Jan 2022 18:00 UTC
desantis florida monoclonal antibody treatments

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
U.S. health officials say COVID-19 antibody drugs from Regeneron and Eli Lilly should no longer be used because they are unlikely to work against the omicron variant.

The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it is revoking emergency authorization for both drugs. If they prove effective against future variants, the FDA says it can reauthorize their use.

The move was expected because both drugmakers had previously said their drugs are less effective against omicron.

Federal officials said the FDA decision was supported by several independent studies, including a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Nature last month.

Comment: What the article leaves out is DeSantis's assessment of the study that caused the FDA to pull the drug. From the governor's press conference above:
"[T]hey (theFDA) are relying on revoking this and pulling the rug out from under people on a single, non-peer-reviewed, non-clinical study that was actually done by a consultant for a rival company to the the other two monoclonal antibody treatments. This is not based on a clinical trial. This is not even peer-reviewed. So this is something that they claim it shouldn't be used because we have omicron. And what we would say in Florida is, we have had people use it and we've had good results."


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Sun

Byzantine Patriarchate issues warning about 'third vaccination terror' being launched upon the world

Leo Hohmann
LeoHohmann.com
Tue, 25 Jan 2022 00:00 UTC
Patriarch Elijah
The Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate is a community of monastic priests, monks, and bishops with roots in Eastern Europe. I somehow ended up on their mailing list and have been receiving their letters and releases since the onset of the Covid plandemic.

I know some of my readers might cringe at the idea of watching or listening to anything remotely connected to the word "Catholic," but please do not confuse this group with the Roman Catholic Church headquartered at the Vatican. They are totally independent and not connected to the Vatican in any way. I have thoroughly vetted this group and they are legit Christian believers, very devout and conservative.

I will say this: Unlike many of today's Laodicean church pastors, the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate priests do not mince words or pull punches. I urge you to listen to their message in this video.

In terms of its background, the Byzantine Patriarchate is headed by Patriarch Elijah with two Secretary Bishops, Timothy and Methodius. The patriarchate arose from the need to defend the fundamental Christian truths against heresies and apostasy within the Catholic churches. It does not recognize the false prophet Pope Bergoglio [Pope Francis] and is not subordinate to him in any way.

Comment: One needn't be a Catholic or practicing Christian (or adherent of any organized religion) to recognize that humanity is now under Major physical and spiritual siege from an array of forces that interpenetrate governmental bureaucracies, religious institutions, and the fields of education, medicine and others. But it greatly helps to recognize that a 'cosmic' Malevolence does, in fact, exist (as well as what forms it takes and what it acts through) - in order to begin to resist it.

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Stock Down

Financial Market historian Jeremy Grantham just warned of a 'superbubble' and predicted an epic crash

Theron Mohamed
Business Insider
Thu, 20 Jan 2022 16:21 UTC
Jeremy Grantham
© Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images
Jeremy Grantham is a famed investor and historian of stock markets.
Jeremy Grantham, the legendary investor who has predicted the last three market bubbles, foresees the S&P 500 crashing almost 50% after the fourth "superbubble" the US has ever seen bursts — even with multiple efforts underway to prevent it.

The market historian, who has repeatedly warned investors they're caught in a historic bubble, said the benchmark index may slip to around 2,500 — a downside of roughly 44% from Thursday's close and 48% from January's peak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, might see a sharper downturn, he added.

"This time last year it looked like we might have a standard bubble with resulting standard pain for the economy," Grantham said in a note published Thursday on the website of his Boston-based asset management firm, GMO. "But during the year, the bubble advanced to the category of superbubble, one of only three in modern times in US equities, and the potential pain has increased accordingly."

What made the bubble worse, according to the investor, is how it's been accompanied by extremely low interest rates and high bond prices as well as a bubble in housing and an "incipient bubble" in commodities.

Comment: On top of a failing supply chain, the move from a cash system to CBDC's, and other major developments, the economic pain (and resulting chaos) that is shaping up for most Americans promises to reach truly epic and tragic proportions. Prepare as best as you can.

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People

Eric Clapton says he sees mass formation psychosis 'everywhere'

Roberto Wakerell-Cruz
The Post Millennial
Tue, 25 Jan 2022 19:39 UTC
eric clapton
Legendary rocker Eric Clapton appeared on the Real Music Observer YouTube channel last week, to discuss vaccination and mass formation psychosis, the theory made popular recently by Dr. Robert Malone.

In the interview, Clapton discusses how he himself took the vaccine, but now regrets it. Clapton says that he was tricked into getting the vaccine early on by subliminal messaging, and warned the public not to fall for the same tricks.

Clapton then discusses mass formation psychosis, a form of mass hysteria, which is described as "a phenomenon that transmits collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary, through a population and society as a result of rumors and fear," saying that he initially missed out on the memo for mass formation psychosis, saying that he later realized that there was a memo.

Comment: It's rather amazing how many of rock's legendary 'rebels' are showing themselves to be pusillanimous establishment sell-outs when the official narrative changes. It's nice to have Clapton and Morrison, but where's everybody else? Neil Young is just the latest casualty on a very long list icons to be disappointed in. It looks like 'rebellion' and 'counter-culture' was always just an act to sell records.

See also:

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