Monthly News Review - 13 November 2020
UPDATED 15 November 2020
Geshurite Fortress from King David’s era discovered in Golan Heights A fortified complex from the time of King David (Iron Age, eleventh to tenth centuries BCE) was exposed for the first time in archaeological excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in Hispin in the Golan Heights. The archaeologists consider that the fort was built by the kingdom of Geshur, the ally of King David, in order to control the region.
Post-US Election What Now? JD Farag
If you kindly allow me to, I would like to draw your attention to what I would argue is the answer to the aforementioned "Now what?" question. First and foremost, if we're ever to have any hope of knowing the supernatural peace of God, our eyes must be fixed upon Jesus, and when we do, like Isaiah, we will see the Lord seated on the throne - not pacing back and forth, biting his nails in front of the throne. I sense that the Lord today would have me to very simply say that we would do well to get our eyes off of Trump, get our eyes off of this election, get our eyes off of this world, and refocus our eyes upon Jesus. Here's why. The reason is this. The eyes of the Lord are searching throughout the earth, to and fro, looking for Isaiah's whose eyes are on him, hearts fully devoted to him, so that He can sanctify them, put His words on their mouth so that they can proclaim while there's still time: Jesus!.... It's bad, it's really bad, and it's going to get really, really, bad. Wow, there you go again, Pastor. Doom and gloom. Okay. Fine. Doom and gloom. Death of a nation. Fight for your country! No, my kingdom is not of this world. I love America, but I don't love America more than I love Jesus.
John Haller Prophecy Update "Undecided"
While we could say this every week, we are truly living in unprecedented times. We are on the verge of witnessing the complete and utter breakdown of western society in the wake of a contentious election that appears to be rife with massive, coordinated fraud. And while the final outcome is officially "Undecided", we, as followers of Christ, must be steadfast in our faith and belief, knowing that God is weaving an intricate tapestry of events behind the scene that will bring Him glory. Being "Undecided" is never a good position. Jesus tells us that the lukewarm will be spit out of His mouth. Everyone must decide the essence of the person of Christ, as indecision is just as lethal as rejection.
John also shows a short clip of documentary, filmed 12 years ago, of Arab historians, journalists and a lawyer disputing the narrative that the first Qibla (for Muslims to pray and later they were directed to pray towards the Al Aqsa Mosque’), was in Jerusalem, even labelling it as a fairy tale/legend - mark 1:01. The Truth about Muslims’ ‘Jerusalem Day’ and the Al Aqsa Mosque
Remember That We Are Pilgrims . . . Elections 2020
No matter what happens in the Political realm, I offer this short piece to remind my precious brothers and sisters in Messiah that we are all called to be Pilgrims. We are only passing through and will find no lasting home in this world, for we are being fitted and prepared for the next one…. I was told this morning that the “Lockdown” imposed upon the UK is so severe, church meetings are now forbidden. I know a good many precious and faith-filled believers there who will not bow down to such an unjust edict. I assure you all there, we are praying for you. It just might please God to call upon us to offer various degrees of sacrifice for the cause of Truth. Remember, we are Pilgrims, sojourners, and exiles. Our true home is in Heaven. We come from a long line of others who heard the heavenly call and who left all to follow the One who had no place in this Earth to lay his head (Luke 9:58).
Among all the questions, how we are walking with God is the most important
We all may have an opinion about what God has been saying and doing through the pandemic. I recall the time when every man would read his own choice of newspaper. Opinions would be formed and firmly adhered to based on the political line taken by the choice of newspaper. This seems quite naïve now, in that we understand the bias in all media. There are now even greater and more subtle forces at work influencing our judgements. Our opinions are often formed from the websites we read. Do Christians escape this influence on their thinking or do some, as with the daily newspapers, have their favourite points of reference and hold strongly to what a chosen group with supposed prophetic gifts have to say?.... The New Testament letters to believers are filled with a call to character more than any other thing. This pandemic brings many restorative possibilities if we read the circumstances through the right spiritual spectacles. Our need is to stop and consider and to ensure that we are walking close to the Lord.
On teaching spiritual darkness
False teachers and false movements abound. Some do lasting damage. Some false teachings are short-lived. But there is one deceptive “prayer” practice in particular that continues to infect the visible church…. The question may arise–how can credible Christian organizations justify and condone meditative practices that clearly resemble Eastern meditation? … Christian terminology surrounds theses practices. It only takes a few popular Christian leaders with national profiles to embrace a teaching that sounds Christian to bring about big changes in the church.
The High Cost of Spiritual Discernment
God offers no cheap discipleship program. In Luke chapter fourteen, the Lord gave three reasons why we cannot be His disciple. He warned His followers to “count the cost”….. Discernment only comes from God, and He will not give discernment to anyone who is not willing to pay the price to be His disciple.….. Count the cost before you go seeking discernment. Discernment put Noah and his family against the entire world. Discernment totally changed the lifestyle of Abraham. It caused Enoch to walk alone and Joseph to be hated by his brothers, sold as a slave, and spend many years in a dungeon. It put Moses on the backside of the desert and the three Hebrew children in the furnace. Discernment caused all of the disciples to be hated and Paul to be lied about, whipped, imprisoned, and forsaken by most Christians. This is why Christ took His disciples up on the mountain at the beginning of their ministry and explained the true cost of discipleship. He said being His disciples would take them on the narrow path and warned them ahead of time that “few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14).
Christians have fallen for false ideologies that impede vibrant family life, Boise State prof says
"Especially in middle-class and upper-middle-class Christianity, so many people buy into it just accidentally because it's so much a part of the air we breathe — this idea that we need to be independent and self-sufficient, and that just involves a moving down of marriage and family life in the order of our lives and in the circle of our affections," Yenor said….. Another force that has waged destruction against family life has been the feminist push to make women act more like men and ending all sexual taboos, he explained. Also threatening is the ideology of contemporary liberalism, he maintains, which he defines as the view that asserts the state should be neutral in moral conflicts. By being neutral, this allows everyone to exercise their personal autonomy and rights, yet this is unworkable. Global Anglican leaders call for fair Covid-19 vaccine roll-out to world’s vulnerable
US pastor freed from Turkish jail warns Christians of coming persecution in America
Brunson said he feels a sense of “urgency” in this period of “increasing hostility toward people who identify as followers of Jesus Christ,” and believes “many people in the United States and the church especially were not prepared for current pressures” – despite the fact that Jesus Christ told His followers to expect to be hated and persecuted for believing in Him. “We as a church need to prepare for difficult times,” Brunson warned, saying “we’re always one generation away from losing our values and our culture.” To prepare, he advised that American Christians “first be aware that it can happen,” despite the relative lack of anti-Christian persecution in US history, and second to “focus on loving God,” because “we are more willing to suffer for one that we love.” “Are we going to be more afraid of the Twitter mob or of standing before God?” Brunson asked.
Catholic leader warns Trump of Global Reset
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Vatican’s former ambassador to the United States, penned a letter to US President Donald Trump prior to the election, warning him that the “global elite” are planning a ‘Great Reset’ that, if implemented, intends to undermine God and humanity. He warns that this "nefarious global elite" wants nothing more than to “subdue all of humanity, imposing coercive measures with which to drastically limit individual freedoms and those of entire populations.” Though sounding like a massive conspiracy theory, the 'Great Reset' is an actual global agenda devised by the World Economic Forum. Among its aims are to “to shape the system for the post-corona era” by “changing the traditional context for decision-making”. Many politicians and social commentators have found the stated aims of the WEF deeply disturbing, devoid of democratic principles and rooted in socialist values.
In a speech in parliament yesterday, Swayne said that government-imposed restrictions continue to impede on a number individual freedoms and expressed horror at the lack of meaningful protest from colleagues in the House or the public itself. "We have made the case against the regulations in this House and we have lost all the votes, and that is democracy," Swayne said. "However, liberal western democracy is more than rule by the majority. It certainly includes freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom to worship." Swayne went on to assert that "one of the most worrying aspects of our response to the coronavirus has been the way people have simply shrugged as these freedoms have been dispensed with". "The Government have armed themselves with all the coercive powers of the state to tell us whom we may meet, when we may meet them, where we may meet them and what we must wear," he added, noting that "freedom of protest has been dispensed with, as has freedom of worship".
Why I've decided to break the law and open my church during lockdown
A pastor in London has decided to disregard England's government lockdown rules that forbid in-person church services. Pastor Regan King of The Angel Church in Islington insists he isn't a law breaker and wants to respect the guidelines, but has to prioritise his responsibility to God, his congregation and community. Corporate worship has been banned from 5th November to 2nd December. Places of worship may only open for individual prayer, funerals, broadcasting or filming an act of worship, childcare, public services and support groups….The church has provided 11,000 meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic and has helped the homeless and vulnerable in the community. Pastor King said he took into account the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental health needs of the community when he decided to keep the church doors open to the public on Sundays. "We're called to love God, and love our neighbour. So we have to consider when God's teaching and commands diverge from government, consistently the example in the Bible we see… we must obey God rather than men because his ways are fully righteous and just."You can't love someone in a way that someone tells you to that's not actually meeting their needs. You have to show them love in the way that they need to be loved. Many of these people need meals, they need some company, they are total
Scientific advisor says no strong evidence proves church service ban will help with lockdown
The UK’s chief scientific adviser has admitted to the Science and Technology committee that scientists working on the pandemic “haven’t got good evidence” to justify imposing the new lockdown measures on churches. Sir Patrick Vallance made the comment on Tuesday when asked by Conservative MP Mark Logan “what advice does SAGE give to Government in making decisions where evidence is weak, for example on the closing of places of worship?” Sir Patrick said, “you’re right we haven’t got good evidence on the exact value of each intervention on R. We produced a paper suggesting what that might be in different areas but really said look this is not a very exact science at all.”
Criminal sanctions for gathered worship
We are now in the extraordinary and shocking position that it is unlawful to hold normal church services for the next four Sundays in England. There are some allowances for holding funerals, and for broadcasting an act of worship over the internet or to the media. Churches are also allowed to provide “essential voluntary services” such as food banks or other support for homeless or vulnerable people. Church buildings are allowed to open for individual private prayer. Meeting to pray with another person, however, could face criminal sanctions….. A month-long lockdown in Germany does not include closing churches because of constitutional concerns. This is because Germany’s top court ruled that banning religious services represents a major infringement on the right to religious freedom. In France too, a court ruled that the government could not issue a blanket ban on meeting at places of worship. Consequently, churches remain open….. Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England admitted when questioned by MPs that he didn’t have any good data to support the decision to close churches. The government is therefore not able to offer any good reason for taking the extreme measure of criminalising gathering to worship or pray in a Covid-secure manner.
Church too dangerous but travelling abroad to commit suicide is ‘reasonable’
Churches have been deemed unsafe and have been banned from meeting for worship with threat of criminal sanction. Church is considered unsafe and a danger to communities. But as lockdown began, Health Secretary Matt Hancock clarified to the House of Commons that one ‘reasonable’ reason for leaving home is travelling abroad to commit suicide….. We are a nation who hates God. We have criminalised worship of the triune sovereign creator God of the universe, but it is reasonable to travel to commit suicide. Doctors with most relevant experience oppose assisted suicide and euthanasia - “The current laws on assisted suicide and euthanasia exist to protect those who are sick, elderly, depressed or disabled from feeling obliged to end their lives. They protect those who have no voice against exploitation and coercion and those who care for them who might come under pressure to conserve scarce resources. They do not need changing.”
Street preacher: ‘I was treated like a potential criminal’
A Christian charity leader has been given the first lockdown related compensation award from police after being manhandled and unlawfully prevented from preaching on the back of his truck. The incident, involving Dominic Muir, 44, a chief executive of registered Christian charities, Now Believe and Jesus Fields, took place in Blandford Forum town centre in Dorset on 22 April 2020. Following the incident, Dominic sought help from the Christian Legal Centre, who assisted him with a pre-action letter to the Chief Constable of Dorset police seeking compensation for the police assault. In response, Dorset Police have admitted the officer acted unlawfully and have paid £1250 in damages and costs.
Could heated talk over the dinner table become a Hate Crime in the UK?
The Law Commission says that the offence of stirring division could extend to private homes, meaning that conversations in the home could lead to police probes and potential imprisonment. In Scotland, the situation could be more worrying still. The SNP’s notorious Hate Crime and Public Order Bill could mean that children who repeat in the school playground their parents’ views in regard to, for example, transgender ideology, could see mum and dad investigated for ‘hate crime’.
Kids’ playground chat could spark ‘hate crime’ investigation for parents
Children who repeat their parents’ views in the school playground could see mum and dad investigated for ‘hate crime’, the General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation has said.
Calum Steele warned the Justice Committee that private conversations rejecting transgender ideology could still see parents reported to the police under Scotland’s proposed hate crime Bill. Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf is refusing to include a “dwelling defence” in the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, insisting that ‘hateful speech’ in the home deserves criminal sanction.
Hungary Proposes Constitutional Amendment Opposing Gender Theory
In the draft amendment submitted to parliament by Justice Minister Judit Varga, the national constitution would declare that “the mother is a woman, the father is a man,” Hungarian media report, while also outlawing gender reassignment for minors. In direct opposition to gender theory, the amended text states that “Hungary protects children’s right to an identity conforming to their birth gender and ensures education in accordance with the values based on Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture.” “Human dignity,” states an explanatory memorandum, “also includes the right of every child to have an identity appropriate to his or her gender, including protection against mental or biological interference with his or her physical and mental integrity.” Schools Helping Students To Gender Transition Without Parental Knowledge - This just goes to show how politicized the issue of gender identity is. A small fringe of LGBT activists are pushing this agenda on the local level, and it's putting entire cities of children at risk. …… "I have been warning for years that one of the central efforts of the moral revolutionaries is to use the power and the structure of the public schools to separate children from their parents. In particular, to separate children from the moral authority and influence of their parents," Albert Mohler said.
Pharrell Released an Insanely Pedophillic Video and Nobody Talked About It Pharrell Williams unveiled his music video for “It Girl” on Sept. 30 and somehow nobody noticed that it was insanely creepy. Nobody, that is, until this Wednesday when the New Yorker pointed out that the video, a cartoon featuring overtly sexualized young girls, is actually a form of Japanese anime most commonly known as cartoons for a very specific audience: pedophiles….The video is in the style of "Lolicon," a form of Japanese anime named after the English phrase "Lolita complex," itself named after the most famous work about pedophilia in the Western canon. It's a largely underground art form that began in 1970 as a pornographic parody of Japan's popular manga. It took the vague sexuality hinted in manga's depictions of young female characters and made it way more explicit, but it was driven underground in 1989 after the Japanese press blamed a string of child murders on the killer's fascination with the art form…. Williams was clearly aware of this. The artist who animated "It Girl," a man who goes by the mysterious pseudonym Mr., is a legend in the lolicon community who acknowledges his own sexual preference. He took up the work as a way to ensure his fate would not be that of the 1989's serial murderer. "I'm releasing my fantasy world through my work, instead of acting it out in real life," he told Hint Mag in 2007.
Respect LGBTQI rights or lose EU funds, says equality commissioner
EU countries that do not respect LGBTQI rights should face financial penalties, said Helena Dalli, the European commissioner for equality. Speaking to POLITICO ahead of the launch on Thursday of a Commission strategy to protect LGBTQI rights across the bloc, Dalli said that a mechanism designed to make national capitals adhere to the rule of law agreed as part of negotiations over the EU’s long-term budget should be used to uphold EU values on the issue. The so-called rule of law conditionality mechanism is politically linked to the debate over the bloc’s long-term budget and new coronavirus recovery fund. MEPs and some member countries had pushed hard for a mechanism to financially penalize EU governments that do not uphold the rule of law. It would enable the EU to cut capitals’ funding if they renege on rule-of-law commitments in a way that threatens the Union’s financial interests. It does not mention LGBTQI specifically, and it is unclear yet exactly how it would be interpreted. Both the rule of law mechanism and the budget package also have hurdles to pass before their final adoption. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has threatened to veto the deal over the rule-of-law mechanism.
Norway criminalizes private criticism of LGTBQ people
Norway's parliament has voted to expand the protections that the LGBTQ community has enjoyed in that nation since 1981 by expanding the definition of "hate speech" that can land a person in prison. Reuters reported Norway already was among the "most liberal countries in Europe" on the issue, "allowing trans people to legally change gender without a medical diagnosis" and more. Now those found guilty of hate speech face a fine or up to a year in prison for private remarks, and a maximum of three years for public comments…… National Review's Madeleine Kearns explained the "increase" in "hate speech." "We're forever hearing about this supposed rise in 'LGBTQ+ hate crimes,' and it's no wonder, really — given that the definition of what constitutes a 'hate crime' keeps being expanded. The latest example is Norway, which has just amended its penal code, first passed in 1981, to outlaw even 'private remarks' that the ruling class considers offensive," she wrote. "LGBTQ+ ideology has been mainstreamed in every sphere of life imaginable. Still, radical gender activists will not be at rest until every private citizen repudiates biological truth and relinquishes his every doubt about their dogma."
The real reason behind SNP's anti-family laws – Opinion: Stuart Waiton
Additionally, this month a new law that makes the lightest of smacks a criminal offence will also come into force. This comes on the back of the Named Person legislation that has been quashed by the Supreme Court but whose intention was to give all children a state guardian, from birth, to allow the state to monitor the wellbeing of every child in Scotland. Look further into the recesses of the Scottish Parliament and we find an ongoing review of child protection law and practices that Look further into the recesses of the Scottish Parliament and we find an ongoing review of child protection law and practices that explains the need for change based on, "our modern day understanding of emotional harm". explains the need for change based on, "our modern day understanding of emotional harm".
Anti-Christian transgender extremists elected to state governments across the country
Many of these politicians actively indoctrinate young people, as teachers, volunteers, and even by writing LGBT books targeted at kids.
Many of these politicians actively indoctrinate young people, as teachers, volunteers, and even by writing LGBT books targeted at kids. Those already elected have been critical in enacting a recent wave of anti-Christian state policies, sponsoring or supporting bills that have eroded family rights and the right to life in several states over the last two years.
Biden's Dangerous Endorsement Of The Transgender Children Movement
Based on presidential candidate Joe Biden's answer to a town hall question Thursday night on ABC, it is only fair to ask: "Sir, do you advocating sterilizing children who identify as transgender?" During the Q & A time, Biden responded to a woman who stated, "I'm the proud mom of two girls, 8 and 10. My youngest daughter is transgender." How, she asked, will the Biden administration protect her daughter from the Trump administration's "dangerous and discriminatory agenda and ensure that the lives and rights of LGBTQ people are protected under U.S. law?" While not all of Biden's response was totally lucid, his overall point was clear: he supports a child's right to identify as transgender. And, he stated plainly, "There should be zero discrimination." This may sound compassionate, especially in the eyes of the mother. But in the end, it is not compassionate at all. It is basically saying that a child this young has the right to make a life-altering, likely non-reversable decision, a decision that one day could be deeply regretted.
The Biden Plan To Transform The United States Into The LGBTQ Nation
Last year, in fact, Biden was interviewed by her for the transgender lobby group's Transform the White House Project. During the interview, Biden told Keisling that people of faith--including Jews, Christians, and Muslims--need to get on board with the transgender agenda already. After all, he certainly has. Predictably, he also condemned Trump for "rolling back" transgender rights, stating that the "idea that someone can tell you that you can't be who you are in your heart and soul is just wrong."…. In 2012, the same year he boldly declared his support for marriage equality, Vice President Biden made clear that 'transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time.' He understands what's at stake, and has built an unmatched record of ensuring our nation's laws and discourse value, reflect, and see the lives, dignity, and worth of all transgender people….. Biden has stated that the passage of the Equality Act would be a "top legislative priority," and also promised to ensure that adoption agencies could not refuse to place children with same-sex couples This presumably includes religious adoption agencies and foster care agencies. He has promised to enshrine in federal law recognition of "gender identity," and appoint radical pro-LGBT judges to America's courts. ("Non-binary" people also get several prominent mentions.) And then there is this section of The Biden Plan, which essentially advocates for the elimination of religious liberty….
Canadian bill threatens jail for parents who help their kids avoid LGBT lifestyle
Bill C-6 creates five Criminal Code offences related to 'conversion therapy.'
Bill C-6 creates five Criminal Code offences related to “conversion therapy” but fails to prohibit or even define abusive and coercive practices that Canadians would associate with the term “conversion therapy.” Instead, Bill C-6 will criminalize legitimate medical, psychological and spiritual supports for people concerning their sexuality, their gender identity, or both. While the Criminal Code should prohibit force, coercion, or abuse which attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, the Justice Centre is concerned that Bill C-6 is overbroad and dangerous, and will actually cause harm to adults, adolescents and children, including LGBTQ Canadians
Stonewall and Mermaids refused permission to intervene in Tavistock case
Carys Moseley comments on how transgender activists have been refused permission to intervene in a legal case against the Tavistock gender clinic. Stonewall and Mermaids have been refused permission to intervene in a major legal case against the Tavistock gender clinic (home of the Gender Identity Development Service). The case is being brought by Susan Evans, a former psychiatric nurse and senior clinical lecturer at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. She is joined by Mrs A, the mother of an autistic teenage girl who has been referred to the Tavistock, and Kiera Bell, a young de-transitioned woman who was prescribed puberty blockers at the Tavistock as a teenager.
Judge stops surgeon from chopping off breasts of gender-confused 17-year-old after mother’s plea
In a written statement to media outlets, A.M. expressed her concerns with the whole process while disputing the claims of trans activists that surgeries and hormones reduce suicide and gender dysphoria. “I am appalled by the lack of any clinical standards and medical protocols that permit doctors to give gender changing steroids and mastectomies to traumatized teenage girls caught up in a fad who wish they were boys,” she said. “I am shocked the government through TransCare BC supports such unscientific and very risky experimentation. There is little evidence the irreversible treatment lessens gender dysphoria or reduces the 19 times normal suicide rate,” she continued. “It is outrageous the SOGI 1 2 3 school program pushes these depressed and anxiety ridden girls to gender change clinics when what they need is psychiatric care. Worst of all the law lets it all be kept secret from parents. Why is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia permitting this,” she added.
BBC uses biased LGBT expert who distorts evidence
On 29 September 2020, BBC Northern Ireland broadcast a TV programme in the Spotlight series on the issue of ‘Gay Conversion Therapy’, which could have investigated this question and explored the issues science raises on the matter of human sexuality and helpful interventions for those seeking change. Disappointingly, the underlying theme of the programme was that a therapy ban was long overdue. The main argument presented was that this is reasonable on the say-so of two campaigning Belfast gay GPs, Dr Gareth Patterson and Dr Gary Adair-Gilliland. A veteran campaigner from the Royal College of Psychiatrists (Professor Michael King), several activists and a gay-affirming psychologist were also featured. The programme’s participants did not fairly represent the range of opinions that might reasonably be expected on this controversial subject. It was in fact advocacy rather than enquiry journalism.
Council admits Christian councillor was free to oppose Pride grant
A Christian Conservative councillor has been exonerated after defending herself against code of conduct allegations following her refusal to back a Pride event grant. Mary Douglas, who has been a Conservative councillor in Salisbury for 15 years, was removed from her portfolio role for skills and social mobility in November 2019 as a result of the stance she took against the use of public funds to support a Pride event.
Brian Houston: Hillsong Church NYC being investigated after Lentz firing
Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston has announced that an investigation will be launched into its New York church given the recently exposed actions of Hillsong NYC Pastor Carl Lentz, who was fired for having an affair, among other issues. "We are launching an independent investigation into the inner workings of Hillsong NYC/ East Coast. We need a solid foundation for a fresh start and new beginning. The best is yet to come," Houston tweeted Thursday.
Is the Satanist mecca Boleskine House being revived under a deliberately false name?
This week, the Inverness Courier, with the Daily Mail later piggybacking on the text and photograph (and omitting the reference to the originator of the news, the Fresh Start Foundation), reported concerns that Boleskine House, the old property of Aleister Crowley near the village of Foyers, could be turned into a Satanist ritual site as the result of a series of planning applications submitted to the local authority, Highland Council. After many objections to the planning applications in question were submitted, Highland Council was asked why wording in numerous of them had been censored in the Council's publication of the objections.
The latest witch renaissance coincides with a growing fascination with astrology, crystals, and tarot, which, like magic, practitioners consider ways to tap into unseen, unconventional sources of power—and which can be especially appealing for people who feel disenfranchised or who have grown weary of trying to enact change by working within the system. (Modern witchcraft has drawn more women than men, as well as many people of color and queer or transgender individuals; a “witch” can be any gender.) “The more frustrated people get, they do often turn to witchcraft, because they’re like, ‘Well, the usual channels are just not working, so let’s see what else is out there,’ ” Grossman told me. “Whenever there are events that really shake the foundations of society”—the American Civil War, turmoil in prerevolutionary Russia, the rise of Weimar Germany, England’s postwar reconstruction—“people absolutely turn towards the occult.” Trump must contend not only with the #Resistance but with the #MagicResistance, which shares guides to hexing corporations, spells to protect reproductive rights, and opportunities to join the 4,900 members of the #BindTrump Facebook group in casting spells to curb the president’s power.
Christian Persecution and Antisemitism
"Why Are You Killing Christians?" Trump Asks Nigeria's President
Under Buhari, who became Nigeria's president in 2015, the carnage of Christians has only accelerated. According to a March 8, 2020 report, titled, "Nigeria: A Killing Field of Defenseless Christians," Available statistics have shown that between 11,500 and 12,000 Christian deaths were recorded in the past 57 months or since June 2015 when the present central [Buhari-led] government of Nigeria came on board. Out of this figure, Jihadist Fulani herdsmen accounted for 7,400 Christian deaths, Boko Haram 4,000 and the 'Highway Bandits' 150-200." In just the first four months of 2020, Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists "hacked to death ... no fewer than 620 defenseless Christians," and engaged in the "wanton burning or destruction of their centers of worship and learning"… How have formerly simple and unarmed Fulani herdsmen managed to kill, since 2015, nearly twice as many Christians as the "professional" terrorists of Boko Haram -- and exponentially more Christians than under Buhari's (Christian) predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan? "Because," according to numerous Christian leaders in Nigeria, "President Buhari is also of the Fulani ethnic group," to quote Nigerian bishop Matthew Ishaya Audu.
Terror Groups in Africa Call on Others to Emulate France Attacks
Two different terrorist groups in Africa have called on Muslims worldwide, but especially those in their areas to emulate the recent attacks that have taken place in France. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Shabaab both released messages praising the actions of Islamic terrorists in France who have killed multiple people in attacks on civilians there. AQIM is based out of Mali in West Africa and has been one of the largest and worst perpetrators of terrorist attacks on the continent. They have been able to conduct attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger at least. In their statement, they say that “ Killing the one who insults the prophet is the right of every Muslim capable of applying it.” They also say that those who hear someone blaspheme Muhammad do not have to ask permission to kill, they should just do it if possible. Al-Shabaab, based out of Somalia, is one of the three largest and most violent terrorist groups in the world. They continue to hold sway over much of Southern Somalia despite fighting the government for nearly a decade.
A knife-wielding attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar” beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a suspected terrorist attack at a church in the French city of Nice today, 29 October, while a gunman was shot dead by police in a separate incident. Within hours of the Nice attack, police killed a man who had threatened passers-by with a handgun in Montfavet, near the southern French city of Avignon. He was also shouting “Allahu Akbar”, according to radio station Europe 1.
Jihadists behead more than 50 people in football pitch massacre in Mozambique
Islamic militants turned a village football pitch in northern Mozambique into an execution ground where they beheaded more than 50 people during three days of savage violence between Friday, 6 November and Sunday, 8 November. Villagers who tried to flee were caught and taken to the sports ground in Muatide village where they were decapitated and chopped to pieces in a series of ferocious attacks in Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province.
Militants in DRC Kill at Least 13 in Two Days
Militants believed to be part of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked civilians in the towns of Kisima and Oicha in Eastern DRC. During the first of these two attacks, the group killed seven people on Saturday, November 7, in the town of Kisima. According to the territorial administrator, Donat Kibwana, in an interview with the Agence France-Presse, “the attack took place at 11:00 pm and it was the ADF”. He continued that this was just the initial count and that it may rise as time passed. The second attack took place the very next day, Sunday, November 8 in the town of Oicha. This attack claimed the lives of at least six people. These two attacks followed just a week after another major attack took place in the town of Lisasa. Over 20 people were killed during that attack and at least one Catholic church was desecrated. This attack was also attributed to the ADF. Despite these ongoing attacks, the central government in DRC has been unable to protect their citizens in the eastern half of the country.
Survivors of a massacre at a school in the western Oromia region of Ethiopia reported that at least 54 ethnic Amhara, most of whom are thought to have been Christians, died, according to a body count made after gunmen opened fire on a gathering of about 200. Around 60 armed terrorists, identifying themselves as the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), swept into Gawa Quanqa village, Guliso District at around 5 p.m. on 1 November….
Recent reports shared with Barnabas indicate large supplies of Israeli-built weapons, including devastating “kamikaze drones” and Hermes Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), have been supplied to Azerbaijan and deployed against Christian civilians…..It is reported that some 90,000 Armenians, more than half the region’s population of around 144,000, have fled the conflict in Nargono-Karabakh to take refuge in Armenia since the latest fighting began in September.
Iranian Christian Homes Raided
Iranian intelligence agents raided 12 Christian homes in the city of Fardis, located near the capital city of Tehran, reports Article 18. Though none were arrested, many personal items were confiscated. Following these types of raids, it is typical for the intelligence agents to review the confiscated material and then summon the individuals for interrogation. At that point, the individual may be released with a warning, or (more commonly) judicial proceedings are initiated which are often of a national security nature. These charges carry long prison sentences and are meant to intimidate Christians from actively living their faith.
North Korean Covid patients “left to starve to death in quarantine camps”
North Korea has set up “quarantine camps” for Covid-19 patients, where they are deprived of food and medicine, causing many to die of starvation, according to Christians working in the area. Tim Peters, who runs Seoul-based charity Helping Hands Korea, said sources in the north had given information on the camps that had been set up in cities near the border with China where inmates are provided with “absolutely minimal or no food or medicine”.
Gov't restrictions on religion worldwide set record high in annual Pew study
Newly released data from an ongoing Pew Research Center study shows that government restrictions on religion around the world have risen to a record level amid increases in government restrictions on religion in Asia and Pacific countries, most notably. The nonpartisan polling organization published on Tuesday results from its 11th annual study of restrictions on religion. The series of annual reports are part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project and analyze the extent that societies worldwide infringe on religious beliefs and practices.
Chinese Communist Party installs facial recognition cameras inside churches
Facial recognition cameras are being installed in churches in China by the communist party to monitor believers and ensure sermons follow rigid government guidelines. About 200 sophisticated cameras were installed in more than 50 three-self (i.e. state registered) church buildings in Poyang county, Jiangxi Province, from late July to September. Some venues have up to 14 cameras….. “If cameras capture an unknown face, the police come to determine who the person is,” said a three-self pastor. Another three-self church director said two of his congregants receiving social benefits stopped attending church because they were concerned that their payments might be stopped.
Detainees told “there is no God”, held in barbaric conditions in China’s “re-education” camps
A further testimony of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) horrific treatment of Uighurs, and other non-atheist minorities, has emerged from an ethnic Kazakh ex-detainee who managed to escape a “re-education” centre in Xinjiang. Ethnic Kazakhs, who have fled the camps, have spoken out describing the CCP’s notorious internment camps, officially known as “centres of professional development”, as an “anti-religion exercise targeting non-atheists”.
Vatican Fails to Condemn China's Religious Persecution
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's September 30 - October 1 visit to the Vatican was a diplomatic profile in courage. Despite the Pope's refusal to meet the U.S. Secretary of State, Pompeo repeated his warning to the Holy See that if it goes ahead with plans to renew the 2018 Sino-Vatican Agreement, it will compromise the Catholic Church's moral authority. Pompeo also urged the Vatican to live up to its mission of defending human rights in China, where Catholics churches and shrines are being destroyed and priests imprisoned, and also urged the Pope to reconsider renewing the secret agreement with Beijing, which permits the Communist Party of China (CCP) to have a key role in appointing Catholic Bishops in China. The Vatican has refrained from any condemnatory comment on the CCP's persecution, incarceration, torture and forced labor of millions of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang Province, and has remained silent about Beijing's contravening its pact with Hong Kong to honor "one country, two systems" until 2047. China has violated the civil rights of Hong Kong's citizens.
Sri Lankan pastor forced to halt ministry after threats from police and Buddhist monks
A Sri Lankan pastor has been forced to stop his ministry in Bakamuna, Polonnaruwa District after being threatened and intimidated by police and Buddhist monks. Police visited the pastor on the morning of 18 October and ordered him to report immediately to the local police station.
Dozens of Places of Worship Shut Down in Indonesia in Recent Years
In the last three years, more than 23 houses of worship in Indonesia were forcibly shut down or vandalized, according to the country’s human rights agency in a video conference. Last Friday, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) pointed out that the discrimination faced by Indonesia’s religious minorities continues to exist, with many houses of worship being pressured to close by unfriendly Muslim neighbors or local authorities. The data from 2017 to 2019 are likely the tip of the iceberg as many such incidents are not formally reported to Komnas HAM, according to its chairman, Ahmad Taufan Damanik. Hardline Islamic Group Leader Returns to Indonesia - On November 10, the leader of a notorious Indonesian radical Islamic group who fled the country in 2017 to avoid a pornography charge, has returned home from his self-imposed exile.
Time to call out ‘human rights’ groups for their anti-Semitism
The ADL slammed State Department plans to denounce popular NGOs, yet Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam are all guilty of inciting hate against Israel. Incredibly, defenders of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam are saying that Washington’s desire to call them to account for their prejudicial attacks and efforts to undermine the right of Israel to exist is actually proof of the administration’s lack of concern for human rights. Using the sort of Orwellian “newspeak” that is the hallmark of the radical left, the groups are saying criticism of their prejudice is a boost to human-rights abusers. Even worse, the Anti-Defamation League, which still poses as the defender of the Jewish people against anti-Semitism, is coming to their defense, denouncing the administration for acting to “politicize the fight against anti-Semitism.” The Disappearance of Rami Aman & Amnesty International – Timeline - Amnesty International’s former research consultant Hind Khoudary denounces Rami Aman in a series of vituperative Facebook posts, denouncing Aman here, here and here. In another post (screenshot), she tagged three Hamas officials in order to call their attention to Rami Aman and his Zoom call….UN Watch’s social media posts on Facebook and Twitter are widely shared, and many people call on Amnesty to speak out and criticize Hind Khoudary for reporting Rami Aman to Hamas. See more posts here, here, here, and here.
UN resolution again ignores Jewish ties to Temple Mount
Out of 193 countries that are members of the Special Political and Decolonisation Committee, 138 voted Wednesday in favour of seven resolutions involving Israel and the Palestinians. They denote Israel as an oppressive occupying power and agree to stand for greater aid for Palestinian refugees…. One of the resolutions, titled “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,” mentions the Al-Haram al-Sharif holy site without ever calling it the Temple Mount, as it is also known to Jews, who revere it as the site of ancient biblical Jewish temples…… The resolution contains no reference to Jews or Judaism but mentions the “significance of the holy sites, and the importance of the City of Jerusalem for the three monotheistic religions.” Only the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel and three Pacific Ocean island nations voted against the resolution. All European countries supported it except for Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia and Belarus, which abstained. Another of the seven resolutions was co-sponsored by by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say is responsible for at least 100,000 civilian deaths in his country’s nine-year civil war. The resolution, titled “The occupied Syrian Golan,” does not mention that war but says it “deplores the violations by Israel of the Geneva Convention.” Muslims: Al-Aqsa Mosque Does Not Belong to Palestinians - The Palestinians are now saying that they are opposed not only to Jews visiting the holy site, but also to Muslims who believe in peace with Israel.
Human Rights Watch chief mocks Jews
Following is an open letter from UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer to Human Rights Watch chief Ken Roth, which went viral on Facebook. Today you revealed you love peace like the harlot revealed her love for the baby whom she asked King Solomon to cut into two. You chose to use a Yiddish word—something you never do—purely to mock Jews celebrating the Israel-UAE peace accord. Otherwise, you never use Jewish words or ideas, or make any positive Jewish references at all. Your contemptuous actions, comments and attitude toward Jews, Judaism and the Jewish state over decades make one thing clear: you are ashamed of your Jewish identity. That is why, every single day, you devote your foul, fervid fury to depicting the Jewish state in Nazi-like terms.
Despite Covid-19 Pandemic, UN’s World Health Organization Spends Four Hours Bashing Israel
The group’s annual assembly held a four-hour session in which 30 representatives of countries such as Syria, North Korea, and Iran blasted Israel for supposedly violating the health rights of Palestinians and Syrians….. The assembly then adopted a resolution condemning Israel and pledging to prepare a report on the Jewish state’s supposed misdeeds. Among the nations that attacked Israel at the session was Iran, which accused it of conducting an “inhuman blockade” of the Gaza Strip that had a “profound impact on the health sector.” Countries voting in favor of the resolution included, among others, France, India, Ireland and Spain. In the News: UN Watch Exposes UNHRC Election of Dictator States - On October 13, 2020, China, Cuba, Russia, Pakistan and other non-democracies won election to the UN Human Rights Council. UN Watch led the opposition campaign with a major report. Before and after the results came in, UN Watch exposed the election of tyrannies to the UN’s highest human rights body. UN Watch was quoted by the Washington Post, Associated Press, BBC News, Newsweek and other major media
EU Gave $7 Million To Violent Enemies Of Israel In 2019
A new 30-page report released by NGO Monitor indicates that in 2019, the European Union authorized more than 40 grants, totaling as much as 33 million euros (about $39 million), to NGOs in the Palestinian Authority and Israel that have terror-linked beneficiaries, glorify terror, promote anti-Semitism or are involved with politicized projects against the Jewish state. Funding to terror linked to various NGOs including the European Union and the United Nations
‘My Nazi father sent people to their deaths at Auschwitz – but I became a Jew’
After Bernd Wollschlaeger learned the uncomfortable truth he converted to Judaism and joined the Israeli Defence Force. His father was a senior Nazi personally awarded the Iron Cross by Adolf Hitler – but Bernd Wollschlaeger converted to Judaism and served in the Israeli military. Now he has spoken about his incredible story for the first time. Growing up in Bamberg, in the German state of Bavaria, Bernd was taught the Holocaust was a lie and that his father, Arthur Wollschlaeger, was a war hero. Arthur came from a long line of warriors and was personally decorated by the Nazi dictator for his actions on the Eastern Front, where he served as a tank commander under General Heinz Guderian.
Jerusalem: Growing Terror Cell Seeks To Challenge Jordan’s Control Of Temple Mount
The 15,000 Muslims who crowded into the courtyards of the Temple Mount mosques on Oct. 30 became another news story about COVID-19. But the real story was much bigger: the enormous anti-France protest near the Al-Aqsa Mosque was organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Islamic Liberation Party), about which the Israeli public has heard little if anything…… Members of the movement, which also operates in Britain, Australia, Indonesia, the United States and several Arab countries, aspire to replace every national government with a global Muslim rule. In their view, the governments in Egypt, Turkey and Jordan, as well as Fatah and even Hamas, are all national in nature, and therefore obstacles in the way of the dream of a worldwide caliphate.
Antisemitic Greek Paper Under Fire for Conspiracy-Laden Attack on Jewish CEO of Pfizer -
On Tuesday, the paper’s lurid front page featured a photograph of Bourla with the notorious German SS officer Josef Mengele, who carried out brutal medical “experiments” on inmates at Auschwitz, standing behind him. A third image showed striped concentration camp uniforms alongside a headline that read, “Jewish veterinarian will stick a needle in us! Nightmarish forced admissions in ‘concentration camps’ like herds.” An accompanying article identified Bourla as a “Greek Jew” and accused him of engaging in financial speculation with an unproven vaccine at the expense of the Greek people. A further article published on Thursday morning repeated the accusations against Bourla, with a screeching headline claiming that the “Greek Jew” had “trousered millions” on behalf of the “Israeli Council.”
International lawmakers to push social media giants on online anti-Semitism
An inter-parliamentary task force convened its first meeting Tuesday to hear recommendations from panelists on how to combat online anti-Semitism.The group included members from across party lines in national legislatures from the United States, Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom……. Several panelists and lawmakers encouraged the task force to push social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. The classification includes demonization of Israel alongside more traditional forms of anti-Semitism, which critics say limits free speech. Twitter, Google Decline Attending Event Fighting Anti-Semitism - Twitter and Google declined to participate in next week’s U.S. State Department event, featuring U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on countering anti-Semitism on the Internet and social media—the first event of its kind in the department’s history, U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Elan Carr told JNS on Thursday.
Twitter Ceo Claims Holocaust Denial Allowed As It Is Only “Misleading”Not Misinformation
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was called to testify in front of the Senate about his company’s bias against conservative posts but revealed that despite the welcome announcement two weeks ago that tweets denying the Holocaust would be banned, Holocaust denial was still alive and well on Twitter….. Gardner specifically asked Dorsey: “If somebody denied the Holocaust happened, it’s not misinformation?” “It’s misleading information,” Dorsey responded. “But we don’t have a policy against that type of misleading information.” “We believe it’s important for everyone to hear from global leaders, and we have policies around world leaders,” he added. “We want to make sure we are respecting their right to speak and to publish what they need.
Jewish groups asked Twitter why Khamenei’s tweet is allowed to remain on the platform.
“Holocaust denialism is #hate, pure & simple,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. “If you had any doubts about the decency of Iran’s leadership, this tells you everything you need to know. Moreover, why is Khameni permitted to consistently espouse #antisemitism that clearly violates Twitter’s policy on #hate speech?”
Social Media Partly to Blame for Rise in Anti-Jewish Hate Crimes, Algemeiner Editor-in-Chief Says
The surge in recent years of hate crimes targeting Jews around the world can be at least partly attributed to the pervasiveness of social media, the editor-in-chief of The Algemeiner said during a Wednesday appearance on i24 News. “One of the things that could really be having an impact here is the rise of social media platforms that create an opportunity for various forms of haters to gather and organize and reinforce each other,” Dovid Efune told “Global Eye” host Benita Levin.
The Food Network and Food Community’s Sickening Tolerance of Antisemitism
In the wake of celebrity foodie Alton Brown’s tweets this week that offensively referenced the Holocaust, one thing seems to have been ignored that suggests a larger problem has raised its ugly head: antisemitism in the culinary arena. Given the relative quiet from personalities in the food industry following Brown’s Twitter outburst, it’s likely that this issue isn’t solely relegated to one person. Some background: At 7:48 pm on Tuesday, November 10, Brown — host of the Food Network’s Good Eats and a sometime guest on the cable channel’s show Chopped — tweeted the following message: “Do you think the the [sic] camp uniforms will be striped, like the ones at Auschwitz or will plaid be in vogue?” Additionally, in response to another individual’s tweet, Brown tweeted “I have no gold fillings,” a clear reference to the fillings stolen by the Nazis from the bodies of murdered Jews during the Holocaust.
UK Labour Party Suspends Ex-Leader Corbyn After Antisemitism Failings Exposed
Britain’s opposition Labour Party suspended its former leader Jeremy Corbyn on Thursday for seeking to deflect blame away from himself after a report found that under his leadership the party was responsible for unlawful harassment and discrimination.
Corbyn‘s successor, Keir Starmer, apologized and said Labour was facing a “day of shame” after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found serious failings in how the party had dealt with allegations of antisemitism within its ranks.
The UK Labour Party and Zero Tolerance for Antisemitism
Last week, at an international forum to combat antisemitism hosted by the US State Department, former Jewish UK Labour MP Luciana Berger said she was forced to resign from a party that was institutionally antisemitic. As a political figure, she said, she had been on the receiving end of thousands of antisemitic messages for months — with very little action having been undertaken by the party at that time….. The EHRC report was damning, concluding that there was a collective failure of leadership within the party. It found that Labour was responsible for three breaches of the Equity Act: It found that there was political interference in antisemitism complaints; that there was a failure to provide adequate training in handling antisemitism complaints; and that there was a reinforcement of antisemitic tropes by suggesting that these complaints were in fact fake smears meant to smear the party.
Leaked report alleges ‘culture of antisemitism’ in Newham Labour Party
In a leaked investigation report, Goldsmith’s lecturer David Hirsh details a complaint by Cllr Joshua Garfield about a “culture of accepted antisemitism” in Newham Labour. He was asked to investigate by mayor Rokhsana Fiaz. The complaint was triggered by the exclusion of Cllr Garfield - the borough’s sole Jewish member - from the Newham Labour Facebook group by an administrator, Cllr John Gray, the report says. Cllr Garfield included a total of four examples of antisemitism published in the Facebook group in two complaints sent to the mayor, in January and February.
Luciana Berger reacts to Labour's anti-Semitism report
Luciana Berger, who quit the Labour Party due to anti-Semitism, told James O’Brien how she reacted to the anti-Semitism report. Former Labour MP Luciana Berger says the findings of the EHRC report into anti-Semitism reflect upon "the darkest period in Labour's history". Mrs Berger, who is herself Jewish, resigned from the Labour Party last year. Upon resigning, she said she was "embarrassed and ashamed to remain in the Labour Party". The damning EHRC report found that the Labour Party was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.
Len McCluskey denies using antisemitic trope in Newsnight remarks on Mandelson
Len McCluskey has denied he used an antisemitic trope after suggesting Labour Party grandee Lord Peter Mandelson should “just go into a room and count his gold.” The Unite union's general secretary made his comments on BBC2’s Newsnight show after presenter Lewis Goodall told him he had interviewed Lord Mandelson who had been “nothing but full of praise for Keir Starmer”. Mr McCluskey responded: “I stopped listening to what Peter Mandelson said many, many years ago. I would suggest Peter just goes into a room and counts his gold. Not worrying about what’s happening in the Labour Party – leave that to those of us who are interested in ordinary working class people.”
Al Quds leader who blamed ‘Zionists’ for Grenfell warned by professional body
In landmark 72-page judgement by General Pharmaceutical Council, anti-Israel pharmacist Nazim Ali's 'grossly offensive' comments are deemed not antisemitic. Ali is the managing partner of Chelsea Pharmacy in London, who also performs as a stand-up comedian, and at the annual anti-Israel event – which is held on the streets of London – he led pro-Palestinian protesters, shouting insults into a loudspeaker. Approaching a counter-protest, he said: “It’s in their genes. The Zionists are here to occupy Regent Street. It’s in their genes, it’s in their genetic code.” He also said: “European alleged Jews. Remember brothers and sisters, Zionists are not Jews.”
Democrats’ anti-Semitism cost them in Florida and Georgia
Warnock had signed on to a statement falsely accusing Israel of being an apartheid state, falsely describing Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, as an “occupied” territory oppressed by Israel, and falsely claiming that “Jewish” people engage in “segregation.” The letter signed by Warnock also ranted that, “Israeli fear … begets hatred” and demanded an end to weapons sales to Israel. Warnock had defended pastor Jeremiah Wright’s bigotry, but now said he disavowed anti-Semitism. Despite Warnock’s hostility towards the Jewish state, he was backed by the Jewish Democratic Council of America over Matt Lieberman, Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s son. Soros’s Bend the Arc PAC aggressively supported Warnock as their man in Georgia.
Unrepentant Holocaust Denying School Principal Reinstated With Back Pay
A high-school principal who refused to teach about the Holocaust lest it disturbs Holocaust-denying parents was reinstated last week with $152,000 back pay even though he has yet to admit his error. It may be that the offense of the black principal was more easily overlooked since Holocaust denial is defined by left-wing social justice organizations as a tact of the radical right…… Latson replied that the school had a “variety of activities” relating to the subject but Holocaust education was not mandatory as “we all have the same rights but not the same beliefs.”
Middle East Peace
Israel, Lebanon complete third meeting over disputed maritime border
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon were launched in September, as Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement to hold negotiations on their maritime border after a years-long impasse…. The Lebanese negotiators sought more maritime territory than the 860-square-kilometer triangle that had been under dispute with Israel for more than a decade, and their new demands encroach into Israeli gas fields, Lebanon’s Daily Star and Al Jazeera English reported. The disputed area starts from the countries’ border on the Mediterranean Sea, and is 5 -6 km. wide on average. The area would be about 2% of Israel’s economic waters. The US has tried to bring Israel and Lebanon to the negotiating table for the past decade, and more actively in the past three years.
Head of Sudan's ruling council defends deal for ties with Israel
The move is controversial in Sudan, once a staunch enemy of Israel, and has stirred opposition from some prominent political factions. "I always prefer to call it reconciliation instead of normalization," Burhan said in a televised interview. "So far, we have not concluded an agreement. We will sign with the other two parties, America and Israel, on the aspects of cooperation." Burhan leads a military-civilian sovereign council that took charge after the ouster of former president Omar al-Bashir last year following popular protests….. Sudan won the prospect of some relief last week when the United States confirmed it would lift Khartoum from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that had blocked international funding and debt relief. After Sudan deal, Netanyahu says Khartoum’s 3 No’s have become 3 Yes’s of peace - “In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, in 1967 the Arab League adopted it’s three ‘No’s’: ‘No to peace with Israel, no to recognition of Israel and no to negotiations with Israel.'”
Israel, Sudan to begin cooperating on water, agriculture, COVID-19 - Erdan
Sudan is the third Arab country to agree to normalize ties with Israel under the rubric of the Trump Administration’s Abraham Accords…..“First historic meeting with Sudan’s UN Mission and Ambassador Omer Siddig! To translate peace between our nations into action, we will begin cooperating in agriculture, water, and our common fight against coronavirus,” Erdan wrote in a Twitter post after the meeting.
Largest NGO of imams worldwide adopts universal definition of anti-Semitism
The council’s governing board, senior imams committee and advisory committee unanimous voted on Monday to adopt the IHRA definition. This was followed by an overwhelming majority vote on the same day by the general council of imams and the council’s members worldwide. The council’s membership consists of more than 1,000 imams from all Islamic denominations and schools of thought, according to its website. The adoption of the IHRA definition took effect on Thursday. This makes the GIC the first Imams Council to do so, following Albania, which last week became the first Muslim-majority country to adopt the definition.
Imam Qari Asim: Interfaith unity will allow us to get through this national lockdown together
It is this inbuilt strength and will of the British people that we must use to our advantage, to promote cohesion and respect for our differences. The barbaric and gruesome acts of violence we have witnessed in France, Vienna, Afghanistan and Mozambique recently, can never be justified in the name of Islam or any religion and such cowardice further taints our peaceful religion, increasing hostility towards Muslims globally. We must all value and defend freedom of expression and belief but at the same time, respectfully help those who may not hold the same beliefs as us to understand the deep hurt we may feel when we perceive our faith to be undermined. As the late Rabbi Sacks eloquently said: “Freedom is won by making space for the people not like us.” Interfaith week reminds us that stepping away from division can be as simple as talking to your next-door neighbour, who may be a different religion, race, or ethnicity.
Synagogues in NY and Bahrain join together for historic Kristallnacht memorial
The Hampton Synagogue and the Synagogue in Bahrain joined together in historic solidarity to participate in the March of the Living’s “Let There Be Light” campaign where synagogues around the world illuminated their buildings to commemorate of Kristallnacht. The two synagogues kept their lights on during the evening of November 9 as a symbol of mutual commitment in the shared battle against contemporary anti-Semitism, racism, hatred and intolerance.
US, Bahrain sign MOU to combat anti-Semitism and pledge to fight religious intolerance
The two-page document states that “Arabs and Jews are both Semitic peoples that are threatened by hatred or intolerance toward Semitic peoples,” and that “all peoples of the Middle East should aspire to coexist in tolerance and mutual respect.”… In remarks before the signing, U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Ellie Cohanim noted, “There has been a Jewish community living in Bahrain since the 1880s, and the fact that the community has had an uninterrupted presence in the Kingdom since then sets Bahrain apart from the rest of the region. Bahrain’s Jews enjoy equality and the Kingdom of Bahrain truly serves as a model for the Middle East North Africa region of religious freedom and peaceful coexistence.”
UK caterer becomes first to provide kosher meals to Jews in Bahrain
A UK-based caterer has become the first of its kind to provide kosher meals in the Kingdom of Bahrain. After weeks of negotiations, caterer Arieh Wagner confirmed that his business would provide boxes of kosher meals in the sovereign state…. the service would support travellers, ex-pats and the small local Jewish community, an estimated 50 people out of 1.5m-strong population in Bahrain. “There was no way for them to get kosher meals, unless they took them in their suitcase,” he added.
Kam Global Strategies, an Israel-based international strategic communications and public relations agency, is proud to announce the addition of a United Arab Emirates and Gulf region division to its international media outreach services. “With the exciting fast-growing ties between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, companies and organizations will need to communicate with their counterparts as well as with discerning readers in both countries. Kam Global Strategies has the expertise and a deep appreciation of cultural nuances to get messages heard internationally via traditional and social media and we have already begun operating,” said Laura Kam, President of Kam Global Strategies.
UAE-Israel Business Council Hires Steinreich Communications
The UAE-Israel Business Council was established by business and public sector leaders from the UAE and Israel this past summer to help foster shared opportunities, economic cooperation and business partnerships between Emiratis and Israelis. It is connecting Israel’s dynamic technology and innovation ecosystem with the UAE’s unique strengths in finance, trade and logistics in order to continue to build one of the most economically powerful regions in the world. “Since the announcement of normalization and formation of the Council, we have experienced fast growth and we sought the assistance of Steinreich Communications due to their stellar reputation and close relationships with members of the media both regionally as well as internationally,” said UAE-Israel Business Council Co-Founder Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, who also serves as the deputy mayor of Jerusalem.
Trump said to notify US Congress of F-35 sale to United Arab Emirates
$10 billion munitions package to include Reaper drones as well as thousands of bombs and missiles, Washington Post reports. The Trump administration has formally informed the United States Congress of its intention to sell dozens of F-35 advanced fighter jets and other military hardware to the United Arab Emirates, the Washington Post reported Monday. The deal for the UAE to acquire the stealth F-35s has raised concerns in Israel that it would erode the country’s regional military edge, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drawing criticism for allegedly authorizing it in the context of Israel’s normalization with Abu Dhabi.
UAE official on peace with Israel: Getting to 'yes' was quick, easy
By presenting the deal as a way to achieve a win-win solution, preventing Israel from annexing parts of the West Bank in July and Israel getting normalization in return, it was in the interest of peace, he said. “Annexation was going to cause a very negative reaction to Israel, put Jordan under pressure and force the US to defend what is a very unpopular decision in the region,” Otaiba said. “It was going to risk all the progress that we have been making in terms of opening up with Israel.”
Coronavirus
‘This is how freedom dies’: The folly of Britain’s coercive Covid strategy
The Coronavirus Act was passed specifically to deal with Covid-19. This hefty document of 348 pages with 102 sections and 29 schedules was pushed through all its stages in a single day in each House as the lockdown was announced. In the time available, no serious scrutiny of its terms can have been possible. The Act was primarily concerned to enlarge the government’s powers to marshal the medical resources of the country and to authorise additional public expenditure….. The Health Secretary, Mr. Hancock, made a statement in the House of Commons the next day in which he said: 'these measures are not advice; they are rules.' All of this was bluff. Even on the widest view of the legislation, the government had no power to give such orders without making statutory regulations. No such regulations existed until 1 p.m. on 26 March, three days after the announcement. The Prime Minister had no power to give 'instructions' to the British people, and certainly no power to do so by a mere oral announcement at a Downing Street press conference. The police had no power to enforce them. Mr Hancock’s statement in the House of Commons was not correct. Until 26 March the government’s statements were not rules, but advice, which every citizen was at liberty to ignore. To complain about the gap of three days during which the government pretended that the rules were in effect when they were not, may strike some people as pedantic. The regulations were eventually made, albeit late. But it revealed a cavalier disregard for the limits of their legal powers which has continued to characterise the government’s behaviour……. Historically, fear has always been the most potent instrument of the authoritarian state. This is what we are witnessing today. But the fault is not just in our government. It is in ourselves. Fear provokes strident demands for abrasive action, much of which is unhelpful or damaging. It promotes intolerant conformism. It encourages abuse directed against any one who steps out of line, including many responsible opponents of this government’s measures and some notable scientists who have questioned their empirical basis. These are the authentic ingredients of a totalitarian society.…..They instinctively feel that the end justifies the means, the motto of every totalitarian government which has ever been. Speech: RSM In Conversation Live with Lord Jonathan Sumption
Dissident's Guide to the Constitution
A How does government work? Who tells government where to stop?
By popular request, and to meet the need of the times, Alex Thomson is joined by Mike Robinson and David Scott to brief dissidents on the Constitution. The podcast will be of interest to overseas listeners too but primarily explores the English and Scots Constitutions, the common law, and the British constitutional legacy. This is not a series of history lectures. After a few initial episodes on key concepts (constitution, common law, rights, democracy, the rule of law, the nation state), we aim to go through the last thousand years of constitutional development with an eye for what has been hidden (how we have been governed in the past), then to explore how the state fits together (how we are governed now), and finally what plans there are for our future.
Justice Alito decries COVID overreach, ‘disturbing’ trend against religious liberty
Governors show they don’t respect First Amendment freedoms when they end COVID-19 restrictions for other businesses before churches, he said. The state of Nevada limited churches to 50 attendees while allowing bars, casinos, restaurants and indoor amusement parks to remain open. Although a majority of the Supreme Court ruled in July that Nevada's governor could do so, Alito said the U.S. Constitution obviously didn’t support that ruling. “Deciding whether to allow this disparate treatment should not have been a very tough call,” he said. “You will see in the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, which protects religious liberty, you will not find a ‘craps clause’ or a ‘blackjack clause’ or a ‘slot machine clause.’”Bottom of Form In this case and others like it, public officials have treated freedom of religion as a “second-class right,” Alito said. In other cases, the government wants nuns to buy contraception, forces Christian pharmacists to provide abortion drugs, and takes Christian bakers to court when they refuse to make cakes to celebrate same-sex marriage. During the COVID-19 pandemic, government attacks on religious freedom have become more common, Alito added.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has promised MPs votes "wherever possible" on England or UK-wide coronavirus rules before they come into force. But he warned that some urgent regulations could not be held up. It follows concern from Tory MPs over a lack of parliamentary scrutiny, while the Commons Speaker warned the government against treating Parliament with "contempt". MPs voted to extend the coronavirus powers by 330 votes to 24. But some Conservatives expressed frustration with the government. Sir Charles Walker, who sits on the 1922 Committee Executive, was fuming about MPs being given just 90 minutes to debate the renewal of Coronavirus measures this afternoon.
Nick Ferrari horrified as nurse arrested for taking mum from care home speaks to LBC
Nick Ferrari was horrified as he spoke to a nurse, 73, who was arrested and handcuffed as she attempted to take her 97-year-old mother out of a care home for lockdown. A 73-year-old woman, Ylenia Angeli, was arrested and restrained by police after she attempted to take her 97-year-old mother out of a care home for lockdown. Video footage shared on social media by her daughter and former Coronation Street actress Leandra Ashton appeared to capture part of the incident in a car park in Market Weighton in East Yorkshire on Tuesday. In the two clips an upset Ms Ashton claimed she and her mother, a former nurse, had taken her grandmother out of the home where she is "deteriorating", because they had not seen her for nine months. Ms Angeli told LBC: "I desperately want to care for my mother at home, which they are not allowing me to do. I am a trained nurse. I have a lot of experience in looking after the elderly. "What I see just breaks my heart and I know that people all around the country are feeling the same." Her daughter Leandra Ashton that during lockdown, her family are being "cut out" of the decision making process for their elderly relative.
The Force is with you? You must be joking! Once again, Mr Plod has lost the plot
This is the same police ‘service’ which can’t be bothered to investigate burglaries, assaults or thefts because of ‘lack of resources’, yet can rustle up a Grunwick-style response to a fitness club opening during lockdown. On Saturday, I wrote about Essex Plod sending 13 officers to close down a gym in Harlow. They were out again team-handed yesterday when members decided to stage an open-air exercise class outside the club. If you thought that was over the top, think again. Anything Essex can do, the Met can do better. They sent 30 — yes, thirty — coppers to shut a gym in Wood Green, North London, opening in contravention of the lockdown. Half of them looked as if they could do with a few of hours on a Peloton themselves.
Many more also speaking out like this police officer: "It is with a heavy heart that, on November 5th, after 10 years, I will be resigning as a Special Constable" https://twitter.com/jadenozzz/status/1324078666821849089
Greece Will Require People to Text Government for Permission to Leave Home Under New Lockdown
People must text their name, address and 1 of only 6 reasons to the 13033 number if they intend to do any of these 6 government permissible activities:
Visit to a pharmacy or visit to a doctor if necessary
Visit to a supermarket or stores for essential supplies
Visit to a bank if e-banking transactions are not possible
Visit to people needing assistance or escorting children to and from school
Attending a funeral, as per the conditions provided by the law, or visiting children in case of divorced parents. Physical exercise outdoors or up to two persons taking their pet for a walk while always observing a 1.5-metre distance. If an individual is unable to ask for permission through a SMS text, they will be required to carry a document provided by their employer detailing their shift schedule or another type of government issued document for trips not related to work. On top of that, citizens must carry a valid identification card or document with them.
Canadian police encourage citizens to snitch on each other to fight ‘rising’ COVID cases
Police in a central Canadian city are actively encouraging their citizens to make use of COVID-19 “snitch lines” to call out large private gatherings, and promise they will “intervene” as needed to fine those found violating the law. “In response to increasing cases of COVID-19, the Winnipeg Metro Region was moved to Critical Level (red). The Winnipeg Police Service has begun triaging calls from the public regarding gathering sizes in private residences and will dispatch resources to intervene as required,” reads the Winnipeg Police statement issued on November 4.
Behavioural Insights: The Second Team Leading the UK Government’s Covid-19 Response
There are two main areas of scientific ‘expertise’ which the Johnson régime relies upon to decide how it will deal with the Covid–19 ‘pandemic’. The first is the team at Imperial College led by Neil Ferguson, which claims to be able to use its computer models to forecast the spread and impact of the disease. The second is the army of behavioural ‘scientists’ who have been ‘nudging’ us at every opportunity into making decisions which favour the preferred options set by global policy makers…… These, then, are the people driving the government’s response to Covid-19, alongside the more often discussed ‘A-Team’ at Imperial College. It should perhaps come as no surprise that the message from the UK Government for several weeks now has been that the behaviour of the public is key to any decisions regarding the lifting of the so-called lockdown. What might be more surprising to many is that the types of behavioural change being demanded of us by the Behavioural Insights ‘experts’ in response to a global ‘pandemic’ fit so nicely with the aims and objectives of those pushing for global change via the Millennium Development Goals.
US – UK Intel Agencies Declare Cyber War on Independent Media
British and American state intelligence agencies are “weaponizing truth” to quash vaccine hesitancy as both nations prepare for mass inoculations, in a recently announced “cyber war” to be commanded by AI-powered arbiters of truth against information sources that challenge official narratives….. In just the past week, the national-security states of the United States and United Kingdom have discreetly let it be known that the cyber tools and online tactics previously designed for use in the post-9/11 “war on terror” are now being repurposed for use against information sources promoting “vaccine hesitancy” and information related to Covid-19 that runs counter to their state narratives. A new cyber offensive was launched on Monday by the UK’s signal intelligence agency, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), which seeks to target websites that publish content deemed to be “propaganda” that raises concerns regarding state-sponsored Covid-19 vaccine development and the multi-national pharmaceutical corporations involved. Similar efforts are underway in the United States, with the US military recently funding a CIA-backed firm—stuffed with former counterterrorism officials who were behind the occupation of Iraq and the rise of the so-called Islamic State—to develop an AI algorithm aimed specifically at new websites promoting “suspected” disinformation related to the Covid-19 crisis and the US military–led Covid-19 vaccination effort known as Operation Warp Speed. Both countries are preparing to silence independent journalists who raise legitimate concerns over pharmaceutical industry corruption or the extreme secrecy surrounding state-sponsored Covid-19 vaccination efforts, now that Pfizer’s vaccine candidate is slated to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by month’s end. Pfizer’s history of being fined billions for illegal marketing and for bribing government officials to help them cover up an illegal drug trial that killed eleven children (among other crimes) has gone unmentioned by most mass media outlets, which instead have celebrated the apparently imminent approval of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine without questioning the company’s history or that the mRNA technology used in the vaccine has sped through normal safety trial protocols and has never been approved for human use. Also unmentioned is that the head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Patrizia Cavazzoni, is the former Pfizer vice president for product safety who covered up the connection of one of its products to birth defects.
Last year, a government commission called for the US to adopt an AI-driven mass surveillance system far beyond that used in any other country in order to ensure American hegemony in artificial intelligence. Now, many of the “obstacles” they had cited as preventing its implementation are rapidly being removed under the guise of combating the coronavirus crisis. Last year, a U.S. government body dedicated to examining how artificial intelligence can “address the national security and defense needs of the United States” discussed in detail the “structural” changes that the American economy and society must undergo in order to ensure a technological advantage over China, according to a recent document acquired through a FOIA request. This document suggests that the U.S. follow China’s lead and even surpass them in many aspects related to AI-driven technologies, particularly their use of mass surveillance. This perspective clearly clashes with the public rhetoric of prominent U.S. government officials and politicians on China, who have labeled the Chinese government’s technology investments and export of its surveillance systems and other technologies as a major “threat” to Americans’ “way of life.”
Government Advisers Suggest Giving COVID-Free Brits "Permission" Wristbands
Behavioural experts advising the British government have suggested giving people who test negative for coronavirus wristbands that would allow them to travel and enter venues, while those who didn’t have the wristband would remain under lockdown. The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) produced a PDF report in which it praised the example of Slovakia, where 97% of people who the government wanted to test complied. The figure was so high because health authorities told those who refused the test that they would continue to be subject to lockdown measures and curfews, while those who complied were given paper certificates allowing them to exercise their freedoms. A similar system is now being considered for Brits who would “get back some freedoms if they test negative” while having to wear paper wristbands “for easier recognition on whether they can enter venues.” Respondents to the idea dismissed it as “medical tyranny,” although vast numbers of people are likely to comply if it means returning to some semblance of normality. Presumably, the wristbands or something similar would also be used to denote those who have and have not taken the COVID vaccine when it arrives. This would then give airports, sports stadiums, bars, restaurants and public transport operators free reign to block anyone who doesn’t have the wristband. Coronavirus: People-tracking wristbands tested to enforce lockdown - Bulgaria is the latest country to test a wristband that can track people during the coronavirus pandemic. Up to 50 residents in Sofia will be given a device that can record their movements using GPS satellite location data. Several nations are testing similar wristbands to make sure people are obeying orders to stay at home. South Korea and Hong Kong have also been using electronic trackers to help enforce quarantine. The trial in Bulgaria will use Comarch LifeWristbands, developed in Poland. As well as confirming a person is staying at home, the device can monitor the wearer's heart rate and be used to call the emergency services. In South Korea, people found to be violating quarantine rules can be ordered to wear a tracking band.
Workplaces, Social Venues, May Ban Britons Without Vaccination Certificates A senior Conservative MP has said it is possible that once mass vaccination is underway workplaces and social venues may ban entry to those who do not have a certificate to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Earlier this week, drugs firms Pfizer and BioNTech revealed that their coronavirus vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective at preventing infection.
Covid Passports Are Coming And Our Civil Liberties May Never Be The Same Again
The assault on our liberty will not end with deployment and use of a vaccine. Moncef Slaoui, the chief adviser of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed, a "public-private partnership" in charge of producing and delivering a coronavirus vaccine, has said that those who receive a vaccine will be monitored by "incredibly precise ... tracking systems." Slaoui has also indicated that tech giants Google and Oracle will help the government keep tabs on the vaccinated individuals. So, the vaccine program will lead to an increase in government surveillance!.... Slaoui is just the latest "expert" to endorse forcing the American people to relinquish their few remaining scraps of privacy to stop coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates have urged development of a digital certificate for those vaccinated for coronavirus. People without the certificate would find their liberty severely restricted. Those who think that the new surveillance system will be limited to coronavirus should remember that Social Security numbers were only supposed to be used to administer the Social Security program. They should also consider that the PATRIOT Act's expansion of warrantless wiretapping was supposed to be limited to stopping terrorists. 'CommonPass': New COVID-19 Security Measures Will Make Health A Prerequisite For Travel
We're not going to take it any more. You can sleep with your wife but can't play tennis with her. You can shoot ducks, but can't feed them. Boffins scare us with graphs, then change them... Like Peter Finch’s deranged newsreader in the 1976 movie Network, Shelley Tasker is mad as hell and isn’t going to take it any more. As England was pitchforked into another debilitating lockdown, she set up an amplifier on the steps of Truro Cathedral, grabbed a microphone and began telling passers-by what’s ‘really going on’ in the NHS. Within minutes she had attracted a small crowd. Shelley has resigned in disgust from her job as a healthcare assistant at Treliske hospital and wants the world to know why. The idea that the NHS is overrun, she said, is a pack of lies. ‘I can tell you now that at the height of the pandemic I had no work because there were no patients. ‘On Friday in Treliske there were three people with Covid. We’ve closed down Cornwall because three people are in hospital.’ She also claimed that patients who died from flu were being registered dishonestly as Covid victims on death certificates. Cornwall Freedom Rally speech from Shelley Tasker whistle-blower publicly resigns.
Covid19: British Army to Begin Testing Children Without Parental Consent
Liverpool school will also be “barcoding” individuals, and “securing” them should they test positive - Liverpool-based Broadgreen International School is in the “privileged position” of running a pilot scheme with Public Health England that will:
Bring in the military to run Covid19 tests.
Test children without getting parental consent first.
Identify each individual with a “unique barcode”.
“Isolate” and “secure” anyone who tests positive.
Sir Charles Walker MP Amazing speech against Lockdown 2020 - "Something much darker in the shadows!"
Sir Charles Walker MP for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire gives an impassioned speech against the Lockdown measures and removal of UK civil liberties before the "Lockdown" vote which the Government subsequently won. This took place on the 4th of November 2020.
I expected debate and disagreement about our ideas, published as the Great Barrington Declaration…. But I was utterly unprepared for the onslaught of insults, personal criticism, intimidation and threats that met our proposal. The level of vitriol and hostility, not just from members of the public online but from journalists and academics, has horrified me…. So I was left stunned after being invited on to a mid-morning radio programme recently, only for a producer to warn me minutes before we went on air that I was not to mention the Great Barrington Declaration. The producer repeated the warning and indicated that this was an instruction from a senior broadcasting executive. I demanded an explanation and, with seconds to go, was told that the public wouldn’t be familiar with the meaning of the phrase ‘Great Barrington Declaration’. And this was not an isolated experience. A few days later, another national radio station approached my office to set up an interview, then withdrew the invitation. They felt, on reflection, that giving airtime to me would ‘not be in the national interest’. But the Great Barrington Declaration represents a heartfelt attempt by a group of academics with decades of experience in this field to limit the harm of lockdown. I cannot conceive how anyone can construe this as ‘against the national interest’. Moreover, matters certainly are not helped by outlets such as The Guardian, which has repeatedly published opinion pieces making factually incorrect and scientifically flawed statements, as well as borderline defamatory comments about me, while refusing to give our side of the debate an opportunity to present our view.
Covid-19: The Data Exposing the Deception
The Covid-19 data and statistics, that we are all now so familiar with, have been reported by the mainstream media (MSM) practically without scrutiny. There have been some notable exceptions; a few journalists who still understand their vital role to question power. Unfortunately, for the most part, questions have been most notable for their absence. Without a functioning mainstream media, and with government scientific advisors seemingly bought and paid for by pharmaceutical corporations, it has been left to independent journalists and researchers to question the Covid-19 narrative that we are all supposed to accept without hesitation. Few have worked harder than Mark Oakford. Mark has sent 1,392 freedom of information requests to local authorities, Clinical Commissioning Groups, NHS trusts, Police Forces, Education Authorities, Ministerial departments and more. Lockdown sceptic Ivor Cummins: Coronavirus deaths are 'lower than what is being put out' - A biochemical engineer has told talkRADIO that the number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 "is relatively lower than what’s being put out in the statistics.” Lockdown sceptic Ivor Cummins also told Julia Hartley-Brewer that "the full country lockdown in Ireland had no real effect.”
Elon Musk continues to cast doubt about ‘bogus’ COVID-19 test results
Elon Musk sowed doubts about the accuracy of coronavirus tests on Friday — just hours after tweeting that he took four rapid tests with conflicting results. The Tesla boss and fifth-richest man in the world had initially tweeted Thursday night that “Something extremely bogus is going on” regarding COVID-19 testing. “Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse.” Media outlets quickly jumped on Musk’s tweets with stories highlighting his positive diagnosis — provoking the prickly tech entrepreneur to protest. “Technically, I tested positive, then negative twice, then positive again, so ‘Elon Musk Tests Negative for Covid’ is an equally correct title,” he tweeted.
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE): Conflicts of Interest
Imagine that a new disease emerged. It presented less risk of death than a lightning strike for school-age children (Ref i), but it was particularly nasty for the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. A committee decided that draconian measures – the likes of which had never been experienced or studied – should be imposed on the entire population until a drug to ease the disease outcome arrived. If you then discovered that the majority of the committee members had financial interests in the drug being developed, how would you feel?
It’s worth reminding people that Gates is the founder, main donor and stakeholder of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH). Grand Challenges, in Global Health awarded 44 grants - totaling over $450 million for research projects involving scientists in 33 countries – and funded an additional supporting project addressing ethical, social, and cultural issues across the initiative. The first decade of progress yielded diverse types of impact. The initiative has since been renamed Grand Challenges to reflect the fact that as new challenges have been added, its scope has expanded to encompass global development as well as global health. The UK’s and US’s (Dr Fauci) scientific and medical experts have links to the Bill Gates Foundation, WHO and the pharmaceutical industry.
Fauci's New 'COVID-Crushing' Guidance To Americans: "Do What You're Told!"
As NYPost reports, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has repeatedly clashed with President Trump and his administration, who have dismissed him as “a bit of an alarmist” amid the pandemic. Fauci said it was unfortunate that America’s scientists had been “lumped into politics” and that people were unwilling to follow their guidance because society was so “divisive.” In an interview Thursday, the coronavirus task force member and infectious disease expert pushed back on the notion that scientists were “authoritarian” for promoting strict lockdowns and social distancing measures... at the same time as telling Americans to lose their "independent spirit" and "do what you're told!" Fauci said the nation could avoid another round of economically devastating lockdowns if people simply washed their hands, wore a mask and remained socially distant... The two most dangerous men in the world? - The main purpose of this post is to engage you to watch the incredible July 28 video by Dave Cullen, titled “The Rising Resistance to the New Abnormal.” Only 34 minutes and 41 seconds long, it packs a big wallop directly related to the title of this article, including highly supportive video footage of Bill Gates that reveals how truly dangerous and weird this man, one of the world’s wealthiest, has become. He works and socializes a lot with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has his own scary history of vaccine experimentation with little regard for what happens to the human subjects of his experiments. Stephen Mosher published a revealing article on LifeSite titled “How Dr. Fauci’s fraudulent pandemic advice put millions of Americans through hell.”
Trump Says Pfizer Deliberately Delayed Vaccine Announcement Until After Election
Now it appears that Big Pharma is in on the anti-Trump conspiracy. The president tweeted out his belief that Pfizer delayed announcing the effectiveness of their vaccine until after the election because “they didn’t have the courage to do it before.” Trump: “As I have long said, @Pfizer and the others would only announce a Vaccine after the Election, because they didn’t have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the @US_FDA should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives!” It should be noted that researchers and some of the companies involved in producing the vaccine all gave a timeline of late October-early November for the end of the final-stage trials of the vaccine. Trump never claimed the vaccine would be “ready by Election Day.” That’s a lie. He said the vaccine would be a reality which is a far cry from being “ready.” Biden Informed Of Pfizer’s Vaccine News Before Government Health Officials / Fauci Showed Breakthrough Pfizer COVID Vaccine Results To Biden Before Trump, Azar Confirms
Head of WHO Inquiry Into Coronavirus Response Has Close Ties to Beijing, Should Step Down
As 194 countries gather online for the World Health Organization’s annual assembly, which is slated this afternoon to hear the first progress report from its international inquiry into the origins and global response to the coronavirus pandemic, an independent human rights watchdog is calling on the panel’s co-chair, former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, to recuse herself from the position on account of her numerous prior statements praising the WHO’s response, and due to her close ties with the Chinese government. Clark was appointed by the world’s top health agency to co-chair the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, an impartial inquiry that will probe the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus and the response of governments around the world. The panel is scheduled to present its progress report today, and the final report in May 2021.
Biden taps Ezekiel Emanuel to coronavirus task force, faces controversy
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped renowned oncologist and bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel to sit on his coronavirus task force, despite his controversial views on aging, The Forward has reported. The controversy stems from an article he wrote in the Atlantic in 2014, where he explained that he would prefer to die at the age of 75, as living past such an age “renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived,” according to The Forward. Members on the Right, including White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, were quick to call out Biden for tapping Emanuel to the task force, voicing concerns that he does not view people over the age of 75 as worth saving.
Has the post-Covid future already been decided?
Few will have heard of the ‘Great Reset’, but it already has the backing of the Davos elite. Among those involved are Prince Charles, the secretary general of the United Nations, the managing director of the IMF, the CEOs of Mastercard, BP, the president of Microsoft, an official from the People’s Bank of China, and other global players. And recent UK attendees of Davos are a diverse group. Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough and Prince William, for example. Greenpeace, the WWF and trade unions regularly cosy up with big oil, bankers and officials from some of the most brutal regimes on the planet. The Great Reset calls on a vast global network – thousands of world leaders from business, politics and civil society. They all share variants of the Davos worldview. And they are supported by a vast income from corporate membership fees. Davos also has a youth wing – the Global Shapers Community. Over 9,655 ‘shapers’ work from 428 ‘hubs’ in 148 different countries.
Klaus Schwab & His Great Fascist Reset
Schwab is not, of course, a Nazi in the classic sense, being neither a nationalist nor an anti-semite, as testified by the $1 million Dan David Prize he was awarded by Israel in 2004. But 21st century fascism has found different political forms through which to continue its core project of reshaping humanity to suit capitalism through blatantly authoritarian means. This new fascism is today being advanced in the guise of global governance, biosecurity, the “New Normal”, the “New Deal for Nature” and the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Schwab, the octogenarian founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, sits at the centre of this matrix like a spider on a giant web. The original fascist project, in Italy and Germany, was all about a merger of state and business.
"Great Reset" Of Capitalism A Threat To Our Way Of Life: Australian Senator
A motion by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson calling on the Australian government to boycott the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Great Reset agenda was blocked in the Senate on Nov. 11. Powerful international leaders want to take advantage of the current economic chaos to “remake nations across the planet, because desperate populations are now ‘more reception to big visions of change,'” Justin Haskins, the editor-in-chief of StoppingSocialism.com and the editorial director of The Heartland Institute, wrote in an op-ed for The Epoch Times in July. Hanson said the policies of the Great Reset would destroy Australia’s economy, “push socialist and neo-Marxist policies” onto Australians, and “pave the way for big controlling government, suppression of free speech, and reduced property rights.” The proposal was defeated 2 – 37 after the Liberals and the Nationals allied with Labor and the Greens. “It is an absolute travesty that the Australian Government has sided with the globalists of the World Economic Forum and their Great Reset agenda against the interests of everyday Australians,” Hanson told The Epoch Times in a statement….“This is a group of global lefty elites—billionaires, business executives, and celebrities—who think they know better than us how to run our own country,” she said…. “Among those who spoke at the event or expressed their support separately for the plan were Ma Jun, the chairman of the Green Finance Committee at the China Society for Finance and Banking and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China; António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations; powerful union leaders; activists from groups such as Greenpeace International; CEOs and presidents of large corporations such as BP, MasterCard, and Microsoft; and officials from the International Monetary Fund.“ But the person who has most clearly articulated the vision of the Great Reset is Klaus Schwab, the head of the World Economic Forum and one of the Reset’s most ardent supporters,” Haskins wrote. “Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed,” Schwab wrote in an article published on WEF’s website. “In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.” Sky News host Rowan Dean: ‘Great Reset’ in Davos at the forefront of a ‘great deception’ in the free world
Build Back Better. This is the slogan of the New World Order – aka the Great Reset.
Build Back Better means totalitarian rule by a global, technocratic elite – as constrictive and immiserating as life under fascism or communism. This hideous New World Order is the Great Reset. It sounds like a conspiracy theory but the people behind it are perfectly open about it. Why else would they dedicate a special issue of Time magazine to outlining their masterplan? One essay – titled ‘It’s 2023. Here’s How We Fixed the Global Economy’ – imagines a world where things all started getting better with the ousting of Donald Trump….. Jobs and high minimum wages will be guaranteed; shale gas will be replaced by solar; businesses — in return for massive bailouts from the government — will agree to be run more like communist worker co-operatives; car lanes on freeways will be replaced by cycle lanes; companies are no longer driven by profit by ‘public interest’ and goals like sustainability. Oh — and you needn’t worry about your mortgage repayments any more — because private property will be abolished. (And yes, they’re serious about abolishing ownership. Here’s their website boasting about their plans back in 2016.) “Welcome to the year 2030. Welcome to my city – or should I say, “our city”. I don’t own anything. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a house. I don’t own any appliances or any clothes. It might seem odd to you, but it makes perfect sense for us in this city. Everything you considered a product, has now become a service. We have access to transportation, accommodation, food and all the things we need in our daily lives. One by one all these things became free, so it ended up not making sense for us to own much.”
Transhumanism: Expert exposes liberal billionaire elitists’ ‘Great Reset’ agenda
The COVID-19 pandemic was manufactured by the world’s elites as part of a plan to globally advance “transhumanism” — literally, the fusion of human beings with technology in an attempt to alter human nature itself and create a superhuman being and an “earthly paradise,” according to a Peruvian academic and expert in technology. This dystopian nightmare scenario is no longer the stuff of science fiction, but an integral part of the proposed post-pandemic “Great Reset,” Dr. Miklos Lukacs de Pereny said at the recent summit on COVID-19.
World leaders laud progress of Gates-backed COVID vaccine by Pfizer
The pharmaceutical company Pfizer says that its coronavirus vaccine is “90% effective in preventing COVID-19.” “Emergency authorization” is “expected from the Food and Drug Administration within weeks,” Business Insider reported Tuesday. The vaccine requires two doses three weeks apart. “A double-dose vaccine requires twice as many vials, syringes, refrigerators, and clinic visits at a time when such resources are already limited,” Businesss Insider noted, fretting about the “possibility that not everyone will return to a doctor's office for the critical second dose.”
‘Mandatory vaccination is madness’: American doctor
'Mandatory vaccination puts the public health into the hands of convicted criminals in the pharmaceutical industry, while putting the financial and personal liability on the taxpayer,' Dr. Leland Stillman pointed out during the recent Truth Over Fear Summit.
A mandatory Covid-19 vaccine is “madness” in light of irrefutable evidence about how vaccines work and the record of criminal convictions against the pharmaceutical giants that develop them, according to Dr. Leland Stillman. No vaccine is effective, all carry risks, including death and disability, and “the vast majority of patients who develop any viral illness have a mild, self-limited course” while “only a minority are affected by severe disability or death,” the 32-year-old American doctor said during a recent virtual summit on the pandemic. Moreover, vaccine manufacturers have no liability for their products, pharmaceutical corporations “are regularly convicted on criminal charges of misleading the public and abusing their trust,” and the vaccine industry is “rife” with conflicts of interest between government and industry, Stillman said. Israel: Health Ministry may recommend mandatory coronavirus vaccine law
Chicago mayor and "woke" intellectual giant Lori Lightfoot, who has let her city go to complete hell in a handbasket over the course of the last 6 months, has defended her call for Chicago residents to cancel their "traditional" Thanksgiving plans in a display that the arrogance of liberal politicians knows no bounds…. Her decision comes not even a week after she was seen amidst a large crowd on Chicago streets partying on the heels of a Joe Biden Presidential victory…. She was asked about the hypocrisy of shutting down her city days after rallying large crowds by MSNBC's Steph Ruhle last week. Ruhle asked: "One of the reasons people feel frustrated or skeptical is they are getting a lot of mixed messages. What do you say to those who are criticizing you were less than a week ago you went out and stood before a massive crowd who was celebrating Joe Biden’s victory and now you’re saying your city has to shut down? How do you have one and not the other?"
Pelosi Apologizes, Cancels Dem Dinner Party As She And Newsom Skewered As Hypocrites
Despite her assurances that Capitol Hill physicians had signed off, and that the dinner would follow a laundry list of COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, Nancy Pelosi ended up cancelling a dinner for new incoming Democratic House members, offering a hasty apology to outraged liberal allies. After several conservative blogs and media outlets pointed out the hypocrisy of Pelosi's explanation (which happened to coincide with a similar incident involving Gavin Newsom and a staffer's birthday party), Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill announced Friday night that the dinner had been canceled. Of course, the cancellation came only after the backlash; when reporters first questioned Pelosi and her staff about the dinner, she offered a laundry list of excuses. Instead of holding the dinner in-person, House members would receive "take out" meals and simply head back to wherever they're staying while they're in town for orientation, Hammill said.
Nine Million Jobs At Risk Amid US Travel And Tourism Bust
No other US industry has been more severely impacted by the virus pandemic than travel and tourism. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) published a report this week, protecting a “staggering 9.2 million jobs could be lost in the US Travel & Tourism sector in 2020 if barriers to global travel remain in place.” WTTC’s economic modeling is the latest reminder of the deep economic scarring that could be materializing due to the virus pandemic that continues to batter the economy. According to the report, 7.2 million jobs in the US have already been impacted. If restrictions on international travel aren’t lifted, and further stimulus isn’t seen, 9.2 million jobs, more than half of all jobs in the sector, could be lost. Over 20 Million Americans Remain On Jobless Benefits - By Tyler Durden 709,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, better than the expected 731k and and a big drop from the prior…
As Millions Face Eviction, Senate Proposes Nearly $700 Billion for Pentagon
According to The Hill, The Senate’s version of the fiscal 2021 Pentagon spending bill was released Tuesday along with 11 other annual appropriations bills. Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have said they want to pass an omnibus spending bill, and they will likely agree on the military budget, as Democrats overwhelmingly vote in favor of military spending when they have the opportunity, just as Republicans do. In July, the House passed a $694.6 billion bill for Pentagon spending in July. The Senate version released this week includes $627.2 billion for the base defense budget and $68.7 billion for a war fund known as the Overseas Contingency Operations account, and also includes a 3% pay raise for troops. However, the final Senate version of the bill left out a few causes that were championed by progressive Democrats, including the renaming of military bases that are named after Confederate leaders, and measures that were intended to block defense funds from being used on the border wall
Amazon under fire in France as coronavirus restrictions hit rivals
Amazon is trying to fend off a wave of criticism in France as small and large businesses, opposition politicians and members of the government accuse the company of unfairly benefiting from lockdown restrictions. Frédéric Duval, Amazon's country manager for France, went on a media tour Thursday, telling multiple outlets the company was subject to “fantasies” about its allegedly dominant position in e-commerce. The tour comes after a chorus of attacks from ministers and opposition figures who said that Amazon could benefit from rules banning the selling of "non-essential" items such as books and makeup products in physical stores.
Big Tech’s big profits: Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon report record results
The world’s biggest technology companies – Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google – have reported largely blowout quarterly results, demonstrating their resilience to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Combined, the four companies reported a quarterly net profit of $38 billion at a time when many traditional industries have seen revenues slump, redundancies made and businesses closed down. Against this backdrop, Big Tech profits this year looks set to widen the wealth gap between them and non-technology companies.
Virus Exacerbating Global Inequality, Hunger
Those gains are now under threat, no thanks to the coronavirus, and the economic carnage it has unleashed. This year, the World Bank estimates that 100m are falling back into extreme poverty. Even Sub-Saharan Africa, which for the past 25 years has enjoyed positive economic growth, will enter negative territory in 2020. The only economy expected to grow this year is China, which implemented harsh lockdown measures when Beijing realized the coronavirus was quickly spreading beyond Wuhan to neighbouring provinces. The gap between rich and poor is growing too in the United States. Two new studies estimate that 6-8m people have been pushed into poverty over the last few months as federal funding relief dried up. Millions of Americans can’t afford to pay their electric bills or are skipping meals to save cash. 40% of those who lost work to covid-19 don’t even have a month worth of savings. But here’s the thing. Whereas previous recessions were fairly even in terms of who was affected, in this recession, the top 25% has bounced back completely, while the bottom 2% has been smacked hard. The reason is simple: working from home. Bankers, lawyers, accountants, academics, and scores of other white-collar workers, have been able to work remotely. The work environment may have changed, but they got to keep their jobs. Those employed in restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, etc. haven’t been so lucky. Their jobs have disappeared, and won’t be coming back anytime soon, especially now that we’re in the second wave.
CDC Data Suggest Lockdowns Could Kill As Many People As COVID
Three-hundred-fifty years ago, John Graunt attempted to give Londoners an accurate assessment of fatality rates of diseases in the community so people could understand their risk level. Until COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fulfilled the same role. Then the CDC abandoned tradition and sensibility and treated COVID differently than every other disease. For a death to be considered a COVID death, COVID no longer needed to be the immediate or underlying cause of death. Now, a death is considered a COVID death even if COVID was only a contributing condition….. Although CDC records are far from comprehensive, they do provide some explanation: So far in 2020, the CDC data shows there have been about 32,000 excess Alzheimer’s deaths and 12,000 excess diabetes deaths…. 3,000 medical expert authors and signers of the Great Barrington Declaration point out, the deaths and diseases the lockdowns are creating will continue for years. The excess deaths toll from the effects of lockdowns will continue to accrue even as COVID dissipates. In total, for every COVID death, we could ultimately tally another death from our reaction to COVID. Why is this happening? Why have we treated COVID like no other disease in history?
Japan suicides rise as economic impact of coronavirus hits home
The number of suicides in Japan rose in October for the fourth month in a row to the highest level in more than five years, data showed Tuesday, a trend activists have blamed on the economic impact of the coronavirus, on women in particular. According to preliminary police data, the total number of suicides for October was 2,153, an increase of more than 300 from the previous month and the highest monthly tally since May 2015. Of October’s cases, 851 were women, a rise of 82.6% over the same month in 2019. The number of suicides by men rose 21.3%. Cases of suicide had been falling steadily until July but then the economic impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak hit home and the numbers started rising, activists say.
Coronavirus: Suicide rate rises among schoolchildren and women during pandemic in Japan - The number of school-aged children taking their own life more than doubled in the same period, Bloomberg reports. Sociologists have warned many times of the impact of the pandemic on mental health as restrictions on social interaction have left people isolated and the economic shock has led to thousands upon thousands of job losses, with more to come. A global study by Care International found 27 per cent of women had reported an increase in problems linked to mental illness, compared with only 10 per cent of men. California doctors say they have seen MORE suicides than coronavirus deaths during lockdown - The medics at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek near San Francisco have witnessed a year's worth of suicide attempts in just a matter of weeks because of the strain of lockdown.
Collateral Damage? CDC Admits COVID Lockdowns Sparked Surge In Children's Mental Health Issues
Disruptions to daily life during the pandemic lockdowns, anxiety about contracting COVID-19, and social isolation are all taking a toll on children's mental health, a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests. The report, based on information from a subset of hospitals in 47 states, "provides timely surveillance data concerning children's mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic." As pandemic mitigation techniques were implemented to varying degrees of tyranny depending on the governor's political orientation, the average weekly numbers of children's emergency department visits for mental health-related reasons soared. Compared with 2019, the proportion of mental health–related visits for children aged 5–11 and 12–17 years increased approximately 24%. and 31%, respectively.
Mental health funding urgently needed as UK suicides increase
A mental health charity is calling on the UK Government to back more funding for mental health charities helping UK workers as depression and suicide rates rise across the country due to COVID-19. A recent report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed rates of depression have doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, with almost one in five adults (19.2%) experiencing some form of depression during June – up from around one in 10 (9.7%) last year. London Ambulance also recently shared information that the number of suicide and attempted suicide incidents are increasing, with crews now attending an average of 37 suicides or attempted suicides per day, compared to 22 in 2019 and 17 five years ago.
What really makes angry is sites like these that want to Factcheck as though it is fake news:
We need to be more careful when talking about suicide and the pandemic - New Scientist
There's no evidence the number of people taking their own life ... fullfact.org
"Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock are simply not telling the truth... they tell us the Covid deaths every day. Why can't they tell us the number of people committing suicide? It is a national scandal that will emerge"
Lockdowns are killing community
Lockdowns are in force, masks are mandatory and pubs and churches are shut. And it looks as if we are in this suspended state until either a vaccine arrives and many of us gain immunity at some point next year, or we come to our senses, the lockdowns end and we are let back out again…… There is opposition to the state-led lockdown – albeit limited to a vocal minority of academics, medics, journalists, politicians and newly emergent groups. And there is increasing criticism not just of the lockdowns, but also of some of the more regressive trends that it has brought to the surface. Hence groups like Save our Statues, the Free Speech Union, the Reform Party and Reclaim have emerged in recent months. That many of these groups are on the right shows how the left is no longer interested in seeking common cause with the working man and woman, or in defending their liberties
This destructive lockdown experiment must end
The damage from the first lockdown has barely been comprehended. A second is pure insanity. An astonishing 516 MPs, a majority of 477, voted to place everyone in England under house arrest for 28 days. Not a single Labour MP voted against the destruction of their constituents’ jobs and income. Not a single Liberal Democrat MP opposed the bonfire of civil liberties. The Conservatives, with a few notable exceptions, sought only to conserve the ‘New Normal’ of permanent lockdown….. The first lockdown caused an unprecedented health crisis….. the government’s message of ‘stay at home’ to ‘protect the NHS’ discouraged people from seeking treatment. Primary care attendance has still not returned to normal levels. A&E attendance fell to record lows, as did hospital occupancy more broadly. Around the peak of the first wave, the NHS had four times as many empty acute beds as would have been normal for that time of year….. Cancer referrals fell dramatically. In April 2019, 200,000 patients were referred by GPs to consultants for suspected cancer. By April 2020, this had dropped to just below 80,000. New research suggests that a delay in treatment of four weeks increases a patient’s chance of dying by 10 per cent. Tragically, more children have died from delayed medical care than from Covid-19.
Post Brexit
Brexit negotiators stretch deadline (again)
EU officials say there is not much time before ratification by the end of the year becomes almost impossible. Missing deadlines has become a tradition in EU-U.K. negotiations. But this time, Brussels is getting increasingly nervous about the ticking clock. Brexit talks are set to stretch into next week after insufficient progress was made in negotiations in London this week, thereby passing the deadline of mid-November. Officials expect talks to continue Friday, pause over the weekend and then resume in Brussels next week. The next informal deadline suggested by EU officials is the videoconference of European leaders next Thursday. If a deal is not been reached by then, Brussels will put forward the contingency legislation it has prepared to prevent a cliff-edge scenario in the event of a no-deal, one EU official said.
David Ellis Report: EU Boobytrap
David Ellis speaks to defence policy analyst and Brexit campaigner David Banks on the "EU Boobytrap" which will see the UK still tied to the EU following Brexit on the issue of defence procurement and operational cooperation. David Ellis Report: Strategic Vision - David Ellis discusses Britain's future strategic vision with former Commander Joint Forces Command General Sir Richard Barrons.
David Ellis Report: Admiral Lord West
David Ellis is speaking to Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, and security minister with the Gordon Brown government. They discuss the relationship between defence industry, the military, procurement and veterans affairs.
Will Boris Johnson keep his Brexit promise?
Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice has said he has a “hunch” that a post-Brexit trade deal will be reached with the EU, as Boris Johnson’s deadline arrives. Speaking with talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer, the former MEP said: “Today is the day…is Boris going to keep his promise?” He added that firms "will make it work” if negotiators do not come to an agreement: “Brexit is just a pimple on the nose of the challenges that businesses and residents in the UK face today.”
The House of Lords has signed its own death warrant – again
By voting down key clauses of the government’s Internal Market Bill, the Lords confirmed that it is an archaic excrescence which has no place in a 21st-century democracy…… The Internal Market Bill’s clause 42 would give the government power to alter the EU Withdrawal Agreement provisions on the Northern Ireland protocol. On Monday, the Lords voted to remove it by 433 votes to 165, a vote described as a ‘crushing’ defeat in the media and celebrated by Remainers and deluded leftists across social media. But what other outcome would they expect from a collection of more than 800 unelected peers, with an inbuilt anti-Tory, anti-Brexit majority? The ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ party, aka the Liberal Democrats, might have only 11 elected MPs, but why worry when they have no fewer than 89 appointed peers swanning about in the Lords? Patrician judges don’t care much for democracy - Lord Kerr is the latest former Supreme Court judge to cheer on the rise of judicial power in politics. Enough with these Brexit-bashing bishops - Every wing of the establishment has tried to undermine the public’s decision to leave the EU.
Will the Remainer Undead ever give up?
The Remainer media are still publicising flawed and highly negative predictions for the economic impact of Brexit. Unfortunately, this is likely to continue long after we have left the EU’s customs union and single market…. The omens are mixed. Lionel Barber, former editor of the Financial Times ludicrously claimed that the FT had an open mind about Brexit during his editorship. On the other hand, parts of the media keep alive the various prophesies of economic doom originally published by the Treasury, the London School of Economics and others…..Brussels has insisted throughout the talks that the UK has more to lose from no-deal than the EU This is their view despite the fact that the EU exports close to £100 billion more of goods to the UK than the UK exports to the EU. Excluding Ireland, the figure is almost £110 billion. Germany alone exports £78 billion to the UK (while importing £58 billion from the UK). The EU has of course been supported in this perverse view by the Treasury and other UK forecasters. They have undermined the UK’s hand in the negotiations. If like us, you believe that the forecasts are flawed then the role of the Treasury and others has been outrageous.
An Australian view of the UK-EU trade negotiations, by Peter Anderson
When journalists reported of the sequence of events between 15th and 16th, the principal qualifying reference to Johnson’s decision was not to say that he had called the EU’s bluff by ceasing to continue negotiations, but to report that Johnson ‘did not make his decision on 15th as had been promised‘ and that it was part of a tacitly agreed choreography! It has been interesting to note that, throughout the Brexit drama of the past 12 months, even Daily Telegraph journalists seem to have presented their commentaries and observations through an EU lens. [ed. adds that the DT’s former pro-remain Brussels correspondent, Peter Foster, has now moved to what for him are more congenial surroundings at the Financial Times]…..Discussions of fishing in UK waters is a reminder of former Prime Minister Edward Heath’s decision to pass full control to the EU 45 years ago, with the consequent devastation of UK fishing communities. This was achieved by the EEC (later morphed into the EU as a political union) by ensuring that fishing was sequenced for discussion at the end of those negotiations in a situation where PM Heath had disclosed his full hand and made it clear he was anxious to join.
Senior Boris Johnson adviser quits as power grab row engulfs Downing Street
Director of Communications Lee Cain quits after backlash following reports he was in line for a promotion. Boris Johnson’s director of communications resigned Wednesday evening following a Downing Street row over who becomes the prime minister’s next chief of staff. Lee Cain, current director of communications, had earlier been reported by the Times and the Daily Mail to have been offered a promotion to the chief of staff role. The news sparked an immediate backlash from ministers and government aides who saw it as an attempted power grab by the Vote Leave faction around Johnson….. The row could set up another problem as Downing Street prepares to launch a daily press briefing fronted by former journalist Allegra Stratton, who was drafted in to head up press for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April. Stratton was said not to be Cain’s first choice for the role….. The BBC and the Times meanwhile reported that the PM’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds, was unhappy about the plan to appoint Cain.
It was claimed last night that Mr Johnson had accused the pair of Vote Leave campaign veterans of briefing against his fiancée. In a tense 45-minute meeting he is reported to have shown them incriminating text messages which had been forwarded to his fiancée. The explosive claims were denied by No10. It is understood that Mr Cummings and Mr Cain will be on gardening leave until mid-December. Mr Cummings may continue to work from home to tie up loose ends, but neither man is expected back at No 10……Although a serving MP, he is a friend of Ms Symonds and is reportedly spearheading a shift from the aggressive campaigning politics practiced by Mr Cumming's Vote Leave faction to a more cohesive No10 operation.
Is Carrie Symonds running Downing Street?
Deputy leader writer at The Sun Olivia Utley says the in-fighting at Number 10 is “a soap opera which is fun if you’re bored of coronavirus news, but not great for the country.” During a crucial week for Brexit negotiations, Olivia says "everyone's just throwing their toys out of the pram", adding that Downing Street director of communications Lee Cain does not get on with Carrie Symonds. Lee Cain, had recently resigned amid reports of internal tensions in Downing Street. He will leave next month, despite being offered a promotion to chief of staff. Expressing concern at potential chaos, Olivia told Mike Graham "the Prime Minister can't concentrate on what he's supposed to be doing. It's quite likely we will just have a very messy Brexit.
UK Cabinet heavyweights urge Brexit compromise
Key figures in the UK government are split over how much to move in order to secure a Brexit deal. As the Brexit game of chicken nears the end game, some of Boris Johnson's top team think it's time to strike a deal. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove are among a group of senior government figures now urging caution over a looming no-deal scenario which many observers say could be disastrous for the U.K. economy, according to government officials. And while officials say that the resignation of two senior advisers in recent days — including the prime minister’s closest aide Dominic Cummings — had nothing to do with Brexit, it may have given Johnson more room for maneuver. Both Cummings and communications chief Lee Cain were part of the Vote Leave team that won the referendum and propelled Johnson’s rise to power. They have also been key figures in a powerful Downing Street faction that has often urged an uncompromising response to demands from Brussels for more movement in the talks from the U.K. government. EU Predict Boris Brexit U-TURN and Cummings OUT By Christmas As Brexiteers Leave Downing Street
Joe Biden isn’t even in the White House and he’s already throwing his imperial weight around. He and his transition team have their eye on a disobedient little country, a rebellious, uppity nation that must be firmly put back in its place. Only it isn’t a failing state in the Middle East or a conflict-ridden country in the Horn of Africa – the usual tragic targets of the American Empire – that Biden and Co want to reprimand. No, it’s us; it’s Britain….. He has long made plain his opposition to Brexit and his view that we the dimwitted masses of Blighty only voted for it because we are so ‘susceptible to demagogues and charlatans’. And now, as he makes moves to take over the White House, he plans to do something about it. He plans to use America’s economic and political clout to weaken Brexit and strengthen the European Union. He doesn’t mince his words, our new imperial overlord. He said a few months ago that a trade deal between the UK and the US is ‘contingent’ upon there being ‘no hard border in Ireland. Period.’ Period. Full stop. No discussion, no debate. Of course, ‘no hard border in Ireland’ is code for ‘Britain sticking to the Withdrawal Agreement’, which stipulates that Northern Ireland will remain beholden to certain EU customs and trade rules even after the transition period has ended. To put this more plainly, Biden is saying that Britain must agree to the virtual annexation of part of its territory by a foreign power – the EU – or else it will be punished by America and deprived of a good trade deal.
Unprecedented Weather
Scientists link record-breaking hurricane season to climate crisis
The evidence of the influence of climate crisis is not so much in the record-breaking 30 tropical storms in the Atlantic so far this year, but the strength, rapid intensification and total rainfall of these weather systems…..Central America has been one of the regions most affected by climate crisis to date, first with Hurricane Mitch, and in recent years with more extreme weather patterns, particularly in what’s known as the dry corridor, which extends from northern Costa Rica all the way to southern Mexico.
Earthquake hits Greece and Turkey, bringing deaths and floods
A powerful earthquake has struck off Turkey's Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, destroying homes and killing at least 22 people. The 7.0 magnitude tremor was centred off Turkey's Izmir province, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. Turkey put the magnitude lower, at 6.6, saying 20 people had died and 786 were injured in the province of Izmir. On Samos, two teenagers were killed. The shallow tremor triggered a mini-tsunami that flooded Izmir and Samos. The authorities in Izmir, the provincial capital, are now setting up a tent area to house about 2,000 people overnight, amid fears that more buildings could collapse.
We’ve never seen this many named storms in a single year before. Subtropical Storm Theta just set another record for 2020. But Theta will go down in the history books anyway, because its formation means that 2020 has broken the record for most named storms of any year in recorded history.
Iota expected to strike Central America as a major hurricane Tropical Storm “Iota” formed in the Central Caribbean at 21:00 UTC on November 13, 2020, as the 30th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Iota is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane before it makes landfall in Central America. The same region that saw major floods and landslides caused by Hurricane “Eta” — in which nearly 300 people lost their lives — will experience another round of heavy rain and strong winds. Landfall is expected early Tuesday, November 17. The time to prepare is now.
Typhoon Vamco: Thousands evacuate as storm heads for Vietnam A powerful storm that killed dozens of people in the Philippines is now heading towards Vietnam, forcing tens of thousands to leave their homes. Typhoon Vamco is expected to make landfall in eastern Vietnam on Sunday. Airports and beaches have been closed and fishermen told to return to land as the country braces for winds of up to 100km/h (60m/h).
Drought Plaguing Much of US A report by the U.S. Drought Monitor on Thursday revealed what anyone living in California or the Southwest already know: We need rain. Badly. “Abnormal dryness and drought are currently affecting over 120 million people across the United States including Puerto Rico — about 38.9% of the population,” the National Centers for Environmental Information, of which the U.S. Drought Monitor is a part, said in its latest report. The drought is particularly intense in the Four Corners region where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah intersect.
Tropical Storm “Eta” brings deadly floods to Florida and North Carolina, U.S. Tropical Storm “Eta” made its second landfall in Florida and overall fourth landfall at 09:20 UTC (04:20 LT) on Thursday morning, November 12, 2020, with winds of 85 km/h (50 mph), causing torn off trees and roofs, widespread flooding, at least one casualty, and power outage that affected 11 000 customers. Hours after pounding the state, it spread heavy rains and gusty winds around the Carolinas, resulting in record-breaking floods in Charlotte, multiple rescues, at least one collapsed bridge, and at least 6 fatalities. The overall death toll is now approaching 300. At least seven people die in North Carolina flash floods
GeoNet raises Alert Level and Aviation Color Code for White Island volcano, New Zealand Small amounts of volcanic ash are being carried in the stream and gas plume at White Island/Whakaari volcano in New Zealand and deposited on the island’s webcams, GeoNet reported November 13, 2020. As a result, the Volcanic Alert Level has been raised to Level 2 and the Aviation Color Code to Yellow.
Typhoon Vamco: Thousands evacuate as storm heads for Vietnam A powerful storm that killed dozens of people in the Philippines is now heading towards Vietnam, forcing tens of thousands to leave their homes. Typhoon Vamco is expected to make landfall in eastern Vietnam on Sunday. Airports and beaches have been closed and fishermen told to return to land as the country braces for winds of up to 100km/h (60m/h).
Huge 6.5 magnitude earthquake rocks Nevada as area hit by biggest quake in 66 years A huge 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit a remote area of Nevada on Friday 13th November, the largest quake the area has felt in 66 years. The quake, which was 4.7. miles deep, was initially reported as 5.5 on the richter scale, but the US Geological Survey has since revised the rumble to 6.5. A spokesman for USGS told CNN the earthquake was “widely felt” and shocked locals…
Typhoon “Vamco” strikes the Philippines, leaving a massive trail of destruction Typhoon “Vamco” — known locally as the Ulysses — struck the Philippines on November 11, 2020, with maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h (96 mph) and gusts to 205 km/h (127 mph). This is the 21st named storm to hit the country this year and the 4th in the past month– after Molave, Etau, and Goni (super typhoon). It is also the 22nd named storm of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season and the 10th typhoon.
Geopolitics and Cultural News
Baby dies on rescue boat after Mediterranean shipwreck
Six-month-old Joseph, from Guinea, was among more than 100 migrants in capsized dinghy
A six-month-old boy who survived a shipwreck has died onboard a rescue boat in the central Mediterranean. The child, named Joseph and originally from Guinea, was saved by rescuers from the Spanish non-governmental organisation Open Arms late on Wednesday morning after the dinghy in which he was travelling with more than 100 migrants capsized off Libya’s coast. At least five other asylum seekers died as a result of the incident. ‘‘Despite the enormous commitment of our medical team, a six-month-old baby has just died. We requested an urgent evacuation for him and other people in serious conditions, but he didn’t make it. How much pain and sorrow!” Open Arms wrote on Twitter…..On Tuesday, another child, whose age is unknown, was among 13 people who died in a separate shipwreck off Libya’s coast. Eleven survivors were taken back to Libya.
‘‘Change is necessary now, more than ever, to guarantee effective rescue at sea and prevent new tragedies,’’ said Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesperson for the UN Migration Agency, IOM.
In 2020 alone, “over 10,300 migrants have been intercepted at sea and sent back to dangerous Libya,” Di Giacomo said.
Russia-China Military Alliance ‘Quite Possible,’ Putin Says
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a future military alliance with China can’t be ruled out but is not needed right now, the Associated Press reported. Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin said that Russia has stepped up military cooperation with China through joint military exercises and the sharing of sensitive Russian military technologies…. China and Germany are headed for political and economic superpower status while the role of the United States, as well as Britain and France, has waned, Putin said. Putin’s comments on sharing sensitive technology with China come amid a wave of criminal prosecutions against Russian scientists accused of passing state secrets to China in recent years. How Cozy Is Russia and China’s Military Relationship?
Russia lands forces at former U.S. air base in northern Syria
Russia landed attack helicopters and troops at a sprawling air base in northern Syria vacated by U.S. forces, the Russian Defence Ministry's Zvezda TV channel said on Friday. Armed Russian military police were shown in footage aired on Zvezda flying into the Syrian air base in northern Aleppo province near the border with Turkey and fanning out to secure the area….. The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from parts of Syria last month….. Russia and Turkey are carrying out joint patrols along Syria's border with Turkey as part of a deal struck between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan.
Deep State Diplomat Lied To Trump About Syria On Behalf Of Military-Industrial Complex
“What Syria withdrawal? There was never a Syria withdrawal,” Jeffrey said. “When the situation in northeast Syria had been fairly stable after we defeated ISIS, [Trump] was inclined to pull out. In each case, we then decided to come up with five better arguments for why we needed to stay, and we succeeded both times. That’s the story.” While Trump eventually approved stationing between 200 and 400 U.S. troops in Syria to assist the U.S.’s Kurdish allies, officials estimate there are at least 900 troops there today. Jeffrey, who previously served as deputy national security adviser under George W. Bush, signed a 2016 “NeverTrump” letter, along with dozens of other national security and foreign policy officials who worked under Bush, pledging he would never vote for the then-Republican presidential nominee.
George Soros Looms Large Over Biden Transition Biden's "Agency Review Teams," which include lists of individuals "responsible for understanding the operations" of each government agency, will prepare "President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris … to hit the ground running on Day One." Soros is well represented on those lists.
Sarah Cross, an advocacy director at Soros's Open Society Foundations, received a seat on Biden's State Department transition team. Michael Pan, a special adviser in the executive office of the Open Society Foundations, will join the United States Mission to the United Nations team. Diane Thompson, who is listed as "self-employed" and a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau team, is a current Leadership in Government Fellow at the Open Society Foundations.
Soros poured more than $70 million into election activity backing Biden's candidacy this past cycle, more than three times his previous high of $22 million in the 2016 election cycle. Soros and the Democracy Alliance donor club previously enjoyed close access to the Obama administration; under a Biden administration, that access will likely return. Other members of Biden's transition team work for groups that receive heavy funding from the billionaire. Sharon Burke and Viv Graubard, both at the New America think tank, will join Biden's Department of Defense and Department of Labor teams. Soros's Open Society Foundations gave New America more than $1 million last year, according to the group's disclosures. Soros's son, Jonathan, sits on New America's board emeriti…. Finally, three people from the Center for Strategic and International Studies and two from the Roosevelt Institute received seats on Biden's team. Both groups recently received hundreds of thousands from Soros's nonprofits. The Democracy Alliance, a network of millionaire and billionaire donors of which Soros is a cofounder, mapped out a $275 million spending blitz against President Donald Trump for the 2020 elections, according to confidential documents previously obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Vox described the Democracy Alliance as the "closest thing that exists to a ‘left-wing conspiracy'" in the United States.