BEST OF THE WEB: The AUKUS issue is not over

Well, then I might as well address it. I am talking about this whole AUKUS affair and France losing huge contact on submarines for Royal Australian Navy. At this stage I am not interested in technical minutiae of this whole scandal, because it is useless anyway to concentrate on technical details of something which may change many times before, and if, it comes to fruition. I am, however, as always, interested in fundamental factors defining the framework. Le Drian and anyone in France' political top can express their frustration and play geopolitical games whatever they want, such as running to India: On Friday, France recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra after Australia scrapped a major submarine program with France in favor of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the US and UK. Paris furiously protested the new arrangement between Australia, the US and UK, known as AUKUS. Le Drian called the ditching of French-Australian submarine program "a...

BEST OF THE WEB: Tehran's in a tough position with the Taliban

The Taliban's lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan last month put Iran in a very difficult position. On the one hand, the Islamic Republic has traditionally been opposed to the self-declared "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" (IEA), especially after some of its members killed Iranian diplomats in 1998 and the group's prior rule of the country saw it oppressing the Shiite minority. On the other hand, however, Iran has little choice but to acknowledge the group's de facto leadership of Afghanistan and thus pragmatically engage with it in the interests of peace, security, and development. Tehran cannot realistically extend military support to anti-Taliban elements there like it did during their prior period of rule from 1996-2001 because the Taliban controls all of the country's international borders for the first time in its history. The modern-day iteration of this movement also claimed to have changed its ways by moderating its previously strict policies in light of changed...

Thousands of years of long-distance trade links shaped Siberian dogs

Analysis of ancient canine DNAs reveals that the inhabitants of Arctic Siberia began importing dogs from Eurasia some 2000 years ago. Archaeological finds show that people in the Arctic regions of Northwestern Siberia had already established long-range trading links with Eurasian populations some 2000 years ago. The initiation of trading relationships was one of a series of significant social changes that took place during this period. Moreover, these changes even had an impact on the genomes of Siberian dogs, as an international team of researchers led by LMU palaeogeneticist Laurent Frantz has now demonstrated. Based on extensive genetic analyses, the team concludes that dogs were imported into the Siberian Arctic, and that this process ultimately led to the establishment of Siberian breeds such as the samoyed. Genomes dating from the Stone Age to the Holocene

Top aide to Ukrainian president survives assassination attempt amidst crackdown on country's oligarchs

A top adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has survived an assassination attempt that officials suggest is tied to a political battle with criminal and corrupt interests, including the countries' oligarchs. Comment: Criminals have all accrued even more power since the US-backed coup in the country. At least 10 bullets struck the car of Serhiy Shefir, an aide and longtime friend of Zelenskiy, on Wednesday as he travelled through the village of Lesnyky toward the capital, Kyiv. The driver was struck three times and is undergoing surgery. Shefir was not hit by the gunfire, which reportedly came from a forested area along the road.

Far reaching 'counter-terrorism' bill passes in New Zealand, will be fast-tracked into law despite opposition & rushed reading

Legislation that will introduce a new offence - planning a terrorist attack - is a step closer to becoming law. Comment: Surely 'planning a terrorist attack' is already a criminal offence elsewhere on the law books? Since it likely is, one wonders what else has been added to this bill. The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill passed its second reading in Parliament this afternoon. ACT, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori opposed it. Following the LynnMall attack the prime minister announced the bill would be fast-tracked through the house.

Far reaching 'counter-terrorism' bill passes in New Zealand despite opposition & rushed reading, will be fast-tracked into law

Legislation that will introduce a new offence - planning a terrorist attack - is a step closer to becoming law. Comment: Surely 'planning a terrorist attack' is already a criminal offence elsewhere on the law books? Since it likely is, one wonders what else has been added to this bill. The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill passed its second reading in Parliament this afternoon. ACT, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori opposed it. Following the LynnMall attack the prime minister announced the bill would be fast-tracked through the house.

Chinese city Harbin orders spas, mahjong salons to shut after Covid-19 case confirmed

Harbin - Spas, cinemas and mahjong salons in the Chinese city of Harbin were ordered to close on Tuesday (Sept 21) to prevent Covid-19 from spreading in poorly ventilated spaces, state television reported. The temporary shutdowns were part of a range of restrictions imposed on the north-eastern city after one case of community transmission, the report said, citing the Harbin government.

Ron DeSantis' Biden-bashing is looking like a 2024 preview

Ron DeSantis took his offensive against Joe Biden on the road this past week, appearing at a fundraising event in Nebraska to give what has the makings of a 2024 stump speech, according to Politico. DeSantis may be up for reelection next year in Florida, but his focus was national as he escalated tensions with Biden over his state's COVID-19 surge. DeSantis declared: "My message from Florida is this: When Joe Biden violates the Constitution, when Joe Biden attacks the jobs of Floridians and Americans, when Joe Biden targets the livelihood of Florida families and American families, I am fighting back against him." The Florida governor was not the only Republican leader to show face at the event, which was held in a Nebraska town that conveniently borders Iowa--traditionally the first state that every presidential hopeful has to trudge through en route to the White House. Mike Pence and Ted Cruz, who edged out Trump in Iowa in 2016, gave anti-Biden speeches of their own at the annual...

BEST OF THE WEB: 9/11 and Afghanistan post-mortems: Lessons in safe logic

In the wake of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the 20th anniversary of the mass murders of September 11, 2001, the corporate mainstream and alternative media have been replete with articles analyzing the consequences of 9/11 that resulted in the US invasion of Afghanistan and its alleged withdrawal after two decades of war. These critiques have ranged from mild to harsh, and have covered issues from the loss of civil liberties due to The Patriot Act and government spying through all the wars "on terror" in so many countries with their disastrous consequences and killing fields. Many of these articles have emphasized how, as a result of the Bush administration's response to 9/11, the US has lost its footing and brought on the demise of the American empire and its standing in the world. Some writers celebrate this and others bemoan it. Most seem to consider this inevitable. This flood of articles has been authored by writers from across the political spectrum from the left...

House Dems remove Iron Dome funding from spending bill amid pressure from progressives

House Democrats removed funding for Israel's Iron Dome defense system from the short-term government spending bill yesterday, in what activists hailed as "an unprecedented moment for Palestinian rights." The move came in response to pressure from progressive Congress members. An eleventh hour request was tacked onto a bill that has to be passed in order to avert yet another government shutdown. It would have given Israel $1 billion to replenish its Iron Dome system, on top of the $3.8 billion in military aid that it already gets from the United States government. According to Politico, the aid was opposed by the same group of House Democrats that tried to block a Biden administration arms sale to Israel back in May. This would include Rep. Ocasio Cortez, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). It's currently cosponsored by Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) , Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WI), and Rep....

'10 for the big guy': Politico confirms Hunter Biden's China, Ukraine emails are legit

Several emails from Hunter Biden's laptop have been confirmed as legitimate, according to Politico, citing claims in a new book, along with emails released by a Swedish government agency. Ben Schreckinger's The Bidens: Inside the First Family's Fifty-Year Rise to Power, out today, finds evidence that some of the purported HUNTER BIDEN laptop material is genuine, including two emails at the center of last October's controversy. A person who had independent access to Hunter Biden's emails confirmed he did receive a 2015 email from a Ukrainian businessman thanking him for the chance to meet Joe Biden. The same goes for a 2017 email in which a proposed equity breakdown of a venture with Chinese energy executives includes the line, "10 held by H for the big guy?" (This person recalled seeing both emails, but was not in a position to compare the leaked emails word-for-word to the originals.) MORE: Emails released by a Swedish government agency also match emails in the leaked cache, and...

Libya's parliament withdraws confidence from unity government

Libya's House of Representatives on Tuesday withdrew confidence from the unity government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh. The parliament decided to withdraw confidence from the government by a majority of 89 out of 113 lawmakers who attended today's session, parliamentary spokesman Abdullah Belhaiq said on Facebook. He did not give further details. The High Council of State criticized the move, with its spokesman Muhammad Abdel Nasser tweeting that it "rejects the procedure of withdrawing confidence from the national unity government, and considers it void for violating the constitutional declaration and the political agreement, and considers everything that results from them null." There was no comment from the unity government on the move. Meanwhile, 38 lawmakers signed a petition in opposition to parliament withdrawing confidence from the government, local Al-Ahrar TV channel reported. Also, mayors of 65 out of 116 municipalities in Libya announced their rejection of the...

After Afghans fell from plane, families live with horror

It's a scene that has come to symbolize the chaotic end to America's 20 years of war in Afghanistan: A lumbering U.S. Air Force cargo plane takes off from Kabul airport, chased by hundreds of desperate Afghan men scrambling to get on the aircraft. As the C-17 transporter gains altitude, shaky mobile phone video captures two tiny dots dropping from the plane. Footage from another angle shows many in the crowd on the tarmac stopping in their tracks and pointing. The full extent of the horror becomes apparent only later. The dots, it turns out, were desperate Afghans hidden in the wheel well. As the wheels folded into the body of the plane, the stowaways faced the choice of being crushed to death or letting go and plunging to the ground. More than a month later, much remains unclear about what happened in that tragic takeoff on Aug. 16, a day after the Taliban swept into Kabul, prompting a flood of Afghans trying to escape the country.

Number of children in A&E with serious mental health issues jumps 50 percent since start of pandemic

The number of children who go to A&E [Accident and Emergency] with serious mental health issues has jumped by more than 50 percent since the coronavirus pandemic began, after school closures pushed youngsters to crisis point, a Telegraph investigation has revealed. More than 2,243 children in England were referred for specialist mental health care from emergency departments in May this year, compared with just 1,428 in May 2019. Experts say children have struggled with schools being closed and without face-to-face interaction with their peers. Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP and the chair of the education select committee, called for schools to remain open to stave off a mental health "catastrophe". NHS data reveal that nearly 27,000 children are being prescribed antidepressants each month, up more than eight per cent from 2019. While most are teenagers, 25 a month are aged six or under, and more than 1,000 are aged seven to 11. Waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental...

Energy crisis stretches to UK food-supply chain, already bruised by labour shortage amid Brexit & Covid-19

British meat processors have become the latest casualty of the growing energy crisis that threatens to result in a dire shortage of carbon dioxide gas, which is widely used throughout the food and drinks industry. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of fertiliser production that is used to stun animals before slaughter as well as for the packaging process that prolongs the shelf life of all meat, and in fizzy drinks and beer. However, soaring gas prices have brought about a slowdown at some chemical factories in Europe that produce fertiliser, with a major US producer being forced to halt operations at two manufacturing complexes in the UK for an uncertain period of time. Nick Allen, the chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) told the BBC after emergency talks with the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that: "This crisis highlights the fact that the British food supply chain is at the mercy of a small number of major fertiliser...

GOP Nevada Lt Gov hopeful shoved out of commission meeting for questioning Covid narration

Mack Miller, a Republican candidate for Lt. Gov. of Nevada, was physically ejected from a Las Vegas local government meeting on Tuesday. "The Clark County Commission on Tuesday voted 5-2 to declare COVID-19 misinformation a public health crisis," the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. "Falsehoods have fueled public mistrust and prolonged the pandemic by undermining efforts to combat the spread of the disease, according to the passed resolution." When Miller ran as the GOP nominee for the state legislature in 2018, the same newspaper published a story titled, "Nevada Assembly candidate deserted Army comrades during Iraq war." Miller again was the center of controversy after videos of his appearance at the commission meeting spread online.

Severe storm and strong winds hit Oman

Severe rain storm and strong winds hit Nizwa and Ibri! Sultanate of Oman.

Russia to increase psychological, social & medical help available to pregnant women as country seeks to reduce abortions by 50%

The Russian authorities are developing plans to boost the quantity of social and psychological assistance available to pregnant women in an attempt to reduce the number of abortions, a cabinet office decree has revealed. The decree text, published last week, names several possible ways to prevent pregnancy terminations, including medical and legal assistance to women in difficult life situations. The government intends to increase the percentage of women receiving pre-abortion counseling to 80% by 2025, with the goal of reducing terminations by half.

Wuhan scientists planned to release coronavirus particles into cave bats, leaked papers reveal

Leaked documents reveal researchers applied for $14m to fund controversial project in 2018. Wuhan scientists were planning to release enhanced airborne coronavirus particles into Chinese bat populations to inoculate them against diseases that could jump to humans, leaked grant proposals dating from 2018 show. New documents show that just 18 months before the first Covid-19 cases appeared, researchers had submitted plans to release skin-penetrating nanoparticles containing "novel chimeric spike proteins" of bat coronaviruses into cave bats in Yunnan, China. They also planned to create chimeric viruses, genetically enhanced to infect humans more easily, and requested $14million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to fund the work.

New proof emerges on the Biden family emails: A definitive account of the CIA/Media/BigTech fraud

An axis of the CIA, Big Tech and the DNC-allied wing of the corporate media spread an absolute lie in the weeks before the 2020 election. We now have definitive proof. A severe escalation of the war on a free internet and free discourse has taken place over the last twelve months. Numerous examples of brute and dangerous censorship have emerged: the destruction by Big Tech monopolies of Parler at the behest of Democratic politicians at the time that it was the most-downloaded app in the country; the banning of the sitting president from social media; and the increasingly explicit threats from elected officials in the majority party of legal and regulatory reprisals in the event that tech platforms do not censor more in accordance with their demands. But the most severe episode of all was the joint campaign — in the weeks before the 2020 election — by the CIA, Big Tech, the liberal wing of the corporate media and the Democratic Party to censor and suppress a series of major reports...

New proof emerges on the Biden family emails: a Definitive account of the CIA/Media/BigTech fraud

An axis of the CIA, Big Tech and the DNC-allied wing of the corporate media spread an absolute lie in the weeks before the 2020 election. We now have definitive proof. A severe escalation of the war on a free internet and free discourse has taken place over the last twelve months. Numerous examples of brute and dangerous censorship have emerged: the destruction by Big Tech monopolies of Parler at the behest of Democratic politicians at the time that it was the most-downloaded app in the country; the banning of the sitting president from social media; and the increasingly explicit threats from elected officials in the majority party of legal and regulatory reprisals in the event that tech platforms do not censor more in accordance with their demands. But the most severe episode of all was the joint campaign — in the weeks before the 2020 election — by the CIA, Big Tech, the liberal wing of the corporate media and the Democratic Party to censor and suppress a series of major reports...

BEST OF THE WEB: Amidst erupting lockdown protests, strongest earthquake on record strikes Melbourne, Australia

The state of Victoria, Australia, was shaken by its biggest onshore earthquake in recorded history on 22 September. Some buildings were damaged but no one was seriously hurt. The magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck at 9:15am local time, according to Geoscience Australia. The epicentre was in the Alpine National Park about 120 kilometres east of Melbourne, at a shallow depth of around 10 kilometres. People in Melbourne, who are currently in a covid-19 lockdown, reported feeling the ground shake for 15 to 20 seconds. Tremors were also felt in Canberra, just over 300 kilometres north-east of the epicentre. A small number of buildings in Melbourne partially collapsed and power outages occurred in some parts of the city, but no major damage or serious injuries have been reported.

Croatian police identify amnesiac woman found on Adriatic island

Officers identified the woman as Daniela Adamcova, who has spent time in the US and Ireland. Croatian police say they have established the identity of a woman who was found in a remote area on a northern Adriatic island with no recollection of who she was or where she came from. Officers identified the woman as Daniela Adamcova, 57, from Slovakia. They said her identity was established after receiving numerous tips from Croatia and abroad. Croatian media said the tip that revealed her identity came from the US where she reportedly lived until 2015 before moving to Ireland. She was reportedly a successful jewellery designer who ended up becoming homeless.

Human species you may not know about

We're so used to the idea of being the only people around that it seems outlandish to think that not so long ago in our evolutionary history, multiple types of humans occupied various landscapes. The environments of the Paleolithic, or Stone Age, were dynamic. Populations moved, interacted, and sometimes even interbred. As archaeological methodologies and available technologies become more sophisticated, we're able to "see" the lives of these human populations with more and more nuance, making the world of the Paleolithic more like a living tableau than a frozen museum diorama. So, how many different types of humans have there been? It's a big question, and anthropologists have yet to agree on an answer. A big part of the debate is that there are very few specimens for anthropologists to work from. Take a moment to picture the whole spectrum of modern humans' body sizes and shapes, and imagine trying to re-create that using the skeletons of just a handful of random individuals....

How National Propaganda Radio (NPR) negatively slants reporting about Covid and Ivermectin

On September 21st, NPR's "All Things Considered" had a segment titled "How Ivermectin Ended Up In The Middle Of A COVID-19 Controversy" and reported by Pien Huang. She totally ignored — didn't mention at all — the actual scientific research studies that have been done comparing the disease-outcomes of covid patients who have been receiving ivermectin versus the patients who haven't. That should have been what her report was focusing on, but instead she totally ignored that question, and the interviewer (the program-host) never even raised the question with her. Here are those data, all of which she ignored:

New way to solve the 'hardest of the hard' computer problems

A relatively new type of computing that mimics the way the human brain works was already transforming how scientists could tackle some of the most difficult information processing problems. Now, researchers have found a way to make what is called reservoir computing work between 33 and a million times faster, with significantly fewer computing resources and less data input needed. In fact, in one test of this next-generation reservoir computing, researchers solved a complex computing problem in less than a second on a desktop computer. Using the now current state-of-the-art technology, the same problem requires a supercomputer to solve and still takes much longer, said Daniel Gauthier, lead author of the study and professor of physics at The Ohio State University. "We can perform very complex information processing tasks in a fraction of the time using much less computer resources compared to what reservoir computing can currently do," Gauthier said. "And reservoir computing was...

7 fatal tiger attacks in one month in a district of Maharashtra, India

An unprecedented spate of fatal tiger attacks in a forest range of Gadchiroli district has struck terror in 18 villages in the region. A sub-adult tiger, aged just about two years, is suspected to have killed seven persons, all men, in the Porla range within a month. Such a spate of attacks is unprecedented, say wildlife officials. Officials, however, have confirmed that only four of the attacks are by the two-year-old tiger. They are still unsure about whether the other three victims, too, had died due to an attack by this tiger. The earlier known instances of attacks by Pandharkawda tigers Avni, which was shot dead in 2018, and Rajura tiger RT1, were spread over one-and-a-half years. Gadchiroli Conservator of Forest Ashok Mankar told The Indian Express, "A two-year old tiger, who was separated from its mother a couple of months ago, has killed at least four persons, beginning August 15. We have the camera trap evidence for the same."

White House press corps launch 'formal objection' to Biden refusing to answer questions

Pathetic scene in Oval Office as British PM takes press questions while Biden's handlers refuse to allow him to speak CBS News reported Tuesday that the press pool of White House reporters have launched a formal objection over the fact that Joe Biden refuses to answer any questions, with reporters routinely being yelled down and physically pushed away by Biden's handlers. The revelation came after an embarrassing scene in the Oval Office with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson answering questions, but Biden not being allowed to by aides.

US Gen. Mark Milley meets with Russian counterpart Gen. Valery Gerasimov to discuss post-Afghan withdrawal terms, 'basing rights'

The top U.S. military officer met with his Russian counterpart Wednesday, against the backdrop of U.S. struggles to get military basing rights and other counterterrorism support in countries bordering Afghanistan — a move Moscow has flatly opposed. The meeting in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, between Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov comes at a crucial time in the wake of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Without troops on the ground, the U.S. needs to forge more basing, intelligence sharing and other agreements to help monitor al-Qaida and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan to ensure they are not regrouping and posing a threat to America and its allies.

Ponerology - how I stumbled upon the work of Andrzej Łobaczewski

Spring 2020 - I think of how to get to Alabama for my research fellowship, and if it's even possible. It has been seven years since I left Poland and started a nomad life between various countries and fields. There's obviously been geophysics at first, but now it's just a shadow of a teenage passion, fading away after the hard expat life in soulless places, and of course, I don't mean whole countries, just specific environments. In hindsight, and they say that hindsight is 20/20 - I could already see some of my preliminary cultural shocks as early as in 2012, during my first internship in Paris. I thought... I thought people know the same portions of history, and even if they don't, they will be open and empathetic. I thought we share similar culture that's probably Christian in the roots, no matter how you define your relation (or lack thereof) with God. I thought the general manners is to be sensitive and unassuming when it comes to such topics. I thought many things. But I...

Australia in for weekend cold front after late heavy snow falls - up to 11 inches in 36 hours

A polar blast which brought heavy snow and temperatures as low as -8C to NSW and Victoria during the past 24 hours is set to be followed by another arctic cold front this weekend. In NSW, Tamworth dropped to -2.6C this morning, its coldest September morning in nine years, while the Thredbo top station was -4.2C only a day after it measured -8C. At Victoria's Mt Baw Baw, which is currently 2C, some 28cm of snow has fallen in the past 36 hours. Weatherzone's Joel Pippard said the polar blast had frozen large part of NSW and Victoria. A polar blast is when cold air comes straight from Antarctica in the south and does not have time to warm up.

Prediction: The Deep State will toss Joseph Biden out like an old casserole within a year

The Ides of March are upon us in September, and the air is heavy with palace intrigue. When White House officials leak damaging goodies to their allies at Politico, it's a sure sign the sinking ship is barely treading water. The rats appear to be jumping; Biden's presidency will likely not survive another year. Via Yahoo! News: "Anxiety about what President Joe Biden might say if he takes questions from the media drives some in the White House to mute him or turn off his public appearances altogether, Politico reported Tuesday, citing White House officials... Biden has made frequent flubs during press events and other public appearances by losing his line of thinking, stumbling, and forgetting names... Biden occasionally shrugs off reporters' inquiries by telling the press that his staff directed him not to take questions, suggesting officials seek to minimize the number of those incidents." This is all an outrageous, illegitimate affront to the façade of American democracy. No...

New Iran leader gives fiery UN speech: Sanctions are "new means of war" by "US hegemon"

For the first time newly installed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the UN General Assembly meeting on Tuesday afternoon, hours after Biden spoke wherein the US president said the White House still wants a full return to the JCPOA nuclear deal "if Iran does the same". Raisi addressed the UN body via remote feed, given sanctions on him could make the trip into New York difficult. Raisi, who has long been described as more hardline than his predecessor Rouhani, wasn't so conciliatory in his tone. He took the occasion to lash at the foreign policies of both Trump and Biden, saying "The world doesn't care about 'America First' or 'America is Back." He blasted and mocked the "US hegemonic system" as having "failed miserably" while calling continued US-led sanctions initially imposed by former President Trump "crimes against humanity during the coronavirus pandemic." He further took the opportunity to declare the failure of the US in Afghanistan. "One clear message was sent to...

BEST OF THE WEB: 'Unusually powerful' M5.9 earthquake rocks southeast Australia amidst erupting lockdown protests

An earthquake has caused damage in Melbourne in an unusually powerful shake for Australia. The magnitude 5.9 quake hit 80 miles northeast of Australia's second-most populous city near the town of Mansfield at a depth of six miles, Geoscience Australia said. While there was some damage to buildings, there were no serious injuries, authorities said. Images showed damage to brickwork in Chapel Street in the inner suburb of South Yarra.

Rare magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits southeast Australia

An earthquake has caused damage in Melbourne in an unusually powerful shake for Australia. The magnitude 5.9 quake hit 80 miles northeast of Australia's second-most populous city near the town of Mansfield at a depth of six miles, Geoscience Australia said. While there was some damage to buildings, there were no serious injuries, authorities said. Images showed damage to brickwork in Chapel Street in the inner suburb of South Yarra.

Magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes near coast of Nicaragua

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck near the coast of Nicaragua on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake was at a depth of 40 kilometers (24.85 miles). The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said there was no tsunami warning after the earthquake. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) Source: Reuters

Melbourne police fire pepper balls at thousands of protesters amidst growing discontent over vaccine mandates & endless lockdowns

Police in Melbourne used pepper balls and rubber pellets on Thursday to scatter thousands of protesters who defied stay-at- home orders to damage property, block a busy freeway and injure three officers, leading to over 40 arrests, authorities said. It was the second day of demonstrations in the locked-down Australian city after authorities shut construction sites for two weeks, saying workers' frequent movement was spreading the coronavirus. Comment: Construction workers were considered 'essential' across much of the planet and worked throughout the last 18 months' of lockdowns; what changed? It's perhaps no coincidence that just as the construction companies are threatening workers with the sack if they don't get the vaccine that suddenly the government is now, essentially, calling them super spreaders: 'F**k the jab!': CHAOS in Australia as construction workers violently protest vaccine mandate outside union HQ "This has been a really challenging environment for us," Shane...

Lightning strike kills 8 cows on central Maine farm

John Fortin was wrapping up a day of haying on his family beef farm on Saturday evening and happy he had beat the rainstorm. Then he got a call from his neighbor telling him lightning had just struck a tree where eight of Fortin's cows had taken shelter from the rain. All eight had been electrocuted and were dead. Those eight heifers represent 10 percent of the Fortin Farm's Angus 80-animal beef herd. The loss is a huge economic and emotional blow to the farm in Winslow that has been in the Fortin family for four generations. "That storm rolled in around 5:30 and only lasted maybe an hour, but there was a lot of lightning close by," Fortin said. "My neighbor calls and says, 'Hey, lightning just hit the big pine tree on top of the hill and I have dead cows over here.'"

Magnitude 6.4 earthquake sways buildings in coastal Chile

A strong earthquake shook buildings in the Chilean city of Concepcion on Tuesday, though there were no immediate reports of damage A strong earthquake shook buildings in the Chilean city of Concepcion on Tuesday, though there were no immediate reports of damage. The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 6.4 and said it was centered offshore, 81 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the city of Arauco. Witnesses said tall buildings swayed strongly after the quake hit at 10:14 a.m. local time (1314 GMT). Source: The Associated Press

Judge extends ban on NY order mandating medical workers be vaccinated or lose their job

A federal judge on Tuesday extended a ban on Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul's order mandating all health care workers in the state of New York to be vaccinated against COVID-19, without any exceptions, lest they be fired. The restraining order was pushed back another two weeks; now health care and longterm care employees in the state seeking a religious exemption can remain unvaccinated until at least October 12, and keep their jobs. "Breaking: federal judge extends the temporary ban on the NYS vaccine mandate for health care industry workers claiming a religious exemption until October 12th," News 10 NBC reporter Berkeley Brean said Tuesday. "Then the order could turn into a preliminary injunction."

SOTT FOCUS: Objective:Health - Australian Medical Fascism: Coming Soon to Your Country‌

Anyone watching any kind of alternative media for the last month and a half knows that Australia has lost it's freakin' mind. The country has gone into full fascist mode, 'because Coronavirus'. The military on the streets, sirens are blaring, the police are getting violent with protesters, strict stay-at-home orders are in full effect with restrictions getting tighter by the day. Thank God it's only over there... for now. All the signs point to this brand of fascism getting exported to other Western nations in the near future. Keep your eyes on what's going on down under, your country might be next! Join us on this episode of Objective:Health as we look at the medical fascist state - Australia-style! For other health-related news and more, you can find us on: ♥Twitter: https://twitter.com/objecthealth ♥Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/objecthealth/ ♥Brighteon: https://www.brighteon.com/channel/objectivehealth ♥LBRY: https://lbry.tv/@objectivehealth:f ♥Odysee:...

Rules for thee, but not for me: Maskless 2021 Emmys defended by Los Angeles County after criticism over lack of COVID-19 safety protocols

The Department of Health explained that because of the nature of the event, the crowded venue was not in violation of any suggested safety guidelines. Despite online backlash and a bit from presenter Seth Rogen, the 2021 Emmy Awards did not violate coronavirus safety protocols, the Los Angeles Department of Health says. The Sunday night broadcast caught flack online as the packed ceremony seemed to toss safety precautions to the wind. Very few - if any - masks were worn and social distancing was not in place between groups of people. When he presented an award early in the night, Rogen compared the event to being in a "hermetically sealed tin." Host Cedric the Entertainer later explained, however, that all attendees were vaccinated.

Inalienable Rights - A Suggested Solution To The Covid Coup d'état & How To Resist It

Inalienable rights, founded upon the principles of Natural Law and natural justice, offer us a potential solution to the COVID coup d'état, or pseudopandemic as I call it. Exercising our inalienable rights, in observance of Natural Law, and collectively acting in peace to undermine the objectives of the conspirators, is the best way to resist it. The objective of the global public - private - partnership of stakeholder capitalists, and their government agents, is to establish centralised global control. If our intention is to resist the imposition of this new world order the solution will not be found in any other form of centralised control. We must construct a society based upon decentralised freedom. I have challenged the official COVID narrative. However, as many have pointed out to me, quite forcefully on occasion, it is easy to criticise. So here I offer a suggested remedy. This is my opinion, I am sure there are many alternative ways to peaceably resist and we should use any...

Study confirms that it was a giant meteorite impact that caused massive extinction in the late Cretaceous

A study published in the journal Geology rules out that extreme volcanic episodes had any influence on the massive extinction of species in the late Cretaceous. The results confirm the hypothesis that it was a giant meteorite impact what caused the great biological crisis that ended up with the non-avian dinosaur lineages and other marine and terrestrial organisms 66 million years ago. The study was carried out by the researcher Sietske Batenburg, from the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona, and the experts Vicente Gilabert, Ignacio Arenillas and José Antonio Arz, from the University Research Institute on Environmental Sciences of Aragon (IUCA-University of Zaragoza). K/Pg boundary: the great extinction of the Cretaceous in Zumaia coasts The scenario of this study were the Zumaia cliffs (Basque Country), which have an exceptional section of strata that reveals the geological history of the Earth in the period of 115-50 million years ago (Ma). In this...

Democrats mistake horse reins for whips to accuse Border Patrol of cruelty to Haitian migrants crossing from Mexico

The US Border Patrol has been accused of "cruelty" toward Haitian immigrants crossing into Texas, as an activist claimed its agents used "whips" against them. The agency says mounted agents used reins to control their horses. Amid the ongoing drama with migrants crossing the US-Mexico border at a stretch of the Rio Grande near the small Texas town of Del Rio, a Democrat activist claimed that mounted BP agents were "rounding up Haitian refugees with whips." "This is unfathomable cruelty towards people fleeing disaster and political ruin. The administration must stop this," tweeted Sawyer Hackett, director of People First Future, a political action committee set up by Democrat Julian Castro.

ECHR rules Russia was responsible for death of Litvinenko, former FSB agent who defected to Britain's MI6 - Moscow denies role

Europe's top human rights court has ruled that Moscow's security services were behind the 2006 death by poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer who moved to London and defected to Britain's MI6. In a judgement issued on Tuesday morning, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded that "Russia was responsible for assassination of Litvinenko in the UK." The spy, who ran key operations in the war-torn region of Chechnya during the bloody civil conflict in the early 1990s, began working for the UK's MI6 foreign intelligence service after leaving Russia in 2000. He was recruited, officials said, to provide "useful information about senior Kremlin figures and their links with Russian organized crime." In his absence a court in Moscow found him guilty of corruption and sentenced him to three-and-a-half years behind bars.

Major agriculture group New Cooperative hit by ransomware attack, 40% of grain supply chain under serious threat

Agriculture group New Cooperative group was hit by a ransomware attack over the weekend, potentially endangering operations of a company key to the agricultural supply chain. A spokesperson for New Cooperative confirmed the attack to The Hill on Monday, noting in a statement that the company "recently identified a cybersecurity incident that is impacting some of our company's devices and systems." "Out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively taken our systems offline to contain the threat, and we can confirm it has been successfully contained," the spokesperson said. "We also quickly notified law enforcement and are working closely with data security experts to investigate and remediate the situation."

1.5 years behind bars for a tweet: Belarusian court sentences Russian woman to jail time after 'defaming' Lukashenko on Twitter

A court in the Belarusian city of Brest has sentenced a Russian woman to a year and a half in a penal colony after she was found guilty of defaming the country's embattled president Alexander Lukashenko in a post on Twitter. According to the human rights center Vesna, Irina Vikholm was arrested after publishing a tweet linking to her LiveJournal blog, on which she reprinted a BBC report about the detention of Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevich in Minsk. "Another crime of Lukashenko: an act of state air piracy," the offending tweet said, alongside a photo of the president. According to the authorities, this is "slanderous information," which has a maximum penalty of five years. Comment: Someone might wish to tell Lukashenko that thin skin is not a good look. Just make sure not to do it on LiveJournal. Vesna also reported that Vikholm pleaded not guilty, and during the trial stated that the case was "clearly politically motivated." The Russian woman, who has lived in...

Crazy birds! Calling women 'birds' is 'plainly sexist', judge rules as Barclays banker wins discrimination claim

A UK judge has ruled that calling women "birds" is "plainly sexist," and even using the term jokingly is "foolish" in a landmark discrimination case. The ruling came following a tribunal brought by a Barclays investment banker after her boss repeatedly called women "birds." Anna Anca Lacatus said her boss, James Kinghorn, continued to refer to her as a "bird" despite requesting that he stop and warning that the term was making her feel uncomfortable, the hearing at the East London Employment Tribunals Service was told. Mr Kinghorn still defended his use of the word as "lighthearted", but judge John Crosfill ruled against him stating it was "foolish" to think anyone would find the remark funny. Ms Lacatus is set to receive compensation following the ruling. Ms Lacatus worked as a £46,000-a-year analyst with Barclays, her first job in investment banking since completing an investments and finance master's degree at Queen Mary University in London. In a statement, she said her boss Mr...

Sudan coup attempt has failed, government says

Sudan's fragile political transition has been plunged into uncertainty after a reported coup attempt by soldiers loyal to the former autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019. As Sudan woke up to the government's claims of the alleged coup, details - including the individuals behind it - remained murky. Bashir himself came to power after a military coup in 1989. Amid reports of sporadic shooting at a base in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, which is linked to the capital by bridge, government officials said the coup involving military officers and civilians linked to the deposed regime had failed.

UN Speech: Biden seeks to rally countries to confront urgent threats

President Biden on Tuesday sought to rally nations behind confronting urgent global challenges like the coronavirus pandemic and climate change during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. He described the world as being at an inflection point that will determine the collective future of all countries. Biden said in prepared remarks in New York on Tuesday morning: "This is the clear and urgent choice that we face here at the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world. A decade that will quite literally determine our futures. Whether we choose to fight for our shared future or not will reverberate for generations yet to come." Biden spoke about his efforts to rebuild alliances and renew commitments to multilateral organizations and described the recent U.S. military exit from Afghanistan as not a retreat from the world stage but rather a pivot to a new chapter of "relentless diplomacy."

House Democrats unveil legislation to curtail presidential power

House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled legislation that aims to curtail presidential power and protect against abuse of power by future presidents, in an apparent rebuke of President Trump's time in the White House. The bill, dubbed the Protecting Our Democracy Act, includes a number of tenets to prevent presidential abuses, restore checks and balances, strengthen accountability and transparency and protect elections. It is sponsored by nine House Democrats — all of whom chair committees — and is supported by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). It also includes legislation offered by a number of other Democratic lawmakers. The group mentioned the Trump administration in its description of the bill on its website, writing that some "aggrandizement" of presidential power "reached new heights" under the former president. The bill's website reads: "The proposals respond to longstanding vulnerabilities in our democracy that have allowed for the aggrandizement of presidential power, many of...

Democrats want mandate to stop banks from funding oil and gas after 2030

Several progressive House Democrats introduced this week a bill seeking to mandate the Fed to ban banks from funding all fossil fuel projects after 2030, and require the systemically important large banks to align emissions financing with U.S obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement. Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced the so-called Fossil Free Finance Act, which would require the Federal Reserve to mandate that all bank holding companies with more than $50 billion in assets and all nonbank Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) align their financing of greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation risk commodities with science-based emissions targets. The bill requires the Fed to mandate large banks to commit to 50 percent reduction in financed emissions by 2030 and 100-percent reduction in financed emissions by 2050. The Fed mandate, as per the bill, would also ban the...

US panel backs COVID-19 boosters only for seniors, high risk

Dealing the White House a stinging setback, a government advisory panel overwhelmingly rejected a plan Friday to give Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots across the board, and instead endorsed the extra vaccine dose only for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease. The twin votes represented a heavy blow to the Biden administration's sweeping effort, announced a month ago, to shore up nearly all Americans' protection amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The nonbinding recommendation — from an influential committee of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration — is not the last word. The FDA will consider the group's advice and make its own decision, probably within days. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to weigh in next week. In a surprising turn, the advisory panel rejected, 16-2, boosters for almost everyone. Members cited a lack of safety data on extra doses and also raised doubts about the value of...

'Hotel Rwanda hero' Paul Rusesabagina convicted of terror charges

Paul Rusesabagina, the "Hotel Rwanda" hero who became a fierce government critic, was found guilty on Monday on terror charges after what his supporters say was a politically motivated show trial. He was convicted of backing a rebel group blamed for deadly gun, grenade and arson attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019. "He founded a terrorist organisation that attacked Rwanda, he financially contributed to terrorist activities," Justice Beatrice Mukamurenzi said at the end of a seven-month trial. Rwandan prosecutors have sought a life sentence for Rusesabagina, the 67-year-old former hotelier credited with saving hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide, and whose actions inspired the Hollywood film. Neither he nor his lawyers were in court for the verdict, although the 20 other defendants in the case attended. Rusesabagina, who used his fame to denounce Rwandan leader Paul Kagame as a dictator, was arrested in August 2020 when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed instead...

Auckland extends Covid-19 lockdown

New Zealand's largest city Auckland will remain in a Covid-19 lockdown for at least another two weeks, although some restrictions will be eased, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday (Sept 20). Ms Ardern said the city of two million would move down to level three on New Zealand's four-tier coronavirus response system by late Tuesday, even as the authorities remain committed to eliminating a Delta variant outbreak. "We're moving now because the advice we have is that we do not have widespread, undetected transmission in Auckland," she told reporters. She added that if everyone continues to play his part, "we can continue stamping out (the virus)". The change means stay-at-home orders will remain in place but some businesses, such as takeaway food outlets, can open using contactless delivery. New Zealand imposed a nationwide lockdown on Aug 17 when the first case of the highly transmissible Delta variant was found in the community. The cluster has been concentrated in...

The vaccinated may enter: Alberta's COVID-19 vaccine passport system begins today

The Alberta government has released more details about which businesses and institutions come under its new proof-of-vaccination program that allows some to operate without capacity limits and other public health measures. Retail stores, libraries, hotels and post-secondary institutions don't have to take part in the United Conservative Party's so-called Restriction Exemption Program. Nor do worshippers at a church, employees on a worksite or students on a school trip. Some restrictions will still apply. Stores must limit shoppers to one-third of normal capacity, for example. Entertainment facilities from restaurants to nightclubs to art galleries are all eligible to participate in the program. They can operate normally as long as they require patrons to show proof of vaccination. Eligible facilities that don't participate must work under public health rules that include capacity limits and mask requirements for indoor public spaces. The program was announced last week by Premier...

US Space Force Commander claims Russia has armed satellite in orbit capable of destroying US military assets

Russia already has deployed in low-earth orbit a "nesting doll" satellite armed with a weapon that can destroy US satellites vital for communications, command and control and precision targeting, Space Force Commander General John Raymond said on Tuesday. "Russia has a nesting doll satellite [in orbit] to destroy US satellites, armed with a weapon to destroy US satellites," Raymond told the Air Force Association (AFA) Air Space Cyber Conference at National Harbor in the US state of Maryland. "It denies our ability to leverage space as a force multiplier." Raymond claimed the satellite is designed like a Russian "nesting doll," with an outer casing that opens up to reveal an inner satellite shell and that shell also opens to reveal a weapon that can fire at and destroy US orbiting satellites from a safe distance

SOTT FOCUS: Federal Nurse Goes Public: "Government Doesn't Want People to Know That The Covid Vaccine is Full of Sh*t"

'Shove' adverse effect reporting 'under the mat' Project Veritas released the first video of its COVID vaccine investigative series today featuring an interview with U.S. Health and Human Services [HHS] insider, Jodi O'Malley, who works as a Registered Nurse at the local Indian Medical Center. O'Malley told Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe about what has been going on at her federal government facility. She recorded her HHS colleagues discussing their concerns about the new COVID vaccine to corroborate her assertions:

Ancient Tunguska sized airburst demolished city in Jordan Valley

Researchers present evidence that a cosmic impact destroyed a biblical city in the Jordan Valley In the Middle Bronze Age (about 3,600 years ago or roughly 1650 BCE), the city of Tall el-Hammam was ascendant. Located on high ground in the southern Jordan Valley, northeast of the Dead Sea, the settlement in its time had become the largest continuously occupied Bronze Age city in the southern Levant, having hosted early civilization for a few thousand years. At that time, it was 10 times larger than Jerusalem and 5 times larger than Jericho. "It's an incredibly culturally important area," said James Kennett (link is external), emeritus professor of earth science at UC Santa Barbara. "Much of where the early cultural complexity of humans developed is in this general area." A favorite site for archaeologists and biblical scholars, the mound hosts evidence of culture all the way from the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, all compacted into layers as the highly strategic settlement was built,...

Ancient sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than the pyramids and Stonehenge

Stunning relief carvings of camels in Saudi Arabia are now thought to date back more than 7,000 years - making them more than three times as old as was first suggested. Previously, it was thought the ancient camel sculptures found in the northern province of Al Jouf were about 2,000 years old. However, chemical analysis and the examination of tool marks helped to show that the carvings at the site were made in the sixth millennium BCE. It means the remarkable life-size sandstone carvings of camels and other animals, including a donkey, are the world's oldest surviving large-scale reliefs. "They are absolutely stunning and, bearing in mind we see them now in a heavily eroded state with many panels fallen, the original site must've been absolutely mind blowing," said Dr Maria Guagnin, from the department of archaeology at Germany's Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the lead author of a new study on the late Stone Age carvings. "There were life-sized camels and...

What did he know and when? Biden's National Security advisor implicated in Alfa Bank Russiagate scam

The indictment of lawyer Michael Sussmann promises to shed more light on what really went on during Russiagate. And it also raises questions about the possible involvement of Jake Sullivan - now National Security Advisor. On September 16, Special Counsel John Durham charged Sussmann, a partner at Perkins Coie, the law firm which represented the Democrats and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, with making false statements to the FBI over the course of its Trump-Russia probe. Sussmann met with counsel James Baker in September 2016, and claimed the Trump Organization had used a secret server of Russia's Alfa Bank as a communications channel with the Kremlin. What he didn't mention, according to the indictment, was that he was conducting "opposition research" on Trump, and "coordinating" with the Clinton campaign to present that information to the FBI and mainstream media. In fact, the indictment suggests Sussmann lied, stating he said outright he wasn't conducting work "for any client."

Ironic: The role of variants in driving Covid surges is good news for sceptics

As an addendum to my piece yesterday on the evidence for variants driving Covid surges, a comparison between India and neighbouring Bangladesh is illuminating. Once again, the curves below are the positive test rate and they are superimposed on the graphs of variant proportions over time from the CoVariants website. India India has had one large surge in 2021 so far, occurring in spring and associated with the Delta variant (which was first identified there; in dark green). It has had no summer surge, and no new variant since.

Germany: Gas station employee killed over a face mask

A gas station worker in the town of Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, lost his life after a dispute with a customer over COVID-19 measures, police said Monday. According to the police report, a 49-year-old man is suspected of having shot the gas station employee Saturday evening, over a mask-wearing requirement at the establishment. What happened at the gas station? The man is said to have entered the gas station to make a purchase without wearing a face mask and the 20-year-old employee asked him to comply with the regulation. The two allegedly got into an argument, which prompted the maskless man to leave. But according to police, the man is said to have returned roughly an hour later. This time, he was wearing a mask but he took it off and the two men started another argument. The suspect then pulled a concealed revolver out of his pocket and shot the 20-year-old. Senior public prosecutor Kai Fuhrmann told DPA that the victim died after a fatal shot to the head. After the...

BEST OF THE WEB: If Australia's brutal response to lockdown protests was happening anywhere else, hypocritical Canberra would be demanding sanctions

The world is watching in horror as Covid chaos unfolds on the streets Down Under, with heavy-handed elite police piling in on lockdown protestors using an arsenal of weapons that would be the envy of any authoritarian regime. The online images are all too familiar: helmeted and masked police in body armour with batons held high, clubbing protestors lying on the ground as incapacitating pepper smoke burns their eyes and chokes their breath. Meanwhile, mobs of rowdy protestors take over city streets, blocking traffic and disrupting the working week as they throw projectiles at 'whoop-whooping' police cars. Mayhem reigns.

Federal govt whistleblower goes public with secret recordings: 'Government doesn't want to show the [COVID] vaccine is full of sh*t'

'Shove' adverse effect reporting 'under the mat' Project Veritas released the first video of its COVID vaccine investigative series today featuring an interview with U.S. Health and Human Services [HHS] insider, Jodi O'Malley, who works as a Registered Nurse at the local Indian Medical Center. O'Malley told Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe about what has been going on at her federal government facility. She recorded her HHS colleagues discussing their concerns about the new COVID vaccine to corroborate her assertions:

BEST OF THE WEB: Did Pfizer conduct an experiment on an entire country?

Pfizer admits Israel is the great COVID-19 vaccine experiment According to a recent Israeli news report, which I posted on Twitter1 September 13, 2021, Pfizer admits it's treating Israel as a unique "laboratory" to assess COVID jab effects. Whatever happens in Israel can reliably be expected to happen everywhere else as well, some months later. In other words, the Israeli population is one giant test group — without a control group, unfortunately — and as noted by the news anchors, the people really should have been informed that they were part of one of the biggest medical experiments in human history. Pfizer entered into an exclusivity agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Health at the outset, so the only COVID shot available is Pfizer's. As noted by the news anchor, we now realize that the Pfizer shot has a higher risk for heart inflammation among young men than some of the other COVID shots, but Israeli youth have no option but to get the most dangerous one.

Havana Syndrome, Directed Energy Weapons, and the New Cold War

While the jury is still out on who committed the attacks against U.S. officials, or even whether there were any attacks at all, directed energy weapons certainly do exist. Havana Syndrome might be science fiction, but directed energy weapons are very much science fact. It started in 2016. U.S. officials in Havana, Cuba, began complaining en masse about hearing strange noises, suffering recurring headaches, nausea, hearing and memory loss. From there it spread around the world, with hundreds of U.S. spies and diplomats in the United Kingdom, Colombia, China, Uzbekistan, Germany, Austria, and in Washington itself reporting similar symptoms. Very little about the cases — even the identities of those involved — can be verified. Nevertheless, the story has become a media sensation, appearing on front pages the world over, with journalists speculating that futuristic microwave weapons are the culprit, likely wielded by devious Russian spies. While the scientific and medical community...

The Fed's liquidity problem and when the levee breaks...

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break When the levee breaks, I'll have no place to stay. Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, Lord Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home Oh well, oh well, oh well Don't it make you feel bad When you're tryin' to find your way home You don't know which way to go? If you're goin' down south They got no work to do If you're going down to Chicago. A-ah, a-ah, a-ah. Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good No, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move, ooh. Led Zeppelin To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. To the Federal Reserve, every problem is met with more liquidity. Unfortunately, the Fed has very little control of where this liquidity goes. First, it went into equity markets, fueling an outright equity bubble. Then it overflowed into PE and...

Storm brings late summer snow to Schweitzer, Idaho - Also to Yellowstone and Mt Rainier

The first snow of the season is here, in the mountains at least. It means the snow pack is getting started in the high country and at least one local ski area is getting started building its base for the ski season this winter. Schweitzer tops out at 6400 feet above sea level. Snow levels during this storm dropped between 5000 and 6000 feet in North Idaho and northern Washington. Snow came back in the Cascades too. Mount Rainier was forecast to get up to 42 inches of snow over the weekend and looked the part on Sunday morning. Sunrise Mount Rainier this morning at daybreak. pic.twitter.com/U67HEz08Wz — NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) September 19, 2021

Ahead of fall equinox 2-3 foot snowdrifts force closure of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Snow and ice forced officials to close Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park on Monday morning. Trail Ridge Road was closed at Many Parks Curve, about 7 miles from the east entrances and Colorado River Trailhead, 10 miles from the Grand Lake Entrance. The winter conditions include two to three feet of snowdrifts and ice. Trail Ridge Road will reopen when conditions and weather permit. Old Fall River Road was also closed on Monday morning. About two inches of snow fell in the higher mountains from Sunday night to Monday morning. The most significant reports of snow accumulation came from nearly 12,000 feet at the Alpine Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park where 1-2 inches was reported Monday morning. Snow falling above 10,000 feet is not unusual in September but accumulating snow sometimes waits until October.

BEST OF THE WEB: Melbourne freedom protest: What the TV didn't show you

MELBOURNE DYSTOPIA Melbourne has spent 228 days in lockdown since since March 2020. The state is set to notch up a grim world record for the most days spent under stay-at-home laws when it passes Buenos Aires on September 23. People have lost everything, and the past 12 months have seen unprecedented shifts. Yet, despite spending more time in lockdown than most of the world, citizens of Melbourne are still unable to exercise their democratic right to protest. Despite admitting there was no evidence that the last freedom protest spread any virus, Daniel Andrews turned the police against the public today and deprived them of basic services such as public transport, all in the name of 'public safety'. 2,000 police gathered in a large group, to prevent people gathering in large groups. Melbourne's beating heart, the CBD and inner suburbs, became almost silent this morning — other than the sound of police and media helicopters. A Brave New World Order. Melbourne is already in lockdown,...

Double-vaxxed Aussie gold medallist Madison Wilson hospitalised with Covid-19

Double-vaxxed Olympic swimming champion Madison Wilson says she feels "extremely unlucky" to have been hospitalised with Covid-19. Wilson is currently in Naples, Italy where she is competing with the Los Angeles Current in the International Swim League. The positive diagnosis forced her out of the ISL and into a hospital bed.

Waterspout spotted in Amelia Island, Florida

A waterspout was spotted Monday morning in Amelia Island. Viewer Frank Allen captured it on camera in the Summer Beach area just before 8 a.m. Chris Venable, another Action News Jax viewer, captured a photo of the waterspout too near Peters Point. Currently, a Flood Watch is in effect for all of Northeast Florida and Coastal Southeast Georgia for potential heavy rain Monday.

Waterspout spotted as downpours continue in Sabah, Malaysia

A waterspout was seen near Kampung Kopimipinan in Papar on Monday (Sept 20) as downpours continue to lash parts of Sabah barely a week since a freak storm caused massive damage in areas around. A video of the waterspout was shared on the Facebook page of local radio station Kupi Kupi FM and was originally shared by Facebook user Ayprel Bony Roman. Geologist Prof Dr Felix Tongkul said such watersprouts were quite normal and seldom caused danger to anyone. "Instead, from what we are experiencing now, with continuous rains, it is floods and landslides that we should be more worried about," he said.

'The numbers are skewed': Colorado officials warn of inflated COVID death statistics

Health officials reportedly continuing to conflate deaths "from" and "with" COVID. Multiple public officials in Colorado are warning that the state's official COVID-19 death count is skewed due to the practice of conflating patients who have died directly due to the disease with those who have merely tested positive for it prior to death. Data experts and health officials have long struggled to separate out those two key data points in government tallies of COVID deaths, leading to accusations that the death rate for the disease is being inflated modestly or even significantly.

6 killed after gunman opens fires at Russian university, footage shows students jumping from windows, shooter posted plans online

Six people have been confirmed dead, with 28 injured, after a shooting on the campus of a university in the Russian city of Perm. Police have apprehended the perpetrator. Terrified students were filmed escaping through windows. The incident happened on Monday morning at Perm State University, one of the oldest universities in the Urals region, close to where Europe and Asia meet. The school's social media alerted everyone who was on campus to leave if possible, or lock themselves inside a room. 19 of the injured have received gunshot wounds, according to the Russian Ministry of Health, which published the figure of six deaths. Earlier, the Investigative Committee of Russia had reported eight fatalities.

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: The Global Rationing Plan 2022

The DoConomy Card issued by Mastercard teaming with the U.N will monitor and cut off spending when you hit your carbon max allotment. You can of course buy more carbon credits on the international carbon trading market. This is happening as food nearing 60 year highs and the supply chain from the farmgate to supermarkets is shattered. Meat and poultry price soar as the blame game continues to keep you distracted as the carbon cut off is implemented. Sources

BEST OF THE WEB: Croatian President Milanović: We're Fed up with COVID frenzy, life should go back to normal

President Zoran Milanović said on Friday that the media frenzy over COVID-19 was grating on people's nerves and that things should start going back to normal. "We should know the aim of all this frenzy. If anybody tells me that the aim is to completely eradicate coronavirus, I will tell them that this is insane. It is impossible. What matters now is adjustment and resumption of normal life," Milanović told the press in his office. The story with coronavirus will be over the moment we have more vaccinated people than those who are not vaccinated, he said.

Lightning kills 5 including 4 from same family in Angola

Lightning bolts this weekend killed five people, including four from the same family, in Angola's Bié province, which has seen heavy rains in recent days, the local civil protection and fire service said on Monday. The deaths were registered four in Cuito, the capital of Bié province, and another in the municipality of Cunhinga. "The heavy rains, accompanied by thunderstorms, which fell in Bié province, caused five deaths," the spokesman for the Bié civil protection and fire service, Henrique Ndavoka told Angolan public radio. In his turn, the governor of Bié, Pereira Alfredo, said that work had already started to install some lightning conductors, particularly in the most critical areas. In Angola, the phenomenon of lightning bolts is a concern especially in the central part of the country, as they cause a high number of deaths.

Lightning strikes family on bike, kills 2 in Telangana, India

A woman and her baby boy died on the spot, while her husband was injured after they were struck by lightning in Mancherial town on Monday. While Mounika and her one-and-a-half year-old son Sriyan died on the spot, her husband Venkatesh suffered injuries. He was admitted to the local government hospital in Mancherial. The three were riding a two-wheeler near the railway overbridge when the lightning struck. District collector Bharati Hollikeri visited the spot where the mishap took place and also met Venkatesh in the hospital. According to Telangana State Planning Development Society, four districts in the state received large excess rainfall on Monday. As many as 19 districts received excess rainfall and 10 districts received normal rainfall. Warangal, Rajanna Sircilla, Siddipet and Narayanpet received large excess rainfall.

Earthquake of magnitude 6.0 rocks northeast Japan, no tsunami warning

The National Center for Seismology (NCS) has informed that an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.0 struck Japan around 1:55 a.m. (IST) on September 21, Tuesday. The earthquake shook at a depth of approximately 10 kilometres and at a distance of nearly 1593 kilometres northeast of Tokyo. The NCS wrote on Twitter, "Earthquake of Magnitude: 6.0, Occurred on 21-09-2021, 01:55:24 IST, Lat: 46.23 & Long: 152.56, Depth: 10 Km, Location: 1593km NE of Tokyo, Japan." According to the National Center for Seismology, the earthquake has hit nearby Kuril Island, which is situated approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido in Japan. No Tsunami warning has been issued so far.

'We want justice under US law,' father of 2yo daughter killed in Kabul drone strike tells RT

Emal Akhmadi's baby daughter was killed when the US mistook his family for terrorists in Kabul. The bereaved father told RT an apology and compensation will not be enough and said those responsible must stand trial under US law. Emal Akhmadi lost 10 family members, including his two-year-old daughter Malika and brother Zemari, on August 29, when a US Reaper drone destroyed a car in a busy neighborhood not far from Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport. The Pentagon initially claimed the airstrike had killed a terrorist - only to admit two weeks later that it had targeted the wrong person. The surviving relatives, meanwhile, are still shaken by the tragedy.

Fox News Poll: Majorities favor mask and vaccine mandates as pandemic worries increase

Three-quarters of registered voters are 'extremely' or 'very' concerned about the pandemic. Majorities support mask and vaccine mandates advocated by the Biden administration, as the coronavirus pandemic remains a top concern, according to the latest Fox News poll. Three-quarters of registered voters are "extremely" or "very" concerned about the pandemic (74 percent), a 5-point increase from August when 69 percent were worried. The shift comes mainly from Republicans (+14) and men (+8).

Gabby Petito remains possibly found, FBI agents swarm Brian Laundrie's home in Florida, seize Mustang he drove

FBI agents swarmed Brian Laundrie's home in Florida on Monday, declaring it a "crime scene" and hauling out his parents one day after a body believed to be his missing girlfriend, Gabby Petito, was found in Wyoming. A Ford Mustang registered to Laundrie's father that his family said Brian drove last week to the wildlife reserve where police have been searching for him, was also hauled away. About a dozen agents wearing bulletproof vests descended just before 10 a.m. on the Laundrie family's home on Wabasso Avenue in North Port, shouting "Search warrant!" before entering through an unlocked door in the front.

Canary Islands: 5,000 evacuated as La Palma volcano eruptions continue

At least 20 homes destroyed and people told to stay away as lava pours from volcano on Spanish island Authorities on the Canary island of La Palma have told spectators to stay away from the continuing volcanic eruptions that have forced the evacuation of 5,500 people and destroyed at least 120 homes since Sunday afternoon. The island had been on high alert after more than 22,000 tremors were reported within a week in Cumbre Vieja, one of the most active volcanic regions in the archipelago. Officials had begun evacuating the infirm and some farm animals from nearby villages before the eruption at 3.15pm local time on Sunday on a wooded slope in the sparsely populated Cabeza de Vaca area, according to the government. Two hours later, with lava edging down the hillside from five fissures, the municipality ordered the evacuation of four villages, including El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane.

UN warns artificial intelligence may pose 'negative, even catastrophic' threat to human rights

Comment: Some common sense is actually on display from a UN representative. We're floored. The United Nations has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) systems may pose a "negative, even catastrophic" threat to human rights and called for AI applications that are not used in compliance with human rights to be banned. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Sept. 15 urged members states to put a temporary ban on the sale and use of AI until the potential risks it poses have been addressed and adequate safeguards put in place to ensure the technology will not be abused. "We cannot afford to continue playing catch-up regarding AI — allowing its use with limited or no boundaries or oversight and dealing with the almost inevitable human rights consequences after the fact," Bachelet said in a statement. "The power of AI to serve people is undeniable, but so is AI's ability to feed human rights violations at an enormous scale with virtually no visibility. Action is needed now to...

The strange China feud of Soros and BlackRock amidst developing economic crisis

A bizarre war of words has erupted in recent days in the pages of financial media between billionaire hedge fund and color revolution specialist, George Soros, and the gigantic BlackRock investment group. The issue is a decision by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to open the first foreign-owned mutual fund in China presumably to attract the savings of China's new (and fast disappearing) middle income population. In a recent newspaper interview Soros called the BlackRock decision a threat to BlackRock investors and to US national security. This seemingly absurd clash of views between two financial predator giants of Wall Street hides a far larger story — the looming systemic collapse inside China of a financial debt pyramid that is possibly the largest in the world. It could have a domino effect on the entire world economy far greater than the September 2008 Lehman Crisis. "Global economic terrorist..:" On September 6 Soros wrote a guest Editorial in the Wall Street Journal sharply...

The strange China feud of Soros and BlackRock amidst catastrophic economic collapse

A bizarre war of words has erupted in recent days in the pages of financial media between billionaire hedge fund and color revolution specialist, George Soros, and the gigantic BlackRock investment group. The issue is a decision by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to open the first foreign-owned mutual fund in China presumably to attract the savings of China's new (and fast disappearing) middle income population. In a recent newspaper interview Soros called the BlackRock decision a threat to BlackRock investors and to US national security. This seemingly absurd clash of views between two financial predator giants of Wall Street hides a far larger story — the looming systemic collapse inside China of a financial debt pyramid that is possibly the largest in the world. It could have a domino effect on the entire world economy far greater than the September 2008 Lehman Crisis. "Global economic terrorist..:" On September 6 Soros wrote a guest Editorial in the Wall Street Journal sharply...

Girls will return to secondary schools in Afghanistan, but only after 'safe environment' is set up, Taliban tells media

The Taliban has said that girls can return to secondary schools only after Afghanistan's militant-led government creates a secure environment for them. So far, only boys have been allowed to resume their studies. "We are not against education of girls, but we are still working on mechanisms of how their school attendance can be possible," Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine. Mujahid said that a safe environment and transportation must be guaranteed for female students before they are allowed back in classrooms. He said legal scholars must prepare a report on how to set up a secure environment for girls and women in education and employment.

Hong Kong students held for inciting subversion accused of supplying prisoners with goods, urging them to "liberate" country & train for revolution

Three Hong Kong student leaders, aged 18 to 20, have been arrested under the national security law for allegedly conspiring to incite subversion, partly because they allegedly attempted to recruit "like-minded people" in prison by providing gifts such as chocolate. The three members of Student Politicism, including convenor Wong Yat-chin and secretary general Chan Chi-sum, were arrested early Monday. They are also alleged to have incited hatred against Hong Kong's government by urging people not to use the LeaveHomeSafe Covid tracking app and by other means.

BEST OF THE WEB: 'F**k the jab!': CHAOS in Australia as construction workers violently protest vaccine mandate outside union HQ

A violent protest against mandatory Covid-19 vaccination erupted outside of a Melbourne trade union office on Monday, after it was announced that construction workers would have to be vaccinated to continue doing their jobs. Protesters wearing high-vis construction clothing smashed windows, chanted "We are union!" and "F**k the jab," and threw projectiles at the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) headquarters. Union officials attempted to barricade the doors and used a fire extinguisher to spray demonstrators from inside. Comment: Spraying them with a fire extinguisher surely didn't help calm matters. Others tried to diffuse the situation, waving their hands in the air and shouting for those engaged in the violence to stop, but to no avail. Melbourne riot police eventually turned up to the scene and approached protesters in formation carrying shields, batons, and guns.

America's woke generals and the Military Industrial Complex must be purged to save the nation

Revelations from a new book, Peril, by Bob Woodward and Rob Costa, reveal just how deep the spiritual rot in the military goes. In the days after the January 6 protest, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, promised, in the event of a war, to give aid and comfort to China. According to the Washington Post, after the Capitol protest, Milley sent secret communiques to the head of the People's Liberation Army, promising that "If we're going to attack, I'm going to call you ahead of time. It's not going to be a surprise." In a decent country such a brazen act of collusion with a foreign power by one of the most prominent leaders of the armed forces would be met with immediate and unrelenting backlash. Instead, this betrayer of the Constitution and the principle of civilian leadership of the military is a liberal darling. At the inauguration, Joe Biden thanked Milley for undermining President Trump in the final weeks of his presidency. Milley, before reaching out...

BEST OF THE WEB: The world is still short of everything. Get used to it!

Like most people in the developed world, Kirsten Gjesdal had long taken for granted her ability to order whatever she needs and then watch the goods arrive, without any thought about the factories, container ships and trucks involved in delivery. Not anymore. At her kitchen supply store in Brookings, S.D., Ms. Gjesdal has given up stocking place mats, having wearied of telling customers that she can only guess when more will come. She recently received a pot lid she had purchased eight months earlier. She has grown accustomed to paying surcharges to cover the soaring shipping costs of the goods she buys. She has already placed orders for Christmas items like wreaths and baking pans. "It's nuts," she said. "It's definitely not getting back to normal." The challenges confronting Ms. Gjesdal's shop, Carrot Seed Kitchen, are a testament to the breadth and persistence of the chaos roiling the global economy, as manufacturers and the shipping industry contend with an unrelenting...

Russian elections: Pro-Putin party loses support but keeps supermajority; Communists get big boost but allege count was rigged

The votes are in and the results are out. Russians have cast their votes in parliamentary elections and, with almost all of the votes counted, there is little doubt that the governing party will be returned with a supermajority. Half the seats in the State Duma are awarded by proportional representation, while the others are assigned by 'first-past-the-post' results in single member constituencies. United Russia, the ruling party, has officially received close to 50% of all votes cast, while sweeping the overwhelming majority of constituencies, with 99% of votes counted. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), the largest opposition grouping, has come in a distant second in the local races. It did, however, significantly extend its share of the overall vote, gaining about a quarter more ballots than it did in the 2016 elections and taking its support to around 19%.

BEST OF THE WEB: Skyrocketing energy prices could cripple Europe's economy

Surging energy prices in Europe are hurting more than just consumers. The price spikes have started to hit industrial activities, threatening to deal a blow to the post-COVID recovery in European economies with a triple whammy of reduced consumer purchasing power, lower industrial production, and higher operating costs. Giant European firms, from chemicals and mining to the food sector, say sky-high gas and electricity prices are hitting their profit margins and forcing some of them to curtail operations. Some factories have shut down because of record natural gas prices. More idling of industrial activity across Europe is likely in the coming weeks, analysts say. Meanwhile, the record European natural gas prices are sending Asian spot prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to record levels for this time of the year — between peak summer demand and ahead of the winter heating season. Europe's tight gas market, low wind speeds, abnormally low gas inventories, and record carbon prices...

Afghan killed by drone praised by co-workers in US aid group

The Afghan man who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last month was an enthusiastic and beloved longtime employee at an American humanitarian organization, his colleagues say, painting a stark contrast to the Pentagon's claims that he was an Islamic State group militant about to carry out an attack on American troops. Signs have been mounting that the U.S. military may have targeted the wrong man in the Aug. 29 strike in Kabul, with devastating consequences, killing seven children and two other adults from his family. The Pentagon says it is further investigating the strike, but it has no way to do so on the ground in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, severely limiting its ability to gather evidence. Accounts from the family, documents from colleagues seen by The Associated Press, and the scene at the family home — where Zemerai Ahmadi's car was struck by a Hellfire missile just as he pulled into the driveway — all seem to sharply contradict the accounts by the U.S. military....

Building supply shortages developing around the country

Some building suppliers are already running out of stock as the effect of Auckland's Level 4 lockdown begins to bite in the rest of the country. Insulation supplier Tasman Insulation, owned by Fletcher Building, told clients that its Christchurch warehouse was out of Pink Batts, and it was unable to get any more from Auckland, where the factory was unable to operate. "At this point we envisage we will not be able to supply our product anywhere in New Zealand or take orders until Auckland's restrictions reduce to level three." It continued to try and seek government approval to resume manufacturing or distribution but "at this stage we have low confidence we will be able to achieve this". The situation meant there was only "extremely limited stock" in Auckland either, a Fletcher Building spokesperson said. The Building Industry Federation and others have expressed alarm that the Government will not give building suppliers an exemption to transport goods out of Auckland. BIF claims...

Despite 95% vaccination rate, Cornell today has five times more COVID cases than it did this time last year

ANALYSIS: If the goal is to prevent infection, the 95 percent vaccination rate on Cornell's campus has not accomplished that Cornell University has aggressively pushed its students to get vaccinated, announcing a vaccine mandate for the 2021-22 academic year in April and frequently denying religious and medical exemptions. As a result, 95 percent of the campus population, both students and faculty, is vaccinated. Despite this, Cornell University has more than five times the amount of confirmed positive cases during its first week of this academic year than it did during its first week of the 2020-21 academic year, according to the Cornell COVID dashboard. By the numbers, during the first week of school that ran from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2 of this academic year, Cornell reported 322 positive COVID-19 cases. In comparison, during the first week of school last year, which ran from Sept. 3 through Sept. 9 of 2020, Cornell reported 59 positive COVID-19 cases. That is 263 more cases, or more...

Conscientious objections to the COVID vaccine should be honored

As employers and governments have become more stringent with COVID vaccination requirements, many are no longer honoring conscientious or religious exemptions to the vaccine. Several states have dropped or are in the process of dropping these exemptions. Some hospitals and health departments, such as the New York Department of Health, have eliminated religious exemptions. In the private sector, United Airlines has announced that employees with religious exemptions to the vaccine will be placed on unpaid leave. Even if vaccination is a wise idea, removing these exemptions is morally wrong and unjust. The rights of conscience and religious liberty must be respected as a precondition for responsible decision-making of all kinds. Why Conscience Matters Why should conscience matter at all? Many people think that appeals to conscience (religious or non-religious) are just convenient excuses to get around the rules. But this is a grossly unfair way of characterizing what conscience is and...

Polish-Belarusian row intensifies as four found dead near the border

Three people have died after crossing into Poland from Belarus, and a fourth person has been found dead on the Belarusian side of the border following a surge in illegal migration that has caused a diplomatic row. Polish officials, who announced the three deaths inside Poland, gave no cause of death on Monday. The Belarusian border service identified the person found inside Belarus as "a woman of non-Slavic appearance" but did not say how she died. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said there had been almost 4,000 attempts to illegally cross Poland's border in September and nearly 7,000 over the last two months, and put the blame for the increase in migration on Minsk.

At least 2 people shot at Virginia high school, police responding to 'major incident'

FBI and the local police have responded to an alleged shooting at Heritage High School in Newport News, Virginia. Two schools have been put on lockdown amid reports of two people shot, but expected to survive. Newport News police reported a shooting at Heritage just before noon local time on Monday. There were initially multiple reports of wounded and even killed, citing radio traffic from the site. A male and a female, both 17, were shot after "some kind of altercation" in the school cafeteria, Police Chief Steve Drew told reporters. The male was struck in the head, and a female in the lower leg. Two more people were hospitalized, one with a sprained or broken arm and another for breathing issues due to asthma.

10 killed in West Bengal floods, India - 1.2 million people affected

At least 10 people have lost their lives as a result of severe flooding in the state of West Bengal, eastern India. National and State disaster authorities reported flooding struck in the state after days of heavy rain from 14 September 2021. The situation was worsened after dam releases from the Galudih Barrage Dam on the Subarnarekha river in Ulda in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand.

28 percent of Gulf of Mexico oil production still offline following Hurricane Ida

Crude oil production in the United States had fallen sharply over the last two weeks in the wake of Hurricane Ida, but production for the next reporting period is on track to be down as well, as 28% of all crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico still remains shut-in after the hurricane. Meanwhile, WTI prices have risen from $69.21 per barrel as the hurricane hit, to $72.62 today — a nearly 5% rise. Initially, the hurricane wiped out nearly all of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Today — weeks later — 28.24% of Gulf of Mexico oil production is still shut in, according to BSEE, along with 39.4% of all gas production on the Gulf.

Ancient DNA rewrites early Japanese history

Ancient DNA extracted from human bones has rewritten early Japanese history by underlining that modern day populations in Japan have a tripartite genetic origin - a finding that refines previously accepted views of a dual genomic ancestry. Twelve newly sequenced ancient Japanese genomes show that modern day populations do indeed show the genetic signatures of early indigenous Jomon hunter-gatherer-fishers and immigrant Yayoi farmers - but also add a third genetic component that is linked to the Kofun peoples, whose culture spread in Japan between the 3rd and 7th centuries. The eye-opening research has just been published in leading international journal Science Advances .

Fire shuts down one of UK's most important power cables in midst of supply crunch

Coal plants being warmed up as market prices surge to £2,500 per MWh from a norm of £40 A major fire has forced the shutdown of one of Britain's most important power cables importing electricity from France as the UK faces a supply crunch and record high market prices. National Grid was forced to evacuate staff from the site of the IFA high-voltage power cable, which brings electricity from France to a converter station in Kent, where 12 fire engines attended the blaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The fire has halted electricity imports via the 2,000 megawatt power cable until March next year and could not have come at a worse time for the UK's squeezed markets, according to experts. The UK faces record energy prices after a global gas market surge raised the cost of running gas power plants, which has been compounded by a string of power plant outages and low wind speeds.

Lancet U-turns over Covid lab leak theory: Publishes 'alternative view' calling for 'transparent debate' on virus origins

The Lancet medical journal has bowed to pressure over its heavily-criticised coverage of the disputed origins of the Covid pandemic by publishing an 'alternative view' from 16 scientists - calling for an 'objective, open and transparent debate' about whether the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory. It was revealed earlier this year that Peter Daszak - a British scientist with long-standing links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology - had secretly orchestrated a landmark statement in The Lancet in February 2020 which attacked 'conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin'. The now-infamous letter, signed by 27 leading public health experts, said they stood together to 'strongly condemn' the theories which they said 'do nothing but create fear, rumours, and prejudice'.

The Gates/Rockefeller 'Green Revolution' Scam Exposed

You've got to hand it to the globalists: they know how to take advantage of our better instincts. They have designed an entire international institutional infrastructure around the issues that the average non-psychopath cares about (or at least pretends to): helping the poor and the downtrodden, caring for children, ending inequities, taking care of the planet, etc. This is why Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, just released his report on "Our Common Agenda," which purports to provide a road map for "rebuilding our world and mending the trust in one another we need so desperately at this moment in history." Not because he actually cares about saving the world, of course, but because he knows that we do, and that many people can be persuaded to "make sacrifices" — up to an including relinquishing their personal sovereignty, as this report ultimately calls for — for the "greater good." And, as viewers of this week's New World Next Week will know, this is...

Arizona just cross-checked 673,000 voter IDs with the Social Security Administration - 58% Had NO MATCH FOUND

What's going on? In the last 10 weeks, Arizona has checked the voter registration credentials with the Social Security Administration (SSA) on 673,560 applicants. This is a massive volume considering most States including Arizona typically process around 2,500 a month. They've processed more identities in the last 2 months than they've done in the last 9 years combined. Is someone scrubbing a database, or auditing "Federal Only" voters?

BEST OF THE WEB FLASHBACK: Why are global shipping costs continuing to skyrocket?

Global shipping costs are reaching rarely seen levels, putting strain on logistics teams and product purchasers alike. Here's a closer look at some of the reasons for this phenomenon. Worsening Container Delays Create Bidding Wars Port backups were among the issues of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, they persist now, limiting the number of containers each port can efficiently accommodate. Relatedly, the shipping customers outpace the available space in each container. That problem makes prices rise so high that some entities lose out because they cannot afford to pay them. Port Backups Cause Headaches Some port backups are so severe that ships arrive unable to dock. That's an ongoing situation at Washington State ports in Tacoma and Seattle. U.S. Coast Guard representatives helped redirect some vessels as they waited days or weeks to unload. Some ended up in unusual locations, such as off the Puget Sound. The offloading delays also cause a container shortage...

BEST OF THE WEB: British meat industry warns of looming production halt: Firms running low on CO2 supply amid Covid, Brexit pressure

The UK's meat industry has warned that problems regarding the supply of CO2 could halt production in coming weeks with some firms reporting as little as five-days' supply of the gas used to stun animals before slaughter. Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Nick Allen of the British Meat Processors Association told Sky News that the UK was just weeks away from seeing British-produced meat start to disappear from supermarket shelves because of a shortage in carbon dioxide (CO2) used in the slaughter of animals.

BEST OF THE WEB: Winter is coming: European energy crisis 'could get very ugly' as EU delays Russian gas supplies

Europe is bracing for a difficult winter, having turned to weather-dependent sources of energy like wind and solar power over fossil fuels while natural gas storages have run low. "It could get very ugly unless we act quickly to try to fill every inch of storage. You can survive a week without electricity, but you can't survive without gas," Marco Alvera, CEO of Italian energy infrastructure company Snam SpA, told Bloomberg. European gas prices broke historic records this month, edging close to an unprecedented $1,000 per 1,000 cubic meters. The price spike can be partly blamed on supply chains being unable to meet the rising energy demand in both the household and industry sectors as the global economy gets back on the rails after the global Covid-19 crisis. However, experts say major Western economies have become too dependent on renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. And this doesn't seem to pay off, with the Wall Street Journal reporting last week that low...

'AUKUS' is Anglo-Imperialism resurrected

For many, it came as a complete surprise. 'AUKUS' as it is to be known, announced somewhat out of the blue last night, is a security pact between the UK, US and Australia, focused on countering China in the Indo-Pacific. Britain and the US will aid their partner in building nuclear-powered submarines, which will be faster and harder to detect than the conventional submarines Australia currently possesses. In addition the three allies will cooperate in the areas of cyber security and artificial intelligence. None other than the French Foreign Minister was visibly angry at the announcement of the brand new Trilateral Alliance when he spoke to French media on Thursday, referring to the move as a 'stab in the back' and a 'betrayal of trust' by the Australians. His indignation is understandable given in a few short minutes last night it was revealed that the pact will effectively replace the €50 billion 'Future Submarine Program' Australia had been working on with France for years. It...

Why is there a chip shortage?

The tech industry is at a crunch point. Today, millions of products - cars, washing machines, smartphones, and more - rely on computer chips, also known as semiconductors. And right now, there just aren't enough of them to meet industry demand. As a result, many popular products are in short supply.

Biden confirms 30 percent global methane reduction goal, urges 'highest possible ambitions

President Biden on Friday confirmed a goal of reducing global methane emissions 30 percent by the end of the decade while speaking at a White House summit and touted congressional infrastructure packages as vital to achieving domestic climate goals. Meeting the methane target "will not only rapidly reduce the rate of global warming, it will also produce a very valuable side benefit like improving public health and agricultural output," the president said while hosting a summit of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. The attendees of the forum, including the U.S., make up about 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The president did not specify what the U.S. contribution to the methane reduction target would be, and American options to compel international cooperation on the goal are limited. "We believe the collective goal is both ambitious but realistic ... and we urge you to join us in announcing this pledge," the president said. Biden emphasized the need for...

These dangers loom over the fragile US economy in the next 12 months

The U.S. and most of the world is at the threshold of what I would call a nexus point in history. There are establishment forces at play that seek to impose a permanent authoritarian presence within our nation in the name of Covid "safety." This includes lockdown mandates and restrictions on economic participation for the unvaccinated (including being unable to keep a job). At the same time, only 53% of the public has been fully vaccinated against Covid. A significant number of the unvaccinated seem likely to dig in their heels and will refuse to comply. We are at an impasse. With incessant fear mongering over the latest covid variants and the government obsession with 100% vaccination, the pro- and anti-vaccine groups are squaring off. It is a conflict between those who see their submission to the vaccination as a badge of personal responsibility and civic-mindedness versus those who see it as merely an excuse for authoritarianism. Unless pro-vax people choose to stand down and...

France says Biden acted like Trump as UK & US steal huge Aussie submarine deal in 'brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision'

France's foreign minister has spoken of his "anger" and "bitterness" and has criticized the US and Britain, after the allies agreed a deal to supply nuclear submarines to Australia, undoing Paris' $40-billion deal for French subs. "I am angry and bitter. This isn't done between allies," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told franceinfo radio on Thursday morning, after the leaders of Australia, the UK and US convened a virtual press conference on Wednesday night, announcing the AUKUS pact and the delivery of conventionally-armed nuclear-power submarines to Canberra. The delivery of the nuclear subs under the AUKUS (Australia, UK, US) pact means Canberra will scrap a 2016 deal with French firm Naval Group to upgrade its fleet with more diesel submarines. The scrapped deal was reportedly worth $40 billion.

BEST OF THE WEB: Goldman warns of blackout risk for European industry this winter

Europe's soaring energy markets are exposing the risk of power blackouts this winter, especially if freezing weather worsens the region's already exceptionally low natural gas inventories, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. While higher gas prices can trigger supply and demand adjustments to offset the tight market, these are largely already priced in, Goldman analysts including Samantha Dart said in a note. As a result, a colder-than-average winter would mean Europe needing to compete with Asia for supplies of liquefied natural gas, driving prices even higher. And there's a "non-negligible risk" that LNG directed to Europe won't be enough to prevent a depletion of gas inventories by the end of winter, especially if weather is cold in both Europe and Asia, the analysts said.

Alaska volcano sparks red alert as 'major eruption' underway - 'explosions' spotted

A RED alert warning has been issued by scientists stating that a "major eruption" of an Alaskan volcano is occurring. Volcanologists have stated that the major volcanic eruption is underway with hazardous activity both on the ground and in the air. Seismic observations represent an increase in eruptive activity at the site of the volcano. Scientists have upgraded the Aviation Color Code and Volcano Alert level to a red warning. The volcano is called Semisopochnoi. It is located on Unyak Island, which is part of the Rat Islands group in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Observations of Semisopochnoi volcano shows an increase in ash plumes rising to 15,000 feet into the atmosphere. The ash emissions from the volcano have increased in frequency and intensity and can be seen on satellite images rising above the weather clouds.

Fauci insists 3 shots needed for 'full vaccination', wants to inject babies of 6months+, FDA advisory panel REJECTS boosters

White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has claimed that "ultimately" people will need at least one booster shot to be considered properly vaccinated against Covid-19, despite the FDA's hesitancy over universal boosters. "I believe, when all's said and done, it's going to turn out that the proper regimen, at least for an mRNA vaccine [such as Pfizer], is the two original doses, the prime followed in three-to-four weeks by a boost, but also followed several months later by a third shot," Fauci told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview. Comment: Israel is a Pfizer laboratory and it mandates FOUR jabs in total; why the discrepancy? "So I think that ultimately, when we look back on this, it's going to be that the proper regimen, to have a complete and full regimen, will be a third shot boost. "

4 dolphins strand on beach in Brewster, Massachusetts - 2 die

Four dolphins stranded Friday at Point of Rocks Landing Beach in Brewster, according to Yarmouth Port-based International Fund for Animal Welfare. Two of the dolphins were already dead when a team led by IFAW assistant research coordinator Kristy Volker arrived. The remaining two — a pregnant female and a juvenile male — were transported to Herring Cove in Provincetown around 5 p.m., Volker said. Before they were released, the two dolphins were given a physical check that included an ultrasound and a blood test.

'Like nothing in my lifetime': researchers race to unravel the mystery of Australia's dying frogs

In the middle of Sydney's lockdown, scientist Jodi Rowley has been retrieving frozen dead frogs from her doorstep. Occasionally one will arrive dried and shrivelled up in the post. She'll pack them in ice in an esky to be taken to her lab at the Australian Museum, where even more samples - green tree frogs, striped marsh frogs and the invasive cane toad among them - are waiting in a freezer for genetic testing. Rowley and her team, along with scientists at the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health at Taronga zoo and a forensic unit in the NSW department of planning, industry and environment, are trying to solve the mystery of what is killing Australia's frogs. Since late July, they've collected 1,200 records of dead or dying frogs, about 70% of them in New South Wales and 22% in Queensland.

From summer drought to a rainy harvest, Alberta weather has dealt farmers a tough hand

When Alberta farmers needed rain, the weather was dry as a bone. Now that harvest season has arrived and they need dry weather, the sky has brought forth showers. "(Crops) are considerably less than what they would be on a normal year," Christi Friesen, who has a grain farm near Peace River, Alta., told CBC's Edmonton AM on Wednesday. Friesen grows canola, barley, oats and wheat. Because of the drought that persisted through the summer, some of her crops yielded less than 25 per cent of normal, she said. Barley, for example, normally comes in at more than 100 bushels per acre. "We're lucky to hit 30 this year," she said.

Long Covid very rare for children & teens, Delta variant just as harmless for young people as other strains - study

Long Covid symptoms rarely persist beyond 12 weeks in children and adolescents, unlike adults, new research suggests. The review found existing studies on the condition in children and adolescents have major limitations. Some do not show a difference in symptoms between those who have been infected with the virus and those who have not. Comment: As was found in a study of adults, over 50% of those claiming to suffer Long Covid were thought to be just suffering symptoms of ill health more generally, and not from Long Covid: More than half of people with long Covid might NOT have 'long Covid' after all It comes as research from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia found that after 10 months in circulation, the Delta variant had not caused more serious disease in children than previous variants and most cases remained asymptomatic or mild.

US South Com roasted online after USAF birthday tweet used RUSSIAN warplane images by mistake

The official Twitter account of US Southern Command is facing mockery after it posted a picture featuring silhouettes of Russian Sukhoi fighter jets to mark the US Air Force's birthday. The simple graphics, posted on the occasion of the 74th birthday of the USAF, featured three top-down views of warplanes. The silhouettes don't feature much detail, but their tail sections strongly implied that the aircraft are not from the fleet normally deployed by the American armed forces. Instead, they strongly resemble Sukhoi Su-27 twin-jet fighters. The apparent gaffe was met with a strong reaction on social media that leaned heavily towards mockery.

Weekend of gun violence in Chicago: 7 killed, 41 injured including 3-year-old boy

Four people have died and 41 others have sustained injuries, including a 3-year-old boy, in shootings so far this weekend across Chicago, according to police. The first fatal shooting happened early Saturday morning at approximately 12:14 a.m. in the 1900 block of South St. Louis when a 29-year-old man and a 34-year-old man were shot, according to police. The 29-year-old man was shot in the eye and arm and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. The 34-year-old man was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene.

Meteor fireball seen over Shanghai, China

We received 4 reports about a fireball seen over Shanghai and Shanghai Shi on Saturday, September 18th 2021 around 20:41 UT. For this event, we received 4 videos and 4 photos.

Russian parliamentary elections exit polls: Ruling party expected to win but Communist Party may slash majority - Evidence of vote tampering appears online

Russia's ruling party is expected to return to government after voting closed in the country's parliamentary elections but, with exit polls predicting gains for the opposition, it is unclear if it will retain its 'super-majority'. As the final ballots were recorded in Kaliningrad, the country's westernmost region, a federal exit poll conducted by research agency INSOMAR found support in United Russia, which attracted more than half of votes in the 2016 election, may have waned. Sampling a total of 438,218 people across 1,455 polling stations, it estimates that the party of government has attracted around 45% of the vote, some 10% lower than last time round. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), however, appears to be set to make substantial gains, with pollsters predicting it may have secured just over 21% of the vote - up from 13% in the previous election. This could mean that United Russia is able to form a government without depending on other parties for...

Vaccinated man just wishes there was something that could protect him from COVID

The vaccinated millions have done what they're supposed to. They've taken the vaccine to show they care about others and are good human beings. Now, these important citizens are looking for just one more thing: something to protect them from COVID. "I took my vaccine to show I'm one of the group," said Kyle Howard, who had the Pfizer vaccine, "but I'm out there alone, with COVID still lurking about. The government needs to take measures to protect me and my precious vaccinated blood from the virus." There have been pushes to put masks on "dirty, grubby, unvaccinated children" to help protect all the essential vaccinated adults, but some worry masks simply won't be enough.

'Lying, contempt & crisis in relations': French FM says NATO must take note as he lashes out at US & Australia over AUKUS deal

French FM Jean Yves-Drian has continued to criticize the US and Australia for the AUKUS submarine deal, meant to go to Paris, insisting there may be major consequences to French-US relations and for the transatlantic alliance. "There has been lying, duplicity, a major breach of trust and contempt. This will not do," Foreign Minister Le Drian told the press on Saturday. Paris' ambassadors to Canberra and Washington have been recalled in response to the deal, and Le Drian had previously described Australia ditching the pact between the two countries as a "stab in the back."

Afghanistan: Security barriers being removed, females attending university but some in government positions told to stay home for now

Female employees in the Kabul city government have been told to stay home, with work only allowed for those who cannot be replaced by men, the interim mayor of Afghanistan's capital said, detailing the latest restrictions on women by the new Taliban rulers. The decision to prevent most female city workers from returning to their jobs is another sign that the Taliban, who overran Kabul last month, are enforcing their harsh interpretation of Islam despite initial promises by some that they would be tolerant and inclusive. Comment: The interim government has been in power for but a brief perid, and, whilst the country has been declared as much safer than it was before, clearly more time needs to be given before one can consider their promises broken. In their previous rule in the 1990s, the Taliban had barred girls and women from schools, jobs and public life. Comment: And when the US ruled Afghanistan it resulted in the deaths of nearly half a million civilians.

The Scientist and the A.I.-Assisted, Remote-Control Killing Machine

Iran's top nuclear scientist woke up an hour before dawn, as he did most days, to study Islamic philosophy before his day began. That afternoon, he and his wife would leave their vacation home on the Caspian Sea and drive to their country house in Absard, a bucolic town east of Tehran, where they planned to spend the weekend. Iran's intelligence service had warned him of a possible assassination plot, but the scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, had brushed it off. Convinced that Mr. Fakhrizadeh was leading Iran's efforts to build a nuclear bomb, Israel had wanted to kill him for at least 14 years. But there had been so many threats and plots that he no longer paid them much attention. Despite his prominent position in Iran's military establishment, Mr. Fakhrizadeh wanted to live a normal life. He craved small domestic pleasures: reading Persian poetry, taking his family to the seashore, going for drives in the countryside. And, disregarding the advice of his security team, he often...

Biden admin ban drones to stop coverage of migrant crisis, Fox News hires helicopter to expose scenes of 11,000 migrants waiting for entry

With a little help from state law enforcement, a Fox News correspondent overcame federal hurdles and took to the air over a migrant-sheltering Texas bridge, which had become a symbol of the border crisis for viewers. The international bridge in Del Rio, Texas attracted national attention after drone footage showed thousands of people, most of them migrants from Haiti, flocking underneath it while they waited to be processed. Adding to the furore was a Thursday decision by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground all drones in the area for two weeks, citing "special security reasons." Critics of the Biden administration took it as a blatant attempt to downplay the situation. Whether true or not, taking spectacular images of migrant crowds from air remains quite possible in Del Rio, as a Fox News correspondent proved on Saturday. Bill Melugin and his crew were given a ride by the Texas Department of Public Safety. State authorities are among those accusing the federal...

Frmr Senate aide & Biden sexual assault accuser Tara Reade on child sex abuse and rape culture in US establishment

America's rape culture has been thriving for years, as the broken and corrupt system that is supposed to provide justice to victims protects predators. I was very young when I learned that sometimes, monsters have badges. My parents divorced when I was just 13 years old and I was sent to live with my father in an upscale community in Minnesota. My only freedom that summer when I stayed with him was to walk to the 7-11 convenience store with my friends after swimming. It was a sterile, safe, suburban neighborhood with regular police patrols. One day, I was walking to the store alone. A police car slowed down and the officer rolled down his window to talk with me. "Hey," he said firmly, "have you seen a blue Mustang come through here?" I shook my head and felt nervous. He stopped and said "Get in."

Covid: The New World Order

Something dangerous has happened to Australia. We have allowed the interests of 'collective health' to erase individual human rights. It has become acceptable to imprison, hurt, fine, intimidate, arrest, segregate, discriminate, oppress, and financially ruin individuals - so long as it is done in the interest of public health. While the personal ethics of our politicians should have prevented a situation like this from arising, Australia has learned that there isn't a scrap of morality within Parliament, the courts, or the legions of human rights lawyers who show more interest in the wellbeing of terrorists than citizens. The founders of our political system were smarter than this. They built-in structural protections to ensure that every Australian would remain free from the tyrannous whims of deluded ideologues. Contained within our Constitution are assurances of unimpeded travel, the right to work, unrestricted access to public services and spaces, healthcare without prejudice -...

Florida Gov. DeSantis expresses concern about Biden admin cutting supply of effective antibody treatments

As the Biden administration moves to slash the supply of monoclonal antibody treatment available to Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis went on the offensive to promote the drug as an effective weapon against COVID-19. At a press conference Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, DeSantis pointed out that more than 90,000 people have received monoclonal antibody, or mAb, treatments, and the state would soon pass 100,000. That, he said, was due to his administration's efforts to advocate its possibilities as a treatment - something no one, including the Biden administration, was doing until recently. But that progress is threatened by the Biden administration's new rule controlling the supply. DeSantis said of the plan: "We've been thrown a major curveball here, but we're in the fight making sure Florida is not short-changed on these monoclonals. That's going to be front and center for us. ... We're going to fight like hell to make sure our folks get what they need." DeSantis said it was important that...

Joe Biden tried to bully Joe Manchin, here's how that went

As RedState reported last night, Sen. Mitch McConnell rejected a plea from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to raise the debt ceiling and fulfill all the left's wildest hopes and dreams. But on the same day, another plea to burn down your grandkids' future was made, this time by President Joe Biden to Sen. Joe Manchin in support of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation boondoggle. Biden called Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to the principal's office to try to bully them into going along with the party's wants. Apparently, the thought here was that the latter would burn down their political careers to please Bernie Sanders? Here's how that went per Axios: Defying a president from his own party — face-to-face — is the strongest indication yet Manchin is serious about cutting specific programs and limiting the price tag of any potential bill to $1.5 trillion. His insistence could blow up the deal for progressives and others. Axios was told Biden explained to Manchin his opposition could...

Larry Nassar was just one of Comey's disasters as head of the FBI

The most vexing mystery of Larry Nassar's reign of terror at USA Gymnastics isn't why the organization protected the serial predator. After all, as long as everyone turned a blind eye to the doctor molesting hundreds of gymnasts, Nassar never spoke up about USAG's own brutal non-sexual abuse of the girls. The real question is why, once the FBI did finally find out about the abuse allegations, they refused to do anything about them. During a congressional hearing on the Nassar affair, Olympian McKayla Maroney revealed that she told the agency about her abuse in September 2015, two months after the FBI was first alerted about Nassar. According to the inspector general report detailing the FBI's failures, the agency did not follow proper procedures, falsified Maroney's statements, and took over a year to finalize its own report — all facts corroborated by Maroney. Ultimately, the inspector general found that Nassar abused at least 70 victims between the time they first learned of his...

France recalls its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia to protest submarine deal

France announced Friday it has recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in a demonstration of its displeasure with President Biden's announcement of an agreement to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia without consulting French officials. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the decision was made by French President Emmanuel Macron: "At the request of the President of the Republic, I have decided to immediately recall our two ambassadors to the United States and Australia to Paris for consultations. This exceptional decision is justified by the exceptional gravity of the announcements made on 15 September by Australia and the United States." He added that the partnership is an example of "unacceptable behavior between allies and partners, the consequences of which affect the very conception we have of our alliances, our partnerships and the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe." Brian Aggeler, the acting U.S. ambassador in Paris, was...

Georgia hospital refuses to honor pleas from gravely ill couple to be treated with effective COVID protocols

Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, President and CEO of the Truth for Health Foundation, excoriated a Georgia hospital that refused to consider specific, known to be very effective treatment protocols for a married couple dangerously failing from severe COVID-19 in the hospital. "This is medical tyranny," said the independent physician to LifeSiteNews, "[it is] a huge violation of every tenant of medical ethics and legal rights of patients." Joseph and Beverly Rickels, both in their mid-60s, were admitted to Piedmont Hospital on Sunday with a diagnosis of COVID pneumonia, according to their daughter Courtney Rimmer. While not being allowed to be present with her parents, she is their off-premises advocate and power of attorney. Due to the lack of effective treatments for pneumonia, Joseph has been put on end-of-life care and is expected to pass away within 24 hours. Based on reports of disastrous results, and despite the hospital pressing them to do so, Joseph and Beverly each stipulated...

Communists, observers report violations in Russian election

The head of Russia's second-largest political party is alleging widespread violations in the election for a new national parliament, in which his party is widely expected to gain seats. Communist Party head Gennady Zyuganov said on Saturday — the second of three days of voting in the election — that police and the national elections commission must respond to reports of "a number of absolutely egregious facts" including ballot-stuffing in several regions. The Golos election-monitoring movement and independent media also reported violations including vote-buying and lax measures for guarding ballots at polling stations. The United Russia party, which is diligently loyal to President Vladimir Putin appears certain to retain dominance in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, but some projections suggest it could lose its current two-thirds majority, which is enough to change the constitution. The Communists are expected to pick up the biggest share of any seats lost by United...

The horror of the Haitian migrant camp in Texas shows why America MUST end its woke approach to immigration

With Joe Biden halting deportation flights to Haiti, a massive camp has been created under a Texas bridge with over 10,000 migrants. More crises are sure to follow unless the administration starts to take immigration seriously. Joe Biden's administration has lurched from one embarrassment to another on immigration policy. From the unedifying spectacle of another 'kids in cages' controversy to the Supreme Court forcing the reinstatement of the 'Stay in Mexico' policy, and the empty platitudes of Kamala Harris' "do not come" speech, this administration has been completely lost on what to do. Now, after canceling deportation flights to Haiti, it has another humanitarian crisis on its hands, with a migrant detention camp underneath a border bridge swelling to more than 10,000 people. It gets worse. The Federal Aviation Administration has imposed a no-fly zone for drones in the area after shocking footage of the migrants under the Texas bridge emerged. The no-fly zone will last for two...