Is This How Science Works These Days? Why the Wuhan Cover-up in America?

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Scientist Who Emailed Fauci About COVID-19 Being ‘Potentially Engineered’ Deactivates Account

BY JACK PHILLIPS

Epoch Times

June 7, 2021

A scientist who emailed top U.S. infectious diseases official Dr. Anthony Fauci about COVID-19 being possibly engineered in a laboratory suddenly deactivated his Twitter account over the past weekend.

Kristian Andersen, a virologist at California’s Scripps Research Institute, emailed Fauci in January 2020 about the possibility of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus being engineered, in documents that were released by the federal government via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last week.

Andersen, according to the email, made note of a Science magazine report about viruses, and told Fauci: “The unusual features of the virus make up a really small part of the genome (<0.1%) so one has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered.” He later continued in saying that “we have to look at this much more closely and there are still further analyses to be done, so those options could still change.”

Weeks later, Andersen published a study that claimed the virus has a natural origin and reportedly received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant.

That's a remarkably quick turnaround for a scientist. One wonders if he had gone public with his concerns rather than emailing Fauci,  would he have received an NIH grant? Is this how science works these days - if you produce a report supporting the approved narrative, you get grant money? If you don't, you don't! Is this how politics controls science? If so, we cannot believe anything in the name of science that supports the acceptable narrative.

This brings up another question - Why was protecting Wuhan from blame the acceptable narrative in America? Was it because Trump was blaming Wuhan and anything Trump said was unacceptable narrative and had to be countered? Or was there some other reason?

So many people I know think so highly of science but have no idea how much it is being controlled.

“These two features of the virus, the mutations in the RBD portion of the spike protein and its distinct backbone, rules out laboratory manipulation as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2,” Andersen said in a news release in March.

Over the past weekend, users on Twitter noted that Andersen—who had deleted thousands of tweets in recent days—deleted his account. The Epoch Times has contacted the social media platform for comment. A spokesperson for Twitter told news outlets that his “account was deactivated by the user. No action was taken on Twitter’s part.”

David Baltimore, the President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology, told the Wall Street Journal over the past weekend that the email from Andersen is a smoking gun and “a powerful challenge to the idea of a natural origin for SARS2,” referring to another term for the CCP virus.

Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has frequently given interviews about the pandemic since early last year, has drawn considerable criticism in recent days after his emails were published. Critics have said that he appeared to have had more knowledge about the theory that the virus may have “escaped” from the secretive Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), have called for Fauci’s ouster since his emails were published.

“I mean, everything we’re finding there, how can the president—and I know the American people don’t have trust in Dr. Fauci,” McCarthy said during an interview with Breitbart News on Saturday. “Let’s find a person we can trust. Take politics aside. I mean we’re talking about American lives here.”

Andersen has not responded to a request for comment.

Ozzone 4-26 > Are you ready, like Abraham, to do whatever God asks of you? How else can He purify your faith?

 

Russophobia - And the Organizations That Create It

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US regime-change agency NED admits its role in the strife in Belarus, but leaked documents also implicate the UK Foreign Office

21 May, 2021 07:50

FILE PHOTO. Demonstration to protest against presidential election results, in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus. © Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko; (inset) Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. © Wikipedia

By Kit Klarenberg, an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. 'Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg

The full extent of Western meddling in Belarus prior to the country’s contested August 2020 election may never be known. Yet the outlines of a wide-ranging foreign effort to destabilize the government are becoming ever clearer.

As RT reported earlier this week, a pair of Russian pranksters posing as Belarusian opposition figures have duped high-ranking representatives of US regime-change arm the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) into exposing the extent of Washington’s clandestine involvement in the unrest that erupted across the country throughout 2020.

Among other bombshell disclosures, Nina Ognianova, who oversees the NED’s work with local groups in the country, suggested “a lot of the people” who were “trained” and “educated” via the organization’s various endeavors there were pivotal to “the events, or the build-up to the events, of last summer.”

Long-time NED chief Carl Gershman – who in September 2013, less than six months prior to the coup that shifted Kiev’s political orientation, dubbed Ukraine “the biggest prize” for Washington – added that his organization was working with controversial opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and her team “very, very closely.” In all, the agency bankrolled at least 159 civil society initiatives in Belarus, costing $7,690,689, from 2016 to 2020 alone.

The team’s unguarded comments represent a rare public admission of the insidious, destabilizing role played by the NED – in 1991, its then-president acknowledged, “a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.” However, leaked UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) files indicate that the US is far from the only foreign power attempting to undermine the country’s government.

Happy birthday, international spying network! Britain’s GCHQ and America’s NSA hail 75th anniversary of their alliance

In 2017, then-Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled a £100 million kitty, ostensibly for battling Kremlin disinformation. In practice, internal FCDO files leaked by hacktivist collective Anonymous made clear the effort was primarily concerned with “weakening the Russian state’s influence,” particularly in its “near abroad.” As a close neighbor and arguably most important ally of Moscow, Belarus was unsurprisingly very much in the FCDO’s crosshairs.

In January of that year, Whitehall commissioned an extensive analysis of Belarusian citizens’ perceptions, motivations, and habits, in order to “identify opportunities” to “appropriately communicate” with them. In particular, London was interested in “existing or potential grievances against their national government” that could be exploited, and “channels and messages” by which the UK government could “appropriately engage with different sub-groups.”

The analysis was conducted by shadowy FCDO contractor Albany Associates, which has, in recent years, also conducted numerous information warfare operations in the Baltic states, in order to “develop greater affinity” among the region’s Russian-speaking minority for the UK, European Union and NATO. While carrying out another Whitehall-funded project targeted at Moscow, the firm closely collaborated with NED-connected French NGO IREX Europe.

An accompanying bio notes IREX has been working in Belarus since 2006 “with print, online and radio outlets,” to “improve the quality of their coverage,” and “increase their understanding of the EU and EU member states.” As part of its youth audience offering in the country, the organization was said to have founded the Warsaw-based Euroradio, along with online outlet 34mag.

Footage produced by Euroradio of violent crackdowns on protesters in Minsk was regularly aired by the Western media, including the BBC, during the strife. The outlet even specifically amplified calls from the British state broadcaster for activists to submit pictures and videos for use in news coverage. Franak Viacorka – an Atlantic Council senior fellow, and now senior advisor to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya – prominently hailed its “fearless” reporting of the upheaval.

Euroradio also repeatedly crops up in documents related to the Open Information Partnership (OIP), which is the “flagship” strand within Whitehall’s multi-pronged propaganda assault on Russia. Bankrolled by the FCDO to the tune of £10 million, the organization maintains a network of 44 partners across Central and Eastern Europe, including “journalists, charities, think tanks, academics, NGOs, activists, and factcheckers.” One of the collective’s primary, covert objectives is influencing “elections taking place in countries of particular interest” to the FCDO.

The classified files make clear the OIP has engaged in numerous astroturfing initiatives throughout the region, helping organizations and individuals produce slick propaganda masquerading as independent citizen journalism, which is then amplified globally via its network.

For instance, in Ukraine, the OIP worked with a 12-strong group of online ‘influencers’ “to counter Kremlin-backed messaging through innovative editorial strategies, audience segmentation, and production models that reflected the complex and sensitive political environment,” in the process allowing them to “reach wider audiences with compelling content that received over four million views.”

In Russia and Central Asia, the OIP established a covert network of YouTubers, helping them create videos “promoting media integrity and democratic values.” Participants were also taught how to “make and receive international payments without being registered as external sources of funding” and “develop editorial strategies to deliver key messages,” while the consortium minimized their “risk of prosecution” and managed “project communications” to ensure the existence of the network, and indeed the OIP’s role, were kept “confidential.”

It would be entirely unsurprising if similar efforts were being undertaken in Belarus. After all, the country – along with Moldova and Ukraine – is referred to in the leaked documents as “the most vital space in the entire network,” and a “high-impact priority” for London, suggesting its 2020 election was very much “of interest” to Whitehall. If so, it would likewise be entirely unsurprising if many of the alleged so-called citizen journalists and media outlets covering the unrest in Minsk received funding and training from the OIP.

All along, too, MEMO 98, an OIP member coincidentally also funded by NED, kept a close eye on the incendiary proceedings, publishing several analyses of media coverage and social media activity related to the protests. It drew particular attention to the output of Belsat TV, a Warsaw-based channel – founded in December 2007 by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it seeks to influence political change in Belarus. MEMO 98 praised the station’s “extensive coverage of protests and related intimidation of activists.”

Strikingly, the leaked FCDO files indicate that Belsat TV received intensive, Whitehall-financed support from the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the newswire’s international “charitable” wing, including 150 days’ consultancy in improving “TV output quality and audience reach.”

While the protests have largely fizzled out in recent months, and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s calls for Western leaders to recognise her as the legitimate president of Belarus continue to fall on deaf ears, there are clear signs many other media platforms in Belarus receive life-giving sponsorship from London to this day.

In March 2021, the FCDO published an update on the progress of its global ‘Media Freedom Campaign’, which revealed that, over the past year, Whitehall had allocated £950,000 in financing to Belarusian news outlets, enabling them to “remain open and maintain a functional level of equipment.”

“Without this support, they would otherwise have been forced to close by government measures,” the document stated. “The funding has saved jobs and ensured that independent media can still hold the government to account during a period of increasingly violent action by the security forces.”

Evidently, even during a global pandemic, the regime-change show must go on – and the UK government is committed to ensuring people the world over continue to receive a steady deluge of slanted agitprop from the streets of Minsk, in order to turn public opinion against the government not only of Belarus, but of Russia too.

Lest anyone call me communist, or something worse, for criticizing the UK, USA, NATO, etc for the relentless efforts to demonize Russia, may it be known that for the first decade and part of the 2nd decade in this century, I was persuaded that Putin was determined to re-create the old Russia, or perhaps the USSR with himself as Czar.

In the past few years, I have begun to think that he has outgrown that adolescent dream and is now more on the defensive than offensive as the west has become very offensive in its pursuit of Russia's neighbours. That, in itself, might be a good thing, but it is still 'playing a game' that feeds military industrial manufacturers, creating a spectacular waste of money. 

It's time for key players to grow past adolescence and start helping each other instead of threatening to destroy each other. It's time to grow up! What do you think the odds are of that happening?

Islam - Current Day - Denmark's New Migrant Law; Seattle Radical; Muslims Attack Doctors in India; Calais Again; 70 Million Africans; UK No-Go Zones

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European Commission concerned as Denmark passes new law to deport asylum seekers to non-EU states for processing

3 Jun, 2021 12:04

Migrants walk to the Serbian-Hungarian border as they protest to demand a passage to the European Union,

near Kelebija, Serbia, (FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

The European Commission has said it has “fundamental concerns” about a new Danish law, passed on Thursday, which will allow the state to deport asylum seekers to non-EU countries for processing.

Speaking on Thursday, the spokesman for the European Commission, Adalbert Jahnz, said Denmark’s new law was not possible under existing EU rules on migration and asylum, adding that the right to claim asylum was a fundamental one within the bloc. 

“External processing of asylum claims raises fundamental questions about both the access to asylum procedures and effective access to protection,” he stated. Denmark’s parliament passed a new bill that allows the state to deport migrants to non-EU countries while their asylum cases are reviewed. MPs voted for the bill by 70 votes to 24. 

The project, proposed by the Social Democrat-led government, will look for partner nations to run asylum camps in their own countries. In practice, the new law means an asylum seeker would need to submit their application at the Danish border before being transported to a third-party nation. If their application is successful, they will then be allowed to return and live in Denmark. 

If their application is not successful, the migrant may be granted asylum in the third-party state where he or she has been during the processing, according to migration expert Martin Lemberg-Pedersen, who spoke to AFP.

No country has cooperated with Denmark on the project but the government says it’s in talks with five to 10 nations who may host such camps. One of the nations is believed to be Rwanda. 

Denmark has attracted increasing attention for its hardline policies on migrants, including its decision to revoke the residence permits of Syrians living in Denmark after deeming it safe for asylum seekers to return to parts of Syria.

Seattle: Man converts to Islam, plots to drive semi truck through gay pride parade and then open fire on crowd

JUN 2, 2021 5:00 PM 

BY ROBERT SPENCER

A Seattle-area mosque tipped off the feds to this clown, which is good, but will also probably preclude the clueless and corrupt FBI from even bothering to investigate the possibility that Williams also learned at a mosque or from his fellow Muslims that jihad violence was a good thing. Meanwhile, as Williams is white, expect his jihad massacre plot to be classified as “white supremacism.”

“Seattle man arrested at Sea-Tac Airport, accused of trying to join ISIS,”

Breaking 911, June 1, 2021:

WASHINGTON – A Washington man was arrested on Friday, May 28, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on criminal charges related to his alleged efforts to join Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, in order to engage in violent acts of terrorism in the Middle East or the United States.

According to court documents, Elvin Hunter Bgorn Williams, 20, of Seattle, was arrested as he prepared to board an international flight following a lengthy investigation into his efforts to join ISIS.

“As alleged, Williams was determined to support ISIS either by traveling overseas to join and fight with the terrorist organization, or by conducting an attack here in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department’s National Security Division….

“This defendant proved persistent in his efforts to join ISIS – speaking with enthusiasm about acts of horrific bloodshed in the Middle East and here at home,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman for the Western District of Washington. “I want to commend those citizens who contacted law enforcement – including his family and faith community – expressing concerns about the defendant’s radicalization. Their courage to speak up and work with law enforcement was important to ensure public safety.”

“This individual self-radicalized, pledged loyalty to ISIS, and became consumed with activities to join the cause overseas,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald M. Voiret of the FBI Seattle Field Office. “We are grateful for the concerned citizens and family members who reported his behavior on multiple occasions and all of the law enforcement agencies who worked tirelessly on this case. These combined efforts no doubt saved lives.”

KOMO News reported: “It’s one of the biggest pride parades in the United States. Plus, after COVID hits, there is going to be tons of people wanting to go to the gay pride parade,” Williams allegedly said, according to the case file.

His plan was to get a semi truck and drive straight through the parade, mowing down marchers and spectators, then jumping out of the semi and opening fire on the crowd, the court documents show. The friend declined to join him and Williams gave up on the idea.

In November 2020, a member of a Seattle-area mosque contacted the FBI with concerns about Williams. The mosque had attempted to provide support and guidance to Williams, but members became aware he was deeply involved in ISIS propaganda. Williams was using mosque-provided electronic devices to engage in online chats with ISIS radicals and to view ISIS propaganda videos of beheadings and other acts of violence. In November 2020, Williams allegedly swore an oath of allegiance to ISIS.

Using confidential sources close to Williams, the FBI monitored his activity and became aware of his efforts to travel to the Middle East and join ISIS. Williams expressed to his associates that if he could not travel overseas, he would commit an attack in the U.S. on behalf of ISIS. Williams began communicating with those he believed were ISIS recruiters who could get him to an ISIS terror cell in the Middle East or other parts of the world.

In early May 2021, Williams booked airline travel from Seattle to Amsterdam and on to Egypt to join ISIS. On Friday May 28, 2021, he went to Sea-Tac Airport to catch the first leg of his international flight. Williams was arrested at the departure gate….

India: Violent Muslim mob again storms into hospital

and beats up doctor, 24 arrested

JUN 2, 2021 4:00 PM 

BY ASHLYN DAVIS

On the evening of June 1, a disturbing video surfaced on Twitter, and in no time, all the major social media outlets were awash with its graphic visuals. The viral video showed a Muslim mob breaking into the Udali Covid Care Centre in the Indian state of Assam, while security personnel and staff members struggled to stop them. The mob then attacked Dr. Seuj Kumar Senapat and thrashed him, leaving him black and blue all over his body. 

These hoodlums were relatives of a critically ill Covid patient who had succumbed to the viral disease. The video triggered massive outrage on social media, with users tagging the Chief Ministers and administrative higher-ups and calling upon them to take exemplary actions against the perpetrators. Condemning the attack, the Indian Medical Association wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded immediate strict action on the culprits.

According to the latest reports, 24 people have been arrested for planning and executing the brutal assault on one of India’s frontline defenses against Covid, damaging the Covid care facility and destroying medical equipment.

A Twitter user by the name of Dr Syed Faizan Ahmad made a sly attempt to provoke anti-Hindu sentiments by holding a famed Hindu Yoga practitioner-cum-business tycoon, Baba Ramdev, responsible for this mayhem, as the latter is known to trust Ayurveda more than allopathy. To Faizan Ahmad’s dismay, the hooligans were actually all Muslims, none of whom, of course, followed the Hindu Yogi. The mob was only looking to avenge the death of their relative. The arrested perpetrators include men as well as women, including MD Kamaruddin, Rahim Uddin, Misba Begum, Rajul Islam, Tayebur Rahman.

This is not the first time that the furious relatives of dead Muslim patients mobilized massive mobs to take down hospitals and care centers in India, where they constitute the second-largest religious group. Two years ago, in June 2019, a 200-strong-Muslim mob descended on the busy Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata after an ailing septuagenarian, Mohammed Sayeed, passed away after a prolonged illness while receiving treatment in the hospital. It is reported that his grandson Ali planned the mob attack on the NRS hospital and mobilized the mob by writing provocative posts on Facebook. (It’s interesting how the social media giant allows such provocative posts by Muslims on its platform.)

The mob, which had gathered within hours, vandalized the landmark hospital, threw brickbats at the staff, and hit staff members with batons. Two young and promising doctors, Paribaha Mukhopadhyay and Yash Tekwami, were severely wounded in the melee. One had to be rushed to the operating table; the other was admitted to the critical care unit. Mukhopadhyay, who suffered a fracture in the right frontal lobe of the skull, will not be able to be a surgeon due to this injury.

Just a month later, in July 2019, a major furor ensued after the death of Saira Bano from a heart attack in the Lari Cardiology Centre in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Her enraged relatives, accompanied by 100-odd people, stormed into the hospital and started a brawl at the Emergency Ward; medical staff had to halt operations for 5 hours due to the ongoing fracas. The residential doctors were forced to hide in bathrooms as the mob resorted to violence. The hospital authorities were compelled to shift emergency services to the Trauma Centre. There was a delay in starting OPD services due to the commotion, which added to the distress and prolonged the suffering of several other patients at the Lari Hospital. The crowd remained at the ward until the police arrived, and it was only with great effort that the police were able to move the mob out of the emergency ward.

These mobs seem to follow the same script in a recurring fashion, in different cities, troubling different hospitals. Back in 2017, following the same pattern, an angry mob of around 100 people from Kolkata’s Muslim-dominated Khidirpur ransacked the CMRI Hospital at Ekbalpore and hounded staff members after the death of Muslim teenager Saika Praveen during treatment.

Medical professionals were abused and assaulted at various Covid care facilities last year, after the Tablighi Jamatis incited country-wide unrest in the middle of the Covid-19 upsurge. When medical staffs were sent to an area within the proximity of a local mosque where twelve Jamatis had tested positive for Covid, they were beaten up and chased away. Even female staffers were not spared.

Another group of 26 Jamaat members created a disturbance at Ahmedabad’s Sola Civil Hospital that led to hours of high drama. In Uttar Pradesh’s at MMG District Hospital, six Muslims associated with the Tablighi Jamaat were booked for loitering around the wards naked and making lewd gestures at the nurses. In Indore’s Tatpatti Bakhal, Tablighi Jamaat members were accused of spitting on the medical staff, while in Delhi’s Narela quarantine station, two Jamaat members were reportedly found defecating in the corridors.

Some of these Muslims were refusing medication, alleging that the government was conspiring to execute them. One may overlook these comments, thinking that they are being made by people of meager education who do not know any better. But how should one react when trained medical professionals prove themselves to be equally spiteful and dangerous for the society of which they are a part?

Recently, Niha Khan, a nurse in Aligarh of Uttar Pradesh state, was found guilty of not injecting Covid vaccines into recipients’ bodies after inserting the needles. She would trash the loaded syringes in the dustbin. UPHC Doctor Afreen Khan has also been found guilty of working hand-in-glove with the nurse. Allegedly, she was aware of the actions of nurse Niha Khan and was purposely hiding the facts. A FIR has been registered against the two, and investigations are underway.

Calais migrant camp dismantled by police after early morning raid

as number of Channel crossings to Britain skyrockets

4 Jun, 2021 10:56

Police supervise the evacuation of a migrant camp on the road to Saint-Omer near Calais, northern France,

on June 4, 2021. © AFP / DENIS CHARLET

A makeshift migrant camp in the northern port of Calais has been dismantled by French police, removing several hundred people, including around 30 minors, in one of the largest such operations in months.

The French authorities stated that the operation started at around 6am on Friday morning, with migrants being taken to several reception centers around northern France. “Several hundred migrants were identified on the premises, including about 30 children,” the police said in a statement. A sizeable police presence can be observed in footage online.  

The number of migrants in makeshift camps around the port city of Calais has increased dramatically in recent weeks. There has also been a surge in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel to Britain.

Friday’s raid, the biggest in months, comes after clashes between migrants and police earlier this week. Since the so-called Calais Jungle camp – where around 9,000 migrants had lived – was dismantled in 2016, makeshift migrant camps have sprung up around the city. Authorities have repeatedly cleared smaller camps only for them to appear elsewhere. 

A recent surge in migrant movements towards the UK from France has caused outrage in Britain, with politicians such as Nigel Farage calling on the government to do more, and others calling on France to stop the migrant boats embarking. According to the Daily Mail, 1,619 migrants arrived on UK shores illegally in May – a figure that shows a considerable increase on previous years. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday, increasingly anti-migrant Denmark introduced a new law giving the government power to deport asylum seekers to third-party nations for processing. The EU said it was concerned by the move.

Some in the UK are wondering why they aren't doing the same thing. Then UK doesn't have the EU to answer to anymore, so it would be easier for them than  for Denmark.

EU looked at ‘importing 70 million Africans’ by 2035, says German MEP

Gunnar Beck, denouncing ‘disastrous’ new migration pact

4 Jun, 2021 15:40

FILE PHOTO. African immigrants wait in a row as they enter the immigrant center CETI in the Spanish

enclave Ceuta, after some 200 refugees crossed the border fence between Morocco and Ceuta.

© Reuters / Fabian Bimmer

By Damian Wilson, a UK journalist, ex-Fleet Street editor, financial industry consultant and political communications special advisor in the UK and EU.

A leading figure in Alternative for Germany, tipped for victory in a German election this week, Gunnar Beck is attacking the EU’s ‘deeply dangerous’ migration pact before it’s enacted under cover of a feelgood summer.

As Germany’s ‘super election year’ focuses on the state of Saxony-Anhalt this Sunday, the disruptors in the nation’s biggest opposition party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), are poised for a shock win as its anti-immigration message resonates in the heartlands of former East Germany.

Sitting top of the most recent INSA opinion poll with 26% and having just announced its two lead candidates for September’s federal elections – both supporters of a hard line on immigration – AfD is not about to soften its message.

Senior AfD figure and Euro MP Gunnar Beck said a strong election result would prove a useful weapon in his party’s battle against the European Union’s controversial proposed Pact on Migration and Asylum that looks to enlist its members in a centrally-run redistribution of asylum seekers across the bloc.

“I have myself been working on the EU migration pact for some time and for me the enactment of such a pact would be disastrous,” Beck told RT.com. “Because the EU not too long ago was talking about importing up to 70 million Africans into Europe by 2035. In my humble opinion this is not what we need to modernise our economy.

“And while the figure seems high, when the members of our migration pact campaign - including delegates from Denmark, Estonia, France and Belgium – met with the Commission just last year, that migration figure was brought up but no one at the Commission chose to deny it. “

That suggestion of actively encouraging inward migration to the EU has been floating around Brussels for a while, as governments across the bloc look at ways to address the phenomenon known as the ‘greying of Europe’ where ageing populations aged 65 or older and low birthrates pose ‘considerable social, economic and political challenges in countries such as Germany and Italy’ according to the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank.

Some politicians, such as former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker believe an influx of younger workers from Africa is the solution.

Meanwhile, the migration pact currently appears stuck in parliamentary committees, the received wisdom is that it’s being deliberately stalled until the outcome of the German federal elections is known in September.

Beck suggests an alternative reason for the unusual delay.

“It's not gone through all the committees in the European Parliament and the negotiations of the Council [of Europe] haven't started but I think the EU would like to push the legislation through from July onwards,” he said. 

“Now that all the countries are phasing out the lockdown and people are generally feeling better about themselves and able to leave their homes again. So the possibility is that they’ll try to use the general feelgood atmosphere – summer combined with corona relaxations – to push ahead with this deeply dangerous legislative package,” Beck said. 

And maybe Beck’s right. Because the European Parliament’s final plenary session is early July and then it doesn’t sit again until mid-September. If the pact proposals are put to MEPs in July and inevitably passed, there is plenty of time for it to lose its sting over the extended summer break. It will be just like it was there all the time.

That should play well for AfD in the federal elections, which are slated for September 22, but Beck is not so sure.

“It's possible that migration will become an important issue in the federal election,” he said. “And the EU migration pact to those of us in the EU delegation is an important campaign but whether that can be turned into an election campaign is a different story.”

Nevertheless, a win on Sunday for AfD would indicate that despite a huge surge in Green Party popularity nationwide, Germans are interested in more than climate change, particularly in states such as Saxony-Anhalt, home to one of Germany’s three main coal mines. A recent poll there found that climate change was considered important by just 6% of respondents, whereas a national survey found 75% of folk were concerned for the planet.

Observers liken the voters of Saxony-Anhalt – which has a population of 2.2million – to those ‘left-behinds’ who Donald Trump wooed, and the so-called ‘Red Wall’ voters in the UK who felt their traditional party no longer represented them. Beck agrees. 

“The election this week will probably be the first time that we become the strongest single party and that will be a huge success,” he said. “There’s widespread dissatisfaction in east Germany about the state of politics in this country and that dissatisfaction can translate very frictionlessly into increasing support for the AfD because our party is not stigmatised there. In west Germany it’s distinctly more difficult there. The campaign to stigmatise us has been more successful and some of the other parties profit from that dissatisfaction. But not us.”

Those efforts to discredit a party, which would most likely sit alongside the Conservative right in the UK, take a huge electoral toll. Despite coalitions being commonplace in Germany, no one dares buddy-up with AfD.

So, despite topping last week’s poll in Saxony-Anhalt, even if AfD wins the greatest vote share on Sunday, it will be relegated to the opposition benches, thanks to a cosy three-party so-called ‘Kenya’ coalition agreement between the Greens, Social Democrats and Christian Democrats, nicknamed as such because their respective party colours of green, red and black echo the African nation’s flag.

But an AfD victory will have some impact. It would prove no small embarrassment to the ruling establishment, particularly the CDU, who will be facing September’s elections without Angela Merkel and face their own internal battles as some members urge a tilt towards the right under the leadership of charisma-free Armin Laschet.

At least for the time being, however, AfD will take the win and, while it will irk the party to be denied the seat of power, at least its supporters can be sure that they are making a difference.

Saxony-Anhalt, GDR

Muslim neighbourhoods in British towns are ‘no-go areas’

for white people, new book claims

5 Jun, 2021 10:37

The central mosque is seen in Birmingham, central England, January 31, 2007. ©  REUTERS/Darren Staples

An academic who studied Muslim integration in Britain has revealed in a new book that women and children in some communities are subjected to Taliban-like rules, and non-Muslims face threats of violence.

Ed Husain, professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University, visited mosques across Britain, speaking to businesses owners, imams and locals about life in predominantly Muslim neighbourhoods. He used his on-the-ground research to write a book, ‘Among The Mosques: A Journey Across Muslim Britain’, which is set for release next week. 

The Muslim author grew up in a Bangladeshi family in London and was radicalised in his youth before renouncing extremism. According to the professor, integration issues in the UK continue to persist. 

One man in Blackburn told Husain that “Asian” teengers repeatedly “jumped” his 12-year-old son simply for “being white.” Another local told the author that certain parts of the town had become “no-go areas.” Blackburn has the largest Muslim population in the UK outside of London, and is a major hub for ultra-orthodox Islamic sects. 

Husain also learned that one school in the town had barred girls from participating in swimming lessons, saying that it was inappropriate for them to be seen in bathing costumes. 

While visiting a bookstore in Blackburn, the author stumbled across several volumes advocating strict restrictions and dress codes for women, as well as copies of a book which argued that it is sinful to enjoy dancing and listening to music. The town also reportedly has restaurants that provide gender separation for their clientele. 

While visiting Bradford, Husain was amazed by how few white residents there were, and was reportedly told by a taxi driver that they had “gone with the wind.” He noted that mosques were on nearly every corner and that even private homes served as places of worship and religious schools. The professor also learned that some Muslim parents in the area had prohibited their children from going to drawing and dance lessons. 

An imam in the city confided that there was “widespread abuse of disabled children in the Muslim community,” and that parents were pocketing social welfare money while neglecting their children. 

In Didsbury, the author came across a sign for a local ‘Sharia Department’, which deals with marital issues and other disputes through the lens of Islamic law. 

He reported similar interactions and situations in places like Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. 

One woman told him that some Muslim communities in the UK had become a “different universe” from the rest of the country. 

Like other European countries, the UK has struggled with integrating immigrants from Muslim-majority nations, sparking concern about radicalisation. At the same time, reports suggest that there is a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in the country. During Husain’s trip to Bradford, a local predicted that anti-Muslim sentiment could lead to “an apartheid city” within 30 years and give rise to Nazi-like political parties that would persecute immigrants. 

I don't think it will take 30 years!

Ozzone 4-25 > There are unemployables in the spiritual realm. Are you one?

 

Islam - Current Day > Fulani Herdsmen Massacre Christians; Terrorist Attack in Texas; Pastor and 3 y/o Son Murdered

Children ‘butchered to death’ by Fulani herders in attacks

on Nigeria’s Christian villages

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Christians hold signs as they march on the streets of Abuja during a prayer and penance for peace and security in Nigeria in Abuja on March 1, 2020. The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria gathered faithfuls as well as other Christians and other people to pray for security and to denounce the barbaric killings of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria. | AFP via Getty Images/KOLA SULAIMON

Suspected Fulani herdsmen brutally killed dozens of Christians, including children and eight members of one family, in attacks on Christian villages in Nigeria’s Plateau State, according to reports.

In one attack last Sunday, suspected armed jihadist herdsmen "butchered to death" 14 Christians, including children, in Kwi village in Riyom County near Jos, Morning Star News reported, quoting area resident Solomon Mandiks, a Christian rights activist.

Then, in a separate attack the same day, eight Christians were killed in Dong village in Jos North County, Asabe Samuel, a member of the local Evangelical Church Winning All congregation, was quoted as saying.

“I was by the central area of the village, which has shops and serves as a market, when I heard Fulani gunmen shooting around my house,” Samuel said. “This forced us to run to hide.”

Samuel added that despite the gunshots being shot from the direction of her house, “I still rushed to my house, and just as I was getting closer to my house, I found that one Istifanus Shehu, 40, a member of COCIN (Church of Christ in Nations) who has had mental health challenges, was shot dead, and his corpse was lying beside my house. We heard the attackers retreating and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar (Allah is greater).’ The herdsmen were also communicating with themselves in the Fulani language.”

Police arrived the following morning, Pastor Jonathan Kyoomnom Bala of the ECWA church in Dong, was quoted as saying. “These herdsmen carried out the attack on us for about 40 minutes and left without intervention from soldiers or the police,” he said.

Before the 22 Christians were killed Sunday, 15 others were murdered by suspected herdsmen last month in the same state.

The U.S.-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern designates the Fulani Militia as the fourth deadliest terror group in the world and says it has surpassed Boko Haram as the greatest threat to Nigerian Christians.

“Many believe that the attacks are motivated by jihadist Fulani’s desire to take over farmland and impose Islam on the population and are frustrated with the Muslim-dominated government that is believed to be enabling such atrocities,” it adds.

The number of Christians murdered within the first four months of this year – 1,470 – was the highest since 2014 and surpasses the number of Christians killed in 2019, according to a recent report released by the Nigerian civil society group, Intersociety Rule of Law.

Northwestern Kaduna state recorded the highest number of Christian deaths, at 300. The Northcentral Benue state witnessed 200 murders of Christians, followed by the Central Plateau state with 90 Christian deaths, said Intersociety, an organization headed by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi.

The Northern Muslim-controlled Nigerian Army also killed at least 120 Christians in the states of Benue, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi, the report added.

In the first four months of this year, at least 2,200 Christians were abducted, with Kaduna state recording the highest number at 800 abductions.

The Global Terrorism Index ranked Nigeria as the third-most affected country by terrorism and reported over 22,000 deaths by acts of terror from 2001 to 2019.

The U.S. Commission on International and Religious Freedom’s 2021 report warned that Nigeria “will move relentlessly toward a Christian genocide” if action is not taken.

It would appear they already have, and the Nigerian government is not doing anything to even slow it down.

Islamic extremism, particularly in Northeast Nigeria, has led to thousands of deaths and millions displaced in recent years. 

Nigeria was the first democratic nation to be added to the U.S. State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act for engaging in “tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

Female Soldier neutralizes terrorist after being shot in chest in Texas

Facebook

This last Thursday morning, May 21, a Syrian-American terrorist armed with an AR-15, a shotgun, and a pistol planned to shoot the gate guard, enter the Navy base in Corpus Christi, Texas and kill as many on base as possible.

A young female Sailor on duty checking IDs was shot square in the chest by the terrorist. Her ceramic armor stopped the bullet, but the force knocked her to the ground. 

She was able to activate the final denial barrier before the terrorist could pass through. She then unloaded her side arm pistol into the vehicle killing the terrorist and saving unknown lives. 

Just in case this hadn't made it into your news feed, I thought you should know.

Of course, a story like this is not part of the accepted narrative for most American media.

Nigerian Christian pastor, 3-y/o son killed by radical Fulani herdsmen

who surrounded their home

By Emily Wood, 

Christian Post Reporter

| Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Nigerian Catholic worshipers pray during morning mass April 12, 2005, in Kano, Nigeria. Kano is part of Nigeria's primarily Muslim north, but a devoted Catholic minority participates in frequent Masses in local cathedrals.

| Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Radical Fulani herdsmen killed a 39-year-old Christian pastor and his 3-year-old son in Niger state, Nigeria, while his wife and daughter managed to escape the extremists' attack on their home. 

Leviticus Makpa had established a Christian school in the remote Kamberi village and was killed on his mission base with his son, Godsend Makpa, in the May 21 attack, according to reports obtained by Morning Star News.

“Our missionary brother, Pastor Leviticus Makpa, was shot dead with his son by Fulani bandits,” area resident Deborah Omeiza told Morning Star News in a text message. “His wife escaped with their daughter.”

An associate of the pastor said Makpa texted her, saying that Fulani herdsmen had surrounded his home. 

“Pastor Leviticus Makpa advised that I should not phone, as the herdsmen have surrounded his house and are attacking his mission base,” she told Morning Star News. “I quickly sent airtime to him to enable him [to] keep communicating with me. While I was waiting to hear from him, we began to pray for their protection.”

Radical Fulani herdsmen had reportedly attacked the pastor in the past for his faith. 

“Fulani bandits came against them, they hid in the cave to save their lives, and after they left, he went back to the field with his family; how many of us can do this?” asked Samuel Solomon, a close associate of Makpa’s. “He eventually lost his life and that of his son; the wife and daughter escaped. He knew his life was at stake, but burden for souls won’t let him run away from the field.”

Solomon said they had planned to adopt him as a missionary, “but painfully he has joined the league of martyrs in Heaven. His blood will testify over the land and also against the insecurity of a corrupt Islamist government in Nigeria.” 

Solomon said the mission of the radical herdsmen is to wipe out Christianity and “obliterate the church.” 

Some have accused the Nigerian government of corruption for not combating jihadi terror groups despite receiving millions in foreign aid each year for that purpose, a lack of accountability, and turning a blind eye to the cycle of violence impacting Christians. 

Corruption is rampant in Nigeria, in the government, military, and business. The Muslim head of state is in no hurry to change things, nor, does it appear, has he any interest in rescuing Christians.

“Nigeria is essentially the new headquarters for the Islamic jihad seeking to establish a caliphate …,” Dede Laugesen, executive director of the United States-based advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians, told the Christian Post in an interview in March. “The Christians in Nigeria and others are very concerned that the government continues to give impunity to Islamic extremists in Nigeria. … So there’s no real accountability coming from the Nigerian government.” 

Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of people were killed by radicalized Fulani herdsmen attacks in 2020 alone.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and ranks No. 9 on Open Doors' World Watch List for Christian persecution worldwide due to an “extreme” level of Islamic oppression. It is where more Christians are murdered for their faith each year than anywhere else. 

" ... Christians are often murdered or have their property and means of livelihood destroyed. Men and boys are particularly vulnerable to being killed," Open Doors reports. "The women and children left behind are very vulnerable and living testimonies to the power of the attackers. Perpetrators are seldom brought to justice. Christian women are often abducted and raped by these militant groups, and sometimes forced to marry Muslims."

About 46% of Nigeria's population identifies as Christian, with over 95 million believers, and the divide between Christians and Muslims is roughly even, according to Open Doors.

The Global Terrorism Index ranked Nigeria as the third-most affected country by terrorism and reports that over 22,000 people were killed by acts of terror from 2001 to 2019.

The U.S. Commission on International and Religious Freedom’s 2021 report warned Nigeria “will move relentlessly toward a Christian genocide” if action is not taken quickly. 

Nigeria was the first democratic nation to be added to the U.S. State Department's list of "countries of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act for engaging in “tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

An American pastor and attorney recently rebuilt a Nigerian church in time for Easter Sunday that was burned down in a Fulani attack in 2016.

Corruption is Everywhere > J&J's Asbestos-laced Powder; Queen's Guards Arrested; Iranian Oil in the USA

US Supreme Court rejects J&J’s appeal against $2.1 billion damages award over claims asbestos-laced talc caused cancer

1 Jun, 2021 19:04

FILE PHOTO: Bottles of Johnson & Johnson baby powder line a drugstore shelf in New York October 15, 2015

©  REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The US Supreme Court has rejected Johnson & Johnson’s appeal against a $2.1 billion damages award to women who claimed their ovarian cancer was a result of asbestos in the US pharmaceutical giant’s talcum powder.

The court’s decision not to hear the case means the earlier jury award, granted to 22 women in the US state of Missouri in 2018 after a class action lawsuit against J&J, still stands.

The case against J&J is the largest in its history, with the claimants originally awarded $4.7 billion in damages from the company, before the amount was reduced on appeal. Nine of the plaintiffs have died from ovarian cancer since they first launched their legal action, their lawyers said.

Last year the company said it would no longer sell its famous Baby Powder in the US and Canada after a 60% decline in sales.

Lawyers acting for J&J argued that due process was not being followed by allowing several claims related to its Baby Powder to be heard before the same jury at once.

The company said in a statement to Bloomberg on Tuesday that the high court’s decision not to review the case “leaves unresolved significant legal questions that state and federal courts will continue to face.”

J&J has denied allegations its Baby Powder and Shower Shimmer Effects products contained asbestos and caused cancer.

Two conservative justices of the nine-member Supreme Court excused themselves from the case due to potential conflicts of interests. Samuel Alito previously owned a stake in J&J, while Brett Kavanaugh’s father worked with a trade association linked to the company.

2 Queen’s Guards, including 1st-ever black man to reach top soldier rank,

charged in ‘selling ammunition’ plot

1 Jun, 2021 11:14

FILE PHOTO. Members of the Coldstream Guards. © Reuters / Hannah McKay

Two active-duty soldiers with the elite Coldstream Guards have been charged with conspiracy to sell ammunition. One of the accused is the first-ever black man to reach the top enlisted soldier rank in the force.

The two soldiers, Kirtland Gill and Rajon Graham, were slapped with several firearm offences on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Gill is facing one count of conspiracy to sell or transfer ammunition, as well as one count of possession of an illegal weapon, described by the police as an “imitation firearm capable of discharging noxious liquid.” (A water pistol?) The other suspect faces one count of conspiracy to sell or transfer ammunition and four counts of selling or transferring ammunition. The two soldiers are set to appear before court on July 1.

Kirtland Gill made national headlines in December of last year when he became the first-ever black man to reach the Regimental Sergeant Major rank in the elite unit. The 40-year-old man of Jamaican descent was described as a “tried and tested soldier with an immaculate service record” by his superiors. Gill served within the ranks of the British military for 20 years, and saw combat during his time in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s.

“I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to be the next regimental sergeant major. It’s not something that’s just given to you because of who you are, it is something you need to achieve,” Gill said upon learning of his promotion.

However, the fall from grace came shortly after his historic promotion. In late January, Gill and Graham, whose rank is not known, were arrested by the Flying Squad during a probe into ammunition theft. The suspects were apprehended at two separate residential addresses in Berkshire and have remained in custody ever since.

A few answers to the questions I asked about Iranian oil landing in the USA (4th story on link)

US makes $110mn by selling seized crude, allegedly Iranian

1 Jun, 2021 08:59

FILE PHOTO: The Houston Ship Channel and adjacent refineries, part of the Port of Houston.

©REUTERS / Loren Elliott

The US government has reportedly made around $110 million by selling off 2 million barrels of crude oil which it seized along with a tanker off the coast of the UAE after alleging that the product was Iranian.

The cargo from the Liberian-flagged tanker MT Achilleas was unloaded in Houston, Texas and sold at around $55 a barrel, the Associated Press reported, citing court documents. The money went to an escrow fund, similar to proceeds from previous operations.

And then what happens to it? Does it suddenly appear on someone's balance sheet, or does it just disappear altogether?

The national statistics, published by the US Energy Information Agency, listed Iran as one of the sources of crude in March, stating an import of 33,000 barrels per day, or about a million barrels of crude per month.

According to AP, when asked about the import, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said: “Since the time of the former US president, Mr. Bill Clinton, no oil has been purchased from Iran because of their laws.”

In February, the US filed a legal complaint seeking to confiscate the oil aboard the Achilleas under terrorism forfeiture laws, as it was assumed that the money for the cargo would go to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC was designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration, which then started seizing oil shipments of allegedly Iranian origin under terrorism laws.

The forfeiture claim for the Achilleas and its cargo, which was filed in February, was the first by the Biden administration, showing a continuation of Iran policy in Washington. Tehran branded the seizure an act of international piracy.

The situation was further complicated in March, when an UAE-based oil company laid claim on the seized crude, which by that time had been reportedly unloaded in Houston, Texas.

Fujairah International Oil & Gas Corp (FIOGC), which is controlled by the ruler of the Emirate of Fujairah, said the cargo belonged to it as an intermediate seller. The Achilleas is said to have been seized by the US in the port of Fujairah.

The Trump administration sought to stifle the Iranian oil trade as part of its ‘maximum pressure campaign’ against Tehran. The US threatened anyone buying crude from Iran with secondary sanctions.

The shift came after the US withdrew from the 2015 multilateral agreement which restricted the Iranian nuclear industry in exchange for sanctions relief and lucrative business opportunities in the West. The Biden administration is currently trying to negotiate a return to the agreement, with talks in Vienna ongoing.