Corruption is Everywhere > Even in the Vatican; Zuma Resists Prison; Avenatti to Prison; Giuliani's Law License; Scientific Research Corruption

..

This stunning event is, unfortunately, about 40 years overdue. David Yallop documented these kinds of corruption in his amazing book "In God's Name" in 1984. 

Italian cardinal among 10 people charged by Vatican in landmark case

involving embezzlement, money laundering & extortion

3 Jul, 2021 12:52

FILE PHOTO: St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. ©  AFP / Andreas Solaro

The Vatican will prosecute 10 individuals, including Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, in a case involving embezzlement and extortion. The indictments are seen as a historic crackdown by Pope Francis on Church-linked crime.

The Holy See announced on Saturday that Becciu and nine others have been ordered to stand trial for alleged crimes stemming from the Vatican's purchase of a luxury property in London, as well as speculative investments that resulted in serious financial losses for the Church.

The cardinal was charged with embezzlement, abuse of office, and subordination. An Italian woman who worked for the senior Church official was also charged with embezzlement. 

Among their co-defendants are the former heads of the Vatican's financial intelligence unit, as well as two Italian brokers involved in the shady deal. Charges include extortion, fraud, and money laundering. 

Charges were also brought against four companies associated with individual defendants. Two of the firms are located in Switzerland, one in the United States, and one in Slovenia. 

The trial will begin on July 27, according to a Vatican press release. 

Becciu has now become the highest-ranking Vatican-based Church official to be accused of financial crimes. According to Christopher Lamb, Rome correspondent for the Catholic journal The Tablet, the cardinal’s indictment is without precedent. 

“This is the first time a cardinal has been prosecuted in this way, and the decision to charge marks a new, and potentially decisive, step in Pope Francis’ reforms of Vatican finances,” he wrote. 

Unless, of course, he ends up like John Paul 1.

As per Church law, the pontiff had to personally approve the decision to indict Becciu. The Italian cardinal has always maintained his innocence during the investigation into the affair, which began in 2019. However, he left a top post in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State last September after allegations of embezzlement surfaced. 

The move comes less than a month after the Council of Europe’s top financial watchdog called on the Vatican to ensure transparency in procedures to prosecute senior officials accused of money laundering and other crimes. The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism noted that the procedure for obtaining papal consent in order to bring legal action against senior clerics is “not fully transparent.”

In April, Pope Francis issued a decree allowing bishops and cardinals working in the Vatican to be judged by a lay tribunal. Before this reform, senior clerics were answerable only to a body of high-ranking Church officials, known as the Court of Cassation.

Former South African President Jacob Zuma resists prison sentence

By Clyde Hughes

Zuma, South Africa's president between 2009 and 2018, says the court's sentence is essentially a death sentence

because of his age, 79, and the coronavirus danger in South Africa.  File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

July 6 (UPI) -- Former South African President Jacob Zuma found himself in a legal standoff with the country's Constitutional Court Tuesday after he refused to turn himself over to authorities for failing to appear at a previous corruption hearing.

The court sentenced Zuma to prison (4th story on link) last month when he declined to participate in an inquiry focused on his time in power from 2009 to 2018. He was given 15 months in prison on contempt charges for failing to appear at a required hearing.

Zuma said the court's decision was essentially "sentencing [him] to death" because of his age, 79, and the coronavirus danger in South Africa, according to CNBC.

He filed court challenges to the sentence with the Constitutional Court itself and the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

The high court case will be heard on July 12, but the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture said that court does not have jurisdiction to hear it.

"A high court in this country has inherent jurisdiction and national jurisdiction to enforce court orders, even of other courts, of other provinces, even of other tribunals, such as arbitration and even something that is to be done in a foreign jurisdiction," Zuma's attorney Dali Mpofu told The South African, arguing for the high court's intervention.

The Constitutional Court has ordered the minister of police and justice minister to take "legal steps" to arrest Zuma if he does not turn himself in.

UPDATE: 8 July 2021

South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma, who has been in police detention since Wednesday night as he starts a 15-month prison sentence for contempt, will be eligible for parole after around four months, the justice minister said.

Zuma turned himself in to police to begin his jail term for defying a court order to attend an inquiry into corruption while he was in power from 2009 to 2018.

‘Drunk on the power of his platform’: Former CNN regular

Michael Avenatti sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for extortion

8 Jul, 2021 21:35

Michael Avenatti following his sentencing for an extortion scheme against Nike at the United States Courthouse

in New York City ©  REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer best known for representing Stormy Daniels and appearing frequently on CNN, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison after being found guilty of trying to extort Nike.

Avenatti was convicted last year of trying to extort more than $20 million from the sportswear company, but his new sentence presents only the beginning of his legal troubles. Avenatti is also facing a trial in Los Angeles later this year on charges of fraud – and he’s been charged in New York City with cheating his once-star client, Daniels, out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

At his sentencing on Thursday, Avenatti reportedly wept and said, “I and I alone have destroyed my career, my relationships, my life, and there is no doubt that I deserve to pay, have paid, and will pay a further price for what I have done.” 

His misfortune represents quite a fall from grace, as the celebrity lawyer was once a regular on left-leaning networks including CNN in 2018 and 2019, where he would often talk about Daniels’ suit against Trump – she claimed the ex-president once paid her hush money to cover up an affair, which he denies. Hosts would at times talk up the amateur pundit’s potential chances in 2020 running against Trump for Democrats. He appeared on CNN and MSNBC no less than 229 times across a two-year period, according to a Media Research Center analysis. 

CNN’s Brian Stelter even called him a “serious” contender against Trump in 2020, long before the lawyer faced his current legal troubles. 

Critics were all too happy to celebrate Avenatti’s downfall, and many used the news of his sentencing as an excuse to remind the world just how glowing and fawning Avenatti’s media appearances really were at the height of his anti-Trump fame. 

One mashup clip of Avenatti media appearances especially made the rounds following his sentencing. Among the bits in the footage, former ‘The View’ co-star and liberal activist Ava Navarro compares Avenatti to “the Holy Spirit.”

“It was around this time 3 years ago there were serious think-pieces arguing that Avenatti should run for president, on top of the glowing profiles and glossy magazine spreads,” Business Insider’s Grace Panetta tweeted. 

Though he reportedly acknowledged through tears that he would never practice law again, Avenatti did leave his future fairly open.

“I still feel positive. I know I can do better. I can be the person I dreamed of being,” he said. 

Avenatti was originally charged last year for the attempted Nike extortion. He was retained by a youth basketball league organizer who claimed the company was corruptly paying players. Avenatti took his client’s complaints and accusations and tried threatening Nike with bad publicity in exchange for a massive payout. 

US District Judge Paul G. Gardephe called Avenatti’s behavior “outrageous” at the Thursday sentencing, telling Avenatti he had become “drunk on the power of his own platform.”

Rudy Giuliani's DC law license suspended pending outcome

of New York case over his election-fraud claims

8 Jul, 2021 01:44

©  Reuters / Jonathan Ernst

Fresh from his New York law license being suspended for allegedly false election-fraud claims in support of former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani has also lost his rights, at least temporarily, to practice in Washington.

A District of Columbia court on Wednesday suspended Giuliani's law license in the nation's capital, pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings against him in New York. Such suspensions are required in DC when a lawyer faces disciplinary sanctions by another jurisdiction. 

A New York court last month suspended the former mayor's license there on accusations that he made “demonstrably false and misleading” claims to “courts, lawmakers and the public at large” while he helped Trump challenge Joe Biden's victory in last November's presidential election.

Giuliani was among the lead lawyers who represented Trump in trying to prove that Biden won the election through massive fraud. The legal challenges were thrown out in federal and state courts, in many cases based on technicalities.

Democrat politicians, such as US Representative Ted Lieu (D-California), were among the lawyers who lobbied for Giuliani to be disbarred and celebrated his New York suspension. The court rebuked him for allegedly inflaming “tensions that bubbled over into the events of January 6, 2021, in this nation's Capitol.”

Giuliani reportedly wasn't permitted to present a case in his defense in the New York proceedings, but he may appeal the ruling. He has said that there was no reason for disciplinary action because the election battle has ended and “he has and will continue to exercise personal discipline to forbear from discussing these matters in public anymore.” 

Giuliani also faces defamation lawsuits by voting-system firms Smartmatic and Dominion, which claimed they were damaged by his false claims.

More than half of scientists admit to research misconduct,

landmark survey with 6,800+ participants reveals

8 Jul, 2021 11:11

FILE PHOTO: © Pixabay

A major survey conducted across academia in the Netherlands has found that more than a half of scientists admitted to engaging in some type of questionable research practice in their work. 

The landmark study was conducted through the Dutch National Survey on Research Integrity, funded by the Dutch government.

The scientists sent out anonymized questionnaires to nearly 63,780 academics working in 22 universities and research centers across the Netherlands. The survey asked about various questionable research practices, ranging from insufficient attention to equipment and the use of unsuitable measurement instruments to improper citations and unfair reviews of manuscripts. 

A total of 6,813 respondents fully completed the survey, the results of which were published as a preprint on MetaArXiv this week. The study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, has found that 51.3% of participants admitted to having often engaged in at least one questionable research practice.

“We find that, across disciplinary fields, one in two researchers engaged frequently in at least one [questionable research practice] over the last three years,” the authors wrote. They added that one in 12 had reported having falsified or fabricated their research at least once during that time.

“Being a PhD candidate or junior researcher increases the odds of any frequent [questionable research practice], as does identifying as male and doing empirical research,” the authors wrote.

Gowri Gopalakrishna, the survey’s leader and an epidemiologist at the Amsterdam University Medical Center, told Science magazine that the guarantee of anonymity to respondents had helped to receive more truthful data.

“That method increases the honesty of the answers,” she said. “So, we have good reason to believe that our outcome is closer to reality than that of previous studies.”

It is, unfortunately, only about 11% of the total number of scientists queried. We can speculate as to the reasons why the remaining 89% did not. 

The question I would really like to see answered is whether or not a scientist had the luxury of finding a result that was not in keeping with those who funded the research.

Big Pharma - About to get knocked down by Brazil

..

Brazil's lower house passes bill that would allow BREAKING of

vaccine patents in case of ‘public health emergency’

7 Jul, 2021 01:38

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the Chamber of Deputies, in the plenary of the House of Representatives in Brasilia, Brazil. ©  Reuters / Adriano Machado

The lower house of the Brazilian Congress has voted for a bill that would legalize the violation of patents for vaccines and medications in the event of a national health emergency. It will now go back to the Senate for approval.

On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies voted 425 to 15 in favor of PL 12/2021. Sponsored by Aécio Neves da Cunha, a Social Democrat from Minas Gerais, the bill would authorize Congress to issue patent-breaking licenses “in case of a public health emergency,” without the approval of the head of state. President Jair Bolsonaro has opposed the proposal.

The bill will now return to the Senate, which will decide whether to approve amendments adopted during Chamber debate.

“There is an understanding that the changes... we introduced in the bill will also be incorporated in the Senate, which will maintain the text that we have negotiated here,” Neves said, according to Reuters.

One significant difference from the original is that patent holders will no longer be required to provide biological material to companies licensed to violate intellectual property under the emergency rules. The provision was declared “impractical,” “arbitrary” and in violation of Brazil’s constitutionally guaranteed principle of free enterprise.

Another amendment would see IP holders compensated to the tune of 1.5% of the net sales involving the infringed medication or vaccine.

The law was hailed by the Brazilian branch the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The measure “improves the current patent law, authorizing the application of compulsory licensing in a more complete and efficient manner, in this health emergency and others,” said MSF’s Brazilian coordinator Felipe Carvalho.

The move comes amid a broader push to temporarily suspend intellectual property laws as nations battle the pandemic, namely for vaccines and related technology. While the World Trade Organization first floated the idea of a global patent waiver last October – since endorsed by Washington – a number of states, including the European Union at large, as well as Big Pharma firms have resisted the proposal.

Last month, the EU offered an alternative to the IP waiver plan put forward by the WTO, seeking to cut export restrictions to the minimum level possible and utilize existing rules within the organization to grant licenses even without consent from patent holders. However, that plan drew criticism, as it would stop short of an outright suspension of intellectual property.

The EU proposal is “weak and distracting, bringing nothing significantly new to the table and diluting some of the existing public health flexibilities enjoyed by WTO members,” MSF said late last month, adding that it failed to address other forms of IP beyond patents, and was too “confusing” and “limited” to make a difference.

Ozzone - 5-1 > Can you do your work for God in complete obscurity?

..

Humility means working in obscurity without taking credit. Such work will stand you in good stead when you are before Jesus Christ on the day.

Islam - Current Day > 3 Germans Killed 21 Injured in Germany and Mali; Swedish Cop Killed; Migrants Rushing into Lithuania; 300 Afghan Troops Flee Taliban; Israeli Ship Attacked

..

Dead and injured after knife-wielding man goes on rampage

in Germany's Wuerzburg

25 Jun, 2021 16:59

Screenshot © Twitter / @BurekShakur

Police in the German city of Wuerzburg have arrested a stabbing suspect after a “major operation.” Local media reports claim that three people were killed and six injured before police shot and arrested the man.

A “major police operation” was announced by local authorities on Friday afternoon, with law enforcement stating shortly afterwards that they had arrested a suspect.

video 0:14

German tabloid Bild reported that three people were killed and six injured, some seriously, and that the perpetrator was stopped by police with a gunshot to the leg. 

Police did not confirm precise casualty numbers, but said that there had been “several injuries and also fatalities,” and that they had used firearms to subdue the perpetrator.

Video footage purportedly shot at the scene of the incident showed police confronting a masked man armed with what appeared to be a long knife.

At the time of writing, Barbarossa Square, where the incident took place, remains closed to the public.

Update: 26 Jun 21

The knifeman who killed three people and injured six more in Wuerzburg, Germany may have been motivated by jihad. According to the Bild tabloid, the Somali attacker had read ISIS propaganda before his rampage.

Police in Wuerzburg, Bavaria shot and arrested a 24-year-old Somali man on Friday after he stabbed three people to death and injured six others, two seriously. The killer reportedly took a knife from a department store and immediately began attacking those around him, and according to witnesses he shouted “Allahu Akbar” during his stabbing spree.

Bild reported on Saturday that, although he was not known to authorities as an extremist, the attacker had made stabbing threats back in January, and police had gotten involved. Bild also reported that a search of the homeless shelter in which he was living revealed Islamic State propaganda in a garbage can, apparently discarded by the suspect before his attack.

After the incident, the 24-year-old apparently said that he had achieved his “jihad,” per an official note reportedly seen by Bild.

Car bomb attack wounds 15 German UN peacekeepers in northern Mali

25 Jun, 2021 15:39

UN peacekeepers stand guard in the northern town of Kouroume, Mali, May 13, 2015.

Kourome is 18 km (11 miles) south of Timbuktu. © REUTERS/Adama Diarra

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) confirmed via Twitter on Friday morning that one of its temporary bases was attacked in a car bombing, resulting in the injury and evacuation of 15 German ‘Blue Helmet’ soldiers.

Friday’s attack, which hit a deployment of German soldiers, is the first time that Bundeswehr troops have been targeted in Mali. Of the 15 injured peacekeepers, 12 are in serious condition and have been flown back to Germany via Niger.

German media reported that the car bomb hit a temporary forward operating base at around 7am local time near the Tarkint Township in Gao Province. The blast occurred a day after another, less serious, attack had been attempted on Malian soldiers moving towards Kidal, damaging a vehicle but causing no injuries.

In response to Friday’s attack, MINUSMA strongly condemned the car bombing, wishing a “Speedy and complete recovery to the injured.”

Germany’s defense minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, is due to release a statement on the incident later on Friday.

Members of the Bundeswehr have been involved in the MINUSMA mission for a number of years, with roughly one thousand German soldiers based in Mali as part of the 13,000-strong multinational peacekeeping force.

The UN body has been seeking to combat Islamist insurgencies in the region, with France leading a Western mission in the Sahel region, which covers Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. Within northern Mali, the MINUSMA mission is working to uphold a peace agreement signed in 2015 by the government, pro-government militias, and other groups who want autonomy.

Swedish policeman killed in Gothenburg shooting becomes

1st officer to be murdered in 14 yrs

1 Jul, 2021 13:26

FILE PHOTO. Vetlanda, Sweden. © Reuters /Mikael Fritzon

A Swedish police officer died from his wounds after being fatally shot in Gothenburg on Wednesday. It reportedly marks the first killing of a law enforcement officer in 14 years, as gun violence in the country continues to soar.

The officer’s death was announced by police in a statement on Thursday, which revealed that he died in hospital following the shooting in Hisingen, Gothenburg.

Local police chief Klas Johansson called the killing “a terribly tragic event” and a “sad message to receive,” while the police statement claimed that the officer was “talking to a couple of people” on Wednesday evening before he was shot. However, it is still not clear what exactly happened during the incident.

National police chief Anders Thornberg vowed to dedicate “the resources required to be able to prosecute the culprit,” though there are currently no known suspects.

According to Radio Sweden, Wednesday’s shooting was the first time that a Swedish police officer has been killed while performing his duties in 14 years.

Just days before the shooting, Swedish journalist Paulina Neuding warned that Sweden has been experiencing a “gun crime epidemic” which is “spiraling out of control.”

“Since 2015, deadly violence has spiked in what many still think of as a quiet corner of Scandinavia,” Neuding declared in an article for the Spectator, explaining that the “spate of violence is mainly due to the country’s bloody gang wars, in which both perpetrators and victims are often young men of immigrant origin.”

Of course, 2015 was the year Sweden allowed a stupid number of Muslim migrants into the country and it has steadily gone downhill since.

“The period between 2016 and 2020 saw a yearly average of 112 homicides, compared to an average of 87 in the preceding five years,” she wrote.

In May, the Swedish national council for crime prevention reported that Sweden is the only European country where fatal shootings have risen significantly since 2013, after previously being at the bottom of the gun violence list at the start of the century.

Lithuania declares emergency, appeals to EU over ‘flood’

of Iraqi migrants from Belarus

2 Jul, 2021 19:34

Migrants caught by the Lithuanian border service VSAT crossing from Belarus, July 2, 2021

©  pasienis. lt/VSAT

After catching 150 migrants illegally crossing the border from Belarus, Lithuania has declared an emergency and appealed to the EU for assistance. Vilnius and Brussels say Minsk is weaponizing migration in reprisal for sanctions.

Lithuania has requested help from Frontex, the EU border service, after catching 150 people who tried to sneak across the border from Belarus in just the past 24 hours. Most of them were Iraqi nationals, who immediately claimed asylum.

Visiting Vilnius on Friday, European Commission chair Ursula von der Leyen said a “politically motivated pattern” was on display, and that the EC and the EU in general “really stand by your side in this difficult time.” Lithuania has been an EU and NATO member since 2004.

Other EU officials have also expressed concern about the “influx of migrants” on the border. European Parliament President David Sassoli said, “someone is unacceptably playing with people's lives.” 

While neither Sassoli nor von der Leyen named the suspect, the Lithuanian government has already accused President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. They claim Lukashenko is deliberately letting migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia fly to Belarus and then cross into the EU via Lithuania.

On June 27, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said she had evidence of a “well-organized” plan involving Belarusian border guards and “the regime” to flood Lithuania with migrants from the Middle East, in an interview given to the news portal Delfi. The charge was quickly echoed by Western outlets such as the Telegraph, the US government-funded RFE/RL, and the NATO-backed Atlantic Council.

The Foreign Ministry in Minsk announced the suspension of its agreement with the EU to cooperate on border enforcement a day after Bilotaite’s interview, on June 28. The move was explained as retaliation for EU sanctions against Belarus, imposed on June 24 on grounds of “human rights violations.” 

Brussels cited the arrest in May of two opposition activists on board a Ryanair flight that made an emergency landing in Minsk due to a bomb threat. The EU has claimed – with no evidence – that the bomb threat was fabricated in order to arrest Roman Protasevich and his friend Sofia Sapega, who were flying to Vilnius from Greece.

Lithuania and Poland have served as operations hubs for Belarusian opposition activists, including the “president in exile” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has called for sanctions against Minsk and claimed that the August 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen from her.

The Lithuanian state border security service VSAT said that a total of 822 migrants have illegally crossed over from Belarus since January 2021. Most of them have no documents, but more than half – 428 – claim to be Iraqi nationals, with 51 Iranians and 45 Syrians. A VSAT spokesman told RFE/RL that “most migrants” arrived in Minsk “via direct flights from Istanbul and Baghdad.” Lithuanian intelligence knows how they got from Minsk to the border, he added, but could not disclose that information, citing “an ongoing investigation.”

There has, however, been no similar surge of migrants to Poland or Latvia, EU member states that also share a border with Belarus. Latvia has registered only one illegal crossing so far this year.

While Lithuania is ringing alarm bells over 800 migrants, the US has captured nearly 900,000 people crossing over from Mexico illegally between January and April 2021, while the White House insists there is no “crisis” on the border.

Muslims - If they can't find Americans or Jews to fight, they will fight each other.

Over 300 Afghan troops fleeing from Taliban cross border to Tajikistan after heavy fighting, border forces tell media

3 Jul, 2021 21:18

FILE PHOTO: Afghan security forces after a battle with Taliban. © Reuters

Several hundred Afghan border troops were forced to seek shelter in Tajikistan on Saturday, fleeing a major offensive by the Taliban, which has intensified its attacks amid the withdrawal of US troops from the country.

More than a dozen districts, mostly in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan Province, have fallen into the hands of the Taliban over the past 24 hours, security sources told local outlet TOLOnews.

The heavy fighting on the other side of the border was also confirmed by the military of neighboring Tajikistan.

More than 300 Afghan frontier troops had to cross into Tajik territory to avoid heavy losses amid clashes with the advancing militants, the press service of Tajikistan’s border forces told news agency RIA Novosti.

The foreign servicemen were allowed to enter “in line with the principles of humanity and good neighborliness,” it added. The press service confirmed that the border with Afghanistan remained under the full control of Tajik forces.

The Afghan defense ministry said that, despite retreating, the government troops managed to kill at least 224 Taliban militants on Saturday.

“The security and defense forces of Afghanistan will not spare any efforts” to retake the areas that have been recently seized by the Taliban, Ministry Spokesman Fawad Aman promised.

The Taliban has intensified its activities after the US began the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan following a two-decade-long stay in the country. On Friday, the Americans abandoned the Bagram Airfield, which used to be their largest Afghan base. US President Joe Biden previously set a September 11 deadline for the pullout to be completed.

Israeli cargo ship gets attacked by an 'unknown weapon,'

catches fire in the Indian Ocean – reports

3 Jul, 2021 19:44

A Twitter post by media outlet Al-Mayadeen shows a burning Israeli-owned cargo ship after a reported attack in the northern Indian Ocean. © Twitter / Al-Mayadeen

An Israeli merchant ship has reportedly been hit by an “unknown weapon,” causing the vessel to catch fire in the northern Indian Ocean. The incident comes amid rising tensions between Jerusalem and Tehran.

Lebanese media outlet Al-Mayadeen reported the attack on Saturday, citing “reliable sources,” and posted a picture of the damaged vessel with black smoke billowing from a fire on one side of the ship. Unnamed Israeli officials have also confirmed the incident to the Jerusalem Post. The newspaper claimed that “Hezbollah-linked” Al-Mayadeen's framing of the report suggests the attack was Iran's retaliation for a drone strike on an Iranian nuclear facility last month near Karaj.

The vessel was reportedly anchored in the port of Jeddah, in the Red Sea, and was heading toward the United Arab Emirates – on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula -- when it was attacked. There were no injuries reported, and the extent of the damage is unclear.

Media in Israel identified the ship as the Tyndall, which is partly owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. It flies a Liberian flag and is operated by non-Israeli crewmen.

Israel and Iran's shadow war has heated up at sea since 2019, with Israel reportedly hitting ships transporting Iranian oil or weapons bound for Hezbollah. Another Israeli-owned vessel with a Liberian flag, a container ship called the Lori, was struck by a missile while heading for the Gulf of Oman in March. The ship was lightly damaged, and as in the case of the Tyndall, Israeli officials suspected that Iran was the culprit.

The latest incident comes one day after Lt. General Aviv Kohavi, chief of staff for the Israel Defense Forces, warned that those who attack his country will face fierce retribution. “Anyone who tries to harm the state of Israel knows that any offensive enemy activity, near or far, will be answered with a significant overt or covert response,” Kohavi said at a graduation ceremony for new IDF officers. “This is how we have behaved in the past, and this is how we will behave in the future.”

Christian Martyrs of Old - This Day in History

..

"Today in church History" July 1, 1555

Solomon's Porch

On this date in 1555 John Bradford (1510-1555) was one of 300 burned alive by Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) for preaching the true Gospel (salvation by Grace alone and not the Catholic Church). 

As he walked to his place of execution, crowds lined up and down the road. The people cried and prayed for him. There was no doubt about it, Gentle John had an impact on people's lives. He even ministered to the criminals while he was in London's tower. 

He was killed along with a man named John Leaf. Just before they lit the fire Bradford said this to young John Leaf, "Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!"

Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death in 1558. She is best known for her vigorous attempt to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. Her attempt to restore to the church the property confiscated in the previous two reigns was largely thwarted by parliament, but during her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions.

In the Old Testament, good, godly kings generally reigned for many years, while the ungodly kings reigned for much shorter durations. Mary reigned for only about 5 years and died at the early age of 42. 

Bradford and Leaf were burnt alive at Smithfield, then in the heart of London. It was also where William Wallace was executed 250 years earlier.

Ozzone - 4-30 > How can you tell if the Love of God is truly in you?

..

The Media is the Message > CBC Trudeau's Biggest Fan; Another CBS Anchor May Go to Project Veritas; Trust in Media Falls; Teen Vogue More Honest Than Big 3?

..

“Government Broadcaster Running Interference For PMJT At Every Turn”:

Former CBC Journalist Rips Network

INSIGHT - SPENCERFERNANDO

JUNE 17, 2021

“I’ve been reluctant to refer to our public broadcaster as a government broadcaster but this sealed it for me – it has become the government broadcaster running interference for PMJT at every turn,” 

Alan Fryer

When people criticize the CBC, some respond by claiming that only right-wing Canadians have a problem with the network. That response omits CBC’s horrible ratings, a sign that much of the public has simply tuned them out, despite being forced to pay for it regardless.

Yet, in a recent series of Tweets, Alan Fryer a former journalist with both CBC and CTV who has worked in Montreal, Ottawa, Moscow, Washington, and Toronto, ripped into how the network covered Green Party Leader Annamie Paul’s denunciation of Justin Trudeau.

Here’s what Paul had said about Trudeau not being an ‘ally’ or ‘feminist.’

“To PM Justin Trudeau I say you are no ally and no feminist. Your deeds and words over the past weeks prove that definitively” – Green Leader Annamie Paul”

Yet, as Fryer noted, on CBC’s The National, Paul’s remarks on Trudeau weren’t covered.

As he slammed the network, Fryer didn’t hold back:

“Excuse my ******* language but I cannot believe what I just saw on @CBCTheNational. The coverage of Ms Paul’s remarkable news conference today had no ******* mention in the lead story of her full frontal attack on PMJT. Not a word. Disgraceful.”

“I’ve been reluctant to refer to our public broadcaster as a government broadcaster but this sealed it for me – it has become the government broadcaster running interference for PMJT at every turn.”

“This is the clip that any reporter doing a proper job and NOT working on behalf of the government would have used in their lead story:

Paul to PMJT: “You are no ally and you are no feminist”

That clip wads absent from the lead story on @CBCTheNational. Why?”

“For 35 years – from local small town reporter to foreign correspondent – I lived and breathed journalism. Sometimes to my detriment, it became the love of my life. Nothing was more important than getting the story and getting it right. That and holding the buggers to account.”

“Don’t get me wrong, there are many fine journalists and opinion writers still doing that important work every day and you know who they are, you see and read many of them here but, man, it’s getting harder.”

“I got out 12 years ago and have never regretted a day I spent in the trenches. But I weep for the profession today. That’s it. Thanks for indulging my rant.”

Credibility

Fryer speaks with a lot of credibility, as someone who has been in the media for a long-time and has personal experience with the CBC. Thus, he cannot simply be dismissed as a ‘disgruntled conservative’ or someone who opposes taxpayer-funded media for ideological reasons.

With that noted, it is instructive that his criticisms of CBC very much line up with what many other critics of CBC say, showing there is a deeper truth that is being noticed by many different Canadians.

Justifying taxpayer-funded broadcasting

The general ‘justification’ for forcing Canadians to pay for CBC has been that CBC is all that stands between Canada and the deluge of ‘American culture.’

Well, considering how CBC spends a disproportionate amount of time covering American politics (they were just as Trump-obsessed as most US networks), and considering that their coverage often heavily relies on American news sources to begin with, and the argument that CBC preserves Canadian culture goes out the window.

That can be further explained by the fact that CBC has terrible ratings, falling behind other private Canadian networks, showing that government funding isn’t necessary to get people to watch Canadian news, and may in fact be counterproductive.

If CBC was serving such an essential function for Canadians, wouldn’t more people be tuning in? And, there’s an even bigger problem.

Bias

Critics of CBC often refer to it as a ‘state broadcaster,’ ‘government broadcaster,’ or ‘state-controlled media.’

Supporters of CBC prefer the term ‘public broadcaster.’

The battle over defining CBC is important because it defines the terms of the debate and how the network is perceived.

A ‘public broadcaster’ would – in theory – take public money but be as neutral and unbiased as possible, doing everything they could to prevent even a hint of bias or favouritism towards any particular political party.

By contrast, a ‘state broadcaster,’ ‘government broadcaster,’ or ‘state-controlled media’ would represent the government forcing people to pay for what is in effect a propaganda machine directed at manipulating them.

We would be paying people to try and influence our minds in a particular political or ideological direction – which is completely at odds with how a truly ‘public broadcaster’ should act.

So, for us to witness Alan Fryer say “I’ve been reluctant to refer to our public broadcaster as a government broadcaster but this sealed it for me – it has become the government broadcaster running interference for PMJT at every turn,” demonstrates that there is a growing acknowledgment that CBC can no longer be honestly referred to as a ‘public broadcaster.’

State-controlled media

Canadians really need to consider what this all means. In authoritarian, anti-democratic states, state-controlled media is one of the key levers of power for the government.

More ‘sophisticated’ authoritarian states have moved beyond outright lies and denials for the most part (though they still indulge once in a while), into more of a pattern of manipulating the truth, telling part of the story and spinning the rest.

Part of that tactic is censoring true opposition, while allowing token opposition to remain, so long as it doesn’t really push back on the dominant ideology or ruling class in the country.

And, ‘softening’ up negative events, or casting them in the most positive light (as CBC did with Annamie Paul’s comments about Trudeau) is a key tactic of state-controlled media.

Those who work for the CBC, and Canadians in general, must reflect on what it means to see the network drifting towards the propaganda tactics of authoritarian nations, and realize that if the choice is between being forced to pay for our own propagandization, or defunding CBC, defunding is by far the better choice.

I used to watch CBC's The National - nightly news broadcast. They have a ten-minute panel discussion on politics with one centre-left commentator, two far-left commentators and a far-left host. As I slowly discovered that any subject that could possibly result in criticism of Justin Trudeau was avoided like the plague, I lost interest in that segment, and then realized I had no interest in the rest of their left-wing edited news. I no longer watch CBC.

Another CBS anchor slams own network live on air over

 ‘discrimination’, hints at Project Veritas exposé

21 Jun, 2021 16:18

© Twitter / @bennyjohnson

April Moss, the weekend weather anchor for CBS 62 Detroit, dramatically announced during her forecast on Sunday that she would be exposing the television station’s alleged “discrimination” in an interview with Project Veritas.

As Moss forecasted the weather as per usual – announcing warm temperatures on Sunday, followed by showers the next day – she abruptly added: “And speaking of a brand new week, I will be sitting down this week with Project Veritas to discuss the discrimination that CBS is enforcing upon its employees. Tune into Project Veritas for my full story."

Moss then seamlessly continued on with the weather forecast as if nothing had happened and failed to elaborate on what sort of discrimination she was referring to.

The CBS Detroit weather anchor is the second local news personality to pull such a stunt this month, after Fox 26 Houston reporter Ivory Hecker made a similar announcement live on air last week.

“I want to let you the viewers know that Fox Corp. has been muzzling me to keep certain information from you the viewers,” Hecker declared, before promising to release “some recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox” in an interview with Project Veritas – a controversial conservative investigative journalism organization which has previously released undercover footage of CNN and Google employees.

In her subsequent interview with Project Veritas, Hecker claimed that the local station had told her to stop posting on social media about the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential remedy for Covid-19. Hecker also said that the station refused to cover bitcoin during its 5pm coverage hour because apparently the “poor African-American audience” would not be interested in cryptocurrency trading.

Hecker was soon terminated from her position at Fox 26 Houston.

Trust in media is the lowest in the US & interest in news

has waned since Donald Trump left office – survey

23 Jun, 2021 17:42

Journalists gather at the White House following the 2020 presidential election ©  REUTERS/Carlos Barria

An alarming new study on media consumption around the world has found that trust between news organizations and consumers is at the lowest in the United States.

Americans are not only distrustful of traditional media outlets, but consumption of the news has also waned since Donald Trump left office, according to the Digital News Report 2021 produced by Oxford University and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Asked whether they agreed that “most news” can be trusted a majority of the time, only 29% of US respondents agreed while 44% strongly disagreed, and 27% neither agreed or disagreed. 

By comparison, trust in the media over all the 46 markets – approximately 2,000 participants each – studied sits at 44%, which is an increase from 38% last year. 

The study points to cable news networks such as Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC as fueling distrust through polarization on political topics. 

One of American consumers’ biggest gripes with the media also happens to be bias, as many feel their age groups and views are not represented “fairly” by the news. 

This feeling is especially prevalent on the right, with 75% saying media coverage of their views is “unfair” and only 16% arguing it is fair. Only 34% of people identifying themselves as on the “left” feel the same way about their views being represented, while 51% say they are fairly represented. 

Which makes absolute sense with 90% of media news coverage being left-wing.

The new media report shows that interest in news consumption generally is also slipping in the US, mainly for right-leaning customers thanks to the lack of the ‘Trump bump’. In 2020, for instance, 74% of respondents who identified as “right-aligned” said they were very interested in the news, but that number dropped to 57% now that Trump is out of office.

“Our data show signs that many former Trump supporters may be switching away from news altogether. Almost all of this fall in interest came from those on the political right,” the report noted. 

While some countries saw a rise in media interest with people looking for the latest information during a turbulent year plagued by Covid-19, the study found that there has been an overall decline in interest, similar to the US, with Spain, the UK, Italy, Australia, and others seeing steady declines from previous years. 

The country with the highest percentage of trust for the media, according to the study, is Finland, with 65% of respondents saying they trust their news a majority of the time, which is a 9% increase from the previous year. 

=========================================================================================

‘The new paper of record’? Teen Vogue basks in anti-war praise after obit calls Rumsfeld ‘accused war criminal & torture defender’

1 Jul, 2021 02:15

©  Twitter / @TeenVogue / screenshot

Breaking with its usual fashion advice and celebrity gossip, Teen Vogue was cheered after posting a fiery obituary for Donald Rumsfeld, dubbing the ex-Pentagon head an “accused war criminal” and a cheerleader for torture.

The publication marked Rumsfeld’s passing with a provocatively titled obituary on Wednesday, whose headline immediately recalled war crimes allegations against the former official.

The article appeared on social media with an even bolder caption, this time also making mention of Rumsfeld’s strong support for torture during his time in the George W. Bush administration – which euphemistically labeled the practice “enhanced interrogation.”

Teen Vogue’s focus on the darker aspects of Rumsfeld’s legacy earned plaudits on social media, with readers hailing the site’s straight-talking approach while contrasting it with more tepid coverage from other corporate media outlets. 

“Teen Vogue once again proving they're more serious about journalism than the NYT, WaPo, WSJ, etc.,” one user said while sharing the obituary.

One observer even deemed the youth-oriented website the “new paper of record,” snatching the prestigious title from the Times and the Post, both of which went with more conventional headlines for their obituaries.

Others shared examples of more lukewarm coverage of Rumsfeld’s death, including from the Associated Press, which was slammed as a “stenographer of power” after hailing Rumsfeld as a “visionary” and “skilled bureaucrat” whose good reputation was “soiled” by the disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003.

With his lengthy career including stints in the Navy, Congress as well as the Nixon and Ford administrations, Rumsfeld was also a key architect of the Iraq invasion, playing a major role in kicking off the broader War on Terror after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. 

Rumsfeld’s vocal advocacy for torture gave rise to war crimes accusations both during and after his tenure with Bush, seeing two separate lawsuits filed against him in Germany beginning in 2004. Brought by former detainees at the notorious US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, as well as the American detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the plaintiffs alleged that Rumsfeld authorized brutal interrogation methods and was responsible for abuses at the two sites.

In 2012, a separate tribunal held by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission also found Rumsfeld and other top Bush officials guilty of war crimes in relation to torture carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

It's odd that the left-leaning mega-papers would go so easy on Rumsfeld. I expect they will do likewise on Dick Cheney who most likely is responsible for starting the war in Iraq. There is no question in my mind that both of these men were Deep State plants in the Bush gov't, and both likely carried more power than they should have.

Leading journals are always gentle with Deep Staters.