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New York City Health Officials to Hold Bird Flu Tabletop Exercise

By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. | The Defender | October 3, 2024

New York City officials are planning a tabletop simulation later this month to prepare for a hypothetical bird flu outbreak, a city health official revealed at the International Bird Flu Summit, taking place this week in Fairfax, Virginia.

The summit is sponsored by Gingko Biosecurity, which says it is “building and deploying the next-generation infrastructure and technologies that global leaders need to predict, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats.”

Public health officials, doctors, scientists, researchers and pharmaceutical company representatives convened at the summit amid more reports of bird flu hotspots, including a cluster of eight possible bird flu cases in Missouri.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the Missouri cases “could be the first cases of bird flu spreading between humans in the United States.”

Italy and Hungary recently announced they detected bird flu outbreaks at farms, Reuters reported. According to CBS News, bird flu killed 47 tigers, three lions and a panther at zoos in Vietnam.

Epidemiologist Nicholas Hulscher told The Defender that the Missouri and other global outbreaks are not concerning.

“The current outbreaks of H5N1 among animal populations have not resulted in mass mortality with the exception of government-mandated culling,” Hulscher said. “Genotype B3.13, the currently circulating strain in U.S. cattle, is currently a very mild illness for humans. There has never been a reported human H5N1 death in the U.S.”

Dr. Clayton J. Baker, an internal medicine physician, told The Defender the latest news reports strike him “as classic ‘fear porn.’” He noted that before the U.S. News & World Report story, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report stating that only one H5N1 case in humans had been detected in Missouri.

Journalist and author John Leake is attending the Bird Flu Summit. He told The Defender that while mainstream media reports are hyping purported bird flu outbreaks, the atmosphere at the summit is subdued, albeit aligned with the prevailing narrative.

“They’re following, I’d say, the narrative that we’ve been treated to all year, that this new H5N1 is jumping from birds into mammals — for example, dairy cattle, marine mammals, which are genetically, genomically far closer to humans,” Leake said.

“So, the prevailing orthodoxy is that this pathogenic avian influenza is getting closer to making the evolutionary jump from animals into humans. And if that happens, it’s going to place a big burden on human health and the public healthcare system,” Leake added.

As for the Missouri outbreak, Leake said it’s been a topic of discussion at the summit — but no evidence has been presented to confirm that human-to-human bird flu transmission has occurred.

In addition to the news about New York City’s planned bird flu simulation, the topic of gain-of-function research involving the H5N1 virus came up, with some attendees speculating that the current predominant H5N1 strain may be a product of such research.

Simulation of bird flu outbreak ‘cause for tremendous concern’

According to Leake, Syra Madad, senior director of the System-wide Special Pathogens Program at NYC Health + Hospitals, told summitt attendees that her agency is planning a “full pandemic tabletop exercise” on Oct. 21.

Noting the similarities with similar simulations that took place shortly before the COVID-19 and monkeypox outbreaks in 2019 and 2022, respectively, Leake said, “In my experience, once these guys start doing this kind of thing, they’re signaling that they think it’s for real.”

Baker said news of the tabletop simulation “is cause for tremendous concern.” He called the timing of the COVID-19 tabletop exercise, Event 201, which took place in October 2019, “in retrospect, ‘suspicious in the extreme.’”

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation organized the 2019 simulation of a coronavirus outbreak.

In March 2021, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in conjunction with the Munich Security Conference, organized a “tabletop exercise on reducing high-consequence biological threats,” based on a hypothetical global monkeypox outbreak in May 2022.

The simulation preceded the May 2022 monkeypox outbreak.

“Any full-scale exercises for a pathogen should raise concerns about possible pre-planned release,” Hulscher said. “Event 201 should remind us that ‘drills’ are usually held before the real event.”

Hulscher suggested a bird flu outbreak could be weaponized to disrupt this year’s U.S. presidential election or the next administration.

“Peter Hotez, Bill Gates and Robert Redfield have warned of future pandemics worse than SARS-CoV-2 with high confidence that it will be avian influenza,” Hulscher said. “Many groups would benefit from disrupting the 2024 election and/or society in general. Thus, I think there’s a high probability of another intentional laboratory leak.”

‘Abundant evidence’ current bird flu strain a product of gain-of-function research

According to Baker, the H5N1 bird flu virus is the subject of gain-of-function research by several scientists and laboratories, including Yoshihiro Kawaoka, Ph.D., at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Ron Fouchier, Ph.D., at Erasmus University in the Netherlands; and the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) in Georgia.

Leake said Kawaoka and Fouchier “have published papers in which they have proclaimed that they have successfully created an H5N1 variant that is transmissible by aerosolized droplets amongst ferrets,” noting that “the pulmonary tract or the respiratory tract of Ferrets is considered very almost eerily close to that of humans.”

According to Hulscher, “There is abundant evidence that the current circulating strain of H5N1 in the United States — Genotype B3.13 Clade 2.3.4.4b — is a consequence of serial passage gain-of-function research being conducted at SEPRL.”

“The accelerated evolution of H5N1 via serial passage in mallard ducks may be the reason behind the adaptations to new species,” Hulscher said, referring to a preprint study he co-authored with Leake and cardiologist Peter McCullough, which Hulscher said “provides the entire rationale for a possible laboratory leak.”

The preprint has been accepted by a journal and is awaiting publication, Hulscher said.

According to Baker, “It’s a documented fact that gain-of-function manipulation of bird flu has been going on for many years. There is no legitimate reason to perform this type of research, other than to weaponize these viruses.”

Writing for the Brownstone Institute, Baker said there are at least five laboratories in the U.S. conducting gain-of-function research on H5N1, in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1975.

In a recent post on Substack, Leake said that the “Pandemic Flu Industry will likely need lab assistance to amplify human-to-human transmission and virulence.”

Baker said, “All a malicious group of people would have to do is have their meeting, ‘get their ducks in a row,’ so to speak, then release those gain-of-function-infected ducks into the environment. Or use whatever vector of spread they choose.”

Leake told The Defender that during the Bird Flu Summit, he asked Karen Murphy, senior director of biosecurity for Gingko Biosecurity, if the company is “doing any kind of surveillance of this pathogen being manipulated and released from a lab.”

In her response, Murphy confirmed that her company has developed a product that can detect whether a pathogen developed organically or is man-made — but that this product is only being made available to government and intelligence agencies.

She said:

“When we think about biosecurity surveillance at large, we’re thinking about things that develop organically.

“We actually do have a product on the market today. It’s called NR, and NR will help — It is mostly for government organizations and the intelligence community, but the concept behind NR is to help understand if something has been man-made or female-made or if it’s organic.”

Remarking on Murphy’s response, Leake said “We’re once again left with these national security state assurances.”

“How are we the citizens going to know if it’s another example of what we saw coming out of the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Leake asked, referring to the likelihood that the SARS-CoV-2 virus leaked out of that facility.

Leake said companies like Gingko Biosecurity are “well within the biopharmaceutical complex,” adding that they represent “commercial interests that seem pretty revved up about pandemics, when the money flows.”

“Until we outlaw gain-of-function research entirely and enforce the Biological Weapons Convention, which is being flouted by gain-of-function researchers, we’ll have this sword of Damocles hanging over our heads forever,” Baker said.

Several key scientists and researchers, including Redfield, former director of the CDC, have called for a moratorium on gain-of-function research or for the total cessation of such research.

Last month, the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed S.4667, the Risky Research Review Act, out of committee, sending the bill to the full Senate. If passed, the bill will subject research involving risky pathogens, including gain-of-function research, to strict oversight.

NYC plan includes isolating bird flu patients, administering Tamiflu

Leake said there has been only limited discussion of bird flu vaccines so far during the summit.

“We were excited to attend a vaccine talk that was in the published program … but when we got our updated program electronically at the conference, that vaccine presentation had apparently been removed,” Leake said.

In contrast, Leake said that there was plenty of discussion around pandemic preparedness and response during this week’s Bird Flu Summit.

According to Leake, Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist, said New York City hospitals are preparing a bird flu outbreak preparedness plan focused on isolating people suspected of infection and administering antiviral medications.

“She really didn’t offer a satisfactory answer at all,” Leake said. “She said, ‘We have got an idea or a concept for isolation [and] we’ve got antivirals like Tamiflu.’”

“Antivirals administered in the hospital setting to an acutely ill patient? It’s too late by then,” Leake said. “Based on her testimony, they don’t have a hospital treatment plan. Instead, vague talk of isolating the patient, which of course is cold comfort if you’re severely ill, if you can’t breathe in a hospital.”

This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Militarism, Science and Pseudo-Science | | 1 Comment

Policy Imperatives for Health Freedom

By Leslie Manookian | Health Freedom Defense Fund | September 30, 2024

As a requirement for discussing and appreciating the imperative of health freedom in the USA, we must first define what is meant by health freedom. A simple definition is: the right of every American to decide what medical interventions to put into or onto one’s body, the right to access and use the medical and healing modalities of one’s choice, the right to maintain one’s health according to one’s conscience, and the right to live free of involuntary medication be it via the food supply, the water supply, or something airborne.

In a free and moral society, health freedom is not simply a convenience, it’s an imperative. In this vein, in the event of injury or illness, all Americans must possess the absolute right to choose what medical interventions and treatments to accept and what medical or healing modalities to utilize in order to address illness or injury; Americans must be free to choose how to maintain their health whether that be through nutrition, supplements, herbs, drugs, or a myriad of healing modalities; Americans must have access to truthful information regarding how the seeds for plants and animal feed and the food in our food supply has been grown or developed, medicated, processed, and packaged; and Americans have the right to exist in a society free of water and airborne medications, insect vectors, and chemicals.

Health freedom can only exist in a free and moral society which values each and every member of that society. This prerequisite thus excludes medical mandates of any kind. It is immoral to force another individual to risk their life for the theoretical benefit of another. Moreover, government does not have the moral authority or power to dictate what medical products any American puts into or on his or her body. If anyone in government does possess that power, then no American is truly free, nor does he or she possess any meaningful right whatsoever – Americans are merely chattel.

In order to create a society based on true health freedom, the following policy shifts should be implemented, as a first step. There are many more changes which should be implemented as well, but these proposals would address some of the most glaring, pernicious anti-liberty and anti-health aspects of our system as it exists today:

1. Ban all Medical Mandates:

The Declaration of Independence states, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”  Medical mandates are prime facie violations of our founding documents.

Health freedom demands prior voluntary informed consent before a medical treatment or intervention is administered. Medical mandates are thus, by definition, antithetical to voluntary consent and therefore must be prohibited in a free and moral society. No single individual in government knows the medical history of any American, knows what is best for Americans, or has to live with the repercussions of any choices made by Americans, thus, medical mandates are never justified in any circumstance.

2. Repeal the Bayh-Dole Act:

“The Bayh-Dole Act, formerly known as the Patent and Trademark Act Amendments, is a federal law enacted in 1980 that enables universities, nonprofit research institutions and small businesses to own, patent and commercialize inventions developed under federally funded research programs within their organizations.”

Under this program, government scientists may receive up to $150,000 per year on their patents.

In theory, Bayh-Dole incentivizes bright scientists to seek employment at federal health agencies rather than entering more lucrative private industry by allowing these taxpayer-funded scientists and other individuals and entities to retain the patent rights to intellectual property developed during their taxpayer-funded research and development activities.

In practice, this Act forever realigned the interests of taxpayer-funded scientists away from the American people and toward their own interests and profits and the profits of the private industries with which they collaborate. Dr. Anthony Fauci and his team at NIAID infamously owned half the Moderna Covid vaccine patent which incentivized the misguided covid era policies leading to a colossal violation of the rights of Americans demonstrating the perverse incentives created by Bayh-Dole and the necessity of repealing the act.

3. Repeal the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) of 1992:

“The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) was created by Congress in 1992 and authorizes FDA to collect user fees from persons that submit certain human drug applications for review or that are named in approved applications as the sponsor of certain prescription drug products. Since the passage of PDUFA, user fees have played an important role in expediting the drug review and approval process.”

In 2022 alone, the pharmaceutical industry paid $2.9 billion in user fees amounting to 46% of FDA’s entire budget including $1.4 billion or 66% for FDA’s drug approvers’ salaries and $197 million or 43% of the biologics (vaccines) program budget. As a direct consequence of PDUFA, the FDA has a vested interest aligned with the profits and success of the pharmaceutical industry rather than the health and wellbeing of the American people.

4. Repeal the Public Readiness and Preparedness Act (PREP Act) which authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a PREP Act declaration.

“The declaration provides immunity from liability (except for willful misconduct) for claims:

  • of loss caused, arising out of, relating to, or resulting from administration or use of countermeasures to diseases, threats and conditions
  • determined by the Secretary to constitute a present, or credible risk of a future public health emergency
  • to entities and individuals involved in the development, manufacture, testing, distribution, administration, and use of such countermeasures

A PREP Act declaration is specifically for the purpose of providing immunity from liability, and is different from, and not dependent on, other emergency declarations.”

The PREP Act desecrates the ethical principle of informed consent by protecting individuals from liability even when they expressly act contrary to patients’ wishes and instructions and must be repealed.

5. Repeal the Affordable Care Act:

The Affordable Care Act anchors Americans to the pharmaceutical and drug-based medical paradigm even though a majority of Americans used at least one form of “alternative” medicine in 2021 and spent $30.6 billion in out of pocket expenses for those holistic medicine services in 2023 according to Statista. Instead, implement a health savings program which permits Americans to access the health and medical modalities of their choice which in turn would foster more competition and reduce the exorbitant health care costs in the US by breaking the extant monopolies held by the medical and insurance industries.

6. Repeal the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA):

NCVIA shields vaccine makers and those who administer vaccines from liability (except for willful misconduct), creating a perverse incentive to industry to develop a never-ending stream of vaccines which are then mandated by the states and a perverse incentive to medical professionals to charge for and inject patients irrespective of the harm they may cause. Further, the NCVIA protects industry, medical professionals, and vaccine programs by creating a separate administrative federal court structure lacking due process and discovery, managed by “Special Masters” instead of judges, all in violation of the constitutionally protected right to due process. While NCVIA contains other provisions designed to protect American families and ensure the safety of the national vaccine supply, Congress is not conducting proper oversight and the promises made in 1986 at the time of the Act’s passage have not been upheld. As such, Americans who have been injured or killed by vaccines are left with astronomical medical bills and to fend for themselves.

7. Prohibit Private Donations to Government Entities:

Prohibit private individuals, foundations, corporations, contractors, any other person or entity from donating or otherwise giving money to any agency or entity of the federal government. FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accept money from private actors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Pfizer thus skewing the interests of the agency in favor of these private actors and away from the American public. Gates has collaborated with FDA and the CDC Foundation takes money from the pharmaceutical industry whose products CDC is responsible for monitoring for safety.

8. Cooling-off Period for Senior Federal Employees:

Enact a 5-year cooling-off period before which agency leadership, deputies, and other key officials may depart federal agencies in order to enter the companies they regulate in the private sector.

9. Prevent Conflicts of Interest:

Eliminate conflict of interest waivers so that no person serving on a health agency committee, board, or other regulatory entity may have a conflict of interest. Disclosure of conflicts of interest is insufficient to ensure the agencies pursue the interests of the American people. Individuals with financial or ideological conflicts of interest should not serve as decision makers in any capacity.

10. Prohibit Government Grants to Nonprofits:

Prohibit government from allocating taxpayer dollars to nonprofit. Nonprofits exists to serve the public interests and should be funded directly by American citizens. If a nonprofit has a worthwhile mission, the public will gladly support it. Government exists to protect our rights and should not be in the business of picking winners and losers nor should it be using third parties to pursue policies outside the reach and review of the public.

11. Ban Water Fluoridation:

While water fluoridation programs are broad spread, they are not only dangerous from a health standpoint, they are forced medication in violation of the ethical principle of informed consent. Research comparing the health outcomes and IQs of communities that do and do not fluoridate their water supply reveal that children in the fluoridated water communities have reduced IQs and therefore inferior prospects in life. Other research has documented the health hazards of fluoride, an industrial waste product.

In addition, as fluoride is added to municipal water supplies, residents of those communities have no way to opt out and therefore are subjected to involuntary forced medication. No one should be forced to consume drugged water in order to maintain a biological necessity.

12. Ban Release of Genetically Modified Insects

Two tenets of good health are abundant exposure to sunshine and fresh air, however in some states, the state governments have collaborated with private business to release genetically modified mosquitoes into communities. While these mosquitoes are often designed to breed with one another and eliminate the “dangerous” species going forward, the health impacts of humans being bitten by these insects is not well understood. Nor should a person have to be risk being bitten by one of these creatures in order to venture outside. This amounts to a form of forced medication absent any form of consent and must be ended.

These recommendations should be understood as necessary first steps to begin correcting the disastrous health policy environment that exists in the United States today and to restore true health freedom in the US which would allow all Americans to decide what medical interventions to allow into or onto one’s body, which health and medical modalities to utilize in maintaining their health, and the ability to live free of involuntary medication be it via the food supply, the water supply, or the air we breathe.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Economics, Timeless or most popular | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dawn raids, assaults, imprisonment: how Germany’s government treats good doctors

Around 200 doctors issuing mask exemptions were put on a blacklist – and the consequences are shocking

World Council for Health | October 2, 2024

On June 8, 2024, a call regarding ‘Mask Exemption Certificates and House Searches’ was initiated by Dr Walter Weber, head of the doctors’ association Ärzte für Aufklärung. On this call, we received some shocking information: in Germany, there is a ‘blacklist’ of about 200 doctors who issued mask exemptions and as a result are apparently monitored by state security. Around 100 doctors who had issued similar certificates then came forward. Approximately 95% of these doctors experienced unannounced house searches, with one doctor being searched eight times.

These house searches typically took place from 6am and often lasted during office hours for 1-3 hours. In many cases, doors were broken down, and there were reports of inappropriate treatment of those affected. One example is Rolf Kron, who had to endure sitting in his nightgown with an open door for hours in the winter. Physical violence was also a concerning issue: Dr. Woitzel had to undergo a leg amputation due to police violence.

Psychological and physical consequences

These reports of physical assaults are alarming. An eye doctor from Münster suffered hearing loss after a violent incident. Moreover, several female colleagues became seriously ill, and one doctor, Dr. Ströer, was sentenced to two years in prison without parole and died six months later “for no reason”. Dr. Bianca Witzschel has been in pre-trial detention for 1.5 years due to a negative expert report, while a counter-report was rejected by the judge.

The financial implications are also severe.

Many doctors had to ‘buy their freedom’, paying sums of up to 6,000 euros. One colleague reported costs of around 30,000 euros because the waiting room chairs did not meet the required distance. Most doctors affected agree to the anonymized publication of their experiences, underscoring the gravity of the situation.

Smeared, ostracised, silenced

Local press often reported on these doctors, leading to defamation and slander. Families were bullied, including children. The medical profession in Germany, consisting of about 150,000 practicing doctors, has been silenced by this systematic persecution. The 200 or so doctors willing to issue mask exemptions constitutes less than 0.00013% of the total number.

There is no justification for such treatment – but there is plenty of justification for these doctors having issued mask exemptions.

We recently reported on the leaked protocols from Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which revealed the extent to which the German people were deceived by their own government during the so-called pandemic. One revelation was that the RKI – the equivalent of the US’ CDC – knew there was no evidence that masks stopped the spread of Coronavirus. Those doctors who issued mask exemptions were both acting in their patients’ best interests and in line with the evidence, as acknowledged by the RKI. The problem is, they weren’t in line with their government and the consequences of this should shock the world.

This is what totalitarian, centralized medicine looks like.

The systematic persecution of doctors who issued mask exemptions highlights a concerning development in German society. The fear of house searches and the resulting consequences have deterred many doctors from helping patients in need. This not only silences the medical profession but also isolates them from society. It is time to question these practices and protect the rights of doctors as well as the needs of patients. Especially taking into account the actual science supporting their decision to be cautious about the inefficacy and even harm created by using masks as a mandatory tool for the management of Covid 19 (Brownstone, 2024).

The World Council for Health is grateful for these 200 brave doctors and all those supporting informed consent and the Hippocratic oath primum non nocere, first do no harm. The WCH calls on the people of Germany to speak up for these doctors and demand that all charges against them are dropped, that they are compensated for the crimes their own government has committed against them, and that they are duly honoured for maintaining their moral and scientific integrity despite devastating consequences.

Sources:

https://brownstone.org/articles/studies-and-articles-on-mask-ineffectiveness-and-harms/

https://www.noz.de/deutschland-welt/politik/artikel/rki-protokolle-und-die-wissenschaft-verschiedene-wahrheiten-47499784

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Science and Pseudo-Science | , , | Leave a comment

Adam Schiff and Other Democrats Demand Social Media Censor “Misinformation” and “Disinformation” This Month

By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | October 2, 2024

In the US, the Democrats continue with their sustained efforts to pressure major social media platforms, now about a month ahead of the presidential election.

The Twitter Files give some idea about what may be happening behind closed doors (if previous campaigns/elections are any indication), but this is about public pressure. This time, Congressman Adam Schiff’s turn is to “demand action” from companies behind social media.

Meta (Instagram separately), X, Google (and YouTube separately), TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, and Microsoft are the recipients of a letter Schiff signed along with seven fellow members of the House of Representatives (four of them, like Schiff, California Democrats).

We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.

The demand is this: disclose what plans these companies with the most influence and reach in the online space have to counter what the congressman and his colleagues consider to be the spread of mis- and dis- information – but also, “potential incitement of violence on their platforms in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.”

Schiff’s letter doesn’t clarify if (repeated) attempts to assassinate a candidate count as “incitement of violence,” or really, what kind of violence he has in mind – but he does mention “attacks on our democracy.”

Yet, the companies are supposed to let him know what they are doing to stop it. Along the way, the assertion is made that they have all “rolled back” their previous election policies.

“This almost universal reversion on the issue of combating election mis- and disinformation is incredibly troubling,” the letter reads.

Meta, Google, X, etc. are also asked, among other things, “Will your company commit to sharing data and metrics on the effectiveness of your enforcement systems in relation to US elections and political speech?”

On the other side of this political maelstrom, Republicans – notably the House Judiciary Committee – continue trying to shed light on how the White House and government agencies pressured and then colluded with major social platforms during previous campaigns and elections, all in the name of supposedly combating “misinformation.”

This has produced some visible, public results – like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg writing to the committee to apologize for succumbing to that pressure on issues like Covid and the Hunter Biden laptop story suppression.

The revelations that the government and Big Tech colluded to usher in unprecedented levels of censorship in the past continues to be tested in the courts as well.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | , | Leave a comment

With 100 flights, Starmer pursues Sunak’s policy of spying on Gaza

Al Mayadeen | October 3, 2024

The British Labour administration has ordered 100 surveillance flights over Gaza to help “Israel’, Declassified UK reported. Since Keir Starmer took over on July 5, there has been an average of more than one daily flight.

Despite halting 30 arms export licenses for “Israel” last month, alleging “a clear risk” that the weapons would be used in a “serious violation” of international law, the espionage flights have continued unabated.

Although the Ministry of Defense (MoD) declined to provide information, Declassified independently discovered planes departing from Akrotiri, Britain’s massive airbase on Cyprus, to fly over Gaza under Starmer’s supervision.

In August, the Labour Party’s first month in power, the Royal Air Force (RAF) performed 42 missions over Gaza.

Pro-Palestine and anti-war demonstrators took to the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force Akrotiri Airbase in Cyprus to denounce the UK’s implicit backing of the Israeli violations and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon.

On Monday evening, Starmer dispatched a massive A400M military cargo jet from Akrotiri to Tel Aviv. The jet can transport 116 fully equipped soldiers and 81,600-pounds of cargo.

Again on Tuesday evening, the UK sent Typhoon fighters from Cyprus to defend “Israel” from Iranian rockets.

Surveillance alleged to be for captive rescue ops

The UK planes are thought to have captured up to 500 hours of film of Gaza, carried out by the Shadow R1, an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft.

Earlier this month, Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin, a former British army officer who fought in Afghanistan, questioned the military if “UK intelligence is passed to Israel for the purposes of military targeting.”

Labour’s armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, reacted, stating the surveillance planes were “solely tasked to support hostage rescue.”

In addition, an Israeli insider told The New York Times that a covert British espionage team was sent to “Israel” early in its operation on Gaza.

The UK team “adds value” to its intelligence activities, he said, adding that Britain provides intelligence that “Israel can collect on its own.” There is no proof that the new Labour administration brought this surveillance crew back from “Israel”.

The surveillance flights began immediately after Labour gained control, with 11 flights in its first week in power.

Despite no flights taking off between September 10 to 17 following Labour’s suspension of some weaponry transfers to”Israel”, they quickly continued.

Over the last week, more than one plane has flown over Gaza for almost five hours every day from Cyprus.

After Labour seized control in July, 23 British planes flew over Gaza, followed by 42 in August and 33 in September. An additional two flights took off on Tuesday, October 1.

According to a representative for the Ministry of Defense, the UK’s focus is to release captives only.

“Our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of the hostages only, including British nationals, with the RAF routinely conducting unarmed flights since December 2023 for this sole purpose.”

In a discussion immediately following the announcement, five different MPs questioned Conservative defense secretary Grant Shapps if he would share footage from the planes with the ICC if it revealed evidence of war crimes. He always delivered evasive answers.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense stated last week that “in line with our international obligations, we would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes.”

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia sends 33 tons of humanitarian aid to Lebanon amid exodus from south

MEMO | October 3, 2024

Russia has delivered dozens of tons of humanitarian aid to Lebanon, amid the growing series of crises afflicting the country and its population amid Israel’s bombardment of some areas in recent weeks.

According to a statement by Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, Moscow this week sent a special Il-76 aircraft to Beirut under the direction of President Vladimir Putin and Emergency Situations Minister, Alexander Kurenkov.

The plane reportedly carried 33 tons of humanitarian aid, which included food, essential goods, medicines and portable power stations, all of which are intended to assist the Lebanese population, especially those who have been fleeing the destruction in the south of the country over the past few weeks and who have been heading further north.

That destruction is the direct result of Israel’s ongoing air strikes on areas throughout Lebanon, particularly in the south where the Hezbollah group is largely based.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Explainer: Why did Israeli air defense systems again fail to intercept Iranian missiles?

By Ivan Kesic | Press TV | October 3, 2024

The successful military operation launched by the Iranian armed forces on Tuesday against the Israeli-occupied territories again demonstrated the inefficacy of Israeli air defense systems.

Iranian military officials did not specify the number of ballistic missiles that were fired directly at the Zionist entity, however, media reports put the number of missiles at more than 400.

According to a statement released by the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), almost 90 percent of missiles managed to penetrate through air defenses to hit the intended target.

Israeli regime sources claimed that Iran launched 180 ballistic missiles and that “a large number” or “the majority” were intercepted by air defense systems.

Some Israeli and Western media reports also claimed that 99 percent of missiles were intercepted.

Evidence in the form of verified videos circulating on social media showed that the interception was very little as missiles successfully landed on the ground, hitting the targets.

There was smoke and fire all around as sirens blared loudly across the occupied territories.

In Iran, private footage shared on social media platforms showed one salvo of missiles near Kermanshah, another salvo near Tabriz, and another salvo near Shiraz.

Hundreds of direct strikes were reported in the Israeli-occupied territories, many of them hitting the Nevatim Airbase, Tel Nof Airbase, Hatzerim Airbase and the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Overall, the data of hundreds of ballistic missiles and 80-90 percent success rates almost perfectly match the IRGC sources and confirm that the Israeli regime is once again resorting to disinformation.

As with the April case, more than a hundred widely visible intercept explosion traces over the skies of Jordan, Syria and Iraq would be recorded in the early evening hours, while there is again virtually none.

To shoot down medium-range ballistic missiles, used in the Iranian strike, the Israeli regime uses long-range anti-ballistic systems such as Arrow and David’s Sling that operate at a range of tens or hundreds of kilometers and very high altitudes.

Both systems proved extremely ineffective during Iran’s retaliatory strike with missile salvos in April, as well as Yemen’s single hypersonic missile attack on Tel Aviv in mid-September.

The case related to Nevatim Airbase is particularly intriguing, where nearly 30 warheads hit the target simultaneously within a matter of seconds, without any visible attempt of intercepting.

Some sources suggest that one of the direct hits on Tel Nof Airbase with visible secondary explosions was actually the Arrow battery with radar.

The US-Israeli joint development of the Arrow systems over the past 25 years cost billions of dollars and was previously touted as “99 effective,” which seems bizarre today.

Based on these pompous and obviously fabricated claims, Israel secured a $3.5 billion export contract with Germany last year, marking the largest military sale in its history.

All reliable data in the past year show that these air defense systems were developed to intercept outdated ballistic missiles and are not capable of dealing with salvoes of maneuvering missiles or even single hypersonic types.

In reporting the Iranian attack, the Israeli regime also used other propaganda tools, such as emphasizing the claims that there were no deaths, although the Iranian targets were obviously military installations, not civilians.

Israeli military sources also are yet to publish any foolproof technical evidence of Iranian ballistic missiles being intercepted, basing their claims on rhetoric.

Importantly, last year Press TV website exposed the fallacy of the so-called “over 90 percent success rate” of Israel’s air defense systems, establishing why such claims were trumpeted for lucrative exports and psychological calming of its own settler population.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Deception | , , , , | Leave a comment

Lebanese soldier killed after Israel bombs Red Cross convoy

Israeli attack on Sohor, Lebanon – September 24, 2024
The Cradle | October 3, 2024

At least one member of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) was killed and four paramedics were injured on 3 October when the Israeli air force bombed a Red Cross convoy traveling near the village of Taybeh in south Lebanon as they were evacuating wounded people from the region.

The Lebanese Red Cross announced that the humanitarian convoy was targeted despite coordinating its movements with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The LAF said a second soldier was injured in the attack.

“One soldier was killed and another injured in an attack by Israeli forces while conducting an evacuation and rescue mission in collaboration with the Lebanese Red Cross in the town of Taybeh, Marjaayoun,” the LAf said in their statement.

The indiscriminate Israeli attack came just hours after an Islamic Health Authority team was hit by an airstrike in central Beirut, killing seven paramedics, rescue workers, and volunteers.

Israel reportedly used internationally-banned white phosphorus munitions in the attack, leaving behind a foul, acidic smell across Beirut.

Nearly 2,000 have been killed by Israel in Lebanon since the start of cross-border clashes last year. About half of the toll has been recorded over recent weeks after Tel Aviv significantly expanded its war against the Levantine nation.

About one million people have been displaced inside the small country, with hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighboring Syria.

Last month, reports in western media showed that Israeli airstrikes have become the leading cause of death for humanitarian workers across the world since 7 October, as the Israeli army is responsible for more than 75 percent of the deaths of aid workers over the past year.

In Gaza, Israeli strikes on humanitarian convoys have become commonplace over the past year, as the army has intentionally targeted aid groups that share their coordinates with authorities regularly.

Later on Thursday, the LAF confirmed another soldier was killed in an Israeli attack on a military post in the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , | 4 Comments

Iran slams G7’s ‘irresponsible’ statement on ‘necessary response’ to Israel

Press TV – October 3, 2024

Iran has condemned the Group of Seven (G7)’s “biased and irresponsible” approach toward the developments in West Asia, including Tehran’s “necessary response” to Israel’s acts of aggression.

G7 leaders in a statement on Wednesday condemned Tehran’s launch of more than 180 missiles at Tel Aviv in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and an Iranian military commander.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaee on Thursday “pointed to the definite responsibility of G7 countries, especially the US, in aggravating insecurity and instability in West Asia due to their armament, financial and political support of the aggressor”.

He warned about the serious consequences of this approach on the peace and stability of the region and beyond.

“The recent missile operation by the Islamic Republic of Iran against a combination of military-intelligence targets of the Zionist regime was a necessary response to the acts of aggression by the occupying regime,” Baqaee said.

The operation was “within the framework of the inherent right of legitimate self-defense”, the spokesman said, condemning the use of threats and sanctions to put pressure on the Iranian nation.

Baqaee emphasized Iran’s determination to protect the national security and the vital interests of the Iranian people in the region.

He also criticized the “irresponsible interventions of extra-regional actors, including the US, especially through continuing their all-out support for the Israeli occupation regime” which he described as the “main cause of instability in the West Asia region”.

“If the Group of Seven is really concerned about the peace and security of the region, it should use its leverage to immediately end the Palestinian genocide and stop the aggression of the Zionist regime against Lebanon, Syria and other countries in the region,” he said.

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday said it had summoned the German and Austrian ambassadors after Berlin and Vienna summoned Iran’s representatives to protest the Islamic Republic’s response to the Israeli assassinations.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia concerned over Israeli signs of possibly striking Iran: Ryabkov

Al Mayadeen | October 3, 2024

Russia has expressed concern over “Israel’s” signals suggesting a potential “retaliatory strike” on Iran, which could involve targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

In a statement to Sputnik on Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov emphasized that considering such scenarios is unacceptable.

He expressed deep concern, highlighting that any escalation of the current war could lead to severe consequences.

“I also want to say that nuclear facilities as such, in any case, should always be taken out of any conflict,” Ryabkov stressed.

He also emphasized the need for the international community, including the IAEA and its leadership, to speak out and condemn the mere consideration of such scenarios.

This comes shortly after Israeli media reported, citing Israeli officials, that “Israel” might respond to Iran’s significant ballistic missile attack on Tuesday by targeting strategic infrastructure, such as gas or oil rigs, or by directly striking Iran’s nuclear sites.

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Nuclear Power, War Crimes | , , , | 1 Comment

Deal or No Deal?

By Andrew P. Napolitano | Ron Paul Institute | October 3, 2024

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive.”
–Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

The case of the Gitmo plea agreement keeps getting curiouser and curiouser.

A few weeks ago, we learned that a plea agreement had been entered into by way of a signed contract between the retired general in the Pentagon who is supervising all Gitmo prosecutions, the Gitmo defendants and defense counsel, and the military prosecutors. The agreement, as we understand it from sources who have seen it, provides that in return for a guilty plea, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others will serve life terms at Gitmo, rather than be exposed at trial to the death penalty. The guilty plea is to include a public and detailed recitation of guilt.

Stated differently, Mohammed agreed to reveal under oath the nature and extent of the conspiracy that resulted in the crimes of 9/11.

So far, this is straightforward. While the trial judge may have given his nod of approval to the terms of the agreement, under the federal rules of criminal procedure, the agreement is not final until the judge hears the defendants actually admit guilt under oath in a public courtroom and then accepts the plea in a written order.

That admission has not yet taken place because the Secretary of Defense, who learned of the plea agreement while traveling in Europe, removed the authority of the retired general supervising the prosecution to enter into plea agreements without his express approval.

Thereupon, defense counsel asked the court to enforce the agreement anyway since it is a signed contract, and schedule the plea hearing at which Mohammed and others will presumably comply with their obligations to spill the beans on this 23-year-old case.

The military prosecutors — who initiated the plea negotiations because they recognized that they cannot ethically defend the George W. Bush administration’s torture of these defendants — have been ordered by the Pentagon to ask the judge to reject the plea.

Thus, we have a tangled web, tangled because the government deceived the American public and federal judges about its own criminal behavior — the Bush torture regime. The signed contract was initiated and drafted by the same military prosecutors who have been ordered — against their professional judgement — to ask the trial judge to repudiate it.

Those who have seen it have revealed that the agreement contains a poison pill — a clause that survives the agreement even if it is nullified.

That poison pill removes the death penalty from the case, should the case go to trial.

This was apparently made a part of the agreement in case the political winds blow against the government and it gets cold feet. That is probably what happened.

When Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin — who is not a lawyer — was asked why he ordered the agreement rescinded, he stated that the American public has a right to learn “all” the evidence in the case. He must have made that comment while ignorant of the terms of the plea agreement, as the agreement requires a full recitation by the defendants of their knowledge of the events leading up to 9/11; and nothing prevents prosecutors from revealing whatever evidence they choose to reveal.

Moreover, the Pentagon’s own team of prosecutors have warned against the public revelation of “all” the evidence in the case because the evidence of stomach-churning torture will expose war crimes for which there is no statute of limitations.

Stated differently, if this case is tried in the traditional way as opposed to the entry of a plea agreement with the defendants’ recitation under oath of their knowledge of the crimes, George W. Bush himself and others in his administration, in the CIA and in the military could be indicted and tried in foreign countries for war crimes.

As well, there will be blowback against American troops now stationed abroad, most of whom were not born when Bush ordered torture and deception and invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. His “don’t mess with Texas” presidential style continues to haunt today. He failed to understand that the problem of searching the world for monsters to slay is that the monsters you find will follow you home.

Adding to the jurisprudential oddities here is the intrusion of Congress. When President Barack Obama revealed his intention to close Gitmo — it costs half a billion dollars a year to operate — Congress enacted a statute that prohibited the removal of the defendants from Gitmo to the American mainland for any reason, including the infliction of capital punishment. That statute is probably unconstitutional as violative of the separation of powers. Just as the president cannot tell Congress when and how to vote, Congress cannot tell the president how to manage federal prisons or prosecutions.

Gitmo was a Devil’s Island, flawed from its inception. More than 100 years ago, the U.S. leased the land on which Gitmo is located from Cuba. When the lease ran out, the U.S. refused to leave. Bush’s lawyers advised him that if he tortured and prosecuted in Cuba, federal laws didn’t apply, the Constitution wouldn’t restrain him and, best of all, those pesky federal judges couldn’t interfere with him.

In five cases, the Supreme Court rejected Bush’s arguments for evading the Constitution. Bush has visited upon all of his successors a nearly insoluble jurisprudential mess. A mess born out of antipathy to the Constitution he swore to uphold and the knee-jerk bravado apparently integral to his persona.

Gitmo is a tragic example of what happens when the American public entrusts the preservation of constitutional norms into the hands of those unworthy of that trust and quick to cut constitutional corners in order to persecute unpopular defendants. The Constitution itself was written in large measure to assure that these things can’t happen here. But they do.

To learn more about Judge Andrew Napolitano, visit https://JudgeNap.com.
COPYRIGHT 2024 ANDREW P. NAPOLITANO
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Deception, False Flag Terrorism | , | 4 Comments

Now it’s oil: China, BRICS and OPEC+ build new trading system, locking out US suppliers and banks

Inside China Business | September 27, 2024

China and Iran developed a comprehensive energy market, involving shadow fleets of tankers and a system of rebranding oil for domestic use, or for further export to other Asian countries. Russia has since joined, after sanctions were placed on oil producers and banks there. The result is a parallel economy that now totals millions of barrels per day in shipments to China by OPEC+ countries, and a sharp decline in global demand from Western suppliers. The implications for US and European oil suppliers are very negative, as global crude prices are now far below profit breakeven levels. Already, US oil majors are shelving oilfield development projects, and reducing active rig count. Resources and links: Barrons, BP Says Oil Demand Is Falling, While OPEC Says It’s Rising.

What Gives? https://www.barrons.com/articles/bp-s…

Rigzone, JP Morgan Talks Global Oil Demand https://www.rigzone.com/news/jp_morga…

S&P, Barclays lowers 2024 Brent oil price forecast to $93/b on demand concerns https://www.spglobal.com/commodityins…

Oil Prices Poised To Climb in 2024 Amid Geopolitical Uncertainty https://www.investopedia.com/oil-pric…

CNBC, OPEC is highly bullish on long-term oil demand growth. Not everyone agrees https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/24/opec-…

NPR, Oil prices plunge as demand from China falls https://www.npr.org/2024/09/14/nx-s1-…

Zerohedge, What Sanctions? China Imports Record Amount Of Iranian Oil https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/what…

The axis of evasion: Behind China’s oil trade with Iran and Russia https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs…

Oil price charts from finviz.com/futures and Bloomberg https://finviz.com/futures_charts.ash…

US drillers cut oil and gas rigs for fifth week in six, Baker Hughes says https://www.xm.com/se/research/market…

Average WTI price needed for U.S. oil and gas producers to stay profitable by well status in selected U.S. oilfields as of 2024 https://www.statista.com/statistics/7…

Capital Expenditure (CapEx) Definition, Formula, and Examples https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/…

October 3, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Video | , , , , , | Leave a comment