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Joe Biden’s Offshore Wind Energy Mirage

The reality is a lot of turbines, not much energy.

By Craig Rucker | Real Clear Energy | May 6, 2021

President Biden recently announced ambitious plans to install huge offshore industrial wind facilities along America’s Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific coasts. His goal is to churn out 30 gigawatts (30,000 megawatts) of wind capacity by 2030, ensuring the U.S. “leads by example” in fighting the “climate crisis.”

Granted “30 by 2030” is clever PR. But what are the realities?

The only existing U.S. offshore wind operation features five 6-MW turbines off Rhode Island. Their combined capacity (what they could generate if they worked full-bore, round the clock 24/7) is 30 MW. Mr. Biden is planning 1,000 times more offshore electricity, perhaps split three ways: 10,000 MW for each coast.

While that might sound impressive, it isn’t.  It means total wind capacity for the entire Atlantic coast, under Biden’s plan, would only meet three-fourths of the peak summertime electricity needed to power New York City.  Again, this assumes the blades are fully spinning 24/7. In reality, such turbines would be lucky to be operating a top capacity half the time. Even less as storms and salt spray corrode the turbines, year after year.

The reason why is there is often minimal or no wind in the Atlantic – especially on the hottest days. Ditto for the Gulf of Mexico. No wind means no electricity – right when you need it most.

Of course, too little wind isn’t the only issue. Other times, there’s too much wind – as when a hurricane roars up the coast. That’s more likely in the Gulf of Mexico. But the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 had Category 4 winds in Virginia, Category 3 intensity off Cape Hatteras (NC), Long Island and Rhode Island, and Category 2 when it reached Maine. It sank four U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships.

When storms or hurricanes hit, turbines can be destroyed. Repairing or replacing hundreds of offshore turbines could take years.

If the White House is planning to generate all that power using common 6-MW turbines, our coastlines would need a hefty 5,000 of the 600-foot tall monsters dotting them. The Washington Monument is 655 feet tall.

Going instead with 12-MW turbines, like the 850-foot-tall GE Haliade-X turbines Virginia is planning to install off its coast, America would still need 2,500 of the behemoths – just to complete Phase One of Biden’s plan. 30,000 megawatts by 2030.  Even if these were all plopped in the Atlantic, it still would not be enough to meet New York State’s current electricity needs.

And what about the environment?

How many millions of tons of steel, copper, lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, concrete, petroleum-based composites (for turbine blades) and other raw materials would be required to manufacture and install the turbines and undersea electrical cables, especially where deep-water turbines are involved?

How many billions of tons of ore would have to be mined, crushed, processed and refined – considering that it takes 125,000 tons of average ore for every 1,000 tons of pure copper metal?

Not only would nearly all of this mining and manufacturing require fossil fuels, but much of it would be done in China, or in other countries by Chinese-owned companies. Haliade-X turbines are also manufactured in China. And much of the mining and processing is done under horrid workplace safety and environmental conditions, often with near-slave and child labor.

More turbines will also kill countless birds and bats. Turbine infrasound and other noise have been implicated in disorienting and stranding whales and dolphins. The numbers, height and low-frequency turbine noise also interferes with surface ships, submarines, aircraft and radar.

Nuclear power or billions of batteries (or retained fossil fuel power plants) will have to back up every megawatt of intermittent, unreliable wind power, so that society can function every time the wind fails. That means more raw materials, transmission lines and costs.

Even with massive taxpayer subsidies, electricity generated by offshore turbines will cost many times what we are paying today, even in New York and California. That will have especially heavy impacts on energy-intensive industries, hospitals, and poor, middle-class, minority and fixed-income families.

Economic, environmental and climate justice reviews must fully, carefully and honestly assess every one of these factors. No “expedited” or “climate emergency” shortcuts should be permitted.

President Biden likes to say offshore wind energy is clean, green, renewable and sustainable. Wind itself certainly is. But harnessing the wind (or sun), to meet the needs of modern civilization is not – especially in ocean environments.

Claiming otherwise is a mirage – a scam. Maybe that’s why the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management already canceled two wind projects off Long Island. The costs and impacts are enormous, and local opposition was high. Do climate activists in and out of the Biden Administration expect otherwise anywhere else?

Craig Rucker is president of the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org).

May 8, 2021 Posted by | Economics, Environmentalism, Malthusian Ideology, Phony Scarcity, Progressive Hypocrite | | Leave a comment

Facebook Has Deleted The Richie Allen Show Page

By Richie Allen | May 8, 2021

Facebook deleted The Richie Allen Show page overnight. There was no warning. The page had been managed by a friend of mine as I haven’t had a personal Facebook account for a few years.

I had my pals login details, so I could go in and post the recording of each day’s radio show. Rodge (my mate) rarely posted. When he did, it was to remind you that the show was about to start, or when I was on holiday, to remind you why I was away.

I’ve only ever posted the show on there and recently, articles from this website. Three months ago, Facebook emailed Rodge to say that the visibility of the page would be severely restricted, because the page was posting fake news. This was nonsense, but I didn’t care.

In the radio show, I interview academics and journalists who have been effectively banned from the media. In the articles, I report what these people are saying. The fake news claim is pathetic. I am a journalist and I hold myself to the highest standard.

I make it crystal clear when I am offering an opinion. “That’s conjecture,” I say. When stating a fact, I offer empirical evidence to support the claim.

I couldn’t care less that Facebook has banned the page. I was going to close the page several years ago when I deleted my personal page. I despise Facebook, but Rodge compelled me to keep it open. He’s a good lad so I said go ahead.

You know me. I despise megalomaniacal truthers and attention seekers who use information and people as their props. The indy media is filled to the brim with celebrity wannabes. For me, the information has always been the star and a proper presenter should put the guest and the info ahead of him or her. I’m not important. I am a conduit.

So you’ll believe me when I tell you this. They’re coming for The Richie Allen Show and they’re coming fast. Every other week, the show is criticised in a national newspaper, either here or back home, not because of anything I have said or done, but because of some of the people I have hosted. I’m never offered right of reply.

Some weeks ago, Talk Radio presenter James Whale allowed some goon from an organisation called Hope Not Hate, free rein to smear me and my radio show. It went on for ten minutes. Whale, the gormless stooge, never challenged him.

When I politely Tweeted Whale to inquire as to when I’d be given right of reply, he blocked me. Astonishing stuff. I’d have been fired for doing that, in my time on commercial radio.

Three times last week, academics declined to come on the show. This has become more common over the last two years.

They’d all heard of me and two of them said they really appreciated the show, but still they declined. “Richie, I’ll get destroyed if I come on with you,” is a standard reply now.

Why is this happening? It’s all about the numbers. That makes me smile. Ian Collins, on his Talk Radio show, in reply to a listener who told him that he loved the Richie Allen Show, said that “it’s all about the numbers.”

You’re damn right it is Ian. My live show averages 150,000 listeners a night. Read that line again. Ok, so they’re not all in the UK. In the last 30 days, the show has had 248,864 unique listeners in 98 countries.

The Podcast is downloaded or streamed more than two million times a month.

There has never been a show like it. You know me. I ain’t boasting. I’m making a point.

They’re not going to stand for it. I’ve known this for some time, as has my friend and colleague Hayden Hewitt and FAB Radio’s Paul Ripley. We’ve discussed it. They won’t stand for a show with that kind of reach, featuring content that challenges the covid narrative or anything else for that matter.

I’ll keep doing it though. I have a state of the art radio studio and an independent stream. I have my website. I have friends like Paul Ripley, Hayden Hewitt, and you. They’re going to try and make it harder and harder for you to find me. But I’ll always be here.

Have a great weekend. Join me for the most chilled music show in radio tomorrow at 10am.

May 8, 2021 Posted by | Full Spectrum Dominance | , | Leave a comment

Fantasy Versus Reality In Woke-Land

By Francis Menton | The Manhattan Contrarian | May 6, 2021

JP Morgan Chase — it’s hard to find a more “woke” company than that one. Under celebrity CEO Jamie Dimon, JPM in its corporate pronouncements consistently positions itself at the most exquisitely correct end of the politically correct spectrum.

But reality can be tough. In its email of a couple of days ago, the Global Warming Policy Foundation links to JPM’s 2021 Annual Energy Paper. The Paper comes from JPM’s Asset and Wealth Management Group. The lead author is a guy named Michael Cembalest, who appears to have his ear right down on the ground of the global energy business. The bottom line is that all the talk about “deep de-carbonization” of the world economy any time soon is a ridiculous fantasy. Fossil fuels are not going away for a long time, if ever. Carbon emissions into the atmosphere are increasing? You’d better get used to that.

Once again, this “deep de-carbonization” thing is a case of the really “smart” people deceiving you, or maybe themselves; or more likely, both.

For starters, let’s consider some of the extreme wokeism that issues from the executive suites in JPMville. This is not limited to matters of “climate,” but extends as well to other usual topics, like for example “systemic racism.” On that subject, here is JPM CEO Jamie Dimon, as quoted in Forbes in October 2020:

“Systemic racism is a tragic part of America’s history. We can do more and do better to break down systems that have propagated racism and widespread economic inequality, especially for Black and Latinx people. It’s long past time that society addresses racial inequities in a more tangible, meaningful way.”

Meanwhile, over in the climate arena, JPM’s high-level pronouncements totally buy into the idea that we’re going to save the planet by financing a bunch of wind turbines, or something. Last October, JPM put out a big statement with the pompous title of “How one of the world’s biggest banks plans to tackle climate change.” Excerpt:

Climate change is among the most urgent problems facing humanity; businesses and governments have an imperative to act. Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, which aims to restrict a rise in the world’s average temperature, would enable us to take a giant step towards a safer, greener, more sustainable future. . . . For the world to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, there needs to be an acceleration of emerging technologies that are not yet widely commercially available or economically viable. . . . Our company, JPMorgan Chase, announced this month that we will start aligning our financing portfolio to meet the Paris goals.

Then just a couple of weeks ago, on April 15, JPM followed up by announcing a big new plan to “Advance Climate Action and Sustainable Development” with some $2.5 trillion in investments:

JPMorgan Chase aims to finance and facilitate more than $2.5 trillion over 10 years – beginning this year through the end of 2030 – to advance long-term solutions that address climate change and contribute to sustainable development. . . . This long-term target complements the firm’s Paris-aligned financing strategy and will help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy by encouraging actions that set a path for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050

Wow, that sounds great! Or is it all just a cynical grab for some of the upcoming gusher of government subsidies, with no detectable effect at all on the climate, or even much effect on the use of fossil fuels? For some insights, let’s look at that 2021 Annual Energy Paper. The document is not short (42 pages), and certainly does not fall in the category of “climate skepticism,” but it does contain some notable doses of hard-headed realism that are normally completely lacking in this field.

From the Executive Summary:

Our main focus this year: why is the transition [away from carbon-based fuels] taking so long? Deep decarbonization plans assume massive changes in electric vehicles, electricity transmission grids, industrial energy use and carbon sequestration, but each faces headwinds often not accounted for by energy futurists. As shown below, many prior forecasts of the renewable transition were too ambitious since they ignored energy density, intermittency and the complex realities of incumbent energy systems. . . .

Maybe those “energy futurist” people are just kidding themselves?

President Biden just announced a new GHG emissions target: a 50% decline by 2030 vs a 2005 baseline. This very ambitious target implies a decarbonization pace in the next 10 years that’s four times faster than in the last 15 years. Even with the amount of money the administration plans to dedicate to the task, it’s an enormous hurdle. . . .

The even more important and larger question: even if the US succeeds, what about everyone else? Over the last 25 years, the developed world shifted much of its carbon-intensive manufacturing of steel, cement, ammonia and plastics to the developing world. . . .

Loudly proclaiming that you have achieved some (small) decreases in carbon emissions while offshoring most of your energy-intensive manufacturing — That’s one good way to fool yourself.

The world gets more energy efficient every year, but levels of emissions keep rising. . . .

It’s those pesky Chinese and Indians and Africans who think they ought to be able to have electricity and cars and air conditioning just like you do.

How is the global energy transition going? Taken together, the aggregate impact of nuclear, hydroelectric and solar/wind generation reduced global reliance on fossil fuels from ~95% of primary energy in 1975 to ~85% in 2020. In other words, energy transitions take a long time and lots of money. . . . [T]he IEA still projects that 70%-75% of global primary energy consumption may be met via fossil fuels in the year 2040. Why don’t rapid wind and solar price declines translate into faster decarbonization? As we will discuss, renewable energy is still mostly used to generate electricity, and electricity as a share of final energy consumption on a global basis is still just 18%.

Yes, all those thousands of wind turbines and solar panels blanketing the landscape are at best hoping to replace a minority of a sector that itself only represents 18% of energy use to begin with. Why are we spending (wasting) these many trillions of dollars again?

Getting beyond the Executive Summary and into the details of the Paper, there are many great tidbits. A section on “Transmission Realities” shows how bringing “renewable” power to where it’s needed runs into the same roadblocks from environmentalists as all other energy development:

While MIT and Princeton assume rapid growth in transmission infrastructure, actual development can be a hornet’s nest of siting challenges and legal costs even when projects are eventually built after years of planning. Let’s start with HydroQuebec’s plan to sell hydropower to the US. . . . Take Northern Pass, a 1.1 GW transmission project to bring hydropower from Quebec to the Northeast through New Hampshire (80% via existing right-of-ways or underground lines). . . . [A] New Hampshire siting committee blocked Northern Pass. . . . Now Massachusetts is trying to import Canadian hydropower through Maine (“New England Clean Energy Connect”) but has already run into an injunction due to opposition from environmental groups. . . .

And so on and on and on.

Then there’s the Holy Grail of carbon capture and storage, sometimes known as CCS. Hey, why not just take all of this dangerous CO2 and bury it somewhere in the ground? The Paper looks at some of the practical realities:

After 20 years of planning and conjecture, by the end of 2020 carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities stored just 0.1% of global CO2 emissions. . . . The highest ratio in the history of science: the number of academic papers written on CCS divided by real-life implementation of it. . . . The Princeton CCS buildout, just to sequester an amount equal to 15% of current US GHG emissions, would require infrastructure whose throughput volume would be higher than the volume of oil flowing through US distribution and refining pipelines, a system which has taken over 100 years to build. . . . Sequestering 25% of global CO2 through direct air capture would require 25%-40% of the world’s electricity generation plus 11%-17% of its primary energy.

And then there’s my favorite line in the whole Paper, from page 28:

We recommend that investors stick with oil & gas for now.

Read the full article here.

May 8, 2021 Posted by | Economics, Science and Pseudo-Science, Timeless or most popular | , , | Leave a comment

Over a dozen U.S. cities and counties are now pro-freedom ‘sanctuaries’ against COVID measures

LifeSiteNews – May 5, 2021

More than a dozen cities and counties in the United States are fighting COVID-19 restrictions by designating themselves pro-freedom “sanctuaries” or by simply refusing to enforce emergency orders.

The counties are primarily located in highly regulated states – like Michigan and California – that have suffered catastrophic economic and mental health impacts amid months of business closures and mask mandates.

Late last year, county commissioners in Campbell County, Virginia passed a “First Amendment Sanctuary” resolution, declaring that “(n)o Campbell County funds will be used to restrict the First Amendment.” No funding “shall be expended to aid federal or state agencies in the restriction of said rights,” it added.

“We’re not going to utilize county resources to enforce the governor’s orders,” a district representative from the county told local news. “We’re not going to aid the Virginia Department of Health in shutting our businesses down.”

At least nine other cities and counties have passed similar “sanctuary” designations, including Burrillville, Rhode Island, Delta County, Michigan, Kosciusko County, Carroll County and the city of Mooresville in Indiana, and multiple jurisdictions in California and Texas.

In Michigan’s Baraga County earlier this year, the county sheriff and other officials approved the “Baraga Manifesto,” slamming Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “clearly unconstitutional measures that treat human beings like herd animals.”

“Since March 10, 2020, the People of the State of Michigan have endured restrictions on their freedom which have not been seen in North America since the days of King George III and the American Revolution,” the officials wrote. “Enough is enough.”

“Accordingly, we hereby put the State of Michigan on NOTICE that we have no intention of participating in the unconstitutional destruction of our citizens’ economic security and Liberty,” they continued. “We further declare our intention to take no action whatsoever in furtherance of this terribly misguided agenda.” The manifesto echoes defiant local resolutions approved in Nebraska and Colorado.

At least one conservative county also has signaled its resistance to coronavirus vaccine mandates.

Assemblymen in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, passed a resolution in December stressing that the county supports vaccination on an “optional basis.” The statement, which passed 8-1, says that “the best interests of the state” are not served by mandating a vaccine that “many people are concerned… could potentially have serious harmful effects on themselves.”

State legislatures have pushed back against COVID-19 rules as well, with more than nine states enacting new restrictions of executives’ emergency powers or advancing vaccine passport bans since the start of the crisis.

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Civil Liberties | , | Leave a comment

Halt Vaccine Passports! It’s illegal, medical apartheid

By Dr Mike Yeadon | OffGuardian | May 7, 2021

It is very important that people understand what is happening here. The intention is to introduce vaccine passports everywhere. But this is a disguise. It’s a world’s first digital common-format, globally-interoperable ID system with an editable health flag (vaccinated Y or N).

It makes no one safer. If you’re vaccinated, you’re protected & are not made safer by knowing others immune status.

As in Israel, you will be compelled to present a valid VaxPass in order to access defined facilities or access services. No VaxPass, you’re denied.

This system only needs 50%+ of the adult population to start up because of its huge, coercive power on the unvaccinated.

It’s illegal, medical apartheid.

If they succeed, it won’t help you to refuse. They’ll move on, leaving that minority behind.

A VaxPass System like this will give to those controlling the database & it’s algorithms TOTALITARIAN TYRANNY over us all.

The ONLY way to stop this biosecurity nightmare is to NOT GET VACCINATED FOR NON-MEDICAL REASONS!!!

I fear that, if our adversaries gain this absolute control, they will use it to harm the population. There’s no limit to the evil which will flow from this strategic goal.

DO NOT ALLOW THIS SYSTEM TO START UP, because it’s unstoppable afterwards.

One example: your VaxPass pings, instructing you to attend for your 3rd or 4th or 5th booster or variant vaccine. If you don’t, your VaxPass will expire & you’ll become an out-person, unable to access your own life.

How much choice do you have?

It’s none. You are controlled. Forever.

PLEASE share this widely, on every platform you use.

Thank you,
Dr Mike Yeadon

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Science and Pseudo-Science | , , , , | Leave a comment

Tucker Carlson Asks: How Many Americans Have Died After Taking the Covid Vaccines?

By Michael Curzon • Lockdown Sceptics • May 6, 2021

We are told a lot about the upsides of Covid vaccines but rarely discuss the risks. Fox News host Tucker Carlson has taken it upon himself to ask how many Americans have died after taking the vaccine.

Here is a transcript of part of the video.

How many Americans have died after taking the Covid vaccines? Not Americans who’ve been killed by the virus, that’s a huge number, but how many Americans have died after getting the vaccines designed to prevent the virus? Do you know the answer to that question? Do you know anything about the downside? We know a lot about the upside of the vaccine. We’ve been completely in favor of vulnerable people taking vaccines.

But what about the potential risks? You’d think you would know more about that than you do. We talk about vaccines constantly, not just on this show, but in this country. Joe Biden was on TV yesterday talking about vaccines. He wants you to get one. Everyone in authority wants you to get one. In fact, you’ve probably already had your shot, and good for you. If you haven’t had your shot, you’re under enormous pressure to get your shot. You understand that soon you may not be able to fly on commercial airplanes or go to work at the office or send your children to school if you don’t have the shot. Meanwhile, the social pressure is enormous. Friends may have already informed you that you’re not welcome at their parties or weddings if you haven’t been vaccinated. There is a lot of pressure to comply. At some point, you probably will comply. It’s just too difficult not be to vaccinated in this country.

But before you make the appointment: do you know anything about the potential risks? Probably you don’t know much. We all assume the risks are negligible. Vaccines aren’t dangerous. That’s not a guess, we know that pretty conclusively from the official numbers. Every flu season, we give influenza shots to more than 160 million Americans. Every year, a relatively small number of people seem to die after getting those shots. To be precise, in 2019, that number was 203 people. The year before, it was 119. In 2017, a total of 85 people died from the flu shot.

Every death is tragic, but big picture, we don’t consider those numbers disqualifying. We keep giving flu shots, and very few people complain about it. So the question is how do those numbers compare to the death rate from the coronavirus vaccines now being distributed across the country? That’s worth knowing.

We checked today. Here’s the answer, which comes from the same set of Government numbers that we just listed: between late December of 2020, and last month, a total of 3,362 people apparently died after getting the Covid vaccines in the United States… That’s an average of 30 people every day. So, what does that add up to? By the way, that reporting period ended on April 23rd. We don’t have numbers past that, we’re not quite up to date. But we can assume that another 360 people have died in the 12 days since. That is a total of 3,722 deaths. Almost 4,000 people died after getting the Covid vaccines. The actual number is almost certainly much higher than that – perhaps vastly higher.

The data we just cited come from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) which is managed by the CDC and the FDA. VARES has received a lot of criticism over the years, some of it founded. Some critics have argued for a long time that VARES undercounts vaccine injuries. A report submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2010 concluded that “fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported” by the VARES system. Fewer than 1%. So what is the real number of people who apparently have been killed or injured by the vaccine? Well, we don’t know that number. Nobody does, and we’re not going to speculate about it. But it’s clear that what is happening now, for whatever reason, is not even close to normal. It’s not even close to what we’ve seen in previous years with previous vaccines.

Worth reading – or watching – in full.

Stop Press: Pradheep J. Shanker says in the National Review that Tucker Carlson deliberately misrepresented the VAERS data to promote a dangerous strain of vaccine skepticism

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Timeless or most popular, Video | | Leave a comment

Acclaimed Swedish Hospital Stops Irreversible Hormone Treatment of Minors

By Igor Kuznetsov – Sputnik – 07.05.2021

Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, one of Sweden’s largest medical institutions, is now terminating its controversial irreversible hormone treatments for minors suffering from ‘gender dysphoria’, that is, being born into the ‘wrong sex’, national broadcaster SVT reported.

In its updated guidelines that came into force at the start of May, the acclaimed hospital called these treatments controversial and suggested that they involve risks.

Previously, Karolinska University Hospital became the first in Sweden to offer gender identity investigations for children and young people. The special department opened in 2000 and over 700 young people have since been investigated for gender dysphoria. The diagnosed patients were able to receive hormone treatment at Karolinska Hospital.

Previously, the practice of hormone treatment had fallen under scrutiny, not least from SVT’s team for investigative journalism that highlighted the risks associated with this practice, as well as its irreversible health effects. SVT also reported an “explosive” increase in adolescents undergoing gender reassignment amid other conditions such as depression and eating disorders.

Yet another problem associated with the so-called “regretters” who have second thoughts about the “gender-confirming” treatment afterwards.

“Healthcare does not know what they are doing. They have no science behind this. They are experimenting on a young generation that has their whole life ahead of them. I don’t know of any other area in medicine where a treatment is tried in this way,” one of patients who lives with irreversible consequences of hormone treatment told SVT.

Teenager

Karolinska’s Per-Anders Rydelius previously defended the treatment by claiming that it follows investigation models and is by no means experimental.

However, Karolinska’s updated guidelines now describe a plethora of side effects: cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, infertility, cancer and thrombosis. The hospital also emphasised the low evidence of achieving the desired effect and that there is very little knowledge about safety in the long term.

The new guidelines imply that no new minors will receive hormone treatment, other than within the framework of clinical studies. For patients already undergoing treatment, physicians should make a “careful individual assessment of whether treatment should be continued or discontinued”.

This step was welcomed by, among others, Emelie Köhler, the co-founder of detransinfo.se, a website for people who regret their gender correction. She called it a “super important step in the right direction”.

“Now it is important that the others follow Karolinska’s decision”, Emelie Köhler told SVT.

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Science and Pseudo-Science, Timeless or most popular | Leave a comment

Over 370 People Go Missing During 9 Days of Tax Reform Protests in Colombia, Rights Group Says

Sputnik – 07.05.2021

A total of 379 people went missing in Colombia over nine days of protests triggered by the now-shelved tax reform, the Movice National Movement of Victims of State Crime has announced.

“The organizations of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances have transferred data on 379 persons who have gone missing since the beginning of the April 28 demonstrations to the present day to the [International Commission on] Missing Persons and the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office,” the human rights group wrote on Twitter late on Thursday.

According to the latest data from the Ombudsman’s Office, searches for 51 people are underway, another 38 have been found. The protests resulted in 352 civilians and 38 law enforcement officers receiving injuries.

Rallies in Colombia against an increase in gas prices and utility bills as part of state-proposed tax reform have been underway since 28 April. Despite President Ivan Duque withdrawing the controversial reform on Sunday, protesters have continued to rally across the country. Demonstrators are now demanding a review of the sanitary emergency and health care reform, the dissolution of the ESMAD riot police, demilitarization of cities and punishing those responsible for killing protesters.

At least 31 protesters were killed, 1,220 were injured and 87 went missing in the first week of protests against the tax reform, according to the Colombian Institute for Development and Peace Studies. The United Nations condemned the use of violence against protesters.

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Malthusian Ideology, Phony Scarcity | , , | Leave a comment

Militant Russophobe Back at State

By Stephen Lendman | May 7, 2021

Biden regime’s under secretary of state for political affairs Victoria Nuland is the department’s third highest ranking official — after Blinken and his deputy Wendy Sherman.

They and numerous others hostile to world peace, stability, and the rule of law hardliners comprise Biden’s warmaking team.

They follow in the footsteps of Obama/Biden’s war on humanity and Murder, Inc. agenda — after usurping power by brazen election fraud.

The notion of democracy in America was fanciful from inception.

US governance has always been of, by, and for the privileged few alone at the expense of exploiting and abusing most others at home and abroad.

American exceptionalism and moral superiority were invented to conceal its diabolical drive for hegemony worldwide.

Belligerent USA is increasingly totalitarian, plutocratic, kleptocratic, treacherous, and tyrannical.

Nuland fits right in. Her disturbing resume should have automatically disqualified her for any public post, clearly not a sensitive one that lets her continue hostile to peace and stability actions.

She’s held various public posts since the 1990s, earlier at the US embassy in Moscow.

A hardcore neocon and closet fascist, she’s militantly hostile to all things Russia.

Earlier she directed an anti-Russia task force that targeted its neighboring states — while supporting an expanded hostile to peace and stability NATO.

Her husband Robert Kagan co-founded the extremist pro-war on invented enemies Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

Earlier and now, she “stand(s)” with fascist tyranny in Ukraine over democratic rule she deplores worldwide, especially in the US.

In 2020, she wrote a Foreign Affairs op-ed titled “Pinning Down Putin.”

Defying reality, she falsely called democratic Russia under his leadership “an irredeemable pariah state (sic)” — what applies to the US, key NATO states and apartheid Israel, not Moscow.

She lied accusing Russia of “violat(ing) arms control treaties (sic), international law (sic), the sovereignty of its neighbors (sic), and the integrity of elections in the United States and Europe (sic).”

All of the above and much more apply to rogue state USA, not Russia or other nations free from Washington’s imperial control.

No “Russia(n) threat” exists anywhere worldwide, no “aggressive behavior,” no “cut(ting) off of (Russians) from the outside world” — in stark contrast to an unprecedented danger posed by hegemon USA to humanity, including by waging war on ordinary Americans.

Like other extremist US hardliners, Nuland is militantly hostile toward all nations unwilling to bend to the will of a higher power in Washington — especially democratic/nonbelligerent Russia.

Defiantly turning truth on its head, she falsely claimed that Putin “steadily (eroded) freedom of expression and assembly, political pluralism, judicial fairness, and an open economy (sic)” — polar opposite reality under his leadership.

Greatly benefitting ordinary Russians, he resurrected the country from recklessly ruinous policies under US-supported Boris Yeltsin during the 1990s lost decade.

Nuland lied claiming Putin “clos(ed) down opposition newspapers and TV stations; jail(ed), exil(ed), or kill(ed) political and economic rivals; and reestablish(ed) single-party dominance in the parliament and regional governments (sic).”

The above is increasingly how hegemon USA operates at home and abroad — not Russia anywhere.

No Russian drive for “hegemony” exists, no “Russian aggression,” no “irregular (cyber) warfare,” no “seizure of Crimea (sic).”

According to Nuland’s doublespeak, NATO’s belligerence against invented enemies since the 1990s is “purely defensive (sic).”

She lied claiming that “Putin (considers) democratic, prosperous states around Russia…a direct challenge to his leadership (and) democratic aspirations” domestically that already exist.

Democracy in Russia is real — in stark contrast to Washington’s fantasy version.

A further litany of Russophobic bald-faced Big Lies followed.

Along with likeminded extremists in the US and West, Nuland represents worst of neocon militancy against peace, stability, and governance of, by, and for everyone equitably according to the rule of law.

One of the ugliest of ugly Americans in Washington, her main focus as number three in State’s hierarchy is waging war on Russia by other means — perhaps yearning for turning it hot.

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Militarism, Russophobia | | Leave a comment

Fake News About Invented US Enemies

By Stephen Lendman | May 7, 2021

Virtually all nations vilified by both wings of the US war party and their press agent media are good neighbors.

They respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, according to the rule of law.

Bipartisan hardliners in Washington, their predecessors, and establishment media echo chamber pretend otherwise.

Left unexplained is that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and other nations outside US control prioritize peace over perpetual wars on invented enemies — how hegemon USA operated throughout most of the post-WW II period.

Iran notably hasn’t attacked another country in centuries. It threatens none now — except in self-defense against aggression, its UN Charter Right.

Former US official Elliot Abrams remains free from prosecution for numerous war crimes in multiple theaters since the 1980s.

Established in 1997, he was a Project for the New American Century (PNAC) signatory.

Comprised of neocon extremists like himself, it openly advocated for US global dominance by brute force if lesser tactics failed to achieve its hegemonic aims.

Many of its members like Abrams held high-level positions in Washington —promoting endless wars on invented enemies, rejecting peace, stability and the rule of law.

On May 5, Abrams turned truth on its head with the following remarks, saying:

Iran “continue(s) clandestine efforts to build a nuclear weapon (sic) and its refusal to allow mandated inspections (sic).”

Reality is polar opposite Abrams’ thinly veiled mass deception.

No Iranian nuclear weapons existed earlier, none now, no intention to develop what its ruling authorities want eliminated everywhere.

What Abrams knows, he conceals, along with ignoring nuclear armed and dangerous Israel — maintaining an arsenal of these weapons for over half a century.

Phony claims about an Iranian nuclear weapons program — including by Israel’s Netanyahu — were long ago debunked.

As for Abrams, he lost credibility multiple times over — including after being indicted for lying to Congress.

Once a liar, always one. He pled guilty to two lesser offenses of withholding information from Congress to avoid a trial, possible conviction and imprisonment.

On Christmas night 1992, GHW Bush pardoned him and other Iran-Contra defendants – their high crimes forgiven, not forgotten.

Most recently, he repeated his crime spree as Trump’s special representative for regime change in Venezuela and Iran — failing on both counts.

He lied claiming Iran “seek(s) technology in Europe that it needs to develop weapons of mass destruction (sic).”

He lied saying that Iran “was turning to Europe in its quest for weapons of mass destruction.”

He lied accusing Iran “of carrying out industrial espionage aimed at products that could be used to make nuclear weapons.”

He lied claiming “Iran continues actively to seek the elements it needs to build nuclear weapons.”

Virtually everything he said about Iran in his propaganda piece was a bald-faced Big Lie.

Abrams long ago proved he’s a serial liar, a figure who can never be trusted.

Like other current and former US hardline officials, he’s militantly hostile toward all nations free from its imperial control.

Separately on Thursday, Press TV reported that the Biden regime and subservient E3 countries made unacceptable new demands on Iran which it rejects.

They insist that Tehran destroy its legitimate “new-generation (IR-4, IR-6 and IR-9) centrifuges in return for a temporary suspension of some of the sanctions related to the” JCPOA.

Not only won’t Iran agree to unacceptable US-led Western demands, if their ruling regimes insist on them, the JCPOA may unravel altogether.

Unacceptable demands reflect typical US duplicity, colonized EU countries going along with what no responsible governments would accept.

Their demands are unreasonable in return for promises made to be broken like virtually always before.

Biden to date continues Trump’s maximum pressure.

Hardliners running his geopolitical agenda have no intention of negotiating in good faith with any countries free from US control.

In 2018, after Trump’s unlawful JCPOA pullout, I asked: Is the JCPOA Doomed?

At the time, I said that preserving the landmark agreement depends on all its signatories — including the US — fulfilling their mandated obligations, what clearly hasn’t happened.

Last year, earlier this year, and after Vienna talks began, I asked the same question.

The US and E3 flagrantly breached international law by failing to comply with JCPOA provisions.

As long as this continues, the landmark nuclear deal indeed is doomed.

To date, talks in Vienna achieved nothing positive.

Iran justifiably demands that all illegally imposed sanctions since 2016 be lifted.

At most, Biden regime hardliners may selectively rescind some, not all.

At the same time, they unilaterally reserve the right to impose new illegal sanctions at their discretion.

As long as this policy remains hard-wired, there’s no chance to save the JCPOA.

While nothing is certain ahead, that’s the most likely outcome.

When claims of progress in Vienna talks are made, they’re more illusory than real.

Whenever the US negotiates on any issues — directly or in the wings as in Vienna — it can never be trusted because whatever it may sign onto most likely will unravel ahead because of its noncompliance or abandonment of what was agreed on.

That’s why good faith diplomatic outreach by nations like Iran with the US most likely become exercises in futility.

Chances to save the JCPOA are slim at best.

Most likely it’ll unravel entirely ahead because of unacceptable US/Western demands and refusal to fulfill their obligations.

A Final Comment

On Thursday, Axios reported that the Biden regime (meaning E3 countries as well) remain far apart (at a) critical stage” of talks.

It’s likely related at least in part to what’s covered above.

Axios cited an unnamed Biden regime official saying the US is preparing for a breakdown in talks, adding:

“If that happens, (its hardliners) will do everything to make sure Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon” — what it doesn’t seek.

The above remark is an ominous sign of what may lie ahead.

Based on lack of good faith toward Iran by Biden’s geopolitical team, it’s clear that its hardliners never intended to return to the JCPOA as affirmed by Sec. Council Res. 2231.

Their lack of good faith strongly suggests that the landmark agreement will unravel altogether in the days or weeks ahead.

Is that what they planned all along without publicly admitting it?

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Deception, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | , | Leave a comment

COVID-19: “ASYMPTOMATIC TRANSMISSION”

Sam Bailey, May 4, 2021

Asymptomatic Transmission? Sounds pretty dodgy. Time to blow the lid on this one…

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References:
1. Oracle Films: https://www.oraclefilms.com/

Personal correspondence with Dr Robin Wakeling
2. Dr Robin Wakeling: https://web.archive.org/web/20210122084831/http://robinwakeling.com/

3. Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf

4. Occurrence and transmission potential of asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: A living systematic review and meta-analysis: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003346

5. Estimating the Extent of True Asymptomatic COVID-19 and Its Potential for Community Transmission: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3586675

6. Presymptomatic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 — Singapore, January 23–March 16, 2020: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6914e1.htm

7. Epidemiologic Features and Clinical Course of Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762688

8. Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0869-5#Fig2

9. Mark Slifka & Gina Gao response to above paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1046-6

May 7, 2021 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Deception, Science and Pseudo-Science, Timeless or most popular, Video | | Leave a comment

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