SOTT (News) FULL 1062 by newskids The lockdown paradigm is collapsingOn 23, April 2021It's taken much longer than it should have but at last it seems to be happening: the lockdown paradigm is collapsing. The signs are all around us. The one-time hero of the lockdown, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has seen his support tank from 71% to 38%, along with ever more demands that he resign. Meanwhile, polls have started to favor Florida governor and lockdown opponent Ron DeSantis for influence over the GOP in the future. This remarkable flip in fortunes is due to the dawning realization that the lockdowns were a disastrous policy. DeSantis and fellow anti-lockdown governor Kristi Noem are the first to state the truth bluntly. Their honesty has won them both credibility. Meanwhile, in Congressional hearings, Representative James Jordan (R-OH) demanded that Dr. Fauci account for wh… Read moreNASA to participate in tabletop exercise simulating asteroid impactOn 23, April 2021JPL's Center for Near Earth Object Studies will lead the hypothetical impact scenario to see how international agencies respond to an actual impact prediction. During the week of April 26, members of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) will participate in a "tabletop exercise" to simulate an asteroid impact scenario. The exercise depicting this fictional event is being led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), allowing NASA's PDCO and other U.S. agencies and space science institutions, along with international space agencies and partners, to use the fictitious scenario to investigate how near-Earth object (NEO) observers, space agency officials, emergency managers, decision makers, and citizens might respond and work together to… Read moreRare subtropical storm takes shape in Atlantic OceanOn 23, April 2021The start of the North Atlantic hurricane season is still more than a month away, but a new and unusual tropical system has developed in a part of the Atlantic Ocean where tropical systems rarely occur. Subtropical Storm Potira took shape on Tuesday morning with sustained winds of 40 mph outside of the traditional Atlantic Basin. Instead of spinning up in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea or the northern Atlantic Ocean, it developed south of the equator off the coast of Brazil. Potira can be traced back to a non-tropical disturbance that moved off the coast of Brazil over the weekend before stalling over the ocean just off the coast. As it sat over the water, it gradually started to organize and take on some characteristics of a tropical storm, eventually being declared a subtropical s… Read moreOne man stands in the way of NATO's run onward to MoscowOn 23, April 2021A foreign military bloc of nations is inching closer to Moscow, Vladimir Putin reacts in kind, and somehow Russia is the aggressor. And learned Ph.D.'s scribble on, defying pure logic from Washington's Think Tank Row. Here's the latest sensational proof that the world will never, ever be at peace. Dr. Mamuka Tsereteli and James Carafano have a new plan for defeating Russia for good. Now get this, in America, we have institutions like The Heritage Foundation that fund supposed research to perpetuate wars. No, really. The latest report of the foundation "Putin Threatens Ukraine — Here's the Danger and What US, Allies Should Do About It" is a blueprint for continuing friction between west and east. Let's examine the three takeaways Heritage Foundation puts forward. According to Tsereteli and… Read moreBeware of Covid PCR testing and the relentless "Vaccinate Vaccinate Vaccinate" campaignOn 23, April 2021The validity of the PCR test has been questioned for months, if not from the very beginning of the declared covid-19 plandemic, including lately also by WHO. However, this test is still and ever more so being forced upon us. This despite the fact that ever more scientific evidence comes to the fore that the test is absolutely unsuited to determine whether a person is "infected" with the covid-19 virus. According to some scientists there are up to 90% false positives. Besides, a positive in 97% of the cases does not indicate that you will come down with symptoms. Especially young people, and people without any co-morbidities rarely show any symptoms. On the other hand, there is a relentless drive by western countries, foremost Europe and the US to vaccinate-vaccinate-vaccinate - and this wi… Read moreThe Covidian Cult revisitedOn 23, April 2021Back in October of 2020, I wrote an essay called The Covidian Cult, in which I described the so-called "New Normal" as a global totalitarian ideological movement. Developments over the last six months have borne out the accuracy of that analogy. A full year after the initial roll-out of the utterly horrifying and completely fictional photos of people dropping dead in the streets, the projected 3.4% death rate, and all the rest of the official propaganda, despite the absence of any actual scientific evidence of an apocalyptic plague (and the abundance of evidence to the contrary), millions of people continue to behave like members of an enormous death cult, walking around in public with medical-looking masks, robotically repeating vacuous platitudes, torturing children, the elderly, the dis… Read moreMice master complex thinking with a remarkable capacity for abstractionOn 23, April 2021Categorization is the brain's tool to organize nearly everything we encounter in our daily lives. Grouping information into categories simplifies our complex world and helps us to react quickly and effectively to new experiences. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have now shown that also mice categorize surprisingly well. The researchers identified neurons encoding learned categories and thereby demonstrated how abstract information is represented at the neuronal level. A toddler is looking at a new picture book. Suddenly it points to an illustration and shouts 'chair'. The kid made the right call, but that does not seem particularly noteworthy to us. We recognize all kinds of chairs as 'chair' without any difficulty. For a toddler, however, this is an enormous learnin… Read moreBEST OF THE WEB: Swiss vote to rein in government's lockdown powersOn 22, April 2021The powers of the Swiss government to curtail public life due to the pandemic is on the agenda for a nationwide vote in June. A citizens' group has brought a referendum against the so-called "Covid law", approved by parliament and implemented last September. The campaign is driven by concerns over the current prominent role of the national executive in the country's federalist and direct democratic system, as well as scepticism about the government's vaccination policy. Switzerland is the first country worldwide to grant its citizens a say over the legal basis for handling the Covid crisis. The vote is scheduled for June 13, along with four other issues.… Read moreMilitary vet neighbor says security camera footage proves cop had NO CHOICE: Ma'Khia Bryant 'was in full attack mode, other girl's life was at stake'On 22, April 2021Ma'Khia Bryant's military veteran neighbor has said his home security camera footage proves Columbus Police Officer Nicholas Reardon had no choice but to shoot the black 16-year-old because more people could have been killed if he hadn't acted. Donavon Brinson told Fox News Thursday morning he believes Bryant could have fatally stabbed the young woman she was seen lunging at with a knife if the cop hadn't opened fire in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon. 'He could have either not fired and the young lady in pink could have been stabbed in the neck and brutally or fatally injured and then he could shot [Bryant] and we could have had two [young women] dead - or he could have responded in the way that he did and one young lady lost her life,' he said. His comments come as a second neighbor sa… Read moreRecolonisation of Europe after the last ice age started earlier than previously thoughtOn 22, April 2021A study that appeared today in Current Biology sheds new light on the continental migrations which shaped the genetic background of all present Europeans. The research generates new ancient DNA evidence and direct dating from a fragmentary fossil mandible belonging to an individual who lived ~17,000 years ago in northeastern Italy (Riparo Tagliente, Verona). The results backdate by about 3,000 years the diffusion in Southern Europe of a genetic component linked to Eastern Europe/Western Asia previously believed to have spread westwards during later major warming shifts. "By looking into the past of this particular individual, who was one of the first settlers of the southern Alps after the Last Glacial peak, we found evidence that the previously documented genetic replacement which changed… Read more£4billion worth of Covid PPE contracts appear to be CORRUPT, bombshell report revealsOn 22, April 2021A staggering one in five of all contracts doled out in the pandemic "raise one or more red flags" for being dodgy, a major new study found. The Transparency International report slammed the VIP lane which gave high priority to companies referred by MPs, peers and top mandarins. There appears to be "systemic bias towards those with connections to the party of government in Westminster", the study found.… Read moreChina condemns car bomb blast in Pakistan, near where Chinese delegation were stayingOn 22, April 2021A car explosion at a luxury hotel's parking lot in Quetta, Pakistan on Wednesday took the lives of four people, injuring a dozen more. Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said that day that China's ambassador had been staying at the targeted hotel. China has strongly condemned a car bomb explosion in Pakistani city of Quetta on Wednesday. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin, however, said during a Thursday press briefing that there were now reports about casualties among a Chinese delegation in the area, as no envoys were staying in the hotel that was affected by the blast.… Read moreDiets of Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples on the Great Hungarian Plain revealed in new studyOn 22, April 2021An international research group analyzed the prehistoric findings of the Neolithic Age. In addition to providing knowledge about the lifestyles of people who lived in prehistoric times, a novel study of tooth remains paved the way for other methods previously not used. This study applies the complementary approaches of stable isotope and dental microwear analyses to study the diets of past people living in today's Hungary. Their joint results were published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.… Read moreExecutive Order canceling the ConstitutionOn 22, April 2021On April 15, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Blocking Property with Respect to Specified Harmful Foreign Activities of the Government of the Russian Federation. Contrary to its title, this EO is not about Russia. It is designed to allow the Biden administration to deprive American citizens and organizations of their rights and property by arbitrarily linking those persons to real, imagined, or vaguely defined activities of the Russian government. The Biden administration unilaterally makes the determination and requires neither criminal acts nor intent. The punishment is blocking assets and a prohibition on any dealing with the accused person. Spouses and adult children of individuals found guilty by accusation under this EO are punished, too. The EO was preceded by some distr… Read moreGermany's upper house approves plan to give government power to OVERRULE states on lockdownOn 22, April 2021Germany's Bundestag, the country's upper house of parliament, has approved a law that gives Chancellor Angela Merkel's government greater powers to combat coronavirus, including overruling federal states to impose restrictions. Once it comes into effect on June 30, the law will give the government the ability to impose evening curfews on states, declare restrictions on gatherings, reduce crowds at events and limit shop-opening times, as well as close schools and force students to learn remotely. These measures would be used if an area exceeded a seven-day incidence rate of 100 new infections per 100,000 residents over three consecutive days. The law still requires approval from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, which he is expected to give later on Thursday, making the legislation officia… Read moreThe US Postal Service is running a 'covert operations program' that monitors Americans' social media postsOn 22, April 2021The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans' social media posts, including those about planned protests, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News. The details of the surveillance effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously been made public. The work involves having analysts trawl through social media sites to look for what the document describes as "inflammatory" postings and then sharing that information across government agencies. March 16 government bulletin, marked as "law enforcement sensitive" and distributed through the Department of Homeland Security's fusion centers revealed: "Analysts with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Internet Covert Oper… Read morePutin: Russia developing high-tech nuclear and laser weapons, warns 'provocateurs' will regret crossing country's red linesOn 22, April 2021Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the vast majority of the country's Soviet-era atomic stockpile will soon be replaced by modern weapons, warning that Moscow is intent on defending itself against foreign aggression. Speaking as part of his annual address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin said that his government "wants to have positive relationships with everyone on the international stage, including those with whom relations have broken down recently. We really don't want to burn bridges." At the same time, however, he cautioned: "Those who mistake this stance for weakness need to know that Russia's response [to any aggression] will be asymmetrical, swift and harsh. Those planning provocations will regret their deeds in a way they have not regretted anythi… Read moreBiden administration: US troops leaving Afghanistan may remain in neighboring countriesOn 22, April 2021The chief of the Pentagon's Central Command said on Tuesday the U.S. military may keep troops near Afghanistan after the delayed withdrawal planned for September 11, 2021. Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., reportedly stated the Pentagon is engaged in "detailed planning" to ensure that the U.S. military can act against threats in Afghanistan without a permanent presence there. McKenzie's comments followed assurances last week from Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Kabul that the United States would remain an active participant in the construction of a democratic Afghanistan in a civilian capacity even after troops leave. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. government negotiated a deal with the Taliban in which the terrorist o… Read moreNew Zealand 'uncomfortable' with expanding Five Eyes' remit, says its foreign ministerOn 22, April 2021New Zealand's foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, says her country won't provoke or engage with China through the Five Eyes alliance aside from on intelligence matters, in a major accommodation of Chinese concerns. The Five Eyes alliance is a network of five like-minded countries - the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - that share security-related intelligence. Recently, members have invoked the alliance on broader matters, such as Hong Kong's creep towards authoritarianism or the mistreatment of Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region. This has infuriated Chinese officials, who see the group as attempting to curtail China's sovereignty. Last year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded with anger to a statement about Hong Kong, saying "if they dare to harm China's so… Read moreMission creep: How Mastercard's anti-porn rules could be used to ban the Right from bankingOn 22, April 2021Leftist activists have already been pushing Mastercard, Visa, and others to expand their ban beyond illegal activities, with the eventual goal of demonetarizing opposing political views. Last week, Mastercard, Inc., announced new rules for banks processing credit card payments to pornography websites, designed to combat child pornography and sex trafficking. Unfortunately, for a country whose corporate overlords refuse (or are unable) to distinguish between intrinsic evil and prudential policy judgments, this promising development will likely also serve as a beta test to further attack conservative groups. In December, Mastercard and Visa banned the use of their credit cards on the Pornhub website after The New York Times ran a column by Nicholas Kristof detailing the availability of child… Read moreAs Cuban chief Raul Castro leaves office, declassified CIA files expose how Washington planned to assassinate himOn 22, April 2021Covert attempts by the US to take out renowned revolutionary Fidel Castro by way of exploding cigars or poisoned seashells are now well known. But one contract that spies took out on his brother has remained secret... until now. On April 16, Cuban leader Raul Castro announced his intention to resign and pass leadership to a younger generation "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit." Having taken over power from his brother Fidel in 2008, his departure marks the seeming end of a dynasty that has ruled Cuba since 1961. To mark the historic occasion, the National Security Archive released a number of previously classified US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents that expose how Washington had well-developed plans to assassinate Raul. A general overview of the plot is provided by a… Read moreAn Afghanistan veteran looks back on the 'First Postmodern War'; an interview with Adrian BonenbergerOn 22, April 2021I first met Adrian Bonenberger in 2014, after he completed two tours in Afghanistan. He'd published Afghan Post, a painful epistolary memoir about his experiences. Bonenberger started that book a breezy, confident, idealistic young officer, but as he came across more cruelty, waste, and corruption, started to break down, second-guessing not only the mission but himself, i.e. why he'd volunteered. At the outset of Afghan Post Bonenberger referenced everything from the illustrated versions of The Odyssey and The Iliad he read as a kid, to All Quiet on the Western Front. But after years of head-scratching missions, circuitous contracting schemes, and lies sent down from above (and demanded in return), he seemed to realize, unpleasantly, that his experience was less Homer and more Catch-22. He… Read moreLargest flare from sun's nearest neighbor breaks recordsOn 22, April 2021Scientists have spotted the largest flare ever recorded from the sun's nearest neighbor, the star Proxima Centauri. The research, which appears today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, was led by CU Boulder and could help to shape the hunt for life beyond Earth's solar system. CU Boulder astrophysicist Meredith MacGregor explained that Proxima Centauri is a small but mighty star. It sits just four light-years or more than 20 trillion miles from our own sun and hosts at least two planets, one of which may look something like Earth. It's also a "red dwarf," the name for a class of stars that are unusually petite and dim. Proxima Centauri has roughly one-eighth the mass of our own sun. But don't let that fool you. In their new study, MacGregor and her colleagues observed Proxima Centauri f… Read more"Record-Shattering Cold" across Central USOn 22, April 2021Unseasonably cold air has been recorded from the Canadian - US border south into Texas, even into Mexico. For many states in the Central US, temperatures plummeted to more than 20 degrees below average. 'An unusually cold front moved into the Central US early this week, spilling Arctic air throughout the Plains, Midwest, and Tennessee Valley,' writes Tyler Durden. 'By Wednesday morning, "record-shattering cold" temperatures have been reported.'… Read moreTyphoon Surigae toll hits 7 in the Philippines as missing shipmates found deadOn 22, April 2021Four crew members of a cargo ship that ran aground amid a typhoon in the Philippines were found dead on Wednesday, bringing the death toll from the cyclone to seven, officials said. Nine members of the ill-fated cargo ship Cebu Great Ocean were still missing, while seven had been rescued, according to coastguard spokesperson Armand Balilo. Search and rescue operations will not stop until all crew members are accounted for, Balilo said. The vessel, which was carrying nickel ore, ran around on Monday in the southern province of Surigao del Norte, amid rough seas caused by Typhoon Surigae.… Read more'A line in the sand'? Denmark tightens immigration rules, barring convicted criminals & unemployed from citizenshipOn 22, April 2021Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and a coalition of liberal and conservative parties have agreed to impose tighter controls on citizenship, vowing to deny naturalization to criminal convicts and the recently unemployed. The Ministry of Immigration and Integration Affairs announced on Tuesday that the government had struck a deal with the Venstre Party, the Conservative People's Party and the Liberal Alliance to tighten the country's immigration rules, putting emphasis on "Danish values." "Obtaining Danish citizenship is a great declaration of faith from Danish society, according to the parties to the deal," the ministry said in a statement, adding that "They are therefore in agreement that it is necessary to raise the bar for who can become a Danish citizen." In addition to rule cha… Read moreChina tells Australia not to make relationship 'even worse' after two trade deals canceledOn 22, April 2021China has warned Australia not to make relations between the two nations "even worse" on Thursday after Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne announced the cancellation of two trade deals with China the day before, saying the arrangements were "inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy." The deals, between China and the Australian state of Victoria, were a part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, a massive, multibillion-dollar project aimed at expanding trade across Asia to Europe and connecting dozens of countries by building infrastructure such as railways and ports, according to the Associated Press. "We urge the Australian side to abandon its Cold War mentality," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Thursday. He urged the country "not to go further down the wrong… Read moreSOTT FOCUS: MindMatters: Phillip Barlag: The Leadership Genius of Julius CaesarOn 22, April 2021Power-hungry despot. Dictator for life. Vain ladies' man. Murdered by his peers for aspiring to be king. That was Julius Caesar, at least according to his critics and modern interpreters. But countless portrayals of the most famous Roman - in histories, novels, plays and films - omit what were quite likely his greatest features: his multifaceted genius, unparalleled leadership skill, and, remarkable for the times in which he lived, his humanity. Those skills - and their relevance for leadership today - have gone mostly unnoticed. So this week on MindMatters we discuss The Leadership Genius of Julius Caesar with author Phillip Barlag. This examination of Caesar's accomplishments not only brings a fresh perspective on who Caesar was, but also hones in on the qualities that made him an exempl… Read moreAunty Maxine runs her mouth: Waters', Biden's pre-Chauvin verdict comments come under fire as defense eyes appealOn 22, April 2021Derek Chauvin's murder conviction was met with widespread approval among those seeking justice for George Floyd, but the trial's outcome may not be set in stone thanks to remarks from influential political leaders such as Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and President Biden himself. Waters, who had visited Minnesota before the verdict was announced, said that if Chauvin is not convicted of murder, protesters should "stay in the street," "get more active," and "get more confrontational." In a New York Post op-ed, former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy warned that this alone would be grounds for appeal. "Because of her, this isn't over," McCarthy wrote.… Read moreHypocrite: 'Cancel rent' champion Ayanna Pressley raked in thousands as landlord, records showOn 22, April 2021The progressive congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) has called rent cancellation legislation "literally a matter of life and death." At the same time, she has collected cash from her own rental properties. Pressley and her husband made as much as $15,000 in rental income in 2019 after purchasing a $658,000 Boston home, according to property records and financial disclosures reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The income appears to come over the course of four months — the unit was first listed for $2,500 a month in June 2019 and the posting was removed in August. Pressley and her husband refinanced the building as a multifamily investment property in August 2020. That requires the couple to maintain rent loss insurance. Pressley's office did not return multiple requests for comme… Read moreUp to 30 inches of April snow wreaks havoc on upper Himachal Pradesh, India - roads cut offOn 22, April 2021The unexpected heavy snowfall in upper Himachal has wreaked havoc on fruits and vegetable crops while it has blocked many roads here. A large number of avalanches have been reported from Lahaul while hailstorms are likely to cause damage to crops in parts of Kullu district. Upper Shimla, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, upper parts of Kullu, Chamba and Kangra are receiving snow since Tuesday. Mid and low hillsreceived rain on Wednesday while some parts were lashed with hail. The snowfall has blocked many roads. Many avalanches have hit the Lahaul valley, which has received 15 to 45cm of snow.… Read moreThe reason media liberals have to lie about "cancel culture"On 22, April 2021Judd Legum is a standard-issue, loyal Democrat who writes on Substack under the auspices of something approximating journalism; he previously ran the now-defunct partisan propaganda operation ThinkProgress. As a faithful Party operative, Legum is evidently shielded from the raving anti-Substack hysteria that frequently gets directed at those who use the platform to do things other than pay daily homage to generic liberal pieties. (He has been quite successful on Substack, but curiously this hasn't resulted in his being accused of legitimating a platform that perpetuates violent transphobic hatred. Very convenient!) In any event, one recent statement from Legum is worth remarking upon because it's so emblematic of the kind of unremediated whitewashing and memory-holing that standard-issue m… Read moreTucker Carlson: Jurors only convicted Chauvin because they were scaredOn 22, April 2021Tucker said the whole thing was "an attack on civilization" Tucker Carlson began his show on Tuesday night with comical bit of unintentional irony as he tackled Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict for the murder of George Floyd last summer. Tucker suggested that members of the jury only voted to convict Chauvin because they were worried about what would happen to them if they didn't, and then complained about political parties trying to "impose a different standard of justice on its own supporters." "The jury in the Derek Chauvin trial came to a unanimous and unequivocal verdict this afternoon: Please don't hurt us," Tucker whined to open the show. "The jurors spoke for many in this country. Everyone understood perfectly well the consequences of an acquittal in this case. After nearly a year of… Read morePsaki pressed on whether Biden 'acknowledges his own role in systemic racism' in AmericaOn 22, April 2021White House press secretary Jen Psaki had an uncomfortable exchange with a reporter Wednesday after he asked whether President Biden "acknowledges his own role" in what the president described as "systemic racism" in America. During his address to the nation Tuesday evening following the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, Biden said George Floyd's death, which he called "murder in full light of day," had "ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see the systemic racism in the United States." At Wednesday's briefing, New York Post reporter Steve Nelson confronted Psaki about whether the president contributed to "systemic racism" during his decades-long tenure in the Senate.… Read moreFlorida school superintendent arrested, accused of lying to jury investigating Parkland massacreOn 22, April 2021Broward County's school superintendent and the district's chief lawyer were arrested Wednesday as part of a statewide grand jury spawned by the school massacre in Parkland more than three years ago. Superintendent Robert Runcie, an administrator hired a decade ago to clean up corruption, was indicted on a charge of perjury in an official proceeding, a third-degree felony. General Counsel Barbara Myrick was arrested on a charge of unlawful disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings, also a third-degree felony. The surprising indictments — just days after the grand jury finished meeting — saddened Runcie's supporters, raised claims of political influence and delighted critics who have blamed Runcie for the Parkland tragedy.… Read moreProtesters at George Floyd 'autonomous zone' ask white people: 'decenter' before you enterOn 22, April 2021The Minneapolis intersection where George Floyd took his final breath has become a sort of Mecca for devotees of the BLM movement, who have declared it an "autonomous zone." The zone's rules, however, are raising eyebrows. The intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has become an infamous address. It was there, last May, George Floyd died at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, charged with murder murder this week. Since Floyd's death, the area has seen protests, vigils, and even baptisms in the name of Floyd, as well as four fatal shootings. For several months, some protesters have blocked traffic at the intersection and declared it an "autonomous zone," in the vein of the lawless 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone' that sprung up… Read moreRussia to withdraw troops from deployment on border with Ukraine, Moscow confirms, as major snap exercises in Crimea concludeOn 22, April 2021Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has announced that troops deployed in the west and south of the country in recent days will soon begin returning to base, saying they have now passed tests of their combat readiness. The chief of the country's military revealed on Thursday that a number of units of the regular army and airborne divisions had been transferred to the area, near the shared border with Ukraine, as part of surprise military exercises. The buildup had caused alarm in Kiev, and been cited by Western nations as a potential precursor to an invasion, which the Kremlin repeatedly denied. According to Shoigu, "the goals of the sudden inspection have been fully achieved. The troops demonstrated their ability to ensure reliable defense of the country."… Read moreBlack Lives Matter says communities being 'terrorized at a greater rate' under Biden than TrumpOn 22, April 2021Black Lives Matter has called for Joe Biden to "demilitarize" the police, claiming black communities are being "terrorized" more under the current president than Donald Trump. In a Tuesday Twitter thread, the Black Lives Matter organization called for Biden to end the 1033 program, otherwise known as the Law Enforcement Support Office, which allows for the transfer of military surplus equipment to local law enforcement agencies. While this can at times be weaponry, it also includes mundane "coffee makers, electrical wire and cargo containers," according to a report from The Washington Post. "Biden's first 100 days are up in 10 days. By then we need him to #End1033, which transfers military equipment into the hands of police across the country-- including school & campus police. Another… Read moreUS troops in Syria seem to be getting hit with directed-energy attacks, Pentagon throws shade at RussiaOn 22, April 2021The US is investigating what appears to be directed-energy attacks on US troops, and the Pentagon suspects Russia is behind them, Politico reported. Four national-security officials involved in the investigation told Politico that the Department of Defense has been investigating the incidents of suspected attacks since last year. Two sources told Politico that this included incidents in Syria, where troops developed flu-like symptoms last fall.… Read moreLeBron James' threat to a police officer shows he sees only black and white, not right and wrongOn 22, April 2021The NBA star has drawn condemnation for tweeting "You're next" with regard to a police officer who shot a black teen. The cop acted responsibly, but that doesn't matter to James, who only seems intent on causing racial division. Imagine being a police officer forced to pull your gun and take someone's life to save the life of another. Most cops never have to do this in their career, so the mental weight of the situation wouldn't be something that many could identify with. I imagine that there has to be a massive guilt attached to it, even though you did the right thing. That was the situation faced by officer Nicholas Rearden who shot and killed Ma'Khia Bryant, after she charged at two people with a knife in Columbus. Now imagine returning home, almost certainly traumatized, to find out th… Read moreDungeons & Dragons players rejoice! New 100-Sided die issued for determining your character's genderOn 22, April 2021In a bold move for inclusivity, Wizards of the Coast announced today that all copies of the Dungeons & Dragons starter set will include a special D100 for determining your character's gender. "Not sure if your Half-Orc Paladin is a demiboy or agender? Just roll this handy new die," said a WOTC rep. "It makes character creation fast, fun, and streamlined. And don't worry -- if you don't like your gender, just roll it again, no questions asked. In fact, you can do that at any point during the game without even consulting your DM. Change at any time." "See, when you're playing a game that was designed for players to go raid dungeons, get loot, and kill dragons, the important thing is that you spend 14 hours trying to determine your character's sexuality, gender, sex, and political positio… Read moreBEST OF THE WEB: 'Red lines,' coup attempts and Zircon missiles: Highlights of Putin's address to Federal AssemblyOn 22, April 2021The president's annual address, given to members of the two houses of Russia's parliament, plus members of the cabinet, regional governors, and various distinguished guests, outlines his views on the state of the nation, and establishes guidelines for the country's foreign and domestic policy in the year to come. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his annual address to Russian lawmakers and officials on Wednesday, with this year's speech lasting 78 minutes, and dedicated to a broad range of issues including foreign and defence policy, the economy and social policy, the coronavirus and climate change. Sputnik has collected the speech's highlights. A complete readout of the address can be found here.… Read moreBiden to pledge to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030On 22, April 2021President Biden is expected to pledge this week to cut U.S. carbon emissions by 50 percent by the end of the decade, two people familiar with the plan told the Washington Post on Wednesday. The administration will likely present the broad goals of the plan before releasing details on how it plans to achieve the cuts in emissions, the people said. It is also possible that the administration will announce a target range for emissions cuts with the higher limit above 50 percent. A final decision on the target has not been made, the White House told the Post.… Read moreReport: Mideast countries top 2020 global executioners listOn 22, April 2021Apart from China and despite a worldwide drop in death sentences, countries in the Middle East remained among the world's leading executioners last year, Amnesty International said Wednesday. The number of executions worldwide plummeted to its lowest level in over a decade, with at least 483 people executed in 2020, compared to 657 the previous year, as the coronavirus pandemic slowed criminal trials and disrupted scheduled executions. Four states in the region — Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia — topped the global list and pressed on with shootings, beheadings and hangings, ignoring pleas by rights groups to halt executions during the pandemic, the report said.… Read moreHawaii: Inter-island vaccine passport plan setOn 22, April 2021Interisland travelers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to bypass quarantine or testing requirements starting May 11, provided they were inoculated in Hawaii. The exemption, also known as a "vaccine passport," was announced by Gov. David Ige during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. Ige said the decision was made in conjunction with Lt. Gov. Josh Green, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, state Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char and the four county mayors. "Together, we've made a decision to start with the inter-county travel program for those vaccinated in the state of Hawaii, because we can verify the information and their vaccination status," Ige said. "... It will allow us to validate the screening process necessary,… Read moreAOC says 'trampling' of 'indigenous rights' and 'racial justice' is a cause of climate changeOn 22, April 2021Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faulted the rejection of "indigenous rights" and "racial justice" on Tuesday as causes of climate change. "The climate crisis is a crisis born of injustice, and it is a crisis born of the pursuit of profit at any and all human and ecological cost, which means that we must recognize in legislation that the trampling of indigenous rights is a cause of climate change," the New York Democrat said, "that the trampling of racial justice is a cause of climate change because we are allowing people and we are allowing folks to deny ourselves human rights and deny people the right to healthcare, the right to housing and education."… Read moreNorfolk fires police officer who donated to Kyle Rittenhouse and who said he 'did nothing wrong'On 22, April 2021The city of Norfolk, Virginia, fired a police lieutenant who defended and donated to Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old accused of killing two people and wounding a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer. City Manager Chip Filer accepted Police Chief Larry Boone's recommendation that Lt. William Kelly be relieved of duty on Tuesday, according to an announcement just four days after he was placed on administrative leave. "I have reviewed the results of the internal investigation involving Lt. William Kelly. Chief Larry Boone and I have concluded Lt. Kelly's actions are in violation of City and departmental policies," Filer said. "His egregious comments erode the trust between the Norfolk Police Department and those they are sworn to serve. The City of Norfolk has a standard… Read moreBLM activist says police shouldn't use a weapon to stop someone from getting stabbedOn 22, April 2021Black Lives Matter activist Bree Newsome had a new take on the police shooting of Makhia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday. Bryant, who was in possession of a knife, and according to police body cam footage was lunging at another woman with that knife, was fatally shot by police after they were called to the scene. Journalists and activists were quick to rush to judgement and assume that Bryant was unarmed and innocent, but for Newsome, the incident was a moment to say that casual knife fights are just the norm and not a cause for police interference at all. Newsome said that "Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations."… Read moreAdapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Atmospheric oddities across the continentsOn 22, April 2021Signs of magnetic shifts continue across the planet from 90F hail storms blanketing parts of Saudi Arabia, agricultural catastrophe in France from absurd cold with Majorca's red blizzard alert. In Asia the fastest wind speeds ever recorded in April for a tropical system near the Philippines and Beijing engulfed by 3rd decade intensity sand storm in five weeks.… Read moreCNN introduces segment where they rant about what Trump would have tweeted if he hadn't gotten kicked off of TwitterOn 22, April 2021CNN's Brian Stelter has introduced a brand new segment of his show where he will discuss all the horrible things Trump would have tweeted if he hadn't been kicked off of Twitter. "As Americans, it's important for us to remember just how bad, how mean, how divorced from the facts, how, how, how much of a stinky poopoo head Mr. Trump really was," said Stelter. "We hope this new segment covering Trump's hypothetical tweets will help viewers remember how we literally saved democracy by electing Biden in a completely fair, not rigged election." Some of the hypothetical Trump tweets discussed on the first show will include gems like: "The very sad loser 'president' Biden says he cured the virus. But that was all me! Very low ratings! Pathetic!" "Many fine people including our African Americans a… Read more
