CBS Censors Own Documentary After Ukraine Outraged: ‘30% Of US Weapons Gone Missing’
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CBS has censored its own documentary investigative reporting after an avalanche of pushback from supporters of Ukraine and its military. The segment highlighted that tons of weaponry shipped from the United States to the country’s military has gone missing, and sounded the alarm as billions in dollars more have been pledged by the Biden administration.
“CBS partially retracted a documentary in which it said that shipments of weapons to Ukraine from the US had been going missing,” Insider reports Monday. “CBS tweeted on Monday that it had removed a a video promoting the documentary that included a months-old quote saying most aid was not making it to Ukraine’s front lines.” Below is the deleted tweet, with the offending line of “30% of it [US-supplied arms and munitions] reaches its final destination.”
The segment, titled “Arming Ukraine” was published days ago, and follows on the heels of Pentagon and US intelligence officials issuing similar warnings that there are few mechanisms in place to legitimately track the arms flowing into the country. One admin official even described in April that, “we have fidelity for a short time, but when it enters the fog of war, we have almost zero. It drops into a big black hole, and you have almost no sense of it at all after a short period of time.”
The fresh CBS reporting added to these concerns, quoting the the head of a Lithuania-based organization supplying the Ukrainian military, Jonas Ohman, who said bluntly:
“All of this stuff goes across the border, and then something happens, kind of like 30% of it reaches its final destination.”
Ohman stressed that actually getting the weapons to the designated Ukrainian army units involves having to navigate an array of “power lords, oligarchs [and] political players.” This also as there have been persistent reports that some weapons end up on the black market, or might possibly be moved outside Ukraine.
A senior crisis adviser with Amnesty International also told CBS in the documentary, “What is really worrying is that some countries that are sending weapons do not seem to think that it is their responsibility to put in place a very robust oversight mechanism.”
Officials with the Ukrainian government promptly accused the mainstream US network of playing into “Russian propaganda”.
Along with a widespread social media backlash from Kiev’s supporters and pundits, this was apparently enough for CBS to announce it is “updating” the segment, with some of the offending lines now dropped…
The Ukrainian government further put out a dubious claim that“all received equipment is accounted for” – this despite months of Pentagon officials warning that this isn’t the case.
Unsurprisingly, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, has demanded that CBS News conduct an internal investigation to get to the bottom of things.
There’s of late been growing scrutiny placed on the Ukrainian side, after Russia and Putin have long been the main focus of Western mainstream media reporting. It appears that efforts to “police” western MSM reports to deflect any possible criticism of Kiev whatsoever during the war is now ramping up.
Kamala Meets Australian Prime Minister in Tokyo – Immediately Breaks into Meaningless Word Salad (VIDEO)
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Kamala Harris is traveling in Asia this week. The unpopular US VP is meeting with Asian leaders and will visit the DMZ in Korea later this week. Kamala, Joe Biden’s border czar, will visit the Korean border before she visits the open US border with Mexico. On Tuesday Kamala met the Aussie Prime Minister and…
After watching the documentary film Capitol Punishment and having his calls and complaints ignored, Pete takes a road trip to the local FBI Field Office in Cincinnati, OH to hand deliver a letter to the Special Agent In Charge.
This all leads up to Santilli’s deadline of Oct. 19th for the FBI to get involved and investigate the crimes they have been covering up, according to Santilli- or else- he is going to lead a protest on Oct. 20th- right back in the same spot in front of the FBI office.
Santilli is encouraging others to organize something similar in their counties.
Here are some highlights from Monday.
Santilli said, “Here, I am in Cincinnati. There are going to be some exciting things happening here. I’m sure my good friends here at the FBI are tuned in. First of all, I watched Capital Punishment just over a week ago on Sunday, and I was so upset when I watched it, and there was a scene I think just past the 14 or so mark. 14 -15 minute mark where they displayed a billboard- that the FBI paid for- that essentially said that if you see anything regarding January 6, call, 1-800 1-800.
The wanted us to call FBI, and I got so upset, I called them or their information, do you have? Well, here’s the information. I’m watching a movie called capital punishment, okay. And you guys are disgusting. Filthy disgusting fricking disgusting, disgusting. I just want you to know you are just the epitome of discuss right there and I think filters built-in filthy, I didn’t use any profanity threaten them. I just wanted to let them now and I was very, very emotional. The following morning, I contacted the, the Capitol Police. I told them the same thing and they were very, very dismissive. Now we have Tony Bo Belinsky indicating that we have an entity and organization a group of people in a building, okay? Or a group of buildings, across the country that are basically responsible for influencing the 2020 election. Identifying them as basically overthrowing our country, they haven’t returned. My telephone calls. They haven’t contacted me back because they’re so arrogant to think that what we can just surveil Pete. Santilli covertly to find out what he’s thinking and doing. Well, it’s not necessary to do that. You guys bear with it because we’re doing a field visit. I wanted to make sure that we broadcast live today. I’m Frank speech, truck Hot. Make sure you get the Frank skis.com, download that app, okay, make sure you have that on your, on your phones. Make sure you’ve got available and of course, Everywhere, far and wide, I want you to get it to our locals Channel, Pete, Santilli dot local.com. But here’s the best way. I want everybody to get a copy of these documents right now. Text Jesus 2844 83 79924, you get a copy of this letter and some other very, very important structions instructions so that you could contact your local FBI office people.
That live in your community people that have signed up to work for what we all assumed was the premier law enforcement agency in our country. Now, who were those people in your local communities and buildings like this here in Cincinnati. We hope that there’s cincinnatians. I’m hoping that I can appeal to them and I will be appealing to them. You’re about to hear. It’s going to be in some semi dramatic fashion that I will be appealing to them. But for right now, Going to be delivering this letter here within within moments. Ladies gentlemen, I want to inspire each and every one of you. I drafted a letter, I drafted a document. Okay, that will allow you at your local field office. I want all of you prayer warriors out there. All you Godly workers, all of your high integrity Warriors contact, the community members.
Hit your local FBI field office reach out to them in the fashion that I just described in this letter I’m putting it out to the entire world. People are driving on the Rock Iranian, they may not have an opportunity to read it, be so inspired, write a letter. Reach out to your local FBI field. Office has got to be one person in this building that we could appeal to you. That’s going to be in there. Doing the right thing. Fantastic, here we go. Fight. Yes, sir. How are you? Doucement a sec. I’m just here to drop off a handwritten letter on nice one. Accept it out here. Okay, you can either
Ronald Reagan Drive, or if it’s something where
Your ic3 dot-gov and you could ask and it in and send it in that way. I see three dot-gov. Okay, so you cannot accept a handwritten letter, is there any way that the public information officer can come out here and meet with me in person? We’re doing a live broadcast right now. Unfortunately, as far as accepting anything, you’d have to send it in. Make some arrangements other ways. Yeah, I guess the best Arrangements. I mean, I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I contacted left a message last week, letting everybody know. But I was coming here. Also reached out to the public information officer as well, just for a good opportunity here to get some good. PR to, you find people at the FBI, But unfortunately, I don’t know anything about that but yeah, unfortunately, I cannot accept it, okay. But then they don’t even accept. I understand that, but if I could meet with the public information officer would that be possible. As far as trying to,
Is it? Yeah, I did call I called last week multiple times.
I can’t respond to that. I wasn’t the one you talked to so I don’t know. Right. I spoke with multiple people. Here are very, very nice.
So is there anybody here that can put me in touch with the public information officer? Unfortunately I can just give you the phone number at this time. Okay. Yeah. We have the telephone number and I appreciate it. I want to I’m not here to harass you or take away from your job boxes of course. And I appreciate your professionalism. I thank you and I will I will mail this in.
You have wonderful days, are good. Thanks for the hospitality. Beautiful facility. Nice. Little backdrop for our broadcast. Thank you, sir. Attention FBI, please come out. Out with your head.
Head. I have to say that I had to say that. Ladies and gentlemen. Been here in Cincinnati. D. Barman.
Yeah, they work working ago. Like that, why would you want to join? I was just about to do a prayer. Would you like to join me in prayer?
Yes, I can leave if you wish you wish for me to leave. You do. Okay, I’ll leave. All right. I have to leave. I’ve been asked to leak. All right. We are back. Ladies and gentlemen. We’re back. I just
Got it. You can’t be here.
Well, actually everybody on the bag. Went off quickly. They have three people are on their phones. Yes.
Weird.
Because like I said, setting up outside the FBI playing.
Well, obviously we get called, that’s great, I don’t have a problem. Identifying, it’s obviously actually pretty easy because two men were Yeah, that’s fine.
What the tail of the stuff that they had a couple different phone calls? Hello sir.
I just want to make sure that everybody on the livestream, so,
And what time do we have, before we come on?
They’re probably all they have a morbid curiosity as to whether or not mmm.
Please know that we are with you. We support you. We know that you did not sign up for the FBI to be a part of this corruption within the FBI. To be part of the overthrow of the United States of America, by the FBI. We know this we call upon you address my letter. I submitted the band. To to act by December 19th. The only Reserve I’m sorry October 19th. The only reason reason I’m asking you to do it by the 19th. It’s because we haven’t elected yet. You can do the right thing, not to influence the election. But to undo the damage that you’ve done in the 2020 election, we only have days now if you’ll excuse not to do anything, that’s your choice while we will do is pray for you.
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It started on Sunday, when Fox & Friends Weekend hosts Will Cain, Pete Hegseth, and Rachel Campos-Duffy spent an early morning segment characterizing West’s Instagram suspension—for claiming that rapper Diddy was being controlled by Jewish people—as “totally totalitarian,” “totally anti-American,” and “just wrong.” They also suggested that West never would have been censored on social media had he not appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show.
Just two hours after declaring West a victim of unfair censorship, the Fox hosts were forced to make a sharp reversal. After learning what he had actually posted, Cain called the comments “shocking” and “pretty ugly,” while Hegseth said called them “unfortunate.”
“We talked about it earlier without knowing about these tweets and saying of course they’re going to put a target—after what he said with Tucker, there’s going to be a target, no doubt,” Hegseth said. “But in this particular case, I mean he brought the target with that.”
Cain then made the roundabout argument that if you really want to “expose” racism and antisemitism, then society should not “constantly silence, censor and cancel” those who espouse it. Doing so will leave us unaware of what is lurking “under the surface.”
“It’s a good point,” Hegseth said.
The backtracking continued on Monday, when Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo expressed both her support for West’s fashion statement and disgust at the antisemitism on his Twitter account. “There was nothing wrong with his ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt, okay? Because white lives matter, Black lives matter, everybody’s lives matter,” she said. “But this tweet is just totally off the wall.”
And while Fox News has been stressing West’s struggles with mental illness following the tweet, with one reporter pointing to reports that he’s “in the middle of a psychiatric episode,” Tucker Carlson had a very different message for viewers just a few days earlier.
After airing part two of his lengthy interview with the rapper, Carlson directly rebutted the idea that West is “crazy or mentally ill or bi-polar or struggling with mental illness.” “The theme is always the same,” he said. “The guy’s a nut, don’t listen to him.”
“Not crazy,” he concluded. “Worth listening to, even if you disagree with him.”
BREAKING: FBI Arrests 87-Year-Old Concentration Camp Survivor for Singing Hymns Outside Abortion Clinic Door
11 pro-life activists were arrested this month for holding a prayer vigil and singing hymns at the door of the abortion clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
The protest movement was posted on Facebook at the time months earlier.
87-year-old Eva Edl, is a German survivor of a communist prisoner-of-war concentration camp during World War II.
If convicted of the offenses, the seven conspiracy defendants each face up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $350,000. The remaining five defendants face a year in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $10,000.
Eva Edl released a video in November 2018 describing her experience in a concentration camp and her opposition to abortion.
The Biden administration has been under heavy criticism as Joe Biden’s Justice Department targets peaceful pro-life Americans for protesting abortions in such as a way that they blocked access to an abortion center.
The Justice Department has charged 11 more pro-life activists with violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in 2021. The 11 activists were charged with FACE Act violations stemming from their 2021 “blockade” of an abortion clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
New information about one of the pro-life advocates arrested recently shows she is an 87-year-old woman who is a concentration camp survivor.
A federal indictment alleges that the pro-life defendants “engaged in a conspiracy to prevent the clinic from providing” and patients from receiving abortion services and violated the FACE Act by “using physical obstruction to intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient.”
Yet the event was mostly pro-life people staging a peaceful sit in along with signing and praying and it was so lawful and peaceful that local police let them go after minor misdemeanor charges. But if convicted on these federal charges from the Biden administration, Vaughn faces up to 11 years in prison, three years supervised release and fines of up to $350,000.
One of the pro-life advocates the FBI considers as a danger to the public is an elderly woman, Eva Edl, who is a German survivor of a communist prisoner-of-war concentration camp during World War II. After she escaped that horror, Edl dedicated her life to fighting for human rights for everyone — including people before birth
National security analysts, scholars, and a federal indictment reveal that threats from left-wing extremist groups in the United States are more dangerous than right-wing and “MAGA Republican” groups recently cited by the Biden administration as “threats to democracy.”
According to the U.S. government, some of the left-wing groups are being funded by Russian influence operations to “sow discord, spread pro-Russian propaganda, and interfere in elections within the United States.”
On July 29, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of a Russian national for working on behalf of the Russian government to sow discord in the United States.
“From at least December 2014 until March 2022, Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, a resident of Moscow, together with at least three Russian officials, engaged in a years-long foreign malign influence campaign targeting the United States” the indictment alleged.
A DOJ press release stated, “Ionov—working under the supervision of the FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Services] and with the Russian government’s support—recruited political groups within the United States, including U.S. Political Group 1 in Florida, U.S. Political Group 2 in Georgia, and U.S. Political Group 3 in California, and exercised direction or control over them on behalf of the FSB.”
Russia Supports Left-wing Groups
Ionov’s activities were not in support of right-wing groups, the operation was allegedly funding left-wing groups that promoted socialism, defunding police, and California secession, according to multiple reports.
In August, the Tampa Bay Times reported that “Political Group 1” named in the indictment is the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) of St Petersburg, Florida. On the group’s website, its chairman, Omali Yeshitela, is quoted as saying “we need a revolution” and promotes calls for reparations for slavery. On July 29, the same day the indictment for Ionov was unsealed, it was raided by the FBI, according to the APSP. When contacted for comment, a spokesman for the APSP said it was unlikely that the group would be able to answer questions from The Epoch Times based on advice from counsel.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified “Political Group 2” in a July 29 article as the Atlanta-based Black Hammer Party. On May 31, 2020, the group’s website featured a statement by Ionov responding to the death of George Floyd that stated:
“Justice for George Floyd and all Colonized people (aka “people of color”), who have died at the hands of White Power Colonial terrorism (aka america’s racist police system).”
The group states it exists to “take the land back for all colonized people worldwide … Currently, our physical and intellectual labor is being coerced to build for the capitalist white colonial state, but it can be redirected to a noble cause.” The Black Hammer Party could not be reached for comment.
The Sacramento Bee identified “Political Group 3” as Yes California, an organization formed to promote California secession from the United States. Louis Marinelli, the founder of the organization, had worked in Russia teaching English. According to some news sources, Marinelli may once have held conservative views, however, the Yes California Twitter feed was critical of President Donald Trump and suggested that his “reactionary” policies were helping to drive the California secession movement. Marinelli could not be reached for comment.
Critics have accused the Biden administration of using the levers of the federal government to attack his political opposition by prioritizing what he calls threats to democracy and domestic tranquility. Biden’s list of targets has included Trump supporters, “election deniers,” and “white supremacists.”
In early September, bathed in a red-lit backdrop and flanked by two U.S. Marines, Biden told the nation, “There is no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.”
Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made groups and individuals that Biden considers a threat a priority for investigation. The DHS refused to be interviewed for this report but provided a “Summary of Terrorism Threat to the United States” which was published in the June National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin.
The bulletin stated: “The continued proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding current events could reinforce existing personal grievances or ideologies, and in combination with other factors, could inspire individuals to mobilize to violence.”
Many of the domestic threats listed in the bulletin were identifying those who question the administration’s policies:
“Some domestic violent extremists have expressed grievances related to their perception that the U.S. government is unwilling or unable to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.”
“Given a high-profile U.S. Supreme Court case about abortion rights, individuals who advocate both for and against abortion have, on public forums, encouraged violence, including against government, religious, and reproductive healthcare personnel and facilities, as well as those with opposing ideologies.”
The bulletin also predicts, “As the United States enters mid-term election season this year, we assess that calls for violence by domestic violent extremists directed at democratic institutions, political candidates, party offices, election events, and election workers will likely increase.”
While the DHS and the Biden administration say they are expecting violence from right-wing groups, others say there is a more pressing threat from the left.
Academic Report Fears Leftists
In the summer of 2020, Rutgers University’s Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience issued a report (pdf) that found evidence that left-wing groups pose a considerable threat:
“Anarcho-socialist militias which explicitly glorify Martyr narratives, classic authoritarian narratives, and revolutionary narratives are now formally organizing—and are growing.”
The Miller Center cited leftist groups such as the Youth Liberation Front, John Brown Gun Club, Redneck Revolt, and the Socialist Rifle Association, among others, which claim 10,000 to 40,000 members on social media accounts.
The Miller Center report says these groups use social media to promote violence: “Extreme anarcho-socialist fringe online forums on Reddit use memes calling for the death of police and memes for stockpiling munitions to promote violent revolution.”
The report cites the example of Willem Van Spronsen who was shot and killed during a shootout with police in July 2019. Van Spronsen was fire-bombing an Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Washington state. Multiple news reports state that Van Spronsen was a member of Antifa and the John Brown Gun Club.
According to the global nonprofit organization Counter Extremism Project (CEP), many of these groups operate “under the wide umbrella of Antifa” which is made up of individual cells and “the leaders of these cells remain autonomous,” states CEP’s reporting.
John Farmer, Director of the Miller Center, in an email response to questions from The Epoch Times, stated that he does not see a serious national security threat from either the right or left. “Quite frankly, I don’t view either the so-called ‘anarcho-socialist extremists’ or the ‘white nationalist extremists’ as a serious threat to national security,” Farmer stated.
However, extremists on both sides do pose problems, according to Farmer: “Each in their own way is a threat to public order; each, for different reasons, seeks to destabilize our institutions and overthrow the established norms of democracy. Each has proven violent, even murderous, in differing contexts.”
What Political Attacks Mean
J. Michael Waller, a national security and intelligence expert at the Center for Security Policy, told The Epoch Times that the Biden administration is “trying to frighten the public” by labeling Trump supporters as threats to democracy: “They are trying to create a political, psychological, and legal pretext for cracking down on groups and larger movements that they can connect through guilt by association.”
Waller compares this sort of labeling to the so-called “red scare” period during the Cold War.
“If you apply subjective definitions to words, and you make the words mean what you want them to mean, and you recklessly apply those words to your opponent, you are creating a 21st-century red scare.” Waller says he sees a disturbing pattern in Biden’s words.
“You label someone you don’t like with an inflammatory term that objectively does not apply, which gives you the public support you need to amass more power to create more bureaucracy. You then have the legal grounds to go after what amounts to political opponents.”
“Look at the way they throw around the word ‘fascists,” Waller said. “They are not even using the objective definition of fascist.”
Why Trump Supporters
Emily Finley, author of “The Ideology of Democratism,” told The Epoch Times that the Biden administration is laying the groundwork to “normalize the idea that MAGA Republicans are extremists,” adding that “the larger philosophical impetus” behind Biden’s Philadelphia speech is to segregate and “marginalize” MAGA Republicans.
Barack Obama lied to Americans when he said that his Net Neutrality would make the internet free for people. What he meant to say is that the internet would be shut off for some people and make things freer for the people he likes.
After years of heavy censorship, even the average person with no techie experience can see with their own eyes- after the domination of Marxist ‘Net Neutrality’ has made us all less free.
How Iran Is Using the Protests to Block More Open Internet Access
The Iranian government is taking advantage of Internet shutdowns to push citizens onto a local intranet that is vulnerable to surveillance and censorship
For nearly a month Iranians have been fiercely and relentlessly protesting against their government. Sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman in the custody of the country’s “morality police,” who arrested her for “inappropriate attire,” the demonstrations have been led by young women who refuse to accept restrictive laws such as hijab requirements. Authorities have been suppressing the protests with violence, as well as less tangible techniques. Amir Rashidi is director of digital rights and security at Miaan Group, an Austin, Tex.–based advocacy organization working to improve human rights in Iran. Rashidi, an Iranian who left the country in 2010, told Scientific American how its government has been using technology such as facial recognition and Internet shutdowns against its citizens.
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
How is Iran’s government using facial-recognition technology?
During the pandemic, we became aware that Iran is doing facial recognition. The Minister of Health announced that, in collaboration with the traffic police, they were using cameras in the street to take a picture of people who are not wearing masks properly and find them. Then [more than] two weeks [before] the protests, [an official] mentioned the use of facial recognition during the pandemic, and he [essentially] said, “We’re going to do the same with women, taking pictures of those who are not wearing proper hijab and then finding them.”
Iranian government officials are proud of having this kind of technology, always talking about it, and people are sensitive. If you look at a couple of videos of the protesters, they were attacking cameras. There is a fear that [facial recognition has been] implemented and is working. Not only are protesters more careful to not look at the camera and put the camera behind them, wearing masks and things like that; also the media are very careful to blur all the faces.
Can any techniques prevent facial recognition from working?
Looking at the experience of other countries, there are other techniques: shirts that you can wear with some specific graphic that can make [visual] “noise” on cameras or other methods. But none of them can be really promising right now in Iran because of the lack of information. Because we don’t know what kind of algorithm [the government is] using, we don’t know which solution we can use. One thing that we know is: there is a collaboration between the Iranian and Chinese governments regarding technology. Based on that, I can imagine that Iran is relying on China a lot for facial recognition. The model of Internet censorship in Iran is very much like Chinese models, so I wouldn’t be surprised if China provided that technology to Iran.
What Iran is doing with the Internet is quite unique but, again, follows the same model as China. But I think what Iran is doing is way more advanced than what China or Russia are doing. The main goal is having a local network. Iranian government officials call it the National Information Network, or NIN. Usually in regular conversation, we refer to it as a “national Internet.” It is literally an intranet: a local network that is providing connection among different services inside the country, being independent from the rest of the world. So when [authorities] shut down the Internet, this local network is operating, but you don’t have access to the [global] Internet. The Russian government passed a law to create such a network [in 2019], but so far we are not seeing implementation.
This infrastructure also needs more tools and components to be functional. For example, [it requires] data centers. On the application layer, it needs messaging apps, e-mail services, search engines. China’s doing the same: it has Baidu, WeChat—these [services and] apps are under a lot of surveilling censorship. The Iranian government has its own YouTube, its own national search engine, e-mail service, messaging app, data centers, all of these things that make [online] infrastructure functional without being connected to the Internet. And finally, Iran is also passing a lot of laws to establish different bodies [that will] dictate how to use this infrastructure and these tools to achieve the main goal that it has, which is information control. It’s very much like the Chinese model in terms of localization, but because of that infrastructure and those policy-making bodies, it’s more advanced—and more successful in terms of censorship and information control. But I want to be careful [about making that claim] because I’m not an expert on China or Russia.
Are people using this national network when the government shuts down Internet access?
One of the things that the Iranian government is doing during the shutdown is taking advantage of violating people’s rights by encouraging them to use the local services. The Minister of [Information and Communications Technology] was on the TV, looking like he was proud and essentially saying, “We blocked WhatsApp because they violate our laws, so if you are concerned about your business, you have to move onto the national messaging app.” One national application is called Rubika…. We call these kinds of applications [such as Rubika and the Chinese program WeChat] “super apps” because you can do everything: purchase tickets, pay your bills, do live streaming, watch TV. They are [using the app to do] mass surveillance, and it’s not something that they want to hide! There is video of the head of Rubika explaining how its AI machine is so good that it can catch sensitive content on a chat between two people, and it can immediately remove [that content] from the platform. This is concerning, obviously. And I would say that’s the last line of defense against the national Internet: So far people are not using it because they’re concerned about privacy and security. But if the government is successful….
[Iran is also] encouraging people to use local services [through a unique] violation of net neutrality: separating local and international traffic. If you’re using local services, you have access to the faster network and cheaper traffic, almost half the price. If you want to use international traffic, it is slower and more expensive. With all of these things together, there is a chance that people, in particular during this economic crisis, feel, “Yeah, let’s move on to those local services.”
Are there techniques for getting around the Internet shutdowns?
In Iran, there is no promising solution. There are lots of conversations around using satellite Internet, but when the government doesn’t want people to have access to the satellite Internet, that’s not a reliable solution. Another solution is not Internet; it’s “data casting,” which is [used in] a project by NetFreedom Pioneers, an organization based in Los Angeles. [The organization is] sending data over normal satellite TV. A user in Iran can just connect the USB to their receiver, download the data and build a special application to unpack the data. And in that package, there are news and all of these circumvention tools that we are recommending to people. So there are some solutions. Unfortunately, they are not reliable to be distributed in a massive scale. But we need to dedicate and find more resources in terms of manpower, technologies, and money to study and see how we can find a solution that can actually be usable on a massive scale.
We have to study this national network and see how we can bypass it. There are a lot of studies going on by different Internet freedom communities, and we are collaborating with them. We found some solutions—but one of the issues is: everyone’s paying attention to the Internet shutdown when it’s happening. When it’s over, everyone’s now going back to the normal life. And that’s not the kind of mentality we need to have. The most important thing we have to do for the Internet shutdown is being ready before the Internet shuts down.
What else is important to know about this situation?
The international community see this as an issue only for Iran. But the problem is: there are a lot of governments all around the world who want to violate our rights, and they learn from each other. What I’d like to see is people paying attention to what is happening as a threat to freedom, to the right to access to the Internet, and deal with it in that way. Because if tomorrow China and Russia implement the same infrastructure [as Iran], the Internet is not going to be the Internet that we know today. It would be in the shape of a bunch of isolated islands. And the philosophy behind the Internet—which is connecting people to each other—would be destroyed.
Nancy Pelosi Appears Again On RuPaul’s Drag Race, Saying ‘This Is What America Is All About’
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House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, called it “an honor” to make a guest appearance on the latest episode of the drag show “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
“It was an honor to make an appearance on episode 5 of @RuPaulsDragRace All Stars 7 this week,” Pelosi said. “I was inspired by the contestants because they know their power. Their freedom of expression is what America is all about.”
It was an honor to make an appearance on episode 5 of @RuPaulsDragRace All Stars 7 this week. I was inspired by the contestants because they know their power. Their freedom of expression is what America is all about. #PrideMonthpic.twitter.com/d5D7wubRKp
During her appearance, Pelosi told the contestants she was proud of them and thanked them “for the joy and beauty they bring to the world.”
“Your freedom of expression of yourselves in drag is what America is all about,” she added. “I say that all the time to my friends in drag.”
Her appearance this week wasn’t the first on one of RuPaul’s shows. She was also on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in 2018.
“This idea of people believing in themselves, being themselves, taking pride in themselves, is not just a lesson for politicians but for everyone in the country. And that’s why I was so excited and couldn’t resist being on the show,” Pelosi told The Hollywood Reporter after her first appearance.
Pelosi did not let this week’s appearance go without making a political statement. “With the midterm elections coming up, it’s very important for people to make their voices and their vote heard,” she said.
US Federal Reserve Working On Digital Currency As Global ‘Role Of The Dollar’ At Risk
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United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday hinted at major monetary changes shaking up the global financial system in the near future.
Speaking at the Federal Reserve Board’s “International Roles of the U.S. Dollar” research conference in Washington D.C., Powell began by describing the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency in the post-WWII era.
After explaining the benefits of the dollar’s international role, Powell changed his tone and warned, “Looking forward, rapid changes are taking place in the global monetary system that may affect the international role of the dollar in the future.”
He continued, saying, “Most major economies already have or are in the process of developing instant, 24/7 payments. Our own FedNow service will be coming online in 2023. And in light of the tremendous growth in crypto-assets and stablecoins, the Federal Reserve is examining whether a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) would improve on an already safe and efficient domestic payments system.“
Citing a Federal Reserve white paper on the subject, Powell claimed a U.S. CBDC “could also potentially help maintain the dollar’s international standing.”
The Russian president said Western nations are blaming global inflation on Russia’s war in Ukraine instead of the massive amount of money printed over several decades.
Putin also acknowledged huge global economic shifts are on the horizon, saying, “We are talking about real processes, about truly revolutionary, tectonic changes in geopolitics, global economy, the technological sphere, in the entire system of international relations.”
The Russian leader said, “The unipolar world era is finished,” and that new, powerful nations are ready to take a new role on the world stage.
A “change of elites” in the West will follow a “revolutionary” change sparked by Europe and America’s response to the war in Ukraine, he added.
“Such a detachment from reality, from the demands of society, will inevitably lead to a surge of populism and the growth of radical movements, to serious social and economic changes, to degradation, and in the near future, to a change of elites,” Putin said.
Continuing, Putin claimed, “some global currencies are committing suicide.”
Infowars suggested in early March that the Ukraine-Russia war may be the catalyst to remove the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
In that article, we pointed out the Federal Reserve and International Monetary Fund have both suggested a world with more than one reserve currency could emerge.
During a February 28, 2022 transmission of “The Alex Jones Show,” Jones predicted the Ukraine war will be used to trigger major financial changes.
Jones noted that right as humanity began waking up to the scam of Covid lockdowns, experimental vaccines and the overall globalist agenda, “Boom! This war starts.”
“And what does it do?” he asked. “The war cuts off resources. The war makes people poorer, the big central banks loan more money, we go more into debt, more toward global bankruptcy and the worldwide universal basic income that once we give up and believe the free market doesn’t work anymore, the corporate fascists can fully take over with the cashless society, universal basic income, global reset.”
Whether the war between Ukraine and Russia was planned all along or the elite are simply taking advantage of the situation, the conflict is being used to enact world-changing economic shifts.
New York State New Gun Laws Include, People applying for a gun license will have to turn over a list of their social media accounts for officials to verify their “character & conduct” – The Last Refuge
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul called a special session of the state legislature after the Supreme Court knocked down their firearm restrictions. The new law, which passed both chambers of democrat-controlled government, takes effect Sept 1st and is unlikely to hold up once challenged in court. The new law is stunningly over the top.
Keep in mind, when writing the majority decision Justice Clarence Thomas concluded there was no historical requirement that law-abiding citizens show the kind of special need for self-defense required by the New York law to carry a gun in public. Indeed, as Thomas wrote, there is “no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.”
The latest effort from the New York assembly is outlined in an Associated Press report which includes:
(Via AP) […] Among other things, the state’s new rules will require people applying for a handgun license to turn over a list of their social media accounts so officials could verify their “character and conduct.”
Applicants will have to show they have “the essential character, temperament and judgment necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger oneself and others.” As part of that assessment, applicants have to turn over a list of social media accounts they’ve maintained in the past three years.
[…] The bill approved by lawmakers doesn’t specify whether applicants will be required to provide licensing officers with access to private social media accounts not visible to the general public.
People applying for a license to carry a handgun will also have to provide four character references, take 16 hours of firearms safety training plus two hours of practice at a range, undergo periodic background checks and turn over contact information for their spouse, domestic partner or any other adults living in their household.
[…] Under the new system, the state won’t authorize permits for people with criminal convictions within the past five years for driving while intoxicated, menacing or third-degree assault. People also won’t be allowed to carry firearms at a long list of “sensitive places,” including New York City’s tourist-packed Times Square.
That list also includes schools, universities, government buildings, places where people have gathered for public protests, health care facilities, places of worship, libraries, public playgrounds and parks, day care centers, summer camps, addiction and mental health centers, shelters, public transit, bars, theaters, stadiums, museums, polling places and casinos.
New York will also bar people from bringing guns into any business or workplace unless the owners put up signs saying guns are welcome. People who bring guns into places without such signs could be prosecuted on felony charges.
[…] Gun advocates said the law infringes on rights upheld by the Supreme Court. “Now we’re going to let the pizzeria owner decide whether or not I can express my constitutional right,” said Sen. Andrew Lanza, a Staten Island Republican. “This is a disgrace. See you in the courts.” (read more)
Keep in mind, when writing the majority decision Justice Clarence Thomas concluded there was no historical requirement that law-abiding citizens show the kind of special need for self-defense required by the New York law to carry a gun in public. Indeed, as Thomas wrote, there is “no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.”
