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Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been questioned by a Paris court for the first time on the charges against him, more than three months after his arrest, AFP news agency reported on Friday, citing an unnamed source.

Previous court hearings had focused on procedural issues relating to the terms of the tech billionaire’s detention. The charges against Durov relate to the alleged involvement of the messaging platform in a wide range of criminal activities.

Durov reportedly arrived at the court accompanied by two lawyers, David-Olivier Kaminski and Christophe Ingrain. The entrepreneur said he “trusts French justice,” but refused to comment on the progress of the case or the charges against him.

The Russian national, who is also a citizen of France, the UAE and Saint Kitts and Nevis, was arrested after landing in Paris on August 24. Durov was charged with multiple offenses, including complicity in distributing child pornography, and enabling drug dealing and money laundering. The charges stem from accusations that Telegram’s lax moderation rules allow for the widespread misuse of the messenger service.

The billionaire was later released on bail of €5 million ($5.5 million), but has been barred from leaving France while his case is ongoing. Some of the charges against him could carry sentences of up to ten years.

Durov has vehemently denied the allegations. In October, the entrepreneur revealed that the messenger service had been complying with privacy policies in several countries, and had been disclosing information about criminals to authorities for the past six years.

According to one of Durov’s lawyers, as cited by the French news agency, it was “absurd” to think that his client was “involved” in crimes committed via the messaging platform. An unnamed source close to the investigation told AFP that the entire legal procedure was having a positive effect in France and elsewhere, as Telegram has begun responding to legal requisitions more actively.

Commenting in August on Durov’s detention, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov highlighted the absurdity of holding the entrepreneur accountable for crimes committed using his network. Peskov quipped that Paris could use the same grounds to arrest the CEOs of Renault or Citroën, as terrorists use cars.

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https://www.rt.com/news/608881-durov-first-questioning-court-france/

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Boycotts against a bovine burp blocking feed additive intended to mitigate supposed impacts of methane emissions on the climate have been launched in Britain over safety concerns, which proponents of the treatment have branded as “misinformation”.

Great Yarmouth Member of Parliament for Reform UK Rupert Lowe, a staunch supporter of British agriculture who owns a farm in Withington, has joined a social media campaign to boycott diary and beef products produced with the feed additive Bovaer, The Times of London reports.

It comes as Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla Foods has launched a trial use of Bovaer in the UK involving 30 farms, supplying milk products to major supermarket chains such as Aldi, Morrisons, and Tesco.

The food additive was developed by Dutch-Swiss chemical firm DSM-Firmenich as a means of reducing methane emissions from cattle, which has been raised as a concern by climate alarmist groups internationally.

Bovaer is a chemical compound comprised of propylene glycol, silicon dioxide, and 3-nitrooxypropanol also known as 3-NOP. Concerns have been raised online about the safety of consuming animal products produced with the compound, with some pointing to studies in rats suggesting a link to cancer.

Others have pointed to a warning from the Federal Drug Administration in the US (FDA), which has warned about potential damage to male fertility in handling 3-nitrooxypropanol, the Daily Mail reports.

Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10

I won't be consuming anything containing Bovaer.

I've requested that DEFRA undertakes an urgent review of its use in our food system.

The product’s supporters argue that the compound is broken down by cow digestion before entering into milk or meat and, therefore, is not a threat to people, with regulators in the United States, UK, and European Union all approving its use in cows to cut methane emissions.

However, the use of the compound has led to a large social media backlash, with many filming themselves ditching Bovaer-linked dairy products such as Lurpak butter and Cravendale milk. Meanwhile some dairy producers have begun to advertise their products as being free from Bovaer.

Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe has also joined the boycott, saying: “I won’t be consuming anything containing Bovaer. I’ve requested that Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] undertakes an urgent review of its use in our food system.”

The boycott has prompted a wave of articles debunking “misinformation” on social media, with the BBC’s fact-checking Verify service noting that the warnings of male infertility surround handling the 3-NOP compound in its “pure form – rather than when it is added to animal feed.”

The BBC fact checker also asserted that Microsoft founder Bill Gates is not involved with DSM-Firmenich’s development or production of Bovaer. The American billionaire has, however, invested in Australian start up Rumin8, a rival firm which has developed a similar compound to reduce methane in cow rearing.

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https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/12/06/boycott-of-cow-burp-blocking-bovaer-compound-launched-in-britain/

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Former President Barack Obama on Thursday claimed the moral high ground by cautioning “one side” of politics is going to “stack the deck” by stealing elections and politicize the U.S. government.

He declined to name which specific party should be attributed with those anti-democratic principles but added they should be opposed.

In a speech at the third annual Obama Foundation Democracy Forum in Chicago, Illinois, the 63-year-old called for a renewed commitment to pluralist ethics and said the consequences of failing to do so are barely worth considering.

He said:

There are going to be times, potentially, when one side tries to stack the deck and lock in a [long pause] permanent grip on power—either by actively suppressing votes, or politicizing the armed forces, or using the judiciary and the criminal justice system to go after opponents.

In those circumstances, pluralism does not call for us to just stand back and say, ‘Well, I’m not sure that’s okay.’

In those circumstances, a line has been crossed, and we have to stand firm.

Critics were quick to point out Obama had only one party in mind when he made the claim.

...

Collin Rugg @CollinRugg

Obama says Republicans are the ones who rig elections and weaponize the justice system while speaking at a "Democracy Forum."

The comment was so outrageous that Obama could barely get the words out of his mouth.

Catch Up @CatchUpFeed

During his address at a "Democracy Forum," Obama claimed that it is the Republicans who manipulate elections and misuse the judicial system.

Chuck Callesto @ChuckCallesto

SHOCK REPORT: Barack Obama IS NOW CLAIMING Republicans rig elections and weaponize the justice system...

ANYONE HAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE FORMER DIVIDER AND CHIEF?

Benny Johnson

@bennyjohnson

BREAKING: At a “Democracy Forum,” Obama just criticized Republicans, accusing them of rigging elections and weaponizing the justice system.

MAGA Resource @MAGAResource

Obama's Hypocritical Election Sermon at 'Democracy Forum'

In what can only be described as a masterclass in projection, Barack Obama took the stage at a so-called "Democracy Forum" to pontificate on the sanctity of democratic principles, only to skew the narrative by accusing...

...

Obama has mostly stayed silent since enthusiastically backing Vice President Kamala Harris in the run up to her crushing 2024 election loss.

In the process the Democrat lost every battleground state and the popular vote and her party lost control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Obama was pinpointed as one of the Democrats who worked enthusiastically behind the scenes to defenestrate President Joe Biden and anoint Harris as his successor.

...

Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also failed to win the presidency in 2016 despite Obama’s enthused backing.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/06/obama-warns-of-those-who-rig-elections-and-weaponize-the-justice-system/

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Economies within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) have been growing rapidly, boosted by Ukraine-related Western sanctions and soaring demand, with their collective GDP exceeding 4% this year, according to the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).

In its latest macroeconomic forecast for 2025-2027 on Thursday, the cumulative GDP of the five-nation economic bloc comprising Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan will grow by 4.2% in 2024, outpacing the global average of 3.2%. The report also included Tajikistan, which is not an EAEU member.

Despite an increasingly complex and challenging global environment, members of the Russia-led economic bloc and countries in Central Asia have demonstrated resilience, the EDB said. The current year also marked the best performance for Eurasian nations since 2012, excluding a period of a post-pandemic recovery, the bank added.

The region’s nominal GDP is expected to surpass $500 billion in 2024, according to EDB Chief Economist Evgeny Vinokurov. Central Asia’s population, which has grown by more than 3% over the past two years to reach 80 million, presents a “demographic window of opportunity” that could fuel economic growth for the next 15 to 20 years, he said.

“The Central Asian economy has become a major player. It is attractive for investment, a dynamic sales market, and strategically significant for transport and transit potential,” said Vinokurov.

It comes at a time when the global economy is facing a slowdown due to lower productivity, weakening demand, and declining population, the EDB noted.

The Russian and Belarusian economies will continue to grow by 2.4% and 2.6% respectively in 2025, it said. The financial institution also expects GDP in Armenia and Kazakhstan to grow by 5.5%, in Kyrgyzstan by 8.7%, and in Tajikistan by 8.4%, driven by industrial activity and investments.

Russia has stepped up efforts to expand trade and other facets of economic cooperation with allied nations as it faces unprecedented Western sanctions. The country has also been actively switching trade from dollars and euro to national currencies with the EAEU members and other partners in the region.

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https://www.rt.com/business/608851-russia-eaeu-economy-growth/

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US interference triggered the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. His comments come after Moscow accused Washington of lacking “common sense and restraint” in its approach to the conflict.

In an interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban claimed the United States had played a decisive role in the conflict.

”America is one of the main players in this war. Without America, this war would never have happened. Ukraine would not have been able to resist without America’s support,” the prime minister said, as quoted by the Magyar Nemzet newspaper.

According to official figures, as of September 30, Washington had allocated a total of nearly $183 billion in aid for Ukraine, with $130.1 billion committed and $86.7 billion disbursed.

Current US President Joe Biden wants to increase the scale of the conflict, Orban claimed, while President-elect Donald Trump is “pro-peace.”

Earlier this week, the US State Department announced $725 million in assistance for Kiev, including аir-defense capabilities, munitions for rocket systems and artillery, and anti-tank weapons.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently called on Kiev to lower the conscription age from the current level of 25 years, which Orban described as “terrible, because even more Ukrainians would die.”

It’s time for American policies to change because they have become “unsustainable,” Orban argued.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday that Hungary was “pressing hard so that Donald Trump’s goal of ending this war quickly becomes a reality,” and warned that failure to achieve peace in Ukraine would increase the risk of escalation on a daily basis.

Trump, who is set to take over from Biden in six weeks, repeatedly pledged during his election campaign to end conflict within 24 hours of his inauguration on January 20. The proposals reportedly floated by Trump’s advisers include forcing Moscow and Kiev into negotiations by using military aid as leverage.

Moscow has said it has yet to receive a detailed plan from Trump or his team regarding a potential resolution of the conflict. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that Russia would not agree to any concessions that compromise its national security.

The diplomat also claimed that there was a lack of common sense and “restraint in the West, in particular the US, where people seemingly underestimate” Russia’s resolve to defend its core national security interests.

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https://www.rt.com/news/608839-orban-blames-biden-ukraine-conflict/

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Leftist maniac Kieth Olbermann seemingly admitted that at least 10,000,000 criminals fill the White House, leftist prosecutors’ offices, and the media, calling on Biden to pardon “everybody Trump might pursue.”

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Joe Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, on Sunday, absolving him of any federal crimes committed between 2014 and 2024.

Hunter was facing federal tax fraud charges in California and felony gun charges in Delaware, but the sweeping pardon denies prosecution for any crime he may have committed. This includes the cocaine found in the White House, any financial crimes, and the Biden family’s influence peddling that Hunter was involved in since he joined Ukraine energy firm Burisma’s board of directors in 2014.

This comes after Biden, the White House, high-ranking Democrats, and the leftwing media lied for months and said Hunter Biden wouldn't receive a pardon, citing their respect for the rule of law.

Unhinged leftist commentator Keith Olbermann celebrated the pardon on X, commenting,

Pardon Hunter? GREAT.

Now pardon everybody else.

Every prosecutor, every Biden administration staffer, every media figure, everybody Trump will persecute.

10,000,000 pardons. At least.

Conservative commentator Gunther Eagleman pointed out the obvious in Olbermann's statement, commenting on the post, "Are you admitting there are over 10,000,000 criminals in DC?" He continued, "Do you ever think before you post?"

If Trump were truly a dictator hell-bent on subverting the Constitution to persecute political enemies, as these mentally unwell people claim, wouldn't that make Biden's pardons irrelevant anyway?

Elon Musk responded to Olbermann getting owned with bullseye and laughing emojis.

Olbermann further went on a crazed rant advertising a new episode of his podcast, demanding Biden give "10 million pardons for everybody Trump might pursue, everybody Trump ever was criticized by, covered by, prosecuted by," including himself.

"Get busy, Mr. President," he cried.

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/12/what-leftist-kieth-olbermann-cheers-hunter-biden-pardon/

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Don’t expect to see Hollywood celebrities demonstrating in pussy hats on inauguration day like we did nearly eight years ago.

Hollywood’s Trump resistance faction is still in a state of shock following President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory over Kamala Harris, according to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter. Their demoralized state means that they won’t be mounting a broad “resistance” against the incoming president as they did back in early 2017.

“Leave your pussy hats at home,” THR advised.

Instead, Hollywood elites are reportedly re-focusing their efforts on local and down-ballot candidates, with a special focus on abortion and climate change.

“I do think that the approach will be much more micro than macro this time around,” Hannah Linkenhoker, the chief engagement officer at the industry law firm Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, told the outlet.

“We’ll see more of a focus on state and local levels. The fight to protect abortion is a good case study. You’re seeing states ratifying abortion at the state level. The abortion movement has pivoted there,” Natalie Tran, the executive director of the CAA Foundation, reportedly said.

Back in early 2017, Hollywood elites literally poured onto the mean streets of Beverly Hills to voice their resistance toward President Trump’s first term.

United Talent Agency — one of the big three Hollywood talent agencies — organized a mass rally on Wilshire Boulevard in February 2017 featuring Jodie Foster, Michael J. Fox, and not-yet-Wicked star Cynthia Erivo. UTA’s CEO Jeremy Zimmer, who is a major Democrat fundraiser, also participated in the protest as did then-California Lt. Gov. and current Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The previous month, the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. featured numerous celebrities donning pussy hats and protesting Trump. Madonna infamously addressed marchers by saying she fantasized about “blowing up” The White House.

This time around, celebrities are opting for fewer theatrics.

Jane Fonda’s climate change PAC is reportedly planning to focus on supporting candidates in down-ballot races. “We see these local and state and county-level electeds as a fire wall against what might be coming from the Trump administration,” executive director Sarah Lane told THR.

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https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2024/12/04/report-hollywood-trump-resistance-broken-demoralized-wont-mass-organize-leave-your-pussy-hats-at-home/

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An investigation published on Monday by France’s Mediapart and its partners, including Drop Site News (US), Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy), and Reporters United (Greece), has uncovered that the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the world’s largest investigative journalism network, is secretly controlled by the US government.

The report reveals that Washington has provided around half of the organization’s funding and has significant sway over its leadership and editorial direction, raising questions about the independence of the network’s reporting.

1. US govt funds more than half of OCCRP budget.

Since its founding in 2008, the OCCRP has received at least $47 million from American government sources. This accounts for approximately half of the organization’s overall funding, making the US state the largest donor by far.

The OCCRP’s financial dependence on the US government has led to concerns about the potential influence of Washington on the organization’s editorial stance, particularly given the US government’s strategic interests.

According to Drew Sullivan, the OCCRP’s co-founder and publisher, the US government remains the organization’s largest donor, providing crucial financial support for its operations. In an interview with German state broadcaster NDR, Sullivan acknowledged, “I’m very grateful to the US government” for its support.

While OCCRP officials insist that government grants come with “impenetrable guardrails” to protect journalistic integrity, critics will argue that such substantial funding creates a structural dependence that could affect editorial independence.

2. Washington has veto power over OCCRP leadership.

In addition to providing substantial funding, the US government also wields significant influence over the OCCRP’s leadership. Washington has the right to veto key personnel appointments within the organization, including the nomination of its publisher, Sullivan. Under agreements with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other government bodies, the OCCRP must submit resumes of potential hires for senior roles to the American government for approval.

USAID’s Shannon Maguire confirmed this in a statement, saying the agency has the “right to have its say” on personnel decisions. Sullivan himself admitted in an interview that the US can use this veto power, although he maintained that it has never been exercised. “If they veto somebody, we can say we don’t take the money,” he said. The power to dictate appointments, however, underscores the US government’s influence over the OCCRP’s leadership.

3. Soros provides significant funding.

In addition to the US government, the OCCRP has also relied on funding from private donors, including the Open Society Foundations (OSF), the pressure group founded by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros. While OSF’s contributions are significant, they have not raised the same concerns about influence as the US government’s donations, as far as the authors of the investigation are concerned.

Still, OSF’s role adds to the complex web of financial support that the OCCRP has received over the years.

4. OCCRP founded based on secret US govt grant.

The OCCRP’s origins are tied directly to US government funding. In 2007, the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) provided the initial $1.7 million to establish the network. This secret funding, funneled through the Journalism Development Group (JDG) controlled by Sullivan, was key to the creation of the OCCRP.

Sullivan’s relationship with USAID and the US government dates back to the early 2000s, when he worked on a USAID-funded initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina to train local journalists. He later used his connections to secure funding from the US government to establish the OCCRP. The fact that such an influential journalistic network was born out of a covert US government grant raises concerns about the independence of its operations.

5. US govt funds investigations aimed at opponents such as Russia.

One of the most striking revelations of the investigation is that the US government has directed the OCCRP to focus its investigations on specific countries, including Russia and Venezuela. The OCCRP received $2.2 million from the US to investigate Russian media in an effort dubbed ‘Balancing the Russian media sphere’.

Similarly, the organization was granted $2.3 million to investigate corruption in Cyprus and Malta, two locations where Russian business people have significant financial interests.

By funding investigations that target certain countries, the US government has influenced the scope of the OCCRP’s reporting, ensuring that its investigations align with American geopolitical interests. The OCCRP has worked on several high-profile international investigations, including ‘Cyprus Confidential’, which exposed Russian citizens allegedly using the island as a tax haven to bypass sanctions. These investigations are clearly in line with US foreign policy priorities.

6. OCCRP reports weaponized to justify US sanctions policy.

The OCCRP’s investigative reports have also been used by the US government to justify its foreign policy, particularly sanctions. Through the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium (GACC), a program co-financed by the US State Department, OCCRP investigations have been directly linked to judicial actions and sanctions procedures.

The US government uses the OCCRP’s findings to push for greater sanctions on individuals and entities it frames as being associated with corruption, often targeting countries such as Russia and Venezuela.

Sullivan confirmed that the OCCRP works closely with governments, including the US, to apply the findings of its investigations in ways that support broader international policy goals. “We believe the GACC has proven to be highly successful,” Sullivan said. This program has been instrumental in lobbying for tougher anti-corruption and anti-money laundering legislation, he adds, often in countries that the US government sees as adversaries.

7. Propaganda tool designed to advise US foreign policy interests.

The revelations of the OCCRP’s close ties to the US government will fuel criticism that the organization is not simply an independent journalistic entity, but rather a tool used by the US to promote its foreign policy interests. While the OCCRP maintains that it operates independently, its reliance on US funding and its role in advancing US political goals suggests that its reporting may be subject to external influence, particularly when it comes to issues that affect US geopolitical priorities.

As one director of a South American media outlet put it, “The OCCRP makes the US seem virtuous and allows them to set the agenda of what is defined as corruption.” While the OCCRP continues to investigate corruption in many parts of the world, its close financial relationship with the US government raises significant questions about the organization’s independence and the potential for its work to be used as a tool of American foreign policy.

In conclusion, the findings from Mediapart and its partners highlight the complex and often hidden relationship between the OCCRP and the US government. Despite its protestations, the scale of its financial dependence on the US government and the influence that Washington has over its operations will hardly be ignored.

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https://www.rt.com/news/608644-occrp-report-us-control/

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“Science” never justified the prolonged closure of schools during the coronavirus pandemic, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which has concluded its two-year-long investigation into the coronavirus pandemic, said, offering its findings this week.

The subcommittee concluded its investigation and provided a 520-page report detailing the massive failures committed throughout the pandemic, from mask and vaccine mandates to public health officials suppressing and dismissing narratives — such as the reality of natural immunity — that they did not like and that would not support their draconian policies.

One major point of controversy throughout the pandemic was the so-called “science” behind prolonged school closures. As it turns out — and as many already have known — there was none.

“The ‘science’ never justified prolonged school closures,” a summary of the report reads, explaining that children were not likely to contribute to the spread of the virus, and they were not likely to suffer from “severe illness or mortality.”

“Instead, as a result of school closures, children experienced historic learning loss, higher rates of psychological distress, and decreased physical well-being,” the summary continues.

The report itself notes that the CDC originally was not convinced that school closures would have a real impact on controlling the virus, either. Yet, the country went on to do just that, shutting down schools under the Biden-Harris administration for far longer than imagined.

The report reveals:

Still, even the CDC appeared to not be convinced that short- or medium-term school closures would have any substantial impact on transmission, citing data retrieved from Hong Kong and Singapore showing that countries that closed schools did not have more success reducing transmission than places that did not. Nonetheless, by the end of March 2020, nearly all schools across the country were closed.

Perhaps what is worse, the subcommittee found that the Biden Administration’s CDC “broke precedent and provided a political teachers organization with access to its scientific school reopening guidance.”

“Former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky asked the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to provide specific language for the guidance and even went so far as to accept numerous edits made by AFT,” per the summary. The report itself states that “many schools remained closed because of AFT and Ms. Weingarten’s political interference into the CDC issuance of the Biden Administration’s first school reopening guidance entitled ‘Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention’ [hereinafter “Operational Strategy”] on February 12, 2021.”

Ultimately, the subcommittee said these school closures were simply not rooted in science:

As more data related to COVID-19 became readily available, it was clear that the “science” did not justify school closures. Early data from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of the outbreak—showed that children were unlikely to suffer serious illness or death as a result of COVID-19. This was later confirmed by CDC data showing that children comprised less than 0.01 percent of hospitalizations and 0.0005 percent of COVID-19 deaths between March 1, 2020 and July 25, 2020.

Moreover, subsequently acquired data confirmed the CDC’s previous suspicion that school closures were unlikely to stem the transmission of COVID-19. The science indicated that schools were not vectors for viral spread. Early data from Iceland showed that young children were less likely than adults to transmit COVID-19. Teachers, individually, were also shown by early data to have no higher risk of infection and of developing serious COVID-19 than other professionals.

These prolonged closures had a “negative impact” on students, the report continued, citing not only academic problems but physical and mental health issues.

“These consequences—which only worsened the longer schools remained closed— could hardly have come as a surprise, as previous closures had been understood to result in negative outcomes for students,” the report continued, noting that these realities apparently did nothing to stop public health officials, who continued to ignore science and advocate for school closures.

“Instead, many advocates of closures seemingly relied only on favorable data or wrongly attempted to mischaracterize, misrepresent, or exaggerate data,” the report reads.

The AFT’s involvement was deeper than most know, and the report found this: “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Accepted American Federation of Teachers Edits to the Operational Strategy.”

Further, the subcommittee found that the impacts of the corruption and blatantly bad policy will adversely impact academic performance for “years” to come.

Per the report:

There has been a significant decline in students’ academic performance because of pandemic-era school closure policies. Standardized test scores show that children lost decades worth of academic progress. The performance of 9-year-olds in math and reading declined to levels recorded two decades ago, and the average composite score for the ACT by high school graduates dropped below 20 for the first time since 1991. The students whose classes were less disrupted in the 2020-2021 school year lost about 20 percent of math learning compared to losses of 50 percent for students who did not have access to in-person instruction.

Disturbingly, these declines were the most significant among low-income children and children from racial minorities. Schools in urban areas attended by low income and minority children were kept closed longer. Accordingly, Black and Latino students and low-income students fell further behind in learning than their peers.

The effects of pandemic-era school closure policies continue to impact students today. Students are not rebounding from the effect of the school closure policies: “Analyses of student test scores have repeatedly shown severe declines in academic achievement… accelerating student learning… is notoriously challenging.” More troubling than students’ inability to “catch up” with where they should be academically, though, is the fact that the problem is growing worse: “except for the youngest learners, students are progressing more slowly than their pre-pandemic peers – furthering widening academic gaps.”

Read the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic’s entire report here.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/04/covid-select-subcommittee-science-never-justified-prolonged-school-closures/

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The Biden administration might be in its final days but that doesn’t mean the flow of lethal U.S. weaponry to Ukraine shows any sign of slowing. Far from it.

That was confirmed Monday when an additional $725 million in military assistance, including counter-drone systems and munitions for its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), was announced by the White House.

AP reports it is unclear whether the munitions for the HIMARS are the coveted ATACMS — the Army Tactical Missile System — but Ukraine has been pressing for more of the longer-range missiles to strike additional targets inside Russia.

The package also includes more of the anti-personnel land mines Ukraine seeks to slow Russian and North Korean ground forces in Russia’s Kursk region and comes on the back of the billions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer funds already used to support Kiev in its fight against Russia.

President Joe Biden has pledged to spend all of the military assistance funds Congress approved this year for Ukraine before the end of his administration on Jan. 20, which before Monday’s announcement included about $7.1 billion in weapons that would be drawn from the Pentagon’s stockpiles.

The latest package of support comes after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to end the conflict as a priority upon assuming office.

In a major shift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled on Friday an an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war.”

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https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/12/03/war-without-end-u-s-rushing-725-million-more-in-lethal-weapons-to-ukraine/

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Taylor Lorenz, former journalist for the Washington Post, issued an expletive-laden social media rant in which she accused people who do not wear masks of “raw-dogging the air.”

Lorenz issued her rant from her Blue Sky account in which she talked about a recent book launch in which she spent thousands of dollars of her own money on coronavirus protections.

“I love when ppl find photos where my mask is off for 5 seconds outside for a photo at my book party where every single attendee had to PCR test, as some kind of gotcha,” she she said.

“Planning a COVID safe book launch took months and THOUSANDS of my own dollars ensuring testing, outdoor space, far UV lights, and a litany of other precautions,” she continued. “Meanwhile u dumb fucks are out raw dogging the air and spewing ur disease laden breath all over ur elderly neighbors. We are not the same.”

I love when ppl find photos where my mask is off for 5 seconds outside for a photo at my book party where every single attendee had to PCR test, as some kind of gotcha. Like yeah, high risk ppl could safely remove their masks for photos now and then if every event/public space had those precautions!

— Taylor Lorenz (@taylorlorenz.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 1:51 PM

Planning a Covid safe book launch took months and THOUSANDS of my own dollars ensuring testing, outdoor space, far UV lights, and a litany of other precautions. Meanwhile u dumbfucks are out raw dogging the air and spewing ur disease laden breath all over ur elderly neighbors. We are not the same

— Taylor Lorenz (@taylorlorenz.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 1:54 PM

According to the New York Post, Lorenz’s tirade came in “response to backlash she received online after sharing a slew of posts earlier Monday about the virus, including one about COVID denialism and how the US government was ‘intentionally’ trying to downplay the ‘ongoing’ pandemic.”

After several accounts on Blue Sky trolled Lorenz for her take, she said that she wears a mask in public due to being immunocompromised.

“Oh boy the MAGA weirdos and Covid denialists found my post. I’m severely, severely immunocompromised. I am in and out of the hospital constantly bc I have the immune system of someone going through chemo. The pandemic is ongoing, wear a mask and stop harassing disabled ppl,” she concluded.

Taylor Lorenz and the Washington Post “parted ways” earlier this year when she falsely branded President Joe Biden a war criminal for his policy on the Israeli-Gaza conflict.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/03/former-washington-post-journalist-taylor-lorenz-says-people-not-wearing-masks-raw-dogging-the-air-in-expletive-filled-rant/

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The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a final report regarding its two-year investigation into social distancing, masking, and the COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

In the 520-page report, the committee released its findings regarding “the origins of the Coronavirus Pandemic,” the “Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Transparency of the Use of Taxpayer Funds and Relief Programs” that addressed the COVID-19 pandemic, “the implementation or effectiveness” of federal laws or regulations that were “applied, enacted, or under consideration” to address the pandemic, as well as “the development of vaccines and treatments” during the pandemic.

“Since February 2023, the Select Subcommittee sought to produce a full after-action report to provide a road map of how we, in Congress, the Executive, and the private sector may better prepare for and respond to future pandemics,” Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) wrote in the report. “Throughout this process, the Select Subcommittee sent more than 100 investigative letters, conducted 38 transcribed interviews or depositions, held 25 hearings or meetings, and reviewed more than one million pages of documents from dozens of custodians.”

In the committee’s findings regarding social distancing, it was revealed that “the six-foot social distancing requirement was not supported by science.”

“Social distancing was one of the most consequential policies of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the committee wrote in the report. “Social distancing is the practice of intentionally maintaining a physical space between yourself and other people. On March 22, 2020, the CDC issued guidance specifically designating six feet, or two arm’s length, as the distance that would best reduce the spread of the coronavirus.”

The report from the committee noted that during a June 2024 public hearing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had articulated “that the six-foot rule for social distancing was not supported by quality scientific standards” and had “attempted to further distance himself from the issue by stating the decision making of this policy implementation was the responsibility of the CDC.”

The committee’s report adds:

The justification for one of the most impactful COVID-19 policies, that arguable affected the most Americans in their day-to-day lives, was “it sort of just appeared.” There were no scientific trials or studies conducted before this policy was implemented, there appeared to be no pushback or internal discussion amongst the highest level of leadership, and more importantly there appears to be no acceptance of responsibility. That is an unacceptable aanswer from public health leadership. Decisions of this magnitude must have scientific backing that can be explained to the American public.

Regarding the usage of masks and mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report from the committee found that it was “apparent” that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “and the Biden Administration cherry-picked observational data to fit their narrative that masks are fully effective.”

“Yet, that is not the role of the CDC,” the report added. “The CDC is an agency meant to protect the American people, and part of that responsibility includes conducting, sponsoring, or at the very least examining clinical trials to actually have the best available research before formulation its guidance.”

The report added that “one area” where masking caused harm was with the masking of “all students (age two and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools”:

Many countries, including the U.K., Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, followed the guidelines of the WHO. The WHO specifically did not recommend masking children aged five or younger because they are at low risk of illness, masks are “not in the overall interest of the child,” and also because most children that age are not capable of wearing a mask properly or effficiently. The WHO also recommended children aged six through 11 not routinely wear masks because of potential adverse impact to psychological and learning development. The WHO further explicitly advised against children wearing masks during physical activities, such as outside playground time, so as not to impede their breathing.

The report also noted that COVID-19 “vaccine mandates were not supported by science and caused more harm than good”:

Although all five of the major federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates are now rescinded, overturned, or otherwise ended, their consequences will live on for years to come. The COVID-19 vaccine mandates caused people to lose their livelihoods, hollowed out our healthcare and education workforces, reduced our military readiness and recruitment, caused vaccine hesitancy, reduced trust in public health, trampled individual freedoms, deepened political divisions, and interered in the patient-physician relationship.

Aside from these severe consequences, the scientific basis of the COVID-19 vaccine mandates was highly questionable. COVID-19 mandates ignored natural immunity, stratification of risk from the virus, risk of adverse events from the vaccine, as well as the fact that the vaccines don’t prevent the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, as the Select Subcommittee has established in previous hearings, federal health officials consistently overstated the power of the vaccines and deepening political divides with statements like “the pandemic of unvaccinated.” This is yet another example of the Biden Administration’s guidance and policies straying far outside boundaries of the available evidence while proudly proclaiming they were “following the science.” For them, “because I told you so” was good enough.

The report added that while “herd immunity is a real concept and occurrence supported by public health leaders” like Fauci, “there was a coordinated effort from public health officials to ignore natural immunity.”

In a press release from the committee, it was also noted that “contrary to what was promised, the COVID-19 vaccine did not stop the spread or transmission of the virus.”

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/02/house-select-committee-report-social-distancing-covid-19-vaccine-mandates/

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Lawmakers have concluded that the virus emerged from a research center in China, while accusing officials of spreading misinformation

Covid-19 most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, the US Congressional Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has concluded in a 520-page report, following a two-year investigation.

It discovered that the virus possessed a biological characteristic absent in nature, and data indicated that all Covid-19 cases stemmed from a single introduction to humans, reinforcing the ‘lab leak’ theory.

The report claims that the Chinese government, agencies within the US government, and some members of the international scientific community “sought to cover up facts concerning the origins of the pandemic.”

First detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, the coronavirus spread far beyond the country’s borders, killing over 7 million people across the world.

According to the report, China’s leading research laboratory for coronaviruses in Wuhan “has a history of conducting gain-of-function research at inadequate biosafety levels.” The document claims that researchers at the lab “were sick with a COVID-like virus in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was discovered at the wet market.” “By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced,” it went on to say.

At the outset of the pandemic, theories suggested that the virus emerged at a Chinese ‘wet market’. These traditional markets are known for often selling meat, fish, produce, and exotic animals in unsanitary conditions.

In 2020, however, then-President Donald Trump claimed without providing evidence that the virus originated from a Chinese lab. Beijing said the claim was a reelection tactic aimed at boosting Trump’s standing among Republican voters.

In a war of words, then-Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian promoted an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus might have been brought to China by the US military.

In 2021, Trump said that China should pay reparations for its role in the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing that if the damage worldwide was properly estimated, it would likely owe upwards of $60 trillion.

That same year, Dr. Anthony Fauci – the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden at the time who faced intense criticism for his handling of the pandemic – said the implication that lab research led to the Covid-19 pandemic is “unconscionable” and “molecularly impossible.”

The report by the Select Committee also blasted the response of officials, saying, “members and staff have exposed high-level corruption in America’s public health system, confirmed the most likely origin of the pandemic, held COVID-19 bad actors publicly accountable, fostered bipartisan consensus on consequential pandemic-era issues.”

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https://www.rt.com/news/608612-covid-emerged-from-chinese-laboratory/

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The US government secretly controls around half of the funding for the world’s largest investigative journalism network, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a joint investigation by Mediapart, Drop Site News, Il Fatto Quotidiano, and others has revealed. The probe also found that the US exerts veto power over OCCRP's leadership and editorial direction.

Launched in 2008 and initially focused on exposing corruption and organized crime in the Balkans, the OCCRP now operates with a budget of €20 million and a team of 200 journalists worldwide, and works with over 70 media partners, including big names such as the New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel.

It has grown into the world's foremost international investigative journalism player, known for work such as The Panama Papers and the Pegasus Project.

The investigation, led by Mediapart and published on Monday, reveals that Washington not only provides substantial financial support - $47 million from US state sources since its inception - but has the power to control leadership appointments.

US influence extends to steering the group’s investigations towards specific countries such as Russia and Venezuela, the report adds.

Drew Sullivan, the OCCRP’s co-founder and publisher, confirmed that the US government remains its largest donor, with USAID and other federal agencies also contributing millions to the organization over the years.

“I’m very grateful to the US government,” Sullivan told German state broadcaster NDR in September 2023, when the Hamburg-based channel's own investigation into the OCRP prompted it to suspend cooperation with the organization.

US funding is crucial to OCCRP operations, Sullivan admitted. The money, however, comes with conditions.

The US government has the right to veto key personnel at the OCCRP, including Sullivan himself. Washington also requires the organization to use its funds for investigative projects targeting specific countries, such as Russia, Venezuela, and other geopolitical interests.

For example, OCCRP received $2.2 million to work on “Balancing the Russian media sphere,” a project aimed at investigating Russian media, and $2.3 million to investigate corruption in Cyprus and Malta, which could be used against Moscow.

The US government has also weaponized OCCRP’s reporting by fueling judicial investigations, sanctions, and lobbying based on the organization’s findings. The Global Anti-Corruption Consortium (GACC), created in 2016 and co-funded by the US, uses OCCRP’s investigations to drive sanctions advocacy and legal initiatives against countries and individuals deemed corrupt by Washington.

According to USAID’s Mike Henning, the OCCRP’s work is seen as a key tool for advancing US foreign policy. “We’re proud that […] the US government is the first public donor to OCCRP,” he said. “Funding must be aligned with and advance United States foreign policy and economic interests,” he added, pointing to the strategic nature of such investments.

However, critics argue that the close relationship with the US government compromises the organization’s editorial independence. “It makes the US seem virtuous and allows them to set the agenda of what is defined as corruption,” said a director of a South American media outlet that worked with the OCCRP, as quoted by Mediapart.

Despite its claims of editorial independence, critics argue that the OCCRP’s reliance on US government funding compromises any neutrality it could possibly claim.

The US government’s influence over OCCRP’s finances has led to concerns about the organization’s ability to operate independently and prompted state-level media partners to cease cooperation, according to Mediapart, particularly when it comes to reporting on US-related corruption or similar issues.

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https://www.rt.com/news/608629-occrp-secretly-funded-us-government/

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) convened the state legislature for a special session on Monday designed to “Trump-proof” the state, including by passing $25 million for use in lawsuits against the incoming administration.

As Breitbart News noted after the election in November, Newsom announced the special session — not to deal with pressing problems facing the state, but rather for the political purpose of leading the so-called “resistance” (i.e. opposition) to President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump responded on Truth Social, saying Newsom was “using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again’.”

Newsom boasted Monday that his administration, unlike that of his predecessor, Jerry Brown, would not simply react to Trump policies, but would go on the offensive against them. He claimed that the state had succeeded in the past at reversing many Trump policies at the “agency level.” (He may have been referring to Trump’s decision to withhold $1 billion in funding for the high-speed rail system California never built; President Joe Biden restored that funding.)

The governor also claimed that no state leader had worked more closely with the Trump administration during the coronavirus pandemic, and that California had still managed to maintain its lawsuits against Trump, regardless.

George @BehizyTweets

BREAKING: Gavin Newsom has convened an emergency session of the California Legislature to approve a "Trump-proof" legal defense fund that will cost taxpayers $25 million.

Newsom plans to file lawsuits to block every policy President Trump enacts.

Though Democrats control supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature, the state shifted right in 2024, and nearly 40% of Californians voted for President-elect Trump rather than California’s Vice President Kamala Harris.

Newsom is thought to be posturing, in part, because he is among the presidential frontrunners for the Democratic Party in 2028. He declined to run as an alternative to President Joe Biden or Vice President Harris in 2024.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/02/gavin-newsom-convenes-california-legislature-to-pass-25-million-for-anti-trump-lawsuits/

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Western intelligence agencies are struggling to recruit fresh blood as younger generations have started to prioritize existential issues such as climate change and human rights, a former British intelligence operative has told Australia’s ABC News.

According to former MI6 agent and author Harry Ferguson, who spent decades working for British intelligence around the world, young people have grown disillusioned with the ways of the past.

“From 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan and at this very moment if you look at what’s happening in Gaza and in Lebanon, a lot of young people are saying, ‘Why would I want to contribute to that, when you’re not doing any good?’,” he told ABC.

The former spy noted that when he was recruited by MI6, there was a “clear enemy to fight.” Today, however, the issues facing the world are less clear, Ferguson noted, adding that young people still want to serve society, but see that in other ways such as tackling climate change, human rights and other political issues.

“The effects of that are slightly different in each country, but we are noticing that this cultural shift is a political shift and the desire to not make the world a worse place is actually affecting recruitment,” Ferguson added, stating that this is a trend that is impacting intelligence services “all over the Western world.”

As noted by ABC, British and Australian intelligence agencies have launched social media campaigns and relaxed hiring criteria in the hope of boosting recruitment.

But they have nevertheless continued to face difficulty finding common ground with younger people.

In Australia, experts have noted that the country was not generating enough workers with the necessary skills in geopolitics, often due to the fact that people in their early 20s saw climate change as a bigger threat than hostile nations.

Afeeya Akhand, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told ABC that Western spy agencies need to change the definition of national security to include issues like COVID and climate change, and work towards integrating the views of the next generation, explaining to them that they can address a range of issues through security and government agencies.

Ferguson also noted that young people who care about the environment and human rights could become valuable assets for intelligence services as they have many skills they don’t know about yet and could make “superb agent runners” work undercover.

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https://www.rt.com/news/608589-west-young-spy-deficit/

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Joe Biden discussed pardoning his son Hunter 6 months ago while he was publicly claiming he would not issue Hunter a pardon or commute his sentences.

On Sunday, outgoing White House resident Joe Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, absolving him of any federal crimes committed between 2014 and 2024.

Hunter was facing federal tax fraud charges in California and felony gun charges in Delaware.

Last December Hunter Biden was hit with a 9-count indictment filed in the Central District of California: Tax evasion, failure to file/pay taxes, and false/fraudulent tax return.

The charges were handed down by Special Counsel David Weiss after a sweetheart plea deal on tax charges fell apart in summer of 2023.

The indictment detailed a “four-year scheme” to avoid the $1.4+ million tax obligations he owed between 2016 and 2019 and to file false returns.

According to NBC News, Joe Biden discussed pardoning Hunter back in June when Hunter was convicted, however, he told his aides he would lie to the public about his pardon plans.

Biden lied to the public (shocker).

“The president has discussed pardoning his son with some of his closest aides at least since Hunter Biden’s conviction in June, said two people with direct knowledge of the discussions about the matter. They said it was decided at the time that he would publicly say he would not pardon his son even though doing so remained on the table.” NBC News reported.

Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly confirmed Joe Biden would not pardon his own son.

“From a presidential perspective, is there any possibility that the president would end up pardoning his own son?” a reporter asked Karine Jean-Pierre in 2023.

“No,” KJP replied.

“I just said no!” KJP shouted as the reporter tried to ask a follow-up question.

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/12/biden-discussed-pardoning-hunter-june-told-aides-he/

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Angola on Monday that “no reasonable person” could have come to a conclusion other than that Hunter Biden deserved to be pardoned.

President Joe Biden pardoned his son on Sunday evening for crimes going back through 2014. Jean-Pierre had said for years — including as recently as November — that Biden would not pardon his son. Biden himself said the same.

Jean-Pierre changed her tune on Monday, claiming that Hunter Biden would not have been prosecuted if he had not been a person “who has the last name of the president,” and also claimed that he had been “singled out politically.”

“The president wrestled with this decision, he made the decision this weekend, and he decided to move forward with pardoning his son,” she said.

Journalists, incredulous, asked Jean-Pierre whether she was saying that the Department of Justice was politicized; if so, whether it was the president’s own fault, because of his appointees; and how many politicized cases there were.

Jean-Pierre declined to answer these questions, though she did say that President Biden was not going to demand the resignation of Attorney General Merrick Garland for the alleged singling out of his son in deference to Republicans.

She added that Biden did not agree with President-elect Donald Trump that the justice system has been weaponized.

“He believes in the Department of Justice,” she said, though “politics infected the process.”

She pointed to the fact that the plea deal negotiated by Hunter Biden’s attorneys had fallen apart.

That deal was derided by critics as unduly deferential to Hunter Biden, and the judge questioned an immunity clause that would have protected him from future prosecutions. The unprecedented clause had been concealed from the court.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/02/karine-jean-pierre-no-reasonable-person-could-deny-hunter-biden-pardon/

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A religious release program focusing on “satanic studies” is kicking off in some schools in Marysville, Ohio, as an alternative to Bible-based instruction.

Marysville’s Edgewood Elementary School is offering the Satanic Temple’s Hellion Academy of Independent Learning (HAIL) program beginning this month. This decision was made after a parent reached out to the Satanic Temple, asking for a program at the school. According to WCMH, June Everett, described as a “campaign director for the After School Satan Club and an ordained minister for the Satanic Temple,” claimed the “programs for students are only implemented when parents seek them out, and only in districts where other release programs are already in place.” This school currently offers a Christian-based program via LifeWise, which is “designed to take students through the entire Bible, beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation,” according to the website, which adds:

Each lesson reviews a Bible passage as well as a “Living LifeWise” character trait. The lessons’ order and activities are flexible and can be modified as the teacher finds necessary. Download a sample of the curriculum here.

The Satanic Temple — not to be confused with the Church of Satan, which was founded by Anton Szandor LaVey in 1966 — said in a press release that it launched HAIL as a response to the uptick in Christian-based release programs in schools across the country.

They claim their program “allows them to learn about values such as empathy, compassion, and justice in a fun environment without religious pressure or coercion.” They also claim that students who chose not to attend the Christian programs are “later regaled with stories of fun activities and warnings from their classmates that they will surely burn in hell for not participating.”

The Satanic Temple adds:

These programs have been heavily pushed in recent years by groups such as Lifewise Academy and Joy El Club. These groups are only allowed to operate in public schools because they take students off site, they do not use public funding, and the school districts in principle do not discriminate against any similar programs based on the religion organizing the activity. HAIL will be testing school districts on that last requirement, but providing an alternative to these exclusively Christian, exclusionary RTRI offerings. If you want to know more about the HAIL curriculum and where the program will be offered.

Further, Everett claimed the Satanic Temple is fundamentally misunderstood, asserting that they do not worship the devil or sacrifice babies.

“It’s actually the opposite,” Everett claimed.

Everett made no mention of the Satanic Temple unveiling the “world’s first religious abortion clinic” in 2023, where it specifically said it would offer “abortion rituals” for mothers to get rid of unwanted shame for ending the life of their unborn child.

As Breitbart News detailed:

TST Health describes the “Abortion Ritual” as a “protective rite” designed to “cast off unwanted feelings” associated with taking the life of an unborn child. According to TST Health, the ritual involves spoken words exclusively and includes reciting the third tenet of the Satanic Temple — “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone” — and the fifth — “Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.”

Science, however, shows that a baby’s heartbeat begins around 21 days, and they can begin to feel pain in the first trimester, when many abortions take place. Brainwave activity also begins at six weeks as their limbs and organs begin to take form.

It should also be noted that the Satanic Temple states in its fifth tenet that “beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world.”

“One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs,” it states, apparently failing to see its own irony given the scientific facts about unborn children.

Further, the other tenets of the Satanic Temple are absent of absolute truth, largely based upon one’s autonomy.

The Satanic Temple, for example, believes individuals should act with “compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.” And these are the tenets they tout when attempting to appeal to schools. But this obviously leaves it up to the individual to decide the extent of “with reason.” The Satanic Temple also places an emphasis on justice, although it does not define what justice is. Once again, with the absence of absolute truth and emphasis on the self, it seems that, too, is up for each individual to decide.

This comes as Bible sales soar in 2024, and many purchasers are first time buyers.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/02/satanic-temple-religious-release-program-kicking-off-in-ohio-elementary-school/

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Actor James Woods has provided some much-needed perspective following President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter, saying the real issue isn’t drugs or guns, but rather “the money laundering scheme headed by the Big Guy.”

James Woods put the war in Ukraine front and center in an X post late Sunday, focusing on the billions of tax payer dollars the Biden presidency has funneled into the conflict.

“The Big Guy” is a reference to the nickname that is widely assumed to be for Joe Biden. The nickname was used in multiple business correspondences involving the Biden family and their mysterious overseas business partners.

James Woods @RealJamesWoods

The issue isn’t the kid’s gun, crack, and child trafficking crimes; it’s the money laundering scheme headed by the Big Guy. The U.S. has funded a $183B war to cover up the biggest criminal operation in American history.

No wonder they tried to kill Trump.

As Breitbart News reported, Biden has rolled out a full and complete pardon of his criminal son, Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden issued a statement Sunday, saying his “mistakes,” which were done “during the darkest days of my addiction,” were “exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”

The pardon comes after President Biden explicitly said he wouldn’t pardon his son.

The pardon renders moot Hunter Biden’s scheduled December 12 sentencing for his conviction on federal gun charges. He was also set to be sentenced in a separate criminal case this month on federal tax evasion charges.

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https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2024/12/02/james-woods-shreds-hunter-biden-pardon-as-cover-up-of-biggest-criminal-operation-in-american-history/

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Incoming California Senator Rep. Adam Schiff (D) demanded Sunday that the Senate reject the nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), continuing a long personal vendetta against Patel.

Adam Schiff @RepAdamSchiff

Kash Patel has publicly called for arresting members of the media and government officials.

And he is willing to do whatever Trump asks. Illegal, unethical or otherwise.

More suited as internet troll than FBI Director, the Senate must reject him. 4:57 PM · Dec 1, 2024

Schiff has been trying to destroy Patel ever since 2017, when Patel helped expose the fact that members of the outgoing Obama administration abused their power to “unmask” the names of Americans caught on foreign wiretaps, a practice that was thought to have led to the unjust firing and prosecution of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn over false allegations of collusion with Russia.

Schiff, then the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote a memorandum in which he attempted, unsuccessfully, to counter the claims of the Republican majority that the FBI’s surveillance of Carter Page, an aide to then-candidate Donald Trump, was justified.

Schiff’s claims were later debunked by a report by the Department of Justice Inspector General, which validated Republican concerns about the abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court by the FBI in its efforts to target Trump.

During the first impeachment investigation of President Trump, which Schiff led as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Democrats tried, in vain, to find evidence that Patel had been a “back channel” for Russia to Trump. The impeachment report cited a phone call between then-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Patel — which proved nothing but the fact that the committee had violated the president’s Sixth Amendment rights by spying on his legal counsel.

Schiff then served on the one-sided January 6 Committee, which pursued Patel again. Once again, it found no wrongdoing, and only belatedly released the transcript of his closed-door interview with the committee.

The claim that Patel wants to arrest members of the media and the government refers to his declaration that “conspirators” who broke the law in their effort to bring down Trump should be investigated and prosecuted.

That might well include Schiff himself, who violated the rights of witnesses in the impeachment and January 6 Committee investigations; lied to the public about Russia “collusion,” while referring to his access to intelligence information; and did not preserve the documentary evidence collected by the January 6 Committee for review, thus denying defendants in numerous criminal cases access to potentially exculpatory evidence in their defense.

As of Monday morning, Schiff had not commented on President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter, for crimes dating back to Hunter’s appointment to the board of the corrupt Ukrainian gas company, Burisma. Schiff’s entire case against Trump was premised on the false claim that there was no reason to suspect Hunter Biden’s role was corrupt, and that Trump had abused his power for political gain by asking Ukraine to investigate the matter.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/02/adam-schiff-demands-senate-reject-kash-patel-long-time-nemesis-as-fbi-director/

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National security authorities in Hungary are investigating a possible sabotage plot targeting the Russian Druzhba oil pipeline, the Magyar Nemzet newspaper reported on Monday. The pipeline carrying Russian crude to landlocked countries in Central Europe was at the center of a spat between Budapest and Brussels over the summer.

Hungary’s Anti-Terrorism Center was alerted by authorities in neighboring Slovakia over the weekend that “an organized group” was operating in both countries carrying out “field survey” in the vicinity of the pipeline. The activities could indicate “possible preparations for a terrorist attack” against the countries’ critical infrastructure, wrote the paper.

“Unfortunately, the Slovak announcement had to be taken seriously” by the Anti-Terrorism Center and the national security services, the report added.

Built in the 1960s, the Druzhba pipeline stretches some 4,000km (2,485 miles) and connects Russian and Kazakh oil suppliers with consumers in Europe. The pipeline branches off in Belarus, with the northern part going to Poland and Germany, and the southern branch to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

In June, Ukraine halted the transit of crude supplied by Russian energy giant Lukoil via the pipeline, citing its own sanctions on the company. The measure has directly hit landlocked Hungary and Slovakia, depriving them of oil previously exported by the company through Ukrainian territory. Lukoil’s supply was reportedly replaced by that of another Russian oil firm, Tatneft.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in July accused Brussels of orchestrating the suspension of Lukoil’s supply to blackmail the two states. Slovakia and Hungary are the only EU members that have rejected the bloc’s policies on supplying Kiev with military aid amid the conflict with Moscow. Both states have repeatedly called for the crisis to be solved through diplomacy.

In September, Hungarian energy company MOL reached a deal with suppliers and pipeline operators. Under its terms, the crude shipped via Ukraine would be officially sold to MOL before it crosses the country’s border.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s top adviser, Mikhail Podoliak, said at the time that Kiev will honor its agreements and transit Russian oil to Europe until the contracts expire in 2029.

The Washington Post reported last year that Zelensky secretly plotted a range of steps that contradicted his official statements at the time. The outlet cited classified US intelligence documents that detailed Zelensky’s plans to enter Russia and occupy villages along the border, to push for permission to use Western long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia’s borders, and to bomb a pipeline that transfers Russian oil to Hungary.

The first part of the plan has materialized in recent months with Kiev’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk Region and the permission by the US, the UK, and France to launch their long-range missiles deep into Russia.

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https://www.rt.com/news/608574-hungary-investigating-sabotage-plot-druzhba-pipeline/

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The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is set to open in North Dakota on July 4, 2026 — the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. — the foundation constructing the massive building said.

The “state-of-the-art” library will sit on more than 90 acres of the North Dakota Badlands, on the edge of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Fox News reported.

Artistic projections of the building created by the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation show a design meant to be cohesive with the surrounding nature, featuring an earthen roof that curves with the neighboring grassy hill:

“The grounds and roof will be made up of native plants and grasses so as to help restore the biodiversity of the region which has been degraded over time,” the outlet reported.

The building’s construction team said they reached multiple “new milestones” in October, including the official “topping out” of the main structure, which is when the highest point of the building is installed.

Edward O’Keefe, the CEO of the foundation, said in a statement that North Dakota “is the fulcrum of the hero’s journey in TR’s almost unbelievable life story.”

“[Roosevelt] wrote that if all his memories were to be taken from him, and he was forced only one memory from his incredible life he would choose to remember ‘my life on the ranch with its experiences close to nature and among the men who lived nearest her,’” O’Keefe, a North Dakota native, said. “He did not choose the memory of the Roughriders or the charge up Kettle Hill; he would not recall McKinley’s assassination and his rise from the vice presidency to the Oval Office … TR chose to remember North Dakota, and so North Dakota chooses to remember TR.”

“We want every visitor to the TR presidential library and museum to walk out understanding the role of nature as a restorative force in TR’s life, and that each of us can be the change we want to see in the world,” O’Keefe added. “This museum can be a platform for embracing civic dialogue, thoughtful debate, and inspiration around the globe.”

The library’s construction is supported by the former president’s great-great-grandson, Theodore Roosevelt V.

“My great great grandfather’s legacy of citizenship, leadership, and conservation are as relevant today as they were during the height of his presidency,” Roosevelt said in a statement on the library’s website. “When you focus on people interested in solutions rather than divisive rhetoric, it becomes clear that there is much more that unites us than divides us – just as there was at the turn of the 20th century.”

“Like Theodore Roosevelt, a man of paradoxes – Republican and progressive, crusader against monopolies and capitalist, hunter and conservationist, partisan and rogue independent – our country is many different things,” he added. “Finding the commonality among them may just be the key to America’s future.”

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https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2024/12/01/theodore-roosevelt-presidential-library-to-open-on-july-4-2026-in-north-dakota/

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A leading demographer has warned that the white British population may become a minority by the middle of the century if current trends continue as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declared this week that the “open borders experiment” was a failure imposed on the country by “design”.

In an apparent confirmation of what many derided as a “conspiracy theory”, the notion of a “Great Replacement” agenda, Prime Minister Starmer said that previous Tory governments “deliberately” decided to liberalise immigration following Brexit to “turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders.”

“This happened by design, not accident. Policies were reformed… Global Britain – remember that slogan… That is what they meant. A policy with no support… Well that’s unforgivable,” he said.

While the prime minister was correct in noting that the so-called Conservative governments of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak allowed in unprecedented levels of immigration following Brexit — by refusing to put an annual cap on immigration resulting in nearly one million migrants arriving last year, alone — the open borders agenda imposed on the country pre-dates Tory rule.

Indeed, prior to the Labour government of former PM Tony Blair, the UK had net migration in the tens of thousands, however, under Blair this began to soar into the hundreds of thousands per year. In 2009, former Blair advisor Andrew Neather claimed that this was a deliberate policy to transform Britain into a multicultural society and to “rub the right’s nose in diversity.”

The mass migration policies of both Labour and Conservative governments have had a radical impact on the demographic make up of the UK, with the 2021 census finding that less than three quarters (74.4 per cent) of the population identify as a member of indigenous ethnic groups of the British Isles (English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, or British). This is compared to 80 per cent in 2011 and 87.5 per cent in 2001.

Associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London and a senior member at St Antony’s College, Oxford, Dr Paul Morland warned this week that if the political class fails to reverse course, the native white British population could become a minority in their own country by 2050.

Dr Morland, who has been described as the UK’s leading demographer, said that since the Blair administration, the UK has seen “more immigration than we had in the whole period from the Norman Conquest to the Second World War.”

He said that if the government continues on the same course, people in the country 30 years ago were overwhelmingly the descendants of people here a thousand years ago, that’s not going to be the case in the middle of the century.” However, Dr Morland argued that “nothing is predetermined”, pointing to the example of former British colony Singapore, which strictly controls immigration.

“It’s a choice, what do we as a country want and does that manage to get expressed and implemented by our politicians. It seems quite clear to me that those two are not the same, the country wants one thing and the politicians are not prepared to follow,” he said.

Noting the “related” issue of declining birth rates, the top demographer said that cutting immigration must be accompanied with pro-natalist policies to encourage the native population have more children to mitigate the financial impacts of a declining population. Morland has previously pointed to policies implemented by the populist-conservative government of Viktor Orbán in Hungary, such as tax and other incentives for mothers, as a potential framework.

While Prime Minister Starmer committed this week to increasing economic opportunities for young people and reforming the immigration system, his government has refused to commit to an annual cap on immigration, which critics have argued is necessary to stem the massive influx of foreigners into the country.

Commentators on social media asserted that Starmer’s comments were an implicit admission of the much-derided “Great Replacement Theory”. Although often portrayed as a “racist” conspiracy theory, the concept, developed by French Renaud Camus, argues that the real aim of mass migration policies are motivated by economics, with leaders seeing their populations as little more than interchangeable cogs who can be changed out with little consequence to bolster GDP.

Speaking to Breitbart News in 2018, Camus said that globalist forces, such as those involved with the Davos-based World Economic Forum, support “the change of people and civilisation for the sake of the industry of man, the economic system which produces the Undifferentiated Human Matter, the human Nutella, spreadable at will.”

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https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/12/01/white-british-set-to-become-minority-by-2050-warns-top-demographer-as-pm-starmer-says-failed-open-borders-experiment-imposed-by-design/

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