WORLD NEWS
170 Arrests in Ottawa as Police Continue Operation Against Protesters Opposed to COVID-19 Mandates
Wearing helmets while wielding batons and pepper spray, police smashed truck windows and pushed back against protesters on Feb. 19 as law enforcement continued to close in on the main site of the protest in downtown Ottawa.
Ottawa police said on Feb. 19 that since the law enforcement’s expanded operation began, 170 arrests have been made, 22 license plates have been seized, and 53 vehicles have been towed.
A heavy police presence remained in downtown Ottawa, a day after law enforcement escalated operations against protesters opposed to COVID-19 mandates in order to clear demonstrations around the area of Canada’s Parliament Buildings.
Police have cleared many trucks and vehicles from the protest site, and more drove away on Feb. 19, but some still remain. Demonstrators also still remain in the area, with some new protesters joining on Feb. 19.
Interim leader of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party Candice Bergen says the situation unfolding in the nation’s capital as police clamp down on protesters was created by the prime minister “and his desire to divide Canadians.”
“I’m disturbed & saddened by what we are seeing today in Ottawa. This situation was created by the PM & his desire to divide Canadians,” Bergen said in a tweet on Feb. 18. “It’s time for MPs to return to the House tomorrow to stop the overreach by this government & restore unity, wholeness & hope back to our nation.”
Police escalated their operation against protesters in Ottawa on Feb. 18, making over 100 arrests and towing over 20 vehicles. Mounted police and officers on foot advanced on demonstrators, with horses in some instances knocking down protesters.
Vicious media harass Freedom Convoy donors doxxed in GiveSendGo hack
Media outlets are continuing to message small-dollar donors to the Freedom Convoy whose identities were leaked to the public after a hack of crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.
Several major publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, ran stories earlier this week based on the leaked data analyzing the origins of Freedom Convoy funding. Both outlets published the names of Freedom Convoy donors and reported contacting small-dollar donors to investigate their contributions.
Local newspapers have also begun to dig into the data and message donors as well as publish names of individuals included on the list; Delaware Online published a story Friday naming a high-level officer of the Delaware Transit Corporation whose name appeared in the leaked data.
Prominent media figures and politicians from across the political spectrum have criticized the practice of publications messaging small-dollar donors, including Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who ripped into a journalist reporting on the harassment of an Ottawa business owner.
GiveSendGo Says Some Donations Sent to Truckers, Rest in ‘Undisclosed US Bank’
The crowdfunding company GiveSendGo still has some of the money people donated to the Canadian trucker convoy protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the company said on Feb. 18.
GiveSendGo became the preferred crowdfunding site for the protesters after another platform, GoFundMe, suddenly seized donations meant for the convoy and said the money would be shunted to unnamed charities.
After backlash, GoFundMe said it would automatically refund all of the donations but protesters urged people to turn to GiveSendGo because of what unfolded.
GiveSendGo has run into problems in recent days, though, including being hacked in mid-February.
Additionally, a Canadian court moved to freeze all donations for the convoy raised on GiveSendGo. Over $8 million had been donated; that figure is now over $9.6 million.
In its update Friday titled “Where’s the money?” GiveSendGo said many people have been asking about the donations. The truckers have received some of the funds, the company said, but not all.
The “bulk of the funds are in an undisclosed U.S. bank,” GiveSendGo said.
That was one of the steps taken to prevent the court-ordered freeze from taking place.
“Right now, the teams involved are actively discussing the legal options for getting the funds where they need to go,” the company added.
GiveSendGo did not respond to a list of emailed questions, including exactly how much of the money has been conveyed to the truckers.
The company is asking people who donated not to request a refund because the funds “will be needed for the truckers and their legal teams.”
French Modeling Executive Accused of Helping Epstein Procure Young Girls Found Dead in Prison
Jean-Luc Brunel, a longtime French modeling agent who was detained in December 2020 as part of an inquiry into allegations of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, was found dead in his cell on Saturday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The investigation, opened in August 2019, was a preliminary inquiry into whether late financier and convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had committed sex crimes on French territory or against French victims.
Brunel, 76, was later charged with sexual harassment and rape of minors, and has been accused of procuring hundreds of girls for Epstein.
Brunel founded a U.S. modeling management company with Epstein but denied any wrongdoing related to his association with him.
Brunel was found hanged in his cell in the Sante prison in Paris at around 1 a.m. on Saturday, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the death, the spokesperson said.
Putin Could Be Planning ‘Biggest War in Europe’ Since WWII: Boris Johnson
Intelligence suggests that Kremlin could be planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945,” the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Feb. 19.
In an interview with the BBC in Munich, Johnson said a Russian invasion doesn’t just seem imminent, but “all the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun.”
But in a separate interview on the same day, he stressed that only Russian President Vladimir Putin knows what his agenda is, and said that there’s “still time for wiser counsel, still time for common sense to win.”
Russia has stationed more than 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine for about a month, but Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that it plans to invade its southern neighbor, claiming that its the troops are carrying out planned exercises while threatening unspecified “military-technical measures” if Washington continues to ignore its demands for NATO.
U.S. officials have said that the number of Russian troops has grown to more than 190,000 in recent days.
As police in Ottawa escalated operations for the second day in a row against the trucker protest opposed to the government’s COVID-19 mandates, a spokesperson for the movement, dubbed the “Freedom Convoy,” called for a peaceful withdrawal, saying they are not going to be a “punching bag for law enforcement.”
Speaking at a press conference at the Lord Elgin Hotel in downtown Ottawa on Feb. 19, retired Canadian military officer Tom Marazzo said many truckers feel that the best course of action for them and their families is to withdraw in order to avoid further harm.
“As a movement, we have chosen to peacefully withdraw from the streets of Ottawa. There is nothing to be gained by being brutalized by police,” Marazzo said.
Police began escalating their operation against the protesters in Ottawa on Feb. 18, announcing mid-morning Feb. 20 that they have thus far made 191 arrests and had 57 vehicles towed away. Mounted police and officers on foot advanced on demonstrators, with horses knocking down protesters in some instances.
Some police officers were heavily armed, including with assault rifles and what appeared to be rubber bullet launchers. Some wielded batons and pepper spray, while some smashed truck windows to remove truckers from their vehicles.
President Joe Biden canceled last-minute plans on Sunday to return home to Delaware as negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin continue.
At around 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, the White House announced that Biden would leave in the evening to return to his home in Delaware for Presidents’ Day, even though officials said Friday the president would remain at the White House for the weekend.
Biden appeared anxious to return home, but roughly an hour later, his plans were canceled.
A White House official told reporters “a family-related issue” prompted the brief schedule change but that the president would remain in Washington, DC, as originally planned.
The White House announced later Sunday evening that Biden had agreed to meet with Putin as long as he does not invade Ukraine.
US House Representative to Introduce Bill Offering Asylum to Canadian Truckers
Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.) said she is introducing a bill that would grant temporary asylum to individuals involved in the Canadian trucker protests.
“Just as we provide asylum for political prisoners, we should do the same for truckers who have been subjected to violence, had their property confiscated, and their bank accounts frozen by a government that is quickly becoming the embarrassment of the free world,” Herrell said in a statement on Twitter on Saturday.
Close to 200 protesters have been arrested in Ottawa since Feb. 18, according to police. However, there have been concerns, especially from Canada’s Conservative Party, that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is flirting with tyranny in how the protests are being dealt with.
“I am introducing legislation that would temporarily grant asylum to innocent Canadian protesters who are being persecuted by their own government. We cannot be silent as our neighbors to the north are treated so badly,” Herrell added.
Last week, Trudeau became the first Canadian prime minister to invoke the Emergencies Act, giving the government additional powers to curb protesting and blockades. In a Twitter post, Trudeau claimed the truckers were carrying out “illegal blockades and occupations,” which are “a threat to jobs and communities, and they cannot continue.”
Ghislaine Maxwell’s Family ‘Fears for Her Safety’ After Alleged Epstein Accomplice Found Dead
The family of UK socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021, has said that they’re fearful for her safety following the death of model agent Jean-Luc Brunel in his French jail cell on Feb. 19.
Maxwell allegedly introduced Brunel to Jeffrey Epstein, a disgraced financier and sex offender who was found dead in a New York jail cell in August 2019.
While Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide, questions remain about his cause of death—namely after an independent forensic pathologist said in 2020 that his death was “more indicative of homicide.” Now, many are asking questions about Brunel’s death after reports said no cameras recorded his death.
“It’s really shocking,” Ian Maxwell, one of Ghislaine’s siblings, told the New York Post. “Another death by hanging in a high-security prison. My reaction is one of total shock and bewilderment.”
Maxwell said the family “fears for [Ghislaine’s] safety” at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. She is currently awaiting sentencing.
“Despite the psychiatrist advising to the contrary, she was deemed a suicide risk and they are continuing to wake her up every 15 minutes in the night. It’s a complete violation of prisoner rights and human rights,” Ian Maxwell told the paper.
Brunel was found dead at about 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 19 in the La Santé Prison in Paris, hanged with bedsheets, according to statements the Paris prosecutor’s office made to media outlets, It isn’t clear if officials ruled whether Brunel killed himself.
Brunel’s attorneys told CNN that his “decision was not guided by guilt, but by a sense of injustice.” They suggested that he may have killed himself.
“Jean-Luc Brunel has never stopped claiming his innocence. He has multiplied his efforts to prove it. A judge had released him a few months ago, and then he was reincarcerated in undignified conditions,” attorneys Mathias Chichportich, Marianne Abgrall, and Christophe Ingrain said.
U.S. NEWS, POLITIC & GOVERNMENT
US re-erecting Capitol fence for Biden speech – media
Security preparations for a possible Freedom Convoy protest in Washington during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech on March 1 will reportedly include reinstallation of an unscalable barrier around the US Capitol complex.
Fox News reported on the fencing initiative on Sunday, citing concerns that truckers will use the occasion of Biden’s address to protest against Covid-19 mandates. The controversial barrier was originally erected after the January 2021 Capitol riot and was brought back last September for a much-hyped conservative rally that wound up having fewer protesters than police.
News of the fencing plan comes two days after the US Capitol Police Department announced that law enforcement agencies were preparing for the possible arrival of Freedom Convoy demonstrators around the time of Biden’s speech to Congress. The department is working with Washington police, the US Secret Service, and the National Guard, among other entities, to beef up security for the occasion.
Biden Extends US National Emergency Over COVID-19
President Joe Biden said the U.S. national emergency that was declared in early 2020 due to COVID-19 will be extended beyond March 1, citing what he called a “risk to the public health and safety.”
In a letter released on the White House website, Biden told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that “there remains a need to continue this national emergency.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the Nation. More than 900,000 people in this Nation have perished from the disease, and it is essential to continue to combat and respond to COVID-19 with the full capacity and capability of the Federal Government,” he wrote, adding that his office has “determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared” almost two years ago.
As of late last year, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Johns Hopkins University showed that there were 60,000 more COVID-19 deaths under the Biden administration than under the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump had declared a national emergency, which allowed the freeing up of about $50 billion in federal aid.
The emergency would have been automatically terminated unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the president sent a notice to Congress stating it would continue beyond the anniversary date.
“For this reason, the national emergency declared on March 13, 2020, and beginning March 1, 2020, must continue in effect beyond March 1, 2022,” Biden wrote in another statement, adding that the notice will be published in the Federal Register.
His decision to extend the emergency comes as several Democratic governors moved to rescind COVID-19 mandates, including mask rules, in recent days. The governors of New York and Massachusetts announced last week that they would end certain mask mandates in their states, following similar moves by New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon.
Meanwhile, federal health officials last week indicated during a White House briefing that they were preparing for the next phase of the pandemic, as Omicron cases have dropped.
Tom Cotton: Biden Bringing ‘Suspected Bomb-Makers and Terrorists’ to U.S.
President Joe Biden’s unlimited resettlement of Afghans has brought “dozens of suspected bomb-makers and terrorists” to the United States, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) says.
As Breitbart News reported, a Department of Defense Inspector General report reveals that Biden’s agencies failed to properly vet Afghans arriving in the U.S. As of November 2021, the report states 50 Afghans already in the U.S. have been flagged for “significant security concerns.”
Parents say grade-school science camp’s woke sleeping arrangements put males with their young girls
A group of parents from a California elementary school are outraged after discovering that a school science camp allowed male counselors to sleep in the same room with 10-year-old girls.
The parents of students from Weaver Elementary School in Los Alamitos are blasting the Los Alamitos Unified School District because they were not told that their little girls would be sleeping in the same room with counselors who claim to be “non-binary” or transgender during the science camp at Camp Pali in San Bernardino County, according to KTLA.
“No parent should feel the way I feel after knowing what could have happened to my daughter,” parent Suzy Johnson said.
Police: 1 Killed, 5 Hurt in Park Shooting in Portland
One person was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting Saturday night at a Portland park.
The shooting at Normandale Park happened during a confrontation between an armed homeowner and armed protesters, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Responding officers found one woman dead, and two men and three other women were taken to the hospital.
Their conditions have not been released, and police have not named anyone involved in the shooting.
“The scene was extremely chaotic, and a number of witnesses were uncooperative with responding officers,” the police department said in a statement released Sunday. “Most people on scene left without talking to police. … This is a very complicated incident, and investigators are trying to put this puzzle together without having all the pieces.”
Lt. Nathan Sheppard, a spokesman for the department, said during a virtual news conference Sunday that it would be “irresponsible” to say if anyone had been arrested. He did not explain why when pressed by reporters, and he did not provide any other details about the circumstances of the shooting.
Social media flyers show that at the same time as the shooting, a march was planned for Amir Locke, a black man who was fatally shot by police in Minneapolis, KOIN-TV reported.
The number of homicides in Portland last year surpassed more populous cities such as San Francisco and Boston—and was more than double the number of slayings in its larger Pacific Northwest neighbor Seattle.
A constitutional doctrine resuscitated during legal challenges before the U.S. Supreme Court in the wake of Florida’s disputed 2000 election is finding traction in post-2020 election integrity lawsuits.
Proponents are espousing “Independent State Legislatures Doctrine” in legal arguments seeking to cuff state courts from “acting like ‘super legislators’” and assert state legislatures’ right as “necessary parties” in election-related lawsuits.
“It comes back to a very basic textural reading of the Constitution that vests the ability to regulate elections to state legislatures,” said Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project (HEP), created in February 2020 by the Federalist Society to spearhead election integrity initiatives. “This is a live issue—a theory we endorse.”
The doctrine is rooted in parts of two articles of the U.S. Constitution.
Article I declares state legislatures have authority to determine “times, places and manners of holding elections for Senators and Representatives.” Article II states “each state shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors” in presidential and vice-presidential elections.
The doctrine has been a buzz among conservatives since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Florida Supreme Court ruling that cited “suffrage principles” in the state’s Constitution to allow manual recounts in the disputed 2000 election.
Muckrakers Needed to Uncover Truth That ‘Those in Power Want Kept Hidden’: James O’Keefe
In a world where independent voices that question authority are canceled and the media relays to people what they were told to by those in power, there is a need for a new type of journalist–muckrakers who will make public the information that the powerful want to keep hidden, said James O’Keefe, founder of Project Veritas.
Exposing this kind of information requires the use of “disguise and undercover techniques” that raise ethical questions, O’Keefe said on EpochTV’s “Crossroads” program.
Beat reporters who need to focus on certain issues become wholly dependent upon their access to those in power, and do not want to jeopardize their relationships with those people in power, O’Keefe explained. As a result “they tend to play stenographer precisely when they should exercise independence,” he added.
“The only way that I found to not be so conflicted is to use hidden cameras and then use disguise,” the journalist said.
When O’Keefe founded Project Veritas, a non-profit investigative journalism enterprise, his journalists had to infiltrate the organization they were investigating and use pretense to get inside it.
For example, O’Keefe and his colleagues infiltrated an Antifa-linked group and secretly video-recorded some group members plotting at a meeting how to violently disrupt President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to Project Veritas’s website.
Rep. Jim Hagedorn of Minnesota Dies at 59
Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.) has died, his family confirmed on Friday. He was 59.
“It is with a broken heart, shattered spirit and overwhelming sadness I share my husband Congressman Jim Hagedorn passed away peacefully last night,” Hagedorn’s wife, former Minnesota state Republican party chair Jennifer Carnahan, wrote on social media.
She did not say what caused his death.
Hagedorn, who previously authored the blog Mr. Conservative, was elected to the House in 2018. He represented Minnesota’s 1st congressional district.
“Jim loved our country and loved representing the people of southern Minnesota,” Carnahan added. “Every moment of every day he lived his dream by serving others. There was no stronger conservative in our state than my husband; and it showed in how he voted, led and fought for our country.”
Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer in 2019 and received immunotherapy to treat the cancer.
“Today, one year later, I am happy to say I feel great and continue to perform my job in Congress unimpeded,” Hagedorn said in early 2020. “I have not missed even a single vote due to illness.”
Jan. 6 Defendants Get Probation Terms Long Enough to Cover Two Election Cycles
Two Jan. 6 defendants who pleaded guilty to illegal parading or picketing at the U.S. Capitol were each sentenced Thursday to 36 months probation, a length of time the judge said was designed to last through the next two election cycles to deter “political violence.”
Judge Beryl Howell, chief judge of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was critical of prosecutors for repeatedly making plea agreements using the misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. She said the charge in essence makes light of Jan. 6.
Howell emphasized to both defendants that what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, was not a political protest, nor could be considered speech protected by the First Amendment. She questioned both men on whether they believed at any time that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen.”
James D. Lollis Jr. of Greer, South Carolina pleaded guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. Lollis was convicted of entering the U.S. Capitol, affixing a “[expletive] Antifa” sticker to the wall, and spending about five minutes in the building.
Judge Howell sentenced Lollis to three years probation and three months of home detention and ordered him to pay $500 restitution and to perform 100 hours of community service within a year.
“The court finds a sentence of probation coupled with a period of home detention would be appropriate to ensure he is subject to the next couple of election cycles, that he does not engage in the political violence that occurred on January 6th,” the judge said.
Florida Hospital Immunity Legislation on DeSantis’s Desk Amid Growing Calls for Veto
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has until Feb. 24 to decide whether to sign, veto, or ignore legislation that protects health care providers from lawsuits related to COVID-19.
Florida lawmakers delivered SB 7014 to his desk late on Feb. 17, according to a statement from his office. Under the Florida Constitution, DeSantis has seven days to act on the measure. If he doesn’t address the legislation by Feb. 24, it will become law, taking effect immediately. That has put the Republican governor in a tight spot, forcing him to choose between aligning with his party or appeasing a growing number of constituents who are demanding a veto of the measure.
Support behind a letter stating why he should block the legislation has swelled to include signatures from 35 leaders of organizations representing a combined total of hundreds of thousands of people in Florida and beyond, according to the letter’s author, attorney R. Shawn McBride, of the American Freedom Information Institute.
The letter was hand-delivered to DeSantis’s office on Feb. 14. The organization updates his office daily on the growing number of people calling for his veto on the legislation.
The Republican-led effort on the measure seeks to extend a law that grants near-immunity to health care providers for, among other things, their treatment of COVID-19, as long as they follow “government-issued health standards relating to” the disease.
Patrick Wood To Testify Before The International Grand Jury, Court Of Public Opinion
Patrick Wood will be addressing the international Grand Jury, Court of Public Opinion on two consecutive Sundays: first (Feb. 22) on the intentional economic destruction caused by the orchestrated pandemic and secondly (Feb. 26) on eugenics and transhumanism. The livestream events and schedule can be accessed here.
Spearheaded by international attorney, Dr. Reiner Fuellmich, and the Corona Investigative Committee, the Grand Jury intends to determine if Crimes Against Humanity have been committed during the 2020-2022 pandemic period and if so, by whom?
According to a 2-5-22 press release,
This investigation is of the people, by the people and for the people and will be referred to as the ‘Peoples’ Court of Public Opinion. Having been unable to find a court to hear the actual evidence in the current system’s courts of law, we are undertaking this proceeding outside of the current system and based on natural law. This, in turn is founded on the firm belief that every person can easily distinguish between good and evil, and between right and wrong.
The allegation is that the world’s governments have come under the controlling influence of corrupt and criminal power structures. They colluded to stage a pandemic that they had been planning for years. To this end they deliberately created mass panic through false statements of fact and a socially engineered psychological operation whose messages they conveyed through the corporate media.
The outcome of the Grand Jury will not be determined until all testimony is heard and considered, after which a statement of determination will be released.
Location of Harris, Pence on Jan. 6 Becomes Key Part of Efforts to Fight Prosecution
Pinpointing the whereabouts of Vice President Kamala Harris and former Vice President Mike Pence have become a key part of efforts by multiple Jan. 6 defendants in fighting against prosecution.
Harris was the vice president elect and Pence still the vice president when rioters entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Many charges say both Harris and Pence were inside the building when a defendant went into the Capitol or was on Capitol grounds. But the government is now admitting Harris left before the clock struck noon, well before the Capitol was breached. And fresh questions are being raised about where Pence went when Congress split up to consider objections to electoral votes before the breach.
Prosecutors have leveled the charge of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds against over 200 defendants, asserting the charge was warranted because people “did unlawfully and knowingly enter and remain in a restricted building and founds … where the vice president and vice president-elect were temporarily visiting, without lawful authority to do so.”
Many defendants have pleaded guilty to the charge in exchange for others being dropped, with a subset being sentenced to time in prison.
In recent months, though, prosecutors have said they learned Harris was not actually inside. The reference to her has quietly disappeared in some superseding indictments, but not all.
When prosecutors left the reference in an indictment against defendant Nicholas Rodean, it drew a harsh response from the federal judge overseeing the matter. He asserted it “suggests a certain lack of attention and care in the prosecution of this case.”
On Feb. 17, for the first time, prosecutors went into more detail about the whereabouts of Harris on the fateful day.
Former Police Officer Who Killed Daunte Wright Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison
A former police officer who fired shots that killed a fleeing man in Minnesota in 2021 was sentenced on Feb. 18 to two years in jail.
Kim Potter, who worked for the Brooklyn Center Police Department, faced up to 8 1/2 years in prison, but Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu said the lesser sentence was warranted because Potter was “in the line of duty and doing her job in attempting to lawfully arrest Daunte Wright” when Potter fired the shots.
Potter has said she believed she was drawing her Taser when she unholstered her firearm and pulled the trigger as Wright slipped from another officer’s grasp, entered his vehicle, and started driving away.
Potter’s attorneys pushed for no jail time while prosecutors asked the judge for the presumptive sentence, which would have been just over seven years.
“His life mattered, and that life was taken,” prosecutor Matt Frank said before the sentencing. “His name is Daunte Wright. We have to say his name. He was not just a driver. He was a living human being. A life.”
Defense attorney Paul Engh told the judge that Wright’s death was “beyond tragic for everybody involved.” But, he added, “this was an unintentional crime. It was an accident. It was a mistake.”
Chu said she believed Potter was trying to protect another officer who could have been dragged and seriously injured if Wright drove away, which played a role in the sentencing decision.
“Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically. She never intended to hurt anyone. Her conduct cries out for a sentence significantly below the guidelines,” Chu said.
“This is one of the saddest cases I’ve had on my 20 years on the bench,” the judge also said. “On the one hand, a young man was killed and on the other, a respected 26-year veteran police officer made a tragic error by pulling her handgun instead of her Taser.”
Potter was sentenced after being convicted of two counts of first- and second-degree manslaughter charges in the shooting of Daunte Wright on April 11, 2021.
Police Arrest 494 People in California in Week-Long Joint Human Trafficking Sting Operation
Nearly 500 people have been arrested in California in a human trafficking sting operation that took place ahead of the Super Bowl, authorities announced on Feb. 15.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva shared the results of the week-long campaign, dubbed “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild,” in a press conference, stating that the statewide operation had “met with positive results.”
Villanueva said the operation was conducted by the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force and more than 80 participating federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and task forces from across the state.
These included officers from Long Beach, San Bernardino County, and San Francisco, among others.
This is the seventh year Operation Reclaim and Rebuild has been conducted, officials said.
The sting operation took place between Feb. 6 and Feb. 12 and focused on “rescuing victims of sexual slavery and human trafficking, providing victims with much-needed services, identifying and arresting their captors, seeking successful prosecutions, and disrupting the demand for vulnerable victims by targeting their customers,” police said.
“Police agencies and other trafficking task forces throughout our state joined in the enforcement operation to send the clear message that California law enforcement shares a unified mandate: Human trafficking must not be tolerated in our state!” officials said.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
United Airlines’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate has violated some employees’ religious beliefs, according to a federal appeals court.
While the company’s mandate allows for religious exemption applications, even if those applications are granted, some employees to which they are granted are forced to stop working, receive no pay, and stop getting benefits paid by the company, a set of conditions described as unpaid leave.
The treatment of religious objections triggered a lawsuit, which asked a court to block the mandate for them, although a federal judge in November 2021 declined to do so, asserting plaintiffs didn’t prove they would suffer irreparably.
In the new ruling, dated Feb. 17, two judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found United’s treatment of religious objectors amounted to “coercion.”
“United has presented plaintiffs with two options: violate their religious convictions or lose all pay and benefits indefinitely. That is an impossible choice for plaintiffs who want to remain faithful but must put food on the table. In other words, United is actively coercing employees to abandon their convictions,” Circuit Judges Jennifer Walker Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, and Andy Oldham, a Trump appointee, wrote in the unsigned majority opinion.
The judges noted that United CEO Scott Kirby told workers at a town hall that “very few” religious exemption applications would be accepted and that United has asked workers seeking an exemption a number of questions, such as whether they received vaccines in the past created with the help of stem cells.
United’s decision “to coerce the plaintiffs into violating their religious convictions” brings about the harm that “is irreparable and supports a preliminary injunction”—a ruling that would block the mandate while the case is ongoing—the judges said.
They remanded the case back to U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, the Trump appointee who turned down the preliminary injunction request last year.
Family Dollar Recalls Products in 404 Stores Due to Rodent Infestation
Family Dollar is recalling a range of products shipped to 404 stores across six states due to the presence of rodents and rodent activity at one the company’s distribution centers, after federal health inspectors found unsanitary conditions at the facility, including decomposing carcasses of dead rodents.
In a Feb. 18 notice, Family Dollar said the voluntary recall includes all drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, dietary supplements, and human and pet food products, citing “numerous hazards associated with rodents including the potential presence of Salmonella,” a bacteria that can be fatal in some people.
The recall applies to products at 404 stores listed in the recall notice, with the items shipped from Family Dollar Distribution Center 202 in West Memphis, Arkansas, from Jan. 1, 2021, through the present.
No consumer complaints or reports of illnesses related to the recall have been noted, Family Dollar said.
“We take situations like this very seriously and are committed to providing safe and quality products to our customers,” a company spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “We have been fully cooperating with all regulatory agencies in the resolution of this matter and are in the process of remediating the issue.”
The spokesperson added that the affected stores have been temporarily closed to carry out the recall and that “our teams are working hard to reopen these stores as soon as possible.”
Can Bitcoin Circumvent Economic Tyranny?
Mercola – Finance guru Catherine Austin Fitts and Aleks Svetski, editor of Bitcoin Times magazine, discuss the breakdown of our economy and potential solutions
Svetski believes Bitcoin not only is the answer to economic tyranny, but to individual sovereignty, while Fitts believes central bank control mechanisms are still at play within it
Fitts argues for building a new economy based on health, cooperation, peace and transparency, and recommends investing in things that will keep you alive
Svetski argues that in order to build any of the above, we must start with an incorruptible foundation. The “language of value” (money) cannot be owned or issued by any man-made political authority; it must emerge organically as a transparent, voluntary ‘constitution in code’
A major hurdle is overcoming the globalists’ mind control and propaganda influence. Everyone agreed that this is why people must be educated across multiple dimensions, not just money, but health, individuality, philosophy, ethics, economics and more
Fitts believes a successful transition requires preventing the control grid from coming into place, and clawing back the money that has been stolen. Since 1998, at least $21 trillion, and perhaps as much as $100 trillion, has been stolen from the U.S. government
Trump launches social media network
Former US President Donald Trump’s social media network launched for a wide array of users on Monday. Truth Social is welcoming its first users via the App Store and is expected to be fully operational in the country by the end of March. Apple users were able to pre-subscribe while it remained closed in beta.
The platform is similar to Twitter in functionality, but is promoted as differing from its competitors by being a “social media platform that is free from political discrimination.” Trump was infamously kicked off major sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube last year for allegedly inciting the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
Truth Social updated to version 1.0 (and later to 1.0.1 after bug fixes) on Monday, keeping with the schedule that was announced last Friday by its chief product officer, who goes by ‘Billy B.’, during a Q&A session.
Bernie Madoff’s sister and her husband found dead in alleged murder-suicide
The sister of disgraced Wall Street titan Bernie Madoff and her husband – who were also victims of the Ponzi schemer’s massive fraud – have died from gunshot wounds in a case that police are investigating as a possible murder-suicide.
Sondra Wiener, 87, and Marvin Wiener, 90, were found dead in their Boynton Beach, Florida home on Thursday afternoon. Police confirmed on Sunday that the deaths may have been a murder-suicide, though it wasn’t disclosed which spouse was suspected of doing the shooting.
Multiple suicides have already been linked to Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, which unraveled in 2008, after he admitted the fraud to his sons. His oldest son, Mark, reportedly hanged himself to death on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest, leaving behind a note blaming the financier for ruining his life. Several investors also killed themselves over their losses in the scheme, including a hedge fund executive whose firm had invested $7 billion with Madoff.
His younger son, Andrew, died in 2014 after blaming his father for recurrence of the rare cancer from which he suffered. “One way to think of this is, the scandal and everything that happened killed my brother very quickly, and it’s killing me slowly,” he said in a People magazine interview.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Wisconsin Child Dies From ‘Rare’ Syndrome Linked to COVID-19: Officials
A child in southeastern Wisconsin died from a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), said the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in a statement.
The agency said it is the first reported death from multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19, the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, in the state of Wisconsin. About 183 cases of the condition, described as “rare but serious,” have been found in the state so far.
The child who died was not identified. They were said to have been under the age of 10 and lived in southeastern Wisconsin, according to the health agency.
“We are saddened to report that a child has passed away from MIS-C,” State Health Officer Paula Tran said in a statement. “Although COVID-19 cases are declining throughout the state, we are still seeing very high levels of disease transmission in all 72 counties. As COVID-19 continues to cause illness, hospitalizations, and death in our communities, we urge all Wisconsinites to take steps to protect themselves against COVID-19.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), MIS-C causes parts of the body to become inflamed, affecting vital areas such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, and other organs.
“Above 60 percent of our cases actually need to be admitted into the pediatric intensive care unit. Many of the children are suffering from cardiology problems, or gastrointestinal problems,” Tom Haupt, a state respiratory disease epidemiologist, said in a statement.
The agency said that most MIS-C cases occur in children between the ages of 3 and 12 years old who were exposed to the CCP virus.
“If your child is showing any emergency warning signs of MIS-C, such as lingering fever, trouble breathing, chest pain or pressure that does not go away, confusion, inability to wake up or stay awake, bluish lips or face, or severe abdominal pain, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately,” said the department.
New York Won’t Enforce COVID-19 Booster Mandate for Health Sector Over Staffing Concerns
New York on Friday rolled back on a Feb. 21 deadline that would require healthcare workers to get a COVID-19 booster shot or risk losing their jobs or salary, citing concerns about staffing shortages.
“The reality is that not enough healthcare workers will be boosted by next week’s requirement,” said Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the state’s health commissioner, adding that officials cannot immediately enforce the mandate because it could create “substantial staffing issues.”
“That is why we are announcing additional efforts to work closely with healthcare facilities and ensure that our healthcare workforce is up to date on their doses,” Bassett said.
The COVID-19 vaccine mandate will instead be reassessed in three months to see whether additional steps need to be taken to increase booster rates among the workforce, the New York State Department of Health said in a statement.
According to the latest data reported by state health facilities, about 75 percent of healthcare workers have received, or are willing to receive another dose.
“The vaccine and booster are critical tools to keep both healthcare workers and their patients safe, and we continue to urge everyone to get vaccinated and receive a booster dose when eligible,” Bassett said.
Health care industry leaders, including Greater New York Hospital Association President Kenneth Raske, had recently urged state officials to reassess the mandate, The Associated Press reported.
“The state has recently heard from numerous stakeholders about how enforcement of the booster mandate could exacerbate New York’s health care staffing shortage, which is the subject of a declared emergency,” Raske said in a statement.
New York’s decision to halt the COVID-19 booster shot mandate was also praised by other leaders as a smart move.
Group of Doctors, Scientists Call for Immediate Removal of All COVID-19 Restrictions
A group of leading scientists, doctors, and policy professionals says it is time to end all COVID-19 restrictions across Canada, including vaccine mandates and passports.
Known as the Canada Science & Policy Committee to Exit the Pandemic, the group says the pandemic is effectively over because it has reached endemic stage.
“It’s endemic. We’re good to go on the general immunity front,” Irvin Studin, co-chair of the committee, said at a press conference on Feb. 18.
“At the front end on COVID-19, all restrictions are, for all practical intents and purposes, to be removed expressly. Vaccination mandates, vaccination passports, masking requirements, quarantining requirements, testing requirements are to be removed expressly.”
The group issued a national exit plan on Feb. 18, detailing how Canada can transit out of the pandemic over the next few months, with an emphasis on dropping all related mandates and restrictions immediately.
For the immunocompromised, aged, and those with comorbidities, the group recommended early interventions, seasonal vaccination, and other treatments.
Studin said now that the plan is ready, it will be briefed to governments and decision-makers across the country. He noted many of them have already been briefed.
“It will help them. In some cases, they will use it outright. In other cases, they will fill in details for local realities,” he said.
The exit committee, made up of 15 members across disciplines and all regions in Canada, was launched in January under the aegis of the think tank Institute for 21st Century Questions (21CQ).
Omicron Is ‘Type of Vaccine’ That Gives Cellular Immunity, Spreads Faster Than Vaccines: Bill Gates
Billionaire Bill Gates says the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has spread faster across the world than the COVID-19 vaccines have, and that the variant is a “type of vaccine” that gives people cellular immunity. He also predicted on Feb. 18 that another pandemic was coming, and shared what he believes should be done “next time.”
At the 2022 Munich Security Conference, attended by security experts, politicians, and people of influence around the world, the Microsoft co-founder was asked: “Where would you assess where we are today in beating COVID-19?”
“Well, sadly, the virus itself, particularly the variant called Omicron, is the type of vaccine—that is, it creates both B cell and T cell immunity—and it’s done a better job of getting out to the world population than we have with vaccines,” Gates said.
B cell and T cell immunity, also referred to as cellular immunity, comprise alternate mechanisms of immunity than antibodies. A study published in Nature suggests that the immune system’s T cells may offer protection against COVID-19 by “remembering past encounters with other human coronaviruses.”
Meanwhile, a study published in the medical journal Cell (pdf) said that data suggests “SARS-CoV-2 elicits broadly directed and functionally replete memory T cell responses, suggesting that natural exposure or infection may prevent recurrent episodes of severe COVID-19.”
Gates told the conference that the risk of severe disease from contracting COVID-19 has been dramatically reduced due to people having been exposed to various variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
“If you do serosurveys in African countries, you get well over 80 percent of people [who] have been exposed either to the vaccine or to various variants. And so what that does is it means the chance of severe disease—which is mainly associated with being elderly and having obesity or diabetes—those risks are now dramatically reduced because of that infection exposure,” he said.
Treating Long-Haul COVID-19: Act Sooner Rather Than Later
Many of the symptoms can also mirror those caused by COVID-19 vaccinations, and McCullough details the four categories of COVID-19 vaccine-injury syndromes that he has seen in his practice. While anyone can experience long COVID, those who are sick enough to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit are more likely to be affected.
According to McCullough, 50 percent of this group will have manifestations of long COVID syndrome.
“So the sicker someone is and the longer the duration of COVID, the more likely they are to have long COVID syndrome,” he said. “That’s the reason why we like early treatment. We shorten the duration of symptoms and there’s less of a chance for long COVID syndrome.”
NIH Director Blames Dr. Mercola for Pandemic Continuation
During a February 4, 2022, interview with Time magazine,1 former National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins accused me of being to blame for the government’s inability to bring the COVID pandemic to a close.
In his mind, the COVID-19 deaths experienced in the U.S. were not due to the lack of appropriate treatment but, rather, our failure to get a needle into every arm in America. In other words, vaccine resistance is the reason COVID-19 is still with us, and people who share basic facts about the COVID jabs are to blame for that.
Time’s editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe asked Collins why so many of those who distrust vaccines are Christians, to which he replied, in part:
“I don’t want to blame any of those people who have been somehow seduced by misinformation into a position that is not good for them. I want to blame the people who are spreading the misinformation especially those who know it’s not true and are doing so anyway …
I look at what happens in social media, at the top 12 distributors of false information on Facebook. And some of them are doctors who are making a lot of money on this.
They’re the people who I have the hardest time forgiving, physicians who have given an oath to do no harm and are now saying ‘These vaccines are dangerous,’ and ‘Here is an alternative approach and that if you buy from me, you’ll be fine.’ Look at Dr. Joseph Mercola from Florida.”
Before correcting the article, Luscombe interjected at this point, asking, “The one who claims to be the inventor of mRNA?” to which Collins replied, “Yes.” In the corrected copy, Collins reply is changed to, “No that’s Dr. Robert Malone …”
But originally, both of them somehow managed to get the two of us confused. I guess it’s hard to keep all the facts straight when you’re trying to cover up lies with more lies.
‘Worst Experience of My Life’: Early Vaccine Adopters Suffer Injuries, Struggle to Get Proper Care
Dr. Danice Hertz remembers vividly the day she got a COVID-19 vaccine.
Hertz, a retired gastroenterologist, received Pfizer’s shot on Dec. 23, 2020, less than two weeks after U.S. regulators granted it emergency use authorization.
Thirty minutes went by before an adverse reaction started.
“My face started burning and tingling and my eyes got blurry,” Hertz told The Epoch Times. She also felt faint.
Her husband called paramedics, who came and found Hertz’s blood pressure was sky-high. They recommended she call a doctor.
Hertz became so sick she feared she would die. She experienced symptoms including severe facial pain, chest constriction, tremors, twitching limbs, and tinnitus.
“I felt like someone was pouring acid on me,” Hertz, of Los Angeles, California, said.
Hertz survived but still suffers. She has been to numerous specialists. Multiple experts found indications the vaccine triggered the reaction, according to medical records reviewed by The Epoch Times.
Hertz is one of millions of Americans who chose to get one of the COVID-19 vaccines soon after the government cleared them.
Since then, hundreds of millions of doses have been administered. Many recipients have been fine, if less protected than they were initially promised. But a growing number have endured severe reactions and have struggled to obtain treatments for their ailments.
NIH Director Blames Dr. Mercola for Pandemic Continuation
During a February 4, 2022, interview with Time magazine, former National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins blamed me for the government’s inability to bring the COVID pandemic to a close
Collins also, in apparent confusion, misidentified me as the inventor of the mRNA vaccine
It seems Collins is desperately trying to deflect from the NIH’s involvement in the pandemic. From the start, Collins denied the possibility of a lab leak, even though most of the evidence pointed straight in that direction
Collins has also denied that the NIH funded risky gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, despite documented evidence of such funding
For now, Collins appears to be protected by political powers, including the Department of Homeland Security, which recently labeled free speech as domestic terrorism and criminalized truth telling. According to the DHS, people who “undermine public trust in government institutions” are the primary “threat actors”
Hospitalizations of Children Dropped During COVID-19 Pandemic: Study
Hospitalizations among children during the COVID-19 pandemic declined, according to a study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but those who were hospitalized were mostly due to the coronavirus.
The study diagnosed children up to the age of 17 years, splitting them into three groups of 0–4, 5–11, and 12–17 years.
“Compared with 2019, overall pediatric emergency department visits decreased by 51 percent, 22 percent, and 23 percent during 2020, 2021, and January 2022, respectively,” according to the Feb. 18 report.
“COVID-19 visits predominated across all pediatric ages; visits for other respiratory illnesses mostly declined. Number and proportion of visits increased for certain injuries (e.g., firearm injuries, self-harm, and drug poisonings), some chronic diseases, and behavioral health concerns, with variations by age group.”
Pediatric emergency department visits “declined sharply” during 2020 as compared to 2019. During January 2021 and January 2022, emergency department visits remained lower when compared to the period prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report speculates that the fall in emergency department visits might be due to the “parents’ and caregivers’ risk perception and avoidance of [emergency departments] or health care, among other reasons.”
By the end of 2021, an increase in weekly emergency department visits among kids aged up to four years was observed, in line with the increased spread of the Omicron variant. However, there weren’t any notable increases among the other two age groups.
“COVID-19-associated visits, and those for exposure and screening for infectious disease, were the top two visit diagnoses for children of all age groups during January 2022,” the report said.
The research suggests that COVID-19 preventive measures may have played a role in bringing down the transmission of other respiratory viruses as the proportion of visits for non-COVID-19 respiratory illnesses among the three age groups declined.
But in January 2022, the proportion of visits for respiratory symptoms like coughs and other conditions like fevers and viral infections went up.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated already high mental health concerns among children, the report added.
Funeral Home Stocks Surge, Death and Disability Payouts Soar
Business is booming at funeral homes across the U.S. as death rates creep up, particularly among young, working-age individuals
Ex-Blackrock fund manager Ed Dowd has been analyzing data about mortality rates before and after COVID-19 shots became widespread, and found that death rates worsened in 2021 — after the shots became prevalent — compared to 2020
Insurance companies are seeing increases in payouts for death and disability; Lincoln National stated death claims have increased 13.7% year over year and 54% in quarter 4 compared to 2019
Scott Davison, the CEO of insurance company OneAmerica, reported the death rate for 18- to 64-year-olds has risen 40% compared to before the pandemic
A study by Dr. Peter McCullough and colleagues suggests people who’ve received COVID-19 shots may have damage to their innate immune system that’s leading to a form of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
US Agencies Quietly Studying Reports of Post-Vaccination Neurological Issues
Two U.S. agencies have been quietly studying neurological problems that have appeared in people who have had COVID-19 vaccines, The Epoch Times has found.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been conducting separate research projects into post-vaccination neurological issues, which have manifested with symptoms like facial paralysis and brain fog and have been linked in some cases with the vaccines, according to emails reviewed by The Epoch Times.
One attempt to gain understanding of a problem that experts around the world are struggling to understand is being carried out by Dr. Janet Woodcock, who was acting commissioner of the FDA until Feb. 17.
Woodcock, now the FDA’s principal deputy director, has been personally evaluating neurologic side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines since at least Sept. 13, 2021, according to the emails, many of which have not been reported on previously. FDA epidemiologists are also gathering data to look into the issues, according to messages from Dr. Peter Marks, another top FDA official.
A team at the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), meanwhile, started seeing patients reporting vaccine injuries for a study in early 2021 after receiving complaints shortly after the vaccines were made available. A portion of the patients was examined in person at the Bethesda, Maryland, facility.
None of the reviews or studies appear to have been announced, and health officials have said little about them publicly, despite a growing recognition among experts that at least some issues are likely linked to the vaccines.
Study Finds Ivermectin ‘Did Not Prevent’ Severe COVID-19, but Doctors Alliance Calls It ‘Misleading’
A peer-reviewed study in which researchers concluded that ivermectin treatment during early COVID-19 “did not prevent” severe disease in high-risk patients has been criticized by an alliance of doctors for being “misleading.”
In the open-label randomized clinical trial, also referred to as the “The I-TECH Randomized Clinical Trial,” published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal on Feb. 18, researchers said their findings “do not support the use of ivermectin for patients with COVID-19.”
The study involved results from 490 patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in Malaysia. Participants were aged 50 and over, with at least one documented comorbidity. People who did not develop symptoms or who had severe COVID-19 were not included in the trial.
The trial was conducted in 20 hospitals and a COVID-19 quarantine center in the country between May 31 and Oct. 25, 2021. Of the group, 249 participants received standard care, while 241 received a course of oral ivermectin over five days in addition to standard care.
Researchers said they found that 21.6 percent of patients in the ivermectin group and 17.3 percent in the standard care group progressed to “severe disease.”
They wrote that there were no statistically significant differences between the two cohorts in how many needed mechanical ventilation, had to be admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), or died within 28 days after having been admitted to the hospital.
Queen Elizabeth II Tests Positive for COVID-19
The UK’s Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 20, two weeks after she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee for 70 years on the throne.
The 95-year-old monarch is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms, and she’s expected to continue carrying out “light duties” this week, according to Buckingham Palace.
The queen, who’s believed to have been vaccinated and boosted, reportedly met with Prince Charles on Feb. 8, two days before he tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, for the second time.
Charles, the queen’s eldest son and heir to the throne, caught the virus in March 2020, but only had mild symptoms.
He also made a speedy full recovery this time. His wife, the 74-year-old Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, also tested positive, with Clarence House confirming on Feb. 14 that the duchess was self-isolating.
“The Queen has today tested positive for COVID,” Buckingham Palace stated on Feb. 20. “Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week.
CDC: 10 Percent Chance for Genomic Sequencing of COVID-19 PCR Nasal Swab
In a Feb. 16 tweet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that a large percentage of nasal swab PCR tests for COVID-19 were ultimately subjected to genomic sequencing analysis, raising red flags among some people about the genetic privacy of individuals who took such tests.
Harvard professor Alberto Ascherio told Newsweek that those genomic sequencing analyses are of viral RNA, not human DNA, with the aim of tracking viral transmission as well as the emergence of new strains.
Yet, Ascherio acknowledged that human DNA could hypothetically be sequenced, as it is present on the swab as well—”which is probably what people may worry about if they are in [a] conspiracy mood.”
In a statement to The Epoch Times, a CDC spokesperson said only SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences are analyzed for the swabs in question.
“A recent CDC tweet regarding genomic sequencing led some people to believe that personal identifying information was included in samples processed in the sequencing program,” the spokesperson said.
“That is not the case. Laboratories around the country examine viral sequences from positive samples which contain no personal identifying information. CDC analyzes SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences from these labs to identify and compare variants, monitor their spread, and evaluate the potential impact on medical treatments and vaccines.”
The CDC’s comments come at a time of deepening wariness of pronouncements from public health authorities. A January 2022 survey from NBC News found that just 44 percent of Americans trust what the CDC has to say—a decrease from 69 percent in April 2020. While only 13 percent of Americans actively distrusted the CDC’s coronavirus messaging at that time, 43 percent actively distrusted it as of January 2022.
Trust in National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci also fell during the same period, with the percentage of Americans who actively distrust his comments on COVID-19, the disease caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Virus, rising from 8 percent to 43 percent.
One factor in that distrust may be the dismissive attitude of public health experts regarding privacy. A few have argued publicly that falling trust in health agencies and growing resistance to data sharing actually justify the suspension of individual consent.
ENTERTAINMENT
Kanye West Says New Album Won’t Appear on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, or YouTube
Rapper Kanye West has announced that he will be releasing his upcoming album exclusively through his own device and platform, and not on any major platforms, blaming the switch on low commissions and a move toward independence from binding contracts.
“Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player,” Kanye, who has changed his name to Ye, said in an Instagram post while sharing a teaser of his upcoming track. “Not on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, or YouTube. Today, artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own.”
Kanye encouraged fans to order the Stem Player, which is a device as well as a streaming platform. The $200 disc-shaped device, featuring a cross of four lights, allows users to split songs into “stems.”
In audio production parlance, a stem is a grouped collection of sounds used as a single unit and can be edited, removed, or changed during a song. The Stem Player allows users to control vocals, bass, samples, and drums.
In addition, users can add effects and isolate parts of a song. The device has four touch-sensitive light sliders, a 3.5 mm jack input, a 97-decibel speaker, Bluetooth, 8GB storage, and supports a wide range of song formats. The official Twitter account of Stem Player uploaded a video on Feb. 3 previewing how the device can be used.
In another Instagram post, Kanye revealed getting the same feeling releasing the Stem Player as when the rapper first moved to New York before making it big in the music industry. He just knew that he “had to move.” Kanye said that he made 10 albums under 10 contracts, and has now turned down a $100 million Apple contract.
“No one can pay me to be disrespected. We set our own price for our art,” Kanye said in the post. “Tech companies made music practically free, so if you don’t do merch, sneakers, and tours, you don’t eat. Jay Z made Tidal and fake media attacked him. Well, in the words of my big brother, ‘Come and get me.’ I’m willing to die standing cause I ain’t living on my knees no more. God please cover me.”
The popular rapper added that he was working on “more things.” Tidal is a streaming service.
CANCEL CULTURE
Expert Explains Roots of ‘Woke’ Ideology and Deliberate Effort to Cancel Joe Rogan
Wokal Distance, an expert in postmodernism and critical theory, explained how the influences of these two ideologies created the “woke” mindset that is behind the attempt to cancel Joe Rogan. The woke believe they are justified to take anything someone says or does out of context, and criticize and shame them for it, he said.
“When Joe Rogan says, ‘But I’m not a racist,’ and he tries to give the context for what he said, what do we do? We say: impact, not intent. ‘It doesn’t matter what you meant, Joe. It matters how we’re interpreting it, and we’re allowed to do that,’” said Wokal Distance, a Twitter pseudonym for Michael Young, a visiting fellow at the Center for Renewing America, on EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” in a Feb. 9 interview.
He explained how, since the 1960s, postmodernism and critical theory converged to create the unforgiving cancel culture that exists today.
“Critical theory says that the assumptions and presuppositions our society rests on need to be criticized ruthlessly,” he said. “And so that’s everything from reasoning, logic, beliefs, tradition, practices—anything that our society has produced needs to be critiqued along these lines.”
“If you think about postmodernism as being like a solvent or an acid, when you throw the acid onto the piece of metal, the metal doesn’t just evaporate like that, it takes time. The dissolving of objective truth isn’t an overnight process, but it’s been chipped away at, it’s been rusting slowly,” he said.
Critical theory was made well known by a group of neo-Marxist thinkers at the Frankfurt School in Germany. “They forged a tool or discipline or way of doing analysis called critical theory,” he said.
“The underlying assumption of critical theory is that we are being dominated or oppressed by our society. So, questioning the legitimacy of every single aspect of our civilization is deemed necessary to achieve liberation from all of the oppression.”
A member of the Frankfurt School and philosopher, Max Horkheimer was famous for his work in critical theory and, “said that critical theory can’t just have any direction of moral vision, the moral vision must be geared toward the ‘Emancipation’ quote of human beings,” said Wokal Distance.
He explained that the Neo-Marxist starting point is that some are oppressors and some are oppressed, who need to be liberated from the existing patriarchal, sexist, straight, racist, society.
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