The growing role of digital currencies draws the attention of the world's governments seeking to find a way to stabilize their countries' financial systems by introducing new technologies. | The Bank of Tanzania is considering the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the institution stated, saying that it "has adopted a phased, cautious and risk based approach" to the issue. ● The central bank is taking into account the experience of other states, noting that six countries have canceled the adoption of CBDC due to challenges in the implementation phase. ● In October 2021, Nigeria became the first African country to introduce the use of a central bank digital currency, eNaira. According to the country's government, the currency "serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments." South Africa and Ghana have been reported to participate in pilot CBDC projects, with several other African countries being in the research stage.

Riley Waggaman | A rushed “security” bill paves the way for a privatized digital control grid | On Wednesday, December 21st, the Russian State Duma adopted a bill that regulates the collection and storage of biometric data in Russia...To prevent the misuse or mishandling of biometric data by private enterprises, the legislation requires all face scans and voice samples to be stored in a centralized Unified Biometric System (UBS). A press release published by the State Duma claims the bill “protects” the biometric data of Russians and guarantees that the collection of such data is completely voluntary. Sounds pretty good. What’s not to like? Well, for starters… (read on)

West Jerusalem’s new national security chief has ordered the removal of “terror flags” from public places [From the loony bin:] 💬 “It is inconceivable that lawbreakers will wave terror flags, incite and encourage terrorism,” Ben-Gvir said on Sunday night in a statement cited by the Jerusalem Post. “I have issued instructions for the removal of the flags, which support terrorism, from the public space and to stop incitement against the state of Israel.” ● The nationalist official, who already stirred controversy shortly after taking office by visiting the Temple Mount compound last week, dismissed concern that his flag order would infringe on civil liberties, arguing that freedom of expression “does not extend to identifying with a terrorist” and those who seek to harm Israeli soldiers. ● The move came after Palestinian flags were flown at an anti-government protest on Saturday night in Tel Aviv. Concerns also were raised after the release of Israel’s longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, Karim Younis, who was convicted in 1983 of kidnapping and murdering an Israeli soldier. Younis waved a Palestinian flag as he returned home to a celebration in northern Israel’s Ara village. ● Netanyahu’s government also has announced a series of punishments of the Palestinian Authority (PA) for seeking a legal opinion from the UN’s International Court of Justice on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki discovered on Sunday that those sanctions apparently included rescinding his travel pass.

■ Israel: MP says time to 'subdue Palestinians once and for all' in the 'last war' (01/05/23)
■ Operation Cast Lead and the Dismembering of a People (Vincent Di Stefano)(12/29/10)

■ Slouching Towards Gaza. Operation Cast Lead and the Dismembering of a People WEBAMP Sound: Two days after Christmas in 2008, the isolated and densely populated city of Gaza was visited by volley upon volley of deadly missile and mortar fire. The intense bombardment of what has been described by the United Nations Development Programme as "one of the most densely populated places on earth" continued unabated for a period of three weeks. By the end of the assault, over 1,400 Palestinians had been killed and more than 5,000 wounded, many seriously. Between three and four hundred of the dead were children. A total of 13 Israelis were killed during the same time, four of them by the action of their own troops. This post offers a fifth anniversary commemoration of this tragic and highly destructive assault which commenced on the 27th December 2008 and ended on the 18th January 2009. It offers an account of pivotal events in the history of Israel/Palestine from 1947 to the present through the reflections of a number of informed and articulate commentators.

Kiev has targeted the clerics for allegedly supporting Russia | Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has stripped 13 priests within the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the country’s citizenship, the Levy Bereg (Left Bank) newspaper reported on Saturday, citing government sources. ● The presidential decree targeting the clerics was purportedly signed by Zelensky in late December but has not been published officially, since it contains the personal data of the priests whose citizenship was being revoked. ● Later in the day, however, the newspaper circulated a list of the affected individuals. For instance, it includes Ionafan, the metropolitan bishop of the Tulchin diocese in Vinnitsa Region, who was targeted by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) last October. ● The domestic security agency accused the cleric of sowing religious discord and supporting Russia, claiming it had seized incriminating materials, including various “printed pro-Russian content and propaganda literature.” The list also includes his subordinate vicar, Bishop Sergey, who allegedly serves as a “caretaker” for Ionafan’s property of dubious origin, the newspaper noted.

Max Blumenthal and Esha Krishnaswamy | While claiming to defend democracy, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has outlawed his opposition, ordered his rivals’ arrest, and presided over the disappearance and assassination of dissidents across the country. | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has framed his country’s war against Russia as a battle for democracy itself. In a carefully choreographed address to US Congress on March 16, Zelensky stated, “Right now, the destiny of our country is being decided. The destiny of our people, whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy.” ● US corporate media has responded by showering Zelensky with fawning press, driving a campaign for his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and inspiring a flamboyant musical tribute to himself and the Ukrainian military during the 2022 Grammy awards ceremony on April 3. ● Western media has looked the other way, however, as Zelensky and top officials in his administration have sanctioned a campaign of kidnapping, torture, and assassination of local Ukrainian lawmakers accused of collaborating with Russia. Several mayors and other Ukrainian officials have been killed since the outbreak of war, many reportedly by Ukrainian state agents after engaging in de-escalation talks with Russia.

Marat Kasem from Sputnik Lithuania has been reportedly accused of espionage and could face up to 20 years behind bars | Latvia has arrested the editor-in-chief of the Lithuanian branch of the Russian news agency, Sputnik. Marat Kasem was taken into custody on a court order, his lawyer announced on Thursday. ● The journalist is accused of breaching EU sanctions and has been charged with espionage, Sputnik reports. ● Kasem is a Latvian citizen, though he has been living in Moscow for several years, working for the Rossiya Segodnya media group, which Sputnik Lithuania is part of. He returned to Latvia for family reasons before New Year's eve.

■ Arrest of Russian outlet’s journalist is blow to press freedom – Moscow (RT.com)

Lithuanians should block out Russian works of art they previously considered “acceptable,” the nation’s culture minister has said | Lithuanians should not enjoy Russian culture as long as a conflict is raging in Ukraine, its culture minister, Simonas Kairys, told national broadcaster LRT this week. The minister was echoing the ideas of his Ukrainian counterpart, Aleksandr Tkachenko, who earlier called on the West to boycott Russian culture altogether. ● Kairys accused Moscow of using Russian culture as a “weapon” by supposedly sending Russian pop culture artists to Lithuania on dates “important for the Lithuanian state.” While stopping short of supporting what he called an “authoritarian” administrative ban on Russian culture, the minister said he favored a “mental quarantine” on it.

Pierre de Gaulle is the grandson of Charles de Gaulle: [...] For me, maintaining good relations with Russia is not just a legitimate desire. This is also the duty of Europe, which the Europeans are obliged to fulfill - in the name of maintaining stability in the world and in Europe. Instead, we ended up in a system dominated by a technocracy that imposes its directives on each of the member states. I was one of the first to denounce the lies, injustice and robbery of Russia through an asset freeze. I find it absolutely outrageous because one cannot punish a people because of a crisis, knowing that this is contrary to international law and is the greatest injustice. I think that no other nation since the persecution of the Jews during the Second World War has experienced such plunder as the Russian people today.(Link)(Link)(Link)(Link)

■ US making Europeans suffer – de Gaulle’s grandson (RT.com)

President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a new bill into law which strengthens government control over public access to news in Ukraine. | Zelensky has already nationalized the country’s media under martial law powers invoked after Russia’s invasion last year, stoking criticism from press freedom groups. ● Signed on December 29, the law expands the Ukrainian broadcast regulator’s powers over news agencies ”dramatically,” now including both print and online sources, according to the Kyiv Independent. The measure requires publications to obtain licenses to operate, and any media org without the proper paperwork can be shut down, the outlet reported, adding that the body handing out the permits will be under Zelensky’s control. ● While Zelensky’s power-grabs throughout the 11-month conflict have largely gone unnoticed in the American mainstream press – which has devoted ample coverage to similar wartime repression in Russia – the New York Times highlighted calls from human rights groups to rescind the law over fears that it will crush the free press.

People around the world need to add their voices to the call for Julian’s release from the dungeon in Britain. | Tirelessly, John Shipton has traveled the world appealing to parliaments, politicians, civic bodies, and ordinary public members for the release of his son. John tells how a rallying call for Julian’s release is growing. Every parliament in Europe, for example, now has members explicitly calling for freedom. So too has the Australian government finally wakened up to demand the end of the barbaric mistreatment. In Latin America, North America, and other parts of the world, the clamor for justice is growing. ● Only two weeks ago, major newspapers in the United States and Europe published joint editorial statements urging the Biden Administration to end the imprisonment of Assange, stating that “publishing is not a crime”. That renewed appeal for freedom is a reflection of the swelling sea-change in public support around the world for Julian Assange. ● John Shipton says he is not “into hope” in the superficial meaning of the word. By that, he means a sort of cheap hope, blithe optimism, or cheery, glib ignorance. A sort of “consumerist hope” that is fickle and vanishes at the slightest obstacle. ● However, what he displays in his tenacious, resilient, courageous support for his son is a much deeper hope. One of faith and commitment in the face of immense adversity. That strength inspires profound hope. An audacious hope. One that defiantly smiles in the face of cold barbarity. The kind of hope that can break chains. It is way past time that Julian Assange should be freed so that he can “come home to his kids”.

The whistleblower pointed at an AP investigation on how the Covid-19 pandemic has “normalized” spying on citizens | Former CIA and National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has claimed vindication after a media report exposed how surveillance tools deployed to fight Covid-19 are now being abused by law enforcement and other authorities – as he predicted over two years ago. 💬 “I talked about this back in early 2020 and was dismissed as paranoid, as is our tradition when someone points to the predictable outcome of a dangerous but popular new trend,” Snowden said in a Twitter post on Friday. The former US intelligence contractor cited this week’s Associated Press article on how Covid-19 had “accelerated and normalized” use of state surveillance and tracking tools against ordinary citizens and activists. Snowden linked to an April 2020 interview with Vice founder Shane Smith in which he predicted that emergency measures used to deal with the Covid-19 crisis would become permanent and be used to infringe civil liberties.

Out of more than a thousand cases of alleged offences by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, only 11 have yielded an indictment, according to the rights group Yesh Din. | Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip over the last five years have been indicted in less than 1 percent of the hundreds of complaints against them, an Israeli rights group reported. The watchdog argued that Israel's military systematically fails to conduct a credible prosecution of itself. ● Between 2017 and 2021, the Israeli military received 1,260 cases of alleged offenses by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, including 409 cases involving the killing of Palestinians, according to military data obtained by the group Yesh Din and released Wednesday after a freedom of information request. ● The Israeli military opened 248 criminal investigations into instances of possible misconduct in response to those complaints — just 21.4 percent of the total, Yesh Din said. Only 11 investigations during that five-year period have yielded indictments. In those cases, Israel’s military prosecutors acted with leniency toward convicted soldiers, the group added, with those sentenced for killing Palestinians serving only short-term military community service.

■ Norway to review Israel investments to ensure they do not fund illegal settlements: report (The New Arab)

Andrew Tettenborn (Spiked!) A recent event in suburban Birmingham offers a stark reminder of the threat to free speech posed by Britain’s censorious state. | Earlier this month, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was standing silently in a public street. She was doing, saying and displaying absolutely nothing, apparently lost in thought. A policeman approached her. He asked if she was inwardly praying. When she said she might have been, he immediately arrested her, took her to a police station and searched her. Last week, Vaughan-Spruce was told she faces prosecution. ● How did this happen? First, Vaughan-Spruce was known to be a member of a pro-life organisation. And second, she was within 150 metres of an abortion clinic, inside a so-called buffer zone. In September, Birmingham City Council introduced a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), which makes any ‘act of approval or disapproval’ toward abortion in the surroundings of the clinic a criminal offence, on pain of a £1,000 fine. This restriction applies to any expression related to abortion services, by any method: whether by graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling, or in any other way. So Vaughan-Spruce’s alleged silent prayer was apparently enough. Someone had disapproved of her presence and asked the police to get rid of her. All the ploddingly literal-minded copper needed was Vaughan-Spruce’s admission that she might have been privately communing with her god and might therefore have been illegally praying in a restricted area. ● Whatever your view on abortion, even if you are strongly pro-choice, this whole episode should worry you immensely. The implications for personal liberty are terrifying. If an arrest for silent prayer is not an instance of Orwellian ‘thoughtcrime’, then I don’t know what is.

Is Sean Penn a Naziphile? His infatuation with Zelensky and Ukraine is obvious, despite the very uncomfortable prevalence of neo-Nazis in the armed forces, and their role in the current conflict. | A year ago, Penn even met with some of these Azov “service members” when he went to the country to start a film project. Now, it seems as though he’s taken up the Third Reich’s mantle, becoming a modern day Goebbels — Penn, as a mouthpiece for the leftist propaganda machine, has deemed the “unvaccinated” second class citizens. ● The man who boycotted a state because it chose to protect innocent life, and aligns himself with entities that have overt views of “White supremacy” and Nazism, says those who don’t participate in clinical trials of a “vaccine” are the ones lacking a moral compass — that’s rich. Penn went on: 💬 "I think that is an unwillingness to engage in a culture of common sense. That at this point, it seems criminal to me, actually. I really feel that if someone chooses not to be vaccinated, that they should choose to stay home… Not go to work. Not have a job."

Newly released docs show how the social media giant helped the US military “amplify certain messages” | Twitter executives have granted the US Defense Department special privileges to use the social media platform for its covert online influence campaigns for at least five years, newly released internal company communications show. ● Investigative journalist Lee Fang published the eighth batch of documents on Tuesday, after the company’s new owner, Elon Musk, authorized the release in an effort to provide transparency about Twitter’s past decision-making. 💬 “Despite promises to shut down covert state-run propaganda networks, Twitter docs show that the social media giant directly assisted the US military’s influence operations,” Fang wrote. The journalist was allowed to make requests for internal Twitter documents through an attorney, “meaning that the search results may not have been exhaustive.”

Oxford Introducing Traffic Restrictions for Privately Owned Cars After 2023 | In England, the Oxfordshire County Council has introduced a new traffic scheme it believes will clear up roadway congestion, improve pedestrian safety, and also address climate issues. However, the plan involves prohibiting where residents of Oxford can drive (unless they have the proper paperwork) by breaking the city into six zones. Predictably, the concept has proven to be wildly unpopular with some of the locals. Over the last week, residents have been up in arms about the scheme... According to the Oxfordshire County Council's own website, "traffic filtering" involves stopping vehicles from moving through selected checkpoints by leveraging a network of preexisting automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. While locals will be eligible to purchase permits that will allow them to drive between the zones "up to 100 days per year," exceeding this limit will result in fines. That means if you commute daily via your own car, you're already guaranteed to exceed the permitted allotment -- assuming you were actually able to get accredited in the first place.

■ And so it begins: “controlled gates at the city confining residents to their zone” (12/07/22)

The FBI and other law enforcement organizations treated Twitter as a "subsidiary," flagging numerous accounts for purportedly harmful "misinformation" since January of 2020, according to the sixth installment of the "Twitter Files" released Friday. | Independent journalist Matt Taibbi described the FBI's relationship with Twitter as having a "master-canine quality" with "constant and pervasive" contact between the bureau and the social media giant. 💬 "Between January 2020 and November 2022, there were over 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth," Taibbi wrote, referring to the executive who helped suppress The New York Post's reporting on first son Hunter Biden's extensive overseas business interests. Taibbi also found that a "surprisingly high number" of the FBI's missives were requests "for Twitter to take action on election misinformation," including obvious jokes from accounts with low number of followers.

The Peruvian authorities have taken troops to the streets to suppress protests after the visit of the US ambassador to the Government Palace as Washington pursues profits in the country's mining projects, impeached President Pedro Castillo said on Thursday.

💬 "Compatriots, attention! The visit of the US ambassador to the Government Palace was neither for free nor in favor of the country. At the meeting, the order to take the troops to the streets and massacre my defenseless people was given, and, among other things, to pave the way for the extraction of minerals, such as from Konga, Tai Maria, and other [mines]. Peruvian media will not only keep silent about this but will also easily deny it," Castillo said in a hand-written note published on his Twitter.

On December 7, Peru's parliament impeached former President Pedro Castillo. Prime Minister Dina Boluarte took an oath as the country's new president within two hours of the impeachment vote, vowing to serve out the rest of Castillo's term until July 2026. Castillo, who had tried to dissolve the parliament before the vote, was arrested after the impeachment procedure and the Peruvian prosecutor's office launched a criminal case against him on charges of a coup attempt and crimes against the state. These events have sparked a wave of protests across the country. Demonstrators denounce the post-impeachment government and call for an immediate presidential election and termination of the country's parliament.

Western nations have used the Ukraine conflict as a pretext to destroy what was left of the freedom of speech, Sonja van den Ende says | The EU is reportedly planning to target Russian media channels with the upcoming ninth sanctions package, freezing the assets of ANO TV-Novosti, RT’s parent company, and revoking licenses from those few outlets which still hold them within the bloc. ● RT spoke on the new planned broadside against Russian media with Sonja van den Ende, a Dutch journalist, who believes the ongoing crisis has become a pretext to intensify the years-long crackdown on freedom of speech in the West. 💬 “This is what the Western countries are doing since the start of the special military operation, even before that. Even before the Syrian war, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya,” van den Ende said. But now it intensified a lot, and we see every day new things coming out. They clearly want to control the media, this is what they do already, and everything that is said in favor of Russia or just neutral about Russia is straight away banned everywhere. ● Germany has repeatedly targeted RT and its German-language division RT DE in particular. The latest initiative in the field was floated this week by MP Andrea Lindholz, a CDU/CSU parliamentary group chair, who proposed to set up a special reporting office to tackle “Russian disinformation.”

A fourth batch of the so-called “Twitter Files" has been released by best-selling author Michael Shellenberger. | The first installment of what has been dubbed the “Twitter Files” dropped on December 2 via investigative journalist Matt Taibbi. Since then, batches two and three were also made public after the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, armed Taibbi and his colleague Bari Weiss with further illuminating data. ● The latest installment of the treasure trove of data that Twitter CEO Elon Musk vowed would shed light on “free speech suppression” pertains to the social media platform’s actions leading up to the ban on former President Donald Trump instituted on January 8, 2021 after the events at the US capitol on January 6. Like in the case of the preceding batches, the insider information was given to journalists and authors by the tech billionaire to post on their Twitter accounts.

■ Ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Facing Perjury Charges for Lying to Congress about ‘Shadow-Banning’ (Slay)

REDACTED P6 (КОТËЛ #6) | 🇩🇪 The rise of radical anti-government sentiment in Germany, which would sooner or later lead to an attempted coup or revolution, had long been known in Russia. If this information reached the AP (and it did), it was also in other key organisations. The phenomena in German society were seen as a rise in right-wing and neo-Nazi sentiment that began years ago, caused in part by the mass migration of Turks and other Muslim peoples to the Fatherland. The process escalated under Angela Merkel, who opened the migration gates even wider, accelerated sharply during the period of covid restrictions and rocketed upwards when the German economy began to have big problems because of the gas war and anti-Russian sanctions. ● This is not the first time that Germans who are ready and preparing for a coup have been caught in Germany in recent years. The Bundeswehr is considered particularly problematic. Helping the Germans to catch the rebels is the American intelligence services, which control the Internet and the darknet more closely than the Europeans. All of this has also long been known in Russia - as well as the fact that the protest potential of the Nazis and right-wing extremists in Germany is almost inexhaustible and cannot be caught by everyone. However, the Kremlin did not see any way to take advantage of the situation, despite the obvious sympathies of the discontented with Russia and Vladimir Putin. The obvious parallels with the 1930s and the emergence of a super-national state in the place of a battered Germany were rather alarming. ● As for the current arrests, the AP and, as it is reported, the Foreign Ministry, rather showily. It is expected that the right-wing parties, in particular the ADH, which won the elections but lost out in the formation of the left-wing government coalition, will be blamed. Not forgetting to call them "Russian agents". In this context, the already widespread information that the conspirators have tried to establish links with Russian structures, but have received no response, sounds strange. (Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)

■ Germany arrests 25 people over far-right coup plot (Axios)
■ Explainer: Germany's Reichsbürger: Searching for an emperor and fascinated by guns (Reuters)
■ Who is Heinrich XIII, Prince of Reuss? Germany's Reichsbürger movement explained (Daily Mail)
■ Germany detains far-right group over plot to install prince by force (Reuters)

The madness of the '15-minute city' (12/06/22)

Russian Demiurge (Русский Демиург) | Something Wicked This Way Comes: Climate quarantines. | As predicted and feared, a quarantine over COVID is turning into a quarantine over climate change, and legal action is to be taken in the UK. ● Oxfordshire County Council has approved plans to effectively isolate residents in one of six zones because of 'global warming'. Under the new scheme, electronic gates would be installed on key roads leading in and out of the city, confining residents to their own areas. If a resident wanted to leave their zone, they would first need permission from the Council, which must decide who is worthy of freedom and who is not. For those seeking freedom, they would first have to register their vehicle details with the council, which would then track their movements with smart cameras across the city. If you qualify, you can leave your area for a maximum of 100 days a year. Oh, and for families with two cars, both vehicles will count as one, which means you will have to split the journeys. The county council's tourism manager has insisted that the controversial plan will be implemented, whether people like it or not. People can travel freely in their own neighbourhood and can apply for filter permits to other neighbours as well, the chief said, but reiterated that this is only possible up to 100 days a year. ● As Eric Worrall writes, "For almost a thousand years Oxford University has been a beacon of intellectual freedom. A number of leading Oxford intellectuals have been hanged or otherwise persecuted over the centuries because of their resistance to authoritarianism. So it seems incredibly sad that the heirs to this proud tradition seem so willing to turn their backs on the freedoms that their predecessors sometimes gave their lives to defend. And, as British commentator Neil Oliver says, "Anyone who puts up with this deserves whatever overlords plan next." These Oxford 'Climate Quarantines' are about control. For those who have not yet realised this, prepare for shackles and the tightening of the noose around your necks; similarly, for those who are not working towards freedom now, mentally prepare for slavery, because if you remain within their system, this future - unlike 'global warming' - is baked in, inevitable. (Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)

Brendan O'Neill | Hold the front page – old lady asks woman in African clothing where she’s from! | Does anyone else get the feeling that the identitarians have overplayed their hand in the Lady Hussey affair? It is now five days since 83-year-old Lady Susan Hussey was unceremoniously ousted from the royal household, an institution she had faithfully served for more than 60 years, for the crime of repeatedly asking black charity worker Ngozi Fulani where she’s from. And what I’m hearing from people is that this is no way to treat an old lady. That Lady Hussey may have been brusque, yes – posh people often are – but to damn her in the twilight of her life as a racist unfit for public life is out of order. It feels like there’s a lot of sympathy for Hussey, and anger at the arbitrary power of the new elites to destroy reputations on a whim.

Health Authorities in New Zealand are trying to take custody of a 4-month-old baby that needs heart surgery, because the parents don’t want the baby to receive blood from someone who has been vaccinated against COVID-19. | According to an interview with the parents, the parents are not refusing medical treatment, and agree with the doctors who state that their baby needs immediate heart surgery. They just want to donate their own blood from their own donors, and they claim they already have more than 20 pediatric donors who have been screened and could donate their blood for the needed surgery. But doctors are refusing, because they claim the parents’ beliefs are unfounded and that vaccinated blood is perfectly safe. The corporate media in New Zealand is branding the parents as crazy anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists.

An Iranian lawmaker said Sunday that Iran's government is “paying attention to the people’s real demands,” state media reported, a day after a top official suggested that the country’s morality police whose conduct helped trigger months of protests has been shut down. | The role of the morality police, which enforces veiling laws, came under scrutiny after a detainee, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, died in its custody in mid-September. Amini had been held for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress codes. Her death unleashed a wave of unrest that has grown into calls for the downfall of Iran's clerical rulers. ● Iran's chief prosecutor Mohamed Jafar Montazeri said on Saturday the morality police “had been closed," the semi-official news agency ISNA reported. The agency did not provide details, and state media hasn't reported such a purported decision. ■ Iranian prosecutor general indicates suspension of ‘morality police’

New Zealand’s government has officially admitted that it has partner access to Facebook’s controversial content takedown portal. | This portal is designed specifically for government agencies to flag content to Facebook for censorship. According to The Intercept, which reported on the portal in October, government partners can also use the portal to “report disinformation directly” to Facebook. ● And in a recent response to a New Zealand Official Information Act (OIA) request, which asked whether the government has partner access to Facebook’s takedown portal, the New Zealand government confirmed that the Department of Internal Affairs has access.

As the first wave of the pandemic died down in 2020, the narrative was already being pushed that vaccines were the only way out. However, even before it was clear that the vaccines would predominantly be mRNA based, many were rightly hesitant to receive a novel vaccine that had been produced at warp speed. ● With The Science™ so convinced that their solution was the only solution, something had to be done to increase uptake. Even though there were many opposing opinions (that were ignored), it was thought that without high rates of vaccine uptake, the pandemic would likely be prolonged. ● Something had to be done about vaccine hesitancy, so along came Yale University with a study which began in July 2020. The study, which was not published online until October 2021 (once everyone was vaccinated) was to test “how persuasive messaging affects COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions”. ●  ●  ● They wanted you to get angry in order to get vaccinated but they failed. But they wanted you to get angry, so get angry. Get angry that the population was psychologically manipulated to turn on one another. Get angry that your friends and family were nudged into parroting the phrases used in the study to make you feel guilty, stupid or embarrassed. Get angry that you were socially ostracised and de-invited from events. Get angry that your colleagues made you lose your job. And if you were one of those who tried to convince someone to get vaccinated, get angry that you were so easily manipulated.

Initially unconfirmed BUT NOW CONFIRMED reports are starting to come in claiming Chinese authorities have OPENED FIRE upon unarmed protesters, who are coming out en-masse against China's repressive COVID lockdowns. | Initially unconfirmed BUT NOW CONFIRMED reports are starting to come in claiming Chinese authorities have OPENED FIRE upon unarmed protesters, who are coming out en-masse against China's repressive COVID lockdowns. Initial reports are CLAIMING entire crowds have been gunned down, but we cannot confirm this. This is a developing story. Check back. UPDATE 11:03 AM EDT --The reports of crowds being FIRED UPON are now CONFIRMED.

The Commons has passed the Public Order Bill, which is now with the House of Lords at committee stage. It’s probably one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation to have ever passed through parliament. Because, once it’s law, every protest in the country will be threatened with penalties more likely to be found in a authoritarian regime. | [The measures] include “locking-on” and going equipped to lock-on, thus criminalising “the protest tactic of individuals attaching themselves to others, objects or buildings to cause serious disruption”. The penalty for locking-on is a maximum “of six months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both”. And “the maximum penalty for the offence of going equipped to lock-on will be an unlimited fine”. ● “Tunnelling” is also criminalised. This includes “creating a tunnel, participating in creating a tunnel and being present in a tunnel”. The “maximum penalties for these offences will be 3 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both”. Going equipped for tunnelling is also an offence, leading up to “6-months imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both”. ● The bill also extends stop and search powers. This will enable police to search for and seize “items which are made, adapted or intended to be used in connection with protest-related offences”. They include items that can be used for tunnelling or locking-on. The police may also be authorised to “conduct a stop and search without the need for suspicion”.

Draconian bill: Serious Disruption Prevention Orders (SDPOS) (Vanessa Beeley)

河南小伙子：今天我不说，明天没人讲，共产党没把我们的命当回事！
pic.twitter.com/NUIwKyo3uY

— 文北 (@wenbei2022) November 24, 2022

Henan guy: "If I don't speak today, no one will tomorrow, the Communists don't take our lives seriously!"

Today we bring you a truly shocking interview and critical story about the WHO's new Pandemic Convention written specifically to override the Constitution and all domestic laws in every nation, worldwide. How do we know this? Because treaty expert Dr. Francis Boyle has studied the text of the proposed treaty and explains it all in today's harsh interview (see below). He is the author of the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, and an expert in reading and writing treaties. And today he's issuing his strongest warning yet. Essentially, the new WHO pandemic treaty is turning the entire world into a Chinese-style medical police state, where sovereign nations, states and individuals themselves have no recognized right to freedom of health.