Lula defeats Bolsonaro in Brazilian election

Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clinched victory over his right-wing rival Jair Bolsonaro in a tightly contested second round of the Brazilian election on Sunday.

  • The country’s election authority announced Lula’s narrow win with 50.9% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 49.1%.

“This isn’t a victory of mine or the Workers’ Party… It’s the victory of a democratic movement that formed above political parties, personal interests and ideologies so that democracy came out victorious,” Lula told a cheering crowd of supporters in Sao Paulo on Sunday night.

The president-elect acknowledged that following such a tight race a challenge to his future mandate will be “immense,” and stressed that “it is necessary to rebuild the very soul of this country, recover generosity, solidarity, respect for differences and love for others.”

  • Lula, who is set to take office on 1 January 2023, promised to be a president for all 215 million Brazilians, not just those who voted for him. “There are not two Brazils. We are one country, one people – a great nation.”

Bolsonaro has yet to publicly concede defeat.

The incumbent repeatedly warned during his campaign that he would contest the results if he were to lose by a narrow margin, calling into question the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system.

After polls closed nationwide at 5pm local time (8pm GMT), initial results showed Bolsonaro ahead.

However, just as in the first round, his lead eventually narrowed as more votes from da Silva’s strongholds were counted.

  • In the first round on October 2, da Silva received over 48% of the vote, which was not enough to claim immediate victory.

Lula da Silva, who represents Brazil’s Workers’ Party, has focused his campaign on overcoming social inequality and alleviating poverty.

  • Among the measures he proposes are raising taxes on the rich, widening the social safety net, and increasing the minimum wage.

Bolsonaro’s campaign slogan has been ‘God, family, homeland, and liberty’.

His vision of Brazil’s future includes privatizing the country’s state-owned oil company, opening the Amazon region to more mining, and easing gun regulations.

In the run-up to the showdown, the rivals repeatedly traded insults during campaign events. In a televised debate on October 17, Lula called Bolsonaro a “tiny little dictator” and pledged to defend freedom and democracy.

The incumbent fired back, calling Lula “a national embarrassment,” due to the corruption scandals that took place when Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) was in power.

  • Lula, who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010, was barred from running for president in 2018 after being jailed on corruption charges that were later overturned.

Source: RT

Russia tells UN it will inspect Black Sea ships

Ukraine “grossly violated” the Istanbul agreement on grain exports via the Black Sea and forced Moscow to suspend it indefinitely, Russia’s envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Monday.

The Russian Navy will inspect all cargo ships bound for Ukraine, even those unilaterally cleared by the Turkish-based coordination center, he added.

  • “This subversive action of Kiev grossly violates the Istanbul agreements and, in fact, puts an end to their humanitarian dimension. It is now obvious to everyone that the Black Sea humanitarian corridor is being used by the Ukrainian side for military sabotage purposes,” Nebenzia said, referring to Saturday’s drone attack on Sevastopol.

Russia “cannot guarantee the safety of civilian ships participating in the Black Sea initiative,” Nebenzia added, as “we do not know what other terrorist attacks Kiev is preparing with the support of its Western sponsors.”

On Sunday, after Moscow announced the suspension of the arrangement, the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul said it had greenlit 16 ships to navigate the corridor on Monday and “informed” Russia about the decision.

According to maritime traffic data, at least two ships left the Black Sea port of Odessa in the morning, reporting Istanbul as their destination.

“Decisions and measures taken without our participation are not binding on us,” Nebenzia told the UN.

  • Moscow “cannot allow ships to pass without our inspection and will be forced to take independent measures” to inspect ships authorized by the JCC without Russian approval.

Meanwhile, the UN coordinator for the Black Sea grain initiative, Amir Abdulla, insisted that “the food must flow.”

The UN and Türkiye mediated a deal in July under which Ukrainian grain could be exported via the Black Sea, while Western obstacles to the exportation of Russian grain and fertilizer would be removed.

The US and its allies insist they had never sanctioned grain exports – but their sanctions on Russian ships and insurance made them impossible in practice.

Moscow has criticized the West for not keeping its side of the deal and pointed out that the bulk of Ukrainian exports had gone to the EU and not the African nations most affected by food insecurity.

Russia halted its compliance with the pact on Saturday, after Kiev launched a major drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels involved in securing safe passage for agricultural cargo from Ukrainian ports.

  • On Sunday, after studying the wreckage of the unmanned combat vehicles, the Russian Defense Ministry said that those behind the attack made active use of the UN-brokered grain corridor.

Source: RT

Poll forecasts Republican takeover of House in midterm elections

A new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll published on Sunday predicts a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections with a 15-seat gain, The Hill reported.

The midterms are just over a week away, on November 8.

The poll forecasts Republicans will clock in at 228 seats to Democrats’ 207, a 21-seat difference, with a margin of error of 12 seats.

It the election sees a big turnout of young voters and voters of color — comparable to the surge seen in 2018’s midterms — the Battleground Tracker predicts Democrats hold on to the majority by a single seat, with 218 to Republicans’ 217.

If there’s an uptick in turnout among white voters without college degrees, however, Republicans could clinch an even bigger win, winning 238 seats and pushing Democrats to 197.

Many Democrats say they are still confident they will hold the House.

  • An NBC News poll released last week found that Democrats held a 1-point lead on a generic congressional ballot.

Source: RT

Berlusconi suggests how to end Ukraine conflict

  • Western nations should stop supplying Ukraine with weapons if they want a peaceful solution to the conflict between Kiev and Moscow, Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has said.

He told journalist Bruno Vespa over the weekend that the prospect of receiving no military aid but a large reconstruction fund could convince Kiev to agree to talks with Moscow.

According to Berlusconi, Zelensky would only agree to any sort of a deal with Moscow “if Ukraine realizes at some point that it can no longer count on weapons and aid” at the same time.

  • Instead, the West could offer Kiev “hundreds of billions of dollars for reconstruction” as a stimulus to enter the negotiations, the politician added.

The 86-year-old former prime minister, who now leads the Forza Italia party, also believes Ukraine should recognize Crimea as a Russian territory, according to La Repubblica newspaper, which published excerpts from his interview with Vespa.

A new referendum that would involve Western observers should also be held in Donbass to determine its fate, he added.

The former premier went on to call Russian President Vladimir Putin “a man of peace.”

  • Berlusconi admitted he tried to reach out to Putin when the conflict between Moscow and Kiev broke out in late February but could not contact him by phone.

Berlusconi’s words have sparked an angry reaction from Italian politicians. Former Italian economy minister Carlo Calenda was quick to accuse Berlusconi of spreading “propaganda for Putin regardless of the consequences.” He also claimed that any coalition government is doomed if it cannot agree on a common foreign policy line.

  • Berlusconi’s Forza Italia is now part of a government coalition together with Giorgia Meloni’s Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, and Matteo Salvini’s League party.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lia Quartapelle blasted Berlusconi’s proposal as “a recipe… for surrender.” She said Berlusconi himself will be a “big problem” for Meloni, who recently took over as Italy’s prime minister.

Berlusconi has already faced criticism after saying he received 20 bottles of vodka from Putin as a birthday gift.

  • According to Der Spiegel, the “gift” may have been an EU sanctions violation. The magazine cited an EU Commission secretary, who pointed to the April 2022 ban on goods imports from Russia to the EU, including spirits.

In his interview with Vespa, Berlusconi commented on the controversy by saying that everyone “understood that he was joking” at that time.

Source: RT

Watch: Opposition politician in hospital following brutal detention

Several opposition politicians were detained on Sunday in Moldova amid massive protests against high energy prices and the rising cost of living. One of them ended up in a hospital after suffering a heart attack following a brutal police detention.

Valery Klimenco, the honorary leader of the opposition Shor Party, was among the politicians, who were leading a thousands-strong column of demonstrators through central Chisinau on Sunday, when the law enforcement blocked the roads to prevent it from moving further, according to the media reports.

Videos that surfaced on social media show several officers brutally snatching Klimenco, 69, away from the crowd and dragging him to a police van. The politician tried to resist the police but was quickly overpowered by the officers.

Another politician, Sergey Burgudji, sought to aid Klimenko but was pushed away by the police, who refused to let him accompany the elderly politician to the police office.

The officers then dragged Klimenko to another police vehicle.

According to a Moldovan MP, Vadim Fotescu, Klimenco felt unwell at the police station and was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack.

Fortescu told journalists that the politician was “recovering” but otherwise provided few details about his condition. Klimenco is also a local MP in Chisinau and the head of the ‘Congress of the Russian Communities of the Moldova Republic’ – a civic movement positioning itself as the defender of the interests of the Russian population in Moldova.

Klimenco was not the only politician detained on Sunday.

  • The law enforcement also arrested Dinu Turcanu, another Shor Party member and the head of Moldova’s central Orhei region, his deputy and the Orhei city mayor, according to TASS news agency.

According to the police, around 40 people were detained during the protests.

  • Footage published by Ruptly video news agency shows uniformed officers and those in plain clothes kicking a man whose hands are twisted behind their backs. Another protester can be seen being thrown to the ground by several officers, who snatched him out of the crowd.

According to the police, around 40 people were detained during the protests.

Footage published by Ruptly video news agency shows uniformed officers and those in plain clothes kicking a man whose hands are twisted behind their backs. Another protester can be seen being thrown to the ground by several officers, who snatched him out of the crowd.

Moldova has seen weeks of massive protests organized by the opposition slamming President Maia Sandu’s austerity policies.

The opposition demands that the government provide financial assistance to citizens to ease the burden of rising energy and gas prices, which have increased by almost seven times since last year, according to the media.

The Sunday rally was particularly organized by the Shor Party and the Moldovan Communists.

  • The protesters were chanting: “Early elections!” “Resign!” “No to dictatorship!” and “Shame!” The opposition also demands the resignation of Sandu’s government and early elections amid the continued economic hardships.

The government has so far reacted by restricting the rules for holding protests.

Rallies are only allowed to take place on the weekends, and any action can last no longer than four hours under the new regulations.

In mid-October, the police also demolished a tent camp set up by the protesters outside of the parliament building in mid-September.

The developments come as Europe struggles to cope with the ongoing energy crunch, partly caused by the EU’s campaign to phase out Russian energy exports.

  • In June, Moldova received EU candidate status.

Source: RT

World’s biggest carmaker goes back to basics

Toyota customers in Japan will get a mechanical key instead of a “smart” one when they get their new vehicle, Reuters reported on Thursday.

  • One of the two electronic “smart” keys will be replaced with a basic one, the agency explained, quoting the carmaker’s statement.

“As the shortage of semiconductors continues, this is a provisional measure aimed at delivering cars to customers as quickly as possible,” Toyota said.

  • A second smart key will be handed over “as soon as it is ready,” the statement adds.

The global chip shortage that started during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe supply issues and delays with the automotive and other industries.

Source: RT

French consumer prices soaring

Consumer price inflation in France accelerated to new highs in October, data from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research (Insee) showed on Friday.

According to preliminary estimates, year-on-year price growth in the country hit 6.2%, exceeding July’s high of 6.1%.

  • The rate had previously slowed in August and September after hitting the highest level since 1985 in July. Nevertheless, France’s inflation remains one of the lowest in Europe.

The agency noted that the more rapid inflation was prompted largely by the rising cost of fuel, food and raw materials, as well as increasing production costs.

  • Energy prices showed the sharpest growth, of almost 20%, despite government interventions. Food costs grew by 12%.

Insee predicts a further spike in prices in December, with inflation forecast to hit 6.6%.

The agency is due to publish its final October inflation reading in mid-November.

Source: RT

German official offers controversial solution to gas crisis – media

Germany should study the issue of producing domestic shale gas using fracking, which is currently prohibited in the country, Finance Minister Christian Lindner has said in an interview with the Funke media group, as quoted by TASS.

The technology allows oil and gas to be extracted from shale rock by breaking it up with pressurized liquid, including water and chemicals.

  • The technique has been used in Germany since the 1960s to extract natural gas from conventional reserves, including sandstone and carbonate stones.

About one third of the natural gas produced in the country comes from reserves tapped by fracking.

  • However, “unconventional fracking” in shale and coal seams, which uses horizontal drilling techniques, was placed under moratorium in 2011, and then largely banned in Germany due to environmental risks such as water pollution, or even earthquakes.

“We have significant gas deposits in Germany that can be extracted without endangering drinking water,” Lindner said.

“It would be rather irresponsible to refrain from fracking because of ideological commitments.”

According to the official, production is possible “at several” fields, with Germany able to meet relatively large needs from its own sources, which would be useful in light of the situation across the world.

The call comes amid an unprecedented energy crisis resulting from a reduction in energy imports from Russia, formerly the bloc’s biggest supplier.

The conflict in Ukraine has resulted in an all-out sanctions war against Moscow, targeting commodities including oil and gas, and contributing to soaring energy prices in the EU and worldwide.

  • In April, German Vice-Chancellor and Energy Minister Robert Habeck rejected the idea of extracting shale gas in Germany by fracking due to environmental concerns.

He stressed that it would take years before it would be possible to obtain the necessary permits and establish production using the method.

Source: RT

Russia tests new nuclear submarine – Navy chief

Russia is conducting a trial run of a new strategic nuclear submarine, the Navy commander in chief announced on Sunday, at a time of heightened tensions with the West.

  • “The newest nuclear-powered strategic missile undersea cruiser Generalissimo Suvorov is being tested,” Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov said, speaking on the 326th anniversary of the Russian Regular Navy’s establishment.

The Navy chief said the submarine was built at the Sevmash enterprise, Russia’s largest shipbuilding facility, in the northern city of Severodvinsk.

The ‘Generalissimo Suvorov’ is the sixth vessel of Russia’s 4th generation ballistic missile submarines and the second mass-produced ship of the upgraded Borei-A class.

Each Borei-A vessel can carry up to 16 Bulava-class submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which could be armed with nuclear warheads.

  • The boat was named after the 18th century general Alexander Suvorov, who is considered one of the greatest military commanders in Russian history.

Yevmenov went on to say that the Russian Navy is being reinforced by other state-of-the-art new ships, including the ‘Ufa’ diesel-electric submarine, which “has successfully passed official testing.”

The vessel, which is intended for the Russian Pacific Fleet, is expected to be formally accepted by the Navy next month, he stated.

  • Submarines of this type are armed with ‘Kalibr’ cruise missiles.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally oversaw nuclear strike drills involving Moscow’s land, sea, and aviation deterrence forces. This military activity coincided with similar exercises conducted by NATO, named ‘Steadfast Noon.’

  • The bloc’s nuclear drills, which are set to last until October 30, are taking place over Belgium, the North Sea and the UK. Despite high tensions between Russia and the West, NATO described the exercises as “routine” and “not linked to any current world events.”

In the context of the Ukraine conflict, Putin recently vowed that Russia would use “all the means available to us” to defend its people and territory, a statement that Washington and its NATO allies have interpreted as a veiled threat to deploy nuclear weapons.

  • However, several Russian senior officials insisted that Moscow is not threatening anyone with its nuclear arsenal.

Source: RT

LNG ships waiting for higher EU prices to unload – Reuters

Several ships loaded with liquefied natural gas (LNG) that have been circling off the coast of Spain are likely to stay there until late November, as they wait for European gas prices to go up, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing industry sources.

An LNG tanker traffic jam has been building off the Spanish coast for weeks with vessels waiting to unload their cargo.

  • Spain boasts the largest LNG storage facilities in the European Union.

The glut of LNG off the coast could be part of a trading strategy by suppliers, as ships are waiting until prices increase to unload, industry sources told Reuters.

Natural gas prices are at their lowest level in Europe since June, having dropped 28% in a week, due in part to above-normal temperatures and high inventory levels, as the EU’s gas storage is now nearly 95% full, according to Rystad Energy.

  • “If one single idling vessel discharges its cargo, the price will immediately collapse by affecting the other cargoes in the queue and this domino effect is so painful in terms of opportunity cost,” one of the sources told Reuters.
  • Just by waiting to deliver in December rather than November, the difference in profit could be in the order of tens of millions of dollars per shipment, Michelle Wiese Bockmann from the shipping journal Lloyd’s List told the BBC.

The backlog of ships has mainly been attributed to a lack of LNG storage capacity in Europe.

  • EU countries went on an LNG-buying spree over the summer to fill up their reserves ahead of winter in view of reduced supplies from Russia.

But, as the bloc has long relied on pipeline gas, the continent’s regasification and storage capacities cannot cope, Reuters explained.

Source: RT

Over 150 dead after Halloween stampede in South Korea

At least 151 people were killed and 82 injured in a crowd stampede in the South Korean capital Seoul on Saturday night during Halloween celebrations, the local fire department has said.

  • The incident occurred in a narrow alley near the Hamilton Hotel in the Itaewon District, the most international area of the city, close to the Yongsan Garrison US military base.
  • According to the Korea Herald, around 100,000 people flocked to the area throughout the day to celebrate the first Halloween weekend without the mask mandate and social distancing measures that were in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • It is not clear exactly what caused the stampede. Eyewitnesses said the area had become so crowded that rescuers could not immediately get to the victims and attempt resuscitation.

According to local media, at least 19 of those killed were foreigners, including citizens of Iran, Uzbekistan, China and Norway. Moscow’s embassy in Seoul confirmed the deaths of two Russian citizens.

The majority of the victims were in their late teens and 20s, according to Yonhap news agency. Dozens of the injured were sent to hospitals in the capital, with at least 19 seriously injured.

President Yoon Suk-yeol chaired an emergency response meeting shortly after the tragedy.

  • “The top priority is transporting and rescuing the patients and providing prompt medical treatment for the affected people,” he said, according to a spokesperson.
  • Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has cut short his trip to Europe and decided to return to the city, officials said.

Source: RT

UPDATE:

The South Korean president has declared a week of nationwide mourning after a deadly stampede during Halloween celebrations in Seoul on Saturday night claimed the lives of over 150 people, including at least 19 foreigners from multiple states.

  • At least four citizens of Russia, all females, were killed in the crowd crush, Moscow’s embassy in Seoul confirmed on Sunday.

China also said that three of its nationals lost their lives in the tragedy.

  • The Chinese embassy said it had “activated an emergency response mechanism” to provide assistance to any Chinese nationals who were injured or might be seeking help.

The US embassy in Seoul told CNN that at least two US nationals were among the victims. Some Americans were also apparently injured as the embassy said it was “working closely with local authorities and other partner organizations to assist US citizens affected.”

Seoul authorities also identified several victims from Iran, Uzbekistan and Norway.

  • According to South Korea’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, foreign nationals from ten countries were killed in the stampede.
  • As of midday on Sunday, the death toll stood at 153 with another 133 injured. Most of the victims were in their late teens or 20s. The number of fatalities could rise further as 37 people sustained serious injuries in the stampede, officials warned.

“It’s truly horrific,” President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Sunday, calling the stampede a “tragedy and disaster that should never have happened.”

The tragedy unfolded in Seoul’s main nightlife district on Saturday, as up to 100,000 people converged on the area for late-night Halloween celebrations. According to eyewitnesses, the stampede happened after the crowd pushed itself into a narrow side alley, but authorities have yet to establish the exact sequence of events.

  • President Yoon promised that authorities will “investigate the cause of the accident and make fundamental improvements so that similar accidents do not happen again in the future.”

Source: RT

French protesters clash with police over water facilities

Thousands of French activists marched against the deployment of giant water reservoirs for agricultural use in the western part of the country on Saturday despite an official ban, resulting in clashes with police and dozens of injuries.

  • According to activist group Bassines Non Merci, more than 7,000 people gathered to protest against the building of water ‘megabasins’ in the village of Sainte-Soline in the Deux-Sevres department, before some of them managed to break onto the construction site.
  • By doing so, they defied a ban imposed by the department’s prefect Emmanuelle Dubee on Friday, who said around 1,500 police officers would do their best to stop the protesters.

In an attempt to justify the move, she said such demonstrations had proven violent in the past, adding that activists could “attack the police” and “degrade part of the agricultural facilities that were on their way.”

As a result, clashes between activists and law enforcers ensued.

According to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 61 officers were injured, 22 of them seriously.

“This figure shows that it was not a peaceful demonstration, but a very violent rally,” he said.

Meanwhile, protesters reported that around 30 had been injured by projectiles fired by police.

The water reserve is a part of the project organized by French farmers to significantly reduce mains water usage in summer.

However, opponents have described the project as a “water grab” by the “agro industry.”

They also argued that it could deprive local communities of access to water, a concern that gained more urgency after France went through an unprecedented drought this summer.

At the time, dozens of municipalities were left without drinking water while the nation’s authorities introduced restrictions on consumption.

Source: RT

Liz Truss’s phone ‘hacked by Russians’ – media

Suspected foreign hackers have allegedly obtained a year’s worth of former British prime minister Liz Truss’s “highly sensitive discussions,” according to the Mail on Sunday

  • The security breach was allegedly discovered back in summer when then foreign secretary Truss was fighting for the Tory leadership, and prompted Boris Johnson, the prime minister at the time, to order a complete media blackout due to the sensitivity of the matter, the Mail on Sunday reported, citing unnamed security sources.

The messages obtained by hackers reportedly included Truss’s “highly sensitive discussions with senior international foreign ministers about the war in Ukraine, including detailed discussions about arms shipments,” according to the paper.

While the details of the hack remain unclear, the culprits are believed to have downloaded up to a year’s worth of recordings, including private conversations in which Truss and her political ally Kwasi Kwarteng criticized Johnson.

  • The report pinned the blame on foreign state actors “presumed to be working for Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” although a cyber expert cited by the paper also named other usual suspects such as “China, North Korea and Iran who would have huge interest in knowing what the Foreign Secretary is communicating.”
  • Even though the incident triggered concerns of potential blackmail, a news blackout was ordered, because it was “not a great look for the intelligence services if the Foreign Secretary’s phone can be so easily plundered for embarrassing personal messages,” the Mail cited one source as saying.

A government spokesperson refused to comment on “individuals’ security arrangements,” insisting that the British government has “robust systems in place to protect against cyber threats.”

British opposition parties have already demanded an urgent independent probe into the allegations.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said there are “serious security questions around why and how this information has been leaked or released right now which must also be urgently investigated.”

  • Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said: “if it turns out this information was withheld from the public to protect Liz Truss’s leadership bid, that would be unforgivable.”
  • Truss replaced Johnson as Tory leader and became prime minister on September 6, only to resign 45 days later, becoming the shortest-serving premier in UK history.

Source: RT

COVID-19: A Universe of Questions In a Time of Universal Deceit

As we approach the third year of the ‘COVID Crisis’, the once unassailable COVID Story – reported and repeated by politicians, public health mandarins and all mainstream media – has been replaced by contradictions and inconsistencies.

The original COVID Story narrated by health ‘experts’ and government officials told of a particularly virulent pathogen which besieged the planet in 2020 and spread like wildfire– terrorizing, infecting, and killing people en masse.

It was the story of a “pandemic level event” in which people were told to stay indoors, entire sectors of society were forced to shut down and humans were told to do everything possible to avoid contact with one another.

It was a story of closed down schools, closed down businesses, closed down churches and soon-to-be overwhelmed hospitals.

In later chapters the COVID Story morphed from ironclad truths, “Follow the science”, to ever changing definitions, “The science evolves.” Countless aspects of the “official” narrative changed overnight. Gradually the tale became fraught with pages of questionable statistics and ever shifting storylines.

What was one to make of all of these contradictions and ministerial mutations?

Did today’s story make sense with yesterday’s? Will tomorrow’s make sense with today’s?

Soon the only certainty within the COVID narrative became its uncertainty– the moment the COVID story “you thought you knew” was on solid footing the sands shifted yet again.

Attempting to make sense of the COVID conundrum soon required navigating a complex labyrinth of deceits, manipulations, obfuscations and concealments. Separating fact from fiction became more challenging each day.

While most persisted with the media storyline and government edicts, some began to take notice of the numerous anomalies and started asking questions.

The most glaring question was simply: “Why was no one allowed to ask questions?” Once this Pandora’s Box opened, a stream of questions came tumbling out.

Why wasn’t the media asking any questions? How were they all operating in lockstep?

Were we alerted to this “pandemic-level event” by our direct observations and experiences?

Were we surrounded by sick people, in our homes, neighborhoods and workplaces who were succumbing to a quick-spreading and dangerous virus?

If we were truly in a pandemic of biblical proportions would there be so much discussion of the epidemiological minutiae?

Bit by bit as most of the accepted narrative began to unravel, questioning the “official story” became more than a revolutionary act it became an obligation.

If you have to be persuaded, reminded, pressured, lied to, incentivized, coerced, bullied, socially shamed, guilt-tripped, threatened, punished and criminalized. If all of this is considered necessary to gain your compliance — you can be absolutely certain that what is being promoted is not in your best interest.

– Ian Watson

To sell the COVID Story a mass marketing campaign rife with its own nomenclature was launched. The constant drumbeat of the Covid battle cry became inescapable resembling military grade propaganda rather than public health messaging.

Were these COVID watch words and rallying cries intended to serve public health or were they designed merely to be obeyed? Where did these ideas and phrases come from?

Why did the media and government relentlessly stoke public fear and anxiety?

Why were millions spent on behavioral management teams?

How did the phrase “the new normal” emerge within the first weeks of the pandemic?

Was sustained psychological manipulation utilized to create fear and coerce the public?
Were COVID symptoms genuinely unique or were we being conditioned to believe there was a new disease?

Were statistics about COVID deathsbeing manipulated to create the perception of a crisis?

Were lockdowns about protection or social control?

Did lockdowns reduce deaths or cause increased mortality?

Was there ever any evidence for ”asymptomatic spread” or was this overstated to frighten the public?

How did we go from “two weeks to flatten the curve” to permanent emergency “laws?

Hospitals and doctors are getting rich off a sickened mass population.
– Steven Magee, Hypoxia, Mental Illness & Chronic Fatigue

One of the earliest COVID Campaign methods used to alert the public to the coming storm of dire illness centered on the belief that hospitals were going to be overwhelmed by a cascade of the COVID infected.

“Two weeks to flatten the curve” became a national rallying cry. The public was flooded with stories of overflowing hospital corridors and swamped ICU’s. Makeshift hospitals were swiftly constructed to take in the excess casualties. The unquestioning media amplified these stories creating a climate of widespread panic and hysteria.

Was any of this true?

Were US hospitals really overwhelmed? What does the data say?

Were NYC hospitals overwhelmed in Spring 2020?

Was Elmhurst hospital, the ‘epicenter of the epicenter’, overflowing in Spring 2020?

Were ICUs flooded with patients?

Were US hospitals busier in 2020 than they were in 2019?

Are hospitals regularly overrun during cold and flu season?

Fear is a market. To instill fear in people also has advantages. Not only in terms of drug use. Anxiety-driven people are easier to rule.

– Gerd Gogerenzer, Director Emeritus, Max Planck Institute for Educational Research

As the pandemic picked up speed, the “Covid death toll” became a daily marker hammered home by media bullhorns and mortality scoreboards.

Ghastly tales of the “first wave” of Covid fatalities were plastered all over media channels in lockstep. Harrowing tales of overflowing morgues and refrigerated trucks filled with Covid cadavers saturated the evening news. While a simpler explanation for these trucks was readily available, a compliant and complicit media plugged its ears and continued to manufacture mass hysteria.

Again all questions that might sow seeds of skepticism were kept away from public discussion.

But was this advertised death march verifiable or was this yet another feature of the Covid fear campaign?

Were COVID death counts and death certificates accurate or were Covid deaths artificially inflated?

What was the average age of COVID deaths and how did that compare with normal life expectancy?

What percentage of COVID deaths were from people who already had multiple comorbidities?

Were the photos of coffins from Bergamo, Italy, in March 2020, used to terrify the world, authentic?

Why did CNN report that a 7-year-old Georgia boy died from COVID when he drowned in a bathtub after a seizure.

How many COVID deaths due to “intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning and other adverse events” were placed in the CDC COVID death count?

Why were 14,369 injury deaths, 1,265 deaths due to falls, drowning deaths and suicides listed in the Covid-19 death count?

Why did the CDC change recording methods exclusively for Covid deaths and did this inflate COVID fatality numbers?

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth.
Carl Sagan

As the purported wreckage of the “first wave” subsided and the body count failed to add up to the predicted totals, the narrative abruptly shifted.

“The COVID Death” was replaced by “The COVID Case” as the main vector of fear. What defined a “COVID Case” generally seemed up for grabs. “Case” definitions ranged from anyone “suspected of having COVID” to those who were ‘positive’ as established through PCR testing.

Nowhere in the media could one find an inquiring reporter who would question what it meant to be a “probable case.” Even as the PCR became a regular feature of daily life never was the soundness of its usage as a diagnostic tool examined by any mainstream source.

Were these case counts and the methods used situated on solid scientific ground?

Was COVID-19 a novel virus?

How did the peer-review process of the critical publication about the Covid PCR tests only take one day?

Were COVID PCR test results accurate?

Were COVID case counts and diagnoses accurate?

Were PCR tests used deceptively to invent COVID “cases?”

Why was the definition of a COVID “case” altered?

Big Pharma needs sick people to prosper. Patients, not healthy people, are their customers.

If everybody was cured of a particular illness or disease, pharmaceutical companies would lose 100% of their profits on the products they sell for that ailment. What all this means is because modern medicine is so heavily intertwined with the financial profits culture, it’s a sickness industry more than it is a health industry.

– James Morcan

Once it was firmly established in the public’s mind that a pathogenic menace was lurking just outside their door a non-stop barrage of messaging, gaslighting and coercion kicked in from all angles.

The entire world was repeatedly informed that the only salvation for the human species was a genetically engineered experimental medical product concocted at “Warp Speed” by giant Pharmaceutical companies. This and only this medication could save humanity from catastrophe.

Like many other facets of the COVID Story, the tale of Big Pharma and their magical potions unraveled upon further scrutiny. Multiple questions arose:

If Big Pharma is truly in the business of public health what is their historical record towards safeguarding public health?

What is Pfizer’s previous track record of fraud and corruption?

Has Big Pharma captured the FDA and the political and regulatory processes?

Does Big Pharma control the CDC?

Does Big Pharma influence clinical trials?

Were Pfizer’s clinical trials for COVID vaccines properly run trials?

Why did the FDA try to conceal COVID vaccine trial data for 75 years? What did the trial data reveal?

Why has the FDA refused to make its vaccine safety monitoring public?

How did the CDC decide the Pfizer clinical trials proved a ‘safe and effective’ vaccine?

I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.

-Malcolm X

When the mass rollout of the experimental Covid vaccines was launched, a compulsory campaign silencing all voices who dare question the vaccine imperative was set in motion. Even so, some voices of apprehension slipped through the cracks. Many of these voices were some of the most renowned medical practitioners in their field.

Why were their voices not allowed into the mainstream conversations?

Why were thousands of dissenting physicians censored and silenced?

Why were doctors who spoke out about early treatment vilified and censored?

Were the Covid vaccines necessary, effective or safe?

Would the Covid Vaccines stop hospitalizations or deaths?

Was evidence of harm and serious adverse events from the clinical trials covered up?

Why did the media maintain silence about potential dangers of the Covid vaccine?

Were people given proper informed consent for the Covid vaccines?

What did multiple studies as early as 2020 say about the Covid vaccines and microvascular injury?

Why weren’t independent scientists allowed to examine the mRNA vaccine vials?
Was there a connection between heart inflammation and the Covid vaccines?

Why were kids targeted for vaccination when it was known they were at zero risk from the disease in question?

Were there doctors calling for a halt to the COVID vaccine program?

Ultimately a comprehensive and complete reckoning with the ‘COVID Story’ is not possible without a thorough examination of the policies which unfolded in hospitals and nursing homes and the catastrophic consequences.

While hospital workers were feted as heroes, reports began to leak out hinting that what actually occurred inside these medical institutions was contrary to the sustained media narrative. As more stories surfaced, suspicions escalated that this too was part of the Covid mythology.

Questions concerning treatments in hospitals and nursing homes emerged and allegations about monied interests materialized.

Were hospitals incentivized to manufacture COVID patients?

What were the COVID hospital treatment protocols?

Were hospitals incentivized to put COVID patients on ventilators and to use Remdesivir?

Did these incentives and protocols endanger people?

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In the early chapters of the Covid Story, perhaps no other storyline trapped our imaginations and pulled on our heartstrings quite like the “Saving Grandma” shibboleth.

We were told that “COVID-19” targeted the old and the sick and multiple reports from across the globe revealed a consistent pattern of how ghastly situations in long-term care facilities unfolded.

As more information on this piece of the sordid COVID puzzle surfaced more questions came to light.

Did thousands of elderly die because of COVID or was the management of their end-of-life treatment withdrawn actively putting them in a situation that ensured their death?

What did they mean when they said “taking care of the elderly?”

How did they “take care of the elderly in Canada?” In the UK? In France? In Maryland?In Massachusetts?In Washington DC? In Mississippi? In NewYork? In New Jersey? In Minnesota? In Indiana? In Louisiana? In Michigan? In Rhode Island?

Were conditions for high death rates at Care Homes created on purpose?

I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.” The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.

C.S. Lewis

All intricate stories require a cast of characters and the COVID Chronicle was no different. Neil Ferguson and Christian Drosten played significant supporting roles behind the scenes while others, like Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates, took center stage. As we moved through the COVID narrative we “came to know” these personalities through the portraits painted by a uniformly deferential media.

Were these images of our COVID cast of characters accurate depictions? How much about them did we really know?

What did Neil Ferguson’s original computer models predict about COVID deaths and what was his well documented track record?

How did his calamitous and inaccurate predictions play such a central role in determining government policy?

Who is Christian Drosten and how did he develop the now famous COVID PCR test?

Who is The Real Anthony Fauci?

What role did Anthony Fauci play in the HIV/AIDS crisis?

Given that Bill Gates has no medical training, why did he play such a central role in determining government policy?

How did Bill Gates know in 2019 that vaccines would be “one of the best buys” in 2020?

How did Bill Gates use medical investments to turn $10 billion into $200 billion?

Why did the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invest $55 million in the shares of BioNTech in August of 2019?

They failed to see that globalisation was merely a tactic to prise power from nation states towards international conglomerates. Once the power was siphoned from the people and democratic control was circumvented, the ability to assert global governance without any democratic restraint was available.

-James Tunney

Finally, to understand the totality of the COVID Story it’s necessary to understand how the public health industry is inextricably linked to global financial markets and operates based on the demands of those financial conglomerates. Manufactured pandemics are now considered one of the biggest investment opportunities to increase the wealth of billionaires and consolidate their power.

The medical industry is no longer a system whose primary focus is to serve the health and well-being of the public. It is a system whose primary function is as a financial instrument for investors. The present-day policies that define the medical industry are designed to serve socioeconomic and political agendas which benefit these same financial elites.

Was the entire ‘COVID Crisis’ a genuine health emergency or was it an agenda rooted in fear to enrich the pockets of Big Pharma and their monied investors.

Here again the mainstream media remain dutifully silent, refusing to ask the most basic of questions:

Who owns Big Pharma?

Is it a coincidence that the COVID Public Health Emergency created over 500 new billionaires and coincided with one of the largest upwards transfers of wealth in human history?

Why were Big Banks being bailed out during the COVID era while small businesses were being pushed out?

How did workers around the world lose $3.7 trillion in the pandemic while billionaires around the world gained $3.9 trillion in the pandemic?

Is it possible to “follow the science” if the science is controlled by money?

What did the Head of the IMF say about the fate of the world’s economy and vaccines?

What is the “Great Reset?”

What is the Great Reset?

What are Central Bank Digital Currencies?

After a deeper dive into the COVID Hall of Mirrors one wonders if even a single strand of the story withstands scrutiny. Three years on and the wreckage from the fusillade of COVID policies continue to pile up. With every passing day more holes appear in the official narrative and more admissions come to light as officials scurry to avoid accountability.

As the dust settles in the aftermath of the COVID carnage we are left asking one final question:

“Was the entirety of the COVID Story a lie?”

Source: Michael Bryant – Off-Guardian

Header: Health care worker takes swab samples from Israelis at a Covid-19 Clalit testing sample center, June 28, 2022. Photo by Yossi Aloni/Flash90 *** Local Caption ***

Russian ambassador tells US to ‘bring its nukes home’

The US should bring its foreign-based nuclear weapons back to American territory and stop training troops from non-nuclear countries to use the arms, Russia’s ambassador to Washington said on Saturday.

  • Anatoly Antonov was speaking in response to an article published by Politico on Wednesday, claiming the US was planning to speed up the deployment of B61-12 nuclear bombs to NATO bases in Europe.

According to diplomatic cables seen by the outlet, the upgraded, more accurate bombs will arrive on the continent as soon as December, instead of spring 2023 as previously planned.

  • The $10 billion B61-12 life extension program is expected to replace several earlier versions of the weapon, including about 100 bombs at air bases in Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Türkiye.

In a message released by the Russian embassy, Antonov said officials in Washington call B61-12 munitions “tactical” and “speculate that the Russian arsenal of the same class is several times larger than that of the US.

However, they fail to mention the fact that all our tactical nuclear weapons are stockpiled in centralized storage facilities on Russian territory and cannot pose a threat to the US.”

“The US bombs, on the other hand, are deployed in European countries with a short flight time to Russian borders. Therefore, despite their limited yield, B61-12 play a strategic role,” he added.

The ambassador also rejected claims by the US and NATO that Washington’s regular nuclear warfare training exercises with the involvement of non-nuclear countries are not directed against Russia.

  • “The question arises: against what other country the alliance, whose Strategic Concept calls Russia ‘the most significant and direct threat,’ trains to use nuclear weapons?” he asked.

The world is currently going through a period of “tension and heightened risks” due to the conflict in Ukraine, and nuclear powers such as the US and Russia “bear a special responsibility for preventing escalation,” Antonov insisted.

  • “With this in mind, I once again urge Washington to return all of its nuclear weapons deployed abroad to the national territory and eliminate foreign infrastructure for their storage and maintenance. As well as to abandon the practice of training military personnel from non-nuclear states to use such weapons as part of the so-called nuclear-sharing missions that contradict the fundamental principles of the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons),” he said.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed “some senior officials in NATO states” for suggesting that deploying nuclear weapons against Russia was justified. He warned that Moscow was ready to “use all means” to defend itself in case of such an attack. His words were interpreted by the US and its allies as a “veiled threat” by the Kremlin to use atomic weapons during Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

  • Numerous Russian officials have since insisted that the country was not threatening anybody with atomic weapons and pointed to Russia’s military doctrine, which states that such weapons can only be used if weapons of mass destruction are being deployed against the state, or it is faced with an existential threat from conventional warfare.

Source: RT