CBS Still Resisting Release of Full ‘60 Minutes’ Harris Interview– www.dailysignal.com Source Link Excerpt:
Former President Donald Trump’s criticism of CBS’ “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris has triggered the predictable legacy media meltdown. It’s unfortunate.
Trump and Harris supporters should demand CBS come clean about why the network significantly altered Harris’ responses on the Biden-Harris administration’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
The network has disingenuously claimed that the editing was a standard exercise of its authority to trim interviews for time considerations. That rationale might work for the first answer, where CBS trimmed Harris’ four-paragraph answer down to a single sentence, but it completely ignores the second answer substitution, where “60 Minutes” egregiously swapped one single-sentence answer for another.
Either way, CBS News would typically post the full interview on its website, as many of its news programs often do. But it didn’t do that here.
Since CBS has declined to fully explain the editing controversy, viewers must speculate why the network substituted a different answer to the same prompt. An obvious possibility is that anti-Israel politics are the real driver here.
As a result of its selective editing, CBS removed Harris’ statements about Israeli aid and self-defense and replaced another answer with a statement calling for a cease-fire, which Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders oppose.
A recent call by eleven alleged Republican former prosecutors to investigate Elon Musk for election violations has drawn attention to a man whose Empire is under numerous assaults from numerous governments, including the Federal government of the United States of America.
The 11 Republicans, which include former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, want nothing more than prison for Musk, claiming, “Federal law, 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c), imposes up to five years in prison on anyone who ‘knowingly or willfully . . . pays or offers to pay or accepts payment . . . for registration to vote.’”
Biden-Harris DOJ Confirms Request to Investigate Elon Musk’s Pro-Trump Election Activity– www.westernjournal.com Source Link Excerpt:
Former Republican Justice Department and other officials sent a letter Monday to Democratic Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting he open an investigation into billionaire Elon Musk’s cash prizes to registered voters in swing states.
Musk, through his America PAC, is selecting a $1 million lottery winner each day until the election to registered voters who sign a petition saying they support the First and Second Amendments.
The petition signers must be registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.
EU Threatens Elon Musk’s Entire Empire with Crippling Fines– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
They tried to make a secret deal with him.
That didn’t work.
So, the EU’s new strategy?
If X can’t censor, they’re not just coming after X—they’re targeting SpaceX and Neuralink too.
That’s right, regulators are considering lumping Musk’s other businesses into the mix.
They’re trying to calculate the largest fines they can invent.
That doesn’t sound very ethical or legal.
The European Union is threatening to fine X based on not only the revenues of X, but also trying to include SpaceX and Elon’s other companies.
It is blatantly illegal and has no basis in law. The EU is conducting lawfare against Elon Musk in an effort to force him to comply with… pic.twitter.com/r2TOXNBPuI
The European Union has warned X that it may calculate fines against the social-media platform by including revenue from Elon Musk’s other businesses, including Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Neuralink Corp., an approach that would significantly increase the potential penalties for violating content moderation rules.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, the bloc can slap online platforms with fines of as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue for failing to tackle illegal content and disinformation or follow transparency rules. Regulators are considering whether sales from SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI and the Boring Company, in addition to revenue generated from the social network, should be included to determine potential fines against X, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
EU Threatens Elon Musk’s Entire Empire with Crippling Fines– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
They tried to make a secret deal with him.
That didn’t work.
So, the EU’s new strategy?
If X can’t censor, they’re not just coming after X—they’re targeting SpaceX and Neuralink too.
That’s right, regulators are considering lumping Musk’s other businesses into the mix.
They’re trying to calculate the largest fines they can invent.
That doesn’t sound very ethical or legal.
The European Union is threatening to fine X based on not only the revenues of X, but also trying to include SpaceX and Elon’s other companies.
It is blatantly illegal and has no basis in law. The EU is conducting lawfare against Elon Musk in an effort to force him to comply with… pic.twitter.com/r2TOXNBPuI
The European Union has warned X that it may calculate fines against the social-media platform by including revenue from Elon Musk’s other businesses, including Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Neuralink Corp., an approach that would significantly increase the potential penalties for violating content moderation rules.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, the bloc can slap online platforms with fines of as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue for failing to tackle illegal content and disinformation or follow transparency rules. Regulators are considering whether sales from SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI and the Boring Company, in addition to revenue generated from the social network, should be included to determine potential fines against X, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
The BRICS coalition of nations, which started out as a 5-nation coalition, expanded to include 4 new countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE), and now includes a couple dozen more countries wanting in to the club, met again this year, with the prevailing theme being the urgency of creating a world financial alternative to the western-dominated one. Russia is leading the charge, with China right beside, and both are now pushing for a gold-backed BRICS currency.
Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov declared,” The IMF and the World Bank are not performing their roles. They are not working in the interests of BRICS countries. It is necessary to form new conditions or even new institutions, similar to the Bretton Woods institutions, but within the framework of our community, within the framework of BRICS.”
The BRICS Coalition, with some exceptions, seems to be forming a Global South Coalition rather than an Eastern one, meaning the polarity of world power is starting to form around northern and southern powers (with some notable exceptions, such as Russia) rather than Eastern and Western ones (which also includes exceptions).
Anti-West BRICS Summit Unites Biggest U.S. Enemies – PJ Media– pjmedia.com Source Link Excerpt:
The BRICS coalition of nations, which last year touted its expansion and determination to undermine U.S. currency’s global status, is once again bringing together powerful dictatorships to challenge the West, especially America.
As the world’s greatest mass murderer, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), dictatorial Russia, jihad-sponsoring Iran, and the other regime leaders of the BRICS nations gather in Russia for the BRICS Summit, the CCP has made it clear that the nations’ coalition is a rival to the West. “Unlike the ideological offensive and defensive alliances formed by some Western countries, the BRICS cooperation mechanism embraces diverse political systems and economic development models,” CCP outlet Global Times babbled. It’s propaganda but still worth noting, especially in light of last year‘s BRICS goal of de-dollarization — a move away from the U.S. dollar as world reserve currency. That’s a goal the CCP highlighted again this year.
This comes as an unknown number of Chinese spies infiltrate through our southern border as illegal aliens. Indeed, The Federalist covered a Congressional report last week that Chinese Communist spying has increased across 20 states since pro-China Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office. The CCP wants to prevent a Trump presidency, undermine the U.S. dollar, and keep the U.S. weak — which is exactly what Russia and Iran want, too. These countries arespying on the U.S. and funding our politicians. Yes, BRICS is a threat, but that is why we need new leadership in America from the White House on down.
In the article I cited above, CCP’s Global Times used a lot of nonsense words to emphasize its ambitious goals for BRICS.
From the Middle East to Africa, from Asia to Latin America, the expansion of BRICS is an inevitable result of aligning with globalization trends to promote win-win cooperation. The expanded “Greater BRICS” now accounts for nearly half of the world’s population, with greater strength and broader representation…the economic output of the “Greater BRICS,” calculated by purchasing power parity, has already surpassed that of the G7…joining BRICS helps promote economic development, improve trade levels, attract more investment, reduce reliance on the US dollar, and enhance their country’s international standing…
Additionally, the charm of the “Greater BRICS” lies in that in an increasingly fragmented world, it allows the Global South, which lags behind the West in economic development, to see the power of unity and collaboration, as well as the hope of catching up
In another article, Global Times pontificated, “While organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank remain crucial, BRICS brings new energy and perspectives by prioritizing the needs and aspirations of the Global South.” The CCP outlet added:
A key contribution of BRICS lies in its efforts to advance inclusive economic globalization. For decades, the benefits of global economic growth have disproportionately flowed to the West, leaving much of the developing world on the margins. Closer and enlarged BRICS cooperation promises to rebalance this dynamic by promoting investment, infrastructure development, and trade that align with the specific priorities of the Global South.
BRICS aims to rival and eventually usurp the power of corrupt globalist organizations like the UN. Of course, the Islamic jihadis backed by Iran and the CCP already seem to dominate the UN. Yes, this is what it looks like when genocidal dictatorships try to take over the world. That’s not Sci-fi or comic book exaggeration; it’s reality.
The CCP is extremely open about its goal of being the “Middle Kingdom,” by which it means the center of the world, the sun around which all other nations revolve. The Iranian regime has affirmed that “Death to America” is one of its main slogans, and it has threatened to assassinate Donald Trump and other U.S. politicians. Russia hates the Biden-Harris administration for funding Ukrainian oligarchs. The other BRICS nations, including Brazil, also resent U.S. influence.
All of which is to say that when you vote this year, don’t just vote for Republicans who will take on domestic problems, but for leaders like Donald Trump who will challenge and contain the dictators desperate to destroy us.
Russia urges BRICS to create global financial alternative to Western-controlled IMF – Firstpost Source Link Excerpt:
…. Russia as the current chair of the BRICS group has urged the member countries to form an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to counterbalance the political influence exerted by Western nations ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit this month.,,
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who is hosting the meeting, said the global financial system is controlled by Western countries and that the group, which represents 37% of the global economy, needs to create an alternative.
”The IMF and the World Bank are not performing their roles. They are not working in the interests of BRICS countries,” Siluanov said at an event on the first day of the meeting.
”It is necessary to form new conditions or even new institutions, similar to the Bretton Woods institutions, but within the framework of our community, within the framework of BRICS,” Siluanov added.
BRICS Summit Kicks Off With Welcome To “Record Gold Prices”– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
An expanding group of nations are backing a new form of money aimed at disrupting the Western status quo and dethroning the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
At a meeting this week, representatives from these BRICS nations met to discuss their strategy at a summit that coincided with an all-time record-high price for gold.
— Peter Spina ⚒ GoldSeek | SilverSeek (@goldseek) October 22, 2024
That “new world order” involves a gold-back currency that could become an existential threat to the U.S. dollar and, as nations around the world invest in gold as a hedge, the precious metal’s price continues to soar.
Russia hosts BRICS summit, pushes new world order agenda to rival West – cnbc Source Link Excerpt:
Russia is rolling out the red carpet to its geopolitical allies as it hosts the latest BRICS summit on Tuesday, pushing its agenda to create a “new world order” that challenges the West.
The group was initially comprised of Brazil, Russia, India and China before South Africa joined in 2010, giving the organization of rapidly economically-developing nations its current name. It has since morphed into a geopolitical forum for the world’s most powerful nations outside of the West.
The BRICS now have additional clout after Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined the group in January, with membership to the bloc becoming an attractive prospect for countries looking to boost trade, investment and economic development.
Russia has been trying to woo what’s collectively known as the “Global South” — or economically-developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America — and contrast to the “Global North” of industrialized nations, traditionally led by the U.S.
Russian President Vladimir Putin frequently comments on his ambition to establish what he calls a “new world order” to rival and usurp the geopolitical and economic pre-eminence enjoyed by the U.S.-led West.
Russia, holder of the rotating BRICS presidency and economically isolated and heavily sanctioned by the West, can also turn to this year’s summit to demonstrate that it still commands respect on the global stage and has powerful allies willing to turn a blind eye to its ongoing war in Ukraine.
Putin has described the beefed-up BRICS group as a “strong indication of the growing authority of the association and its role in international affairs” and signaled on Friday that he intends for the so-called “BRICS +” format to challenge the West on both a geopolitical and economic front.
“The countries in our association are essentially the drivers of global economic growth. In the foreseeable future, BRICS will generate the main increase in global GDP,” Putin told officials and businessmen last Friday at the BRICS business forum in Moscow, which precedes the group’s summit, in comments translated by Reuters.
“The economic growth of BRICS members will increasingly depend less on external influence or interference. This is essentially economic sovereignty,” Putin added.
Earlier in October, Putin said Moscow was open to using the summit for discussions with its allies on the “the parameters of interaction in the emerging multipolar world, and is open to discussing the issues of building a new world order with all our friends, partners and like-minded people,” he said, according to Russian state-owned news agency Tass.
Putin added that “it is in this spirit that we are preparing the BRICS and Outreach/BRICS Plus summit,” referring to the last day of the three-day summit when officials from almost 40 Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries are attending as part of the group’s bid to expand ties with the “Global South.”
PM’s Modi Full Speech At 16th BRICS Summit In Russia– www.ndtv.com Source Link Excerpt:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly pitched for “single-minded” focus and “firm support” of all in combating terrorism, asserting that there is no place for “double standards” to deal with the challenge. In an address at the 16th BRICS Summit, PM Modi also underlined the need to take “active steps” to stop the radicalisation of young people.
Here’s PM Modi’s full speech at the BRICS Summit.
Your Highness,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Congratulations to President Putin for the excellent organisation of the 16th BRICS Summit.
And, once again, a warm welcome to all the new friends who have joined BRICS. In its new avatar, BRICS accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s humanity and about 30 per cent of the global economy.
In the last nearly two decades, BRICS has achieved many milestones.I am confident that in the times to come, this organisation will emerge as a more effective medium to face global challenges.
I would also like to convey warm greetings to Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank.
Friends,
In the last 10 years, this bank has emerged as an important option for the development needs of the countries of the Global South. The opening of GIFT or Gujarat International Finance Tech City in India as well as regional centres in Africa and Russia has boosted the activities of this bank. And, development projects worth about $35 billion have been sanctioned. NDB should continue to work on the basis of the demand driven principle. And, while expanding the bank, ensuring long-term financial sustainability, healthy credit rating and market access should remain a priority.
Friends,
In its new expanded avatar, BRICS has emerged as an economy of more than $30 trillion. The BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women Business Alliance have played a special role in increasing our economic cooperation.
This year, the consensus reached within BRICS on WTO reforms, trade facilitation in agriculture, resilient supply chains, e-commerce and Special Economic Zones will strengthen our economic cooperation. Amidst all these initiatives, we should also focus on the interests of small and medium scale industries.
I am pleased that the BRICS Startup Forum proposed during India’s presidency in 2021 will be launched this year. The Railway Research Network initiative taken by India is also playing an important role in increasing logistics and supply chain connectivity among BRICS countries. This year, the consensus reached by BRICS countries, in collaboration with UNIDO, to prepare a skilled workforce for Industry 4.0 is quite significant.
The BRICS Vaccine R&D Centre launched in 2022 is helping increase health security in all the countries. We would be happy to share India’s successful experience in Digital Health with BRICS partners.
Friends,
Climate change has been a subject of our common priority. The consensus reached for the BRICS Open Carbon Market Partnership under Russia’s presidency is welcome. In India too, special emphasis is being laid on green growth, climate resilient infrastructure and green transition. Indeed, India has taken up several initiatives like the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Mission LiFE i.e. Lifestyle for Environment, Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam.
Last year, during COP-28, we started an important initiative called Green Credit. I invite BRICS partners to join these initiatives.
Special emphasis is being laid on the construction of infrastructure in all BRICS countries. We have established a digital platform called the Gati-Shakti portal to rapidly expand multi-modal connectivity in India. This has helped in integrated infrastructure development planning and implementation and has reduced logistics costs.
We will be happy to share our experiences with all of you.
Friends,
We welcome efforts to increase financial integration among BRICS countries.
Trade in local currencies and smooth cross-border payments will strengthen our economic cooperation. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) developed by India is a huge success story and has been adopted in many countries.
Last year, together with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed, it was launched in the UAE as well. We can also cooperate with other BRICS countries in this area.
Friends,
India is fully committed to increasing cooperation under BRICS. Our strong belief in our diversity and multipolarity is our strength. This strength of ours, and our shared belief in humanity, will help in giving a meaningful shape to a prosperous and a bright future for the generations to come.
I thank everyone for today’s very important and valuable discussions. As the next President of BRICS, I extend my heartfelt best wishes to President Lula. India will give its full support for the success of your BRICS presidency.
Once again, many thanks to President Putin and all the leaders.
(This is the approximate translation of the Prime Minister’s remarks. Original remarks were delivered in Hindi.)
BRICS Summit Kicks Off With Welcome To “Record Gold Prices”– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
An expanding group of nations are backing a new form of money aimed at disrupting the Western status quo and dethroning the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
At a meeting this week, representatives from these BRICS nations met to discuss their strategy at a summit that coincided with an all-time record-high price for gold.
— Peter Spina ⚒ GoldSeek | SilverSeek (@goldseek) October 22, 2024
That “new world order” involves a gold-back currency that could become an existential threat to the U.S. dollar and, as nations around the world invest in gold as a hedge, the precious metal’s price continues to soar.
The Democrats are pushing a version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 that would essentially force women to join the potential war draft pool in 28 states, the states that automatically register their citizens for “Selective Service,” the mechanism through which citizens get drafted and sent off to war.
Senate Armed Service Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-RI) is pushing the change in language that would effectively make women eligible for the draft. He defended the move, saying “if we were in a situation requiring a draft, I think we would need all able-bodied citizens 18 and above.”
Democrats are quietly pushing to include women in the draft– www.lifesitenews.com Source Link Excerpt:
… Although it seems to have been kept somewhat quiet, if the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 becomes law, Democrats are going to require females in America to sign up for the draft.
American women, their husbands, their fathers, and their brothers should understand this: the requirement for females to be included in the draft is already in a bill, and if it is approved this year, American women’s lives will be drastically different from those of previous generations of women in this country.
Over the last few years, especially during Kamala Harris’ time as Vice President, Democrats have supported requiring women to sign up for the selective service military draft, and thus potentially to be forced into the military. Republicans have opposed expanding the draft to include women.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed, a Democrat, defended expanding the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 requiring the draft to include females by saying that “if we were in a situation requiring a draft, I think we would need all able-bodied citizens 18 and above.”
It seems the Biden-Harris administration has made America a safe space for at least one of her sworn existential enemies, the Chinese Communist Party. A report from the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence claims “CCP-related espionage and acts of transnational repression” have spiked under the Biden-Harris administration’s watch.
Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) said in the report, “Beijing has continually encroached upon American sovereignty to spy, intimidate, and harass not only defectors, but even American citizens. It is important we remain clear-eyed about the threat the CCP poses to the security of the American people so we are prepared to counter its malign influence at every turn.”
CCP Spying ‘Expanded Rapidly’ Under Biden-Harris– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spying in the United States “expanded rapidly” under the Biden-Harris administration’s watch, according to a congressional report released Thursday.
Published by the House Homeland Security Committee’s House Committee On Homeland Security’s Subcommittee On Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, And Intelligence, the assessment details how cases of “CCP-related espionage and acts of transnational repression” have significantly increased since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office. The analysis was first reported by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Beijing has continually encroached upon American sovereignty to spy, intimidate, and harass not only defectors, but even American citizens,” Committee Chair and Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn. said in a statement. “It is important we remain clear-eyed about the threat the CCP poses to the security of the American people so we are prepared to counter its malign influence at every turn.”
According to the report, there have been more than 55 “CCP-related espionage cases in 20 states” from January 2021-October 2024. These have included incidents related to “transmission of sensitive military information to [the People’s Republic of China] PRC,” “stealing of trade secrets to benefit the PRC,” “transnational repression schemes to target PRC dissidents,” and “obstruction of justice.”
The U.S. is now threatening to cut off aid to Israel if they don’t provide more humanitarian aid to Hamas. The Biden administration is giving Israel 30 days to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or risk losing U.S. military aid. The threat comes as Israel prepares to respond to Iran’s missile assault. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin both signed the letter sent to Netanyahu.
Biden Threatens to Halt Military Aid to Israel if Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza ‘Not Improved’– legalinsurrection.com Source Link Excerpt:
With Hamas holding over a hundred Israeli hostages for more than a year and terrorists regrouping in northern Gaza, President Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly threatened to cut U.S. military aid to Israel if humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave are ‘not improved’ in the next 30 days.
“The Biden administration sent a letter to Israeli leaders on Monday demanding Israel take steps within 30 days to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza or risk the supply of U.S. weapons to Israel being affected,” Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported in the new website Axios.
“The Biden administration is extremely concerned about the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, especially as Israeli Defense Forces renew their operations in the northern Gaza Strip,” Ravid noted.
A recent letter jointly signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin threatened to halt U.S. military aid.
“In the letter, Blinken and Austin said recent evacuation orders issued by the IDF to the population in Gaza have forced about 1.7 million Palestinians into a small strip of land on the Gaza coast, exposing them to dangerous diseases.” the Axios article said. “They added that international aid organizations claim they can’t address the needs of Palestinian civilians and that trucks of humanitarian aid paid for by the U.S. are being held up by Israel at the border crossings with Gaza.”
The ultimatum from Washington comes as Israeli ground troops are pressing ahead with a ground offensive against Hamas terrorist forces regrouping in the area of Jabaliya, northern Gaza.
🚨IDF forces of the 162nd Division have been operating for over a week in Jabaliya, North Gaza. The area is cut off, dozens of Hams terrorists have been neutralized, and many weapon stores have been uncovered. The fight continues. pic.twitter.com/vmuhLoCAjO
While Biden White House is putting pressure on Israel, Hamas is doing everything possible to maximize civilian casualties in Gaza. The Iran-backed jihadist group is using brute force to stop Gazans from moving to designated safe zones as the Israeli military advances on the Hamas stronghold of Jabaliya.
“Hamas is actively preventing Gazan civilians from heeding the IDF’s calls to move away from the combat zone in Jabaliya,” the IDF said in a press statement Monday. “In one conversation between an IDF representative and a Gazan civilian during the evacuation, the Gazan civilian described how Hamas forces were hitting them with sticks in order to prevent them from evacuating from the area.”
Since October 1, over 9,000 tons of humanitarian aid including food, water, gas, shelter equipment and medical supplies have entered Gaza through various crossings.
As shown in the video, some of the aid was transferred directly into northern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/gYslbAQfNv
The military “remains committed to facilitating humanitarian aid, especially in the medical field, while continuing its efforts to dismantle Hamas’ military and governance infrastructure embedded inside civilian areas,” the IDF assured in a statement Tuesday.
Iran’s Quds Force chief Qaani, missing for weeks after Beirut airstrike, shown on state TV
The top general of Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) and chief of the Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, has finally appeared on state TV after weeks of speculations about his fate. Qaani, who is in charge of Iran’s international terrorist activities, went missing in late September after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut targeted Hezbollah’s new likely chief, Hashem Safieddine.
Recent Arab media reports suggested that the Quds Force chief was being interrogated by the IRGC for allegedly passing on intelligence to Israel.
Putting an end to weeks of speculation about his fate, Esmail Ghaani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, made a public appearance at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport early Tuesday. His presence dispels rumors of his death or injury that had circulated following an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs in late September.
In the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, Esmail Ghaani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, was spotted at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. He was there to receive the body of Abbas Nilforoushan, a high-ranking official of the organization in Lebanon, who was killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
Iran’s state television aired on Tuesday morning footage showing Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards during a ceremony that was held for the arrival of the body of Abbas Nilforoushan, the IRGC’s regional commander who was killed in Lebanon.… pic.twitter.com/qOtMbP0ssX
Qaani was promoted to lead the Quds Forces in early 2020 after his predecessor Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump.
Israeli airstrike eliminates Hezbollah’s drone commander in Southern Lebanon
The Israeli armed forces eliminated a senior Hezbollah drone commander in a recent airstrike in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced Tuesday.
“A few days ago, the IAF [Israeli Air Force] eliminated the terrorist Khader Al-Abed Bahja, responsible for the area north of the Litani River in the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s Aerial Unit in the area of Nabatieh,” the IDF disclosed in a statement. “Under Bahja’s command, numerous aerial attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops were carried out from the area, making use of UAVs, surveillance aircraft, and explosive aircraft.”
Hezbollah’s Iranian-supplied drones pose a serious threat to Israeli military and civilians alike. On Sunday night, four Israeli soldiers were killed, and nearly 60 servicemen and civilians were injured in a Hezbollah drone strike in northern Israel.
As the Israeli ground offensive in Southern Lebanon enters its third week. The air force hit terror targets all across the Hezbollah-dominated country. “Over the past day, in coordination with ground troops, the IAF struck more than 200 Hezbollah terrorist targets in southern Lebanon and deep within Lebanon, including terrorist cells, anti-tank missile posts, and surface-to-surface missile launchers,” the IDF disclosed Tuesday.
IDF captures Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, brings them for interrogation to Israel
Israeli troops arrested three Hezbollah terror operatives in southern Lebanon. The terrorist, members od Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, have been brought to Israel for interrogation, the IDF confirmed Tuesday.
🚨BREAKING🚨IDF forces captured 3 Hezbollah terrorists from the Radwan Force after they surrendered when they were located in an underground tunnel inside a Lebanese village. They were interrogated by Unit 504 and then brought to Israel for further investigation. pic.twitter.com/tds2JkDgjS
The IDF says it has arrested three members of the Hezbollah terror group’s elite Radwan force.
The three Radwan members were found in a shaft underneath a building, the IDF says.
The three were interrogated in the field after surrendering and were subsequently transferred to a prison facility in Israel.
The IDF separately publishes a video clip of the interrogation of a Hezbollah operative who claims that Radwan fighters ran away following Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah
Walgreens has announced plans to close more than 1,200 stores it deems to be under performers by the next 3 years, with most of the closings scheduled to happen in the last half of the current year, which started in September.
The reason given for the closings was telegraphed in June by CEO Tim Wentworth, who said “there is a ‘difficult operating environment, including persistent pressures on the U.S. consumer and the impact of recent marketplace dynamics which have eroded pharmacy margins.’”
Walgreens Closing 1,200 Stores Over Next Three Years– legalinsurrection.com Source Link Excerpt:
Due to retail losses, Walgreens announced it will close 1,200 underperforming stores over the next three years.
I wonder if having to lock up everything contributed to horrible sales.
The company said Tuesday that about 500 stores will close in the current fiscal year and should immediately support earnings and free cash flow. Walgreens didn’t say where the store closings would take place.
Company leaders said the initial wave of closings will take place mostly in the back half of its fiscal year, which started last month. Walgreens will prioritize poor-performing stores where the property is owned by the company, or where leases are expiring.
Walgreens operates about 8,500 stores in the United States and a few thousand overseas. All of the stores that will be closed are in the United States.
In June, CEO Tim Wentworth said “there is a ‘difficult operating environment, including persistent pressures on the U.S. consumer and the impact of recent marketplace dynamics which have eroded pharmacy margins.’”
Walgreens reported $37.55 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, 6% higher than this time last year.
However, overall, the company has a net loss of $3 billion for the quarter.
REPORTER: “Walgreens announcing some tough news for many of their employees and people who like to shop there. They’re going to close over 1000 stores in the next three years. 500 will close their doors in the next one year. It’s in response to competition from online pharmacies like Amazon, then also rising labor costs and declining prescription drug payments. It comes just months after the pharmacy giant said it was going to close 300 locations. But this announcement of 1200 currently swamps that estimate.”
But, as I said above, I wonder if locking up products significantly affected low sales.
In August, Business Insider reported that Walgreens and CVS locked up products to deter shoplifting.
At one Duane Reade location in Brooklyn, New York, Business Insider saw an older adult ask why the toothpaste was locked up as an associate was unlocking aspirin for her. Duane Reade is owned by Walgreens.
[Global Data analyst Neil] Saunders also said it’s a natural response for retailers to try to protect their inventory from shoplifters, but preventing or delaying honest shoppers doesn’t exactly help a store’s financial performance either.
Spokespersons for Walgreens and CVS each told BI that anti-theft technologies were installed in response to store-level shoplifting data and intended to ensure that products were in stock for customers.
“Locking a product is a measure of last resort,” the CVS spokesperson said. Rite Aid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2022, a Rite Aid executive blamed high losses on shoplifting. The executive said the company was at a point of “‘literally putting everything‘ under lock and key.”
The different definitions of theft causes problems for companies to determine if shoplifting has a significant impact:
It’s partly a definition problem. “Organized retail crime,” “retail theft,” and similar terms don’t correspond with categories that local police departments use to categorize crimes, Hanna Love, a fellow at Brookings, told Business Insider.
That means many claims from retailers about those crimes rising relies on data that includes related but different offenses, such as shoplifting.
It’s unclear what makes organized retail crime “different than, say, other instances of shoplifting” from a data perspective, Love said. “We just don’t actually have the data to understand the problem.”
The Department of Defense is attempting to change the rules of engagement between the military and U.S. citizens through a directive, not legislation. That directive expands the instances in which the military can use lethal force against Americans. The directive specifically defines lethal force use to include “imminent threat” or “national security emergencies.”
GreenMedInfo highlights the key change: In the 2016 version, the directive primarily focused on intelligence collection and ensuring civil liberties protections for U.S. persons. It emphasized strict oversight and the need for authorization before collecting U.S. person information.
However, the 2024 version expands the military’s role, particularly in assisting civil law enforcement, and authorizes lethal force under specific conditions, raising questions about its use during potential civil unrest surrounding the election.
Department Of Defense Directive Authorizes U.S. Military To Use Lethal Force Against Americans On U.S. Soil, Ron Paul Warns– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
On an episode of the Ron Paul Liberty Report, Ron Paul and co-host Daniel McAdams warned about an ominous directive issued by the Department of Defense.
“Police State Update — Will We See U.S. troops, On U.S. Soil, Using Lethal Force Against Americans?” Ron Paul wrote.
Paul warned the directive is “very, very dangerous.”
McAdams displayed an article picked up by Zero Hedge and thought the headline was an exaggeration.
“It’s not a law. It’s a DoD Directive,” McAdams said.
“The administrative state where they take over. They don’t pass laws. They are laws unto themselves,” he continued.
“It talks about a reissued DoD Directive that was reissued just on September 27th, 2024. It governs the Department of Defense Intelligence Activities and now includes provisions authorizing lethal force in certain circumstances and it supplants the 2016 version which did not mention that,” McAdams continued.
North Carolina approves $273M for Helene victims in first act of many– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
(The Center Square) – In the first legislative session since Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina, lawmakers proposed the “first step” in many to provide aid and financial assistance to those in need.
The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 will dole out $273 million, mostly to different state agencies and local governments who can then use the money to help those most affected. Helene has killed 237 across six states in the Southeast.
All of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s suggestions for displaced voters are included in the bill.
“Recovering from Hurricane Helene will be no small task,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, at a Wednesday press conference. “But, I believe we, the state of North Carolina, and the people of North Carolina are up to that task.”
South Korea’s Excess Deaths Skyrocket Among Vaccinated Population– slaynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
South Korea’s almost universally Covid-vaccinated population has suffered a staggering five-fold surge in excess deaths since Covid mRNA shots were rolled out for public use.
Prominent Korean researchers are raising the alarm after obtaining official data that exposes the massive spike.
A trio of researchers from the city of Daegu located in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea published their findings in a report on excess death data during the Covid pandemic from 2020 to 2022.
The researchers obtained the official cause-of-death statistics covering 2015 to 2022 from the government’s Statistics Korea.
The dataset includes information such as age, gender, cause of death, and place of death.
The data included a total of 2,431,753 deaths recorded from January 2015 to December 2022.
The investigators excluded 308 deaths because they lacked age information.
The researchers focused on the total all-cause mortality rates to eliminate any misreporting from the cause of death statistics.
By analyzing all-cause mortality, the researchers were able to establish excess death numbers – the total that is above or below expected rates.
Excess deaths only spike above average during an unusual event such as a war or major natural disaster.
The researchers’ investigational quest was to better understand comprehensively the pandemic’s impact on excess deaths in South Korea.
During their study, they compared total mortality rates before and during a pandemic.
The aim was to compare excess deaths in Korea during the pandemic using three methods and to analyze patterns using the most appropriate method.
Those methods include:
Simple average
Age-adjusted average
Age-adjusted linear regression
The study authors also presented excess deaths by age, gender, and cause of death.
The Daegu-based trio of study authors found excess deaths remained at average levels throughout 2020, the first year of the pandemic.
Excess deaths rose to be above average during 2021.
However, excess death rates surged dramatically from January through May 2022.
The data shows a soaring rate of young adults dying early on.
This was followed by mass deaths among the elderly during the intensive surge in 2022.
In June 2022, the excess death rates fell from the severe spike.
However, excess deaths remained way above average and continued to climb for the rest of 2022.
The study didn’t examine the data for 2023.
Interestingly, however, the researchers did not mention Covid “vaccines” once in their report, despite the previous correlation.
The link should be investigated.
It will not, however, due to insidious pandemic politics involving government, academia, and industry.
A fear of a backlash from promoting “vaccine hesitancy” possibly superseded credible, and urgently needed scientific inquiry.
Excess Deaths South Korea—note mass vaccination occurred a year prior
Excess death figures changed, based on the estimation method, reaching the apex with the simple average and its lowest with the age-adjusted average.
Age-adjusted linear regression, which accounts for both the aging population and declining mortality rates, was considered most appropriate, according to Professor Duk-Hee Lee and colleagues.
Based on this latter model, the authors estimated excess deaths at 0.3% for 2020, 4.0% for 2021, and 20.7% for 2022.
Why did excess deaths increase five-fold after the mass vaccination of the Korean population?
This point is not even raised by the authors.
Throughout the pandemic, excess deaths surged among young people and adolescents.
Yet, these age groups faced very little impact from COVID-19 due to a very low risk from the virus.
80 percent of South Korea’s population was deemed fully vaccinated, surpassing the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 70%.
Nevertheless, the coronavirus continues its spread, with reports that Covid “vaccines” are not effective in tackling the virus.
Yet, South Korea is still administering booster shots despite concerns about the effectiveness of the existing vaccine, as reported in the Journal of Korean Medical Science.
Most South Koreans received their COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021.
The majority of the population was vaccinated between July and October 2021.
The vaccination campaign started earlier in the year, focusing on high-priority groups like healthcare workers and the elderly.
In mid-2021, as more vaccine supplies became available, the country ramped up its efforts to vaccinate the general public.
South Korea had vaccinated about 70% of its population with at least one dose by October 2021.
By November, over 80% of the population had been fully vaccinated.
Shortly after, excess deaths skyrocketed.
In the first half of 2022, disturbing surges in pandemic-related deaths emerged across heavily vaccinated nations including South Korea.
Gaslighting health officials argue that these spikes were caused by Covid.
However, there was no increase in excess deaths until after the “vaccines” were rolled out.
In addition, if the “vaccines” were supposed to stop the virus, “Covid deaths” should have fallen, not increased.
Possibly due to the politics of COVID-19 and the fear that any critical findings could trigger vaccine hesitancy, reporting on such matters appears taboo among governments and academic researchers worldwide.
ABC Accuses Trump, Rubio, Graham of Treason, Tells Them to Leave U.S.– www.newsbusters.org Source Link Excerpt:
ABC’s The View continued to spew their stochastic terrorism during Wednesday’s show as co-host Joy Behar, without evidence, accused former President Trump and Senators Lindsey Graham (SC) and Marco Rubio (FL) of treason, a crime which carried the death penalty. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg followed up by demanding they and Republicans leave the country to live under a dictatorship.
Their comments were spurred on by unverified claims made by former journalist and author Bob Woodward, who claimed in a new book that Trump sent COVID tests to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Behar seemed to hold up the Kremlin as a credible source as she declared Trump guilty of treason:
And by the way, the Kremlin has confirmed that he sent the COVID tests to the Kremlin when Americans were in need of the COVID tests. Now, that is – I believe – that is the definition of a traitor. Am I wrong?
A short time later, she suggested that Graham and Rubio could also be guilty of treason because they support Trump for president:
BEHAR:By the way, does this make Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio at least step up to the plate and say maybe we’re dealing with a traitor and maybe that makes us traitors?
(…)
BEHAR: I mean, they have not said a word.
She also lied about Trump not sending aid to blue states during the COVID pandemic. Despite the fact that he had funneled ventilators and a U.S. Navy hospital to New York City (while then-Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo was busy putting COVID patients into nursing homes), Behar denied any of that happened:
The thing about this is that during the COVID pandemic, the blue states didn’t support him, so he didn’t want to send the tests to the blue states, Trump. And he’ll do that again, by the way. Cause he’s – He’s already signaled that, you know, he’s not going to help the blue states in case there is a hurricane or something. If you didn’t vote for him, he’s not going to help you because he’s only the president of the red states who voted for him.
Faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin, who used to work for Trump, didn’t want to share the truth. Instead, she gave the credit for blue state aid to her personal friend Dr. Fauci:
And by the way, one of the reasons who’s around a present matters is because supplies during COVID did get to blue states because of people like Dr. Fauci and Deborah Birx and people within the government who said you have to help New York as much as you have to, you know, a red state like Ohio.
As they approached the end of the segment, Goldberg lashed out and seemingly demanded that all named previously and The View’s critics should leave the country.
“I say, because y’all always saying for us to go, you go find somewhere, no, I’m going to invite you to do the same. You go and you live under a dictatorship because I want you to be able to come back and talk about it like you know something, not what you think, but what you know-know,” she screeched.
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:
ABC’s The View
October 9, 2024
11:04:37 a.m. Eastern
(…)
JOY BEHAR: The thing about this is that during the COVID pandemic, the blue states didn’t support him, so he didn’t want to send the tests to the blue states, Trump.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Yeah.
BEHAR: And he’ll do that again, by the way. Cause he’s – He’s already signaled that, you know, he’s not going to help the blue states in case there is a hurricane or something. If you didn’t vote for him, he’s not going to help you because he’s only the president of the red states who voted for him.
And by the way, the Kremlin has confirmed that he sent the COVID tests to the Kremlin when Americans were in need of the COVID tests. Now, that is – I believe – that is the definition of a traitor. Am I wrong?
HOSTIN: No.
ALYSSA FARH GRIFFIN: And by the way, one of the reasons who’s around a present matters is because supplies during COVID did get to blue states because of people like Dr. Fauci and Deborah Birx and people within the government who said you have to help New York as much as you have to, you know, a red state like Ohio.
(…)
11:08:52 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: He wants Trump to win, that’s why. That’s why a lot of stuff you see online is coming from Russia. By the way, does this make Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio at least step up to the plate and say maybe we’re dealing with a traitor and maybe that makes us traitors?
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Clearly not.
SARA HAINES: No.
BEHAR: I mean, they have not said a word.
(…)
11:10:09 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: So, yeah, you know, I feel like if you want — if you really feel that strongly about staying in touch with, you know, dictators, try living in a country with one. I say, because y’all always saying for us to go, you go find somewhere, no, I’m going to invite you to do the same. You go and you live under a dictatorship because I want you to be able to come back and talk about it like you know something, not what you think, but what you know-know. I want you to tell us what — come back and tell us what that two-year experience has been like and then let us decide if we want to join it.
University of Kansas investigating professor caught on video advocating violence against men refusing to vote for Harris– www.theblaze.com Source Link Excerpt:
Officials at the University of Kansas said that they placed a professor on administrative leave after a viral video showed him calling on men to be shot if they don’t support Vice President Kamala Harris.
‘Scratch that from the recording. I don’t want the deans hearing that I said that.’
The video was circulated by the popular Libs of TikTok account on social media where it quickly went viral.
“Guys are smarter than girls. You got some serious problems,” said the instructor in the video taken inside a classroom full of students.
“It’s what frustrates me. There are gonna be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president because they don’t think females are smart enough to be president,” he continued.
“We can line all those guys up and shoot them,” he said. “They clearly don’t understand the way the world works. Did I say that? Scratch that from the recording. I don’t want the deans hearing that I said that.”
NEW: Kamala asked if she would change any of Biden’s policies: ‘There is not a thing that comes to mind’ | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
When Kamala Harris went on “The View” as part of her media blitz this week, she told the hosts she couldn’t think of doing anything differently than President Joe Biden did in his tenure.
“Would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” Sunny Hostin asked Harris.
Harris responded, “There is not a thing that comes to mind,” adding, “I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.”
The comment from Harris may prove to be unhelpful to her campaign message due the Biden’s declining favorability rating over the course of his presidency. Many have thought that Harris was taking the tact of moving more to the center on issues such as illegal immigration and government spending, but the comment appearing to endorse everything Biden has done as president would suggest that she is not set to change the status quo.
Wisconsin Senate Race Shifts to ‘Toss Up’ as Incumbent Tammy Baldwin Slips: Cook Political Report– freebeacon.com Source Link Excerpt:
A new rating from the Cook Political Report has shifted the Senate race in battleground Wisconsin from “lean Democrat” to a “toss up,” as incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D.) loses ground to her Republican challenger.
The shift towards the right comes after recent polling from the nonpartisan election forecaster indicated Republican candidate Eric Hovde is gaining on Baldwin. After maintaining a 7-percentage-point lead over her challenger in Cook’s August survey, new polling found Baldwin now only has a 2-percentage-point advantage, 49 percent to 47 percent.
Internal polling from both parties reflected the Cook Political Report’s findings, indicating that this race is within the margin of error, the Cook Political Report said Tuesday.
Trump surges ahead of Harris in election betting odds– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
Former President Donald Trump saw a sizable surge in the election betting markets Monday, and his momentum has carried into the week. Despite this, Vice President Kamala Harris remains in a position to win the popular vote, according to recent polls.
After trailing Harris in the betting markets for 26 consecutive days, Trump first pulled ahead Sunday before getting a bigger boost Monday. As of Wednesday, the markets give Trump a 51.3% chance to win the White House, compared to 47.3% for Harris.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Trump was trailing by 7.3%, but he cut his deficit to 2.5% by the start of October. On Sunday, Trump pulled 0.1% ahead. He shot up to a 3.5% lead Monday, corrected down to a 3.2% lead Tuesday, and bounced back up to a 4% lead Wednesday.
‘There will be an out and out brawl’: AOC calls for political violence if Kamala Harris were to win election, remove current FTC Chair | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
“Anyone goes near Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was threatening political violence Wednesday against “anyone” attempting to remove Lina Khan as the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
“Let me make this clear, since billionaires have been trying to play footsie with the ticket: Anyone goes near Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise. She proves this admin fights for working people. It would be terrible leadership to remove her.”
Fox News Makes Last-Minute Offer to Both the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Campaigns– www.westernjournal.com Source Link Excerpt:
Fox News made a last-minute pitch Wednesday to both the Donald Trump and the Kamala Harris campaigns for one more presidential debate before next month’s election.
Fox reported that it sent a letter from the network’s executives proposing to host a debate in Pennsylvania either Oct. 24 or 27, with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as moderators.
“This would present an opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing arguments,” Fox News Media president and executive editor Jay Wallace and vice president of politics Jessica Loker wrote.
In their letter to the campaigns, the two referenced a recent column in The New York Times arguing Harris should appear on the conservative news outlet before the election.
“She hasn’t made her closing argument yet. And the best way for her to do that is in another debate. To persuade Donald Trump to join her, she should offer to hold that debate on Fox News,” opinion editor David Swerdlick wrote.
CNN Data Guru: Trump Beats Kamala Harris ‘in a Blowout’ If Polling Is ‘Like We Had in 2020’– slaynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
CNN’s data expert Harry Enten has warned Democrats that President Donald Trump will win “the election in a blowout with 312 electoral votes” if the polling this year is “like we had in 2020.”
Currently, Trump is neck-in-neck with Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris in multiple polls.
However, Enten said that an even race is very good for Trump.
He noted that Trump historically underperforms in polling and does far better at the ballot box.
On Tuesday, Enten explained:
“If the polls are exactly right, Kamala Harris gets 276 electoral votes to Donald Trump’s 262 because she carries those Great Lake battleground states despite losing North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona.
“But let’s say we have a polling miss like we had in 2020.
“What happens then?” he continued.
“Well, then Donald Trump wins the election in a blowout with 312 electoral votes because he carries all these Great Lake battleground states plus Nevada, plus the other states he was leading in — Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia.”
Trump maintains 2-point lead for fifth straight week– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
In a sign that all of Vice President Kamala Harris’s efforts to bust open the 2024 election have failed, Rasmussen Reports said on Thursday that former President Donald Trump has maintained a 2-point lead for a fifth straight week.
In its latest survey shared with Secrets, Rasmussen had Trump at 48% to 46% for Harris.
Trump has led in the Rasmussen survey for 12 straight weeks, back to the weekend President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 under pressure from top Democrats who felt he couldn’t win. At that point, Trump was leading Biden by 7 points.
What makes the Rasmussen poll different from many others is that it has not changed its formula, which is based on the 2020 turnout and gives the Democrats a slight edge based on Biden’s victory. It is also of likely voters.
Reader Reminder: We are weighting nightly election results to the 2020 Recall Vote (Who did you vote for in 2020?).
If we did not do this – which we believe helps our accuracy – our Trump v Harris results would be Trump +5 and our new Generic Ballot out yesterday would be… https://t.co/7iKgqHvqHZ
Elon Musk’s X is back up in Brazil, but it comes with a hefty cost, both in terms of money and the precedent the win for Brazil sets for other nations looking to shake Musk down to assure the platform bends the knees to approved government censors.
The counter to the cave-in narrative is that Musk measured the cost of the dangerous precedent versus cutting off 21.5 million Brazilians from at least being able to enjoy more “free speech” expressions than they otherwise would be allowed to have without X as an option.
X is Back to Brazil After Paying Hefty Fines – 21.5 Million Users Again Connected to the World | The Gateway Pundit– www.thegatewaypundit.com Source Link Excerpt:
The social media platform X is back in Brazil, after 40 days – that felt like an eternity for users – blocked in the South American country.
There are of course those who will cry that Elon Musk ‘gave in’, ‘backed down’ or in some way reneged his fight for free speech, but there is a good argument for the importance of keeping X’s sixth largest market with 21.5 million users.
And for Brazilians who use the platform, the decision is being widely celebrated.
Brazil’s tyrannical Supreme Court finally cleared X to resume service in the country Tuesday after the social media platform complied with court rulings.
“Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who had been locked in a months-long feud with Musk, gave X the green light to resume operations in Latin America’s largest country effective immediately.”
Justice Moraes said X had met all the necessary requirements and could start operating again in the country.
The platform had been suspended in Brazil since late August for not complying with court orders related to ‘hate speech moderation’ [a.k.a. censorship) and failing to name a legal representative in the country.
“Musk, who had denounced the orders as censorship and called Moraes a ‘dictator’, started to reverse his position in recent weeks, with his social media network blocking accounts flagged by the court, tapping a local representative and paying pending fines.”
Moraes stipulated that Brazil’s telecommunications regulator Anatel should allow X to come back online within 24 hours – which it did.
“Through its Global Affairs account, X said it was proud to return to Brazil, adding that it ‘will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law’ in the countries where it operates.”
X’s suspension was brought about by an individual ruling by Moraes, later unanimously backed by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court and its chief justice.
“Justices flagged at the time, however, that they would be open to reconsidering the suspension if X complied with rulings. The social media company initially said it would not abide by them because they were ‘illegal’.
Brazil is X’s sixth-biggest market globally and as of April had about 21.5 million users, according to data platform Statista. During the suspension, many users migrated to rival platforms such as Bluesky and Threads, owned by Meta.”
X had legal representation in Brazil until mid-August, when it decided to close its offices – because of a threat of imprisonment – due to the orders from Moraes, which it dubbed ‘censorship orders’, failing to name someone to assume legal responsibilities for the firm locally.
Minnesota election officials brace for vote count litigation, delays – minnpost.com Source Link Excerpt:
WASHINGTON – A chaotic election season isn’t likely to end on Election Day as challenges, slow counts and other problems are predicted to thwart a speedy decision on who has won the presidential race and other close races.
Elections are run by individual states, and there’s always been a difference in how quickly ballots are counted. California, for instance, is the slowest to tally results, and Florida the quickest.
But on Election Day 2024, other hurdles are expected in a presidential race that many analysts say is too close to call right now.
“Our work is not going to be done on election night,” predicted Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, president of the National Association of Secretaries of States (NASS).
Besides post-election legal challenges to results, which Simon and many of his NASS colleagues expect, there are a host of other issues that threaten to unleash chaos on Nov. 5.
“The post-election period is going to be key,” Simon said. “It will be as fraught or more so than 2020.”
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge Wednesday night rejected an emergency request to extend Florida’s voter registration deadline for the 2024 general election despite disruptions caused by Hurricane Milton.
The League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida NAACP filed the lawsuit, arguing that Milton’s impending landfall and lingering effects from last month’s Hurricane Helene prevented many residents from registering before Monday’s deadline. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, aimed to extend the registration period by 10 days.
Hurricane Milton landed as a strong Category 3 storm on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday night, posing a new threat to communities already affected by Hurricane Helene, which hit the state on September 26. The storms led to mass evacuations and widespread damage, leaving many areas still grappling with power outages and infrastructure destruction.
New York law changing local elections to even years ruled unconstitutional – Washington Examiner Source Link Excerpt:
A New York judge ruled Tuesday that a state law that moves various local elections to even years violates the state constitution.
The law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) in 2023, would have moved various local elections, except New York City elections, to even years, in line with congressional and state elections. Various localities in the Empire State challenged the law for violating the state constitution’s protections for local governments to determine how their governments are set up.
State Supreme Court Justice Gerard Neri agreed with Onondaga County officials who brought the legal challenge against the state.
“The prerequisites of a special law were not followed, and the subject matter of the Even Year Election Law is inherently a local issue as it affects no state offices. The Even Year Election Law is unconstitutional as specifically prohibited by Article IX of the New York State Constitution,” Neri said in the ruling.
CBS’s Fake Kamala Interview Is Disinfo Meant To Sway Voters– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
In 2004, CBS News apologized and hired an independent panel to do an investigation after Dan Rather aired a bogus “October Surprise”-type story on President George W. Bush that was based on fake documents. The network was quick to recognize the potential damage that false reporting about a presidential candidate could do during an election, with the network firing the producer and Rather voluntarily leaving the network.
But while producing stories about political candidates that include inaccurate or manipulated material to interfere in an election was once considered career suicide, it is now standard editorial practice — if the propaganda press’ candidate of choice stands to benefit.
On Sunday, CBS News aired a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris stumbling through an answer to Bill Whitaker about why some foreign leaders disregard the Biden-Harris administration.
“We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid and yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course,” Whitaker said. “The Biden-Harris administration has pressed him to agree to a ceasefire; he’s resisted. You urged him not to go into Lebanon; he went in anyway. He has promised to make Iran pay for the missile attack, and that has the potential of expanding the war. Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?”
39K Nevada Voters To Receive New Ballots Following Clerk Error– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
Approximately 39,000 voters in Carson City, Nevada, will receive new ballots next week after an error by the clerk’s office mistakenly listed a third-party candidate as a Democrat.
The revelation came after the Nevada Appeal reported on Saturday that Carson City residents who received their mail-in ballots for the 2024 election discovered a mistake pertaining to the Silver State’s 2nd Congressional District. Lynn Chapman — a member of the Independent American Party — was incorrectly listed as a Democrat.
The mistake was not present on sample ballots, the outlet reported.
Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District is considered safe for Republicans this November, according to RealClearPolling. The seat has been held by GOP Rep. Mark Amodei since 2011.
Intelligence officials say US adversaries are targeting congressional races with disinformation – ABC News Source Link Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — It’s not just the presidential election: Foreign governments are targeting House and Senate races around the country in their effort to meddle with American democracy this election year, intelligence officials warned Monday.
Russia and China have launched influence operations designed to help or hurt candidates in specific congressional races. Without giving specifics about the number of affected races, an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Monday that both countries have zeroed in on races where they believe they have a national security interest at stake.
Other smaller nations may be trying their own influence operations, officials said. Cuba is “almost certainly” trying to boost candidates that the Cuban government believes would support their interests in America, according to a report on foreign election threats released Monday, roughly a month out from the election.
The warning from intelligence officials comes during a particularly tight battle for the House and Senate, where control could be decided by just a handful of races. While much of the attention has focused on attempts by foreign adversaries to influence the presidential race, Monday’s warning underscores the threat that online disinformation also poses in state and local contests.
