National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Feds adapting AI used to silence ISIS to combat American dissent on vaccines, elections –The federal government, working hand-in-hand with universities, private companies and Big Tech, is funneling millions in taxpayer money to fund an AI censorship program to be used on American citizens. | 26 Jan 2023 | The government’s campaign to fight “misinformation” has expanded to adapt military-grade artificial intelligence once used to silence the Islamic State (ISIS) to quickly identify and censor American dissent on issues like vaccine safety and election integrity, according to grant documents and cyber experts. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded several million dollars in grants recently to universities and private firms to develop tools eerily similar to those developed in 2011 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in its Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC) program. DARPA said those tools were used “to help identify misinformation or deception campaigns and counter them with truthful information,” beginning with the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East that spawned ISIS [I-CIA-SIS] over a decade ago. DARPA set four specific goals for the program.

European official warns Musk era of ‘Wild West’ for free speech is over: ‘There will be sanctions’ –Euronews Next reported that Europe is pushing legislation that will force online platforms to remove ‘disinformation’ | 23 Jan 2023 | European politician Vera Jourová warned Elon Musk from the World Economic Forum in Davos that Twitter will face “sanctions” if it does not shut down some forms of speech. Jourová, the European Commission’s Vice President for Values and Transparency, told Euronews Next that Twitter may face penalties for enabling free speech in violation of European Union regulations. “The time of the Wild West is over,” she said. “We will have the Digital Services Act [DSA]. We will have the Code of Practice as a part of this legislation,” Jourová said. 

Canada to send four Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine | 26 Jan 2023 | Canada will send four Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Thursday, after Germany this week allowed other countries to re-export the German-built tank. “This donation, combined with the contributions of allies and partners, will significantly help the armed forces of Ukraine” in the their defense against the Russian invasion special operation, Anand told reporters in Ottawa.

World War III Update: Germany Joins Biden and Sends Tanks to Ukraine to Escalate War With Russia | 25 Jan 2023 | On Tuesday the Biden regime agreed to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine to fight the Russian military. This means the US will be forced to send men and women to operate the tanks and perform maintenance. It is the Biden regime’s attempt to escalate the war in Ukraine. Less than 24 hours later, Germany announced they will be sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked German citizens, who are paying record gas prices this winter to warm their homes, to “trust the government.” 

Ukraine storing weapons at nuclear plants – Russia –Kiev is using the facilities as cover for stockpiles of Western-made munitions, Moscow’s foreign intelligence chief says | 23 Jan 2023 | Ukrainian forces are storing Western-supplied missiles and artillery shells in nuclear power plants, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin said on Monday. He claimed that Kiev has been using the plants as cover for ammunition stockpiles. “There is credible information that Ukrainian troops are stockpiling the Western-supplied weapons and ammunition on the territory of nuclear power plants,” Naryshkin said, according to a statement on the intelligence service’s website. He added that the armaments include rockets for US-made HIMARS launchers and missiles used by foreign air defense systems, as well as “large-caliber artillery shells.” According to Naryshkin, several cars loaded with “lethal cargo” were delivered by rail to the Rovno Nuclear Power Plant in western Ukraine during the last week of December alone.

Ukrainian Strategic Defense Lines Bulging at Seams on Donbass Front | 23 Jan 2023 | Russian forces have gained the tactical initiative on almost all front lines in Ukraine. Amid the breaking victory of Wagner fighters in Soledar and their ongoing advance in Bakhmut, units of the Russian Army launched an offensive in the Zaporozhie region, taking new advantageous positions. On the northern Luhansk front lines, a fierce battle is ongoing for control of Novoselovskoye, most of which remains under Ukrainian control… South of Bakhmut, after the liberation of Kleshcheyevka, Wagner assault units have already taken a number of Ukrainian strongholds on the way to Ivanovskoe. On January 22, Wagner forces shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter over the village of Khromovo. As a result, the aircraft crashed at the Bakhmut railway station.

Russia didn’t blow up gas pipeline – Nord Stream boss | 26 Jan 2023 | Russia is unlikely to be behind an attack last September on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, according to Matthias Warnig, the head of Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG — two Swiss-based companies operating the undersea Russian gas pipelines. Warnig, who is said to have long-standing personal ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke to German newspaper Die Zeit recently. “The Russians? No,” he responded, when asked about Moscow’s potential complicity in the incident that left both Nord Stream 1 strings and one Nord Stream 2 string severely damaged… When asked whether London might have been behind it, Warnig called it “speculation” and suggested that the journalist “think about it.”

British MPs call for probe into massive spike in deaths –Nearly 3,000 more Britons are dying than average on a weekly basis, and Covid-19 is not responsible | 24 Jan 2023 | Troubled by national statistics showing 20% excess deaths per week, UK MPs have demanded an investigation, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday. Unlike the last time excess deaths reached such levels, during the second Covid-19 wave, few of these deaths could be attributed to the virus. Speaking before the House of Commons on Tuesday, Conservative MP Esther McVey skewered Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty for blaming the spike in non-Covid excess deaths on “patients not getting statins or blood pressure medicines during the pandemic,” pointing out that the monthly figures for statin prescriptions had remained constant. “Where is the evidence? And if there isn’t one, what is causing these excess deaths?” she asked, demanding the minister “commit to an urgent and thorough investigation of the matter.” …”There were 50,000 more deaths than we would have otherwise expected in 2022,” Labour Shadow Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne told the House of Commons on Tuesday. “Excluding the pandemic, that’s the worst figure since 1951.”

Sen. Johnson Calls for Congress to Investigate Vaccine Manufacturers and Covid Vax Approval Process in Response to Project Veritas Exposé on Pfizer | 26 Jan 2023 | Senator Ron Johnson on Thursday called for Congress to investigate vaccine manufacturers and the Covid vax approval process in response to a Project Veritas explosive undercover video exposing Pfizer’s alleged plans to “mutate” the Covid virus. Pfizer is experimenting with dangerous gain-of-function on Covid-19, according to a director of research for the pharma company. “Federal health agencies have been captured by Big Pharma and grossly derelict in their duties throughout the pandemic.” Ron Johnson said. “It’s time for Congress to thoroughly investigate vaccine manufacturers and the entire COVID vaccine approval process,” he said.

Pfizer Executive: ‘Mutate’ COVID via ‘Directed Evolution’ for Company to Continue Profiting Off of Vaccines, ‘COVID Is Going to be a Cash Cow for Us’ | 25 Jan 2023 | Project Veritas released a new video today exposing a Pfizer executive, Jordon Trishton Walker, who claims that his company is exploring a way to “mutate” COVID via “Directed Evolution” to preempt the development of future vaccines. Walker says that Directed Evolution is different than gain-of-function, which is defined as “a mutation that confers new or enhanced activity on a protein.” In other words, it means that a virus such as COVID can become more potent depending on the mutation/scientific experiment performed on it. The Pfizer executive told a Veritas journalist about his company’s plan for COVID vaccines, while acknowledging that people would not like this information if it went public. “One of the things we [Pfizer] are exploring is like, why don’t we just mutate it [COVID] ourselves so we could create — preemptively develop new vaccines, right? So, we have to do that. If we’re gonna do that though, there’s a risk of like, as you could imagine — no one wants to be having a pharma company mutating f**king viruses,” Walker said.

Stroke After Pfizer Booster May Be Connected to Flu Vaccine – Officials | 26 Jan 2023 | Instances of stroke following receipt of Pfizer’s new booster in the elderly may be connected to the influenza vaccine, officials said on Jan. 26. One-hundred thirty cases of ischemic stroke, which can be deadly, were recorded among people aged 65 or older within 21 days of a bivalent Pfizer booster, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee heard on Thursday. That was higher than the 92 cases recorded in the 22- to 42-day window following vaccination, triggering a safety signal… A preliminary review of medical records at one site, which saw 24 ischemic stroke cases in the three weeks following Pfizer vaccination, revealed that a majority of the people who suffered a stroke had an influenza vaccine administered on the same day as the COVID-19 vaccine.

Harris required people to sign ‘attestation of vaccination’ paper to attend her Florida ‘speech’ – reports | 22 Jan 2023 | Kamala Harris required all attendees of her event on Sunday in Tallahassee, Florida, to sign a form confirming whether they have been vaccinated or not, according to reports. The requirement is a counter-approach to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s claims that the vaccine is being used as a weapon. The governor plans to propose protections for residents, such as a ban on vaccine and mask requirements, during the next legislative session. The form was titled “Attestation of Vaccination,” and it required guest to indicate whether they are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or vaccinated. The Republican National Committee Research Twitter handle @RNCResearch tweeted about the form on Sunday. “Kamala Harris made people sign an ‘attestation of vaccination’ to attend her incoherent speech in Florida today,” the tweet read. Followers of the page had mixed responses, with some agreeing for the necessity of the form, and many others mocking the requirement on the basis that vaccines do not stop transmission.

Cashless Society: Big Banks Prepare to Launch Digital Wallet to Compete With Apple Pay, PayPal | 23 Jan 2023 | Major US banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan, and others, will push into the digital wallet space in the second half of this year to take on Apple Pay and PayPal. Early Warning Services LLC (EWS), the bank-owned company that operates the m-ney-transfer service Zelle, will be managing the new digital wallet, according to WSJ. The wallet has yet to be named but will be separate from Zelle and allow shoppers to pay at merchants’ online checkouts with linked debit and credit cards. EWS plans to offer the new digital wallet later this year… Consumers in good standing with banks will be eligible for the new service.

Rep. Matt Gaetz introduces ‘PENCIL’ resolution barring Adam Schiff from accessing classified information | 26 Jan 2023 | Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced the “Preventing Extreme Negligence with Classified Information Licenses,” or PENCIL Resolution, on Thursday that would bar Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Deep State-Calif., from accessing any classified information. “The resolution expresses the sense of the U.S. House of Representatives that Congressman Adam Schiff should not have access to classified information, should be investigated by the House Ethics Committee, and should have his comments made during any proceeding of Congress regarding Russian Collusion and the Trump campaign be officially struck from the record,” Gaetz’s office said in a statement… Schiff has recently announced his candidacy to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstain, D-Calif., in the Senate.

California Democrats plot to tax people who fled to red states | 23 Jan 2023 | California lawmakers are pushing legislation that would impose a new tax on the state’s wealthiest residents — even if they’ve already moved to another part of the country. Assemblyman Alex Lee, a progressive Democrat, last week introduced a bill in the California State Legislature that would impose an extra annual 1.5% tax on those with a “worldwide net worth” above 1 billion, starting as early as January 2024. As early as 2026, the threshold for being taxed would drop: those with a worldwide net worth exceeding 50 million would be hit with a 1% annual tax on wealth, while billionaires would still be taxed 1.5%…California was one of several blue states last week to unveil bills to impose new wealth taxes. The other states were Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York and Washington.

Seattle officials deliberately ‘purged’ thousands of CHOP-related text messages, despite ‘legal obligation’ to retain them – federal judge | 24 Jan 2023 | Several former and current Seattle, Washington, officials who were in office during the 2020 Capitol Hill Organized Protest or Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone — better known as CHOP or CHAZ — deliberately “purged” evidentiary text messages related to that event, a federal judge has determined. As a result, the jury that will eventually consider a lawsuit about that event may presume that the missing text messages were “unfavorable” to the city and to those officials…But physical violence was not the only harm CHOP caused. Businesses located within the occupied territory suffered serious injury to their bottom line, to say nothing of the integrity of their buildings, because protesters refused to allow employees and clients to access them. More than a dozen of those businesses quickly filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that officials had supported CHOP by providing various accommodations to the protesters.

Durham man charged with murder in assault death of 82-year-old Home Depot worker in Hillsborough | 24 Jan 2023 | Hillsborough police said Tuesday that they’ve made an arrest in the case where a Home Depot worker was assaulted and later died from his injuries. The incident, which was captured on surveillance video, happened Oct. 18 when the worker, Gary Rasor, was approaching a man wheeling three power washers that he may not have paid for toward the garden center exit. Without breaking stride, the man knocked the 82-year-old Rasor to the ground. Rasor died Nov. 30 after complications from his injuries. Police said Terry McAnthony McMillian Jr., 26, of Durham, was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder and robbery.

Fox News meteorologist Adam Klotz attacked on NYC subway after stopping teens from assaulting older man | 23 Jan 2023 | Fox News meteorologist Adam Klotz was brutally attacked on the New York City subway by a group of teens over the weekend. Klotz was on his way home after watching the Giants-Eagles NFL playoff game at a Manhattan bar shortly before he noticed a group of teens harassing an “older gentleman,” and had set his hair on fire with a joint. “I was like, whoa, you can’t do that,” Klotz said on Fox & Friends. “That’s not cool, and that’s all it took, and then I was the focus of all their attention.” He said the group was taunting him, and he tried to remove himself from the situation, but the attack did not stop there. The group followed him to another subway car… Klotz was treated at a local hospital after the assault.

Four migrants bused to NYC arrested for shoplifting $12K from Macy’s | 23 Jan 2023 | Four migrants bused into New York City from Texas were busted for snatching thousands of dollars in merchandise from a Nassau County mall, officials said Monday. Wrallan Cabezas Meza, 19, Miguel Angel Rojas, 21, Rafael Rojas, 27, and Jose Garcia Escobar, 30, are accused of driving from the Big Apple to Garden City and stealing 12,489 in goods from Macy’s Roosevelt Field earlier this month, according to county police. Cops caught the crew shortly after the Jan. 9 heist in Hampstead…a criminal complaint in the case states. The suspects later told a Spanish-speaking Nassau County detective that they came to New York City on a bus from the Lone Star State, Detective Lt. Richard Lebrun said.