‘We do not want to trigger an election’: House of Commons approves Emergencies Act –Cracks are starting to show in House of Commons for support of the emergency powers now that the streets have cleared of protesters and blockades | 21 Feb 2022 | The House of Commons on Monday night approved the extraordinary and temporary measures in the Emergencies Act, heeding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s warning that the “state of emergency is not over,” even though police ended a three-week occupation in Ottawa and reopened border points to the U.S. The motion to confirm the declaration of emergency passed 185-151, with the New Democrats voting in favour alongside the minority Liberal government. The Conservatives and the Bloc Quebecois opposed it. The vote to approve the measures will keep them in place until mid-March at the latest and the Senate must also vote on the government’s request… NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said it was also his interpretation that the vote would be deemed a confidence vote. “We understood absolutely that we do not want to trigger an election. That would be the worst thing to do in this crisis,” said Singh in a press conference.  

Quick action: Petition: Revoke the Emergencies Act –Canadian parliamentarians must vote against the use of the Emergencies Act on the peaceful protesters in Ottawa. | 21 Feb 2022 | Add your name!  

170 Arrests in Ottawa as Police Continue Operation Against Protesters Opposed to COVID-19 Mandates | 20 Feb 2022 | Wearing helmets while wielding batons and pepper spray, police smashed truck windows and pushed back against protesters on Feb. 19 as law enforcement continued to close in on the main site of the protest in downtown Ottawa. Ottawa police said on Feb. 19 that since the law enforcement’s expanded operation began, 170 arrests have been made, 22 license plates have been seized, and 53 vehicles have been towed. The expanded police operations came following the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act.

Biden Extends US National Emergency Over COVID-19 | 20 Feb 2022 | Joe Biden said the U.S. national emergency that was declared in early 2020 due to COVID-19 will be extended beyond March 1, citing what he called a “risk to the public health and safety.” In a letter released on the White House website, Biden told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “there remains a need to continue this national emergency.” As of late last year, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Johns Hopkins University showed that there were 60,000 more COVID-19 deaths under the Biden administration than under the Trump administration.

Outraged Citizens Flood Ottawa Police Phone Lines With Complaint Calls About Horrific Treatment of Protesters – OPD Responds By Threatening Callers With Criminal Charges | 19 Feb 2022 | In response to the brutal treatment of protesters by law enforcement officers as they forcefully clear the streets of Ottawa, outraged citizens flooded the Ottawa Police Department (OPD) phone lines on Saturday to express their disgust over the Police’s horrific actions — and in some cases, likely to report some of the abuse. Following the wave of calls, the OPD decided that the best response would be just to threaten the callers with criminal charges. The OPD tweeted a plea for people to stop calling on Saturday, making clear that it’s no longer OK for concerned citizens to call about what the police are doing to the peaceful protesters.  

Trudeau’s West Grey accuser was much younger than first thought | 19 Oct 2019 | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s underage accuser was much younger at the time of their relationship than was first thought, her father tells The Chronicle. Some in the public discourse pegged the accuser at 17 years old. That is inaccurate. “She was much, much younger than that,” the Canadian businessman told The Chronicle yesterday. He was not a party to the 2.25 million mutual non-disclosure non-disparagement agreement that she signed, in exchange for her continued silence, on the Wednesday evening of October 9th. The terms of that agreement prevent both the accuser and Trudeau from acknowledging “any aspect” of that relationship, without triggering a six-to-seven-figure liquidated damages clause. The accuser’s father shared with The Chronicle a password-protected digital copy of that agreement, giving us limited access to it for several hours on the condition we would make no copies and not distribute.

Freedom Convoy DC trucker reveals plans to clog capital’s vital Beltway interstate and likens impending protest to ‘a giant boa constrictor that squeezes, chokes and swallows’ –The protests are a spinoff of Canada’s massive Freedom Convoy, which left Ottawa crippled for weeks by truckers decrying vaccine mandates –One lane will be left open for emergency vehicles | 21 Feb 2022 | Freedom Convoy truckers headed for DC plan to clog the capital’s vital Beltway interstate — with one likening the protest to a deadly boa constrictor. Bob Bolus, who’s leading a fleet of transports from Pennsylvania to Washington on Wednesday, plans to help shut down the Capital Beltway on Friday in protest of vaccine mandates, pandemic-related restrictions, and more… “The Beltway will be shutdown,” Bolus told Fox News. “I’ll give you an analogy of that of a giant boa constrictor that basically squeezes you, chokes you, and then swallows you. And that’s what we’re going to do to DC. We will not compromise anybody’s safety or health. As far as if they [people] can’t get to work, geez, that’s too bad.” Bolus said in a flyer that he’s leading a group of truckers from Harrisburg to Washington to take a stand against Joe Biden’s “tyrannical machine’s attempt to remove our inalienable rights.”

Capitol fence to be reinstalled ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address | 20 Feb 2022 | Security officials will reinstall fencing around the Capitol next week ahead of Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Fox News can confirm. U.S. Capitol Police are bracing for a potential “Freedom Convoy” truck protest to Washington, D.C., for the March 1 speech. “Freedom Convoy” truckers have been protesting in Canada for weeks against coronavirus restrictions and vaccine mandates and caused a temporary blockade of the busy Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Windsor and Detroit. Capitol Police say they are “aware” of similar protests coming to Washington, D.C., and are making plans to both “facilitate” First Amendment protest activity while working with law enforcement agencies and the D.C. National Guard to prepare for Biden’s address.

Russian President Orders Peacekeeping Mission in DPR, LPR | 21 Feb 2022 | The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia on 18 February amid an escalation on the contact line between Ukraine and the DPR and LPR, as Kiev forces intensified shelling of the Donbass region. Kiev forces continued shelling the territories of the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Lugansk and Donetsk (LPR and DPR) on Monday, according to statements made by the breakaway republics’ missions to the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on the ceasefire regime (JCCC). The shelling comes against the background of the ongoing evacuation of Donbass civilians to Russia which started on 18 February amid fears of an attack by Ukrainian forces. Around 61,000 residents of the LPR and DPR have crossed the border into Russia as part of evacuation amid escalation in eastern Ukraine.

Donetsk and Lugansk celebrate Russian recognition –Announcement by Russia’s president prompted celebrations across Donbass with fireworks lighting up the skies | 21 Feb 2022 | Street celebrations broke out in breakaway republics, which Ukraine claims as its own territory, late on Monday after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will “immediately recognize the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics.” Footage from the scene shows fireworks lighting up the skies above Donetsk, which has been the capital of the DPR for nearly eight years. Groups of people gathered in the streets, displaying Russia’s flags and cheering Moscow’s move, another video shows.

Putin signs ‘immediate’ recognition of Donbass regions –The decision comes amid fears of a worsening conflict in Ukraine’s war-torn east | 21 Feb 2022 | Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Moscow has recognized the two self-declared breakaway Donbass republics in Ukraine’s east as sovereign nations, as a military standoff across the contact line continues to escalate. Speaking as part of a televised address to the nation on Monday evening, Putin signed the decree: “I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago to immediately recognize the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics.” Lawmakers will now be asked to consider statements of friendship and support with the two regions. The move, he said, was a direct result of the failure of the 2014 Minsk agreements, designed to put an end to fighting. “They are not interested in peaceful solutions — they want to start Blitzkreig,” he claimed. “Every day they are amassing troops in the Donbass,” Putin said.  

Fully Vaccinated Fox News Anchor Confirms He Was Hospitalized With COVID Pneumonia, Returns | 21 Feb 2022 | Longtime Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto returned to the airwaves after a five-week absence he said was due to a battle with COVID-induced pneumonia. “I’m back, Cavuto declared Monday morning on his Fox Business Network show, which has featured a rotation of fill-in hosts while he was off-air for previously undisclosed reasons. “I did get COVID again–but a far, far more serious strand, what doctors call ‘COVID pneumonia,'” he confirmed. “It landed me in intensive care for quite a while and it really was touch-and-go.” The fully vaccinated Cavuto–who has long been open about surviving cancer…also took shots at the anti-vaxxers who might suggest the jab got him sick. [Right. He only got COVID twice and almost died from it – the vaccine works great!]

CDC Officials Admit Agency Withheld Critical Covid Information From the Public, Including Data About Breakthrough Infections, Over ‘Vaccine Hesitancy’ Fears | 20 Feb 2022 | Throughout the pandemic, the CDC has diligently maintained a running tally of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths for the public to view. But that information amounts to just a fraction of the data that has been collected by the agency. According to a new report by the New York Times, the CDC has also been collecting much more detailed data about Covid infections that breaks down by age, race, and vaccination status. The critical information would go a long way toward figuring out an end to the pandemic, but the agency has purposefully suppressed the information from the public over fears that it would be “misinterpreted” and cause “vaccine hesitancy.”

Iver Beats Nine Other Meds for Treating Omicron, Study Confirms | 16 Feb 2022 | Researchers used computational analyses to evaluate the performance of 10 medications against the Omicron variant, finding that iver outperformed all of them, including nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) a new drug from Pfizer that has cost taxpayers 5.29 billion and costs 529 per course of treatment. Iver lowers the viral load by inhibiting replication, reduces infection by 86% when used preventively, speeds recovery, protects against organ damage, lowers the risk of hospitalization and death and costs between 48 and 95 for a course of treatment depending on your location. Early treatment lowers your risk of long COVID, which includes physical and mental health conditions. According to cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, 50% of those sick enough to be hospitalized have symptoms of long COVID.

Pentagon IG report says 50 Afghan evacuees brought to US had ‘potentially significant security concerns’ | 18 Feb 2022 | A Pentagon inspector general report released this week found that officials identified at least 50 Afghan evacuees who were brought to the United States in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan whose information indicated “potentially significant security concerns” — and were unable to locate dozens of those who it said had “derogatory information” that would make them ineligible for parole. The report, released on Thursday, found that U.S. agencies “did not use all available data when vetting Afghan evacuees.” The National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) later expanded its review to fill the gaps in screening, the report said.

Pentagon audit says dozens of potentially dangerous Afghans let loose in U.S. | 18 Feb 2022 | Afghan evacuees made it to U.S. soil without being checked through all the government’s security databases, an inspector general reported Thursday in a devastating investigation that confirms critics’ worst fears about the program. After rerunning some of the names, officials spotted at least 50 Afghans with “potentially significant security concerns” who made it to the U.S. despite the Biden administration’s assurances to the contrary. Making matters worse, the government appears to have lost track of most of them, the Defense Department’s inspector general said. It looked at a sampling of 31 security risk evacuees identified as of Sept. 17 and found that only three could be located.

Border crisis: Number of Turkish migrants at southern border already outpaces FY 2021 | 17 Feb 2022 | The number of Turkish migrants encountered at the southern border so far in FY 2022 already outpaces the number encountered in FY 2021 – a sign of the increasing global character of the U.S. border crisis, which is now moving into its second year. There have been 1,523 encounters of Turkish nationals so far in FY 2022, which started in October. That’s already more than the 1,409 migrants encountered in the entirety of FY 2021. However, that 1,409 was itself a massive increase from FY 2020, when there were just 109 encounters of migrants from Turkey, where low numbers would be unsurprising given the geographical gulf between the two countries.

Man stabbed on NYC subway train in random attack | 20 Feb 2022 | A 31-year-old man was stabbed while riding a subway train through lower Manhattan on Sunday night, police and sources said. The victim was knifed twice in the arm by a male suspect during an unprovoked attack aboard a downtown 6 Train approaching the Canal Street station at about 6:10 p.m., according to police. The attacker stayed on the train as it headed to the next station. Police said the victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

McConnell, Bush, GOP Establishment Working to Foil Trump-Endorsed Candidates | 14 Feb 2022 | Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is working behind the scenes to protect and strengthen GOP establishment figures, sometimes in direct opposition to former President Donald Trump. And McConnell isn’t alone, either. At his side, in at least one instance, is former President [sic] George W. Bush. The New York Times reports that McConnell is actively working to recruit Senate candidates to go up against those who might have the support of former President Donald Trump. Donald Trump has been endorsing candidates for 2022 races for a while now, but it appears the swamp aka the GOP establishment is ready to punch back.

Jeffrey Epstein’s pimp Jean-Luc Brunel ‘hangs himself alone in cell with no CCTV’: Ghislaine Maxwell’s family ‘shocked and scared for her’ as Frenchman who procured 1,000 women for pedophile financier dies in top-security jail –Ghislaine Maxwell’s family said they were ‘shocked’ by Brunel’s death and said they are ‘scared’ for her safety –Death in an alleged hanging will fuel conspiracy theories around the Epstein affair after he also died in prison –Brunel is thought to have been alone in the cell and there were no cameras to record his final hours | 19 Feb 2022 | Ghislaine Maxwell’s family have said they are ‘scared’ for her safety after Jeffrey Epstein’s French modelling agent friend Jean-Luc Brunel, who allegedly procured more than a thousand women and girls for Epstein to sleep with, died today in an alleged prison suicide. Prosecutors in Paris confirmed Brunel, who is not believed to have been on suicide watch, was found hanging in his cell in La Sante, in the south of the capital city, in the early hours of Saturday morning… Following Brunel’s death, Maxwell’s family described the news as “shocking” and said they are scared for Maxwell’s safety at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where she is currently being held.

Modeling agent close to Jeffrey Epstein is found dead in French jail | 19 Feb 2022 | A modeling agent who was close to disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead Saturday in his French jail cell, authorities in Paris say. Jean-Luc Brunel was being held in an investigation into the alleged r-pe and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. Victims of the alleged abuse described shock and dismay that the agent will never face trial. They described his death as a double blow after Epstein [allegedly] killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting sex-trafficking charges. Paris police are investigating Brunel’s death, the prosecutor’s office said. The circumstances of his death were not made public, and Brunel’s lawyers did not comment on it.