CLG News

Thousands rally in Rome against arming Ukraine --Trade unionists and leftists marched after the new government promised more arms for Kiev next year | 4 Dec 2022 | Left-wing demonstrators took to the streets in Rome on Saturday, demanding higher wages and condemning the Italian government for renewing a decree allowing it to send weapons to Ukraine until 2024. Organized by Italy's USB trade union and backed by a number of leftist political factions, the protest saw thousands of people assemble at the Piazza della Repubblica and march behind a banner reading "guns down, wages up." "The Meloni government is dragging us further and further into a spiral of war with unpredictable outcomes," the USB wrote prior to the protest.

Former FBI Lawyer Who Approved FISA Warrant to Spy on Trump Helped Censor Hunter Biden Laptop Story | 4 Dec 2022 | James Baker, the former FBI lawyer involved in approving the faulty Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant used to spy on the Trump campaign, also helped censor the Hunter Biden laptop story, according to a series of tweets posted by Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi. Twitter CEO Elon Musk released the so-called Twitter Files Friday afternoon, detailing how the social media platform suppressed a New York Post story about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020. The Daily Caller News Foundation verified the authenticity of the laptop soon after the NY Post published the story. The Twitter data released Friday shows executives working with Biden officials to suppress the story, according to Taibbi. Baker, who served as Twitter's Deputy General Counsel at the time, argued it was "reasonable to assume" the materials "may have been" hacked and said, "caution is warranted," according to Taibbi’s tweets.

North Carolina Home Depot worker, 83, dies weeks after being shoved during theft; police searching for suspect --A medical examiner ruled that his death was a homicide. | 4 Dec 2022 | An elderly Home Depot employee died on Thursday from injuries he sustained in October when a theft suspect shoved him while allegedly stealing three pressure washers. The suspect was leaving the store's garden area on the morning of Oct. 18 with a shopping cart full of stolen goods when the employee approached him. Surveillance video released by the Hillsborough Police Department appears to show the suspect shoving the elderly employee to the ground and hurrying out of the store. The victim died on Dec. 1 due to complications from injuries he sustained during the incident. The Hillsborough Police Department is now searching for the suspect, described as a Black male about 6 feet tall who fled in a white Hyundai Sonata.

Musk issues warning about his 'suicide' --Musk made the statement amid the release of Twitter Files concerning Joe Biden's son | 4 Dec 2022 | Twitter owner Elon Musk confirmed on Saturday that he does "not have any suicidal thoughts." The businessman made the remarks while exposing the details of how the social media platform quelled the spread of the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 US presidential election. "If I committed suicide, it's not real," Musk stated during a livestream titled "Elon Musk Joins Us Again Live - #TwitterFilesLive Coverage." The title refers to the "Twitter Files," the name Musk has given to the once-private communications among the platform’s former executives during the 2020 election.

Scientist who worked at Wuhan lab says COVID was man-made virus | 3 Dec 2022 | A scientist who worked at a controversial research lab in China has claimed that COVID was a man-made virus that leaked from the facility, according to a report. Andrew Huff, who worked for a New York-based non-profit that studied viruses, said COVID leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China two-plus years ago and blamed authorities for the "biggest U.S. intelligence failure since 9/11," Britain's The Sun reported Saturday. The lab has been at the center of fierce debates about the origins of COVID, with both Chinese government officials and lab personnel denying that the virus leaked from the facility. Huff, an epidemiologist, said in his new book, The Truth About Wuhan, that the pandemic was the result of the U.S. government's funding of coronaviruses in China.

Targeted and intentional attacks cause massive Moore County power outage - timeline | 4 Dec 2022 | (NC) Authorities across law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have launched a extensive and intensive investigation after power substations were targeted and intentionally damaged, Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields confirms. Sheriff Fields announced the news Sunday afternoon, nearly 24-hours after about 40,000 were left in the dark from a massive power outage Saturday night. "It was a targeted and intentional attack," Sheriff Ronnie Fields said. He said the suspect(s) used guns to cause substantial damage to Duke Energy power stations in Moore County. "Between 7:00 p.m. and 8 p.m. two Duke Energy substations went offline due to "intentional impact" damaging multiple pieces of equipment, Jeff Brooks of Duke Energy said.

Intentional vandalism knocked out multiple substations in Moore County, 38,000 people without power --Two Duke Energy stations were intentionally targeted with gunfire | 4 Dec 2022 | Thousands of people in Moore County, North Carolina, are still without power after the sheriff said someone attacked two power substations Saturday. According to the sheriff's office, the outages began just after 7 p.m. Saturday when the two Duke Energy stations were intentionally targeted with gunfire. Approximately 38,000 people lost power and were forced to deal with the freezing temperatures Overnight Saturday, and will again overnight Sunday. Sheriff Ronnie Fields said the Town of Southern Pines is completely without power. According to the latest census data, the population is about 16,000 people.

Released Twitter files show 'election interference' - Rectenwald to RT --The Democratic Party has kept a tight grip on the social network, the former NYU professor says | 3 Dec 2022 | The release of Twitter files on the blocking of the Hunter Biden laptop story exposes the extent of the company's ties to the US Democratic Party and its role in election meddling, author and former liberal studies professor at New York University [and CLG Founder], Michael Rectenwald, has told RT. "We knew this, but it's really official now. Twitter has been operating as a Democratic Party organ, essentially with Democratic operatives running the company before Elon Musk took over, and maybe, a little bit now as well," Rectenwald said... Speaking to RT, Rectenwald argued that the treatment of the Hunter Biden story and Twitter's other policies amounted to "election interference." He added that it was "an in-kind donation on the part of Twitter to the Democratic Party without any recognition or acknowledgement, which is against the law."

San Francisco police defend 'killer robots' plan --Debate on Killer Robots Rages as Robotics Companies Partner with Police and Military | 2 Dec 2022 | Police in San Francisco defended their potential use of killer robots on Thursday, insisting they would be a "last resort" and only for very dangerous situations. Detectives in the California city, where residents complain of a spike in crime, were granted permission this week to deploy machines capable of lethal force. City supervisors said if a high-ranking San Francisco Police Department officer gives the green light, armed robots could be sent in to tackle very violent suspects like mass shooters or suicide bombers... But the reassurances were not enough to assuage fears of a future that resembles the movie "Terminator" or the dystopian tech TV show "Black Mirror." "And when it 'malfunctions' like EVERY computer has done. Who gets held accountable?" wrote @Numbor1dad on Twitter.

Jonathan the tortoise, world's oldest land creature, celebrates 190th birthday | 3 Dec 2022 | The South Atlantic island of St. Helena is celebrating the birthday of the world's oldest living land animal -- a Seychelles giant tortoise called Jonathan, who is turning 190. The island governor's house, where Jonathan has spent most of his life, is marking the occasion by opening up for three days to visitors wishing to celebrate the "historic milestone." Officials on the island -- a British overseas territory -- have also made a series of commemorative stamps. While there's no real record of his birth, Jonathan is thought to have been born around 1832. Though old age has left Jonathan blind and with no sense of smell, his hearing is excellent. According to Guiness World Records, he responds well to the sound of his vet's voice.

FBI met weekly with Big Tech ahead of the 2020 election, agent testifies | 3 Dec 2022 | An FBI agent testified to Republican attorneys general this week that the FBI held weekly meetings with Big Tech companies in Silicon Valley ahead of the 2020 presidential election to discuss "disinformation" on social media and ask about efforts to censor that information. On Tuesday, lawyers from the offices of Attorneys General Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana deposed FBI Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan as part of their lawsuit against the Biden administration. That suit accuses high-ranking government officials of working with giant social media companies "under the guise of combating misinformation" to achieve greater censorship. Chan, who serves in the FBI’s San Francisco bureau, was questioned under oath by court order about his alleged "critical role" in "coordinating with social-media platforms relating to censorship and suppression of speech on their platforms."

DeSantis praised for pulling money from BlackRock over ESG concerns --Florida announced it would pull $2 billion in assets out of the control of BlackRock | 3 Dec 2022 | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was applauded for withdrawing $2 billion in assets from BlackRock, one of the world's largest investment firms, with one commentator calling environmental, social and governance investing, also known as ESG, "an illegal leftist scam." Florida joined a growing list of states pushing back against the rise of ESG investing, especially by firms like BlackRock, which control trillions of dollars in assets. "Using Florida's cash to fund BlackRock's social-engineering project isn't something we signed up for," tweeted Jimmy Patronis, Florida's chief financial officer, Thursday.

Republicans Flip Another House Seat, Expanding GOP Majority in Next Congress | 3 Dec 2022 | Republicans have flipped a U.S. House of Representatives seat representing a central California district, expanding their majority in the next Congress. Farmer and businessman John Duarte, a Republican, declared victory on Dec. 2. "I promised our Valley families that I would be their bipartisan champion in Washington, D.C., by fighting for food on our tables, gas in our tanks, and water on our farms. That is exactly what I am going to go there to do," Duarte said in a statement. California Assemblyman Adam Gray, a Democrat, conceded.

Musk Says Twitter Suppressed Free Speech Under Orders From Government | 3 Dec 2022 | Elon Musk suggested that Twitter was acting under government orders to suppress free speech, with his remarks coming hot on the heels of the release of a trove of documents that lift the lid on some of the social media platform's censorship machinations around the 2020 presidential election. "Twitter acting by itself to suppress free speech is not a 1st amendment violation, but acting under orders from the government to suppress free speech, with no judicial review, is," Musk said in a tweet late Friday. Musk's remarks came in the context of Friday's unveiling of a series of internal Twitter communications that give insight into steps taken by staff at the social media platform around suppressing the New York Post's explosive Hunter Biden laptop story.

What's the effect of the Russian oil price cap and EU embargo? | 2 Dec 2022 | Western governments are aiming to cap the price of Russia's oil exports in an attempt to limit the fossil fuel earnings that support Moscow... The cap is set to take effect Monday, the same day the European Union will impose a boycott on most Russian oil -- its crude that is shipped by sea. The EU reached a deal for a $60-per-barrel threshold Friday. Universal enforcement of the insurance ban, imposed by the EU and U.K. in earlier rounds of sanctions, could take so much Russian crude off the market that oil prices would spike, Western economies would suffer, and Russia would see increased earnings from whatever oil it can ship in defiance of the embargo. Russia, the world's No. 2 oil producer, has already rerouted much of its supply to India, China and other Asian countries at discounted prices after Western customers shunned it even before the EU ban. A $60 cap would not have much impact on Russia's finances, said Simone Tagliapietra, an energy policy expert at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.

'Biden Team' Asked Twitter to Delete Content Days Before 2020 Election, Document Reveals | 2 Dec 2022 | Joe Biden's "team" allegedly asked Twitter to delete tweets days before the 2020 election, a photo published Friday by author Matt Taibbi showed. Twitter CEO Elon Musk notified Twitter users Friday afternoon that details on how legacy media censored stories about Hunter Biden would be published in the coming hours. Taibbi then published alleged details of how Twitter added tools to control speech over time, "based upon thousands of internal documents obtained by sources at Twitter."

Elise Stefanik alleges USPS workers stole her campaign mail, up to $20,000 in donations --"Three of these incidents occurred in a single week." | 2 Dec 2022 | New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik on Friday alleged that United States Postal Service workers stole up to $20,000 in campaign contributions and illegally opened her mail to do so. "On four separate occasions between June 2022 and November 2022, packages sent by Elise for Congress containing campaign contributions were ripped open and the contents stolen while in the custody of USPS or its contractors," her lawyers wrote to Postmaster General Louis Dejoy in a letter the Daily Wire obtained. "Three of these incidents occurred in a single week. In each case, the evidence indicates that Elise for Congress’s packages were plundered by a USPS employee or contractor while the packages were in transit," they continued...

Edward Snowden receives Russian passport - lawyer --The American whistleblower has now become a full-fledged Russian citizen, his lawyer says | 2 Dec 2022 | Former CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) officer Edward Snowden has received his Russian passport after having been granted citizenship by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year. According to Snowden's lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, who spoke with Interfax on Friday, the whistleblower has also taken an oath mandated by law in order to become a full-fledged Russian citizen. Kucherena noted that since Snowden now holds a Russian passport, he cannot be legally extradited to any foreign state seeking charges against him. In the US, where he stands accused of espionage and theft of state property.

Israel and US hold drills targeted at Iran --The exercises come soon after the head of West Jerusalem's military urged Washington to prepare for a future attack on Tehran | 2 Dec 2022 | The Israeli military has conducted joint training operations with the United States, holding a series of air drills to simulate strikes on Iran just days after West Jerusalem pressed US officials to accelerate their "operational plans" against Tehran. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) detailed the drills in a statement on Wednesday, saying they practiced "various scenarios in the face of regional threats" while singling out the Islamic Republic by name. "These exercises are a key component of our two militaries' increasing strategic cooperation in response to shared concerns in the Middle East, particularly those posed by Iran," the IDF said.

Katie Hobbs's Office Threatened County Board With Arrest, Indictment if They Didn't Certify Results | 1 Dec 2022 | Democratic Arizona Secretary of State and Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs's top deputy threatened the Mohave County Board of Supervisors with prosecution if it didn't certify her election results before a Monday deadline, according to emails and documents reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Arizona State Elections Director Kori Lorick wrote several letters and emails to members of the board, warning them of criminal charges if the refused to certify the results in time. The letters included threats of lawsuits against the members for "nonfeasance," as well, per the emails. "The Secretary of State did contact our County and cited A.R.S. Section 16-1010 as a statute that could be used to prosecute [the board] if they did not certify the election," said Matt Smith, the Mohave County Attorney, to the DCNF. The statute is an Arizona felony statute regarding election officials who "fail to perform their duties" under the law; as a Class 6 felony, upon conviction, it could result in up to two years' imprisonment.

Naval Academy sparks fury by allegedly denying diplomas to unvaccinated midshipmen - 'absolutely atrocious' | 1 Dec 2022 | Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., said the U.S. Naval Academy potentially refusing to give diplomas to students who refused the COVID vaccine is "absolutely atrocious." Steube joined Fox & Friends Thursday to discuss the GOP's efforts to get answers from the Naval Academy. The Army veteran said a constituent of his is being told she needs the vaccine in order to graduate. "Think about spending four years of your life in college and then not even being able to get a degree for the work that you've done. This is a young woman who wants to serve her country and all because she doesn't want to take the COVID vaccine based on religious exemptions that are being refused by this administration and the DOD." In a letter to Naval Vice Adm. Sean Buck Tuesday, Steube and other lawmakers said denying diplomas to otherwise qualified midshipmen is a waste of the country's four-year investment in those people and will hurt military readiness at a time when all service branches are having trouble with recruitment and retention.

Medical bills remain inaccessible for many visually impaired Americans | 1 Dec 2022 | A Missouri man who is deaf and blind said a medical bill he didn't know existed was sent to debt collections, triggering an 11% rise in his home insurance premiums. In a different case, from California, an insurer has suspended a blind woman's coverage every year since 2010 after mailing printed "verification of benefits" forms to her home that she cannot read, she said. The problems continued even after she got a lawyer involved. And still another insurer kept sending a visually impaired Indiana woman bills she said she could not read, even after her complaint to the Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights led to corrective actions. Across the U.S., health insurers and health care systems are breaking disability rights laws by sending inaccessible medical bills and notices, a KHN investigation has found.

Pennsylvania county that ran out of paper ballots doesn't certify election --In 2020, the same county came under fire following the discovery of discarded Trump ballots, which county officials blamed on a "temporary seasonal independent contractor." | 28 Nov 2022 | Pennsylvania's Luzerne County has failed to certify the results of the Nov. 8 midterm elections by the Monday deadline. The Board of Elections split 2-2 on certifying the results, with one abstention. The county attracted national attention after it ran out of paper ballots on Election Day. Two Republican board members opposed certification, while two Democrats backed it, and one Democrat abstained, the Epoch Times reported. "There were so many challenges, so many issues, so many problems, so many concerns, that I can't with good conscience certify this election," said Republican board member Alyssa Fusaro. Daniel Schramm, the abstaining Democrat, said he wanted more time to review the claims voters made about issues in the county.

Arizona Counties Threatened With Class 6 Felony Charges if They Won't Certify the Rigged Election | 29 Nov 2022 | Kari Lake has spoken out against the rigged and conflict-ridden Arizona Midterm Elections, which were certified by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and several other counties today... It was revealed yesterday by a Yavapai County supervisor that Arizona county officials were threatened with Class 6 felony charges if they refused to certify the fraudulent election. "We've been informed the entire Yavapai BOS, with one Democrat exception, expressed a belief the election had serious errors, but were told by the county attorney, deputy attorney, and county ddministrator they MUST certify today or face Class 6 felony charges," according to Kari Lake War Room. Ron Gould of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors was also told that he would be arrested if he did not certify the election. "I found out today that I have no choice but to vote 'aye' or I will be arrested and charged with a felony," Ron Gould said during the Board of Supervisors Special Meeting on Monday.

Biden's Secret Service rental vehicles burst into flames after he left Nantucket vacation | 29 Nov 2022 | Joe Biden's rented Secret Service vehicles burst into flames in a parking lot Monday, just one day after he left his Nantucket vacation. Biden spent Thanksgiving on the ritzy Massachusetts island with his family last week. The Secret Service rented five vehicles from Hertz to carry the president [sic] and his family, and all five of them caught fire in the parking lot, according to footage first obtained by the Nantucket Current. Footage shows firefighters spraying down the smoldering remains of one vehicle's engine block. The five vehicles included a Chevy Suburban, Ford Explorer, Infiniti QX80, Ford Expedition, and a Jeep Gladiator. The vehicles were parked at the Nantucket airport and the blaze reportedly spread to just 40 feet away from the facility's jet fuel tanks. It is currently unknown what caused the fire.

Most Americans Dying of COVID Were Vaccinated | 29 Nov 2022 | A recent analysis done by Cynthia Cox of the Kaiser Family Foundation for The Health 202 newsletter of The Washington Post found that approximately 58 percent of the people who died of COVID-19 in the United States in August 2022 had been vaccinated or vaccinated and boosted for COVID. Earlier this year, it was estimated that 42 percent of deaths attributed to COVID were among vaccinated or vaccinated and boosted individuals. This "troubling trend" is something that has been developing during the past year, according to an article published in the Post on Nov. 23, 2022. "As vaccination rates have increased and new variants appeared, the share of deaths of people who were vaccinated has been steadily rising," wrote Post health researcher McKenzie Beard.

Woman in Japan Dies 90 Minutes After Getting Pfizer mRNA COVID Shot | 27 Nov 2022 | A 42-year-old woman in Aisai City (Aichi Prefecture), Japan died on Nov. 5, 2022, about 90 minutes after receiving a fourth dose of a COVID-19 biologic. The dose was from Pfizer/BioNTech's experimental Comirnaty bivalent mRNA COVID shot tailored for the BA.5 subvariant of the Omicron virus. Ayano Iioka, received the shot at a mass vaccination site in the Aisai and began having an anaphylactic reaction and collapsed suddenly within five minutes of the vaccination. She developed difficulty breathing and complained of feeling like she was "suffocating." ...Iioka became nauseous and began vomiting a "blood-like foam." Iioka was subsequently transported by ambulance to a local hospital where she died less than two hours later.

Dutch Nitrogen Minister to Seize and Close 3,000 Farms to Comply With EU Environmental Rules | 28 Nov 2022 | The Dutch government is planning to buy and close down up to 3,000 farms near environmentally sensitive areas to be in compliance with EU environmental rules. It comes after farmer protests erupted this summer following a government plan to reduce nitrogen emissions by 50% by 2030, The New York Times reported. Farmers believe the measure unfairly targeted the agricultural sector, which is responsible for the largest portion of nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands, the Times added. The government will conduct a "compulsory purchase" of large nitrogen emitters as part of a voluntary, one-time offer, announced Minister for Nature and Nitrogen Policy [!?!] Christianne van der Wal, Bloomberg reported.

Biden's Gender-Fluid 'Pup Handler' DOE Employee Sam Brinton Charged With Felony Theft | 28 Nov 2022 | Joe Biden's gender-fluid "pup handler" Department of Energy employee Sam Brinton was charged with felony theft for stealing a woman's luggage last month at MSP airport in Minnesota. According to Alpha News, Sam Brinton took a woman's bag from the baggage claim area on September 16. Brinton reportedly removed the ID tag from the blue bag, quickly left the area and jumped in an Uber. According to the complaint, Brinton returned to MSP airport with the stolen blue bag on September 18 where he caught a flight to DC. The female victim said the contents of her stolen bag are valued at around $2,325.

Arizona lawmaker calls on Mayorkas to resign | 25 Nov 2022 | Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign on Friday, warning that he will face House investigations if he refuses. The border state lawmaker's message comes days after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) promised to launch investigations in next year's Republican-controlled House to determine whether Mayorkas should be impeached... "I personally have signed on to legislation to impeach Mayorkas. Prior to that, I signed on to legislation that he resign, and I signed on to letters asking him to resign," Lesko said on Fox News. Lesko, a member of the House Border Security Caucus, went on to accuse the DHS chief of lying to Congress about the situation on the southern border.