thewashingtonstandard--2020-12-15--Biden-Harris Person Of The Year Award Is A Kick In The Teeth To Healthcare & “Essential” Workers

In case you were under a rock for the last several days , you ’ ve likely noticed Time Magazine ’ s Person of the Year choice .
Time Magazine , in a trollingly partisan move , gave their ostensibly highest recognition to child sniffing bureaucrat Joe Biden whose career in politics consisted of pushing for segregation , bombing brown people , and some of the most racist blunders ever muttered by a politician .
Remember ‘ poor kids are just as smart as white kids ’ ?
That was one of many .
This award was also shared with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of talking out of the side of her mouth while bolstering the police state .
Sure , Harris is the first woman Vice President .
Nice work .
However , Harris and Biden have accomplished absolutely nothing in regard to making Americans more free , and in fact , have done the exact opposite .
Harris has catapulted herself into political stardom by stepping on the backs of those she locked away , some under false pretense , and countless others for victimless crimes .
Though she claims to be against the drug @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decade ruining lives by systematically kidnapping and caging nonviolent people for possessing substances deemed illegal by the state .
She not only bragged about it , but she mocked those who sought to reform the system suggesting they are naïve sloganeers who do not understand crime prevention .
As attorney general of California , Harris vehemently opposed the legalization of marijuana .
She wrongly attributed drug use to an increase in murder rates , only to be proven wrong .
But it did not stop her from locking up those pesky pot smokers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ general , Harris increased convictions of drug dealers from 56 percent to 74 percent .
Harris wasn ’ t only a staunch advocate of the drug war , but she also took her police state tactics into the homes of innocent families with her anti-truancy initiative .
Harris advocated for and followed through with a program that locked parents in cages if their children had too many unexcused absences .
To be considered truant , a student needed to only be more than 30 minutes late without an approved excuse on more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anywhere between $ 150 fine , to weeks in a cage .
Biden has a similar past , rife with racism and authoritarianism .
He once called state-mandated school integration “ the most racist concept you can come up with , ” and Barack Obama “ the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean.
” He was also a staunch opponent of “ forced busing ” in the 1970s , and leading crusader for mass incarceration throughout the ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s which has created the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The incredibly racist Biden has described African-American felons as “ predators ” too sociopathic to rehabilitate — and white supremacist senators as his friends .
Without Joe Biden , the Prison Industrial Complex that ’ s given this country the largest prison population in the world , would likely not exist .
This tyrant has pushed nearly every “ reform ” that has given us the racist , corrupt , and militarized criminal justice system we have today .
Mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders , the sentencing disparity between crack and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and extensive use of the death penalty — the child-sniffing senator was involved in establishing them all .
Neither one of these people has contributed a damn thing to this country and instead , and instead , preyed on the citizens , using their political connections to rise to the top of the authoritarian ladder where they will inevitably carry out the same plans since Biden began his career as a Delaware senator — perpetual war , increasing the police state , and eroding what little freedom we have left .
While the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president elects on their covers for person of the year , this year there were so many more options that could have brought Americans closer and who deserved it so much more .
For starters , those working the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic certainly deserved this honor more than either of these tyrants .
As Americans ran inside their homes in March , front line healthcare workers ran the opposite direction to their shifts at the hospitals as the ERs and ICUs began to fill up with dying people who had a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
To have the courage to continue to go to work as cold storage corpse trucks begin overflowing outside of your work place and as your coworkers start dying , is an act more honorable than any president in the last 5 decades has carried out .
But it wasn ’ t just healthcare workers .
They were using supplies brought to them by the trucking industry whose resolve during the pandemic was necessary to the preservation of life in this country .
Truckers , carrying food and supplies to locked down towns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t starve to death .
Those who worked in grocery stores , where this food was delivered , showed they had the courage to take the risks necessary to keep Americans fed .
Gas station clerks , bus drivers , mechanics , construction workers , waster workers , hardware store workers , factory workers , farmers , and everyone else who continued leaving their houses to go to jobs which potentially exposed them to a novel disease that proved deadly for many , all deserved this award more than these two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to go back to work as some of the lockdowns decreased , and braved seeing countless people every day so Americans could have some sense of normal .
Those who resisted the lockdowns and opened up their businesses so they could feed their families showed that the people hold the true power and served as an inspiration to many .
And everyone else who fought through their fears to maintain what little bit of the economy the government didn ’ t try to kill , all deserve recognition more so than a racist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warrior .
But this is America in 2020 — where presidential elections are based solely on beating the larger evil and fear is the currency of the media and the state .
The fact is that many Americans need to be spoon fed their comfort blanket that isn ’ t “ orange man bad ” so they can sleep at night .
They can now take comfort knowing that the new face of the American empire , who will continue to drop bombs on children in the Middle East , is now made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children rubbing his leg hair , and a young African American woman who made her political career out of locking up other African Americans for arbitrary substances deemed illegal by the state .
Congratulations America , this is the best you can do .

In case you were under a rock for the last several days, you’ve likely noticed Time Magazine’s Person of the Year choice. Time Magazine, in a trollingly partisan move, gave their ostensibly highest recognition to child sniffing bureaucrat Joe Biden whose career in politics consisted of pushing for segregation, bombing brown people, and some of the most racist blunders ever muttered by a politician. Remember ‘poor kids are just as smart as white kids’? That was one of many. This award was also shared with Kamala Harris whose career has consisted largely of talking out of the side of her mouth while bolstering the police state.
Sure, Harris is the first woman Vice President. Nice work. However, Harris and Biden have accomplished absolutely nothing in regard to making Americans more free, and in fact, have done the exact opposite.
Harris has catapulted herself into political stardom by stepping on the backs of those she locked away, some under false pretense, and countless others for victimless crimes. Though she claims to be against the drug war now, Harris spent over a decade ruining lives by systematically kidnapping and caging nonviolent people for possessing substances deemed illegal by the state.
She not only bragged about it, but she mocked those who sought to reform the system suggesting they are naïve sloganeers who do not understand crime prevention.
As attorney general of California, Harris vehemently opposed the legalization of marijuana. She wrongly attributed drug use to an increase in murder rates, only to be proven wrong. But it did not stop her from locking up those pesky pot smokers. In just three years as attorney general, Harris increased convictions of drug dealers from 56 percent to 74 percent.
Harris wasn’t only a staunch advocate of the drug war, but she also took her police state tactics into the homes of innocent families with her anti-truancy initiative. Harris advocated for and followed through with a program that locked parents in cages if their children had too many unexcused absences. To be considered truant, a student needed to only be more than 30 minutes late without an approved excuse on more than two occasions. “Violators” faced anywhere between $150 fine, to weeks in a cage.
Biden has a similar past, rife with racism and authoritarianism. He once called state-mandated school integration “the most racist concept you can come up with,” and Barack Obama “the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean.”
He was also a staunch opponent of “forced busing” in the 1970s, and leading crusader for mass incarceration throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s which has created the prison industrial behemoth we have today. The incredibly racist Biden has described African-American felons as “predators” too sociopathic to rehabilitate — and white supremacist senators as his friends.
Without Joe Biden, the Prison Industrial Complex that’s given this country the largest prison population in the world, would likely not exist. This tyrant has pushed nearly every “reform” that has given us the racist, corrupt, and militarized criminal justice system we have today. Mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, civil asset forfeiture, and extensive use of the death penalty — the child-sniffing senator was involved in establishing them all.
Neither one of these people has contributed a damn thing to this country and instead, and instead, preyed on the citizens, using their political connections to rise to the top of the authoritarian ladder where they will inevitably carry out the same plans since Biden began his career as a Delaware senator — perpetual war, increasing the police state, and eroding what little freedom we have left.
While the editors of Time Magazine usually put the president elects on their covers for person of the year, this year there were so many more options that could have brought Americans closer and who deserved it so much more.
For starters, those working the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic certainly deserved this honor more than either of these tyrants. As Americans ran inside their homes in March, front line healthcare workers ran the opposite direction to their shifts at the hospitals as the ERs and ICUs began to fill up with dying people who had a disease we’ve never seen before. To have the courage to continue to go to work as cold storage corpse trucks begin overflowing outside of your work place and as your coworkers start dying, is an act more honorable than any president in the last 5 decades has carried out.
But it wasn’t just healthcare workers. They were using supplies brought to them by the trucking industry whose resolve during the pandemic was necessary to the preservation of life in this country. Truckers, carrying food and supplies to locked down towns across the country, made sure Americans didn’t starve to death.
Those who worked in grocery stores, where this food was delivered, showed they had the courage to take the risks necessary to keep Americans fed. Gas station clerks, bus drivers, mechanics, construction workers, waster workers, hardware store workers, factory workers, farmers, and everyone else who continued leaving their houses to go to jobs which potentially exposed them to a novel disease that proved deadly for many, all deserved this award more than these two.
Restaurant workers who had the courage to go back to work as some of the lockdowns decreased, and braved seeing countless people every day so Americans could have some sense of normal. Those who resisted the lockdowns and opened up their businesses so they could feed their families showed that the people hold the true power and served as an inspiration to many.
And everyone else who fought through their fears to maintain what little bit of the economy the government didn’t try to kill, all deserve recognition more so than a racist old man and a police state-loving drug warrior.
But this is America in 2020 — where presidential elections are based solely on beating the larger evil and fear is the currency of the media and the state.
The fact is that many Americans need to be spoon fed their comfort blanket that isn’t “orange man bad” so they can sleep at night. They can now take comfort knowing that the new face of the American empire, who will continue to drop bombs on children in the Middle East, is now made up of an old man who likes children rubbing his leg hair, and a young African American woman who made her political career out of locking up other African Americans for arbitrary substances deemed illegal by the state.
Congratulations America, this is the best you can do.
Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist


thewashingtonstandard--2020-12-15--Big Brother in Disguise: The Rise of a New, Technological World Order

It had the potential for disaster .
Early in the morning of Monday , December 15 , 2020 , Google suffered a major worldwide outage in which all of its internet-connected services crashed , including Nest , Google Calendar , Gmail , Docs , Hangouts , Maps , Meet and YouTube .
The outage only lasted an hour , but it was a chilling reminder of how reliant the world has become on internet-connected technologies to do everything from unlocking doors and turning up the heat to accessing work files , sending emails and making phone calls .
A year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nest users being unable to access their Nest thermostats , Nest smart locks , and Nest cameras .
As Fast Company reports , “ This essentially meant that because of a cloud storage outage , people were prevented from getting inside their homes , using their AC , and monitoring their babies.
” Welcome to the Matrix .
Twenty-some years after the Wachowskis ’ iconic film , , introduced us to a futuristic world in which humans exist in a computer-simulated non-reality powered by authoritarian machines—a world where the choice between existing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the harsh , difficult realities of life comes down to a blue pill or a red pill—we stand at the precipice of a technologically-dominated matrix of our own making .
We are living the prequel to The Matrix with each passing day , falling further under the spell of technologically-driven virtual communities , virtual realities and virtual conveniences managed by artificially intelligent machines that are on a fast track to replacing human beings and eventually dominating every aspect of our lives .
In The Matrix , computer programmer Thomas Anderson a.k.a .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ slumber by Morpheus , a freedom fighter seeking to liberate humanity from a lifelong hibernation state imposed by hyper-advanced artificial intelligence machines that rely on humans as an organic power source .
With their minds plugged into a perfectly crafted virtual reality , few humans ever realize they are living in an artificial dream world .
Neo is given a choice : to take the red pill , wake up and join the resistance , or take the blue pill , remain asleep and serve as fodder for the powers-that-be .
Most people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our case , the blue pill—a one-way ticket to a life sentence in an electronic concentration camp—has been honey-coated to hide the bitter aftertaste , sold to us in the name of expediency and delivered by way of blazingly fast Internet , cell phone signals that never drop a call , thermostats that keep us at the perfect temperature without our having to raise a finger , and entertainment that can be simultaneously streamed to our TVs , tablets and cell phones .
Yet we are not merely in thrall with these technologies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ easier .
We have become enslaved by them .
Look around you .
Everywhere you turn , people are so addicted to their internet-connected screen devices—smartphones , tablets , computers , televisions —that they can go for hours at a time submerged in a virtual world where human interaction is filtered through the medium of technology .
This is not freedom .
This is not even progress .
This is technological tyranny and iron-fisted control delivered by way of the surveillance state , corporate giants such as Google and Facebook , and government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Agency .
So consumed are we with availing ourselves of all the latest technologies that we have spared barely a thought for the ramifications of our heedless , headlong stumble towards a world in which our abject reliance on internet-connected gadgets and gizmos is grooming us for a future in which freedom is an illusion .
Yet it ’ s not just freedom that hangs in the balance .
Humanity itself is on the line .
If ever Americans find themselves in bondage to technological tyrants , we will have only ourselves to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our own lassitude , laziness and abject reliance on internet-connected gadgets and gizmos that render us wholly irrelevant .
Indeed , we ’ re fast approaching Philip K. Dick ’ s vision of the future as depicted in the film Minority Report .
There , police agencies apprehend criminals before they can commit a crime , driverless cars populate the highways , and a person ’ s biometrics are constantly scanned and used to track their movements , target them for advertising , and keep them under perpetual surveillance .
Cue the dawning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Things ( IoT ) , in which internet-connected “ things ” monitor your home , your health and your habits in order to keep your pantry stocked , your utilities regulated and your life under control and relatively worry-free .
The key word here , however , is control .
In the not-too-distant future , “ just about every device you have — and even products like chairs , that you don ’ t normally expect to see technology in — will be connected and talking to each other.
” By the end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ estimated 22 billion internet of things connected devices in use around the world… Forecasts suggest that by 2030 around 50 billion of these IoT devices will be in use around the world , creating a massive web of interconnected devices spanning everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances.
” As the technologies powering these devices have become increasingly sophisticated , they have also become increasingly widespread , encompassing everything from toothbrushes and lightbulbs to cars , smart meters and medical equipment .
It is estimated that 127 new IoT devices are connected to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” industry has become the next big societal transformation , right up there with the Industrial Revolution , a watershed moment in technology and culture .
Between driverless cars that completely lacking a steering wheel , accelerator , or brake pedal , and smart pills embedded with computer chips , sensors , cameras and robots , we are poised to outpace the imaginations of science fiction writers such as Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov .
( By the way , there is no such thing as a driverless car .
Someone or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ won ’ t be you . )
These Internet-connected techno gadgets include smart light bulbs that discourage burglars by making your house look occupied , smart thermostats that regulate the temperature of your home based on your activities , and smart doorbells that let you see who is at your front door without leaving the comfort of your couch .
Nest , Google ’ s suite of smart home products , has been at the forefront of the “ connected ” industry , with such technologically savvy conveniences as a smart lock that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what temperatures they like , and when your home is unoccupied ; a home phone service system that interacts with your connected devices to “ learn when you come and go ” and alert you if your kids don ’ t come home ; and a sleep system that will monitor when you fall asleep , when you wake up , and keep the house noises and temperature in a sleep-conducive state .
The aim of these internet-connected devices , as Nest proclaims , is to make “ your house a more thoughtful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your car can signal ahead that you ’ re on your way home , while Hue lights can flash on and off to get your attention if Nest Protect senses something ’ s wrong .
Your coffeemaker , relying on data from fitness and sleep sensors , will brew a stronger pot of coffee for you if you ’ ve had a restless night .
Yet given the speed and trajectory at which these technologies are developing , it won ’ t be long before these devices are operating entirely independent of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new set of worries .
As technology expert Nicholas Carr notes , “ As soon as you allow robots , or software programs , to act freely in the world , they ’ re going to run up against ethically fraught situations and face hard choices that can ’ t be resolved through statistical models .
That will be true of self-driving cars , self-flying drones , and battlefield robots , just as it ’ s already true , on a lesser scale , with automated vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers.
” For instance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Roomba , “ makes no distinction between a dust bunny and an insect , ” weaponized drones—poised to take to the skies en masse this year—will be incapable of distinguishing between a fleeing criminal and someone merely jogging down a street .
For that matter , how do you defend yourself against a robotic cop—such as the Atlas android being developed by the Pentagon—that has been programmed to respond to any perceived threat with violence ?
Moreover , it ’ s not just our homes and personal devices that are being reordered and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s our workplaces , our health systems , our government , our bodies and our innermost thoughts that are being plugged into a matrix over which we have no real control .
Indeed , it is expected that by 2030 , we will all experience The Internet of Senses ( IoS ) , enabled by Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) , Virtual Reality ( VR ) , Augmented Reality ( AR ) , 5G , and automation .
The Internet of Senses relies on connected technology interacting with our senses of sight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and touch by way of the brain as the user interface .
As journalist Susan Fourtane explains : In other words , the IoS will rely on technology being able to access and act on your thoughts .
Fourtane outlines several trends related to the IoS that are expected to become a reality by 2030 : Unfortunately , in our race to the future , we have failed to consider what such dependence on technology might mean for our humanity , not to mention our freedoms .
Ingestible or implantable chips are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , morally and otherwise , to navigate this uncharted terrain .
Hailed as revolutionary for their ability to access , analyze and manipulate your body from the inside , these smart pills can remind you to take your medication , search for cancer , and even send an alert to your doctor warning of an impending heart attack .
Sure , the technology could save lives , but is that all we need to know ?
Have we done our due diligence in asking all the questions that need to be asked before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ populace ?
Let me put it another way .
If you were shocked by Edward Snowden ’ s revelations about how NSA agents have used surveillance to spy on Americans ’ phone calls , emails and text messages , can you imagine what unscrupulous government agents could do with access to your internet-connected car , home and medications ?
Imagine what a SWAT team could do with the ability to access , monitor and control your internet-connected home—locking you in , turning off the lights , activating alarms , etc .
While President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Improvement Act into law on Dec. 4 , 2020 , in order to establish a baseline for security protection for the billions of IoT devices flooding homes and businesses , the law does little to protect the American people against corporate and governmental surveillance .
In fact , the public response to concerns about government surveillance has amounted to a collective shrug .
After all , who cares if the government can track your whereabouts on your GPS-enabled device so long as it helps you find the fastest route from Point A to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NSA is listening in on your phone calls and downloading your emails so long as you can get your phone calls and emails on the go and get lightning fast Internet on the fly ?
Who cares if the government can monitor your activities in your home by tapping into your internet-connected devices—thermostat , water , lights—so long as you can control those things with the flick of a finger , whether you ’ re across the house or across the country ?
Control is the key here .
As I make clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ War on the American People , total control over every aspect of our lives , right down to our inner thoughts , is the objective of any totalitarian regime .
Orwell ’ s masterpiece , 1984 , portrays a global society of total control in which people are not allowed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state .
There is no personal freedom , and advanced technology has become the driving force behind a surveillance-driven society .
Snitches and cameras are everywhere .
And people are subject to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anyone guilty of thought crimes .
The government , or “ Party , ” is headed by Big Brother , who appears on posters everywhere with the words : “ Big Brother is watching you.
” Make no mistake : the Internet of Things and its twin , the Internet of Senses , is just Big Brother in disguise .

“You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”—George Orwell , 1984
It had the potential for disaster.
Early in the morning of Monday, December 15, 2020, Google suffered a major worldwide outage in which all of its internet-connected services crashed, including Nest, Google Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Hangouts, Maps, Meet and YouTube.
The outage only lasted an hour, but it was a chilling reminder of how reliant the world has become on internet-connected technologies to do everything from unlocking doors and turning up the heat to accessing work files, sending emails and making phone calls.
A year earlier, a Google outage resulted in Nest users being unable to access their Nest thermostats, Nest smart locks, and Nest cameras. As Fast Company reports, “This essentially meant that because of a cloud storage outage, people were prevented from getting inside their homes, using their AC, and monitoring their babies.”
Welcome to the Matrix.
Twenty-some years after the Wachowskis’ iconic film, The Matrix , introduced us to a futuristic world in which humans exist in a computer-simulated non-reality powered by authoritarian machines—a world where the choice between existing in a denial-ridden virtual dream-state or facing up to the harsh, difficult realities of life comes down to a blue pill or a red pill—we stand at the precipice of a technologically-dominated matrix of our own making.
We are living the prequel to The Matrix with each passing day, falling further under the spell of technologically-driven virtual communities, virtual realities and virtual conveniences managed by artificially intelligent machines that are on a fast track to replacing human beings and eventually dominating every aspect of our lives.
Science fiction has become fact.
In The Matrix, computer programmer Thomas Anderson a.k.a. hacker Neo is wakened from a virtual slumber by Morpheus, a freedom fighter seeking to liberate humanity from a lifelong hibernation state imposed by hyper-advanced artificial intelligence machines that rely on humans as an organic power source. With their minds plugged into a perfectly crafted virtual reality, few humans ever realize they are living in an artificial dream world.
Neo is given a choice: to take the red pill, wake up and join the resistance, or take the blue pill, remain asleep and serve as fodder for the powers-that-be.
Most people opt for the blue pill.
In our case, the blue pill—a one-way ticket to a life sentence in an electronic concentration camp—has been honey-coated to hide the bitter aftertaste, sold to us in the name of expediency and delivered by way of blazingly fast Internet, cell phone signals that never drop a call, thermostats that keep us at the perfect temperature without our having to raise a finger, and entertainment that can be simultaneously streamed to our TVs, tablets and cell phones.
Yet we are not merely in thrall with these technologies that were intended to make our lives easier. We have become enslaved by them.
Look around you. Everywhere you turn, people are so addicted to their internet-connected screen devices—smartphones , tablets , computers , televisions —that they can go for hours at a time submerged in a virtual world where human interaction is filtered through the medium of technology.
This is not freedom.
This is not even progress.
This is technological tyranny and iron-fisted control delivered by way of the surveillance state, corporate giants such as Google and Facebook, and government spy agencies such as the National Security Agency.
So consumed are we with availing ourselves of all the latest technologies that we have spared barely a thought for the ramifications of our heedless, headlong stumble towards a world in which our abject reliance on internet-connected gadgets and gizmos is grooming us for a future in which freedom is an illusion.
Yet it’s not just freedom that hangs in the balance. Humanity itself is on the line.
If ever Americans find themselves in bondage to technological tyrants, we will have only ourselves to blame for having forged the chains through our own lassitude, laziness and abject reliance on internet-connected gadgets and gizmos that render us wholly irrelevant.
Indeed, we’re fast approaching Philip K. Dick’s vision of the future as depicted in the film Minority Report. There, police agencies apprehend criminals before they can commit a crime, driverless cars populate the highways, and a person’s biometrics are constantly scanned and used to track their movements, target them for advertising, and keep them under perpetual surveillance.
Cue the dawning of the Age of the Internet of Things (IoT), in which internet-connected “things” monitor your home, your health and your habits in order to keep your pantry stocked, your utilities regulated and your life under control and relatively worry-free.
The key word here, however, is control.
In the not-too-distant future, “just about every device you have — and even products like chairs, that you don’t normally expect to see technology in — will be connected and talking to each other.”
By the end of 2018, “there were an estimated 22 billion internet of things connected devices in use around the world… Forecasts suggest that by 2030 around 50 billion of these IoT devices will be in use around the world, creating a massive web of interconnected devices spanning everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances.”
As the technologies powering these devices have become increasingly sophisticated, they have also become increasingly widespread, encompassing everything from toothbrushes and lightbulbs to cars, smart meters and medical equipment.
It is estimated that 127 new IoT devices are connected to the web every second.
This “connected” industry has become the next big societal transformation, right up there with the Industrial Revolution, a watershed moment in technology and culture.
Between driverless cars that completely lacking a steering wheel, accelerator, or brake pedal, and smart pills embedded with computer chips, sensors, cameras and robots, we are poised to outpace the imaginations of science fiction writers such as Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov. (By the way, there is no such thing as a driverless car. Someone or something will be driving, but it won’t be you.)
These Internet-connected techno gadgets include smart light bulbs that discourage burglars by making your house look occupied, smart thermostats that regulate the temperature of your home based on your activities, and smart doorbells that let you see who is at your front door without leaving the comfort of your couch.
Nest, Google’s suite of smart home products, has been at the forefront of the “connected” industry, with such technologically savvy conveniences as a smart lock that tells your thermostat who is home, what temperatures they like, and when your home is unoccupied; a home phone service system that interacts with your connected devices to “learn when you come and go” and alert you if your kids don’t come home; and a sleep system that will monitor when you fall asleep, when you wake up, and keep the house noises and temperature in a sleep-conducive state.
The aim of these internet-connected devices, as Nest proclaims, is to make “your house a more thoughtful and conscious home.” For example, your car can signal ahead that you’re on your way home, while Hue lights can flash on and off to get your attention if Nest Protect senses something’s wrong. Your coffeemaker, relying on data from fitness and sleep sensors, will brew a stronger pot of coffee for you if you’ve had a restless night.
Yet given the speed and trajectory at which these technologies are developing, it won’t be long before these devices are operating entirely independent of their human creators, which poses a whole new set of worries. As technology expert Nicholas Carr notes, “As soon as you allow robots, or software programs, to act freely in the world, they’re going to run up against ethically fraught situations and face hard choices that can’t be resolved through statistical models. That will be true of self-driving cars, self-flying drones, and battlefield robots, just as it’s already true, on a lesser scale, with automated vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers.”
For instance, just as the robotic vacuum, Roomba, “makes no distinction between a dust bunny and an insect,” weaponized drones—poised to take to the skies en masse this year—will be incapable of distinguishing between a fleeing criminal and someone merely jogging down a street. For that matter, how do you defend yourself against a robotic cop—such as the Atlas android being developed by the Pentagon—that has been programmed to respond to any perceived threat with violence?
Moreover, it’s not just our homes and personal devices that are being reordered and reimagined in this connected age: it’s our workplaces, our health systems, our government, our bodies and our innermost thoughts that are being plugged into a matrix over which we have no real control.
Indeed, it is expected that by 2030, we will all experience The Internet of Senses (IoS), enabled by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 5G, and automation. The Internet of Senses relies on connected technology interacting with our senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch by way of the brain as the user interface. As journalist Susan Fourtane explains:
Many predict that by 2030, the lines between thinking and doing will blur. Fifty-nine percent of consumers believe that we will be able to see map routes on VR glasses by simply thinking of a destination… By 2030, technology is set to respond to our thoughts, and even share them with others… Using the brain as an interface could mean the end of keyboards, mice, game controllers, and ultimately user interfaces for any digital device. The user needs to only think about the commands, and they will just happen. Smartphones could even function without touch screens.
In other words, the IoS will rely on technology being able to access and act on your thoughts.
Fourtane outlines several trends related to the IoS that are expected to become a reality by 2030:
1: Thoughts become action: using the brain as the interface, for example, users will be able to see map routes on VR glasses by simply thinking of a destination. 2: Sounds will become an extension of the devised virtual reality: users could mimic anyone’s voice realistically enough to fool even family members. 3: Real food will become secondary to imagined tastes. A sensory device for your mouth could digitally enhance anything you eat, so that any food can taste like your favorite treat. 4: Smells will become a projection of this virtual reality so that virtual visits, to forests or the countryside for instance, would include experiencing all the natural smells of those places. 5: Total touch: Smartphones with screens will convey the shape and texture of the digital icons and buttons they are pressing. 6: Merged reality: VR game worlds will become indistinguishable from physical reality by 2030.
Unfortunately, in our race to the future, we have failed to consider what such dependence on technology might mean for our humanity, not to mention our freedoms.
Ingestible or implantable chips are a good example of how unprepared we are, morally and otherwise, to navigate this uncharted terrain. Hailed as revolutionary for their ability to access, analyze and manipulate your body from the inside, these smart pills can remind you to take your medication, search for cancer, and even send an alert to your doctor warning of an impending heart attack.
Sure, the technology could save lives, but is that all we need to know?
Have we done our due diligence in asking all the questions that need to be asked before unleashing such awesome technology on an unsuspecting populace?
For example, asks Washington Post reporter Ariana Eunjung Cha:
What kind of warnings should users receive about the risks of implanting chip technology inside a body, for instance? How will patients be assured that the technology won’t be used to compel them to take medications they don’t really want to take? Could law enforcement obtain data that would reveal which individuals abuse drugs or sell them on the black market? Could what started as a voluntary experiment be turned into a compulsory government identification program that could erode civil liberties?
Let me put it another way.
If you were shocked by Edward Snowden’s revelations about how NSA agents have used surveillance to spy on Americans’ phone calls, emails and text messages, can you imagine what unscrupulous government agents could do with access to your internet-connected car, home and medications? Imagine what a SWAT team could do with the ability to access, monitor and control your internet-connected home—locking you in, turning off the lights, activating alarms, etc.
While President Trump signed the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act into law on Dec. 4, 2020, in order to establish a baseline for security protection for the billions of IoT devices flooding homes and businesses, the law does little to protect the American people against corporate and governmental surveillance.
In fact, the public response to concerns about government surveillance has amounted to a collective shrug.
After all, who cares if the government can track your whereabouts on your GPS-enabled device so long as it helps you find the fastest route from Point A to Point B? Who cares if the NSA is listening in on your phone calls and downloading your emails so long as you can get your phone calls and emails on the go and get lightning fast Internet on the fly? Who cares if the government can monitor your activities in your home by tapping into your internet-connected devices—thermostat, water, lights—so long as you can control those things with the flick of a finger, whether you’re across the house or across the country?
Control is the key here.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People , total control over every aspect of our lives, right down to our inner thoughts, is the objective of any totalitarian regime.
George Orwell understood this.
Orwell’s masterpiece, 1984, portrays a global society of total control in which people are not allowed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state. There is no personal freedom, and advanced technology has become the driving force behind a surveillance-driven society. Snitches and cameras are everywhere. And people are subject to the Thought Police, who deal with anyone guilty of thought crimes. The government, or “Party,” is headed by Big Brother, who appears on posters everywhere with the words: “Big Brother is watching you.”
Make no mistake: the Internet of Things and its twin, the Internet of Senses, is just Big Brother in disguise.
Article posted with permission from John Whitehead


thewashingtonstandard--2020-12-16--‘Always Winter, But Never Christmas’:  Targeting “Authorities” Trying To Shut Down Celebrations Of J

‘Always Winter, But Never Christmas’:  Targeting “Authorities” Trying To Shut Down Celebrations Of Jesus’ Birth

In C.S .
Lewis ’ book “ The Lion , the Witch , and the Wardrobe , ” he describes a beautiful place ( Narnia ) under the spell of an evil character ( the White Witch ) – who symbolizes the devil .
Lewis writes of her that it was she who has made it “ always winter , but never Christmas.
” “ Always winter , but never Christmas ” – what a great phrase to describe this world , without the loving , powerful and positive influence of Jesus Christ .
Could you imagine life in such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endure the brutal conditions of the winter season – but never having Christmas to look forward to ?
Well , this winter , there are some tyrannical state and local officials who are using the coronavirus as a pretext for shutting down churches and family gatherings .
To the degree that these regulations are imposed on the people in those states , it will be always winter , but never Christmas .
At least this season .
These are the same people who might as well have a sign on their desks for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Do as I say , not as I do.
” We ’ ve all heard the stories of mayors and governors who urge people to stay home while they are out and about getting haircuts , shopping and eating at restaurants with large groups .
One mayor actually recorded a video urging people to stay home at Thanksgiving .
The kicker – he recorded it while vacationing at a family timeshare in Mexico .
We don ’ t have to make this stuff up .
Thankfully , people are catching on to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Christmas seems to continue this year , as always .
Here are just some examples : • The woke now tell us that putting up Christmas lights demonstrates “ systemic biases.
” An ordinary display of Christmas lights in Minneapolis triggered one snowflake neighbor to write an anonymous letter protesting the non-ostentatious display : “ The idea of twinkling , colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society , a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don ’ t celebrate Christmas or who can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their own .
… We must do work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward facing display like yours can have.
” As if penning satire , the writer called for shutting down the display to “ respect the dignity of all people , while striving to learn from differences , ideas , and opinions of our neighbors.
” • Abortion clinic staffers erected a sacrilegious Christmas tree display .
Instead of a star or an angel at the top of the tree , they placed a pair of forceps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of a Baby ; instead , abortionists use the celebration to promote their work of killing babies .
As Lifenews.com notes of this incident : “ It is not the first time abortion activists have sought thrills by mocking Christmas , a holiday celebrating the birth of an unplanned child to a young unwed mother .
In 2010 , a pro-abortion group sold ‘ Abornaments , ’ a desecration of plastic fetal models depicting unborn children at various stage of development before birth , online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fetal models decorated with red noses and reindeer antlers hanging from coat-hangers.
” Depravity knows no bounds in the abortion industry .
• Fewer poor people will be helped this year , thanks to the grinches at one of the Christophobic groups that runs around our country looking to abolish any remaining vestiges of our Judeo-Christian heritage in public places .
Onenewsnow.com ( of the American Family Association ) writes : “ The Freedom from Religion Foundation ( FFRF ) put an early end to Liberty Middle School ’ s Operation Christmas Child @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Purse that allowed students at the school fill shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for underprivileged children living in oppressed and embattled nations around the world.
” Well done , FFRF .
You successfully protected innumerable poor children from receiving Christmas cheer this year .
A great contrast to these anti-Christmas sentiments can be found in the words and actions of many of this nation ’ s founders and leaders .
Just take one example .
John Jay was a key Founding Father .
He wrote some of the Federalist Papers , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first chief justice .
He gave a Christmas address before his fellow representatives of the state of New York in 1776 , in which he mentioned God and faith 33 times .
For instance , he said , “ And we should still have enjoyed the blessings of peace and plenty , if we had not forgotten the source from which these blessings flowed ; and permitted our country to be contaminated by the many shameful vices which have prevailed among us.
” Ultimately , C. S. Lewis ’ novel is a beautiful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come into the world to undo the works of the devil .
Thank God for Jesus .
Otherwise , it would be always winter , but never Christmas .

In C.S. Lewis’ book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ,” he describes a beautiful place (Narnia) under the spell of an evil character (the White Witch) – who symbolizes the devil. Lewis writes of her that it was she who has made it “always winter, but never Christmas.”
“Always winter, but never Christmas” – what a great phrase to describe this world, without the loving, powerful and positive influence of Jesus Christ.
Could you imagine life in such an intolerable state where we had to endure the brutal conditions of the winter season – but never having Christmas to look forward to?
Well, this winter, there are some tyrannical state and local officials who are using the coronavirus as a pretext for shutting down churches and family gatherings. To the degree that these regulations are imposed on the people in those states, it will be always winter, but never Christmas. At least this season.
These are the same people who might as well have a sign on their desks for the world to see, declaring, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
We’ve all heard the stories of mayors and governors who urge people to stay home while they are out and about getting haircuts, shopping and eating at restaurants with large groups. One mayor actually recorded a video urging people to stay home at Thanksgiving. The kicker – he recorded it while vacationing at a family timeshare in Mexico. We don’t have to make this stuff up. Thankfully, people are catching on to the hypocrisy.
Meanwhile, the war on Christmas seems to continue this year, as always. Here are just some examples:
The woke now tell us that putting up Christmas lights demonstrates “systemic biases.” An ordinary display of Christmas lights in Minneapolis triggered one snowflake neighbor to write an anonymous letter protesting the non-ostentatious display: “The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don’t celebrate Christmas or who can’t afford to put up lights of their own. … We must do work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward facing display like yours can have.” As if penning satire, the writer called for shutting down the display to “respect the dignity of all people, while striving to learn from differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors.”
Abortion clinic staffers erected a sacrilegious Christmas tree display. Instead of a star or an angel at the top of the tree, they placed a pair of forceps that is used to kill unborn babies. Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of a Baby; instead, abortionists use the celebration to promote their work of killing babies. As Lifenews.com notes of this incident: “It is not the first time abortion activists have sought thrills by mocking Christmas, a holiday celebrating the birth of an unplanned child to a young unwed mother. In 2010, a pro-abortion group sold ‘Abornaments,’ a desecration of plastic fetal models depicting unborn children at various stage of development before birth, online. Some of the ornaments were plastic fetal models decorated with red noses and reindeer antlers hanging from coat-hangers.” Depravity knows no bounds in the abortion industry.
Fewer poor people will be helped this year, thanks to the grinches at one of the Christophobic groups that runs around our country looking to abolish any remaining vestiges of our Judeo-Christian heritage in public places. Onenewsnow.com (of the American Family Association) writes: “The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) put an early end to Liberty Middle School’s Operation Christmas Child program – a project organized by Samaritan’s Purse that allowed students at the school fill shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for underprivileged children living in oppressed and embattled nations around the world.” Well done, FFRF. You successfully protected innumerable poor children from receiving Christmas cheer this year.
A great contrast to these anti-Christmas sentiments can be found in the words and actions of many of this nation’s founders and leaders.
Just take one example. John Jay was a key Founding Father. He wrote some of the Federalist Papers, and he served as the nation’s first chief justice. He gave a Christmas address before his fellow representatives of the state of New York in 1776, in which he mentioned God and faith 33 times. For instance, he said, “And we should still have enjoyed the blessings of peace and plenty, if we had not forgotten the source from which these blessings flowed; and permitted our country to be contaminated by the many shameful vices which have prevailed among us.”
Ultimately, C. S. Lewis’ novel is a beautiful Christian allegory showing how Jesus Christ has come into the world to undo the works of the devil. Thank God for Jesus. Otherwise, it would be always winter, but never Christmas.
Article posted with permission from Jerry Newcombe


thewashingtonstandard--2020-12-16--Is Joe Biden Seriously Ill?

Is Joe Biden Seriously Ill?

A Joe Biden coughing fit has caused a firestorm of speculation to erupt on social media .
If you don ’ t know what I am talking about , you can watch Joe Biden repeatedly cough and clear his throat during his most recent press conference right here .
It is being reported that Biden either coughed or cleared his throat 17 times during his 14-minute speech , and his voice was very hoarse the entire time .
As you will see below , Biden is admitting that he has “ a cold ” , and perhaps that is all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a long tradition in Washington of politicians from both parties covering up major health problems , and many are wondering whether Biden is covering up something now .
So could it be possible that Joe Biden is seriously ill ?
We may not get an immediate answer to that question , but without a doubt , many of his supporters have become extremely alarmed .
For example , one Twitter user that watched the press conference said that Biden is “ scaring us ” by coughing so much , and another openly wondered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a COVID test ” … And even a Biden apologist like NPR ’ s Scott Detrow has been forced to admit that this is “ the most sustained coughing ” that he has ever heard from Biden… There is no way that Biden could possibly claim to be at full health , and at this point , he is telling the public that he has “ a bit of a cold ” … Of course , in this environment , if anyone starts repeatedly coughing those around them immediately begin wondering if that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden been tested within the past 24 hours ?
I have not been able to find any news source that says that he has been .
Hopefully , he will get tested very soon because the American people deserve to know the truth .
And at 78 years of age , Biden is definitely in a very high risk group .
Due to their advanced ages , I was deeply concerned about how President Trump and Joe Biden would hold up physically during this election season .
Running for president takes a huge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ physically , and that makes candidates especially vulnerable to various diseases .
As speculation about Biden ’ s health heats up , a “ new variant ” of COVID-19 has been identified on the other side of the Atlantic… So far , we are being told that approximately 1,000 people have tested positive for this new variant of the virus .
The big question that people are asking about this new strain is whether or not the recently developed vaccines will work against it .
As I have discussed previously , mutations can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For example , every 12 months scientists try to come up with a flu vaccine that they think will work against the strain or strains of the flu that they believe will be dominant that particular year .
Sometimes the match is pretty good , and sometimes the match is not good at all .
And when the match is not good , getting a flu vaccine is pretty much useless .
So could a similar thing happen with COVID-19 ?
If a new mutation becomes dominant and the newly developed vaccines will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be back to square one very rapidly .
Of course , there are millions upon millions of people that do not intend to take any COVID vaccine under any circumstances .
Safety concerns keep being raised , and this week we learned that the FDA “ recommends monitoring people ” who get a vaccine to see if they develop Bell ’ s palsy… If you are not familiar with Bell ’ s palsy , the following is a definition that comes from the Mayo Clinic… Sadly , this is just one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know about so far .
I believe that we have entered an era when multiple pandemics will be raging all over the globe , and so we should expect endless debates about vaccines , masks and lockdowns for the foreseeable future .
For decades , Americans could go about their daily lives without ever having to think about what viruses might be floating around out there , but now everything has changed .
The global elite would like to use the COVID-19 pandemic to “ reset ” the world in their own image @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do that .
No matter how bad things get , we must stand up for our basic constitutional rights , because once they are gone it will be exceedingly difficult to ever get them back .

A Joe Biden coughing fit has caused a firestorm of speculation to erupt on social media. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you can watch Joe Biden repeatedly cough and clear his throat during his most recent press conference right here. It is being reported that Biden either coughed or cleared his throat 17 times during his 14-minute speech, and his voice was very hoarse the entire time. As you will see below, Biden is admitting that he has “a cold”, and perhaps that is all that it is. But there is a long tradition in Washington of politicians from both parties covering up major health problems, and many are wondering whether Biden is covering up something now. So could it be possible that Joe Biden is seriously ill? We may not get an immediate answer to that question, but without a doubt, many of his supporters have become extremely alarmed.
For example, one Twitter user that watched the press conference said that Biden is “scaring us” by coughing so much, and another openly wondered whether Biden is in “need of a COVID test”…
Social media users took to Twitter to voice their worry and crack jokes with one user saying ‘Drink some water, Joe. You’re scaring us.’ One Twitter user asked ‘Does Biden need a COVID test?’ and another chimed in ‘Someone get Biden some Robitussin stat!!!’
And even a Biden apologist like NPR’s Scott Detrow has been forced to admit that this is “the most sustained coughing” that he has ever heard from Biden…
“To the main theme of the Twitterverse right now: Biden regularly clears his throat and coughs in speeches – especially at the beginning of remarks,” wrote NPR political correspondent Scott Detrow. “That’s the most sustained coughing I’ve heard though.”
There is no way that Biden could possibly claim to be at full health, and at this point, he is telling the public that he has “a bit of a cold”…
“Thank you, I have a little bit of a cold, I’m sorry, but look, you know, you did it, you did it, not a joke,” Biden said during the live stream. “This campaign for president was more like the first time I ran as a 29-year-old for the Senate. I believed that ordinary folks and extraordinary folks would get together and make this work. You didn’t let us down. You didn’t let the country down. I really mean it, think about it.”
Of course, in this environment, if anyone starts repeatedly coughing those around them immediately begin wondering if that individual has COVID-19.
So has Joe Biden been tested within the past 24 hours?
I have not been able to find any news source that says that he has been.
Hopefully, he will get tested very soon because the American people deserve to know the truth.
And at 78 years of age, Biden is definitely in a very high risk group. Due to their advanced ages, I was deeply concerned about how President Trump and Joe Biden would hold up physically during this election season. Running for president takes a huge toll physically, mentally, emotionally and physically, and that makes candidates especially vulnerable to various diseases.
As speculation about Biden’s health heats up, a “new variant” of COVID-19 has been identified on the other side of the Atlantic…
A “new variant” of the COVID-19 virus has been identified in the United Kingdom and linked to a faster spread of the disease, Britain’s health secretary has said. The World Health Organization has been notified. Matt Hancock announced that London and a number of other areas in the south of England will be placed under new harsher restrictions following “very sharp rises” in COVID cases.
So far, we are being told that approximately 1,000 people have tested positive for this new variant of the virus.
The big question that people are asking about this new strain is whether or not the recently developed vaccines will work against it.
As I have discussed previously, mutations can cause major problems for vaccine developers. For example, every 12 months scientists try to come up with a flu vaccine that they think will work against the strain or strains of the flu that they believe will be dominant that particular year. Sometimes the match is pretty good, and sometimes the match is not good at all. And when the match is not good, getting a flu vaccine is pretty much useless.
So could a similar thing happen with COVID-19? If a new mutation becomes dominant and the newly developed vaccines will not work against it, we could be back to square one very rapidly.
Of course, there are millions upon millions of people that do not intend to take any COVID vaccine under any circumstances. Safety concerns keep being raised, and this week we learned that the FDA “recommends monitoring people” who get a vaccine to see if they develop Bell’s palsy…
U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff recommends monitoring people who get Pfizer or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine shots for possible cases of Bell’s palsy, saying it’s not necessarily a side effect but worth watching out for after a handful of trial participants got the condition, which causes half of your face to droop.
If you are not familiar with Bell’s palsy, the following is a definition that comes from the Mayo Clinic…
Bell’s palsy, also known as acute peripheral facial palsy of unknown cause, can occur at any age. The exact cause is unknown. It’s believed to be the result of swelling and inflammation of the nerve that controls the muscles on one side of your face. Or it might be a reaction that occurs after a viral infection. For most people, Bell’s palsy is temporary. Symptoms usually start to improve within a few weeks, with complete recovery in about six months. A small number of people continue to have some Bell’s palsy symptoms for life. Rarely, Bell’s palsy can recur.
Sadly, this is just one of the many “side effects” that we know about so far.
I believe that we have entered an era when multiple pandemics will be raging all over the globe, and so we should expect endless debates about vaccines, masks and lockdowns for the foreseeable future.
For decades, Americans could go about their daily lives without ever having to think about what viruses might be floating around out there, but now everything has changed.
The global elite would like to use the COVID-19 pandemic to “reset” the world in their own image, and we must not allow them to do that.
No matter how bad things get, we must stand up for our basic constitutional rights, because once they are gone it will be exceedingly difficult to ever get them back.
Article posted with permission from Michael Snyder


thewashingtonstandard--2020-12-16--DNI Declassifies Handwritten Notes From John Brennan, 2016 CIA Referral On Clinton Campaign’s Collus

Brennan and the U.S. intelligence community knew months prior to the 2016 election that the collusion smear was the result of a campaign operation hatched by the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton .
And not one person has been indicted .
On Tuesday , Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified and released to Congress handwritten notes from former CIA Director John Brennan as well as a CIA investigative referral to James Comey and Peter Strzok requesting that they investigate Russian knowledge of Hillary Clinton ’ s anti-Trump collusion smear operation .
Top U.S. intelligence officials were so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Russians were aware of and potentially manipulating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ’ s plans to smear Donald Trump as a Russian agent that they personally briefed President Barack Obama on the matter , newly declassified Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) documents show .
CIA officials also requested that the FBI investigate Russian knowledge of the Clinton campaign ’ s collusion smear operation .
Newly declassified handwritten notes from former CIA Director John Brennan show that the U.S. intelligence community knew in 2016 that Russian intelligence was actively monitoring , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s anti-Trump collusion narrative .
The intelligence concerning Russia ’ s knowledge of Clinton ’ s campaign plans was so concerning to Brennan and other national security officials that they personally informed Obama of the matter in the Oval Office in the summer of 2016 .
The handwritten notes from Brennan were declassified by Director of National Intelligence ( DNI ) John Ratcliffe and provided to Congress on Tuesday afternoon .
According to the declassified notes , Brennan and the U.S. intelligence community knew months prior to the 2016 election that the collusion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operation hatched by the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton .
“ We ’ re getting additional insight into Russian activites from [ REDACTED ] , ” Brennan ’ s handwritten notes state .
“ Cite alleged approval by Hillary Clinton–on 26 July–of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to villify [ sic ] Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services.
” The notes appear to have been prepared by Brennan to memorialize a meeting held at the White House with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Included in Brennan ’ s notes are the responses of other participants in the briefing — including those of former White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice , former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough , and former DNI James Clapper , but those responses are redacted .
At one point , Obama asked whether there was any evidence of collaboration between the Trump campaign and Russia , but any response that may have been recorded in Brennan ’ s notes is redacted .
Moreover , the CIA and other intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the key claims underpinning the collusion narrative could themselves be the product of deliberate Russian disinformation .
Last week , Ratcliffe released a declassified memo , based in part on Brennan ’ s notes , noting that Russian intelligence was aware of the Clinton campaign ’ s plan , increasing the likelihood that it would be tainted by Russian disinformation .
While the Clinton campaign hired Christopher Steele , a foreign agent in the pocket of a sanctioned Russian oligarch , to concoct a dossier of allegations against Trump , the primary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allegations of treasonous collusion came from a suspected Russian spy named Igor Danchenko .
Last month , Attorney General William Barr informed Congress that the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) was so concerned about Danchenko , who had been dubbed the “ Primary Sub-Source ” used by Clinton campaign sub-contractor Christopher Steele in his thoroughly debunked Steele dossier , that it had previously deemed him a national security threat and investigated him to determine if he was a Russian spy .
The bureau called off the investigation once Danchenko left the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the purview of the FBI ’ s domestic counterintelligence mission .
Although Democratic lawmakers have claimed , without evidence , that the latest declassifications are themselves the product of Russian disinformation , multiple senior intelligence officials told The Federalist that the CIA remains convinced that Russian intelligence sincerely believed as early as summer of 2016 that the Clinton campaign launched its anti-Trump collusion smear operation to distract from Clinton ’ s e-mail scandal .
In October of 2017 , the top lawyer for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee finally confessed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrat opposition research firm Fusion GPS , which paid Steele to peddle allegations that Trump was a secret Russian agent working on behalf of Vladimir Putin .
Ratcliffe also declassified on Tuesday portions of a formal CIA investigative referral sent on Sept. 7 , 2016 , to fired former FBI Director James Comey and fired former counterintelligence official Peter Strzok asking them to investigate the Clinton campaign ’ s anti-Trump collusion smear operation in light of Russia ’ s knowledge of the plan and the likelihood it could be tainted by deliberate Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CIA investigative referral in the same manner they had launched a full-blown counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign , Strzok and Comey refused to initiate an investigation .
“ Per FBI verbal request , CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date , ” the memo states .
“ An exchange [ REDACTED ] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ’ s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” The cover note of the memorandum stated that the information within was provided to the FBI “ for the exclusive use of your Bureau for background , investigative action , or lead purposes , as appropriate.
” There is no evidence the FBI ever took any action to ensure that Russian knowledge of Clinton ’ s plans did not lead to infiltration of that campaign ’ s operation by Russian intelligence agents .
The CIA referral , specifically its reference to a “ CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell , ” suggests that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not have been limited to the FBI , but may have included the use of CIA assets and surveillance capabilities , raising troubling questions about whether the nation ’ s top spy service was weaponized against a U.S. political campaign .
Formal CIA Referral To FBI … by The Federalist

Brennan and the U.S. intelligence community knew months prior to the 2016 election that the collusion smear was the result of a campaign operation hatched by the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
And not one person has been indicted.
DNI Declassifies Handwritten Notes From John Brennan, 2016 CIA Referral On Clinton Campaign’s Collusion Operation
On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified and released to Congress handwritten notes from former CIA Director John Brennan as well as a CIA investigative referral to James Comey and Peter Strzok requesting that they investigate Russian knowledge of Hillary Clinton’s anti-Trump collusion smear operation.
By: The Federalist, December 15,2020:
Top U.S. intelligence officials were so concerned heading into the 2016 election that the Russians were aware of and potentially manipulating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s plans to smear Donald Trump as a Russian agent that they personally briefed President Barack Obama on the matter, newly declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents show. CIA officials also requested that the FBI investigate Russian knowledge of the Clinton campaign’s collusion smear operation.
Newly declassified handwritten notes from former CIA Director John Brennan show that the U.S. intelligence community knew in 2016 that Russian intelligence was actively monitoring, and potentially injecting disinformation into, Clinton’s anti-Trump collusion narrative. The intelligence concerning Russia’s knowledge of Clinton’s campaign plans was so concerning to Brennan and other national security officials that they personally informed Obama of the matter in the Oval Office in the summer of 2016. The handwritten notes from Brennan were declassified by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe and provided to Congress on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the declassified notes, Brennan and the U.S. intelligence community knew months prior to the 2016 election that the collusion smear was the result of a campaign operation hatched by the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“We’re getting additional insight into Russian activites from [REDACTED],” Brennan’s handwritten notes state. “Cite alleged approval by Hillary Clinton–on 26 July–of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to villify [sic] Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services.”
The notes appear to have been prepared by Brennan to memorialize a meeting held at the White House with the president and his top national security advisers. Included in Brennan’s notes are the responses of other participants in the briefing — including those of former White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice, former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, and former DNI James Clapper, but those responses are redacted.
At one point, Obama asked whether there was any evidence of collaboration between the Trump campaign and Russia, but any response that may have been recorded in Brennan’s notes is redacted.
Moreover, the CIA and other intelligence agencies also suspected early on that many of the key claims underpinning the collusion narrative could themselves be the product of deliberate Russian disinformation. Last week, Ratcliffe released a declassified memo, based in part on Brennan’s notes, noting that Russian intelligence was aware of the Clinton campaign’s plan, increasing the likelihood that it would be tainted by Russian disinformation.
While the Clinton campaign hired Christopher Steele, a foreign agent in the pocket of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, to concoct a dossier of allegations against Trump, the primary source of the most salacious and damning allegations of treasonous collusion came from a suspected Russian spy named Igor Danchenko. Last month, Attorney General William Barr informed Congress that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was so concerned about Danchenko, who had been dubbed the “Primary Sub-Source” used by Clinton campaign sub-contractor Christopher Steele in his thoroughly debunked Steele dossier, that it had previously deemed him a national security threat and investigated him to determine if he was a Russian spy. The bureau called off the investigation once Danchenko left the United States and was no longer within the purview of the FBI’s domestic counterintelligence mission.
Although Democratic lawmakers have claimed, without evidence, that the latest declassifications are themselves the product of Russian disinformation, multiple senior intelligence officials told The Federalist that the CIA remains convinced that Russian intelligence sincerely believed as early as summer of 2016 that the Clinton campaign launched its anti-Trump collusion smear operation to distract from Clinton’s e-mail scandal. In October of 2017, the top lawyer for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee finally confessed publicly that he had personally hired the Democrat opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which paid Steele to peddle allegations that Trump was a secret Russian agent working on behalf of Vladimir Putin.
Ratcliffe also declassified on Tuesday portions of a formal CIA investigative referral sent on Sept. 7, 2016, to fired former FBI Director James Comey and fired former counterintelligence official Peter Strzok asking them to investigate the Clinton campaign’s anti-Trump collusion smear operation in light of Russia’s knowledge of the plan and the likelihood it could be tainted by deliberate Russian disinformation. Rather than act on the CIA investigative referral in the same manner they had launched a full-blown counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign, Strzok and Comey refused to initiate an investigation.
“Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,” the memo states. “An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of private e-mail server.”
The cover note of the memorandum stated that the information within was provided to the FBI “for the exclusive use of your Bureau for background, investigative action, or lead purposes, as appropriate.”
There is no evidence the FBI ever took any action to ensure that Russian knowledge of Clinton’s plans did not lead to infiltration of that campaign’s operation by Russian intelligence agents. The CIA referral, specifically its reference to a “CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell,” suggests that the Obama administration’s anti-Trump investigation may not have been limited to the FBI, but may have included the use of CIA assets and surveillance capabilities, raising troubling questions about whether the nation’s top spy service was weaponized against a U.S. political campaign.
Formal CIA Referral To FBI … by The Federalist
Article posted with permission from Pamela Geller


thewashingtonstandard--2020-12-16--What If It’s Your Mom Or Dad?  When The Elderly & Frail Die After Receiving COVID Vaccine

What If It ’ s Your Mom Or Dad ?
When The Elderly & Frail Die After Receiving COVID Vaccine I have been warning my own parents of what I ’ ve uncovered in various documents , in information from medical doctors and nurses , and during my own research as to the lack of the CONvid vaccine being either safe or effective .
What if it was your parents ?
What if your parents weren ’ t even sick and they took the vaccine and it either harmed them or they died as a result ?
You do know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effects of the vaccine , according to the Food and Drug Administration , right ?
• Shark Liver Squalene In The New COVID Vaccine & Gulf War Syndrome Connection • # AskTheExperts – Shemirani , Corbett , Madej & Kaufman – The Vaccine Rollout Has Begun , Here ’ s What You ’ re Not Being Told !
• # AskTheExperts – Doctors , Nurses & Health Care Professionals From Around The World : “ The COVID Vaccine Is Neither Safe Nor Effective ” ( Video ) Former CBS Healthwatch reporter and author @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sobering piece based on the least trusted name in news ’ , CNN , recent report .
CNN has the story .
And it ’ s quite a story : “ Why vaccinate our most frail ?
Odd vote out shows the dilemma ” , December 4 .
[ 1 ] “ The vote to recommend long-term care residents be among the first to receive Covid-19 vaccinations was not unanimous.
” “ Out of a panel of 14 CDC vaccine advisers , a lone doctor said no.
” “ ’ Odd woman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Helen ‘ Keipp ’ Talbot , of Vanderbilt University , told her colleagues .
‘ I still struggle with this .
This was not an easy vote ’ .
” “ Talbot was worried about whether the vaccine would even work in such frail , vulnerable patients .
Even more , she worried about how it might look if the vaccine failed in that group , or how it would affect public perception if residents died soon after getting the vaccine.
” “ The Covid-19 vaccines have not been tested in the frail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of long-term care facilities.
” Let ’ s stop here for a moment .
First , we learn that the clinical trials of the COVID vaccine have not used the frail and elderly as volunteers .
Therefore , there is NO evidence that the vaccine is safe or effective in that very large group .
If this doesn ’ t give the frail and elderly and their families pause for thought , nothing will .
Second , Dr. Talbot is worried about “ public perception , ” when the elderly die right after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would YOU think if your mother died the day after she received the COVID shot ?
The CNN article gets worse .
Read on .
Next up is a comment from Dr. Kelly Moore , “ associate director of the Immunization Action Coalition , which is supporting frontline workers who will administer Covid-19 vaccinations.
” “ ’ Since they [ the COVID vaccines ] haven ’ t been studied in people in those [ elderly ] populations , we don ’ t know how well the vaccine will work for them .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work nearly as well in a frail elderly person as they would in someone who is fit and vigorous , even if they happen to be the same age , ’ Moore said.
” Again—zero evidence the COVID vaccines work in elderly and frail populations .
Most vaccines don ’ t “ work nearly as well.
” • A History Of Vaccines To The Present Pfizer COVID Vaccine & Their Dangers With Dr. Carrie Madej • CNN : ‘ Don ’ t Be Alarmed ’ if People Start Dying After Taking the Vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go into arms of [ nursing home and long-term care facility ] residents , Moore said Americans need to understand that deaths may occur that won ’ t necessarily have anything to do with the vaccine.
” “ ’ We would not at all be surprised to see , coincidentally , vaccination happening and then having someone pass away a short time after they receive a vaccine , not because it has anything to do with the vaccination but just because that ’ s the place where people at the end of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ ’ One of the things we want to make sure people understand is that they should not be unnecessarily alarmed if there are reports , once we start vaccinating , of someone or multiple people dying within a day or two of their vaccination who are residents of a long-term care facility .
That would be something we would expect , as a normal occurrence , because people die frequently in nursing homes ’ .
” Don ’ t worry if people who are doing reasonably well suddenly die right after getting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just a coincidence .
Their long-term health conditions just happened to kick in a day or two after vaccination .
Nothing to wonder about .
Don ’ t kick up a fuss if it ’ s YOUR father or mother who died .
Stay calm .
You can be sure the doctors will let you know if your mother died from the vaccine .
Of course they will .
Even though the vaccine has never been tested on the elderly and frail , the doctors know whether a death occurred from the vaccination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll tell the truth .
They always do .
The doctors quoted in this CNN article are obviously worried about people dying as a result of the vaccine .
They know it ’ s going to happen .
They ’ re thinking out loud about what they can do to stem the tide of public outrage—particularly from the families of those who die .
The best idea they can come up with is : “ these people die anyway.
” I remind readers that , for months , I ’ ve been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so-called COVID deaths that have been occurring among the elderly in nursing homes , in long-term care facilities , in hospitals , in their homes .
[ 2 ] These people were already suffering from multiple long-term serious health conditions .
On top of that , they had been treated for years with an array of toxic medical drugs .
And then , they ’ re absolutely terrified when they receive a diagnosis of COVID .
Then they ’ re isolated , cut off from family and friends .
And they give up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TO EXPLAIN THESE DEATHS .
This is forced premature killing of old people .
It ’ s murder by COVID diagnosis and isolation .
[ 2 ] And now , these people will receive an experimental RNA vaccine , whose effects include auto-immune reactions ; the body basically attacks itself .
[ 3 ] And doctors advising the CDC are telling us not to be alarmed .
The deaths are just routine .
Lots and lots of doctors who know what ’ s going on are thinking , “ What if all this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it IS coming back on you , Doctors .
You ’ re killers in white coats who are supposed to be saving lives .
Rappoport is right .
Doctors should be seeking to save lives , not commit mass genocide .
This is the very reason that people like The Sons of Liberty ’ s health and wellness expert , nurse and nutritionist Kate Shemirani and Dr. Kevin Corbett of The Medical Revolutionaries have put medical professionals in the UK on notice of genocide regarding the vaccines .
Medical Revolutionaries Issue Genocide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Secretary Of State For Children & Families It ’ s time to protect those you love , not feed them to the wolves for the sake of Big Pharma profits and political chest pounding .
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media

What If It’s Your Mom Or Dad? When The Elderly & Frail Die After Receiving COVID Vaccine
I have been warning my own parents of what I’ve uncovered in various documents, in information from medical doctors and nurses, and during my own research as to the lack of the CONvid vaccine being either safe or effective. What if it was your parents? What if your parents weren’t even sick and they took the vaccine and it either harmed them or they died as a result? You do know that death is one of the adverse effects of the vaccine, according to the Food and Drug Administration, right?
Former CBS Healthwatch reporter and author of The Matrix Revealed Jon Rappoport writes a sobering piece based on the least trusted name in news’, CNN, recent report.
CNN has the story. And it’s quite a story: “Why vaccinate our most frail? Odd vote out shows the dilemma”, December 4. [1]
“The vote to recommend long-term care residents be among the first to receive Covid-19 vaccinations was not unanimous.”
“Out of a panel of 14 CDC vaccine advisers, a lone doctor said no.”
“’Odd woman out, I guess,’ Dr. Helen ‘Keipp’ Talbot, of Vanderbilt University, told her colleagues. ‘I still struggle with this. This was not an easy vote’.”
“Talbot was worried about whether the vaccine would even work in such frail, vulnerable patients. Even more, she worried about how it might look if the vaccine failed in that group, or how it would affect public perception if residents died soon after getting the vaccine.”
“The Covid-19 vaccines have not been tested in the frail elderly, many of whom are residents of long-term care facilities.”
Let’s stop here for a moment. First, we learn that the clinical trials of the COVID vaccine have not used the frail and elderly as volunteers. Therefore, there is NO evidence that the vaccine is safe or effective in that very large group. If this doesn’t give the frail and elderly and their families pause for thought, nothing will.
Second, Dr. Talbot is worried about “public perception,” when the elderly die right after getting the vaccination.
Well, what would YOU think if your mother died the day after she received the COVID shot?
The CNN article gets worse. Read on. Next up is a comment from Dr. Kelly Moore, “associate director of the Immunization Action Coalition, which is supporting frontline workers who will administer Covid-19 vaccinations.”
“’Since they [the COVID vaccines] haven’t been studied in people in those [elderly] populations, we don’t know how well the vaccine will work for them. We know that most vaccines don’t work nearly as well in a frail elderly person as they would in someone who is fit and vigorous, even if they happen to be the same age,’ Moore said.”
Again—zero evidence the COVID vaccines work in elderly and frail populations. Most vaccines don’t “work nearly as well.”
CNN: “When shots begin to go into arms of [nursing home and long-term care facility] residents, Moore said Americans need to understand that deaths may occur that won’t necessarily have anything to do with the vaccine.”
“’We would not at all be surprised to see, coincidentally, vaccination happening and then having someone pass away a short time after they receive a vaccine, not because it has anything to do with the vaccination but just because that’s the place where people at the end of their lives reside,’ Moore said.”
“’One of the things we want to make sure people understand is that they should not be unnecessarily alarmed if there are reports, once we start vaccinating, of someone or multiple people dying within a day or two of their vaccination who are residents of a long-term care facility. That would be something we would expect, as a normal occurrence, because people die frequently in nursing homes’.”
Right. Don’t be alarmed.
Don’t worry if people who are doing reasonably well suddenly die right after getting the COVID shot. It’s just a coincidence.
Their long-term health conditions just happened to kick in a day or two after vaccination. Nothing to wonder about.
Don’t kick up a fuss if it’s YOUR father or mother who died. Stay calm. You can be sure the doctors will let you know if your mother died from the vaccine. Of course they will.
Even though the vaccine has never been tested on the elderly and frail, the doctors know whether a death occurred from the vaccination or from other causes. And they’ll tell the truth. They always do.
The doctors quoted in this CNN article are obviously worried about people dying as a result of the vaccine. They know it’s going to happen. They’re thinking out loud about what they can do to stem the tide of public outrage—particularly from the families of those who die.
The best idea they can come up with is: “these people die anyway.”
I remind readers that, for months, I’ve been reporting on the huge percentage of all so-called COVID deaths that have been occurring among the elderly in nursing homes, in long-term care facilities, in hospitals, in their homes. [2]
These people were already suffering from multiple long-term serious health conditions. On top of that, they had been treated for years with an array of toxic medical drugs.
And then, they’re absolutely terrified when they receive a diagnosis of COVID. Then they’re isolated, cut off from family and friends.
And they give up and die.
NO VIRUS IS REQUIRED TO EXPLAIN THESE DEATHS.
This is forced premature killing of old people. It’s murder by COVID diagnosis and isolation. [2]
And now, these people will receive an experimental RNA vaccine, whose effects include auto-immune reactions; the body basically attacks itself. [3]
More killing.
And doctors advising the CDC are telling us not to be alarmed.
The deaths are just routine.
Lots and lots of doctors who know what’s going on are thinking, “What if all this comes back on ME?”
Well, it IS coming back on you, Doctors.
You’re killers in white coats who are supposed to be saving lives.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/09/pfizer-covid-vaccine-nhs-extreme-allergy-sufferers-regulators-reaction
[2] https://www.denverpost.com/2020/12/09/pfizer-covid-vaccine-allergic-reactions/
[3] https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/01/26/vaccine-for-the-china-virus-the-planet-is-the-guinea-pig-for-a-vast-experiment/
Rappoport is right. Doctors should be seeking to save lives, not commit mass genocide. This is the very reason that people like The Sons of Liberty’s health and wellness expert, nurse and nutritionist Kate Shemirani and Dr. Kevin Corbett of The Medical Revolutionaries have put medical professionals in the UK on notice of genocide regarding the vaccines.
It’s time to protect those you love, not feed them to the wolves for the sake of Big Pharma profits and political chest pounding.
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media


thewashingtonstandard--2020-12-16--Fashion Executive & Elite Insider Peter Nygard Arrested For Sex Trafficking Children

Fashion executive Peter Nygard was arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States for sex trafficking and other crimes similar to the accusations leveled against infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .
The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that the 79-year-old faces charges of “ racketeering , sex trafficking , and related crimes arising out of a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct involving at least dozens of victims in the United States , the Bahamas , and Canada , among other locations.
” The indictment alleges that the fashion tycoon used his company ’ s resources “ to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victims for Nygard ’ s sexual gratification and the sexual gratification of his friends and business associates.
” Nygard is said to be friends with British Royal Prince Andrew , who has faced questions over his relationship with deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein , who was also accused of sex trafficking .
Andrew reportedly stayed with Nygard at his mansion in the Bahamas in 2000 .
Court documents say that Nygard specifically targeted women and girls under 18 who came from disadvantaged backgrounds and had a history of abuse .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ women and girls before taking advantage of them and “ sometimes forcibly ” assaulting those who did not comply with his sexual demands .
He is also accused of intimidating and silencing his victims “ through threats , false promises of modelling opportunities and other career advancement , financial support , and by other coercive means , including constant surveillance , restrictions of movement , and physical isolation.
” The Finnish-Canadian millionaire was arrested in Winnipeg on Monday and made a court appearance the next day .
Nygard has denied all charges and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be “ vindicated ” in court .
US authorities are currently seeking his extradition .
The indictment comes after 57 women filed a lawsuit in February against the fashion executive claiming sexual abuse .
One plaintiff in the suit said Nygard raped her in 2004 when she was 16 .
In late February , the FBI and NYPD raided Nygard ’ s New York offices as part of a sex trafficking investigation .
According to reports , his private parties bore a striking resemblance to the soirees hosted by Epstein , complete with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a stripper pole , and showy animal sculptures – attractions reminiscent of Epstein ’ s infamous Lolita Island .
Epstein died from apparent suicide while awaiting trial in prison last year .
His associate , Ghislaine Maxwell , was arrested in July .
She is currently trying to secure her release with a bail deal worth nearly $ 30 million .

Fashion executive Peter Nygard was arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States for sex trafficking and other crimes similar to the accusations leveled against infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that the 79-year-old faces charges of “racketeering, sex trafficking, and related crimes arising out of a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct involving at least dozens of victims in the United States, the Bahamas, and Canada, among other locations.”
The indictment alleges that the fashion tycoon used his company’s resources “to recruit and maintain adult and minor-aged female victims for Nygard’s sexual gratification and the sexual gratification of his friends and business associates.”
Nygard is said to be friends with British Royal Prince Andrew, who has faced questions over his relationship with deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was also accused of sex trafficking. Andrew reportedly stayed with Nygard at his mansion in the Bahamas in 2000.
Court documents say that Nygard specifically targeted women and girls under 18 who came from disadvantaged backgrounds and had a history of abuse. Nygard is said to have purportedly drugged women and girls before taking advantage of them and “sometimes forcibly” assaulting those who did not comply with his sexual demands.
He is also accused of intimidating and silencing his victims “through threats, false promises of modelling opportunities and other career advancement, financial support, and by other coercive means, including constant surveillance, restrictions of movement, and physical isolation.”
The Finnish-Canadian millionaire was arrested in Winnipeg on Monday and made a court appearance the next day. Nygard has denied all charges and his lawyer vows that his client will be “vindicated” in court. US authorities are currently seeking his extradition.
The indictment comes after 57 women filed a lawsuit in February against the fashion executive claiming sexual abuse. One plaintiff in the suit said Nygard raped her in 2004 when she was 16.
In late February, the FBI and NYPD raided Nygard’s New York offices as part of a sex trafficking investigation.
According to reports, his private parties bore a striking resemblance to the soirees hosted by Epstein, complete with a fake Mayan temple, a disco with a stripper pole, and showy animal sculptures – attractions reminiscent of Epstein’s infamous Lolita Island. Epstein died from apparent suicide while awaiting trial in prison last year. His associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested in July. She is currently trying to secure her release with a bail deal worth nearly $30 million.
Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist