1484: Do It For Ukraine

Dear Adam,

You might have seen this already, if so please disregard. I am a big believer that the queen has been dead for some time now and this latest news clip (link below and screenshot) helps give more traction to this theory. I think she has been turned into a wax figurine they wheel out for special events such as handing over power to the new UK Prime minister. There is no video footage of her in the clip and I feel the picture speaks volumes about this theory.

Kind Regards,

Michael Kaiser

In The Morning Adam,

I started on the idea that we were reliving the 1970s about two years ago, but I didn't quite see it all at the time. At the time, I was just describing how I saw the nest few presidential cycles going as we were going into the 2020 election. I said Trump is Nixon, the divisive, controversial, Republican president with the stink of impeachment. No one would be Ford because Trump didn't resign. Biden would Carter, the ineffectual one term Democrat nobody really likes that much. So far that's playing out perfectly. And whoever comes next will be the new Reagan, new Republican who then reshapes the party and presides over great prosperity. My candidate for this is Rand Paul, who will probably gain a lot more public notoriety after his investigations of Dr. Fauci start in 2023. Hopefully he becomes a new Reagan that does

But after you started pointing out other ways we were reliving the 70's, not just in presidential politics, I started picking up on some you haven't mentioned.

I came across an article which you might find interesting too.

Summary (my translation):

Germany: AdBlue is running out in short term. Millions of trucks, buses and cars cannot drive without the additive (will not start without it). Is supermarket supply in danger? Adblue is a by-product of fertilizer production. The largest German manufacturer of AdBlue has already stopped production. Around 90 percent of the trucks in Germany need the substance.

The Federal Association for Goods Transport and Logistics (BGL) has written to both the climate and the transport ministries to act and asked them to convene an "AdBlue round table" at short notice. The aim is to get a reliable picture of the situation and to take possible government measures. So far, however, the association has not received any feedback from the ministries.

German article: Link

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Archived Version

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:11

"In America people are not in this shit," exclaims mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever during an interview on Belgian TV.

"They are now exporters of oil and gas, but they certainly weren't twenty years ago. Climate standards are not of much use if all your companies go to America and China to produce, then you are bankrupt and the climate is not yet saved. This is the green dogmatics. People should start realizing this."

The outspoken mayor held nothing back during the Flemish current affairs program De Zevende Dag.

''Oil, gas and coal were no longer allowed. No investments were allowed in reserves. Germany does not have a single LNG terminal (a terminal for liquefied natural gas, ed.). The dumbest countries, Germany and Belgium, have phased out nuclear energy in parallel. We have pushed away all energy sources, making ourselves dependent on Putin. Now we hang on to it.''

The previous government, of which De Wever's party was part, decided that the Belgian nuclear centers Tihange 2 and Doel 3 should close.

''It's a purple-green law. We now have a purple-green government. That is a recipe for catastrophe.''

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo says the country is 'in an economic war situation'.

''Everything has to be on the table.''

According to De Wever, it is time 'for bitter truths'...

''This country is bankrupt.''

Somebody's not going to get invited to Van der Leyen's Christmas party this year...

Watch the full interview (in Dutch but you can select translation to English subtitles with the CC section - not available fort Embed) below:

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Archived Version

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:10

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused the U.S. of wanting to maintain a "dictatorship" over global affairs at the expense of Europe and the rest of the world.

Putin slammed the West repeatedly during a speech before business leaders gathered in far eastern Russia, saying sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine were a "danger" to the whole world and left Europe worse off.

"The pandemic has been replaced by new challenges of a global nature, carrying a threat to the whole world, I'm talking about the sanctions rush in the West and the West's blatantly aggressive attempts to impose their modus vivendi on other countries, to take away their sovereignty, to submit them to their will," Putin told delegates at Russia's Eastern Economic Forum in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast.

"The high level of industrial development in Europe, the standard of living, social and economic stability '-- all of this is being thrown onto the fire of sanctions," he added.

"They are being wasted on orders from Washington in the name of so-called Euro-Atlantic unity. Though in reality, they are basically being sacrificed in the name of preserving the U.S. dictatorship in global affairs," Putin said.

CNBC has contacted the White House for a response to Putin's comments and is awaiting a reply.

Russia is widely believed to have been taken aback by the West's assertive and unified response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which began in February, with an ever-increasing number of sanctions being leveled at the Russian economy and personnel and businesses linked to the Kremlin.

The EU is trying to phase out energy imports, particularly of natural gas, from Russia '-- a move that comes at a tricky time for the bloc as it deals with rampant inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

Unsurprisingly, Moscow has taken a dim view of sanctions and has sought to circumnavigate the damaging economic consequences of them by turning to its allies in Asia to sell its oil.

It has now also halted all gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1, saying sanctions prevent the pipeline from being repaired and working properly, a claim rejected by Siemens Energy, which has supplied and maintained equipment for the supply line.

Sergei Guriev, professor of economy at Sciences Po and former chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, told CNBC that Russia was promoting a "false narrative" around sanctions.

"The narrative is false become Putin's economy is hurt when you look at the actual numbers. In the second quarter of 2022, GDP was 6% below the first quarter, this is an amazing speed in the fall of GDP. When you look at the decline in retail trade turnover, the consumption of goods and services by Russian households, that's [seen] about a 10% decline. When you look at fiscal affairs, July saw about a deficit of about 8% of GDP and that was with an oil price of around $100 [a barrel]."

"Putin is not doing very well but what he's doing with his gas blackmailing in July and August is trying to divide Europe ... and to [try to] make sure that Europeans will stop pushing the sanctions."

'War criminal'Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the war continues to cause untold misery for civilians and death and destruction.

The United Nations' said this week that, from Feb. 24 when the invasion began to Sept. 4, 13,917 civilian casualties had been recorded in Ukraine with 5,718 killed and 8,199 injured '-- although the true number is likely to be far, far higher given the chaotic nature of recording such data during times of war.

Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced from the country during the war, with Russia accused of multiple war crimes and of repeatedly targeting civilian infrastructure, which it denies doing despite overwhelming and mounting evidence.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called Putin a "war criminal" but on Tuesday refused to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, a label Ukraine has called for. The EU has said Russia is "weaponizing" energy supplies to blackmail it into sanctions relief. Russia denies using energy as a weapon.

Russia currently occupies a swathe of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine but Kyiv's forces have recently launched a counteroffensive to reclaim lost land.

Pivot eastward continuesRussia's president, who has been largely ostracized by developed Western countries following Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, said he believed the current situation had been precipitated by the "slipping dominance" of the U.S. in global politics and economics.

He said the West had been reluctant to recognize "irreversible tectonic shifts" in global politics and international relations, particularly a pivot east.

Describing the Asia-Pacific region as a "magnet" for human resources, capital and production capacities, Putin said that "despite that, Western countries are trying to maintain the old world order that only benefited them."

On Tuesday, Putin announced that China will pay for gas from Russia's state-owned Gazprom in both their currencies, the ruble and Chinese yuan, signaling a further attempt by both countries to sideline the dollar.

"Western countries have undermined the key pillars of the world economic system built over centuries," Putin said.

"We have seen the loss in trust in the dollar, and the euro and the pound as the currencies in which you can carry out transactions, hold deposits or assets and that is why, step by step, we are moving away from the use of these unreliable, compromised currencies," he said.

Russia itself is facing a hard winter with the central bank forecasting a deepening contraction in the third quarter.

Gross domestic product will fall by 7% in the third quarter after contracting by 4.3% in the second quarter, Reuters said last month citing a report from the central bank. The bank forecast the economy will start recovering in the second half of 2023. Inflation stood at 15.1% in July, above the EU rate of 9.8% in the same month.

Speaking to business leaders Wednesday, Putin said that Russia would post a budget surplus this year and that GDP would fall by "around 2% or a little more."

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:10

RT app is seen on a smartphone in front of their logo in this illustration taken February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

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BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - Russian state-controlled media outlets RT and Sputnik will be banned in the European Union with immediate effect for systematic disinformation over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the 27-country bloc said on Wednesday in an unprecedented move.

The sanction means EU operators will be prohibited from broadcasting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to the dissemination of any RT and Sputnik content.

Broadcasting licences or authorisation, transmission and distribution arrangements between the two companies and their EU counterparts will also be suspended.

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The ban applies to RT's English unit and operations in Britain, Germany, France and Spain.

"Systematic information manipulation and disinformation by the Kremlin is applied as an operational tool in its assault on Ukraine," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. "It is also a significant and direct threat to the Union's public order and security."

Facebook owner Meta (FB.O), Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O), YouTube and TikTok are already blocking access to RT and Sputnik in the EU. Twitter (TWTR.N) has said it will comply with the EU ban.

(This story was refiled to remove extra word from headline)

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Reporting by Foo Yun CheeEditing by Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:05

Energiekrise AdBlue f¼r Diesel wird knapp: Leere Supermarktregale drohen

07.09.2022, 15:13 | Lesedauer: 5 Minuten Beate Kranz

Scholz: Deutschland wird durch diese schwierige Zeit kommen

Scholz- Deutschland wird durch diese schwierige Zeit kommen

Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (SPD) hat sich zuversichtlich gezeigt, dass das dritte Entlastungspaket der Bundesregierung den Menschen helfen wird, die derzeitigen Herausforderungen zu bew¤ltigen.

Video: Politik

Beschreibung anzeigen

AdBlue wird knapp. Ohne den Zusatzstoff k¶nnen Millionen Lastwagen, Busse und Autos nicht fahren. Bleiben jetzt Supermarkt-Regale leer?

Berlin. Die Gaspreisexplosion hinterl¤sst in der Wirtschaft immer tiefere Spuren. Angesichts der drastisch gestiegenen Preise infolge des Ukraine-Kriegs k¶nnte schon bald der dringend ben¶tigte AdBlue-Zusatzstoff f¼r Dieselfahrzeuge knapp werden. Betroffen w¤ren Hunderttausende Fahrzeuge: Lastwagen, Busse und Pkw.

Der Grund: Europaweit drosseln Unternehmen die Produktion. Der gr¶Ÿte deutsche Hersteller von AdBlue hat bereits die Produktion eingestellt. AdBlue f¤llt als Nebenprodukt in der D¼ngemittel-Herstellung an. Angesichts der drastisch gestiegenen Gaspreise rentiert sich die Produktion jedoch nicht mehr f¼r die Hersteller.

Der Bundesverband f¼r G¼terverkehr und Logistik (BGL) warnt bereits davor, dass Tausende Lastwagen bald nicht mehr fahren k¶nnten. 'žOhne AdBlue stehen die meisten Lkw still '' es drohen leere Supermarktregale'', sagte der BGL-Vorstandssprecher Dirk Engelhardt unserer Redaktion. Die Knappheit k¶nnte schon in etwa zwei Wochen eintreten.

Der Preis f¼r AdBlue hat sich seit 2021 bis August bereits vervierfacht und d¼rfte im September zu weiteren H¶henfl¼gen ansetzen, so der BGL. Ein Lastwagen braucht etwa 1,5 Liter AdBlue je 100 Kilometer.

Kein AdBlue f¼r Diesel: Vier von f¼nf Bussen m¼ssten stillstehenIn Sorge sind auch die Busunternehmen. 'žOhne die Dieselbeimischung AdBlue m¼ssen vier von f¼nf Bussen in Deutschland stillliegen'', warnt die Hauptgesch¤ftsf¼hrerin des Bundesverbands Deutscher Omnibusunternehmen (bdo), Christiane Leonard.

Bei den knapp 3000 privaten und mittelst¤ndischen Busunternehmen in Deutschland w¤ren rund 65.000 Busse betroffen. 'žDamit werden in k¼rzester Zeit die Busverkehre in weiten Teilen Deutschlands '' und damit die ¶ffentliche Daseinsvorsorge '' zusammenbrechen.'' Betroffen w¤ren auch die Schulverkehre in l¤ndlichen R¤umen.

Im Pkw-Verkehr brauchen etwa 10 Prozent aller rund 14,8 Millionen zugelassenen Dieselautos AdBlue, sagte ADAC-Sprecherin Katharina Luca: 'žWenn der AdBlue-Tank leer ist, kann das Auto nicht mehr fahren.''

Moderne Diesel der Abgasnorm Euro 6 brauchen etwa drei bis f¼nf Liter AdBlue je 100 Liter Diesel. Die Preise variieren stark, je nachdem an welcher Tankstelle der Stoff eingef¼llt wird oder ob er im Kanister im Handel gekauft wird. Der ADAC r¤t Dieselfahrern, den AdBlue-Tank beim n¤chsten Tanken zu f¼llen oder sich eine kleine Reserve anzulegen.

Interessant auch:Spritpreise steigen astronomisch: Augen auf beim Tanken!

AdBlue ist eine Harnstoffl¶sung, die f¼r die Abgasnachbehandlung in modernen Fahrzeugen mit Dieselmotor eingesetzt wird. Sie bewirkt, dass ausgestoŸene Stickoxide um bis zu 90 Prozent reduziert werden '' und zwar bei Lastwagen und Pkw. Ist der AdBlue-Tank in einem Diesel-Fahrzeug leer, verweigert die Motorsteuerung einen Neustart. Die Folge: Das Fahrzeug bleibt stehen.

AdBlue: Rund 90 Prozent der Lastwagen brauchen den StoffIm G¼terverkehr fahren 90,75 Prozent aller rund 750.000 bis 800.000 Lastwagen auf deutschen Autobahnen und BundesstraŸen mit der Euro 6 Norm, wie aus der Mautstatistik des Bundesamts f¼r G¼terverkehr f¼r Juli hervorgeht. 'žDiese ben¶tigen zwingend AdBlue'', sagte Engelhardt. 'žSeitdem der gr¶Ÿte AdBlue-Produzent in Deutschland die Produktion eingestellt hat, l¤uft die Uhr.''

Bissig stellt der Verbandschef die Frage: 'žSind die AdBlue-Reserven bei H¤ndlern und Transportunternehmen aufgebraucht noch bevor die Bundesregierung den Ernst der Lage erkennt und geeignete GegenmaŸnahmen ergreift?''

Der Verband hat sowohl das Klima- als auch das Verkehrsministerium in einem Schreiben zum Handeln aufgefordert und darum gebeten, kurzfristig einen 'žRunden Tisch AdBlue'' einzuberufen. Ziel sei es, ein verl¤ssliches Bild der Lage zu erhalten und m¶glicher staatliche MaŸnahmen zu ergreifen. Doch bislang hat der Verband noch keine R¼ckmeldung aus den Ministerien erhalten.

Lesen Sie auch: Ende des Tankrabatts: Die beste Taktik gegen Spritwucher

Angesichts der explodierenden Erdgas-Preise und der Drosselung der Produktion zeichne sich aktuell ein 'žgroŸes Problem f¼r die Logistikwirtschaft und damit f¼r das Aufrechterhalten der Versorgungssicherheit ab''. W¤re AdBlue nicht mehr verf¼gbar, st¼nde die Mehrheit der Lastwagen und Busse still, warnt der Verband. 'žDie Lieferketten w¤ren damit akut gef¤hrdet, die Versorgung der Bev¶lkerung mit Waren und Dienstleistungen nicht mehr sicher.''

AdBlue: Gr¶Ÿter D¼ngemittelproduzent stellt Produktion einDie Lage spitzt sich zu, seitdem einer der gr¶Ÿten D¼ngemittelproduzenten in Deutschland seine Ammoniakproduktion eingestellt hat. Dabei handelt es sich um die SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz in Wittenberg in Sachsen-Anhalt. Mit dem Betrieb w¼rde man aktuell in einem Monat so viel verlieren, wie man vormals in einem Jahr Gewinn erzielt habe, begr¼ndete ein Firmensprecher den Stopp.

Schuld daran seien die extrem hohen Gaspreise. F¼r die zus¤tzliche Gasumlage m¼sse das Unternehmen allein gesch¤tzt 30 Millionen Euro bezahlen. Denn das Werk ben¶tige f¼r die Produktion sehr viel Gas. Durch den Produktionsstopp fehlt nicht nur AdBlue f¼r den Markt, sondern auch D¼ngemittel f¼r die Landwirtschaft. Die SKW gilt in Deutschland als gr¶Ÿter Produzent von Ammoniak und Harnstoff und geh¶rt zu dem tschechischen Konzern Agrofert.

Der Tankstelleninteressenverband (TIV) erwartet angesichts der aktuellen Situation massive Preissteigerungen. 'žBei einzelnen Mitgliedern ist der aktuelle Preis bereits von 1,649 Euro auf 2,049 Euro je Liter gestiegen'', sagte der TIV-Sprecher Herbert Rabl.

Da Gas f¼r AdBlue ben¶tigt wird und der Gaspreis in dieser Woche extrem gestiegen ist, erwarten P¤chter, dass AdBlue sich in dieser Woche noch um bis zu 40 Prozent verteuern d¼rfte. 'žDas wird sich wohl auch innerhalb der n¤chsten Tage an den Tankstellen niederschlagen.''

Dieser Artikel erschien zuerst auf morgenpost.de.

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:03

BRUSSELS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Surging energy costs are increasing the number of Europe's small and medium sized businesses at risk of collapse and European Union action to cap prices would to help them survive, top officials from the EU's SME association said on Wednesday.

Russia has cut energy supplies to Europe in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, sending prices skyrocketing. Russia blames those sanctions for causing the gas supply problems, which it puts down to pipeline faults.

SMEunited President Petri Salminen said retail companies he spoke to in Finland were facing jump in energy bills from 1,000 euros a month to 10,000 euros a month, making it hard for businesses to remain viable.

"This is a fear that is rising among entrepreneurs across Europe. The problem has been there since spring but now it is getting worse," Salminen told Reuters in an interview.

Gerhard Huemer, SMEunited director of economic and fiscal policy, said that normally around 5% of companies went bust every year, now the percentage of firms at risk of collapse was up to 11% in Finland and 16% in Spain, while 24% of companies in Belgium were already making a loss.

"These are companies that may not survive the next period," he said.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of all businesses in the 27-nation EU. They employ around 100 million people, or two thirds of all employed and account for 53% of Europe's GDP.

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a price cap on Russian gas, a mandatory EU cut in electricity use and a ceiling on the revenue of non-gas power generators to try to soften the impact of the price surge.

"A European solution would be the most efficient to avoid meddling with market mechanisms on the electricity market, but when it comes to subsidising households then national solutions are the best," Salminen said.

"We would encourage all EU member states to use the room available to decrease energy costs," he said.

Huemer said that if Russian gas deliveries stop altogether, energy prices would rise further, making some form of government or EU support a must.

"One idea would be to compensate companies for 80% of their average energy consumption at prices from before the (Ukraine) war and let them pay the rest at market prices as an incentive to cut energy consumption and increase efficiency," he said. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:03

The European Union's effort to slap a limit on the price of Russian pipeline gas drew a furious response from the Kremlin on Wednesday.

"We will not supply anything at all if it is contrary to our interests," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "No gas, no oil, no coal, no fuel oil, nothing."

Putin's rage was directed at the EU, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday again called for a cap on the price of Russian gas, and at a recent G7 call to set limits on the price of Russia's oil exports. Both measures are aimed at undermining the Kremlin's financial ability to wage war in Ukraine.

''We must cut Russia's revenues which Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine,'' von der Leyen said as part of a broader speech about ideas for the EU to rein in soaring energy prices that threaten the Continent's political and economic stability '-- a situation the Commission president blamed on both Russia and climate change.

She noted that Russia, which used to supply about 40 percent of the EU's gas imports, now supplies only 9 percent after stopping or reducing sales to more than a dozen EU countries.

But efforts to limit what Russia earns from energy exports will rebound against the West, the Kremlin chief warned.

"This is yet another stupidity, another non-market decision that has no future. All administrative restrictions in global trade only lead to disproportions and higher prices," he said at an economic forum in the far-eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. He added that if the West goes ahead, it will "freeze, freeze, the wolf's tail," referring to a Russian fairytale about a foolish wolf who is tricked by a fox into freezing his tail in an ice hole.

Four big ideasAlongside a price cap on Russian gas, the Commission also proposed four ideas to bring energy prices under control: mandatory measures to reduce electricity demand; a cap on revenues for companies generating electricity from low-cost sources with those "unexpected profits" going to help consumers; a solidarity tax on fossil fuel companies making big profits; and increased support for ailing utility companies '-- many of which have been hammered with high gas costs.

A draft of a Commission proposal obtained by POLITICO proposes imposing a levy on excess revenues if power prices rise above '‚¬200 per megawatt hour; day-ahead prices in Germany, the EU benchmark, were '‚¬443 per MWh on Wednesday.

"These are tough times and they're not over soon," von der Leyen said, adding: ''I'm deeply convinced that '... we have economic strength and the political will to overcome.''

Her announcement came as member country ambassadors met Wednesday to hash out technical details around the possible solutions floated by the EU ahead of an emergency summit of EU energy ministers on Friday.

Von der Leyen's Wednesday proposals are part of a growing grab bag of ideas being put forward in Brussels, which is desperate to ensure that there's a common EU response to the crisis that heads off potentially conflicting measures brought in by member countries.

"We are now making sure that we discuss together with Europe how we can get a grip on the issue," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers in the Bundestag on Wednesday.

But there are varying levels of enthusiasm for the Commission's ideas.

Although Germany favors EU intervention to reduce prices, it is skeptical about setting a cap on Russian gas prices, worrying that would prompt Russia to cut off all gas flows and force Germany to share the gas it has saved up with neighboring countries.

Another problem is that imposing a cap on the revenues of non-gas generators will have different effects in countries with varying energy mixes, according to Lion Hirth, an energy policy professor at Berlin's Hertie School. In countries where gas is more dominant in the energy mix, there are simply "less profits to be had" and less cash to redistribute to consumers, he said.

Although von der Leyen didn't mention either reforming the Emissions Trading System or delinking electricity and natural gas prices permanently, Poland isn't giving up on its effort to change both policies. Other countries like Spain, Portugal and France also back the idea of revamping the bloc's power system, which sets the price for the whole market based on the final, and most expensive, input '-- in recent months gas.

''We are building a coalition of countries on the issue of a temporary reduction in the cost of the ETS and a mechanism for changing the calculation of energy source prices,'' Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at an economic conference in Poland on Wednesday.

Coal-dependent Poland also blames high power prices on the cost of ETS permits.

Morawiecki took a jab at Brussels for not moving quickly enough to contain the crisis.

''Regardless of how we evaluate the EU, one thing is certain: the decision-making process, especially when external circumstances are changing rapidly, is very slow. This machine, which mainly serves the largest, most important players, is visibly jamming,'' he said.

This article has been updated throughout with comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:03

First recorded in 1855''60;

infra- +

marginal

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:02

The European Commission blindsided member country governments with five ideas for tackling the energy emergency on Wednesday, and reaction by member countries was split, six diplomats told POLITICO.

That's likely to give Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen some room for maneuver ahead of next week's State of the European Union speech, which is expected to push for an EU-wide effort to get natural gas and electricity prices under control. EU energy ministers will discuss energy prices during an emergency summit Friday.

Von der Leyen proposed five ''immediate'' moves to help tame Europe's energy emergency:

'-- Setting a price cap on Russian gas; '-- Mandatory measures to reduce electricity demand during peak hours; '-- A cap on the ''enormous revenues'' some companies are making by generating electricity from lower cost sources than gas. These "unexpected profits" would be redirected to help consumers; '-- A solidarity tax on fossil fuel companies making big profits, again with the funds sent to help ease the pain for consumers and businesses'-- Facilitating funding support for ailing utility companies struggling to pay for supplies on the market. Two measures stood out as being supported by both the Commission and EU countries, said several diplomats following a meeting of EU ambassadors.

The first is providing credit to help utilities post the sky-high collateral cash needed to trade on energy exchanges in the current high price environment.

The second is taxing the profits of so-called ''inframarginal producers'' '-- those companies that are making huge profits now because they generate their electricity from cheap sources instead of gas. EU ambassadors wanted assurances that the revenue from such taxes would stay in the right country. Ironing out the details will be important, as power plants that are paid to turn on or off as needed to balance the grid often do so at the request of utilities over a national border.

The most controversial issue is the Russian price cap '-- largely aimed at punishing the Kremlin financially for the war in Ukraine '-- with capitals having "very contradictory views," one EU diplomat said.

Germany has said it is "skeptical" about the idea. Hungary, Russia's closest EU ally, is against it, as is Slovakia and at least two other countries, diplomats said.

Others, including Poland and Italy, want the Commission to go further and cap the price of all gas imported into the EU. Von der Leyen said this was something the Commission was "looking at" '-- but Brussels has broadly been against the idea in its assessments so far, which would be much more complex than singling out Russian gas.

While Norway, now the bloc's largest natural gas supplier, has said it may be open to a cap, there are more questions about the U.S., where Democrats face a tight midterm election in November.

Hungary also wants any energy package to be unanimously agreed, rather than by emergency procedure with majority voting, as the Commission wants, a diplomat said.

Poland's call to reform the Emissions Trading System, which it blames for jacking up energy prices, was a non-starter for Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, Finland and Sweden, said a senior diplomat.

The idea of cutting electricity demand is popular, but while von der Leyen's proposal calls for reductions to be mandatory, countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece and Poland want such measures to be voluntary.

The Commission didn't address the issue of decoupling gas and electricity prices, although that's something several countries want to happen.

Countries were largely blindsided by von der Leyen racing ahead of the calendar and publicly announcing the proposals, finding out it would happen just ahead of the event, diplomats said. The expectation was that Friday's summit would be more of a sounding board for EU ministers to chew over the many ideas for dealing with the emergency.

EU ambassadors were miffed that von der Leyen spoke at the same time that national experts were discussing technical details ahead of Friday's summit. "It was really not lucky to have it at the same time as the member states discussing the way forward," an EU diplomat said.

But despite the grumbling, capitals broadly agreed that von der Leyen was right to take control of the debate.

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:02

News A federal judge has ordered the release of communications by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci in a probe regarding misinformation claims and social media content censorship. (Win McNamee / Getty Images; Shawn Thew - pool / Getty Images)

By Abby Liebing September 7, 2022 at 1:36pm A federal judge in Louisiana has ordered Biden administration officials to hand over all relevant emails sent by either Dr. Anthony Fauci or White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to social media platforms regarding misinformation claims and social media content censorship.

Judge Terry A. Doughty of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has given 21 days for all the emails to be turned over, Fox News reported.

Doughty's ruling comes in connection with a lawsuit that was filed in May by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.

Listing several agencies and officials, including President Joe Biden, as defendants, the lawsuit accuses the Biden administration of suppressing the right to free speech on elections, the COVID lab leak theory, pandemic lockdowns and more.

The lawsuit claims that government officials have ''threatened and cajoled social-media platforms for years to censor viewpoints and speakers disfavored by the Left.''

This eventually led current senior executive officials to move ''into a phase of open collusion with social-media companies to suppress disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content on social-media platforms under the Orwellian guise of halting so-called 'disinformation,' 'misinformation' and 'malinformation,'' the lawsuit outlined.

Now, Judge Doughty has rejected the Biden administration's claim of executive privilege in order to shield officials from questions and record requests in connection with this lawsuit, the Washington Times reported.

''This court believes plaintiffs are entitled to external communications by Jean-Pierre and Dr. Fauci in their capacities as White House Press Secretary and Chief Medical Advisor to the President to third-party social media platforms,'' Judge Doughty wrote in his decision on Tuesday.

In response to this ruling, one administration official told Fox News in an email that ''as we have said over and over again since the beginning of the administration in our battle against COVID-19, it has been critical for the American people to have access to factual, accurate, science-based information.''

Do you believe the Biden administration provided social media platforms with false COVID-related information?

Yes: 99% (2764 Votes)

No: 1% (36 Votes)

''For example, we worked hard to debunk inaccurate or misleading information about the COVID vaccines that have saved millions of lives and encourage Americans to get vaccinated and boosted to stay safe. Democrats and Republicans came together to urge the public to get vaccinated, stressing the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines,'' the official wrote.

''We believe in and we support freedom of speech, and we also believe it is important for all media platforms, including social media, to represent factual scientific information and combat misinformation and disinformation that can cost lives,'' the email concluded, Fox News reported.

Meanwhile, Schmitt, who also is running for U.S. Senate in Missouri, announced the new development in the lawsuit on Twitter.

''BREAKING: In our lawsuit against the Biden Admin for colluding with social media companies to censor speech, the Court just ordered DOJ to produce records from key WH & HHS officials like Dr. Fauci, the WH Press Secretary, and others,'' Schmitt tweeted.

🚨BREAKING: In our lawsuit against the Biden Admin for colluding with social media companies to censor speech, the Court just ordered DOJ to produce records from key WH & HHS officials like Dr. Fauci, the WH Press Secretary, and others.

'-- Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) September 6, 2022

Schmitt also tweeted the original information regarding the lawsuit as a ''refresher on how we got here and documents that already show a vast censorship enterprise between the Biden Administration and Big tech.''

In a press release, Schmitt also celebrated Judge Doughty's ruling.

''The American people deserve answers on how the federal government has colluded with social media companies to censor free speech on these major platforms,'' Schmitt said. ''We will continue to fight to uncover more of this vast censorship enterprise.''

Tags:

Anthony Fauci,

Biden administration,

censorship,

federal government,

free speech,

Joe Biden,

Karine Jean-Pierre,

lawsuit,

social media,

US news,

White HouseSummaryMore Biographical Information Recent Posts ContactAbby Liebing is a Hillsdale College graduate with a degree in history. She has written for various outlets and enjoys covering foreign policy issues and culture.

Abby Liebing is a Hillsdale College graduate with a degree in history. She has written for various outlets and enjoys covering foreign policy issues and culture.

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Archived Version

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:01

Senior advisors to the Department of Health have suggested that Canadians should be recommended a booster Covid shot every three months.

According to Blacklock's Reporter, National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) officials said that quarterly boosters ''may be warranted'' to combat Covid-19.

''A shorter interval of at least three months may be warranted in the context of heightened epidemiological risk as well as operational considerations for the efficient deployment of the Covid-19 vaccination program,'' wrote a Sept. 1 Summary Of National Advisory Committee On Immunization Statement.

''Informed consent should include discussion regarding what is known and unknown about the benefits and risks of providing a booster shot.''

The latest advice posits a shorter timeline than the advice given by public health officials as recently as the end of June.

Liberal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said on June 30 that a vaccination ''in the last nine months'' meant being up to date with your Covid-19 boosters.

'''Fully vaccinated' makes no sense now. It's about 'up to date.' So am I up to date in my vaccination? Have I received a vaccination in the last nine months?'' said Duclos.

'''Up to date' means you have received your last dose in the past nine months. If you've already received a first booster that's great. Please see if you're eligible for a second or third booster to remain up to date.''

During Thursday's press conference announcing Health Canada's approval of the bivalent Moderna Covid-19 booster meant to tackle the BA.1 Omicron subvariant, Duclos compared vaccination to recharging ''your phone battery.''

''Vaccine protection is like a phone battery. It needs to be recharged from time to time. Recharging our protection after six months is important, otherwise, we are left without the power to protect ourselves and our loved ones,'' said Duclos.

''When protection wanes, action is required just like a phone battery. Your phone battery needs to be recharged for your phone to work, to have appropriate power to operate and for your vaccination protection to be affected, so you recharge your phone battery by plugging it into the electricity.''

Currently, booster uptake has been lower than the primary series of the Covid-19 vaccine. Only 49.55% of Canadians have received a Covid booster in addition to their primary doses.

Journalist and Senior Research Fellow

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 14:44

Somebody help me out here. Granted I have been out of the service for a couple to three decades. However, unless the Military has adopted new posture for men in dress uniform, the posture exhibited in the 1 SEP 22 POTUS speech in Philadelphia is a non-compliant and undocumented one.

Here is how you execute Parade Rest ~ (MCO P5060.20 W CH 1_3)

Parade Rest:

Assume you are halted at attention and you receive the command, PARADE, REST. On the preparatory command PARADE, shift the weight of your body to the right leg without noticeable movement. On the command of execution REST and for the count of one, move the left foot smartly twelve inches to the left of the right foot (One). The twelve inches are measured from the inside of the right heel to the inside of the left heel. The heels remain on line. The legs remain straight without stiffness, allowing the body weight to rest equally on both legs. At the same time the left foot is moved, clasp the hands behind the back. The left hand is placed just below the belt, at the small of the back and the right hand is placed inside the left. The thumb of the right hand lightly grasps the thumb of the left hand. All the fingers are extended and joined and the palms are to the rear. The elbows will be in line with the body.

So what is the posture below?

Is there some new forward Parade rest we have never seen before or heard of?

Who cares?

You should care.

The use of the United States Military for political propaganda by POTUS is not only wrong, as POTUS is Commander & Chief of the United States Military. It is wrong because the military posture taken is not one known by a member of the Marines while in Dress uniform. It is made up, or can you show me the field manual that addresses this posture and its use?

What makes this worse is the language and imagery used by POTUS. It placed the United States Marine Corps in a position of submission. Submission to tradition. Submission of protocol. Submission to an illegal order. It placed them in a light of being enforcers of a political agenda.

I have my own thoughts on why.

One thing is clear. The message being sent should make the hairs on the back every red blooded Americans neck stand on end.

How long do people allow for the unmitigated destruction of out Armed forces with general directives that defy logic like the edict given to the Air Force to end pronoun usage because it makes them more lethal.

How long do we allow our troops to be used as political fodder and propaganda for an unAmerican agenda? The appearance is that if you do not like POTUS or do like his political opposition that the Marine Corp of the United States of America will be used to silence you.

You may say it is a small item. That having them staged in the shadows in a nonconforming posture is trite, but you would be wrong.

My guess, these are not Active Duty Marines. They are paramilitary actors. If they are active-duty Marines in a ceremonial role, then we are all in real trouble and need to take appropriate precautions.

The White House said in a statement on Friday that it was a gesture of ''respect'' for these service members. But that doesn't really explain why they were at this specific event. Our in this specific posture, in Dress Blues. The speech itself provides clues. Biden focused in his remarks on identifying Trump and his most hardcore supporters as a danger to the republic, with their disregard for democratic rule and their propensity for political violence.

Prepare yourself accordingly.

~ Eric D. Miller '' 2022

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 14:08

The owner of Romanian side Steaua Bucharest has sensationally announced the club will ban all players vaccinated against Covid-19 from playing for them.

Mr Gigi Becali - a Romanian businessman and politician - said he is not allowing vaccinated players to play anymore because they are 'powerless'.

Becali went on to claim that people who are vaccinated against the virus die in hospitals, as opposed to those who have refused the jabs.

He also claimed players at Romanian rivals CFR Cluj and Rapid Bucuresti were struggling as a result of taking the vaccine, singling out 36-year-old winger Ciprian Deac.

'You're going to laugh, but I might be right. Those vaccinated lose their strength. That's something scientific,' he said according to Romanian journalist Emanuel Rosu.

'Haven't you seen it at CFR? With Rapid, the players seemed to be fainting. They slept on the ground. All vaccinated people lose their strength!

'I also see mine, the vaccinated ones. It doesn't affect some, but it does affect those who are older. Haven't you seen [Ciprian] Deac? There is no more storm.'

Gigi Becali has sensationally announced Steaua Bucharest will ban all players vaccinated against Covid-19 from playing for them

Romanian businessman Becali believes players vaccinated against coronavirus are 'powerless'

The same journalist also said Becali suggests he only allowed players who faked getting vaccinated to play, though this information remains unconfirmed.

Becali also recently said Steaua Bucharest striker Claudiu Keseru - who returned to the club in August after six years at Bulgarian outfit Ludogorets - can no longer play at a high level because he was vaccinated.

'I gave him the money, I had a contract with him, he was a football player, I was the owner,' Becali said via sport.ro about Keseru's return.

'I said, ''You can't go to this level anymore. You can play in Romania, but not at FCSB (Steaua Bucharest) and CFR!''.

'He said he would show me, but he has nothing to show me. It can't be at this level anymore. It's possible because of the vaccine. I say what I think. I don't want to offend him.'

But his latest statement has drawn a furious reaction from the country's government.

In a statement, RO Vaccinare , the official Facebook page of the government's national information platform on vaccination said: 'Vaccinated footballers do NOT lose their strength after being vaccinated against COVID-19!

'From a medical and scientific point of view, there are no studies that would support a singularity like the one recently promoted on Facebook accounts in Romania.

'Vaccination against COVID-19 does not affect the performance of football players. In contrast, there are enough studies showing that going through SARS CoV-2 infection leaves long-term sequelae (Long COVID), and these can influence athletes' performance.

Becali singled out 36-year-old winger Ciprian Deac (left) as an example of the vaccine affecting older players

Becali also recently said Claudiu Keseru (right) can no longer play at a high level because he was vaccinated

'The bottom line is simple: to stay healthy, to enjoy football, to look at those who trust science and medicine. Please inform yourself ONLY from credible, official sources!'

Journalist Grigore Cartianu meanwhile added via sport.ro: 'From my point of view, if I were to make a top 10 of the stupid and vile statements of the century - I'm not saying that man is like that, but the statements... the statement is stupid, incorrect, miserable and discriminatory.'

Romania are one of eight countries with a vaccination rate below 60 per cent according to The Local, with the other consisting of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Russia.

However, their current rate of 86.52 doses per 100 population means they have the second lowest in Europe, ahead of only Bulgaria, according to Statista.

Earlier this month, the coordinator of the Romanian national vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghita, confirmed nearly one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, had expired and would therefore be destroyed.

'We have received a total of 4,478,000 doses, and 852,356 doses have been administered. Some 3.3, entered the resale or donation mechanism, including the 917,800 that have expired,' Gheorghita explained.

Valeriu Gheorghita (right) said one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had to be destroyed earlier this month

Becali's comments are just the latest in what has been a career in the game littered with controversial statements.

In 2018, he triggered a sexism row after revealing Steaua Bucharest will never have a women's team as long as he is in charge, claiming female football is 'against human nature' and aligns 'to Satan's ideas'.

Asked on Romanian TV channel Pro X whether he would consider launching a women's side, Becali answered 'you can't do things against God's will' before adding 'I'll quit football'.

'How can a woman play football?' he added.

'She isn't built for playing football. Her body isn't made for football. It's dangerous. The female was created to be beautiful, to attract the opposite sex.

'We are affecting women by letting them play football or by allowing them to box. They should play handball, volleyball, basketball, but not aggressive sports.'

Becali has been a controversial figure for a while, claiming in 2018 Steaua Bucharest will never have a women's team as long as he's in charge

Becali received less than two per cent of the vote when he ran for president in 2004 and 2009

Other previous controversies include promising to oppose sexual minorities when running for president in 2004, before another go five years later. However, he received just 1.77 and 1.91 per cent of the votes cast respectively.

The former member of the Romanian Parliament was also heavily criticised in 2006 for saying: 'Why [are there] so many homosexuals (in Romania)? I'll give $2m or $5m (for a referendum), so we can finish off all homosexuals in the country.'

He also refused to sign ex-Liverpool striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle because he was black, and also stated in 2010 the club will never sign a gay footballer.

The madcap owner also blamed a poor run of form for Steaua Bucharest in early 2020 on his players having sex with their girlfriends too often.

'My players are making love with their girlfriends too often, that's why they aren't playing football so well lately,' he said.

'CFR players have sex only once a week. They meet with women only once a week.'

Becali has been owner of Steaua Bucharest since 2003, obtaining 51 per cent of the club's shares in February that year before buying another 15 per cent toward the end of the year.

He also refused to sign ex-Liverpool striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle (left) because he was black

Becali has been owner of Steaua Bucharest since 2003, obtaining 51 per cent of the club's shares in February that year

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:56

CNN is facing questions from critics after the network was busted altering the lighting for President Biden's Thursday address, softening the blood-red hues to calmer shades of pink.

The president came in for withering mockery online for the harsh black and red backdrop, with many comparing the optics to ''Star Wars'' and ''V for Vendetta.''

While networks like CNN, MSNBC, CBS and C-SPAN carrying the speech all originally appeared consistent, CNN noticeably altered the color of the background from red to pink in real-time.

Eagle-eyed cable news watchers pounced on the shift. The story was reported in Mediaite, which put the CNN footage up side-by-side against other networks, showing that the CNN switch was not a technical problem that hit all networks.

''CNN appears to have tweaked the video of Biden's speech from demonic red to Pepto-Bismol pink. Very helpful, as we needed a lot of Pepto-Bismol to get through this!,'' said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee .

CNN's broadcast appeared to show a pink background behind Biden. CNN The network claimed it was a technical glitch with the CBS pool feed. CNNA rep for CNN said the issue was caused by a technical glitch with the CBS pool feed.

CNN was caught allegedly changing the lighting of President Biden's primetime speech after the harsh background was criticized. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty ImagesThough Biden promised to deliver a unifying speech on the ''battle for the soul of the nation,'' he was blasted by partisans as divisive and fear-mongering. Many latched on to his claims that ''MAGA Republicans'' were a threat to the country '-- something the president later walked back.

''I don't consider any Trump supporters a threat to the country,'' he told Fox News Friday. ''I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence, refuses to acknowledge an election '... changing the way you count votes, that is a threat to democracy.''

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:27

Despite repeated denials, Joe Biden ordered the FBI's raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence last month, court documents reveal.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday granted Trump's request to appoint a Special Master to review the documents seized by the FBI during the unprecedented raid on Aug. 8.

The ruling ''temporarily enjoins'' or forbids the Biden regime from ''reviewing and using the seized materials'' in the DOJ's investigation of Trump until the review is completed.

In pages 2-3 of the ruling, Judge Cannon revealed that the Biden regime actually ORDERED the FBI raid to seize documents in Mar-a-Lago.

This directly contradicts repeated denials by the Biden regime.

When pressed late last month whether the White House played a role in coordinating with the DOJ over the FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago, Biden emphatically denied having any involvement.

Reporter: ''Mr. President, how much advanced notice did you have of the FBI's plan to search Mar-a-Lago?''

Biden: ''I didn't have any advanced notice. None, zero, not one single bit.''

.@pdoocy asks Biden if he knew about the FBI's raid on Trump's home pic.twitter.com/jyCRQcOhmz

'-- Media Research Center (@theMRC) August 24, 2022Likewise, when asked on Aug. 9 whether the White House had advanced notice about the raid, Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, ''No, the President was not briefed, was not aware of it, no one at the White House was given a heads up.''

Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden did not have foreknowledge and was not briefed about the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago. She also swats down Zeke Miller's question about if the raid sends a bad signal to the rest of the world. pic.twitter.com/wU79BWcOM8

'-- Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 9, 2022''The Justice Department conducts investigations independently, and we leave any law enforcement matters to them'...I can say that President Biden has been unequivocal since the campaign,'' she continued. ''He believes in the rule of law, the independence of the Justice Department investigations that those investigations should be free from political influence, and he has held that commitment as president.''

Looks like the Biden regime lied to the American people once again.

This shows the FBI raid was a politically motivated operation to target Joe Biden's chief political rival in a bid to keep him from running for president once again in 2024.

The special counsel tasked to review the seized documents for instances of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege will be selected on Thursday.

Read the judge's ruling:

Twitter: @WhiteIsTheFuryTruth Social: @WhiteIsTheFuryGettr: @WhiteIsTheFuryGab: @WhiteIsTheFuryMinds: @WhiteIsTheFuryParler: @WhiteIsTheFury

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:23

Editor's note: This story contains detailed descriptions of alleged sexual assaults.

In February 2019, Gil Ramirez put out a query on Twitter on behalf of his friend, Avian Anderson. ''Hey folks in the LA region: I have a friend that has been asked by a Eric Weinberg to take photos of her,'' he tweeted. ''Can you help me do a little research on him? Has anyone heard of him?''

Weinberg initially approached Anderson, then a 29-year-old storyboard artist, in the parking lot of a Ralphs in North Hollywood. The then-58-year-old introduced himself as a writer-producer for the hit show Scrubs, in addition to being an amateur photographer. She recalls that he asked if she modeled and would like to shoot with him.

''I think if you just look at it as an appreciation of the sculpture of your body, you'll really love your photos. It'll be empowering for sure,'' he later texted her.

Over the next week and a half, Anderson did her due diligence. Weinberg explained that he didn't have a public portfolio of his work because he didn't want ''TV execs finding my name next to photos of gorgeous models and actresses,'' but he sent her examples of his photography. She looked into Weinberg's work history online. She corresponded with him via text about the type of shoot they'd do, vetoing ideas she found too risqu(C) or explicit. Weinberg had her speak with a model who vouched for him.

Ramirez's Twitter post yielded no insight, and Anderson went to Weinberg's Los Feliz home for the shoot. A stand-up comedian as well, she brought some silly props along with her, including a ''realistic bird head.'' ''I told him exactly what I wanted and what I didn't want,'' she says. ''But he had other things in mind.''

Eric Weinberg Courtesy of Samuel BraslowThe shoot began, she says, in a room that appeared to belong to a child, where Weinberg instructed her to disrobe and pose on top of a bed. While photographing her on the bed, Weinberg began ''adjusting'' Anderson's breasts, she says.

Anderson had communicated to Weinberg over text that her ''main interest would be cool setups of costumes or lighting,'' making clear that even for more ''provocative'' shots, she was not comfortable with any ''bits show[ing],'' according to texts reviewed by THR. She says she went along with Weinberg's directions, never having done a photo shoot before, but began cracking jokes as she grew more uncomfortable with her level of nudity.

''Just shut the fuck up, Avian, quit making this a joke,'' Anderson recalls Weinberg lashing out at her. ''Why do you always have to fight?'' (A few days later, Anderson would detail this encounter in a social media post.)

Weinberg led Anderson upstairs, where he positioned her in a hallway arching her back against a wall. She says he then photographed himself touching her genitals before telling her, ''Just tell me when to stop.'' She didn't have time to react or respond before she felt him repeatedly insert his finger into her anus, she says.

Standing 5 feet compared with 6-foot-2 Weinberg and weighing only 98 pounds, Anderson says she went numb ''like a dead fish.''

According to Anderson, Weinberg then brought her to his bedroom and performed oral sex on Anderson to give her genitals what he called a ''glistening effect'' for the photos. She says she told him then '-- and throughout the encounter '-- that she was asexual. In order to deflect Weinberg's repeated suggestions of anal sex, she says, she performed oral sex on him.

At the conclusion of the alleged assault, she remembers Weinberg standing between her and the door as she dressed, thanking her for coming over and telling her another woman was on her way over for a shoot. ''You're not going to go to the police and tell everybody I raped you, right?'' she says Weinberg asked. She assured him she wouldn't.

It took her three days to muster the courage '-- three days of not bathing to preserve the dried semen on her body '-- before she went to the police and submitted to a rape kit examination. According to the police report, ''Avian A. did not stop Weinberg at any time or state that she did not want him to touch or digitally penetrate her because she was afraid that he would become aggressive or stop her from leaving. She believed that if she allowed him to do what he wanted and stayed cordial with him, he would not become aggressive.'' When she returned home and took a bath, seeing her nude body for the first time since the shoot, she vomited.

Anderson heard nothing from the LAPD in the weeks and months that followed. In that time, she describes how her mental health declined, along with her performance at work, and how she lost her dream job as an art director on an animated show.

And then Anderson learned about the Facebook group.

Avian Anderson: ''I told him exactly what I wanted and didn't want. But he had other things in mind.'' Photography by Emily BerlAbout a year after Anderson's alleged assault, in January 2020, Claire Wilson, a 30-year-old artist in L.A., posted on a private Facebook group of women in Los Angeles: ''I am reaching out to see if any other women have encountered this man Eric Weinberg. I met him over a dating app and although the evening began consensually, he later violated my consent multiple times and forced me to do things I didn't want to. I want to know if anyone else has had any experiences with him. He's a prominent screenwriter and producer and it makes me physically sick to think that he probably does this all the time.''

On Dec. 19, 2019, Wilson met Weinberg on OkCupid (he listed his age as 49, 10 years shy of the truth). They began sexting a day later, exchanging explicit messages and images. ''I'm very sexually open but not going to jump into your bed without at least a conversation or two about other things,'' she wrote him.

On Dec. 21, they met for drinks at a bar, then decamped to Weinberg's house, but ''only to hang out and talk,'' she would later tell police. After they began kissing consensually, Wilson says Weinberg forced her to perform oral sex on him. He then pinned her on the ground, held her arms down and forced her to perform other sexual acts, she says.

''I said, 'No, I don't want to do that, get off of me,' '' she says.

After the encounter, Wilson acknowledges that she continued to text with Weinberg in the hopes of clarifying the negative experience. ''We want the people who hurt us to fix it,'' she tells THR. Weinberg dodged accountability, however, and when he indicated that he would not be seeing her again, she posted to the Facebook group.

The initial post '-- and a follow-up Wilson shared on another private Facebook group where women offer nightlife safety tips and cautionary tales '-- prompted an outpouring of stories from those who said they or someone they knew also had been approached by Weinberg for photos. Many of those interactions, the women said, ended in sexual assault.

Within days, the post generated hundreds of comments, prompting Wilson to post in other similar women-only Facebook groups. The posts and the subsequent allegations they surfaced hinted at decades of similar claims of misconduct committed while Weinberg worked for some of the most popular TV shows on air, including Scrubs, Californication and Anger Management.

When Anderson first learned of the chorus of other accusations, she says she felt relieved '-- but also sickened. ''I was hoping that I was just hypersensitive,'' she says. ''I was hoping I was just being hysterical.''

In interviews with THR, more than two dozen women allege Weinberg approached them in L.A.-area parking lots, in grocery stores, at cafes and on sidewalks, commenting on their appearance before listing his Hollywood credits and showing them examples of his photography, sometimes explicit images. THR spoke with women whose claims go as far back as 2000 and as far away as Portland, Oregon, and New York.

Some say Weinberg would pressure them during shoots into taking off clothing. He would exaggerate his authority in the industry and threaten to derail their nascent careers.

Multiple women describe Weinberg engaging in sexual activity without their consent, frequently photographing the acts as they took place.

Asked for comment on specific allegations, Weinberg's divorce attorney Karen Silver offered the following statement: ''As we have unfortunately seen these days, time and time again, a heavily litigated and acrimonious custody dispute has now given rise to strategically placed criminal allegations. These claims have previously been investigated and reviewed by both law enforcement and the Los Angeles family court and the results have continued to unveil a myriad of evidence, documentation and expert analysis that wholly undermine the narrative now being promulgated. Though Mr. Weinberg himself is precluded from commenting on any aspect of this litigation due to court orders, family law rules and in the best interests of his minor children, he will continue through counsel to cooperate in all aspects of this investigation and, if necessary, will address these allegations in the only forum that should matter '-- a public courtroom.''

Dating back to at least 2014, multiple women had taken their allegations to law enforcement, but they say that in most instances, police failed to follow up or adequately investigate. In at least two cases, police believed sufficient evidence existed to charge Weinberg, but the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, then under the leadership of Jackie Lacey, declined to prosecute. (Lacey did not comment.)

Still, even as their cases seemed to stall and other, more high-profile #MeToo reckonings were covered in the media, the women on the Facebook group continued to follow up with law enforcement, seek out additional victims and support one another. Finally, on July 14, 2022, more than two years after Wilson's initial Facebook post, police arrested Weinberg on 20 charges of sexual assault, including rape. As he awaits arraignment, Weinberg remains free on $3.25 million in bail.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Weinberg's accusers detail their encounters with him, the years of frustration and legal dead-ends, and the eventual support of those closest to him that led to the case against one of Hollywood's most prolific alleged sexual criminals.

Claire Wilson: ''We want the people who hurt us to fix it.'' Photography by Emily Berl***

Weinberg, now 61, took a circuitous route to TV writing. A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he first worked in finance at investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. before netting his first writing credits in the mid-'90s.

He was a steady presence in writers rooms from the late 1990s until 2016. He worked on the hit NBC show Scrubs from 2002 to 2006, with credits on more than 100 episodes, and rose up to co-executive producer. He held the same position on Showtime's Californication, starring David Duchovny, and FX's Anger Management, headlined by Charlie Sheen.

After 2016, his trail of credits goes cold. To those closest to him, he would blame the work stoppage on #MeToo and shifting cultural attitudes, saying, ''Nobody wants to hire an old white man.'' But according to one producer who worked with Weinberg and spoke with THR on the condition of anonymity, he had become ''unrecommendable.'' Even without working, according to a partial judgment in his divorce, Weinberg's monthly income is $45,794, likely a mix of residuals and investments.

Weinberg was still very much a working writer, however, when he approached then-18-year-old Catherine, an actress whose real name is being withheld and who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concerns for her career.

It was 2014, two months after she had moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Catherine heard someone calling after her in the Studio City Ralphs parking lot. She says that Weinberg approached her, told her he wanted to photograph her and listed some credits. Catherine's ears perked up at the mention of Scrubs, a favorite show of hers '-- she figured Weinberg could be a valuable connection in a new city.

After confirming Weinberg's identity online, Catherine told him that he first had to talk with her mom before she could go through with the shoot. Weinberg and her mom had a ''full conversation'' in which her mom ''expressed her concerns,'' says Catherine. In response, she says Weinberg reassured her mom, telling her: ''I have a daughter myself. I totally understand. I mean no harm to your daughter.'' Catherine's mother confirmed this conversation.

As a final precaution, Catherine brought a close friend, Celina Kimelman, then 20, with her to Weinberg's house for the shoot.

Weinberg's Los Feliz house and Tesla parked in front impressed Catherine, she recalls. He offered both her and her friend drinks, she says, which they declined. Weinberg told Kimelman to stay in his living room while the two photographed around the house.

She says that, citing better lighting, Weinberg brought her upstairs, where he ''was pushing and pushing and pushing to be more sexual than I wanted to be.'' She says he got an erection and began to rub his penis through his pants. She tried to laugh it off and continue with the shoot, she says.

''You look back on these moments, and even back when I was that age, I would always say, 'I would never let this happen,''' Catherine says. ''But then, when you're in that position '... I really did just freeze up and I didn't want to make him uncomfortable.''

Weinberg posed her on his bed and pulled aside her clothing before penetrating her with his finger without her consent, she says. She remembers that, as her eyes began to well up with tears, Weinberg said she looked beautiful when she cried and ''started taking pictures of me crying.''

They ended the shoot, but when they returned to the living room where Kimelman waited, Weinberg surprised them both by asking if she would like to take a turn modeling.

''He wouldn't [abuse] two people,'' Catherine recalls thinking. ''I was the target.''

But, according to Kimelman, the same thing happened to her, almost beat for beat. After briefly and vaguely acknowledging that something strange had happened to both of them, the two friends would not talk about the experience for years.

In the months that followed, Catherine says she continued to correspond with Weinberg, who at one point dangled the possibility of an acting role on Anger Management.

In one exchange soon after the shoot, she says she reached out to him to tell him that what had happened that day was ''totally not cool'' and that she wanted to watch him delete the photos in front of her, arranging to meet him in the lobby of her apartment.

''I saw him delete the photos. I mean, he dragged them into his trash, but who fucking knows?'' Catherine says.

Her doubts were justified.

A few months later, in April 2014, Weinberg emailed a batch of his photos to Kayra Raecke, a 22-year-old restaurant manager he met at Republic of Pie in North Hollywood, in an effort to persuade her to shoot with him. Among the images he sent to her, later obtained by THR, was a photo of Catherine with a tear sliding down her face.

Raecke agreed to model for him as long as she could remain clothed, she says. But during the shoot, she says Weinberg raped her.

''After I had said no so many times, he continued doing what he wanted anyway,'' she says. ''I didn't know what else he was capable of, including violence. I thought there was a real possibility that I might die there.''

Afterward, she drove directly to Planned Parenthood.

''I think I was just raped,'' she remembers telling the receptionist. Planned Parenthood provided her with emergency contraception, and then she went to police, who administered a rape kit. While at the trauma center, police had Raecke call Weinberg in an attempt to secure corroboration. She says Weinberg cried over the phone, repeatedly mentioning his children and trying to get off the line but not responding to her claims directly.

Raecke's report triggered an investigation and Weinberg's arrest. In June 2014, an LAPD detective submitted the case to the district attorney's office, where Deputy District Attorney Teresa de Castro declined to prosecute, citing ''insufficient evidence.''

''She claimed she did not consent. He claimed a consensual encounter. There is no corroboration for the victim's allegations,'' de Castro wrote in a charge evaluation worksheet. She did not respond to a request for comment.

However, Raecke was summoned back to the district attorney's office in September 2014, when another woman came forward with claims of misconduct during a photo shoot. Again, the DA's office declined to prosecute. Raecke was not informed of the status of the case until nearly two years later and only after she reached out to a detective on her own.

In one other instance, in 2016, law enforcement recommended charges against Weinberg to the district attorney's office for an alleged nonconsensual sexual encounter with an unnamed woman that took place in 2014, again during a photo shoot at his home. According to a charge evaluation worksheet, Weinberg had ''intercourse with her while she was laying on his bed'' and she ''orally copulated him'' while he ''photographed the encounter.''

The deputy district attorney in the case, current Superior Court Judge David Reinert, noted in the charge evaluation worksheet that Weinberg had ''been investigated for the same conduct involving a separate victim'' and characterized Weinberg's conduct as ''inappropriate.''

Still, he wrote, ''because there is no evidence that the defendant used force, threats or intimidation to overcome the will of the victims, the case is declined for filing.''

In response to questions from THR, Reinert apologized that he could not recall the specific facts of the case. He did not respond to follow-up questions.

Kayra Raecke: ''Had they done something eight years ago, nobody would be here.'' Photography by Emily BerlAzure Parsons, an actress who met Weinberg on the 2011 MTV show Death Valley, for which Weinberg was showrunner, tells THR that Weinberg sexually harassed her for the duration of the show's one-season run. Years later, as she returned home from walking her dog in 2014, she says that a car pulled up next to her and a man began complimenting her curves and saying how he would love to photograph her. She turned and recognized Eric Weinberg, she says.

She screamed at him, ''Are you fucking kidding me?'' A ''visibly angry'' Weinberg got out of his car, ''grabs my arm and tries to pull me into the car,'' she says. She escaped from him and ran, calling her manager and then the police. She says the police did not follow up with her.

Parsons was left wondering whether Weinberg ''looked me up and found where I lived'' or if he ''just does this so much'' that he happened to approach her randomly, though she suspects ''it's the latter.''

Lending credence to her suspicion that it was a random repeat encounter, five other women who spoke with THR say that Weinberg approached them multiple times, sometimes years and sometimes just weeks apart, reintroducing himself. The women believe Weinberg did not recognize them.

In the weeks that followed, Parsons says she saw Weinberg park outside her home '-- and then again ''in pretty much the same spot'' years later, leading her to believe at this point he was now stalking her.

Parsons is not alone in accusing Weinberg of such behavior. Stephanie Nelson, who lives in Los Feliz, says that in 2017, Weinberg pulled up next to her in a gray sedan as she walked home one night. She estimates that she called police three times over the month as Weinberg continued to approach her around the neighborhood, one time appearing to follow her home.

In one such instance, on Oct. 22, 2017, Nelson began filming Weinberg after he rode up to her on a bicycle in Echo Park.

''You should stop harassing me and stop walking with me and stop following me '-- it's fucking creepy, dude,'' she says in the video. ''You've done this three times in a month.''

After the encounters, she says, she stopped walking in her neighborhood for a year and a half.

***

After Wilson's 2020 Facebook posts and the initial dizzying optimism of connecting with other alleged survivors and the hope that, together, the group of accusers could push law enforcement to take action, the cases again seemed to stall. They discovered that Weinberg had learned of the Facebook discussions about him from a member of the group who had violated its code of silence. One woman reported to Wilson seeing Weinberg on a dating app under an alias, while another member of the original Facebook group saw him at a bar with a young woman.

Though she continued to coordinate the group of accusers, Wilson left L.A. in 2020 for Tucson, Arizona. After the alleged assault, she lost a beloved job in art framing and fell into a depression, she says. Her apartment, mere blocks from Weinberg's home, no longer felt safe.

In her Tucson living room in September 2020, surrounded by the cacti and succulents she now made a living from by selling them on Etsy, a Los Angeles number she didn't recognize called her iPhone. A voice she didn't recognize asked for Claire Wilson. The woman was Hilary Bidwell, Weinberg's wife at the time.

''I was honestly thinking that she was calling me to confront me over something and accuse me of stalking or seducing her husband,'' Wilson says.

''I found your Facebook posts,'' Bidwell told her. ''I want you to tell me everything that you know about my husband.''

''Are you sure? It's a lot,'' Wilson said.

Bidwell said yes. Wilson told her that she might want to take a seat. She proceeded to share what she and the other women had found.

Bidwell had met Weinberg around 1991 in Los Angeles at an acting class, according to interviews with Bidwell and court documents. Neither was enrolled in the class '-- Bidwell was visiting a friend and Weinberg was there to ''get an actor's perspective,'' she says he told her. Weinberg had left Oppenheimer & Co. by then and was trying to break into television.

The two dated for about a decade before marrying in 2001. Hinting at what would unfold over the course of their marriage, one of their wedding guests joked in his toast that Weinberg had proposed to Bidwell by throwing the engagement ring from ''the court-mandated 100 yards.''

At his best moments, Weinberg's boyishness and penchant for banter could put Bidwell at ease and keep her laughing. But she also describes a pattern of aggression and boundary-pushing.

''He really has a way of making you feel safe,'' she says to THR. ''Until you're not.''

Court records she filed in a custody battle describe a pattern of ''impulsive, violent and high-risk behavior,'' including an instance where Weinberg punched a wall in anger, breaking the wall and his finger, and repeated instances of holding Bidwell down and yelling at her. A friend of Bidwell's called police in response to an incident in 2001, according to those filings, and Bidwell spent the night at a hotel.

In a declaration, Weinberg argued that Bidwell ''is the one who has not worked through her intense anger toward me'' and denied yelling at Bidwell or having anger issues. Nonetheless, he acknowledged enrolling in a ''12-session anger management course.''

When reached for comment, their eldest son characterized his father's behavior toward his mother as ''certainly verbally abusive, beyond a doubt.''

A few years before they were married, Bidwell discovered a box of photographs of nude women in Weinberg's garage. When she confronted him, he told her for the first time about his photography, she says, explaining that he took boudoir photos of the wives and girlfriends of his friends as favors for birthdays and anniversaries.

Bidwell and Weinberg had their first child a year into their marriage and their second in 2005. Bidwell worked part-time as a landscape designer and stayed home to raise their children, both boys, while Weinberg worked on shows like Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher and later Scrubs.

Then, in 2008, Bidwell discovered more photographs and sheets of paper in Weinberg's golf bag with the handwritten names and numbers of hundreds of women, she says. The documents, reviewed by THR, frequently included apparent locations beside the women's names, such as ''Ralphs,'' ''library,'' ''gym'' and ''Glendale.''

Handwritten pages listing hundreds of women's names that Bidwell found in Weinberg's golf bag in 2008. In court filings, Weinberg claimed the lists were from when he moved to L.A. and did ''headshot photography for income,'' though he also said that he began treatment at the Sexual Rehabilitation Institute that summer.

In June 2008, Bidwell filed for divorce and asked Weinberg to move out, but the split did not last long. The two had their third child, a girl, in 2009. While Weinberg maintained a separate living situation, the two remained married. He spent a portion of each week cohabitating with Bidwell and taking care of their three children.

The relative peace of this arrangement was shattered in 2014, when Bidwell received a call from a bail bondsman. Weinberg had been arrested on suspicion of rape in connection to Raecke's claims. He repeatedly denied the allegations to Bidwell, telling her that nothing sexual had happened with Raecke.

''I'll say that again: On my mother's life, I had no sexual contact with this person,'' Weinberg wrote in an email to Bidwell.

At the same time, though, he told investigators that the two had had a ''consensual sexual encounter,'' according to the charge evaluation worksheet.

After returning from jail, he sat with Bidwell in their guest room speculating about what would look better to a jury, ''a female or male lawyer,'' Bidwell recalls. He went with the former, retaining onetime Harvey Weinstein attorney Blair Berk. He also paid for the services of a forensic computer company following the arrest, according to credit card records.

''That's the last time he spent the night at the house,'' Bidwell says.

In October 2015, she filed for divorce again, but when faced with accusing him of a sex addiction in the public record, she decided not to pursue, worried about the possible impact the claim could have on her children, she says. Instead, she opted for a kind of permanent separation.

But increasingly alarming accusations against her husband would continue to surface.

In 2017, Bidwell received a phone call from the mother of a 17-year-old girl who had met Weinberg online. The mother, who spoke to THR on the condition of anonymity, told Bidwell that Weinberg had invited her daughter over to his home for breakfast and then pulled her onto his couch and tried to unzip her sweater. She learned of the encounter after seeing an ''inordinate'' number of calls from an unknown number '-- Weinberg's '-- to her daughter on her phone records, she says. She called the number, demanding he tell her ''how the fuck you know my daughter.''

Weinberg acknowledged in custody filings that ''I had breakfast with a girl I met on a dating app who lied about her age to me'' but denied doing anything illegal or ''inappropriate.''

The mother expresses skepticism that Weinberg would not have known that her daughter was a minor. ''She looked like a little girl,'' she says.

The final straw for Bidwell '-- the incident that led her to Wilson's Facebook post '-- came in June 2019.

Weinberg approached a 16-year-old girl at a Starbucks a block from his son's high school and asked to take photos of her, according to divorce filings and interviews with Weinberg's eldest son and the girl, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Starbucks was a regular haunt for the girl and her classmates, she says. As she had done countless times before, she says she sat at a table to work on chemistry homework, wearing her Jansport backpack with accompanying ''stuffed animal, fluffy key chain,'' sitting in front of a laptop covered in stickers from her favorite TV shows, like the animated children's show Adventure Time.

''It's so hard for me to just emphasize how clear it was that I was a high school student,'' she says. ''I was 16 and had these skinny, almost prepubescent long legs.''

Weinberg pulled up a chair, she says, complimenting her ''athletic physique,'' ''length'' and ''amazing bone structure,'' before asking if she had modeled. She said no and that she had no interest in doing so, she recalls. Nonetheless, she estimates Weinberg spent ''a solid two minutes '... going on about my body and face'' and how they ''would photograph so beautifully.''

''You strike me as someone who would be very comfortable with their body,'' she recalls him saying. ''He pulls out his camera roll and he proceeds to show me photos of many naked women.''

She was visibly nervous, she says, when Weinberg placed his hand on the small of her back and told her not to worry and that he was ''a family man.'' As he had done with many women before, he showed her a photo of his children. The girl recognized Weinberg's eldest son. He sat next to her in ninth period.

She said nothing about the mutual connection to Weinberg. Feeling trapped, she gave Weinberg her number before pretending that a call from her boyfriend was a call from her father, she says. She fled to a corner of a nearby residential neighborhood and ''just cried.''

Later, according to a screenshot obtained by THR, Weinberg texted her, ''Let's shoot some time. It'll actually be fun and the photos will be beautiful.''

Word of the encounter soon reached Weinberg's son through a mutual friend. He then told his mom. Bidwell and her son confronted Weinberg about the incident. Though he initially denied that the encounter ever took place '-- even swearing on his daughter's life, they say '-- he would later claim in family court that he had only had a ''brief, barely two-minute conversation in Starbucks'' with his son's classmate ''whose age I didn't know.'' He denied engaging in ''untoward or illegal conduct.''

Even as Weinberg denied the allegations, he agreed to spend two weeks at an intensive residential sex addiction rehabilitation program in Palm Desert, California, according to court records. But when he returned and took his children out for dinner, Weinberg appeared to hit on their server, their eldest son told Bidwell.

Bidwell hired a new attorney and filed for divorce in February 2020, and in September, she went onto Google and typed in the search terms ''Eric Weinberg sexual assault.'' This brought up the public Facebook post Wilson had made in August 2020 with her claims about her date with Weinberg.

Through Wilson, Bidwell learned that Weinberg had lied about not having sex with Raecke, a disclosure that she says severed the last of her trust in Weinberg's assurances about his behavior.

After Bidwell made contact, Wilson, Anderson and Raecke all agreed to file sworn statements describing their claims of assault, telling THR that they worried about the safety of Weinberg's daughter.

In addressing the rape allegations, Weinberg declared in court documents that he ''exercised poor judgment and did not make the best decisions in the past with regard to third parties.'' Elsewhere, he claimed to have taken ''full responsibility for some lapses in judgment over the years.'' Weinberg detailed extensive therapy, including the two stints at sex addiction clinics, and noted in a July 2020 declaration that he was at that very time running a Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous meeting.

(At one point after his encounter with Wilson, in a call reviewed by THR, Weinberg told her: ''I'm not fucking Donald Trump, I'm not going to say that everything I say or do is perfect. I'm not perfect. I know that. I'm trying my very best. I'm trying my very best with every kind of therapy I can to make sure I make all the right decisions in life. I really, really am.'')

As the divorce proceedings crept along, the possibility of other accusations worried Bidwell. While Bidwell long had known of her husband's prolific extramarital activity since the discovery of the phone numbers in 2008, she says she had understood Weinberg's behavior in the context of a sex addiction, not alleged serial assault and rape. Now, aware of the other side of many stories, Bidwell says she felt a sense of obligation to identify other alleged survivors.

Unbeknownst to her divorce attorney (and against her recommendations), Bidwell reached out to a private investigation firm and gave them a broad mandate: Find other women with claims against Weinberg for a possible criminal investigation.

But even with the three sworn declarations and the incident involving the 16-year-old, the private investigators '-- who had seen their fair share of vindictive exes '-- were skeptical of Bidwell's claims and broader suspicions about her husband. It wasn't until Bidwell received a call in February 2021 from Cassidy Rouch that the private investigators began to take seriously the full potential scale of Weinberg's actions.

Weinberg had reached out to Rouch in February 2019 after he saw her profile on Model Mayhem, a networking site for amateur models and photographers. He introduced himself in an email, saying he worked in television and had shot for agencies in L.A.

''I know you don't do nudes, but if you're okay with implied nude (nothing worn, nothing showing), I do think that photos where you can see the sculpture of your curves would be really beautiful,'' Weinberg wrote her.

Rouch, who was 22 at the time and studying nursing, had opted to try her hand at modeling on the advice of a friend. She began texting with Weinberg about ideas for the shoot, she says. She expressed an openness to implied nudity but says she shut down the suggestion of anything more explicit.

Once inside Weinberg's house on the day of the shoot, he almost immediately told her to ''strip down,'' she recalls. As she uncomfortably complied, she says that Weinberg groped her breasts ''so hard I could see the white imprint of his hand on my skin.''

She pulled herself away and asked where she could change and reapply makeup.

''That's when he led me to his daughter's room,'' she says, describing the drawings, trophies, small pink Converse shoes and stuffed animals she observed. ''It reminded me of my room when I was a kid.''

In the bedroom, she says Weinberg offered her an alcoholic beverage, holding the cup to her mouth and spilling the contents on her body. After cleaning herself up, she says Weinberg instructed her to put on an oversized men's button-down shirt. As he began to photograph her on his daughter's bed, she says he began drawing attention to his erection while touching her under the pretense of positioning her. Then, he pushed her legs apart and ''started touching me,'' she says, taking photos as he repeatedly pushed two fingers into her vagina. She told him he was hurting her, and he stopped and apologized, she says.

The assault continued on his bed upstairs, where he continued to penetrate her with his fingers despite her objections and repeated statements of pain, she says.

''He just told me that I needed a man to take care of me and make me feel good,'' she says. ''So I told him again, 'I don't like what you're doing.'''

Weinberg stopped, left the room briefly, then returned, she says, telling her that ''he could prevent me from getting any kind of contracts for work for modeling.''

After the conclusion of the shoot, he checked in with her, she says, asking her, ''Are you OK to drive? I'm a father and I have a daughter, and I want to make sure that you're safe.''

Rouch says she experienced a period of dissociation in the following weeks and months. Weinberg would continue to text her, she says, and she would respond politely but no further.

Then, in December 2020, Rouch stumbled upon a TikTok video by actor Ester Jiron describing her own encounter with Weinberg in 2016. At a shoot at his home, Jiron says Weinberg began asking her invasive questions like whether her long-distance boyfriend allowed her to have sex with other people. She says she immediately stopped the shoot and left. She told her manager about the experience.

''Believe it or not, I actually know of this guy and his reputation,'' her manager responded in an email, describing Weinberg as ''a very powerful man in Hollywood.''

Soon after, Rouch phoned Weinberg and accused him of assaulting her. Weinberg threatened to involve lawyers and said their continued messages after the assault proved his innocence, she says. Rouch hung up on him midsentence and then called Bidwell, whose number she found online.

Rouch's call came at a low point in Bidwell's custody battle with Weinberg. For months, Bidwell sought to limit the amount of time their children spent with Weinberg and to require supervision, but twice already, the court had granted Weinberg more unsupervised time, including overnight visits.

As Bidwell sat in her office about to sign a custody agreement granting more time for her kids with Weinberg, her phone rang. Rouch, in a shaky voice still heated from her confrontation with Weinberg, blurted out, ''I was sexually assaulted by your husband on your daughter's bed and I don't feel that she's safe.''

Bidwell hung up and then called Rouch back, this time with one of the private investigators on the other line. She did not sign the custody stipulation.

Animated by a new sense of urgency, the investigators began opening up lines of communication with their contacts in law enforcement. They also reached out to David DeJute, a Los Angeles attorney at Michelman & Robinson and adjunct professor at the Pepperdine University School of Law who, in a prior role as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Department of Justice, defended then-President Barack Obama in one of the ''birther'' lawsuits challenging his citizenship.

DeJute immediately took an interest in the case, and by March 2022, a group of Weinberg's accusers met in a conference room in his Westwood office, some in person, others over Zoom.

While DeJute still needed to present the case to his firm for representation in a possible civil case, he wanted to help advise the alleged survivors as things built toward a possible criminal case.

''You've been lied to,'' DeJute said. ''I think you've been lied to by Weinberg, I think the system has let you down. The very least that I can commit to is to be honest with each one of you.''

In that spirit, he cautioned the group that whatever legal avenue they went down, be it civil or criminal, each of them would face a unique indignity reserved for survivors of sexual violence seeking accountability through the justice system.

''This will not be an easy process,'' DeJute told the women. ''I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to help, if I can, and to navigate the legal shoals and to see if we can get some rough kind of justice for you.''

''He's taken everything that he's allowed to take from me. There's no more,'' responded Raecke, whose case had appeared before the DA's office in 2014 but was declined for prosecution.

For Raecke, seeing so many others whose alleged assaults took place after hers had a special kind of hurt. Addressing the group, she likened herself to Cassandra of Roman mythology who had the power of prophecy but not the power to make people believe her. ''Had they done something eight years ago, nobody would be here,'' she said.

By the end of the month, the private investigators began putting the women in touch with LAPD's Special Assaults Section, which specializes in sexual crimes. From there, things moved far faster than anyone had anticipated, and by mid-April the detectives assigned to the case indicated that they hoped to arrest Weinberg by May or June.

This came as welcome news to all, but none more so than Bidwell. After Rouch filed a sworn declaration about her alleged assault '-- adding to the three others '-- Weinberg took an increasingly aggressive tack in family court. In an email to Bidwell, his attorney threatened monetary sanctions against her and the accusers ''as a direct result of having to defend against Hilary's baseless claims and accusations.''

May and June came and went with no arrest. Then, just as Bidwell and the women began worrying law enforcement would take no action, around noon on July 14, more than a dozen LAPD officers surprised Weinberg at his home in Los Feliz and arrested him. The officers, some in tactical gear, spent the next few hours executing a search warrant for evidence related to the alleged assaults.

In the aftermath of the arrest, with the news ricocheting across the internet, the detectives investigating the case experienced a deluge of tips and additional allegations against Weinberg, prompting them to request more resources from the LAPD.

''We have not scratched the surface,'' says a detective involved in the case who was not authorized to speak publicly. ''It is overwhelming the amount of new women that have come forward.''

The prosecutor in the case, Marlene Martinez, had to postpone Weinberg's Aug. 12 arraignment, writing to one accuser that she needed more time to review ''a large volume of documents, recordings, interviews, pictures, etc.''

After making bail, Weinberg told his two sons ''that he wanted to bang his head against the wall and bleed out and that his life was over,'' according to a declaration filed in court by his eldest son. Weinberg also told his children that he was being falsely accused by women who ''were out to get him.'' Meanwhile, the court revoked overnight visits for Weinberg with his children and now requires a monitor during visitation.

Convalescing at home from COVID, Wilson burst into tears when she learned of Weinberg's arrest. While it would never heal the initial trauma she says she experienced, she voiced hope that it would ease the pain of the skepticism and disbelief she and others encountered afterward.

''People come up with a lot of reasons in their head about why something this horrible might not be true,'' she says. ''That victims are making it up because the system can't possibly be that bad and somebody can't possibly be that evil or stupid to keep doing it over and over again. It's like, 'No, all of those things are true. All of those things are true.'''

This story first appeared in the Sept. 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 09:32

September 6, 2022

Media contact: Attorney General Drew H. Wrigley (701) 328-2210

Bismarck, ND - Attorney General Drew H. Wrigley announced today a $438.5 million agreement in principle between JUUL Labs and 34 states and territories resolving a two-year bipartisan investigation into the e-cigarette manufacturer's marketing and sales practices. The State of North Dakota will receive $6,028,211.45 in monetary relief under the settlement that will be paid out over a period of six to ten years. In addition to the financial terms, the settlement provides for a series of important and strict injunctive terms intended to severely limit JUUL's marketing and sales practices.

''We are very pleased to be part of this important and historic consumer protection action aimed at protecting young consumers targeted by misleading e-cigarette advertising and marketing,'' said Wrigley.

JUUL was, until recently, the dominant player in the vaping market. The multistate investigation revealed that JUUL attained this position by willfully engaging in an advertising campaign that appealed to youth, even though its e-cigarettes are both illegal for them to purchase and are unhealthy for youth to use. The investigation found that JUUL relentlessly marketed to underage users with launch parties, advertisements using young and trendy-looking models, social media posts and free samples. It marketed a technology-focused, sleek design that could be easily concealed and sold its product in flavors known to be attractive to underage users. JUUL also manipulated the chemical composition of its product to make the vapor less harsh on the throats of the young and inexperienced users. To preserve its young customer base, JUUL relied on age verification techniques that it knew were ineffective.

The investigation also revealed that JUUL's original packaging was misleading in that it did not clearly disclose that it contained nicotine and implied that it contained a lower concentration of nicotine than it actually did and that consumers were misled to believe that consuming one JUUL pod was the equivalent of smoking one pack of combustible cigarettes.

As part of the settlement, JUUL has agreed to refrain from:

Youth marketingFunding education programsDepicting persons under age 35 in any marketingUse of cartoonsPaid product placementSale of brand name merchandiseSale of flavors not approved by FDAAllowing access to websites without age verification on landing pageRepresentations about nicotine not approved by FDAMisleading representations about nicotine contentSponsorships/naming rightsAdvertising in outlets unless 85 percent audience is adultAdvertising on billboardsPublic transportation advertisingSocial media advertising (other than testimonials by individuals over the age of 35, with no health claims)Use of paid influencersDirect-to-consumer ads unless age-verified, andFree samples.The agreement also includes sales and distribution restrictions, including where the product may be displayed/accessed in stores, online sales limits, retail sales limits, age verification on all sales, and a retail compliance check protocol.

The other states signed on to the agreement with JUUL are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

###

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Source: World Socialist Web Site (en)

Wed, 07 Sep 2022 03:17

The following statement was issued by United Auto Workers presidential candidate Will Lehman to graduate student workers and other university employees in the UAW. The WSWS has endorsed Lehman's campaign. For more information, visit WillforUAWPresident.org.

On Sunday, September 11 at 2 p.m. Eastern, Lehman will be hosting a live discussion about his campaign on Zoom. Learn more and register here.

Will Lehman [Photo: WSWS]Dear university employees,

My name is William Lehman. I am a 34-year-old second-tier autoworker at the Mack Trucks plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania, and I am running for president of the United Auto Workers union. I want to explain to the more-than 100,000 university employees in the UAW why I am running for president and ask for your vote.

My campaign is fighting to mobilize the UAW membership and the entire working class in a struggle to reverse decades of attacks on our living standards by the corporations.

A serious fight against the corporations, however, requires taking power from the pro-corporate UAW apparatus (which has total assets over $1 billion, and a yearly payroll of $75 million) and returning it to the workers. This requires the development of a network of rank-and-file committees on the shop floor to fight for our interests.

At the same time, my campaign is bringing a socialist and internationalist program to workers in the UAW and beyond. All the great problems we confront'--unprecedented levels of social inequality, an escalating global war, the danger of fascism and dictatorship, environmental degradation'--require the mobilization of the entire working class against capitalism.

We are holding direct elections for the UAW leadership this year because a large number of officials were convicted for stealing our dues money or accepting bribes from the corporations. The corruption scandal was not about a few ''bad'' leaders. It exposed the rot at the core of the entire bureaucratic level.

Whether we work in auto plants or classrooms, we all confront the impact of decades of pro-corporate betrayals by the UAW bureaucracy. As we face more and more hardship, corporate profits grow, university endowments increase, and the corporate and union executives get richer and richer.

The cost of living is hitting university employees and graduate students especially hard. Many of you live in Washington state, California, and New York, where it is nearly impossible to get by on a graduate student salary. The UAW just agreed to contracts at Columbia University and New York University with raises of 3 percent a year. With annual inflation running between 8-9 percent, this amounts to a huge pay cut, especially for workers in one of the world's most expensive cities!

The same is true everywhere. When workers in the UAW go on strike'--always after rejecting contracts that the UAW apparatus sought to ram through'--we are isolated and strung out on poverty-level strike pay. When graduate students in the UAW went on strike at Harvard, Columbia and NYU in 2021, the UAW did nothing to even inform autoworkers, let alone mobilize us to support you. The same is true when auto and other manufacturing workers go on strike.

The UAW has become a union in name only. Many of you are new to the UAW, though you have already had important experiences with how the apparatus operates. I can tell you that if you go out to an auto plant and speak to workers, the constant refrain is: ''The UAW is a business.'' It serves to enforce the demands of the companies. It is dominated by an apparatus, including more than 450 officials who make over $100,000, that profits off our labor.

But we must also recognize that the operations of the UAW apparatus are bound up with its support for capitalism and its nationalist perspective.

Eastern Pennsylvania, where I live and work, used to be one of the world's most productive regions in terms of industrial activity, and workers experienced some of the highest living standards here. This wasn't because the companies were generous'--workers waged powerful and often violent strikes, including the famous Bethlehem Steel strike of 1941, and won the right to fully paid pensions, better wages and necessary safety standards.

For the past four decades, however, the UAW and other unions have presided over the destruction of our living conditions. Plants were shut down, wages were slashed, and lives were ruined because the union officials told workers they had to accept cuts to compete with workers in other countries. This has happened throughout the industrial centers of the country. Democrats and Republicans changed positions at local, state and federal level, but conditions only get worse.

This is why I am running on a socialist platform. American capitalist society is in a state of collapse. The Biden administration is continuing the Trump administration's COVID policies, as thousands and thousands die, with hardly any mention in the media. Trump and the Republicans continue their fascist plotting against democracy. The Democratic Party is leading a war against Russia and China, bringing the world closer to nuclear war than any point since the Cuban Missile Crisis, and wasting billions on weapons. The environmental catastrophe is nearing the point of no return. Three billionaires possess as much wealth as the poorest half of the population.

I just travelled the country to campaign at auto plants in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia, where I talked to autoworkers about socialism. I tell my coworkers that socialism means that the working class must control society's wealth, since we produce it. It means that the world economy must be run to meet human need, not corporate profit. It means that the working class must democratically control society. It means building a political movement independent of both the Republican and Democratic parties.

I am receiving extraordinary support from workers across the country for this program. Even many workers who voted for Trump agree with this. To those of you who do not come from working class backgrounds, you must understand that it is both necessary and possible to build a socialist movement in the American working class.

There is also a powerful response from workers to an internationalist perspective. My campaign is about uniting workers throughout the world in defense of our common class interests. Many graduate students come from outside the United States, and you will recognize that the conditions workers confront here are the same as those faced by workers in every country.

I am opposed to all forms of nationalism. I specifically condemn and reject the anti-Chinese xenophobia that has been promoted throughout the pandemic by the corporate establishment and media, and is being used to lay the groundwork for war.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the working class at the universities. There are those in the more affluent sections of the population who think that workers, especially white workers, are ''privileged,'' backwards, racist and right-wing. Some people who believe these myths even call themselves ''socialists,'' though it has nothing to do with left-wing politics.

In the real world, workers of every race, gender and sexual orientation are heavily exploited and are looking for a way to unite and fight together. The politics of racial and gender identity are a tool of the corporations to pit us against each other and divide us. We are fighting not for privileges, but for equality.

To those of you on the campuses who are interested in genuine socialism: Orient your political activity to the working class, challenge the domination of postmodernism and identity politics in your university departments, and fight for the unity of the working class regardless of race or gender. That is what the working class wants, and that is what my campaign is fighting for.

I am asking you to vote for me and to join the fight to build a mass socialist movement today.

Sincerely,

Will Lehman

Graduate students and supporters: Get in touch with us! Make your voice heard!

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Tue, 06 Sep 2022 20:38

Peter Hilz

NOS Nieuws ' vrijdag, 19:21

De gemeente Haarlem gaat reclames voor vlees in de openbare ruimte verbieden vanwege de impact van het product op het klimaat. Dat bevestigt GroenLinks-raadslid Ziggy Klazes na berichtgeving van dagblad Trouw.

Vanaf 2024 zullen er naar verwachting geen reclames voor vleesproducten meer te zien zijn. Om welke reclames het precies gaat, en of het verbod bijvoorbeeld ook gevolgen heeft voor reclames voor biologisch vlees, is onduidelijk.

Haarlem is zover bekend de eerste stad ter wereld die deze beslissing heeft genomen.

Stap verder dan andere steden

Het verbod is een gevolg van een motie van GroenLinks, die eind 2021 al werd aangenomen in de gemeenteraad. Waar Amsterdam, Leiden en Den Haag al hebben besloten om reclames voor vliegreizen, benzineauto's en de fossiele industrie te weren, stelde GroenLinks-raadslid Klazes in de motie voor hier ook nog vleesreclames aan toe te voegen.

In augustus verscheen een zogenoemde 'afdoening' van de motie in de raadsnotulen, waardoor de motie aandacht kreeg. "Vandaar nu de belangstelling voor het verbod. Het college heeft eigenlijk in augustus gezegd: we gaan hiermee aan de slag. En dat vind ik super, want het is heel belangrijk dat dit gebeurt", zegt Klazes.

"Eerder hebben we als gemeente Haarlem via een motie de klimaatcrisis uitgeroepen, en toen dacht ik: naast bijvoorbeeld vliegreizen vind ik de veehouderij en bio-industrie net zo schadelijk. Laten we dat in een keer meenemen."

Abri's zonder vleesreclame

De gemeente heeft afgelopen maanden met de drie reclame-exploitanten van bushokjes, zuilen en schermen in de openbare ruimte gesproken en afgesproken dat wanneer hun huidige contracten aflopen, reclames voor producten uit de bio-industrie niet langer zullen worden toegestaan. Het gaat hierbij om 2024, 2025 en 2031.

Welke reclames precies niet meer te zien zijn, blijft dus nog onduidelijk. Over een jaar wordt de motie in nieuwe contracten met reclame-exploitanten verwerkt.

Volgens Klazes staat niets het verbod meer in de weg, maar hoogleraar bestuursrecht Herman Br¶ring plaatst daar in Trouw kanttekeningen bij. Volgens hem kan je het verbod zien als een inbreuk op de vrijheid van meningsuiting.

"Tegelijkertijd zijn sommige inbreuken wel toegestaan", zegt hij tegen de krant. Als supermarktketens Ahold of Jumbo de gemeente Haarlem zouden aanklagen, zou dat volgens hem een interessante rechtszaak opleveren.

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Mon, 05 Sep 2022 19:36

KGB disinformation campaign

Operation INFEKTION was an active measure disinformation campaign run by the KGB in the 1980s to plant the idea that the United States had invented HIV/AIDS[2][3] as part of a biological weapons research project at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Historian Thomas Boghardt popularized the codename "INFEKTION" based on the claims of former East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi) officer G¼nter Bohnsack [de] , who claimed that the Stasi codename for the campaign was either "INFEKTION" or perhaps also "VORWRTS II" ("FORWARD II").[2] However, historians Christopher Nehring and Douglas Selvage found in the former Stasi and Bulgarian State Security archives materials that prove the actual Stasi codename for the AIDS disinformation campaign was Operation DENVER.[4][5] The operation involved "an extraordinary amount of effort '-- funding radio programs, courting journalists, distributing would-be scientific studies", according to journalist Joshua Yaffa, and even became the subject of a report by Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News.[6]

The Soviet Union used the campaign to undermine the United States' credibility, foster anti-Americanism, isolate America abroad, and create tensions between host countries and the U.S. over the presence of American military bases (which were often portrayed as the cause of AIDS outbreaks in local populations).[7] Another reason the Soviet Union "promoted the AIDS disinformation may have been its attempt to distract international attention away from its own offensive biological warfare program, which [was monitored] for decades".[2]

Story genesis and progression [ edit ] The groundwork appeared in the pro-Soviet Indian newspaper Patriot which, according to a KGB defector named Ilya Dzerkvelov, was set up by the KGB in 1962 for the sheer purpose of publishing disinformation.[7] An anonymous letter was sent to the editor in July 1983 from a "well-known American scientist and anthropologist" who claimed that AIDS was manufactured at Fort Detrick by genetic engineers. The "scientist" claimed that "that deadly mysterious disease was believed to be the results of the Pentagon's experiments to develop new and dangerous biological weapons", and implicated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientists sent to Africa and Latin America to find dangerous viruses alien to Asia and Europe. These results were purportedly analyzed in Atlanta and Fort Detrick and thus the "most likely course of events" leading to the development of AIDS. The letter claimed that the Pentagon was continuing such experiments in neighboring Pakistan and as a result, the AIDS virus was threatening to spread to India. The title of the article, "AIDS may invade India", suggested that the immediate goal of the KGB's disinformation was to exacerbate relations between the U.S., India, and Pakistan.[7][8]

Two years later, the KGB apparently decided to make use of its earlier disinformation to launch an international campaign to discredit the U.S. They wrote in a telegram to their allied secret service in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Committee for State Security (KDS) on September 7, 1985:

We are conducting a series of [active] measures in connection with the appearance in recent years in the USA of a new and dangerous disease, "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome '' AIDS"'..., and its subsequent, large-scale spread to other countries, including those in Western Europe. The goal of these measures is to create a favorable opinion for us abroad that this disease is the result of secret experiments with a new type of biological weapon by the secret services of the USA and the Pentagon that spun out of control.[4][9]

The telegram, which referred indirectly back to the Patriot article ("facts ... in the press of the developing countries, in particular India"), provided guidance to Bulgarian State Security regarding how to couch their AIDS disinformation:

Facts have already been cited in the press of the developing countries, in particular India, that testify to the involvement of the special services of the United States and the Pentagon in the appearance and rapid spread of the AIDS disease in the United States, as well as other countries. Judging by these reports, along with the interest shown by the U.S. military in the symptoms of AIDS and the rate and geography of its spread, the most likely assumption is that this most dangerous disease is the result of yet another Pentagon experiment with a new type of biological weapon. This is confirmed by the fact that the disease affected initially only certain groups of people: homosexuals, drug addicts, immigrants from Latin America.[9]

A month later, the Soviet newspaper Literaturnaya Gazeta, also a known outlet for KGB disinformation,[10] published an article from Valentin Zapevalov entitled, "Panic in the West, or what is hiding behind the sensation surrounding AIDS". It cited the (dis)information contained in the Patriot article,[11] but also gave further details regarding the alleged development of the AIDS virus. Employees of the CDC had allegedly assisted the Pentagon by traveling to Zaire, Nigeria and Latin America to collect samples of the "most pathogenic viruses" that could not be found in Europe or Asia. These samples were then combined to develop the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. The disinformation campaign insisted the Pentagon then carried out isolated experiments in Haiti and within the U.S. itself on marginalized groups in U.S. society: drug addicts, homosexuals, and the homeless.[12] Zapevalov's article was subsequently reprinted in Kuwait, Bahrain, Finland, Sweden, Peru, and other countries.[13] It followed very closely the guidelines that the KGB had already sent to its Bulgarian "comrades" a month before.[9]

Stasi involvement in the disinformation campaign [ edit ] Determining the exact role of the Stasi in the AIDS disinformation campaign has been difficult, given that around 90% of the records of its foreign intelligence division, the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (HVA) were destroyed[14] or disappeared[15] in 1989''90. Based on materials in the Bulgarian secret police archives, the card files of the HVA, and documents from or relating to the HVA scattered among the records of other divisions of the Stasi, it has been possible to reconstruct some aspects of the Stasi's involvement in the disinformation campaign. At the beginning of September 1986, the tenth division of the HVA (HVA/X), responsible for organizing and coordinating the HVA's campaigns of active measures, wrote the following in a draft plan for cooperation with Bulgarian State Security:

Operation "DENVER". With the goal of exposing the dangers to mankind arising from the research, production, and use of biological weapons, and also in order to strengthen anti-American sentiments in the world and to spark domestic political controversies in the USA, the GDR [German Democratic Republic] side will deliver a scientific study and other materials that prove that AIDS originated in the USA, not in Africa, and that AIDS is a product of the USA's bioweapons research.[4][16]

The KGB confirmed that the East German HVA was playing a central role on various occasions, including in a telegram to the Bulgarians in 1987:

The AIDS issue

A complex of [active] measures regarding this issue has been carried out since 1985 in cooperation with the [East] German and to some extent the Czech colleagues. In the initial stage, the task was resolved of spreading in the mass media the version regarding the artificial origin of the AIDS virus and the Pentagon's involvement in by means of the military-biological laboratory at Fort Detrick.

As a result of our joint efforts, it was possible to widely disseminate this version.[4][17]

The Segal Report [ edit ] As noted above, the Stasi's HVA/X had written that it would send its Bulgarian "comrades" a "scientific study" allegedly "proving" that "AIDS is a product of the USA's bioweapons research".[4][16] From the context of the discussions between officers of the HVA/X and their Bulgarian counterparts in mid-September 1986, it was clear which study was meant: "AIDS: Its Nature and Origin" by Soviet-East German biologist Jakob Segal and his wife, Dr. Lilli Segal. The study had been distributed at the summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in August''September 1986 in a brochure entitled, "AIDS: USA home-made evil, NOT out of AFRICA".[4] The report was quoted heavily by Soviet propagandists, and the Segals were often said to be French researchers to hide their connections to communism. Although both Segals, given the double danger to them as Jews and members of the Communist Party of Germany, had fled into exile in France in 1933, both had attained Soviet citizenship in 1940 on the basis of Jakob's birth in (then Soviet-annexed) Lithuania, and in 1953, they had returned to Germany'--specifically, to communist East Berlin.[18]

In his report, Segal postulated that the AIDS virus was synthesized by combining parts of two distantly related retroviruses: VISNA and HTLV-1.[7] An excerpt of the Segal Report reads as follows:

It is very easy using genetic technologies to unite two parts of completely independent viruses'... but who would be interested in doing this? The military, of course'... In 1977 a special top security lab'... was set up'...at the Pentagon's central biological laboratory. One year after that'... the first cases of AIDS occurred in the US, in New York City. How it occurred precisely at this moment and how the virus managed to get out of the secret, hush-hush laboratory is quite easy to understand. Everyone knows that prisoners are used for military experiments in the U.S. They are promised their freedom if they come out of the experiment alive.[7]

Elsewhere in the report, Segal said that his hypothesis was based purely on assumptions, extrapolations, and hearsay and not at all on direct scientific evidence.[7]

The exact relationship of both Segals to the KGB, Stasi, or both at this time'--to the extent that it existed'--remains unclear. Both publicly denied any involvement of the KGB or Stasi in their work. The Deputy Director of HVA/X, Wolfgang Mutz, hinted that the HVA had played a role in the publication'--or actually, the photocopying'--and distribution of the Harare brochure in talks with Bulgarian State Security in September 1986.[4] He also suggested that the "operational division" of the HVA with which HVA/X had been cooperating in the disinformation campaign had somehow "attracted" Segal to his research.

This "operational division" was in fact an office in the Sector for Science and Technology (Sektor Wissenschaft und Technik, SWT) of the HVA, responsible for intelligence-gathering on AIDS and genetic engineering (HVA/SWT/XIII/5). This office had registered a "security dossier" (Sicherungsvorgang, SVG) "Wind" on September 6, 1985, regarding the protection of East German scientists in the areas of AIDS research, genetic engineering and biotechnology from outside "attacks" in the form of espionage or manipulation by foreign agents. This office in HVA/SWT apparently registered both Segals in this dossier as "contact persons" under the codename "Diagnosis"; whenever other divisions of the Stasi inquired about the Segals, they were directed to this office. HVA/SWT'--or "the security", as Jakob Segal called them'--gave him at least one piece of advice regarding his study before its printing and distribution. Whether Segal listened to this advice remains unclear. Still, given their official designation as "contact persons", they need not have known, at least officially, that they were dealing with the Stasi, although Jakob Segal likely knew or could have guessed, given his past dealings with both the Stasi and the KGB. It is quite possible that HVA/SWT was already coordinating with the KGB regarding Segal's research'--even without his knowledge'--in the second half of 1985, at the time that "Wind" was registered. Nevertheless, none of the Stasi officers involved with "Wind" or Operation "DENVER" ever claimed that the HVA had played a role in drafting Segal's study. It was clearly his own work, in cooperation with his wife Lilli, although he knew and expected that it would be used for "propaganda".

Whatever exact relationship the Segals may or may not have had to the Soviet or East German security services, the KGB praised Segal's work in its 1987 telegram to Bulgarian State Security. His articles and brochures, the KGB wrote, had attained "great renown". This was especially the case in African countries, where governments and researchers were rejecting as racist assertions by U.S. researchers that AIDS had originated naturally in Africa, where it had spread from monkeys to humans.[17] The KGB wrote the Bulgarians:

We are currently resolving the task of bringing the [active] measures down to a more practical level, and in particular, to attain specific political results by exploiting the "laboratory version" for AM [active measures] on other issues. So, efforts are being made to intensify anti-base sentiments in countries where American forces are deployed by using slogans suggesting that U.S. soldiers are the most dangerous carriers of the virus. By demonstrating the defeat of the "African version" [of AIDS' origins], we can whip up anti-American sentiments throughout the states of the continent.[17]

Dissemination methods [ edit ] The AIDS story exploded across the world, and was repeated by Soviet newspapers, magazines, wire services, radio broadcasts, and television. It appeared 40 times in Soviet media in 1987 alone. It received coverage in over 80 countries in more than 30 languages,[7] primarily in leftist and communist media publications, and was found in countries as widespread as Bolivia, Grenada, Pakistan, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Malta. A few versions made their way into non-communist press in Indonesia and the Philippines.[7]

Dissemination was usually along a recognized pattern: propaganda and disinformation would first appear in a country outside of the USSR and only then be picked up by a Soviet news agency, which attributed it to others' investigative journalism. That the story came from a foreign source (not widely known to be Soviet controlled or influenced) added credibility to the allegations, especially in impoverished and less educated countries which generally could not afford access to Western news satellite feeds. To aid in media placement, Soviet propaganda was provided free of charge, and many stories came with cash benefits.[7] This was particularly the case in India and Ghana, where the Soviet Union maintained a large propaganda and disinformation apparatus for covert media placement.[7]

Soviet narrative [ edit ] To explain how AIDS outbreaks in Africa occurred simultaneously, the Moscow World Service announced a discovery by Soviet correspondent Aleksandr Zhukov, who claimed that in the early 1970s, a Pentagon-controlled West German lab in Zaire "succeeded in modifying the non-lethal Green Monkey virus into the deadly AIDS virus". Radio Moscow also claimed that instead of testing a cholera vaccine, American scientists were actually infecting unwitting Zairians, thus spreading AIDS throughout the continent. These scientists were unaware of the long period before symptom onset, and resumed experimentation on convicts upon return to the U.S., where it then spread when the prisoners escaped.[7]

Claims that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had sent "AIDS-oiled condoms" to other countries sprang up independently in the African press, well after the disinformation operation started.[2] In 1987, a book (Once Again About the CIA) was published by the Novosti Press Agency, with the quote:

The CIA Directorate of Science and Technology is continuously modernizing its inventory of pathogenic preparations, bacteria and viruses and studying their effect on man in various parts of the world. To this end, the CIA uses American medical centers in foreign countries. A case in point was the Pakistani Medical Research Center in Lahore'... set up in 1962 allegedly for combating malaria.

The resulting public backlash eventually closed down the legitimate medical research centre. Soviet allegations declared the purpose of these research projects, to include that of AIDS, was to "enlarge the war arsenal".[7]

Worldwide response to AIDS allegations [ edit ] Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications,

[23] cover illustrating propaganda from Operation INFEKTION

Ironically, many Soviet scientists were soliciting help from American researchers to help address the Soviet Union's burgeoning AIDS problem, while stressing the virus' natural origins. The U.S. refused to help as long as the disinformation campaign continued.[7] The Segal Report and the plenitude of press articles were dismissed by both Western and Soviet virologists as nonsense.[7]

Dr. Meinrad Koch, a West Berlin AIDS expert, stated in 1987 that the Segal Report was "utter nonsense" and called it an "evil pseudo-scientific political concoction". Other scientists also pointed out flaws and inaccuracies in the Segal Report, including Dr. Viktor Zhdanov of the D. I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology [ru] in Moscow, who was the top Soviet AIDS expert at the time. The president of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences clearly stated that he believed the virus to be of natural origin. Other scientists and doctors from Paris, East and West Berlin, India, and Belgium called the AIDS rumors lies, scientifically unfounded, and otherwise impossible to seriously consider.[7] Although Segal himself never said "this is fact" and was very careful to maintain this line throughout his report, "such technical qualifiers do not diminish the impact of the charges, however, because when they are replayed, such qualifiers are typically either omitted or overlooked by readers or listeners".[7]

U.S. Embassy officials wrote dozens of letters to various newspaper editors and journalists, and held meetings and press conferences to clarify matters. Many of their efforts resulted in newspapers printing retractions and apologies.[7] Rebuttals appeared in reports to Congress and from the State Department saying that it was impossible at the time to build a virus as complex as AIDS; medical research had only gotten so far as to clone simple viruses. Antibodies were found decades earlier than the reported research started, and the main academic source used for the story (Segal Report) contained inaccuracies about even such basic things as American geography'--Segal said that outbreaks appeared in New York City because it was the closest big city to Fort Detrick. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. are all closer, while New York is 200 miles (320 km) away.[7]

The Gorbachev administration also responded indignantly and launched a defensive denial campaign "aimed at limiting the damage done to its credibility by U.S. efforts to raise world consciousness concerning the scope of Soviet disinformation activities".[7] The Soviet Union interfered with general attempts by U.S. Embassy officials to address misconceptions and expose the Soviet disinformation campaign, including placing pressure on news agencies that recanted their position. For example, Literaturnaya Gazeta on December 3, 1986, castigated a Brazilian newspaper which earlier in the year had run a retraction following its publication of the AIDS disinformation story. In 1987, Moscow's Novosti news agency disseminated a report datelined Brazzaville (Congo), calling on the West to put an end to the "anti-African campaign", and reiterating "the charges that the virus was created in U.S. military laboratories" while in 1986 Literaturnaya Gazeta warned specifically against contact with Americans.[7]

In 1988, Sovetskaya Rossiya put out an article defending their right to report different views. The chief of Novosti stated that it drew upon foreign sources for much of the AIDS coverage, and that the press was free under glasnost.[7]

The Mitrokhin Archive reveals that:

Faced with American protests and the denunciation of the story by the international scientific community, however, Gorbachev and his advisers were clearly concerned that exposure of Soviet disinformation might damage the new Soviet image in the West. In August 1987 US officials were told in Moscow that the Aids story was officially disowned. Soviet press coverage of the story came to an almost complete halt.[24]

The campaign faded from most Soviet media outlets, but it occasionally resurfaced abroad in Third World countries as late as 1988, usually via press placement agents.[7]

Aftermath [ edit ] In 1992, 15% of Americans considered it definitely or probably true that "the AIDS virus was created deliberately in a government laboratory".[2] In 2005, a study by the RAND Corporation and Oregon State University revealed that nearly 50% of African Americans thought AIDS was man-made, over 25% believed AIDS was a product of a government laboratory, 12% believed it was created and spread by the CIA, and 15% believed that AIDS was a form of genocide against black people.[2] Other AIDS conspiracy theories have abounded, and have been discredited by the mainstream scientific community.

In popular culture, the Kanye West song "Heard 'Em Say" tells listeners, "I know that the government administer AIDS". In South Africa, the former president, Thabo Mbeki cited the operation's theory of Fort Detrick in denying the science of HIV.[6][3]

In 1992, Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Yevgeny Primakov admitted that the KGB was behind the newspaper articles claiming that AIDS was created by the U.S. government.[1] Segal's role was exposed by KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin in the Mitrokhin Archive. Jack Koehler's 1999 book, Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police, describes how the Stasi cooperated with the KGB to spread the story.[25][page needed ]

Insofar as the distrust in medical authorities created by the operation led to a distrust in the treatment for AIDS recommended by medical science (journalist Joshua Yaffa notes that "numerous studies ... have shown that those who disbelieve the science on the origins of H.I.V. are less likely to engage in safe sex or to regularly take recommended medication if infected"),[6] the operation may have cost many lives. Yaffa argues that the delay in "widespread implementation of antiretroviral therapies in South Africa" may have cost "as many" as 330,000 lives.[6][3]

See also [ edit ] Operation PANDORAOperation Cedar (KGB)References [ edit ] ^ a b Kello, Lucas (2017). The Virtual Weapon and International Order. Yale University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-300-22629-4. ^ a b c d e f Boghardt, Thomas (December 2009). "Soviet Bloc Intelligence and Its AIDS Disinformation Campaign (Operation INFEKTION)" (PDF) . Studies in Intelligence. 53 (4). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 24, 2010. ^ a b c Kramer, Mark (May 26, 2020). "Lessons From Operation "Denver," the KGB's Massive AIDS Disinformation Campaign". The MIT Press Reader . Retrieved September 21, 2020 . ^ a b c d e f g Selvage, Douglas; Nehring, Christopher (July 22, 2019). "Operation "Denver": KGB and Stasi Disinformation regarding AIDS". Wilson Center . Retrieved July 23, 2019 . ^ Selvage, Douglas (Fall 2019). "Operation "Denver": The East German Ministry of State Security and the KGB's AIDS Disinformation Campaign, 1985''1986 (Part 1)". Journal of Cold War Studies. 21 (4): 71''123. doi:10.1162/jcws_a_00907 . ^ a b c d Yaffa, Joshua (September 7, 2020). "Is Russian Meddling as Dangerous as We Think?". The New Yorker . Retrieved September 21, 2020 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Soviet Influence Activities: A Report on Active Measures and Propaganda, 1986''87 (PDF) (Report). United States Department of State. August 1987 . Retrieved September 1, 2021 '' via GlobalSecurity.org. ^ "AIDS may invade India". Patriot. July 17, 1983 . Retrieved July 23, 2019 '' via nyt.com. ^ a b c "KGB, Information Nr. 2955 [to Bulgarian State Security]". Wilson Center Digital Archive. September 7, 1985 . Retrieved July 23, 2019 . ^ Kalugin, Oleg (2009). Spymaster: My Thirty-Two Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West. Philadelphia: Basic Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-465-01445-3. ^ Qiu, Linda (December 12, 2017). "Fingerprints of Russian Disinformation: From AIDS to Fake News". The New York Times . Retrieved July 23, 2019 . ^ Zapevalov, Valentin (October 30, 1985). Паника на ЗаÐаде, иÐ>>и что скÑывается за сенсацией вокÑуÐ" AIDS [Panic in the West, or what is hiding behind the sensation surrounding AIDS]. Literaturnaya Gazeta (in Russian). No. 5058. p. 14 . Retrieved September 1, 2021 '' via nyt.com. ^ Chief, Foreign Subversion and Instability Center, Office of Global Issues, Directorate of Intelligence (March 28, 1986). "Soviet Disinformation: Allegations of US Misdeeds" (PDF) . Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) ^ Knabe, Hubertus (1999). West-Arbeit des MfS. Das Zusammenspiel von "Aufkl¤rung" und "Abwehr" (in German). Berlin: Ch. Links. p. 133. ISBN 978-3-86153-182-1. ^ Cenckiewicz, Sławomir (2009). Śladami bezpieki i partii: Studia '' Źr"dła '' Publicystyka (in Polish). Łomianki: LTW. pp. 589''600. ISBN 978-83-7565-060-0. ^ a b "Division X of the Hauptverwaltung Aufkl¤rung (HVA/X) of the Ministry of State Security (MfS), 'Plan for Common and Coordinated Active Measures of the Intelligence Organs of the MOI of the PR Bulgaria and the MfS of the GDR for 1987 and 1988' ". Wilson Center Digital Archive. September 3, 1986 . Retrieved July 23, 2019 . ^ a b c "KGB, Information Nr. 2742 [to Bulgarian State Security]". Wilson Center Digital Archive. 1987 . Retrieved July 23, 2019 . ^ H¶xtermann, Ekkehard (2010). "Segal, Jakob". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 24. pp. 159''160 . Retrieved July 23, 2019 . ^ Schoen, Fletcher; Lamb, Christopher J. (June 2012). Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference (PDF) . Strategic Perspectives. Vol. 11. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press . Retrieved September 1, 2021 . ^ Andrew, Christopher; Mitrokhin, Vasili (2006). "Chapter 18 '' The Special Relationship with India. Part 2: The Decline and Fall of Congress". The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World: Newly Revealed Secrets from the Mitrokhin Archive. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-00313-6. ^ Koehler, John O. (1999). Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police. Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-3409-7. Further reading [ edit ] Selvage, Douglas; Nehring, Christopher (2014). Die AIDS-Verschw¶rung. Das Ministerium f¼r Staatssicherheit und die AIDS-Desinformationskampagne des KGB (PDF) . BF informiert (in German). Vol. 33. Berlin: BStU. ISBN 978-3-942130-76-9. Taylor, Adam (November 26, 2016). "Before 'fake news,' there was Soviet 'disinformation' ". The Washington Post. Grimes, David Robert (June 14, 2017). "Russian fake news is not new: Soviet Aids propaganda cost countless lives". The Guardian. Researching Soviet/Russian Intelligence in America: Bibliography. Federal Depository Library Program."BBC launches huge new international anti-disinformation initiative". BBC Media Centre. November 9, 2018. Lutteroth, Johanna (June 22, 2012). "Aids-Verschw¶rung: Das Propaganda-Virus des KGB". Der Spiegel (in German). Singer, P. W.; Brooking, Emerson T. (2018). LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-1-328-69575-8. Waddell, Kaveh (December 15, 2016). "Does Russia's Election Hacking Signal a New Era in Espionage?". The Atlantic. Mikkelson, David (June 25, 2013). "FACT CHECK: AIDS Created by the CIA?". Snopes. External links [ edit ] Media related to Operation INFEKTION at Wikimedia Commons

Operation InfeKtion: How Russia Perfected the Art of War. The New York Times.

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Mon, 05 Sep 2022 18:43

Political party

The Black Hammer Party (formerly the Black Hammer Organization) is an American black separatist political organization founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2019, that advertises itself as a "symbol of hope for the colonized working class." They rose to prominence in the early 2020s amidst the George Floyd protests and their attempted creation of a cult compound in the Rocky Mountains named "Hammer City." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described the organization as mixing "Black nationalist rhetoric and a revolutionary message with hot-button issues like anti-vaccine myths and election conspiracies." Commentators, including former leaders and members, have referred to the organization as a cult.[1][2][3] The group reportedly recruits among the homeless and LGBT populations.[4][5]

History [ edit ] The group was founded as the Black Hammer Organization in 2019 in Atlanta by "a handful of activists with backgrounds in radical Black separatist pro-segregation organizing." By 2020, membership increased significantly following the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests across the United States, with the organization amassing "hundreds" of members and chapters across the country. The group called for a black and Native American-led revolution and a separate homeland, as well as reparations from white "colonizers."[1] The Daily Beast described the group's rhetoric as both anti-white and antisemitic.[6]

One of the founding members, Gazi Kodzo (born Augustus Cornelius Romain Jr.), eventually rose as the organization's leader, which according to a founding member who defected, caused the group to go "from a vehicle of liberation to one of abuse and toxicity." Other former members have accused Kodzo of "overworking members in sweatshop conditions" and "[manipulating] members into breaking up with life partners and spouses."[1] Later allegations stated that Kodzo had infiltrated the Black Hammer Party and engaged in forced labor against party members.[5]

Kodzo is known for his controversial social media presence. On January 24, 2021, he released a video wearing Joker makeup and calling Holocaust victim Anne Frank a "bleach demon," a "colonizer," a "parasite", and a "Karen," and claiming that he was going to burn copies of her diary for warmth.[7][8][9] According to The Forward, the group's membership began to decline around early August 2021 due to "Kevin Rashid Johnson of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party [accusing] the organization of being an undercover right-wing group trying to sow division within leftist movements."[9]

The organization under Kodzo's leadership has also opposed vaccination for COVID-19, and on September 15, 2021, led a protest outside the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in support of rapper Nicki Minaj, who at the time claimed to not have been vaccinated.[10][11] In December of the same year, Kodzo also claimed to have formed an alliance with far-right organization Proud Boys, and hosted a podcast alongside Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, claiming to be forming a "coalition to defeat the disgusting pedo-loving, welfare economy demoncrats [sic] and their puppet master, Big Pharma."[12][13] Kodzo began to distance himself from Black Lives Matter. He stated that this was "because of my stance on pedophilia and the fact that I started reading the Bible more."[13] The group has since supported the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[3]

Hammer City [ edit ] On May 3, 2021, the group announced that they had "liberated" 200 acres of land somewhere in Colorado, '' later revealed to be Beaver Pines, San Miguel County '' after raising over US$60,000 in donations (eventually reaching $112,000). Named the "Hammer City," they claimed through Facebook that the soil was "rich" and that "colonized people need their own land, their own space, their own modes of production [...]." However, on May 14, the group missed a deadline to sign the documents for acquiring the land, and on May 17, following reports of group members still squatting on the land while carrying firearms and wearing military gear, and after a brief armed standoff with a local man, the group was escorted out of the property by deputies of the San Miguel County police in the evening. The San Miguel County Sheriff later inspected the property, finding an unfinished footbridge over a drainage ditch, a real estate sign riddled with bullet holes, and 4-inch screws scattered on the road.[1][2]

Fayetteville police raid [ edit ] On July 19, 2022, police in Fayetteville, Georgia received an anonymous call from someone claiming to be held against their will in a home rented by the Black Hammer Party. A SWAT team was sent to search the home, where there were ten people inside. Nine walked out willingly, while an 18-year-old man identified as Amonte T. Ammons was killed by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head.[14][15] The duration of the standoff was several hours, and the surrounding neighborhood received a shelter-in-place order.[16] Gazi Kodzo was arrested and charged with aggravated sodomy, conspiracy, false imprisonment, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and street gang activity. Another man, an associate of Kodzo named Xavier H. Rushin, was also arrested and charged with kidnapping, assault, and false imprisonment.[17][6] The group is under joint investigation by the FBI and local authorities. According to a local street gang investigator, the group had been under surveillance by police for months prior to the incident.[4][18][19]

Russian influence operation [ edit ] On July 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice made public information about alleged Russian influence operations involving collaboration with American political organizations. It did not name the groups directly. However, based on the released information, the Black Hammer Party (allegedly "U.S. Political Group 2" in the released document) was among the groups implicated in these activities, according to multiple media reports.[20][21][4] According to these reports, the Black Hammer Party had received funding from Russian citizen Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, an individual with connections to the Russian government. This would have been used to fund the group's protest at the headquarters of Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company, due to the latter's censorship of posts supporting the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[20][21][19]

According to the released information, the implicated groups would have also received "direction or control over them on behalf of the FSB", through Ionov.[22][23] The Colorado Times Recorder (CTR) indicated that the Black Hammer Party was also linked to another group under investigation, the African People's Socialist Party, by way of Gazi Kodzo (referred to by the CTR as "August Romaine Jr.") who had been a key member in both organizations.[24]

^ a b c d Joyner, Chris (April 15, 2022). "The radical rise and cultish fall of the Black Hammers". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022 . Retrieved July 22, 2022 . ^ a b Stringer, Grant (February 8, 2022). "A Black separatist group's utopian dream for land near Telluride withered after an armed standoff". The Colorado Sun . Retrieved July 21, 2022 . ^ a b Thomas, WF (July 29, 2022). "Ex-Black Hammer members detail Gazi Kodzo's abusive 'cult,' which culminated in arrests for kidnapping and sexual assault". The Daily Dot . Retrieved July 30, 2022 . ^ a b c "Investigation with Florida ties focuses on separatist group Black Hammer". The Associated Press. The Tampa Bay Times. August 17, 2022 . Retrieved August 18, 2022 . ^ a b DiRienzo, Rob (July 22, 2022). " 'I could have been next': ex-members of extremist group on deadly hostage standoff in Fayetteville". WAGA-TV . Retrieved August 18, 2022 . ^ a b Sommer, Will (July 20, 2022). "Infamous 'Cult' Leader Arrested After Dead Body Found in Home". The Daily Beast . Retrieved July 22, 2022 . ^ Wu, Crystal (January 28, 2021). "Tweets calling Anne Frank, holocaust victims 'colonisers' spark disgust from NZ Jewish representative". Newshub . Retrieved July 22, 2022 . ^ Keene, Houston (May 5, 2021). "Communist group touts plans to burn Anne Frank's diary, calls her 'bleach demon' ". Fox News . Retrieved July 22, 2022 . ^ a b Fox, Mira (September 13, 2021). "How could anyone ever hate Anne Frank '-- why a fringe group declared war on the Holocaust's most famous victim". The Forward . Retrieved July 30, 2022 . ^ Fung, Katherine (September 15, 2021). "Fueled by Nicki Minaj's vaccine tweet, Atlanta protesters gather outside of CDC headquarters". Newsweek . Retrieved July 21, 2022 . ^ Asarch, Steven (September 16, 2021). "A viral Nicki-Minaj-themed anti-vaccine protest outside the CDC was led by a fringe political group called Black Hammer". Insider . Retrieved July 21, 2022 . ^ Goforth, Claire (December 14, 2021). "Black-led group claims it's formed a coalition with the Proud Boys'--that doesn't seem likely". The Daily Dot . Retrieved July 21, 2022 . ^ a b Fox, Mira (December 15, 2021). "Did the Proud Boys just embrace an antisemitic, anti-white group?". The Forward . Retrieved July 30, 2022 . ^ "Suspect arrested in Fayetteville SWAT standoff identified as leader of controversial 'cult' ". FOX5 Atlanta. July 21, 2022 . Retrieved July 21, 2022 . ^ Nunez, Gabriella (July 20, 2022). "2 men face kidnapping, aggravated assault charges following Fayetteville subdivision SWAT scene". 11 Alive . Retrieved July 22, 2022 . ^ Chheda, Manthan (July 26, 2022). "Who is Gadi Kodzo? Anti-White Cult Leader Arrested After Cops Find Dead Body at His Home". The International Business Times . Retrieved August 1, 2022 . ^ Burns, Asia Simone; Joyner, Chris; Prince, Chelsea; Hollis, Henri. "Atlanta fringe group linked to Fayetteville home at center of deadly shooting". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022 . Retrieved July 22, 2022 . ^ Joyner, Chris (August 16, 2022). "Feds investigating Black Hammer Party in wide-ranging criminal probe". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved August 18, 2022 . ^ a b Montgomery, Ben (August 22, 2022). "The rise and fall of Gazi Kodzo, the leader of a liberation group linked to Russia". Axios . Retrieved August 23, 2022 . ^ a b Joyner, Chris (July 29, 2022). "Atlanta group implicated in Russian influence scheme". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved July 30, 2022 . ^ a b Kan, Michael (July 29, 2022). "Russian Agent Paid US Group To Protest Facebook's Parent Meta". PCMag . Retrieved July 30, 2022 . ^ Strozewski, Zoe (July 29, 2022). "FBI Raids Florida Office Allegedly Used by Russia for Election Interference". Newsweek . Retrieved July 30, 2022 . ^ "Russian National Charged with Conspiring to Have U.S. Citizens Act as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government". Office of Public Affairs. U.S. Department of Justice. July 29, 2022 . Retrieved July 30, 2022 . ^ Beedle, Heidi (August 19, 2022). "Russian Influence Operation Targeted Black Separatist Group With Colorado Ties". The Colorado Times Recorder . Retrieved August 21, 2022 .

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Mon, 05 Sep 2022 18:15

Alexander Viktorovich Ionov (Russian: АÐ>>ÐµÐºÑÐ°Ð½Ð´Ñ Ð'иктоÑович Ðонов ; born December 12, 1989) is a Russian businessman and political figure living in Moscow. He is the head of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), which promotes secession movements in countries other than Russia.[1][2][3] In July 2022, the United States Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Ionov and on three groups he is said to lead, including the AGMR.[4]

Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR) [ edit ] Alexander Ionov, who began his political career in 2009 in Russia's Communist Party youth organization, became president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR) in 2011. In 2012, according to the Robert Lansing Institute, Ionov "got the diploma of technical service manager-economist at Moscow State Agro-Engineering University... He obtained his master's degree in 2014, in vocational education."[2]

In 2014, the AGMR hosted a small conference of secessionist groups whose speakers included Michael Hill head of "Southern secession" group the League of the South.[5] Ionov organized a larger conference in 2015, which became the first of several "Dialogue of Nations" events hosted by AGMR that brought representatives of many separatist groups to Moscow.[5] In addition to US and EU secessionist groups, the 2015 event in Moscow's President hotel included Russian-backed separatists from eastern Ukraine.[6] The 2015 event, billing itself as the International Russian Conservative Forum, was held in St. Petersburg on 22 March 2015.[7]

BBC News described AGMR's 2016 event as "a conference of Western secession movements," with representatives from secession-promoting groups based in California, Texas, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Northern Ireland.[8] Ionov told reporters that the Russian government supported the 2016 conference, contributing 30% of its cost, but denied that Russian government money was paid directly to any Americans.[3]

The AGMR also provided "Yes California" founder Louis J. Marinelli with office space in Moscow for what The New York Times described as "an 'embassy' of California in Russia."[9]

References [ edit ] ^ "La conexi"n moscovita del 'proc(C)s' con los hackers rusos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 4 October 2017 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . Encuentro en el barrio ms caro de Moscº con el abogado defensor de dos c(C)lebres 'piratas' rusos detenidos en Barcelona. Recibe dinero de Putin para promover movimientos de secesi"n occidentales y estos d­as quiso viajar a Catalu±a, donde, dice, el Gobierno de Espa±a "no deja que se hable ni se estudie en cataln" (Meeting in the most expensive neighborhood in Moscow with the defense attorney of two famous Russian 'pirates' arrested in Barcelona. He [Alexander Ionov] receives money from Putin to promote Western secession movements and these days he wanted to travel to Catalonia, where, he says, the Government of Spain "does not allow people to speak or study in Catalan") ^ a b "Who is managing online trolls in EU, Africa and Latin America?". Lansing Institute. 2 December 2019 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . Since 2011 '' he [Ionov] is the President of Russia's Anti-Globalist Movement (AGMR), also known as the regional public organization to counter world globalization. 'The reverse processes are beginning now '' the return to international solidarity, the Comintern,' '' Ionov is convinced, '' 'We are going to hold serious activities and support national liberation movements in different countries', he said. ^ a b "He's the founder of a Californian independence movement '' just don't ask him why he lives in Russia". Albuquerque Journal. 20 February 2017 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . Ionov is the founder of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, a group that supports various secessionist movements around the world. Last September, he put on a Kremlin-sponsored event in Moscow for Western secessionists that Martinelli and other representatives of Yes California attended. Reached via email, Ionov said that about 30 percent of the funding for the event came from the Russian government. ^ "Alexander Ionov case: US charges Russian with interfering in US politics". BBC. 30 July 2022 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . The US Treasury Department also announced sanctions against Mr Ionov, the AGMR and two other organisations allegedly controlled by him: the STOP-Imperialism website and Ionov Transcontinental, a company "which has a footprint in Iran, Venezuela and Lebanon". ^ a b Michel, Casey (12 August 2021). "The Kremlin's Malign Influence Inside the U.S." Free Russia Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . As the head of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR)'--the same group that hosted Michael Hill's neo-Confederate talk in 2014'--Ionov has served as one of the primary linchpins in Moscow's cultivation of American secessionists. In 2015, a few months after Smith's visit, Ionov organized his first 'Dialogue of Nations' conference. Ionov's AGMR hoped to build a group of Western secessionists capable of emulating the state fracture already underway in Ukraine. ^ "Russia funds Moscow conference for US, EU and Ukraine separatists". The Guardian. 20 September 2015 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . Among international participants were representatives of Sinn F(C)in, the Catalan Solidarity for Independence party .. as well as separatist groups from Hawaii and Puerto Rico and the US-based radical black power Uhuru Movement. Several representatives also spoke on behalf of the Russia-backed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics in eastern Ukraine, where the conflict between the pro-Russian rebels and the Kiev government has killed more than 6,500 people since April 2014. ^ "What's Behind Russian Support for World's Separatist Movements?". NBC News. 23 July 2016 . Retrieved 1 August 2022 . Alexander Ionov, head of the Anti-Globalist Movement of Russia, which is organizing the event...said that the Russian government's modest grant of $53,000 to accommodate dozens of guests will be supplemented by private donations from ''Texas and other countries'' that openly or clandestinely support the secessionist cause. ^ " 'Russian trolls' promoted California independence". BBC. 4 November 2017 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . Marinelli attended a conference of Western secession movements in 2016, along with representatives from similar groups from Texas, Puerto Rico and Northern Ireland. The conference was organised by the Anti-Globalisation Movement ^ "California Secession Advocate Faces Scrutiny Over Where He's Based: Russia". New York Times. 21 February 2017 . Retrieved 31 July 2022 . A Russian group, known as the Anti-Globalization Movement, which like Mr. Marinelli advocates the breakup of the United States, also offered him office space in Moscow to open an 'embassy' of California in Russia, and Mr. Marinelli accepted.

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Mon, 05 Sep 2022 18:10

Via Eritha's campaign page on FacebookHaven't heard of Eritha Akil(C) Cainion? Well, if she continues on her path of activism all will know her name. Right now, she's running for a seat on Florida's District 7 City Council. And she's just 22.

Born and raised in Southside St. Petersburg, Florida, she is running on the bold campaign slogan of ''Make the Southside Black Again.'' Her platform is one of empowerment and restoring economic life to the Black community. The election is August 27th.

Here are 10 things you should know about Eritha Akil(C) Cainion.

Her BeginningsCainion was October 22, 1996, just two days before a major happening in St. Petersburg. October 24, 1996, was the date of the historic Black community rebellions that happened in defense of TyRon Lewis, an 18-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by the St. Petersburg police.

While Cainion was still in the hospital, ''her father Bruce Cainion, traditionally known as Ntambwe Bhekizitha, was on the front lines of those rebellions, putting out fires that the city of St. Petersburg attempted to start in the Black community after dumping every ounce of tear gas they had in the city into this area,'' according to Cainion's campaign Facebook page.

ChildhoodCainion was primarily raised by her father and he instilled in her a fighting spirit and desire for justice. She was introduced at an early age to the Uhuru Movement and was educated early on about the struggle for justice for the Black community.

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Fighter For People Early On Even in school she fought for change. At St. Petersburg Collegiate High School she was elected student government secretary during her junior year and president in her senior year.

Cainion was in the National Honor Society and was accepted into an International Relations program that allowed her to travel and study in Rome, Italy. At the same time she maintained a job on college campus.

She graduated in 2015, receiving both her high school diploma and an Associates in Arts degree at just 18 years old.

Her PurposeWhile she excelled in school, Cainion felt there was a bigger purpose for her.''She was on target to attend her dream college in New York, but felt greater purpose in serving her community right here in St. Petersburg, Florida. At 20 years old, Akil(C) took on the international campaign for justice for three Black teenage girls drowned by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department, that traveled the country on a speaking tour and raised thousands of dollars towards legal fees,'' according to her campaign Facebook page.

Her CampaignsIn 2017, she ran for city council alongside her running mate Jesse Nevel for mayor. They were the first candidates in the world to run on a platform of reparations to the Black community. Their campaign made national news, and was featured in Ebony Magazine, the Washington Post, and on the popular radio show ''The Breakfast Club.'' During the campaign, Cainion led a march of over 200 people through the streets of downtown St. Petersburg demanding a city united through reparations.

Since her run, she was appointed as the Director of Agitation and Propaganda of the African People's Socialist Party (APSP), making her the youngest member to sit on the APSP's National Central Committee.

Beyond CampaigningCainion is currently the Editor-in-Chief of The Burning Spear newspaper and heads many other media institutions under this department.

She Had Other PlansInitially, Cainion had planned to move to New York and become an artist but decided on staying in her hometown and becoming a community leader.

Prison Reform''Her desire to fight against inequality and injustice started in middle school. When her uncle was sent to prison for 26 years, she decided to turn her attention to the marginalized,'' according to her campaign Facebook page. ''Anai watched the pain her young cousins were enduring without their dad being in their lives. His eldest was only in elementary school.''

''It pained me to see this man get locked up for 26 years. I saw my family flooding in tears. I couldn't articulate it at the moment. I knew I needed to be sad,'' Anai remembered.

Force For ChangeCainion believes African-American neighborhoods in St. Pete face the same issues that she saw while growing up. ''Anai has witnessed her community decrease while areas on the other side of Central Avenue flourished. Gentrification has forced a number of black people out of their community and into an uncertain future,'' according to her campaign's Facebook page.

''There's no economic development for this community. It's a horrible reality for Black people here in the city,'' Cainion said.

Economic EmpowermentThrough her campaign, Cainion is demanding economic development. She wants to see the16th Street District filled with Black commerce.

''Public safety and community control of the police also tops her list. She feels that the Black community should have a say over who comes into their neighborhoods. Anai wants the community to have the power to hire, fire, train and discipline the police who function in Black neighborhoods,'' according to her campaign Facebook page.

''They [white police] can't go along doing business as usual,'' she said.

The ArrestOn Dec. 20, 2017, Cainion was ''brutalized and arrested outside her home for defending a Black woman who was being harassed by a corner store petty merchant,'' The Weekly Challenger reported. Cainion was ''booked on petty charges such as disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence.''

''We cannot live like this anymore,'' Cainion declared.

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Mon, 05 Sep 2022 17:43

Published Jul. 29 | Updated Jul. 31

Federal law enforcement officials appear to be investigating members of the Uhuru Movement in St. Petersburg for alleged connections to a Russian government official who prosecutors say directed U.S. political groups in a campaign to sow division, spread pro-Russian propaganda and interfere in U.S. elections.

Federal agents executed search warrants Friday morning at multiple locations, including the Uhuru House at 1245 18th Ave. S.

The searches appear to be related to an indictment that was unsealed Friday against a Russian national who is accused of working with the Russian government and intelligence services in efforts to interfere in U.S. politics.

The FBI and St. Petersburg Police Department investigate the Uhuru House Friday in St. Petersburg. [ ANGELICA EDWARDS | Times ]Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, who lives in Moscow, orchestrated on behalf of the Russian government a yearslong ''foreign malign influence campaign against the U.S.,'' the Department of Justice said in a news release Friday. He worked with American political groups to inflame political discord and spread disinformation, prosecutors said.

The indictment refers to a group in St. Petersburg as ''U.S. Political Group 1,'' though it does not name the Uhurus specifically. At a news conference Friday, authorities declined to name the group or say where they had served three federal warrants this morning. However, St. Petersburg police confirmed Friday morning that federal agents served a warrant at the Uhuru House.

Later, Uhuru leaders held their own news conference.

''We can have relationships with whoever we want to make this revolution possible,'' said Eritha ''Akile'' Cainion, later adding, ''We are in support of Russia.''

Omali Yeshitela, a longtime leader of the St. Petersburg Uhuru Movement, said he and his wife were handcuffed and taken out of a home in St. Louis by agents showing guns Friday morning.

Yeshitela, who still owns property in St. Petersburg, denied taking money from the Russians, though he acknowledged he had visited Russia. The Uhuru Movement falls under the African People's Socialist Party, which Yeshitela formed.

''They have accused us of taking money from Russia,'' he said at a news conference Friday afternoon. ''We've never taken (money) from the Russian government. But I'm not saying that because I'm morally opposed from taking money from Russians or anyone else who wants to support the struggles for Black people.''

He said the U.S. government was using his group as a ''pawn'' in its propaganda war against Russia.

''Don't tell us that we can't have friends that you don't like,'' he said.

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Explore all your optionsTargeting U.S. political groupsIonov is the founder of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, an organization funded by the Russian government.

He used the organization to target political groups in the U.S. and other countries, including Ukraine, Spain, the U.K. and Ireland. The organization reached out to group leaders and paid for them to attend conferences in Russia, the indictment states.

''The purpose of the conferences was to encourage the participating groups to advocate for separating from their home countries,'' the indictment states.

Ionov established ''partnerships'' with some U.S. separatist groups, according to the indictment. He exercised control of the groups, providing financial support through Russia's national security service, and directed them to publish pro-Russian propaganda and information designed to foment political dissension and ''promote secessionist ideologies.''

The indictment refers to four of the St. Petersburg group's leaders as unindicted co-conspirators. Although they are not named, they include the group's founder and chairperson, another leader who lives in both St. Petersburg and St. Louis, and two others who ran for local political offices in 2017 and 2019.

The indictment also describes a fifth person who served as the group's secretary general until 2018. That year, the person left and formed a second group in Atlanta, which also engaged in activities to further Russian interests.

In May 2015, Ionov paid for the leader of the St. Petersburg group to travel to Russia to discuss future political cooperation, according to the indictment. For the next seven years, Ionov ''exercised direction and control over senior members'' of the St. Petersburg group. He used their leaders to foster discord in the U.S., spreading pro-Russia sentiments ''under the guise of a domestic political organization,'' prosecutors said.

In September 2015, the indictment alleges, Ionov again paid for the St. Petersburg group's leader to attend a ''Dialogue of Nations'' conference in Moscow. When he returned to Florida, the leader made clear to group members that Ionov's organization was an instrument of the Russian government and that they ''did not disturb us.''

A week later, in an email discussion, the St. Petersburg group's leaders wrote that it was ''more than likely'' that the Russian government was using Ionov's organization to sow division within the U.S.

The FBI and St. Petersburg Police Department investigate the Uhuru House Friday in St. Petersburg. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]Ionov and ''others acting at his direction'' engaged in ''agitprop'' or ''agitation and propaganda,'' the indictment states. They would write and send articles featuring pro-Russia material to the St. Petersburg group, instructing them to publish them in their media outlets.

He had members of the group provide him detailed information about their activities. He then compiled the information the groups gave him into reports that he then gave to Russian Federal Security Service officers and other Russian government officials, the indictment states.

In 2016, Ionov funded a ''four-city protest tour.'' The tour supported a ''Petition on Crime of Genocide Against African People in the United States,'' which Ionov directed the group to submit to the United Nations, prosecutors said.

Interference in local electionsHe also interfered in local elections. In 2017 and 2019, Ionov ''monitored and supported'' two of the St. Petersburg group's members in political campaigns, the government said.

Before the 2019 primary election, Ionov wrote to a Russian government official that he'd been ''consulting every week'' on a St. Petersburg candidate's campaign, according to the indictment. When the candidate advanced to the general election, a Russian Federal Security Service officer wrote to Ionov that ''our campaign is kind of unique,'' and ''are we the first in history?''

Ionov later sent additional details about the election to the officer, referring to the candidate ''whom we supervise.''

Uhuru-affiliated candidates ran for local office four times in 2017 and 2019.

Two of those candidacies belonged to Cainion, who spoke at Friday's Uhuru news conference.

A reporter asked Cainion if she was the person referred to in the indictment as ''unindicted co-conspirator 4.'' The indictment describes this person as the group's director of agitation and propaganda.

Cainion confirmed these details matched her. She would not say if she took money from Russia during her campaign.

''Russia is not in your community causing you to starve. Russia is not in your community pushing you out. Russia is not the St. Pete police department that killed TyRon Lewis in 1996,'' she said, referring to an 18-year-old shot and killed by police. ''It was not Russia, it was the U.S. government that did that.''

Cainion first ran for St. Petersburg City Council's District 6 seat in 2017. In a crowded primary field, she came in sixth, with about 7 percent of the vote. That primary was distinguished by a two-vote margin between current council member Gina Driscoll, who came in second and would eventually win the general election, and Robert Blackmon, who came in third and was eliminated from the race. Blackmon went on to win a city council seat in 2019. He lost last year's mayoral race to Ken Welch.

Cainion again ran for a council seat in 2019, this time for the neighboring District 7 seat. She advanced to the general election, where she was defeated by council member Lisa Wheeler-Bowman, who took more than 80 percent of the vote.

Blackmon said the news prompted shock and disbelief in his political circles, and that it underscored the need for legislative focus on election integrity. It also made him ponder his 2017 campaign for city council, he said.

''It certainly makes you wonder what if, and also to what extent the influence was exerted,'' he said. ''The good news is Gina Driscoll is a good person, and she's been a fine elected official.''

People in the local political community were surprised when the Uhuru movement didn't field a mayoral candidate for last year's election, Blackmon added.

Jesse Nevel ran for mayor in 2017 with the Uhuru movement's endorsement. In an election that was largely a battle between then-incumbent Rick Kriseman and former mayor Rick Baker, Nevel placed third in the primary with less than 2 percent of the vote. But he was at the center of national attention when he became the subject of a racist tirade by another candidate, Paul Congemi, who told Nevel, who is white, to ''go back to Africa.''

And in 2019, the Uhuru-backed activist Anne Hirsch ran for city council's District 5 seat. She came in last among five candidates in the primary. Deborah Figgs-Sanders ultimately won that seat in a close race against Trenia Cox.

Former Mayor Rick Kriseman said Friday's news had him reflecting on the 2017 election cycle, in which he said Nevel and his Uhuru backers struck an unusually contentious tone.

''There were a couple of debates, in fact one in particular where security actually escorted me and my family out,'' he recalled. ''It was certainly ratcheted up from anything I'd ever seen'' from the movement.

He was outraged by the allegations that elections had been tampered with in the city he led for eight years, he said. But he was unsurprised that they apparently failed, at least in getting Uhuru candidates elected.

''I think maybe Russia miscalculated in choosing St. Petersburg,'' he said.

Ionov maintained a relationship with the St. Petersburg group until March of this year, according to the indictment.

After Russian invasion of UkraineAfter Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the group repeatedly hosted Ionov by videoconference to discuss the war. During the meetings, Ionov falsely stated that anyone who supports Ukraine also supported Nazism and white supremacy, prosecutors said.

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg addresses the media during a news conference Friday in St. Petersburg. [ MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times ]In a report to the Russian Federal Security Service, Ionov wrote that he had enlisted the St. Petersburg group to support Russia in the ''information war unleashed'' by the West, prosecutors said.

The indictment also alleges Ionov similarly controlled two other American political groups, one in California and the other in Atlanta.

He is charged with conspiring to have U.S. citizens act as illegal agents of the Russian government. He is not in American custody.

''The facts and circumstances surrounding this indictment are some of the most egregious and blatant violations we've seen by the Russian government in order to destabilize and undermine trust in American democracy,'' David Walker, special agent in charge of the FBI's Tampa field office, said during the noon news conference.

Located at 1245 18th Ave. S in St. Petersburg, the Uhuru House is the local headquarters for the International Uhuru Movement. The group is part of a ''worldwide organization, under the leadership of African People's Socialist Party, uniting African people as one people for liberation, social justice, self-reliance and economic development,'' according to its website.

Eritha ''Akile'' Cainion alongside other members of the Uhuru Movement, led by African People's Socialist Party, speaks with the media outside the St. Petersburg Police Department headquarters Friday in St. Petersburg. [ MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times ]The Uhurus have a history of being critical of city leaders and the police department.

On Friday morning, 12th Avenue S and 18th Avenue S were closed off by multiple St. Petersburg police cars and multiple rows of caution tape. The Pan-African flag at the Uhuru house was blowing in the wind.

St. Petersburg police chief Anthony Holloway held a meeting before the news conference with local clergy to alert them to the coming announcement, said Rev. Kenny Irby, who works as a director of community intervention for the department.

''The chief was very clear that this was not an investigation done by the St. Petersburg Police Department,'' Irby said.

Bishop Manuel Sykes of Bethel Community Baptist Church was one of several people invited to the meeting with police, federal officials and community members.

''They wanted to demonstrate that they were working with the community, and it's not the FBI taking potshots at the Black community,'' Sykes said.

The idea of political candidates working for the Russian government was ''shocking,'' he said, but he was not surprised by the idea that Russians would target a disgruntled community.

''It shows you how close to home things actually are,'' Sykes said.

Times Staff writers Jack Evans, Zachary T. Sampson, Lawrence Mower and Michaela Mulligan contributed to this report.

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*Last month, several members of the African People's Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement were handcuffed and searched during an FBI raid in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Missouri.

The incident reportedly occurred amid allegations that the movement colluded with a Russian national to interfere in the 2016 elections.

The Department of Justice accused Aleksandr Ionov of using the Uhuru Movement to spread pro-Russian propaganda in the U.S. Per Moguldom , ''in an unsealed indictment , the U.S. Department of Justice accused APSP Founder and Chairman Omali Yeshitela, his wife Ona Zen(C) Yeshitela and other members of the Uhuru Movement of working with Ionov,'' the outlet writes.

According to DOJ head of national security Matthew Olsen, Ionov ''allegedly orchestrated a brazen influence campaign, turning U.S. political groups and U.S. citizens into instruments of the Russian government.''

OTHER NEWS: Vanessa Bryant Lawsuit: Pics of Kobe & Daughter's Corpses from Copter Crash Were Shared with Dozens | VIDEOs

The FBI murdered Fred Hampton. It infiltrated the Black Panthers and Civil Rights movement. It smeared Malcolm X and told MLK to kill himself. It backed CIA cocaine trafficking into Black communities. It just raided the Uhuru Movement. Jimmy Dore is not your enemy. The FBI is. https://t.co/5sfhjVDbvu

'-- The People's Party (@PeoplesParty_US) August 10, 2022

Leaders of the Uhuru Movement have clapped back at the accusations, Fox 2 reports.

''They have accused us of taking money from Russia,'' Omali said at a press conference in St. Louis on Friday, July 29. ''We've never taken a penny from the Russian government. '... The U.S. government is attempting to use us, the African People Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement, as pawns.''

Per the African People's Socialist Party's website , the organization aims to unite ''African people as one people for liberation, social justice, self-reliance and economic development.''

''We are being attacked because of our relationship with forces internationally who support the anti-colonial struggle,'' Uhuru member Akile Anai said , according to the Washington Post. ''What they are saying about Alex and this relationship with the Russian government '-- this is all the U.S. government's attempt to use us as pawns in a propaganda war against Russia.''

Ionov allegedly colluded with members of the Uhuru Movement and other groups in Georgia and California, according to Special Agent in Charge David Walker.

''The facts and circumstances surrounding this indictment are some of the most egregious and blatant violations that we've seen by the Russian government in order to destabilize and undermine trust in American democracy,'' Walker said.

Omali said at a press conference that they were ''forcibly detained by FBI agents '... without any meaningful explanation of what was going on.''

In a press release, the Uhuru Movement described the FBI raids as ''a series of violent military FBI orchestrated pre-dawn attacks at the offices and homes of leaders'' of the party.

FBI allegedly raided seven properties belonging to the Uhuru movement.

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Socialist and African internationalist movement

The Uhuru Movement (Pronounced is the Swahili word for "freedom")[1] is an American-based socialist and African internationalist movement founded in 1972 and led by the African People's Socialist Party (APSP),[2] whose chairman is Omali Yeshitela. It is centered on the theory of African internationalism, which it says provides a historical materialist explanation for the social and economic conditions of African people worldwide.

Political views and history [ edit ] The Uhuru Movement's political theory is African internationalism, which states that capitalism was born parasitic through the attack on Africa and its people.[3] African Internationalism holds that capitalism is imperialism developed to its highest stage,[4] not the other way around, as theorized by Vladimir Lenin.[5]

This belief derives from Karl Marx's 1867 book Capital, in which Marx wrote of the condition essential to the emergence of capitalism which he called the "primitive accumulation" of capital.[4] African Internationalism is not a static theory that only refers to past conditions, it refers also to the conditions that African people are faced with today. It refers to African people who live inside what it views as imperialist centers, such as the United States and Europe, as an "internal (or domestic) colony".[3] The Movement has called for the release of all African prisoners in U.S. prisons, described as "concentration camps", and has described U.S. police forces as an "illegitimate standing army". They have called for the withdrawal of police forces from exploited and oppressed African American communities.[6]

In the 1990s, tensions between the police in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the Uhuru Movement were high. Members of the Uhuru Movement frequently protested against the police's treatment of African Americans, usually after the murders of African Americans by police. On October 25, 1996, violence erupted after a white police officer shot and killed a young black man driving a stolen car.[7] Cars and buildings were torched, protestors shouted, and rocks, along with other items, were tossed at the police officers at the scene of the shooting. At least 20 protestors were arrested. The next day, a large group of Uhuru members went back to the scene and called for the release of the arrested protestors. Sobukwe Bambaata, one of the Uhuru members, stated that the rioting would have never occurred "if the police did not come into our community and treat us like dogs."[8]

Although violence broke out in 1996, most of the protests organized by the movement remained peaceful.[9][10]

Areas of work [ edit ] The Uhuru Movement is a collective of organizations and institutions that were formed by the African People's Socialist Party. Each organization was created to deal with specific issues related to the conditions faced by African people under colonialism:[citation needed ]

Political organizations [ edit ] The African People's Socialist Party is an African-only political party. Its leading body is the National Central Committee (NCC) which makes up the leadership of the Uhuru Movement.[citation needed ]The African Socialist International is the international manifestation of the African People's Socialist Party. Its job is to build Party organizations around the world and network with other revolutionary African organizations who unite with the principles of the party. Party members and institutions have been created in several European countries, the Caribbean and South America.[citation needed ]International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) works to fight the struggle for "Bread, Peace and Black Power". Located on three continents around the world, INPDUM seeks reparations, state power and self-government for African people worldwide.[11]African National Women's Organization (ANWO) is for African women who struggle against the colonial conditions that remove them from political life.[citation needed ] [ edit ] All African People's Development and Empowerment Project (AAPDEP) is an international organization establishing development projects in African communities worldwide. Its main work is in the areas of agriculture, education and healthcare. It recently completed a project to help Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone.[citation needed ]African People's Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) strives to develop and institutionalize programs to defend the human and civil rights of the African community, and to address the grave disparities in education, health, healthcare, and economic development faced by the African community.[citation needed ]Solidarity non-African political organizations [ edit ] African People Solidarity Committee (APSC) was founded in 1976 by the African People's Socialist Party (APSP) as a way for Euro-American and European (white) people to join the African liberation struggle, working directly under the leadership of the APSP.[citation needed ]Uhuru Solidarity Movement (USM) is an organization of white people created by and working directly under the leadership of the African People's Socialist Party.[citation needed ]Economic institutions [ edit ] The Black Power Blueprint in St. Louis, Missouri, is a Black Community Economic Development project led by and for the Black working class in St. Louis and Ferguson. It is a project of APEDF. It will result in a new Uhuru House African cultural center, One Africa, One Nation Marketplace, a community garden, and Uhuru Jiko Community Commercial Kitchen & Bakery Cafe and home of the Africans Independence Workforce Program.[citation needed ]Uhuru Furniture Philadelphia represents people in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who donate, shop and/or volunteer at the Uhuru Movement's second-hand furniture store in that city.[citation needed ]Uhuru Furniture Oakland represents people in Oakland who donate, shop and/or volunteer at the Uhuru Movement's second-hand furniture store in that city.[citation needed ]Uhuru Foods and Pies produces and sells the freshest foods to build self-sustaining economic development, designed for the prosperity and self-determination of present and future generations of African people worldwide.[citation needed ]Akwaaba Hall in Oakland, St. Louis, and St. Petersburg are located event rental spaces offered at a low cost to the community.[citation needed ]Media [ edit ] The Burning Spear Newspaper is the Uhuru Movement's newspaper. They call it "the voice of the international African Revolution".Burning Spear PublicationsUhuruNews.comBlack Power 96.3 St. PetersburgControversy and criticism [ edit ] In 2004, Uhuru Movement's leader Omali Yeshitela tore down a Halloween display in St. Petersburg, Florida, which depicted "a stuffed figure hung by the neck on a homemade gallows". Subsequent opinions[12] and letters[13] to the St. Petersburg Times regarding the incident were critical of both the Uhuru Movement and Yeshitela's conduct.[13]

The Uhuru Movement came to national attention during the 2008 Presidential campaign season when they interrupted Barack Obama at a town hall meeting in St. Petersburg and asked the candidate "What about the black community?",[14] alleging that he was not speaking out for Africans on issues such as police brutality, high unemployment, predatory lending, and Hurricane Katrina.[15]

The group was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for engaging in demonstrations on January 3, 2009, in St. Petersburg which the ADL claims encouraged anti-Israel and anti-Zionist rallies.[16]

In 2009, the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement organized a march in support of Lovelle Mixon and against the Oakland Police Department. Mixon, an Oakland, California, resident, had been accused of killing four Oakland police officers and died during a shootout after a traffic stop, coincidentally just blocks away from the local Uhuru headquarters.[17][18]

At the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, the General Students' Committee (AStA) broke apart in April 2015 as a consequence of internal dispute over purported antisemitism after having organized an information event about the Uhuru Movement on JGU campus in January.[19] The AStA distanced itself both from the Uhuru Movement, African People's Socialist Party and its leader Omali Yeshitela stating that "the struggle against racism and the consequences of colonialism should not blind us to other reactionary ideologies" and regretted providing a platform for this movement.[20]

The Uhuru Movement has been accused by state prosecutors of collaborating with alleged Russian foreign agent Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov to sow social divisions in the United States.[21] Members of the group have traveled to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to attend an anti-globalization conference, and the group has also acknowledged that it supports Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine.[22][23] On July 29, 2022, the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida, was raided by the FBI due to an indictment by a grand jury alleging a conspiracy between Ionov and the Uhuru movement to spread Russian disinformation under the guise of domestic political movements. An FBI Tampa Special agent said that "The facts and circumstances surrounding this indictment are some of the most egregious and blatant violations we've seen by the Russian government in order to destabilize and undermine trust in American Democracy."[24][25]

See also [ edit ] African nationalismAfrican socialismBlack PowerDead PrezUjamaaExternal links [ edit ] International People's Democratic Uhuru MovementUhuru MovementAfrican People's Socialist PartyAfrican Socialist InternationalReferences [ edit ] ^ Standard Swahili-English Dictionary, Frederick Johnson. Oxford University Press (1951), pp. 138, 491. ^ "African People's Socialist Party-USA - History". Asiuhuru.org . Retrieved 2013-01-05 . ^ a b "African People's Socialist Party-USA Constitution". uhurunews.com . Retrieved 2015-11-30 . ^ a b "War abounds! Break the Silence! Join the Black is Back march on Washington Nov 3rd". uhurunews.com . Retrieved 2015-11-30 . ^ "Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism". SocialistWorker.org . Retrieved 2018-11-15 . ^ "Platform '' The African People's Socialist Party". apspuhuru.org . Retrieved 2018-11-15 . ^ ROCHEMONICA DAVEYAMY WIMMER, TIM (October 25, 1996). "Violence, fires erupt after police kill driver". St. Petersburg Times . Retrieved November 25, 2018 . ^ Landry, Sue (October 26, 1996). "Uhurus protest police treatment of blacks". St. Petersburg Times . Retrieved November 25, 2018 . ^ Jackson, Mike (October 13, 1991). "Group protests handling of man's death at jail". St. Petersburg Times . Retrieved November 25, 2018 . ^ Tubbs, Sharon (November 17, 1996). "Marchers attempt to heal the rifts". Tampa Bay Times . Retrieved November 25, 2018 . ^ "About Us". inpdum.org . Retrieved 2015-11-30 . ^ "Uhurus vs. Halloween display". St. Petersburg Times. October 23, 2004. ^ a b "Uhurus went too far in destroying holiday display". St. Petersburg Times. October 23, 2004. ^ "Protestor Tells Why He Heckled Obama". NPR. 2008-08-04 . Retrieved 2013-01-05 . ^ Miller, Sunlen. "Protesters: "What About The Black Community, Obama?" ". ABC News. ^ "Israel's Action in Gaza Spurs Anti-Israel Rallies". adl.org. Anti-Defamation League. ^ "Dozens march for Mixon, against police", San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 2009. ^ "Calling him a 'true hero', mourners hold vigil for suspected Oakland cop killer Lovelle Mixon", New York Daily News; accessed June 13, 2016. ^ Schmidt, Carina (April 30, 2015). "Jusos und CampusGr¼n: Knatsch im AStA, Zusammenarbeit geplatzt/Streit um Referentin eskaliert". Allgemeine Zeitung. Archived from the original on September 17, 2015 . Retrieved September 17, 2015 . ^ "AStA distanziert sich von der Uhuru-Bewegung". General Students' Committee at the University of Mainz. Archived from the original on September 17, 2015. ^ "Russian charged with using US groups to spread propaganda". AP NEWS. 2022-07-29 . Retrieved 2022-07-30 . ^ Mazzei, Patricia (2022-07-29). "Russian National Charged With Spreading Propaganda Through U.S. Groups". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-07-30 . ^ "FBI investigating Russian interference possibly linked to St. Petersburg Uhuru Movement". Tampa Bay Times . Retrieved 2022-07-30 . ^ "DOJ alleges Russian national used St. Pete-based Uhuru Movement to spread propaganda". 29 July 2022. ^ "Florida political group defends its ties with Russia after FBI alleges they teamed up with Kremlin agents in a 'brazen' attempt to interfere with US elections".

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Benny Johnson : PROMPTER: ''Do you know how much we Reduced the deficit this year?''BIDEN:''Do you know how much Rededudenedefet thi'... https://t.co/lIAJZhdQfe

Mon Sep 05 20:23:24 +0000 2022

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Greg Price : Jean-Pierre refers to the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline as the ''Nordstrom'' pipeline https://t.co/CRXiQYSjQK

Tue Sep 06 16:45:00 +0000 2022

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Roller : 5th jab... the 5th will do what the other 4 couldn't do.. it's the science https://t.co/yB17ZvCZuO

Sun Sep 04 04:27:03 +0000 2022

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NewsHow much of the American taxpayer's money was sent to Big Pharma while they coerced citizens into a failed science experiment?By Jeremy Porter September 6, 2022

With September already here, the Democrats increased their campaigning efforts going into the 2022 midterm election. While not unusual for the parties to campaign ahead of a midterm election, the Democrats are incredibly worried, given the last few years have been somewhat lackluster for their party. Not only do many experts predict a major shift in Washington, D.C. as the GOP takes over, but Joe Biden's time in the White House continues to draw criticism. Hoping to change the predictions and help his party retain control, Biden left the White House and has already given two passionate speeches in the span of a week. Both times, he was sure to warn about the supposed most-dangerous movement in America, MAGA extremists. And if that wasn't enough, he now claims he miraculously beat Big Pharma.

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Celebrating Labor day by speaking to a group in Wisconsin, Joe Biden didn't shock Americans when he attacked former President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters. But what did was when he spoke about pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna. He explained that he helped beat Big Pharma. In the video below, Biden declared, ''Not this year. We beat Pharma this year. We beat Pharma this year, and it mattered. We're going to change people's lives. We finally beat Pharma.''

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Before his passionate antics on stage, Joe Biden suggested, ''You know, we pay more for our prescription drugs in the United States of America than any major country in the world '-- here in the United States. Okay? There's no reason for it. For the last several decades, many of us have been trying to fix the problem. But for decades, Big Pharma tried to block giving lower drug prices for those on Medicare or anywhere else.''

As for what Joe Biden had to say about MAGA supporters, ''I want to be very clear upfront, not every Republican is a MAGA Republican. Not every Republican embraces that extreme ideology. I know because I've been able to work with mainstream Republicans in my whole career. But the extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress have chosen to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate, and division.''

Again, not shocking to see Joe Biden go after Donald Trump and MAGA Supporters, but his comments about fighting Big Pharma come on the heels of a record year for both Pfizer and Moderna. In 2021, the companies released their annual report showing that Moderna profited $12.2 billion. Looking at Pfizer, which received a mountain of support from politicians and celebrities, gained a staggering $21.9 billion. And that doesn't even include that $10 billion in taxpayer money given to Moderna for vaccine development. But remember, that is what beating Big Pharma looks like.

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 16:51

lauras4Trump : The war in Ukraine is so bad that Zelensky had to ring the NYSE opening bellhttps://t.co/yrKfvuNMlj

Tue Sep 06 18:10:39 +0000 2022

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 16:37

Benny Johnson : BRUTAL - Jill Biden got a standing ovation after the Obama's introduced her and she called Joe out for sitting."J'... https://t.co/PvDUpV4pO3

Wed Sep 07 19:31:26 +0000 2022

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Thu, 08 Sep 2022 16:35

Tom Elliott : WH monkeypox coordinator Demetre Daskalakis: We're "signaling to people who are in the gay/ bisexual/other-men-who-'... https://t.co/r07VIMPVev

Wed Sep 07 19:57:38 +0000 2022

Working Class of the Coding Class : @tomselliott The Biden admin is being uncannily honest about Monkeypox. Literally much more so than they are about'... https://t.co/l2yFZrlnpS

Thu Sep 08 16:34:12 +0000 2022

StopTheInsanity : @tomselliott So he coordinates the Monkey Pox ?

Thu Sep 08 16:25:19 +0000 2022

Former MAGA; presently ULTRA MAGA : @tomselliott So, is it a disease that affects only those who have sex with men? Lesbians are safe? 🤷

Thu Sep 08 16:22:58 +0000 2022

PDXBlazersFan1988 : @tomselliott I mean, I guess it's good to have someone from the at risk community to be in charge of the messaging?

Thu Sep 08 16:16:57 +0000 2022

AFFIDAVIT_REDACTED '—¼¸'—¼¸'—¼¸'—¼¸ : @tomselliott ''This is a pandemic of the unvaginated''- Demetre Daskalakis, probably

Thu Sep 08 16:14:30 +0000 2022

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Bernie's Tweets : CANADA - Trudeau stating in order to avoid restrictions this winter, 80 - 90% of the population must comply. It'... https://t.co/PWnx56Puxg

Mon Sep 05 13:00:09 +0000 2022

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Disclose.tv : NOW - EU will propose a "mandatory target for reducing electricity use at peak hours" in order to "flatten the curv'... https://t.co/mffIgkvB81

Wed Sep 07 10:38:50 +0000 2022

celestal : @disclosetv How about just increasing the production of cheap electricity instead of regressing into 1600's with wi'... https://t.co/s4vIMtFTzA

Thu Sep 08 15:23:27 +0000 2022

Frankie : @disclosetv Will you and your family be reducing your energy consumption? @vonderleyen

Thu Sep 08 15:20:45 +0000 2022

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WH Covid press briefing: Covid booster is reason 'God gave us two arms'

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Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House's COVID-19 coordinator, raised eyebrows on Tuesday for describing his recommendations for annual COVID boosters along with flu shots as "why God gave us two arms."

Biden administration health officials took part in a press briefing on the ongoing coronavirus response where Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested that annual COVID-19 boosters may be needed, comparing them to flu shots.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that looking forward with the COVID-19 pandemic, in the absence of a dramatically different variant, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated COVID-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population," Fauci said.

(C) AP Photo/Susan Walsh White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Jha agreed with the recommendation and further said the combination of the coronavirus vaccine and the flu shot are the reason human beings have two arms.

MEDIA CRITICS NOT BUYING 'STARTLING' BIDEN WHITE HOUSE EFFORTS TO BLAME TRUMP FOR COVID SCHOOL WOES

"I really believe this is why God gave us two arms, one for the flu shot and the other one for the COVID shot," Jha said.

Social media users mocked Jha's comments as "insane" for framing boosters shots in a religious light.

"What," National Review journalist Claude Thompson replied.

Townhall.com columnist Philip Holloway tweeted, "Jha thinks God gave us arms for the purpose of getting shots. The lack of self-awareness by TheExperts' is off the charts crazy. Of course if Covid is your religion, this makes sense."

American Conservation Coalition VP Stephen Perkins joked, "Is that passage in the KJV or the NIV Bible?"

"False. God did not intend for us to be Big Pharma guinea pigs. Also, way to hijack the beautiful quote, 'God gave us two ears and one month so we can listen twice as much as we speak,'" journalist Allison Royal wrote.

(C) (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) FILE - A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic at the Keystone First Wellness Center in Chester, Pa., on Dec. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) "These people are batsh*t insane," radio host Clay Travis tweeted.

Former journalist Beth Baumann wrote, "I'm telling Jesus straight up... 'hard pass.'"

In July, Jha admitted that he believes the coronavirus will be with us "forever" despite President Biden's campaign promise to "shut down" the virus.

FLASHBACK: MSNBC, CNN, AND MORE BASH TRUMP FOR WANTING TO REOPEN SCHOOLS, CLAIM IT IS NOT SAFE

Jha was also one of many media and Democrat figures who went back on his original declaration that schools were not safe enough to open during the pandemic.

In August 2020, he suggested that schools were not prepared enough to open for the new year, but by December, he claimed that school lockdowns "shouldn't even be on the table" despite rising cases from the omicron variant.

Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

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September 5, 2022 Campaign 20222022-09-05T17:41:32-04:00 https://ximage.c-spanvideo.org/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwaWN0dXJlcy5jLXNwYW52aWRlby5vcmciLCJrZXkiOiJGaWxlc1wvMDhlXC8wMDFcLzE2NjI0MTQ1MzBfMDAxLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciIsImhlaWdodCI6NTA2fX19 President Biden campaigned for John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominees in Pennsylvania's 2022 races for U.S. Senate and governor, at a Labor Day event at a United Steelworkers union hall in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced Lt. Gov. Fetterman to speak, and President Biden was introduced by Thomas Conway, the United Steelworkers international president. During his remarks, President Biden talked about the political support organized labor groups gave him early in his career as an elected officials, and encouraged those in attendance to vote for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm elections. Afterward, he met and took pictures with many of those in attendance.President Biden campaigned for John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominees in Pennsylvania's 2022 races for U.S. Senate and'... read more

President Biden campaigned for John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominees in Pennsylvania's 2022 races for U.S. Senate and governor, at a Labor Day event at a United Steelworkers union hall in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced Lt. Gov. Fetterman to speak, and President Biden was introduced by Thomas Conway, the United Steelworkers international president. During his remarks, President Biden talked about the political support organized labor groups gave him early in his career as an elected officials, and encouraged those in attendance to vote for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm elections. Afterward, he met and took pictures with many of those in attendance. close

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Arsonist with flamethrower burns hole in African flag at Uhuru HouseSurveillance video provided by the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg shows a man use a flamethrower to burn the African flag raised in front of the community center.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Just before 10 a.m. Saturday, a white Honda sedan pulled into a parking spot at the suspect pulls into a parking spot outside the Uhuru House Black community center in St. Petersburg. The driver stayed in the car for about five minutes before popping the trunk and retrieving something from inside.

Surveillance cameras at the Uhuru House recorded as the person walked across the parking area, carrying the roughly 4-foot long object. Then they hold it up and a massive stream of fire shoots from the end.

It was a flamethrower and the suspect was apparently there to torch the red, black, and green flag raised in front of the center.

The arsonist sprays the nearly 8-foot flame, on and off for about 30 seconds, before pacing back to the car, putting the flamethrower into the truck, and driving off.

African flag outside St. Pete Uhuru House was burned by an arson suspect who had a flamethrower (Uhuru House)

A photo of the flag shared by a volunteer at the house shows a black-singed hole in the flag of Africa.

Officials in St. Petersburg now hope someone recognizes the car or the suspect and will turn them in.

Photo provided by Uhuru House volunteers shows the vehicle they say was driven by the arson suspect who used a flamethrower to burn the African flag (Uhuru House)

The St. Petersburg Fire Department was called to make sure no remnants of fire posed any dangers. Crews said nearby palm trees were also damaged by the flames.

Thankfully, no major damage or injuries were reported, but the incident is upsetting for those who see the Uhuru House as a place of peace and community.

The Uhuru organization's goal is to unite and uplift African people across the globe for the shared purposes of social justice and economic development.

The suspect's motive for burning the African flag outside the Uhuru House was unclear.

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect is asked to call the St. Petersburg Police Dept. at 727-893-7780 or text SPPD plus the information to TIP411.