| Facebook Will Restrict Certain Users If US Election Gets “Extremely Chaotic or Violent”Posted: 22 Sep 2020 08:44 AM PDTEarlier this week, Facebook gave us a welcome break from the virtue-signaling by threatened to pull its business from Europe should courts uphold an EU-wide ban on transfering European user data to US-based servers (something Washington is desperately trying to stop TikTok from doing, in a sense).But that didn’t last long. On Tuesday, the social media giant’s head of global communications, former deputy PM Nick Clegg, told the Financial Times that the company is developing contingency plans should the US election lead to an outbreak of chaos and uncertainty. Though he didn’t go into too much detail, the implication is clear: Facebook is planning to significantly curtail speech on its platform, echoing the Internet blackouts utilized by authoritarian regimes.Clegg preferred to call them the “break-the-glass” options, and assured readers that they probably wouldn’t happen anyway.In an interview with the Financial Times, Nick Clegg, the company’s head of global affairs, said it had drawn up plans for how to handle a range of outcomes, including widespread civic unrest or “the political dilemmas” of having in-person votes counted more rapidly than mail-in ballots, which will play a larger role in this election due to the coronavirus pandemic. “There are some break-glass options available to us if there really is an extremely chaotic and, worse still, violent set of circumstances,” Mr Clegg said, though he stopped short of elaborating further on what measures were on the table. The proposed actions, which would probably go further than any previously taken by a US platform, come as the social media group is under increasing pressure to lay out how it plans to combat election-related misinformation, voter suppression and the incitement of violence on the November 3 election day and during the post-election period.Of course, post-election day indecision is nothing new in American politics, though it will be the first time we’ve seen one since Facebook was founded in 2004. It also comes – as the FT none-too-subtly points out – as “conerns mount that even US president Donald Trump himself could take to social media to contest the result or call for violent protest, potentially triggering a constitutional crisis.”But don’t worry: Because as Clegg explains, Facebook has done this before in “other parts of the world.”“We have acted aggressively in other parts of the world where we think that there is real civic instability and we obviously have the tools to do that [again],” Mr Clegg added, citing the previous use of “pretty exceptional measures to significantly restrict the circulation of content on our platform”.Facebook has also taken several steps to immediately step up and address any harmful activity that might emerge on its platform during the election. Citing unnamed sources, the FT says Facebook has planned for more than 70 scenarios, and that any high-stakes decisions will fall to a team of executives including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. The company is employing a range of experts, including military planners, to help the company’s leadership make the best decisions possible.“We’ve slightly reorganised things such that we have a fairly tight arrangement by which decisions are taken at different levels [depending on] the gravity of the controversy attached,” Mr Clegg said. The executive also said that “the amount of resources we are throwing at this is very considerable”. Facebook will have a virtual war room – dubbed its “Election Operations Centre” – for monitoring for suspicious activity and updating its “voter information hub”, which will showcase verified results to users, he said.It all comes as Facebook faces mounting pressure from Democrats and their allies in the media and Hollywood to censor controversial voices (“hate speech” and “misinformation”). Teen Vogue reported Tuesday that Selena Gomez ‘DMed’ Mark Zuckerberg to ask him to please stop “hate, misinformation, racism and bigotry.”How brave.Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permissionThe post Facebook Will Restrict Certain Users If US Election Gets “Extremely Chaotic or Violent” appeared first on We Are Change. |
| Police Surround and Arrest Two Elderly Women Resting on Park Bench for ‘COVID Violation’Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:52 PM PDT“Victoria Police have lost all commonsense,” one Australian eyewitness quipped upon posting a video showing police telling a 38-week pregnant woman she can’t sit down due to coronavirus and social distancing enforcement measures.It’s one of many recent viral videos to come out of Australia’s southeast state of Victoria, home to Melbourne, showing absurd “crackdowns” by police for alleged coronavirus policy violators. “As a pregnant woman I can’t sit in the park?” the incredulous woman whose story was covered widely in local media asked the couple of officers who harassed her.Apparently not… because COVID. “You can only be out of your house for one of four reasons,” the officer responded. “One of those would be exercise. Sitting in a park is not one of the four reasons.”We all ready knew it but now it’s confirmed. Victoria Police have lost all commonsense. Apparently 38 week pregnant women can’t stop for a breather on a park bench. pic.twitter.com/6RGI9GhN8f— Damo Pelham? (@DamoPelham) September 10, 2020The woman reasoned, “So, I’m pregnant and obviously my exercise is limited because I have to walk I’m now puffed out because I’m 38 weeks pregnant. So, even I can’t sit in a park, is that right?”“You can only be out for one of the four reasons,” the officer asserted, explaining that her designated one-hour of exercise outdoors still includes certain restrictions (as if free citizens are under a prison regimen!).But the above scene which unfolded earlier this month is nothing compared to another recent moment caught on video of police surrounding two old ladies resting on a park bench in Melbourne.This one made national media in Australia and is still going viral across the world after it happened during the first week of September:Truly disgusting ? – I thought we were supposed to be looking after our elderly?How many cops for two little old ladies? https://t.co/yb9R6nEIsd pic.twitter.com/wHqzT5HdG4— val glass (@AussieVal10) September 5, 2020Here’s how national news source news.com.au described the scene unfold:Dramatic footage has captured a bizarre stand-off between five police officers and two elderly women sitting on a Melbourne park bench.The video posted to YouTube on Sunday showed the officers surrounding the two women as one of them said firmly: “No, I’m not standing up”.“On what grounds am I under arrest? This is unlawful,” the woman said.The officers snatched a mobile phone from one of the elderly women as soon as she took it out to start recording the encounter.They were then threatened with arrest for allegedly refusing to show identification – all because police literally wouldn’t let them sit down to rest, supposedly in violation of coronavirus measures.In yet another incident police entered a pregnant woman’s home and arrested her for merely planning an anti-lockdown protest on Facebook.A young mum who was arrested at her Ballarat home over a ‘Freedom Day’ protest says she plans to fight her incitement charge. Zoe Buhler’s arrest sparked international outrage as it was live-streamed on Facebook, but a top cop has defended the move. | @JaydeCotic pic.twitter.com/ohOwKzRryK— 10 News First Melbourne (@10NewsFirstMelb) September 3, 2020This also unfolded in Victoria.“Pregnant mum Zoe Buhler’s arrest is dictatorial and dangerous.” Great piece by Caroline Overington. https://t.co/HRCsxRSpng— Sharri Markson (@SharriMarkson) September 3, 2020Protests have sprung up in various major cities across the Australian continent over authorities’ ultra-restrictive coronavirus lockdown measures, which judging by these and other incidents are among the most stringent and far-reaching in the world.Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permissionThe post Police Surround and Arrest Two Elderly Women Resting on Park Bench for ‘COVID Violation’ appeared first on We Are Change. |
| Huge Trove of Epstein Flight Logs to Be Revealed, “Sparking Panic” Among Pedophile’s Wealthy FriendsPosted: 21 Sep 2020 04:45 PM PDTThe flight logs for Jeffrey Epstein’s private planes, including his “Lolita Express” jet, have been subpoenaed by the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands, in a move that is believed to have sparked a panicked response from the wealthy and elite figures who partied with the deceased pedophile and disgraced financier.Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George has demanded that detailed lists documenting every passenger to step onboard his aircraft be handed over, so that courts can shed further light on the crimes he carried out while residing in his opulent mansion in the U.S. territory.The lists would encompass anyone who flew on his four helicopters and three planes spanning the years 1998 until August 2019, when Epstein allegedly ‘killed’ himself in a New York jail while facing a potential prison sentence of up to 45 years on charges of pedophilia and sex trafficking.The subpoena is a part of a broader against Epstein’s estate filed by the Virgin Islands’ attorney general, which alleges 22 counts including human trafficking, aggravated rape, forced labor, prostitution, child abuse and neglect, reports The Mirror.Attorney General George is also demanding that all “complaints or reports of potentially suspicious conduct” be handed over, along with the names and contact details of those who worked for the pilots or “interacted with or observed” Epstein and any passengers associated with him be handed over.Previous logs from 2009 detailing the names of flights by pilot David Rodgers resulted in a bombshell in world media after prominent figures including Bill Clinton, Prince Andres, Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker and Naomi Campbell had each been on board the so-called “Lolita Express” jet.However, their mere presence on the jet does not suggest that they were aware of Epstein’s grave misconduct.“The records that have been subpoenaed will make the ones Rodgers provided look like a Post-it note,” a source told the outlet. “There is panic among many of the rich and famous.”According to attorneys for Epstein’s victims, the 2009 logs don’t include the voluminous records of flights by chief pilot Larry Visoski, who flew for Epstein for over 25 years.The news comes as British socialite and alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, continues to be held in a New York jail on charges that she assisted Epstein in grooming and sexually abusing young women and girls.In July, U.S. prosecutors ordered the unsealing of over 80 documents, totaling hundreds of pages, that meticulously detailed Maxwell’s dealings with Epstein, her former boyfriend and associate.The documents included flight logs from Epstein’s private jets, details about Maxwell’s sex life that lawyers had tried to prevent the release of, and the transcript of a seven-hour, 418-page deposition Maxwell had given which her attorneys describe as “extremely personal [and] confidential.”Like her former partner Epstein, Maxwell is intensely well-connected with various members of political and business elites. Photographs have long circulated of Maxwell posing at social events with prominent figures drawn from political, cultural, and financial elites, yet those captured in photos with her deny any knowledge of her wrongdoing. Maxwell is known to have attended nearly every high society social gathering in New York City for a number of years.Republished from TheMindUnleashed.com with permissionThe post Huge Trove of Epstein Flight Logs to Be Revealed, “Sparking Panic” Among Pedophile’s Wealthy Friends appeared first on We Are Change. |
| Deutsche Bank Money Laundering Scandal Could Create Greatest Economic Crisis in HistoryPosted: 21 Sep 2020 12:39 PM PDTDeutsche Bank, along with several of the world’s biggest commercial banks, are embroiled in a global money laundering scandal that spans over two decades, as documents leaked to BuzzFeed show the movement of $2 Trillion in illicit cash through the Western banking establishment.The cache of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) detailing years of potentially illegal banking transactions were shared with 108 news organizations in 88 countries, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). These records are a requirement for any financial institution that engages in dollar-denominated transactions anywhere in the world and are filed with the Treasury Department’s intelligence unit, the Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network or FinCEN.The more than 2,100 SARs released to the press are considered “historical” documents by the implicated banks, who responded with their usual Pontius Pilate routine when reached for comment by the media and washed their hands of the matter by claiming to have fulfilled their legal obligation before the U.S. Treasury “as part of our partnership with regulators and law enforcement to protect the global financial system,” as a Deutsche Bank statement puts it.The Trump-linked German bank is, by far, the most beset by the suspicious activity records totaling well over half of the $2 Trillion-dollar sum the FinCEN Files trace, with approximately $1.3 Trillion of it moving through the scandal-plagued financial institution. Most of the press coverage in the U.S., so far, has focused on the ties to Russian oligarchs and assorted narratives that are hovering over election-year American political discourse. Deutsche Bank’s central role, nevertheless, betrays a far greater problem as the bank’s potential collapse could send the financial world into a tailspin and result in the greatest economic crisis in history.1MDBAs European bank stocks tumble amid the revelations, FinCEN condemned the unlawful disclosure of the SARs to the press and warned that it could “impact the national security of the United States.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is in the middle of the largest asset-recovery effort in U.S. history, filing its latest complaint regarding $300 Million the department is attempting to recover for an $11.7 Billion Malaysian sovereign wealth fund called 1MDB, one of the major cases highlighted by ICIJ in its report on the leaked SARs.Absent from most coverage of the FinCEN leaks, however, is how all of these banks and financial institutions are not only laundering trillions, but are doing so together and in consort with each other, as is plainly demonstrated in the 1MDB fraud case. Most publications point the finger at JP Morgan Chase as the entity that moved more than $1 Billion for Jho Low, one of the 1MDB’s central figures, but they fail to mention the role of Goldman Sachs, which orchestrated a significant part of the scheme that defrauded the Malaysian people and led to criminal charges against 17 of its current and former executives, including Goldman Sachs former vice-chairman and now president of Chinese mega eCommerce platform Alibaba, Michael Evans.The Malaysian government recently agreed to drop charges against Goldman Sachs after a $2.5 Billion-dollar settlement was reached with the giant investment bank; nearly a fourth of the $10.5 billion-dollar debt hole it created for Malaysia’s ruling coalition, resulting in the cancelation of major infrastructure projects. Deutsche Bank was also involved in the multi-pronged attack of the Western financial vultures on the Malay through the provision of hundreds of millions in stock-buy-back loans through the 1MDB fund for the former prime minister, who was convicted in July of graft.A Hit Job?The ostensible purpose of the 1MDB fund was to finance infrastructure projects, like the oil and gas pipeline projects shelved as a result. But, according to a report by Business Insider, the money “veered into lavish spending,” such as art purchases, and, quite fittingly, to the production of the “The Wolf of Wall Street” – a story about the unmitigated fraud and graft that the very same people and institutions ensnared in this scandal carry out day in and day out.It is reported that former Goldman Sachs CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, met with the disgraced Malaysian PM and the fugitive businessman, Jho Low, before the fund’s debut in 2009. Another lawsuit brought against Goldman Sachs details the investment bank’s “central role in a long-running effort to corrupt former executives” of An Abu Dhabi wealth fund called International Petroleum Investment Corporation and its subsidiary, Aabar Investments, which partnered with the 1MDB, calling it “a massive, international conspiracy to embezzle billions of dollars.”Few can argue with that characterization, but as the chickens come home to roost, it is important to keep an eye on who gets exposed and who doesn’t; who gets punished and who doesn’t. The FinCEN Files are meant to draw most of the attention to Deutsche Bank and has all the hallmarks of a premeditated hit on one of the lynchpins of the prevailing financial structure. Much like Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns were sacrificed for the subprime mortgage crisis and opened the door for even greater consolidation among the “too-big-to-fail” banks, a calculated take-down of Deutsch Bank will, no doubt, allow for a similar consolidation to occur at a far larger scale.Deutsche Bank: Suspected of facilitating funds to Daesh in IraqRepublished from MintPressNews.com under Creative CommonsThe post Deutsche Bank Money Laundering Scandal Could Create Greatest Economic Crisis in History appeared first on We Are Change. |
