State Department Pleads Fifth When Asked About American Detained in Ukraine

American YouTuber and columnist Gonzalo Lira was arrested in Ukraine at the start of May because he “publicly justified” the Russian invasion, according to a press release by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The statement says that Lira “has the citizenship of one of the countries of Latin America” but omits that he is also California-born U.S. citizen.

Lira is a resident of Kharkiv, Ukraine and was an outspoken critic of the nation’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Lira has written financial columns, published in Business Insider and even here at ZeroHedge. His Twitter account is still up, and a brief look reveals that — whether you agree with him or not on all stances — his opinions are largely in line with much of the American right. The SBU claimed to have confiscated “mobile phones and a computer with evidence of illegal activity” from Lira’s apartment but no such evidence was made public.

Lira has been charged under sections 2 and 3 of Article 436-2 of Ukraine’s criminal code, which was augmented at the start of the invasion to criminalize the “distribution of materials” that justify Russia’s actions in Ukraine going back to 2014. The law specifically outlaws portraying any military dispute “financed by [the] Russian Federation” in Ukraine as an “internal civil conflict,” a law The New York Times and Wired Magazine are in violation of. 

The Ukrainian government has frequently claimed that the violent conflicts in the Donbas region — which killed over 10,000 people between 2014 and 2020 — were financed and armed by the Russians. However, a former NATO official in charge of investigating arms shipments into the Donbas from 2014 to 2018 found that “there were no deliveries of weapons and military equipment from Russia” and instead that most arms were smuggled by defecting Ukrainian soldiers. This official could have been imprisoned under Article 436-2 as well.

Lira faces up to 13 years in prison if he is convicted of both charges.

Of course, American journalists are not as indignant over Lira’s arrest as they are over that of Evan Gershkovich, the WSJ reporter being detained in Russia. Federal Reserve minion Nick Timairos did not change his Twitter profile to signal “solidarity” with Lira.

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Russia Claims They Collected Evidence of Avian Flu Pathogens with Lethality Rate up to 40% in Humans at US Biolab in Ukraine

It wasn’t that long ago that Mitt Romney was threatening former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for suggesting the US was funding biolabs in Ukraine.

Back in March 2022, RINO Senator Mitt Romney accused former Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of spreading ‘treasonous lies’ for simply talking about the US-funded biolabs in Ukraine.

“There are 25+ US-funded biolabs in Ukraine which if breached would release and spread deadly pathogens to US/world.” Gabbard said at the time.

As Banks Fail and Americans Scramble to Protect Retirement Accounts With Physical Gold and Silver, A Faith-Based Company Shows Them How

“We must take action now to prevent disaster. US/Russia/Ukraine/NATO/UN/EU must implement a ceasefire now around these labs until they’re secured and pathogens destroyed,” she added.

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Head of RT Calls for Lindsey Graham’s Assassination After Edited Video

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s recent comments during his Friday meeting with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in the war-torn country caused outrage and fury in Moscow, with the head of RT Margarita Simonyan calling for his assassination.

In a video clip of the meeting, Graham’s comments were spliced in a way that made it seem that the Senator stated that the fact that Russians “are dying” in the invasion is “the best money we’ve ever spent.” In fact, Graham said that the U.S. aid to Ukraine—and not specifically the deaths of the Russians—was a valuable investment in global security for the United States.

“Senator [Lindsey] Graham has something to compare with. One of their [US] investments led to World War II and the Holocaust,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed in a statement on Telegram. State TV host Vladimir Solovyov followed Zakharova’s lead on his program, Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, as he angrily exclaimed: “Your dirty American money also fully supported the Nazi regime in Germany! You are a Nazi beast and you’re following in the footsteps of your predecessors. I’ll repeat it once again: you will croak, but the Russian people will live forever!”

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U.S. government says it owns everyone’s THOUGHTS, calling it “cognitive infrastructure”

The fight is on to hold the United States government responsible for colluding with social media companies to censor Americans’ free speech rights online.

Missouri v. Biden, which was filed on May 5, 2022, has been taking quite the trip through the court system. It was amended three separate times, most recently to add an amendment that transforms the case into a class action suit due to the sheer number of Americans impacted by the government’s crimes.

Uncover DC has been tracking the case, offering play-by-play details about what has been happening with the case over the past year. The plaintiffs, including the states of Missouri and Louisiana, pushed for expedited discovery to obtain a limited set of evidence and depositions from certain individuals.

“They argued that this evidence would allow them to make the case for a temporary injunction to stop the government from infringing on the first amendment rights of Plaintiffs and their citizens,” Uncover DC reported.

The judge granted the motion for expedited discovery and depositions, prompting a fight between the government and the judge, in this case Judge Terry Doughty. In short, the defendants want to stop all discovery and certain plaintiffs from being deposed.

(Related: In 2021, a Missouri court declared that the Wuhan coronavirus [Covid-19] mandates and restrictions imposed by “the whims of public health bureaucrats” are illegal.)

Is Missouri v. Biden the reason why the deep state is trying to ram through the RESTRICT Act?

In its argument against expedited discovery and depositions, the government tried to claim that forcing government workers to sit for lengthy depositions is inappropriate, especially for the head of CISA, who was summoned.

Fortunately for the plaintiffs, Judge Doughty disagreed, forcing the CISA head, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and other alleged co-conspirators to sit down and tell all about what they did to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights.

Psaki, as you may recall, made threats to social media companies straight from the podium, which prompted her being deposed. She then left her White House position, conveniently.

Over and over again, the government has lost every single time so far in Missouri v. Biden. And it appears as though Americans may finally be winning, at least in the sense that we can now see what has really been going on behind closed doors.

Tony Fauci, at one point, was also deposed. This prompted the government to try to seal all depositions and video, claiming that government “employees” were being threatened – though it could provide no such proof to back this claim.

Meanwhile, it was revealed throughout this process that CISA has categorized people’s “thoughts” as being part of the government’s infrastructure – meaning the government believes it owns whatever activity takes place inside your head.

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Texas Tries To Rein in False Accusations of Child Abuse

A bill designed to limit false accusations of child abuse is now heading to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk—one of several attempts to reform the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).

The bill was introduced last November by Texas state Rep. Valoree Swanson (R–Spring). The bill—which has largely gained support along partisan lines—will ban anonymous reports to the state’s child abuse hotline—instead requiring all callers to provide their name, phone number, and address. The bill also requires reporters of abuse to include “the facts that caused the individual to believe the child has been abused or neglected and the source of the information.”

While anonymous reports of abuse and neglect to the state’s hotline are prohibited under the legislation, the identity of those reporting abuse will remain confidential, except to DFPS and law enforcement officials. These measures, according to the bill’s supporters, are specifically designed to limit false accusations of child abuse. 

“As Texans, we need to ensure the safety of our children in any situation. HB 63 will allow for more accountability and protections for those involved in potential CPS and DFPS investigations relating to neglect and abuse,” state Rep. Kevin Sparks (R–Midland) told The Texan.”Without this necessary reform, both agencies will struggle to verify reports and can complicate the issue with hours of wasted time on false accusations.”

Opponents have argued that the bill would deter reports of actual child abuse. Kate Murphy, director of child protection policy with the nonpartisan nonprofit Texans Care for Children, told the Texas Tribune that, in 2022, about 1,000 reports of the 12,473 total anonymous calls were found to be substantiated. 

“Unfortunately, if this bill were to pass, those 1,000 children would be left to continue experiencing abuse and neglect or worse,” said Murphy.

But there’s little reason to think that the bill will prevent factual reports of child abuse or neglect from being made. Not only is it a fairly large leap to assume that genuine abuse will go unreported if callers have to give their name and contact information, but the bill still allows individuals to make anonymous reports to 911 or any other local or state law enforcement agency. If these reports are referred to DFPS, the agency is directed to undertake a preliminary investigation to determine whether there is any corroborating evidence for the claims, which can include home visits and interviews—hardly an abdication of responsibility.

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REVEALED: How America’s CIA Merged With Nazi Intelligence

“Honest and idealist….enjoys good food and wine.…unprejudiced mind…”

That’s how a 1952 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) assessment described Nazi ideologue Emil Augsburg, an officer at the infamous Wannsee Institute, the SS think tank involved in planning the Final Solution. Augsburg’s SS unit performed “special duties,” a euphemism for exterminating Jews and other “undesirables” during the Second World War. Although he was wanted in Poland for war crimes, Augsburg managed to ingratiate himself with the U.S. CIA, which employed him in the late 1940s as an expert on Soviet affairs. Recently released CIA records indicate that Augsburg was among a rogue’s gallery of Nazi war criminals recruited by U.S. intelligence agencies shortly after Germany surrendered to the Allies. Pried loose by Congress, which passed the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act three years ago, a long-hidden trove of once-classified CIA documents confirms one of the worst-kept secrets of the cold war–the CIA’s use of an extensive Nazi spy network to wage a clandestine campaign against the Soviet Union.

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Titanic sinking mystery ‘finally solved’ by fatal design flaw in unsinkable ship

The mystery surrounding why the “unsinkable luxury liner” The Titanic sank back in 1912 has long been subject to speculation, but was it simply a design flaw that caused the downfall of such a majestic ship on its maiden voyage.

Scientists previously believed the fate of the Titanic wasn’t down to the course chosen by Captain Edward Smith or a faulty rudder – but now it’s thought it could simply be down to poorly designed rivets holding the ship together.

The rather mundane reason was proposed by Jennifer Hooper McCarty and Timothy Foecke in their book What Really Sank the Titanic.

McCarty and Foecke are a pair of scientists and academics who have studied the downing of the cruise liner for decades.

Their work analysed 48 rivets found in the wreck of the Titanic and they believe the shipbuilders used cheaper iron to make them than was originally planned.

Speaking on the Early Show, an early morning news show in the US, Ms McCarty, who started researching the Titanic’s rivets while working on her PhD at Johns Hopkins University in 1999, explained why they were so vital.

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More than 90% of Calif. pot farms infected with ‘severe’ pathogen

An infectious pathogen inside California’s pot farms is attacking cannabis plants and growing invisibly for months only to spoil a crop just as a farmer is ready to harvest. Scientists believe that it’s in nearly every pot farm in the state and could be causing billions of dollars in damages to the national weed economy.

Hop-latent viroid, or HLVd, shrivels pot plants and reduce how much weight they produce by as much as 30%. It also destroys the amount of THC, pot’s most common active compound, that a plant produces, greatly reducing the value of affected plants. 

HLVd was first documented in cannabis in a pair of scientific studies published in 2019, including a study that confirmed the viroid’s presence in samples from a Santa Barbara pot farm. It’s now infected at least 90% of California’s cannabis grows, according to a 2021 estimate. It’s spreading globally, and a recent scientific paper declared the pathogen was the “biggest concern for cannabis” growers worldwide.

But one Bay Area startup has a new tool that they think will stop the pathogen’s spread in its tracks.

Oakland’s Purple City Labs released a new HLVd test earlier this year that can be conducted on site and deliver results to pot farmers in just a few hours. That’s much faster than the current methods for finding HLVd infections, which are predominantly done by farmers mailing samples to labs and waiting days or even weeks to get a result.

The company said this new at-farm testing could be pivotal in slowing the spread of this global pathogen, as it allows farmers to quickly identify infected plants.

“We didn’t just identify a great test that is accurate, but it’s [also] easy to use and it doesn’t require a high level of expertise,” said Luke Horst, director of business development for Purple City Genetics. “You can take microbiology to the public and put it in their hands. … It’s important for people to have this type of testing.”

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Elon Musk’s Neuralink Gets FDA Approval to Study Brain Implants in Humans

Elon Musks’s neurotechnology company Neuralink announced on Thursday it has obtained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to carry out a clinical study of brain implants in humans.

It marks the first in-human clinical study for the company.

“This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people,” the company said in a statement.

“Recruitment is not yet open for our clinical trial. We’ll announce more information on this soon!” it added, without providing further details about the trial.

Musk, in response, wrote on Twitter: “Congratulations Neuralink team!”

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The Strangest Aspect of the Men in Black & Women in Black: They Don’t Know How to Eat or Drink

Hollywood did a very good job of creating a series of MIB movies that entertained and excited audiences the world over – and made those same audiences laugh loud and hard, too. But, there is nothing to laugh about when it comes to the real Men in Black. In the movies, the MIB are in the employ of an agency more powerful, and far more secretive, than even Edward Snowden’s old “friends” at the National Security Agency.  But, we should not forget that the Men in Black movies are fiction. As is so unfortunately often the case, the real world often outdoes the domain of fiction – and seldom in a positive fashion. The so-called “modern era” of UFOs began in the summer of 1947, specifically on June 24. That was the date upon which a pilot named Kenneth Arnold encountered a squadron of strange-looking aircraft flying near Mount Rainier, Washington State – as the man himself noted in his 1952 book with Ray Palmer, The Coming of the Saucers. As an experienced pilot, Arnold was deeply puzzled that he was unable to identify the things ahead of him. As he got closer, Arnold realized exactly why he was unable to figure out what the objects were: they were not regular airplanes, but futuristic-looking half-moon shaped vehicles that resembled absolutely nothing in the United States’ arsenal at that time. And that was surely the case for the Russians, too. It was not long before word of Arnold’s encounter reached the eyes and ears of the media – in fact, less than a day. The terms “flying saucer” and “flying disk” all-but-immediately became the talk of 1947. Today, the term “UFO” is far more popular than the now largely antiquated flying saucer.

Although the latter part of the 1940s proved to be a period in which sightings of apparent unearthly craft abounded, it wasn’t until the early 1950s that the Men in Black stepped out of the shadows – in force –and set about snaring us, manipulating us, and ultimately digesting us. And, no, the “digesting” term is not an exaggeration. Over the years there have been numerous investigators of the Men in Black phenomenon, such as UFO researchers Gray Barker, Jim Keith, and Harold Fulton – all of whom are now long gone. None of them, however, came anywhere close to Albert K. Bender – the man without whom our knowledge of the MIB and their agenda would be sorely lacking, and who created the International Flying Saucer Bureau (IFSB). Born in 1922, Bender was someone who served his country during the Second World War in the United States Army Air Corps. Post-World War Two, Bender lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in a somewhat creepy-looking old house that stood at what was, at the time, the junction of Broad Street and North Frontage Road. Today, the house is no more, the secrets it once held now being just memories and stories in books.

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