Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

Responsible Statecraft

Report drowned out by other outrages of the day prove Biden has no interest in shuttering the military detention center

There seems to be little effort to hide the fact that the Biden Administration does not plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison in his first term as he once declared. That pledge is but a whisper on the wind, much like the promises made by his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. According to a recent New York Times report by Carol Rosenberg, who has been been covering the infamous GTMO for the 20 years since it opened, the military is building a new, secret courtroom on the premises — which won’t be completed until 2023.

It’s hard to say what is the most disturbing thread in her report, which came out right before the New Year and of course made no waves. (It must be quite difficult to dedicate one’s journalistic career to an issue that most Americans have lost all interest in. The torture and detention of other human beings without charge appeared to go out with the government spying illegally on Americans — no one seems to care) According to Rosenberg, the military is building a second courtroom to handle more than one case simultaneously, as the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks is still going on. That sort of sounds legit considering there are five others at the prison today charged and awaiting trials, too. However, she points out, this new courtroom will have no gallery for visitors, with proceedings broadcast for journalists and observers on closed circuit with a 40 second delay in a remote room so judges can cut off anything “classified” said during trials:

Only people with a secret clearance, such as members of the intelligence community and specially cleared guards and lawyers, will be allowed inside the new chamber.

As a workaround, the court staff is designing a “virtual gallery with multiple camera angles simultaneously displayed,” said Ron Flesvig, a spokesman for the Office of Military Commissions. The public would be escorted there to watch the proceedings, streamed on a 40-second delay.

During recesses in the current courtroom, lawyers and other court participants often engage with reporters and relatives of victims of terror attacks, routine contact that would be lost with the “virtual gallery.” So would the ability for a sketch artist to observe the proceedings live.

“I’ve observed trial proceedings in person at Guantánamo. The chipper ‘secrecy’ imposed by the military is insulting, anti-democratic, and cowardly,” tweeted Michael Bronner, producer of the 2021 film The Mauritanian, which portrays the plight of GTMO detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi (incidentally, the former 14-year prisoner spoke at a special Quincy Institute panel on June 8 on the subject of the facility’s closure). “The entire enterprise makes a mockery out of what the US pretends to stand for,” added Bronner.

Rosenberg said this was the latest in a serious of moves to make the court and the prison itself less transparent to the public:

For example, for 17 years the military routinely took visiting journalists to the detention facilities where most captives are kept, but required them to delete photographs that showed cameras, gates and other security procedures. Then, the military undertook a consolidation that moved Mr. (Khalid Sheikh) Mohammed and other detainees who were held by the C.I.A. from a secret site to the maximum-security portion of those once showcase facilities — and declared the entire detention zone off limits to journalists.

Their empty, formerly C.I.A.-controlled prison is off limits to reporters too. Defense lawyers who are seeking a preservation order on the site describe it as a rapidly deteriorating facility that was clearly unfit for the prisoners and their guards. One military lawyer who visited there recently described carcasses of dead tarantulas in the empty cellblocks.

The other obvious disturbing angle is that despite earlier reports that the Biden Administration was “quietly moving to close the prison,” Rosenberg’s report indicates no such thing. Either they have hit a brick wall with Congress and/or those efforts have been suspended, but as I wrote in October, even those prisoners cleared for release have zero-to-no chance of getting out anytime soon. Currently there are 27 men at the scrubby island base who are not charged with any crime and/or awaiting repatriation (compared to the 10 awaiting trail and two already convicted). The administration and military rules have made it virtually impossible for the men who have been cleared to be placed in another country at this point.

[…]

Via https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/01/02/the-us-is-building-rather-than-tearing-down-gtmo-prison-facilities/

By Richard Poe

LewRockwell.com

“I am the last president of the United States,” said James Buchanan on December 20, 1860.

South Carolina had just seceded from the Union.  Ten more states would follow.

Had Buchanan remained in office, there is no question he would have let the South go. The United States would have ceased to exist 160 years ago.

“So what?” some readers may retort. “Buchanan was right. There’s nothing sacred about the Union. If states want to secede, let them.”

A recent poll by the University of Virginia Center for Politics claims that 41 percent of Biden supporters and 52 percent of Trump supporters now supposedly favor secession.

While these numbers might be exaggerated, the trend is clear.

As tensions rise between “red” and “blue” states, many Americans have come to believe that coexisting with our quarrelsome countrymen is no longer worth the trouble. Many hope that peaceful separation—“national divorce,” as they call it—might allow Americans to part ways amicably, without bloodshed.

But will it?  History suggests otherwise.

Forgotten History

In 1861, secession did not bring peace.  It led directly to civil war.

War came for the same reason it always does, because powerful men wanted it, and stood to gain by it.

An old saying holds that, when two dogs fight, a third dog gets the bone.

In 1861, the third dog was Great Britain.

Britain had a strong interest in breaking up the Union, which she saw as a competitor for global dominance. Britain’s plan was to carve up the United States into colonial spheres of influence, to be distributed among the great powers of Europe.

Had the British succeeded, North and South alike would have lost their independence.

This fact—once widely known to Americans—has been wiped from our history books.

Before we rush headlong into Civil War 2.0, it might be wise to relearn the forgotten story of Lincoln’s struggle against foreign intervention.

It would be foolish to walk into the same trap twice.

Seward’s Call for War

On April 1, 1861, the Civil War had not yet begun. That day, Secretary of State William Seward drafted a memorandum to Lincoln seeking action against “European intervention.”

“I would at once demand explanations from France and Spain categorically,” Seward wrote. “I would demand explanations from Great Britain and Russia… And if satisfactory explanations are not received from Spain and France, I would convene Congress and declare war against them.”

Seward’s concerns were legitimate.

Seeing America’s weakness, foreign powers had begun challenging the Monroe Doctrine, which forbade European intervention in the Americas.

Spain had begun saber-rattling over its lost colony of Santo Domingo, pointedly increasing its Cuban garrison to 25,000 men. France was applying similar pressure over Haiti.

Meanwhile, British diplomats were working hard to bring Spain, France, and Russia into a coalition strong enough to force Lincoln into recognizing the Confederacy.

These intrigues plainly violated the Monroe Doctrine. But no one cared what America thought anymore. The U.S. was falling apart.

“Our domestic dissensions are producing their natural fruit,” wrote The New York Times on March 30, 1861. “The terror of the American name is gone, and the Powers of the Old World are flocking to the feast from which the scream of our eagle had hitherto scared them. We are just beginning to suffer the penalties of being a weak and despised Power.”

When Seward wrote his memo to Lincoln, the attack on Fort Sumter was still eleven days away.  The first shot of our Civil War had not yet been fired.

Yet, the mightiest powers in Europe were already spoiling for a fight.

Britain was the Ringleader

Great Britain was the driving force behind these plots.  The British had been planning America’s downfall for years.

England made no secret of her ambitions in North America.

On January 3, 1860, the London Morning Post bluntly called for the restoration of British rule in America.

The Post was known as a mouthpiece for Lord Palmerston, Britain’s Prime Minister.  Indeed, Palmerston himself was rumored to write unsigned editorials for the paper, now and then.

Should North and South separate, said the Morning Post on January 3, 1860, the colonies of British North America (later combined into the Dominion of Canada) would then “hold the balance of power on the Continent.” Canada would find herself in a strong position to annex the quarreling fragments of the former USA.

[…]

Via https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/12/richard-poe/how-the-british-caused-the-american-civil-war/

Becker News

The Biden administration never learns. The United States is still funding risky coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a new report shows.

Research at the Wuhan lab is being sponsored by U.S. taxpayers via USAID and disgraced non-profit agency EcoHealth Alliance, which was used as a funnel for Dr. Anthony Fauci’s agency, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), as well as the Pentagon, to go around the law and back “risky” coronavirus research.

The research was not “gain-of-function” but rather the gathering of contagious coronavirus in rodents that were found to be transmissible to humans. The research paper was published in the Journal of Virology in November 2021.

Via https://beckernews.com/2-new-biden-is-still-funding-risky-coronavirus-research-at-wuhan-lab-with-taxpayer-money-43572/

By Julian Conradson

Gateway Pundit

Did you make out like a bandit during the George Floyd riots? Are you one of the thugs who is currently looting stores across the nation? Or maybe you’re just a good ol’ fashioned meth dealer? If you profited off of these – or any other – illicit activities at any point in 2021, the IRS says to make sure you report it on your taxes.  

According to the 2021 IRS guidelines from their Publication 17, “If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless you return it to its rightful owner in the same year.”

Yes, really.

The provision also applies to any money that is obtained illegally, including income generated from selling drugs or stolen merchandise.

From the IRS guidelines:

“Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or on Schedule C (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.”

The requirements can be found at IRS.gov within their guidelines to report income earned from jobs in the gig economy and what to do about taxable alimony payments.

Earlier this week, the IRS provisions went viral following a tweet alerting taxpayers to the surprising requirements. Naturally, it was hard to believe – especially considering the massive crime wave that is hitting major cities across the US.

“Tax szn is around the corner,” read the tweet from @litcapital. “Remember to report your income from illegal activities and stolen property to the IRS.”

Tax szn is around the corner. Remember to report your income from illegal activities and stolen property to the IRS pic.twitter.com/c4S1yMZJLz

— litquidity (@litcapital) December 27, 2021

The rule dates back to a Supreme Court case in 1927 that decided that the government is allowed to tax illegal income. It was famously used to pin charges to legendary mobster Al Capone, leading to his takedown after he was convicted for tax evasion under the law in 1931.

[…]

Via https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/attn-criminals-looters-irs-asks-americans-report-stolen-property-drug-money-taxable-income/

By Ethan Huff

News Target

Thanh Hoa, a province of Vietnam, has suspended all use of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) “vaccine” from Pfizer after a single batch caused more than 120 students to have to get hospitalized for injuries.

Since November 30, the central province has been injecting children aged 15-17 with the experimental mRNA solution from Pfizer-BioNTech, which United States regulators declared to be “safe and effective.” However, it turns out that the jabs are not safe and effective as claimed.

Among the symptoms experienced by the 120 students were nausea, high fever and breathing difficulties, the provincial Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publicly reported. (RELATED: The U.S. CDC has been hiding data showing that Fauci Flu injections are injuring and killing people.)

Of these cases, 17 experienced even more “severe reactions” that required a greater level of medical care. The corporate media in Vietnam claims that these individuals have “stabilized,” but that they are continuing to be monitored at hospitals throughout the area.

[…]

Via https://www.newstarget.com/2021-12-06-vietnam-halts-pfizer-covid-vaccines-students-hospitalized.html

By Steve Kirsch

Substack

Could it be that ivermectin drug that doctors and pharmacists in the US will be punished for prescribing?

I cannot recall a time in American history where the medical boards would go after you for prescribing an approved drug off-label for a condition that is supported by over 60 positive studies and multiple peer-reviewed systematic reviews and meta-analyses which is the highest level of evidence-based medicine. Can you?

Is there a cost-benefit analysis somewhere that I missed showing that ivermectin causes harm?

If the cost-benefit analysis is clearly negative, how could those positive meta-analyses been published?

Why is the FDA to be on the warpath against ivermectin? Check out this article: TrialSiteNews entitled “Feds Coming After Doctors & Pharmacies that Market Ivermectin as Effective & Safe for COVID-19.”

Perhaps they don’t want you to take it because if people found out it works, the pandemic would be over? Wow. That would be really evil.

Let’s look at a country that is allowed to use ivermectin: Japan

Here’s an article describing how Japan is using ivermectin to combat COVID. Here’s an excerpt:

Ivermectin was discarded unceremoniously till now, but Japan has demonstrated that the drug can be used as a more effective cure and a permanent substitute for the Coronavirus vaccines produced by big pharmaceutical companies.

[…]

The Pandemic in Japan was going out of control, yet the Japanese government was smart enough to look beyond vaccines in its COVID-19 containment efforts.

In September, Japan deployed Ivermectin and legalising the use of the anti-parasitic drug has helped people recover from COVID-19 with more durable and long-lasting immunity. Caseloads have come down rapidly without the need for booster vaccination doses. In Tokyo, there were around 6,000 cases in the middle of August, but the number has now dropped down to below one hundred.

Japan is now overcoming the Coronavirus, with the number of COVID tests dropping from 25% in the fag end of August to just 1% mid-October.

Ivermectin use is thus helping Japan permanently beat the COVID-19 Pandemic. If and when vaccine efficacy wanes, Japan will have a choice- using an anti-parasitic medicine as a permanent cure to ensure speedy recovery of infected patients with durable immunity. Japan has thus crushed Big Pharma with a small move- deploying the use of Ivermectin.

Let’s look at death rates in Japan vs. the US. See a difference? On a per capita basis, Japan is beating the US by a factor of 17. As soon as Japan rolled out ivermectin, their death rates dropped rapidly to 0.

[…]

Via https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/why-is-japan-crushing-covid