Quote:McDonald's manager 'exposed himself in front of me'

'Christine was working at a South London branch of McDonald's in 2018 when, she says,
she was sexually harassed by a manager. "He pulled his pants down in the stockroom,"
she said, adding the experience left her "terrified".


Christine, because it's worse than having a building drop on your head.

Her story comes after McDonald's signed an agreement with the UK equality watchdog following
concerns over how it handled sexual harassment complaints. McDonald's said Christine's experiences
were "completely unacceptable".

"We are extremely concerned to hear these allegations," a spokesperson said. "We would encourage
them to contact us directly so we can investigate immediately."

Currently, the number of complaints of sexual harassment made by McDonald's workers in the UK is
unclear, but four years ago the union representing the company's employees, the Bakers, Food and
Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), said it had received 1,000 of them.

Concerns were raised by employees via the union about inadequate processes to deal with the allegations,
which led the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to get involved. And on Wednesday, it was
announced that the fast food giant had signed a legal agreement with the EHRC to protect staff from sexual
harassment. The EHRC told the BBC that it did "not enter into agreements lightly".

Christine, who has waived her right to anonymity, started working at McDonald's in 2011, having just moved
to London. She told the BBC she "thought it would be really great", but added "I had no idea what I was
walking into". She described a toxic workplace culture, with managers flirting with more junior staff, and
another manager going around "touching everyone's bum".

"I saw a lot of things that were not okay," she said. She described how one manager regularly came up to
her and said "inappropriate things". Christine tried to manage the situation by asking colleagues to intervene.
She then said she started suffering anxiety and panic attacks, and started taking anti-depressants "just to
cope with going into work".

"How do you expect to work when you're having a panic attack? You can't breathe, your heart's racing and
you're terrified," she said. "You don't want this person to come up to you doing or saying anything. You would
assume that they get the message when you say no, but they just think it's okay. They don't see what they're
doing to you."

'Inappropriate sexual suggestions'
Things took a turn for the worse one day in 2018, when she was feeling unwell and went into the stockroom
to ask the manager's permission to go home. "He started making really inappropriate sexual suggestions that
I wasn't comfortable with," she said. "He pulled his pants down in the stockroom and wanted me to do
inappropriate things."

Christine said she walked out and went to her business manager to raise a complaint, but after the business
manager spoke to the man in question, she was told to "get back in the kitchen and work with him".
When she objected, the business manager told her to call the police if she had such a problem.
"So I was like, fine. I packed up my stuff and went home," she said.

Christine never worked at McDonald's again, although she claims the man is still employed there.
She described her time working at the fast food chain as "one of the worst experiences of my life".
"I want McDonald's to realise what they're doing is not okay," she said. "It feels like you're being bullied, it feels
like you don't have a voice," she said. "You should not have to go into work feeling anxious or scared...you need
that job to pay your bills and to keep a house going but at what price."...'

Quote:Winter storm: North America hit by blizzards and heat wave

'A fierce winter storm has caused widespread disruptions in the US, while south-eastern parts of the country brace
for record-high temperatures. As of Wednesday, about 75 million people in 28 states have been placed under winter
weather alerts. Blizzards in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin have forced many schools and businesses to close.

Meanwhile, high temperatures in Washington DC are expected to break a nearly 150-year-old record. It means some
parts of the US will be 100F (38C) warmer than others at the same time.


The nightmare they're enduring. Please think of the children.

Record low temperatures in the US
Powerful wind gusts potentially reaching 50mph (80km/h) and a wind chill as low as -50F in some parts are predicted.
In northern states, forecasts of up to 2ft (60cm) of snow in some parts could mean areas endure their biggest snowfalls
for 30 years. Minnesota's governor Tim Walz said the National Guard will be available to help motorists who become
stuck in the blizzard conditions there. The state may break its record for snowfall, officials said.

Forecasters said the storm system could span 1,300 miles from Nebraska to New Hampshire. More than 1,700 flights
have been cancelled in the US as a result of the storm. Icy weather is also forecast for typically sunny and warm Los
Angeles, California, where a rare blizzard warning has been issued. Major snow and winds up to 75mph are forecast
in the mountains and foothills of Ventura and Los Angeles County.


Probably cold and starving, they set out to find a better civilisation.

All of California's 39 million residents will be able to see snow either falling around them or settling at the tops of nearby
mountains, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California-Los Angeles.
As of Wednesday night, frigid temperatures of -9F have been recorded in parts of Montana.

Record high temperatures in the US, too
Meanwhile, much of the southern US is basking in unusually high temperatures for this time of year. On Wednesday,
McAllen, Texas, recorded a sweltering 95F. The heat on Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee,
shattered records stretching back more than a century.

Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Atlanta and other US cities also saw record highs. Washington DC could hit 80F on Thursday,
which would break a record set in 1874. Orlando, Florida, could hit 90F and New Orleans, Louisiana, could notch 84F.

"All winter, we've seen this persistent pattern, where the western US is seeing below-average temperatures and the
eastern US is seeing above-average temperatures," climate scientist Andrew Kruczkiewicz, a researcher at Columbia
University, told BBC News.

Canada is also feeling effects of the winter storm
Large parts of the country are under weather alerts, including Toronto, which is expecting 4-10in (10-15cm) of snow,
ice pellets and possible freezing rain. The winter storm has also halted flights. Air Canada had cancelled about a
quarter of its scheduled flights by Wednesday afternoon.

The country just had record-breaking warm temperatures for February. Now, parts of Toronto could see significant ice
build-up as a result of this recent cold snap. Parts of Alberta and the prairies are facing extreme cold warnings, with
temperatures dropping in some regions into the -40F (-40C) range with wind chill...'

Quote:Body of man found in River Wear, New Brancepeth, near Durham

'The body of a man was found in the River Wear near Durham today (Wednesday March1), with police treating
his death as unexplained. Emergency services were alerted to reports of a boy in the river at New Brancepeth,
near Durham at about 9am. He was confirmed dead at the scene.


Stock Library Image.

A spokesperson for Durham Police said: "We were called to reports of a body in the River Wear near New Brancepeth,
Durham City, shortly before 9am this morning. "Sadly, the man was confirmed dead at the scene.
"Inquiries are ongoing and his death is currently being treated as unexplained."...'

Quote:Jeremy’s Chocolate, the new business line founded by Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing in response to a woke stunt by Hershey’s, has sold 200,000 non-woke candy bars in just over 24 hours from when it was launched.

The chocolate bars, which come in two varieties, were created after Hershey’s rolled out an International Women’s Day marketing campaign that featured a man who identifies as a woman as one of its spokespersons. Boreing promptly entered the chocolate business, and, in a rebuke of Hershey’s, made clear The Daily Wire would not compromise on the definition of womanhood.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Boreing tweeted. “Introducing Jeremy’s Chocolate. Yes, it’s real. We have two kinds: HeHim and SheHer. One of them has nuts. If you need me to tell you which one, keep buying Hershey’s. But if you know what a woman is and love chocolate, go to: ihatehersheys.com.”

The Daily Wire has built a reputation for big responses to woke corporations and institutions. In January 2021, the company signed Gina Carano to produce and star in “Terror on the Prairie” after she was canceled by Disney. And in March of last year, Boreing launched Jeremy’s Razors in response to Harry’s Razors publicly declaring they would pull ads from The Daily Wire in response to a Daily Wire host articulating traditional views on gender.

“The people asked and we answered,” Boreing said. “Thanks to Jeremy’s Chocolate, you can stop eating chocolate that hates you. Harry’s Razors hates you; Disney hates you; and now Hershey’s hates you. As long as corporations and institutions across America continue to alienate half the country, The Daily Wire will continue building alternatives. Stop giving your money to woke chocolate companies that hate you.”

Boreing previously revealed that more than 100,000 chocolate bars had been sold in the first 12 hours of launch.

The Daily Wire also published an ad for Jeremy’s Chocolate featuring Boreing and Daily Wire hosts Brett Cooper and Michael Knowles.





Many Twitter users were astonished at the speed with which The Daily Wire was able to launch Jeremy’s Chocolate.

“That was fast,” journalist and podcaster Tim Pool tweeted.

“22 hours ago the Hershey Chocolate company used a trans person in an ad… less than a day later the Daily Wire launched their own chocolate company,” radio host Kenny Webster wondered. “Did… did they know ahead of time about the ad?”

But Boreing confirmed that he worked through the night Thursday to get the product off the ground. “We did not know,” he tweeted. “We just stayed up all night for the love of the game. And the country. And chocolate. ihatehersheys.com.”

Quote:Mark Epstein told Insider he viewed a clip of the interview, conducted by Trump's former White House advisor Steve Bannon, after his brother forwarded it to him in the spring of 2019.

At the time, Bannon was conducting filmed interviews with the now-dead pedophile financier. Bannon sent Jeffrey Epstein a Dropbox link to a clip, which he forwarded to his brother. The link is no longer active, according to Mark.

"Jeffrey showed me the link to one of these interviews," Mark Epstein said. "And in that interview, Jeffrey said he stopped hanging out with Trump when he realized Trump was a crook."

Insider has not been able to independently view the video. Bannon could not be reached for comment.

For the documentary project, Bannon recorded more than 16 hours of footage, Mark Epstein said. In November of 2018, the Miami Herald ran a series detailing how Jeffrey Epstein secured a secret, lenient plea deal with federal prosecutors in Floria 2007, even after law enforcement concluded at the time that he had sexually abused more than 30 girls.

"Steve Bannon was working with Jeffrey to try to help Jeffrey rehabilitate his reputation," Mark Epstein told Insider.

Bannon and Epstein had become close in 2017, after Bannon left the White House, according to the journalist Michael Wolff. Bannon lived lavishly off Epstein's vast wealth, using his Paris apartment and butler in 2018.

Bannon released a trailer in 2021 for his apparent documentary about Epstein, titled "The Monsters." The entire documentary has not yet been released.

INSIDER

Quote:MET ITS MATCH
Match of the Day viewing figures soar by 500,000 with 2.5MILLION tuning in for bizarre episode after
Gary Lineker axing

'Match of the Da last night received its largest audience since November. The programme was watched by 2.58 million
people - up nearly 500,000 from last week's 2.09m viewership. The BBC aired a shortened 20 minute highlights package
at 10:20pm last night.


The £1.35 million-per-year Tweeter Gary Linekar.

Following the mutiny sparked by Gary Lineker's suspension after his tweet likening the language used in introducing the
government's controversial Illegal Migration Bill to that of 1930s Germany, the bizarre version of the show featured no studio
punditry. Regular analysts and presenters Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Jermaine Jenas, Alex Scott, Mark Chapman and Micah
Richards refused to fill in, plunging the show into crisis.

The broadcast didn't feature a host or even commentary, instead moving from game to game showing just the highlights.
No interviews with players or managers were included, with stars not asked to give interviews to Match of the Day.
Despite the large viewership, many fans were left unimpressed by the stripped-back version of the show.

One fan wrote: "Even the Match of the day intro is protesting!" Another asked: "Why am I sat commentating on Match of
the Day myself?" "Match of the Day with no commentary - what a farce," declared another.
A fellow viewer wrote: "Surreal watching a silent match of the day." While another said: "Match Of The Day on BBC One
with zero commentary is...different." One added: "Bit speechless watching Match of the day."

Some, however, didn't mind the unusual show.
One fan wrote: "Fantastic match of the day instead of listing to all the b******s!"
Another said: "Honestly. This match of the day without presenters and over the top commentary is f***ing miles better !!!"
The 2.58m viewership was the largest since 2.63m tuned in on November 5.

On that day, fans watched Manchester City's 2-1 win over Fulham, Leicester 2-0 triumph at Everton and Leeds' thrilling 4-3
victory over Bournemouth, among other games.

Sun columnist Piers Morgan was not impressed by last night's reduced offering.
He wrote: "BBC should now adjust the licence fee so that everyone on Twitter pretending to prefer Match of the Day in the
new format can pay £1 less a month but only ever watch it that way in future. "Spoiler alert: nobody would take that deal.
It’s s***." Match of the Day 2 is now in the balance this evening, with regular host Mark Chapman backing Lineker.

Pundit Jermain Defoe has also announced he will not be appearing on the show...'

Quote:Historian Dan Snow warns deadly plague like Black Death will reap hell on Earth again

'Another pandemic on the scale of the Black Death, which wiped out half of Europe's population, is inevitable,
says TV historian Dan Snow. The 14th-century plague was the most devastating in history, killing up to 200
million people worldwide. In Europe alone, 40 to 60 per cent of the population perished between 1347 and 1351.


Serious-faced Dan.

As the world recovers from Covid, TV favourite Dan who presents Channel 5 documentary The Black Death, said:
"Unfortunately, there are no two ways about it." He pointed to "zoonotic" viruses - those which make the leap from
animals to humans - as an area of concern.

He said: "Bird flu doesn't tend to jump over to humans. But when humans do get it, it's horrific. "But if bird flu has
a tweak, and becomes more contagious, then we'd absolutely have a gigantic problem on our hands. "We're very
vulnerable to pandemic disease as we now know. We're vulnerable to diseases jumping from animals to humans
as we destroy animal habitats and more and more animals come into contact with us.

"Whether it's bat poo, in the case of Ebola, or influenza from birds, it happens, unfortunately."

Bubonic plague should not be our top concern, experts say. One reason is that those who survived the 14th century
disaster were likely to have been better able, genetically, to ward it off. This means their descendants would be likely
to carry any protective genes.

"We're the survivors," said Dan. "The research suggests those who survived were more likely to have a particular piece
of DNA, and therefore that DNA tag is now far more common. As a result of the Black Death wiping out so many people,
those tags - a little corner of our DNA - are more prevalent."

Prof Turi King, a DNA expert from Leicester University who appeared in the documentary, explained: "The bacteria
Yersinia pestis - the bacteria that caused the Black Death - is still with us. The whole thing is still very dangerous.
There was an outbreak in Madagascar relatively recently and somebody died from it in California in 2020.

"But we're in a good place now because we've got ways of containing it. We've got antibiotics and precautions we can
take. And the more we know about it, the more we can develop vaccines against it."...'

Quote:Newark mayor signs deal with Hindu nation that does not exist
Mayor and city council agreed to partnership with Kailasa, invented by Indian fugitive Swami Nithyananda



'The city of Newark, New Jersey, has confirmed that it was duped over five days in January when Mayor Ras
Baraka invited what he believed to be a delegation from the Hindu nation of Kailasa to join into a sister city
partnership. A signing ceremony was held at which Baraka told a Kailasa delegate: “I pray that our relationship
helps us to understand cultural, social and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both
places.”

But it turned out that Baraka, who was once featured on singer Lauryn Hill’s 1998 The Miseducation of Lauryn
Hill, and Newark’s city council were all being taken for a ride. Kailasa doesn’t exist.

Last week, the Newark city hall acknowledged that it had been scammed by the notorious Indian fugitive Swami
Nithyananda. The agreement to twin with Kailasa had lasted but six days, Newark officials said, before being
dissolved as “baseless and void”. “Although this was a regrettable incident, the city of Newark remains committed
to partnering with people from diverse cultures in order to enrich each other with connectivity, support and mutual
respect,” a city spokesperson said, adding that no money had changed hands.

Shakee Merritt, a resident of Newark, later told CBS he was surprised that “no one in City Hall, not one person
did a Google search, so maybe we need a transformation of City Hall ’cause not one person said, let me go and
Google and figure out this was a fake city”.

A search for “Kailasa” on Google Maps reveals some Hindu temples in the southern half of India and a link to a
website promoting the nation as an “ancient enlightened civilization, the great cosmic borderless Hindu nation”
and a reference to Nithyananda as “the Reviver”.

But Nithyananda is a notorious scam artist who has been a fugitive from justice since 2019 when he was charged
with rape and child abduction, according to reports from Indian news outlets. Nithyananda has denied the accusations.
Around the same time, Nithyananda announced the formation of Kailasa and claimed to have bought an island off
the coast of Ecuador.

In December, the Guardian reported that representatives for the fugitive guru had attended a Diwali party at Britain’s
House of Lords. Earlier this month, the United Nations said it would ignore statements made by the representatives
of Nithyananda at two UN committee meetings in Geneva in February.

Kailasa delegates, the BBC reported, joined a discussion on the representation of women in decision-making systems
and a second on sustainable development. Vivian Kwok, a media officer at the office of the UN high commissioner
for human rights, later said submissions made by delegates to the first discussion were “irrelevant to the topic of
the general discussion”. A statement to the second meeting “was tangential to the topic at hand”, she said...'

(02-08-2023, 08:40 AM)BIAD Wrote: Top story on the BBC News website's UK page -8th February 2022.

Not the thousands who've died in the Turkey/Syria earthquake, not the frowned-upon
sentence of 30 years imprisonment for a serial-rapist Police Officer who habitually took
advantage of his position for over two decades. Not even a home-grown public-interest
story about a woman going missing near a river... no, none of these.

(And please let's not get bogged-down with the obvious statements that this article has
merit, of course it does.)

The British Broadcasting Corporation's top story...?

  

Quote:McDonald's manager 'exposed himself in front of me'

'Christine was working at a South London branch of McDonald's in 2018 when, she says,
she was sexually harassed by a manager. "He pulled his pants down in the stockroom,"
she said, adding the experience left her "terrified".


Christine, because it's worse than having a building drop on your head.

Her story comes after McDonald's signed an agreement with the UK equality watchdog following
concerns over how it handled sexual harassment complaints. McDonald's said Christine's experiences
were "completely unacceptable".

"We are extremely concerned to hear these allegations," a spokesperson said. "We would encourage
them to contact us directly so we can investigate immediately."

Currently, the number of complaints of sexual harassment made by McDonald's workers in the UK is
unclear, but four years ago the union representing the company's employees, the Bakers, Food and
Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), said it had received 1,000 of them.

Concerns were raised by employees via the union about inadequate processes to deal with the allegations,
which led the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to get involved. And on Wednesday, it was
announced that the fast food giant had signed a legal agreement with the EHRC to protect staff from sexual
harassment. The EHRC told the BBC that it did "not enter into agreements lightly".

Christine, who has waived her right to anonymity, started working at McDonald's in 2011, having just moved
to London. She told the BBC she "thought it would be really great", but added "I had no idea what I was
walking into". She described a toxic workplace culture, with managers flirting with more junior staff, and
another manager going around "touching everyone's bum".

"I saw a lot of things that were not okay," she said. She described how one manager regularly came up to
her and said "inappropriate things". Christine tried to manage the situation by asking colleagues to intervene.
She then said she started suffering anxiety and panic attacks, and started taking anti-depressants "just to
cope with going into work".

"How do you expect to work when you're having a panic attack? You can't breathe, your heart's racing and
you're terrified," she said. "You don't want this person to come up to you doing or saying anything. You would
assume that they get the message when you say no, but they just think it's okay. They don't see what they're
doing to you."

'Inappropriate sexual suggestions'
Things took a turn for the worse one day in 2018, when she was feeling unwell and went into the stockroom
to ask the manager's permission to go home. "He started making really inappropriate sexual suggestions that
I wasn't comfortable with," she said. "He pulled his pants down in the stockroom and wanted me to do
inappropriate things."

Christine said she walked out and went to her business manager to raise a complaint, but after the business
manager spoke to the man in question, she was told to "get back in the kitchen and work with him".
When she objected, the business manager told her to call the police if she had such a problem.
"So I was like, fine. I packed up my stuff and went home," she said.

Christine never worked at McDonald's again, although she claims the man is still employed there.
She described her time working at the fast food chain as "one of the worst experiences of my life".
"I want McDonald's to realise what they're doing is not okay," she said. "It feels like you're being bullied, it feels
like you don't have a voice," she said. "You should not have to go into work feeling anxious or scared...you need
that job to pay your bills and to keep a house going but at what price."...'

BBC:

Standards have fallen everywhere.

Quote:Pro-Moscow voices tried to steer Ohio train disaster debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Soon after a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in Ohio last month, anonymous pro-Russian accounts started spreading misleading claims and anti-American propaganda about it on Twitter, using Elon Musk’s new verification system to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility.

The accounts, which parroted Kremlin talking points on myriad topics, claimed without evidence that authorities in Ohio were lying about the true impact of the chemical spill. The accounts spread fearmongering posts that preyed on legitimate concerns about pollution and health effects and compared the response to the derailment with America’s support for Ukraine following its invasion by Russia.

Some of the claims pushed by the pro-Russian accounts were verifiably false, such as the suggestion that the news media had covered up the disaster or that environmental scientists traveling to the site had been killed in a plane crash. But most were more speculative, seemingly designed to stoke fear or distrust. Examples include unverified maps showing widespread pollution, posts predicting an increase in fatal cancers and others about unconfirmed mass animal die-offs.

“Biden offers food, water, medicine, shelter, payouts of pension and social services to Ukraine! Ohio first! Offer and deliver to Ohio!” posted one of the pro-Moscow accounts, which boasts 25,000 followers and features an anonymous location and a profile photo of a dog. Twitter awarded the account a blue check mark in January.

Regularly spewing anti-US propaganda, the accounts show how easily authoritarian states and Americans willing to spread their propaganda can exploitsocial mediaplatforms like Twitter in an effort to steer domestic discourse.

The accounts were identified by Reset, a London-based nonprofit that studies social media’s impact on democracy, and shared with The Associated Press. Felix Kartte, a senior advisor at Reset, said the report’s findings indicate Twitter is allowing Russia to use its platform like a bullhorn.

“With no one at home in Twitter’s product safety department, Russia will continue to meddle in US elections and in democracies around the world,” Kartte said.

Twitter did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story.

The 38-car derailment near East Palestine, Ohio, released toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, leading to a nationaldebate over rail safety and environmental regulations while raising fears of poisoned drinking water and air.

The disaster was a major topic on social media, with millions of mentions on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, according to an analysis by San Francisco-based media intelligence firm Zignal Labs, which conducted a study on behalf of the AP.

At first, the derailment received little attention online but mentions grew steadily, peaking two weeks after the incident, Zignal found, a time lag that gave pro-Russia voices time to try to shape the conversation.

The accounts identified by Reset’s researchers received an extra boost from Twitter itself, in the form of a blue check mark. Before Musk purchased Twitter last year, it’s check marks denoted accounts run by verified users, often public figures, celebrities or journalists. It was seen as a mark of authenticity on a platform known for bots and spam accounts.

Musk ended that system and replaced it with Twitter Blue, which is given to users who pay $8 per month and supply a phone number. Twitter Blue users agree not to engage in deception and are required to post a profile picture and name. But there’s no rule that they use their own.

Under the program, Twitter Blue users can write and send longer tweets and videos. Their replies are also given higher priority on other posts.

The AP reached out to several of the accounts listed in Reset’s report. In response, one of the accounts sent a two-word message before blocking the AP reporter on Twitter: “Shut up.”

While researchers spotted clues suggesting some of the accounts are linked to coordinated efforts by Russian disinformation agencies, others were Americans, showing the Kremlin doesn’t always have to pay to get its message out.

One account, known as Truth Puke, is connected to a website of the same name geared toward conservatives in the United States. Truth Puke regularly reposts Russian state media; RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is one of its favorite groups to repost, Reset found. One video posted by the account features ex-President Donald Trump’s remarks about the train derailment, complete with Russian subtitles.

In a response to questions from the AP, Truth Puke said it aims to provide a “wide spectrum of views” and was surprised to be labeled a spreader of Russian propaganda, despite the account’s heavy use of such material. Asked about the video with Russian subtitles, Truth Puke said it used the Russian language version of the Trump video for the sake of expediency.

“We can assure you that it was not done with any Russian propagandist intent in mind, we just like to put out things as quickly as we find them,” the company said.

Other accounts brag of their love for Russia. One account on Thursday reposted a bizarre claim that the U.S. was stealing humanitarian earthquake relief supplies donated to Syria by China. The account has 60,000 followers and is known as Donbass Devushka, after the region of Ukraine.

Another pro-Russian account recently tried to pick an online argument with Ukraine’s defense department, posting photos of documents that it claimed came from the Wagner Group, a private military company owned by a Yevgeny Prigozhin, a key Putin ally. Prigozhin operates troll farms that have targeted U.S. social media users in the past. Last fall he boasted of his efforts to meddle with American democracy.

A separate Twitter account claiming to represent Wagner actively uses the site to recruit fighters.
“ Gentlemen, we have interfered, are interfering and will interfere,” Prigozhin said last fall on the eve of the 2022 midterm elections in the U.S. “Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do,” Prigozhin said at the time.

Quote:About the Role

The Centre for Information Resilience is a UK based, independent, non-profit social enterprise. We counter disinformation, expose human rights abuses through open source and combat online harms targeting women and minorities.

We have established ourselves as a trusted, innovative NGO among UK media and policymakers. We work frequently with UK government colleagues to help in the areas above. We are now looking for an experienced disinformation expert to raise our profile among policymakers, media and potential donors based in the United States. This is a key role in a growing organisation. You will work closely with the cofounders and will be a leadership figure - mentoring and leading more junior members of the organisation.

We require a self-starter, comfortable with taking the initiative and seizing opportunities. You will be adept at briefing senior policymakers and talking to US media organisations, both on and off the record.

Specific tasks will include:

Act as an ambassador for CIR on the Hill, within the Federal Government, media, among tech companies / Silicon Valley, on “K Street”, and among potential philanthropic organisations.

Identify and build relationships within those groups, prioritizing who you think will provide greatest impact for a) raising awareness of CIR and b) providing funding for CIR - keeping cofounders aware of activities through regular updates.

Act as a spokesperson for CIR, appearing on US media organisations, in consultation with the Head of Media / co-founders. Develop relationships with key US outlets, and advise the Head of Media on where specific investigations may land / be appropriate for partnerships.

Quote:A Four-Decade Secret: One Man’s Story of Sabotaging Carter’s Re-election | Archived


A prominent Texas politician said he unwittingly took part in a 1980 tour of the Middle East with a clandestine agenda.

It has been more than four decades, but Ben Barnes said he remembers it vividly. His longtime political mentor invited him on a mission to the Middle East. What Mr. Barnes said he did not realize until later was the real purpose of the mission: to sabotage the re-election campaign of the president of the United States.

It was 1980 and Jimmy Carter was in the White House, bedeviled by a hostage crisis in Iran that had paralyzed his presidency and hampered his effort to win a second term. Mr. Carter’s best chance for victory was to free the 52 Americans held captive before Election Day. That was something that Mr. Barnes said his mentor was determined to prevent.

Mr. Barnes said he had no idea of the purpose of the Middle East trip when Mr. Connally invited him. They traveled to the region on a Gulfstream jet owned by Superior Oil. Only when they sat down with the first Arab leader did Mr. Barnes learn what Mr. Connally was up to, he said.

Mr. Connally said, “‘Look, Ronald Reagan’s going to be elected president and you need to get the word to Iran that they’re going to make a better deal with Reagan than they are Carter,’” Mr. Barnes recalled. “He said, ‘It would be very smart for you to pass the word to the Iranians to wait until after this general election is over.’ And boy, I tell you, I’m sitting there and I heard it and so now it dawns on me, I realize why we’re there.”

Quote:Making Of A Myth

It is a story that will not die--a dark tale of conspiracy and political intrigue that, if true, would constitute something like an accusation of treason against George Bush, the late William Casey and other members of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. Briefly put, the "October Surprise" theory holds that Bush or Casey-or possibly Bush and Casey-cut a secret deal with Iran in the summer or fall of 1980 to delay the release of 52 U.S. hostages until after the November elections. Their objective, or so the theory holds, was to deny Jimmy Carter whatever political advantage the hostages' last-minute release might create-or, in short, to swing the 1980 election toward Reagan and Bush.

The October Surprise theory has been kicking around for the past 11 years, and it has become a mother lode for conspiracy junkies of all political persuasions. It got its biggest boost early this year when Gary Sick, a former member of Jimmy Carter's National Security Council staff, wrote an article on the op-ed page of The New York Times asserting his belief that it could have happened.

Quote:JP Morgan's bags of stones

The London Metal Exchange revealed a surprising mix-up last week at a warehouse in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

An operator for the warehouse weighed bags that were thought to contain 54 metric tons of nickel, only to find that they were filled with stones, according to The Wall Street Journal.

It appears that JPMorgan Chase is the unlucky owner of those bags, the Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Had they contained nickel, the bags would have been worth $1.3 million at current prices, representing 0.14% of nickel inventories, Bloomberg reported. While that means the mix-up will have a relatively minor impact on metal markets, it does call the security of the LME's contracts into question. "In an industry riddled with scandals, the LME's contracts are viewed as unquestionably safe," Bloomberg said.

The LME first announced the mix-up last Friday but didn't disclose the owner of the bags or the warehouse where they were kept, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, people familiar with the matter said the warehouse was owned and operated by Access World, according to the Journal.

A spokesperson for the logistics firms told Insider that "Access World confirms it is currently undertaking inspections of warranted bags of nickel briquettes at all locations and will engage external surveyors to assist. In the meantime based on internal stock checks all information indicates that the underlying issue which led to the suspension of the 9 warrants referenced in LME notice 23/044 is an isolated case and specific to one warehouse in Rotterdam."

It's likely that Access World is going to bear the financial burden for the mix-up rather than JPMorgan Chase, the Journal said, because it was the company's responsibility to protect the stores of metal in its facilities.

JPMorgan Chase bought the bags years ago and remains an active player in big metals, the Journal said.

JPMorgan Chase and the LME also did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Quote:WASHINGTON (CDC / News Release) – Candida auris (C. auris), an emerging fungus considered an urgent antimicrobial resistance (AR) threat, spread at an alarming rate in U.S. healthcare facilities in 2020-2021, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Equally concerning was a tripling in 2021 of the number of cases that were resistant to echinocandins, the antifungal medicine most recommended for treatment of C. auris infections.

In general, C. auris is not a threat to healthy people. People who are very sick, have invasive medical devices, or have long or frequent stays in healthcare facilities are at increased risk for acquiring C. auris. CDC has deemed C. auris as an urgent AR threat, because it is often resistant to multiple antifungal drugs, spreads easily in healthcare facilities, and can cause severe infections with high death rates.

“The rapid rise and geographic spread of cases is concerning and emphasizes the need for continued surveillance, expanded lab capacity, quicker diagnostic tests, and adherence to proven infection prevention and control,” said CDC epidemiologist Dr. Meghan Lyman, lead author of the paper.

As further explained in the article, C. auris has spread in the United States since it was first reported in 2016, with a total of 3,270 clinical cases (in which infection is present) and 7,413 screening cases (in which the fungus is detected but not causing infection) reported through December 31, 2021. Clinical cases have increased each year since 2016, with the most rapid rise occurring during 2020-2021. CDC has continued to see an increase in case counts for 2022. During 2019-2021, 17 states identified their first C. auris case ever. Nationwide, clinical cases rose from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021. Screening cases tripled from 2020 to 2021, for a total of 4,041. Screening is important to prevent spread by identifying patients carrying the fungus so that infection prevention controls can be used.

C. auris case counts have increased for many reasons, including poor general infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in healthcare facilities. Case counts may also have increased because of enhanced efforts to detect cases, including increased colonization screening, a test to see if someone has the fungus somewhere on their body but does not have an infection or symptoms of infection. The timing of this increase and findings from public health investigations suggest C. auris spread may have worsened due to strain on healthcare and public health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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