Link: https://www.axios.com/2023/01/08/bolsonaro-supporters-storm-congress-brazil

Supporters of Brazil's right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the National Congress and other government buildings in the capital Brasilia on Sunday in an attack that echoed the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot by supporters of former President Donald Trump. | Authorities said late Sunday they had cleared the Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace offices of rioters, the New York Times reports. At least 300 people had been arrested, police said. What happened: Footage broadcast by several news outlets earlier Sunday showed protesters climbing onto the Congress building's roof, smashing some of its glass windows and doors, and damaging furniture. ● They also flooded parts of the Congress building with the sprinkler system and damaged furniture in the presidential palace and Supreme Court building, per Reuters. ● President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office less than a week ago, was in Sao Paulo at the time of the attacks. ● While Congress was not in session, protesters reportedly threatened employees if they tried to block their entry into the building, per CNN. ●  About 3,000 people took part in what initially started as a demonstration in Brasilia, according to local media.

Link: https://legitgov.org/dod-controlled-covid-vaccines-start-under-national-security-program-lied-entire-time-were-never-safe

DOD Controlled COVID 'Vaccines' From the Start Under National Security Program, Lied the Entire Time - Were Never 'Safe and Effective' | According to congressionally passed statutes, research of active laws, and extra details obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the Department of Defense owns, implements, and oversees the COVID-19 vaccine program as a "countermeasure" to foreign attack. While the public was bombarded with an orchestrated fear campaign, the U.S. government managed the Covid response as a national security threat. The research and documents were obtained by a former executive of a pharmaceutical Contract Research Organization (CRO), Sasha Latypova, and intensive legal researcher Katherine Watt. The Three-Legged Stool The undercover operation was orchestrated utilizing three critical legal maneuvers: 1. Emergency Use Authorization EUA; 2. Prep Act; 3. Other Transactions Authority. President Trump declared a Public Health Emergency (PHE) on March 13, 2020, under the Stafford Act, putting the National Security Council in charge of the Covid policy. Covid-19 vaccines are "medical countermeasures" -- a grey area of products that are not regulated as vaccines or medicines.

Link: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/newly-discovered-emails-mo-la-government-lawsuit-reveal-biden-regime-pressured-facebook-censor-tucker-carlson/

Newly Discovered Emails in MO and LA Government Lawsuit Reveal Biden Regime Pressured Facebook to Censor Tucker Carlson and Targeted Robert Kennedy, Jr. | In May 2022, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and former Missouri Attorney General and current Senator Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit alleging the President of the United States and other senior officials in the Biden Administration violated the First Amendment by directing social-media companies to censor viewpoints that conflict with the government's messaging on Covid-19 and election integrity concerns relating to the 2020 general election... Dr. Tony Fauci, Nina Jankowicz, Vivek Murthy, and Karine Jean Pierre were served subpoenas along with several more Biden officials, the five social media giants as well as NIAID and the CDC in the Missouri and Louisiana lawsuit alleging collusion between the Biden administration and Big Tech in silencing conservative speech. The subpoenas request all communications between government officials and bodies and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. On Friday, January 6, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry released communications between Joe Biden's Director of Digital Strategy, Joe Flaherty, pressuring Facebook to censor Tucker Carlson of FOX News.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/569533-kevin-mccarthy-speaker-recap/

After a divisive voting process, Republicans choose the California lawmaker as the new speaker of the House of Representatives on Saturday | Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was sworn in as speaker of the House of Representatives on Saturday morning, bringing a divisive week of infighting to a close and formally handing control of the House to the GOP. A split in the party turned what is normally an uneventful procedure into an historic standoff, with 20 hardline Republican lawmakers holding up the process in a combined bid to thwart McCarthy’s appointment and squeeze concessions out of a leader they view as too establishment-friendly.

Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/irs-targeted-poorest-taxpayers-millionaires-went-unscathed-2022-report

IRS targeted poorest taxpayers while millionaires went mostly unscathed in 2022 - report | A study of 2022 IRS tax audit data found that a taxpayer in the lowest income bracket is five times more likely to face an audit that would a member of the highest income bracket... The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University examines internal IRS management reports each month, and the group noticed different trends by reviewing 2022 data. Most notably, the group looked at audits, particularly considering the agency relying more heavily on automatically produced letters sent to taxpayers. The data showed that the IRS conducted 85% of its audits through these letters, which request additional information and documentation related to specific items of interest. The rate of income tax audits for those in the lowest income bracket hit 12.7 per 1,000, compared to 2.3 per 1,000 among theose in the highest -- a nearly five-fold increase. The odds of a millionaire facing an audit were around 1.1%.

Link: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-us-house-speaker-kevin-mccarthys-dream-job-could-become-nightmare-2023-01-07/

Kevin McCarthy woke up on Saturday morning with a long-held dream fulfilled: After a four-day standoff, he was elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the most powerful member of the Republican Party. | But that role could turn into a nightmare because it requires leading a caucus that strongly rejects leadership. Conservatives have regularly excoriated top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell for agreeing to compromises of any kind with Democrats and earlier this week rejected former President Donald Trump's call to quickly fall in line behind McCarthy.

Link: https://greatgameindia.com/how-google-could-takeover-the-world/

Link: https://slaynews.com/news/twitter-exaggerated-russian-propaganda-claims-appease-democrats-media/

Twitter deliberately exaggerated claims about Russian propaganda flooding its platform in an effort to appease the Democrats and their allies in the corporate media, the latest installment of the “Twitter Files” has revealed. | According to journalist Matt Taibbi, who released another batch of the internal communication files this week, Twitter found no evidence that Russia was ramping up its influence efforts on the social media platform. Twitter’s own internal investigations found that the claim was a “dud,” Taibbi revealed. Nevertheless, Twitter’s former executives continued to push the Democrats’ narrative that Russia was using bots to spread propaganda and influence America’s elections, despite knowing it was false.

Link: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-reopens-borders-final-farewell-zero-covid-2023-01-08/

Travellers began streaming into mainland China by air, land and sea on Sunday, many eager for long-awaited reunions, as Beijing opened borders that have been all but shut since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. | After three years, mainland China opened sea and land crossings with Hong Kong and ended a requirement for incoming travellers to quarantine, dismantling a final pillar of a zero-COVID policy that had shielded China's people from the virus but also cut them off from the rest of the world. China's easing over the past month of one of the world's tightest COVID regimes followed historic protests against a policy that included frequent testing, curbs on movement and mass lockdowns that heavily damaged the second-biggest economy.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/20230107/all-by-myself-washington-dc-tops-list-of-loneliest-cities-in-america--1106110587.html

Incresingly more one-person households and marriages put on hold for a number of reasons are just some of the factors that have been feeding into the despondent statistics released by the US Chamber of Commerce. | America's capital, Washington DC, has been named as the loneliest city in the entire country, according to a new study from the Chamber of Commerce. ● Analyis of US Census Bureau data revealed the disheartening statistics: among the 319,565 households in Washington, D.C., nearly half (48.2%) had just one occupant. Overall, 154,140 residents live "solo" in the nation's capital, with this applying to 21.5% of men and 26.7% of women. ● Furthermore, the trend appears to be gathering steam, as the city is persistently "getting lonelier." Statistics don't lie: the number of people leading solitary household lives has increased 5.9% year-over-year since 2016, the survey showed. Across more than 170 cities of the United States with a population of at least 150,000, more than 36 million Americans (approximately 29 percent of all households) had just one occupant, continued the study.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/20230107/man-behind-the-gavel-who-is-the-new-house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy-1106098948.html

Man Behind the Gavel: Who is the New House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy? | Republican Kevin McCarthy finally clinched US House speakership after the 15th ballot was held on Friday. McCarthy (Calif.) became the nation’s 55th speaker, wrapping a contentious few days of heated debates and concessions which had left the chamber leaderless for the longest time in a century. ● The 57-year-old lawmaker had remained confident throughout the tense debates with GOP holdouts and concession-trading that finally landed him the gavel. Incidentally, it was Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) who handed Speaker-elect Kevin McCarthy the gavel, calling to mind a joke made by the Californian back in August, 2021.

■ McCarthy weighing $75B defense budget cut in quest for speakership (Responsible Statecraft)
■ McCarthy elected House speaker after historic battle with GOP rebels (Axios)
■ US House elects speaker on 15th attempt (RT.com)

The woman was taken into custody over a minor traffic offense | The mother of Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old military veteran fatally shot by police as she stormed the halls of Congress on January 6, 2021, has been arrested during a demonstration to mark the second anniversary of her daughter’s death. ● A small protest march in Washington, DC on Friday ended in the arrest of Micki Witthoeft, 58, who was slapped with traffic violations after refusing orders to get out of the street. ● In footage of the encounter captured by journalist Ford Fischer, Witthoeft is seen attempting to cross a road near the Capitol before she is shoved by a police officer, who repeatedly tells her to return to the sidewalk. Declining to do so, the woman then turned around with her hands behind her back, apparently asking to be arrested. Following an exchange of words, she was then placed in the back of a squad car.

Link: https://nypost.com/2023/01/06/117-year-old-church-burns-down-in-latest-portland-mayhem/

An arson attack that destroyed a 117-year-old church in downtown Portland, Oregon, this week has become a symbol of disorder in the city. | Cameron David Storer, a trans woman also known as “Nicolette Fait,” was arrested following an investigation by the Portland Fire & Rescue Fire Investigations Unit.

The 27-year-old is charged with two counts of first-degree arson, one count of second-degree arson, and two counts of second-degree burglary — all felonies. According to prosecutors, Storer walked into the Multnomah County Detention Center and confessed to setting the church on fire using a lighter.

“Storer stated that they heard voices in their head saying they would ‘mutilate’ Storer if they did not burn the church down and that they had planned it up to one day in advance,” said the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office in a press release. Storer allegedly told investigators she was taking oxycodone and had a history of mental illness. [i.e. "wokeness"]

What remains of the church’s charred steeple could collapse at any moment, according to the fire department, which blocked off the area pending a demolition. The church had previously been damaged in a 2020 fire and was routinely illegally occupied by squatters.

Link: https://www.axios.com/2023/01/07/el-chapos-son-extradition

A federal judge in Mexico City halted the extradition Friday of Ovidio Guzmán, a son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, to the U.S, per CNN. | The order comes a day after the younger Guzmán was arrested in Culiacán, Mexico, in an operation that led to deadly clashes resulting in at least 29 deaths. Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Guzmán's possible extradition wouldn't be immediate due to the formalities of the law, despite a 2019 arrest warrant in the U.S. for him, CNN reports.

Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-ag-sues-biden-admin-over-illegal-immigration-rule-increasing-burden-taxpayers

Texas AG sues Biden admin over illegal immigration rule 'increasing burden' on taxpayers | Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden administration over a newly implemented rule that he says places a burden on American taxpayers as a result of illegal immigration. Paxton filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that the Biden administration is ignoring a federal law that bars the admission of "illegal aliens from residing in the country if they are likely to rely on taxpayer-funded programs" The new rule, adopted in December 2022, "prevents consideration of statutorily required factors when determining whether an alien is likely to become a 'public charge,'" according to Paxton's office. "Aliens often provide documentation of financial support from family as proof that they won't become a burden on taxpayers. But the Biden rule prohibits a robust and meaningful investigation into the veracity of this documentation. Attorney General Paxton's lawsuit alleges that the December 2022 rule was adopted in violation of federal law and is arbitrary and capricious," a press release states.

Link: https://www.theepochtimes.com/more-than-270-sudden-cardiac-deaths-in-us-athletes-after-vaccination-peer-reviewed-study_4960561.html

More Than 260 Deaths in US Athletes After Vaccination - Peer-Reviewed Letter | Over 260 athletes and former athletes in the United States have died from cardiac arrests or other serious issues after taking COVID-19 vaccines, according to data from a recent peer-reviewed letter to the editor. Authored by structural biologist Panagis Polykretis, and board-certified internist and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, the letter's cited data found that from 2021 to 2022, at least 1,616 cardiac arrests or other major medical issues have been globally documented in vaccinated athletes, with 1,114 of those being fatal. The global data also showed that between 2021 to 2022, former and current American athletes made up 279 of the mortalities. Athletes have a lower chance of cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death as compared to non-athletes. A 2016 U.S. study calculated that non-athletes, compared to athletes, have a 29 times higher chance of sudden cardiac death.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/20230106/us-to-provide-over-3bln-in-new-military-assistance-to-ukraine-1106089946.html

The United States will provide an additional $3 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday. | The new assistance package also includes $682 million for regional partners and allies on NATO's eastern flank and $225 million for Ukraine’s military modernization, the White House spokesperson said. 💬 "[T]he package is expected to include… $225 million in foreign military financing for Ukraine to build the long-term capacity and modernization of Ukraine's military," Jean-Pierre said during a Friday briefing. "Today's assistance also includes $682 million for regional partners and allies on NATO's eastern flank to incentivize and backfill donations of military equipment." ● The package is expected to include Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled howitzer artillery guns, mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAPS) light vehicles and other armed personnel carriers as well as surface-to-air missiles, Jean-Pierre said.

■ Western Military Aid to Kiev Reflects Lack of Desire for Peace, US Media Says (Sputnik News)

Link: https://thegrayzone.com/2022/04/17/traitor-zelensky-assassination-kidnapping-arrest-political-opposition/

Max Blumenthal and Esha Krishnaswamy | While claiming to defend democracy, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has outlawed his opposition, ordered his rivals’ arrest, and presided over the disappearance and assassination of dissidents across the country. | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has framed his country’s war against Russia as a battle for democracy itself. In a carefully choreographed address to US Congress on March 16, Zelensky stated, “Right now, the destiny of our country is being decided. The destiny of our people, whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy.” ● US corporate media has responded by showering Zelensky with fawning press, driving a campaign for his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and inspiring a flamboyant musical tribute to himself and the Ukrainian military during the 2022 Grammy awards ceremony on April 3. ● Western media has looked the other way, however, as Zelensky and top officials in his administration have sanctioned a campaign of kidnapping, torture, and assassination of local Ukrainian lawmakers accused of collaborating with Russia. Several mayors and other Ukrainian officials have been killed since the outbreak of war, many reportedly by Ukrainian state agents after engaging in de-escalation talks with Russia.

Link: https://www.axios.com/2023/01/04/california-atmospheric-river-storm-wind-flooding

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/569454-mccarthy-fails-speaker-votes-house/

Republican Kevin McCarthy isn’t getting any closer to being elected speaker of the House | Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, has not managed to overcome the opposition of 20 or so members of his party to become speaker of the US House of Representatives. Even after the eleventh roll call in three days, on Thursday evening he remained short of the 218-vote majority required for the post. ● Facing a mutiny from within his party in the form of the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus, McCarthy was only able to secure 200 votes in the latest contest, despite making additional concessions to the dissenters since Wednesday’s failed votes. ● In addition to promising that more members of the Freedom Caucus would be able to serve on the Rules Committee, he agreed to a vote on congressional term limits – a potentially tectonic shift in the third-oldest Congress in US history – and promised to make it easier for representatives to remove the speaker, whoever that may end up being. ● Even support from former President Donald Trump and former VP Mike Pence – both of whom urged party members to back the former House minority leader – was unable to push McCarthy over the majority line.

■ US House Makes History After Chamber Holds More Than 10 Votes to Elect Next Speaker
■ House adjourns after tense vote as McCarthy plays for more time (January 5th, 2023)