Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country would pivot its economic relationships away from the West and towards China, suggesting Moscow could even rebuff an offer to reopen trade with the US and its allies. Speaking with reporters in Moscow on Monday, the Russian diplomat said that while his country would consider rebuilding ties with Western states, it is inclined to stick with more dependable partners going forward. "If they [the West] want to offer something in terms of resuming relations, then we will seriously consider whether we will need it or not," he said, adding...
tech
The Lab Leak Hypothesis, Evolution, Innovation, & Rational Optimism. Matt Ridley & Keith Knight
https://youtu.be/DPEP1TGyqqQ The cumulative acceleration of knowledge by specialists that allows us each to consume more and more different things by each producing fewer and fewer, is I submit, the central story of humanity. - Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist, p. 46 Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, The Origins of Virtue, Genome, Nature via Nurture, Francis Crick, The Rational Optimist, The Evolution of Everything, and How Innovation Works. He writes a weekly column in The...
New Report Reveals ICE Spent Billions Spying on Americans
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent $2.8 billion to surveil Americans from 2008 to 2021. The report titled “American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century” from the Georgetown Law Center for Privacy and Technology details how ICE used warrantless, mass spying tactics to deport people believed to be in the US illegally. The report found the agency could run images against a facial recognition database that includes a third of Americans and was quickly able to learn where hundreds of millions of people lived, all without any judicial oversight. “In fact, ICE has used...
US Abandoned Billions in Military Gear Meant for Afghan Army, Some Sent to Ukraine
When the last American soldier left Kabul in August, the US left behind $7 billion in military equipment it had given to the Afghan Army, more than one-third of all the gear donated over 16 years.
Lawsuit Update: Woman, Given Speeding Ticket on Way to Work, Shot By Cop
In June of 2020, family and friends of Hannah Fizer, 25, were shocked to learn that their beloved daughter and friend had been killed during a stop over an alleged speeding violation. Then, four months later, they learned there would be no justice and the officer who killed the unarmed woman as she sat in her vehicle—was back on the job. Since then, Fizer’s father, John Fizer, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Pettis County seeking damages against Pettis County Deputy Jordan Schutte. The lawsuit argues the shooting was an unjustified, an excessive use of force and that Schutte did not...
We Ended the War in Iraq (Yes Again, But Also Not Really)
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced the formal end to the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, but all 2,500 troops that are currently in the country will stay in an advisory role. The Biden administration agreed with Iraq back in July to end the U.S. combat mission by the end of this year, and it was clear when the announcement was made that US troops would stay and nothing would really change. The Iraqi government has been under pressure to expel the U.S. since January 2020, when the U.S. killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike in...
COI #181: Taking on the Covid Cult guests Pete Quiñones & Joanne Leon
On COI #181, Peter R. Quiñones and Joanne Leon return to the show to discuss the Cult of Covid. Joanne and Pete take on the most sacred of the guiding principles on masks, vaccines and Dr. Truth-Science himself, Anthony Fauci. Pete and Joanne have been among the most fearless commentators on Covid and remain committed to questioning any commandments dictated by “The Science™.” Note: Due to increasingly censorious Big Tech platforms, only a brief portion of this show appears on YouTube. Find the full, uncut episode at LibertarianInstitute.org. Joanne Leon is the host of ‘Around the...
9/24/21 Barbara Grant on What Really Happened on the Final Day of the Waco Siege
Scott is joined by Barbara Grant to discuss her new documentary which gives an experts perspective on the infrared footage capture on the final day of the Waco siege. Grant was busy working on a satellite when it happened in 1993, but she later became interested in the infrared footage featured in the 2000 film Waco: A New Revelation. The footage shows several flashes occurring behind the compound. The film argued that these flashes were gunfire while the Government dismissed them as solar reflections. Grant, who has studied and worked with infrared technology, decided to use her...
COI #166: The Architects of the Afghan War Failed Upwards
On COI #166, Scott Spaulding – host of Why I'm Antiwar – returns to the show for the third installment of the 'Villains of the Afghan War' series. Scott breaks down the role of David Kilcullen, the godfather of counterinsurgency under the Bush administration. Kilcullen found himself in a high-ranking position that he exploited to push his own COIN policy. While his approach failed and the Afghan War ended in disaster, Kilcullen is still named as an expert and continues to profit off the military-industrial complex. Scott discusses USAID official James Derleth’s part in the Afghan...
Five Myths About Drone Warfare
Myth 1. It's "precision bombing" Myth 2. Drone warfare is ethical Myth 3. If the war is legal so is the weapon Myth 4. Drones are a triumph of technology Myth 5. Drones are effective Aerial bombardment has not created peaceful states, nor defeated IS, nor stopped the violent deaths of innocents, nor abated sectarian conflicts, nor alleviated suffering. These wars have led to endemic anarchy, mass exodus of civilians, death, poverty and generations living with the trauma of war. They have contributed to the rise of theocracy and jihadism. Wars rage, as millions are...