February 13, 2022 - The Michigan Star

Police Clear Bridge at U.S.-Canadian Border, Arrest Remaining Protesters Blocking Key Trade Route

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Royal Canadian Mounted Police in riot gear

Police in Ontario on Sunday arrested protesters still blocking the Ambassador Bridge, seeking to clear the major trade route between Canada and the United States after days of COVID-19 restriction protests that captured the world’s attention.

Windsor police told the Associated Press that arrests began and vehicles were towed starting just after dawn at the bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario — the busiest northern border crossing to the U.S.

“Television images showed officers detaining protesters. Only two pickup trucks and less than a dozen protesters blocked the road to the bridge before police moved in. Afterward, police barricades remained and it was not immediately clear when the bridge might be opened,” AP reported.

Durham Alleges Clinton Campaign Hired Techs to ‘Infiltrate’ Trump Servers

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Filings from Special Counsel John Durham this week allege the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign was working to establish a “narrative” linking the Trump campaign to a Russian bank, in an alleged gambit one expert said was an effort to “infiltrate” Trump servers to that end.

The allegations, first reported on by Fox News on Saturday, are another layer to the densely, multifaceted Durham investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory, one that has continued long after Trump left office and that continues to produce fresh controversies on a regular basis.

New CDC Data Say Vaccine Booster Effectiveness Wanes Sharply in Months After Dose

February 13, 2022February 12, 2022 Admin

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week released data showing that effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine booster wanes markedly in the months following that shot, though the agency still said uptake of the booster is important for fighting against the virus.

The agency said in a press release that studies showed effectiveness against COVID-19 emergency department and urgent care incidents “was 87% and 91%, respectively, during the 2 months after a third dose [of the booster],” but that it “decreased to 66% and 78% by the fourth month after a third dose.”

The CDC said that “protection against hospitalizations exceeded that against ED/UC visits” with the shot.

Commentary: Our Greatest Domestic Threat Is Pro-Government Extremists

February 13, 2022February 12, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Joe Biden and his administration sitting in the Oval Office at the White House

Though alarming and depressing, we can no longer avoid recognizing that America’s greatest domestic threat is from pro-government extremists.

We rue that pro-government extremists caused immense destruction during their less-than-“peaceful protests” in 2020; and we witness the continuing damage caused by their neurotic, totalitarian response to a plethora of problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemic..

Indeed, what makes the pro-government extremists so dangerous is their far greater numbers than their anti-government extremist counterparts. Their noxious ideology that the citizen is subordinate to the omnipotent state is incessantly “normalized” and propagandized by their corporate media comrades.

Report: 12 Percent of Law Enforcement Officers Were Assaulted While on Duty in 2020

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 The Center Square

people protesting in front of law enforcment

Nearly 12% of police officers were assaulted while on duty in 2020, according to annual state level data collected by the FBI. Alaska reported the greatest percentage, California the greatest number.

A total of 60,105 officers were assaulted nationwide, with the overwhelming majority assaulted, and injured, by assailants’ hands and feet.

Nationwide, 26% of assaults in 2020 involved a deadly weapon that wasn’t a firearm; 5% involved a firearm.

Commentary: Humans Lived in Europe Earlier Than Thought, in Neanderthal Territories

February 13, 2022February 12, 2022 RealClearWire

Perched about 325 feet (100 meters) up the slopes of the Prealps in southern France, a humble rock shelter looks out over the Rhône River Valley. It’s a strategic point on the landscape, as here the Rhône flows through a narrows between two mountain ranges. For millennia, inhabitants of the rock shelter would have had commanding views of herds of animals migrating between the Mediterranean region and the plains of northern Europe, today replaced by TGV trains and up to 180,000 vehicles per day on one of the busiest highways on the continent.

The site, recognized in the 1960s and named Grotte Mandrin after French folk hero Louis Mandrin, has been a valued location for over 100,000 years. The stone artifacts and animal bones left behind by ancient hunter-gatherers from the Paleolithic period were quickly covered by the glacial dust that blew from the north on the famous mistral winds, keeping the remains well preserved.

Since 1990, our research team has been carefully investigating the uppermost 10 feet (3 meters) of sediment on the cave floor. Based on artifacts and tooth fossils, we believe that Mandrin rewrites the consensus story about when modern humans first made their way to Europe.

Department of Homeland Security Says COVID Misinformation Is Inspiring Terrorism, But It Won’t Provide Any Evidence

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 Admin

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) refused to provide evidence to support its claims that COVID-19 “misinformation” and “false or misleading narratives” inspired violent terrorism during 2021.

DHS issued a terrorism advisory bulletin Monday warning that of the dangers of online misinformation, which the agency said has been exploited by “threat actors” and to inspire acts of terrorism.

Former EcoHealth Alliance Official Calls NGO a ‘CIA Front Organization,’ Calls Peter Daszak a ‘Sociopath’

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 Admin

A scientist who worked with Peter Daszak at the EcoHealth Alliance has sent a whistleblower complaint to Senator Gary Peters, the Chairman of the Senate Whistleblower committee, stating that he believes Daszak works with the CIA and could in fact be “a double agent working on behalf of the Chinese government.”

TikTok Bans ‘Misgendering’ and ‘Deadnaming’ to Promote ‘Safety’ and ‘Security’

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 Admin

TikTok is banning users from “misgendering” and “deadnaming” others in an effort to improve the social media platform, the company announced Tuesday.

The company announced the new policies in updated community guidelines released Tuesday, saying it will now explicitly ban certain practices classified under the umbrella of “hateful ideologies.”

Commentary: Mainstream Media Newspapers Are Stubborn About Correcting Errors

February 13, 2022February 12, 2022 RealClearWire

Many iconic U.S. newspapers sport slogans that seek to explain their mission – and self-image. “All the News That’s Fit to Print” has been called “the seven most famous words in American journalism.” “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was an overtly partisan call to arms. But the most telling section of a newspaper’s true values is its “Corrections” page. That’s where journalism distinguishes itself from just about every other profession, routinely and straightforwardly admitting its mistakes. Who else does that?

It is a soul-crushing enterprise. A single misspelled name is all it takes to ruin an otherwise stellar article. We reporters may forget the topic of the piece we wrote last week, while the error five years ago is seared into our memories. But it is also crucial: Reader trust is the lifeblood of journalism. If you can’t believe what you read, why bother?

And yet, we do get things wrong all the time. Despite the self-righteous claims of too many news outlets, journalists don’t print The Truth. The “first draft of history” is necessarily messy and incomplete. What journalists have long promised readers is that we will do our best to get the story right initially and then set the record straight when better information emerges. This isn’t solely a commitment to high-minded ethics. It is also transactional: Journalists can so readily acknowledge errors because readers honor and reward our honesty. They forgive us our trespasses because we acknowledge them.

Court Injunction to Clear Ambassador Bridge Draws More Protestors

February 13, 2022February 12, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

After an Ontario Superior Court judge issued an injunction Freedom Convoy protestors at Ambassador Bridge to disburse, more protestors showed up in defiance of the order.

The order, handed down Friday afternoon, told protestors to clear the bridge or be arrested. Police officers from across the province reportedly swarmed to the area.