On Friday, the G20 convenes an extraordinary meeting on debt reduction for developing countries affected by the COVID-19 economic crisis. read full story / add a comment

TheIrishInquiry @IrishInquiry Tuesday evening LIVE at 9pm - the first episode of The Healthy Debate with @HealthFreedomIE

!In the sea of misinformation, we need courage, we need the truth, we need #TheHealthyDebate. Tomorrow we talk about the role of the media in reporting the #COVID19 situation in #Ireland

If you missed the show don’t fret. We have the replays available:

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Call for Covid-19 ‘track and trace’ for rhododendron
Spread of rhododendron ‘death warrant’ for countryside

The spread of rhododendron across Ireland’s countryside has been likened to Covid-19 by an environmental charity, Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE]. FIE have called for a ‘track and trace’ programme to be put in place to control the increasing spread of this ‘beautiful and picturesque death warrant’.

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More than 20,000 people demonstrated Saturday in eastern Germany against government-imposed restrictions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus after a court rejected the city of Leipzig’s attempt to move the protest away from a central square, police said.

By the city’s calculations, only 5,000 people could gather in Augustusplatz plaza and keep 1.5 meters (5 feet) away from one another. With protest organizers saying they expected at least 16,000 participants, administrators had sought to have the demonstration moved to a larger location outside the city’s center.

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As thousands of people in the UK this past weekend protested new COVID lockdowns, the British Army is planning on rolling out a massive new COVID testing initiative in the city of Liverpool this week, seeking to test a half million people in a program that will be rolled out to the entire nation if successful.

As part of that initiative, a letter was sent out to the parents of children attending Broadgreen International School, letting them know that their child would be tested by the military even without their consent. read full story / add a comment

Twelve years after losing their original case against the planning permission for a LNG terminal on the Shannon River, Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] today received a High Court order quashing An Bord Pleanala’s grant of permission and awarding costs in their favour. The proposed terminal was due to process Liquid Natural Gas [LNG] from the USA for consumption in Ireland and to be distributed throughout the EU.

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Hundreds have defied a ban on rallies in Britain as they protested against the lockdown in Liverpool and scuffled with police. Two people were arrested and three were fined for breaching Covid-19 restrictions.

Between 300 and 400 people took part in a march denouncing the latest Covid-19 lockdown, according to police. The protesters did not wear masks and openly ignored social distancing rules.

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One characteristic feature of the Covid-19 hoax particularly noticeable has been the complete obedience and compliance of young people. This is all upside down. The youth are supposed to be the rebellious one to defy authority. They and students especially have quite often historically been the source of many revolutionary acts. They should be out pushing the envelope and exerting their independence. Instead they have been sheepish and scared which is not a good omen for their own futures. It would seem though that that flame has not been totally extinguished and is still showing life at least in Manchester as reported here

Students angered by fences put up around their halls of residence have pulled down the barriers in protest.

The fences were erected on Thursday at the University of Manchester’s Fallowfield campus as a “security measure” to “help avoid the mixing of households”.

But the measure – which was not explained to residents until after the fences went up – caused unrest among students, who protested on Thursday evening and pulled the barriers down.

The university subsequently issued an apology and said the fences would be removed on Friday.

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Press Release from Dept of Foreign Affairs

"I am deeply dismayed to learn of the demolition by Israeli authorities on 3 November of more than 70 structures, belonging to 11 Palestinian families in the community of Humsa Al Bqai’a* in the northern Jordan Valley. These demolitions include residential, livelihood and sanitation facilities." read full story / add a comment

High Court to hear challenge against unsustainable fishing in Ireland and the EU

The Irish High Court granted leave today to the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] to apply for a Judicial Review aimed at challenging the EU Regulation setting 2020 fishing quotas under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) because of its failure to meet a legally defined deadline of ending overfishing in all stocks by 2020.

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We, The People, are concerned about worldwide media reporting about covid.

Are you, Western Media Moguls, realizing that there is hardly anything else on your programs other than covid? – Covid is at the center of everything. Covid discussions appear every hour on the hour, in the news and in between the news.

Covid reporting is non-stop alarming and fearmongering.

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I do not know much about it. But I think science policy nationally and internationally is a delicate balance. It's difficult to form a picture of who is doing research, what are their objectives, what are the rewards. My impression is that science is mostly controlled by commercial interests. What is invented mostly is what can sell. You have copyright and secrecy backed up by law to preserve the pitch for profit. It is easy to see the sense in this because it provides an incentive for scientists and their employers to spend time and money on research.

But there is also a negative aspect to this way of doing things. Manufacturers are not wholly induced to innovate. They might see more profit from concentrating on already discovered products. Pharmaceuticals are, perhaps, an example of this. Instead of looking for new and improved drugs, they may see more profit from continuing to produce older drugs even if they are less than perfect with lots of unwanted effects. read full story / add a comment

In an article by Tommy Sheridan, he discusses the recent suspension of former leader of the UK Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn by the party on spurious grounds that he was anti-semtic. His real crime was his sympathy with the Palestinian people and willingness to call out Israel’s human rights abuses.

The other day a thoroughly decent and honest man suffered a grave injustice. A man who has a peerless record in opposing racism and anti-Semitism was suspended by the political party he has been a member of for over fifty years, has represented it in the British Parliament since 1983 and was its leader from 2015-20.

Irony died in Britain yesterday when Jeremy Corbyn was suspended by the Labour Party with the consent and probable collusion of the man who succeeded him as leader, Sir Keir Starmer.

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UPDATE: The motion was passed despite opposition. See responses below. We believe it is important to keep emailing. Make sure they understand this is serious. The ICCL had to lobby to get a sunset clause added to the first version of this Act. There is no provision that prevents another (or indefinite) extension.

The Dáil is meeting on October 22nd 2020 to pass a motion on the extension of the above mentioned emergency measures until June 9th 2021. They are also voting for more power to enforce these measures through fines and with the help of Garda Síochána.

Many of us are concerned about the proposed extension of extraordinary powers given to the State during the Covid-19 pandemic under the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 and would like to message our TDs about these concerns.

Unfortunately this article should have been published on Oct 20th read full story / add a comment

Tens of thousands, and perhaps now even hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, and many other medical professionals worldwide are taking action to combat the misinformation being propagated by governments and government-controlled media that continue to publish false propaganda regarding COVID.

The vast majority of medical professionals worldwide now seem to agree that the COVID “pandemic” and the government actions still being implemented in response to COVID are causing much more harm than COVID itself.

Almost all of these doctors and medical professionals now seem to agree that COVID is no worse than a typical flu season, and the main test being used to supposedly test for COVID, the PCR Test, is not reliable. read full story / add a comment

Today across the country all the major food retailers like Lidl, Aldi and Tesco have been banned from selling middle isle "non-essential" but really are essential items like clothes, toys, homeware and other items and there has been widespread anger. This is being co-ordinated across Europe as only last week the same thing happened in Wales, UK and other countries where co-ordinated lockdowns and curfews are being put in place. Same types of bans are widespread not only across Europe but the USA.
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In surprise move Glenn Greenwald who helped publish NSA Edward Snowden's revelations on widespread mass spying and other activities and who setup the The Intercept with Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill in 2014 as a vehicle to publish this material, has resigned from it.

He has been forced out by the editors who tried to stop him from publish his recent articles on the Joe Biden email scandal. They were trying to protect the Joe Biden camp.

He tweeted: The same trends of repression, censorship and ideological homogeneity plaguing the national press generally have engulfed the media outlet I co-founded, culminating in censorship of my own articles.

Greenwald has released a lengthy statement on this issue which we reproduce here.

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I happen to know a thing or two about masks and safety.

Why? Because for 25 years I was the editor of an award-winning trade magazine called HazMat Management that covered such topics as pollution prevention and compliance with health & safety laws.

We routinely published articles on masks, gloves, respirators and other forms of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Now let me tell you a few things about that mask you’re wearing. read full story / add a comment

There is trouble brewing in lots of countries as people are reaching their limits with these lockdowns and restrictions and this came to the surface in Rome, Italy yesterday as police unleashed a range of riot control weapons against the masses protesting.

Meanwhile last week end there were huge protests in Naples after Southern Italy declared new lockdowns and curfew. read full story / add a comment

Brussels (EU and European NATO Headquarters) – On 21 October 2020, the German Press Agency (dpa) reports that Germany pledges NATO soldiers for possible Covid-19 operations: “German soldiers could be sent on crisis missions to other NATO and partner countries during the second wave of the Corona pandemic. As a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense confirmed, the German government has promised NATO support for its “Allied Hand” emergency plan. According to this plan, medical personnel, pioneers and experts from the force would be made available for foreign missions to counter nuclear, biological or chemical hazards as required. The contingency plan is to be activated, for example, if a collapse of the health care system is imminent in allied or NATO partner countries due to very high infection rates and the affected state asks for support.” read full story / add a comment