Reader’s Links for October 3, 2021

(Sorry for late start. Busy and difficult weekend)

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

36 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 3, 2021”

  1. FDA worksheets on Comirnaty, BioNTech’s covid clotshot.

    https://www.fda.gov/media/151733/download

    All redactions bear the code (b) ( 4)

    ======================================
    US GOV – Redaction Codes

    The declassified documents will usually contain redactions, which indicate portions that contain information not releasable to the public. Each redaction will be associated with a redaction code, which gives the REASON FOR WHY THE INFORMATION CANNOT BE RELEASED Redaction codes fall under three general categories.

    […]

    […]

    (b) (4) Reveal information that would impair the application of state-of-the-art technology WITHIN A U.S. WEAPON SYSTEM

    […]

    https://www.archives.gov/declassification/iscap/redaction-codes.html

  2. BUSINESS INSIDER – DECEMBER 2020 –

    The co-founder of BioNTech designed the coronavirus vaccine it made with Pfizer in just a few hours over a single day

    The FDA granted emergency authorization to Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday evening.

    The vaccine, which was found to be 95% effective in trials, was designed by BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin in one day: January 25.

    In fact, according to The Wall Street Journal’s podcast, Sahin designed the vaccine in just a few hours.

    ——————————————

    The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization to Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday.

    The two-dose vaccine is the first to be authorized in the US, though Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine will likely receive FDA authorization this month as well.

    After months of testing, the vaccine was found to be 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a large-scale trial. Its development process was unprecedentedly fast — no other vaccine in history has been created and manufactured so quickly. Previously, the fastest vaccine ever developed took more than four years.

    But perhaps most remarkably, BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin designed the vaccine in just a few hours in mid-January, according to The Journal, a podcast from Gimlet and The Wall Street Journal.

    A BioNTech spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that Sahin — who founded the company with his wife, Özlem Türeci — made a “rough design over one weekend.”

    Moderna’s vaccine also took just two days to design, as Business Insider previously reported. The reason both candidates could be designed so quickly comes down to the technology they rely on: messenger RNA, or mRNA.

    The FDA had never approved an mRNA-based vaccine or treatment before. But now that the agency has granted authorization to Pfizer and BioNTech — with Moderna’s likely to follow shortly — mRNA vaccines could set a new industry standard.

    Messenger RNA is genetic material that tells cells how to make proteins. Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine candidate works by injecting a small piece of coronavirus mRNA into the body. That RNA codes for the virus’ spike protein, which is what helps it attach to and invade cells. That’s also what antibodies target and neutralize.

    So the mRNA vaccine spurs the body to produce the spike protein internally in order to trigger that same immune response.

    Moderna’s candidate works in the same way and has been found to be 94.5% effective in trials.

    Utilizing mRNA vaccine technology meant BioNTech and Moderna only needed the coronavirus’ genetic sequence to design a vaccine. That’s why they could move forward so quickly.

    On January 24, Sahin read a paper in The Lancet that described Chinese family members who traveled to Wuhan then contracted COVID-19.

    “What was most concerning is that one of the family members had the virus and was virus-positive but did not have symptoms,” Sahin told The Journal. This meant that the virus could be transmitted by asymptomatic carriers — and had probably already spread out of China.

    “The math behind it just showed me it will happen, it’s just a matter of a few weeks,” Sahin said.

    He decided to shift BioNTech’s focus toward a coronavirus vaccine. The following week, Sahin told the company that operations going forward would be devoted mostly to developing and testing the vaccine.

    Using the coronavirus’ genetic sequence, which Chinese researchers published on January 11, Sahin designed 10 different candidates on his computer that weekend. One was the candidate later selected for larger trials — the one the FDA has authorized.

    Sahin designed that winning candidate in just a few hours, according to The Journal.

    But BioNTech, with a pre-pandemic workforce of 1,000, didn’t have the capacity to manufacture the hundreds of thousands of doses needed for large-scale trials — let alone the hundreds of millions it would need if the vaccine worked.

    So in February, Sahin called Pfizer’s head of vaccine research, Kathrin Jansen; BioNTech had worked with Pfizer since 2018 on a flu vaccine.

    “This is a disaster, and it’s getting worse,” Dr. Jansen told Dr. Sahin, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Happy to work with you.”

    The two companies announced their partnership in mid-March.

    Pfizer would manage the logistics, including manufacturing the vaccine in large batches and organizing the Phase 3 trial, which wound up involving 43,500 volunteers. BioNTech, meanwhile, handled the vaccine’s design.

    Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine was more than 90% effective on November 9. When Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told senior company officials of the findings, people jumped up from their chairs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

    The full results of the Phase 3 trial were even stronger: The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, suggest that the vaccine doesn’t trigger severe side effects in most people and is 95% effective at preventing COVID-19.

    Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert, called the results “just extraordinary” and said they would “have a major impact on everything that we do with regard to COVID.”

    The speed at which BioNTech and Pizer developed the vaccine does not mean they sacrificed thoroughness, according to Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association.

    “We’re not skipping steps — we actually have better technology,” Rizzo previously told Business Insider. “Why did it take two weeks to cross the Atlantic back in the 1800s? Well, we had to go on a boat. Whereas now, you can get across the ocean in several hours.”

    The pros and cons of mRNA vaccines

    For decades, vaccines contained a dead or weakened version of a virus itself. Then early advances in genetics allowed vaccines to use proteins made by the virus instead. That method was first used in the 1980s to develop a vaccine for hepatitis B. Companies like Novavax are relying on the same protein-based model to create their coronavirus vaccine candidates.

    But BioNTech was founded on the idea that mRNA could be used to develop cancer vaccines, hence its mRNA-based approach to the coronavirus. One of the company’s senior vice presidents, biochemist Katalin Karikó, first discovered how to configure mRNA to be used in vaccines.

    Since RNA vaccines aren’t cultivated using cells, they’re quicker to produce.

    The drawbacks of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, however, are that people must get two injections three weeks apart, and it needs to be shipped at about -94 degrees Fahrenheit. That requires dry ice and special freezers.

    Crucial questions about the vaccine also remain, like how long it will protect people from COVID-19 and whether it can prevent transmission and asymptomatic infection.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-biontech-vaccine-designed-in-hours-one-weekend-2020-12

  3. BUSINESS INSIDER – DECEMBER 2020 – Moderna’s groundbreaking coronavirus vaccine was designed in just 2 days

    The FDA granted emergency authorization to Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday.

    The vaccine was found to be 94.1% effective at protecting people against COVID-19 in trials.

    It took less than a year to develop and test the vaccine — years faster than previous vaccines.

    The company designed its vaccine in just two days. In the past, traditional vaccines have taken years to design.

    ————————————-

    The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization to Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday.

    The decision came after an independent expert panel voted overwhelmingly to recommend the authorization on Thursday. Moderna’s vaccine candidate was found to be 94.1% effective in preventing COVID-19 in clinical trials, and it doesn’t trigger severe side effects in most people.

    That’s far more effective than expected: The FDA had said it would likely approve a vaccine that showed at least 50% efficacy, and Dr. Anthony Fauci had said he hoped for 70%. The vaccine’s development process was also unprecedentedly fast — only the Pfizer-BioNTech team beat Moderna to FDA authorization (that vaccine, similarly, was 95% effective in trials).

    But perhaps more remarkable is that Moderna designed its vaccine in just two days in January, before some people had even heard of the coronavirus.

    That wouldn’t have been possible without the technology Moderna has bet on since its founding: messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines.

    Messenger RNA is genetic material that tells cells how to make proteins. So Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine candidate works by injecting a small piece of mRNA from the coronavirus that codes for the virus’ spike protein. This protein helps the coronavirus attach to and invade cells, and it’s what antibodies target and neutralize. Moderna’s mRNA vaccine spurs the body to produce the spike protein internally. That, in turn, triggers an immune response.

    Utilizing mRNA technology meant that both Pfizer and Moderna only needed the coronavirus’ genetic sequence to make a vaccine — no virus had to be cultivated in labs. That’s why the companies were able to progress in record time. By contrast, the development of more traditional vaccines can take years.

    “What you could probably do is make this a whole new way of making drugs, vaccines, almost anything,” Bob Langer, one of Moderna’s founders, previously told Business Insider.

    The FDA has never approved an mRNA-based vaccine or treatment before, so to many, Moderna’s bet looked risky. But now that the FDA has given the green light to the shots, mRNA vaccines are poised to set a new industry standard.

    How Moderna got ahead of the coronavirus

    On January 6, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel emailed Barney Graham, a vaccine researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Bancel was troubled by the mysterious virus outbreak in Wuhan. He then talked with Graham about developing a vaccine.

    Moderna had been working with the NIH on vaccines since 2017, but had not yet gotten one approved. Graham signed on to the partnership.

    On January 11, researchers from China published the genetic sequence of the coronavirus. Two days later, Moderna’s team and NIH scientists had finalized the targeted genetic sequence they would use in the vaccine.

    “This is not a complicated virus,” Bancel told The New York Times.

    By February 24, Moderna had shipped its first vaccine batches to NIH scientists in Bethesda, Maryland. Researchers administered the first dose on March 16 in Seattle, Washington. That launched the first clinical trial of any coronavirus vaccine.

    Moderna’s speed has led some to worry that the company sacrificed thoroughness. But that’s not the case, according to Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association.

    “We’re not skipping steps — we actually have better technology,” Rizzo told Business Insider. “Why did it take two weeks to cross the Atlantic back in the 1800s? Well, we had to go on a boat. Whereas now, you can get across the ocean in several hours.”

    The pros and cons of mRNA vaccines
    For decades, vaccines contained a dead or weakened version of the virus itself. Then early advances in genetics allowed vaccines to use proteins made by the virus instead. That method was first used in the 1980s to develop a vaccine for hepatitis B.

    Companies like Novavax are relying on that protein-based model to create their coronavirus vaccine candidates. But Moderna’s business has revolved around mRNA since it started in 2010.

    RNA vaccines’ big advantage is the speed of development and production. But there are drawbacks. For one, both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines require two injections. Pfizer is delivering its two shots three weeks apart, while Moderna’s are four weeks apart.

    The vaccines are also difficult to deliver and store. Pfizer’s vaccine needs to be shipped at -94 degrees Fahrenheit, which requires dry ice and special freezers. Moderna’s requires a temperature of -4 degrees Fahrenheit.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/moderna-designed-coronavirus-vaccine-in-2-days-2020-11

    ====================================

    VIDEO – WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM – live stream – NOV 30 2020

    just after the 50:00 mark

    https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/building-a-cohesive-world/

    =========================================
    twitter @risemelbourne

    My Word
    To anyone who says this wasn’t planned, listen to this with intent.

    Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel says it took 2 days to design the WAX on a computer, it was quick because they’ve been working with Fauci on it since 2018 and “JUST WENT WITH IT”

    https://twitter.com/risemelbourne/status/1419558754698162180

    ======================================

  4. POLAND – Polish MPs Protest at Australian Embassy

    Poland has joined the international movement of condemning Australia’s treatment of citizens comparing it’s radical left-wing policies to that of North Korea!

    Human Rights hold universal values which should be adopted by states worldwide

  5. FINANCIAL TIME – BioNTech chief predicts need for updated Covid vaccines next year

    Ugur Sahin says the virus is very likely to mutate and evade immunity given by current jabs

    The chief executive of the biotech behind the first Covid-19 vaccine has said a new formulation is likely to be needed by the middle of next year to protect against the virus as it mutates.

    Ugur Sahin, chief executive of BioNTech, told the Financial Times that as time passes, mutations will emerge that can evade the body’s immune defences. “This year [a different vaccine] is completely unneeded. But by mid next year, it could be a different situation,” he predicted.

    A partnership between the German biotech and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer brought the first Covid-19 vaccine to market. It was also the first vaccine based on mRNA technology to win regulatory approval, and has been the world’s best-selling drug this year.

    In an interview with the FT, Sahin said the Covid-19 variants currently in circulation, particularly the Delta strain, were more contagious but not different enough to undermine the effectiveness of current vaccines.

    Booster shots seem able to tackle the main variants, Sahin said. But the virus will eventually develop mutations that can escape the immune response bestowed by the vaccine, he said, necessitating a “tailored” version to specifically target the new strain.

    “This virus will stay, and the virus will further adapt,” he said. “We have no reason to assume that the next generation virus will be easier to handle for the immune system than the existing generation. This is a continuous evolution, and that evolution has just started.”

    By next year, there will be two main streams to vaccination programmes, Sahin predicted. There will be booster shots for those who have already been vaccinated, as well as a continued push to vaccinate people that have had minimal access so far.

    Pfizer and BioNTech and other Covid-19 vaccine makers have been under pressure from developing countries and aid groups to share patents to allow vaccines to be more widely produced. Sahin rejected patent-sharing as a risk to quality control. Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla has argued it would disincentivise innovation.

    Pharma groups have attempted to address concerns by offering to widen access to the vaccine and invest in production in regions such as Africa, where last month Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans to develop a “fill-and-finish” manufacturing plant in Cape Town.

    Sahin declined to offer any forecasts of how the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine would be priced in the future, but said he expected it would still be needed in the coming years.

    The US announced in September that it would buy another 500m doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine at not-for-profit rates to give to lower-income countries.

    https://www.ft.com/content/d88457da-6bbc-4f07-82a6-4738aa845492

    ===================================

    Meet the scientist couple driving an mRNA vaccine revolution

    clap clap clap clap clap 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

  6. Pandora Papers: Secret wealth and dealings of world leaders exposed
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58780465
    The secret wealth and dealings of world leaders, politicians and billionaires has been exposed in one of the biggest leaks of financial documents.
    Some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public officials are featured in the files from offshore companies, dubbed the Pandora Papers.
    They reveal the King of Jordan secretly amassed £70m of UK and US property.
    [..]
    The documents reveal the owners of some of the 95,000 offshore firms behind the purchases.
    It highlights the UK government’s failure to introduce a register of offshore property owners despite repeated promises to do so, amid concerns some property buyers could be hiding money-laundering activities.
    The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family, who have been accused of looting their own country, are one example.
    The investigation found the Aliyevs and their close associates have secretly been involved in property deals in the UK worth more than £400m.
    The revelations could prove embarrassing for the UK government, as the Aliyevs appear to have made a £31m profit after selling one of their London properties to the Crown Estate – the Queen’s property empire that is managed by The Treasury and raises cash for the nation.
    Many of the transactions in the documents involve no legal wrongdoing.
    But Fergus Shiel, from the ICIJ, said: “There’s never been anything on this scale and it shows the reality of what offshore companies can offer to help people hide dodgy cash or avoid tax.”
    He added: “They are using those offshore accounts, those offshore trusts, to buy hundreds of millions of dollars of property in other countries, and to enrich their own families, at the expense of their citizens.”
    The ICIJ believes the investigation is “opening a box on a lot of things” – hence the name Pandora Papers.
    The leaked financial documents show how the King of Jordan secretly amassed a property empire in the UK and US worth more than £70m (over $100m).
    They identify a network of offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens used by Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein to buy 15 homes since he assumed power in 1999.
    They include £50m on three adjacent ocean view properties in Malibu, California, and properties in London and Ascot in the UK.
    His property interests have been built up as King Abdullah has been accused of presiding over an authoritarian regime, with protests taking place in recent years amid austerity measures and tax rises.
    Lawyers for King Abdullah said all the properties were bought with personal wealth, which he also uses to fund projects for Jordan’s citizens.
    [..]
    follow reaction on Twitter using #PandoraPapers, in the BBC News app, or watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)

  7. gatestoneinstitute.org
    Islamist Terrorism Flourishing Under the Taliban
    Con Coughlin
    7-9 minutes

    As seen this morning with the bombing of the Eidgah Mosque in Kabul, leaving a reported 8 people killed and 20 wounded, the prospects of Afghanistan once more becoming a safe haven that can be used by Islamist terrorist groups to launch deadly attacks against the West have risen dramatically in the wake of US President Joe Biden’s disastrous decision to withdraw American forces from the country. Pictured: Taliban gunmen stand outside the entrance of a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 3, 2021. (Photo by Hoshang Hashimi / AFP)

    As seen this morning with the bombing of the Eidgah Mosque in Kabul, leaving a reported 8 people killed and 20 wounded, the prospects of Afghanistan once more becoming a safe haven that can be used by Islamist terrorist groups to launch deadly attacks against the West have risen dramatically in the wake of US President Joe Biden’s disastrous decision to withdraw American forces from the country. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday through its Nasheer news agency on Telegram.
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17829/afghanistan-taliban-terrorism

  8. gatestoneinstitute.org
    “Back to Pre-9/11. But It’s Worse”
    Guy Millière
    15-19 minutes

    The election of President Joe Biden under extremely questionable conditions was hugely welcomed by many in America and Europe…. The leaders of countries that are the enemies of the United States seemed even more delighted. Iran’s then President Hassan Rouhani said on November 5, 2020: “The next US administration will surrender to the Iranian nation”. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    September 11, 2001 was the first time the United States had been attacked on its mainland since 1812. Nearly 3,000 people were killed. Americans reacted with determination and dignity. American flags were soon everywhere. The idea that the attacks should not go unpunished seemed unanimous. It was promptly proven that the attack came from al-Qaeda; on October 7, the US military started to crush the rear bases of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the Taliban who housed them.

    Twenty years later, the situation is on its head. Solemn commemorations were held in Washington, Shanksville and New York, but anxiety and anger pervaded the atmosphere of the country. US President Joe Biden attended the commemorations but did not speak. Instead, he released a videotaped speech in which he said he would hunt down “those seeking to do harm to America” ??and make them pay. These words, to many people, seemed hopelessly out of touch. The United States had just surrendered Afghanistan without even an attempt at resistance in an atmosphere of chaos, duplicity and defeat. The Taliban are in power again, and al-Qaeda — intermarried and effectively interchangeable with them — at their side.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17827/back-to-pre-911

  9. ‘Voice behind the violence’: English-speaking narrator of ISIS propaganda videos arrested and charged by Justice Department

    As alleged in a criminal complaint unsealed Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Mohammed Khalifa, a Saudi-born Canadian citizen, who was a leading figure in the Islamic State’s English Media Section and served as an ISIS fighter, was charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death. Khalifa was captured overseas by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in January 2019. He was recently transferred into the custody of the FBI, at which point he was first brought to the Eastern District of Virginia.

    As alleged in the criminal complaint, Mohammed Khalifa, aka Abu Ridwan Al-Kanadi and Abu Muthanna Al-Muhajir, 38, of Canada, served in prominent roles within ISIS starting in 2013 and continuing until his capture by the SDF in January 2019 following a firefight between ISIS fighters and the SDF. In addition to allegedly serving as an ISIS fighter, Khalifa allegedly served as a lead translator in ISIS’s propaganda production and the English-speaking narrator on multiple violent ISIS recruitment videos.

    “This arrest is the first step in holding the defendant accountable for his alleged terrorist activity, which included serving as an ISIS fighter and an important member of the ISIS media bureau,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “As alleged in the complaint, the defendant and others engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS, with the conspirators serving the terrorist organization in a variety of capacities. As alleged, that conspiracy resulted in the death of numerous others at the hands of ISIS members and fighters. The National Security Division and our partners are committed to holding accountable those who provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations. I want to thank all of the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this case.”

    “As alleged, Mohammed Khalifa not only fought for ISIS on the battlefield in Syria, but he was also the voice behind the violence,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Through his alleged leading role in translating, narrating, and advancing ISIS’s online propaganda, Khalifa promoted the terrorist group, furthered its worldwide recruitment efforts, and expanded the reach of videos that glorified the horrific murders and indiscriminate cruelty of ISIS. EDVA and our partners have a long history of prosecuting national security cases, and we are honored to serve once again in this effort to seek justice on behalf of the United States and the victims of ISIS’s brutality.”

    “Let there be no doubt, the FBI will hold terrorists and those who provide material support to terrorist organizations accountable for their actions,” said Assistant Director Timothy Langan of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “The unsealing of the charges today demonstrates the FBI’s tireless dedication and commitment to pursue those who join foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS. The defendant is alleged to have, among other things, played an integral role in the recruitment and radicalization of Westerners through the production, narration, and dissemination of English-language ISIS propaganda, including the Flames of War videos that depicted the brutal execution of ISIS-held prisoners and hostages. He will now face justice inside of a U.S. courtroom for his actions. We will continue to present a united front, with our U.S. government and international partners, in the fight against ISIS, those who support ISIS, and other terrorist groups.”

    “As alleged in the complaint, as one of the leading figures in ISIS’ English media section, Mohammed Khalifa contributed to the radicalization of individuals through his English narration of ISIS recruitment propaganda,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “While many Americans are aware of the brutal and violent crimes committed by many ISIS actors, ISIS’ efforts to radicalize individuals to travel to Syria and commit violence on its behalf were equally horrendous. The charges announced today, which are the result of years of diligent work by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and our partners, are a reminder to those who continue to support ISIS around the world that the U.S. Government has not forgotten your crimes. We will find you and hold you accountable.”

    The complaint also alleges that Khalifa traveled to Syria in the spring of 2013 with the intent of becoming a foreign fighter and ultimately joining ISIS. He joined ISIS in or around November 2013 and swore allegiance to then-ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In early 2014, he was recruited to join ISIS’s Media Bureau due in part to his linguistic capabilities as a fluent English and Arabic speaker. Khalifa played an important role in the production and dissemination of ISIS propaganda across multiple media platforms targeting Western audiences. A primary focus of much of Khalifa’s propaganda production was aimed at enticing ISIS supporters to travel to ISIS-controlled areas to join ISIS or to conduct attacks in the West, including in the United States, on ISIS’s behalf. Khalifa actively participated in armed hostilities on behalf of ISIS. Just prior to his capture by the SDF on or about Jan. 13, 2019, Khalifa engaged in armed conflict on behalf of ISIS, including throwing grenades against opposing combatants.

    The complaint further alleges that Khalifa was a prominent figure within the ISIS Media Bureau, the “Diwan of Central Media,” and assisted in the translation and narration of approximately 15 total videos created and distributed by ISIS. The productions narrated by Khalifa include two of the most influential and exceedingly violent ISIS propaganda videos: “Flames of War: Fighting Has Just Begun,” distributed on Sept. 19, 2014, and “Flames of War II: Until the Final Hour,” distributed on Nov. 29, 2017. These videos, containing English narration by Khalifa, were part of an ISIS media campaign promoting violence committed against U.S. citizens and other countries’ citizens in order to incite further violence against the United States, allied nations and their citizens. The videos depict glamorized portrayals of ISIS and its fighters as well as scenes of violence, including depictions of unarmed prisoners being executed, depictions of ISIS attacks in the United States, and footage of ISIS attacks and fighting in what is described as Syria and Egypt.

    Khalifa also allegedly narrated a series of recruitment videos entitled “Inside the Khilafah” that depicted various aspects of daily life within the Islamic State and featured ISIS members encouraging potential recruits to join ISIS and conduct terrorist attacks against non-Muslims. The narration in one of these videos encourages recruits unable to leave their home countries to join ISIS in conducting attacks in countries outside the Islamic State, displaying footage of ISIS attacks in Europe, including attacks in Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; and Nice, France. The video also includes a voice recording of Omar Mateen, the Pulse Nightclub mass shooter, declaring his allegiance to ISIS during the June 12, 2016, terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida.

    Productions by the ISIS Media Bureau during the time period in which Khalifa was allegedly a prominent member include videos or images depicting: the beheadings of American hostages James Wright Foley, Steven Joel Sotloff and Peter Edward Kassig; an announcement concerning the death of American hostage Kayla Jean Mueller; the beheadings of British citizens David Haines and Alan Henning; the decapitated body of Japanese citizen Haruna Yukawa; and the beheading of Japanese citizen Kenji Goto.

    Khalifa is charged with conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dennis M. Fitzpatrick, John T. Gibbs and Aidan Taft Grano-Mickelson, all from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Trial Attorney Alicia H. Cook of the National Security Division‘s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

    https://breaking911.com/voice-behind-the-violence-english-speaking-narrator-of-isis-propaganda-videos-arrested-and-charged-by-justice-department/

    =============================
    reuters – U.S. charges Canadian Mohammed Khalifa over Islamic State allegation

    • He could’ve made it big in legit movies. (He still may, given current sentencing guidelines.)

      ISIS mass beheading video took up to six HOURS to film and cost $200,000: Forensic analysis of Syrian soldier murders reveals clues that could help nail Jihadi John

      • Researchers spent weeks analysing beheading video in minute detail

      • Broke footage down frame-by-frame looking for clues about its origins

      • Shadow and light analysis suggests video was shot over several hours

      • Also identified scenes where subtle edits and retakes have been inserted

      • Split-second scene shows man standing with ‘Jihadi John’ in same clothes

      • Raises suspicion that militant may have body double who acts as decoy
      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2865745/Has-EXACT-location-infamous-ISIS-beheading-video-pinpointed-Forensic-analysis-filmed-Syrian-soldier-murders-breaks-filmed-long-took-cost-make.html

      GUEST POST: ISIS and the Hollywood Visual Style

      …something in ISIS videos that is reminiscent of Hollywood films that they don’t see in the videos of other groups. Yes, ISIS videos are of far higher quality than are those of other groups – we would say they are, technically, a generation ahead of most others.

      But there’s something else going on here that people are cueing on. We would argue that, visually, ISIS videos mimic what could be called a “Hollywood visual style.” And this is being done so systematically and carefully that, while its entirely possible that it’s accidental, we find that very unlikely.

      https://jihadology.net/2015/07/06/guest-post-isis-and-the-hollywood-visual-style/