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Tag: United States

  • White House Unveils Massive Report On The True Origins Of C-19

    White House Unveils Massive Report On The True Origins Of C-19

    An in-depth look at how Dr. Anthony Fauci and US intelligence agencies suppressed the lab-leak theory behind COVID-19

    (ZeroHedge) – The Trump administration on Friday published an in-depth look at how Dr. Anthony Fauci and US intelligence agencies suppressed the lab-leak theory behind COVID-19 for political purposes.

    “Public health officials often mislead the American people through conflicting messaging, knee-jerk reactions, and a lack of transparency. Most egregiously, the federal government demonized alternative treatments and disfavored narratives, such as the lab leak theory, in a shameful effort to coerce and control the American people’s health decisions,” reads a new White House webpage.

    And while we’re still waiting on those pre-dawn raids – i.e. any semblance of accountability, today’s disclosure from the White House is a breath of fresh air over a ‘theory’ that sites like ZeroHedge and The Federalist were punished for suggesting. Millions in ad revenue evaporated after USAID-funded censorship organizations began public character assassination campaigns in conjunction with MSM outlets – all in an effort to cover up the truth.

    To wit, within 48 hours of a Fauci underling flagging a ZeroHedge article for review, we were banned from Twitter following an BuzzFeed hit piece by a reporter who was subsequently fired for plagiarism. In the ensuing weeks we were banned by Amazon and Google’s ad platforms over content that had never been an issue until that point (and while we’ve made up with Google, Amazon continues to blacklist ZeroHedge – probably for continuing to make fun of Jeff Bezos’ dick-shaped rocket playing second fiddle to SpaceX).

    Months later, Twitter restored our account – citing an “error” (as lab-leak evidence coincidentally began to pile up elsewhere).

    To keep the lights on, ZeroHedge launched our premium service – and more recently, the ZH Store, where loyal readers routinely cause us to sell out of hats, shirts, knives, and the unsurprisingly popular ZeroHedge multitool. Needless to say, we appreciate your support.

    Diving Right In

    Today’s damning release from the White House goes into extensive detail about the COVID-19 coverup by key players.

    1. The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature.

    2. Data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events.

    3. Wuhan is home to China’s foremost SARS research lab, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research (gene altering and organism supercharging) at inadequate biosafety levels.

    4. Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) researchers were sick with COVID-like symptoms in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was discovered at the wet market.

    5. By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn’t.

    “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” publication – which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory – was prompted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated in nature.

    GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH:

    A lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely the origin of COVID-19. Current government mechanisms for overseeing this dangerous gain-of-function research are incomplete, severely convoluted, and lack global applicability.

    ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE INC. (ECOHEALTH):

    EcoHealth — under the leadership of Dr. Peter Daszak — used U.S. taxpayer dollars to facilitate dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China. After the Select Subcommittee released evidence of EcoHealth violating the terms of its National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) commenced official debarment proceedings and suspended all funding to EcoHealth.

    New evidence also shows that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened an investigation into EcoHealth’s pandemic-era activities.

    NIH FAILURES:

    NIH’s procedures for funding and overseeing potentially dangerous research are deficient, unreliable, and pose a serious threat to both public health and national security. Further, NIH fostered an environment that promoted evading federal record keeping laws — as seen through the actions of Dr. David Morens and “FOIA Lady” Marge Moore.

    HHS OBSTRUCTION:

    The Biden Administration’s HHS engaged in a multi-year campaign of delay, confusion, and non-responsiveness in an attempt to obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation and hide evidence that could incriminate or embarrass senior public health officials. It appears that HHS even intentionally under-resourced its component that responds to legislative oversight requests.

    ECOHEALTH OBSTRUCTION:

    EcoHealth President Dr. Peter Daszak obstructed the Select Subcommittee’s investigation by providing publicly available information, instructing his staff to reduce the scope and pace of productions, and doctoring documents before releasing them to the public. Further, Dr. Daszak provided false statements to Congress.

    DR. DAVID MORENS:

    Dr. Fauci’s Senior Advisor, Dr. David Morens, deliberately obstructed the Select Subcommittee’s investigation, likely lied to Congress on multiple occasions, unlawfully deleted federal COVID-19 records, and shared nonpublic information about NIH grant processes with EcoHealth President Dr. Peter Daszak.

    NEW YORK OBSTRUCTION:

    New York’s Executive Chamber — led presently by Governor Kathy Hochul — redacted documents, offered numerous illegitimate privilege claims, and withheld thousands of documents without an apparent legal basis to obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation into former Governor Cuomo’s pandemic-era failures.

    WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO):

    The WHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was an abject failure because it caved to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and placed China’s political interests ahead of its international duties. Further, the WHO’s newest effort to solve the problems exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic — via a “Pandemic Treaty” — may harm the United States.

    SOCIAL DISTANCING:

    The “6 feet apart” social distancing recommendation — which shut down schools and small business across the country — was arbitrary and not based on science. During closed door testimony, Dr. Fauci testified that the guidance “sort of just appeared.”

    MASK MANDATES:

    There was no conclusive evidence that masks effectively protected Americans from COVID-19. Public health officials flipped-flopped on the efficacy of masks without providing Americans scientific data — causing a massive uptick in public distrust.

    LOCKDOWNS:

    Prolonged lockdowns caused immeasurable harm to not only the American economy, but also to the mental and physical health of Americans, with a particularly negative effect on younger citizens. Rather than prioritizing the protection of the most vulnerable populations, federal and state government policies forced millions of Americans to forgo crucial elements of a healthy and financially sound life.

    NEW YORK PANDEMIC FAILURES:

    Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s March 25 Order — which forced nursing homes to accept COVID-19 positive patients — “was medical malpractice.” Evidence shows that Mr. Cuomo and his Administration worked to cover up the tragic aftermath of their policy decisions in an apparent effort to shield themselves from accountability.

    COVID-19 MISINFORMATION:

    Public health officials often mislead the American people  through conflicting messaging, knee-jerk reactions, and a lack of transparency.  Most egregiously,  the federal government demonized alternative treatments and disfavored narratives, such as the lab leak theory, in a shameful effort to coerce and control the American people’s health decisions.

    When those efforts failed, the Biden Administration resorted to “outright censorship—coercing and colluding with the world’s largest social media companies to censor all COVID-19-related dissent.”

    ***

    For those with the stamina, the complete 557 page report can be read here

    ***

    Vindication? Perhaps. Satisfaction? Far fucking from it!

    _________

    RELATED

    Tucker Carlson Horrified As Dr. Mary Talley Bowden Drops Chilling COVID Statistic

    CDC Advisers Consider Recommending Narrower Use Of COVID-19 Vaccines

    Cuomo Spent $453M On 247,343 Medical Devices For COVID… State Used Only 3

    (SOURCE)

    Header featured image (edited) credit: Org. post content. Emphasis added by (TLB)

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    The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

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    Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

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    Source: TLB

  • Idaho Governor Signs Bill For Ivermectin To Be Sold Over The Counter

    Idaho Governor Signs Bill For Ivermectin To Be Sold Over The Counter

    In March, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill legalizing over-the-counter sales of the drug, as did Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in 2022.

    By Jack Phillips | The Epoch Times

    Idaho has become the latest of a handful of states to legalize over-the-counter sales of the anti-parasite drug ivermectin following the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, did not offer any comments on the bill, which was among many measures he signed on April 14. The bill had been passed with little resistance in the Idaho Legislature and took effect immediately.

    In March, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill legalizing over-the-counter sales of the drug, as did Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in 2022.

    A readout of the bill introduced in the Idaho House of Representatives says, in part, that ivermectin would be able to be used “without restriction or consultation” with a “health care professional,” and that it could also be sold over the counter, or “legally sold and purchased without a prescription.”

    During the pandemic, some researchers touted ivermectin as a means to treat COVID-19, although federal health officials have said that the drug is not effective in treating the virus.

    State Sen. Tammy Nichols, a Republican, presented the bill before the state Senate floor on April 3 and told local media outlets that it would eliminate a hurdle for consumers.

    “We’re not mandating use, we’re not prescribing treatment, and we are not mandating that it be sold,” Nichols told KTVB-7.

    “What we’re doing with this bill is simple. We’re removing a barrier.”

    Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, a Republican who helped co-sponsor the bill, said Ivermectin has a broad range of uses.

    “This is a drug that has had really immeasurable impacts on improving the lives of billions and billions of people throughout the world since it was discovered. It’s been called, in many places, a wonder drug,” Anthon told lawmakers in an Idaho Senate committee hearing in early April.

    “It’s been able to serve in treating and in many ways curing human diseases—treating parasites, worms in humans. And in most countries, it is legal over the counter.”

    Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not cleared ivermectin to be used for COVID-19, while advising against people using forms of ivermectin intended for animals.

    “The FDA has not determined that ivermectin is safe or effective for these indications,” the agency’s website says.

    The National Library of Medicine says that authorities are also “concerned about the health of consumers who may self-medicate by taking ivermectin products intended for animals, thinking they can be a substitute for ivermectin intended for humans.” It also advises against people taking the medication without a health care provider and that it should be “obtained through a legitimate source.”

    Officials note that ivermectin is generally prescribed for a type of roundworm known as threadworm as well as river blindness caused by a type of roundworm, head lice infestations, scabies, and other conditions.

    A study released in June 2021 found that ivermectin was linked to “large reductions” in COVID-19 deaths. Among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the risk of death was found to be 2.3 percent among those treated with the drug, compared to 7.8 percent for those who weren’t.

    A March 2022 study found that the drug was associated with decreased mortality as compared with remdesivir by analyzing a national federated database of adults aged 18 and older with a confirmed COVID-19 infection from January 2020 to July 2021.

    The drug’s possible side effects include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, loss of appetite, constipation, weakness, body shaking, chest discomfort, and more serious problems including rash, hives, itching, blistering or peeling skin, confusion, sleepiness, disorientation, and coma.

    According to a drug database website, there are more than 100 known interactions with ivermectin, including relatively commonly prescribed drugs such as warfarin, clarithromycin, mifepristone, and more. It also has a moderate interaction with Paxlovid, the Pfizer-made drug to treat COVID-19.

    __________

    (SOURCE)

    Header featured image (edited) credit: Brian Myrick / Idaho Press. Emphasis added by (TLB)

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    The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

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    Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

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    Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Source: TLB

  • Peter Thiel Explains How DOGE Is Exposing ‘Left-Wing NGOs’

     Peter Thiel Explains How DOGE Is Exposing ‘Left-Wing NGOs’

    “So much of this left-wing philanthropy nonprofit world was just a cover for borderline criminal activity.”

    (ZH) – Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel detailed that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) exposed rampant federal spending tied to certain left-leaning NGOs, which he described as potential fronts for “borderline criminal activity.”

    Thiel, founding partner of the venture capital firm Founders Fund, made the explosive claims during an interview with his Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.

    “I think there were scams. I think the nonprofit stuff is out of control. It’s sort of like virtue signaling is a sign that you’re doing something evil,” Thiel told Lonsdale on his American Optimist podcast. “So much of this left-wing philanthropy nonprofit world was just a cover for borderline criminal activity.”

    “That’s how you shield yourself—you put a virtue signal up while you’re stealing money from everyone,” Lonsdale replied.

    Thiel pulled back the curtain on the murky world of government spending, exposing how vague budget descriptions can mask the true destination of taxpayer dollars.

    “There’s all the stuff you’d have to really go into the weeds of how it works, but the way it was explained to me, there’s a level five description, which is a line item description of what the actual dollars are going to. Then there are ways these things get summarized. The way they got summarized for a lot of the political appointees was a level four description, where you summarize a bunch of level five descriptions in a level four way,” Thiel explained. “You can have 20 groups providing food to different African countries, and you can summarize that as food to Africa. That’s maybe an accurate description. But if they’re actually all working on the Biden re-election, that’s an inaccurate description. At some point, the descriptions are so inaccurate that the people in the government could be prosecuted for fraud.”

    Thiel then argued that fraud in government spending could warrant criminal prosecution for countless officials, drawing a stark parallel to the Iran-Contra scandal that ensnared Oliver North in the 1980s.

    “One of the people who looked at this a lot thinks you could just prosecute these people for fraud. This is something like what Oliver North was prosecuted for in the Iran-Contra scandal in the 80s,” Thiel said. “He mischaracterized the money, mislabeled it, and was accused of defrauding the government. I think you could prosecute thousands of these people criminally for the thing they wanted to prosecute Oliver North for in the 80s.”

    Thiel joins President Donald Trump and DOGE leader Elon Musk as the latest prominent voice warning about rampant fraud inside the government. In recent weeks, Trump teased to reporters aboard Air Force One, “They found something today that’s horrible,” adding. “You’ll find out very soon. What they found is incredible.”

    Recently, Elon Musk and DOGE volunteer Antonio Gracias revealed that millions of noncitizens were issued Social Security numbers during the Biden administration. Their data, presented in a chart during a Wisconsin rally aimed at boosting voter turnout, showed a steady annual increase, peaking at over 2 million in FY 2024, which ended on September 30. In both FY 2023 and FY 2025—the latter beginning in October and running through September of this year—roughly 1 million noncitizens received Social Security numbers.

    “None of this would have happened without President Trump,” Gracias told Fox News. “President Trump had the courage to allow us to go across databases. He signed an executive order. It’s never been done before, where agencies could talk to each other and databases could talk with each other.”

    “That allowed us to connect all this data, to find these people across the system, across the benefit system, all the way to the voting records. It really took a lot of courage,” he added.

    _________

    (SOURCE)

    Header featured image (edited) credit: Org. post tease. Emphasis added by (TLB)

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    Stay tuned to …

     

    ••••

    The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

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    Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

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    Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Source: TLB

    April 19, 2025

  • Gas Pipelines & Seized Russian Assets Could Give US Leverage Over The EU

    Gas Pipelines & Seized Russian Assets Could Give US Leverage Over The EU

    Andrew Korybko writes on Substack

    US control over the trans-Ukrainian and Nord Stream pipelines could incentivize the EU into concessions on their trade war while whatever seized Russian assets that the US obtains legal ownership of from Moscow could serve to justify ramping up pressure on the bloc in this context.

    Reuters reported earlier in the month that the latest version of Trump’s resource deal with Ukraine includes an “Easter egg” giving the US’ International Development Finance Corporation control over its international gas pipeline between Russia and the EU. This prompted another report from Reuters alleging that French and German firms are open to the possibility of resuming imports via that route. These reports collectively suggest that the US wants to control Russia’s pipeline gas exports to Europe.

    The triple rationale behind doing so would be to obtain further leverage over the EU amidst their trade war, buoy its struggling economy if a deal is reached so that it’s a more stable market for American exports, and incentivize Russia into agreeing to a ceasefire by restoring some of this lost revenue. In furtherance of this goal, the US might also try to obtain control over the four Nord Stream pipelines, the scenario of which was analyzed here and here.

    While control over the Kiev-owned Ukrainian pipeline could be obtained via Trump’s resource deal with Ukraine, which might require forcing Zelensky to form a government of national unity if he doesn’t agree to this on his own, different means would have to be employed for the Russian-owned Nord Streams. Hypothetically returning the estimated $5 billion of seized Russian assets under American jurisdiction wouldn’t suffice for replacing the nearly $20 billion that Nord Stream 1 and 2 cost in total.

    The additional $15 billion (or more if Russia demands such and the US agrees) could be obtained by pressuring the EU into releasing that amount of seized Russian assets under its jurisdiction. If the EU refuses, then Russia and the US could agree to a creative financial arrangement whereby Russia transfers legal ownership of this sum to the US, the US transfers this same amount to Russia, then Trump weaponizes the $15 billion of newly US-owned assets under EU jurisdiction as a chip in their trade war.

    This formula could also be utilized by them for facilitating Russia’s reportedly requested purchase of Boeing jets that Bloomberg recently claimed that it suggested buying with some of those seized assets. Taken to its extreme, the estimated $300 billion worth of total assets that the West seized from Russia could be transferred to the US via these means for large-scale purchases across a slew of industries that would solidify the strategic economic partnership that they want to forge in the post-conflict era.

    White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently said that “There is an incentive for Russia to end this war and perhaps that could be economic partnerships with the United States” so this could be the means to that end. Russia has also made do without those assets and doesn’t expect them to be returned in full, perhaps not even at all despite official rhetoric to the contrary, which is why this would be the most mutually beneficial use of them in the context of the nascent Russian–US “New Détente”.

    The creative energy diplomacy and financial arrangements that were proposed in this analysis would give the US lots of leverage over the EU. They’d correspondingly result in control over most Russian pipeline gas imports for incentivizing the EU into concessions on their trade war while whatever seized Russian assets that the US obtains legal ownership of from Moscow could serve to justify ramping up pressure on the bloc in this context.

    The Trump Administration should therefore seriously consider this.

    _________

    (SOURCE)

    Header featured image (edited) credit: Org. post content. Emphasis added by (TLB)

    ••••

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    Stay tuned to …

     

    ••••

    The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

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    Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

    ••••

    Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

    ••••

    Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Source: TLB

  • German anti-Russia propaganda is reaching Nazi-era levels

    By Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory.

    @tarikcyrilamar      tarikcyrilamar.substack.com    tarikcyrilamar.com

    Like people almost everywhere in NATO-EU Europe, Germans are currently being subjected to a relentless barrage of shameless, often astonishingly crude propaganda. That’s because their political elites and mainstream media are desperately trying to prepare them for war against Russia. And this time, not by proxy, that is, by way of a devastated Ukraine and dead Ukrainians, but directly.

    As a former, very evil but in his prime all-too-popular German master of mass manipulation – who also happened to love war with Russia more than was good for him (or Germany) – explained a century ago, effective propaganda keeps the world very, very simple. Or, to add a little detail, propaganda’s sometimes literally stunning success is built on two primitive yet powerful – and very old – tricks: the broken-record principle and the litany effect.

    Their meaning, too, is elementary: In essence, if your image of reality is delusional, you don’t have sound arguments, and your case is absurd, do not despair. Instead, ceaselessly drum in a few very basic and bogus ideas until the audience is dizzy with repetition (the broken-record principle), while also eliciting frequent consent from it (the litany effect). In short: Keep shouting the same nonsense at them and make them bleat back “yes” regularly. You know, like a ritual, really.

    In the case of the manufacturing of the current iteration of traditional German the-Russians-are-coming hysteria as well, it is easy to identify its handful of specious, daft, and childishly simplistic key motifs: Russia and Russia alone is to blame for the war in Ukraine; Russia intends to attack Europe (if not the world) – and soon; and Russia is incredibly devious and scheming, so you cannot find a reasonable compromise with it.

    Yet what about the nuts and bolts of this propaganda campaign? Even a simple story needs detail, and, if told and retold almost without letup, that detail at least needs to vary: Same old story but different flavor. That’s where things get tricky.

    For one thing, if you pick the wrong flavor, your propaganda may start looking as silly as it actually is. A current example in Germany – as well as the EU parliament – would be the recent hysteria over the global hit Sigma Boy from Russia. Its brilliantly catchy tune is a piece of art, like it or not. But its lyrics are about as profound as a margarine commercial.

    Yet that won’t stop Germany’s radical-Centrist elite from exploring the song’s ominous depths as a weapon of nefarious Russian cultural warfare. Because Sigma Boy, one EU parliamentarian from Hamburg has noticed – with a little help from Ukraine – is really “a viral Russian trope used on social media that communicates patriarchal and pro-Russian worldviews” as well as “only one example of Russian infiltration of popular discourse through social media.” Also, you see, Sigma Boy is really just code for – scary sound effect – PUTIN!

    Silly? So ridiculous it gives you that cringey feeling you get when someone else is making a total fool of themselves and all you want to do is tell them to shut up already and save whatever maybe left of their credibility? Yes, obviously.

    Indeed, in the case of the Great Sigma Boy Panic Attack, even Spiegel – a usually reliably Russophobic and NATO-militarist publication now – has mildly demurred. Dedicating a whole podcast to the phenomenon, it had an editor and journalist deliberate on the Sigma Boy case in all earnestness and with proverbial German thoroughness and faces serious enough for Kant and Hegel hashing out the nature of TikTok. The result: Maybe, just maybe, it’s really simply a pop song.

    Now you could say “Great. At least someone is not completely falling for the mass hysteria.” But that would be too optimistic. In reality, the real question is how could things get so absurd in the first place? What is the Zeitgeist environment in which an EU parliamentarian is not ashamed to display so much provincial paranoia and Germany’s major news magazine needs intensive research and a long discussion to find out that, perhaps, she does not have a point?

    In that regard, another recent propaganda fiasco is instructive. Its essence is simple: Some may know the ZDF, one of Germany’s most popular and influential public – that is, de facto state – TV channels most of all as a rock-solid mouthpiece of Israeli propaganda, especially during the ongoing Gaza genocide.

    But the ZDF also has a substantial line in Russophobia. And for once, it went a little too far in its never-slackening eagerness to stick it to the big bad Russians: In its main news show and a long, sensationalist pseudo-documentary in its Terra X History program – under the title “Spying, Sabotage, Fake News. Putin’s war against us” – the broadcaster claimed, in effect if with some cheap pro forma hedging, that Russia was behind, among other nefarious schemes, an Islamist terror attack in the city of Mannheim in May 2024.

    This was, obviously, an extremely serious allegation, in principle as well as in detail: the attack, carried out by a man from Afghanistan who had lived in Germany for ten years, left five victims injured and one, a policeman, dead. Moreover, in the consciousness of the German public, this particular terror attack is only part of a whole series of unrelated yet similar violent assaults that have taken place over the last year, including another one in Magdeburg as well as in the cities of Solingen and Aschaffenburg.

    Hence, pointing a finger at Russia over one of these traumatizing onslaughts inevitably implied that Moscow may have had a hand in the others as well. Et voila! A new and particularly horrifying accusation against Russia had been manufactured: Moscow, so the essence of this wildest of many wild tales, was using migrants to instigate bloody Islamist terror in Germany.

    And this big fat lie started working quickly: Various major mainstream media in Germany and abroad began to uncritically repeat the story, such as Britain’s Telegraph and The Sun, the German Merkur, and the French Sud-Ouest.

    Yet the “research” on which ZDF had based this specific propaganda strike against Moscow was so breathtakingly sloppy that, this time, even Germany’s BND foreign intelligence service had to object.

    Shortly after the ZDF had made its splash, the BND publicly contradicted it, pointing out that the method – basically a childish misreading of Google Trend data – used to produce these allegations against Russia is, in essence, ridiculously unreliable. Indeed, it turned out that several German intelligence agencies had warned the ZDF already before the Terra X pseudo-documentary was broadcast. Even Germany’s highly conservative Welt newspaper called the ZDF’s handiwork – with massive understatement – “negligent.”

    So far, so bad. Just another case of propaganda becoming self-defeating by going too far. Let’s move on. And that is, of course, what is happening now. While the very worst lie about Russia has been discredited, there are virtually no consequences.

    Yet, in reality, this is where the whole daft affair is only beginning to get interesting. For one thing, the Terra X feature, almost 45 minutes long, was packed with other, equally unfounded accusations against Russia. Indeed, it consisted of a long sequence of one hearsay after another speculation, all based on profound evidence of the “Western-intelligence-services-believe” type.

    At Terra X, have they ever heard of those Iraqi weapons of mass destruction? The babies torn from incubators in Kuwait? Or Gaddafi handing out Viagra to his troops to promote rape? All of them, of course, lies; all, in their time, spread by those famously reliable Western intelligence agencies and mass media functioning as their servile propaganda arms. And all of these lies, these actual cases of “hybrid warfare” – by Western elites on their own populations – have always had the same purpose: prepare and justify Western military aggression.

    Yet, in the Terra X case as well, the fact that the single most egregious anti-Russian allegation of many has been, for once, exposed quickly as at best reckless nonsense if not a deliberate lie, makes no dent in the story as a whole.

    On the contrary, all that happens is that one scapegoat is singled out and sacrificed: Steven Broschart, the discredited “data profiler” and self-appointed “digital behavioral analytic.” It was all him, is the message now. But that is clearly untrue. Long stretches of the Terra X tale consisted of various, often much more prominent talking-heads lending their authority to a long list of equally unsubstantiated allegations of Russian crimes and, in general, helping beat the war drums against Moscow.

    There was, for instance, an official of Germany’s domestic intelligence service – the Verfassungsschutz – who first conveniently confirmed that the internet is a “treasure chest” of information revealing sabotage and attack plans and then informed viewers that they are already at war with Russia, even if they haven’t noticed yet. No biggie in Germany now: at war, not yet at war with Russia… Who cares once we all know where we are supposed to be going anyhow, and so soon, too.

    To be fair, the man from the Verfassungsschutz had his entertaining side: You don’t need tanks to bring down a country, he enlightened us, because you can also strike at its vital infrastructure. Really? You don’t say! You mean the way that Germany’s “allies” in Washington and its spongers in Kiev struck at the Nord Stream pipelines? No, just kidding. Of course, he did not mean that. Because that would be reality, and his job clearly is the opposite, propaganda.

    Quintessential German professor Martin Schulze Wessel added platitudes about Putin, who, we learn, thinks in categories of East and West and antagonism. Wow! Aren’t we lucky that no one does so in Garden Value Europe and a Germany that has decided to quite literally define itself, again, via antagonism toward Russia.

    In addition, the professor confirmed that Russia is a “direct” threat to Germany – clearly unlike, again, Ukraine and the US, obviously, even if they have actually committed the largest act of infrastructure sabotage in German peacetime history. And the German public must be made aware of that non-fact, the professor lectured. Thank you for summarizing the essence of propaganda so selflessly: making the people aware of what isn’t there. And, if we may add, the opposite is also important: that that same public is made unaware of what does, actually, exist, for instance that Nord Stream attack that must go forever unmentioned.

    My only caveat regarding Schulze Wessel’s amusing contribution is that, as a matter of transparency, he could have let viewers know that he is heavily networked with Ukraine and in particular the rather nationalist city of Lviv. Again, no biggie: On the big crusade against bad Russia, minor sins are forgivable.

    The cast of Terra X was rich and not everyone can be mentioned here. But we would be amiss to omit Anton Shekhovtsov. Ironically now based at some “Center for Democratic Integrity,” he is the commentator who publicly celebrated the Odessa Trade Union House fire, while comparing its victims to vermin, literally. Dehumanizing? A little on the fascist side psychologically, perhaps? Oh, come on! Once again, on the grand campaign against Moscow, a little excess of eagerness is more than welcome.

    On Terra X his function was unspoken yet clumsily clear: He served as the “expert” explaining that everything alleged in the show is “hard to prove.” But, of course, not as in not likely to be true, but as in: absolutely true even without any evidence. Thank you, too, Anton, for demonstrating a basic yet always popular trick of gutter propaganda: “You can’t see them,” as it were, “but that’s only because they are so well hidden. Which proves again how dangerous they are.”

    The single worst irony about this piece of weaponized “journalism” from one of Germany’s biggest broadcasters is its flatfooted hypocrisy. For, in the context of the Ukraine War, provoked and fought via proxy by the West, there are real sabotage and terrorism, namely by Ukraine and the West: The attack on the Crocus City venue in Moscow, the assassination of General Igor Kirillov, the heinous murder of Darya Dugina, the Ukrainian attacks on the Kerch Bridge and on Nord Stream, of course – and this list could be prolonged – are all clear examples of Ukraine using terrorism. And we have known for years now, from Western mainstream media, that behind these activities, there has been hands-on and proud support from Western intelligence services.

    Is it possible that, in a conflict where the West and Ukraine have liberally deployed “hybrid war” tactics, Russia is sometimes paying them back in the same coin? Yes, in principle. You could even make a plausible argument that it has to do so to remain credible.

    Accusations of promoting Islamist terrorism, from which Russia has suffered greatly, in any case, should be off-limits to anyone with half a brain and some elementary decency. And the West would do very well to mind the beam in its own eye.

    For Western media that would mean that, even apart from the straightforward lying, against this background, it is not just dishonest but ridiculous to produce “journalism” that focuses on Russia alone. The very least a serious investigation would have to do is look at all sides and treat information from all sides critically.

    But then, that would be a piece of practical enlightenment, intellectually and politically empowering viewers and citizens, and it would not be effective war-in-sight propaganda anymore. It might even end up – oh horror! – promoting compromise and peace.

    As it is now, in Germany and elsewhere in Western Europe, journalists, security service officers, experts, and academics – all are perfectly fine with lending their name to propaganda of the basest form. What a shame.

    The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT or The Liberty Beacon.

    _________

    (TLB) published this article with permission of RT

    Header featured image (edited) credit: Org.post content. Emphasis added by (TLB)

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    Source: TLB

  • City of Andalusia begins sidewalk, light improvements on Third Avenue

    City of Andalusia begins sidewalk, light improvements on Third Avenue

    Published 10:05 am Saturday, April 19, 2025

    The City of Andalusia is in the early stages of sidewalk and light improvements along  Third Avenue as part of its ongoing efforts to revitalize the streets around and leading to Andalusia High School.

    During a meeting Tuesday, the city council voted to approve a bid of $79,800 from Stress Crete, Inc. for the new lights that will line Third Avenue from Three Notch Street to the school. The lights will match those used surrounding the campus and previous projects in the city.

    In addition to the new lights, the project also calls for the resurfacing of the Third Avenue, moving utilities underground, and widening the sidewalk.

    The total cost of the project is $1.4 million with 80 percent being paid through a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant. The new lights are not eligible to be paid through grant funding, but will be paid through the city’s capital budget.

    The only other business discussed by the council was considering a zoning exception for a house at 721 S. Three Notch St.

    The resident of the home requested a condition to allow for a four-child daycare business. The application request included letters from neighbors stating their approval.

    After being approved by the city’s planning commission, the council finalized the approve with a unanimous vote.

    The next meeting of the city council is scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, with a workshop at 5:30  p.m. and the regular session to follow in the city hall auditorium.

    Source: Andalusia Star

  • COLUMN: How great a debt we owe

    COLUMN: How great a debt we owe

    Published 8:00 am Saturday, April 19, 2025

    Our country’s National Debt now exceeds $37 trillion, according to recent news reports and theUSDebtClock.org.

    Like me, maybe it’s difficult for you to crunch numbers and grasp just how much debt we owe.  So I decided to research various news sources.  Here’s what I found.

    First, by comparison, in 1980 the federal debt was $1 trillion.  By 1990, it rose to $3.2 trillion, in 2000 it was $5.6 trillion and by 2005 our debt had nearly reached $8 trillion. Our government’s debt increased to $13.5 trillion in 2010, jumped to $16.7 trillion in 2013, and rose to $18 trillion in 2015. By 2020, our federal debt reached $27 trillion.  This history comes from www.justfacts.com/nationaldebt.

    Next, I looked for information to get a perspective on $37 trillion.  Our National Debt of $37 trillion is enough to cover a four-year degree for each graduating student in U.S. high schools for 106 years, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation states.  Picture $37 trillion this way. Thirty-seven trillion dollars in $100 bills would weigh over 770,000 tons. This is roughly the weight of more than 200,000 cars.

    Dividing the National Debt between every citizen the U.S. — man, woman, and child — each would owe $106,024.  Divided by every taxpayer, it is estimated at over $200,000. These numbers explain why economists and commentators describe our country’s debt as a national crisis and tell us we need to get our fiscal house in order.  And, it’s not just our government’s problem.  Consider this statistic from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Consumer debt held by Americans tops $18.04 trillion.

    Every man, woman, boy and girl in America and on this planet is born owing a debt not one of us can ever pay. Every person comes into this world with a sinful nature because the first man and woman couldn’t obey one commandment, much less ten. The Bible tells us, “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Our sin-debt separates us from a Holy God.

    But God showed how much He loved us, because while we were still sinners Christ (His Son) died for us. It’s difficult to grasp a love so great that it paid in full all the sin-debt of mankind. Each one of us must decide whether to accept His forgiveness for our sins and receive Christ as our personal Savior.

    There’s a song of praise that describes what Christ did for us.  “You came from heaven to earth to show the way. From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord, I lift Your name on high.”  “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay,” another worship chorus says.

    One hymn writer expressed it this way, “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe: Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘Tis all that I can do!”

    If you do not know Christ as your personal Savior, this Easter season would be a wonderful time to ask His forgiveness for your sin.

    — Jan White has compiled a collection of her columns in

    her book, “Everyday Faith

    for Daily Life.”

    Source: Andalusia Star

  • Old Three Notch Chapter of DAR presents annual student Leadership, Citizenship awards

    Old Three Notch Chapter of DAR presents annual student Leadership, Citizenship awards

    Published 4:07 am Saturday, April 19, 2025

    High school seniors receiving the Old Three Notch Chapter of DAR’s Good Citizen Award are, from left, Xsiah Walker of Andalusia High School, Callie Pybus of Florala High School, Addison Moseley of Opp High School, and Destiny Windham. Other recipients not pictured are Nathan Hobbs of Pleasant Home and Bailey Green of Red Level.

    The Old Three Notch Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution presented the 2024-25 DAR Youth Leadership and Good Citizens Award recipients during a special ceremony held Wednesday in the Andalusia City Hall auditorium.

    The DAR Good Citizens Award, created in 1934, is intended to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship. The award recognizes and rewards individuals who possess the qualities of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism in their homes, schools, and communities. This program is only open to high-school seniors whose schools are accredited by their state board of education or a recognized accrediting organization such that a General Education Development (GED) test is not required to receive a high school diploma. Only one senior per year may be honored as a school’s DAR Good Citizen. United States citizenship is not required.

    The students receiving the award are selected by their teachers and peers based on demonstrating these qualities to an outstanding degree.

    This year’s seniors who received the DAR Good Citizen Award are: Xsiah Walker of Andalusia High School; Callie Pybus of Florala High School; Addison Moseley of Opp High School; Nathan Hobbs of Pleasant Home School; Bailey Green of Red Level School; and Destiny Windham of Straughn High School.

    The Good Citizen award winners received a pin, a certificate, and a red, white, and blue cord to wear at graduation.

    The DAR Youth Leadership Medal is presented to a male or female student who exemplifies the qualities of honor, service, courage, leadership, and patriotism. The program is open to students in grades 5-11, and there may only be one medal awarded per grade per school.

    The Youth Leadership award winners received a pin and certificate.

    Award recipients for 2024-2025 are as follows:

    Andalusia — fifth grade, Flora Byars; sixth grade, Adalyn Johnson; seventh grade, Paisley Henderson; eighth grade, Amos Bryan; ninth grade, Sylvia Elizabeth King; tenth grade, William Hunter Grimes; eleventh grade, Mia Elizabeth Baumgartner; and twelfth grade, Xsiah Khamadi Walker (Good Citizen Award).

    Fleeta — fifth grade, Holt Norris; sixth grade, Jaysa Jowers; seventh grade; Lakita Lanier; and eight grade, Tyler Xiong.

    Florala and W.S. Harlan — fifth grade, Carsynn Burlison; sixth grade, Noah Taylor; seventh grade, Ivy June Kuulei Weber; eighth grade, Cristian Zamora-Garcia; ninth grade, Mason Matthew Bennett; tenth grade, Christopher Matthew Taylor; eleventh grade, Jayla Ann Morrow; twelfth grade, Callie Jennorah Pybus (Good Citizen Award).

    Opp — fifth grade, Brooke Elisabeth Burgess; sixth grade, Lexi Marie Brantley; seventh grade, Jordyn Aleyah Rice; eighth grade, Ava Danielle Mills; ninth grade, Parker Burgess; tenth grade, Emmy Harrison; eleventh grade, Saban Sasser; and twelfth grade, Addison Moseley (Good Citizen Award).

    Pleasant Home — fifth grade, Ben Turman; sixth grade, Maggie Gilford; seventh grade, Porter Thomasson; eighth grade, Maddie Kelley; ninth grade, Amy Caoline Sansom; tenth grade, Lily Adams; eleventh grade, Emma Grace Anderson; and twelfth grade, Nathan Hobbs (Good Citizen Award).

    Red Level — fifth grade, Lauren Ryce; sixth grade, ZyNilah Stoudemire; seventh grade, Gracelyn Carter; eighth grade, Blakeleigh Lee; ninth grade, Anna Claire Gladwell; tenth grade, Alyssa Lee; eleventh grade, Hunner Goleman; and twelfth grade, Bailey Green (Good Citizen Award).

    Straughn — fifth grade, Maddison Stinson; sixth grade, Blake Adams; seventh grade, Brooke Mitchell; eighth grade; Wyatt Lewis, ninth grade, Sophie Geohagan; tenth grade, Ellie Mooney; eleventh grade, Brenden Bartholomew; and twelfth grade, Destiny Windham (Good Citizen Award).

    The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR or NSDAR, is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in supporting the American Revolution. Founded in 1890, the non-profit group promotes patriotism and preserving American history. Its membership is limited to direct lineal descendants of solders or others of the American Revolution era who aided the revolution and its subsequent war.

    Applicants for the organization must be at least 18 years of age and have a birth certificate stating that their gender is female. DAR has over 190,000 current members in the United States and other countries. The organization’s motto is “God, Home, and Country.”

    With over 3,000 DAR chapters all across the United States, 14 women established the Old Three Notch chapter in Covington County in 1956. The oldest member joined the organization in 1960. Carol Ann-Mullins serves as the current regent (president) of the Old Three Notch chapter.

    For more information visit dar.org or message the Andalusia DAR page on Facebook.

    Source: Andalusia Star

  • France’s 3D Mapping Of Romania’s “Focsani Gate,” For Defensive Purposes?

    France’s 3D Mapping Of Romania’s “Focsani Gate,” For Defensive Purposes?

    Andrew Korybko writes on Substack

    The attention that France is paying to tactical details like the local terrain near the Romanian-Moldovan-Ukrainian trijunction suggests that its talk about an intervention in Ukraine is more serious than some think.

    Le Figaro reported in early April that French military cartographers carried out 3D mapping of Romania’s “Focsani Gate” near that country’s trijunction with Moldova and Ukraine. The pretext was ostensibly to bolster the host country’s defenses in the scenario that Russian forces in Ukraine ever approach this region and subsequently prepare to invade NATO’s southeastern flank. The current context suggests that France might have ulterior motives, however, considering its talk about intervening in Ukraine.

    Updated knowledge of the “Focsani Gate” could enable French forces in Romania to swiftly advance towards the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Izmail on the Danube River if the decision is made to formally involve Paris in the conflict. Kiev officially employs those ports for exporting grain, but they’re also suspected of being entry points for Western arms, hence their dual importance. Their other significance is lying on the route to Odessa, which France will likely seek to secure if it intervenes in Ukraine.

    All three would therefore likely figure into France’s immediate military-strategic goals if it formally involves itself in the conflict, thus explaining the need for positioning its forces in Romania and especially 3D mapping the “Focsani Gate” for the ulterior purpose of facilitating this scenario. To be clear, France might not go through with an intervention since Russia said that it’ll target all foreign forces in Ukraine and the US said that it won’t extent Article 5 defense guarantees to NATO countries’ troops there.

    Nevertheless, it’s worth being aware of the attention that France is paying to tactical details like the local terrain near the Romanian-Moldovan-Ukrainian trijunction, which suggests that its talk about an intervention in Ukraine is more serious than some think. With these possible motives in mind, it can be concluded that France envisages Romania but also Moldova falling within its “sphere of influence” potentially together with the historical Budjak region of what’s nowadays southwestern Ukraine.

    These plans, regardless of whether or not they unfold, are part of France’s competition for leadership of post-conflict Europe that was analyzed here. The gist is that this portion of Southeastern Europe is more likely to remain within France’s “sphere of influence” than anywhere else in the continent due to its military presence in Romania and last spring’s defense pact with Moldova. Although very poor, these two fraternal countries occupy strategic locations that can elevate France’s role in post-conflict Europe.

    They essentially serve as NATO’s gateway to Odessa and Transnistria, and if France establishes itself as the main foreign force there, then it can have a decisive say in any such future operations. Furthermore, France might even make its rotational military presence in Romania a permanent one along the lines of the newly opened German base in Lithuania, thus meaning that no return to the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act like Putin wants would be possible without both Berlin and Paris’ agreement.

    It’s premature to predict that France will do so, but such a scenario can’t be ruled out either since it would align with Paris’ Great Power goals. After all, these new 3D maps weren’t produced just for the sake of it or as a favor to Romania, but to facilitate a French intervention into Ukraine. Even if one isn’t forthcoming….

    France could entrench its forces in Romania by one day opening a permanent base, which could enable it to retain this option for the future and give it military-diplomatic leverage vis-a-vis Russia.

    __________

    (SOURCE)

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  • Man dies several days after being attacked with hatchet while sitting at bus stop with wife

    TUCSON, Ariz. (TCN) — A 32-year-old Alabama man passed away almost two weeks after he was violently attacked by a stranger with a hatchet while he and his wife waited at a bus stop.

    On April 5 at approximately 10 a.m., Tucson Police Department officers responded to an assault call on East Broadway Boulevard and South 6th Avenue, where they found Jacob Couch with sharp-force injuries. Witnesses and bystanders reportedly rendered aid before police and fire showed up. Paramedics transported Couch to Banner University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

    Officers searched for the suspect, Daniel Michael, in the area, but did not locate him.

    Investigators learned Michael allegedly approached Couch and his wife at the bus stop and “initiated a confrontation with the couple.” During the confrontation, Michael reportedly pulled out a hatchet and struck Couch in the neck. Michael left the scene and boarded a streetcar.

    Michael was arrested April 8 on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with serious injury.

    KOLD-TV reports Couch died Thursday, April 17, just before 9 p.m. when his heart gave out. Couch’s sister-in-law told the news station, “The injury cut the artery in the back of his neck in half. It went so deep that it hit his skull.”

    Tucson Police said they have amended the charges against Michael to first-degree murder.

    Couch and his wife were heading back to their home state of Alabama after spending several months in California, where they went to start over when their son was stillborn in May 2024, according to KOLD.

    According to Arizona Republic, detectives reportedly located a hatchet and clothing at Michael’s apartment that matched witnesses’ descriptions. Michael allegedly initially claimed he didn’t attack Couch, then later said he was drunk and didn’t remember what happened.

    Michael reportedly said he thought Couch was using drugs, and at one point, he reached into his pocket. When he did that, Michael took out a hatchet from his jacket and attacked Couch.

    Michael is in custody at the Pima County Jail with bond set at $1 million.

    • Homicide Investigation – Tucson Police Department
    • Charges upgraded for suspect in Tucson hatchet attack after victim dies – KOLD
    • ‘Life is so precious’: Hatchet attack at Tucson bus stop leaves husband on life support – Arizona Republic

    Source: True Crime Daily