Sharyl Attkisson

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Sharyl Attkisson

Physicians' group sues Rep. Adam Schiff for censoring vaccine information

  • Rep. Schiff reportedly contacted Google, Facebook and Amazon
  • Rep. Schiff reportedly urged them to discredit certain vaccine safety information

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) recently filed suit against U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for allegedly violating their free speech rights by pressuring big tech giants to remove information about vaccines from their websites.

The lawsuit says that Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook removed or obscured vaccine information that was previously readily available, at Schiff's urging. Schiff reportedly claimed the information about vaccines is inaccurate. AAPS says the information is true.

AAPS argues in the lawsuit:

The First Amendment protects the rights of free speech and association. Included within the right of free speech is a right to receive information from willing speakers. Under the First Amendment, Americans have the right to hear all sides of every issue and to make their own judgments about those issues without government interference or limitations. Content-based restrictions on speech are presumptively unconstitutional, and courts analyze such restrictions under strict scrutiny

AAPS Executive Director Dr. Jane Orient stated:

The internet is supposed to provide free access to information to people of different opinions.

AAPS is not ‘anti-vaccine,’ but rather supports informed consent, based on an understanding of the full range of medical, legal, and economic considerations relevant to vaccination and any other medical intervention, which inevitably involves risks as well as benefits.

According to a story in VaccineImpact.com

Click on the link below to read the press release from the AAPS:

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POLL: 41% say they already know how impeachment trial will end

Only 6% of the respondents in the latest unscientific poll at SharylAttkisson.com say they "won't miss a minute" of the impeachment trial, while over 40% say they already know how it will end.

Twelve percent (12%) replied, "just tell me how it ends", and 19% of those responding won't follow the impeachment trial at all.

Read the full results below. Meantime, be sure and vote in our latest poll at SharylAttkisson.com on the home page. Look for the black box in the right sidebar or scroll way down on the mobile site!

How closely will you follow Trump's impeachment trial?

6% I won't miss a minute

19% Not at all

23% Somewhat closely

12% Just tell me how it ends

41% I already know how it ends

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Gabbard sues Hillary Clinton for defamation over "Russian asset" comments

Source: Wikipedia

Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard recently filed a lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, claiming that Clinton defamed her by suggesting that she is a "Russian asset."

Clinton did not specifically mention Gabbard's name during the podcast last October, but she stated that the Republicans were grooming a Democratic presidential candidate for a third-party bid and that the candidate was a "favorite of the Russians." Clinton went on to say, "..she's a Russian asset. Yeah, she'a a Russian asset, I mean totally."

The Epoch Times reports that Clinton's office had not yet responded to its request for comment on the lawsuit, but when asked if Clinton was referring to Gabbard, a Clinton spokesperson told CNN, "If the nesting doll fits...."

Gabbard is reportedly seeking around $50 million in damages.

Click on the link below to read more at Epoch Times:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/tulsi-gabbard-sues-hillary-clinton-for-defamation-over-alleged-russian-asset-smear_3212279.html

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Virginia's 2d Amendment "Sanctuary City" movement

A long line an hour before the Virginia Beach Second Amendment vote

Many states are pressing new gun restrictions. In Virginia, the news Democrat-controlled legislature is proposing one of the largest single gun control packages in memory.

That's prompted a backlash across the state. In about two months' time, 91 of 94 Virginia counties have passed pro-Second Amendment legislation. Some are calling these places "Second Amendment Sanctuary Cities."

Sunday on Full Measure, I'll take you behind the scenes to hear what's behind this sweeping movement.

A monitor set up on the lawn outside the Virginia Beach, Virginia Second Amendment meeting to handle an overflow crowd

Also this week, many people have heard of the problems with the drinking water in Flint, Michigan. It turns out there are serious problems in communities across the country -- some of them even more serious than in Flint.

One of those places is Newark, New Jersey. We'll travel there to look at one of the biggest, fastest known lead pipe replacement projects.

And creator of the comic strip Dilbert, Scott Adams, joins us to talk about is new book: LoserThink. How not to think like a loser-- on Sunday's Full Measure.

We never waste your time rehashing the same news you've heard all week. Find out how to watch on TV, online or on demand by clicking this link: How to Watch Full Measure

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NEW: At least 2 FBI wiretaps of former Trump campaign volunteer were invalid

Former Trump adviser Carter Page
  • At least two of the FBI's Dept. of Justice-approved wiretap applications have been deemed invalid.
  • That means related government surveillance of ex-Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page was improper and possibly illegal.
  • The problematic wiretap applications were signed by James Comey, Dana Boente and Rod Rosenstein.
  • The Justice Department says the FBI lacked probable cause to believe Carter Page was acting as a foreign agent.

In a newly-released disclosure of crucial significance, the Department of Justice has determined that at least two of the FBI wiretaps against former Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page should not have been made and approved.

Therefore, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court has declared its approval for the two wiretaps was "invalid." Any surveillance conducted under these wiretaps would have, therefore, been improper.

The new information is contained in a filing by the FISA Court. The court issued the order on January 7. It was released on the court's website today.

FBI Director  James Comey and acting attorney general Dana Boente signed the Carter Page wiretap application in April 2017.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein signed the Carter Page wiretap application in July 2017.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court finds its approval of these two wiretap applications was invalid

The wiretapping of U.S. citizens is supposed to be a carefully monitored and controlled process in order to ensure that government agents do not abuse their power or use it to spy for political or other nefarious purposes.

The Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) recently concluded that FBI officials committed multiple, egregious errors and abuses in the wiretap application process involving prolonged government surveillance of Page. The IG also determined that an FBI attorney falsified a document in order to get approval for the wiretapping.

Read about Attkisson v. Rod Rosenstein for government computer intrusions

Read the document by clicking the link below:

https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/FISC%20Declassifed%20Order%2016-1182%2017-52%2017-375%2017-679%20%20200123.pdf

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A list of failed climate and other doomsday predictions

Courtesy: Twitter

Experts have been predicting the end of the world as we know it for decades....but luckily, we are still here.

Myron Ebell and Steven J. Malloy of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) have compiled a lengthy list of apocalyptic predictions whose due dates have come and gone. Here are just a few:

  • Dire Famine by 1975, according to a Stanford University biologist.
  • Air pollution causing new Ice Age by 2000, according to a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
  • Americans would be rationing water by 1974 and food by 1980, according to noted ecologist, Dr. Paul Erlich.
  • The Republic of Maldives will be submerged due to rising oceans by 2018, says their Environmental Affairs Director in 1988.
  • Snowfall would become a thing of the past, according to a senior research scientist at the University of East Anglia in 2000.

Scientists from the 1970's appeared to be particularly worried about the cooling trends and an impending ice age in the 21st century. Before they decided the real threat was the opposite: Global Warming.

Click on the link below to read more dire predictions with deadlines that have long since passed.

https://cei.org/blog/wrong-again-50-years-failed-eco-pocalyptic-predictions

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Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg bounces back again; says she is cancer-free

Ginsburg at an appearance in Fall 2019

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg says she is "cancer-free." She reportedly provided that news earlier this month to CNN.

Ginsburg, who is 86, underwent radiation treatment last year for pancreatic cancer.

Many Americans have been rooting for Ginsburg's recovery after a long string of health issues. In 2018, she had lung cancer. In 2009, she had early-stage pancreatic cancer. Before that, she had colon cancer. And last November, after her latest pancreatic cancer treatment, she missed work due to a "stomach bug," and was also hospitalized for a possible infection.

Justice Ginsburg has battled pancreatic cancer twice, lung cancer and colon cancer.

News reports

Ginsburg has managed to bounce back after each health-related episode.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court photograph

She will celebrate her 87th birthday on March 15.

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Pesticide blamed for bee decline: industry denies it

Worker honey bees
Source: Wikipedia

The pesticide industry disputes that a widely used class of insecticides is adding to the reported decline in the world-wide bee population. That's according to a story in TheIntercept.com.

The insecticides, called neonics, are the most widely-used class of pesticides in the world. They were banned in Europe in 2018, after longstanding safety concerns. A 2009 study showed that even the lowest levels of the pesticide hurt non-targeted insects, such as bees and other pollinators, according to The Intercept.

Neonics are still used in the U.S. today, mostly by farmers seeking to protect their crops. The Intercept reports, "[t]he chemical is found in soil samples from coast-to-coast, in waterways and in drinking water."

Studies show that the pesticide impairs bees' ability to navigate and forage for food, weakens their immune systems, and makes them prone to infestation by parasitic mites, says The Intercept. It also suggests that other insects that are not supposed to be impacted are affected, such as butterflies, dragonflies, earthworms, and other insect populations. Even songbirds were reportedly shown to lose weight after they consumed just a few seeds treated with neonics.

Soon after the studies began pointing to concerns with neonics, the leading producers--Bayer, Syngenta, and Monsanto--implemented a sophisticated effort to discredit the studies, while casting the pesticide companies as champions of the bees' cause, according to The Intercept:

Lobbying documents and emails obtained by The Intercept show a vast strategy by the pesticide industry to influence academics, beekeepers, and regulators, and to divert attention away from the potential harm caused by pesticides. As a result, the global neonic industry generated $4.42 billion in revenue in 2018. In the meantime, the effects are being seen in massive die-offs. Certain insect species are nearing extinction.

Lee Fang, The Intercept

A spokesperson for one pesticide manufacturer says honey bee colonies have actually been increasing around the world and that the neonic products went through extensive tests before being approved for use. But The Intercept says the studies cited were all conducted by pesticide manufacturer employees or consultants.

Experts appear to agree that bee health is affected by multiple factors, but they disagree on whether pesticides are a major contributing factor.

Click on the link below to read the full article in The Intercept:

https://theintercept.com/2020/01/18/bees-insecticides-pesticides-neonicotinoids-bayer-monsanto-syngenta/

Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson's work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.