1283: Dumb and Sick

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 11:24

Technology | Liberals Ask: Why Should We Believe Trump Has the Virus?President Trump's announcement on Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus set off a wave of tweets and Facebook posts with a common refrain, especially on the left: Why should we believe him?

There was no evidence that Mr. Trump was lying. But overnight, hundreds of tweets were posted casting doubt on whether the president contracted the coronavirus.

The White House has given multiple statements confirming Mr. Trump's condition. His physician confirmed the positive test result, and Mark Meadows, the president's chief of staff, said that Mr. Trump had mild symptoms of Covid-19.

The tweets questioning Mr. Trump's announcement peaked at five per minute on Friday morning according to Dataminr, a social media monitoring service. The doubters included Jelani Cobb, a staff writer at The New Yorker, and Anand Giridharadas, editor at large of Time and an occasional contributor to The New York Times.

Some suggested that the announcement from the president could be an excuse to delay the election, since he is trailing in the polls, and cancel future presidential debates.

Some of the people doubting Mr. Trump said they couldn't believe him because of how much false and misleading information he has spread about the virus in the past.

Researchers at Cornell University published a study this week showing that Mr. Trump was the single largest driver of false and misleading information about the coronavirus. Mentions of Mr. Trump made up nearly 38 percent of the overall ''misinformation conversation,'' the researchers said.

Mr. Trump has also stated on at least 34 separate occasions since February that the coronavirus would go away.

''We're in an environment where conspiracies are thriving, in part because the president encourages them,'' said Melissa Ryan, chief executive of Card Strategies, a consulting firm that researches disinformation. ''And we have a White House comms operation that gives the press and public disinformation constantly.''

The situation has created ''the perfect storm for people to assume that the White House isn't being truthful,'' Ms. Ryan said.

Many of the deniers also latched on to a tweet from Sept. 18 that had originally been shared in conspiracy circles, but was reshared widely on Facebook and Twitter after Mr. Trump's announcement on Friday. ''Trump's October surprise will be the announcement of 'his infection,''' it said. ''Fake, but quite dramatic.'' The post collected nearly 15,000 interactions across Facebook and Twitter, mostly from people who falsely asserted that Mr. Trump catching the virus was a known plan.

Image And some saw people's reactions to the announcement as a reflection of the sheer magnitude of misinformation that has emanated from the president.

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 12:08

Minutes after White House physician Sean Conley gave reporters a rosy report on President Trump's condition battling the COVID-19 China coronavirus at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, an anonymous quote was sent to pool reporters stating the President's condition was worse than said at the briefing. (Updates at end.)

''Pooler passes along these comments on background from a source familiar with the president's health. ''The president's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We're still not on a clear path to a full recovery.''

A screen capture of the email shows a warning that it came from an ''external sender''

TRENDING: WHO Finally Agrees Our March Analysis was Correct: The WHO's Early Coronavirus Mortality Rate Was Irresponsibly Overstated and We Called Them Out with The CORRECT NUMBERS!

Video posted of White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows talking with reporters at Walter Reed after Conley's briefing shows Meadows saying, ''Obviously the cameras are still rolling, so if, if we can go off the record with some of y'all and get away from the cameras. and to turn off cameras'...''

UPDATE: Immediately after the press conference ended and before the anonymous statement was sent out, Mark Meadows briefed reporters without cameras'--but he was caught on a feed asking to be off the record. pic.twitter.com/JyrhSmu1Y0

'-- Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) October 3, 2020

While what was said by Meadows after that was not reported, White House and Washington based reporters have named Meadows as the anonymous source for the quote about Trump's condition:

For what it's worth, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said this in an "off the record" huddle despite live cameras still rolling.

Meadows then noticed the cameras and asked they be shut off before he'd share more "off the record" stuff. https://t.co/qyYzw9zbmx

'-- Max Burns (@themaxburns) October 3, 2020

It was Mark Meadows. https://t.co/L3YuRn9tck

'-- Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) October 3, 2020

The WH offcial who immediately contradicted the WH doctor after the briefing, prompting that jarring @AP alert:

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who himself was offering a rosy portrait yesterday.

When he knew he was on camera https://t.co/4HmaUUAOq1

'-- Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) October 3, 2020

UPDATE: The AP reports a source tells them Trump was on oxygen at the White House on Friday, ''BETHESDA, Md. (AP) '-- AP source: President Trump was administered supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday before going to hospital.''

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) '-- AP source: President Trump was administered supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday before going to hospital.

'-- Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) October 3, 2020

UPDATE: The AP quotes Meadows by name in a new report:

''President Donald Trump went through a ''very concerning'' period Friday and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care as he battles the coronavirus at a military hospital, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Saturday. The comments came after it was revealed that Trump was administered supplemental oxygen Friday morning at the White House before he was transported to the hospital, although staff insisted he had only mild symptoms'...''

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 12:12

Documentarian and left-wing activist Michael Moore has floated a conspiracy theory on his Facebook page that suggested Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis was faked.

Mr Moore justified his scepticism of Mr Trump's diagnosis by citing the president's many lies and incorrect statements.

"There is one absolute truth about Trump: He is a consistent, absolute, unrelenting, fearless, and professional liar. A serial liar. A factually proven liar. How many lies now has the Washington Post proven in these four years? 25,000? A lie at least twice during every waking hour? Think of all the bad people you've known in your life. Even the worst ones you couldn't say that about.," he wrote.

Mr Moore then asked "so why on earth would we believe him today? Has he earned your trust now?"

He pondered why Mr Trump would "all of a sudden just start telling the truth."

"Why would you believe him now?" he asked. "...Trump has a history of lying about his health. His longtime New York doctor, Dr Bornstein, admitted a few years ago that Trump dictated his perfect 'doctor's letter' during the 2016 campaign. Then there was the White House doctor who said Trump could live ''200 years!'' What about his lying about that emergency trip to Walter Reed ''to complete his physical?''

Mr Moore said that Mr Trump may have the virus, but said the president lying about the virus had to be considered.

He went on to speculate as to why Mr Trump would fake having the virus after spending months downplaying its danger and publicly undermining guidelines meant to mitigate its spread.

Mr Moore believes the president is responding to polling data that suggests he is falling behind his campaign rival in the 2020 US election, Democrat Joe Biden. Under Mr Moore's theory, Mr Trump hopes to change the media narrative and garner sympathy amoung the public by pretending to have the virus.

"Democrats, liberals, the media and others have always been wrong to simply treat him as a buffoon and a dummy and a jackass. Yes, he is all those things. But he's also canny. He's clever. He outfoxed Comey. He outfoxed Mueller. He outfoxed 20 Republicans in the GOP primary and then did the same to the Democrats, winning the White House despite receiving fewer votes than his opponent," Mr Moore wrote. "He's an evil genius and I raise the possibility of him lying about having Covid-19 to prepare us and counteract his game. He knows being sick tends to gain one sympathy. He's not above weaponizing this."

He then went on to claim that Mr Trump may use his potentially phony diagnosis to attempt to delay or otherwise postpone the election. Mr Moore notes that the US Constitution does not grant the president the power to move the election, but says Mr Trump and his administration will simply ignore it.

"He and his thug Attorney General Barr have no shame and will stop at nothing to stay in power. He may even use this as an excuse for losing," Mr Moore wrote.

He concluded by admitting that Mr Trump "probably does" have Covid-19, and calling on voters to stick to their plans to vote and to be sceptical about what they read and hear. He then offered his well-wishes - mixed with a sizeable amount of indignation - to Mr Trump.

"Finally, on a personal note: Stay alive Mr. President. Your exit from public life must happen in the right and decent way. You have many years to live. You have a child to raise. Grandchildren who need you. A base that loves you," Mr Moore wrote. "And the families of nearly the quarter-million dead who might be alive today had you done your job, had you cared, had you not played politics with people's lives. Over 200,000 lost souls '-- and YOU KNEW! You told Woodward in February it was a plague. 200,000 dead because of decisions you made, because you denigrated science and ignored the doctors."

Just before Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump announced their diagnosis, White House staffer Hope Hicks tested positive for Covid-19. Since their diagnosis, several other individuals in Mr Trump's orbit over the past few days have tested positive as well, including the president of Notre Dame, a White House staffer, and two reporters who work in the White House.

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 12:47

A Minnesota newspaper has removed a piece from its website that mocked President Trump and first lady Melania Trump over their positive tests for coronavirus.

City Pages, an alternative weekly covering Minneapolis and St. Paul, published an article Friday headlined, ''Let's laugh at all these very good 'Trump has COVID' tweets.''

Editor-in-chief Emily Cassel led the piece by writing, ''So President Trump and the First Lady have COVID. Man, anyone else just in a really, inexplicably good mood this morning?''

Publisher Mary Erickson described the article as "insensitive and in bad taste."

TRUMP JOINS LIST OF WORLD LEADERS THAT HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS

"While it is in the spirit of alt-weekly journalism to provoke and to push boundaries, in this case we went too far. We apologize to our readers and to our advertisers, and wish President and Mrs. Trump a safe and speedy recovery," Erickson added.

In the article, Cassel mocked anyone who might have come into contact with Trump at a pair of campaign events in Minnesota earlier this week.

''Trump was in Minnesota [on] Wednesday for an enormous outdoor rally in Duluth and a big ol' indoor Twin Cities fundraiser with some of the state's wealthiest GOP donors. (Gee, I sure hope those billionaires are alright!!!),'' she wrote.

City Pages, an alternative weekly covering Minneapolis and St. Paul, published a piece on Friday headlined, ''Let's laugh at all these very good 'Trump has COVID' tweets.''

''Meanwhile, feeling a hit of dopamine for the first time since ... March? 2016? ... It's the first time in a really long time scrolling isn't inherently doomscrolling,'' Cassel added before embedding the some of the ''very good'' tweets mocking the president and first lady Melania Trump.

The editor-in-chief also condemned liberals such as MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who have expressed concern for Trump despite disagreeing with him politically.

''Now, some blue-check liberals out there are saying it's not cool or noble or taking the high road to joke about Trump getting coronavirus, and to them we say: Biiiig fart noise,'' she wrote.

TRUMP RECEIVES WELL WISHES FROM TOP CRITICS AFTER CORONAVIRUS DIAGNOSIS

The tweets Cassel highlighted in the article were in a similar vein, with one reading: ''I think I speak for everyone when I say that it would be insanely funny if he died of the coronavirus."

City Pages is owned by the Star Tribune Media Company, which was criticized by the Trump campaign before the article was pulled.

''It's sad to see a major newspaper implicitly endorse these vile and hateful sentiments,'' Trump campaign spokesperson Jacob Schneider told Fox News.

The Trump campaign found that Cassel had also celebrated Trump's diagnosis on her verified Twitter feed.

Cassel provided Fox News with the following statement: ''Regarding my blog post and the subsequent blowback, I would simply like to quote the president: 'Every time I speak of the haters and losers I do so with great love and affection. They cannot help the fact that they were born f----d up!'''

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

She was quoting a tweet Trump sent in 2014.

City Pages also responded to the Trump campaign by urging readers to ''Please click this important link for the FULL STORY.''

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 12:11

The scientific community has something that American corporations and politicians want. It's not technology or research. It's not understanding or policy guidance. It's the people's confidence.

In recent decades, every institution in America has suffered decline in public confidence. The press, the Federal government, religious institutions, banking, corporations, even academia '-- confidence levels are all in the 30-40% range. But public confidence in science is still over 90%.

Sources: Gallup, Gallup, Gallup, Pew

It follows that if you want to market a product or win an election, claiming that ''science is on my side'' is a powerful selling point. If you want to halt human colonization of the global ecosphere or move people out of their cars into public transportation, the backing of science is natural and maybe even honest. If you have more sinister goals '-- shutting down democracy, dividing a nation so it is politically dysfunctional, destroying small businesses and handing their markets to multinational giants '-- then claiming the imprimatur of science is probably the only way to con hundreds of millions of people into a program so profoundly contrary to their interests.

Look around. You see responsible citizens and good neighbors cooperating to curtail the spread of a deadly virus. But if you blink and look again, you may see the widest, fastest, most successful mass deception in the history of the world.

They've come so far because they have money and government and the press on their side. But they could not have captured so many minds without the support of a few people who claim to speak for science. Of course, Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci and Neil Ferguson are not representatives of a scientific consensus. But, curiously, they have not been laughed off the stage. The scientific community has not come together, 8-million strong, with a public statement that ''These men do not speak for science.'' And years of anemic public education has taught the populace to accept a scientific world view, rather than to trust their own evidence-based thinking.

We the People will not pull out of this nightmare on our own. The public will continue sleepwalking into medical martial law without a strong and credible counter-narrative. There is a powerful need for We the Scientists to come together and override the mountebanks who have hijacked the mantle of science.

It's not news that science is subject to political and financial influence. Examples from the past must start with the pharma industry as the most egregious offender; and also FDA diet recommendations, health effects of cell phones, suppression of energy technologies, past suppression of data about asbestos and tobacco and lead.

But never before 2020 have so few people with so little scientific credential claimed to speak for the scientific community as a whole; and never has the public been asked to modify our daily lives and sacrifice our livelihoods on such a scale.

Anecdotal Evidence

Biological weapons are an abomination. No government or research institute has even tried to convince the public that biowarfare research is a good idea, because it would so obviously stir more opposition than support.

After WW II, Nazi bioweapons programs were transplanted to the US, thanks to Operation Paperclip. The story is told in horrifying detail by Stephen Kinzer.

In the wake of international treaties and acts of Congress to outlaw bioweapons research, the US project was re-branded as pandemic preparation and transferred to civilian laboratories. The ruse was that in order to prepare for the next killer pathogen that may soon emerge from the wild, we must create laboratory-modified viruses so we can develop vaccines and treatments for them. The obvious flaw in this logic has been no obstacle to the bureaucratic momentum behind the project.

In 2005, 700 prominent scientists protested to the NIH, calling attention to the masquerade of biological warfare as public health [NYTimes]. Our largest and most prestigious association of scientists, AAAS issued a strong editorial denouncing biowarfare research. Though they did not succeed in halting the program, they created a public relations nightmare for NIH, and after Obama's election, the NIH program was indeed curtailed, and had to be moved (temporarily) offshore.

The situation is very different in 2020. In April, Newsweek helped alert the public that Dr Fauci's own NIAID was sponsoring gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, that modified bat Coronaviruses so they could infect humans. President Trump got wind of this, and ordered that gain-of-function research at NIAID be immediately defunded. I'm confident that scientists as well as the public were overwhelmingly supportive of this sensible, belated gesture.

But that was not the response of record. In short order, a prominent group of (geriatric? bamboozled?) scientists was reported to protest the move. 77 Nobel Laureates Denounce Trump Officials For Pulling Coronavirus Research Grant. And last month, AAAS produced editorials in support of continuing this insanely dangerous program. Even in a year as bizarre as 2020, I never expected to be siding with Donald Trump against the institutions of science. I read and reread the article in Science before I was forced to conclude that Trump was wearing the white hat.

In the same issue, there was a second editorial denouncing Trump for ''politicization of science'' by permitting research to go forward with plasma from recovered COVID patients as treatment for present patients. This approach to treatment is logical, it has historic precedent, and by all means it should be tested. The only reason I can imagine for suppressing convalescent plasma is that, if it works, it obviates the need for a vaccine, and NIH as well as private investors have billions of dollars sunk in vaccines. I would not dare to make such a charge if I had not seen an even more blatant example of the same phenomenon in the suppression of chloroquine [ref, ref, ref, ref].I shouldn't have to say this, but please don't interpret my position here as any kind of general support for Donald Trump. I believe he is as corrupt and ignorant a president as I have known in my lifetime '-- though GWBush gives him a run for his money. One of the unfathomable turns of politics this year is that so many Democrats have been so enraged by Trump's ascent to power that even when he does the right thing they leap to oppose him. Look at the Democratic response when he announced withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. COVID-19 and the Perversion of Science

The political response to COVID, in the US and elsewhere, has been not only contrary to well-supported medical science, but contrary to common sense and contrary to past practice. In every respect, the response has been either ineffective or likely to make the situation worse. We started too late for a quarantine program to be effective; then we failed to protect the most vulnerable and failed to quarantine the sickest patients. In fact, we forced nursing homes to take in COVID patients, triggering a predictable tragedy. Ventilators remained the standard of care long after it was reported by front-line doctors that they were killing COVID patients. Healthy, young people are at very low risk for serious complications, and should have been out there earning our herd immunity; instead, they were kept terrified and locked up. The economy and all cultural and religious institutions were closed down, leading to tens of thousands of deaths of despair [video by Glen Greenwald]. Masks and social distancing, the least effective protections, were endlessly promoted while simple, effective protections including vitamin D and zinc were actively disparaged by health authorities. And all the while, the most effective treatment of all, zinc + chloroquine, was criminally suppressed. Now, as deaths from COVID are down to a fraction of their April peak, government and media continue their campaign to terrorize us with a false narrative, while extending lockdowns, school closures, and masking into the indefinite future.

Call for a response by the scientific community

Mosts scientists are curious and open-minded, opinionated but cognizant of others' opinions, the opposite of polemical. It is not a natural community from which to recruit activists. But the misrepresentation of science in this pandemic has been extreme, and it threatens the future of science and its role in guiding public policy. There have been many scientists who have stood up to counter the COVID narrative. Many more have been censored, their videos taken down from social media. This is a time when we, the scientific community, have been called to come together and call the misleadership of AAAS into account. There is an urgent need for scientists who have been shy about public stands in the past to come forward and speak out.

Over the next week, I will post details of ways in which I have seen science distorted in support of a government and corporate COVID agenda.

Here are ten messages that are essential pieces of the standard COVID narrative, but which are unfounded in actual science. Stay tuned for a detailed rebuttal of each.

''The origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was one of many random events in nature in which a virus jumps from one species to another.''''Chloroquine kills patients and is too dangerous to use against COVID''''The Ferguson model warned us of impending danger in time to take action and dodge a bullet.''''American deaths from COVID: 200,000 and counting''''New cases of COVID are expanding now in a dangerous Second Wave''''Masks and social distancing are keeping the virus in check in our communities''''Dr Fauci and the CDC are guiding our response to COVID according to the same principles of epidemic management that have protected public health in the past.''''Asymptomatic carriers are an important vector of disease transmission, which must be isolated if we are to stop the spread of COVID''''The lower death rates now compared to April are due to protective measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and limited travel.''''With enough resources, pharmaceutical scientists can develop a vaccine in a matter of months, and provide reasonable assurance that it is safe.''END of Part 1

Hi

Wanted to provide some clarification to the PCR discussion - I'm an engineer that does quite a bit of measurement work in a completely different field.

https://no.promega.com/resources/guides/nucleic-acid-analysis/pcr-amplification/

A typical amplification reaction includes target DNA, a thermostable DNA polymerase, two oligonucleotide primers, deoxynucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs), reaction buffer and magnesium. Once assembled, the reaction is placed in a thermal cycler, an instrument that subjects the reaction to a series of different temperatures for set amounts of time. This series of temperature and time adjustments is referred to as one cycle of amplification. Each PCR cycle theoretically doubles the amount of targeted sequence (amplicon) in the reaction. Ten cycles theoretically multiply the amplicon by a factor of about one thousand; 20 cycles, by a factor of more than a million in a matter of hours.

Basically each amplification "cycle" yields a doubling of RNA material.

So 30 cycles is not x30 amplification - it is times 2^30 (2 to the power of 30) == 1073741824 (= a billion).

35 cycles (five cycles more) is therefore a total multiplication by 2^35 = 34359738368 (= or about 34 billion)

From Thermo-Fischer:

https://www.thermofisher.com/no/en/home/life-science/cloning/cloning-learning-center/invitrogen-school-of-molecular-biology/pcr-education/pcr-reagents-enzymes/pcr-cycling-considerations.html

I don't think there is a big conspiracy going on - and I'm sure that different manufacturers of kits + reagents and measurement equipment, need a different cycle setting, because there will not be a perfect "doubling" per cycle - but OTOH I am sure that there some incompetency going on as well - lot of people blindly trust what the "machine" is telling them without asking whether the measurement makes sense.

kind regards & 73s,

Laurens

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Thu, 01 Oct 2020 21:03

De Tweede Kamer krijgt in het vervolg een week de tijd om bezwaar te maken tegen nieuwe coronamaatregelen die worden aangekondigd door het kabinet.

De wet wordt naar verwachting komende week behandeld in de Tweede Kamer. Met steun van de oppositiepartijen is er ook een meerderheid in de Eerste Kamer.

De coronaspoedwet moet een juridische basis geven aan alle maatregelen rondom het coronavirus en moet de plaatselijke noodverordeningen vervangen.

Een week geleden werd al bekend dat de regering de coronaboete wilde verlagen naar een bedrag onder de 100 euro. Dat is omdat iemand pas een justitile aantekening kan krijgen bij een boete boven dat bedrag. Deze aantekening kan grote gevolgen hebben, bijvoorbeeld als iemand wil solliciteren.

Aankondiging spoedwet leidde kritiek en demonstratiesDe aankondiging van de coronaspoedwet zorgde voor veel kritiek vanuit tal van organisaties en de oppositie. Bovendien werden er regelmatig demonstraties gehouden in grote steden.

Ook de Raad voor de rechtspraak was kritisch op de spoedwet. Veel onderdelen van de wet zouden te ruim zijn geformuleerd, waardoor onduidelijk is wat de gevolgen zijn voor burgers.

In april werd de spoedwet al aangekondigd door minister Hugo de Jonge (Volksgezondheid), maar door alle ophef is deze er nog steeds niet van gekomen.

Door: ANP/NU.nl | Beeld: ANP

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 03:12

Oct. 1, 2020 10:02 PM EDT

By AMY TAXIN and BRIAN MELLEY

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) '-- California will begin to require counties to bring down coronavirus infection rates in disadvantaged communities that have been harder hit by the pandemic, a move that could slow the methodical reopening of the nation's most populous state.

The complex new rules set in place an ''equity metric'' that will force larger counties to control the spread of COVID-19 in areas where Black, Latino and Pacific Islander groups have suffered a disproportionate share of the cases because of a variety of socioeconomic factors.

''We can't allow transmission rates to be so disproportionately impacting those communities without significant effort to really reduce that disparity and reduce the burden on those communities," Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's health secretary, said Thursday.

The measure could further put the brakes on the state's conservative approach to a return to business as usual after a more rapid reopening of a larger segment of the economy in the spring, including allowing bars and indoor restaurant dining, was accompanied by surge of infections in early summer.

The latest reopening plan that took effect in August is a four-step process based on the percentage of positive tests and per capita new cases in each of the 58 counties. It allows counties to incrementally reopen businesses as they meet more rigid state standards for both numbers for two consecutive weeks. Counties can be forced to close businesses if their rates increase.

The equity measure will require that positive test rates in its most disadvantaged neighborhoods, where rates are often much higher, do not significantly lag behind the county overall.

Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the University of California, Davis, said it was an innovative approach to controlling the epidemic that he hasn't been applied elsewhere in the U.S.

The outbreak is worse in Latino, Black and Pacific Islander communities because many work in higher-risk industries including agriculture, restaurants and nursing facilities and often live in crowded conditions that make it hard for people to isolate when they get sick. They often don't have health care or resources if they can't work.

Latinos make up about 40% of the state's population of just under 40 million, but about 60% of California's more than 800,000 COVID-19 cases and almost half the nearly 16,000 deaths.

Infections that may be isolated to disadvantaged communities can quickly spread beyond those boundaries as more businesses reopen, more people return to work and people travel from widely.

''This is kind of a Whack-a-Mole game,'' Aguilar-Gaxiola said. ''You have an outbreak in a specific place, and because COVID-19 doesn't know borders they can be spread easily from one place to another.''

It was not clear how the new measure, which takes effect next week, will affect each county.

Health officials in San Diego, Orange and San Francisco counties said they already have been targeting vulnerable communities with testing for the virus, providing interpreters and taking other measures to address inequality.

''We're happy that the state has recognized the need to focus in on these areas," said Orange County Executive Officer Frank Kim, who said positivity rates in predominantly Latino neighborhoods have come way down since reaching double digits. Orange County's overall rate among people tested is about 3%.

Not everyone was happy to find another hurdle on the road to recovery.

''I believe the 'equity' metric is a misguided bit of virtue signaling by the governor," said Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, who has been pushing to reopen more businesses. "It will also make it harder to safely reopen, which is the one thing we should be encouraging as that will benefit the most people, and especially the young people in our disadvantaged communities who are most impacted by the digital divide, educational uncertainties, and challenges to accessing the American dream.''

But Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at University of California, San Francisco, said the rules will support efforts by health officers who have been pressured to reopen more quickly.

''It gives the county health departments a lot of welcome cover for going more slowly than perhaps others in the counties would want,'' Rutherford said.

Am(C)rica Bracho, chief executive of Latino Health Access, welcomed the new metric after seeing infection rates two and three times higher in Orange County's two largest cities, Anaheim and Santa Ana, than in wealthier communities.

But she said the state's metric doesn't address some of the problems that made low-income communities so vulnerable to the pandemic in the first place, such as a lack of access to health care, distrust of government authorities and the need to work.

While many people are aware they should stay home when they're ill, there's tremendous pressure to keep working to receive a paycheck and hang onto jobs, she said.

''We think it needs to go beyond that because if you don't have savings, you cannot stay home and not work. If you don't have health insurance, you will be afraid of using the system,'' she said. ''It's complex, and I think we need to address complexity if we want to reduce the risk for another outbreak.''

The California Department of Public Health said a team will work with advocacy groups to develop a list of resources focused on improving equity.

The city of San Francisco highlighted its work to offer free coronavirus testing, free isolation and quarantine accommodations and even paying workers minimum wage for up to two weeks to encourage them not to work when they are sick.

___

Taxin reported from Orange County. Associated Press reporter Olga R. Rodriguez contributed from San Francisco.

Trending No trending data is available.

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:42

Savannah Lynn is the host of ''The Savvy Truth'', a weekly web-based conservative interview and opinion show."The Savvy Truth", has over 500,000 followers and her content has reached nearly 50 million viewers world-wide.

She can be found on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok."Savvy" is pro-God, pro-America, pro-Constitution, pro-2A, pro-military, pro-police, pro-borders and pro-life!

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:53

Luke Hutchison said he signed up to a coronavirus vaccine trial because he's "pro science"

Luke Hutchison

Luke Hutchison woke up in the middle of the night with chills and a fever after taking the Covid-19 booster shot in Moderna's vaccine trial. Another coronavirus vaccine trial participant, testing Pfizer's candidate, similarly woke up with chills, shaking so hard he cracked a tooth after taking the second dose.

High fever, body aches, bad headaches and exhaustion are just some of the symptoms five participants in two of the leading coronavirus vaccine trials say they felt after receiving the shots.

In interviews, all five participants '-- three in Moderna's study and two in Pfizer's late-stage trials '-- said they think the discomfort is worth it to protect themselves against the coronavirus. Four of them asked not to be identified, but CNBC reviewed documentation that verified their participation in the trials.

While the symptoms were uncomfortable, and at times intense, they often went away after a day, sometimes sooner, according to three participants in the Moderna trial and one in Pfizer's as well as a person close to another participant in Moderna's trial.

The phase three trials are a critical last step needed to get the vaccines cleared for distribution. At least 41 Covid-19 vaccines are in human trials worldwide but only four U.S.-backed candidates are in phase three: Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Health officials expect to have at least one safe and effective vaccine by the end of the year.

Double-blindThe trials, which each have tens of thousands of participants, are double-blind, meaning half of them are receiving saline or another placebo and patients don't know what treatment they are receiving. The health care worker administering the vaccine is also in the dark. While it's possible some of the symptoms described could be attributed to an unrelated illness, Moderna and Pfizer previously said some participants in their phase one trials experienced mild Covid-19 symptoms. But Pfizer said it was in a minority of its cases. The trials are also still ongoing, so it remains to be seen how many participants who received the vaccine will report side effects.

Hutchison, a 44-year-old computational biologist in Utah, said he signed up for Moderna's phase three trial because he's healthy, physically fit and a big believer in vaccines. He specifically wanted to support Moderna's effort, as he was intrigued by the company's RNA-based approach. While still experimental, mRNA vaccines potentially offer faster development and production times, which could be a major benefit during a global pandemic that has led to more than 1 million fatalities.

"I had a high degree of confidence it would work and I wanted to contribute to the solution," Hutchison said.

Bed boundAfter getting the first shot on Aug. 18, he said he felt a little under the weather for several days with a low-grade fever. He got his second shot at a clinic on Sept. 15. Eight hours later, he said he was bed bound with a fever of over 101, shakes, chills, a pounding headache and shortness of breath. He said the pain in his arm, where he received the shot, felt like a "goose egg on my shoulder." He hardly slept that night, recording that his temperature was higher than 100 degrees for five hours.

After 12 hours, Hutchison said he felt back to normal and his energy levels returned. Having signed a lengthy consent form, Hutchison was aware that he might experience symptoms. But he was still struck by the severity and duration, tweeting on Sept. 16 that he experienced "full on Covid-like symptoms."

Two other participants in the Moderna trial, who asked to remain confidential because they feared backlash from the company, reported similar side effects. Likewise, one participant in the Pfizer trial said he experienced more severe symptoms than he expected.

Moderna and Pfizer have acknowledged that their vaccines could induce side effects that are similar to symptoms associated with mild Covid-19, such as muscle pain, chills and headache. As companies progressed through clinical trials, several vaccine makers abandoned their highest doses following reports of more severe reactions.

Infectious disease specialist Florian Krammer of New York's Mount Sinai said on Twitter that the side effects reported in Moderna's phase one trial are "unpleasant but not dangerous." It remains to be seen whether kids and pregnant women will experience similar symptoms.

Short-term painIf approved, the Covid-19 vaccine would not be the first to cause short-term pain and discomfort in some recipients. "It's a simple fact that some vaccines are more unpleasant to take than others," Stat News' Helen Branswell recently wrote.

One North Carolina woman in the Moderna study who is in her 50s said she didn't experience a fever but suffered a bad migraine that left her drained for a day and unable to focus. She said she woke up the next day feeling better after taking Excedrin, but added that Moderna may need to tell people to take a day off after a second dose.

She said other people in the trial have joined a couple of private Facebook groups and have shared similar experiences. She said members of the groups also reported a fever and pain in the arm similar to getting a tetanus shot, adding "you're not going to be lifting weights or working out."

"If this proves to work, people are going to have to toughen up," she said. "The first dose is no big deal. And then the second dose will definitely put you down for the day for sure. ... You will need to take a day off after the second dose."

Worth the riskShe said while uncomfortable, the apparent side effects are worth the risk of not getting Covid-19. "My hope is that this works but also that the communication [on side effects] is good," she added.

A Maryland participant in his late 20s said he experienced nausea after the first shot, but it wasn't until the second that he "really felt things."

He said he woke up at 1 a.m. with chills and a 104 fever. He said the fever went down after he took Advil and Tylenol but it lasted until around 8 p.m. He said Moderna promptly responded, calling him within an hour after he reported his symptoms in the app.

"I wasn't sure if I needed to go to the hospital or not because 104 is pretty high," he said. "But other than that, it's been fine."

Side effectsPfizer's phase one study showed "short-lived fever, mostly mild to moderate in severity, can be expected in a minority of recipients of BNT162b2 30mcg," spokeswoman Jerica Pitts said.

"No safety signals have been identified in the study," Pitts said in an email. "As discussed earlier, safety and tolerability of our vaccine candidate are continuously monitored by Pfizer qualified personnel and a DMC, an independent external data monitoring committee, which has access to unblinded data."

A Moderna spokeswoman said the company does not comment on participants in ongoing clinical trials, but added that the safety committee "has recommended that the study continue as planned" at each review.

A spokesperson from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is helping to develop Moderna's vaccine, declined to comment and referred CNBC to a press release and Q&A for information about how participant safety is being monitored. The NIAID is not involved with the Pfizer trial.

'Educating the public'Hutchison said he's concerned that the pharmaceutical manufacturers have not sufficiently informed the public about potential side effects. If the vaccines are approved, he fears, it might cause a widespread backlash if word spreads, which is why he decided to go public now. Polls show some 35% of Americans say they won't get a coronavirus vaccine when it is available, because of misinformation or mistrust.

The White House has dubbed its project to bring a vaccine to market in record time as "Operation Warp Speed," which has raised concern that drugmakers may take shortcuts to produce one quickly. President Donald Trump's push to have a vaccine ready before the Nov. 3 election also isn't helping to allay those fears. The pharmaceutical companies tried to tamp down those doubts by releasing a joint statement in September that pledged to "stand with science," rather than politics, saying the clinical trials won't sacrifice safety or the effectiveness of a vaccine.

Kolina Koltai, a vaccine researcher at the University of Washington at the Center for an Informed Public, said using "speed" to describe a national vaccine campaign can be counterproductive, even if the trials are robust.

"I'm hearing from people who say they want other people to test it (the vaccine) first," she said. "There's a lot of uncertainty."

Young peopleAnother challenge with the vaccine is that young people, who don't tend to get as sick as people over 40, may not think they are at high risk for severe health outcomes if they get the virus. If they hear about side effects via word of mouth, they may not deem the vaccine to be worth it.

The vaccine is "fairly unusual," said Dr. Peter Bach, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, because the benefits to some young and healthy groups may be "secondary" in nature.

In order words, getting a coronavirus vaccine '-- like wearing a mask '-- may be an act of service to help protect others. But public health officials can have difficulty getting some people to wear a mask, indicating that even more people may be reluctant to get the vaccine.

Hutchison is continuing to report his symptoms via an app, which serves as a form of a diary. He has returned to the clinic for follow-up visits on several occasions, including after he received the second dose.

Since tweeting about his experience, Hutchison said he has received pushback from people who felt that he shouldn't have said he received the vaccine rather than the placebo. Given his symptoms, he said he thinks it's highly unlikely he was part of the control group that received a saltwater solution.

Up all nightA physician in Baltimore participating in the Pfizer study is due for his second dose on Saturday. While he said his symptoms were "very mild" for the first dose, he wouldn't be surprised if others experienced symptoms more serious than a flu shot and said people should be prepared for that.

Another participant in Pfizer's trial said he was up all night after the first shot from the pain of the injection. The booster injection he received caused more of that same pain in his arm, followed by intense flu-like symptoms that hit him around 1a.m. He couldn't sleep that night without an electric blanket, and shook so hard that it became uncontrollable and he cracked part of his tooth from chattering them.

"It hurt to even just lay in my bed sheet," he said, before he decided to see a doctor.

Despite all that, he remains pro-vaccine and said he is a big advocate for science. Had he known in advance, he would have recommended getting the shot on a Friday so he could rest on the weekend. He recognizes that getting the virus would likely still be far worse for many people.

"If it gets approved, I still think a lot of people should get the vaccine," he said, "and I hope that all the side effects are made clear upfront."

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 22:52

Regeneron on Tuesday said its experimental two-antibody cocktail reduced viral levels and improved symptoms in non-hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate Covid19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

When asked whether the company would apply for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company said it plans to "rapidly" discuss the early trial results with regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Results for the first 275 trial patients showed the greatest effect in patients who had not mounted their own immune response prior to treatment, suggesting that REGN-COV2 could provide a therapeutic substitute for the naturally-occurring immune response, Regeneron said.

REGN-COV2 is part of a class of biotech therapies known as monoclonal antibodies. Several companies are using the technology to manufacture copies of the body's own antibodies to the new coronavirus. Regeneron believes its dual-antibody formula will limit the ability of the virus' to escape detection.

The study tested two different doses of REGN-COV2 in two patient populations: those who mounted an effective immune response on their own (seropositive), and those whose immune response was not yet adequate (seronegative).

For patients given a placebo, the seropositive group had a median time to alleviation of symptoms of 7 days, compared to 13 days for seronegative patients.

Regeneron said REGN-COV2 rapidly reduced viral load through day 7 in seronegative patients. In addition, patients with higher baseline viral levels had correspondingly greater reductions in viral load with REGN-COV2, which is given by intravenous infusion.

For seronegative patients, median time to symptom alleviation was 13 days for the placebo group, 8 days for the high-dose group, and 6 days for the low-dose group.

Serious adverse side effects occurred in two placebo patients, one low-dose patient and no high-dose patients. There were no deaths in the trial.

REGN-COV2 is also being studied for the treatment of hospitalized patients, and for prevention of infection in people who have been exposed to Covid-19 patients.

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 13:12

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Public MediaTuesday, November 10th, 2020A Day of Action & Education

We are a diverse coalition of public media workers, led by people of color.We are raising awareness of the negative effects of a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion in public media, and sharing solutions for individuals and organizations. Diversity, equity and inclusion at every level and in every facet of public media is essential for ensuring meaningful service to all.

People of ColorThere's many ways to participate as a person of color working in public media no matter your job or the type or organization you work for.

White AlliesThere's many ways to take action as a white person working in public media no matter your job or the type or organization you work for.

OrganizationsThe more the merrier! There's many ways to take action as a leader of a public media organization. Coordinate a group for collective action.

Public Media FansLet the public media organizations you rely on and support know that diversity, equity and inclusion are important to you. Help us spread awareness.

Sign UpTuesday, November 10th, 2020Join us for a national day of activism and education to address the need for diversity, equity and inclusion in public media. Pledge to participate by submitting this form.

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 13:12

For Public MediaWhite AlliesOn Tuesday, November 10th, 2020, join us for a national day of activism and education to address the need for diversity, equity and inclusion in public media.

There are many ways to participate:

Hold a white caucus at your organization to have a brave and honest conversation about race, and perhaps hold some of your fellow White co-workers accountable.

Meet one-on-one with your manager to share your concerns about the lack of diversity at your organization, and elevate concerns you've heard about this from people of color co-workers.

In collaboration with co-workers of color, who have willingly volunteered their time, energy, and knowledge, cover DEI issues in public media in your programming.

Donate or volunteer with a local service organization supporting communities of color, especially seniors and youth of color.

Attend our webinar (more info TBA).

Post your support on social media with #PublicAF

Participate in our moment of silence (more info TBA).

If you cannot do these things, and feel that calling out sick is the only way you can show support, then use your day out sick to educate yourself about systemic issues of racism in media and society.

Individuals who sign up will be kept anonymous.

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 13:37

Quinn Simmons has been pulled from racing by Trek-Segafredo over a ''divisive, incendiary, and detrimental'' tweet.

The 19-year-old neo-pro became embroiled in controversy overnight when he tweeted his support of Donald Trump and used a black hand emoji.

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Simmons, winner of the junior World Championship road race in Yorkshire last year, has now been benched by his team for the online statements which his team said are ''divisive, incendiary, and detrimental.''

The controversy unfolded on Wednesday (September 30) when journalist Jose Been condemned US president Donald Trump and urged social media users to unfollow her if they support Trump.

Simmons responded to the tweet saying ''bye'' with a black waving hand emoji.

The response caused a backlash from many cycling fans on social media aimed at both Simmons and his Trek-Segafredo team, with the US WorldTour squad saying they were ''taking this very seriously'' and that they would be releasing a statement soon.

Late on Wednesday night the team released the statement, confirmed that Simmons had been benched.

The team said: ''Trek-Segafredo is an organisation that values inclusivity and supports a more diverse and equitable sport for all athletes. While we support the right to free speech we will hold people accountable for their words and actions.

''Regrettably, team rider Quinn Simmons made statements online that we feel are divisive, incendiary, and detrimental to the team, professional cycling, its fans, and the positive future we hope to help create for the sport.

''In response, he will not be racing for Trek-Segafredo until further notice.''

Trek-Segafredo said they will work with their partners to determine the next steps for Simmons and that the public will be kept informed of any decisions.

The use of a black emoji by a white person online has been equated with blackface, showing a lack of racial awareness and temporarily adopting a racial identity.

Diversity in Cycling said on Twitter: ''In Black History Month, it is worth explaining why Quinn Simmons' tweets were racist. It was not because of his politics, but because he used a black hand gesture.

''This is a form of blackface '' a means of racist oppression used by extremist groups.

''No Quinn, the furore is not about your political beliefs, it is about your racism.

''You used a black hand gesture, a form of blackface. You know the history of blackface right?

''Trek-Segafredo 100 per cent correct to suspend you. Listen and learn.''

Simmons, from Durango, Colorado, rose to prominence last season with a number of victories in the junior ranks, which were capped off by a huge solo win in the junior World Championship road race.

At 18 years old, he was then signed to Trek-Segafredo for 2020 on a two-year neo-pro contract.

Simmons will now miss his scheduled debut in the Classics this autumn.

He has yet to respond to the controversy or his suspension.

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 16:35

EO declares ''national emergency'' in US mining industryOn Wednesday President Trump signed an executive order which declared a ''national emergency'' in the US mining industry, highlighting America's dangerous overdependence on China for what's known as rare-earth minerals.

China has been widely acknowledged as dominant in the rare-earth minerals market for decades, which includes a group of obscure minerals (typically 17 identified as such) often used in manufacturing anything from advanced electronics like flat screens to even weapons. For example, one of the most sought after '' samarium cobalt '' is used in precision guided missiles and fighter jets, and advanced communications systems.

The order says that ''our Nation's undue reliance on critical minerals, in processed or unprocessed form, from foreign adversaries constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.''

China began cementing its global dominance in the 1980s after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency moved to severely restrict rare-earth mineral mining related to environmental concerns.

They are deemed ''rare'' precisely because there are no known alternatives to them, and given they've been key in developing specific technologies preponderant among industrialized populations.

The order's text specifically charges that Beijing has intentionally exploited its position in the market, especially regarding 35 minerals that are ''essential to the economic and national security of the United States'':

Our dependence on one country, the People's Republic of China (China), for multiple critical minerals is particularly concerning. The United States now imports 80 percent of its rare earth elements directly from China, with portions of the remainder indirectly sourced from China through other countries. In the 1980s, the United States produced more of these elements than any other country in the world, but China used aggressive economic practices to strategically flood the global market for rare earth elements and displace its competitors.

As Reuters underscores, ''While the United States used to be the leading producer of the minerals, China has used its heft in the industry to its advantage in the trade dispute between the two world leaders.''

No doubt this remains a crucial US vulnerability weakening Washington leverage amid Trump's ongoing trade dispute, as well as select sanctions on the mainland related to the Hong Kong issue and other geopolitical pressure spots.

Just after Trump's signing the order, Ellen Lord, the top acquisition official at the Pentagon, told a Senate hearing ''We are on a trajectory to increase our national defense stockpile relative to rare earth minerals. The silver lining of COVID has been that I think most Americans now understand the importance of having domestic supplies.''

''We could certainly, especially under the auspices of the [executive order] that just came out yesterday, work with the interagency, because there is already a lot of work going on to look at expanding the national defense stockpile to include more rare earths,'' she said in her Thursday remarks.

Alex Jones breaks down how kneeling for the flag at sporting events has become a requirement in the culture of authoritarian outrage.

The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!

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I am a producer living in Italy. On October 1st, the Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte, while addressing the UN assembly in Berlin used the phrase,"Cerchiamo di ricostruire meglio," which translates to Build Back Better. So, it is in Italy as well.

https://newsmondo.it/dichiarazioni-conte-sul-recovery-fund-1-ottobre-2020/politica/?refresh_ce

Il premier Conte all'Onu: "Cerchiamo di ricostruire meglio"

Thank you for your courage,

Greg

Let's try to rebuild better

We try to build back better

The story of the kid in Wisconsin cracks me up and I can relate. Last year on a road trip my then 5yr old, out of the blue, shouts from the back seat ...

"UGH!!!! I hate you Mike Bloomberg...blah blah bah".

Turns out his ads had been popping up on all his YouTube shows.

Fast forward to today and both of my kids (now 6 and 9) have all of their YouTube shows covered in Jon Ossoff ads both for and against... They absolutely hate the man. The youngest screams "middle finger" at the TV every time he comes on.

Thanks for keeping us sane and keep up the great work,

Chad

It's been going on for a while - never at the level mentioned in these filings.

I doubt that 700,000 ballots is a doable number - but even if it is 70,000 fraudulent votes, it could easily shift the election. Harris County - through it's clerk, a Dem - has said it would mail out ballots to all 2,37 million voters in the county without looking at eligibility.

Extremely interesting that Dallas Jones who has been running this program in Harris County was appointed Biden's campaign guy for Texas on August 26th - they must have known in DC about this scheme.

Unsurprisingly, the local paper in Houston hasn't been covering Dallas Jones, his connection to Biden's campaign and the ballot harvesting scheme.

It may be my perspective but seems like the Democrats have refined and perfected the process of illegal ballot harvesting - voter fraud in the Rio Grande Valley is what got LBJ elected years ago. I will ask the law partner of Woodfill (who is the plaintiff's attorney) if there is any audio or video that they might release.

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 13:34

I noticed that in some video shots, Biden appeared very slightly larger than the President, when a different camera was on each one of them.

I scanned through the debate video, and checked for this when they used the two cameras to combine the President and Biden video in side-by-side video panels. When in this side-by-side mode, I checked the writing on the board behind each of them, and compared that writing. When comparing the same letters in the same words, it seemed to me that Biden's camera was using a slightly higher degree of close-up.

I think they made Biden appear slightly larger than the President.

Does anyone else see this?

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:54

Joe And Jill Biden Raked In $13.3M Just In One Year '' But They Used Tax Loopholes To Claim Only $750K In Income

After the New York Times story broke about President Donald Trump's apparent tax issues, Democrats have taken advantage.

They're calling out the Commander-in-Chief for only paying a small amount in personal income tax in recent years.

However, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden might face a similar issue.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Bidens found a way to keep most of the $13.3 million they earned between 2018 and 2019.

The report claims the Bidens used a tax loophole, ''S Corporations,'' to keep their income taxes low.

From Western Journal, citing the WSJ article:

Joe and his wife Jill Biden funneled millions in income through a pair of S corporations they set up in Delaware as a way to circumnavigate paying Social Security and Medicare taxes.

As it turns out, Joe and Jill earned about $13.3 million due largely to book royalties and speaking fees.

But they reportedly only claimed $750,000 of that $13.3 million as actual income.

The other 94 percent of the money went through the S corporations, which stopped it from being subject to the 15.3 percent combined Social Security and Medicare tax rate (per CNBC).

Evidently, this is a common way to avoid paying a lot of taxes if you pull in a ton of money.

One could argue that the book royalties and speaking fees the Bidens received should've been counted as a form of income.

On the flip side, the Bidens aren't the only wealthy individuals who have used S corporations to keep a hefty portion of their cash.

Even so, if this story makes the rounds, Joe Biden might have to explain this situation.

Both candidates will be under the microscope during debate season, after all '-- and now it looks like taxes will be a topic for both.

Key Takeaways:Democrats go after Trump for his income taxes. But the Bidens may be guilty of something similar.The couple brought in $13.3 million between 2017 and 2018, but only claimed $750,000 as income.The Bidens funneled the money through S Corporations to shield themselves from the Social Security and Medicare tax rate.Source: Wall Street Journal

Ben Dutka

Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.

Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 14:08

HOUSTON'--Texas Democrats are planning to take Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) to federal court over his controversial move on Thursday to shutter locations across the state where voters can drop off their mail-in ballots to be counted for the general election.

''We're in a big war right now with the state of Texas,'' Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, told The Daily Beast. ''We're probably going to be filing suit on that in the next day or so.''

Abbott announced Thursday that effective immediately until the Nov. 3 election, each county in Texas can only operate one site where voters are allowed to submit their mail-in ballots. Abbott said the move would ''strengthen ballot security protocols.''

''The State of Texas has a duty to voters to maintain the integrity of our elections,'' Abbott said. ''These enhanced security protocols will ensure greater transparency and will help stop attempts at illegal voting.'' A spokesperson for Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the potential for a legal challenge to the governor's order.

Election officials in Texas and nationwide have incorporated ballot drop-boxes as an important part of their plans to make voting safe and secure in an election year that is expected to see record turnout against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic.

Some of Texas' largest counties had announced that voters would have the option of using multiple drop-off locations: in Harris County, home to 4.7 million residents and the city of Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., officials had set up a dozen sites where voters could hand in their ballots.

Chris Hollins, the top elections official in Harris County, said in a statement that Abbott was ''going back on his word'' to give Texas voters more options to vote safely during COVID-19, and that the county's multiple drop-off sites had already been advertised publicly for weeks.

''Our office is more than willing to accommodate poll watchers at mail ballot drop-off locations,'' said Hollins. ''But to force hundreds of thousands of seniors and voters with disabilities to use a single drop-off location in a county that stretches over nearly 2,000 square miles is prejudicial and dangerous."

The League of United Latin American Citizens, a national Hispanic advocacy group, also said it was filing a lawsuit, alleging Abbott was trying to ''suppress the state's Hispanic vote.''

Texas Democrats said that the move from Abbott is a clear signal of GOP fears that they're in danger of losing key races in Texas, particularly down-ballot.

''It tells you that they're scared,'' said Hinojosa. ''They know they're in trouble in the state. All the polling out there shows that they're in trouble. That they're likely going to lose the state House, they're likely going to lose a lot of congressional seats, and even [Senate candidate] MJ [Hegar] is in contention, she's within the margin of error.''

Julin Castro, who was the mayor of San Antonio from 2009 to 2014 and ran for the Democratic nomination this cycle, told The Daily Beast on Thursday that the decision was made by ''a nervous man doing the bidding of two other nervous men'''--referring to President Donald Trump and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), whom Hegar is challenging.

Recent polls have shown a tightening race in Texas, with Trump barely leading Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Cornyn's lead narrowing over Hegar. Democrats are also targeting several U.S. House seats in the state's shifting suburban areas, looking to build on the districts they flipped in 2018.

''The Republicans wouldn't be pulling these maneuvers if they didn't see Texas slipping away from them. In that sense, this is one encouraging sign they see what we see, which is that Texas is turning over,'' said Castro.

While Castro was hopeful that courts might be sympathetic to a legal challenge against the order, he worried that the announcement itself, even if overturned, could have the effect of voter suppression.

''It causes a problem regardless of whether Abbott succeeds in limiting these drop-off boxes or not,'' he said. ''It creates confusion.''

Dennis Borel, executive director of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, said he's not sure how the governor's proclamation will prevent illegal voting. The majority of mail-in ballots that would be delivered in person come from elderly and disabled voters, Borel said.

''It's a mystery what he's trying to truly accomplish here,'' Borel said. ''Why would we want to''late in the game''come in and restrict the number of valid drop off locations during a pandemic during which older adults and people with disabilities are considered at the highest risk?''

Democratic candidates themselves are similarly skeptical. Julie Oliver, the Democratic nominee challenging Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) in the state's 25th District, echoed the point that Abbott's move was meant to sow confusion, calling it ''naked voter suppression.''

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Taylor noted that since ballot drop-offs begin on Oct. 5, people have time to adjust. But she said ''it's going to be a hassle if one location is much farther for [voters] to drive to than before'' and said her campaign is encouraging people to vote early and in person if they are not at increased risk of contracting the coronavirus.

''We'll continue to let people know what their options are, and just help them work through their voting plan,'' said Taylor, who is running to represent a sprawling 13-county area that includes Austin's Travis County and Fort Worth's Tarrant County. In Travis, four drop-off locations for mail-in ballots were supposed to be available.

Abbott's proclamation comes one week after a group of Texas Republicans led by conservative activist Steven Hotze asked the Texas Supreme Court to halt Abbott's move to extend both early voting and the period that people could deliver their absentee ballots in person.

Hotze's petition for Writ of Mandamus was also filed on behalf of Allen West, chairman for the Republican Party of Texas, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, and six current members of the Texas legislature.

It seems few counties designated more than one in-person drop off location for ballots. Tarrant County, which includes Fort Worth, is the third largest in Texas by population and only had one designated box. The same is true for Hidalgo and Webb, two large counties on the border.

The Tarrant County Democratic Party posted on Twitter that they asked for more ballot drop off locations, but the county elections officials declined.

''In a flippable county with close to 1.5M voters, by which 60K vote by mail ballots have already been sent, we have to make due,'' the party said on Twitter. ''We are relegated to one drop off location in the midst of COVID and uncertainty over the USPS system because Texas Republicans know they'll lose.''

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:33

American employee at US Embassy in Kiev dies in hospital after she was found beaten unconscious with head injuries in a forest area near railway tracksUkrainian police said Wednesday an unidentified woman who worked at the embassy died after an assault in the Shevchenko district of the Ukrainian capital The badly-beaten victim was discovered by a passer-by on the street near a park She had suffered a head injury and was rushed to hospital where she diedPolice found a work identity card for the US Embassy in her belongingsAuthorities said they are searching for a tall dark-haired male suspect aged 30 to 40 and dressed in dark shorts and a t-shirt The embassy told DailyMail.com the victim is an American employee By Rachel Sharp For Dailymail.com

Published: 11:50 EDT, 30 September 2020 | Updated: 15:50 EDT, 1 October 2020

An American employee at the US Embassy in Kiev has died in hospital after she was found beaten unconscious with head injuries in a forest area near some railway tracks.

Ukrainian police confirmed Wednesday an unidentified woman who worked at the embassy was killed while jogging in a park close to the compound and that a search was under way for a male suspect.

The badly-beaten victim was discovered, wearing running gear and headphones, by a passer-by near the railway tracks by Kyiv's Nyvky Park outside the city center in the Shevchenko district of the Ukrainian capital.

She had suffered a head injury in the attack and was rushed to hospital where she died of her injuries, authorities said.

A US Embassy employee in Kiev has died in hospital after she was found beaten unconscious with head injuries in a forest area near some railway tracks. Pictured the US Embassy

Artem Shevchenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said in a Facebook post that her death was being investigated as a murder but that it was possible it could have been an accident. He shared images of the railway line above

A witness shows authorities where he discovered the badly-beaten victim lying by the tracks

Ukrainian police said a work identity card for the US Embassy was found in the victim's belongings.

'The unconscious woman was admitted to a hospital where she subsequently died,' Ukrainian police said on Facebook.

'During the examination of the victim's belongings, an identity card of an employee of the U.S. Embassy in her name was found.'

Police said they are looking for a tall dark-haired man aged 30 to 40 and dressed in dark shorts, a t-shirt and dark blue running shoes in connection to the assault.

The US Embassy in Kiev confirmed Wednesday to DailyMail.com that the victim is a US citizen.

'We are heartbroken to report the death of an American member of the U.S. Embassy Kyiv community,' they said in a statement.

'Officials from U.S. Embassy Kyiv are currently working with authorities to determine the circumstances of the death.'

No further details have been officially released about the victim's identity but a US source told The Guardian she was the wife of a US foreign service officer, and worked in a non-diplomatic job in the embassy.

The victim was found close to the railway line above where investigators were seen working Wednesday. Shevchenko said she was wearing athletic wear and headphones, suggesting she was out jogging at the time

The US Embassy in Kiev confirmed the victim was an American employee

The Ukrainian Ambassador to the US also tweeted his condolences to the family

The Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Volodymyr Yelchenko tweeted his condolences to the family and called for justice.

'Terrible news. My deepest condolences to the family and friends. Perpetrators must be found and prosecuted swiftly,' tweeted Yelchenko.

Artem Shevchenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said in a Facebook post that her death was being investigated as a murder but that it was possible it could have been an accident.

'The National Police of Ukraine is investigating her death as a deliberate murder ... but an accidental death is not ruled out. The body was in sports clothes and wearing headphones,' he wrote.

'The death of such reckless pedestrians as a result of injuries (caused by a) train is not uncommon on the railways.'

The US Embassy in Ukraine's current chief of mission Kristina Kvien

He shared images of the railway line where the victim was found and said she was wearing athletic wear and headphones.

The victim's body has been sent to a forensic examiner to determine the cause of death and police are interviewing witnesses.

Around 181 Americans and 560 Ukrainians are employed at the embassy, which is based on the eastern edge of Kyiv's Nyvky Park and is only half a mile from where the woman was found.

The embassy's current chief of mission is Kristina Kvien.

The US Department of State directed DailyMail.com's request for comment to the statement from the US Embassy in Ukraine.

Kiev has long been seen by American diplomats as a relatively safe posting, with no reported attacks on workers in recent years.

Tensions have increased somewhat between the two nations after Donald Trump allegedly tried to put pressure on the Ukrainian government to spread damaging narratives about Joe Biden, sparking Trump's impeachment trial in January.

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RBG: "Frankly, I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of." She spoke bluntly in an interview published in the New York Times Magazine which was an article on women on the court. So it was not simply a woman's rights agenda. That was the cover story to hide the real agenda which has always existed – eugenics and to reduce the population of the minorities.

PA intelligencer picture of article

I'm listening to your coverage on the People Of Praise thing. The ",handmaid" thing caught me off gaurd. "Handmaid" is probably a reference to the Virgin Mary who says she is the "handmaid of the Lord".

This has nothing to do with The Handmaids Tale. I mean, Handmaids tale? Really?

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Archived Version

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:49

Josh Wingrove : "She also is a Rhodes scholar," Trump's @PressSec says of Amy Coney Barrett, who did not receive a Rhodes Scholarsh'... https://t.co/3qvhruTbLm

Thu Oct 01 15:28:07 +0000 2020

John Enns : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Either Kayleigh thinks we're all stupid or she is. It's one ot the other folks.

Fri Oct 02 12:46:54 +0000 2020

JAMayne🇨ðŸ‡... : @josh_wingrove @krismeloche @PressSec LOLOL!!!!!!

Fri Oct 02 12:46:25 +0000 2020

Cormac Parsons : @josh_wingrove @PressSec I still like to use maps and not a GPS, does that make me a roads scholar.

Fri Oct 02 12:46:17 +0000 2020

Noirgirl : @josh_wingrove @PressSec ðŸ…ðŸ¤...🏼''¸

Fri Oct 02 12:44:12 +0000 2020

Carol Voting Blue : @josh_wingrove @PressSec How pathetic, she should be embarrassed. What a low class thing to do.

Fri Oct 02 12:43:06 +0000 2020

Mad Ludwig : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Rhodes College in TN is a far better place to get an actual education. Where'd you get yours? At CNN?

Fri Oct 02 12:39:36 +0000 2020

ð''ð'šð'–ð'ð'(C)ð'' ð'ð'–ð'ð' ð'ð'šð'ð'–ð'¥ 🍰🍰🍰 : @josh_wingrove @PressSec https://t.co/Ea01noMkuc

Fri Oct 02 12:38:22 +0000 2020

Ferial Day : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Dummies galore. And no masks.

Fri Oct 02 12:34:34 +0000 2020

MandyB : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Oh I want to play too...@PressSec has proven over and over thru her lies that she's just'... https://t.co/u4WPF25fUZ

Fri Oct 02 12:33:40 +0000 2020

Michael Fuhrman : @josh_wingrove @PressSec The trump WH where facts don't matter & and accuracy is a meh

Fri Oct 02 12:29:38 +0000 2020

Glenna. gertson : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Same thing, at least in trump's world ðŸ

Fri Oct 02 12:28:51 +0000 2020

Fight For Justice : @josh_wingrove @PressSec https://t.co/rUmWtXbUHf

Fri Oct 02 12:26:15 +0000 2020

Jim Bell : @josh_wingrove @PressSec She had a sudden attack of rhodesia, very similar to AM-nesia.

Fri Oct 02 12:20:30 +0000 2020

DianeJ : @josh_wingrove @PressSec I know a guy named Rhodes. Do I qualify?

Fri Oct 02 12:20:01 +0000 2020

Sharon Seaman : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Big difference!

Fri Oct 02 12:15:02 +0000 2020

Cheds : @josh_wingrove @PressSec everything is a joke to this administration

Fri Oct 02 12:12:56 +0000 2020

marcia thill : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Pretty big distinction, I'd say.

Fri Oct 02 12:08:40 +0000 2020

JH~~~~ : @josh_wingrove @PressSec https://t.co/RlS1KRk2kV

Fri Oct 02 12:07:14 +0000 2020

Donald Munkacy : @josh_wingrove @PressSec Chuckle

Fri Oct 02 12:07:06 +0000 2020

Kristine Penniall : @josh_wingrove @PressSec That's hilarious. Binder Barbie is a moron.

Fri Oct 02 12:06:19 +0000 2020

No : @josh_wingrove @PressSec That's ok she still will be SCJ

Fri Oct 02 12:05:07 +0000 2020

Jeanne : @josh_wingrove @PressSec They are so frickin dumb.

Fri Oct 02 12:04:01 +0000 2020

NS🐊 : @josh_wingrove @CarolMesimer @PressSec https://t.co/mjHb3cT0z0

Fri Oct 02 12:03:51 +0000 2020

B613 : @josh_wingrove @PressSec This is in line with ''people are saying'' or ''I've heard great things'' this is supposed to'... https://t.co/QdMFv33zEn

Fri Oct 02 12:02:17 +0000 2020

Ann-Marie Giglio : @josh_wingrove @PressSec LOL

Fri Oct 02 11:59:55 +0000 2020

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Archived Version

Sun, 04 Oct 2020 13:10

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Archived Version

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:44

The China ThreatForeign Intelligence Services Use Social Media Sites to Target People with Security Clearances

China and other foreign governments are using professional networking social media sites to target people with U.S. government security clearances. Foreign intelligence services may use fake profiles, seemingly benign requests, the promise of lucrative payouts, and other tactics to try to gain non-public and classified information for their benefit. The FBI urges everyone'--especially those who hold (or have held) security clearances'--to be cautious when approached by individuals online regarding career opportunities.

The threat is real. Think before you link.

The Nevernight Connection This film'--inspired by the case of former CIA officer Kevin Mallory'--details the fictional account of a former U.S. Intelligence Community official who was targeted by China via a fake profile on a professional networking site and recruited to turn over classified information before being arrested. Through this film, The FBI and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center seek to raise awareness of this issue and help individuals in the private sector, academic and research communities, and other U.S. government agencies guard against this threat.

What Are the Signs You're Being Targeted? It's too good to be true: Be suspicious of jobs offering remote or flexible work and a disproportionately high salary for the role advertised. Flattery: Your contact may overly praise or focus on your skills and experience or refer to you as a ''high-end'' candidate (especially if your government affiliation is known). Scarcity: There may be an emphasis on so-called limited, one-off, or exclusive opportunities. Lack of depth/detail: There may be a lack of any visible or verifiable company information available online and/or the role itself lacks tangible details. Urgency: Your contact might be overly responsive to messages and may attempt to rush you off the networking platform onto another communication method. Imbalance: There may be a disproportionate focus on the company you are being recruited for rather than the company validating you as a possible candidate. What Should You Do? Review your account settings on social and professional networks to control the information that is publicly available, especially relating to security clearances. Only form contacts online with people you know or after you have verified as legitimate in another way. Notify your security officer of any contact from companies or individuals you are suspicious of. If you are a former U.S. government clearance holder, contact your nearest FBI office to report malicious targeting on professional networking social media sites or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

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Archived Version

Sat, 03 Oct 2020 16:50

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

There's been a lot of debate lately on what generation of Americans is the most to blame for the current failures of the US as a society.

Baby Boomers blame millennials for being weak, lazy and entitled;

millennials blame boomers for ruining the system before they were ever born while enjoying the fruits of a more prosperous economy.

The real answer is that it's partially the fault of BOTH generations, but not for the reasons often argued.

The boomer vs. snowflake conflict is a controlled narrative that deliberately avoids the greater issues at hand. Yes, the newest generations of Americans have been utterly pussified, but I believe this is part of a larger agenda, and baby boomer parents unwittingly and stupidly played a supporting role.

In 4th Generation warfare the concept is to destroy a nation or civilization without using direct military confrontation, at least, not right away. Instead, the goal is to destabilize the target society from within and let the citizenry self destruct. Then, once the population is in sufficient chaos, you move in with your military forces and take over, meeting minimal resistance along the way.

The strategy can also be used to undermine and control a population by it's own government or by elites within that government as a means to stop potential rebellion against the establishment power structure. In other words, use controlled chaos to create panic and weakness, and then snatch up more power while the citizenry is distracted and disorganized.

In order to create chaos and panic in a population, that population must be completely unprepared to deal with crisis events. They must be mentally soft and lack resolve, otherwise they might become self reliant and defiant rather than fearful and easy to control.

I was recently studying psychological conditioning methods used to prepare people for combat and crisis scenarios. The phrase ''stress inoculation'' comes up often. In certain branches and units of the US military there is an increased emphasis on stress inoculation (beyond basic training) as a means to strengthen soldiers and their fortitude so that when they do eventually find themselves in a combat situation where they might die, they don't panic and allow adrenaline to take over their motor and thought processes.

Department of Defense think-tanks like DARPA have published extensive white papers on the subject, and stress inoculation is also used to some extent to treat people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The ability to perform calmly under stress is the key to combat readiness. The most effective warriors, and the most successful people in life, usually have the ability to manage stress and perform at a high level while other people flounder in terror.

Historically, many civilizations have been very careful in how they choose and train warriors for defense. Native American tribes, for example, would carefully vet their warriors and make sure they chose men that would NOT run away at the first sign of trouble; rather, they picked men they knew would confront trouble directly. A small force of psychologically prepared men was considered far superior to a vast army of potential bed wetters and hysterics.

Mentally vetting people for stress management skills has been a common human practice for thousands of years.

Some people are simply born with a greater capacity for it, but many others can be trained for stress inoculation using basic methods. The key is for people to start learning stress management when they are children. This requires them to go through experiences which cause short term acute stress, rather than long term chronic stress.

Short term acute stress strengthens mental response time and increases confidence and psychological stability by acclimating a person to surprise and shock. Long term chronic stress does the opposite, never allowing the person to acclimate and causing them to revert to a constant state of fear.

Acute stress events include physical exercise, competitive play, being placed in unfamiliar surroundings and being forced to adapt, regularly undertaking new and useful skill sets, sticking with a skill set until it is mastered, and even interactions with larger groups of unfamiliar people, such as public speaking.

One could also apply the ancient philosophical concept of Zen to stress inoculation, particularly the practice of mastering a skill so completely that a person becomes ''one'' with that talent, and thus ''one'' with themselves and their place in the world. If you have ever met a person that is a true master of a useful skill, you know that they tend to be extremely calm and confident people that do not panic easily regardless of the situation.

While researching stress inoculation methods, it struck me '' What if a society was to do the exact OPPOSITE of this? What if an entire generation of children were deliberately sheltered from all forms of short term acute stress? What if they were encouraged to never work hard at anything? What if they were not given any incentive to accomplish any goals? What if competition was discouraged and children were taught to despise it as ''barbaric'' and ''debilitating''? What if accomplishment was dismissed and the idea of ''winning'' was eliminated in the name of ''fairness and equality''?

What if a generation of kids were so thin skinned and untrained in stress management that they panic and run to the nearest authority figure for help at the first sign of trouble? What if they were so spoiled that they had never learned to take care of themselves? What if all of their life experiences were in the form of a safe, insulated digital fantasy world where there is no real risk?

Now imagine you then take this highly coddled and sheltered generation and you suddenly expose them to a massive crisis event; such as an economic crash, or even the threat of a global pandemic? How would this group of children, now moving into adulthood without any practical skills or emotional toughness, respond to the situation?

All of their actions would be reactionary and rooted in panic and terror. Because they have never trained to deal with acute stress events they are now a walking time bomb of fear. They might respond by running and hiding, or they might respond by lashing out violently, but in either case they will have no self-control and will be ruled by emotion and adrenaline rather than logic and reason.

Wouldn't this be the most effective way to destroy or dominate a nation over the span of a couple decades?

In America today there is the more obvious trend of social justice warriors among younger generations and their complete inability to function in normal adult society without constant protection.

What is the purpose of concepts like ''safe spaces'', trigger warnings, forced diversity, intersectionality, critical race theory, micro-aggressions, implicit bias, etc., other than to artificially swaddle people so they never have to deal with negative experiences?

The only reason for the existence of so-called ''victim groups'' is for people who have no stress management skills to continue to avoid any and all acute stress events for the rest of their lives by making it socially or legally unacceptable to criticize them, discriminate against them as individuals, or place practical demands on them. They become a protected class with special privileges.

They deny the need to compete based on merit in the working world because they claim competition is ''racist'' and creates inequality. Anything that causes them stress is immediately deemed an ''aggression'' against them personally, and all stressors are treated as equally offensive; meaning, an insult or criticism becomes the same as a physical attack, and they react with the same level of emotional panic to both.

I believe this is a major contributor in the rush by some young people to join the ''trans movement'', as it represents an easy outlet to gain victim group status and thus attain protection from stress.

Did this movement of perpetual childhood develop out of this air? The evidence says no. The social justice movement with all its Marxist underpinnings was funded and managed directly by elitist organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, it becomes clear that the pussification of America's youth is not a natural progression but an engineered program.

This is openly admitted in Alison R. Bernstein's book 'Funding The Future: Philanthropy's Influence On Americas Higher Education'. Bernstein is the vice president of Education at the Ford Foundation and the former Associate Dean of Faculty at Princeton.

It's not just the SJW lunatics that are the problem, though. A vast number of young people are finding themselves completely unprepared for adult life and they blame boomers indirectly for their failings. Contrary to popular belief, boomers had nothing whatsoever to do with the decline of the US economy; if you want to find the culprits behind your financial pain, I suggest learning about the history of the Federal Reserve and how that institution has systematically destroyed our currency's buying power and our economy over time.

Where boomers are culpable is in their terrible parenting model. They raised a generation of weaklings and rarely questioned the establishment and media propaganda that told them that helicopter parenting and the ''self esteem model'' was the best way to raise their children. While perhaps done out of love, boomers spoiled their own kids so completely and shielded them from all acute stress that as young adults they now have no capacity to succeed in a world where survival instincts might be required.

Consider the most common complaint among next-gen adults '' That boomers all enjoy home ownership while they will never be able to afford the privilege because boomers ruined the economy. This, they claim, is the reason why boomers should not be allowed to criticize the inactivity and laziness of millennials. Yet, the majority of boomers had to leave home and become adults at age 18 (some of them even sooner), while a large number of millennials live with mom and dad well into their 30s, feeding off of them like parasites rather than working and saving. Gen Z appears ready to do the same. Boomers started their adult lives sooner, and thus they accumulated assets and wealth faster.

Of course, boomers share the blame. Helicopter parents have helped to ruin American culture, even though numerous psychological studies indicate that sheltering children from short term stress destroys their ability to cope as adults.

At bottom, though, boomers were encouraged at every moment to continue this style of parenting by the media and elitist foundations. The Ford Foundation in particular was a primary force behind the modern parenting and public education methodology of stress avoidance. The foundation was key in the development of such programs as Head Start and has spent hundreds of millions on the training of public school teachers in social justice methodologies.

Ford was also the primary engine behind the creation of the National Education Television Center, which later became PBS, and funded such prominent children's shows as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. This is not to say the people that produced these shows had any nefarious agenda in mind, only that both shows often promoted stress avoidance rather than stress confrontation and management. To this day, stress inoculation training is becoming more and more rare among America's youth, and it is quickly being erased in public schools.

If history is any indicator, the weakest generations when faced with overwhelming crisis will demand protection, as they always have, whether it be physical protection or financial protection. And inevitably they will turn to government collectivism or the money elites for a feeling of safety in exchange for their liberties. They don't value their freedoms because they have never enjoyed the feeling of independence anyway. The trade for comfort becomes easy for them.

Not all younger Americans suffer from this affliction. Many are strong willed, but those that are usually admit freely that they feel isolated among the majority of their peers. I find it hard to believe it's mere coincidence that perhaps the weakest generation of Americans ever is now facing the worst series of crisis events in our history. The whole thing seems planned'...

Stress inoculation is a lot like strengthening your own immune system '' Sometimes you have to work through sickness when you are young in order to improve your immunity to sickness later in life. By the same token, you have to experience stress events when you are young so that you can better deal with crisis events later in life. Otherwise, you grow up as malleable as jello and just as easy to devour.

The good news is, even as adults stress inoculation can be learned. As our world grows more and more unstable and uncertain, being able to manage our own fears is becoming paramount to our continued liberty and livelihood.

* * *

If you would like to support the work that Alt-Market does while also receiving content on advanced tactics for defeating the globalist agenda, subscribe to our exclusive newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch. Learn more about it HERE.

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Sat, 03 Oct 2020 16:54

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Sun, 04 Oct 2020 11:14

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) '-- Armenia and Azerbaijan said heavy fighting continues in their conflict over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan's president said late Saturday that his troops had taken a town and several villages while Armenian officials claimed their troops inflicted heavy casualties.

Fighting broke out on Sept. 27 in the region, which is located within Azerbaijan and under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces. It is some of the worst in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas since the end of a war in 1994.

Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said intensive fighting was ''taking place place along the entire front line'' on Saturday and that Armenian forces had shot down three planes.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry denied any planes being shot down and said Armenian personnel had shelled civilian territory. Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said his country's army ''raised the flag'' in the town of Madagiz and taken seven villages.

Nagorno-Karabakh officials have said more than 150 servicemen on their side have died so far. Azerbaijani authorities haven't given details on their military casualties but said 19 civilians were killed and 55 more wounded.

Vahram Poghosyan, a spokesman for Nagorno-Karabakh's president, claimed Saturday on Facebook that intelligence data showed some 3,000 Azerbaijanis have died in the fighting. Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Ovannisian said later that 2,300 Azerbaijan troops were killed, about 400 of them in the last day.

With Azerbaijan not commenting on troop casualties, the statements could not be verified.

Nagorno-Karabakh was a designated autonomous region within Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. It claimed independence from Azerbaijan in 1991, about three months before the Soviet Union's collapse. A full-scale war that broke out in 1992 killed an estimated 30,000 people.

By the time the war ended in 1994, Armenian forces not only held Nagorno-Karabakh itself but substantial areas outside the territory's formal borders, including Madagiz, the village Azerbaijan claimed to have taken Saturday.

Several United Nations Security Council resolutions have called for withdrawal from those areas, which the Armenian forces have disregarded.

Aliyev said in a television interview the Armenians must withdraw from those areas before the latest fighting can stop.

In the interview with Al Jazeera, a transcript of which was distributed Saturday by the presidential press office, Aliyev criticized the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has tried to mediate a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

One reason behind the current fighting is that ''the mediators do not insist or exert pressure to start implementing the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,'' he said.

''We have no time to wait another 30 years. The conflict must be resolved now.'' Aliyev said.

Armenia has repeatedly claimed over the past week that Turkey sent Syrian fighters to Azerbaijan and that the Turkish military is aiding Azerbaijan's.

''Turkey and Azerbaijan are pursuing not only military-political goals,'' Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said Saturday in an address to his nation. ''Their goal is Armenia, their goal is continuation of the genocide of Armenians.''

Some 1.5 million Armenians died in mass killings in Ottoman Turkey beginning in 1915, which Armenia and many other countries have labeled a genocide. Turkey firmly rejects that term, contends the total number of victims is inflated and says the deaths were the consequence of civil war.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry released a statement Saturday alleging that thousands of ethnic Armenians from abroad were being deployed or recruited to fight for Armenia.

''Armenia and Armenian disapora organizations bear international legal liability for organizing these terrorist activities,'' the statement said.

___

Associated Press writers Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

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Thu, 01 Oct 2020 21:01

The U.S. Marshals announced Wednesday that it recovered 11 children in a two-month rescue operation in New Orleans. The operation was sponsored and funded by the agency's Missing Child Unit. Operation Summer Rescue 2020 ran from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30 and focused on missing and endangered runaways, according to the U.S. Marshals. One of the recoveries, a 16-year old runaway juvenile male, was believed to be involved in illegal gang activity in New Orleans involving firearms, according to the U.S. Marshals. Another recovery involved a 13-year old female rescued in Nashville, Tennessee, with the assistance of the USMS Middle District of Tennessee Task Force, Metro Nashville Police Department, and the FBI New Orleans Field Office, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Marshals. During the two-month operation, U.S. Marshals say that several arrests were made during the children's recoveries, to include an adult male who was arrested for aggravated statutory rape.According to the report, New Orleans was one of the original U.S. cities to begin a USMS pilot program for the Missing Child Unit in 2016, and U.S. Marshals Service deputies in New Orleans have provided instruction to other USMS districts and state agencies about how to coordinate their MCU operations, which have gained national news attention this year.The 2016 New Orleans MCU pilot program led to the recovery of multiple at-risk children and the arrests of several adult suspects for human sex trafficking of teens. One of the cases was featured on local New Orleans metro area news outlets and resulted in the recovery of two at-risk teens and a baby at a local hotel on St. Charles Avenue. During fiscal year 2020, the USMS New Orleans Task Force recovered or contributed in the recovery of an additional nine missing/endangered children, with one arrest/recovery in Lafourche Parish resulting in the seizure of a stolen AR-15 rifle and narcotics; and the recovery of a missing pregnant teen and the recovery/arrest of her boyfriend who was an escapee from the Orleans Parish Juvenile Justice Center. Another recovery of two children in New Orleans East in March 2020 resulted in the arrest of the recovered children's mother, according to the news release. During the 2020 operations, the U.S. Marshals say she was wanted on a first-degree murder warrant out of Laurel, Mississippi, for the killing of her 11-year-old son at a hotel in Laurel. USMS New Orleans Task Force recovered the woman's sons, 6 and 9, sitting in a vehicle in New Orleans East. The children were considered in extreme danger, and an Amber Alert had been issued. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 enhanced USMS authority to assist federal, state and local law enforcement with the recovery of missing, endangered or abducted children, regardless of whether a fugitive or sex offender was involved. The USMS established its Missing Child Unit to oversee and manage the implementation of its enhanced authority under the act. In 2019, the USMS helped recover 295 missing children based on requests for assistance from law enforcement and has contributed to the recovery of a missing child in 75% of cases received. Additionally, 66% of the recoveries were made within seven days of the USMS receiving the request for assistance. Since 2005, the USMS has recovered more than 1,800 missing children.''This is a very important mission that the USMS has been tasked by Congress to oversee, as the safety of children across the country is paramount to this nation's future,'' said U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana Scott Illing. ''While 11 recoveries may not seem high, this work, which is time consuming, was accomplished while also running our normal day-to-day violent felony offender investigations and sex offender fugitive operations in the district, along with our other judicial missions.''

NEW ORLEANS '--The U.S. Marshals announced Wednesday that it recovered 11 children in a two-month rescue operation in New Orleans.

The operation was sponsored and funded by the agency's Missing Child Unit.

Operation Summer Rescue 2020 ran from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30 and focused on missing and endangered runaways, according to the U.S. Marshals.

One of the recoveries, a 16-year old runaway juvenile male, was believed to be involved in illegal gang activity in New Orleans involving firearms, according to the U.S. Marshals.

Another recovery involved a 13-year old female rescued in Nashville, Tennessee, with the assistance of the USMS Middle District of Tennessee Task Force, Metro Nashville Police Department, and the FBI New Orleans Field Office, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Marshals.

During the two-month operation, U.S. Marshals say that several arrests were made during the children's recoveries, to include an adult male who was arrested for aggravated statutory rape.

According to the report, New Orleans was one of the original U.S. cities to begin a USMS pilot program for the Missing Child Unit in 2016, and U.S. Marshals Service deputies in New Orleans have provided instruction to other USMS districts and state agencies about how to coordinate their MCU operations, which have gained national news attention this year.

The 2016 New Orleans MCU pilot program led to the recovery of multiple at-risk children and the arrests of several adult suspects for human sex trafficking of teens. One of the cases was featured on local New Orleans metro area news outlets and resulted in the recovery of two at-risk teens and a baby at a local hotel on St. Charles Avenue.

During fiscal year 2020, the USMS New Orleans Task Force recovered or contributed in the recovery of an additional nine missing/endangered children, with one arrest/recovery in Lafourche Parish resulting in the seizure of a stolen AR-15 rifle and narcotics; and the recovery of a missing pregnant teen and the recovery/arrest of her boyfriend who was an escapee from the Orleans Parish Juvenile Justice Center.

Another recovery of two children in New Orleans East in March 2020 resulted in the arrest of the recovered children's mother, according to the news release.

During the 2020 operations, the U.S. Marshals say she was wanted on a first-degree murder warrant out of Laurel, Mississippi, for the killing of her 11-year-old son at a hotel in Laurel. USMS New Orleans Task Force recovered the woman's sons, 6 and 9, sitting in a vehicle in New Orleans East. The children were considered in extreme danger, and an Amber Alert had been issued.

The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 enhanced USMS authority to assist federal, state and local law enforcement with the recovery of missing, endangered or abducted children, regardless of whether a fugitive or sex offender was involved. The USMS established its Missing Child Unit to oversee and manage the implementation of its enhanced authority under the act.

In 2019, the USMS helped recover 295 missing children based on requests for assistance from law enforcement and has contributed to the recovery of a missing child in 75% of cases received. Additionally, 66% of the recoveries were made within seven days of the USMS receiving the request for assistance.

Since 2005, the USMS has recovered more than 1,800 missing children.

''This is a very important mission that the USMS has been tasked by Congress to oversee, as the safety of children across the country is paramount to this nation's future,'' said U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana Scott Illing. ''While 11 recoveries may not seem high, this work, which is time consuming, was accomplished while also running our normal day-to-day violent felony offender investigations and sex offender fugitive operations in the district, along with our other judicial missions.''

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:30

(Natural News) More evidence is coming to light about how German government agencies supported the systematic sexual abuse inflicted on foster children throughout the country by pedophiles and knowingly placed children with abusive foster fathers.

One of the main enablers of this decades-long problem was social education professor Helmut Kentler, who was responsible for twisted comments about sexual relationships between adults and children such as, ''If such relationships are not discriminated against by the surroundings, the more the older one feels responsible for the younger one, the more positive consequences for personality development can be expected.'' Unfortunately, some of his teachings still form part of a modern ''sexual pedagogy of diversity'' used by day care centers and schools today.

One of the more prolific abusers was a foster parent known as Fritz H., who sexually abused and raped at least nine children in his three decades of fostering. Boys as young as six or seven years old were regularly placed with him by youth welfare offices in Berlin, and he was protected by Kentler and his supporters in the local Senate administration, German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reports.

According to the paper, he was somehow chosen to foster time and time again despite having a past conviction for child abuse. Officials often ignored ''extreme warning signs'' and left children with him over the span of several years. He started fostering in the early 1970s and stopped in 2003.

According to a new study by the University of Hildesheim, there were lots of strong signs that Fritz H. should be removed from the foster care system, but nothing was ever done about it '' and a young man's death remains unexplained. The study began after several of the victims came forward to share their stories. Researchers have gone through countless files and carried out interviews, and thousands of files have yet to be studied.

Somehow, Kentler staunchly defended Fritz H. as a foster parent and used his position as an expert to protect the abuser from repercussions. He said that kids were sexual beings who needed to express that sexuality, which he felt would unleash energies in them that could help democratize German society.

Abuse in Germany was widespreadAlthough much of what has been uncovered in the study took place in Berlin, the study's authors believe this type of behavior took place across the country. Berlin and its district youth welfare officers were in charge of numerous foster homes throughout Germany.

There was also systematic abuse at the ''progressive'' Odenwald boarding school in Hesse, West Germany. As many as 900 students were sexually abused between the mid-1960s and late 1980s, and the victims were powerless to do anything about it. Boys who had been labeled ''difficult'' were often sent to this school.

Hedwig von Beverfoerde, who founded a pro-family organization known as Demo fur Alle, told LifeSite News that Kentler's teachings are the basis of ''sexual education of diversity'' being taught in schools and daycare centers around the country. She pointed out that the guidelines and curricula for sex education are being updated and that external sex educators are being given opportunities to appear in German schools.

She said: ''We must finally stop the dangerous sex-ideological virus of Helmut Kentler, which has infected our children for decades! The most important thing is to create publicity. The public debate about their goals and their machinations is something the actors of sexual diversity fear like the devil fears holy water.''

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

DW.com

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 11:14

Higher Ground and Spotify announced today that following the first season's chart-topping exclusive run on Spotify, The Michelle Obama Podcast will be made available on a number of additional platforms beginning September 30.

The series debuted exclusively on Spotify in July, and features Michelle Obama in deeply personal discussions with former President Barack Obama , Michele Norris , Dr . Sharon Malone MD , her brother Craig Robinson , Conan O'Brien , Denielle Pemberton-Heard , Kelly Dibble , Valerie Jarrett , and her mother Marian Robinson . Listeners will be able to enjoy the first season featuring former First Lady Michelle Obama and her candid conversations with these extraordinary guests.

Speaking about the podcast at its launch, Michelle Obama commented, ''My hope is that this series can be a place to explore meaningful topics together and sort through so many of the questions we're all trying to answer in our own lives. Perhaps most of all, I hope this podcast will help listeners open up new conversations'--and hard conversations'--with the people who matter most to them. That's how we can build more understanding and empathy for one another.''

''As a chart-topping smash hit, Spotify could not have asked for a stronger or more distinctive first entry in our multi-year partnership,'' said Spotify Chief Content and Advertising Business Officer, Dawn Ostroff . ''Millions of listeners across the globe have already embraced The Michelle Obama Podcast and we look forward to growing that audience as we build anticipation for future Higher Ground series.''

Salesforce and Procter & Gamble's Dawn and Tide brands served as the first season's presenting sponsors.

For more on The Michelle Obama Podcast including a personal introduction from the host herself and future content from Higher Ground Audio, please visit spoti.fi/HigherGround

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Sat, 03 Oct 2020 17:02

The government wants to only listen to experts that are telling them what they want to hear.

I provided a number of examples of highly qualified and revered...

More September 30 at 6:14 PM · Doctors heard my call for them to speak out, and many are responding passionately.

Twenty doctors sent a letter to Premier Ford explaining the harm his policies...

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More September 24 at 8:48 PM · In the House today, I asked the Premier when he would begin being truthful and honest about the dangers of COVID. In response, I was shut down by the Speaker...

More September 23 at 7:20 PM · Around the world, thousands of doctors are speaking out against their government's overreaction to COVID and the harmful, negative effects of this heavy handed...

More September 22 at 5:50 PM · Since May of this year I have taken a strong stand in opposing the continuation of many of our policies regarding COVID, a position that not all my constituents...

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In the new digital media landscape everytime you interact with news content by liking, following, sharing,...

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It's time we work together to tell governments that public opinion is changing on COVID.

Here's how you can contribute and be a part of...

More September 10 at 10:00 AM · Many people have been asking me "what can I do to make a difference?" when it comes to stopping the excessive restrictions government has imposed due to COVID.

...

More

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 14:13

Today the Austin City Council will vote on reallocating millions of tax dollars from traditional policing to mental health services. The mayor insists this move will make the city safer. (File photo: CBS Austin)

Critics call it "defunding the police." Supporters call it ''reimagining public safety." Today the Austin City Council will vote on reallocating millions of tax dollars from traditional policing to mental health services. The mayor insists this move will make the city safer.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler talks about situations where someone calls 9-1-1 to report a loved one in mental distress. The caller is used to the occasional melt-down, but this time their loved one is struggling to get back under control.

KEYE

That was the case in Utah last week when a mother called 9-1-1 about her 13-year-old son who has autism. She asked for a crisis intervention officer and instead got four police officers.

One of them ended up shooting the boy a dozen times after he repeatedly refused his verbal commands, the same problem the mom was having. Luckily the boy survived.

Mayor Adler says, ''We're thinking if we have mental health first responders to assist our police officers, be there to make some of the calls about what level of force is necessary to de-escalate situations, we can make the city safer for all of us.''

RELATED: NE Austin residents concerned over increase in crime after fatal shooting of 16-year-old

Today Austin's city council will vote on spending $4 million to expand the city's relationship with Integral Care-- the county's mental health services-- to get 24/7 access to trained mental health responders. The plan will fund an additional advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner and a psychiatrist and increase access to mental telehealth services for the city's first responders.

All of this will boost Austin's EMCOT'-- Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team." It's a big part of this city council's "reimagining public safety." We're going to be hearing a lot about them.

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:40

Drebonacci : Medical Doctor In Netherlands Leaves Corrupt System #specialsoul https://t.co/daMks0lyW5

Thu Oct 01 14:59:19 +0000 2020

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:48

Yashar Ali 🐠: Here's all of the Melania Trump audio played on @andersoncooper tonight. The audio was taped by her former friend a'... https://t.co/4cLi4GhHSf

Fri Oct 02 01:58:00 +0000 2020

Vayhi : @yashar @andersoncooper @SWWCreative More victimization. Yawn.

Fri Oct 02 12:45:36 +0000 2020

thissiteishell : @yashar @andersoncooper @SWWCreative I hate decorating for Christmas. I'd probably enjoy it if I were a kept woman like I should be.

Fri Oct 02 12:43:26 +0000 2020

Ex-ExGOP, former Never-Trumper Glenn O'Bannon : @yashar @andersoncooper @SWWCreative FORMER friend indeed! What a creepy person!

Fri Oct 02 12:43:03 +0000 2020

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:30

Meer video: Bekijk deze video op RTL XL

Video De meeste Nederlandse coronapatinten zitten inmiddels in thuisisolatie. Het hoofd infectiebestrijding van het RIVM, Jaap van Dissel, legt hier uit wat dat betekent, ook voor de gezonde gezinsleden.

29 februari 2020 17:10

facebook WhatsApp twitter mail Meer video: 08:56 RTL Z Nieuws - 13:00 uur 04:13 Coronapatint vertelt vanaf ic over zijn angst: 'Nog nie... 02:04 Trumps uitspraken over corona: 'Dit gaat snel voorbij, ge... 10:55 RTL Z Nieuws - 11:00 uur 08:45 RTL Z Nieuws - 09:00 uur 06:40 RTL Nieuws - 09:00 uur 01:08 Erik Mouthaan: 'Coronabesmetting Trump gooit verkiezingen... 13:59 RTL Nieuws - 08:20 uur 14:03 RTL Nieuws - 08:00 uur 07:22 Afl. 196 11:25 RTL Nieuws - 07:00 uur 07:46 RTL Nieuws - 06:30 uur 03:08 RTL Weer - Laat 09:44 RTL Nieuws - Laat 03:07 RTL Weer 19:55 19:47 RTL Nieuws - 19:30 uur 40:54 Afl. 275 14:19 Afl. 207 02:17 Neanderthaler-DNA = heftige corona 01:28 RTL Weer 18:30 Nieuws

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:12

(CNN) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that nursing homes "never needed" to accept Covid-positive patients from hospitals in the state due to a shortage of hospital beds.

During a press call Wednesday, Finger Lakes News Radio asked Cuomo about his administration's advisory in late March requiring that nursing homes accept the readmission of patients from hospitals, even if they were positive for Covid-19.

The governor's office has repeatedly said the advisory was based on federal guidance, which prohibited discrimination based on a coronavirus diagnosis. The state's Department of Health told CNN, "Residents were admitted to nursing homes during that time not as an overflow facility, but because that's where they live."

Cuomo said that the advisory was a precaution if hospitals became overwhelmed -- calling it an "anticipatory rule" -- which he said didn't happen.

"We never needed nursing home beds because we always had hospital beds," Cuomo told Finger Lakes News. "So it just never happened in New York where we needed to say to a nursing home, 'We need you to take this person even though they're Covid-positive.' It never happened."

Facts First: Cuomo's assertion that "it never happened" is false. According to a report from the New York State Department of Health, "6,326 COVID-positive residents were admitted to [nursing home] facilities" following Cuomo's mandate that nursing homes accept the readmission of Covid-positive patients from hospitals. Whether or not this was "needed," it did in fact happen.

Cuomo's senior adviser Rich Azzopardi replied Thursday after publication and took issue with this determination, saying that the governor was specifically referencing the hospital bed shortage. "The governor was crystal clear, he was saying that what did not materialize was the crunch for hospital beds, that every projection especially the federal governments projections predicted was going to happen. That's what he said never happened. Separately the law has always been that nursing homes could only accept residents that they could adequately care for. None of that has changed."

On March 25, the state's Health Department issued an advisory requiring nursing homes to accept "the expedited receipt of residents returning from hospitals" if the patients were deemed medically stable.

"No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19," the advisory stated. "[Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission."

This mandate received a great deal of criticism, and Cuomo issued an executive order changing the advisory on May 10 by requiring hospitals to be sure patients tested negative before discharging them to nursing homes.

On May 21 The Associated Press reported, "More than 4,500 recovering coronavirus patients were sent to New York's already vulnerable nursing homes" under the state's advisory.

In July, the state's Health Department released a report that found "approximately 6,326 COVID-positive residents were admitted to facilities between March 25, 2020 and May 8, 2020."

There has been a lot of debate around how and if this advisory contributed to the significant coronavirus death toll seen throughout New York nursing homes. The state Health Department's July report argued that the advisory "could not be a driver of nursing home infections or fatalities," though many experts disagree, noting that the report's conclusion is based on the timing of cases and mortality, not, as the report acknowledges, on contact tracing of patients, staff or family members.

CORRECTION: This headline has been updated to correct an earlier version that mischaracterized Gov. Cuomo's comments about New York nursing homes taking in Covid-positive patients. The story has been updated to include comment from the governor's office.

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:08

New Zealand and China will upgrade its free trade agreement (FTA) within the framework of the controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to a report by Chinese Global Television Network (CGTN) on Sept. 25.

Gao Feng, a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), reportedly announced the news at the virtual China''New Zealand Joint Committee of Trade and Economy meeting on Sept. 23.

The upgrade aims to deepen cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, and tourism, Gao said. CGTN reported that New Zealand and China would also maintain communication on research, medicine, and vaccine development.

New Zealand and China concluded negotiations for the upgraded FTA in November 2019. It is yet to be passed by the New Zealand government and currently is at the stage where submissions from the public are being heard.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on June 17, 2020. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)In 2017 the former New Zealand government signed a Memorandum of Arrangement (MOA) with the Chinese regime to develop a plan for New Zealand to join the BRI within 18 months.

The MOA was delayed when the former government lost the election.

However, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted in a speech in April 2019 that she discussed the Belt and Road Initiative with Li Keqiang, China's premier, during her state visit to the communist nation in 2019.

At the same time, David Parker, the minister for trade and export growth, attended the Belt and Road Forum hosted by CCP leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in April 2019.

After attending the conference, Parker said: ''The Belt and Road Forum provided a further opportunity for China and New Zealand to discuss possible avenues and opportunities for effective, transparent cooperation under a Belt and Road work plan.''

US Warns Five Eyes Allies Against BRIU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared in May that the United States would disconnect from any partner that it saw as putting at risk its national interests'--including by signing up to the BRI.

In an interview on SkyNews, Pompeo warned Australia and its Five Eyes allies to look very closely at BRI agreements.

''There's often money loaned at concessional rates or conditions placed in the debt documents or government concessions that have to be made to the Chinese Communist Party to get those Belt and Road Initiative projects built. Those present real risk'--real risk to the people in that region, a real risk to your country,'' Pompeo said.

Currently, a representative from the New Zealand Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to The Epoch Times on Sept. 29 that New Zealand officials are still continuing to talk to their Chinese counterparts about the BRI and how it could benefit New Zealand especially around cooperation on international trade and environment initiatives.

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Fri, 02 Oct 2020 03:11

Max M. Marin : A laptop and USB devices were stolen sometime this week from the Philadelphia's elections storage warehouse.I wen'... https://t.co/TZz3TaG11b

Thu Oct 01 16:28:13 +0000 2020

Christian Brothers : @MaxMMarin @HollyWilhelm4 WOW...!ðŸ¤--INCREDIBLELACK OF SECURITY

Fri Oct 02 03:10:48 +0000 2020

Matthew : @MaxMMarin @X22Report WTF ??!

Fri Oct 02 03:04:38 +0000 2020

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Thu, 01 Oct 2020 23:44

Kelb Hull : Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot entered her press briefing today dressed as the "Rona Destroyer."Literally the cring'... https://t.co/e5m5YDznUh

Thu Oct 01 19:46:11 +0000 2020

JWJ : @CalebJHull O.......M.......G. ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚

Thu Oct 01 23:44:29 +0000 2020

Made In the U S.A 🇺🇸🗽 : @CalebJHull Anyone in Chicago not doing everything you can to remove this embarrassment deserves everything they get.

Thu Oct 01 23:44:11 +0000 2020

Turandot : @CalebJHull @Tha_Analyzer What a disgrace....

Thu Oct 01 23:44:02 +0000 2020

PhoKingUgly : @CalebJHull Hamburgler is going to sue for copyright.

Thu Oct 01 23:44:02 +0000 2020

Clownman : @CalebJHull Only thing she ever destroyed was her credibility.

Thu Oct 01 23:43:45 +0000 2020

Turandot : @CalebJHull @Tha_Analyzer What's in the drinking water in Chicago?ðŸ

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Myron Cooper : @CalebJHull I knew this bitch was crazy but this should remove anyone's doubts...

Thu Oct 01 23:43:16 +0000 2020

Rory : @CalebJHull ''BeetleRona

Thu Oct 01 23:43:15 +0000 2020

Stephen L. Hall : @CalebJHull Politicians are a joke.

Thu Oct 01 23:43:09 +0000 2020

Jack : @CalebJHull ah so by destroying rona, lori, you choose to expand restaurants indoor capacity with the cold weather'... https://t.co/8F9cxEnV4K

Thu Oct 01 23:43:03 +0000 2020

United Soul Warriors 🇨ðŸ‡... The Great Awakening : @CalebJHull Mentally sick freaks

Thu Oct 01 23:43:02 +0000 2020

Nathan #RIP Jake Gardner : @CalebJHull Dems giving "treats" votes. Brings new meaning to "trick or treat" I suppose. ðŸ‚

Thu Oct 01 23:42:56 +0000 2020

Bernell's Ghost ðŸ‡ºðŸ‡¸ðŸ´ó §ó ó ·ó ¬ó "ó  : @CalebJHull Can't wait to see her wipe out the common cold. Oh right. Viruses are never eradicated. Idiot.

Thu Oct 01 23:42:46 +0000 2020

Charles Bradley Todd : @CalebJHull Trick or stinkin' Treat...

Thu Oct 01 23:42:44 +0000 2020

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Thu, 01 Oct 2020 23:37

The despicable governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, is now denying that he made nursing homes take back COVID positive patients at the beginning of the pandemic:

Cuomo tells Finger Lakes Daily News that COVID patients were never sent to nursing homes

''It never happened'' pic.twitter.com/JssBVNqg7n

'-- Jewish Deplorable 🇺🇸 (@TrumpJew) September 30, 2020

Cuomo literally says this in an interview with Finger Lakes Daily News: ''So it just never happened in New York, where we needed to say to a nursing home we need you to take this person even though they are covid positive. It never happened.''

He goes on to claim that they had extra beds in emergency hospitals they put up all across the state and says again ''it just never happened.''

It's a complete, bold-faced lie by the New York State governor and here's the proof that he did exactly what he claimed he didn't do:

It was his policy! It even has his name on the top of this document from the New York Department of Health.

How he can deny this with a straight face, after thousands of nursing home patients died because of his policy, is unfathomable.

I don't have audio of this, but Cuomo also reportedly said this in the interview:

"I put my head on the pillow at night saying I saved lives." '' Gov Andrew Cuomo.

'-- Zach Williams (@ZachReports) September 30, 2020

Imagine being a family member of one of those seniors who passed away because of his reckless policy, and then you hear him deny it like this? It's appalling.

New Yorkers should line up outside his office and force him to resign for denying the deaths of thousands of people that he caused. And then the DOJ should bury him under the jail for his reckless policy that led to all these deaths.

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Thu, 01 Oct 2020 23:37

new video loaded: Weird Al Presents: 'America Is Doomed, the Musical'

transcript

transcript

Weird Al Presents: 'America Is Doomed, the Musical'Weird Al Yankovic's take on the weird debate.We're all doomed! People are breathing out this living poison and flooding to my orifices. I lost my car keys. Had to steal my neighbor's segway to get here today. The way I crashed in this dumpster. These kids were making a video and now I'm on TikTok. Excuse me. Yeah being not hysterical, despite you know, things? Oh I can do that. Dignified. Gentlemen welcome to the first presidential debate. Our first question is in the key of G sharp minor is. [SINGS] I'm so sorry. 2020 is a raging hellscape. Any ideas on how to stop a worldwide plague. We should be providing people the help they need. He knew back in February it was a deadly disease. What did he do. He's on tape acknowledging he knew. He waited and waited and waited. And he didn't even tell you. President Trump did a phenomenal job. People said well we got the gowns. We made the ventilators we got the masks. I don't wear masks like him every time you see him he's got a mask the biggest mask the biggest mask I've ever seen. Will we get back all the jobs we lost or should we set up 11 million etsy shops. My economic plan would create one trillion in economic growth. He has no intention of making it better for you get government back to work. Well, it was me me in football and I'm very happy with the going to be. They want to get the cows, the cow in the West Wing. Here's the deal. He has no idea what he's talking about. But he said you can inject bleach. They cheat! If the Supreme Court is where's the guac and sour cream? The American people have a right to say who is the supreme court nominee. The biggest thing to survive another day. We have a phenomenal nominee. I ran out of questions but still got a while. It's time to drop some bars. Let's see how you free style. In Europe they live their forest cities they call forest cities. It's a forest city. He talks about the art of the deal. China's perfected the art of this steal. Bad things happen in Philadelphia bad things. He's just afraid to stand back and stand by. He's said there are very fine people on both sides. He said maybe you should drop a nuclear weapon on hurricanes. The cars have computers all over the place. Who is it gunna be? They want to take out the cows, the west wing. Here's the deal. He has no idea what he's talking about We're living in the apocalypse. I'm begging you to put a stop to this. He doesn't have a plan, including trees COVID 19 hurricanes with names past the letter Z conspiracy theories about vaccines murder Hornets coming from across the sea too many memes about World War III Can't tell you what's hell or reality earthquake through it away cause I dropped my keys in the crack between the cup holder and my car seat. They want to get the cows, the cow in the wind. Here's the deal. He has no idea what he's talking about. He said he could inject some bleach. They cheat! If you'll excuse me. The murder hornets come out at midnight. So I'm going to go home and seal the door to my purge room and I'll take the light breeze with me.

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Opinion Video features innovative video journalism commentary '-- argued essays, Op-Ed videos, documentaries, and fact-based explanation of current affairs. The videos are produced by both outside video makers and The Times's Opinion Video team.