1 Marine Dead, 8 More Missing After AAV Accident Off California Coast

Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard assets are searching for eight missing troops following a deadly Marine amphibious vehicle accident that took place Thursday afternoon off the coast of southern California.

The Marines, assigned to the San Diego-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, had been conducting a routine training exercise near San Clemente Island in coordination with the three-ship Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and other assets assigned to the MEU. Around 5:45 p.m. local time, the amphibious assault vehicle reported taking on water, according to a news release from I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Of the 15 Marines and one sailor aboard the AAV, eight were able to make it out of the vehicle. One was evacuated to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla near San Diego, where the Marine was pronounced dead. Two more Marines were sent to local hospitals, where they remain. One is in critical condition, and one is stable, according to officials.

Eight service members who were aboard the AAV remain missing. According to the release, the Navy destroyer John Finn, three Navy MH-60 Seahawk helicopters and small boats from the amphibious ships Makin Island, Somerset and San Diego are participating in the search. The Coast Guard cutter Forrest Rednour and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Sector San Diego are also assisting.

Marine Corps officials declined to identify the Marine who died, citing a 24-hour notification period for family members.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident. I ask that you keep our Marines, Sailors, and their families in your prayers as we continue our search," Col. Christopher Bronzi, 15th MEU commanding officer, said in a statement.

Amphibious assault vehicles, which move on tank-like tracks and can operate on land and swim in water, are used to transport Marines from ship to shore. They've been in use by the Marines since the early 1970s and are currently set to be replaced by the amphibious combat vehicle, now in development.

In January 2011, one Marine died when an AAV sank off the coast of Camp Pendleton during a training operation. The other five Marines aboard were able to escape.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/07/31/1-marine-dead-8-more-missing-after-aav-accident-off-california-coast.html

Holocaust survivors urge Facebook to remove denial posts

Holocaust survivors around the world are lending their voices to a campaign launched Wednesday targeting Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to take action to remove denial of the Nazi genocide from the social media site.

Coordinated by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the #NoDenyingIt campaign uses Facebook itself to make the survivors’ entreaties to Zuckerberg heard, posting one video per day urging him to remove Holocaust-denying groups, pages and posts as hate speech. Videos will also be posted on Facebook-owned Instagram, as well as Twitter.

Zuckerberg raised the ire of the Claims Conference and others with comments in 2018 to the tech website Recode that posts denying the Nazi annihilation of 6 million Jews would not necessarily be removed. He said he did not think Holocaust deniers were “intentionally” getting it wrong, and that as long as posts were not calling for harm or violence, even offensive content should be protected.

After an outcry, Zuckerberg, who is Jewish himself, clarified that while he personally found “Holocaust denial deeply offensive” he believed that “the best way to fight offensive bad speech is with good speech.”

Since then, Facebook representatives have met with the Claims Conference but the group, which negotiates compensation payments from Germany for Holocaust victims, says Zuckerberg himself has refused to. The goal of the campaign is to get him to sit down with Holocaust survivors so that they can personally tell him their stories and make their case that denial violates Facebook’s hate speech standards and should be removed.

“In Germany or in Austria people go to prison if they deny the Holocaust because they know it’s a lie, it’s libel,” said Eva Schloss, an Auschwitz survivor who today lives in London and has recorded a message for Zuckerberg.

“How can somebody really doubt it? Where are the 6 million people? There are tens of thousands of photos taken by the Nazis themselves. They were proud of what they were doing. They don’t deny it, they know they did it.”

Schloss’ family escaped before the war from Vienna to the Netherlands, where she became friends with Anne Frank, who lived nearby in Amsterdam and was the same age. After the German army overran the country, the Schloss and Frank families went into hiding but were discovered by the Nazis separately in 1944, the Schloss family betrayed by a Dutch woman.

Schloss and her mother survived Auschwitz, but her father and brother were killed, while Otto Frank, Anne’s father, was the only survivor of his immediate family and married Schloss’ mother after the war. Otto Frank published his daughter’s now-famous diary so that the world could hear her story. Schloss has written about her own story, is a frequent speaker and would like to tell Zuckerberg of her own experience.

“It was just every day, the chimneys were smoking, the smell of burning flesh,” the 91-year-old told The Associated Press, adding that she had been separated from her mother and assumed she had been gassed.

http://www.womensystems.com/2020/07/holocaust-survivors-urge-facebook-to.html

Kaepernick and Fauci will be honored as Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights award laureates

Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick are being honored as 2020 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope award laureates.

The award is given out to leaders who use their platforms for good and demonstrate a commitment to social change, the organization's website says.

The announcement comes after Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become one of the leading voices in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kaepernick, who famously began kneeling during the national anthem prior to the start of NFL games in 2016, receives the award as athletes around the US continue to kneel in protest against racial injustice. He is now a human rights activist and the co-founder of the multi-city civil rights program Know Your Rights Camp.

"In 2017, I was in the audience honoring Mr. Harry Belafonte as he accepted the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award," Kaepernick said in a release. "I am humbled to follow the footsteps of individuals like Mr. B and to be in the company of all the other laureates. Thank you for this prestigious award."

Joining Fauci and Kaepernick as 2020 Ripple of Hope award recipients are Dolores Huerta, president and founder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation; Paypal president and CEO Dan Schulman; and DocuSign CEO Dan Springer.

Past Ripple of Hope laureates include Barack Obama, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis.

"Our country is yearning for leadership, for moral fortitude, for common decency and kindness, and this year's Ripple of Hope laureates give us great hope for the future," said Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

"Their work for equal justice touches every corner of society, sometimes at great personal cost. We are deeply honored to celebrate these changemakers, who have set forth countless ripples of hope at a time when our world is in such need of inspiration."

The ceremony is typically held in person, but the gala this year will be hosted virtually on December 10 in honor of National Human Rights Day.

http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/07/kaepernick-and-fauci-will-be-honored-as.html

Rep. Louie Gohmert: ‘I Will Use Zinc, Erythromycin, and Hydroxychloroquine’ to Fight Coronavirus

“My doctor and I are all in,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, told “Hannity” Wednesday while on quarantine from having contacted coronavirus. “And I got a text just before I came on from a dear friend, [a] doctor, who just found out he had it, and he said he started a HCQ [hydroxychloroquine] regimen, too.”

“So zinc, erythromycin, and hydroxychloroquine,” Gohmert added, “and that will start just in the next day or two.”

Gohmert explained that he found out he had coronavirus only when he was tested when he got invited to join President Trump on a trip to West Texas. “He [Trump] called me from Air Force One on the way home tonight and I said … ‘Mr. President, if you would not [have] invited me to go with you to West Texas, I would never have known I had the coronavirus,'” Gohmert said. “That’s what I got tested for it and then I found out I had it.”

https://saraacarter.com/rep-louie-gohmert-i-will-use-zinc-erythromycin-and-hydroxychloroquine-to-fight-coronavirus/

Ready For The “Third Wave?” They Are Starting The Propaganda For It NOW

The mainstream media has been ramping up their reporting on the “third wave” of the coronavirus scamdemic. It sure looks like another lockdown is coming and the economic destruction of the United States will be complete.

As anxieties about a global “second” (or, in Hong Kong’s case, “third”) wave intensify, health authorities in China have just reported the biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases on the mainland in three and a half months on Wednesday when 101 new coronavirus cases were reported by the health commission, reported ZeroHedge.

This is all by design. None of this is by accident. The economy will crash and the dollar will be worthless as they usher in the one digital dollar that will be controlled and monitored by the central bank.

The IDF has begun preparations for a “third wave” of the coronavirus, which it predicts will reach its peak in October and continue throughout the winter. The Israeli news site Walla reported that the IDF believed the current second wave of the virus had topped out, and the time to get ready for the next wave was now, according to Algemeiner.

In particular, it was thought the winter weather could lead to the worst outbreak yet. The IDF chief of staff has ordered the purchase of enough flu vaccines to vaccinate all soldiers before winter, thus removing a possible complication due to the ease of confusing the symptoms of the two diseases. “Winter” has been an important time frame to the elitists.

Fauci Talks “Winter” Again: “We Will Have An Answer On A COVID Vaccine”

Those Who Planned The Enslavement of Mankind Warn Of “A Dark Winter” For Us

So far, most of the news reports on the “third wave” are coming from outlets overseas. But remember, this is how the second wave nonsense started. If the mainstream media in the U.S. thinks they will be able to use this fear-mongering “news” to further control the public and convince them to participate in the beast/vaccine system, they will for certain, being reporting on the third wave frequently.

This seems like one long nightmare that’s hard to wake up from.

https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/ready-for-the-third-wave-they-are-starting-the-propaganda-for-it-now_07292020

Sex traffickers sentenced to combined 81 years in prison

WASHINGTON – Six defendants were sentenced on Tuesday in the Eastern District of Virginia to a combined 81 years in prison for their respective roles in the sex trafficking of a minor victim and an adult victim at multiple locations in Northern Virginia and Maryland in 2018 and 2019.

From April 2018 through Jan. 14, 2019, five of the defendants sex trafficked a minor victim throughout Virginia and Maryland. The minor was housed at multiple hotels in Alexandria and Fairfax for the purposes of commercial sex, and the defendants advertised the minor victim through various means, including prostitution advertisements online on Bedpage.com, CityXGuide.com, and Backpage.com (shortly before it was seized by the federal government). They also advertised the minor victim through the communications platform WhatsApp by sending her picture out to a list-serve of known customers. As a form of grooming, the male defendants engaged in sexual intercourse with the minor. As a form of enticement, the defendants permitted the minor to keep about 50 percent of the commercial sex proceeds while the defendants collected the remaining 50 percent.

“Sex traffickers often prey upon the most vulnerable victims in our society and intentionally exploit those vulnerabilities,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The damage inflicted upon children through this form of sexual exploitation is immeasurable. The victim—survivors are subject to multiple forms of mental, physical, and emotional trauma, the scars of which never fully fade. The minor victim in this case was particularly vulnerable, and her traffickers used fear, coercion, and control to abuse and exploit her entire being for profit. We will remain dogged in our pursuit of all those who perpetrate this modern day slavery.”

“Human traffickers treat human life like property, exploiting and extorting for profit,” said Raymond Villanueva, special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. “This case shows the callous greed traffickers exhibit, ensnaring children and forcing them into sexual exploitation. HSI is committed to investigating and seeking prosecution of human traffickers alongside our federal and local partners.”

“These sentencings underscore the FBI’s commitment to holding accountable those who prey upon innocent victims for their own greed,” said James A. Dawson, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division. “In full collaboration with our task force partners throughout the area, the FBI will continue to work tirelessly to stop criminals such as these, and prevent them from abusing children and vulnerable individuals while profiting from illicit acts. The FBI will remain focused on recovering victims and arresting the sex traffickers who exploit them, and we will not stop working to remove these offenders from the streets of our communities.”

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/sex-traffickers-sentenced-combined-81-years-prison

Taliban Completes Release of Govt Prisoners: Spokesman

A Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen in a statement on Thursday said the Taliban has fulfilled its part of the US-Taliban deal, which called for the group to release 1,000 Afghan government prisoners.

He stated that the Taliban had freed another 82 prisoners on Thursday, bringing the total released by the Taliban to 1,005.

According to Shaheen, based on the Doha agreement, the Taliban has fulfilled its commitment of releasing 1,000 Afghan government forces in exchange for the 5,000 Taliban inmates to be released by the Afghan government, according to the agreement.

The Afghan government has so far released around 4,400.

On Tuesday, the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire for Eid, to which the Afghan government also agreed. However, violence has drastically increased following the US-Taliban peace agreement which was signed between the two sides in Doha on February 29.

In the latest incident of violence, a bomb blast in Pul-e-Alam city, the capital of Logar province, has killed at least eight people and wounded 30 others, according to the MInistry of Interior.

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Twitter denied any involvement of the group with the Logar blast.

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/taliban-completes-release-govt-prisoners-spokesman

The Rise of World Socialism

Throughout the modern era’s magic bullet conspiracy, aka the dubious public health emergency named COVID-19, we have seen…a mysterious commune between the polarising ideals of left and right. As the puzzling voice of trade unions scuppers the early easing of lockdown, a strange chorus from friends and allies on the left begs to be spared the perils of rebooting the economy one moment too soon, and otherworldly communist ovations for political leaders.

Equally uncanny are the socialist programs running in stealth mode in conservative and republican strongholds. As authoritarians take over the means of production (or prohibit it entirely), migrate from a free market economy to a planned economy, a New Deal has been unveiled, and importantly, Western democracies are following China’s lead.

So, who’s in charge here?

Same as it ever was – the customary global hegemony calls the shots and nation states fall in line. World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN) and World Bank. Vanguards of Capitalism, right?

Wrong. Those organisations were founded by socialists on socialist principles. As we shall explore. The same socialism that would ringfence our fast disappearing freedoms under the stockade of totalitarianism. That’s the general trade-off for state ownership of the means of production.

You would be correct to assume…the objective of this polemic is not to lampoon a capitalist system gone rogue. That’s old news and another essay. The objective here is to ruffle the feathers of capitalism’s reputed opponent – socialism, and to demonstrate the boundary line between the two adversaries is fictitious, when in fact, all political pathways lead to collectivism.

Importantly, the essay does not advocate for right, alt-right, neo-liberal, or whatever state-sponsored political descriptor you wish to throw at me. Neither is it an endorsement of any mainstream political stance. Rather, its purpose is to point out – the war is over, and the good guys not only didn’t win, they didn’t even take part. Because, the people’s representation at political party level, simply does not exist. It’s a full-spectrum myth, encompassing all political ideologies. Which by the way, are not your own. They are borrowed to you by someone else and designed to fast track their selfish and psychotic drives towards power. Which is of no consequence to you, the commoner, a political nobody, the non-political party class, the 99%.

What you are instead is the lucky beneficiary of empty gestures thrown from the political banqueting table, tantamount to popular suggestion and political innuendo. Designed to steer your consent, unknot and rebind your own supposed ideologies to theirs, habituating you to the illusion of choice, along the lines of – which party-politics you should follow, believe in, vote for, permit to continue plundering the earth’s precious resources in the name of, called: theirs and their friends special interests.

So, whether capitalist, communist, socialist, fascist, or whatever imaginary political differentiator is pulled from the illusionist’s hat that you personally want to subscribe to, it simply doesn’t matter…

…It doesn’t matter because…no matter who you vote for, the government always wins.

What’s more, when you strip it right down – there’s nothing in it. It’s all lukewarm air wheezing out of the punctured vacuum. No real points of differentiation between the cahoots and caboodle of political division. These guys are bought and paid for by industry, or the promises they made to the club that authorised their initiation. No matter which way you tell it, or whatever political descriptors you want to use, the proclaimed ideals of politicians are nothing more than hoo-ha’s and hullabaloo’s, and their commitments to the people are non-existent.

What they are instead, in no uncertain terms, are good old-fashioned authoritarians, doing what all bully-boy authoritarians do best, and that is…to subvert human nature and forcibly organise a cult around their centralised power structures.

More

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/07/the-rise-of-world-socialism.html

US Charges Ex-Mexican Public Security Secretary for Accepting Cartel Bribes

The United States indicted Mexico’s former Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna and two senior associates in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy, the Justice Department announced in a press release.

"A superseding indictment was returned… charging Genaro Garcia Luna, the former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico from 2006 to 2012, with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise," the release said on Thursday.

"Luis Cardenas Palomino and Ramon Pequeno Garcia, former high-ranking Mexican law enforcement officials who worked under Garcia Luna, are each charged with three counts of cocaine trafficking conspiracy. In exchange for multimillion-dollar bribes, the defendants allegedly permitted the Sinaloa Cartel to operate with impunity in Mexico."

From 2001 to 2005, Garcia Luna led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency, and as secretary of public security, he controlled Mexico’s Federal Police Force.

Cardenas Palomino and Pequeno Garcia also were high-level Mexican law enforcement officials who worked under Garcia Luna during this time. They each received millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel.

If convicted of the continuing criminal enterprise charge in Thursday’s superseding indictment, Garcia Luna faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment, while Cardenas Palomino and Pequeno Garcia each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment.

He was arrested on 9 December, 2019 by federal agents in Dallas, Texas, and currently faces trial in the Eastern District of New York to face these charges. Cardenas Palomino and Pequeno Garcia are presently fugitives.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202007301080020318-us-charges-ex-mexican-public-security-secretary-for-accepting-cartel-bribes/

US Lawmakers Demand 'Immediate' Action From Navy Chief Over Alleged Naval Sex Trafficking Scandal

US lawmakers are calling on Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite to explain how the service is responding to allegations that US sailors were involved in the commercial sex trade in Bahrain.

"We request immediate information on the steps you have taken to remedy the deplorable circumstances in Bahrain, combat the broader culture that allowed these crimes to flourish, and ensure that justice is delivered to trafficking survivors and their family members," Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) wrote in a letter sent to Braithwaite on Tuesday, Military.com reported.

In the letter, the senators call on Braithwaite to explain how the Navy has improved anti-trafficking training after investigations by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) found that US sailors were housing prostitutes in their Bahrain apartments, seizing the women’s passports, taking a portion of their earnings and profiting from a sex trade “that serviced shipmates who lived on the island or came ashore during port calls,” as described by a June 16 Military Times report titled “Tinder, Sailor, Hooker, Pimp: The US Navy’s sex trafficking scandal in Bahrain.”

In the report, US soldiers are accused of housing and trafficking female prostitutes in Bahrain as early as June 2017. The report also says US sailors have been accused of perpetrating “brutal sexual assaults” against vulnerable women not only in Bahrain, but in other parts of the Middle East as well.

"Beyond the despicable crime that sailors were charged with, the underlying culture … that has allowed prostitution in US Navy ports is shameful," the letter, obtained by Military.com, adds. "It is evident the Navy's zero tolerance policy against trafficking has not been effectively communicated to every echelon of commanders.”

Commander Sarah Higgins, a spokesperson for Braithwaite, declined to comment on the senators’ letter. "We won't comment on congressional correspondence," she said, Military.com reported.

In June, Vice Admiral Jim Malloy, the head of Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), revealed that the Navy initiated an “awareness campaign” in 2018 that included training on ethics, character development and how to combat human trafficking.

"The goal of this campaign is to raise awareness of this issue, enforce Navy core values, and promote bystander intervention," Malloy said, according to Military.com. "Working with our host nation, NAVCENT remains vigilant to both monitor for any recurrence and prevent such activity.”

In response to the Military Times report, the Navy also banned US troops in Bahrain from going to certain locations such as bars and nightclubs, which were frequently visited by prostitutes.

It’s worth noting that earlier this year, US Navy officials also issued a training video to sailors that warned service members going to Bahrain about sex workers who may try to sell any information they retrieve regarding Navy personel and their operations.

https://sputniknews.com/military/202007301080019600-us-lawmakers-demand-immediate-action-from-navy-chief-over-alleged-naval-sex-trafficking-scandal/

Alleged 'boogaloo' member accused in riot plot charged with sexual exploitation of children

A man alleged to be tied to the far-right "boogaloo" movement, already charged with plotting to provoke violence at Las Vegas protests, has now been accused of child sexual exploitation, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Stephen Parshall, 35, who is also known as "Kiwi," was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children after investigators allegedly found 10 images of child pornography on his cell phone, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada said in a statement.

A criminal complaint says that after the images were discovered, a minor female child victim told interviewers that she had been sexually abused by Parshall. The child said the abuse began when she was around 10 years old.

Parshall was one of three people, all of whom are alleged to be members of the "boogaloo" movement, who have been charged with trying to exploit protests in Las Vegas in late May, following the death of George Floyd, with a plan to incite violence.

Requests for comment from an attorney listed as representing Parshall was not immediately returned Wednesday night.

The boogaloo movement has been described by prosecutors as a term used by extremists to signify a coming civil war and/or collapse of society.

In early June, federal and state authorities charged three men with alleged ties to the movement, including Parshall, and accused them of a conspiracy to cause violence during protests in May in Las Vegas, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The plot was foiled with the help of an informant, officials said at the time.

It was after the arrests that investigators executed search warrants and found the images on Parshall's cell phone, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.

Parshall, of Las Vegas, is being held in jail. If convicted on the new charge of sexual exploitation of children, the minimum sentence is 15 years in prison and the maximum is 30 years, prosecutors said.

Charging documents related to the protest alleged the men planned to use explosions to spark a riot, and they eventually settled on a plan to go to a Black Lives Matter protest with Molotov cocktails. The three men were arrested before it could be carried out, the documents say.

The three had attended a previous protest in Las Vegas, carrying rifles, and Parshall allegedly encouraged protesters to become violent and became "very upset" when the event did not turn out that way, according to court documents.

Parshall has pleaded not guilty in the protest-related case. A judge in June ordered him held in custody until trial, according to online federal court records.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2020/07/alleged-boogaloo-member-accused-in-riot.html

Democrats exit briefing saying they fear elections under foreign threat

House Democrats are warning that the integrity of November's elections are under significant threat from foreign actors — and the Trump administration, they say, is going out of its way to conceal the danger from the public.

Emerging from a long, classified briefing with top administration officials in the Capitol, a host of Democrats said they now have less confidence that the elections will be secure from outside influence than they did going into the meeting.

"I don't feel comfortable about what's going on," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "Very disturbing."

"Horrible briefing," said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.).

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), along with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the Democratic leaders of the congressional intelligence committees, had requested the briefing in a July 13 letter to the FBI, citing "a concerted foreign interference campaign" targeting Congress.

That campaign, they wrote, "seeks to launder and amplify disinformation in order to influence congressional activity, public debate, and the presidential election in November." They did not offer specifics.

More recently, the same four Democrats had pressed the administration to issue a public statement informing voters of the election interference threat heading into the polls in November.

Leaving Friday's briefing in the basement of the Capitol Visitors Center, a frustrated Pelosi made clear that that request has gone ignored, suggesting the administration is shrouding the details of the interference campaign for political reasons.

"What I’m concerned about is that the American people should be better informed," Pelosi said.

"Leader Schumer and I wrote to them and said tell the truth to the American people and for some reason they are withholding it," she added. "That’s what I’m concerned about."

Among the administration officials conducting the briefing were Bill Evanina, head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center; Shelby Pierson, the intelligence community's top election security official; Nikki Flores, deputy assistant director at the FBI; Brad Benavides, section chief on the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force; and Brandon Wales, chief strategic officer at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security.

None of those officials spoke with reporters afterward.

The issue of election security and foreign meddling — once a area of broad bipartisan consensus — has become highly politicized under President Trump, who has sought to downplay the influence of Russian interference during the 2016 campaign. The nation's intelligence agencies have determined that Moscow's objective was to sow American discord — and nudge Trump to victory.

At a press briefing later Friday morning, Pelosi emphasized that Russia is at it again this election year, calling on Republicans to approve billions of dollars in emergency funding to ensure the elections run smoothly amid the coronavirus pandemic.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/510002-democrats-exit-briefing-saying-they-fear-elections-under-foreign

Spotlight Grows on Mysterious ‘Suicide’ of Dr. Fauci’s Right-Hand Man at NIAID; Dr. Judy Mikovits Says Top Scientist Was “Suicided” to Silence Him

Top virologist Dr. Judy Mikovits is shedding some well-needed light on the mysterious death of top scientist Kuan-Teh Jeang, who was second in charge under Dr. Anthony Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the time of his controversial death. Mikovits detailed on the Thomas Paine Podcast that Jeang, who was 54, was poised to blow the whistle on falsified government research, fake clinical data and widespread vaccine fraud that was killing Americans before his untimely demise. Listen Above

Details of the man’s 2013 death have been covered up. Some say Jeang was found at his desk on a Sunday night at NIAID with a gunshot wound to the chest. Some say he jumped to his death from the top deck of the parking garage outside of the government facilty.

Dr. Mikovits told Paine that Jeang was “suicided” to silence him. Jeang had worked at the NIH for 27 years.

Jeang was previously chief of the Molecular Virology Section in the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, according to documents.

https://truepundit.com/spotlight-grows-on-mysterious-suicide-of-dr-faucis-right-hand-scientist-at-niaid-dr-judy-mikovits-says-top-researcher-was-suicided/

More Bad News For Big Oil: Exxon-Mobil, Chevron Post Huge Second Quarter Losses

Exxon reported a second quarter loss of $1.1 billion, or $0.26 per diluted share

Chevron reported a loss of $8.3 billion, or $4.44 per diluted share

Chevron wrote down some $5.7 billion in oil and gas properties, including $2.6 billion in Venezuela.

U.S. oil giants Exxon-Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) both posted huge second quarter losses as the COVID-19 pandemic decimates global energy demand.

Exxon reported a second quarter loss of $1.1 billion, or $0.26 per diluted share, blaming “global oversupply” and the pandemic. It was the company’s second consecutive quarterly loss. Exxon posted a $3.1 billion profit in the second quarter of 2019.

Capital and exploration expenditures amounted to $5.3 billion in the latest second quarter, almost $2 billion lower than in the first quarter.

“The global pandemic and oversupply conditions significantly impacted our second quarter financial results with lower prices, margins, and sales volumes,” Exxon Chairman Darren Woods said. “We responded decisively by reducing near-term spending and continuing work to improve efficiency.”

Chevron reported a loss of $8.3 billion, or $4.44 per diluted share, compared with a profit of $4.3 billion, or $2.27 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

The company wrote down some $5.7 billion in oil and gas properties, including $2.6 billion in Venezuela.

“The past few months have presented unique challenges,” said Michael K. Wirth, Chevron’s chairman and chief executive officer. “The economic impact of the response to COVID-19 significantly reduced demand for our products and lowered commodity prices. Given the uncertainties associated with economic recovery, and ample oil and gas supplies, we made a downward revision to our commodity price outlook which resulted in asset impairments and other charges.”

https://www.ibtimes.com/more-bad-news-big-oil-exxon-mobil-chevron-post-huge-second-quarter-losses-3020534

Dr. Fauci: 'There's No Inconsistency' in Banning Church and Business But Allowing Mass Protests

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) pressed Dr. Anthony Fauci on whether the government should restrict the massive Black Lives Matter protests across the country in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Fauci admitted that crowds full of people not wearing masks would likely spread the virus, but he refused to say whether or not protests would do so. He also refused to make any recommendations on limiting protests, even though he had made many recommendations in the past.

At one point, Fauci even insisted that “there’s no inconsistency” in preventing people from going to work, going to church, and going to school but allowing them to gather in massive crowds to protest.

“Dr. Fauci, do protests increase the spread of the virus?” Jordan began.

Fauci said he could only make a “general statement” about crowds.

“Well, half a million protesters on June 6 alone, I’m just asking, that number of people, does it increase the spread of the virus?” Jordan pressed.

“Crowding together, particularly when you’re not wearing a mask, contributes to the spread of the virus,” Fauci responded.

“Should we limit the protesting?” Jordan pressed.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Fauci responded.

“Should government limit the protesting?” the congressman clarified.

Fauci stuttered, “I- I- I don’t think that’s relevant to…”

“Well, you just said, it increases the spread of the virus. I’m just asking, should we limit it?” Jordan insisted.

“Well, I’m not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way,” the doctor said.

Jordan noted that Fauci has made “all kinds of recommendations” on subjects such as baseball, dating on Tinder, and government-mandated lockdowns. Fauci recently said there would likely be “no need” for a second coronavirus lockdown.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/07/31/dr-fauci-theres-no-inconsistency-in-banning-church-and-business-but-allowing-mass-protests-n737783

“You Won’t Be Safe in Joe Biden’s America” – Trump Campaign Ties Joe Biden to the Radical Left in Hard Hitting Ad

“You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America”

The Trump campaign rolled out a new hard-hitting ad tying Biden to the radical left.

The Democrat party has gone full-blown radical left and Joe Biden embraces it.

Biden agreed to cut funding from police and redirect the money to social justice programs.

The media paints Biden as a moderate, but he’s a dangerous Marxist.

WATCH:

Biden this week admitted he’s a Trojan horse for the radical left during a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware.

“If I’m elected and this [economic package] passes I’m going to be good to go down as one of the most progressive presidents in American history,” said Biden.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/wont-safe-joe-bidens-america-trump-campaign-ties-joe-biden-radical-left-hard-hitting-ad-video/

Dutch Airline KLM To Cut Up To 5,000 Jobs By End Of 2021

The airline currently has a 33,000-member workforce.

KLM posted a 768 million euro ($910 million) loss for the first half of 2020

KLM passenger numbers plunged 95% in the second quarter

KLM, the Dutch segment of Air France-KLM, said on Friday it will cut up to 5,000 jobs through the end of next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline currently has 33,000 employees.

The job cuts will likely include 1,500 compulsory layoffs as well as the nonrenewal of 1,500 temporary contracts, among other measures.

On Thursday, KLM posted a 768 million euro ($910 million) loss for the first half of 2020 as passenger numbers plunged 95% in the second quarter.

Air France itself plans to cut 6,500 jobs by 2022.

KLM and Air France operate independently.

KLM said the airline is “in the throes of a crisis of unprecedented magnitude” and its “road to recovery will be long and fraught with uncertainty.”

The carrier noted while it is operating an ever-increasing number of flights – up to 30% of normal by July, up from 10% in April – revenues are still “lagging far behind.”

KLM added it does not expect air travel demand to be fully restored until “2023 or 2024 at the earliest.”

The carrier acknowledged state loans and guaranteed bank credit facilities of up to 3.4 billion euros ($4 billion) from the Dutch government will “enable KLM to navigate the crisis in the forthcoming period.”

In exchange for the bailout, KLM is required to cut costs by 15%.

“It is incredibly difficult and sad for KLM to now have to bid farewell to valuable, committed colleagues,” KLM President and CEO Pieter Elbers said. “The forthcoming period will be devoted to saying goodbye to colleagues who have to leave with due care and to reconstructing KLM.”

The Dutch trade union Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, or FNV, criticized KLM.

“We are going to look very carefully to establish if this number of jobs matches the expected shrink in company operations,’ cabin crew union spokeswoman Birte Nelen told broadcaster NOS.

https://www.ibtimes.com/dutch-airline-klm-cut-5000-jobs-end-2021-3020458

Eurozone Economy Plunged By Record 12.1% In Second Quarter

Compared with the same quarter of 2019, GDP plunged by 15% in the eurozone

In the first quarter of 2020, GDP decreased by 3.6% in the eurozone

Spain’s GDP plunged the most in the second quarter, showing an 18.5% decline.

The economy of the eurozone sank by a record 12.1% in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the first quarter, while gross domestic product for the European Union cratered by 11.9%.

(The eurozone comprises the 19 of the 27 members of the European Union that have adopted the euro as their currency)

The eurozone data came one day after the U.S. reported a 32.9% plunge in the second quarter.

Compared with the same quarter of 2019, GDP plunged by 15% in the eurozone and dropped by 14.4% in the EU.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, noted these figures were “by far the sharpest declines observed” since record-keeping started in 1995.

In the first quarter of 2020, GDP decreased by 3.6% in the eurozone and fell by 3.2% in the EU.

Among individual countries, Spain’s GDP plunged the most in the second quarter, showing an 18.5% decline. Spain was followed by Portugal (a 14.1% drop) and France (13.8%).

Lithuania exhibited the most modest decline, falling by 5.1%.

Last week, the EU agreed to an $860 billion recovery fund that is designed to help restore the bloc’s economies, with a particular emphasis on the hardest hit states in the southern regions.

"The fallout from the virus now poses a major challenge not just to the healthcare systems and the economies of the EU member states – it's also a threat to the bloc's integrity,” said las Akincilar, head of trading at the online trading platform INFINOX, according to Business Insider.

https://www.ibtimes.com/eurozone-economy-plunged-record-121-second-quarter-3020415

Four more plead guilty in Los Angeles homeless voter fraud scheme

Homeless received cigarettes, money in exchange for fraudulent signatures.

Four Los Angeles residents have pleaded guilty to organizing a voter fraud scheme in the city's Skid Row neighborhood, paying homeless people with cigarettes and cash to obtain fake signatures on various voter documents.

The defendants "admitted their role in a scheme where money and cigarettes were offered to homeless people on Skid Row in exchange for false and forged signatures on ballot petitions and voter registration forms," the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in an announcement this week.

The admissions of guilt follow another participant in the scheme pleading guilty in February to taking part in the fraudulent activity.

The scheme specifically involved "soliciting hundreds of false and/or forged signatures on state ballot petitions and voter registration forms by offering homeless people $1 and/or cigarettes for their participation," the district attorney's office said.

The crimes took place over two election cycles — 2016 and 2018. Four other individuals implicated in the scheme "face various charges including use of false names on a petition and voter fraud," according to a press release from the prosecutor's office.

The guilty parties in the case have thus far received sentences ranging from jail time to suspended sentences to formal probation.

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/four-more-plead-guilty-los-angeles-homeless-voter-fraud-scheme

Virtue In Hungarian: George Soros Foundation Is A Hub For Investments In BLM

American billionaire George Soros intends to spend $220 million on “strengthening power in black communities and a new anti-racist policy in the United States.” This step confirms the status of Soros as the main supporter of racial justice initiatives, as well as one of the main opponents of the right-wing forces that accuse him of supporting the escalation of the situation in the country.

George Soros is a native of Hungary, who managed to create a charitable foundation that is represented in 37 countries, and gave its owner not only the title of one of the most famous philanthropists of our time, but also a fortune in billions of dollars. Despite the enormous influence that George Soros has today both in the United States and abroad, the independence of his Foundation’s activities is in doubt.

The biography of Djerd Schwartz, who changed his name several times and became George Soros, is rather vague. Most of his life, until the end of the 70s, is represented by Soros himself.

It is known that he was born in Budapest in a middle-class Jewish family; he was the son of lawyer and publisher Tivadar Schwartz. His father fought in the First World War, and escaped after being captured in the territory of the then Russian Empire. During the years in captivity, he surprisingly managed to learn Esperanto, and later became an Esperantist writer. Close circle of Esperanto lovers, where Schwartz Father took part, will have a great impact on the future of his son.

https://southfront.org/virtue-in-hungarian-george-soros-foundation-is-a-hub-for-investments-in-blm/

How the Billionaires Control American Elections

There is “this huge cleavage between how members of Congress present themselves, their imagery and rhetoric and branding, what they present to the voters, on the one hand, and the reality of what they do in the bowels of Congress and the underbelly of Congressional proceedings, on the other. Most of the constituents back in their home districts have no idea what it is that the people they’ve voted for have been doing, and this gap between belief and reality is enormous.”

Four crucial military-budget amendments were debated in the House just now, as follows:

to block Trump from withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

to block Trump from withdrawing 10,000 troops from Germany

to limit U.S. assistance to the Sauds’ bombing of Yemen

to require Trump to explain why he wants to withdraw from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty

On all four issues, the pro-imperialist position prevailed in nearly unanimous votes — overwhelming in both Parties. Dick Cheney’s daughter, Republican Liz Cheney, dominated the debates, though the House of Representatives is now led by Democrats, not Republicans.

Greenwald (citing other investigators) documents that the U.S. news-media are in the business of deceiving the voters to believe that there are fundamental differences between the Parties. “The extent to which they clash is wildly exaggerated” by the press (in order to pump up the percentages of Americans who vote, so as to maintain, both domestically and internationally, the lie that America is a democracy — actually represents the interests of the voters).

16:00: The Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee — which writes the nearly $750B annual Pentagon budget — is the veteran (23 years) House Democrat Adam Smith of Boeing’s Washington State. “The majority of his district are people of color.” He’s “clearly a pro-war hawk” a consistent neoconservative, voted to invade Iraq and all the rest. “This is whom Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have chosen to head the House Armed Services Committee — someone with this record.” He is “the single most influential member of Congress when it comes to shaping military spending.” He was primaried by a progressive Democrat, and the “defense industry opened up their coffers” and enabled Adam Smith to defeat the challenger.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/07/31/how-the-billionaires-control-american-elections/

Mark Meadows: Dems Have Made Zero Offers In Negotiations On Expiring Unemployment Benefits, School Funding

During a press briefing Friday morning from the White House, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows detailed how the administration has approached Democrats three times to reach a deal on relief for education, unemployment, and more.

Meadows said Democrats have made zero offers to find a solution — despite the proposals being the same or better than their original Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES) that Democrats proposed in May.

Meadows called on Congress to “get serious” about negotiations as the enhanced unemployment benefits expire today — he accused the Democrats of playing politics in a serious and grim time for the nation.

“The President has been very clear for us to be aggressive and forward-leaning to make sure that [Americans] get protected,” Meadows said Friday morning. “What we’re seeing is politics as usual from Democrats up on Capitol Hill.”

The Chief of Staff highlighted the importance of finding a temporary solution to the expiring enhanced unemployment. Meadows said the Democrats have been approached with solutions that meet exactly what they passed in the HEROES Act — now they claim the numbers are outdated and need to be higher.

The Democrats believe they “hold all the cards” in negotiations and as a result Americans are hurting, Meadows argued.

“The Democrats have made zero offers over the last three days. Zero.”

Meadows argued the Democrats are going in the “wrong direction” in pursuing partisan politics over aiding the populous in a “dire” time.

The Chief of Staff did not take questions and turned the conference over to Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany who gave remarks and took questions.

https://saraacarter.com/mark-meadows-dems-have-made-zero-offers-in-negotiations-on-expiring-unemployment-benefits-school-funding/

Big Deal: SDF Agreed With U.S. Company To Trade Oil

The so-called Self-Administration in North and Northeast Syria had singed a deal with an U.S. oil company, the Al-Monitor reported on July 30, citing sources familiar with the matter.

One of the sources told the Washington-based outlet, that the agreement, under which the U.S. company would market oil in territory controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and modernize existing fields, was signed last week.

The source identified the company as the Delaware-based Delta Crescent Energy LLC. A license to operate in Syria was granted to the company by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC.

The SDF controls most of Syria’s oil resources. The largest oil fields, al-Rmelan and al-Omar, are both controlled by the Kurdish-led group. Around 500 U.S. troops were also deployed in northeastern Syria to “guard” these fields.

Ferhat Abdi Şahin, aka “Mazloum Abdi,” Commander-in-Chief of the SDF informed U.S. senator Lindsay Graham of the deal in a recent phone call.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also confirmed that he knew of the SDF oil deal during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee session on July 30.

“The deal took a little longer, than we had hoped, and now we’re in implementation,” Pompeo said to Graham during the session.

According to Al-Monitor, the U.S. also agreed to provide two modular refineries to the SDF. The refineries will only meet 20% of the self-administration’s needs.

Over the past few months, U.S. forces improved security at all major oil fields in northeastern Syria. Hundreds of experienced SDF personnel were recruited and trained by the U.S. to help guard these fields.

The SDF-U.S. deal is illegal as it was not approved by the legitimate government in Damascus. The deal could have a disastrous effect on government-held areas in Syria, which purchase fuel from the SDF.

https://southfront.org/big-deal-sdf-agreed-with-u-s-company-to-trade-oil-report/

Pinpoint Strikes Devastated HTS’ Fuel Trafficking Company In Greater Idlib

On July 31, a number of pinpoint strikes targeted the Watad Petroleum Company in the town of Saramada in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.

The strikes targeted the company’s headquarters as well as its main fuel storage facility. A series of large fires erupted as a result. The strikes caused serious material losses. However, no casualties have been reported, thus far.

Opposition activists said three precision-guided projectiles had targeted the company’s facilities in the early morning hours.

https://youtu.be/0JmxP6siyII

https://southfront.org/pinpoint-strikes-devastated-hts-fuel-trafficking-company-in-greater-idlib-videos-photos/

Tom Fitton: Sedition in the Obama Oval Office?

Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and their top intelligence officers huddled in the Oval Office shortly before Donald Trump was inaugurated to discuss what they would do about this new President they despised. Now we aim to find out more about this conspiracy.

We just filed a FOIA suit against the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for all records related to the January 5, 2017, meeting at the Obama Oval Office during which the Steele Dossier and the investigation of General Flynn were discussed (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice and ODNI (No. 1:20-cv-01947)).

The Oval Office meeting reportedly included President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and other Obama administration political and law enforcement officials.

At least two records describing the meeting – a January 20, 2017, memo Rice sent to herself and a set of notes taken by FBI counterespionage chief Peter Strzok – have been declassified and made public. Sally Yates also detailed the meeting to Robert Mueller’s investigation.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/in-the-news/obmaa-sedition/

Another Arms Shipment Seized On Its Way To Greater Idlib

On July 30, Syrian security forces seized another arms shipment that was heading to the Greater Idlib region controlled by terrorist groups.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, the arms shipment was on its way from Homs to the northern countryside of Idlib. Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is known to control the northern Idlib.

The shipment included dozens of assault rifles, mortar shells, heavy machine guns as well as loads of ammunition of different calibers.

https://southfront.org/another-arms-shipment-seized-on-its-way-to-greater-idlib-photos/

Mask Fatigue: Workers Claim Anxiety, Headaches And Shortness Of Breath

The mask mandate to keep Texans from spreading COVID-19 is coming with some side effects.

Some people who are forced to wear face masks all day in the workplace complain of headaches, shortness of breath and anxiety.

Whether the elastic is too tight or the cloth is too thick, there are a lot of reasons for mask fatigue that people who wear them for long periods are starting to experience.

Las Vegas doctor says patients experiencing ‘mask fatigue,’ concerned for hot temperatures

Nearly three months of wearing a face mask everyday has taken a toll on the women who work at Southern Sisters Salon in McKinney.

Like a lot of workplaces in North Texas, masks are mandatory, but for some of those forced to wear them, they are miserable.

The salon employees say keeping candy and mints in their mouths helps and they take as many outdoor breaks as possible.

The women who work there say they know masks are necessary for the business to stay open and for now are willing to put up with the discomfort.

“When I have long days, if it’s a 12 hour day, I’m sick when I get home,” said Courtney Warnell. “Sick to my stomach. As soon as the I get in the car I’m pulling it off and I don’t want to do anything else. I just want to go home and be mask-free.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/07/mask-fatigue-workers-claim-anxiety-headaches-and-shortness-of-breath.html

>>10141244

fuck off with your bullshit