DNI Ratcliffe: Several People from Several Offices Leaked Classified Info to Several Media Outlets on Russia Nonsense

DNI John Ratcliffe joined Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures on Sunday.

This was his first interview since being sworn in as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

DNI Ratcliffe told Maria why he was forced to send written briefings to Congress — too many lawmakers (Democrats) were leaking!

DNI John Ratcliffe: Within minutes of one of those briefings ending a number of members of Congress went to a number of publications and leaked classified information again, for political purposes, to create a narrative that simply isn’t true. That somehow Russia is a greater national security threat than China. So I’m going to keep the promises I made. I’m going to continue to follow the law. I’m going to continue to keep Congress informed. But we’ve had a pandemic of information being leaked out of the intelligence community and I’m going to take the measures to make sure that that stops.

Democrats are only upset that DNI Ratcliffe is making it harder for them to leak more Russia BS.

What a completely bankrupt party.

Via Sunday Morning Futures:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/dni-ratcliffe-several-people-several-offices-leaked-classified-info-several-media-outlets-russia-nonsense-video/

China's 'Debt-Trap' Diplomacy with Third-World Nations

Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping's grand thoroughfares are now global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America's third-largest oil reserves.

The economic benefits, however, of some of these deals between China and poor "Third World" countries in Africa and Latin America are questionable. A few of these bilateral packages appear contrived to imprison already impoverished states into realms of permanent economic vassalage to China.

The objectives of China's global BRI programs are clearly as much strategic and political as they are economic. BRI projects seem not designed so much to win new friends as to win new dependents, especially in areas either neglected by the West or in the Western sphere of influence.

The ultimate objective of the global dimension of China's BRI enterprise appears to be geared toward replacing the existing political, military and economic dimension of the West's liberal democratic order again not surprisingly with one dominated solely by the Communist Party of China.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16396/china-debt-trap-diplomacy

Drought, Windstorm Plunge Iowa's Corn Industry Into Chaos

A "megadrought" could be forming across the West, parts of the Midwest, and in Texas, as the risks of a 1930s Dust Bowl-style event remain elevated.

The latest US Drought Monitor map shows nearly a third of the country is experiencing "severe drought" to "extreme drought" conditions.

The lack of precipitation is so concerning that Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig warned Friday that his state is facing the worst drought since September 2013.

The drought in Iowa has caused severe headaches for farmers ahead of harvest, following high winds that flattened cornfields and destroyed silos in early August.

Iowa, the biggest US corn-producing state, is facing lower crop yields and deteriorating grain quality due to the recent volatility in the weather. This comes at an inopportune time as China increases purchases of US farm goods.

"The challenge here, and what's unique, is that we're dealing with adverse weather conditions over such a wide area in the state of Iowa," Naig said.

He said, "this is the largest area of coverage of multiple problems that I've seen," adding that crop yields could be much lower than estimates from months back.

Reuters noted the powerful windstorm on August 10, impacted 14 million crop acres, or about 57% of the state's farms.

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/drought-windstorm-plunge-iowas-corn-industry-chaos

BLM leader calls for outright violence against police: 'Ready to put these police in the f***ing ground'

How much further is this going to go?

An as-yet identified Black Lives Matter activist and leader has called for the death of police officers as well as for action to burn down the White House.

The incident took place in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night at a Black Lives Matter event as tensions continue to grow across America over police brutality.

What are the details?

Reporter Brendon Leslie shared a now-viral video of the incident on Twitter, captioning it, "A BLM leader is encouraging this crowd of protesters to fight the DC cops on the frontlines. Saying he's 'ready to put them in their graves' — this may lead to another violent night in DC."

In the video, the demonstrator shouted, "I'm at a point where I'm ready to put these police in the f***ing grave! I'm at the point, where, I want to burn the White House down! I want to take it to the senators! I want to take it to the Congress!"

The activist continued, “I want to take the fight to them and at the end of the day, if they won't hear us, we burn them the f down! I'm one that talk real s! I talk it in New York and I talk it in D.C. The same way I f police up in New York, I f cops up in here in D.C. The same way I bust police in the head in New York, I bust police in the head in D.C.!"

The activist concluded that the movement isn't for the weak or non-committal.

“Now, it's a lot of people and I'm going to be honest, it's a lot of people that's on this front line and one of the things that I always say, 'Don't get on this fing front line if you ain't gonna fing fight,'" he insisted. “Don't get on this front line if you ain't gonna take no hit. Don't get on this front line when the police fing push up, you push back. If you gonna be on this front line, and them racist a*, nasty a, punk a, fing police is pushing up, you push the f** up!"

A BLM leader is encouraging this crowd of protesters to fight the DC cops on the frontlines. Saying he’s “ready to… https://t.co/hqt4Woyb0w

— Brendon Leslie (@Brendon Leslie)1598754497.0

Anything else?

The concerning call for violence apparently caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who tweeted about it on Sunday morning.

He wrote, "Disgraceful Anarchists. We are watching them closely, but stupidly protected by the Radical Left Dems!"

Disgraceful Anarchists. We are watching them closely, but stupidly protected by the Radical Left Dems! https://t.co/IvuIh6cRz5

— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1598783774.0

https://www.theblaze.com/news/blm-leader-calls-for-violence-against-police

W.H.O. Flips-Flops from ‘Test Test Test’ to Mass Testing ‘Not Really that Useful’

World Health Organization (W.H.O.) officials did an about-face Thursday on the agency’s Chinese coronavirus testing guidelines, proclaiming that broad-based population tests are “not really that useful” and that the focus of testing should be on people showing symptoms.

Both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and W.H.O. have reversed their previous position recommending the testing of all suspected cases, including asymptomatic individuals. In the United States, however, the CDC change prompted a backlash from Democrats, their mainstream media allies, and some public health officials who suggested Trump administration politics influenced the agency’s testing guideline revisions.

In answering a question about the controversial policy change by the CDC to focus testing on symptomatic persons or asymptomatic persons with known contact with confirmed cases, Dr. Mike Ryan, the head of the W.H.O emergencies program, indicated that mass testing of all suspected cases is a pipe dream that is too costly.

“Broad-based population-based testing at this point in most countries is not really that useful,” Dr. Ryan told reporters. “It absorbs huge amounts of resources and you have to have a huge capacity to do testing in order to do that.”

Also commenting on the CDC policy revision on Thursday, W.H.O epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhov told reporters the focus of testing should be on individuals who display signs of Chinese coronavirus infection.

Van Kerkhov proclaimed:

Our recommendations are to test suspect cases, and we have definitions for those. We have definitions of contacts, and who contacts are of confirmed cases, and make recommendations that contacts, if feasible, should be tested regardless of the development of symptoms. The focus, though, is on those that do develop symptoms.

Consistent with the new CDC guidelines, the W.H.O. officials indicated that health officials should focus testing on people showing symptoms, except in areas experiencing infection spikes.

“So we need to focus on testing the right individuals,” Dr. Ryan declared. “We need to focus on maximizing the testing within [infection] clusters.”

“It’s really important that when you’re looking specifically for targeted investigations around clusters that you expand the capacity for testing to look for cases that fall on that mild end of the spectrum and may have an asymptomatic infection,” Van Kerkhov added.

The revised CDC guidelines are only suggestions that give local and state health officials the discretion to prescribe tests. Same with the W.H.O.’s testing guidance, but at a global level.

CDC officials revised the agency’s guidelines to say health officials “do not necessarily need” to test asymptomatic people.

Contrary to the statements from Ryan and Van Kerkhov this week, the W.H.O. chief lambasted countries in March for not doing enough testing of “every suspected case,” saying it was a necessary action to contain the deadly and highly contagious virus.

“We have a simple message for all countries: Test, test, test. Test every suspected case. If they test positive, isolate them and find out who they have been in contact with two days before they developed symptoms and test those people, too,” the U.N. agency’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is not a medical doctor, told reporters.

President Donald Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the W.H.O., accusing the United Nations entity of helping China cover up the extent of the virus and mismanaging its global response. The U.N. agency is not a big fan of the Trump administration’s move. America is the W.H.O.’s biggest global funder.

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/08/29/w-h-o-flips-flops-from-test-test-test-to-mass-testing-not-really-that-useful/

'Blatant Disregard For Public Health' - Brits Can Now Be Fined $13,000 For Organizing Large Gatherings

The UK government this week announced tougher measures against organizers of “dangerous” parties, whom the Home Secretary said showed “a blatant disregard for the safety of others.”

The new rule will came into effect from Aug. 28, before the August bank holiday, a long weekend during which many people enjoy partying.

Those who organize or facilitate illegal raves, unlicensed music events, or other unlawful gatherings of over 30 people in England can face a fine of up to 10,000 pounds ($13,000), the UK government announced.

Participants in these gatherings can be fined 100 pounds ($130). Fines for repeat offenders can double up to a maximum of 3,200 pounds ($4,200).

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the government “will continue to crack down on the small minority who think they are above the law.”

The announcement came after police disrupted dozens of unlicensed parties for the third weekend in a row in Birmingham in the West Midlands, which is currently on the government’s watch list for its high and rising CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus infection rate.

West Midlands Police wrote on Twitter that they were called to break up 96 parties and meet ups on Saturday night.

Over 150 people were caught at an illegal rave near Blackburn, an area in Northwest England, where the infection rate of the CCP virus is second highest in England, according to the latest data (pdf).

The London Metropolitan Police has responded to more than 1,000 unlicensed events since the end of June, the government said.

Ade Adelekan, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for unlicensed music events, said that he welcomed this “deterrent against those who irresponsibly put people’s health and safety at risk.”

He added that these events “are hosted without regard for the safety of those attending, and police have observed cases of anti-social behaviour, sales of drugs, and gang activity.”

Police will increase patrols to prevent illegal gathering, especially in the lead up to the bank holiday weekend.

Fines for not wearing face coverings where it is mandated also doubled for repeat offenses, up to 3,200 pounds ($4,200), on Aug. 28.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/britons-can-be-fined-up-to-10000-pounds-for-organizing-illegal-parties_3469650.html

Biden Campaign Adviser: Trump ‘Has Been Trying to Incite Violence this Entire Summer’

Joe Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield accused President Donald Trump of “inciting violence” on this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday.”

Bedingfield said, “Part of why we are in the state of chaos that we’re in in this country is because Donald Trump has failed to lead on the coronavirus, he failed to take it seriously from the outset, and he’s failed to be a uniter, he’s failed to lead as we’ve been grappling with this moment of racial injustice in this country.”

She continued, “To your question, so yes, what I can say is he will absolutely hear Joe Biden out this week addressing this moment in the country. We will have details to share on the location shortly, but what I can tell you is that he’s going to do what he’s been doing across the course of the summer, which is calling together people, uniting the country, leading, encouraging people to take on this moment with a sense of purpose. He spent doing that, the exact opposite of what we’ve been seeing from Trump, who’s been trying to incite violence this entire summer.”

She added, “You saw Donald Trump go to New Hampshire on Friday and say, you know, protesters, my ass. He’s had every opportunity to speak as a leader to this nation that is hurting, to speak to people who are struggling, more trying to rightly seek justice in this moment, but also were looking around are afraid.”

She concluded, “He has encouraged his supporters to go out, to be aggressive. You heard you were just discussing with Lara Trump, Kellyanne Conway said it unapologetically, it is better for this president is there is more anarchy, more violence, more chaos. He has at every opportunity tried to fan the flames here, and that is the reason we are living in Donald Trump’s America. He is trying to make an argument about Joe Biden’s America, pointing to things that are happening in Donald Trump’s America.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/08/30/biden-campaign-adviser-trump-has-been-trying-to-incite-violence-this-entire-summer/

Saudi Troops Join U.S. Base In Oil-Rich Northern Syria

Twenty Saudi soldiers arrived this week at a U.S. military base close to an oilfield in northeastern Syria, according to Iranian media, which cite a report from a Lebanon-based Arabic-language TV channel.

At the end of last year, Saudi troops were also reportedly stationed near Syria’s largest oilfield, Al-Omar in the oil-rich Deir Ezzor region, in what was thought to be Saudi protection for experts of Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco. According to the report of the Arabic service of Turkish news agency Anadolu at the time, the arrival of the Saudi soldiers at Syria’s biggest oilfield coincided with the arrival of around 30 trucks carrying drilling and digging machinery.

Incidents and altercations between the superpowers backing different sides in the Syrian conflict continue. Just this week, U.S. soldiers were injured in a skirmish with Russian troops, two U.S. officials told The New York Times, noting that the injuries were the result of a collision between vehicles, not gunfire.

After a surprise announcement of pulling the U.S. troops out of Syria in October last year, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States would protect Syrian oil fields from ISIS.

President Trump claimed that the U.S. had taken control of the oil in the Middle East, tweeting that “The U.S. has secured the Oil, & the ISIS Fighters are double secured by Kurds & Turkey.”

The President did not elaborate on what he meant by “securing the oil,” but speculations about the President’s statement assume he was referring to the U.S. special forces that have been—and will continue to be—in control of oil and gas fields in Deir Ezzor, Syria’s oil region.

President Trump has vowed to protect Syrian oil fields from ISIS, and the United States may leave 500 troops in northeastern Syria and send in battle tanks and other equipment with the purpose to help the Kurds in the area to protect oil fields that used to be controlled by Islamic State during its so-called caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Saudi-Troops-Join-US-Base-In-Oil-Rich-Northern-Syria.html

New Jersey Hikes Gas Tax By 22.5%, Bringing Total Increase Since 2016 To 250%

Not content with driving out its wealthiest with yet another tax hike on millionaires, New Jersey just made life for all of its residents, including lower and middle classes, more expensive when it quietly decided on Friday to hike the state's fuel tax.

Drivers filling up gas in New Jersey will pay 9.3 cents more per gallon, or a 22.5% increase, after the state announced a fuel tax increase that will take effect October 1, the Philly Voice reported. The rate increase will bring the state tax from 41.4 cents per gallon to 50.7 cents per gallon.

The NJ Treasury Department explained Friday that the decision was necessary because tax revenue has fallen with fewer people on the road during the coronavirus pandemic. And so, in all its brilliance, the Garden State plans to make gas even more expensive and guarantee that there will be even fewer people on the road because even before covid, New Jersey was the state with the most foreclosures not because its residents are swimming in money but, well, the opposite. So why not make everyone even poorer?

According to the Treasury, the increased tax revenue will support and ensure the solvency of the state's Transportation Trust Fund, which was established in 2016 under former Gov. Chris Christie. The TTF requires that approximately $2 billion be contributed each year, with adjustments based on a model that assumes an increase of $50 million annually for every penny added to the fuel tax, according NJ.com.

"As we've noted before, any changes in the gas tax rate are dictated by several factors that are beyond the control of the administration," State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio said in a statement Friday. "The law enacted in 2016 contains a specific formula to ensure that revenue is meeting a certain target. When it does not, the gas tax rate has to be adjusted accordingly in order for us to meet our obligation under the law and fully fund the state's many pressing transportation infrastructure needs."

The tax on diesel fuel also will rise by the same amount from 48.4 cents per gallon to 57.7 cents per gallon.

The last time the New Jersey tax was increased was in 2018, when Gov. Phil Murphy raised the rate by 4.3 cents per gallon. When the latest increase takes effect, the fuel tax in New Jersey will have increased by more than 250% since the TTF was established in 2016.

After the tax hike, New Jersey's gas tax will be the fourth highest behind California, Pennsylvania and Illinois. The state currently has the 10th highest fuel tax in the U.S.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/new-jersey-hikes-gas-tax-225

Moderna Neglected To Disclose Pentagon's Financial Support In Applications For More Than 100 Patents

Before the mainstream media transfigures Moderna founder and CEO Stephane Bancel into a corporate savior on par with Bill Gates, we'd like to remind investors (and the public) that Moderna and its insiders have demonstrated an eyebrow-raising affinity for pumping the stock with over-hyped press releases then cashing in shares or warrants (all insider stock sales were pre-scheduled divestitures, the insiders' lawyers have argued).

Despite receiving nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money via "Operation Warp Speed", the drugmaker is planning to charge as much as $37 for a single dose, or up to $60 for two courses, of its experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. That's far and away the highest price point disclosed yet.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/moderna-neglected-disclose-pentagons-financial-support-applications-more-100-patents

FFS DARPA/Pentagon give 1 Bil moar to Israel

Dad Takes Over Council Meeting to Call Out Child Predator Cop For Grooming His Daughter

Hohenwald Police Captain and Lewis County Commissioner Earl Taylor, a career officer and grandfather, was called out at a County Commission board meeting by an angry parent. Shane Blackwood addressed the county commission in March of this year claiming he was there to talk about “garbage.” That “garbage” involved calling out an alleged pedophile cop for attempted grooming of his daughter.

In a riveting five minute speech, Mr. Blackwood said his worst fears had come true. He said “the right thing to do as a father” was to come forward with allegations Captain Taylor had sent inappropriate text messages to his daughter.

Blackwood explained his daughter was forced by her local high school to obtain community service credits in order to graduate and promptly volunteered to serve the city, and the county “to try and get the hours to graduate”. Her quest for community service hours led her to volunteer as a ride-along with Captain Taylor in the Hohenwald PD while she was still in school.

The angry parent said that encounter led to a series of text messages which one might say were flirtatious in nature which were intercepted by other adults who were in her presence. It was explained to Blackwood’s daughter that Captain Taylor was a “creeper” and to ignore the messages.

Although none of the messages were explicit in nature it was clear to the parents involved the police officer was grooming his daughter for other reasons. After asking Blackwood’s daughter if she wanted him to ride with her around town he texted the teen:

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/watch-dad-calls-out-top-cop-at-town-hall-meeting-for-grooming-his-daughter/

Tanks Move Into Minsk As Police Hold Back Massive Protest At Gates Of Lukashenko Residence

Defying a security services crackdown, tens of thousands of protesters demanding that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko step down engulfed the center of Minsk once again.

This time on the occasion of the now 66-year old leader's birthday on Sunday, tens of thousands were seen marching on the presidential residence.

Riot police, armored vehicles, and even tanks were seen defending Lukashenko's residence. Military tanks and personnel carriers were seen pouring into the area, based on activist footage on the ground.

Multiple correspondents observing the protests said tanks were en route to protect the residence.

Specifically Belarusian military BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles were spotted rolling down highways, making their way toward Independence Palace.

In some cases, plain clothes officers were spotted arresting protesters, after rolling protests and nation-wide strikes have paralyzed parts of the country, especially the capital, since the Aug.9 disputed reelection of Lukashenko to a sixth term, which the opposition and people in the streets have denounced as "rigged".

Meanwhile, citing external threats from NATO countries, Lukashenko has reportedly put up to half the army in 'combat readiness' mode, Reuters reports Sunday.

“(NATO) have launched exercises right by our borders. What am I supposed to do? I also rolled out some divisions, put half the army into combat preparedness mode. That’s not cheap,” Lukashenko announced.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/tanks-filmed-moving-minsk-huge-protest-gates-lukashenko-residence

Scottish Hate Crime Bill: Atheists Plan to Target Christians for ‘Spreading Hate’

A leading atheist in Scotland has hailed the SNP’s proposed Hate Crime Bill as an opportunity to target Christians for prosecution.

The left-separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) administration’s proposed Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill is set to criminalise speech that is “likely” to “stir up hatred” against supposedly marginalised groups. As written the law would not require police or prosecutors to demonstrate malicious intent behind the statements.

In light of the sweeping new powers to police speech, the convener of Atheists Scotland, Ian Stewart wrote in the Dundee newspaper The Courier: “Atheists see some merit in Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf’s Hate Crime Bill, as it will enable the prosecution of all Scotland’s religions and their Holy Books for spreading hatred.”

“It is utterly unacceptable that in progressive, social democratic Scotland that squalid, Bronze Age village disputes, as described in the Holy Books, about control of women, goats or water should give Scotland’s ‘Holy Willies‘ authority to spout out vitriol against atheists, agnostics, apostates, sceptics, non-believers, women, trans people and homosexuals,” he declared.

Stewart said that his group intends to “monitor all Holy Books, sermons in places of worship and the social media accounts of the various religions” and will report any supposed offenders to Police Scotland to be criminally prosecuted.

Scottish Justice Secretary Complains of 'Racist' Backlash After Saying Whites Have Too Many Top Jobs https://t.co/D4YNIwIQSL

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 5, 2020

In response to the atheist’s letter, the Deputy Director for Public Affairs at The Christian Institute, Simon Calvert, said that the loose language of the Hate Crime Bill “will give politically-motivated complainants like Mr Stewart a powerful weapon against their ideological opponents.”

“The threshold of the proposed offences is so low that Mr Stewart might well be able to persuade a police officer that certain unfashionable Bible verses or sermons are ‘hate crimes’. Does the Scottish Government really want to expose church ministers to the risk of prosecution at the instigation of anti-religious zealots?” Calvert questioned.

A former Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, Reverend David Robertson, said that Stewart’s threatening letter “illustrates perfectly” why more limitations on freedom of speech should not be codified into law.

Robertson said that in his letter, Stewart is “in effect, saying that we should all be closed down unless we accept his authoritarian morality,” adding that the athiest “regards any disagreements with any of his fundamental beliefs as self-evident ‘hate’.”

Not-So-Free Speech: Street Preacher Fined for Quoting the Bible, Told to Use Alternative Verse http://t.co/ZwbXa8U6TK pic.twitter.com/R8Uc46X3JL

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 27, 2015

In July, a group of Roman Catholic bishops warned that the Hate Crime Bill could criminalise tenants of their faith such as the “belief that sex and gender are not fluid and changeable”.

They went on to warn that the provision in the bill that prohibits the possession of offensive content could even criminalise the possession of the Bible.

“Allowing for respectful debate means avoiding censorship and accepting the divergent views and multitude of arguments inhabiting society,” said Anthony Horan, the Director of the Catholic parliamentary office.

Mr Bean Defends Free Speech: Rowan Atkinson Denounces Scottish Hate Crime Bill https://t.co/j0yvjEIGZN

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 12, 2020

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/08/30/scotland-atheists-to-target-christians-for-spreading-hate-under-proposed-hate-crime-bill/

British Library Boss Claims ‘Racism Is a Creation of White People’, Demands ‘Decolonisation’

The chief librarian of the British Library said “racism is a creation of white people” while pushing for “decolonisation” of the Library as Black Lives Matter activists continue their long march through British institutions.

Liz Jolly, the chief librarian, is backing a so-called “Anti-Racism Project” to develop and deliver “major cultural change” within the taxpayer-funded institution in order to reflect the “diversity” of modern Britain.

In a video recording obtained by The Telegraph, Jolly said called for white staff members to join in on the leftist purge, saying: “I think, as I have said before, that we need to make sure some white colleagues are involved because racism is a creation of white people.”

The Library has created a “Decolonising Working Group” that has encouraged staff members to support the radical Black Lives Matter movement and to read Marxist literature.

In the effort to “decolonise” the British Library, an internal report demanded that statues honouring the founders of the library be removed, including Sir Hans Sloane.

They also called for the bust of Sir Joseph Banks, a British botanist and co-founder of the Library, to be removed, and that even the statue of King George III should be reviewed for possible removal.

Exclusive Video: BLM Activist Says White Men Are ‘The Common Enemy’, ‘We Need to Get Rid of Them’ https://t.co/jdp2Cz3e85

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 21, 2020

The group said that “colour blindness” is, in fact, a manifestation “covert white supremacy”, and that the Library building itself is a symbol of imperialism because it looks like a battleship.

“This glorification is hard to miss in the structure of the building itself, designed as it is in the form of a battleship, by far the greatest symbol of British imperialism,” the report claimed.

The report went on to call for removing “Eurocentric” maps and to review its collection of classical music, deemed to represent an “outdated notion” of Western civilization, saying that busts commemorating Beethoven and Mendelssohn are indicative of “Western civilizational supremacy”.

British Museum Removes Bust of Founder Sir Hans Sloane From Pedestal After BLM Pressure https://t.co/8ED0fIk2ba

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 26, 2020

The Decolonising Working Group also called for every empty hall in the library to be devoted to the cause of so-called “anti-racism”.

They went on to say that the Library is tainted by its links to the “ongoing settler-colonisation of Palestine” by Jewish people.

London Assembly member Peter Whittle responded to the report by saying: “This is utterly chilling and [its] importance cannot be overstated. The British Library is the very spine of British Culture. It is being systematically attacked from within by the people who lead it. They hate our history and call Western civilization ‘outdated’.”

“They should resign,” Whittle said.

Iranian Australian columnist Rita Panahi added: “How can the British Library chief be so pig-ignorant? ‘Racism is a creation of white people’?! Say that in Asia or the Middle East and they’ll laugh at you.”

Conservative Pary MP Ben Bradley said that “there is something fundamentally wrong with the leadership of the British Library.”

“If the Chief Librarian is so unhappy with British history perhaps they should not be in that job,” he said.

“The very suggestion that racism only applies in one direction, by white people towards BAME people, is categorically false, inflammatory and divisive,” Bradley concluded.

The British Library is the largest library in the world by the number of objects housed, which is estimated to be around 200 million. The collection includes two copies of the Magna Carta, the 1215 charter that laid the groundwork for many liberal rights enshrined in throughout Western countries, notably the American Constitution.

The British Library Urged White Staff to Support BLM and Diane Abbott https://t.co/mQfiiwdAHl

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 25, 2020

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/08/30/british-library-chief-claims-racism-is-a-creation-of-white-people-pushes-for-decolonisation/

State to use entire H-3 Freeway to facilitate COVID-19 testing next week

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - State and city authorities are planning a full closure of the H-3 Freeway next week to help facilitate surge COVID-19 testing efforts on Oahu, the Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

The multi-agency effort will involve the closure of the freeway in both directions from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1 and Thursday, Sept 3, officials say.

Testing stations will be set up inside the Harano Tunnel, in both directions of traffic, to maximize the number of individuals who can be tested.

Once individuals have been tested, they’ll be required to continue on to either end of the H-3 before using alternate Koolau routes, if necessary, to continue in transit.

“This surge testing will help us flatten the curve once more,” said Gov. David Ige. “We’re all working together for the health and safety of our whole community. Use of the H-3 will provide space to allow as many people as possible to be tested.”

The drive to use the H-3 as a testing site is part of a new mass COVID-19 testing initiative that was announced earlier this week in conjunction with U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams and the federal government.

Caldwell said 4,800 people were tested as part of the surge testing program on Wednesday alone ― but state and federal officials acknowledged that the increased testing numbers were likely to cause a spike in the number of positive cases reported in Hawaii.

The use of the freeway also appears to be a response to traffic issues that plagued some test sites on Wednesday; people with appointments to get tested at Kaneohe District Park were turned away for a period of time on Wednesday morning, and lines to get into the sit at Leeward Community College stretched for miles.

“Testing on the H-3 is a historic, first ever endeavor that will make a significant difference in getting more people tested,” said Mayor Caldwell. “This will be made possible by all of our Federal, State, and County teams working together to make sure traffic in and out of these sites can flow smoothly.”

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/08/27/state-use-entire-h-freeway-covid-testing-site-next-week/

12 Human Smuggling Stash Houses Busted near Texas Border in 10 Days

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted 12 human smuggling stash house operations during a ten-day period ending August 27. The raids on the stash houses led to the arrest of 229 migrants.

Officials report the last incident of this series of raids occurred on August 27 when Laredo South Station Border Patrol agents and Laredo Police Department officers began surveillance on a suspected human smuggling stash house on Juarez Avenue in the city of Laredo, Texas. While watching the house, a Laredo police officer observed a person sneaking through a hole in the fence to gain access to the house. The officers detained the man and Border Patrol agents conducted an immigration interview, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.

The agents determined the intercepted man to be a Mexican national illegally present in the U.S. They arrested the man for an immigration violation.

The LPD officers then conducted a welfare check on the residence located in a well-known human smuggling area of the city.

After making entry into the home, Border Patrol agents found 20 people packed into the home. “None were wearing any personal protective equipment,” Laredo Sector officials said in a written statement. The agents conducted immigration interviews and identified all 20 as illegal aliens from Mexico and Guatemala. The agents took all 20 into custody pending further investigation.

Laredo Sector Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak stated, “Over the past ten days, Laredo Sector agents and our partners have encountered and arrested 229 aliens in 12 stash houses within the City of Laredo. As the number of illegal aliens testing positive for COVID-19 increases, these stash houses represent an increasingly significant threat to our agents, to public health, and to our health care system and our health care professionals.”

Breitbart Texas’ Jaeson Jones reported that more than 160 cartel-connected human smuggling stash houses have been busted by Border Patrol agents in South Texas since the beginning of the current fiscal year in October 2019.

Jones reported:

Human smuggling networks routinely treat migrants as a commodity. As seen in this video posted on August 12th, 2020 by Commissioner Morgan where you get to see a video recorded by a smuggler having no concern for human beings in terrible conditions.

Human smugglers often commit the crimes of human trafficking as well. As migrants are being smuggled it is common for smugglers to take advantage of them through force, fraud, and coercion. The smugglers also subject migrants to forced sex, labor, and indentured servitude. These crimes are routinely discussed by Commission Mark Morgan at his monthly meetings with the press from the Reagan building in Washington.

Breitbart Texas regularly reports on a case-by-case basis about the efforts by Border Patrol agents along with state and local law enforcement officers to disrupt and shut down these cartel-connected human smuggling operations carried out on U.S. soil.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/08/29/12-human-smuggling-stash-houses-busted-near-texas-border-in-10-days/

China Has Arrested 5,800 People For Alleged ‘Virus-Related’ Crimes Including Killing Health Workers And Selling Defective Equipment

The Chinese government is cracking down on what it claims are crimes linked to the coronavirus, which originated in the country late last year.

The Agence France-Presse reported that nearly 5,800 people have been arrested in the country for “epidemic-related crimes since January.”

“One case involved a shopper who beat another customer to death for not wearing a mask in a supermarket,” the outlet reported. “Other cases included a person who deliberately mowed down medical workers with a car, and another was arrested for stabbing a health inspector with a dagger when monitoring temperatures. Some have also been accused of embezzling money collected from fundraisers to help coronavirus patients, selling defective medical equipment and lying about their travel history or health condition.”

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate released a statement Friday announcing that from “January to July, 5,797 people were arrested and 6,755 were prosecuted,” the AFP reported, noting that the statement did not say how many people were still detained or how many had been sentenced.

The AFP then praised China’s efforts to control the coronavirus:

China has largely brought the spread of the novel coronavirus under control — since it first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December 2019 — with strict lockdowns, aggressive contact tracing and close monitoring of neighbourhoods.

The country has also deployed a range of smartphone apps to track the whereabouts of people to quickly identify possible cases.

Wearing a mask is mandatory in supermarkets, cinemas or on public transport, and many choose to wear one while outdoors as well, as a safeguard against the virus.

China has not reported any locally transmitted infections in recent days.

http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/08/china-has-arrested-5800-people-for.html

‘I Plead With You, Back Off’: California Church Fined Thousands For Meeting In-Person And Singing

The pastor of a Baptist church in California begged state officials earlier this week to back off enforcing lockdowns on churches after his congregation received a $10,000 fine for holding two services last Sunday.

Senior Pastor Jack Trieber of North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, California, explained his church’s predicament and pleaded with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom to relent his shutdown order in a Facebook video that has racked up millions of views since having been posted earlier this week.

The church was fined $5,000 for holding a morning service and $5,000 for an evening service, according to local Fox affiliate KTVU.

The church was also issued a citation for singing during their worship services, according to a statement given to The Christian Post, which reported:

The four-page letter posted on the front door of the church accused North Valley Baptist of “failing to prevent those attending, performing and speaking at North Valley Baptist’s services from singing.” In the letter, county officials revealed they had been sending agents into the church to spy on the congregation during worship services.

“This activity is unlawful,” the notice stated. “The county understands that singing is an intimate and meaningful component of religious worship. However, public health experts have also determined that singing together in close proximity and without face coverings transmits virus particles further in the air than breathing or speaking quietly.”

The county demanded that North Valley Baptist “immediately cease” their activities, warning that “failure to do so will result in enforcement action by the county.”

In the Facebook video, Trieber explained how the church at first complied with the state’s lockdown orders, which were supposed to have lasted for two weeks, but they have struggled as the lockdowns have dragged out. “We have tried to obey authority,” he said. “After 11 weeks of that, we have still continued—24 weeks—to keep it all closed, but after 11 weeks, we went back into the auditorium temporarily.”

Explaining how he preached to an empty sanctuary because they wanted “to err on the side of safety,” Trieber said they have come to the point where they have learned that their community “is not a hot spot.”

Conceding his respect for the state’s health officials, Trieber said, “But I’m in charge of the spiritual health of the people in this city and in this area. I’ve been trying to do it for 45 years. Though health is [of the] utmost importance, spiritual health is supreme. Because we’ve been locked out in this county of churches, suicide is up, domestic violence, addiction is up, homelessness is up, alcoholism is up. We need to get back to worshiping God. I am commanded to worship God.”

“I plead with you, back off,” he continued. “Open up the spiritual environment of this valley immediately because we’re going to see chaos. I’m not threatening that we’re going to create chaos … but I am willing to take a stand.”

“Yes, let’s be safe. Let’s be careful. But this area needs the church,” he added.

North Valley Baptist Church is among several California churches that have defied the state government’s orders against in-person assembly. Grace Community Church in Los Angeles has been wrangling in Los Angeles courts after Pastor John MacArthur and the church elders announced last month that they would be assembling despite the governor’s order.

Citing Christ and the Bible as the ultimate authority over his congregation, MacArthur wrote in the lengthy blog post replete with scripture that “we cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands.”

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2020/08/i-plead-with-you-back-off-california.html

More than 1,200 students test positive for coronavirus at the University of Alabama: Professors are urged NOT to tell classes if fellow members have been infected amid huge outbreak

The University of Alabama has had more than 1,200 students and 166 employees and staffers test positive for coronavirus as of Saturday, while professors have revealed they were instructed not to tell students about outbreaks among their classmates.

Since launching a coronavirus tracking dashboard - which is similar in style to those used by state health departments - on August 24, UA students' positive virus test results have more than doubled.

In just three days, between August 25 and August 27, UA has reported 481 new coronavirus cases among students and school staff and employees.

But emails reviewed by the Daily Beast showed that at least some of the school's professors received instructions telling them that they were not allowed to tell students in their classes if one of their fellow co-eds tested positive for coronavirus.

According to those emails, the professors were told that revealing students had coronavirus could be a HIPAA violation, even if discussing it in general terms, and that students who tested positive weren't being considered an exposure risk if masks were worn and social distancing was followed.

The coronavirus tracking dashboard includes positive testing results from the three schools under the University of Alabama System: UA, located in Tuscaloosa; the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The Daily Beast reported that the dashboard was the result of students and faculty lobbying for more transparency about specific numbers of positive coronavirus infections on campus, but the school told the news outlet that the dashboard had always been in the works.

According to a Friday press release issued by the UA System, 'At this point, no COVID-positive students at UA, UAB or UAH are hospitalized and there is a high overall vacancy rate (70+%) in UA System isolation spaces.'

http://www.madnesshub.com/2020/08/more-than-1200-students-test-positive.html

Father of man killed in Seattle's CHOP sues the city, county and state for $3BILLION for allowing protesters to create a 'hazardous and lawless situation'

The father of a teenager shot dead in Seattle within a 'autonomous' protest zone that formed inside the city is seeking $3 billion in damages from the state and local government, accusing them of permitting 'a state of lawlessness'.

Horace Lorenzo Anderson, 19, was shot and killed in the early hours of June 20 within the Capitol Hill protest zone known as CHOP, Capitol Hill Organized Protest.

Marcel Levon Long has been charged with his murder, but has not been arrested.

Long was allegedly seen on surveillance video approaching Anderson and pulling out a gun. He is then seen then chasing Anderson, who ran away, and appears to shoot him.

Ambulances were unable to reach Anderson as Seattle police said they could not clear the area. Anderson was brought to the hospital by volunteer medics.

His father, Horace Lorenzo Anderson Sr, filed a suit this week against the city of Seattle, King County and the state of Washington.

The claim states the three governments are to blame for creating a 'hazardous, and lawless situation' that resulted in Anderson's killing.

'This case warrants punitive or exemplary damages in order to punish the City of Seattle, County of King, the State of Washington and their agents for their outrageous conduct that allowed lawlessness to reign,' said Evan M. Oshan, Anderson's attorney, in a statement obtained by The Center Square.

'Such failure to protect citizens must not be allowed to happen again.'

http://www.madnesshub.com/2020/08/father-of-man-killed-in-seattles-chop.html

UAE And Israel Plan To Create Intelligence Bases On Yemen’s Socotra Island

Israel and the United Arab Emirates are going to create a military intelligence-gathering infrastructure on Yemen’s Socotra Island, according to Arab and French sources

The 3,650km^2 island, located south of the Yemeni mainland in the Indian Ocean, overlooks the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The straight is a sea route chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. Most exports of oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf that transit the Suez Canal or the SUMED Pipeline pass through both the Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz.

Since the start of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, the UAE, formally a Saudi ally, and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a Yemeni separatist movement that is formally allied with the Saudi-backed government in Aden, have established control over most of Socotra Island. For years, the UAE has been seeking to annex the island due to its strategic location. The collapse of the Yemeni statehood due to the years-long instability and the foreign intervention paved a way for more direct actions. The creation of a military infrastructure there is a logical step in this strategy.

According to reports, a delegation of Israeli and UAE officers recently visited the island and examined several locations for establishing the planned intelligence facilities. Earlier in August, the UAE and Israel with assistance from the United States reached a historical peace agreement relaunching diplomatic, economic and even military cooperation between the states on the highest level. The security and military cooperation in the Bab al-Mandab Strait was among the expected goals.

Arab and Iranian media allege that in 2016 Israel started building an intelligence-gathering base at the top of Mount Ambassaira, south of the Eritrean capital of Asmara. The base, according to reports, is designed to monitor the conflict in Yemen, as well as the naval situation in the region, including movements of Iranian naval forces.

The UAE, thanks to its support to the Southern Transitional Council, has already changed the balance of power in southern Yemen to its favor. If, additionally to this, Abu Dhabi succeeds in turning the Socotra Island into its outpost, the UAE will have all chances to shift the balance of power to its own favor even further.

The Emirati leadership has been slowly but steadily taking an upper hand in the diplomatic, military and economic competition with the Saudi Kingdom, which has so far suffered most of negative consequences, including direct strikes on its territory, from the conflict with Yemen’s Houthis. The peace agreement and security, military cooperation with Israel will also contribute to this scenario.

The tactical UAE-Israeli-US alliance has all chances to compete with the expanding Iranian influence in the region. Saudi Arabia, which for years was the key US ally against Iran, has been left outside of this plan. And this is very bad news for the Kingdom, which is passing through a deep economic and political crisis complicated by the barely successful invasion of Yemen.

https://southfront.org/uae-israel-plan-to-create-intelligence-bases-on-socotra-island/

A major police operation in Western Australia has uncovered a suspected sex ring – involving more than 140 underage victims.

A major police operation in Western Australia has uncovered a suspected sex ring – involving more than 140 underage victims.

As @_KelHaywood reports 11 people were arrested – after a series of raids. #9News pic.twitter.com/RDfYRZdRYl

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/wa-police-arrest-18-alleged-members-of-paedophile-ring-ng-cb54a13414a5c35fa4ace4485def20e9

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/a-major-police-operation-in-western-australia-has-uncovered-a-suspected-sex-ring-involving-more-than-140-underage-victims/

WA Police arrest 18 alleged members of Perth ‘paedophile ring’

Police have busted an alleged paedophile ring operating across Perth which is accused of targeting more than 100 young girls on social media.

The alleged predator ring is accused of attempting to groom up to 140 teenage girls, some as young as 13, through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

It was uncovered through months of covert surveillance from detectives attached to a task force dubbed Operation Timing Belt, which began in April.

Police have charged the 18 men – aged 18 to 41 – with 214 offences and will allege 23 of their victims were subjected to sexual abuse.

Four of the men arrested had previous convictions for child sex offences.

The charges include 79 sexual offences, and a series of drug, trespass and animal cruelty allegations.

Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Matt Daly said the men allegedly contacted the girls with the goal to “ultimately engage in sexual contact with them”.

“The majority of offences are non-physical communication via popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and via mobile phones,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Brad Royce said the arrests should act as a warning for parents and for offenders.

“These are adult men, for the most part, that aren’t much older (than the girls),” he said.

“But they’re old enough to know better.”

On eve of 1st UAE flight, PM claims Palestinians can’t ‘veto’ Israel-Arab peace

Visiting Jerusalem before heading to Emirates with US and Israeli delegations, Jared Kushner says Trump is ‘writing a script for a new Middle East’

Israel’s normalization of ties with the United Arab Emirates will pave the way for treaties with more Arab countries since it has removed the “Palestinian veto” on peace between the Jewish state and the Arab world, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, as he hosted senior American officials who brokered the historic deal between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi.

Netanyahu spoke Sunday during a press conference alongside US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner and US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, a day before a US-Israeli delegation including Kushner is set to take the first-ever Israeli commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi to put the Israeli-UAE normalization deal into practice.

Kushner echoed the assertion that other Arab and Muslim states would make peace with Israel and said that Trump, his father-in-law, was “writing a script for a new Middle East.”

The August 13 Israel-UAE diplomatic breakthrough “will pave the way for other countries to normalize their ties with Israel,” Netanyahu said. “I think for too long the Palestinians have had a veto on peace. Not only between Israel and the Palestinians but between Israel and the Arab world.”

“If we have to wait for the Palestinians, we would have to wait forever. No longer,” he said. The Palestinians, when they realize that their veto has dissipated, “will be hard pressed to remain outside the community of peace,” he added.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/on-eve-of-1st-uae-flight-pm-claims-palestinians-cant-veto-israel-arab-peace/

Battle over COVID-19 school openings goes to the courts

Teachers unions are waging court fights across the country aimed at unwinding what they say are unsafe and politically motivated timetables for reopening schools that risk exposing personnel to the coronavirus pandemic.

State officials eager to ramp up brick-and-mortar operations are facing lawsuits from Florida to Texas to Iowa over reopening plans as well as access to the COVID-19 infection data needed to monitor the rate of spread within school communities.

At the same time, lawsuits are flying from the opposition direction: Parents in several states, including New York, Massachusetts and Oregon, dissatisfied with web-based teaching alternatives, are suing to force state officials to reopen physical schools sooner as courts are increasingly called upon to referee the fight over education in the age of coronavirus.

“A legal storm is brewing as safety and social distancing requirements for a physical return to school begin to take shape around the country,” Maria Ferguson, executive director of the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University, wrote on the education website The 74.

As millions of students prepare for the first day of school — whether in-person, remote or a hybrid of the two — the fight over the reopening physical school buildings is likely to intensify.

The debate over in-person K-12 instruction planning is inseparably tied to the issues of child care needs and parents’ ability to return to the workforce to help revive the struggling economy, all of which is playing out against the backdrop of a fast-approaching November election in a country that has seen nearly 6 million cases and more than 181,000 deaths from COVID-19.

Perhaps the highest-profile legal battle is taking place in the courts of Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off last month on an emergency order over school reopenings.

Under the order, most Florida school districts would be required to hold in-person classes five days a week by the end of August or risk losing funding. President Trump, who counts DeSantis as a close ally, has also threatened to cut off federal funding for schools if they do not resume in-person learning this fall.

The Florida policy prompted a lawsuit from the Florida Education Association (FEA), a statewide teachers union, and several other plaintiffs in favor of a more cautious return to in-person teaching.

“Public schools are not designed for COVID safety, and indeed, the government has recognized that they are high-contact environments,” said Kendall Coffey, the lead plaintiff’s attorney in the Florida case, who likened prematurely opened schools to “disease factories” and called the Florida policy “financial bullying.”

“There are any number of issues, in terms of hallway sizes, the flow of students in and out of classrooms, ventilation, even how many students go into the bathroom,” he told The Hill. “There are many elements that are virtually impossible to guarantee when you're dealing with children in large amounts.”

On Aug. 24, a Florida judge ruled in favor of the union and temporarily halted the statewide order. In his decision, Judge Charles Dodson struck down the order’s unconstitutional provisions and blasted DeSantis for having “essentially ignored” the state's constitutional requirement that schools be operated safely.

“The districts have no meaningful alternative,” wrote Dodson, of Leon County. “If an individual school district chooses safety, that is, delaying the start of schools until it individually determines it is safe to do so for its county, it risks losing state funding, even though every student is being taught.”

A Florida appeals court agreed to temporarily halt Judge Dodson’s order from taking effect while DeSantis appeals.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/514196-battle-over-covid-19-school-openings-goes-to-the-courts

Breonna Taylor case: Kentucky AG receives 'critical' FBI ballistics report as family hopes for swift end to investigation

Family attorney Benjamin Crump accused police of delaying the investigation

The Kentucky attorney general announced on Sunday that his office has now obtained the FBI ballistics report for the shooting of Breonna Taylor.

Both Attorney General Daniel Cameron and attorney Benjamin Crump – representing the Taylor family, as well as the families of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Jacob Blake in separate cases – appeared on the CBS program "Face the Nation" on Sunday morning. Cameron has led the investigation into the shooting of Breonna Taylor, who was shot eight times in her own home, allegedly after plainclothes officers busted in with a no-knock warrant.

"Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan interviewed Cameron on a range of topics, but when the conversation shifted to why he has yet to bring any charges against the officers involved in the incident, he announced that he had recently received the ballistics report of the incident. He described the report as important to the investigation, but quickly clarified that it was not the “be-all, end-all.”

"There is still additional analysis that must take place, and our office does not plan to make an announcement this week," Cameron said. "We continue to work diligently to follow the facts and complete the investigation."

He revealed that he will meet with the FBI in the coming days to review the report, and he continually stressed that he wanted to conduct a thorough investigation, leaving “no stone unturned” in determining the full series of events.

When Brennan asked what Cameron expected to learn from the report, he declined to make any further statement.

However, Crump praised the development as “welcome news,” stating that police had repeatedly claimed the ballistics report was the final piece needed to wrap up the investigation. He also said a swift end to the investigation is what the community “desperately needs to heal.”

https://www.foxnews.com/us/breonna-taylor-ballistics-report-family-hopeful-swift-investigation

South Korea Seizes Personal Info from Thousands of Americans in Coronavirus Probe

Korean coronavirus investigation leaks could threaten religious liberty in US

The South Korean government has seized the personal information of thousands of U.S. citizens as part of its investigation into a controversial Christian group in the country, alarming religious freedom advocates.

The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a religious group that counts more than 300,000 followers worldwide, has come under intense scrutiny after South Korean authorities traced the country's first large-scale coronavirus outbreak to its services in February. Authorities, who are pursuing murder charges against the group's leader, collected the personal information of U.S.-based Shincheonji practitioners, including passport numbers and addresses, after seizing a list of all its followers. The data seizure has alarmed American practitioners of the faith, particularly after public leaks of that data led to death threats against believers.

"There is a genuine sense of fear that there will be a lot of repercussions, you know, socially, and also professionally," Michelle Lee, an American Shincheonji practitioner, told the Washington Free Beacon. "In South Korea, the list of congregation and congregant's information has been leaked and people have been receiving death threats, messages, calls, verbal assaults in person."

The South Korean government did not return request for comment.

The Shincheonji controversy has alarmed U.S. officials and religious freedom experts, some of whom have expressed concerns that Seoul is using the pandemic as an opportunity to crack down on a religious group that is widely disparaged as a cult. The issue also serves as a case study of what happens when well-intentioned pandemic policy ends up infringing on religious freedom.

The same dispute is playing out in the United States, though religious leaders have avoided the intense scrutiny South Korea has directed at Shincheonji. Some U.S. politicians have cracked down on religious rituals more harshly than other types of gatherings. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, for example, singled out an in-person Jewish funeral procession on Twitter as "absolutely unacceptable," but endorsed jam-packed Black Lives Matter protests. Churches in Wisconsin and California have filed lawsuits challenging restrictions on worship that have not been applied to protests or commercial activities.

Public antagonism is nothing new for the Korean sect, which was founded in 1984. Shincheonji has attracted heated criticism from more mainline churches, which accuse the group of isolating believers from family members and society. Critics often point to the group’s mandatory Bible boot camps for new recruits, as well as the church’s controversial teaching that ascribes a messianic role to its founder, Lee Man-hee.

https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/south-korea-seizes-personal-info-from-thousands-of-americans-in-coronavirus-probe/

New research suggests asymptomatic COVID-19 spread is comparatively rare

Asymptomatic cases are "least likely to infect their close contacts," study finds.

New research out of China suggests that the level of asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 may be less of a threat than is currently widely believed, findings that could influence mitigation measures such as social distancing rules and mask mandates.

Much of the rationale for the coronavirus lockdown policies and countermeasures undertaken by governments across the world over the past several months has been based on the assumption that the virus spreads easily among people showing no symptoms. Scientists have feared that many individuals may transmit the disease via saliva droplets without feeling ill or showing any outward signs of infection, rendering containment of the virus much more difficult.

Medical authorities across the world have since late last year been scrambling to determine just how prevalent asymptomatic spread of the virus truly is. Research into that question is as still sparse but ongoing.

Asymptomatic cases "not the major drivers" of pandemic, scientists claim

Earlier this month, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine announced findings that asymptomatic patients were, in both relative and absolute terms, unlikely to infect close contacts.

The researchers, based largely out of Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, tracked the level of "secondary attack rate" among COVID-19 patients of varying degrees of infection. A secondary attack rate is the level at which a disease is transmitted among close contacts in familiar settings.

"Patients with more clinically severe disease were more likely to infect their close contacts than were less severe index cases," the researchers found; they added that "asymptomatic cases were least likely to infect their close contacts."

The scientists said they discovered that "the risk for transmission via public transportation or healthcare settings was low," particularly in comparison to household settings. One explanation they advanced was that "mask wearing to prevent infection was mandatory in public settings but not in households during the study period."

Overall, the paper claims, "patients with COVID-19 who had more severe symptoms had a higher transmission capacity, whereas transmission capacity from asymptomatic cases was limited."

"This supports the view of the World Health Organization that asymptomatic cases were not the major drivers of the overall epidemic dynamics," the researchers added, citing a February WHO report which asserted that asymptomatic spread "does not appear to be a major driver of transmission."

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/new-research-casts-further-doubt-prevalence-asymptomatic-covid-19

Finance Ministry budget chief quits, furious with Katz's behavior

Finance Ministry Head of the Budget Department submits a three-page resignation letter, ending a turbulent relationship with the minister who accused him of undermining him.

Head of the Finance Ministry’s Budget Department Shaul Meridor resigned on Sunday evening, claiming performing his duties became “impossible” under Finance Minister Israel Katz.

"To my regret, you don't allow me and other public servants in other wings of the ministry to do what we know how to do," he wrote to Katz. He added that under the minister, decisions are taken under the "influence of narrow interests [groups], without reasons… the message to the business sector, citizens of this country and to the world is that all principles are broken. All limits and boundaries, as well as [moral] values [are] crushed under foot.

"I have never seen such behavior," he wrote.

"I can no longer be a part of the system and offer legitimacy to a series of wrong decisions," he wrote, warning that the people of Israel will pay “heavily” for these alleged wrong decisions "for years to come."

Meridor further blamed Katz of "creating fictional [data] sources to offer extra budgets," and operating outside his own ministry's decision-making process.

President Reuven Rivlin expressed his "deep regret" over the resignation and said he is deeply worried because of the "harsh step [Meridor] took and what it means."

He called Meridor "a first rate professional and one of the most devoted public servants I had the privilege to work with in the last few years." Rivlin said that "now more than ever, Israel needs a professional and powerful public service branch."

Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Meridor knew "how to see the people via the numbers and knew how to work with numbers for the benefit of [Israel's] citizens."

He called his "departure" a sad event and said he is "positive [Meridor] will benefit the nation's economy greatly."

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that the resignation is "not a road sign warning of danger but a real-time alarm."

The opposition leader said that "Israel's economy became a disaster zone" and compared the way things are being run to the Yom Kippur War, referring to the IDF and government leadership at the time being sure no Arab country will try to attack Israel after the Six Day War, resulting in their ignoring early signs of battle.

Katz called the resignation "a proper and clear step," claiming that Meridor "began to operate in a blunt and public manner against the government policy" because of alleged "narrow political considerations."

The finance minister claimed that he had "given a lot of support to the professional officials in the Finance [Ministry]" including Meridor.

He intends to "soon propose a worthy and professional replacement" for Meridor's position.

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/head-of-budget-department-in-finance-ministry-resigns-640493

Biden’s Chances Rest on a John Podesta-Planned Military Coup, Ballot Harvesting, Police Shootings, and a False Flag

Our early August prognosis published by SCF on August 23rd, that Joe Biden would not concede the election even if Trump wins, was confirmed by Hillary Clinton herself on August 25th .

This piece will follow up on the strategy involved in that piece, and develop these in light of John Podesta’s election war-game and the situation in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In the Kenosha situation, we have armed groups on both sides, creating a volatile situation in what increasingly looks like a pre-civil war scenario. All together, we can now see the following is evident:

Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential bid now depends on a combination of a.) severe social media and search engine censorship of book-burning proportions, b.) signs from the military that they will back Biden (per John Podesta ) on the heels of c.) an inconclusive election (mailed-out blank ballots), and d.) (the Soros wing of) BLM’s ability engage in rioting and to pose as Trump-like supporters (QAnon and adjacent, such as ‘Save The Children’) in order to e.) conduct a dangerous or illegal public stunt (false flag).

Trump’s deep campaign has revolved around Christian, Gnostic, and New Age themes, which (with regard to the latter two) intersect themes of spirituality previously in the domain of the coastal left. These will form the substrate of a focus on this election being a contest of Good vs. Evil, of Light vs. Dark, of the champions of children against sexual predators, as well as anti-war and anti-vax themes; wherein ‘war mongers’ like ‘Hillary Clinton’, alleged child abusers like ‘John Podesta’, and regulatory capturers of healthcare like ‘Bill Gates’, serve as anthropomorphic reifications of unadulterated evil.

This is a novel phenomenon, and does not represent pre-Trump Republican tropes and organizing issues. Mainstream Republican tropes were represented at the RNC convention, and work to establish a continuity – even if ill fitted – between traditional conservatism (previously opposed to Trump) and Trump’s hardcore base.

More

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/30/bidens-chances-rest-on-john-podesta-planned-military-coup-ballot-harvesting-police-shootings-false-flag/

Incredible: Dem Operative Reveals How He Fixed Mail-In Ballots Over Decades

A man described by the New York Post as “a top Democratic operative” and a “Bernie Sanders supporter” told the newspaper he had been submitting thousands of fraudulent mail-in ballots over the last several decades. The anonymous operative was checked out by the Post and is a real person who has worked on many campaigns in the northeast.

It’s not impossible that this “Democratic operative” is simply trolling his political opponents and may be a real operative but is trying to make a point about the gullibility of the opposition. But Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation who manages the foundation’s election law reform initiative, says, “There is nothing new about these techniques. Everything he’s talking about is perfectly possible.“

The man requested anonymity out of fear of being prosecuted.

His dirty work has taken him through the weeds of municipal and federal elections in Paterson, Atlantic City, Camden, Newark, Hoboken and Hudson County and his fingerprints can be found in local legislative, mayoral and congressional races across the Garden State. Some of the biggest names and highest office holders in New Jersey have benefited from his tricks, according to campaign records The Post reviewed.

“An election that is swayed by 500 votes, 1,000 votes — it can make a difference,” the tipster said. “It could be enough to flip states.”

Despite assurances from Democrats and election “experts,” it’s apparently ridiculously easy to submit hundreds, perhaps thousands of fraudulent ballots.

The Rise and Fail of Vote-by-Mail

It starts with getting a blank ballot.

The ballot has no specific security features — like a stamp or a watermark — so the insider said he would just make his own ballots.

“I just put [the ballot] through the copy machine and it comes out the same way,” the insider said.

Election security officials will say that the ballot isn’t enough. There are safeguards on the return envelope that can’t be duplicated.

Oh, really?

But the return envelopes are “more secure than the ballot. You could never recreate the envelope,” he said. So they had to be collected from real voters.

He would have his operatives fan out, going house-to-house, convincing voters to let them mail completed ballots on their behalf as a public service. The fraudster and his minions would then take the sealed envelopes home and hold them over boiling water.

“You have to steam it to loosen the glue,” said the insider.

He then would remove the real ballot, place the counterfeit ballot inside the signed certificate, and reseal the envelope.

But go ahead and listen to Democrats who tell you how secure your ballot is.

This is virtually undiscoverable, which is why we constantly hear “there’s no evidence of mail-in ballot fraud” in elections. There’s no evidence because the fraudsters don’t leave any.

Apparently, the operative and his crew get an assist from postal workers.

“You have a postman who is a rabid anti-Trump guy and he’s working in Bedminster or some Republican stronghold … He can take those [filled-out] ballots, and knowing 95% are going to a Republican, he can just throw those in the garbage.”

In some cases, mail carriers were members of his “work crew,” and would sift ballots from the mail and hand them over to the operative.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/08/30/incredible-dem-operative-reveals-how-he-fixed-mail-in-ballots-over-decades-n865350

CDC Finds Only 6% Of Coronavirus Deaths Are Solely From COVID-19

As the COVID-19 Pandemic continues, the death toll continues to rise, especially in the United States, where more than 180,000 people have died since it began. However, a new figure released by the Centers for Disease Control has created a stir, especially after it was retweeted by the President.

The CDC updated the provisional counts on deaths that have occurred from COVID-19 on Aug. 26, and in the section on comorbidities, they revealed that only 6% of the deaths were caused by just the virus. That information has been seized on by those who believe the total deaths and the severity of the pandemic have been greatly exaggerated as an effort to undermine the President during an election year.

However, others also quickly pointed out that the number was under the comorbidities section, meaning that 94% of those deaths that were related to COVID were in those who also suffered from comorbidities—the same groups that were considered high risk when the pandemic first took hold.

As a result, they took to social media with replies of their own.

Among the comorbidities that also contributed to the high death toll were hypertensive disease, diabetes, vascular and unspecific dementia, cardiac arrest and heart failure.

The pandemic and the way it has been handled has become a sticking point in the U.S., as it is politicized ahead of the presidential election. Specifically, many have taken issue with mask mandates around the country, debating how effective they actually are at curbing the spread.

The new criticism on the death toll also comes after the CDC changed its guidelines on exactly who needs to quarantine and when, with a 14-day period no longer required for international travelers, or from state-to-state.

However, while the guideline has changed, local governments can still impose restrictions.

https://www.ibtimes.com/cdc-finds-only-6-coronavirus-deaths-are-solely-covid-19-3037136

Huawei Reportedly Focuses on Its Cloud Computing Business to 'Secure Survival' Amid US Crackdown

The Chinese tech giant's two other major branches, its smartphone division and telecom equipment production, have recently been losing their market positions due to the global crackdown campaign against the company initiated by US President Donald Trump.

China's Huawei has shifted its focus to one of its subsidiary businesses to "secure survival", specifically the cloud computing division, Financial Times reported, citing anonymous sources within the industry.

Huawei's cloud computing business, which involves lending out computer power, storage, and even access to AI-like technologies to other companies, is far from being on top in the domestic market, but recently received a boost in development. According to the newspaper, the Chinese government supplies the company with cloud contracts and the tech giant itself has redirected its resources to the business in order to solidify its position on the market.

Cloud Business Still Packed With US Chips

The Chinese tech giant shifted its focus to the cloud services branch because, unlike the smartphone and telecom equipment divisions, it has not been affected by Washington's bans on the sale of US tech to Huawei, FT reported. While the quality of chips in smartphones and equipment for carriers and ISPs has reportedly decreased, the company's systems running cloud operations can still receive chips from makers such as Intel.

"The quality of the chips in it may not be as good as before, but for the other products that are not impacted, we will offer something with a little better quality, and the customers can accept it", a source involved in Huawei's cloud business told FT.

According to several anonymous semiconductor industry executives cited by the newspaper, numerous companies in the field managed to get licenses from the US government to deliver chips to Huawei's cloud computing division before the latest May and August bans came into effect. Since the bans are not retroactive, these companies, including Intel, can continue their dealings with the Chinese tech company.

The supply of these chips, along with efforts to conquer the market - which had previously not been focused on, is Huawei's strategy to stay afloat while it deals with the consequences of the US crackdown campaign that started in 2019 with the White House prohibiting national carriers from using the Chinese giant's equipment. Following this step, Washington also banned American software and hardware companies from supplying Huawei with US-made technologies without a special licence from the Department of Commerce. The US also tried to apply the law extraterritorially, demanding that foreign firms using American technologies in their products also stop selling these products to Huawei.

Both Huawei and the Chinese government have condemned the US efforts, vowing to challenge its policies in court. The tech company has also announced that it will be undertaking efforts to switch its operations to non-American hardware and software to mitigate the effects of the ban.

https://sputniknews.com/business/202008301080319868-huawei-reportedly-focuses-on-its-cloud-computing-business-to-secure-survival-amid-us-crackdown/