Prime Minister on Queensland border block: 'I'll follow the rules like everyone else'

The prime minister says he shouldn't be "treated differently" from everybody else as Queensland blocks him from entering from New South Wales – unless he quarantines for 14 days.

Scott Morrison won't be allowed to campaign locally for the Liberal-National party's candidate, Deb Frecklington, ahead of the Queensland election on October 31 under Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's tough border rules.

But the prime minister appeared unphased this morning, telling Today there shouldn't be any "double standards".

"I don't think I should be treated differently to anybody else," Mr Morrison said.

"There has been a lot of discussion about some of the hardship that people have gone through terribly in relation to how this border operates, and the same rules should apply to me as anyone else.

"Those rules should be fair, they should be sensible, and they should be compassionate too, I think.

"I'll follow the rules like everyone else, even if those rules from time to time seem a bit hard to work out."

He stopped short of confirming whether he would travel across the border and into mandatory hotel quarantine before the election.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-scott-morrison-says-he-should-be-treated-the-same-as-everybody-under-queensland-border-rules-election/3c8d69d7-2742-4545-810f-e4479c4ce9cd

Interesting how the PM bows to the Jewish state leader

China responds furiously to consul being named in Australian foreign interference investigation

The Chinese Government has condemned allegations that Beijing tried to infiltrate Australian politics as a "malicious smear and slander," after the ABC revealed police warrants connected China's Sydney Consulate to the alleged plot.

Key points:

China's Foreign Ministry said it is "strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed" to allegations Beijing was involved in a plot to infiltrate NSW Parliament

A Chinese Consul to Sydney, Sun Yantao, has been named in an Australian Federal Police warrant as part of an investigation into the alleged plot

The Federal Government has indicated investigators are focused on pursuing Australian citizens

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded to a question about the revelations with 90 seconds of stony silence before accusing Australians with "Cold War" mindsets of peddling lies.

The ABC revealed on Tuesday night that a Chinese Consul to Sydney, Sun Yantao, was named in an Australian Federal Police (AFP) warrant, in an investigation into an alleged plot to infiltrate the New South Wales Labor Party.

The search warrants were served on NSW policy adviser and Chinese-Australian community leader John Zhisen Zhang in June as part of police raids targeting the 62-year-old and his boss, state Upper House MP Shaoquett Moselmane.

Mr Wang told the media conference China was "strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed" to the allegations which were "stigmatising normal operations of China's diplomatic missions."

"Some people in Australia are bent on hyping up anti-China sentiments and trying to grab headlines by smearing China and attacking China," he said.

"They have gone to great extremes to poison China-Australia relations.

"We hope that these people discard their Cold War mindsets and ideological prejudice and stop politicising and stigmatising the normal operations of China's diplomatic missions."

The AFP and spy agency ASIO are investigating whether John Zhang was part of a group of foreign agents who encouraged and helped Mr Moselmane to champion Chinese Government interests within the NSW Labor Party and to voters.

The warrants named Consul Sun Yantao among at least seven other people whose communications with Mr Zhang were suspected by the AFP to contain evidence of the alleged plot.

Mr Sun is responsible for coordinating relations with the Chinese diaspora, pro-Beijing organisations and China's foreign influence agency, the United Front Work Department.

The Federal Government sought to dampen the fallout from the explosive revelations, with Trade Minister Simon Birmingham indicating the investigation was not focused on prosecuting Chinese officials.

"My understanding is that investigations that might be under way relate very much to potential foreign interference activities by publicised figures who have been identified in the media, who are Australians," Mr Birmingham told ABC News.

Fears for Australians in China

Former diplomat and senior Defence official Allan Behm told the ABC he feared China's recent crackdown on Australian journalists in China would be expanded in response to the revelations.

"The Australian Government needs to act right now," said Mr Behm, who was a foreign policy adviser to the former federal Labor government.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-17/china-responds-with-fury-to-foreign-interference-investigation/12671412

>>10674565 Kansas Man Indicted on Federal Child Pornography Charges

>>10674707

Netflix increases prices for basic and standard plans in Australia

That Netflix subscription of yours is going to start costing more from today. Australians are about to feel the burn.

Netflix will increase its prices in Australia from today.

The streaming platform is jacking up its basic plan from $9.99 to $10.99 while its standard plan will go up from $13.99 to $15.99.

The price for the premium plan remains unchanged at $19.99.

The price rises on the basic and standard plans are the first for Netflix since June 2017, when costs went up partly to cover the cost of the Australian Government’s tax changes which included charging GST on digital products.

New Netflix members will see the changes from today while existing members will see it roll out in the next few weeks, depending on where they are in their billing cycle.

A basic plan entitles a customer to one simultaneous stream and standard definition picture quality while a standard plan includes two simultaneous streams, high definition picture quality and two devices on to which content can be downloaded.

A premium plan includes four simultaneous streams, four download devices and ultra high definition (4K) quality.

A Netflix spokesperson said: “We know Australians have never had more choices when it comes to entertainment, and we’re more committed than ever to delivering an experience that exceeds their expectations.

“Members tell us how much they value the breadth and variety of the catalogue, and we’re updating our prices so that we can continue to invest in more shows and films.

“As always, there will be different plans so that people can pick a price that works for their budget.”

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/streaming/netflix-increases-prices-for-basic-and-standard-plans-in-australia/news-story/a55c1c70905abe7393f3c13e6bd4ac53

WARNING this may cause you to fall off your chair

Strzok: History Will See Me as a Patriot Defending America Against a Russian Attack on Our Elections

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok said on Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Live,” that history would see him and all the government agents that worked on the counterintelligence investigation into possible links between the Russian government and Trump campaign officials as “patriots.”

Tur asked, “25 years from now, how does history see you?”

Strzok said, “I think it sees all of us as patriots who were working as hard as we could to defend America against a Russian threat, against a Russian attack on our elections that helped elect the 45th president of the United States.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/09/16/strzok-history-will-see-me-as-a-patriot-defending-america-against-a-russian-attack-on-our-elections/

Secretary Pompeo: Trump’s ‘Peace Agenda’ Successes Happening Outside ‘Multilateral Institutions’

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Breitbart News exclusively that part of how President Donald Trump and his administration have achieved many of the foreign policy successes the past few years has been by working outside various “multilateral institutions” that are often bogged down by bureaucracy and inaction.

Pompeo’s interview took place on the tarmac in his cabin on the U.S. Air Force jet that transported Pompeo, the U.S. delegation, and press, to the intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha, Qatar, and then on to Cyprus. The first part of Pompeo’s interview laid out the U.S. vision for peace in Afghanistan after four decades of war—including 19 years where the U.S. has been at war there since the 9/11 terrorist attacks—as Pompeo held bilateral meetings between both the Afghan government and Taliban delegations in Qatari-hosted peace talks in Doha. The second part focused on drawing parallels between those Afghan peace talks and the deals signed this week at the White House between Israel and Bahrain and Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for total normalization of relations. In that second piece, Pompeo makes the case that President Trump’s peace through strength—particularly “economic strength”—agenda, and specifically his recognition of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the primary conductor of chaos and instability in the region, enabled all of these Middle East regional peace successes.

This third and final part of Pompeo’s exclusive interview with Breitbart News focused on connecting the dots to the broader international foreign policy of the Trump administration and how that “peace agenda” extends beyond the Middle East into Europe in places like Kosovo-Serbia and Cyprus, as well as in Asia around the Pacific Rim. In sum, both legs of the trip—the intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha, as well as the discussions on the ground here in Cyprus—represent a window of sorts into a future where the Trump administration sees a better world with more peace and more stability, almost a next step beyond the latest steps rolled out this week at the White House.

“We are–and I would add Asia to that mix as well,” Pompeo told Breitbart News when asked about how the agenda of peace from Trump spreads beyond the Middle East to Europe and a broader worldwide vision.

Pompeo said that while the Trump administration is “often critiqued for” withdrawing from “multilateral institutions,” it is precisely because of that—and because of the focus on using America’s strength in bilateral negotiations to more nimbly push the president’s vision for the world—that the president and the administration are having these successes. Pompeo said Trump has strengthened U.S. involvement in some, like NATO, and withdrawn the U.S. where it does make sense for the national interest in places like the Iran deal or the Paris climate accord.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/16/exclusive-secretary-pompeo-trumps-peace-agenda-successes-happening-outside-multilateral-institutions/

Chris Rock Slams Pelosi For 'Letting The Pandemic Come In' During Impeachment Charade

Comedian Chris Rock slammed Democratic lawmakers for focusing on impeachment while the pandemic was rapidly spreading throughout Asia

"It was totally up to Pelosi and the Democrats. Their thing was, ‘We’re going to get him impeached,’ which was never going to happen. You let the pandemic come in. Yes, we can blame Trump, but he’s really the 5-year-old," the New York comedian told the New York Times in a wide-ranging interview.

In fact, as Breitbart's David Ng notes, "Democrat leaders showed little to no public interest in the coronavirus pandemic during its early months. In January, when the gravity of the virus was becoming apparent, Congressional Democrats staged a photo-op in which they solemnly walked the articles of impeachment through the Capitol rotunda."

Later that month, Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) infamously tore up a copy of President Trump’s State of the Union address on live television, even though the address directly referenced the pandemic and promised that the White House “will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat.” -Breitbart

Rock also picked apart President Trump, comparing him to the child ruler in The Last Emperor.

"Did you ever see that movie The Last Emperor, where like a 5-year-old is the emperor of China? There’s a kid and he’s the king. So I’m like, it’s all the Democrats’ fault. Because you knew that the emperor was 5 years old. And when the emperor’s 5 years old, they only lead in theory. There’s usually an adult who’s like, ‘OK, this is what we’re really going to do," he said.

The comedian also opined on Blackface and political correctness - suggesting that he's forced into answering lest he risk becoming outcast by Hollywood:

"If I say they are, then I’m the worst guy in the world. There’s literally one answer that ends my whole career," said Rock, adding: "Blackface ain’t cool, OK? That’s my quote. Blackface is bad. Who needs it? It’s so sad, we live in a world now where you have to say, I am so against cancer. “I just assumed you liked cancer.” No, no, no, I am so against it. You have to state so many obvious things you’re against."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chris-rock-slams-pelosi-letting-pandemic-come-during-impeachment-charade

Foreigners Dump Record $54BN In Corporate Debt As Japan Treasury Holdings Surge To All Time High

Foreigners resumed selling long-term US Treasuries in July, offloading $22.8 billion (after buying $28.9BN in June), in yet another spending spree led by foreign official institutions, i.e. central banks, SWFs and reserve managers, who sold $20.7 billion in July (as well as another $2.1 billion in private holdings), bringing their selling to 22 of the past 23 months.

Additionally:

Foreign net buying of equities eased to $16 billion in July, from $28.5 billion in June

Foreign net buying of agency debt also dipped to $34.4 billion from at $38 billion

But the big surprise was the puke in foreign holdings of corporate debt, which plunged by a record $54.3 billion in July, the biggest monthly drop on record, following June's more modest drop of $16.6 billion.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/foreigners-dump-record-54bn-corporate-debt-japan-treasury-holdings-surge-all-time-high

>>10674480

We've got a new meme farmer!

Good work

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