Charlie Ward Camelot interview

Says at 38 mins that Trumps Vaccine is HCQ

Chairman Dan's Great Wall of Misery: Checkpoints, number-plate technology and police stationed in holiday towns will ensure Melburnians don't escape their city prison - as the lockdown lasts longer than Wuhan's

Daniel Andrews has set up a so-called 'ring of steel' around Melbourne to stop residents heading to regional Victoria where coronavirus restrictions have been finally relaxed.

Although there are no actual fences, police will use checkpoints at major highways, automatic number plate recognition and extra patrols at bus and train stations to catch city dwellers trying to escape strict lockdown.

Five million Melbourne residents, who are stuck in one of the world's longest lockdowns, will be slapped with a $4,957 fine for breaching public health rules if they dare to leave.

The isolation of Australia's second biggest city is similar to the lockdown of Wuhan, the Chinese metropolis of nine million where coronavirus was identified late last year.

Wuhan was shut down on 23 January as all flights, trains and buses in and out were cancelled and steel fences were set up outside apartment buildings to keep residents in their homes.

The lockdown was lifted in April after 11 weeks, four weeks fewer than Melbourne's shutdown is due to last.

It comes as Victoria recorded only 28 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday - its lowest daily total since 24 June.

Officers say they will check cars with caravans and fishing rods as well as increase patrols at camp sites and national parks to catch any city residents who have escaped.

There will also be increased checks at popular holiday destinations such as the Mornington Peninsula where many well-heeled Melburnians have second homes.

On Wednesday major checkpoints were set up on the Princes Freeway at Little River heading to Geelong and the Calder Freeway near Sunbury on the way to Bendigo.

Premier Andrews is desperate to stop coronavirus spreading from Melbourne to the regions, which have suffered significantly fewer case numbers and were removed from lockdown on Wednesday night.

He said: 'Whether you want to call it a ring of steel or a border or whatever the term, the key aim is very simple: only those who have to go to regional Victoria and have a lawful reason to go to regional Victoria can go to regional Victoria.

'We've got to be inflexible on this.'

He added: 'The police are not mucking about. If you are from Melbourne and you are in regional Victoria and do not have an appropriate excuse, you will be fined.

'Victorians have given a lot but we need to guard the low numbers in regional Victoria.

'Anyone who thinks they might take a punt on heading to regional Victoria and not getting caught, I think your odds are very poor.'

http://www.womensystems.com/2020/09/chairman-dans-great-wall-of-misery.html

Moderna Publishes COVID-19 Vaccine Trial "Blueprint" To Quiet Concerns About Rushed Approval

With the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine study still paused in the US, reports about a sickened patient in the UK have undermined credibility with the public at an extremely delicate time. Vaccine maker are trying to achieve emergency regulatory approval, then produce hundreds of millions of doses, all by mid-next year, at the latest.

In reality, nobody can say for certain how long it will take for a vaccine to be widely. But in the meantime, companies like Moderna, which has seen its share price explode this year after taking nearly $1 billion in US taxpayer money (though that hasn't stopped it from considering a price per dose at the upper end of the range), are doing everything they can to build back that trust.

So Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, consulted an outside expert, who recommended that the company be more "transparent to the point of discomfort."

In keeping with that mantra, the company has released a 130+ page status report on its Stage 3 trials.

“If what you want to do is see the protocol - here,” Dr. Zaks said.

Moderna hopes competitors like Pfizer, which is developing a vaccine candidate in a joint project with Germany's BioNTech, will adopt a similarly "transparent" approach. The company announced earlier this week that it's trials have been running swimmingly.

The release of the company's vaccine trial protocols coincided with a call to investors on Thursday.

Not all the feedback was positive. One independent research quoted by the NYT said Moderna risks exaggerating the vaccine's effectiveness with how it processes the data.

Dr. Eric Topol, a clinical trial expert at Scripps Research in San Diego, gave the company “big kudos” for sharing the information, but said that he was disappointed by some of the details. For example, the company intends to include in its data people who developed relatively mild cases of Covid-19. Dr. Topol said more compelling evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness would be produced if the company counted only moderate to severe cases.

In addition, the protocol allows for the possibility of stopping the trial early after a relatively small number of cases. Stopping early could lead to an exaggerated perception of the vaccine’s efficacy, and could also miss safety problems that could turn out to be significant later if the vaccine is given to millions and millions of people.

“Take the time, the extra weeks,” Dr. Topol said. “No shortcuts. Nobody will regret it. I’ve been doing clinical trials for decades. I don’t know if there’s ever been a more important one than this one. I’d like to see it done right, and not stopped early.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/moderna-publishes-covid-19-vaccine-trial-blueprint-quiet-concerns-about-rushed

Regarding Possible ICC Investigation into Alleged Israeli War Crimes, Canadians Reject Double Standard for Israel

Amid growing controversy over a possible International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Israel, newly published results from a survey conducted by EKOS Research Associates show that Canadians do not want Israel to be treated differently than other countries when it comes to consequences for alleged war crimes or human rights violations. The survey found that Canadians support an ICC investigation of any country accused of war crimes, including Israel, and they do not want Canada to overlook Israel’s human rights violations. The survey further found that Canadians do not support recognizing Jerusalem as exclusively Israel’s capital.

The survey was co-sponsored by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel (UNJPPI). All survey results, charts, and the report entitled “No Double Standards: Canadians Expect Greater Impartiality vis-à-vis Israel” can be accessed at www.cjpme.org/survey2020 or www.ijvcanada.org/survey2020 or https://unjppi.org/survey-2020-part-2.html.

Survey Reveals Many Jewish Canadians Critical of Israel

The results show that a strong majority of Canadians want the ICC to investigate war crimes wherever they occur, including those committed by Israel. 84% of Canadians would support an investigation of Israeli officials. Further, only one-third of Canadians think that Canada should consider stepping in if it is opposed to an investigation.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/regarding-possible-icc-investigation-into-alleged-israeli-war-crimes-canadians-reject-double-standard-for-israel/5724055

'Politics Over Public Safety': County Refused ICE Requests To Detain Nearly 1,000 Criminal Illegal Aliens

Fairfax County, Virginia, refused more than 900 requests from federal immigration authorities to detain criminal illegal aliens in the area over a two-year period, according to an investigation by a conservative immigration group.

The county received a total of 929 detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but only 14 requests were fulfilled in the form of warrants, according to the Immigration Reform Law Institute.

Ninety-eight percent of the detainer requests were denied by Fairfax County officials from May 2018 to May 2020, the group found.

“There is nothing unacceptable about any detainer that seeks to remove criminals from our neighborhoods,” senior fellow at Immigration Reform Law Institute and former acting director of ICE Tom Homan said in a statement.

“There is nothing unacceptable about law enforcement working hand in hand with other law enforcement to protect our communities and keep our streets safer.

“What is unacceptable is when a law enforcement leader chooses politics over public safety and fails to protect the communities he is sworn to protect,” Homan said.

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid terminated the county’s service agreement with ICE in May 2018, ending the practice of holding illegal aliens suspected in criminal acts past their release date without a court-ordered detainer, according to a news release from the office.

The law enforcement official called the decision “expedient” for her department.

Fairfax County in June 2020 issued an order that forbids local officers from complying with ICE warrants and prohibits deportation authorities from accessing county buildings, according to The Washington Times.

“Officers may not participate in, or facilitate, the enforcement of federal civil statutes (i.e. immigration laws),” the order read.

http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2020/09/politics-over-public-safety-county.html

Trump Nominates Telecom Exec with 5G Background for FCC

American opposition to 5G is about more than biological (see 1, 2) and environmental risks and consequences (see 1, 2, 3). Federal agencies and other experts warn that it threatens national security, public safety and weather forecasting accuracy (see 1, 2, 3). Also predicted: massive job loss.

5G warnings have become so prominent that they have been featured in Dilbert comic strips. Cities worldwide AND entire countries have taken action to ban, delay, halt, and limit 5G installation AS WELL AS issue moratoriums.

In 2019, telecom executives gave congressional testimony that they had NO scientific evidence that 5G is safe AND there already IS research confirming that it is NOT safe. Regardless, last month Trump reintroduced his proposal to have a national 5G plan. After scrapping his re-nomination of a controversial veteran FCC commissioner, he has nominated another telecom guy who just happened to specialize in 5G security which some experts say simply isn’t possible.

From Fierce Wireless:

Trump picks former Brightstar exec for FCC commissioner seat

President Trump plans to nominate Nathan Simington, currently a senior advisor in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), to the FCC, the White House announced on Tuesday. The nomination must be confirmed in the Senate.

Simington served as senior counsel to Brightstar Corporation from June 2017 until June 2020, when he joined the NTIA as senior advisor. At NTIA, he works on spectrum allocation, 5G security and internet freedom issues, the latter of which timely correlates to his nomination to the FCC.

Trump had nominated current FCC Republican Commissioner Michael O’Rielly for another term on the FCC, but abruptly withdrew that in August, presumably after O’Rielly gave a speech where he expressed concerns about regulating social media content.

Read full article

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is supposed to protect Americans by regulating the telecom industry. They have a long history of catering to the industry instead. Current chairman, Ajit Pai, refers to this approach as being “not heavy handed” and the agency has become more reckless during the Trump administration (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

Despite research proving harm, they refuse to update 24-year old federal RF radiation exposure guidelines. Lawsuits have been filed against the agency for NOT protecting Americans from unsafe levels of radiation as well as 5G deployment on land (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and in space.

In addition to filing lawsuits, municipal governments have passed resolutions to ban deployment until studies prove it’s safe (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and ordinances to limit and/or control installation. State representatives in Hawaii and Illinois have introduced 5G bills to protect constituents. Congress members have also confronted the agency regarding safety issues.

Since 2018, there have been reports of people and becoming sick after 5G was installed (see 1, 2, 3, 4). Of course exposure to other sources of wireless radiation can also cause symptoms and illnesses. In fact, last year the World Health Organization warned that high levels of Electromagnetic Fields (aka “Electrosmog”) – including wireless radiation – could lead to health issues in 30% of the population.

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/09/trump-nominates-telecom-exec-with-5g-background-for-fcc.html

PAINE: Dr. Fauci, Bill & Melinda Gates, CDC’s Redfield & Big Pharma Execs Should Take Rushed COVID Vaccine FIRST to See if It’s Safe

If the rushed COVID-19 vaccine is so safe, as touted by the millionaires and billionaires and doctors who will profit wildly from it — THEY should take it first. They should be the proverbial canaries in this Big Pharma coal mine, as suggested on the Thomas Paine Podcast. Listen Above.

Then when a vaccine is proven safe, perhaps other Americans can line up. But the people cashing in on this should pony up and get shot up with the vaccine first. Simple.

“Call on these career liars to take the vaccine first,” Paine said. “And watch it all fall apart.” Listen to full podcast above.

Fauci, Bill & Melinda Gates, CDC’s Redfield & Big Pharma Execs Should Take Rushed COVID Vaccine FIRST to See if It’s Safe https://t.co/1PNvqMfhA5 pic.twitter.com/r0Q2UA1IDi

— Thomas Paine (@Thomas1774Paine) September 17, 2020

https://truepundit.com/paine-dr-fauci-bill-melinda-gates-cdcs-redfield-big-pharma-execs-should-take-rushed-covid-vaccine-first-to-see-if-its-safe/

Meadows disputes CDC director's vaccine timeline

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Thursday joined President Trump in pushing back against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield’s comments on a timeline for a possible coronavirus vaccine, saying Redfield was not clued into what those “closest to the process” know about vaccine distribution.

Meadows was asked on “Fox & Friends” about Trump’s comments Wednesday disputing Redfield’s congressional testimony that a vaccine would not be available to the general American public until mid-2021.

Trump told reporters that Redfield made a “mistake” and was “confused” by questions from lawmakers, insisting that a vaccine would be available to the public “immediately” once it is deemed viable.

“If I were a betting man, I would bet on President Trump,” Meadows told the hosts. “Based on what I know behind the scenes, how quickly we are moving on the clinical trials, I think that we will at least have some results in October and as we start to look at those results, I can tell you the president is pushing very hard to make sure that we’re delivering a vaccine before the end of the year.”

“I’m not sure where Dr. Redfield got his particular timetable, but it is not based on those that are closest to the process,” Meadows continued.

The CDC was among the parties who authored reports to Congress and states laying out vaccine distribution plans that were unveiled on Wednesday.

In a later conversation with reporters, Meadows again disputed Redfield’s testimony on the timeline, saying that pharmaceutical companies, not the CDC, are developing vaccines and that the White House is working with multiple agencies within the federal government beyond CDC to plan for their deployment and distribution.

Meadows told reporters that the Trump administration is aiming to have 100 million vials ready for distribution to vulnerable populations, namely the elderly, by the end of October and upward of 300 million doses ready sometime in January.

“We believe that we can get the vast majority of those at risk with a distribution model that would be available at the end of October,” Meadows told reporters.

Meadows also said that he wasn’t implying that Redfield wasn’t part of the vaccine process, but that the CDC director is "not closest to the decision making as it relates to the clinical 3 trials and the distribution thereof."

Trump’s comments on Wednesday represented the latest example of the president breaking with top health officials.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/516855-meadows-disputes-cdc-directors-vaccine-timeline

Senate Dems Announce $350 Billion Plan to Counter China

Bill aims to boost US industries and reduce reliance on China

US-China relations are rapidly souring by the day and, new legislation from Senate Democrats shows the anti-China sentiment is not just coming from one side of the aisle. The new bill, announced on Thursday, will provide $350 billion to counter Beijing.

The plan is mostly focused on building up science and technology industries in the US to make the country less reliant on China’s supply chains. The bill will allocate up to $300 billion over four years to boost US research and development in science and technology. Another $16 billion will be invested into the US semiconductor industry, an area where the US fears foreign competition.

The legislation would also require the Pentagon to purchase equipment from “friendly nations” rather than China. The bill includes $125 million in military spending for the Indo-Pacific, an area where the Pentagon has requested an extra $20.1 billion from Congress to counter Beijing.

The bill is also part of an effort to punish Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. It would require the president and treasury secretary to identify individuals involved in those alleged abuses, which would result in targeted sanctions.

The legislation, called the America LEADS Act of 2020, is led by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ). Senator Schumer said the legislation “Counteracts the Chinese Communist Party’s predatory trade practices and aggressive military behavior, reinvigorates our alliances and turns the tables by making essential investments in our workers, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers.”

Senate Republicans introduced their own sweeping legislation aimed at Beijing back in July. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday morning, Senator James Risch (R-ID) said he hopes the Democrat’s new bill could be combined with the Republican version.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/09/17/senate-dems-announce-350-billion-plan-to-counter-china/

Netanyahu warns ‘there may be no choice’ but to tighten lockdown

PM defends 3-week closure set to begin Friday afternoon, says government ‘made every effort to balance between the health considerations and economic needs’

Prime Minister Netanyahu defends the three-week lockdown set to take effect tomorrow.

“The lockdown is important, it’s necessary and in this lockdown we’ll stand together,” he says in a televised statement from his official residence.

Netanyahu says a new plan to address the economic fallout caused by the lockdown measures will be discussed later this evening.

He touts the government’s initial handling of the pandemic and says other countries besides Israel, which has one of the highest daily infection rates per capita in the world, are also reintroducing restricitons.

“We made every effort to balance the health considerations and economic needs,” he says.

The premier says due to current infection rates, “there may be no choice” but to tighten the lockdown and vows he won’t hesitate to do so if needed.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-september-17-2020/

Over 200 Former Military Officers Endorse Trump, Warn Biden Would Usher In Socialist Ideology

More than 200 former military officers backed President Donald Trump in a letter warning that 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden would usher in socialist and Marxist influences on American government.

“It can be argued that this is the most important election since our country was founded,” the 235 retired military officers wrote in the open letter, which was released Monday by the Trump campaign, according to Military.com.

“With the Democratic Party welcoming to socialists and Marxists, our historic way of life is at stake,” the officers wrote.

The letter continued: “We believe that President Donald Trump is committed to a strong America. As president, he will continue to secure our borders, defeat our adversaries, and restore law and order domestically.”

The letter is signed by at least one Medal of Honor recipient, retired Marine Maj. Gen. Jim Livingston, eight four-star generals or admirals and 42 three-star generals or admirals, according to the military outlet.

The letter’s release follows a widely circulated Sept. 3 story from The Atlantic which reported that Trump called fallen soldiers “losers” and “suckers.” The story cited four anonymous sources with “firsthand knowledge” of the comments.

Multiple former and current members of the Trump administration who were on the trip in which Trump allegedly made the remarks have denied the story, according to NBC News.

Trump also denied the report himself, according to The New York Times, saying: “If people really exist that would have said that, they’re lowlifes and they’re liars. And I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more.”

He added, “What animal would say such a thing?”

http://www.womensystems.com/2020/09/over-200-former-military-officers.html

Hero in Paris train terror attack makes competitive bid for Democrat-held Oregon House seat

Skarlatos has backing from top Washington Republicans like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sens. Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz

Alex Skarlatos, the Army National Guard veteran who helped stop a 2015 terror attack on a Paris-bound train, is now taking on the challenge of trying to unseat long-time Oregon Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio.

DeFazio has held the seat in the state’s 4th congressional district for 33 years, but the race, just weeks before Election Day, shows signs of being competitive.

The 27-year-old Skarlatos has effectively matched DeFazio in fundraising numbers – $ 1.3 million to $1.7 million, according to the most recent federal filings. And in the 2016 presidential race, Democrat Hillary Clinton barely defeated President Trump in the district, which suggests a similar number of Republican and Democratic voters.

“So in this way, Skarlatos is running in a district where he at least has a chance, but going against an incumbent is an uphill battle," Oregon State University political science professor Christopher Stout recently told local ABC News affiliate KEZI-9.

Skarlatos also has exceptional name recognition for a first-time candidate, having played himself in the 2018 Clint Eastwood film “The 15:17 to Paris.”

The film depicts the attempted attack on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train in which Skarlatos and three others overpowered an armed terrorist. Skarlatos, who as a guardsman was deployed in Afghanistan, was also a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars.”

Skarlatos recently told FoxNation that his rural district has suffered economically since the timber industry went away and that “the incumbent Democrat is not doing anything to help us.”

Amid months of violent protests led by liberal-leaning groups in Portland that have destroyed businesses and government property, and have been connected to at least one fatal shooting, Skarlatos has tried to portray DeFazio as a moderate turned progressive.

“I’m running for Congress because it's time we have someone who will stand with southern Oregon – the loggers, veterans, moms, dads and families trying to make ends meet,” says Skarlatos, who has endorsement from top Washington Republicans including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sens. Tom Cotton, Arkansas, and Ted Cruz, Texas.

The DeFazio campaign rejects the argument that the candidate has moved to the left and supports the defunding of police departments, as many of those leading protests against police brutality have demanded.

“Congressman Peter DeFazio is as Independent as Oregon,” the campaign told KEZI-9. “He’s taken on Wall Street, big drug companies, and special interests – to stand up for working people and expand affordable healthcare. DeFazio has always fought to tip the scales back in favor of hard-working Oregonians.”

https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/hero-paris-train-terror-attack-makes-competitive-bid-democrat-held-oregon-house-seat

House GOP leader says he trusts Trump over CDC director on vaccine timing

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he trusts President Trump’s comments on a timeline for the release of a coronavirus vaccine over Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield.

“We're going to have a safe and effective vaccine this year, and listen to the preparation of what we've been able to do with Operation Warp Speed, to be able to deliver it. When that time comes, if I just take the words of the CDC and the president, the president's right,” McCarthy said during a press briefing on Thursday.

“I think one of those two individuals had more information than the other, and that was the president," he added.

Trump at a Wednesday evening press briefing said Redfield was incorrect when he said a vaccine for COVID-19 would likely not be available until "the second or third quarter of 2021," remarks the CDC director made in testimony to Congress.

Redfield's estimate tracks with the outlines provided by other health experts, but Trump said a vaccine could be widely available by this fall. Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Wednesday said Trump lacked credibility in terms of the timing of a vaccine because Trump appears to want one out speedily to help with his reelection. The Trump campaign has criticized Biden for fearmongering.

McCarthy said that after speaking with other experts including Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser to the Trump administration's vaccine development program, and pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 vaccines, he believes Trump’s timeline is more accurate.

He told reporters that Redfield likely “needs to be updated” on the latest information.

"So what you should do is actually ask the question, to Dr. [Moncef] Slaoui who's in charge of it, who is the adviser to what's happening, who's working every single day with the eight companies that are building the vaccine,” McCarthy said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/516896-house-gop-leader-says-he-trusts-trump-over-cdc-director-on-vaccine-timing

Judicial Watch: Obama State Department Official Notes Russians’ Trolling of Joe Biden on Hunter Biden Corruption Allegations

Calls Burisma ‘the Gift that Keeps on Giving’

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it received three pages of records from the State Department that include a January 17, 2017, email from George Kent, the Obama administration’s deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Ukraine policy, which was copied to then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, highlighting Russia-linked media “trolling” Joe Biden over “his son’s business.”

The records were obtained by Judicial Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in January 2020 seeking records of communications from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv mentioning Burisma (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:20-cv-00229)). (The records had been separately released to Citizens United.)

An email was sent four days prior to the inauguration of President Donald Trump to a redacted recipient and CCd to Yovanovitch with the subject line “medvedchuk-linked vesti trolls Biden.” Kent writes: “Burisma – gift that keeps on giving. (With medvedchuk affiliated Vesti pushing the troll like storyline on visit day)”

Hunter Biden, son of then-Vice President Joe Biden, served on the board of directorsfor Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings despite having no previous experience in the energy industry.

Kent includes a “Review of Ukrainian Printed Press,” that includes the Ukrainian newspaper Vesti, which described Biden’s visit to Ukraine, saying: “Will J. Biden arrive to secure his son’s business? According to experts, J. Biden, as the unofficial curator of ‘the Ukrainian question’, will give P. Poroshenko recommendations about working with the new US administration. Another aspect is the protection of his own business interests.”

On January 17, 2017, Biden was on his sixth visit in seven years to Ukraine. When Biden visited Ukraine in 2015, he threatened to withhold $1 billion if the country’s top prosecutor was not dismissed. Hunter Biden was under investigation by the later-fired prosecutor general.

Kent and Yovanovitch were both star witnesses for Democrats in the Trump impeachment hearings. Kent testified he warned the Obama administration about Hunter Biden’s work with Burisma: “My concern was that there was the possibility of a perception of a conflict of interest.” Kent answered the questions of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL):

CASTOR: OK, but you know Hunter Biden’s role in Burisma’s board of directors. At some point you testified in your deposition that you expressed some concern to the Vice President’s Office. Is that correct?

KENT: That is correct.

CASTOR: And what did they do about that concern that you expressed?

KENT: I have no idea. I reported my concern to the Office of the Vice President.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/russians-trolling-joe-biden/

CA Dem Wrongfully Claimed $1 Million Second Home as Primary Residence in 2019

California Dem made up to $200,000 on lucrative rental property he claimed as his residence

Rep. T.J. Cox (D., Calif.) wrongfully claimed—under penalty of perjury—that his second home in Maryland was a primary residence when selling the property, documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.

Cox bought the Bethesda, Md., home for $1.05 million in 2016 as a place for his wife to live while studying at Johns Hopkins University. Under Maryland law, nonresidents claiming a property as their primary residence must live in the property for at least two of the last five years. According to his campaign, Cox never lived in the home himself, and his wife moved back to California just one year after purchasing the property, meaning the Democrat could not have met the state's requirement.

Cox's declaration was made under penalty of perjury when he sold the home in November 2019. The claim allowed him to avoid a nearly $90,000 tax withholding levied on property sales made by nonresidents in Maryland. Cox sold the home for $1.12 million after reporting between $80,000 and $200,000 in rental income from the property between 2017 and 2019.

Cox previously claimed two homes—one in California and the one in Maryland—as his primary residence in 2016, 2017, and 2018, which violates federal tax law. His campaign initially blamed the blunder on Maryland, telling the Fresno Bee in 2018 that the state "automatically marked the home as Cox's principal residence." He then called it an "honest mistake" after documents revealed that he personally signed the deed, claiming he "filled out the principal residence not knowing the legal definition."

Despite saying he was aware of the violations, Cox again claimed the Maryland home as his primary residence in a 2019 deed issued after he sold the property, according to documents obtained by the Free Beacon. The form used to declare primary residence in Maryland is not required when selling property in the state—it must be requested at least 21 days prior to closing.

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/ca-dem-wrongfully-claimed-1-million-second-home-as-primary-residence-in-2019/

New Ambassador Attracts the Usual Enemies: Doug Macgregor Feels the Wrath of the Jewish Lobby

There is an old saying that allegedly came out of the French Revolution, that revolution, like the god Saturn, devours its own children. It was reportedly uttered by Georges Danton at the trial that preceded his execution and could be applied equally to the demise of Trotsky after the Russian Revolution. It meant that the leaders that drove the dramatic political developments frequently get a taste of power and become resistant to any further change. They often end up turning on their own former followers who have different ideas on how to run the country.

Nearly all the top-level political appointees that have served the Donald Trump administration would describe themselves as conservatives but genuine conservatives as they would have been configured during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower have actually been quite thin on the ground. One recalls how Ike publicly denounced the developing “Military Industrial Complex,” explaining how “We pay for a single fighter plane with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is not a way of life at all. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” That was real conservatism speaking. These days, when genuine conservatives cast in that mold do turn up, there is frequently a concerted effort to make them go away.

The latest genuine conservative candidate for high office who is being subjected to character assassination by many of the usual suspects is Colonel Douglas Macgregor, nominated on July 27th by President Trump to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Macgregor, if he can survive the approval process in the Senate where the GOP has a slight majority, will be replacing Richard Grenell, an extremely unpopular chief of mission who did major damage to relations with the host country due to his arrogance and propensity to spread White House propaganda. Germany is, by the way, a major European ally.

The Macgregor nomination has been viciously attacked by CNN, Max Boot of the Washington Post and by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Politico describes him as a “renegade retired colonel” and Congressional Democrats like the hopelessly corrupt Senator Robert Menendez are also piling on while piously insisting that “Macgregor’s comments disqualify him from any government office.”That alone should be enough to convince the casual observer that Macgregor is fully qualified for the job and should be approved.

And if anything else should be required, Mac is a decorated combat-experienced Army officer who won a Bronze Star for valor when he commanded an armored brigade that went into battle against Saddam’s elite forces in the 1991 Gulf War. He and his men destroyed 70 enemy armored vehicles in a major engagement. He has written five books and is a regular contributor to the commentary on the thoughtful end of conservative media, by which I mean Tucker Carlson. He also reportedly speaks regularly to Donald Trump, so the presumption is that he is trusted by the president and could actually have some positive influence over policy.

And as for his practical qualifications to interact well with the host country, Macgregor is a West Point graduate who speaks German fluently and studied German military and political history at the University of Virginia, where he earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. His advanced study focused on the World War Two fighting between the then Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/09/17/new-ambassador-attracts-the-usual-enemies-doug-macgregor-feels-the-wrath-of-the-jewish-lobby/

HHS Leaves $50 Billion in Coronavirus Relief Unspent

Healthcare providers haven't gotten fair share, they claim

Over $50 billion in coronavirus relief meant for health care providers remains unspent, even as some in the industry say they have gotten just a fraction of what they need to cover pandemic-related losses.

The Department of Health and Human Services has distributed roughly 70 percent of the $175 billion appropriated by Congress to relieve health care providers of economic strain imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. HHS maintains that it is distributing funds in a way that is "fast, fair, transparent and simple," a spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon.

But some providers say the money isn't being doled out fast enough, especially in proportion to the added strain they face thanks to higher demand and onerous safety requirements. An ambulance industry group estimated they have received just one tenth of what they need to cover losses.

"As an ambulance provider, I have been going 24/7 since March 15th, nonstop," Jamie Pafford-Gresham, CEO of Pafford Medical Services, told the Free Beacon. "I do not believe that it's been intentional that the ambulance provider has been left out. What I do believe is that nobody realizes we are, and how vital our services are to the hospital associations and pandemic itself."

Though the fund is just a fraction of the estimated $4 trillion Congress has appropriated since March, the economic downturn has struck health care providers like Pafford-Gresham particularly hard, with unemployment remaining elevated above pre-crisis levels—suggesting that HHS's slowness could be exacerbating the crisis. At the same time, the slow pace of its distribution raises the question of whether or not taxpayers needed to foot that particular bill, given tremendous levels of spending on the crisis.

Appropriating legislation, passed by Congress early in the crisis, gave HHS broad leeway in deciding how to dish out $175 billion in funds. It has offered cash both generally and to specifically struggling businesses.

https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/hhs-leaves-50-billion-in-coronavirus-relief-unspent/

Turkish Foreign Minister: Recent Talks With Russia On Greater Idlib Were Not Productive

The recent Russian-Turkish talks on the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib were not productive, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu revealed in an interview on CNN Turk on September 16.

Cavusoglu hinted during the interview that the political efforts to solve Greater Idlib issue may end as a result of the current Turkish-Russian disagreement.

“As for Syria, we need to maintain the ceasefire in Idlib region first,” the Turkish minister said, adding “the ceasefire in Syria should continue and we should focus a little more on political negotiations.”

The minister said the situation in the Syria region is calm to some extent, noting that if military operations are resumed, political efforts will be over.

On March 5, Russia and Turkey reached a breakthrough agreement to stabilize Greater Idlib. Ankara is yet to honor its commitments under the agreement.

The new Russian-Turkish talks on Greater Idlib, which took place earlier this week, saw a serious disagreement between the two countries. According to RIA Novosti, Turkey refused to a Russian request to reduce the number of observation posts in the region.

Russia is apparently pressure Turkey into honoring its commitments. If Ankara refuses to do so, Syrian government forces and their allies may resume their operations in Greater Idlib. This will lead to a military confrontation similar to the one that preceded the March 5 agreement.

https://southfront.org/turkish-foreign-minister-recent-talks-with-russia-on-greater-idlib-were-not-productive/

Documents Reveal More Details Regarding Biden And Poroshenko’s Adventures In Ukraine

On September 16th, Ukrainian member of parliament Andriy Derkach and former prosecutor Konstantin Kulik continued releasing evidence on the US Democratic party, primarily Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden and their partners in Ukraine.

This time there were fewer “Poroshenko-Biden tapes” and more investigations into how money was stolen.

The main facts that Derkach revealed circulate around how Joe Biden’s son – Hunter Biden managed to acquire $3.5 million.

Derkach and Kulik showed the scheme according to which the gas company Burisma, where the son of the US Vice President Hunter Biden worked, was laundering money.

The money that was in cash in Ukraine was withdrawn to the West under fake contracts and there deposited on the accounts of Burizma in the Latvian subsidiary of Privatbank.

The total amount is approximately $10 million each month in total.

Payments were made from Latvia to Western lobbyists of the owner of Burizma, ex-Minister of Ecology Nikolai Zlochevsky.

In particular, Derkach and Kulik believe, Rosemont Seneca, a company controlled by Hunter Biden, received $3.5 million. Another million euros “fell” to ex-President of Poland Alexander Kwasniewski.

Derkach published the testimonies of a former SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) officer Vitaly Mikhailyuk. He was recommended as a person who worked for the Technova company, which rented a number of thermal power plants in Ukraine.

According to Derkach, its leadership – businessman Anatoly Shkriblyak – agreed on the appointment of “overseers” from former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s ally Igor Kononenko. After introducing schemes like Rotterdam +, the group began to make massive profit.

Expensive coal was purchased from South Africa or Pennsylvania, which doubled utility tariffs on paper. In reality, the fuel was purchased from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR/LPR) or through Russian firms.

Derkach named Elena Mazurova as one of the managers of this scheme from the people of Kononenko, whom NABU now suspects of giving a bribe for closing a criminal case against the owner of Burizma Zlochevsky.

The bribe itself was in the amount of approximately $6 million, while the total sums are upwards of $50 million.

Separately, Derkach spoke of how American “investment” was provided to re-certify rosecutors under Ruslan Ryaboshapka. The United States allocated $7 million to this end.

https://southfront.org/documents-reveal-more-details-regarding-biden-and-poroshenkos-adventures-in-ukraine/

Raytheon Technologies To Cut 15,000 Jobs, Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace Units To Be Hit Hard

The job cuts will hit its corporate headquarters, Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace units

The cuts will reduce Pratt & Whitney’s workforce by 20% while Collins Aerospace’s staff will be trimmed by 12%

The moves are part of a plan to cut $2 billion in costs this year

Raytheon Technologies (RTX) will cut 15,000 jobs due to the ongoing aviation crisis – nearly double the number of layoffs the aeropace and defense company announced in July.

The job cuts will hit the company’s corporate headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, its jet engine-making division Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, Connecticut, and its aviation and military equipment manufacturing unit Collins Aerospace in Charlotte, North Carolina.

During a web conference with Morgan Stanley analysts, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes said the cuts will reduce Pratt & Whitney’s workforce by 20% while Collins Aerospace’s staff will be trimmed by 12%.

“These cost actions include the elimination of more than 15,000 positions across our commercial aerospace and corporate organizations,” Hayes said.

The moves are part of a plan to cut $2 billion in costs this year.

Hayes warned more cuts might be forthcoming.

“Given the slope of the recovery, I think the folks have taken a more aggressive look at head count, and we’re really pushing through trying to exceed that $2 billion,” Hayes told the Morgan Stanley conference. “We’re going to look for additional savings this year.”

Hayes also emphasized that the process of closing factories and moving production activities will be a long drawn out affair and involve consultations with labor unions.

“We don’t want to screw anything up but we want to make sure that when this pandemic does end whenever that is that we’re actually in a position to have a lower cost structure than when we started,” Hayes said.

"Air travel is likely to lag until such time people have trust, faith, and confidence they can safely travel," Brian Marks, an economics professor at the University of New Haven, was quoted as saying by WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut. "Raytheon's announcement suggesting they may not see a return of the commercial airline aspect of their business until 2023 is not a surprise.”

https://www.ibtimes.com/raytheon-technologies-cut-15000-jobs-pratt-whitney-collins-aerospace-units-be-hit-3047515

Corporate Bankruptcies: US Companies Going Under Due To Ravages Of The Pandemic, Other Issues

The number of commercial Chapter 11 filings by U.S. companies rose by 17% in August on a year-over-year basis

Through the first eight months of this year, Chapter 11 commercial filings have climbed by 28%

The number of Chapter 11 filings this year far exceeds the activity in 2009

Many well-known companies have filed for bankruptcy this year as the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the operations of a wide swath of industries.

From retailers Brooks Brothers, Neiman Marcus and JC Penney to auto rental giant Hertz to fracking pioneer BJ Services, another prominent firm seems to collapse every week.

The number of commercial Chapter 11 filings by U.S. companies rose by 17% in August on a year-over-year basis – from 449 to 525.

Epiq, a legal services firm, also said that through the first eight months of this year, Chapter 11 commercial filings have climbed by 28% – to a total of 4,779 – over the same period last year.

“While we still see growth year-over-year in Chapter 11 commercial filings, the pace has slowed down significantly over July,” said Deirdre O’Connor, managing director of corporate restructuring at Epiq. (In July, the pace of such filings had surged by 52% over the prior year).

“Large corporations are benefiting from robust capital market activity, which is providing access to capital at an attractive cost,” O’Connor said. “However, smaller companies are not experiencing the same market dynamics to access liquidity and will consider seeking protection in a bankruptcy.”

O’Connor added that the retail, energy, entertainment, travel and leisure sectors lead the pack in bankruptcy filings.

Moreover, the number of Chapter 11 filings this year far exceeds the activity in 2009, during the darkest days of the global financial crisis. According to data compiled by Epiq, this year’s pace represented a 58% increase in the number of filings compared to 2009.

Marta Alfonso, a principal at MBAF, a public accounting firm, told International Business Times that while there is no empirical study of the reasons why companies have filed for bankruptcy in 2020, it is “fair to say that many prominent companies we know had a mix of financial and operating issues arising from the pandemic and other market, business, or operating factors that could not be mitigated once the pandemic occurred.”

Gregory Petrick, a partner and chair of the financial restructuring group at legal firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, told IBT that the pandemic has accelerated the filing for bankruptcy protection by companies already facing difficult challenges pre-COVID.

https://www.ibtimes.com/corporate-bankruptcies-us-companies-going-under-due-ravages-pandemic-other-issues-3047067

Instagram Users Report Photo Sharing App Down in Northeast of US, Western Europe

Owned by Facebook, Instagram remains one of the largest global social networks and photo-sharing platforms, being the fourth top downloaded app of the 2010s, according to the App Annie data.

Instagram users in parts of America's northeast and Western Europe were reporting on Thursday evening they had troubles with getting access to the popular photo-sharing service.

Users were seeing a “couldn’t refresh feed” message when trying to download the social media app.

As of 6.22 PM GMT, more than 65,000 people reported the app was down, according to Downdetector.com. The most impacted areas include largest European and US cities, including London, Paris, Berlin and New York.

https://sputniknews.com/world/202009171080492534-instagram-users-report-photo-sharing-app-is-down-in-northeast-of-us-western-europe/

New Pentagon-Google Partnership Suggests AI Will Soon Be Used to Diagnose Covid-19

Google recently teamed up with the Pentagon as part of the new, AI-driven “Predictive Health” program. Though only focused on “predictive cancer diagnoses” for now, Google and the military have apparent plans to expand the AI model for automating and predicting Covid-19 diagnoses.

At the beginning of September, Google Cloud announced that it had won a project from the Pentagon’s relatively new Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to “prototype an AI-enabled digital pathology solution at select DoD [Department of Defense] facilities.” This prototype, per a Google Cloud press release, combines “augmented reality telescopes” with “AI-enabled” cancer detection tools that will allegedly improve the accuracy of “predictive cancer diagnoses.” It is the second DIU contract Google has won this year, with the first being related to combatting “cyber threats.”

The initial implementation of this Pentagon-funded, Google-created “digital pathology solution” will take place “at select Defense Health Agency (DHA) treatment facilities and Veterans Affairs hospitals in the United States,” and the program includes “future plans to expand across the broader U.S. Military Health System,” according to Google.

The initiative is part of a larger DIU-led program called “Predictive Health” that is also partnered with the joint AI effort of the US military and US intelligence community, the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, and JAIC’s “Warfighter Health” initiative. The JAIC, which is currently led by a former Silicon Valley executive, is providing much of the funding for Predictive Health, while its related “Warfighter Health” initiative more broadly seeks “to field AI solutions that are aimed at transforming military health care.”

In addition to its stated goal of improving the accuracy of cancer diagnoses, the implementation of this Google-DIU AI-driven medical diagnosis tool aims to show “frontline health practitioners” that such tools “can improve the lives” of US troops, according to Google executives. As Mike Daniels, vice president of Global Public Sector at Google Cloud, noted in a statement, Google is “partnering with DIU to provide our machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to help frontline healthcare practitioners learn about capabilities that can improve the lives of our military men and women and their families.” Google also stated that the use of their tool at military health facilities would also “lower overall healthcare costs.”

More

https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/09/reports/new-pentagon-google-partnership-suggests-ai-will-soon-be-used-to-diagnose-covid-19/

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