Chaos In Nigeria After Soldiers Open Fire On Large Anti-Police Demonstration

Late Tuesday night chaos broke out in the Nigerian capital of Lagos as demonstrators calling for an end to police brutality were reportedly fired upon by national soldiers or police attempting to clear the streets. At least one person was killed and one or more others were severely wounded, while dozens more were reported injured as the crowd of about 1,000 fled, according international reports.

Amnesty International initially reported fatalities among the protesters while citing “credible but disturbing evidence” that security forces were responsible. The standoff with security forces came during a curfew and as protesters attempted to erect a blockade.

It further comes a day after another 'live fire' incident may have resulted in injuries, and as authorities attempt a crackdown while imposing a 24-hour curfew. There's been an estimated total of ten deaths during the recent wave of anti-police protests across multiple cities, in a situation the government says in spiraling out of control into a "monster".

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/chaos-nigeria-after-soldiers-open-fire-crowd-anti-police-protesters

Joe Biden Praises Mic Muting as a ‘Good Idea’: ‘I Think There Should Be More Limitations on Us’

Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden (D) praised the Commission on Presidential Debate’s (CPD) decision to mute the microphone of the opposing candidate at the start of each segment and added that he believes there should be “more limitations.”

“So for the debate on Thursday, what do you think of this new muting the mic rule?” WISN’s Adrienne Pedersen asked Biden in a Tuesday interview.

“I think it’s a good idea. I think there should be more, more, limitations on us not interrupting one another,” Biden said, attributing his stance to what transpired during the first presidential debate.

“If you noticed last time, according to Chris Wallace, he interrupted the president and me 148 times. I think that’s right, he interrupted Mike, the president interrupted. Mike, I mean, excuse me, Chris Wallace and me 148 times,” Biden said, originally misstating his line.

“And so I hope he’s gonna come prepared to talk about what he’s for,” he continued, guessing that Trump will focus on what he described as “personal attacks”:

And he’s because he doesn’t want to talk about why he’s taking away healthcare at the very time we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Why he has no plan for health care. Why he hasn’t provided the money, allow businesses to have the ability to reopen, why he’s not dealing with unemployment, etcetera. But I’m going to try very hard to focus on the issues that affect the American people and talk to them, and I hope they keep the rule that uninterrupted two minutes answers.

Despite Biden’s appeal to the first debate, it was he who set the precedent of interrupting in the first debate, as detailed by Breitbart News. Even so, Wallace, who interrupted Trump several times himself, remained in denial, stating that Trump bore “primary responsibility for what happened” during the debate.

Before ending the interview, Pedersen asked Biden about the recent reports on Hunter Biden and his alleged involvement in his son’s lucrative foreign business dealings — a topic the president is likely to bring up during Thursday’s debate.

“Wisconsin’s Republican Senator Ron Johnson put out a statement on Homeland Security letterhead saying Hunter Biden, together with other Biden family members, profited off the Biden name. Is there any legitimacy to Senator Johnson’s claims?” she asked.

“None whatsoever,” Biden said, calling it a “last-ditch effort” to “smear” his family.

“This is the same garbage Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s henchman — it’s the last-ditch effort in this desperate campaign to smear me and my family. Even the man who served with him on that committee, the former nominee for the Republican Party, said there’s no basis to this and you know,” Biden said.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/10/21/joe-biden-praises-mic-muting-good-idea-think-there-should-more-limitations-us/

Report: Senate Democrats To Boycott Amy Coney Barrett Committee Vote

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee will reportedly boycott Thursday’s committee vote on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Democrats will fill their seats in the committee with life-sized posters of people who could be hurt if the Affordable Care Act were to be repealed, according to HuffPost. Democrats have been saying if Barrett is confirmed, she will be the one to give the deciding vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Instead of sitting in the committee room during voting, Democrats will reportedly be giving two speeches. One speech will reportedly be given on the steps of the Supreme Court and another will be given on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

In early October, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats will not “supply quorum” for votes in the Senate as a way to try and block the confirmation of Barrett before the election.

A quorum is the minimum number of members present either in a committee or the entire Senate to hold votes, Fox News reported. The quorum in the Senate is 51 members. There are 22 members on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is in charge of the confirmation process, and nine members are required for a quorum in the committee, including at least two from the minority party, according to Fox News.

“We will talk about when the actual vote occurs in committee and on the floor. Democrats will not supply the quorum,” Schumer said during the press conference. “Period.”

https://dailycaller.com/2020/10/21/senate-democrats-boycott-amy-coney-barrett-committee-vote-report/

California city begins Guaranteed Basic Income program

The Southern California city of Compton is launching a pilot program that aims to provide a basic income to 800 of its low-income residents.

The Southern California city of Compton is launching a pilot program that aims to provide a basic income to 800 of its low-income residents, with zero strings attached.

Dubbed the Compton Pledge, the guaranteed income program will begin distributing free cash to 800 residents of the city in Los Angeles County for a period of two years. Compton Mayor Aja Brown has said that the ambitious program is the largest of its kind in for any city in the U.S.

The majority Black and Latino city is just the latest in a growing list of cities across the country, and the world, that is experimenting with new ways to put money in residents’ hands give the grave economic calamity caused by the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

“I recognized that there’s a need for additional income, especially with the pandemic resulting in record high numbers of unemployment throughout the entire country,” the mayor told the Los Angeles Times. “This is a great opportunity to address inequalities for Black and brown people and also additional opportunities for upward mobility.”

The guaranteed income program is also meant to “challenge the racial and economic injustice plaguing both welfare programs and economic systems,” according to a statement released by the Compton Pledge on Monday.

“People in our community are going through tough times, and I know that guaranteed income could give people a moment to navigate their situation, and have some breathing room to go back to school, explore a new career path, spend time with their children, or improve their mental and emotional wellbeing,” Brown said in the statement. “Ensuring all people are able to live with dignity is something we should all strive for in America.”

Roughly 1 in 5 residents of Compton live below the poverty line – roughly double that of the national average – according to census data. The plight of Compton residents has only been compounded by the ongoing health emergency, which has raised the city’s unemployment rate to 21.9 percent.

The Compton Pledge has already raised over $2.5 million in private donations through the Fund for Guaranteed Income, a charity headed by the family of L.A. Times owner and billionaire bioscientist and transplant surgeon Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.

Under the program, randomly selected families from a vetted group of low-income residents will receive at least a few hundred dollars on a recurring basis along with tools helping to advise them on their finances. Parents and guardians may receive more, while anonymous researchers will track the spending habits and well-being of participants.

https://themindunleashed.com/2020/10/california-city-begins-guaranteed-basic-income-program-for-those-who-need-it.html

Steele Dossier Source Comes Out Of Hiding, Says He Stands By Trump ‘Pee Tape’ Allegation

Igor Danchenko has given his first interviews since being identified in July as the primary source for the Steele dossier.

Danchenko, a Russian analyst, said in one interview that he stands by his work on the dossier. He is also denying allegations that he was a Russian spy.

The interviews do not address several clear errors in the dossier, which the FBI used to obtain warrants to surveil Carter Page.

Danchenko’s associates have set up a fundraising campaign touting him as a “Trump-Russia whistleblower.”

Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst who served as the primary source for former British spy Christopher Steele, has come out of hiding to discuss his work on the controversial document.

Though key claims in the dossier have been debunked, Danchenko defended his dirt-digging effort in interviews with The Guardian and The New York Times published Wednesday. He has also set up a fundraising campaign in which he touts himself as a “Trump-Russia whistleblower.”

“I stand by it,” Danchenko told the Guardian of the work he did for Steele.

He also said he stands behind the dossier’s most salacious claim — that the Russian government recorded Donald Trump with prostitutes urinating on each other in a hotel room in Moscow in 2013.

“I got it right,” he told the Guardian of the so-called “pee tape” allegation.

Danchenko did acknowledge in his interview with The Times that information he fed to Steele could have been inaccurate.

“Even raw intelligence from credible sources, I take it with a grain of salt,” he told the newspaper.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/10/21/igor-danchenko-christopher-steele-dossier-interview-trump-russia/