U.S. Military Helicopter Crashed In Northeastern Syria – Reports

On October 31, a U.S. military helicopter crashed in the northeastern Syrian governorate of al-Hasakah, according to a number of opposition sources.

Citing a special source, the Jesr Press said the helicopter fell near the town of al- Shaddadi in the southern countryside of the governorate. Other sources reported that the helicopter crashed inside a base of the U.S.-led coalition located in the vicinity of the town.

According to the news agency, the helicopter burned for three hours after crashing. It was apparently destroyed in the accident.

Meanwhile, the Orient News said the helicopter crashed and burned as a result of a “technical error.” No human losses have been reported, thus far.

The U.S.-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces, which control the area where the alleged accident took place, are yet to comment on the issue.

Several AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are known to be deployed in the U.S.-led coalition base in al-Shaddadi. V-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are also active in northeastern Syria.

https://southfront.org/u-s-military-helicopter-crashed-in-northeastern-syria-reports/

Joe Biden Interrupts Local Iowa Reporter Asking About Hunter’s Laptop From Hell, ‘It’s All a Smear From Russia – Classic Trump!’

Joe Biden traveled to Iowa on Friday in a desperate attempt to win the state with just a few days left until Election Day.

A local reporter in Iowa confronted Joe Biden about Hunter’s laptop from hell and as expected, Joe Biden blamed Russia and President Trump.

“There’s nothing to any of that,” Biden said interrupting the reporter. “It’s all a smear. Every major outfit, every serious investigator has pointed out that this is a smear. This is classic Trump. We have four days left and all of a sudden there’s a laptop.”

Joe Biden, AKA “The Big Guy” falsely claimed the laptop story is just unverified Russian disinformation and the reporter didn’t even push back.

“Look, my son’s an honorable man,” Biden said claiming his son Hunter broke no laws.

Hunter Biden and his associates (possibly Joe Biden as well) are currently under FBI investigation for money laundering.

According to Hunter Biden’s associate-turned-whistleblower Tony Bobulinski, the FBI is investigating Hunter Biden’s work with the Chinese Communist Party and his tenure on the board of Burisma Holdings in Ukraine.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/10/joe-biden-interrupts-local-iowa-reporter-asking-hunters-laptop-smear-russia-classic-trump-video/

Who Is Sacha Baron Cohen? Hollywood Comic Genius or a One-Man Anti-Republican Hit Squad?

Once again, a top Republican politician – this time Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal attorney – has taken a broadside from the actor of Borat notoriety, Sacha Baron Cohen, and with presidential elections just days away.

The former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, has certainly made better judgment calls in his career than the one he made on July 7 of this year.

Following a spoof interview with Maria Bakalova, a Bulgarian actress who plays a conservative journalist in the latest instalment of Baron Cohen’s ‘Borat’ series, Bakalova uses her feminine charms to lure Giuliani into a hotel room where he is briefly filmed with his hand down his pants while prostrate on a bed. Not the best visuals to say the least. At this point, Borat enters the scene, screaming: “She’s 15. She’s too old for you.” (the actress is 24 years old, but never mind). Giuliani, meanwhile, explained that he was merely caught in the act of removing the microphone that he had used to conduct the interview.

The Giuliani scene in Borat is a huge nothing. Those who lied about it should be sued. He was tucking in his shirt. Even if he wasn’t, he’s an unmarried man invited to a grown woman’s bedroom. There is no scandal here at all. You shameless lying scumbags

pic.twitter.com/KVwInfEGPV

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 23, 2020

If Cohen’s comedy routine with Giuliani seemed strangely familiar, it’s because he used a slightly different version of it years earlier on yet another God-fearing conservative, Ron Paul. Cohen, playing the part of a gay Austrian fashion commentator named ‘Bruno,’ tricked the congressman from Texas into an interview he believed would be on economics. In the course of the discussion, however, a planned power outage gives Cohen the opportunity to lead Paul into a backroom while the technicians sort out the ‘glitch’. Here, ‘Bruno’ lights some candles and attempts to make a pass at Paul, who immediately storms out of the room with his team. This is what Sacha Baron Cohen calls ‘humor,’ which almost always comes at the expense of flyover country White folk. Nothing hateful about that, right?

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/10/31/who-sacha-baron-cohen-hollywood-comic-genius-or-one-man-anti-republican-hit-squad/

Fireworks Over Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan Used Banned Phosphorus Munitions

Azerbaijani forces have used munitions containing internationally prohibited white phosphor in a number of attacks on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced on October 31.

“This is a gross violation of the international humanitarian law, norms and the principles of customary law, the Geneva Conventions, aiming not only to harm the Defense Army but also create an environmental disaster,” the ministry said in a brief statement.

The Armenian MoD and several media sources shared videos confirming the use of incendiary munitions, which may have contained white phosphor, by Azerbaijani forces.

The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits the deliberate use of incendiary weapons against civilian or against military targets in civilian areas.

This type of munition is highly flammable and provokes the spread of forest fires.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan called the Armenian claims “groundless.” In a statement the ministry stressed that the Azerbaijani military does not possess weapons which are prohibited by international laws.

Azerbaijan launched a large attack to capture Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27 with support from Turkey. Since then, a fierce battle has been ongoing in the region.

The use of incendiary weapons, and possibly white phosphor munitions, by Azerbaijani forces indicates that Baku is determined to do whatever it takes to push Armenian forces out of the disputed region.

https://southfront.org/fireworks-over-nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan-used-banned-phosphorus-munitions-videos/

Hugo Chavez’s ex-nurse indicted in US for money laundering

MEDELLIN, Colombia - Hugo Chávez’s former nurse has been charged with money laundering in a Miami federal court, accused of taking bribes from a billionaire media mogul to green light lucrative currency transactions when she served as Venezuela’s national treasurer.

Claudia Díaz and her husband, Adrían Velasquez, were accused of taking at least $4.2 million in furtherance of the bribery scheme, according to the charges presented Friday. The payments came from companies and bank accounts located in Switzerland to the couple’s accounts in Miami.

Behind the payments, according to prosecutors, was businessman Raúl Gorrín, owner of the country’s last major private TV network, Globovisión. Gorrin is on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s most-wanted list after being charged for his alleged role in a $2.4 billion money laundering conspiracy in 2017. His TV network is under U.S. sanctions for its alleged role propping up the socialist government of Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro.

Díaz, 46, was a former petty officer in Venezuela’s navy who took care of an ailing Chávez before the Venezuelan leader died of cancer in 2013. In 2011, Chávez named her Venezuela’s national treasurer. She was replaced when Maduro was elected in 2013.

Díaz and her husband, a former security adviser to Chávez, currently live in Madrid, where they were briefly arrested in 2018 on a Venezuelan warrant. Spain’s supreme court rejected Venezuela’s extradition request, finding the couple could be tortured if they return home.

U.S. prosecutors have charged dozens of Maduro-connected officials and businessmen as part of a campaign to root out corruption plaguing the oil-rich South American nation. As much as $300 billion is estimated to have been raided from Venezuela’s state coffers in two decades of socialist rule.

It was not immediately possible to communicate with Díaz. But in August her Madrid lawyer, Ismael Oliver, denied the couple had profited from their positions in power.

Díaz succeeded Alejandro Andrade as Venezuela’s treasurer in 2011. In what is the biggest judgment against a former Venezuelan to date, Andrade in 2018 agreed to forfeit more than $1 billion in proceeds he acknowledged receiving in return for approving lucrative currency deals. The arrangement, allegedly promoted by Gorrín and others, continued when Díaz took his place.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/americas/2020/10/31/hugo-chavezs-ex-nurse-indicted-in-us-for-money-laundering.html

‘Enough is enough’: How FinCEN Files exposes a broken system that keeps dirty cash flowing

Three ICIJ reporters take us behind the scenes of the FinCEN Files investigation in this special edition of our Meet the Investigators series.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists collaborates with hundreds of members across the world. Each of these journalists is among the best in his or her country and many have won national and global awards. Our monthly series, Meet the Investigators, highlights the work of these tireless journalists.

This month, we have a special edition featuring three ICIJ reporters who worked on our latest investigation, the FinCEN Files.

Karrie Kehoe, Spencer Woodman and Ben Hallman were part of a team of more than 400 journalists working on the 16-month investigation that exposed how giants of Western banking enriched themselves while facilitating the movement of money for oligarchs, terrorists, drug traffickers and fraudsters. The investigation was based on thousands of secret United States Treasury documents obtained by BuzzFeed News and shared with more than 100 media partners from all around the world.

Karrie, Spencer and Ben take us behind the scenes of the investigation, revealing what it was like to work on the cache of confidential files and how reporters methodically searched the data for the stories buried within.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/enough-is-enough-how-fincen-files-exposes-a-broken-system-that-keeps-dirty-cash-flowing/

>>11377481

5:5

Football Hooligans Busted in Continental Drug Trafficking Ring

Spanish and Polish authorities seized four cannabis plantations with more than 3,000 plants and arrested 13 alleged members of a large-scale drug trafficking network that operated across the continent, Europol said in a statement released Wednesday.

Police believe the group was planning to transition into smuggling medical gear and PCR tests in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: Europol)Police believe the group was planning to transition into smuggling medical gear and PCR tests in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: Europol)According to Europol, the Polish wing of the network was associated with football hooligans that follow one of Krakow’s local teams.

“The criminal network bought, smuggled and sold large quantities of drugs,mainly hashish, marijuana and cocaine,” Europol said.

The group brought drugs in through Spain and moved them through the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belgium and elsewhere. They also had ties with Albanian gangs who helped move the drugs into the United Kingdom, according to Europol.

At the time of their arrest, police believe the group was planning to transition into smuggling medical gear and PCR tests in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“Investigators detected that the criminal organization intended to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by acquiring a large quantity of medical supplies,” Europol said. “A warehouse was used by one of the leaders of the organization to store large amounts of surgical masks, quick tests for COVID-19 and swabs” for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which the gang had smuggled from China.

The bust was the culmination of a three-year investigation during which 68 suspects were arrested. In addition, authorities seized 3.4 metric tons of cannabis, 1.4 tons of hashish and more than US$3.5 million in assets.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13336-football-hooligans-busted-in-continental-drug-trafficking-ring

Memoirs of an Illuminati Girlfriend

"Deep State Insider Revelations on Presidential Grooming & Donald Trump"

This memoir was sent to me anonymously.

I think it is genuine but the "revelations" are underwhelming and decidedly pro-Trump.

Nonetheless, it does provide some valuable insights into the workings and plans of the "Deep State." The assertion that "China is the Future" certainly rings true. So do references to the Mossad and a grooming program for future US Presidents.

In 1992, in my late teens, I was a beautiful girl modeling in NYC, when I met and fell in love with a mysterious "Illuminati" man, who swept me into the world of the Deep State.

Over the next several years, we traveled the world to palatial mansion parties, dinners with VIPs at five-star restaurants, and private clubs like the Bohemian Grove and yes, members bring in women.

At the Grove, I met Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, presidents of banks and corporations, judges, and other power players, who work behind the scenes, and many of these same people are also members of The Council on Foreign Relations.

This world appears to have a power structure in rings of ascending power or a hierarchical pyramid, with a top cabal of elites. The men discussed business deals, political strategies and joked, while I intuitively knew to keep quiet.

At the Grove, I also met young men, often first-born, who were made to feel special for being recruited into a secret CIA U.S. presidential grooming military program ("groomies"). I learned about this from overhearing various conversations because I believe my mystery man was somehow involved as a handler of these potential future U.S. Presidents.

They recruited them from within the CIA, military, and high level (33 degrees and above) Masonic families. I remember in the beginning these men were passionate, patriotic, and nationalistic; one was waving a small US flag. These men were a mix of Republicans and Democrats with opinions and ideas about what they wanted to do to make a better America.

However, each man soon realized, like any soldier, that they had to follow the orders of their commanders, this cabal of elites, who control both sides and makes all the decisions. Thus, their individual ideas were dropped, and instead the elites' "big ideas" were adopted. Occasionally, there were moments where I made small talk.

I remember once speaking with a groomie, it was an election year and I asked him, whom he was voting for. He replied, "You know, I'm being groomed for president."

I nodded, "Ya, I know,"

He continued, "Well, They have not decided which side They are going to put me on, so I'm not allowed to say which side I voted for."

The elite cabal used occult practices to systematically brainwash or mind control these men over time. I witnessed them change from being confident and caring about America into being cool, globalists, where even the Fourth of July celebrations were distained.

Thus any creativity was crushed and they somehow became dumbed down, as they fell into mimicking lockstep. The grooming program included learning how to be expert liars, and to live in two worlds, with a split Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide personality. Each groomie spent time with former U. S. Presidents at their secret grand estates, which are in foreign countries with armed security, (so don't be fooled that Jimmy Carter "shuns riches, lives modestly").

Further, these groomies were studying how to speak Chinese and if they were not already married they were encouraged to marry non-American women and in particular Chinese women. I remember asking my mystery man, why the focus on China and he said, "China is the future," like an affirmation.

I noticed, the groomies lost their inner joy and it was replaced with phony happiness and a veiled paranoia. I remember another time, I slipped off and wondered around and I came upon one of the groomies weeping with such great sadness. I softly approached him and tried to say something comforting.

https://henrymakow.com/2020/10/gretchen-memoirs-of-an-illuminati-girlfriend.html

Yale Psychiatrist Suggests Middle America May Need To Be 'Leveled' Like Dresden to Stop Trump

Middle America may need to be "leveled" like Dresden in order to break the Hitler-esque "spell" Trump has on his supporters, Yale psychiatrist Bandy X Lee appeared to suggest in a post on Twitter.

Lee, who bills herself as an "expert on global violence prevention," wrote Wednesday on Twitter (Archive):

A reporter whose grandparents were refugees from Nazi Germany related to me: "I cannot help but remember a conversation I had with my grandfather … about the firebombing of Dresden, whether he thought the Allies should be reproached for targeting civilians.

He said—I remember this well—that it was a necessity, because nothing short of the sight of SEEING THEIR CITIES LEVELED would have broken the spell. The German public, he said, was not open to reason. They could not be persuaded to abandon Hitler…."

That comment haunted her, she said.

Needless to say, we are seeing the same phenomenon here, and every day that Donald Trump has exposure to the public, he spellbinds his followers ever more deeply, as mental health experts are precisely the ones banned from comment.

This is what the leaders of "The Resistance" are fantasizing about if Trump loses – subjecting his supporters to Soviet-style show trials, Truth and Reconciliation commissions and Dresden 2.0!

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61872

Election Resurrection: Scheme to Register Dead Voters as Democrats Uncovered in Florida

Investigators in South Florida discovered an attempt to register “dozens of dead people as Democratic voters,” in Broward County, reports the Washington Times.

According to the report, “no mail-in ballots were requested or cast under the falsified IDs.”

Election officials say an individual in South Carolina mailed 51 new voter applications to the Broward County elections office in the summer. Thankfully, the registrations were flagged as suspicious and turned over to the local state attorney’s office.

Officials have so far been unable to determine who mailed the bogus registrations, which had no return address and were sent in 19 envelopes. Thirty of the 51 applications were verified to have been made for people who are deceased, while the remaining registrations were unverifiable.

“This is an organized effort by someone who knew a little bit about Florida law but not a lot and had a scheme to either undermine the Florida registration system with fake voters or intended to vote 50 times,” Broward Elections Supervisor Pete Antonacci told the Washington Times.

The suspicious registrations left driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers blank.

According to Antonacci, the scammer was attempting to take advantage of the lag time between when a voter dies and when the voter rolls are updated.

“The system is based on the honor system, and the honor system is supposedly bolstered by the fact that if you lie on one of these applications, it’s a crime,” Antonacci said. “With determination, you can muscle your way in.”

https://pjmedia.com/election/matt-margolis/2020/10/30/election-resurrection-scheme-to-register-dead-voters-as-democrats-uncovered-in-florida-n1110533

The 10 Cities In The Most Financial Distress

Summary:

Las Vegas is the top U.S. city where people are experiencing "financial distress" during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a WalletHub analysis of the country's 100 largest cities.

The rankings were determined by a weighted average across six categories, including credit scores, average number of accounts in distress and changes in the numbers of bankruptcy filings in June 2020 versus June 2019. The 10 cities with the most people in financial distress include: Las Vegas; Chicago; Houston; San Antonio; Dallas; Phoenix; Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; Miami and Fort Worth, Texas.

The cities with the lowest rates of financial distress are Anchorage, Alaska; Madison, Wisconsin; Jersey City, New Jersey; Fremont, California; and Newark, New Jersey.

The national unemployment rate was 7.9% in September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), compared to the 3.6% unemployment rate in January. The actual rate of unemployment, however, is likely closer to 26%, Axios reports.

Hawaii holds the highest rate of unemployment among states at 15.1%, followed by Nevada at 12.6%, according to Forbes, in part due to the pandemic's heavy toll on tourism industries.

Las Vegas; Henderson, NV; Reno, NV; and North Las Vegas, NV were among the top five cities to see the highest change in the average number of accounts in distress this September compared to January, according to the WalletHub study.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/10-cities-most-financial-distress

British PM Johnson Announces Four-Week COVID Lockdown for UK

Most workplaces including on-essential shops, pubs, cafes and non-takeaway restaurants will close from Thursday under the new four-week nationwide lockdown, but schools and universities will stay open.

The UK will go into a four-week national lockdown from Thursday to prevent the National Health Service from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 infections.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the announcement at a Downing Street

Without drastic action, "For the first time in our lives the NHS might not be there for us and our families" Johnson warned, as doctors and nurses would have to take decisions about who receives the highest levels of care.

Most businesses including non-essential shops, pubs and restaurants - except for take-aways - will close, but schools and universities would stay open.

But Supermarkets will still be able to sell 'non-essential' goods, including toys and electronics in the run-up to Christmas - unlike under the controversial 17-day 'firebreak' lockdown ordered by the Welsh government.

Government Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance told the Downing Street press conference that if the current trend of hospital admissions continued, within six weeks they would exceed the peak during the first lockdown this spring.

And he said the reproduction rate - or R-rate - was well over one, meaning the number of cases would increase exponentially.

"No responsible prime minister could ignore the message of those figures," Johnson said.

"No-one wants to be imposing these kinds of measures anywhere", he added, noting the effects on businesses and on individual mental health. But he stressed that weekly death tolls could hit 7,000, and even in the South-West, which has been largely spared during the pandemic, hospitals could run out of capacity in weeks.

Earlier this week the makeshift 'Nightingale Hospital' in Manchester - one of nine such facilities nationwide - was reopened to accept non-COVID patients.

Johnson said Parliament would vote on the measures on Wednesday, in line with earlier assurances following a rebuke to the Prime Minister from House of Commons Speaker sir Lindsay Hoyle.

The PM originally planned to unveil new measures in response to a spike in cases on Monday, but was forced to bring the press conference forward after the plans were leaked to the media on Friday.

The change in policy from the current three-tier system of region-by-region and city-by-city graded restrictions was prompted by fears of the National Health Service (NHS) being overwhelmed by a combination of a new coronavirus surge and the annual winter flu season.

https://sputniknews.com/uk/202010311080939707-british-pm-johnson-announces-four-week-covid-lockdown-for-uk/

BORIS THE ZIONIST

>>11377657

; )

Gov. Gavin Newsom sends his children to private school when many California kids can't, sparking backlash

Many people saw this as an unjust double standard: 'Yet another instance of the political elitism'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent his children back to their private school this week, while at the same time, the state has forbid hundreds of thousands of other kids from attending school in-person. Many people saw this development as an unjust double standard.

Newsom said his four children have returned to in-person learning at their private school, according to Politico.

"They're phasing back into school and we are phasing out of our very challenging distance learning that we've been doing, so many parents are doing up and down the state," Newsom said on Friday.

Newsom and his family lives in Sacramento County, where some schools have opened.

"All school grade levels in Sacramento County are permitted to conduct in-person instruction with required mitigation measures maintained (social distancing, face coverings, and sanitization) in compliance with California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Sacramento County Public Health," the Sacramento County website states.

Sacramento County was allowed by the state to reopen schools as of Oct. 13 after the county moved into the Red Tier 2, which means that there are "substantial" cases of coronavirus, but it is not "widespread," that would equate to much more stringent restrictions.

Politico noted that the "county's large public school districts — including San Juan Unified, which serves Newsom's neighborhood," have yet to reopen. The report added that San Juan Unified hopes to reopen in January.

There are nine counties, including highly populated Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties that have over 12.5 million residents, that the state will not allow schools to reopen fully for in-person instruction because they have been deemed to have "widespread" coronavirus cases, according to the California state COVID-19 website. Newsom has ruled that these counties may not reopen until they move into the "substantial" tier of COVID-19 cases for two consecutive weeks.

In counties with a lower adjusted coronavirus case rate and COVID-19 positivity rate, local school officials decide whether and when schools reopen. In schools that are not open, students must learn remotely.

"We absolutely believe that the social-emotional learning that occurs in the classroom is the best place for our kids, certainly the best place for their parents as well," Newsom said. "And so it is absolutely incumbent to do everything in our power to provide support to our districts so that they can safely reopen, emphasis on safely reopen."

Newsom's announcement that his children were going back to school raised eyebrows with many, and was met by backlash.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/gavin-newsom-children-private-schools-reaction

Joe Biden’s Hand in Corruption, Subversion and Crime in Guatemala

In 2014 and 2015, then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Guatemala three times to pressure the government to maintain a United Nations body known as the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). CICIG was established in Guatemala in 2006 under the pretext of prosecuting "crimes committed by members of illegal security forces and clandestine security structures," during Guatemala's long civil war. Instead, CICIG – an international body unaccountable to Guatemalan law, worked with Guatemala's Justice Ministry to arrest and jail the left's opponents. Many remain illegally detained to this day without trial. Two prominent doctors and a Guatemalan congressman died in jail. All suffered ill health, did not receive proper treatment and were detained much longer than legally allowed. None got a trial. All were absolved following their deaths.

Biden met with then-Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, who did not want to renew CICIG's charter. The Obama administration had promised a $1 billion aid package to Northern Triangle countries (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), but Biden made the aid and upcoming trade agreements contingent upon renewing CICIG's contract. First cajoling then threatening, Biden finally announced, "The CICIG is staying, period." Biden used this same tactic in Ukraine, where he bragged about threatening to withhold loan guarantees until the Ukrainian government fired the prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden. Biden also sought Pérez's help in extending CICIG's rule to El Salvador and Honduras.

Pérez reluctantly agreed to renew CICIG's charter. He was then pressured to resign under accusations of corruption and stripped by the Guatemalan Congress of legal immunity. The day after he resigned he was arrested and thrown in jail. He has remained there ever since, without trial. In a Daily Caller interview from jail, Pérez called these efforts, "a coup without bullets."

Pérez said that, "CICIG amounts to a new form of U.S. interference in Guatemala's affairs and that his country has surrendered its sovereignty over its justice system by allowing the unit to operate."

CICIG's litany of abuses includes arbitrary arrest, detention and interrogation without charges or trial, fabricated evidence, illegal break-ins and denial of due process, pretrial detention for years longer than allowed by Guatemalan law and many other abuses. Some of the charges it has brought are valid, given endemic corruption in Guatemala. But CICIG's goal was not to stem corruption, rather to use it as a pretext to dispatch the left's enemies and install vastly more corrupt individuals who will advance the Communist cause in Guatemala.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/10/joe_bidens_hand_in_corruption_subversion_and_crime_in_guatemala.html

http://human.globalincidentmap.com/

The Most Memorable Moment of Xi’s America Trip

September 29, 2015

After his appearances at the United Nations and a six-day, cross-country journey, President Xi Jinping headed home on Monday.

Looking back at the trip, the most memorable moment – and maybe the most important – was watching $2.5 trillion of American corporate power pay homage to the Chinese president.

That event unfolded in a less than obvious way.

When word circulated that the chief executives of the top American technology companies would meet with Mr. Xi for a group photo on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., last week, many wondered who would turn up.

The photo was scheduled for the end of an Internet industry conference that the Chinese had choreographed for Mr. Xi’s trip to try to smooth over the deep problems many American tech companies face in the China market, including rampant theft of intellectual property.

For days, reporters had asked Microsoft, a co-host of the conference with China, for the names of the executive who would meet Mr. Xi. Microsoft demurred.

The turnout at the opening session of the conference was desultory. Perhaps, it seemed, there would just be a handful of executives with Mr. Xi.

In the afternoon, about 20 minutes before Mr. Xi was scheduled to arrive, his Internet czar, Lu Wei, entered the room where risers had been set up for the executives. Mr. Lu checked where Mr. Xi would stand, looked around the room, and left.

Suddenly, the chief executives of America’s top 10 technology companies – market value about $2.5 trillion – accompanied by the heads of more than a dozen Chinese tech companies, arrived. They lined up in three rows.

These executives are not accustomed to being beckoned – they turn down invitations to business summits, the World Economic Forum and more. But Mr. Xi beckoned, and they came.

The allure of being in Mr. Xi’s orbit was clearly too tantalizing for the executives to miss.

After they arrived, the executives cooled their heels for more than 10 minutes, waiting for Mr. Xi to finish his tour of Microsoft.

It was hard to imagine these execs waiting idly for 10 minutes anywhere else.

Mr. Xi eventually entered, smiled and shook hands with the first row, starting with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, which is banned in China. For the photo, Mr. Xi planted himself next to Virginia M. Rometty, the head of IBM. A podium was rolled out, and Mr. Xi spoke for about six minutes, then left.

That photo op turned out to be the most sensational moment of the trip, a 10-minute session that illustrated the raw power of the Chinese leader and the huge market he controls.

Afterward, even Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, said he was impressed. “Did you feel the room shake?” he said, with a smile.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/reporters-notebook/xi-jinping-visit/china-tech-market

=Minnesota Absentee Ballot Tracking Site Crashes Three Days Before Election

A website that Minnesota residents can use to track their absentee ballots crashed for more than an hour Saturday morning three days before Tuesday’s election.

The problem stemmed from a “hardware issue” impacting online tools for voters and site issues with the Statewide Voter Registration System, a spokesperson from the secretary of state’s office told the Associated Press.

The spokesperson added that the site had been restored by 10:15 a.m.

The ballot tracking site had seen a huge uptick in usage as a record number of Minnesota residents opted to vote early this year.

But those checking the status of their ballot Saturday morning saw an error message until the website issues were resolved.

Lines formed at early voting centers in the state Saturday morning as more Minnesota residents dropped off their absentee ballots in person instead of voting by mail or voted early in person after a federal court ruling challenged whether mail-in ballots could be accepted after Election Day even if they are postmarked on November 3.

https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2020/10/31/minnesota-absentee-ballot-tracking-site-crashes-three-days-before-election/

Gretchen Whitmer Administration Tightens Coronavirus Restrictions, Issues Guidelines for Trick-or-Treating

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration tightened restrictions on residents on Friday despite a Supreme Court ruling throwing out her coronavirus-related executive orders.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued new orders, which include smaller indoor crowd sizes and new requirements for restaurants to collect contact information from patrons.

The State News reported:

All dine-in food service establishments are now required to maintain accurate records of the names and phone numbers of patrons who purchase food for consumption on the premises, along with the date and time of entry. If patrons refuse to give out this information then servers need to deny entry/service.

The department, headed by Robert Gordon, who does not have a background in public health, cut indoor gatherings from 500 to 50.

“The only way to beat COVID is to act on what we’ve learned since March,” Gordon said in a news release. “Wear masks. Keep six feet of distance. Wash hands. And avoid the indoor get-togethers where we have seen COVID explode.”

Those who refuse to comply face stiff fines or even jail time.

“Violations are punishable by a civil fine up to $1,000 and may also be treated as a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than six months or a fine of not more than $200, or both,” MDHHS said.

The department also threatened businesses that do not collect the demanded information.

“In addition, failure to comply with orders may violate a business or professional’s licensure requirements or present a workplace safety violation,” it said.

The department then provided an avenue for residents to tattle on businesses and patrons they feel have not sufficiently submitted.

Many residents did not take kindly to the new requirements, with some proposing to turn the tables on Whitmer and the bureaucrats.

The department recommended children always stay on the right and participate in “one-way” trick-or-treating. It urged parents “to only go to houses with safety measures in place.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/10/31/gretchen-whitmer-administration-tightens-coronavirus-restrictions-issues-guidelines-for-trick-or-treating/

Anglican Church of Tasmania finalises $3.65 million of compensation to survivors of sexual abuse

The Anglican Church of Tasmania has confirmed it will pay $3.65 million in compensation to 24 survivors of sexual abuse, but will look at selling more assets after its liability estimates more than doubled.

Key points:

The Church expects between 150 and 200 people to come forward over 10-year period of the National Redress Scheme, with an estimated total liability of more than $23 million

The Diocese of Tasmania is selling properties to recoup costs

It says "all the assets of the Diocese" are on the table to secure the funds

The Synod of the Anglican Church heard on Saturday that $2.225 million will be directed towards civil litigation settlements, with a commitment to pay $1.226 million through the National Redress Scheme.

The Anglican Diocese said some of the funding has already been paid, but it will be a "matter of time" until the outstanding amount is paid, with a further $185,000 already paid to the Pastoral Support and Assistance Scheme for survivors of abuse.

"We are committed to justice for survivors of abuse," said Bishop of Tasmania Dr Richard Condie.

"We recognise that a financial payout will not remove the burden and trauma of abuse, but we believe it goes some way towards showing our sorrow for those who have suffered in this way."

The Anglican Diocese had initially estimated its liability under the National Redress Scheme to be $8.6 million in 2018, but that figure has since been revised to more than $23 million, with an estimated liability of $19.4 million remaining after the payment of $3.65 million to the 24 survivors.

Dr Condie said the revision is a result of the increasing number of people coming forward and looking towards civil litigation over the National Redress Scheme.

"With an increasing number of people coming forward and more people moving to civil litigation, we're finding we've had to revise our targets," he said.

"We're expecting between 150 and 200 people to come forward over the 10-year period of the National Redress Scheme."

The Diocese has not said how it will meet the increased financial commitment but Dr Condie said the Church has not ruled out selling some of its assets.

"All of the assets of the Diocese of Tasmania will be on the table for us to try and work out how we can secure the funds so that we can make this obligation," he said.

Selling its assets is a strategy familiar to the Church, which listed 73 churches for sale around the state in an effort to recoup costs in 2018.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-31/anglican-tasmania-3.65-million-compensation-sexual-abuse/12835686

>>11377981

Black Cube CEO Suspected of Running Crime Organization

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-interrogation-revealed-black-cube-ceo-suspected-of-running-crime-organization-1.9262559