Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasts NYPD for refusing to enforce Thanksgiving restrictions: Those people aren't real law enforcement officers

Fighting words

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) blasted members of the NYPD for refusing to enforce restrictions on indoor gatherings ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday.

Last week, Cuomo issued updated COVID-19-related restrictions — which included a 10-person limit on indoor gatherings — to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

His latest remarks come on the heels of New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea's recent announcement that the NYPD has no plans to break up indoor gatherings despite the state limit being 10 people per home.

What are the details?

According to a Wednesday New York Post report, Cuomo blasted police for turning a blind eye to such gatherings, and for allegations that many officers themselves refuse to wear masks.

"A lot of police officers don't wear a mask," he said. "[W]ell, how are you then supposed to enforce other people wearing a mask when they see you not wearing a mask? 'I violate the law but you can't.' No! Nobody said you were above the law! I don't believe that person is a law enforcement officer. I don't want a law enforcement officer who says, 'I'm only enforcing the law that I like or think should be enforced.'"

Last week, Shea told NY1, "We're not planning on breaking up Thanksgiving celebrations. … We have to be smart. We're encouraging everyone to use common sense here and to get New York City through this. No one in large gatherings, we think at this point that's common sense."

Anything else?

According to the New York Post, several New York state sheriffs announced a refusal to enforce Cuomo's mandate on Thanksgiving gatherings.

One such law enforcement official is Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino, who took to Facebook and wrote, "Frankly, I am not sure it could sustain a Constitutional challenge in Court for several reasons including your house is your castle. And as a Sheriff with a law degree I couldn't in good faith attempt to defend in Court, so I won't. … We have limited resources and we have to set priorities, so obtaining a Search Warrant to enter your home to see how many Turkey or Tofu eaters are present is not a priority."

Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy, Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard, and Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo also echoed Giardino's sentiments, according to the outlet.

In a news release, Zurlo said, "I can't see how devoting our resources to counting cars in citizens' driveways or investigating how much turkey and dressing they've purchased is for the public good."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/andrew-cuomo-blasts-nypd-thanksgiving-restrictions

Chinese buyers of American soybeans to call off contracts as processing margins collapse

Chinese soybean importers and processors are planning to cancel deals signed for US cargoes for December and January shipment, Reuters reported, citing its trade sources.

They explained the decision, pointing to the crushing margins collapse following a steep rally in Chicago futures.

“Small private soybean importers are trying to wash out December and January US soybean shipments as crush margins have turned negative,” said one trader at a leading soybean processor in China. “This is for those importers who bought cargoes but did not [set the] price in the futures market.”

Soybeans are crushed for oil, used mainly in cooking, and soymeal, an animal feed vital to the hog and poultry sectors.

China is the world’s largest importer and consumer of soybeans, accounting for more than 60 percent of global demand. The country has accelerated soy imports to a record level this year as it seeks to rebuild a national pig herd decimated by the deadly African swine fever in 2018 and 2019.

Beijing has also increased US soybean purchases to comply with ‘phase one’ of the US-China trade deal. Soybeans have historically been the most valuable US farm export, with China purchasing more than half of all US soybean exports, before the two countries became embroiled in a trade war.

Experts say that profitable domestic crush margins, combined with multi-year-low US soy prices this summer, have triggered strong Chinese buying of US supplies from August.

However, this month US soybean export prices have matched the futures markets gains. That led to export basis levels (the premium above futures that buyers must pay to secure supplies) having dropped by just over 30 percent, indicating reduced competition among buyers.

According to Refinitiv Eikon, spot export basis at the US Gulf dropped from 93 cents a bushel in early November to 63 cents this week. “This is a big drop,” said one of the trade sources.

https://www.rt.com/business/507779-china-cancels-us-soybean-orders/

Josh Hawley Presses Facebook, Twitter on ‘Coordinated Censorship,’ Tracking Users

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) submitted questions Tuesday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey regarding their “coordinated censorship” and tracking of their users across the Internet.

Hawley revealed during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that Facebook uses a tool, called Tasks, that is allegedly used to collaborate with Google and Twitter to censor users across platforms.

Hawley also revealed the existence of a tool called Centra that tracks users across the Internet even when they believe they are anonymous.

“Your companies are the most powerful companies in the world, and I want to talk about how you’re coordinating together to control information,” Hawley said during the hearing.

Hawley torched Zuckerberg during the hearing for dodging questions regarding the Tasks and Centra programs, charging it is time to take action against the “modern-day robber barons.”

Subsequently, Hawley sent follow up questions regarding the Centra and Tasks programs to Zuckerberg and Dorsey.

10 more questions for the record for Mark Zuckerberg and @jack following their testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The public deserves details on ⁦@Facebook’s⁩ “Centra” tracking platform. And on Big Tech coordinated censorship pic.twitter.com/5ZL17lpmxu

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 24, 2020

Hawley asked Zuckerberg:

How many entries in Facebook’s Tasks tool pertain to content moderation and reference contacts at Google?

How many entries in Facebook’s Tasks tool pertain to content moderation and reference contacts at Twitter?

How many entries in Facebook’s Tasks tool pertain to content moderation and reference contacts or information from the Southern Poverty Law Center?

Please provide a list of all hashtags, URLs, and real-world individuals that Facebook has banned across its platform, along with notations of whether the impetus for the ban stemmed from contacts with employees at Twitter, Google, or the Southern Poverty Law Center.

How many accounts in the United States has Facebook surveilled or shut down using the Centra tool?

When a Facebook employee accesses a Facebook user’s private messages, that access is allegedly tracked and audited. How many such audits were conducted by Facebook during fiscal year 2019?

A November 23 article in the Financial Times, entitled “Facebook plans charm offensive for Joe Biden” reported that “[c]ompany executives are planning a major push to encourage users to take a coronavirus vaccine, as well as incentivising people to share content related to the Paris climate agreement, which Joe Biden has promised to rejoin, in the hopes of winning favour in Washington.” Please describe all steps Facebook intends to take to encourage users to share content related to the Paris climate agreement.

Please explain how any advocacy by Facebook for rejoining the Paris climate agreement would be consistent with Facebook’s self-description as a “platform” and not a “publisher.”

Hawley asked Dorsey:

Does Twitter have a policy prohibiting its employees from coordinating content moderation decisions with outside companies such as Facebook or Google, where such moderation is not strictly required by law?

Please provide a list of all hashtags, URLs, and real-world individuals that Twitter has banned across its platform.

“10 more questions for the record for Mark Zuckerberg and @jack following their testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Hawley wrote on Tuesday. “The public deserves details on @Facebook’s⁩ ‘Centra’ tracking platform. And on Big Tech coordinated censorship.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/25/josh-hawley-presses-facebook-twitter-on-coordinated-censorship-tracking-users/

Pennsylvania State Senate Plans Meeting to Air Complaints of Voter Fraud

The Pennsylvania State Senate Majority Policy Committee plans to meet Wednesday in Gettysburg to air complaints of voter fraud to the public.

“Over the past few weeks, I have heard from thousands of Pennsylvanians regarding issues experienced at the polls, irregularities with the mail-in voting system, and concerns whether their vote was counted,” State Sen. David Argall, R-Mahanoy City said in a statement. “We need to correct these issues to restore faith in our republic.”

The meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 25 at 12:30 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel in Gettysburg.

Election fraud expert Eric Eggers says Michigan and Pennsylvania, with their "weird anomalies" this election, are raising "tough questions" about voter fraud. https://t.co/Wg8dKw0wlY

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 11, 2020

President Donald Trump has been rumored to make an appearance at the meeting, but the White House would not confirm those reports, and no changes were made to the president’s public schedule.

President Trump’s lawyer former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to give a presentation, according to the campaign.

Each Senator at the hearing will give a five-minute opening statement followed by witnesses willing to present affidavits attesting to voter fraud in the 2020 election.

“It’s in everyone’s interest to have a full vetting of election irregularities and fraud,” Giuliani said in a statement. “And the only way to do this is with public hearings, complete with witnesses, videos, pictures and other evidence of illegalities from the November 3rd election.”

Giuliani: The Case for Election Fraud Being Made By Americans https://t.co/yNfaKqYzCO via @BreitbartNews

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2020

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/25/pennsylvania-state-senate-plans-meeting-to-air-complaints-of-voter-fraud/

Major Channel Migrant Human Trafficking Network Busted in France

French police have arrested what is being characterised as a major people-smuggling operation behind many of the small rubber boats that have carried illegal migrants across the English Channel to the UK.

Police arrested six Iraqi and Syrian men during raids in the city of Sin-le-Noble in northern France. The alleged human traffickers are said to have played a “crucial” role in facilitating dozens of illegal boat crossings since at least May.

During the raids, police also seized 14 inflatable boats. Four of the suspects are set to appear in court in Boulogne on Friday.

A source told the British tabloid The Sun: “This was a sophisticated operation and required a painstaking investigation which lasted several weeks.”

“Messages on encrypted phone apps are believed to have revealed the links to Britain. There is information sharing between the UK and the French.

“French police are thought to have used phone taps to help nail them. It’s a major victory but in no way will this bring to an end the problem.”

It is believed that the people smugglers had connections to organised crime gangs in Britain, enabling the traffickers to offer discounted rates for helping the illegal aliens reach the UK in exchange for providing “slave labour” in laundrettes, takeaway restaurants, and cannabis farms owned by the British-based gangs.

In September, a source in Calais claimed that illegal migrants sign a “pact” with traffickers before setting sail for Britain, saying: “It’s in pretty poor conditions. They’re essentially the property of the smuggling gangs and the gangsters in the UK.”

“Someone paying money back through unregulated work is worth much more than the discount,” he added.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/11/25/french-police-bust-human-trafficking-gang-responsible-dozens-illegal-channel-crossings/

Italian Businesses Threaten Tax Strike If Closed Under Lockdown

A Tuscan group representing small and medium-sized enterprises has threatened the government with a tax strike if businesses are forced to close due to Wuhan coronavirus lockdown measures.

Confcommercio Toscana said that it would support any of its 50,000 members across Tuscany in their tax strike. The group’s president, Anna Lapini, stated that “those who govern us have not bothered to stop the costs to our companies, which instead continue to run”. She added that businesses would not have the cash needed to make tax payments.

“Our companies no longer have resources, and we prefer to continue to pay employees and suppliers as a priority over a state that does not understand, but rather tramples on, our reasons for existence. So we pay no more taxes,” Lapini said, according to Il Giornale.

She went on to add that the government was treating companies and professionals like “ATMs without protection or respect”. She explained that instead of payments, letters would be sent to the government, informing them that companies are on strike and money will not be paid.

Lapini added that without real solutions from the government, “the health emergency will become a war-like economic catastrophe”.

The threat of tax strikes comes after members of populist Senator Matteo Salvini’s League and their allies suggested earlier this month that the government stop collecting taxes in areas facing lockdown measures.

League MP Paolo Grimoldi called on the government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to suspend taxes, as had been done in February.

Salvini Offers to Pay Coronavirus Fine of Man Who Kissed Girlfriend in Public https://t.co/CkHeZJrSln

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 13, 2020

Salvini has also come out in support of those affected by the lockdowns, including offering to pay the fine of a couple who was penalised €400 for kissing each other in public.

“If the mayor doesn’t lift the fine, we’ll take care of it,” Salvini had said.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/11/25/italian-businesses-threaten-tax-strike-if-closed-under-lockdown/

Hungary’s Orbán: George Soros Is ‘the Most Corrupt Man in the World’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blasted billionaire disrupter George Soros Wednesday, denouncing his efforts to create a “European empire” under the banner of a global open society.

In his written statement, Mr. Orbán replies to a November 18 article by George Soros published in Project Syndicate in which Mr. Soros attacks Hungary and Poland for vetoing the European Union’s proposed €1.15 trillion seven-year budget.

In his article Soros instructs the leaders of the European Union “to severely punish those Member States that do not want to become part of a unifying European empire under the banner of a global ‘open society,’” Orbán writes.

Soros is an “economic criminal” who “made his money through speculation, ruining the lives of millions of people, and even blackmailing entire national economies,” Orbán states, noting that many believe that prime ministers must not debate with economic criminals, just as governments “must not negotiate with terrorists.”

“Yet now I am compelled to do so,” Orbán declares.

Hungary Vows to ‘Protect Nation’s Interests’ as EU Court Strikes Down Soros Crackdown https://t.co/VYeDylUxxM

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 7, 2020

Whereas in his article Soros describes himself as “a committed supporter of the EU as a model of an open society,” Mr. Orbán insists that “Europe’s strength has always been derived from its nations.”

“Every attempt to unify Europe under the aegis of empire has failed,” Orbán insists. “Thus historical experience tells us that Europe will be great again if its nations become great again, and resist all forms of imperial ambition.”

“Great forces are once again moving to eradicate the nations of Europe and unify the continent under the aegis of a global empire,” the Hungarian PM continues. “The Soros network, which has woven itself through Europe’s bureaucracy and its political elite, has for years been working to make Europe an immigrant continent.”

“Today the Soros network, which promotes a global open society and seeks to abolish national frameworks, is the greatest threat faced by the states of the European Union,” he adds. “The goals of the network are obvious: to create multi-ethnic, multicultural open societies by accelerating migration, and to dismantle national decision-making, placing it in the hands of the global elite.”

In the midst of a series of crises — economic, migration, health — the “need for European solidarity, for European nations to come together to help each other, has never been greater,” Orbán asserts.

Hungarian Prime Minister: 'Soros Is One of the Most Corrupt People in the World' https://t.co/H8XbYGRHGt

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 21, 2020

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/11/25/hungarys-orban-george-soros-is-the-most-corrupt-man-in-the-world/

Sussex County Woman Charged with Concealing Terrorist Financing to Syrian Al-Nusra Front, a Foreign Terrorist Organization

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/sussex-county-woman-charged-concealing-terrorist-financing-syrian-al-nusra-front-foreign

Watchdog: At Least 600 Dead in Nov. 9 Tigray Massacre

Ethiopia reports Tigray fighters surrendering

One day into the 72-hour ultimatum on Ethiopia’s Tigray city, Ethiopia claims many have surrendered, though there is growing pessimism the attack on the city can be avoided.

The Ethiopia Human Rights Commission found that some 600 people were killed in a Nov 9. massacre in Tigray, stabbed or hacked to death. That, and failure to care for the displaced, is raising concern.

PM Abiy Ahmed’s harsh statements against the Tigrayans only add to those concerns, and even if the fighting ends, the government may keep cracking down on the Tigrayans.

Reflecting that problem, Ethiopia has loudly rejected mediation over the ongoing problem, meaning their endgame is not resolving the dispute but just crushing it.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/11/24/watchdog-at-least-600-dead-in-nov-9-tigray-massacre/

Computer repairman at center of 'Biden laptop' scandal closes shop, disappears amid purported death threats

John Paul Mac Isaac, the computer repairman at the center of a reported Biden family scandal, has closed his Wilmington, Delaware, computer repair shop amid purported death threats.

Mac Isaac previously claimed he had a laptop computer and hard drive containing information about former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and his international business dealings with Ukraine.

For his part, the elder Biden said the allegations were a "desperate campaign to smear me and my family," but did not confirm whether the laptop belonged to his son.

What are the details?

According to the Delaware News Journal, a "closed" sign now appears in the window of Mac Isaac's shop.

His attorney, Brian Della Rocca, told the outlet that his client closed up shop after he received several death threats. He has not elaborated on Mac Isaac's whereabouts at the time of this reporting, though a neighbor told the outlet that Mac Isaac left town.

In October, Mac Isaac said that he retained a copy of the hard drive's contents because he "feared he would be killed by people who 'work for [Joe] Biden' and having it was 'protection.'"

Della Rocca told the outlet that he did not believe his client would be involved in any potential lawsuits or investigations related to the laptop.

The outlet noted that Della Rocca "said his office has spoken in recent weeks with Wilmington FBI agents and with Delaware's Assistant United States Attorney Leslie Wolf" but that he "declined to describe the nature of the conversations."

"I've been in touch with federal law enforcement, yes," he told the outlet.

Neither the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation commented when approached by the outlet for remarks on the allegations.

In October, the New York Post reported that Mac Isaac was asked to repair a computer that reportedly contained a variety of nefarious and possibly incriminating emails and photos appearing to confirm that a secret meeting between the former vice president and a top Burisma executive had taken place.

He later told Fox News, "I just don't know what to say, or what I'm allowed to say. I know that I saw, I saw stuff — and I was concerned. I was concerned that somebody might want to come looking for this stuff eventually — and I wanted it out of my shop."

http://www.scoopyweb.com/2020/11/computer-repairman-at-center-of-biden.html

Ben Swann: German Lawsuit Against “FactCheckers” Would Force Them To Prove Legitimacy of COVID Test

“The PCR test is the cornerstone of this entire hoax. There’s no scientists in this entire world who will claim that a PCR test can detect infections. PCR tests are not designed for diagnostic purposes.”

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/ben-swann-german-lawsuit-against-factcheckers-would-force-them-to-prove-legitimacy-of-covid-test/

Report: Facebook hatched 'emergency' plan using 'secret internal ranking' to suppress 'right-wing' news sources post-election

In the tense days after the election as claims of widespread fraud were being disseminated on the platform, Facebook reportedly made an "emergency change" to its algorithm to suppress news sources that were spreading what the company believed to be "election misinformation."

According to the New York Times, the change involved weighting news sources using a "secret internal ranking" of publishers that Facebook created based on "signals about the quality of their journalism." The result became the more prominent featuring of posts from mainstream news outlets such as "CNN, The New York Times, and NPR," and the suppression of posts from "right-wing" outlets.

The change — which was hatched by a group of employees and approved by the social media giant's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg — was reportedly part of several "break glass" plans the company had spent months developing in the case of a contested election. Here's more from the Times report:

It involved emphasizing the importance of what Facebook calls "news ecosystem quality" scores, or N.E.Q., a secret internal ranking it assigns to news publishers based on signals about the quality of their journalism.

Typically, N.E.Q. scores play a minor role in determining what appears on users' feeds. But several days after the election, Mr. Zuckerberg agreed to increase the weight that Facebook's algorithm gave to N.E.Q. scores to make sure authoritative news appeared more prominently, said three people with knowledge of the decision, who were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.

The change was part of the "break glass" plans Facebook had spent months developing for the aftermath of a contested election. It resulted in a spike in visibility for big, mainstream publishers like CNN, The New York Times and NPR, while posts from highly engaged hyperpartisan pages, such as Breitbart and Occupy Democrats, became less visible, the employees said.

"It was a vision of what a calmer, less divisive Facebook might look like," the report noted, as if granting its approval to the emergency plan. The Times' approval is not surprising since it was explicitly listed as one of the publishers who benefitted from the algorithm change.

The sentiment is not likely to be shared by Republicans and supporters of President Trump, however, who will no doubt see the change as yet another egregious example of blatant, purposeful censorship. The social media company, along with Twitter, had been heavily scrutinized in the weeks leading up to the election for its unabashed censorship of the New York Post's bombshell reporting on Hunter Biden.

Guy Rosen, a Facebook executive who oversees its integrity division, told reporters on a conference call last week that the post-election algorithm changes were always meant to be temporary, but that decision is not uniformly popular at the company. The Times noted that some at the company argued that the changes should become permanent.

http://www.tathasta.com/2020/11/report-facebook-hatched-emergency-plan.html

Rep. Nunes: If Durham does nothing, we'll have to have a special prosecutor

Report: Afghanistan’s Booming Meth Industry May Rival Its Heroin Trade

Afghanistan is emerging as a significant global producer of methamphetamine, according to a study published on Tuesday by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

Afghan drug traffickers have in recent years discovered that the ephedra plant — commonly found growing wild in certain parts of the country — can be used to create ephedrine, the key component of the drug methamphetamine.

Known as crystal meth, methamphetamine is a cheaper drug than heroin, which has long been at the heart of Afghanistan’s highly lucrative illegal drug trade. According to the EMCDDA report, Afghanistan’s emerging meth trade is growing rapidly, meaning it could eventually rival the country’s established heroin industry.

“The realization that you could produce methamphetamine from a wild crop in the mountains has been a fundamental gamechanger,” Dr. David Mansfield, lead author of the EMCDDA study, told the BBC on Tuesday.

An expert on Afghanistan’s drug industry, Dr. Mansfield explained that drug traffickers in the country previously extracted ephedrine from expensive imported medicines. Their recent discovery that the ephedra plant grows wild in Afghanistan has enabled them to use the crop, a far cheaper alternative source of ephedrine, and some “simple chemistry” to create meth, he said.

While other cultures use the ephedra plant to create crystal meth, the scale of Afghanistan’s still emerging ephedrine industry surpasses any other previously documented, according to the EMCDDA.

The report’s researchers mapped out over 300 suspected ephedrine labs in just one Afghan district in the country’s southwest, Bakwa, using satellite imagery and information gleaned from interviews with Afghan drug producers in August. Dr. Mansfield said his team has also begun to identify meth labs elsewhere in the country.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/11/24/report-afghanistans-booming-meth-industry-may-rival-its-heroin-trade/

Foreign junkets galore: Cash-strapped council lavished a fortune on overseas jaunts including business class travel to China and five-star stays in Morocco

Town hall bosses spent £90,000 of public money on trips abroad last year

Councils need an extra £10billion to plug the funding gap and improve services

Tory MP Ben Bradley hit out at the 'hypocrisy' of council bosses for the 'jollies'

Cash-strapped councils lavished tens of thousands of pounds on foreign jaunts last year – including business class flights to China and five-star hotels.

Despite warning they would face bankruptcy if they failed to cut services, town hall bosses spent £90,000 of public money on trips abroad.

It comes after the Local Government Association said councils need an extra £10billion to plug the funding gap and improve services.

Responses to Freedom of Information requests from 44 councils revealed the public footed the bill of £89,699.85 for overseas trips for officials.

Because the audit is based on only a fraction of local authorities, the true figure is certain to be much higher.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8983663/Foreign-junkets-galore-Cash-strapped-council-lavished-fortune-overseas-jaunts.html