Dominion-Trained IT Contractor Blows Up Michigan Hearing, ‘They Were Re-Scanning, Counting Ballots 8 to 10 Times’

The Michigan Senate Oversight Committee on Tuesday held a hearing in Lansing on election fraud and irregularities.

A Dominion-trained IT contractor named Melissa Carone absolutely blew up the Michigan hearing on Tuesday.

Melissa Carone dropped many truth bombs, blew the whistle on Dominion workers and revealed ballots were being tabulated in the Department of Elections which is completely illegal.

Ms. Carone stunned the Michigan state lawmakers when she revealed there were tabulation machines at the Department of Elections.

Carone wasn’t even supposed to talk about it today. She said it was supposed to be revealed next week but she blew the whistle today anyway.

Carone also revealed that batches of ballots were being scanned 8-10 ten times.

Ballots are supposed to drop into a sealed box after being scanned through the tabulating machine, however Melissa Carone said the ballots were accessible to the election worker after being scanned through the machine. She said the boxes that were supposed to receive the scanned ballots were moved to another part of the room and used to block poll observers.

Melissa Carone also said one of the Dominion workers disappeared to a “warehouse” for several hours right before a big data dump for Joe Biden.

Melissa Carone gave a very compelling testimony and stunned the lawmakers sitting on the panel.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/dominion-trained-contractor-blows-michigan-hearing-re-scanning-counting-ballots-8-10-times-video/

Florida Gov Slams Lockdown-Advocates As "Today's Flat-Earthers"

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Monday that public schools will remain open despite the parabolic rise in COVID-19 cases, according to AP News.

DeSantis strongly argued against lockdowns and stated they do not work:

"Closing schools due to coronavirus is probably the biggest public health blunder in modern American history," the governor said at a news conference.

"People who advocate closing schools for virus mitigation are effectively today's flat-earthers."

DeSantis said the state's public school system would remain open while pointing out countries like Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland all kept children in schools despite the rapid spread of the virus in their respective countries, adding that these European countries kept their schools open without negative consequences.

The governor pointed out the rise in cases in the state, though he said other states have it worse.

"We've seen cases increase but look at all the other states that are seeing them increase way, way more," DeSantis said.

"If you look at the per-capita hospitalizations, we are not even close to the top of the stuff. So I think people should put it in perspective."

His comments come as Dr. Michael Osterholm, who serves as director of the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, and is the latest "scientist" to join Joe Biden "special coronavirus transition advisory team," recently supported a "nationwide lockdown" to drive down the number of new cases.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/florida-gov-says-closing-schools-biggest-blunder-us-history-says-schools-will-remain-open

D.C. Metro Will Eliminate Weekend Service, Close 19 Stations

The Washington, D.C., public transportation system known as Metro has a budget shortfall of $500 million as the pandemic is wreaking havoc on urban transportation.

The Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) was expecting revenue of $680 million before the pandemic struck. That number is now an expected $117 million and falling. To deal with the shortfall, Metro will eliminate weekend service, close 19 train stations, and reduce the number of bus routes from 60 to 41. About 2,400 jobs will be lost in addition to the nearly 1,000 job cuts that had already been planned, DCist reported.

Without a massive infusion of cash for big-city transportation, our central cities will be hollowed out. The loss in business, nightlife, sports, and tourism will be catastrophic. Off-hour workers will lose their ability to get to and from work.

I suppose it would be easy to just blame the whole problem on overpaid union employees, inefficiency, and mismanagement. Those are certainly serious problems, but this problem afflicts the entire urban transportation infrastructure of the United States and it demands a federal response.

To make up the lost revenue in 2020, the American Public Transit Association says the industry needs $32 billion just to survive. And grim projections from the WMATA and other urban mass-transit agencies show that the lost ridership due to the coronavirus won’t even begin to recover until 2022 — and will probably never fully recover. That means higher fares, higher taxes, and less service.

DCist:

In Philadelphia, SEPTA is weighing service cuts, layoffs and fare increases as ridership on the agency’s Regional Rail is down about 85%. SEPTA recently cut overnight weekend rail service on two of its lines.

New York City, known for its 24-hour subway service, stopped overnight service in May and is considering similar cutbacks that could cost the area up to 50,000 jobs and $50 billion in lost earnings.

In September, the MTA in Los Angeles approved a $1.2-billion decrease to its 2021 budget compared to this year, solidifying temporary budget cuts from April.

“The city that never sleeps” will be a nostalgic reminder of the way things used to be before the pandemic. And going forward, cities will have few options to relieve the congestion from the massive increase in auto traffic.

Washington is going to have to make a decision on just what kind of urban transportation system America should fund. Any monies in a new pandemic relief bill will barely scratch the surface and obligate the taxpayer to keep bailing out these transportation agencies in perpetuity. Trains are enormously expensive. Buses are comparatively cheap. Logic would dictate more buses, fewer trains, with more expensive rail traffic subsidizing buses, keeping fares relatively low.

Labor reform is an absolute must, but in big cities, it is politically impossible. Getting labor costs under control could be a condition of federal loan guarantees in the future.

There are no easy answers, to be sure. But if most of us agree that public transportation is essential, we must find a way to salvage what we can from this disaster and move forward.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/12/01/d-c-metro-will-eliminate-weekend-service-close-19-stations-n1183467

Outrage Over Former Trump Cyber Chief Chris Krebs Being Metaphorically Executed by Joe diGenova

Chris Krebs, the former chief of cybersecurity at DHS, has been metaphorically executed because he said that the election just held was the most secure in U.S. history.

Bringing down the ax — or pulling the trigger — was Trump campaign attorney Joe diGenova. He apparently took issue with Krebs’ appearance on CBS 60 Minutes on Sunday night and appeared on The Howie Carr Show to rant.

“Anybody who thinks that this election went well, like that idiot Krebs who used to be the head of cybersecurity [for Trump]. That guy is a class-A moron. He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot,” diGenova said, as reported by The Bulwark.

Yes, yes. Hanging is too good for him. Take him out back and cut him open, rip out his entrails, and then cut him into four pieces, sending them to the four corners of the kingdom…er, country.

Maybe we could hang the entrails from the top of the Washington Monument.

Now, everyone is eager to point out that it doesn’t matter if diGenova was making an actual threat — a curious idea since Krebs has committed no crime and couldn’t be executed legally by anyone in the United States — or was simply tossing red meat to the Trump worshippers who hang on every insult, every exaggeration, every bombastic statement in support of their hero and his sacred cause.

DiGenova was using metaphor to drive home the point that Krebs had transgressed against his former employer. Indeed, would there be such a brouhaha if diGenova had quoted Dante?

Dante’s final or ninth circle of hell was reserved for, among others, those who practiced treachery against “their loved ones, friends, best friends, countries, cities, guests and even to their masters.” The ninth circle was filled with ice and transgressors were buried up to their necks in a particularly gruesome fashion.

But that doesn’t have quite the ring to it that threatening to draw and quarter Krebs does.

Everyone knows that diGenova was not being serious. He was not wishing any harm would come to Mr. Krebs. But diGenova’s loose lips gave the enemies of Trump a perfect opening to pretend to be outraged.

This is not just a random Parler troll trying to get attention. This is an attorney speaking on behalf of the President of the United States’ re-election campaign. And while it may read like a macabre joke, the direct nature of diGenova’s comments make it impossible to interpret as anything other than a real wish/threat against a public servant for offering truthful testimony.

Oh, for God’s sake, GROW UP! It’s more than possible to interpret what diGenova said as anything other than “a real wish/threat against a public servant for offering truthful testimony.” You have to be bat-guano crazy to believe it was an actual threat of physical violence against Krebs. If there’s one person anyone out there who thinks that diGenova was serious about drawing and quartering another human being, they belong in a padded room — permanently.

It was metaphor — crude, exaggerated, uncalled for, extremely impolite, and just plain dumb. But call it what it was, not what you think will score political points with anyone except other brain-dead hyperpartisan nincompoops.

Public discourse has coarsened over the last decade and along with it, a terrible abuse of the English language.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/12/01/outrage-over-former-trump-cyber-chief-chris-krebs-being-metaphorically-executed-by-joe-degenova-n1183781

>>11859499

>>11859483

FEDS: Little Rock Youth Pastor Admits To Transporting Children Across State Lines for Sex

LITTLE ROCK – A former Little Rock youth pastor pleaded guilty Monday to transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of unlawful sexual activity. Robert Shiflet, 50, now of Denton, Texas, entered his guilty plea earlier today before United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky. Cody Hiland, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Diane Upchurch, Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock Field Office of the FBI, announced today’s guilty plea

Shiflet pleaded guilty to two separate instances of criminal conduct. One of these accounts began in 1996, when Shiflet met a 14-year-old girl in the youth group he pastored in Denton, Texas. Shiflet frequently made inappropriate comments to the minor and often told her he loved her. In May of 1997, when the minor was 15 years old, Shiflet led an eighth grade camping trip to the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. Shiflet was able to isolate the minor away from the group and then sexually assaulted her. He told her not to tell anyone.

Another minor reported that in 2002, when Shiflet was her youth pastor at a Little Rock church, Shiflet engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with her when she was 16 years old. Shiflet had sex with the minor multiple times during 2002-2003, when Shiflet was 32. In the summer of 2002, the youth group attended an event in Panama City, Florida. On that trip, Shiflet asked the minor to ride on the charter bus with him instead of riding on another bus with her friends. On the bus ride, he sexually assaulted the minor.

“This defendant took advantage of his position of trust as a mentor to young people and instead used his power to isolate and sexually abuse them,” stated U.S. Attorney Hiland. “This predatory behavior is never acceptable, but it is particularly disturbing when the offender is a youth pastor. Our office will continue to aggressively pursue those who commit these deplorable crimes.”

Shiflet was indicted in June 2020 with three counts of transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and one count of coercion of a minor to engage in sexual activity. In exchange for his guilty plea, the remaining charges were dismissed.

Judge Rudofsky will sentence Shiflet at a later date. Transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity is punishable by not more than 15 years imprisonment and not more than three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Bryant.

https://breaking911.com/feds-little-rock-youth-pastor-admits-to-transporting-children-across-state-lines-for-sex/

China’s Global Times publishes new offensive cartoon against Australia in scathing editorial

China has published a cartoon depicting a bloodied kangaroo while demanding Australia apologise to the artist behind the fake picture.

China’s government mouthpiece The Global Times has published a cartoon depicting a bloodied kangaroo while demanding Australia apologise to China’s “wolf warrior artist”.

Overnight the publication posted a series of scathing tweets about Australia and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The latest cartoon appeared in a piece criticising the PM for his shock over a tweet featuring a doctored image of an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of what appears to be an Afghan child. The image was created by Chinese artist Fu Yu – known as Wuheqilin.

He finally spoke out about the original doctored image, posting a video from Beijing Capital International Airport advising Mr Morrison to “face reality” and writing a column for The Global Times.

In it, he said: “I am the one who illustrated the cartoon that pissed off Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“It is totally hard to believe that a head of state like Morrison got totally bent out shape about my computer graphics work. I am flabbergasted that he even organised a press conference to fume about it.”

The artist said he created the image, which he calls a cartoon, on the night of November 22.

The faked image was then published to Twitter by China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian earlier this week, who said he was “shocked by murder of Afghan civilians and prisoners by Australian soldiers”.

It has led to global outrage and criticism against Beijing.

“Morrison called my cartoon ‘fabricated’,” Wuheqilin wrote. “Some overseas netizens claimed it was doctored. I’d like to tell them that their focus should not be on whether or not it is a real picture or an artistic creation. It is an incident embedded in a cartoon.”

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/chinas-global-times-publishes-new-offensive-cartoon-against-australia-in-scathing-editorial/news-story/daf99bf5cb766c5f72a8e33b1237760f

Azerbaijan President Aliyev Gives Victory Speech After Baku’s Forces Enter Lachin District

As has become customary, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev gave another “victory speech” after Baku’s forces entered the Lachin District.

In his speech, as typical, styled in the manner of “Big Brother” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he, once again, praised the success, and had the “us against the world” attitude that’s become expected in Turkish and similar rhetoric.

“I am very happy to say that Lachin distrct has been liberated from occupation. I heartily congratulate all the people of Azerbaijan on this occasion. The liberation of Lachin is a historic event. We returned Lachin without firing a single shot. We forced the enemy to do so. The brilliant victory on the battlefield led to the wonderful result that our three regions – Aghdam, Kalbajar and Lachin – were returned to us. We returned these regions without firing a single shot or losing a single soldier.”

He also promised for the regions to be developed further, as soon as possible.

“Lachin is one of the largest regions of the country, with an area of ​​1,800 square kilometers. The rich nature, historical monuments and underground resources of Lachin region are our national treasure. Lachin distrct will play an important role in the future economic development of Azerbaijan. First of all, we will return the people of Lachin to Lachin. I sincerely congratulate the people of Lachin on this wonderful event and pay attention to it. When Lachin was occupied, the region had a population of about 50,000. Now the population of Lachin district has reached 80,000. Of course, one of our main tasks will be to return the people of Lachin to Lachin in a short time. We will also try to return former IDPs to all other liberated areas as soon as possible.”

He also spoke of the Russian peacekeepers and the negotiations that took place with the Russian-brokered peace deal.

“The strategic importance of Lachin region is also that the Lachin corridor passes through the territory of the region and through the city of Lachin.

As you know, this corridor is under the control of Russian peacekeeping forces. The corridor was under the control of the Armenian armed forces and occupiers for many years. I can say that the initial version of the joint statement signed on November 10 contained a provision that this corridor should remain under the control of the Armenian armed forces.

I protested, and as a result, the corridor came under the control of Russian peacekeeping forces. I think this is a great achievement. The Lachin corridor has been cleared of Armenian occupying forces. I must also note that active work was underway on the initial version of the Declaration, especially shortly after the liberation of Shusha.

The initial version of the statement suggested that the width of the Lachin corridor be 30 kilometers. I strongly objected to this and said that this claim of the Armenian side is completely unfounded. There is no need for such a wide corridor to ensure security measures within the corridor. Therefore, I considered it a completely unacceptable proposal and expressed my opinion. Then, in the second option, the width of the Lachin corridor was 10 kilometers.

https://southfront.org/azerbaijan-president-aliyev-gives-victory-speech-after-bakus-forces-enter-lachin-district/

Parler, the 'free speech' Twitter clone, surged in Australia after US election

In the days after the November 3 US election, a relatively unknown app rocketed through the rankings on Australia's Apple and Google app stores.

On the Saturday after the Tuesday vote — the day Biden claimed victory and President Trump's lawyer held a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping — the app jumped from 46th to 18th place in the 'Social' category for Android.

Then it kept going. By Thursday it was number one.

On the Apple Store, the app rose from 32nd to 7th in the 'News' category, and by Wednesday was ranked second, according to data from analytics firm AppTweak.

The same was happening in the US, where it had become the top free app.

Parler, its supporters said, was the 'free speech' Twitter — the place where conservatives could speak their minds without being called sexist, racist or homophobic, or having their posts deleted by 'Big Tech'.

The vote count seemed to confirm their suspicions: As the Biden campaign pulled ahead in the key swing states, the big platforms acted on rampant misinformation, flagging theories alleging crimes by the Democrats.

Within a few weeks, Parler doubled its membership to 10 million, and was fostering an alternate reality.

On Parler, Donald Trump had won in a landslide, only to have his victory stolen.

The "information ecosystem" was fracturing, the New York Times reported. Where "filter bubbles" within platforms currently shape people's reality, in the future entire platforms will do this.

The left will choose one 'ecosystem' of platforms and the right another, and the way each side see the world will diverge even further.

And it's already happening. Make a Twitter account, and the app might suggest you follow ESPN, NASA, Cardi B and the Pope.

Make a Parler, and you'll be advised to follow Breitbart, the Daily Caller, Epoch Times, Dan Bongino, Eric Trump, Laura Loomer and Rudy Giuliani.

But even as the hype plays out and news outlets scramble to introduce this previously fringe platform to their readerships, some believe that the coverage has been overblown, and Parler is all marketing strategy and no users.

"The media tends to focus on the bright new shiny thing," said Daniel Angus from Queensland University of Technology's Digital Media Research Centre.

"We have to be careful to not overstate what's going on.

"Once you dig past the premise of it being an alternative free speech space, it falls flat."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-12-02/parler-downloads-surged-in-australia-after-us-election/12934432

>>11859913

Senate proposes almost $700 billion for the Pentagon while millions of Americans remain unemployed amid the pandemic

With the current unemployment rate reaching roughly 6.8 million and nearly 8 million Americans facing eviction, the government should be focusing on its citizens and not a defense budget.

https://www.nationofchange.org/2020/11/19/senate-proposes-almost-700-billion-for-the-pentagon-while-millions-of-americans-remain-unemployed-amid-the-pandemic/

Swedish mom arrested for allegedly holding son captive for 28 years

A 70-year-old Swedish mom has been arrested for keeping her 41-year-old son locked up inside their filthy apartment for nearly three decades — leaving him covered in sores and barely able to walk, officials said Tuesday.

The son had allegedly been held captive for 28 years when he was found by a relative Sunday in the apartment in Haninge, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported, citing local media.

He was discovered lying on a blanket on the floor in the kitchen after the mother had been taken to the hospital.

The relative said he had almost no teeth, was covered in sores, and was barely able to speak or walk, according to Swedish outlets.

The apartment was also covered in urine, dust and dirt — and the family member said that she had to wade through clutter just to get to him.

“I’m in shock, brokenhearted, but at the same time relieved,” the relative told Swedish outlet the Expressen, DW reported.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for 20 years because I figured out that [the mother] was totally controlling his life, but I never imagined the extent of it.”

Stockholm prosecutor Emma Olsson declined to comment on the details of his injuries, but said that he was receiving medical treatment.

“He’s now in hospital … I know that he needed surgery,” Olsson said.

https://nypost.com/2020/12/01/swedish-mom-arrested-for-allegedly-holding-son-captive/