UPGRADES: Gab Announces ‘Totally Rebuilt’ Social Network Including Marketplace, Video Calls, and Payment System

Andrew Torba announced "Gab Next" on Tuesday

Gab CEO Andrew Torba announced on Tuesday the free speech social network would be rebuilt from the ground up, and include new features such as video calls, a marketplace, and a P2P payment system.

In a press release, Torba, who founded Gab in 2016, announced the company’s plan for “Gab Next,” a huge upgrade for the free speech social network. Gab Social, the main platform, will be moved over to the HYDRA infrastructure that currently powers all the other Gab products including Gab Trends, Gab TV, and the Gab Shop.

HYDRA, a third party company who provides cloud management and custom applications and infrastructure, is “secure, scalable, and has unmatched performance for a community as big as Gab,” Torba said, with Gab Social to be completely “rebuilt” and ported over to the new system within the next 90 days.

With the infrastructure change will come big upgrades for Gab. Torba announced some “exciting new features and tools” that will be possible on the new system, including: a Marketplace for Gab users to buy goods and services with each other; a P2P payment system; and a video calling system. Existing services like Gab Chat and Gab Trends will be able to be further integrated.

The new services are part of the wider plan from Torba and Gab to “build a new economy,” a vision that was revealed in February this year, following mass deplatforms of America First conservatives and President Trump himself from all levels of society. “Free markets inevitably emerge from free speech and the next evolution of Gab will provide the tools for that to happen,” Torba concluded.

National File previously reported that Torba had expressed interest in buying their own bank, after the New Tech site had been banned from four different banks in the space of four weeks, including a supposedly Christian bank.

https://nationalfile.com/upgrades-gab-announces-totally-rebuilt-social-network-including-marketplace-video-calls-and-payment-system/

Reversing Trump, Pentagon to release new policy for transgender people to serve in the military

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday will sweep away Trump-era policies that largely banned transgender people from serving in the military, issuing new rules that offer them wider access to medical care and assistance with gender transition, defense officials told The Associated Press.

The new department regulations allow transgender people who meet military standards to enlist and serve openly in their self-identified gender, and they will be able to get medically necessary transition-related care authorized by law, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal decisions not yet made public.

The changes come after a two-month Pentagon review aimed at developing guidelines for the new policy, which was announced by President Joe Biden just days after he took office in January.

Biden’s executive order overturned the Trump policy and immediately prohibited any service member from being forced out of the military on the basis of gender identity. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin then gave the Pentagon two months to finalize the more detailed regulations that the military services will follow.

The new rules also prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Their expected release Wednesday coincides with International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Austin has also called for a reexamination of the records of service members who were discharged or denied reenlistment because of gender identity issues under the previous policy. Results of that review have not been released.

Until a few years ago, service members could be discharged from the military for being transgender, but that changed during the Obama administration. In 2016, the Pentagon announced that transgender people already serving in the military would be allowed to serve openly, and that by July 2017, they would be allowed to enlist.

After Donald Trump took office, however, his administration delayed the enlistment date and called for additional study. A few weeks later, Trump caught military leaders by surprise, tweeting that the government wouldn’t accept or allow transgender people to serve “in any capacity” in the military.

After a lengthy and complicated legal battle and additional reviews, the Defense Department in April 2019 approved a policy that fell short of an all-out ban but barred transgender troops and recruits from transitioning to another sex and required most individuals to serve in what the administration called their “birth gender.”

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/03/31/reversing-trump-pentagon-to-release-new-policy-for-transgender-people-to-serve-in-the-military/

Record Number of ‘Sex Offender Encounters’: CBP Agent Exposes Leaked Documents

An anonymous border patrol agent who claims to have been working in Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for over ten years spoke out about leaked administration documents obtained by Project Veritas.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents, according to the non-profit journalist group, say that “criminal aliens with sex-related offenses are attempting to re-enter the United States in record numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The anonymous insider said that the documents, labeled “unclassified//law enforcement sensitive,” are not supposed to be shown to the public. One of them dated March 24, 2021, has the header “Border Intelligence Daily” and reads “Public Safety: FY 2021 Sex Offender Encounters by U.S. Border Patrol Reach Five Year High.”

The leaked document reads that there have been 214 sex offender encounters, or arrests, from October 2020 to February 2021, compared to the yearly total of 154 during the previous fiscal year.

The insider said the report is accurate and even “possibly underreported” because sometimes criminal backgrounds go undiscovered.

“I would probably say they’re underreported,” the insider said. “All the records of the criminal aliens and sex offenders that we arrest now, they all have been previously deported from the United States for committing these crimes in the United States.”

The Epoch Times reached out to DHS for comment on the accuracy of the documents.

The insider explained how agents run checkpoint operations to catch drug and human smuggling, or trafficking, and that they encounter situations like these every day.

The insider was asked how the policies of the current administration compare to the previous one.

He said that this is his third administration, having started when Obama was president.

“It’s very dangerous for both us and the people we arrest to be crossing illegally,” said the insider. “Policies of Biden letting them stay, changing from the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy under the Trump administration. When he [Biden] removed that, it just opened the floodgates for family units and small children crossing that border illegally.

https://www.ntd.com/record-number-of-sex-offender-encounters-cbp-agent-exposes-leaked-documents_590111.html

Cryptic US Strategic Command tweet was no code; it was toddler gibberish

OMAHA, Neb. — A tweet issued on the official page of the U.S. military command in charge of the nation’s nuclear arsenal early had many on social media confused and concerned.

What did the Sunday evening tweet, which read “;l;;gmlxzssaw,” mean? Had the account of the U.S. Strategic Command, which has its headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, been hacked?

Within 10 minutes of launch, the tweet drew at least 12,400 “likes,” 9,000 retweets and lots of snark and speculation, the Omaha World-Herald reported. A half-hour later, a follow-up tweet apologized for the confusion and advised followers to disregard the previous nonsensical tweet. Then the mystery tweet disappeared.

“Should we be ducking and covering now?” one person responded.

STRATCOM officials provided the answer a day later: The tweet came from a rogue toddler.

In a statement issued late Monday, STRATCOM said the person who manages the command’s Twitter account was working from home when he briefly stepped away from his computer while the account was open. That’s when his child sat down to play on the keyboard and managed to hit “send.”

“Absolutely nothing nefarious occurred; i.e., no hacking of our Twitter account,” STRATCOM spokeswoman Karen Singer said in the statement.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/03/31/cryptic-us-strategic-command-tweet-was-no-code-it-was-toddler-gibberish/

Australians flagged in Shanghai security files which shed light on China's surveillance state and monitoring of Uyghurs

The identities of 161 Australian citizens — including a former intelligence chief, government officials and business leaders — have been exposed in a hacked Shanghai security database which reveals the inner workings of China's surveillance state.

Key points:

The database includes details of more than 5,000 foreigners who were flagged when they travelled to Shanghai

The Australians include a former ambassador, business leaders and a university student

The leaked files shed light on authorities' monitoring of thousands of Uyghurs labelled as "suspected terrorists", some as young as five

Australian authorities are investigating whether the citizens may have been flagged for monitoring by Shanghai's Public Security Bureau (PSB), the city's powerful police force which has intelligence and immigration control functions.

Activists hacked an insecure server late last year, discovering the trove of more than 1.1 million Shanghai PSB and surveillance records.

The data was provided to Australian security officials, the ABC and a handful of media organisations internationally, giving a rare and detailed window into China's development of a national mass surveillance system.

The database contains PSB watchlists of tens of thousands of persons of interest, reports from informants, facial and vehicle recognition photographs, and immigration data.

The records also detail the monitoring and questioning of thousands of ethnic minority Uyghurs, some as young as five.

The database includes the passport details and photographs of more than 5,000 foreigners, flagged when they travelled to Shanghai since 2017.

The Australians include notable and influential identities, such as Geoff Miller, a former ambassador and head of the Office of National Assessments intelligence analysis agency.

Among the scores of other Australians unwittingly caught up in the data breach are business leaders and senior staff with access to sensitive technologies and information from companies including Telstra, NAB, Ernst & Young and NBN Co.

Mystery surrounds flagging of Australians

Hackers found the unprotected database, codenamed 'uyghur terrorist', on an open-source data platform used by security agencies across the world, and provided the information to Canberra-based cyber security firm Internet 2.0.

Internet 2.0 chief executive Robert Potter told the ABC the files appeared to be a piece of a larger database feeding into a burgeoning mass surveillance system.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/shanghai-files-shed-light-on-china-surveillance-state/100040896

America’s Cities Are Being Turned Into Crime-Ridden War Zones, And Murder Rates Are Way Up Again In 2021

The wealthy are reveling in their giant mountains of money, but meanwhile our society is literally coming apart at the seams all around us. The stock market has been hovering near all-time record highs, and for those at the very top of the economic pyramid these may seem like the best of times. But for most Americans, the “good old days” are a long distant memory. More than 70 million new claims for unemployment benefits have been filed over the past year, poverty is absolutely exploding all around us, and crime rates are shooting higher at an unprecedented rate. In fact, one study of 34 big U.S. cities found that their murder rates rose by an average of 30 percent in 2020…

A study by the National Commission on Covid-19 and Criminal Justice found that murders increased by 30% across 34 large U.S. cities.

In some areas, carjackings, robberies, shootings, sexual assaults and violence have become so common that it seems like the crime literally never stops.

Unless you have a death wish, there are certain parts of Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore that you should never enter night or day. If you doubt me, just go wander the streets of the worst neighborhoods of those cities and see what happens to you.

This was supposed to be a year when crime rates began to return to normal, but instead they are on the rise again. One study that looked at 37 large U.S. cities found that murder rates are up by an average of 18 percent so far in 2021…

The big increase in the murder rate in the United States in 2020 has carried over to 2021.

A sample of 37 cities with data available for the first three months of this year shows murder up 18 percent relative to the same period last year.

What is truly frightening is that this is about as good as things are going to get in America from here on out.

So if murder rates are spiking this much under relatively good conditions, what will our cities look like when things get really crazy?

Some of the crimes that we are witnessing are almost too horrible for words. For example, just consider what just happened to a 12-year-old boy in Miami…

A suspect in a black car kidnapped the boy at about 2 a.m. early Saturday morning from a Miami street, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

He drove a few blocks, raped the boy, and then shoved him out of the car and drove off, police said.

A good Samaritan on a bike near the scene of the crime came to the boy’s rescue. He was bleeding from the head and said he had been shot.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/americas-cities-are-being-turned-into-crime-ridden-war-zones-and-murder-rates-are-way-up-again-in-2021/

Rick Scott: ‘If You Oppose Democrat’s Power Grab, Democrats Will Call You Racist’

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said Wednesday the Democrat’s legislation to reduce election integrity is a “dishonest power grab” in a “controversial” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) video.

“And you also have to know, if you oppose the Democrat’s power grab, Democrats will call you racist,” Scott detailed before adding, “the American People don’t buy that. And they are on our [Republican] side.”

The video shows evidence of Scott’s argument, when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) proclaimed in a shown clip, “There’s been a huge effort by Republican legislatures throughout the country to suppress the vote.”

The next clip reveals Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) explaining, “the other side keeps pushing these terrible tactics” with Schumer immediately adding “that’s racist. Your’e racists plain and simple.”

The video comes after a poll has indicated “the American people what fair elections with no fraud,” with 75 percent of Americans supporting voter ID laws that require voters to show photo identification before voting. Sixty percent of Democrats also agree.

Rasmussen said:

75% Support Voter ID Laws

As the U.S. Senate considers legislation that would revamp America’s election laws, voters still overwhelmingly support laws requiring that voters show identification before casting a ballot.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of Likely U.S. Voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote. Only 21% are opposed to such a requirement.

Thirty-six states have enacted some form of voter ID law, but those laws would be nullified if the Senate approves H.R. 1, which passed the House on a party-line vote. Critics say H.R. 1 “would force states to allow anyone to vote who simply signs a form saying that they are who they claim they are.”

Support for voter ID laws has actually increased since 2018, when 67% said voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote.

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Republicans support voter ID requirements, as do 60% of Democrats and 77% of voters not affiliated with either major party.

Another poll also suggests Biden voters, Latino citizens, and black Americans overwhelmingly support voter ID laws as follows:

Biden voters support Voter ID by 38 points: 62-24 percent

Black American voters support Voter ID by 42 points: 64-22 percent

Latino voters support Voter ID by 62 points: 78-16 percent

Democrats are currently forming legislation to trash 35 state voter ID laws. H.R. 1, dubbed “For the People Act,” has passed the House and will move to the Senate.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/31/rick-scott-if-you-oppose-democrats-power-grab-democrats-will-call-you-racist/

Delta CEO: Georgia Voting Law ‘Unacceptable’

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian called Georgia’s new voting law “unacceptable” in a memo to employees on Wednesday.

New voting ID requirements, dropbox restrictions, and early voting access signed into law by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp last Thursday continue to draw controversy. The same day, President Joe Biden called the measures “un-American” and “sick,” making “Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.”

Civil rights groups have filed lawsuits against the state of Georgia, saying it was an example of “blatant racism, represents politics at its very worst and is clearly illegal.” On Wednesday, 72 black executives signed an open letter calling for American corporations to join the resistance. On Wednesday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian did just that.

In a memo circulated to its employee and posted to the Delta “news hub,” Bastian criticized the new law. While he took credit on behalf of Delta and other businesses for helping to “eliminating the most suppressive tactics that some had proposed,” he maintained that “the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values.”

“The right to vote is sacred,” Bastian wrote. “It is fundamental to our democracy and those rights not only need to be protected, but easily facilitated in a safe and secure manner.”

After having time to now fully understand all that is in the bill, coupled with discussions with leaders and employees in the Black community, it’s evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. That is wrong.

Bastian went a step further, saying “the entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 elections.” He called the idea an “excuse” used across the country to “restrict voting rights.”

“There is much work ahead,” the memo continued, assuring employees those at the airline “stand together in our commitment to protect and facilitate your precious right to vote.” Bastian promised the company would be “working with leaders across the political spectrum in states nationwide” and “monitoring legislation in Congress” to that end.

“I know this result in Georgia has caused frustration, anger and pain for many members of our Delta family,” Bastian said. “I commit to you that as we move forward, Delta will continue to do everything in our power to hear and protect your voice and your rights, both in Georgia and nationwide.”

Governor Kemp has repeatedly contested the bill’s framing, saying those who oppose the Election Integrity Act simply have not read it, and that SB 202 “expands early voting and secures our vote-by-mail system to protect the integrity of our elections.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/31/delta-ceo-georgia-voting-law-unacceptable/

Black Business Leaders Urge Corporations to Fight Election Integrity Efforts: ‘There Is No Middle Ground Here’

A group of prominent black business leaders is urging corporations to take a stand against election integrity efforts pursued in several states, contending there is “no middle ground.”

Seventy-two black business leaders, led by former American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault and Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier, signed a letter urging corporate America to fight against state election laws, such as Georgia’s recently passed S.B. 202, which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has described as an “illegal voter suppression law.”

“There is no middle ground here,” Chenault (pictured) said, according to the New York Times. “You either are for more people voting, or you want to suppress the vote.”

“This impacts all Americans, but we also need to acknowledge the history of voting rights for African-Americans,” Chenault continued. “And as African-American executives in corporate America, what we were saying is we want corporate America to understand that, and we want them to work with us.”

According to the outlet, the executives did not single out companies but instead broadly urged corporate America to “use their clout, money, and lobbyists to sway the debate with lawmakers.”

Frazier also expressed disappointment over the lack of pushback prior to the Georgia bill becoming law.

“There seems to be no one speaking out,” he said. “We thought if we spoke up, it might lead to a situation where others felt the responsibility to speak up.”

“The Georgia legislature was the first one,” he told the outlet. “If corporate America doesn’t stand up, we’ll get these laws passed in many places in this country.”

Per the Times, signers include:

Roger Ferguson Jr., the chief executive of TIAA

Mellody Hobson and John Rogers Jr., the co-chief executives of Ariel Investments

Robert F. Smith, the chief executive of Vista Equity Partners

Raymond McGuire, former Citigroup executive

Ursula Burns, a former chief executive of Xerox

Richard Parsons, a former chairman of Citigroup and chief executive of Time Warner

Tony West, the chief legal officer at Uber

The left has continued to promote a stream of false narratives regarding Georgia’s recently passed election integrity law, which does not reduce Election Day hours and actually expands access for early voting. President Biden said such state laws make “Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,” and other prominent Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have expressed similar sentiments.

In reality, Georgia’s measure, specifically, doubles the amount of early voting on the weekends, providing consistency across all counties, as Heritage Action pointed out:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/31/black-business-leaders-urge-corporations-to-fight-election-integrity-efforts-there-is-no-middle-ground-here/

Democrats' "Terrorist Insurrection" Narrative Collapses As Most Capitol Rioters Likely Won't Face Jail Time

With prosecutors expected to announce the first plea deals for individuals charged as part of the Capitol Riots on Jan. 6 in the coming days, Politico reports that many of the suspects allegedly involved in the "attempted insurrection" likely won't face jail time, which could be a "jarring reality check" for (mostly liberal) Americans outraged by the "storming" of the Capitol.

While a handful of defendants could face jail time for vandalism, assault or even murder/manslaughter for fighting with Capitol Hill police during the Jan. 6 incident, the vast majority will likely be hit with a slap on the wrist. The reason being that protests on the Capitol are extremely commonplace, and legally speaking, most of those charged aren't culpable for charges beyond simple trespassing. If judges tried to change this up, they would then need to hand down more strict punishments to protesters charged with interrupting Congressional votes or the State of the Union (tactics that, while they don't always attract media attention, are still key parts of the progressive toolkit)

There are two main reasons: Although prosecutors have loaded up their charging documents with language about the existential threat of the insurrection to the republic, the actions of many of the individual rioters often boiled down to trespassing. And judges have wrestled with how aggressively to lump those cases in with those of the more sinister suspects.

"My bet is a lot of these cases will get resolved and probably without prison time or jail time," said Erica Hashimoto, a former federal public defender who is now a law professor at Georgetown. "One of the core values of this country is that we can protest if we disagree with our government. Of course, some protests involve criminal acts, but as long as the people who are trying to express their view do not engage in violence, misdemeanors may be more appropriate than felonies."

Even though the administration has no sway (at least, in theory) over judges' sentencing decisions, a wave of lenient sentences could be a PR disaster for Biden & Co., as members of the hyper-progressive "squad" would likely seize the opportunity to slam the administration for letting a small army of alleged "white supremacists" off the hook. At one point, Biden and other senior Democrats were saying the rioters' behavior bordered on "sedition", speculation that the media took and ran with.

The prospect of dozens of Jan. 6 rioters cutting deals for minor sentences could be hard to explain for the Biden administration, which has characterized the Capitol Hill mob as a uniquely dangerous threat. Before assuming office, Biden said the rioters’ attempt to overturn the election results by force “borders on sedition”; Attorney General Merrick Garland has called the prosecutions his top early priority, describing the storming of Congress as “a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy, the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-left-egg-his-face-most-capitol-rioters-likely-wont-face-jail-time

Beijing Rejects Critical WHO Report, Insists COVID "Lab Leak Theory" Has Been Ruled Out

After more than a year of carrying water for Beijing, the WHO finally delivered its strongest rebuke yet to the CCP earlier this week when Dr. Tedros, the WHO's director-general, said the "lab leak hypothesis" remained a plausible scenario (even if the WHO report specified that it was the least likely scenario, and that animal-to-human cross-infection seemed more realistic). The report's release, along with Dr. Tedros's comments from a press briefing yesterday in Geneva, inspired the US and 13 other countries to demand that Beijing cooperate with further inquiries, which Dr. Tedros said would likely focus on the data allegedly denied to investigators during the team's trip to Wuhan in January.

Dr. Tedros's criticisms of the report precipitated a statement from the US and 13 other nations calling on Beijing to cooperate and release the data. But unsurprisingly, the CCP leadership wasn't having it.

Even though one member of the WHO investigative team denied reports that Beijing had tried to meddle with the final report, the unexpected rebuke in front of the international community has clearly aggravated Beijing. Because on Wednesday, the CCP dispatched Liang Wannian, the most senior Chinese scientist on the WHO-led team that visited Wuhan in January, to deny the WHO's complaints about being denied access to critical data.

During an official press briefing in Beijing, Wannian explained that while "there was some data that according to Chinese law could not be taken away or photographed but analysis in Wuhan was done together," Lianan said. That, of course, contradicts claims from other team members and the WHO, who complained that data on potential early COVID cases dating back to September 2019 was withheld, despite promises of transparency and cooperation.

Asked about the prospect for further inquiry, Liang declined to offer any concrete details beyond saying that the details of future research plans had not yet been decided. "The next stage will be to build upon the results of origins research in China to search for the origins on a global scale," he said.

"There was some data that according to Chinese law could not be taken away or photographed but analysis in Wuhan was done together," Liang told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

The Chinese government has carefully managed all inquiries into the virus's orgins while - as we have reported - pushing an "alternative" theory which claims the virus actually originated outside China.

In addition to the press conference in Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry said it believed that the report had adequately "ruled out" the possibility the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

"Speculation about laboratory leaks has always existed, but the team of specialists…found no evidence for suspicion," said Hua Chunying, a top ministry mouthpiece.

Well, that settles that, then. Now, will the WHO continue pushing back against Beijing? Or will this pressure to disclose the requested data simply fizzle in the face of unyielding pressure from the CCP?

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/beijing-rejects-critical-who-report-insists-covid-lab-leak-theory-has-been-ruled-out

ICE removes 3 individuals convicted of sex crimes against children

SEATTLE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers removed three public safety threats who combined have criminal convictions by the state of Washington that include child molestation, rape of a child, and sex abuse. All three Mexican citizens and were removed to Mexico, March 23.

“In keeping with our overarching mission and enforcement priorities, it remains paramount that we continue to focus our efforts and resources against those who pose the greatest threat to public safety – that absolutely includes apprehending and removing sexual predators, such as these, who prey on and victimize children,” said ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Seattle Field Office Director Nathalie Asher.

The following individuals came to the attention of ICE’s ERO officers as a result of their criminal convictions:

Manuel Alvarez-Vazquez, 56, convicted by the Superior Court of Washington for Pierce County of child molestation and sentenced to 75 months confinement. He was taken into ICE custody upon his release from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, Feb. 18;

Margarito Gordian Cruz, 49, convicted by the Superior Court of Washington for Yakima County of child molestation, rape of a child, and sex abuse and sentenced to 116 months confinement. He was taken into ICE custody upon his release from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center, Feb. 18; and

Alfredo Maldonado-Maldonado, 29, convicted by the Superior Court of Washington for Snohomish County of rape of a child and sentenced to 20 months confinement. He was taken into ICE custody following his release from the Washington State Department of Correction in Shelton, Feb. 19.

ICE is now implementing the interim civil immigration enforcement priorities directed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to focus its limited resources on threats to national security, border security, and public safety. ICE continues to carry out its duty to enforce the laws of the United States in accordance with the Department’s national security and public safety mission.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-removes-3-individuals-convicted-sex-crimes-against-children

World Bank Blacklists Scottish Firm for Fraud

The World Bank has blacklisted an anonymously-owned Scottish company for engaging in “fraudulent practices” to win deals under an emergency medical aid programme in Uzbekistan.

NovoLine Resources L.P., registered in Edinburgh, was found to have used fake documents to win World Bank-funded tenders to supply Uzbekistan’s health ministry with medical supplies, including anesthesia and respiratory equipment.

The World Bank issued a notice in November recommending that NovoLine Resources L.P. “be declared ineligible to be awarded or otherwise benefit from a Bank-financed contract, financially or in any other manner.”

This came after accusations that it had, “in an attempt to mislead the relevant procurement authority, in order to obtain the award of the contract,” submitted a set of false financial statements and a false past equipment sales contract.

As a result, NovoLine has been banned from bidding in the World bank’s procurement processes for at least three and a half years.

A Scottish MP has called the reports “unsurprising,” according to Open Democracy.

“By continuing to turn a blind eye, the U.K. government is essentially complicit in facilitating this type of activity,” Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss reportedly said. “It has to get a grip on this problem and fast, if it cares at all about the U.K.’s reputation as an honest place to do business.”

This isn’t the first time an anonymous company registered in Scotland has been caught up in fraud in Uzbekistan. In 2018, the United Nations barred four anonymously owned Scottish firms from bidding for their contracts after they were found to have engaged in “fraud and collusion”.

The ultimate beneficial owners of these companies, like NovoLine, remain unknown, but experts say it’s more likely that they lie in Uzbekistan rather than the U.K.

“U.K. legal entities are a key feature of the corruption landscape in Uzbekistan,” Kristian Lasslett, professor of Criminology at Ulster University in Northern Ireland told Open Democracy. “They are used to conceal the identity of politically exposed persons, launder money, facilitate bribe payments, organise frauds, and access the global financial system.”

Uzbekistan ranks as the third most corrupt country in Eastern Europe and Central Asia on Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index, and in the bottom 40 worldwide, ranking 146th out of 180 countries.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/14138-world-bank-blacklists-scottish-firm-for-fraud

In Unprecedented Move, Brazil’s Military Leadership Quits After Bolsonaro Sacks Defense Minister

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a former army officer who served under the country’s brutal military dictatorship, has aroused new fears that he could attempt to use the military to stay in power if he loses next year’s election to the newly vindicated Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a hugely popular leftist and former president.

The three top officers of the Brazilian military tendered their resignations on Tuesday, a day after Bolsonaro fired his defense minister amid a sweeping government shakeup.

The joint resignations of army head Edson Leal Pujol, navy head Ilques Barbosa Junior and air force head Antônio Carlos Moretti Bermudez were announced in a Tuesday statement that gave no further reasons. However, that morning, they met with the newly minted defense minister, Gen. Walter Souza Braga Netto, for the first time. Each has previously butted heads with Bolsonaro over various policies, including COVID-19 lockdowns.

“Since 1985, we haven’t had news of such clear intervention of the president with regard to the armed forces,” Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in São Paulo, told AP. That year was the end of the 21-year military dictatorship, a brutal regime founded on assassination and torture that seized power in a 1964 coup d’etat against leftist President João Goulart engineered and supported by the US government.

However, former Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva wasn’t the only official Bolsonaro fired recently: five other ministers also got the axe or were shuffled into new positions.

Netto, for example, was previously government minister, a position now occupied by General Luiz Eduardo Ramos, the former Secretary of State. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Ernesto Araujo and former Attorney General Andre Levi have quit, the former amid the fallout of failing to secure COVID-19 vaccine purchases abroad, and the latter after refusing to sign Bolsonaro’s lawsuit aiming to force three state governors to reverse their COVID-19 lockdowns.

Andre Mendonca, the former justice minister, has taken over for Levi, and figures close to Boslonaro have been appointed to fill the open slots.

The shakeup comes amid the near-collapse of Brazil’s health infrastructure as it buckles under a COVID-19 outbreak Bolsonaro has refused to decisively address, insisting that the economic fallout of lockdowns is worse than the virus itself, which has killed some 312,000 Brazilians so far.

The power vacuum has created new fears that Bolsonaro might seek to expand his control over the military, which has strongly resisted his attempts to bring it back into Brazilian politics. A former army captain during the military dictatorship, Bolsonaro recently invoked the armed forces while coming out against COVID-19 lockdowns, telling reporters earlier this month: “my army doesn’t go to the street to force people to stay at home.”

In his resignation letter, Azevedo noted he had “preserved the armed forces as state institutions,” in reference to his keeping the military out of politics. However, Bolsonaro has positioned former military personnel throughout the Brazilian government with 46 federally-controlled companies and 11 ministries being led by former military men.

https://sputniknews.com/latam/202103311082501862-in-unprecedented-move-brazils-military-leadership-quits-after-bolsonaro-sacks-defense-minister/

Chief of General Staff of Russian Military Holds Talks With US Counterpart

Russian Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov and Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley discussed issues of mutual interest in a phone conversation on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"On March 31, at the initiative of the United States, phone conversation took place between Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces - First Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, and Chairman of the Committee of the Chiefs of Staff of the USA, General Mark Milley. Issues of mutual interest were discussed," the ministry said.

The US side, on its part, confirmed that Gerasimov and Milley discussed issues of mutual concern.

"In accordance with past practice, both have agreed to keep the specific details of their conversation private," Joint Staff spokesman Dave Butler said.

This is the second time the top US and Russian military officials held phone talks this year. The previous conversation took place on January 11 at the initiative of Washington. The parties discussed issues of security and maintaining global stability.

https://sputniknews.com/world/202103311082502282-chief-of-general-staff-of-russian-military-holds-talks-with-us-counterpart/

Biden pitches raising corporate tax rate to 28% to pay for massive infrastructure plan

If it becomes law, the Biden proposal would be the largest infrastructure bill in history

President Biden unveiled a massive infrastructure proposal in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

The proposal, titled the American Jobs Plan, is estimated to cost about $2 trillion and would be funded, in part, with tax increases on corporations. The Biden Administration is also seeking a tax hike on individuals and families in the top income tax bracket.

"We can't delay another minute. It's long past due," Biden said in his pitch to have his measure passed by Congress, enacted and implemented.

The union worker who introduced Biden in Pittsburgh said his plan would benefit unions. When Biden took the stage, he said unions built the middle class.

Biden said his plan is a “once in a generation investment” that will make the economy fairer.

“It’s big, yes. It’s bold, yes,” he said

Biden said his American Family Plan will be rolled out later. His remarks focused on the American Jobs Plan.

“It makes it easier and more efficient to move goods and get to work,” he said.

Biden told the audience his plan would combat climate change and help families afford more fuel efficient vehicles. He added that it would “modernize” highways.

Biden said his plan would put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work with its infrastructure projects and increase research and development funding around clean energy.

“Critics say we shouldn’t spend this money,” he said. “They said the same thing when we first flew into space the first time.”

Biden said the “roughly $2 trillion” American Jobs Plan is estimated over about a 8 year period.

“These are investments we have to make,” he said.

Biden said no one making over $400,000 would see a tax increase to fund the plan. He said the corporate tax rate would be raised to 28% from the current 21% to fund the bill.

Biden also said he would direct the IRS to step up tax enforcement on corporations. He added that he’s open to “other ideas” to pay for the plan. He said he’s willing to listen to suggestions from Republicans.

Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat, told Just the News on Tuesday that the proposal might be split in multiple pieces of legislation rather than one large legislative package.

https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/biden-unveils-massive-infrastructure-proposal-pittsburgh

>>13339308

my thoughts exactly

‘Keeping Your Cool on the Climate Debate’ with Bjorn Lomborg

Is the logic behind the Paris Accords and the Green New Deal fatally flawed at its core? Few in mainstream circles will dare to broach this question for fear of political blowback. Fortunately, some extremely well-qualified and knowledgeable experts have stepped forward to challenge the prevailing politically correct orthodoxy currently governing the climate change debate.

Dr. Bjorn Lomborg has been speaking and writing about climate science for almost 20 years. In this wide-ranging discussion with host Peter Robinson, Lomborg analyzes the Biden administration’s plan to address climate change, lauds a slew of new clean energy technologies that are coming in the next decade, and discusses the upsides—and the downsides—of migrating the world from a carbon-based economy to one based on electricity generated by clean energy sources. A much-needed dose of climate reality. Watch:

https://21stcenturywire.com/2021/03/31/keeping-your-cool-on-the-climate-debate-with-bjorn-lomborg/

>>13339334

anonymous sources tell us what DJT already told us

now that's hard hitting journalism Faux news

Arizona Senate Republicans Courageously Announce Team Who Will Perform Maricopa County Election Audit and It’s Good News for America!

Finally, we have some great news to share!

The Republican Senate in Arizona made the courageous decision patriots around the country have been hoping for. These Republicans decided upon the team who will be performing the upcoming audit in Maricopa County and it’s an excellent list of entities.

This was great news…. finally.

The Republican Senate in Arizona has more courage today than all the politicians in the entire country combined. Democrats should have been on board today and the fact that they are absent indicates that they are complicit if any wrongdoing is uncovered.

Let’s wait and see how well the results of those audits performed by the auditors selected by Maricopa County’s Board of Supervisors stack up to the results from this group of auditors selected by the courageous Arizona Senate. We expect there will be material differences and when there are, let’s hope the people in Arizona stand up and demand justice.

Jovan Hutton Pulitzer released a message about today’s selection:

God bless Arizona and the patriots there who demand integrity in elections. May their efforts find the truth.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/03/huge-breaking-news-arizona-senate-republicans-courageously-announce-team-will-perform-maricopa-county-audit-good-news-america/

>>13339448

that was quick