US Pushing Japan's PM Suga To Issue Joint Taiwan Statement With Biden

On Friday Joe Biden will for the first time host a foreign leader at the White House and the stakes couldn't be higher, given he's reportedly urging Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga to come out publicly and more forcefully alongside the United States in full support of Taiwan against what's seen as hostile Chinese encroachment on the democratic island. "Biden… is asking for a more explicit and public posture, in contrast to the private tough line we hear from Tokyo," a regional expert and head of the Japan Society Joshua Walker observes.

A bombshell new report in FT details that Biden will seek Japan's cooperation in a joint statement which shines light on "rising Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region" at a moment Tokyo is among other regional US allies attempting to ward off expansive Chinese territorial claims. In Japan's case it's currently attempting to warn off Beijing from the Senkaku Islands, which is poised to escalate dramatically at any moment, given the Tokyo government just authorized its Coast Guard to be able to use deadly force should incidents with Chinese fishing vessels become threatening.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/us-pushing-japans-pm-suga-issue-joint-taiwan-statement-biden

Politico ridiculed for accusing Matt Gaetz of vacationing with ‘former minor’

Amid ongoing sexual misconduct allegations against Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Politico has found a new and ingenious way to describe an underage girl he supposedly dated, calling her a “former minor” even after she became an adult.

The girl at the center of the allegations was allegedly 17 when Gaetz, a pro-Trump Republican, supposedly paid her money for sex and to accompany him on trips. Aside from his relationship with her, Gaetz is accused of paying multiple adult women for sex, some using campaign funds. The Democrat-run House Ethics Committee is investigating the allegations, as is the Justice Department.

Politico revealed some details from the Justice Department investigation on Tuesday, claiming that federal agents seized Gaetz’ phone last winter, and are probing a 2018 trip the congressman took to the Bahamas with at least five young women, according to three secondhand sources and one of the women. While these women were adults, Politico referred to one as the “former minor” at the heart of the scandal.

In Gaetz sex-crimes investigation, sources:✅Feds seized his & ex’s iPhones✅Returning from Bahamas jaunt w/3 young women, former DeSantis biz agency chief stopped by Customs. He’s under investigation ✅Former minor went on trip but all were 18+ https://t.co/EaJCU6Ch4D

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) April 13, 2021

The phrasing was instantly mocked online, given that the entire adult population of the world could be accurately described as “former minors.”

Shit. My wife is a former minor. Are the feds gonna find out we went to Jamaica together?

— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) April 14, 2021

Please don’t make me defend Matt Gaetz but “former minor” are you serious? https://t.co/iPIN0BfgBk

— Anonymous Gritty (@TBDGritty) April 14, 2021

I hesitate to consider the number of former minors I’ve dated and lived with over the years.

— tedfrank 💉 (@tedfrank) April 14, 2021

Gaetz has not been charged with any offense. However, despite Politico’s apparent attempt to describe an “adult” in the most incriminatory way possible, the Florida representative could still be in deep trouble. Politico’s source said that some of the women on the Bahamas trip met Gaetz through a ‘sugar daddy’ website, where young women seek wealthy, older men to finance their lifestyles. Gaetz denies being on these sites.

If it could be proven that Gaetz paid these women for sex, he could be charged with transporting them across state lines for the purposes of prostitution.

Gaetz denies any wrongdoing, and has refused to resign. He claims that the case against him was cooked up as a distraction from an ongoing FBI investigation into an alleged attempt to extort his family out of $25 million. Gaetz accused former DOJ prosecutor David McGee of being behind the scheme. McGee has denied the accusations.

https://www.rt.com/usa/521018-matt-gaetz-former-minor/

Denmark Totally Bans AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Amid Reports of Blood Clots

Denmark became the first country in Europe to totally abandon the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, coming after the country and more than a dozen other European Union nations suspended its usage.

Denmark’s health agency director, Soren Brostrom, said Denmark will not use the shot as part of its vaccination campaign—despite the World Health Organization (WHO) and EU’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) saying that the benefits of using the AstraZeneca jab outweigh the negatives amid reports of rare blood clots.

“Overall, we must say that the results show that there is a real and serious side effect signal in the vaccine from AstraZeneca,” said Brostrom in a statement. “Based on an overall consideration, we have therefore chosen to continue the vaccination programme for all target groups without this vaccine.”

Noting that it is has been a “difficult decision” to make, Brostrom said the “upcoming target groups for vaccination are less likely to become severely ill from COVID-19,” and officials “must weigh this against the fact that we now have a known risk of severe adverse effects from vaccination with AstraZeneca, even if the risk in absolute terms is slight.”

Danish officials previously said that two people who had received the vaccine against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus suffered from severe blood clots. One of them died, they said last month.

The CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, is the virus that causes COVID-19.

In March, most of the countries that stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine ultimately resumed using it.

On April 7, the EMA said that there is a “possible link” between rare blood clots and the vaccine, adding it “is reminding healthcare professionals and people receiving the vaccine to remain aware of the possibility of very rare cases of blood clots combined with low levels of blood platelets occurring within 2 weeks of vaccination.”

The statement continued: “So far, most of the cases reported have occurred in women under 60 years of age within 2 weeks of vaccination. Based on the currently available evidence, specific risk factors have not been confirmed.”

The decision to not use AstraZeneca’s shot will push back the scheduled conclusion of Denmark’s vaccination scheme to early August from July 25, Danish officials said. Denmark also uses the U.S.-made Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which requires two shots.

Denmark was also the first nation to stop using the vaccine in March.

The Epoch Times has contacted AstraZeneca for comment.

https://www.ntd.com/denmark-totally-bans-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-amid-reports-of-blood-clots_597165.html

New CCP Database Leak Reveals Detailed Data on Americans.

Shanghai’s Public Security Bureau has a dataset containing detailed personal information on 1.1 million people, including nearly 700 American citizens, according to a new report.

Detailed data on 697 Americans, some as young as 3 years old, are included in a leaked database containing information on more than 5,000 foreign citizens and analyzed by Internet 2.0, an Australian-based cybersecurity firm.

The data includes “full names, birth data, and passport numbers, which were captured as the individuals were entering and leaving Shanghai from 2018 to 2020.” This information was stored on the server of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, which answers to the Ministry of State Security, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) central government’s top intelligence agency.

The database contains information also on 172 Canadians, 161 Australians, and numerous travelers from other Asian countries (such as Taiwan). Three of the people are diplomatic passport holders.

While the database is not “exhaustive,” Robert Potter and David Robinson of Internet 2.0 say it is a “small, but highly detailed window into the surveillance state of China.” The Australian Broadcasting Corp were the first to report on the database.

The database further included “a blacklist containing 10,000 people tagged as ‘suspected terrorists,’ composed of 93 percent Uyghurs. Thousands of them got flagged for accessing the internet.”

Hundreds of the other people on the watchlist have “access to dangerous chemicals, drugs, or materials for making explosives.” About half of the latter group are employees at foreign firms or joint ventures, such as “U.S. manufacturing giant 3M, Kansas-based chemical firm Invista, and Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi.”

Other records from the Jinshan district around Shanghai’s harbor reveal that CCP officials use surveillance cameras for the purpose of tracking individuals “in real time.” This includes recording, whenever possible, the individuals’ movements and even their car registration details.

Local level data are then merged into one system, according to Internet 2.0, “to further the surveillance state.”

Michael Shoebridge, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s defense director, told the Epoch Times that this database leak shows just how much “leverage” the CCP possesses when seeking to target any individual who gets on the wrong side of the government.

A US State Department spokesperson responded to the Epoch Times, expressing awareness of the leak and saying they are “following (the reports) closely.”

The spokesperson added, “The safety and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad is the top priority of the U.S. Department of State.”

https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/new-ccp-database-leak-reveals-detailed-data-on-americans/

Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination

What you need to know

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines, and these vaccines will undergo the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history.

CDC recommends you get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible.

Adverse events described on this page have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)external icon.

To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines.

VAERS accepts reports of any adverse event following vaccination, even if it is not clear the vaccine caused the problem.

CDC, FDA, and other federal partners will continue to monitor the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination

Severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, can occur after any vaccination.

Anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare. If this occurs, vaccination providers can effectively and immediately treat the reaction.

CDC and FDA scientists have evaluated reports from people who experienced a type of severe allergic reaction—anaphylaxis—after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare and occurred in approximately 2 to 5 people per million vaccinated in the United States based on events reported to VAERS. This kind of allergic reaction almost always occurs within 30 minutes after vaccination. Fortunately, vaccination providers have medicines available to effectively and immediately treat patients who experience anaphylaxis following vaccination. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and allergic reactions.

Reports of death after COVID-19 vaccination

To date, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines.

FDA requires vaccination providers to report any death after COVID-19 vaccination to VAERS.

Reports of death to VAERS following vaccination do not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the death.

CDC follows up on any report of death to request additional information and learn more about what occurred and to determine whether the death was a result of the vaccine or unrelated.

CDC, FDA, and other federal partners will continue to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

Over 189 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from December 14, 2020, through April 12, 2021.During this time, VAERS received 3,005 reports of death (0.00158%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine.CDC and FDA physicians review each case report of death as soon as notified and CDC requests medical records to further assess reports. A review of available clinical information including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records revealed no evidence that vaccination contributed to patient deaths. CDC and FDA will continue to investigate reports of adverse events, including deaths, reported to VAERS.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html

142 Fully Vaccinated People in Houston Test Positive for COVID-19

More than 140 people in Houston have tested positive for COVID-19 more than two weeks after being fully vaccinated against the virus that causes it, health experts in the Texas city confirmed.

According to data provided by the Houston Health Department, the number of Houstonians who caught the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus after being fully vaccinated is 142—or 0.02 percent of residents in the city who have been fully vaccinated, The Houston Chronicle reported.

The data of the potential so-called vaccine “breakthrough cases” go back to January when the first wave of recipients received a full vaccination. Breakthrough cases refer to COVID-19 cases that appear in people more than two weeks after they have been fully vaccinated against the CCP virus.

COVID-19 is caused by the CCP virus, commonly referred to as the novel coronavirus, which originated in China in late 2019.

Dr. David Persse, the city’s chief medical officer, said residents getting infected after being fully vaccinated is “not unexpected” because the jab doesn’t grant recipients 100 percent immunity.

“This vaccine is not dissimilar from other vaccines in that it gives you some level of protection, but no vaccine is 100 percent effective,” Persse said.

“While tens of hundreds of thousands have been vaccinated, in a community that still has viral spread, it’s not too big of a surprise there are a small number of people who have become infected,” he added.

None of the Houstonians that tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving the jab required hospitalization, Persse said, saying symptoms are usually incredibly mild with vaccinated people testing positive compared to unvaccinated people.

Fully vaccinated refers to people receiving both doses of the vaccines produced by Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech. A third option, from Johnson & Johnson—which is currently suspended in the United States after reports of rare blood clots among recipients—is a single dose.

According to U.S. drug regulators, Pfizer’s vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing infection of the CCP virus. Moderna’s was shown in a clinical trial to be 94.1 percent effective, while Johnson & Johnson’s was 66.9 percent effective. The percentages are for two weeks after the final vaccination.

A number of U.S. states have recently seen similar infections among Americans who are fully vaccinated, including Idaho, Florida, Michigan Minnesota, South Carolina, and Washington.

https://www.ntd.com/142-fully-vaccinated-people-in-houston-test-positive-for-covid-19_597062.html

Ukraine Demands "More Weapons, More Money, More Support To Join NATO" From Biden

Naturally, a CNN camera crew was in tow for last week's visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to an area near Mariupol in Donetsk where he "walked the front line with the troops" amid renewed fighting with Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Donbass region.

Days later CNN's homepage dramatically hyped the story with a recent headline of "Ukraine's President runs for cover on front line against Russia" . The story kicks off with: "Ankle-deep in thick black sludge, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky moves stealthily with his troops in single file through the warren of trenches and tunnels that form the tense front lines in the east of his country."

And the front line feature gets even more dramatic from there: "It feels more like the early 20th century than a modern conflict, with tired, nervous soldiers gripping their rifles around him as they reach open ground, scanning the area for movement across no-mans-land," the CNN correspondent reports. "They know snipers, likely trained by Russians, say Ukrainian officials are looking for a chance to fire. More than 20 of their comrades have been gunned down already this year."

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraines-zelensky-demands-more-weapons-more-money-more-support-join-nato-biden

Texas Nonprofit Hires Biden Transition Official - Then Lands Half-Billion Dollar Contract To Manage Border Crisis

A Texas nonprofit landed a federal contract worth up to $530 million to manage the influx of migrant children at the southern border - after recently hiring a Biden transition official.

The organization, Family Endeavors, won the no-bid contract just months after hiring Biden transition official, Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, as its senior director for migrant services and federal affairs, according to Axios, which notes that the deal is the second largest ever awarded by the agency overseeing the migrant child program. It's worth more than 12 times the group's most recently reported annual budget.

The news comes as the Biden administration scrambles to handle over 21,000 unaccompanied minors currently in government custody.

More via Axios:

Lorenzen-Strait, a former official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, previously advised the Biden-Harris transition team on Department of Homeland Security policy and staffing matters.

He also ran a consulting firm advising companies on federal procurement practices, according to his LinkedIn page, with specific expertise on agencies that include the Administration for Children and Families — the division of the Department of Health and Human Services tasked with detaining and processing child migrants.

The Washington Examiner first reported on Lorenzen-Strait's role at Family Endeavors, in the context of an $87 million DHS contract awarded to the group last month.

ACF officials did not respond to a request for comment from Axios. Family Endeavors said its contracting work on the border is "a continuation of services we have delivered to the migrant population since 2012."

What's new: ACF contracted Family Endeavors last month to provide "emergency intake" and "wrap-around care" services at a temporary facility in Pecos, Texas.

According to federal procurement records, ACF has disbursed $255 million to the nonprofit under the new contract, which has a maximum potential value of $530 million.

Family Endeavors' most recent publicly available annual tax filing, covering calendar year 2018, showed its annual budget for the year was just $43 million.

Before last month, it had never received a prime contract award from HHS, though, according to a source familiar with Family Endeavors' operations, it did provide staffing services at migrant intake shelters run by another HHS vendor, BCFS, in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/texas-nonprofit-hires-biden-transition-official-then-lands-half-billion-dollar-contract

Black Lives Matter says criticism of co-founder who bought four houses is 'terror by white supremacists'

'We have seen this tactic of terror time and again'

Black Lives Matter claimed Tuesday that criticism of co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors is a product of a "right-wing offensive" that "continues a tradition of terror by white supremacists."

Khan-Cullors found herself at the center of controversy last week when her latest real estate purchase — a $1.4 million home in Topanga Canyon, California — circulated through the media.

The New York Post then revealed that, actually, Khan-Cullors has purchased four homes in the U.S. over the past five years, three in California and one in Georgia. According to the Post, Khan-Cullors even considered buying property in an exclusive area of the Bahamas where Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake reportedly own property.

The news triggered renewed scrutiny about the finances of Black Lives Matter, which raked in more than $90 million in 2020 alone.

What did BLM say?

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation said in a statement that Khan-Cullors is a "volunteer" and does not take a salary from her role with the organization, having earned only $120,000 through her work there "for duties such as serving as spokesperson and engaging in political education work."

"Patrisse did not receive any compensation after 2019," the statement read.

Further, the statement said BLM has not used organizational resources for the purpose of purchasing personal property.

The statement went on to dismiss criticisms against Khan-Cullors as racist terrorism meant to silence her.

Patrisse's work for Black people over the years has made her and others who align with the fight for Black liberation targets of racist violence. The narratives being spread about Patrisse have been generated by right-wing forces intent on reducing the support and influence of a movement that is larger than any one organization. This right-wing offensive not only puts Patrisse, her child and her loved ones in harm's way, it also continues a tradition of terror by white supremacists against Black activists. All Black activists know the fear these malicious and serious actions are meant to instill: the fear of being silenced, the trauma of being targeted, the torture of feeling one's family is exposed to danger just for speaking out against unjust systems. We have seen this tactic of terror time and again, but our movement will not be silenced.

But what do critics say?

Most notably, prominent critics who spoke out against Khan-Cullors over the weekend are not white.

For example, Hawk Newsome, leader of Black Lives Matter Greater New York City, said there should be an "independent investigation" into Black Lives Matter and its finances.

"If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes," Newsome told the New York Post. "It's really sad because it makes people doubt the validity of the movement and overlook the fact that it's the people that carry this movement."

"We need black firms and black accountants to go in there and find out where the money is going," he added.

Meanwhile, black journalist Jason Whitlock was allegedly suspended from Twitter after criticizing Khan-Cullors and her most recent real estate purchase.

"Black Lives Matter founder buys $1.4 million home in Topanga, which has a black population of 1.4 percent," Whitlock tweeted mockingly last Friday. "She's with her people!"

https://www.theblaze.com/news/blm-criticism-of-co-founder-terror-by-white-supremacists

US Spending Tens of Millions Per Week on Unaccompanied Minors

President Joe Biden’s administration is spending roughly $60 million a week to shelter illegal immigrant children who cross into the country from Mexico.

Known as unaccompanied children, caring for the minors has driven the price tag for immigration-related expenses up sharply as U.S. officials grapple with the surge that some experts and Republicans say stems from Biden’s reversal of key Trump-era policies.

Over 18,600 unaccompanied children were apprehended after crossing the border in March, more than double the figure from the month before, sparking fears of a MS-13 resurgence. Nearly 18,800 are being housed in Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facilities as officials try to locate a family member or other responsible adult to whom they can send each child.

The average length of care for the children is 37 days as of the end of February.

The average daily cost to care for a child in a permanent facility is $290 per day, HHS told The Epoch Times via email. That cost jumps to approximately $775 per day for children in temporary emergency facilities “due to the need to develop facilities quickly and hire significant staff over a short period of time.”

The leap in the number of unaccompanied minors reaching the United States, and Biden’s decision to stop expelling the kids under Title 42 emergency powers, has placed crushing pressure on the country’s immigration system.

The HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement operates a network of permanent facilities but has been forced to open over a dozen temporary ones to have enough beds for the steadily increasing number of children it must clothe, feed, and shelter.

Temporary facilities include converted convention centers in Dallas, San Antonio, and San Diego, military bases in border states, and structures in interior states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. So far, over 18,300 temporary beds, at the higher cost, have been opened.

With only around 7,000 permanent beds, that means the United States is paying the higher price for the majority of immigrant children in its care.

https://www.ntd.com/us-spending-tens-of-millions-per-week-on-unaccompanied-minors_597088.html

Cruz: Biden ‘Has a Long History of Engaging in Race-Baiting and Inciting Racial Conflict and Divisions’

Tuesday on FNC’s “Hannity,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pushed back against President Joe Biden’s criticism of state legislatures taking action to shore up their election system. Those have been criticized as racist.

However, as Cruz pointed out, Biden has used race in the past to promote his agenda.

“Joe Biden, unfortunately, has a long history of engaging in race-baiting and inciting racial conflict and divisions,” he said. “In a prior election cycle, he went before the NAACP and said they’re going to put you back in chains, which is incendiary. It’s a grotesque lie when he accuses anything he dislikes of being the new Jim Crow. Somehow, Joe Biden never seems to acknowledge that Jim Crow laws were written by Democrats. The Dixiecrats were Democrats. Bull Connor was a Democrat. The founders of the Ku Klux Klan were Democrats. And you don’t have to go back 100 years to find that. Joe Biden a decade ago gave the eulogy for a grand cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, Robert Byrd, the majority leader of the Democratic Party, Joe Biden a decade ago was willing to celebrate his life, an avowed Klansman.”

“And so, the history of racial bigotry on the Democratic side is horrific, and now, the Democratic Party, whenever they have a political fight, they immediately tried to inflame racial divisions,” Cruz continued. “So, what the voting law in Georgia, the voting law in Georgia was designed to protect the right to vote, protect the integrity of the right to vote, and Joe Biden and Democrats are lying about it. And they know they’re lying about it, but they also know the compliant press. I watch the piece you just did with James O’Keefe on CNN. CNN is not going to cover the truth.”

“They’re going to repeat the lies because that’s what propaganda outlets do,” he added. “But, you know, it was amazing, Joe Biden’s allies were so bad that The Washington Post, no right-wing organization, they are usually a reliable left-wing mouthpiece, The Washington Post fact-checked Joe Biden on the Georgia election law and gave him four Pinocchios, said he was flat out lying and yet it doesn’t stop the Democrats from repeating those lies over and over again.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/04/14/cruz-biden-has-a-long-history-of-engaging-in-race-baiting-and-inciting-racial-conflict-and-divisions/

Hundreds of Corporations, Including Starbucks, Netflix, Sign Letter Opposing Election Integrity Laws

Hundreds of corporations, including Starbucks, Amazon, and Netflix, have signed a letter signaling their opposition to election integrity efforts in numerous states, promising to oppose any related legislation they deem “discriminatory.”

The effort, led by former American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault and Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier, both of whom recently led a group of black business leaders urging corporations to take a stand against election integrity efforts, has corporations vowing to stand against “any discriminatory legislation,” representing what the New York Times deemed “the broadest coalition yet to weigh in on the issue.”

“We stand for democracy,” the statement reads. “A beautifully American idea, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history. As Americans, we know that in our democracy we should not expect to agree on everything”:

However, regardless of our political affiliations, we believe the very foundation of our electoral process rests upon the ability of each of us to cast our ballots for the candidates of our choice. For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us. We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.

“Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy,” the statement continues, calling on Americans to take a “nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.”

Signers include Bank of America, Amazon, Estée Lauder, Eventbrite, General Motors, Netflix, Starbucks, Synchrony, Nordstrom, PayPal, Peloton, Pinterest, United Airlines, Twitter, Under Armour, and more.

Some, such as Coca-Cola and Delta, which spoke out after Georgia passed its election integrity law, did not add their names to the list, nor did Home Depot, as the Times reported:

Coca-Cola and Delta, which condemned the Georgia law after it was passed, declined to add their names, according to people familiar with the matter. Home Depot also declined, even though its co-founder Arthur Blank said in a call with other business executives on Saturday that he supported voting rights. Another Home Depot co-founder, Ken Langone, is a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump.

Coca-Cola and Delta declined to comment. Home Depot said in a statement on Tuesday that “the most appropriate approach for us to take is to continue to underscore our belief that all elections should be accessible, fair and secure.”

…

JPMorgan Chase also declined to sign the statement despite a personal request from senior Black business leaders to the chief executive, Jamie Dimon, according to people briefed on the matter. Mr. Dimon has publicly declared that he supports Black Lives Matter and made a statement on voting rights before many other companies, saying, “We believe voting must be accessible and equitable.”

“It should be clear that there is overwhelming support in corporate America for the principle of voting rights,” Chenault said.

While the statement does not list specific state election efforts, it follows the debate over Georgia’s recently signed election integrity law, which the left has inundated with misinformation, including the false claims it eliminates “Souls to the Polls,” thereby suppressing minority votes. In reality, the law expands ballot access in several ways, including by increasing the mandatory days for early weekend voting.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/04/14/hundreds-corporations-including-starbucks-netflix-sign-letter-opposing-election-integrity-laws/

Club of Rome tells ABC reporter in 1973: “All nations will give up their sovereignty”

This is a very interesting interview.

An Aussie journalist in 1973 talks to the Club of Rome about what the future holds and is told quite matter-of-factly that all nations will have to give up their sovereignty in order to avoid a global environmental catastrophe.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/club-of-rome-tells-abc-reporter-in-1973-all-nations-will-give-up-their-sovereignty/

Internal Docs Show Senate Republicans Are Lurching Toward Earmarks, The ‘Currency Of Corruption’ To ‘Buy And Sell Votes’

Senate Republicans are the last remaining bulwark standing between American taxpayers and corrupt congressional spending and pet projects — but probably not for long.

With House Republicans having voted by secret ballot last Wednesday to remove a ban on earmarks within their caucus, capitulating to Democrats’ wishes to reintroduce the practice, that leaves the Senate GOP as the last remaining bulwark between American taxpayers and corrupt congressional spending and pet projects. By the looks of it, that last line of defense is planning to cave.

The Federalist has obtained the proposed GOP conference rules, which would allow for earmarks, which have been banned since 2011 and are now being pushed under the monikers “member-directed” or “congressionally directed” spending. If senators successfully pass their proposed rules, lawmakers will be able to use chunks of taxpayer dollars, allocated as discretionary spending, to fritter away in their home states, congressional districts, or localities, without going through statutory processes.

All that frittering adds up. Congress has given out more than 111,000 earmarks costing nearly $376 billion since 1991, according to the taxpayer watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.

The most conservative lawmakers have traditionally opposed earmarks, calling them “tools of the DC swamp” and the “currency of corruption.”

https://thefederalist.com/2021/04/14/internal-docs-show-senate-republicans-are-lurching-toward-earmarks-the-currency-of-corruption-to-buy-and-sell-votes/

5,365 DEAD 238,949 Injuries: European Database of Adverse Drug Reactions for COVID-19 “Vaccines”

The European database of suspected drug reaction reports is EudraVigilance, which also tracks reports of injuries and deaths following the experimental COVID-19 “vaccines.”

Here is what EudraVigilance states about their database:

This website was launched by the European Medicines Agency in 2012 to provide public access to reports of suspected side effects (also known as suspected adverse drug reactions). These reports are submitted electronically to EudraVigilance by national medicines regulatory authorities and by pharmaceutical companies that hold marketing authorisations (licences) for the medicines.

EudraVigilance is a system designed for collecting reports of suspected side effects. These reports are used for evaluating the benefits and risks of medicines during their development and monitoring their safety following their authorisation in the European Economic Area (EEA). EudraVigilance has been in use since December 2001.

This website was launched to comply with the EudraVigilance Access Policy, which was developed to improve public health by supporting the monitoring of the safety of medicines and to increase transparency for stakeholders, including the general public.

The Management Board of the European Medicines Agency first approved the EudraVigilance Access Policy in December 2010. A revision was adopted by the Board in December 2015 based on the 2010 pharmacovigilance legislation. The policy aims to provide stakeholders such as national medicines regulatory authorities in the EEA, the European Commission, healthcare professionals, patients and consumers, as well as the pharmaceutical industry and research organisations, with access to reports on suspected side effects.

Transparency is a key guiding principle of the Agency, and is pivotal to building trust and confidence in the regulatory process. By increasing transparency, the Agency is better able to address the growing need among stakeholders, including the general public, for access to information. (Source.)

Their report through March 27, 2021 lists 5,365 deaths and 238,949 injuries following injections of four experimental COVID-19 shots:

COVID-19 MRNA VACCINE MODERNA (CX-024414)

COVID-19 MRNA VACCINE PFIZER-BIONTECH

COVID-19 VACCINE ASTRAZENECA (CHADOX1 NCOV-19)

COVID-19 VACCINE JANSSEN (AD26.COV2.S)

A Health Impact News subscriber in Europe ran the reports for each of the four COVID-19 shots we are including here. This subscriber has volunteered to do this, and it is a lot of work to tabulate each reaction with injuries and fatalities, since there is no place on the EudraVigilance system we have found that tabulates all the results.

Hence, by the time we publish these, the stats are already a week old and new stats are already available.

Here is the summary data through March 27, 2021.

Total reactions for the experimental mRNA vaccine Tozinameran (code BNT162b2, Comirnaty) from BioNTech/ Pfizer: 3,268 deaths and 121,514 injuries to 27/03/2021

https://vaccineimpact.com/2021/5365-dead-238949-injuries-european-database-of-adverse-drug-reactions-for-covid-19-vaccines/

More than one in ten Britons told they have Covid through lateral flow tests don't actually have the disease, official figures suggest

EXCLUSIVE: Over 3,000 positive results have been wrong since schools opened

Rapid self-testing kits are now available free to any member of public in the UK

Councils also offer them to people who want a test but don't have symptoms

Public Health England admit at least one in 10 results corrected after lab test

Professor Jon Deeks said dozens of people can be affected by one wrong result

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9467015/Coronavirus-One-10-positive-lateral-flow-tests-England-turn-wrong-people-retest.html

Navy Commander Charged with Sexual Assault While Traveling in India

A naval aviator attached to the command overseeing manpower readiness for the Navy faces court-martial on charges he sexually assaulted a woman in 2019.

Cmdr. Edward Forrest Hill, a 16-year officer, was in or near Bangalore, India, at the time of the alleged assault, according to a charge sheet obtained by Military.com. It's not clear whether he was traveling for work or if he was off-duty.

Hill, who was assigned to Chief of Naval Personnel Support out of Arlington, Virginia, allegedly committed a number of nonconsensual sexual acts upon a woman whose name is redacted in the report, including penetrating her with his finger and forcing oral sex. The alleged incident happened Aug. 4, 2019; Hill was charged Oct. 28, 2020.

He's set to appear in court at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on May 20 for a motions hearing on the sexual assault charge. Hill's appointed military defense attorney, Lt. Cmdr. Andrea Kissner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.

According to career information obtained by Military.com, Hill is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who was commissioned in 2002. He has served at numerous helicopter aviation and test commands and graduated from Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, in 2012. His most recent aviation unit was Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35, out of North Island, Calif., which flies MH-60R Seahawks.

Prior to joining Chief of Naval Personnel Support in 2018, Hill completed a tour in the Legislative Fellows Program in Washington, D.C.

A published biography from that tour adds that he previously served as a squadron department head "who was responsible for the integration of manned and unmanned aircraft onboard littoral combat ship [and] an experimental test pilot who has deployed numerous times and has logged over 2,000 hours in 29 different aircraft."

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/14/navy-commander-charged-sexual-assault-while-traveling-india.html

Armenia’s Pashinyan to step down in late April

Elections will be held on June 20, the outgoing PM said

YEREVAN, April 14. /TASS/. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that he will step down during the last ten days of April in order to disband parliament and call early elections.

"I will tender my resignation during the last ten days of April as it was agreed between the parliamentary forces and the president," Pashinyan told parliament on Wednesday. "In order to adhere to all protocol procedures on the seventh day I will nominate myself for premiership. All other factions will refrain from nominating their candidates, and my party My Step will not elect me as prime minister. Then my faction will nominate me and reject my candidature again. The parliament will be disbanded and elections will be held on June 20," he said.

https://tass.com/world/1277995

New images show expansion of migrant facility in Donna, Texas as crisis rages

Images from the Donna facility fueled criticism of the Biden administration's handling of the crisis

New images show the extent to which the migrant facility in Donna, Texas has expanded in recent weeks as authorities scramble to find space to house an overwhelming surge of underage people coming across the border.

The Donna facility has led to some of the most iconic images so far of the crisis, where reporters and lawmakers have taken pictures of migrants packed together in overcrowded facilities, as authorities have struggled to process them.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-images-expansion-migrant-facility-in-donna-texas-as-crisis-rages

Biden Admin Gives Valuable Defense Contract to China Collaborator

The Biden administration awarded a lucrative defense contract to a Singaporean company that works with Chinese military firms.

On April 6, Singapore-based ST Engineering won a contract alongside defense contractor BAE Systems to build a prototype military ground vehicle for use in Arctic environments. One of ST Engineering's direct subsidiaries does business with the Chinese military industry, ultimately providing maritime and satellite technology to Chinese authorities. The use of a defense company that collaborates with China raises concerns about industrial espionage and could expose vulnerabilities in the Pentagon, one expert on military acquisition said.

A former National Security Council official told the Washington Free Beacon the contract could pose an "attractive" way for Beijing to gain inside knowledge on valuable national security technology.

"My big worry is from a cyber and counterintelligence perspective," he said. "I would worry not only that any collaboration gets back to China, but that [it] also becomes an attractive cyber pathway for [People's Republic of China] exploitation."

ST Engineering oversees iDirect, a technology company servicing the Pentagon while developing technology for China. iDirect is a major partner in satellite communications with PetroChina, the Beijing-backed energy company with ties to the Chinese military. Satellite systems also designed by iDirect are equipped by China for maritime law enforcement. In 2018, ST Engineering also worked with the Chinese car company BYD Auto to develop AI forklifts, and again in 2019 for autonomous buses, technologies that could have defense applications.

The company's direct cooperation with Chinese firms has raised concerns on Capitol Hill about ST Engineering's successful Pentagon contract bid. Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said the federal government is "lagging behind geopolitical reality" of China's threat to American interests. The Defense Department should be wary of getting involved with firms that also profit from their relationship with the Chinese regime.

"Since 2015, the Pentagon has officially recognized China as a serious threat to our national security. The federal government needs to quit lagging behind geopolitical reality and ignoring its own national security strategy," Banks said. "We need to start treating China like the existential threat it plainly is. The United States shouldn't be funding Chinese military companies in any way."

Pentagon spokesman John Supple told the Washington Free Beacon that ST Engineering's contract is now under review.

"We are aware of the claims, and the [Department of Defense] is reviewing the matter," Supple said. ST Engineering did not respond to a request for comment.

ST Engineering's operations and Chinese ties have also been linked to pervasive human rights abuses. The company has a partnership with Jiangsu Huatong Power Heavy Industry Co., a construction company with an office in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. Jiangsu is primarily focused on infrastructure construction, a common task for companies involved in the Uyghur genocide in western China. In July 2020, the Trump administration sanctioned fellow construction group Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a paramilitary organization responsible for serious human rights abuses in the region.

Army officials picked the firm to develop crucial military equipment as competition with China and Russia in the Arctic heats up. China hopes to ascend to "polar great power" status by 2030. A strategy document declassified by the Army in March highlighted China's incursion into the Arctic as a "central problem" for U.S. national security. The Department of the Army did not respond to a request for comment.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/biden-admin-gives-valuable-defense-contract-to-china-collaborator/

The Hunter Biden Scandals

“Hunter Biden knows exactly what he was doing, and so he should be held fully accountable for any misconduct. We need to know if his father was benefitting … as the emails show … from Hunter Biden’s shady operations.”

Judicial Watch is working hard to get more information on the Biden Family scandals, undertaking “the basic investigations” that Congress and the Justice Department are seemingly unwilling to do, Fitton noted Friday. Starting with Hunter Biden’s laptop, “the Justice Department refuses to do anything significant against Joe Biden despite the evidence that he’s directly implicated in his son’s racketeering.” Fitton argued that “by refusing to do anything significant relating to Hunter Biden investigation, the Justice Department, per usual, practically speaking took sides in the election fight.”

As Fitton noted Friday, Hunter Biden was given “cushy jobs and special deals with the Chinese Communists and Burisma while his father was Vice President.” Hunter Biden also “did not rule out” that the laptop currently being investigated by the FBI, was his. In addition to Hunter Biden’s admissions, the evidence already gathered by the FBI shows “that law enforcement has a good enough reason to open investigations.” As Fitton further explained, supporting these investigations is not about supporting a political agenda against the Bidens. “No,” Fitton continued, “there’s evidence that there was a pay-to-play scheme, there was racketeering involving President Biden and his family…”

Regardless of the evidence already gathered, the Justice Department has yet to establish a “special counsel for Joe Biden’s family corruption issues,” Fitton stated Friday. “I’m not naïve in the sense that a special counsel is going to solve all of the Biden corruption issues and start prosecuting people,” he explained, “but the process ought to at least take place so that there is at least a modicum of accountability.” Fitton concluded in stating that “there needs to be a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) investigation of the Biden family.”

As per usual, Judicial Watch is doing the heavy lifting, with at least a dozen lawsuits and “dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests tied to this issue.” Support Judicial Watch today if you’re concerned about the scandals surrounding President Biden and his family.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/deep-dive/the-hunter-biden-scandals/

Ex-Mossad chief Efraim Halevy on Iran, Hamas and Israel's political crisis

Halevy should know something about difficult situations. Since arriving as a teenager to Israel in the year of its birth, 1948, he’s been involved in some of the country’s most earthshaking events.

Like the rest of Israel, Efraim Halevy has spent most of the last year with his wife Hadassah in their Tel Aviv home while sitting out the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s been a challenging year in many ways, but we seem to have come out of it quite well, in the final analysis,” the 86-year-old former director of the Mossad told The Jerusalem Post in a pre-Independence Day interview on Zoom.

“We were isolated much of the time, since we’re not as young as many others. But we’ve learned over the years to manage in situations that are even more difficult.”

Halevy should know something about difficult situations. Since arriving as a teenager to Israel in the year of its birth, 1948, he’s been involved in some of the country’s most earthshaking events.

Joining the Mossad in 1961 after being recruited by then the agency’s deputy head David Kimche, Halevy worked his way up the ranks in Tevel, the Mossad’s foreign liaison unit. In 1970, he was posted to Washington as Tevel’s representative, where he developed a lasting bond with Israel’s then-ambassador to the United States Yitzhak Rabin.

Halevy served as the Mossad’s deputy director from 1990 to 1995. During that time, Rabin, at that point prime minister, asked him to play a pivotal role in sensitive negotiations with King Hussein that eventually led to Israel’s peace agreement with Jordan.

After leaving the agency and becoming the Israeli envoy to the EU in 1996, Halevy was brought back to help resolve the crisis with Jordan in 1997 after the botched assassination attempt of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. The next year, at age 63, after the resignation of Danny Yatom, he was appointed the director of the Mossad, where he served until his retirement in 2002.

Since then, Halevy has written books and remained active in many pursuits. He’s also become a vocal and eloquent commentator on the state of affairs in Israel and its future direction.

More

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/ex-mossad-chief-efraim-halevy-on-iran-hamas-and-israels-political-crisis-665120