NBA Players Silent About Endorsement Deals with Chinese Companies Using Slave Labor

The NBA and many of its players have struck multimillion-dollar deals with various Chinese companies, many of which proudly use cotton raised by slave labor.

Even as the whole of the league continues its woke politics supporting Black Lives Matter, condemning Republicans, and attacking states passing election integrity laws, they also continue working hand-in-hand with the communist Chinese who continue to employ slave labor despite international pressure to end the practice.

Even the New York Times noted that the NBA and its players face a growing backlash over their cozy relationship with the communist country. The paper notes that brands including Nike and H&M face increased pressure to stop doing business with Chinese companies that rely on slave labor to raise cotton.

“Chinese brands have publicly embraced the cotton from the Xinjiang region,” the Times wrote last week, “leading to big sales to patriotic shoppers and praise from the Beijing-controlled media. In the United States, two of those same Chinese brands, Li-Ning and Anta, adorn the feet of National Basketball Association players — and those players are being rewarded handsomely for it.”

But players continue inking huge deals with these Chinese companies. For instance, Golden State Warriors player Klay Thompson recently signed an $80 million deal with shoemaker Anta. Thompson once even told his Chinese fans that he hopes to be the “Michael Jordan of Anta.”

Shoe companies Anta and Li-Ning rely on cotton from the Xinjiang region, where the Chinese government imprison their Uyghurs population in large slave labor camps. And state news outlets have praised the companies. The two companies have also pushed statements praising the cotton they use sourced from Xinjiang.

Other members of the NBA also signed on with these Chinese companies. Thompson’s teammate James Wiseman also signed on with Anta. Others include former player Dwayne Wade of the Heat, Jimmy Butler and Precious Achiuwa, CJ McCollum, and D’Angelo Russell, also of the Heat, and Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet.

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2021/04/15/nba-players-silent-endorsement-deals-chinese-companies-using-slave-labor/

Beijing Pursuing ‘Offensive Decoupling’ Against West: Former Senior Official

While the Trump administration drew fire for propelling economic decoupling with the Chinese regime, it is in fact Beijing that is pursuing a campaign of “offensive decoupling” against the world, according to former deputy national security advisor Matthew Pottinger.

“Beijing intends to decrease China’s dependency on the world while making the world increasingly dependent on China—and then use the resulting leverage to advance Beijing’s authoritarian political aims around the globe,” Pottinger, who served under the Trump administration, said at an April 15 hearing of U.S. Congress’s U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Decoupling has been the Chinese regime’s strategy ever since they joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, Pottinger said, but this plan of “offensive decoupling” was made “very explicit” in the Chinese regime’s latest economic blueprint, approved in March, for the next five years.

“Beijing does want to decouple, but the purely on its terms,” he said. This tactic has been played out through the Chinese regime’s economic coercion of Australia—which currently exports more than a third of its goods to China—in response to Australia last year calling for an independent investigation into the origins of the pandemic. Since then, Beijing has slapped import restrictions on a range of Australian goods including beef, coal, barley, and wine.

The kind of decoupling that the regime does not want is the one that cuts off its access to advanced technology from the United States and other Western countries.

“They still want to have access to our technology, they want to have access to our laboratories and our intellectual property,” Pottinger said.

“The thing that scares them, that gives them night sweats, is the fear that at some point, we might pull the plug on their ability to gain so much access to our cutting edge technology.”

To counter the Chinese regime’s aggressions, the United States should do more to cut off the flow of American capital into Beijing’s military-industrial complex.

A recent analysis by the Commerce Department based on publicly available data shows that U.S. public and private equity investments in Chinese- and Hong Kong-domiciled companies from 1992 through the end of 2020 totaled $2.3 trillion in market value.

“Somehow, Wall Street missed the memo that Beijing is waging an existential fight whose objective is ‘the eventual demise of capitalism and the ultimate victory of socialism,’ to quote Chairman Xi,” Pottinger said.

Then-President Donald Trump in late 2020 issued an executive order banning U.S. investments into a Pentagon list of Chinese companies owned or controlled by the regime’s military. Pottinger recommended the order be codified into law by Congress and for the list to be expanded to include Chinese companies that are on the Commerce Department’s “entity list.” Dozens of Chinese entities have been added to this trade blacklist over national security or human rights concerns.

https://www.ntd.com/beijing-pursuing-offensive-decoupling-against-west-former-senior-official_598274.html

Republican Utah Governor Defends Utah Jazz Basketball Team Excluding White Students From Scholarship

Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah: "we're proud of the Jazz."

This evening on his call-in radio show, the establishment Republican Governor of Utah, Spencer J. Cox, defended the Utah Jazz basketball team in response to a constituent’s question regarding whether or not he thought that it was racist for the team’s scholarship opportunity to exclude white children.

“It’s not racist,” Cox responded. “Ryan Smith and the Jazz can do what they want with their funds. All kids should have equal opportunities, and we’re proud of the Jazz.” He continued “I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do for the Utah Jazz: absolutely nothing. Because, you know what, I believe in the Constitution, and I believe in the freedom of businesses to make decisions that are right for them.”

In a far cry from racial equality, Cox went on to say “Your kid or my kid have no right to the Utah Jazz’s money.” Most damning of all, he boasted “It’s an awesome program. It’s something that should be celebrated.”

https://nationalfile.com/rino-governor-endorses-anti-white-racism-in-nba/

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers ask for trial delay to review ‘highly confidential’ pics

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have asked a judge to delay the start of her trial in light of the new indictment against her — citing, in part, the need to look over thousands of ‘highly confidential’ photos.

The photographs, of which there are 2,100, are among hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence the accused madam and her attorneys must check over before she goes to trial, the lawyers said in a Thursday letter to Judge Alison Nathan.

Much of the evidence was already handed over by prosecutors and “must be re-reviewed” as a result of the two new sex trafficking charges against the former British socialite.

Maxwell’s trial is currently set to begin on July 12.

Her lawyers said: “We cannot adequately prepare for a trial containing the new charges and a substantially expanded conspiracy in the less than three months remaining.”

Maxwell’s own inspection of the mountain of evidence is also being hindered by technological issues, the lawyers said.

“We have tried to use an FBI-supplied laptop and hard drive to review approximately 2,100 ‘Highly Confidential’ photographs that were not produced to us in discovery,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote.

“Because of technical issues with the laptop, we still have not completed the review.”

The judge has yet to rule on the postponement request.

Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and charged in Manhattan federal court with procuring underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, then lying about it under oath.

She’s remained behind bars since her arrest and maintains her innocence.

https://nypost.com/2021/04/15/ghislaine-maxwells-lawyers-ask-for-trial-delay-to-review-pics/

Man arrested after agents find more than 100 files of child sex abuse 'material' in his possession

He is charged with 15 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material and one count of promoting the sexual performance of a child. More charges could be added.

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A Spring Hill man has been arrested after FDLE agents say they found more than 100 files of child sex abuse "material" on his electronic devices.

Michael Friedt, 61, is charged with 15 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material and one count of promoting the sexual performance of a child, according to a press release. Agents say more charges could be coming once a forensics exam is complete.

FDLE says the investigation was opened March 21 when agents began an undercover operation to identify a person who was trafficking and distributing child porn online. Agents say they identified Friedt's IP address as having and sharing "numerous" files containing child pornography and sex abuse.

On April 14, FDLE and FHP did a warranted search of Friedt's home and say they found more than 100 files depicting child sex abuse on his electronics.

He was arrested and booked into the Pasco County Jail on an $85,000 bond.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's Office of Statewide Prosecution will prosecute the case, FDLE says.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pascocounty/child-sex-abuse-arrest-pasco-county/67-d3459f02-a129-4954-933b-994fa1ec4897

Demi Lovato cut her hair in order to free herself of 'gender and sexuality norms' imposed by Christianity

She recently came out as a pansexual

Pop star Demi Lovato said she cut her long hair in order to free herself of the "gender and sexuality norms" imposed on her by a Christian culture in the South.

Lovato made the comments while a guest on the Drew Barrymore Show on Tuesday.

She said that she has given up on trying to be a "sexy feminine pop star" and instead cut her hair.

"I cut my hair because I just wanted to free myself of all of the gender and sexuality norms that were placed on me as a, you know, Christian in the South," said Lovato.

"And when I cut my hair, I felt so liberated because I wasn't subscribing to an ideal or a belief placed upon me to be something that I'm not."

Lovato says she feels the "happiest" she's ever been because she's no longer trying to be something she's not.

"If you don't like it, fine," she added, "but if this provokes a conversation and raises awareness, takes away the stigma about the topics I'm talking about, then that's what I want, is to just open people's perspectives and to change the conversation around recovery too."

The pop singer was publicizing a documentary about her life entitled "Demi Lovato: Dancing With The Devil."

Lovato had recently come out as a "pansexual" as well, meaning that she eschews traditional gender designations and is attracted to "anything really." She also blamed Christianity for suppressing her pansexual sexuality.

"I felt a lot of shame because growing up in Texas as a Christian, that's very frowned upon," she said on the Joe Rogan podcast. "Any attraction that I ever had toward a female at a young age, I shut it down before I even let myself process what I was feeling."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/demi-lovato-hair-gender-christianity

Fauci admits Biden administration is flouting CDC guidance in border facilities

"Obviously, everyone would like to see that situation fixed," Fauci said in a tense exchange with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Thursday conceded in a tense exchange with Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise that the Biden administration is violating major Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus guidelines by packing countless illegal immigrants into relatively small facilities without enforcing social distancing or masking measures.

The CDC has aggressively pushed those guidelines over the past year, directing that Americans should work to remain six feet apart from each other in public spaces and wear face coverings when away from the home.

Images from U.S. border facilities over the past several weeks, however, have shown little enforcement of those guidelines among illegal immigrants detained amid the current surge of unlawful migration at the southern border.

At a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on Thursday, Scalise —the House minority whip and the ranking member of the subcommittee — grilled both Fauci and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on the Biden administration's COVID enforcement among illegal immigrants.

Holding up pictures of densely packed immigration facilities, Scalise asked Fauci: "Dr. Fauci, does this look like social distancing to you that you require when you talk about six feet?"

"No," Fauci replied.

Holding up more photos of packed facilities, Scalise asked further: "You can see all of these young children who are next to each other six inches apart, many without masks — by the way, does that follow your guidance that you've issued?"

"No," Fauci replied again.

"Do you think that sends the right message to America — [where] people are trying to recover and get back to their way of life — that if you're a citizen, you follow this set of rules, but if you come here illegally, you don't have to follow any of your rules?" Scalise asked further.

"No doubt it's a very difficult situation at the border, Congressman Scalise," Fauci fudged, arguing later that "everyone would like to see the situation get fixed." Fauci did not respond to a request for comment on the Biden administration's lack of guidelines enforcement in immigration facilities, including whether or nor he has advised President Joe Biden on the issue and/or whether or not he believes those facilities are helping spread COVID-19 in the U.S. to any appreciable extent.

The Biden administration in March directed child migrant facilities to expand to their pre-pandemic capacity levels, claiming the "extraordinary circumstances" of the recent surge necessitated such a decision.

The CDC warned the Biden administration at the time that facilities should enforce measures such as masking requirements in an effort to keep COVID levels down in the crowded detention centers.

The failure to enforce coronavirus safety measures has drawn rebuke elsewhere from congressional representatives. New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told Just the News editor-in-chief John Solomon this week that the U.S. is experiencing "a flow of individuals coming from the southern border with some displaying the symptoms of COVID, and nothing's being done about it."

"[They're] being jammed in each facilities [with] 250 capacity, there's 4,000 individuals, so it's very dangerous, and many have just been released back onto the streets, where they can go spread COVID," she asserted.

Last month, meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told media that a visit to a migrant facility in Donna, Texas, revealed similar overcrowding conditions.

"There [is] a series of cages in which children are lined up," he said. "They're not six feet apart, they're not three feet apart. They are lying on the floor."

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/tense-senate-exchange-fauci-admits-biden-admin-breaking-cdc-guidance-border

Texas bill allowing no-permit handgun carrying in public preliminarily passes state House

The legislation would also need to clear the state senate before it would be heading to the governor's desk.

A piece of legislation that would allow Lone Star State handgun owners to carry their weapons in public without a permit was preliminarily passed in the Texas House on Thursday in an 84-56 vote, though it is anticipated that final passage out of the chamber will occur on Friday.

The legislation would also need to clear the state Senate before it would be heading to the governor's desk.

“This bill should be called common sense carry because this bill is about common law-abiding citizens being able to carry commonly owned handguns in common public places for the common reason of personal and family protection. Under this bill, people who are prohibited from possessing a handgun will still be prohibited of possessing a handgun. Sensitive places where the unlicensed carry of a handgun is prohibited will still be prohibited. But if you are a law-abiding citizen age 21 or older that can legally possess a handgun you will be able to carry that handgun in a holster in public places where it is not otherwise prohibited,” Republican state Rep. Matt Schaefer said, NBCDFW.com reported.

https://justthenews.com/government/state-houses/texas-bill-allowing-permit-less-hand-gun-carrying-public-preliminarily

Leaked documents show that Google and the FTC have been engaged in a decades-long criminal cover-up

Google’s team of lawyers made a huge mistake with the release of key documents requested by a group of state attorneys general.

Portions of the documents that should have been redacted were left in plain sight, revealing illegal behavior on Google’s part with regards to its massive advertising monopoly.

Google’s online advertising marketplace, we now know, has long been secretly rigged under a scheme known as “Project Bernanke.”

As explained by Matt Stoller, the scheme allowed Google to have “one arm of its ad business front-running trades for ad inventory,” which the company used to award itself “hundreds of millions of dollars a year by giving itself a better position in the auctions.”

We also now know that Facebook was also involved.

“The agreement was signed by, among other individuals, Philipp Schindler, Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer, and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operation Officer.”

Not only is this little operation illegal, but it is also criminal. Such collusion and rigging of the online advertising ecosystem is about as illicit as it gets when it comes to Big Tech’s monopolistic behavior.

That this all went on in secret for so many years speaks volumes as to the failure of our current regulatory system in keeping companies in check. Stoller explains it even better:

“Today, big business in America is far too secretive, with an endless thicket of confidentiality rules, trade secrets law, and deferential judges and enforcers who think that revealing public information about big business is some sort of scandal,” he writes.

“It’s so bad that when the FDA asked pharmaceutical companies where their manufacturing plants were at the beginning of the pandemic, some firms cited trade secrets rules and refused to divulge the information.”

Google and Facebook both need to be disbanded

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could have brought a case against Google back in 2012 when much was already known about the company’s antitrust criminality. The regulatory body failed to do so, however, because it works with Google against We the People.

They say that God works in mysterious ways, however, and Google’s lawyer’s failure to cover up for his client by accidentally spilling the beans serves as poetic justice that one’s sins tend to eventually find him out.

In this case, Google’s collective sins as one of the world’s most evil corporations are now on fully display for the world to see. The company could not care less about following things like laws – those are for the peasants – and now everybody knows it.

https://patriotrising.com/leaked-documents-show-that-google-and-the-ftc-have-been-engaged-in-a-decades-long-criminal-cover-up/

CAIR Under Fire for Covering Up Florida Director's Revolting Abuse of Women

Hassan Shibly, the 34-year-old former executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) Florida chapter, faces a barrage of sexual harassment and assault claims, which he has denied while trying to play the victim. Many of the women who have spoken out against Shibly also charge CAIR with negligence when it comes to sexual assault claims and claim the organization is biased against women.

While Shibly resigned after some of the allegations came forward, accusers say CAIR did not investigate complaints against him and let him off easy. Jinan Shbat, a woman who worked in the CAIR National office in Washington, D.C., for three years through the beginning of January 2020, claimed the Shibley affair underscores CAIR’s hostile approach toward women.

“Hassan got to leave on his own terms, looking good in a specific way, and CAIR just let it happen,” Shbat told NPR. “The standard for them was just to not believe the women and to believe him first, you know. And it’s just on-brand.”

NPR interviewed six Shibly accusers and reviewed internal CAIR documents, social media posts, and emails. “Together, the accounts portray Shibly as a man who used his position to seduce women and bully critics with impunity,” NPR’s Leila Fadel reported.

Imane Sadrati, Shibly’s estranged wife and the mother of his three children, accused her husband of physical assault. She also claimed he cut her off financially. Meanwhile, other women have come forward, saying Shibly married them in secret and forced them to have sex with him. Shibly and Sadrati are going through legal divorce proceedings.

Shibly denied these claims and cast himself as the victim. He presented NPR with pictures that he says prove Sadrati abused him, not the other way around. He also claimed that the woman in one of his side marriages made violent threats against him, but that he settled the issue out of court with a confidentiality agreement.

Much of the claims boil down to the classic “he said, she said,” but even the romantic entanglements Shibly admits paint a damning picture.

The former CAIR Florida head admitted that he entered into religious marriage contracts with women outside his legal marriage when he and his wife were separated and even prior to their separation, with her permission when he thought their marriage was essentially over. He denied that any of the relationships were secret or abusive and he described them as “courtships.”

Kyla McRoberts claimed Shibly used his stature as a Muslim leader and her naiveté as a recent convert to Islam to “trick” her into a “secret marriage” behind his wife’s back in 2016.

“He definitely uses his reputation,” McRoberts told NPR. “I was very naive and fell into it blindly. I was a new convert. He promised to teach me Islam and help me strengthen my faith.”

McRoberts said Shibly found her on Snapchat and told her he was getting divorced. She said they entered into a religious marriage over the phone, with only a friend of his on the line as a witness. While she said she found the whole situation strange, Shibly assured her it was religiously sanctioned.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2021/04/15/explosive-cair-under-fire-for-covering-up-florida-directors-revolting-abuse-of-women-n1440359