Facebook approves alcohol, vaping, gambling and dating ads targeting teens, lobby group finds

Facebook is accused of harvesting the data of teenagers and on-selling it to advertisers for targeted alcohol, gambling, vaping and dating ads.

Key points:

Lobby group Reset Australia set up a fake account and created advertisements on Facebook targeting teenagers

It says the results show Facebook treats teenagers as if they are adults

A group of school-age teenagers that spoke to the ABC said the experiment felt like "you're being spied on"

The findings were revealed in a report, released today, by lobby group Reset Australia — the local arm of a global initiative working to "counter digital threats to democracy".

The group last year set up a fake account, Ozzie News Network, to test whether Facebook treated the data of teenagers differently to adults.

As well as gleaning information about users from activity on Facebook, online trackers — known as “cookies” — can follow users as they browse elsewhere on the internet.

The data sets are then used to create targeted ads by social media sites, such as Facebook.

Investigations overseas have shown tracking and profiling occurs on other big tech platforms like Instagram — owned by Facebook — and YouTube.

"What we found was there was no difference in the way they were treating teenager's data," Reset Australia executive director Chris Cooper said.

"It enabled advertisers to buy access to those profiles and target teenagers around very questionable interest areas such as gambling, smoking, alcohol and even their dating status.

"It's shocking and concerning."

After discovering this, Reset Australia submitted its own advertisements in these interest areas.

It says Facebook rejected two of its advertisements featuring regular cigarettes, but when it resubmitted the ads displaying electronic cigarettes, they were approved.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/facebook-instagram-teenager-tageted-advertising-alcohol-vaping/100097590

The Scientists “Debunking” the Wuhan Lab Leak Theory Admit Being ‘Collaborators’ and Honorees of Chinese Communist Party.

Several researchers used by leading corporate media outlets to debunk claims that COVID-19 originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have previously attended events or accepted awards from the controversial lab, The National Pulse can reveal.

The researchers’ Chinese Communist Party ties – which present a clear conflict of interest – are omitted from the media reports, which instead present the scientists as unbiased adjudicators of COVID-19’s origins.

In March 2020, NBC Science Contributor Dr. Joseph Fair called for the Trump administration to “stop blaming China” for the outbreak of the virus, despite mounting evidence – even at the time – that China was hiding information and data, and silencing whistleblowers.

Dr. Fair equated called the lab leak theory – now increasingly mainstream – as a “conspiracy.”

Fair spoke at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in 2013, The National Pulse can reveal.

“During the visit, he attended “Ge Hong Elite Forum” and gave an excellent academic report named “Biosafety Level 4 Containment Research and Recombinant Biology: How advances in molecular biology can advance in-vitro product design”. Many teachers and students, including Director Chen Xinwen and researchers such as Hu Zhihong and Wei Hongping, listened to the report,” a summary notes.

“Dr. Joseph Fair is now engaged in the rapid diagnosis work of virulent viruses for GVFI and looks forward to cooperating with the Institute in the relevant research field in future,” the description adds.

https://thenationalpulse.com/news/scientists-debunking-lab-leak-theory-linked-to-ccp/

Biden’s Pick To Lead ICE Didn’t Like Reporting Illegal Immigrants To Feds

The Texas sheriff picked to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement pushed back on the agency’s request to screen inmates through their database and detain them for possible deportation, Courthouse News reported.

President Joe Biden nominated Texas Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tuesday. Gonzalez opposed training deputies to use ICE’s database to screen inmates for their immigration status in February 2017 as part of the agency’s detainer program, Courthouse News reported.

Gonzalez reassigned 10 deputies being trained to use the database to screen inmates to address overcrowding and understaffing issues at the Harris County jail, Courthouse News reported. He said the additional screening measures could result in racial profiling, according to Courthouse News.

Although Gonzalez opposed ICE’s screening database, he said inmates would be held at the agency’s request regardless of the crime they were charged with, adhering to Trump-era immigration policies, Courthouse News reported. Sheriffs could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor for not cooperating with ICE detainers.

https://dailycaller.com/2021/04/27/joe-biden-immigration-and-customs-enforcement/

Bizarre Jeffrey Epstein TV clip resurfaces online

“You’re thinking this won’t get worse. But it does.” This early TV clip of disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is spreading like wildfire.

A clip of disgraced paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on US TV network VH1’s The Fabulous Life of … has resurfaced.

A two-minute cringe-worthy clip from Epstein’s feature on the show, which details the places, things, and services various celebrities enjoy, was shared by a Twitter user this week and is spreading like wildfire.

Eoin Higgins, who posted the video, wrote: “35 seconds in and you’re thinking, this won’t get worse. But it does.”

Others agreed. “This is the most outrageous video I’ve ever seen in my life I am completely losing my mind,” wrote one person on Twitter.

“I cannot believe how horrible every sentence is,” said another.

Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, was featured on the reality series in a 2007 episode called The Fabulous Life Of Billion Dollar Wall Street Ballers.

The financier was revealed to have been worth around $US560 million shortly before his death.

“Jeff was a high school math teacher who traded his blackboard for the big board,” the narrator says. “He just couldn’t keep out of the classroom. When he bought himself a house, he bought himself a school house.”

This, of course, is his famed Upper East Side mansion, which just sold last month for $US51 million. There, Epstein kept a bizarre painting of his buddy Bill Clinton and a safe filled with hundreds of nude photos of what appeared to be underage girls. It’s also where the convicted sex offender had a “massage room” filled with a table and sex toys.

“It has incredible bells and whistles,” commentator Jason Oliver Nixon boasts in a hard-to-watch testimonial. “Closed-circuit televisions, a heated sidewalk out front so the snow melts.”

The video also brags about his “small fleet” of private planes, including a Boeing 727, that he used to fly around the world.

“What do you need a commercial-sized airliner for?” asked Paper magazine editor-at-large Mickey Boardman in the clip.

We now know the answer: To bring his rich friends to Little St James island in the Caribbean – referred to by many as “Paedophile Island” – on a plane dubbed the “Lolita Express”.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/bizarre-jeffrey-epstein-tv-clip-resurfaces-online/news-story/0af74b89aa43fb72c7c943b92484bffb

Creepy af can't embed use link for vid

CNN's New "Reporter," Natasha Bertrand, is a Deranged Conspiracy Theorist and Scandal-Plagued CIA Propagandist

In the U.S. corporate media, the surest way to advance is to loyally spread lies and deceit from the U.S. security state. Bertrand is just the latest example.

The most important axiom for understanding how the U.S. corporate media functions is that there is never accountability for those who serve as propagandists for the U.S. security state. The opposite is true: the more aggressively and recklessly you spread CIA narratives or pro-war manipulation, the more rewarded you will be in that world.

The classic case is Jeffrey Goldberg, who wrote one of the most deceitful and destructive articles of his generation: a lengthy New Yorker article in May, 2002 — right as the propagandistic groundwork for the invasion of Iraq was being laid — that claimed Saddam Hussein had formed an alliance with Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. In February, 2003, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, NPR host Robert Siegel devoted a long segment to this claim. When he asked Goldberg about “a man named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,” Goldberg replied: “He is one of several men who might personify a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda.”

Needless to say, nothing could generate hatred for someone among the American population — just nine months away from the 9/11 attack — more than associating them with bin Laden. Five months after Goldberg's New Yorker article, the U.S. Congress authorized the use of military force to impose regime change on Iraq; ten months later, the U.S. invaded Iraq; and by September, 2003, close to 70% of Americans believed the lie that Saddam had personally participated in the 9/11 attack.

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/cnns-new-reporter-natasha-bertrand?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMzQ4OTgsInBvc3RfaWQiOjM1Njg2MDk3LCJfIjoieEZOdzYiLCJpYXQiOjE2MTk1NDA1ODUsImV4cCI6MTYxOTU0NDE4NSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTEyODY2MiIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.cRUFX5YDJuQwdgE9RtG5TN-rMSo3xpLtBG9zjJpzMOo

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>>13527840

accept that "foreign help is there.“ Bertrand responded: “We don’t have the reporting that suggests that the president has told aides, for example, that he really wants Russia to interfere because he thinks that it’s going to help him, right?”

No, we don’t have that reporting — though there’s no prohibition against fantasizing about it on national television. Such is the theme of Bertrand’s commentary during previous coverage of Russian interference, specifically the dossier of memos drawn up by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. With winks and nods from MSNBC hosts, Bertrand heaped credibility on the dossier — which was published in full by BuzzFeed News in January 2017 — in repeated television appearances.

Wemple systematically reviewed the mountain of speculation, unproven conspiracies and outright falsehoods Bertrand shoveled to the public as she was repeatedly promoted. But it was the document that gave us deranged delusions about pee-pee tape blackmail and Michael Cohen's trip to Prague that was her crown jewel: “The Bertrand highlight reel features a great deal of thumb-on-scale speculation regarding the dossier,” Wemple wrote.

And when information started being declassified that proved much of Bertrand's claims about collusion to be a fraud, she complained that there was too much transparency, implying that the Trump administration was harming national security by allowing the public to know too much — namely, allowing the public to see that her reporting was a fraud. A journalist who complains about too much transparency is like a cardiologist who complains that a patient has stopped smoking cigarettes, or like a journalist who voluntarily rats out her own source to the FBI or who agitates for censorship of political speech: a walking negation of the professional values they are supposed to uphold. But that is Natasha Bertrand, and, to the extent that there are some people who still believe that working at CNN is desirable, she was just rewarded for it again yesterday — just as journalists who rat out their own sources to the FBI and advocate for internet censorship are now celebrated in today's rotted media climate.

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Report: Italian Mafia’s Cut in Tourism Sector is Over $2.6 Billion

Italian organized criminal groups have infiltrated the country’s robust tourism sector to the tune of US$2.6 billion, a recent report by Italian think tank Demoskopika, revealed. The groups take control over legitimate businesses in order to launder revenue from illegitimate enterprises like drug and arms trafficking, experts say.

That revenue is split between three major regional groups – Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Neapolitan Camorra and Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, as well as smaller criminal groups in northern Italy’s Puglia and Lucania regions.

Though $2.6 billion is barely one percent of Italy’s total tourism revenue of over $280 billion, it still represents a significant foothold in one of Italy’s largest industries.

According to Demoskopika, some 4,400 businesses are at risk of mafia infiltration, largely for the purpose of money laundering. The problem has only been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

As the world's 4th most visited country, tourism amounts for some 13% of Italy's GDP. However, border shutdowns and global travel restrictions have put the industry in dire straits.

“Over 13% of companies in the tourism sector are at risk of default due to COVID,” Demoskopika’s Director Raffaele Rio said. That makes them especially vulnerable to the aggressive economic infiltration strategies of organized crime groups.

“The mafias try to bend the entrepreneurs with attractive criminal welfare tools capable of guaranteeing business survival,” Rio said. To that end they offer to cover soaring debt, provide greater financial security through their entry into the business, slowly acquiring more and more until sometimes they even fully control the business.

“A perverse circuit,” Rio called it. “Aimed at strengthening the control of criminal families in the area, and at increasing their social consensus that feeds serious illegal behaviors such as money laundering, usury and extortion.”

Sergio Nazzaro, an expert on organized crime, who formerly served as spokesman for the president of Italy’s Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission doesn’t like the word ‘infiltration’ in this context.

“When someone tries to infiltrate, you want to stop him, you close the door or the window to keep him out,“ he told the OCCRP. Instead Nazarro called the mafia’s techniques a kind of “creeping welfare.”

When a growing business falls short on funds, it’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive, Nazzaro explained. That’s when the mafias swoop in, he said. They offer support, and maybe even at a discount, but now they have influence over the business.

“They can blackmail you, and so on,” Nazzaro said. “Eventually they don’t need your money anymore, but they need your flat, or your silence, or whatever else.”

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/14298-report-italian-mafia-s-cut-in-tourism-sector-is-over-2-6-billion

Hunter Biden will Guest Teach a Class on ‘Fake News’ at Tulane University This Fall

Joe Biden’s deviant spawn Hunter will guest teach a class on fake news at Tulane University this fall.

What exactly are Hunter Biden’s qualifications for this teaching gig?

Hunter Biden is a Yale-educated lawyer and has profited from his father’s political connections his entire adult life but he has never worked as a reporter.

“Virtually all the jobs listed on Hunter’s resume going back to his first position out of college, which paid a six-figure salary, came courtesy of Joe Biden’s donors, lobbyists and allies,” a RealClearInvestigations examination found.

The other part of Hunter’s resume includes crawling around on the floor rummaging for crack, getting kicked out of the Navy for cocaine use, making homemade porn with his dead brother’s wife, partying with prostitutes, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at strip clubs and working as his VP father’s bagman as part of an international money laundering operation.

Tulane confirmed the list of guest speakers to Daily Mail and it’s group of far-left hacks from NY Times, WaPo, CNN and others:

Hunter Biden

Dr. Deborah Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump

Juan Williams, political analyst for Fox News Channel

Susan Glasser, columnist for The New Yorker

Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post columnist; Kylie Atwood, national security correspondent for CNN

Margaret Brennan, Face the Nation moderator

Bret Stephens, New York Times columnist

Dr. Michael Fauntroy, a professor in the Political Science Department at Howard University.

According to the syllabus, the 10-week course titled “Media Polarization and Public Policy Impacts” will discuss the political polarization in the news media.

“America’s rapidly advancing partisan divide is fueled substantially by the growing political polarization increasingly evident in our news media,” the syllabus said according to the Daily Mail. “This course will explore the current state of the media landscape in the United States and how media polarization, fake news, and the economics of the news business impact public policymaking in Washington, D.C.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/04/hunter-biden-will-guest-teach-class-fake-news-tulane-university-fall/

>>13527967

*Big Guy

Lavrov: Russian Government to Soon Present List of Unfriendly Countries, Criteria Are Clear

The Russian government will soon present a list of unfriendly countries, the criteria are clear, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Sputnik.

"I think [it will happen] soon. The government has specific instructions, the criteria by which we are guided in this work are clear. So, I think, we will not have to wait long," Lavrov said.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to limit the number of Russians employed by foreign diplomatic missions of countries that are determined to be unfriendly toward Russia, and the foreign ministry was tasked with drawing up the list.

The announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington over anti-Russia sanctions, based on accusations of election interference and Moscow's alleged role in the SolarWinds hack. Russia has strongly denied these allegations as lacking any evidence, adding that the sanctions run contrary to the interests of the two nations, and has issued response measures.

According to the White House, the sanctions are not designed to escalate bilateral tensions but to impose costs on Moscow for what Washington feels "are unacceptable actions by the Russian government". Lavrov has characterized these claims as "schizophrenic notes", warning that bilateral relations could return to a cold war-like state if the United States rejects dialogue.

The United States slapped sanctions on 32 Russian entities and individuals as part of a new round of sanctions, and also expelled 10 Russian diplomats from the country and prohibited US entities from purchasing Russian government bonds during primary placements.

According to charges laid out by the Biden administration, Russian intelligence was behind last year's SolarWinds hack on US information technology systems. Russia was also accused of interfering in the 2020 US election and waging chemical warfare.

In response, Russia banned eight US citizens from entering the country, including US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Putin has stressed that wants to be on good terms with all members of the international community, but this pursuit does not equal weakness.

"We truly do not want to burn bridges. But if one perceives our goodwill as indifference or weakness and is ready to completely burn — or even blow up — those bridges on their own, they must know that Russia's response will be asymmetrical, quick and brutal," the Russian president said.

https://sputniknews.com/world/202104281082745526-lavrov-russian-government-to-soon-present-list-of-unfriendly-countries-criteria-are-clear/

US, Israel Agree to Create Working Group to Counter Iranian Drones, Missiles

US and Israeli officials met in-person at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to discuss Iran's alleged nuclear endeavors and share so-called sensitive information that, due to security concerns, could not be discussed in a virtual meeting.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, and several other US and Israeli officials agreed that the two nations should form an inter-agency working group to counter the "growing threat of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Precision Guided Missiles produced by Iran and provided to its proxies in the Middle East Region."

According to the White House readout on the April 27 meeting, the government officials also concurred that "Iran's aggressive behavior" in the Middle East poses a significant threat.

Based on this determination, US officials communicated that US President Joe Biden and his administration have "unwavering support for Israel's right to defend itself."

Prior to Tuesday's meeting, Sullivan and Ben-Shabbat's bilateral strategic group met twice in virtual meetings. Per Israeli media reports, officials called for an in-person meeting to share sensitive information.

"The United States updated Israel on the talks in Vienna and emphasized strong US interest in consulting closely with Israel on the nuclear issue going forward," the readout detailed.

The consultations likely relate to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which has been the subject of several meetings in Vienna, Austria.

Last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed that the US and Iran could soon reach an agreement regarding the JCPOA - so long as Washington remains "honest" in negotiations.

At the same time, some Israeli officials have disagreed with the ongoing US-Iran negotiations, and have spoken out in support of the "maximum pressure" approach of former US President Donald Trump's administration.

"Maybe the Americans want to believe they will get a better deal down the road," an Israeli diplomat told Israel Hayom, "but the moment they return to the original agreement they lose all leverage with Iran, which has no interest whatsoever in altering it. This promise is either a lie or pretending to be naive."

Social media footage shows Sullivan and others exiting the Embassy.

Meeting attendees included Israeli Ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan, National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Barbara Leaf, Biden's nominee for assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs.

Officials also discussed the dozens of rockets launched from Gaza into Israel. Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted a number of rockets and members of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) returned fire in some cases.

The IDF most recently identified two unsuccessful launches from Gaza that failed to leave the territory.

"The U.S. strongly condemned the recent indiscriminate rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel," noting the Biden administration will continue to support a "two-state solution."

https://sputniknews.com/military/202104271082744455-us-israel-agree-to-create-working-group-to-counter-iranian-drones-missiles/

Leaked Emails Prove Democrats Colluded With Big Tech To Censor 2020 Election Posts On Social Media — Wonder Who That Helped?

Recently leaked emails have all but verified what Conservatives have known to be true: that election dissent was sharply censored by big tech and Democrats.

The emails are part of a trove of documents obtained by Judicial Watch in which it is revealed that the state of California as well as the Biden campaign pressured Big Tech and social media companies to censor conservatives posts they labelled as “disinformation”.

Emails such as the ones below show the eagerness of companies to collaborate with Democrats to quickly remove posts:

The documents were made available thanks to a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request made by Judicial Watch.

The request was granted and copies of the documents were given to Judicial Watch.

Judicial Watch announced today that it received 540 pages and a supplemental four pages of documents from the office of the Secretary of State of California revealing how state officials pressured social media companies (Twitter, Facebook, Google (YouTube)) to censor posts about the 2020 election. Included in these documents were “misinformation briefings” emails that were compiled by communications firm SKDK, that lists Biden for President as their top client of 2020. The documents show how the state agency successfully pressured YouTube to censor a Judicial Watch video concerning the vote by mail and a Judicial Watch lawsuit settlement about California voter roll clean up.

The records were obtained in response to Judicial Watch’s California Public Records Act (CPRA) requests to the Office of the California Secretary of State for records related to the Office of Election Cybersecurity’s database of social media posts; communications with social media companies; and other social media related records regarding the 2020 elections. Judicial Watch filed the requests after a December 2020 report surfaced that the state agency was surveilling, tracking, and seeking to censor the speech of Americans:

The Office of Election Cybersecurity in the California Secretary of State’s office monitored and tracked social media posts, decided if they were misinformation, stored the posts in an internal database coded by threat level, and on 31 different occasions requested posts be removed. In 24 cases, the social media companies agreed and either took down the posts or flagged them as misinformation, according to Jenna Dresner, senior public information officer for the Office of Election Cybersecurity.

https://en-volve.com/2021/04/27/leaked-emails-prove-democrats-colluded-with-big-tech-to-censor-2020-election-posts-on-social-media-wonder-who-that-helped/

Scientists believe they found as many as 25,000 barrels of DDT dumped off the Southern California coast

Marine scientists say they have found what they believe to be as many as 25,000 barrels that possibly contain DDT dumped off the Southern California coast near Catalina Island, where a massive underwater toxic waste site dating back to World War II has long been suspected.

DDT, which is short for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, was a popular synthetic insecticide in the 1940s, and was also used to fight malaria and typhus, among other diseases transmitted from insects to humans. The US canceled the use of DDT in 1972, citing harmful effects on humans, wildlife, and the broader environment.

The 27,345 "barrel-like" images were captured by researchers at the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They mapped more than 56 square miles (145 square kilometers) of seafloor between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast in a region previously found to contain high levels of the toxic chemical in sediments and in the ecosystem.

Historical shipping logs show that industrial companies in Southern California used the basin as a dumping ground until 1972, when the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, also known as the Ocean Dumping Act, was enacted.

Resting deep in the ocean, the exact location and extent of the dumping was not known until now.

The territory covered was "staggering," said Eric Terrill, chief scientist of the expedition and director of the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Underwater drones using sonar technology captured high-resolution images of barrels resting 3,000 feet (900 meters) below the surface all along the steep seafloor that was surveyed. They also were seen beyond the dumpsite limits.

"It really was a surprise to everybody who's worked with the data and who sailed at sea," he told reporters Monday.

The survey provides "a wide-area map" of the barrels, though it will be up to others to confirm through sediment sampling that the containers hold DDT, Terrill said. It's estimated between 350 and 700 tons of DDT were dumped in the area, 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Los Angeles, and 8 miles (12 kilometers) from Catalina Island.

The long-term impact on marine life and humans is still unknown, said Scripps chemical oceanographer and professor of geosciences Lihini Aluwihare, who in 2015 co-authored a study that found high amounts of DDT and other man-made chemicals in the blubber of bottlenose dolphins that died of natural causes.

"These results also raise questions about the continued exposure and potential impacts on marine mammal health, especially in light of how DDT has been shown to have multi-generational impacts in humans," said Aluwihare, who was not part of the survey expedition.

Diana Aga, a chemistry professor at University at Buffalo who is not affiliated with the study, said the findings were shocking if the barrels are proven to contain the toxic chemical. "That's a lot of DDT at the bottom of the ocean," she said.

If the barrels haven't leaked, they could be moved to a place where disposal is safer, Aga said. If they leaked, scientists could take samples from the water, sediment, and other marine life to gauge the damage.

https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-up-to-25000-barrels-at-ddt-dump-site-in-pacific-2021-4?amp

Traffic stop turns up $2 million worth of meth, fentanyl in Indiana

A routine traffic stop turned into a major narcotics investigation in Indiana.

A state trooper who stopped a van for a minor traffic violation Monday found $2 million worth of methamphetamine and fentanyl inside the vehicle, authorities said.

Police in Indiana discovered 134 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 90 pounds of fentanyl concealed in a vehicle during a traffic stop, authorities said.

The suspects’ Chrysler van was pulled over on Interstate 70 around 1:30 p.m. after making an “unsafe lane movement,” according to police. During a conversation with the two occupants in the vehicle, the trooper noticed the pair appeared to be hiding something.

The trooper decided to search the van and ended up finding 134 pounds of crystal meth and 90 pounds of fentanyl concealed in the cargo area, Indiana State Police said in a news release.

An investigation revealed the drugs had come from Memphis, Tenn., and were headed to Indianapolis, according to the release.

The driver, 32-year-old Ester Osegueda, and her passenger, 27-year-old Adam Lopez, were taken into custody and charged with dealing narcotics, a felony. The two California residents were being held without bond Tuesday at the Hendricks County Jail in Danville, online records show.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/traffic-stop-turns-up-2-million-worth-of-meth-fentanyl-in-indiana/ar-BB1g6MwT

Israel to deport 100 Black Hebrews to the US within 2 months - report

Their community numbers around 5,000, and while they have integrated reasonably well in Dimona, they live in limbo because their future in Israel remains uncertain.

There is no such creature as an average Israeli. There are just too many differences between us. However, it would be reasonably safe to say that the random Israeli is not a racist. Nation-State Law notwithstanding, non-Jews and people of color are not made to sit at the back of the bus, nor are they treated as inferiors by most of their fellow human beings. It’s very much a live and let live situation, unless one or more hotheads from any sector of the population do something that will provoke a violent response from another sector.

Unfortunately, according to a report in Yediot Aharonot, some 100 members of the Black Hebrews, most of them born in Israel, and knowing no other environment, are to be deported to the United States within the next two months.

The Black Hebrews, who believe themselves to be descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, originated in Chicago under the leadership of the late Ben Carter, also known as Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, came to Israel in the late 1960s, and for the most part settled in Dimona. They have been trying for half a century, with only minimal success, to acquire Israeli citizenship. Some have served in the army, but most have been rejected because they are not citizens of Israel.

Their community numbers around 5,000, and while they have integrated reasonably well in Dimona, they live in limbo because their future in Israel remains uncertain. Their permanent resident status can be revoked at any time.

A 44-year-old member of the Black Hebrew community, who was born in Israel, and whose children were born in Israel, in an interview on KAN Reshet Bet, said that he was in constant fear of being deported, because all his requests for citizenship had been denied. Another spoke of a mother of nine children, some of whom were born in Israel, who is being deported. She has lived in Israel for around 30 years, and before leaving America, sold all her assets. The hard-line policy will continue for as long as Arye Deri remains interior minister, and was no different when Eli Yishai occupied the same position.

A senior employee of the Interior Ministry told Reshet Bet that there was no intention of expelling the whole community, only those of its members who are living in Israel illegally and have not been accorded citizenship or permanent residence. When asked how come it has taken 20 or 30 years to catch up with such people, the employee replied: “We can’t put a GPS on every new arrival.” He kept insisting on the illegality of those being deported, saying that they have where to go because they are all American citizens. The fact that some of these American citizens were born in Israel, and knew no other life, made no impression on him.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israel-to-deport-100-black-hebrews-to-the-us-within-2-months-report-666505

Digits

Novel blood filter approved by FDA for emergency treatment of COVID-19

The FDA has approved a novel blood filter for the emergency treatment of COVID-19. The filter, which targets a potentially fatal immune response, has shown promise in preliminary studies, according to researchers. The company that developed the technology, CytoSorbents Inc., was supported by NHLBI.

In some critical cases of COVID-19, patients develop a severe immune response that can overwhelm the body’s defenses, resulting in death if untreated. The deadly immune response results from an increase in cytokines, proteins produced by immune system that normally mediate an inflammatory response to viral invaders, including the virus that causes COVID-19.

The new device, called CytoSorb, targets this deadly “cytokine storm” that can damage vital organs such as the lungs, heart, and kidneys. It is essentially a blood purification cartridge containing porous polymer beads that remove cytokines from the blood in a process like dialysis. Some have called it a “Brita filter for your blood.” The filter aims to reduce excessively high levels of cytokines while leaving enough of the proteins to still enable the body to fight infection.

CytoSorb has been used in more than 70 critically-ill COVID-19 patients in Italy, China, Germany, and France, with promising results in terms of controlling the cytokine storm and improving lung function that has helped patients get off of mechanical ventilation, according to the device manufacturer. It could appear in U.S. hospitals soon, they said.

“We’re excited to see this new technology, whose development involved NHLBI support, advance toward clinical use against COVID-19,” said Margaret Ochocinska, Ph.D., an NHLBI Program Officer involved in funding the development of the device and Program Director in the NHLBI Division of Blood Diseases and Resources. “We hope that it will prove useful in fighting this devastating disease.”

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2020/novel-blood-filter-approved-fda-emergency-treatment-covid-19

Is this how they will remove the vax?

PolitiFact caught with 'pants on fire' for blatantly partisan, false claim against Ted Cruz

PolitiFact published a completely inaccurate fact check on Tuesday, accusing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) of making a false statement about Democrats' court-packing initiative.

But once it hit social media, observers informed the purportedly non-partisan organization that it was guilty of a "pants on fire" analysis.

What are the details?

During a press conference in front of the Supreme Court last week arguing against a Democratic bill to expand the number of justices from nine to 13, Cruz said, ""You didn't see Republicans, when we had control of the Senate, try to rig the game. You didn't see us try to pack the court."

So, PolitiFact decided to "fact check" only the first sentence of Cruz's statement with a piece that read like an op-ed — completely omitting any mention of court-packing, ignoring context, and making a patently false argument claiming the Texas Republican had lied.

The non-profit's "short" version of their analysis reads:

• Cruz's comment ignores that Republicans gave diametrically opposite treatment to President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland and President Donald Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.

• As the party controlling the Senate, the Republicans had the right to exercise their power as they saw fit. But there was no consistency on their part when they denied Garland a hearing for nearly a year yet rushed through Barrett's nomination within weeks — other than advancing the party's goals.

PolitiFact ruled Cruz's claim as "false."

Twitter users cried foul, overwhelmingly calling out PolitiFact and accusing the outlet of exposing its pro-Democrat agenda.

"This isn't fact-checking," one person wrote. "Nothing in Cruz's statements was false, but Politifact can't help themselves. Their ratings are consistent spin for one side."

Townhall.com political editor Guy Benson replied, "That's Politifact for you. Just awful."

Curtis Houck, managing editor of Newsbusters, told PolitiFact, "We get it. You hate conservatives and will claim left-wing propaganda are facts because that's what you do."

One person referred to PolitiFact as "PolitiFraud," and several suggested the public needs "a fact check on this fact check."

"Another sophistical switcheroo by @politifcact," someone else tweeted. "The clear meaning of 'rigging the game' in Cruz' statement is a move akin to 'packing the court.' So @politifact ignores that, then they redefine 'rigging' as having 'no consistency', attribute inconsistency to GOP…and [voila]!"

Sen. Cruz also weighed in, responding to the "fact check" by tweeting:

"Lying liars lie & that's what Politi'fact' does every day. To 'pack' the Supreme Court is to ADD seats for political advantage. Republicans did NOT do so when we had control-nobody even suggested it. Now, Dems have filed legislation to EXPAND SCOTUS from 9 to 13 Justices. FACT."

Lying liars lie & that’s what Politi”fact” does every day. To “pack” the Supreme Court is to ADD seats for politic… https://t.co/yukvljANzK

— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz)1619557330.0

https://www.theblaze.com/news/politifact-caught-with-pants-on-fire-for-blatantly-partisan-false-claim-against-ted-cruz

Bezos-Owned Washington Post Endorses Terry McAuliffe Over Two Qualified Black Women

Former DNC fundraiser was instrumental in luring Amazon to Virginia with lucrative tax incentives

The Washington Post, a news blog owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has issued a controversial endorsement in the Virginia governor's race, backing a white man over two qualified black women seeking the Democratic nomination.

The Post editorial board on Monday endorsed Terry McAuliffe, who was elected governor in 2014 despite having no political experience beyond raising money for Democrats. The Post, which also endorsed McAuliffe in 2014, explained its decision by noting that McAuliffe's rivals, including two black women serving in state government, are "relatively untested" and lack political experience.

Candidates Jennifer McClellan, a state senator from Richmond, and Jennifer Carroll Foy, a former state lawmaker, are each trying to make history and become the first black woman to serve as governor (of any state) in American history. The Post believes history will have to wait because these qualified black women are unable to match McAuliffe's "talent for persuasion and strategy."

That talent was on full display in 2017, when Amazon announced its search for a location to build a second North American headquarters. Then-governor McAuliffe was instrumental in persuading Amazon to select Arlington, Va., located just outside Washington, D.C., in one of America's richest counties. The trillion-dollar company was lured to the state in part by tax incentives worth up to $750 billion.

The Post‘s endorsement, which does not mention the Amazon deal, is not the first time the Bezos-owned paper has embraced a white politician in a controversial and potentially racially charged fashion. In 2019, for example, the editorial board demanded the resignation of Gov. Ralph Northam (D., Va.) after he admitted to wearing either blackface or a Ku Klux Klan hood in a photo published in his medical school yearbook. Less than a year later, the Post published a second editorial recanting its call for Northam's resignation.

Northam survived the racism scandal in large part due to his party affiliation, but it didn't hurt that the person who would have succeeded him, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D.), has been credibly accused of sexual assault. Fairfax didn't resign either. In fact, he is running for governor in the Democratic primary. During a debate earlier this month, Fairfax accused McAuliffe of treating him like Emmitt Till or George Floyd.

On the same day the Bezos-owned paper endorsed McAuliffe, its executive fact checker Glenn Kessler announced that the Post will no longer maintain its database of President Joe Biden's lies. The paper will continue to fact check claims from politicians, Kessler said. Last week, for example, he took Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) to task for suggesting that his grandfather—a black farmer who grew up in South Carolina during the Great Depression—did not lead a particularly privileged life.

https://freebeacon.com/media/mcauliffe-racism-scandal/