CRT WARNING: Two US Colleges to Offer “Abolish the Police” Courses in the Fall; Teach Students How to be Far-Left Activists

Starting this fall, two colleges in the US will be offering courses that are centered around teaching students Marxist “black political and feminist theories” that will assist them in activism to abolish the police. The classes, “#Abolishthepolice” and “Abolishing Prisons and the Police,” will be taught at Davidson College in North Carolina and Bard College in New York, respectively.

The “critical black studies” class at Davidson teaches students that non-whites and LGBT people are disproportionately targeted, causing them to be “routinely” surveilled, arrested, incarcerated and sexually assaulted by police officers. They intend to use radical “social and political philosophies” to decry policing in all forms, including what they define as “police militarization.”

The director of media relations for Davidson College, Jay Pfeifer, explained to Campus reform that the “Africana Studies” course lines up directly with the “Christian Reformed” school’s core values. His assertion is further backed up by the fact that the school spent $1 million last year to berate churches with “white dominant congregations” about racial justice.

“Davidson’s values are most clearly expressed in it’s statement of purpose.” “That statement expresses clearly that Davidson is a student focused institution of higher learning grounded in the Christian Reformed tradition and therefore faithful to a God bound by no church or creed.”

“The offering of any class, whatever its title, reflects that it covers a subject worth studying.” – Pfeifer said.

Bard College’s course is a part of their “hate studies initiative” and focuses more on how to mainstream law enforcement “abolition to the masses.” Students will design ad campaigns to make their marxist propaganda “go viral.” They should have a lot of money to accomplish this since the college received a $500 million endowment from globalist George Soros earlier this year.

Campus Reform’s Angela Morabito explained to Fox News: “Bard College is attempting to do with prison abolition the exact same thing colleges did with the defund the police movement: Take a radical idea, plant it on college campuses, and then weaponize young adults to push it into the mainstream. Bard College, like so many schools before it, is becoming the public relations department for far-left fringe concepts.”

US colleges aren’t the ‘institutions of higher learning’ that they once were, and it’s only getting worse. It’s now an overt training camp for radical Marxists who hate America.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/crt-warning-two-us-colleges-offer-abolish-police-courses-fall-teach-students-far-left-activists/

GOP House Leader McCarthy Is Funding 5 Of 10 Pro-Impeachment House Reps

The GOP establishment is slapping its voters in the face again.

GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy is funding 5 out of the 10 house reps who voted to impeach Trump.

Half of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump — Valadao, Beutler, Katko, and Michigan Reps. Fred Upton and Peter Meijer — have a joint fundraising committee with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and his leadership PAC, which has raised roughly $100,000 for each of the five campaigns in the first half of the year. The joint fundraising committee — known as Take Back the House 2022 — has not raised money for the other five: Cheney, Kinzinger, Gonzalez, Washington Rep. Dan Newhouse and South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice.

When asked if the House GOP leadership has helped his campaign, Valadao said, “They’ve all been very, very supportive.”

Challengers typically have a harder time raising money against incumbents, who already have established a connection with voters, donors and powerful allies like McCarthy. Some of the pro-Trump challengers will be a long-shot unless Trump comes to their aid.

“It’s difficult for a Republican challenger in a primary when you have a sitting Republican to raise money,” Chris Mathys, a Republican candidate running against Valadao, told CNN. “At the end of the day, we’re looking for support from the voters in the district. And they are extremely upset with Mr. Valadao’s betrayal of his oath of office.”

This isn’t the first time McCarthy’s true colors were exposed.

A bombshell report from Tucker Carlson exposed the relationship between RINO pollster Frank Luntz and McCarthy.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson dropped a bombshell on the GOP establishment Monday night and revealed GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is renting a room from pollster Frank Luntz.

Frank Luntz lobbies on behalf on some of the world’s most left-wing corporations like Google and Nike, so how does he have so much influence over the Republican party?

Tucker Carlson said that GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Frank Luntz are roommates!

Tucker said the apartments in Luntz’s DC building go for $5,000 a month, so the question is, how much money is McCarthy giving Luntz for rent?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/gop-house-leader-mccarthy-funding-5-10-pro-impeachment-house-reps/

STUNNING: Watch How Media Covered Swine Flu Vaccine After 4,000 Reported Adverse Events in 1976 – Then Compare to COVID Vaccine Coverage after 463,000 Adverse Events

Watch how “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace covered the 1976 swine flu mass vaccination program which was halted after 4,000 reported adverse events.

Via The Storm Has Arrived and Kanekoa the Great.

There are currently 463,456 Adverse Events reported on the VAERS website . There are 10,991 reported deaths from the COVID-19 vaccines listed at the CDC’s VAERS database.

Two weeks ago VAERS reported 6,985 deaths due to the COVID vaccines. Last week that number jumped to 9,048.

This past week: There were 2,092 deaths from the COVID Vaccines — According to the CDC-linked VAERS website.

Last Week: there were 1,918 total COVID-19 deaths in the United States.

As reported earlier — According to CDC and VAERS reporting that means there were 174 more COVID vaccine deaths in the United States last week than COVID deaths in the United States last week.

But today’s media ignores these findings.

They are not curious about these shocking numbers at all.

Why is today’s media completely silent about this❓

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/stunning-watch-media-covered-swine-flu-vaccine-4000-reported-adverse-events-1976-compare-covid-vaccine-coverage-463000-adverse-events/

Maricopa County Responds To Senate Via Snarky Twitter Post – Makes False Claims About Audit and Fails to Prove Why Audit Is Wrong

Instead of coming clean and answering questions raised in Thursday’s Arizona audit hearing, Maricopa County officials are tweeting jabs at the audit and weakly fact-checking the audit revelations with their own unsubstantiated claims.

They found 74,243 mail-in ballots with NO clear record of them ever being sent, 168,000 ballots were incorrectly printed, 11,000 voters were added to the voter rolls AFTER the election, and more.

We are hearing that the discrepancy in the total number of ballots remains accurate and it is likely a multiple of the number of votes needed to swing this election.

On Friday, Maricopa County responded to the evidence and ongoing request for a joint audit and compliance with subpoenas through Twitter instead of working with the Senate to finish this audit.

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann replied with the same question everyone else has, why will they not work with the auditors and provide truthful information so that we can secure our elections?

Maricopa County: The Cyber Ninjas have everything qualified auditors would need to check the results of the election. Now we hear they may be asking for more. This can only be due to 2 reasons: They don’t know what they’re doing, or they’re going beyond their scope of work.

Senate President Karen Fann responded:

Karen Fann: Wondering why Maricopa County prefers to tweet jabs instead of just sitting down and talking with the auditors If we work together we can finish this audit and let the voters know their ballots will be safe for future elections

Arizona State senators are sick and tired of Maricopa County pulling this Twitter crap, instead of coming to the table like adults and cooperating.

The County has been tweeting baseless claims since the meeting concluded and they refuse to provide real answers or subpoenaed evidence.

Senator Kelly Townsend knew this would happen and she is preparing to open a criminal investigation into the County with Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

These people need to come clean, cooperate, or be indicted!

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/maricopa-county-responds-senate-via-twitter-makes-false-claims-audit-refusing-prove-audit-wrong/

IT BEGINS: Conservative MI Group That Hosted America’s First Lockdown Protest Will Host Huge ‘TRUMP WON’ Rally

100 Percent Fed Up – On April 15, 2020, members of the most powerful grassroots conservative group in Michigan, the MCC (Michigan Conservative Coalition), were fed up with MI Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s draconian, business-killing lockdowns and decided to do something about it. MI GOP Vice-Chair Meshawn Maddock and MI GOP vice-chair, MI GOP grassroots chair Marian Sheridan, along with other hard-working conservatives in their group, organized a protest that brought over 15,000 vehicles filled with MI residents from all over the state to Michigan’s Capitol.

The lockdown protest was the first of its kind in the world and has since inspired hundreds of lockdown protests across America and around the world.

The #OperationGridlock protest was a huge success and shined a spotlight on the serious consequences of allowing elected officials to use unconstitutional power to destroy the lives of millions. The in-vehicle protest caused backups on highways for several miles in every direction and caused gridlock on the deserted streets in Lansing.

From plumbers to drywallers to landscapers, cement trucks, and horse trailers, Michiganders showed up in force to express their displeasure with the reckless decisions made by a tyrannical Democrat governor auditioning for the role of Biden VP.

Since that day, a lot has happened in Michigan, including a hotly contested November election that caused millions of Americans to question the election’s outcome. The video below was taken inside the TCF Center in Detroit, where Republican poll challengers were frequently thrown out of the absentee ballot counting facility for various reasons, including not allowing themselves to be harassed or intimidated by election workers and outside agitators.

Michigan’s Republican House Oversight Committee Chair Steve Johnson mocked the Arizona audit and MI Senate Oversight Chair Ed McBroom decided to ignore the evidence presented to their committee by hundreds of Michigan residents and produced a report two weeks ago saying there was no mass voter fraud in their state.

To date, only MI State Representatives Steve Carra (R), Matt Maddock (R), and Daire Rendon (R) have expressed their desire to perform a forensic audit of the November election.

On Thursday, during a Senate hearing, the Arizona audit team announced the stunning results of their forensic audit that were very damning.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/begins-conservative-mi-group-hosted-americas-first-lockdown-protest-will-host-huge-trump-won-rally/

Twitter Adds Bogus Fact Check Claiming “No Evidence of Widespread Fraud” in AZ Election After Audit Exposes Massive Fraud in Maricopa County

Election officials better start lawyering up, and quickly.

The Arizona State Senate held a public hearing on the ongoing Maricopa County audit this past Thursday. The long-awaited session exposed numerous jaw-dropping examples of fraudulent votes and illegal actions by officials in the 2020 election.

The shocking discoveries, which included 74,000 mail-in ballots with no record of them ever being mailed out and 25,000 ballots that were missing serial numbers, set social media ablaze. ‘Cyber Ninjas’ and ‘Maricopa County’ began to trend on Twitter. Americans were rightly outraged that more damning evidence was coming out on the stolen Biden victory.

Twitter, and their Pravda-media cohorts, moved quickly to try and get control of the narrative by adding a ‘fact-check’ to the trending topics. Their bogus claim says there is “no evidence of widespread fraud” in Arizona’s 2020 election results.

The socialist left is terrified, and rightfully so.

There is more incriminating evidence of their crimes in the 2020 election that will be coming out of Arizona over the next few weeks. Other states are also beginning to conduct audits as the calls to decertify the results, recall the electors, and hold a new election, grow.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/damage-control-twitter-adds-bogus-fact-check-claiming-no-evidence-widespread-fraud-az-election-audit-exposes-massive-fraud-maricopa-county/

British health secretary Javid tests positive for Covid-19, says he’s glad he was vaccinated

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid is self-isolating at home with his family after a lateral flow test for Covid-19 came back positive. He said he was grateful he had received two jabs of the vaccine and that his symptoms were mild.

The news came from the health secretary himself in a video statement which he tweeted out on Saturday. Javid, who took office three weeks ago after the ignominious resignation of Matt Hancock over a scandal involving his female aide, said he decided to take a test after feeling “groggy” on Friday. He is now waiting for a PCR test result to confirm his suspected infection.

This morning I tested positive for Covid. I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild.Please make sure you come forward for your vaccine if you haven’t already. pic.twitter.com/NJYMg2VGzT

— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) July 17, 2021

“I am grateful that I’ve had two jabs of the vaccine, and so far symptoms are very mild,” the secretary said, adding that he wanted to use the opportunity to hail Britain’s national vaccination campaign.

Javid was vaccinated in May, when he was a backbencher MP, using the domestically developed Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, he reported at the time.

The UK has vaccinated two-thirds of its adult population, but it has not yet authorized the vaccination of children.

No vaccines against Covid-19 claim 100% efficacy. However, manufacturers, together with medical experts, suggest that getting a jab significantly reduces one’s chances of hospitalisation or a lethal outcome from the virus.

https://www.rt.com/uk/529497-health-secertary-infected-covid/

LA County Sheriff Says He Will Not Enforce New Indoor Mask Mandate

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced Friday that he will not enforce a new indoor mask mandate set to be reinstated in the country’s most populous county amid the CCP virus pandemic.

County health officials decided that the indoor mask mandate would apply regardless of a person’s vaccination status. The mandate, announced on Thursday, takes effect at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday.

“Forcing the vaccinated and those who already contracted COVID-19 to wear masks indoors is not backed by science and contradicts the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines,” Villanueva said in a statement.

“The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) has authority to enforce the order, but the underfunded/defunded Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will not expend our limited resources and instead ask for voluntary compliance.

“We encourage the DPH to work collaboratively with the Board of Supervisors and law enforcement to establish mandates that are both achievable and supported by science.”

People wear masks as they walk in a shopping district in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on July 1, 2021. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

The CDC announced in May this year that people fully vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, no longer have to wear masks indoors.

An updated guidance on the CDC website as of Friday reads,

“Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”

The LA County Health Department said on Thursday that transmission of the CCP virus was increasing “from Moderate to Substantial,” citing the “trend in daily new cases of COVID-19.”

In a statement, the department said that it had observed a seven-times increase in new cases since California fully reopened its economy on June 15 by dropping all physical distancing requirements and capacity limits, and relaxed most of its mask requirements.

“Wearing a mask when indoors reduces the risk of both getting and transmitting the virus. This additional layer of protection can help to slow the spread and does not limit business occupancy and operations,” the department asserted.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/la-county-sheriff-says-he-will-not-enforce-new-indoor-mask-mandate

Kamala's Husband Spreads Misinformation, Says COVID Vaccine 'Only Thing' That Will Prevent 'Dying Or Getting Really Sick'

As subscribers read on Thursday, the Second Gentleman of the United States is now terrifying immigrants to convince them get the COVID vaccine. Douglas Emhoff pressured a native-Spanish speaker into a publicity stunt to help his wife’s administration achieve its vaccination goals. A Mexican immigrant was given a vaccine after the heavy-handed arm twisting by Emhoff.

On Wednesday, Emhoff was at a mobile vaccination site at the Broadmoor Community Church in New Orleans. Emhoff has been touring the country this summer to help promote the political vaccination goals of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Pres. Joe Biden.

The media was brought outside the church to watch Mexican immigrant Gustavo Posadas waiting for a shot at a vaccination site, according to a press pool report. The PR gimmick was clearly set up in advance. “Who do we have here?’ Emhoff asks, while looking around for the man.

“This is Gustava, here,” replied a man wearing a clerical collar. The pastor pointed at Posadas who was wearing a green t-shirt, straw hat and a face mask below his nose. A live video of the event was taken by NOLA on Facebook.

“I heard it took a little work, but you’re there, so let’s do this,” creepy Emhoff said to Posadas. “Thanks for doing it in front of everybody.”

Emhoff spoke to the 44-year-old man as if he was a toddler at the doctor’s office. “Don’t be nervous. It won’t hurt. I’ve had it. I can take it. So don’t be scared,” Emhoff told Posadas.

The immigrant then stood off to the side while Emhoff shook hands with doctors and medical staff from Ochsner Health. After posing for photos, Emhoff turns back to Posadas.

“Gustava, thank you so much. Muy importante,” Emhoff said in English-accented Spanish. “What do you have to say to people? And you’re going to tell a bunch of people…?”

“I tell everybody,” Posadas said in Spanish-accented English. “I don’t want this before. But now I think this is real…”

“This is real,” Emhoff says, completing his sentence. “And it’s the only thing that is going to prevent you, your family and others from dying or getting really sick.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/kamalas-husband-spreads-misinformation-says-covid-vaccine-only-thing-will-prevent-dying-or

For Second Week in a Row: More COVID-19 Vaccination Deaths than COVID-19 Deaths in the US According to CDC and VAERS Websites

The VAERS website released its weekly numbers on Friday.

There are now 11,140 reported deaths from the COVID vaccine in the United States.

This is up from 9,125 reported deaths from the COVID-19 vaccinations total from last week.

The number of deaths linked to vaccines this year has absolutely skyrocketed. According to the CDC’s own data.

The VAERS database contains information on unverified reports of adverse events (illnesses, health problems and/or symptoms) following immunization with US-licensed vaccines. The CDC government website links to VAERS platform.

Two weeks ago VAERS reported 6,985 deaths due to the COVID vaccines. Last week that number jumped to 9,048.

That number is now at 11,140

“The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database contains information on unverified reports of adverse events (illnesses, health problems and/or symptoms) following immunization with US-licensed vaccines. Reports are accepted from anyone and can be submitted electronically at www.vaers.hhs.gov.”

There have been over 400,000 adverse reactions reported to the COVID vaccine.

Last Week: there were 1,918 total COVID-19 deaths in the United States.

Last Week: There were 2,092 deaths from the COVID Vaccines — According to the CDC-linked VAERS website.

That means there were 174 more Covid vaccine deaths in the United States last week than Covid deaths in the United States last week.

Why is this not making headlines?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/second-week-row-covid-19-vaccination-deaths-covid-19-deaths-us-according-cdc-vaers-websites/

US Navy’s explosive test off Florida coast triggers 3.9-magnitude ‘quake’ as world’s most expensive warship undergoes shock trial

The US Navy set off a mini-quake off Florida’s coast as part of shock trials for its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. The ship has been plagued by delays, with four of its weapons elevators reportedly still broken.

The US Geological Survey reported the 3.9 magnitude tremor on Friday, after the Navy’s second shock trial for the USS Gerald R. Ford, a $13 billion warship and the latest aircraft carrier to be introduced into the American fleet. The blast was detonated about 100 miles off of Florida’s Flagler Beach.

The shock trials got underway last month to test the ship’s combat readiness, with the first round employing a 40,000-pound explosive on June 18. That “experimental explosion” also registered 3.9 magnitude, the equivalent of a small earthquake, according to the USGS. The Navy shared footage of the first blast, though has offered few details on the trials since.

Formally commissioned in 2017, the USS Gerald R. Ford is the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the first in a new class of ships meant to replace the US’ aging fleet of Nimitz-class carriers. Despite its status as one of Washington’s most advanced warships, the multi-billion dollar boat – the most expensive warship ever built – has seen a number of issues and delays in its short lifetime. In 2019, more than two years after it was commissioned, nine of the ship’s weapons elevators were not operational – leaving the crew unable to move ordinance up to deck – while an earlier Pentagon report found a number of systems were of “poor or unknown reliability.”

Even with its shock trials underway, four of the vessel’s weapons elevators still remain broken, despite assurances from Rear Admiral James Downey, the Navy’s program executive officer for aircraft carriers, that the issues would be sorted out by April. With the elevators still not working as of June, the Ford was forced to begin the tests as an incomplete ship, missing a rare opportunity to face real-world conditions fully intact.

A Navy spokesperson said in May that the elevators would have to be certified after the shock tests, but nonetheless noted they would be “in an appropriate material condition to safely conduct full ship shock trials.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/529460-navy-carrier-explosion-test/

Chinese Communist Party Is "Cornered" As World Awakens To Its Abuses

More than ever, the Chinese Communist Party is finding itself backed into a corner as the world wakes up to its human rights atrocities, according to Nury Turkel, the vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

“China has never been this isolated in the recent memory, and the isolation is making them belligerent,” Turkel told The Epoch Times at the annual International Religious Freedom Summit.

“That’s why they are picking fights with camp survivors,” he added.

Turkel was referring to attempts by Chinese officials to publicly shame Uyghur women who gave first hand accounts of sexual abuse at the internment camps in Xinjiang, where up to 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are held under what the regime claims to be a “counter-terrorism” campaign.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/chinese-communist-party-cornered-world-awakens-its-abuses

NO JAIL for Cop Found Guilty of Trafficking Child Porn of Children as Young as 3

Kansas City, MO — In the land of the free, if you are caught with a plant — even in states where it is legal — you can and will be kidnapped and caged for very long periods of time. The Free Thought Project has long reported on cruel and inhumane sentences for marijuana, up to and including life behind bars for tiny amounts of this plant. The state attempts to convince us that this is to protect society but those who pay attention know they are lying — especially when child predators avoid being put in jail at all.

Disgraced Kansas City, Missouri police officer, Vincent A. Spilker is a vile disgusting human whose actions victimized countless children. He admitted guilt to trafficking in child pornography, clearly illustrating that he is a danger to society. However, unlike those who get caught with a little bit of a plant, Spilker won’t be going to jail. Instead, he is a free man, on probation.

“Mr. Spilker accepts full responsibility for this offense,” his attorney, John O’Conner, said in court documents. “He has tremendous remorse and regret for his behavior. He desires and will participate in any treatment program offered to him.”

Despite the state of Missouri asking the judge for 10 years in jail, the court sentenced him to probation instead. According to KMBC:

If Spilker violates probation over the next five years he would face 10 years in prison. He will be required to comply with the following probation conditions: Enter and complete sex offender treatment, register as a sex offender, be subject to internet monitoring, abide by sex offender requirements and have no unsupervised contact with children under 18 years of age.

Knowing that this man is avoiding the inside of a jail cell is infuriating, especially given the nature of his crimes. According to court records, the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force launched an investigation in 2019 after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The tip was an email address, which Spilker admitted to setting up so he could traffic in the child exploitation imagery. Detectives found multiple images of nude children associated with the email address and Spilker reportedly admitted that he knew what he was doing was wrong.

“Spilker said he did, in fact, repost pictures of nude and partially nude females on the account,” court documents stated. “Spilker was not sure of the amount of pictures he reposted but said the girls appeared to be under the age of eighteen. Spilker said he believes some of the girls who were nude were probably between the ages of 10 to 12 years old. Spilker said he knew reposting the pictures was wrong and he did not want to be the kind of person who shared pictures of nude young girls.”

Yet he was the kind of person who did it, and he was posting the pictures.

What’s more, when authorities executed a search warrant, for Spilker’s devices they found utterly horrifying images and videos. One of the videos showed an adult male holding down and raping an 8-year-old girl, who was crying, according to prosecution documents.

Other files, according to court documents, contained images of the sexual abuse of children as young as 3-years-old.

Does this sound like someone who deserves probation?

Anyone who would choose to view such content is a danger to society and should not be a part of it. However, somehow, Spilker’s attorney convinced the court that his client was not a threat.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/no-jail-for-cop-found-guilty-of-trafficking-child-porn-of-children-as-young-as-3/

Facebook official exposes why Biden admin is targeting social media platforms over COVID 'misinformation'

An unnamed Facebook official doubled down on criticism of President Joe Biden Friday after his administration began waging a war against technology companies this week blaming them for spreading alleged misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines.

While outside the White House on Friday, a reporter asked Biden about his message for "platforms like Facebook" regarding alleged COVID-19 misinformation.

"They're killing people," Biden said. "The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and they're killing people."

President Joe Biden said social media platforms ‘are killing people’ after the White House criticized Facebook for… https://t.co/SOLP9CYtLv

— Reuters (@Reuters)1626468600.0

Biden's accusation followed White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitting the White House is taking action against what the Biden administration deems "problematic posts" on social media about the pandemic.

"In terms of actions … that we have taken, or we're working to take, I should say, from the federal government, we've increased disinformation research and tracking within the Surgeon General's office," Psaki said Thursday.

"We're flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation," she added.

Psaki later denied the Biden administration is "spying" on any particular person, but said individuals who are banned from one social media platform for sharing alleged misinformation should be banned from other social media platforms.

"You shouldn't be banned from one platform and not others for providing misinformation," Psaki said Friday.

What did the official say?

The Facebook official, whom NBC media reporter Dylan Byers indicated relays the sentiment of Facebook leaders, claimed the Biden administration is using Facebook as a "scapegoat" after failing to deliver on Biden's vaccine promises.

"In private exchanges the Surgeon General has praised our work, including our efforts to inform people about COVID-19. They knew what they were doing. The White House is looking for scapegoats for missing their vaccine goals," the official said.

FACEBOOK official: "In private exchanges the Surgeon General has praised our work, including our efforts to inform… https://t.co/jRMxPtlpC1

— Dylan Byers (@Dylan Byers)1626478632.0

The accusation followed Facebook releasing an official statement that condemned Biden's remarks.

"We will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by the facts," that statement said. "The fact is that more than 2 billion people have viewed authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine. The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period."

What was the vaccine goal?

When Biden entered office, he promised that 70% of Americans adults would receive at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot by July 4. The administration fell millions short of that goal, CBS News reported.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/facebook-official-biden-scapegoats-vaccine-goals

Commerce Department’s Security Unit Went ‘Rogue’ With Probes, Committed ‘Gross Abuses of Power’: Senate Report

A Senate report on a security unit within the Commerce Department alleged that poor management and weak oversight drove the unit to morph into a “rogue, unaccountable police force” and what whistleblowers described as a “gestapo.”

The report (pdf), released by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, accused the Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS) of launching “frivolous investigations” against employees and of “improper exercises of law enforcement powers,” likely resulting in violations of civil liberties and other constitutional rights.

The ITMS, which was established under the George W. Bush administration to investigate threats against the Secretary of Commerce and the Department’s “critical assets,” operated “without a clearly defined mission,” the report alleged, which “ultimately led to the mutation of the ITMS into a rogue, unaccountable police force across multiple presidential administrations.”

The report further alleged that ITMS agents engaged in law enforcement activities that were outside the scope of the delegated authority from the U.S. Marshals Service, also collaborating with intelligence community agencies to conduct counterintelligence operations without proper legal authorization.

“Deficient policies and procedures outlining the unit’s investigative capabilities led to repeated instances of malfeasance, including the purposeful prolonging of investigations, unauthorized use of secured messaging systems, and overclassification of documents to protect the unit from outside scrutiny,” the report alleged.

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A former Commerce Department official cited in the report said tense relations between the United States and China drove the unit to crack down on potential espionage from within the department, with the report noting that the ITMS targeted department divisions “with comparably high proportions of Asian-American employees, ostensibly to counter attempts of espionage by individuals with Chinese ancestry.”

The report alleged that, in seeking to identify potential foreign spies, ITMS agents resorted to tactics like snooping on employee’s emails and text messages, and picking the locks of offices and personal storage containers.

Wicker and the minority-party staff of the Senate Commerce Committee launched a probe into the operations of the ITMS in February following complaints from more than two dozen whistleblowers, with the alleged misconduct dating back to 2005, according to the report.

https://www.ntd.com/commerce-departments-security-unit-went-rogue-with-probes-committed-gross-abuses-of-power-senate-report_644942.html

Arizona Senate President: Maricopa County Being ‘Coy’ on Auditing Certification

Officials in Arizona’s largest county have repeatedly described firms conducting a forensic election audit there as uncertified, even promoting the idea that they lacked certification from an agency that does not certify auditors.

In response to the audit teams seeking more items from Maricopa County to complete the state Senate-ordered audit, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers dubbed the auditors “uncertified.” He and other county officials have used the word many times before, including in an announcement that they voted to replace the tabulation equipment that auditors have examined.

Most of the time, the body that officials believe could certify the auditors remains unnamed. But in a lawsuit filed last year challenging the authority of the Senate to order the audit through subpoenas, county lawyers warned against an audit being conducted by a technician not certified by the U.S. Elections Administration Commission (EAC).

“A forensic audit conducted by a technician that is not certified by the EAC could void the certification and could cause the secretary of state to de-certify the equipment, meaning it could not be used in Arizona,” the filing stated. “The Subpoenas contemplate a forensic audit conducted by the Committee and its (unidentified) ‘agents,’ but does not state that the audit would be conducted by an EAC-approved testing laboratory.”

A spokeswoman for the EAC, though, told The Epoch Times in an email that while the agency does certify voting systems and accredit voting system test laboratories, it “does not certify or accredit auditors or auditing systems.”

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican whose caucus ordered the audit, questioned the county’s wording on the certification issue.

https://www.ntd.com/arizona-senate-president-maricopa-county-being-coy-on-auditing-certification_644945.html

Wisconsin Lawmaker Calls for ‘Full Forensic Audit’ After Georgia, Arizona Updates

A Wisconsin representative on Friday said 2020 election reviews being done in the state should be expanded into a “full forensic audit” following alleged irregularities being revealed in Arizona and Georgia.

State Rep. Timothy Ramthun, a Republican, formally requested “a more comprehensive audit” from former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who is leading a conducting a review of the election at the behest of Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos along with retired police officers, and the Legislative Audit Bureau, which lawmakers authorized earlier this year to investigate the election.

Vos and the audit bureau did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ramthun is pushing for the forensic audit after reviewing recently released information from two counties.

An election integrity group presented ballot images this week they said show “provable fraud” occurred in the 2020 hand count audit in Fulton County, Georgia. Additionally, the county double-scanned nearly 200 ballots.

Auditors conducting a forensic audit in Arizona’s largest county, meanwhile said during a hearing on Thursday that they uncovered major concerns about some 100,000 ballots. The auditors are seeking more items, including splunk logs, from Maricopa County officials, who vigorously contest the irregularity claims.

“It is vital to our democratic process that the Wisconsin Legislature acknowledges the alarming information that threatens the very fabric of our society,” Ramthun said.

“In order to preserve our God-given rights and ensure that citizens can have confidence in the integrity of our elections, I am requesting it be added to the scope of the Wisconsin audit to” inspect paper mail-in ballots in Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional District, review the digital files of ballots to make sure no double-scanning occurred, and thoroughly examine cybersecurity aspects of election equipment to make sure no tampering took place.

“If any of these indicators are found, these ballots should be separated from the official ballots, and a chain of custody/investigation into the origin of any fraudulent ballots should take place. All fraudulent ballots should not be counted,” Ramthun said.

https://www.ntd.com/wisconsin-lawmaker-calls-for-full-forensic-audit-after-georgia-arizona-updates_644937.html

FNC’s Kurtz: We Don’t Know What W.H. Means by ‘Disinformation’ – Facebook Was Censoring Lab Leak Theory a Few Weeks Ago

During Friday’s “MediaBuzz” podcast, FNC host Howard Kurtz reacted to the Biden administration pushing social media platforms to crack down on what it considers misinformation on coronavirus by pointing out that no one knows what the White House considers misinformation or where the line is between deception and opinions “that the White House may not like.” And that it’s worth noting that Facebook blocked posts on the COVID lab leak theory until recently.

Kurtz said, “I mean, there’s a lot of misinformation out there and the social media giants have a role to play. But at the same time, remember, it was only a few weeks ago that Facebook was banning, as in not allowing, as in deleting, as in taking down, anybody who wanted to post something saying, I think there’s some credibility to the theory — it’s still not proven — that COVID-19 originated in that lab in Wuhan. That was absolutely censored by Facebook. And now it’s allowed because the Biden administration’s taking it more seriously because newspapers have dug up some information that makes it seem more plausible and all of that.”

He added, “I’d like to see the examples of misinformation, disinformation that are being taken down. Where is the line between complete and total, here’s a quack cure for the virus kind of thing that everybody would agree should not be spread on social media, and somebody who says, you ought to be hesitant about the vaccine for this reason, there are side effects, do we really want to give it to kids? In other words, the normal realm of political debate that the White House may not like.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/07/17/fncs-kurtz-we-dont-know-what-w-h-means-by-disinformation-facebook-was-censoring-lab-leak-theory-a-few-weeks-ago/

Three Rape Gang Groomers Jailed for Raping Schoolgirl in Huddersfield

Banaras Hussain, Mohammed Akram, and Talish Mahmood Ahmed have been jailed for grooming and raping a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl in Huddersfield, England.

Leeds Crown Court heard during the trial that the girl was raped in her primary school playground and even in her own bedroom after one of the groomers, Mohammed Akram, clambered up the drainpipe of her house.

The prosecutor in the case, Kate Batty, told the jury, per a court report from Yorkshire Live, that by the time she was 13, the victim was “intoxicated most of the time”, being plied with vodka, lager, cigarettes, and amphetamines by her abusers.

Mrs Batty said the teenager was treated as an “object”, adding: “Routine to her became the day in, day out events of being touched or groped or having sex on grubby mattresses on the floors of flats and houses that she found herself in.”

The “primary groomer” in the case, then-married Banaras Hussain, was accused of sexually abusing the victim at least twice a week over the course of a year in the woods or in the primary school playground.

“He took her to a house one day where again the alcohol and drugs were free-flowing,” the prosecutor said, adding: “In the bedroom of that house, she lost her virginity to him on a mattress without bedding, using a curtain as a blanket.”

Hussain was sentenced to 18 years, but he will, like his fellow predators, likely serve far less than this in prison, as criminals in Britain are typically entitled to automatic early release on licence halfway or two-thirds of the way through their sentences.

Mohammed Akram was accused of first raping the girl when she was 15-years-old, on an airbed mattress while the groomer’s then-girlfriend was still in the bed.

“On a second occasion, when she was still 15, she was at her father’s house when he climbed up the drainpipe and into her bedroom,” the prosecutor said.

“Again, she was intoxicated and again he abused her before leaving in the early hours of the morning so that her father didn’t become aware that he was in the house.”

Akram, 44, was found guilty on two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault, resulting in a notional thirteen-year sentence.

The third groomer in the case, Talish Mahmood Ahmed, was accused of spiking the drink of the victim — who was still aged 15 at the time — before taking her to a secluded location to rape her.

Prosecutor Batty said: “Talish Ahmed was a passenger. She remembers him being in the back with her. He abused her when she was in no fit state to consent; a state that they had deliberately put her in so that she could be raped.

“Once they were finished with her, she was dumped, thrown out of the taxi at the end of her street with her knickers and trousers round by her ankles. They couldn’t even be bothered to help her get dressed again.”

Talish Ahmed, 41, was sentenced to a notional ten years after being convicted on one count of rape.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/07/17/three-grooming-gang-members-jailed-for-raping-schoolgirl/

EU Commission Begins Legal Action Against Hungary and Poland over LGBT Issues

The European Commission will start legal proceedings against Hungary and Poland after accusing the conservative countries of violating the rights of LGBT people.

The unelected commission stated in a press release on Thursday that in the case of Hungary, the legal procedure was related to several issues, including a newly adopted law banning the teaching of gender ideology or homosexuality to children.

The EU’s powerful executive branch argued: “Hungary has failed to explain why the exposure of children to LGBTIQ content as such would be detrimental to their well-being or not in line with the best interests of the child.”

The European Commission also claimed that Hungary limited the right to freedom of expression by making the publisher of an LGBT children’s book write a disclaimer stating that the book depicts forms of “behaviour deviating from traditional gender roles”.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, for his part, has insisted that “education in schools must not be in conflict with the will of parents; it must at most be supplementary, its form and content must be clearly defined and it must be subject to parental consent,” adding: “parents also rightly expect that on platforms used by our children, pornography, sexuality for its own sake, homosexuality and gender reassignment programs should not be available.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/07/17/eu-commission-begins-legal-action-hungary-poland-over-lgbt-issues/

730K Migrants Apprehended This Year in Texas-Based Border Sectors

Agents in the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors apprehended more than 730,000 so far this fiscal year. The apprehensions account for more than two-thirds of the more than one million migrants apprehended along the U.S. southwestern border with Mexico.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the five Texas-based sectors apprehended 732,573 migrants during the first nine months of Fiscal Year 21, according to information released on Friday in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Southwest Land Border Encounters Report. This is up from 155,246 apprehended during the same period during the previous year — an increase of nearly 372 percent.

The information comes as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis prepares to meet with Texas Governor Greg Abbott in Del Rio, Texas, on Saturday. DeSantis is one of several Republican governors who responded to Abbott’s request for assistance in securing the border as reported by Breitbart Texas in June.

“The immigration issue and the border issue is not just the number one issue of Texas, it’s the number one issue in America,” Governor Abbott told Breitbart in a one-on-one interview shortly before he announced the creation of a Task Force on Border and Homeland Security. “And so all of these other governors, they hear the same concerns that we hear about in Texas.”

The governor pledged the full resources of the State of Texas to stop the lawlessness along the southern border. He said they will use existing state laws along with the authority of the State of Emergency declaration made earlier this month to crack down on those illegally crossing the border can creating havoc along the way.

“The bottom line is, because of the current administration’s complete abandonment of enforcing the laws passed that were passed by the United States Congress, concerning immigration, there is an unprecedented increase in people coming across the border,” Abbott told a group of Texas sheriffs during a task force briefing in Austin on July 10. He concluded, saying, “Even though the federal government may have abandoned their responsibility, we have not.”

The governor created the task force to provide assistance to Texas border sheriffs, county judges, mayors, property rights organizations, concern citizen groups, and border-area prosecutors.

Members of the task force will include the:

Office of the Governor

Office of the Attorney General of Texas

Texas Department of Public Safety

Texas Division of Emergency Management

Texas Military Department

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Texas Commission on Law Enforcement

Texas Commission on Jail Standards

The CBP report above clearly illustrates the disproportionate burden placed on Texans as a direct result of the Biden administration’s changes in border security and immigration policies. From February, Biden’s first full month in office, until June, migrant apprehensions increased from 97,639 to 178,416 — an increase of nearly 83 percent. More than two-thirds of those apprehensions took place in Texas-based Border Patrol sectors.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2021/07/17/730k-migrants-apprehended-this-year-in-texas-based-border-sectors/

Uber negotiates its whopping $59M fine for refusing to disclose data on 6,000 sexual assaults to California regulator down to just $150,000 and will donate $9M to victims' fund

Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement with a California regulator for sharing data on sexual assault and harassment claims on its platform while protecting victims' privacy and avoiding a $59million fine.

Under the proposal outlined in a regulatory filing with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the penalty would be reduced to $150,000, but Uber would pay $9million to support a state victims' fund and help create industry-wide safety and reporting standards.

'We've been able to find a path forward that preserves the privacy and agency of sexual assault survivors,' Tony West, Uber's chief legal officer, said in a statement.

The CPUC fined Uber in December after the company refused to share victims' detailed information, including full names and contact information, arguing that doing so would violate their right to privacy.

The dispute stems from a safety report Uber released in December 2019, disclosing 6,000 reports of sexual assault related to 2.3 billion trips in the United States in 2017 and 2018.

That report, aimed at ensuring drivers and the public that Uber was serious about safety, has put the company in the spotlight.

Rival ride-hailing company Lyft Inc has promised a similar report, but said it would await the conclusion of the CPUC procedures before releasing its data.

The agreement proposed by Uber, a division of the CPUC and an anti-sexual abuse group, would see Uber provide anonymized data on past instances of assault to the agency.

Going forward, Uber will also provide anonymized data, but offer individuals the ability to opt in to being contacted by the CPUC when they report a claim.

All ride-hail companies operating in California, including Lyft, would have to comply with those future data requests.

The agreement is subject to approval by an administrative judge and the full commission.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2021/07/uber-negotiates-its-whopping-59m-fine.html

South Africa — The First Country Built on “Critical Race Theory” — Officially Implodes

South Africa is disintegrating.

After the jailing of Jacob Zuma, supporters of the former president took to the streets, ostensibly to protest but actually to simply plunder at will. The official death toll already runs into the dozens, but in a country as violent as South Africa (57 murders a day) the real toll will likely never be known for certain.

JUST IN – At least 72 people have been killed, hundreds arrested, and countless properties looted so far in spiraling unrest in South Africa triggered by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.pic.twitter.com/9HNgZBotCz

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) July 14, 2021

Rioters have plundered shops and entire shopping malls. When they run out out of normal goods, they steal livestock. When it’s too heavy to carry by hand, they bring a forklift.

😳 pic.twitter.com/LHrLpbnMRX

— K U L A N I (@kulanicool) July 12, 2021

https://www.revolver.news/2021/07/south-africa-riots-looting-critical-race-theory/

Bill Cosby's publicist says comedian wants 'millions and millions' of dollars in compensation for his time behind bars after sex attack conviction was quashed

Bill Cosby has said that he believes he is entitled to 'millions and millions of dollars' for the more than two years he spent in jail.

A representative for Cosby did not state how much specifically the 84-year-old should receive nor where the funds should come from.

'Mr. Cosby was given an unwanted two-year and ten-month vacation that he never asked for. His constitutional rights were abolished, his due process was stripped away from him,' Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's representative, told NewsNation Now,

'He's due millions and millions of dollars. As Mr. Cosby said to me today, "I feel that this district attorney and Judge Steven O'Neill and Kevin Steele (Montgomery County district attorney) should resign effective immediately."'

Cosby served more than two years of a three-to-10-year sentence at a Philadelphia-area state prison, but he had vowed to serve all ten years rather than acknowledge remorse over the 2004 encounter with him victim and his accuser Andrea Constand.

Cosby was convicted of drugging and molesting Constand at his home.

He was charged in late 2015 when a prosecutor unsealed new evidence.

'We are looking at what recourse, what legal recourse we can take against the state of Pennsylvania,' Wyatt told The Domenick Nati Show last week. 'We are looking at all legal angles for those things right now.'

'He's owed money. It's a lot of owed money. Our attorneys are filing the paperwork now. He is owed a lot of money,' Wyatt added.

In February, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, proposed paying anyone wrongly convicted $50,000 for every year spent in prison.

Previously, Pennsylvania did not offer compensation to former inmates who were wrongfully convicted.

Cosby's release came because former prosecutor Bruce Castor had promised him that he wouldn't be charged in 2005, which the court said led him to incriminate himself in a later civil trial.

However, the deal was only a verbal agreement, according to The Washington Post.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that testimony tainted the trial, even though a lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a signature pattern of drugging and molesting women.

Dozens more women have accused him of sexual assault and harassment but their claims were not criminally prosecuted because they fell outside of the statutes of limitations in the states where the offenses allegedly took place.

Prosecutors have not clarified if they will appeal or seek to try Cosby for a third time.

http://www.cuzzblue.com/2021/07/bill-cosbys-publicist-says-comedian.html

Top doctor in Tennessee fired after calling for teen vaccinations WITHOUT parental consent

The top vaccination official in the state of Tennessee was terminated after she published a memo in support of vaccinating teenagers without parental consent. Dr. Michelle Fiscus, formerly the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases at the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), said she received a letter of termination and a letter of resignation. The pediatrician chose to be terminated and added that no reason was given from her ouster.

Fiscus’s July 12 firing arose from her May 10 memo detailing the mature minor doctrine. According to the doctrine, minors still with their parents or legal guardians may have the maturity to choose or decline health care treatment without the need for parental approval. Based on this doctrine, Fiscus called on teenagers 14 years old and up to get vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). She defended her action: “What I did was put out a memo with factual information … about where the guidelines are around vaccinating minors.”

Fiscus remarked that her termination was political in nature and meant to appease lawmakers. She said: “I was told that I should have been more ‘politically aware’ and that I ‘poked the bear’ when I sent [the May 10] memo to medical providers. I am not a political operative. I am a physician who was, until today, charged with protecting the people of Tennessee, including its children against preventable diseases like COVID-19.”

Following her firing, Fiscus penned a response where she expressed both disappointment toward Tennessee’s leaders and fear for the state. She also wrote down her anger “for the amazing people of the [TDH] who have been mistreated by an uneducated public and leaders who have only their own interests in mind.”

Meanwhile, TDH and the office of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined to comment on Fiscus’s firing. Both cited personal matters for their refusal.

Coronavirus vaccines have caused the deaths of teens

Some Democratic lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly slammed Fiscus’s ouster. State Sen. Raumesh Akbari said the former TDH director was “sacrificed in favor of anti-vaccine ideology.” State Rep. John Ray Clemmons meanwhile expressed his outrage through a statement he gave to News Channel 5. “The particular circumstances of Fiscus’s firing are nothing short of a slap in the face to every public servant working for our state,” he said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also weighed in on Fiscus’s ouster. In a July 13 press release, it dubbed her termination as “the most recent example of a concerning trend of politicizing public health expertise.” It also expressed concern over Tennessee’s abrupt cancellation of promoting vaccines – including those for other communicable diseases. “Actions like this only increase the likelihood that we’ll see other outbreaks of these diseases even as we continue to fight COVID-19,” the AAP statement said.

The move to fire Fiscus from her job due to her insistence on the mature minor doctrine as a basis for COVID-19 vaccination came amid reports of post-vaccination deaths in teenagers. Most of the victims received the Pfizer/BioNTech two-dose mRNA vaccine, which was granted emergency use authorization in December 2020.

https://www.naturalnews.com/2021-07-15-doctor-fired-teen-vaccinations-without-parents-consent.html

Milley Told Michelle Obama At Biden Inauguration, ‘No One Has A Bigger Smile Today Than I Do’: Report

According to a new book, on the day Joe Biden was inaugurated as President of the United States, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley reportedly told former First Lady Michelle Obama, “No one has a bigger smile today than I do. You can’t see it under my mask, but I do.”

Those alleged statements were quoted by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker in their upcoming book, “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” according to CNN, which added, “Rucker and Leonnig interviewed more than 140 sources for the book, though most were given anonymity to speak candidly to reconstruct events and dialogue.”

The authors state that Vice President Kamala Harris told Milley after she was sworn in, ‘We all know what you and some others did. Thank you.” The authors quote Milley saying, “Thank God Almighty, we landed the ship safely.”

The Daily Wire reported on Thursday:

Milley, who has been widely criticized for being “woke,” claimed that Trump was preaching “the gospel of the Führer” when he contested the results of the 2020 election and claimed that Trump had led the U.S. to the brink of its own “Reichstag moment,” a reference to an incident in 1933 that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler used to consolidate political power in Germany.

New York Magazine reported:

… the general’s worries grew rapidly as the president plunged the nation into chaos following Election Day. Seven days later, Milley got a call from “an old friend” with an explicit warning that Trump and his allies were trying to “overturn the government.” Milley was confident that any attempts by Trump to hold on to power would be thwarted, because the military wouldn’t go along. “They may try, but they’re not going to fucking succeed,” he told aides. “You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with guns.”

https://www.cracknewz.com/2021/07/milley-told-michelle-obama-at-biden.html

Thailand bans talking on trains as precaution against COVID-19

Thailand’s Department of Rail Transport (DRT) has requested that passengers no longer talk on trains in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As well as wearing face masks and making sure they socially distance, passengers should not talk to one another or on the telephone, the DRT chief Kittiphan Panchan said.

Passengers are also required to use hand sanitizer at the start and end of their journey and ‘check in’ using the Thai Chana smartphone app.

Rail services which normally operate between 9pm and 4am will also be reduced, Workpoint News reported.

The new measures are in line with the restrictions announced by the Thailand's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) which affect Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkhla.

The new measures concerning rail travel will be in place until at least July 25.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1223892-thailand-bans-talking-on-trains-as-precaution-against-covid-19

Rochester Mayor and her husband are hit with charges of firearms possession and endangering a child after unsecured guns were found in their home during raid

The Mayor of Rochester, New York, and her estranged husband have both been hit with weapons charges following a raid of their home in May.

Lovely Warren and Timothy Granison were both charged with criminal possession of a firearm, two counts of Endangering the welfare of a child, and two counts of failure to secure firearms in a home.

Mayor Warren has said she intends to plead not guilty to the charges.

New York State Police searched the mayor's home in Woodman Park together with a number of other properties following an investigation into an alleged drug operation in Rochester lasting several months.

Granison, 42, was pulled over by police in his car and was found to be in possession of a large quantity of cocaine, authorities said in May.

Investigators then carried out a raid on the home he shares with the mayor and seized two firearms - a semi-automatic rifle and a loaded handgun. The couple's 10-year-old daughter Taylor was home alone at the time.

Granison together with seven others were charged in connection with the investigation, although the mayor was not among those charged.

Warren later hit out at the 'highly suspicious' timing of her husband's arrest, and insisted the couple have been separated for 'many years'.

After being presented to the grand jury, the latest charges were revealed on Friday.

Granison together with several others were arrested after what investigators said was a 'significant' mid-level drug operation.

Investigators allege Granison was pulled over and had a 'large quantity of cocaine'.

Homes were then searched following the issuing of search warrants. The properties included the mayor's home.

More than two kilos of powdered and crack cocaine with a street value of around $60,000 were seized from the homes together with three firearms and one semi-automatic rifle.

One of the unregistered guns together with the rifle were also allegedly found in the mayor's house together with $100,000 in cash.

Seven people including Granison were arrested and charged in connection to the raids. They are: 39-year-old Dkeidron Dublin, 44-year-old Jason Siplin, 27-year-old Jason Siplin, Jr., 30-year-old Namon Brown, 19-year-old Ernest S. Gamble and 32-year-old Lytrice Jackson.

Granison was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a firearm. Warren was not charged in connection with the drug investigation.

Police officers said that Mayor Warren's daughter, Taylor, was home during the search while the Mayor was not.

http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2021/07/rochester-mayor-and-her-husband-are-hit.html

==Three Texas Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C. test positive for coronavirus

They will be forced to isolate for 10 days.==

Several of the Texas Democrats who fled the state capital to avoid voting on an election integrity bill have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Three of the 60 Texas House Democrats tested positive for the virus while staying in Washington, D.C., according to Texas House Democratic Caucus leadership.

One of the members found out about their positive test late on Friday evening but did not have symptoms, officials say. All House members were notified of the positive tests and were all tested themselves immediately.

The caucus says that the two other members found out about their positive test on Saturday.

The members who tested positive will be forced to isolate themselves for 10 days.

Earlier this week, the Democratic lawmakers fled to the nation’s capital to avoid participating in a quorum vote on a Republican proposed bill aimed at strengthening voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots. The bill also bans drive-thru and overnight early voting.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/three-texas-democrats-who-fled-to-washington-d-c-test-positive-for-coronavirus

China-Backed Confucius Institute Turns Its Attention to K-12 Classrooms

State Department in 2020 declared the group a 'propaganda' arm of CCP

Several American universities maintained relationships with China after shuttering their Confucius Institute chapters, shifting resources to affiliate K-12 programs and fostering sister relationships with Chinese schools.

Rather than fully cut ties with the Confucius Institute, many universities shifted their resources to affiliate programs aimed at K-12 classrooms. The Confucius Classrooms program offers an array of Chinese language and culture programs to elementary, middle, and high school students across the United States. Often linked to Confucius Institutes at nearby colleges, Confucius Classrooms are funded and run by the Hanban, a division of China's Ministry of Education.

The shift reveals the extent to which the Chinese Communist Party is ingrained in American educational institutions. American security officials have recently warned about Beijing's efforts to cultivate links with educational institutions in order to change American perceptions of the Communist regime.

Over a dozen universities closed their Confucius Institute chapters after the State Department declared the organization a Chinese propaganda arm. According to Rachelle Peterson, a China expert at the National Association of Scholars, the Communist regime was ready for the fallout.

"The Chinese government has developed a nuanced and sophisticated network of tools," Peterson told the Washington Free Beacon. "In the case of Confucius Institutes, the Chinese Communist Party is aware that they are falling out of favor in the U.S., and they're preparing alternative ways of engaging with the United States—many of which are equally problematic."

Confucius Classrooms are just some of those "problematic" alternatives. The National Association of Scholars estimates that, at its height, there were upward of 500 Confucius Classrooms in operation—significantly more than the 41 active Confucius Institute chapters. And because most federal oversight is directed at higher education, China has been able to covertly entrench itself in the K-12 education space.

Rep. Chris Stewart (R., Utah) told the Free Beacon that he is concerned Confucius Classrooms operating in his district teach an inaccurate view of the Chinese Communist Party to children.

"The Confucius Classrooms are a little bit different and a little bit harder [than Confucius Institutes] because they're not as obvious," Stewart said. "The thing we're trying to do now is to show that they're not using it for intelligence access, computer access, or to propagandize adults, but they are using it to soften children."

The Confucius Classrooms operating in Stewart's district are just a few such outposts that grew out of shuttered Confucius Institute chapters across the country.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/china-backed-confucius-institute-turns-its-attention-to-k-12-classrooms/

Appeals court strips legal immunity from college officials — again — for anti-Christian bias

Cites argument by Justice Clarence Thomas that Supreme Court should narrow immunity for university officials.

For the second time this year, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the University of Iowa for discriminating against a Christian student club.

The Friday ruling upheld a district court's decision to strip legal immunity from university officials for derecognizing InterVarsity Christian Fellowship following a 2018 injunction involving another Christian group.

Informed by a trial judge that it couldn't selectively apply its "human rights" policy to Business Leaders in Christ (BLinC), the university responded by derecognizing many more religious student groups that require leaders to adhere to their doctrinal teachings, including on sexuality.

The 8th Circuit withheld legal immunity from officials in the BLinC case this spring and seemed poised to do the same in the InterVarsity case, based on oral arguments that highlighted the university's differential treatment of groups based on their beliefs.

In particular, the university took no action against a pro-gay Christian student group, Love Works, that required its leaders to approve of same-sex relationships, the opposite of InterVarsity's requirement.

"Employees of the University of Iowa targeted religious student organizations for discriminatory enforcement of its Human Rights Policy," an action that was "clearly unconstitutional," Judge Jonathan Kobes wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel.

They simultaneously "carv[ed] out exemptions and ignor[ed] other violative groups with missions they presumably supported," he wrote, either turning "a blind eye to decades of First Amendment jurisprudence" or proceeding "full speed ahead knowing they were violating the law."

The panel wasn't convinced by the university's argument that officials made a good-faith error in elevating antidiscrimination principles over the First Amendment.

Kobes cited Justice Clarence Thomas's objection to the Supreme Court refusing to hear a university censorship case from the 8th Circuit that could have narrowed the grounds for qualified immunity.

The longest-serving current justice asked why "university officers, who have time to make calculated choices about enacting or enforcing unconstitutional policies, [should] receive the same protection as a police officer who makes a split-second decision to use force in a dangerous setting?"

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/appeals-court-strips-legal-immunity-college-officials-again-anti-christian

Virginia school board rejects state’s new transgender student policy guidance

Members also voted down critical race theory curriculum.

The members of a Virginia school board voted unanimously this week to reject transgender student policy guidance from the state’s centralized Department of Education.

The state DOE issued guidance earlier this year directing schools to develop student-treatment policies in line with prevailing transgender orthodoxy, including allowing students to use bathrooms of the opposite sex as well as the general elimination of “gender-based practices.”

The school board of Russell County, located in extreme southwest Virginia, on Friday voted unanimously to reject the department’s guidance, essentially vowing not to implement the policy guidance drafted by the state.

“I was elected by the people of this community and I intend to stand up to protect every kid and do the will of the people of Russell County—and not that of an overreaching state government,” board member Bob Gibson told local media on the decision.

The school board also voted against teaching critical race theory in county schools.

https://justthenews.com/government/local/virginia-school-board-rejects-states-new-transgender-policy-guidance

8 people arrested, 7 human trafficking victims identified in undercover sting

Eight people are behind bars, and seven of their victims are identified, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety says, after an undercover sting in Lee County.

DPS has not released details of the investigation, but here’s a list of who was charged with each human trafficking crime:

Dewayne K. Davis, 51, charged with child exploitation

Noe Andres Muz, 34, charged with child exploitation

Keelan Jerome Smithy, 30, charged with child exploitation

Willis Dewayne Traylor, 40, charged with two counts of possession of methamphetamines and cocaine

Bobby Wade Green, 54, charged with promoting prostitution

Keenan Hardy, 32, had three felony warrants for domestic violence out of Illinois, arrested for extradition

MBI says two more individuals were charged with promoting prostitution, and their names will be released upon arrest.

“My administration will do whatever it takes to bring human traffickers to justice, and this operation sends a message that we won’t stand idly by while they exploit those who are most vulnerable,” said Governor Tate Reeves. “Human traffickers should think twice before stepping foot into Mississippi.”

“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety, in conjunction with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, will continue to collaborate with local, state, and federal agencies to put an end to human trafficking in Mississippi,” said Commissioner Sean Tindell. “Our agency is committed to referring human trafficking victims to dedicated services and arresting the criminals behind their exploitation.”

https://www.wlox.com/2021/07/16/8-people-arrested-7-human-trafficking-victims-identified-undercover-sting/

38 arrested in human trafficking operation, 100 victims identified

"This activity, which was months in the making, identified and safeguarded victims of child trafficking and disrupted those controlling them."

Around 100 potential victims have been identified and 38 people have been arrested in a nationwide crackdown on human trafficking.

The arrests were made as part of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Project Aidant for a range of crimes including drugs and sexual exploitation involving adults and children.

Investigations targeted a variety of settings, including London Underground and a suspected brothel in east London.

The operation was part of a Europe-wide operation, co-ordinated in the UK by the NCA’s Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit.

It involved 19 police forces from across the UK and partners including Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, British Transport Police, HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The NCA said that out of those arrested, 18 were for child criminal and drug-related exploitation and 11 were for sexual exploitation.

The remainder of the arrests were for a variety of offences including domestic servitude, labour exploitation and general trafficking.

A total of 99 potential victims were identified through a range of law enforcement activities initiating 51 new investigations, the NCA said.

The agency added that although the activities targeted people exploiting children, a number of adult potential victims were also located.

In total 72 children and 27 adults were identified.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/38-arrested-human-trafficking-operation-21077477