>dough
>Did USAID Fund Coronavirus Research In Wuhan China?
fascism
girls night
>Rupert Murdoch fired Tucker Carlson after watching this speech about 'good, evil and prayer'
No Control
>Charles Lieber
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01435-w
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/former-harvard-university-professor-sentenced-lying-about-his-affiliation-wuhan
Former Harvard University Professor Sentenced for Lying About His Affiliation with Wuhan University of Technology; China’s Thousand Talents Program; and Filing False Tax Returns
Universities are forging ties with the FBI as US cracks down on foreign influence
Public institutes are responding to allegations of interference in research by foreign governments, especially China.
US universities are forging closer ties with FBI agents, encouraging scientists to disclose foreign sources of research funding, and tightening restrictions on researchers’ travel, according to administrators contacted by Nature.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-labor-covid-chicago-ruling-20230420-wugm5bdfjzcsdm7ernflhyahcm-story.html
The city of Chicago has been ordered to reinstate employees who were fired or faced disciplinary action for not complying with Mayor Lori Lightfoot's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and repay lost wages with interest, a state administrative law judge ruled.
In a 78-page decision in combined cases brought by the Coalition of Unionized Public Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, Administrative Law Judge Anna Hamburg-Gal found that although the city had the right to implement a vaccine requirement for its employees, it was obligated to negotiate with the union over the effects of that policy.
The effects of the policy the city imposed included placing employees who didn’t report their vaccination status or refused to be vaccinated without a proper exemption on “no-pay status” and later terminating their employment, both of which should have been negotiated with the unions until reaching an agreement or an impasse, the administrative judge found.
Docking pay “is not an inevitable consequence of the vaccine mandate or reporting requirement because no-pay status is not the sole means by which the (city) could have enforced its policy,” Hamburg-Gal wrote.
Likewise, the city unilaterally changed the status quo in August of last year when it began terminating employees who hadn’t complied with the policy, electing “to pursue a far harsher approach than it had taken before against violators of its vaccination policy.”
“Although the policy on its face states that any violations of the policy could result in discipline up to and including termination, the (city) established a past practice of treating violations more leniently,” the judge wrote.
The judge ordered the city to reinstate the affected employees, with their personnel records expunged, and to compensate workers for any lost pay or benefits that resulted, with 7% interest. The unions should be allowed to negotiate to keep any parts of the policy they like, the judge said. (Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara carries pizzas into police headquarters on Oct. 18, 2021, purportedly for officers waiting in line who had been asked to appear at headquarters and comply with the city's requirement that they receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12016473/Rupert-Murdoch-fired-Tucker-Carlson-watching-speech-good-evil-prayer.html
'Rupert Murdoch doesn't like all that spiritual talk': Tucker Carlson was fired after preaching about good, evil and the need for prayer - after tycoon's ex-fiancée Ann Lesley Smith said the firebrand anchor was a 'messenger from God'
Rupert Murdoch had Carlson for dinner at his Bel Air vineyard recently with his ex fiancée Ann Lesley Smith
After his final show on the network, Carlson gave a speech on Friday night about good evil and the need for prayer
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/israel-blasts-russia-over-lavrov-s-claim-hitler-was-jewish-1.5884343
Israel blasts Russia over Lavrov's claim Hitler was Jewish
Asked in an interview with an Italian news channel about Russian claims that it invaded Ukraine to “denazify” the country, Sergey Lavrov said that Ukraine could still have Nazi elements even if some figures, including the country's president, were Jewish.
“So when they say 'How can Nazification exist if we're Jewish?' In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn't mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish,” he said, speaking to the station in Russian.
World War II, in which the Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million people and helped defeat Nazi Germany, is a linchpin of Russia's national identity. Repeatedly reaching for the historical narrative that places Russia as a savior against evil forces has helped the Kremlin rally Russians around the war.
Israel gained independence in the wake of the Holocaust and has served as a refuge for the world's Jews. Over 70 years later, the Holocaust remains central to its national ethos and it has positioned itself at the center of global efforts to remember the Holocaust and combat antisemitism. Israel is home to a shrinking population of 165,000 Holocaust survivors, most in their 80s and 90s, and last week the country marked its annual Holocaust memorial day.
In a speech to Israeli legislators in March, Zelenskyy compared Russia's invasion of his country to the actions of Nazi Germany, accusing Putin of trying to carry out a “final solution” against Ukraine. The comparisons drew an angry condemnation from Yad Vashem, which said Zelenskyy was trivializing the Holocaust.
https://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/episodes/drag-kids
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12019229/Tucker-Carlsons-fate-sealed-eve-defamation-trial-Fox-News-bosses-received-dirt-file.html
Tucker Carlson's fate was sealed on eve of defamation trial when Fox News board saw his damning private messages for the first time - amid claims of embarrassing new video of host discussing 'postmenopausal fans' and a 'YUMMY' woman
The damaging texts were unearthed as part of the Dominion lawsuit discovery
Embarrassed and outraged, Fox News corps decided to fire Tucker as a result, according to The New York Times
>DC police chief retiring, will join FBI
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3974214-dc-police-chief-retiring-will-join-fbi/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/26/dc-police-chief-robert-contee-retiring/
D.C. police chief Robert Contee is retiring, will take job with FBI
D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III is planning to retire, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced in a statement Wednesday evening, ending his two-year term as federal lawmakers increasingly turn their attention to public safety in the city and violent crime is on the rise.
Bowser, in the statement, said that the chief is “ready for his next chapter” and called him “a phenomenal ambassador of what it means to be a police officer in D.C.” By Wednesday evening, the mayor had not signaled plans to immediately announce an interim chief. Contee’s official last day will be June 3.
Contee was a singular figure among public safety leaders in D.C. and presided over the department in the nation’s capital at a momentous time for law enforcement across the country.
Sworn into office as acting chief four days before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, he shepherded the department through the insurrection and its fallout, and through much of the coronavirus pandemic. His appointment came after widespread demonstrations in 2020 over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but he took over an agency that was shaped by the reforms those demonstrations produced. For much of his tenure, he and the mayor clashed with the D.C. Council over major issues such as how many officers should be on the force and whether police belong in schools — though he had city lawmakers’ unanimous backing when Bowser nominated him for the top job.
Contee — who grew up in Northeast Washington’s Carver-Langston neighborhood, a community battered by violence during the crack cocaine epidemic of the late 1980s — joined the D.C. police department as a cadet in 1989, rising through the ranks and serving in a wide variety of roles. The chief often appeared most emotional when he talked about the gun violence devastating his city. Over the past two years, he showed up at shooting scene after shooting scene as homicides continued to climb.
As of Wednesday, killings in the District were up 20 percent compared with the same time in 2022 — a year when the city surpassed 200 homicides for only the second time in almost two decades. So far this year, violent crime is up 7 percent over the same time last year, and property crime up 29 percent.
There was no indication, though, that the mayor was unhappy with Contee’s performance. Asked in an interview in December how long he planned to stay on the job, Contee responded “months.” Bowser, sitting next to him, interjected “a year.”
In a video announcement sent to officers in the department, Contee said after serving the agency for more than 30 years, “it is time for me to retire from the Metropolitan Police Department,” and that he was leaving for a role as an assistant director with the FBI’s Office of Partner Engagement. He said he did not know who would be his successor, and that the decision would be up to Bowser. The FBI declined to comment.
“It has been my greatest honor to serve as your chief of police since January 2nd of 2021,” Contee said in the video.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said he was “shocked” by Contee’s announcement and wished him well in a statement.
“The Council stands ready to work with Mayor Bowser to find the best candidate to succeed Chief Contee,” he wrote. “I am hopeful that the Mayor will take this opportunity to find a leader who is willing to try new approaches to law enforcement and new strategies to fight violent crime.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/24/AR2008112403005.html
John Podesta Leads Obama's Transition Team With His Usual Energy
To fully understand how John Podesta is managing the complex Democratic takeover of the federal government, you have to be familiar with Skippy, the evil twin.
Anyone who has worked for Podesta in the past decade knows Skippy, who first appeared during Podesta's eventful years as chief of staff in the Clinton White House. As scandal rocked the end of that presidency, staffers knew they had better come prepared to meetings. Otherwise, nurturing mentor John would be replaced by Skippy – Podesta's quick-tempered, edgy and sarcastic alter ego.
"You haven't seen him in this meeting, have you?" the transition co-chairman for Barack Obama says with a laugh, noting that many a reporter has met Skippy.
"I'm half Greek and half Italian, and you would expect that I would have a hot temper," he says in an interview at the downtown transition office, where the tightly wound, wiry operative is building a government. "I like people to perform at a high level." He likens his operating style to a loud, ethnic family dinner. "Sometimes our emotions get expressed, but we all love each other and we all are trying to help each other succeed."
That sentiment is pretty much echoed by those who have worked with and for Podesta over his three decades in Washington – most of whom are now lining up for jobs. "Let's say my in-box is filled," he says with a wide grin.
So far, nearly 300,000 job seekers have filed résumés online for about 8,000 jobs. During a recent visit to the transition office, the building's lobby looked like the Palm at lunchtime: a lot of hungry-looking men (and a few women) in dark suits staring at BlackBerrys, waiting to meet with someone, anyone.
Upstairs, a surreal calm infused the offices on Sixth Street NW, where Podesta shuttles between conference rooms and juggles a president-elect sitting in Chicago; heavy hitters like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who flew to Washington to offer help; and, once again, the high-maintenance Clintons, now that Hillary has come into play for secretary of state.
Podesta is, by most accounts, the right guy for the job. Skippy aside, his admirers say he doesn't rattle easily, is an honest broker and is intensely loyal. Podesta is also one of the rare Beltway animals who is both a wonk and a skilled politician and communicator. "He's in politics for the right reasons," says Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a former boss. "He's a believer."
And unlike most politicians, he is serious while not taking himself too seriously: At 59, he's a UFO aficionado, a marathon runner and a roller-coaster devotee. "My wife and I like to get the senior-citizen passes, wait in line for the front car and then hold hands in the air like the teenagers," he says.
There is always a manic crush of job seekers during a transition, but Podesta says he has never seen anything quite like the eagerness to join the Obama administration. "This is really quite special. I think this is an extension of the campaign. If you think about the people he brought into the campaign, whether as volunteers or new contributors, the space he created on the Net for them to organize, the movement and the change, these people are excited and want to be part of it. . . . I think the sense of service is very strong out in the country."
Obama asked Podesta last summer to lead the transition after Sen. Hillary Clinton withdrew from the race, but long before Obama was elected president. It's common for transition preparations to start for both sides before the election – although there is every indication that Podesta's team was far more active than John McCain's operation. Podesta first went back and studied the pitfalls of previous transitions. "The one basic take-away that a lot of people commented on, including the president [Bill Clinton], is that Clinton really concentrated on building his Cabinet early on, to the neglect of building his White House structure," he says. "The early pick of Rahm [Emanuel] reflects the lesson of that experience, which is that you need to begin to build a structure for the White House."
The plan, he says, counts on the transition team to staff only the senior levels of the White House, Cabinet members and the top layer at government agencies. With specially created software to collate the applicants by expertise, the transition office is building a database, he says, that will easily transfer to the White House personnel office. Podesta says that as soon as the appointees can transition out of their current jobs and take responsibility, he will hand off the rest of the hiring to them. "Much of the hiring," he says, "will take place after the inauguration."
In addition to personnel, the transition has dispatched teams of Democrats to conduct efficiency studies of the various agencies, as well as review the current system for awarding contracts. "There's a lot of sole sourcing of contracts in the Bush structure that even infected the grantmaking process," he says. "There's a lot to clean out of the barn there."
Since leaving the White House in 2001, Podesta has built what some have referred to as a skilled government-in-waiting through his think tank, the Center for American Progress. With private funding, its mission from the outset was to develop an intellectual reservoir of Democrats to counter the growing conservative establishment during George W. Bush's presidency. If anything, Podesta a left-of-center guy set out to show there was no such thing as the "permanent Republican majority" that Bush adviser Karl Rove hoped to leave as his legacy. "They didn't do so good," Podesta quips.
But though others might call him a committed liberal, Podesta prefers to see himself as a progressive. "There's some distinction between classic liberalism and the progressive project that went back to the early 20th century – progressive social reformers in both parties were interested in results and started movements [such as those] against exploitation of workers," says Podesta, who recently published a book on the subject, "The Power of Progress."
". . . They kind of blended together under Roosevelt. People call me liberal and I say call me what you want. There is a strong-rooted context for progressive politics in this country, and I think Senator Obama embodies that. He ran on a platform that was progressive in sensibility . . . focusing on common good, offering a sense of hope and direction, what I would characterize as strongly progressive in its nature."
Podesta grew up in blue-collar northwest Chicago. His father dropped out of high school after a year to help support his family and worked in factories his entire life. Podesta writes in "The Power of Progress" that he was able to attend Knox College and Georgetown Law School by working nights and receiving federal loans and scholarships. His well-traveled Washington career took him from the Justice Department to Capitol Hill to, eventually, the Clinton White House, where he was the "staff secretary" – and where he became the go-to guy to manage every scandal.
His first was the travel office fiasco at the beginning of the Clinton presidency, during which he wrote an internal report that did not spare the first lady, and which established him as fearless. He left for a few years, came back during Clinton's second term, and was quickly elevated to chief of staff. But that action-packed experience was apparently enough to last a lifetime. Podesta says emphatically that he will not be joining the Obama administration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricity%2C_Poland
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricity%2C_Poland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_City_of_Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrounding areas. The polity was created on 15 November 1920 in accordance with the terms of Article 100 (Section XI of Part III) of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I. In line with the treaty provisions, the entity was established under the oversight of the League of Nations. Although predominantly German-populated, the territory was bound by the imposed union with Poland covering foreign policy, defence, customs, railways and post, while remaining distinct from both the post-war German Republic and the newly independent Polish Republic.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-03-22/wallets-ids-no-survivors-found-china-eastern-crash
Dinglong Culture, a Guangzhou company involved in both mining and TV and movie production, said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange that its chief financial officer, Fang Fang, was a passenger.