Governments Using Coronavirus To Break Down Privacy

After 9/11 and the Patriot Act, privacy at airports became a thing of the past as the TSA insured that all travelers were searched, prodded, x-rayed and intimidated. The war on viruses will exacerbate that trend by an order of magnitude. ⁃ TN Editor

Thousands of people in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19, and the death toll around the world has surpassed 6,000. Italy is under lockdown and in New York City the government is demanding businesses including bars, restaurants and movie theaters be closed in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.

After draconian measures were implemented in China to halt the rapid infection rate of the virus, including movement restrictions, large scale surveillance and forced isolation, it seems such measures are working, with new cases in China declining. Those same measures are unlikely to be adopted in the U.S., but the government and employers across the nation will have to navigate complex questions regarding privacy and public health in the coming months.

https://www.technocracy.news/governments-using-coronavirus-to-break-down-privacy/

BREAKING: Percent of Deaths from the Coronavirus Compared to Deaths From the Flu in the US Reach 0.7% (155/22,000) – The World Has Gone Mad!

When compared to other societal ailments, the coronavirus is receiving much more attention. The common flu does more damage than the coronavirus but the world seems to be reluctant to focus on anything else.

According to overnight updates, the number of coronavirus cases in the US now stands at 9,464 cases. The number of related deaths stands at 155:

According to the CDC, the number of flu cases confirmed in the US since September currently stand at 222,552 cases with 22,000 deaths:

The number of coronavirus cases confirmed in the US as a percent of the number of flu cases confirmed in the US now stand at 4.2% (9,464/222,522). The percent of deaths from the coronavirus to deaths from the flu is 0.7% (155/22,000).

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/breaking-percent-of-deaths-from-the-coronavirus-compared-to-deaths-from-the-flu-in-the-us-reach-0-7-155-22000-the-world-has-gone-mad/

State Department Suspends Visa Services Across The World

The State Department is suspending visa services in most countries across the world, the Trump administration’s latest response to mitigating the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The State Department announced Wednesday it’s canceling all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant appointments at embassies and consulates in numerous countries. The suspensions became effective immediately, and no specific date was provided on when services would begin again.

“In response to worldwide challenges related to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Department of State is suspending routine visa services in most countries worldwide,” the department announced in a press statement. “Embassies and consulates in these countries will cancel all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 18, 2020.”

https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/19/us-visa-services-suspended-amid-coronavirus/

The EARN IT Bill Is the Government’s Plan to Scan Every Message Online

Imagine an Internet where the law required every message sent to be read by government-approved scanning software. Companies that handle such messages wouldn’t be allowed to securely encrypt them, or they’d lose legal protections that allow them to operate.

That’s what the Senate Judiciary Committee has proposed and hopes to pass into law. The so-called EARN IT bill, sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), will strip Section 230 protections away from any website that doesn’t follow a list of “best practices,” meaning those sites can be sued into bankruptcy. The “best practices” list will be created by a government commission, headed by Attorney General Barr, who has made it very clear he would like to ban encryption, and guarantee law enforcement “legal access” to any digital message.

The EARN IT bill had its first hearing today, and its supporters’ strategy is clear. Because they didn’t put the word “encryption” in the bill, they’re going to insist it doesn’t affect encryption.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/earn-it-bill-governments-not-so-secret-plan-scan-every-message-online

Arming China – The Bill Clinton Connection

We even sold them our factories.

Conversations on social media are beginning to stress the urgency of reconsidering our relationship with the People’s Republic of China. It was only recently that most Americans discovered that most of our pharmaceuticals are manufactured in China, and that the Chinese are in a position to withhold them during an emergency of the sort we now face.

Recent stories have documented Chinese espionage, including the bribery of top American biochemists at places like Harvard, that entailed the constant travel of U.S. experts between China and the United States. Given the short memories of American political leaders, these stories have made it appear as though espionage is of very recent vintage.

But it is not so. The United States has been arming China for more than 20 years.

In the Spring of 1997, Stephen Bryen and I wrote a detailed account in Heterodoxy, a magazine edited by David Horowitz and Peter Collier, dealing with American export controls of militarily useful technology. It was entered into the Congressional Record by Tillie Fowler, a Florida representative.

The theme of the account was how the Clinton Administration was arming China. Knowingly and deliberately.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/03/arming-china-its-bill-clintons-fault-michael-ledeen/#.XnM3DF7xvrw.twitter