Barry McGuire - Eve Of Destruction

India locks down 1.3 billion people: Live coronavirus updates

India's 1.3 billion people will go under "total lockdown" from midnight Tuesday (1830 GMT) for 21 days to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Japan and the International Olympic Committee agreed on Tuesday to postpone the Tokyo Olympics by one year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/uk-closes-warns-pandemic-accelerating-live-updates-200323234651419.html

The Road to Lockdown: How Britain Went From Coronavirus Light-Touch to National House-Arrest

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson placed the country under effective house arrest Monday evening, the latest development in the country’s fight against coronavirus which has ranged from the simply sclerotic to the outright authoritarian.

Speaking to the nation on Monday evening, Boris Johnson ordered the public to stay at home except in a small number of circumstances, including infrequent trips to buy food, visits to the doctors, and essential work travel. The United Kingdom also banned public gatherings of more than two people, and empowered the police to enforce these rules.

The British government’s road towards what some critics have described as “putting the country under house arrest” has taken several twists and turns, with the Johnson administration and its expert advisers having taken a comparatively lax approach towards the coronavirus pandemic. The nature of the response started slow, now reaching apparent fever-pitch in shutting down the country in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

UK Coronavirus Lockdown: ‘If You Don’t Follow the Rules, the Police Will Have the Powers to Enforce Them’ https://t.co/aoKxnPOkkI

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 23, 2020

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/24/coronavirus-how-britain-went-from-light-touch-to-house-arrest/

Big chunk of the first taxpayer coronavirus aid could be spent overseas

As much as $1 in every $4 from the first $8.3 billion aid package approved by Congress could be spent overseas or on foreign affairs.

As Congress crafts a third taxpayer-funded coronavirus aid package totaling more than $1 trillion, it’s a good question to ask where some of our first monies were approved to be spent in this pandemic.

The short answer is … a good bit may end up overseas.

The title of the first legislation was the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020. President Trump signed it into law on March 6 after a bipartisan vote of Congress. The law appropriated $8.3 billion in initial response monies.

To put that into perspective, the first COVID-19 legislation exceeds the $1.1 billion appropriated for Zika in 2016, the $5.4 billion for Ebola in 2014, and the $7 billion for swine flu in 2009.

As much as $2.3 billion of the first $8.3 billion in funding falls into the categories of foreign aid, foreign affairs or overseas disease surveillance. Here’s how some of that breaks down:

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/big-chunk-first-taxpayer-coronavirus-aid-could-be-spent-overseas

Brazilian President’s Son Creates Diplomatic Crisis Between Brazil and China

Federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has started a serious diplomatic crisis between Brazil and China. On March 18, the congressman published on a social network:

“Whoever watched Chernobyl will understand what happened. Replace the nuclear plant with the coronavirus and the Soviet dictatorship with the Chinese. Once again a dictatorship preferred to hide something serious rather than exposing it with wear and tear, but that would save countless lives. China is to blame and freedom would be the solution”.

Then Eduardo published several accusations to the Chinese government of being responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chinese response was immediate. China’s ambassador to Brazil, Yang Wanming, said that

the Chinese side vehemently repudiates the deputy’s words, and demands that he withdraw them immediately and apologize to the Chinese people.”

He also said that he would express his repudiation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chamber of Deputies. The reaction of the Chinese Embassy website itself was even more incisive:

“His words are extremely irresponsible and sound familiar. They are still an imitation of your dear friends. Upon returning from Miami, he unfortunately contracted a mental virus, which is infecting friendships among our peoples”.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/brazilian-president-son-creates-diplomatic-crisis-between-brazil-china/5707398

Long Road To Justice: CIA's Allies In Guatemala On Trial For Indigenous Tribes Genocide

During the Cold War the CIA was obsessed with keeping communism out of Latin America. In the 1970s and 1980s the agency backed right-wing regimes in Guatemala which carried out genocidal attacks in indigenous groups which supported left-wing rebels.

Three retired officers in the Guatemalan army are awaiting trial accused of carrying out genocide against the Maya Ixil people almost 40 years ago.

General Benedicto Lucas García, General Manuel Callejas y Callejas and Colonel César Octavio Noguera Argueta were high up in the CIA-backed Guatemalan regime when it clamped down on leftist rebels and civilian sympathisers in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

If the CIA had been abolished in 1974, how many 1000s of innocent civilians from El Salvador, Chad, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua would still be alive today?

And how many Iraqis, too? It was the CIA's George Tenet who told Bush the Iraqi WMD intel was a "slam dunk". https://t.co/YvHXahFe9D

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 24, 2020

https://sputniknews.com/world/202003241078689975-long-road-to-justice-cias-allies-inguatemala-on-trial-for-indigenous-tribes-genocide/

“Travel Papers” and the Pandemic Patriot Act 2.0

Did you ever think we’d reach the point in the United States where you had to have papers to freely travel from one place to another? It appears we’re at the point.

The MTA issued “travel papers” to their workers

On March 17th, a few days before New York issued a shelter in place order, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority issued “travel papers” to their employees to prepare for a potential coronavirus curfew. The NY Daily News reports:

If non-emergency travel is restricted, workers can show law enforcement officials the letter if they’re stopped on the way to work.

“This letter along with current New York CIty Transit identification identifies this individual as an essential employee who is required to travel during the curfew imposed due to the Coronavirus emergency,” states the letter, which is signed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Police Department’s acting chief Joseph McGrann. “Please give this individual due consideration during this crisis.”

MTA spokeswoman Abbey Collins said the letter was distributed on Monday to a “limited number of NYCT bus employees living in New Jersey” because the state’s Gov. Murphy suggested imposing a statewide curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. (source)

Clearly, the wheels have been in motion for several days. And it’s not just the MTA.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/76598/travel-papers-and-the-pandemic-patriot-act.html

Marines to Shut Down All Tank Units, Cut Infantry Battalions in Major Overhaul

In the next decade, the Marine Corps will no longer operate tanks or have law enforcement battalions. It will also have three fewer infantry units and will shed about 7% of its overall force as the service prepares for a potential face-off with China.

The Marine Corps is cutting all military occupational specialties associated with tank battalions, law enforcement units and bridging companies, the service announced Monday. It's also reducing its number of infantry battalions from 24 to 21 and cutting tiltrotor, attack and heavy-lift aviation squadrons.

The changes are the result of a sweeping months-long review and war-gaming experiments that laid out the force the service will need by 2030. Commandant Gen. David Berger directed the review, which he has called his No. 1 priority as the service's top general.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/23/marines-shut-down-all-tank-units-cut-infantry-battalions-major-overhaul.html

>>8547357

Welcome to 1940 Germany

64 Ethiopians found dead in cargo container in Mozambique

Sixty-four migrants from Ethiopia were found dead on Tuesday, crammed inside a freight container in the northwestern Mozambican province of Tete, a senior hospital official said.

The victims were discovered in a blue cargo container loaded on a truck. They were surrounded by survivors.

Temperatures in Tete currently hover around 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit).

"A truck transporting illegal immigrants from Malawi, suspected to be Ethiopians, was stopped at the Mussacana weight bridge in Tete, and 64 people were found dead. Only 14 survived," the official, who asked not be named as he did not have the authority to speak to the media, told AFP.

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/64-ethiopians-found-dead-in-cargo-container-in-mozambique.780674

The best way to fight election disinformation is to fight surveillance capitalism

Networked technology has the power to expand our democracy and give more people a say than ever before. The Internet has given an urgently needed megaphone to young people organizing to stop climate change and movements working to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. But over the last decade we’ve witnessed how this same power can be used to silence voices, manipulate opinion, and trample our basic rights at a mass scale.

As the US approaches an election that will shape the future of our nation, there’s an increasing focus on the role that companies like Facebook and Google play in our information ecosystem. The Internet is becoming more and more centralized. Silicon Valley giants have amassed unprecedented power to influence public opinion and control the free flow of ideas. And their monopolistic data harvesting business models make it possible to weaponize that power in ways we are only beginning to understand.

What we should have learned from Cambridge Analytica, but didn’t

https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2020-03-10-the-best-way-to-fight-election-disinformation-is-to-fight-surveillance-capitalism-d5d835683a9e/

Pelosi Coronavirus Bill Includes Demands For Anti-White Discrimination

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stalled the coronavirus bill and released one of her own on Monday which demands all corporations receiving bailouts investigate "pay equity" of "racial and ethnic minorities" as "compared to their white counterparts" and "maintain officials and budget dedicated to diversity and inclusion initiatives for no less than 5 years."

"COVID–19 Aid Oversight Panel, in conjunction with the SIGTARP, shall collect diversity data from any corporation that receives Federal aid related to COVID–19, and issue a report that will be made publicly available no later than one year after the disbursement of funds," the Pelosi bill text reads.

(1) EMPLOYEE DEMOGRAPHICS.—The gender, race, and ethnic identity (and to the extent possible, results disaggregated by ethnic group) of the corporation’s employees, as otherwise known or provided voluntarily for the total number of employees (full- and part-time) and the career level of employees (executive and manager versus employees in other roles).

(2) SUPPLIER DIVERSITY.—The number and dollar value invested with minority- and women-owned suppliers (and to the extent possible, results disaggregated by ethnic group), including professional services (legal and consulting) and asset managers, and deposits and other accounts with minority depository institutions, as compared to all vendor investments.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61318

Malthusian Bankers Vs Anti-Malthusian Nationalists Race To Define The New System

A Fresh look at the Forgotten 'American System'

On March 23, Wall Street on Parade reported that the Federal Reserve became a new legislative body with unprecedented powers to decide which companies and banks live or die in the midst of the covid-19 hysteria which is propelling the western nations into the greatest crash in history.

Federal Reserve purchases of toxic securities from the balance sheets of banks has also become limitless as the former cap of $500 billion/year has been nearly reached in only one week of bailouts ($272 billion in treasuries and $63 billion in mortgage-backed securities since March 15).

Meanwhile overnight repo loans have officially hit the staggering height of $1 trillion/night- which is added to the $1 trillion/week fourteen day loans already in place. The overnight repo loans began in September 2019 at $50 billion/night and have risen steadily to $100 billion/night by February and skyrocketing to their current proportions by March 15

Yet in spite of these trillions of dollars produced from thin air, Wall Street on Parade also reported that the “big 5” too big to fail behemoths have lost a total of 45% of their value in only 5 weeks with Citigroup leading the race to the bottom with a whopping loss of 51.7%. Amongst those big 5, common equity capital (which sustains the $1.2 quadrillion global derivatives time bomb which is ripe to explode) has already lost $154.4 billion (of a total of only $603 billion among the Big 5 alone). Cumulatively, over $9 trillion has already been issued to bail out the failing speculators since September and If this isn’t a wake up call to the very real danger of hyperinflation, and broader danger of marital law, then I don’t know what is.

https://www.fort-russ.com/2020/03/malthusian-bankers-vs-anti-malthusian-nationalists-race-to-define-the-new-system/