The Media’s Loudest #MeToo Champions Are Ignoring Biden Sexual Assault Accuser Tara Reade

The silence from the media’s loudest #MeToo champions has been deafening. There has been exactly zero coverage of sexual allegations against Joe Biden on CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, ABC or CBS. Likewise, The New York Times and USA Today and have failed to discuss it.

Have you heard about the Joe Biden allegations? If you’re relying on corporate media for your information, the answer is “probably not.” As of April 8, there has been exactly zero coverage of the sexual assault allegations on CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, ABC or CBS News. Likewise, The New York Times and USA Today and have failed to discuss it. Meanwhile, the only mentions of Reade’s name in The Washington Post appear as a paragraph buried thousands of words into a long news roundup and an unscripted question from a reader in a live Q&A session.

After Bernie Sanders pulled out of the race today, Joe Biden appears to be the Democrats’ man for November. However, the former vice president’s past is again coming back to bite him; in an interview with writer and podcast host Katie Halper, his former staff assistant Tara Reade accused the then-senator of sexually assaulting her in the Capitol Building in 1993. “It happened all at once,” she said.

He just had me up against the wall…. His hands were on me and underneath my clothes. He went down my skirt and then up inside it and he penetrated me with his fingers.

According to Reade, “Everything shattered in that moment… I looked up to him… He was this champion of women’s rights in my eyes. I couldn’t believe it was happening. It seemed surreal.” As she forced him away, he said, “I thought you liked me,” before adding, “you’re nothing to me… You’re nothing.”

The allegations, if true, meet the legal definition of rape in the United States. Halper contacted Reade’s brother and friend, who both confirmed that Reade had told them about the event in 1993.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/media-metoo-champions-ignoring-joe-biden-sexual-assault-accuser-tara-reade/266439/

Pompeo Threatens US Pullout From Afghanistan During Kabul Visit

Told Ghani, Abdullah they would be help responsible if no power-sharing deal

On March 23, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bad a very unproductive visit in Kabul about the Afghan government’s post-election split. This culminated with the US pulling $1 billion in military aid from them.

The presidential election saw both Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah claiming victory, and ultimately both holding inaugurations. Pompeo demanded that they work out a deal, and warned they’ll both be held responsible if they don’t work something out.

That was apparently just the beginning of the cuts, the slashing of $1 billion, with a threat of another $1 billion cut for 2021, was followed by Pompeo threatening to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan in retaliation if the dispute continued. The State Department had not previously reported that part.

With a US peace deal meant to end with a pullout from Afghanistan, this threat might be more honest than normal, and may reflect the administration questioning if it is worth sticking around in Afghanistan to support the ruins of a government.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/04/07/pompeo-threatened-us-pullout-from-afghanistan-during-kabul-visit/

Fauci: 'Looks like' US deaths will be lower than original projection

Anthony Fauci said Wednesday morning that he thinks the number of U.S. deaths from coronavirus will end up being less than the original projection of 100,000 to 200,000.

Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, attributed the drop to the success of social distancing measures that have directed people to stay home and closed many businesses.

“Although one of the original models projected 100- to 200,000 deaths, as we're getting more data and seeing the positive effect of mitigation, those numbers are going to be downgraded,” Fauci said on Fox News. “I don't know exactly what the numbers are going to be, but right now it looks like it's going to be less than the original projection.”

By the end of March, the White House was projecting 100,000 to 240,000 deaths as America's best-case scenario for the pandemic.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield made similar comments on Tuesday, saying he expected the number of deaths to be “much lower” than what was predicted by the models.

A closely watched University of Washington model is now projecting about 60,000 deaths in the U.S.

Despite some hopeful signs, Fauci emphasized that now is not the time to ease up on social distancing measures, the best way to keep improving the outlook.

“We're going to start to see the beginning of a turnaround, so we need to keep pushing on the mitigation strategies because there's no doubt that that's having a positive impact,” he said.

“Now's not the time to pull back at all,” he added. “It's a time to intensify.”

President Trump has been eager to reopen the economy, and Fauci said planning for that is underway at the White House, where late Tuesday night there was a meeting on the subject in the Roosevelt Room.

“If in fact we are successful it makes sense to at least plan what a reentry into normality would look like,” Fauci said. “That doesn't mean we're going to do it right now, but it means we need to be prepared to ease into that. And there's a lot of activity going on.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/coronavirus-report/491779-fauci-looks-like-us-deaths-will-be-lower-than-original-projection

Putin orders to keep cargo and passenger service between Russia’s regions running

According to the president, interruption of communications and closure of companies en masse might take a heavy toll

NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to keep cargo and transport service between regions running, adding that shutting it down might have destructive consequences.

"We cannot stop the economy, close transport, cargo and passenger service between regions, shut down companies en masse, regardless of the actual situation, even if there are just several infection cases in the entire region. We must understand what damage, what destructive consequences this might cause," the president said during a video link-up with the heads of regions on measures to fight the coronavirus Wednesday.

The head of state noted that even Moscow, with its population density and concentration of transport flows — and, therefore, bigger risk of infection spread — does not implement blanket shutdown of companies.

"Many Moscow companies continue to work or have switched to remote mode," the president said.

Higher insurance guarantees and extra pay for medical staff fighting coronavirus

Vladimir Putin suggested setting higher insurance guarantees for healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus. "It will be proper to make one more decision, that is, to set higher insurance guarantees for them at the expense of the federal budget, just as it is done for personnel of the Russian Armed Forces," Putin said.

The president also proposed surcharges to salaries for work with patients having the novel coronavirus. "I consider necessary to implement one more measure: to set a special federal payment for three months, starting from April, for specialists working directly with coronavirus patients and risking their life every minute," the head of state said.

"Such extra payment for doctors directly working with patients having the coronavirus infection will be 80,000 rubles ($1,060), for middle-grade medical staff, medical assistants and nurses — 50,000 rubles ($660), and for junior medical staff — 25,000 rubles ($330) per month," the president said. Extra payments will also be made for ambulance staff, he added.

Repayment holidays

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to make repayment holidays on consumer and mortgage loans available to a larger number of Russians.

"In March, I instructed [the cabinet] to ensure an option of repayment holiday on consumer and mortgage loans for citizens. I am asking the government to return to this issue and consider expanding this support measure so that it becomes available to a larger number of people," the head of state informed.

On April 6, the Russian government set the maximum amount of consumer loans, which allows borrowers affected by the consequences of the pandemic to apply for repayment holidays.

The maximum amount for consumer loans was set at 250,000 rubles ($3,317), for consumer loans to individual entrepreneurs — 300,000 rubles ($3,980), for car loans — 600,000 rubles ($7,961).

On April 7, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said that the government was considering an option to increase the maximum amount of mortgage loan in several regions of Russia.

https://tass.com/economy/1141897

The Project for a New American Century and the Age of Bioweapons: 20 Years of Psychological Terror

A little over 20 years ago, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) conducted a military exercise that involved a “hypothetical scenario” of hijacked planes flying into both the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

One year later, on October 24-26, 2000, another “hypothetical” military exercise was played out featuring an airline crashing into the Pentagon killing 341 people followed by yet another May 2001 Department of Defense “hypothetical scenario” which saw hundreds of medical personnel training for a “guided missile in the form of a hijacked 757 airliner” crashing into the Pentagon.

What arose from the smoke and debris of September 11, 2001 was unlike anything the sleeping masses or international community expected.

The shock effect so traumatized the masses that quite suddenly, citizens found themselves willing to give up their liberties at home while acquiescing to any retaliatory action desired by their government abroad. The scale of horror was so great that the international community banded together and showed their love and solidarity towards America in the wake of the tragedy with candlelight vigils across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and South America. Humanity’s natural tendency to embrace and aid our fellow man in times of crisis expressed itself like a bright light in a world of confused darkness and a hope for a durable peace awoke in the hearts of many.

Alas, as the world came soon to discover, that hope was short lived.

The Neocon Takeover of America

Police State measures grew swiftly with the Patriot Act and mass internal surveillance under the “crisis management” run by the neocon cabal in the White House. While a new type of regime change war was created abroad, Dangerous protocols for Cheney’s “Continuity of Government” were set into motion and with these procedures, new mandates for Martial Law were created amplifying the powers, financing and deployment of U.S. Military capabilities both within the USA “under crisis conditions” and around the world.

Governments that had no connection to 9/11 were swiftly targeted for destruction using false evidence of “yellowcake” produced in the bowels of MI6, and a broader unipolar military encirclement of both Russia and China was set into motion which President Putin called out brilliantly in his famous 2007 Munich Security Conference Speech.

Of course this should not have been a surprise for anyone who took the time to read the Project for a New American Century manifesto published in October 2000 entitled Rebuilding America’s Defenses’ (RAD).

https://theduran.com/the-project-for-a-new-american-century-and-the-age-of-bioweapons-20-years-of-psychological-terror/

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>>8724693

Unipolar Martial Law or Multipolar Marshall Plan?

As I outlined in my previous paper, the mass-panic generated by COVID-19 has created a 9/11-situation with the expected police state laws being passed under the radar of many people who would normally be paying attention to such things. One of the most dangerous measures enacted involved a classified bill in February which formally mandates the head of NORTHCOM (who is also the head of NORAD) to become acting President of the United States under conditions of Martial Law, un-governability of the executive branch or general chaos in America. This later scenario is not terribly unlikely considering the danger of a financial blowout of the banking system combined with economic lock downs of the west.

China and Russia both understand the nature of the game and both nations have acted responsibly in dealing with the outbreak of Coronavirus with China’s successful containment having won seven consecutive days of no new cases. It is important that unlike the remedies promoted by London’s Imperial College, neither Russia or China have totally shut down their nations, but have rather kept their economies alive which selecting methods for selective quarantines and lockdowns (China only locked down 15 nations plus Wuhan while the remaining 95% of their economy continued to produces and support the recovering component).

We know that President Trump has resisted the pressure by Deep State Experts to shut down America and has stated so repeatedly, but up until his recent conversations with Xi Jinping and Putin, there were very few options available to him beyond those proposed by Dr. Cauci, the Green New Dealing Dems or “bailout everything” monetarists around Mnuchin and Kudlow.

Now that China and Russia have begun sending cargo ships of vital medical equipment to America as part of the Health Silk Road (over the screams of neocons and neoliberal technocrats like), a new possibility for a cure has presented itself. If Trump acts decisively with courage and intelligence, there is still a chance that sovereign nation states may yet stay in the drivers’ seat and use this crisis as an opportunity to force through a debt jubilee, banking reform and new Bretton Woods emergency conference to establish a foundation for a new just economic system. If Trump is unsuccessful in this task, it is more than a little scary to think about what hell will beset the world in the coming months and years.

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Pope Says Virus Is Nature's Response to the Climate Crisis

Oh, put a sock in it, Francis.

Pope Francis is certainly not letting a planetary crisis go to waste. He is trying to piggyback the religion of climate change on the back of the coronavirus pandemic.

MSNNews:

"We did not respond to the partial catastrophes. Who now speaks of the fires in Australia, or remembers that 18 months ago a boat could cross the North Pole because the glaciers had all melted? Who speaks now of the floods?" the Pope said.

"I don't know if these are the revenge of nature, but they are certainly nature's responses," he added.

Huh? What? Have the glaciers all melted? Why didn't you wake me up? That would have been pretty cool to watch.

For the record, you cannot cross the North Pole. Climate scientists are predicting that by 2050, it might be possible to "sail over the North Pole," but not now, or 18 months ago, or 18 months from now.

The Vatican fact-checkers blew that one.

The theory that life systems on the world are all interconnected is a well-established one. But that doesn't mean that a virus, originally found in bats, has anything to do with whatever stress is being placed on life on earth because the climate may be changing.

The coronavirus does not live outside the body. It does not interact with any other life form except the human or animal it's living in. It can survive outside the human body for several days, making it extremely contagious, but it doesn't interact with the air or water in our surroundings. In short, there is no evidence that climate change had anything to do with the creation or transmission of this virus.

I guess the pope thought he'd be laughed off the stage if he said it was "God's response" to climate change, or that God is trying to tell us something about climate. But giving sentience to "nature" is appallingly stupid.

The Hill:

"There is an expression in Spanish: 'God always forgives, we forgive sometimes, but nature never forgives,'" the Pope said in an interview with The Tablet, a Catholic weekly produced in the United Kingdom, that was published on Wednesday.

In addition to climate change, the pope believes we should take the "opportunity" to consume less and to learn to understand and contemplate the natural world." Why do liberals always see opportunity in disaster, death, and destruction? Why not just see the tragedy and let "opportunity" take care of itself?

https://pjmedia.com/trending/pope-says-virus-is-natures-response-to-the-climate-crisis/

Amazon News: E-Commerce Giant To Halt Delivery Service Competing With FedEx, UPS

E-commerce giant Amazon is temporarily suspending its shipping delivery service that competes directly with FedEx and UPS, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

“We understand this is a change to your business, and we did not take this decision lightly,” the company said in a note to shippers seen by the Journal. “We will work with you over the next several weeks so there is as little disruption to your business as possible.”

The service was only available in a few U.S. cities and will be suspended beginning in June. The company wants to instead focus on dealing with a surge in customers orders, as most Americans stay inside amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Amazon is currently hiring at least 100,000 delivery and warehouse workers in order to keep up with demand. The company is also dealing with criticism that it is not protecting its employees enough from the virus, with workers holding a protest Monday at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York. The employees demanded that Amazon shut down and sanitize the location after a worker tested positive for coronavirus. In response, Amazon fired the employee who organized the protest for allegedly not following social distancing measures.

Amazon announced Wednesday that employees who contract the coronavirus and are sent home with fevers would be able to receive partial pay. Last week, the company began temperature checks for employees.

The coronavirus has drastically changed the nature of the U.S. economy, with non-essential businesses closed across the country to prevent the spread of the virus. As of Wednesday at 11:55 a.m. ET, there are nearly 400,000 cases of coronavirus in the U.S., with the death toll approaching 13,000.

https://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-news-e-commerce-giant-halt-delivery-service-competing-fedex-ups-2955111

Love the digits at the end of the sauce btw

Neocons Seethe Over Claim Rand Paul, Tucker Carlson Pushing For Trump to Appoint Col. Douglas Macgregor

Neocons are seething over reports that Senator Rand Paul and Fox News host Tucker Carlson are allegedly lobbying President Trump to pick the heroic retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor to replace ousted Defense Department official John Rood.

As is to be expected, the Paul Singer-funded neocon propaganda outlet the Washington Free Beacon went straight to demonizing Col. Macgregor as an antisemite because of his support for an America First foreign policy.

From Free Beacon, "Isolationist Allies Push Trump to Tap Obscure Colonel for Pentagon Post: Potential pick warned American Jews control policy, claimed Iran is not a threat":

Two prominent Trump administration allies are lobbying the president to tap retired Col. Douglas Macgregor as a top Pentagon policy official, setting up what could become be a contentious confirmation fight focused on Macgregor's history of controversial claims about American Jews and their alleged influence over the media and U.S. government.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) have urged Trump to nominate Macgregor to replace John Rood, the Defense Department's top policy official, who was ousted in February.

While Macgregor, a frequent guest on Carlson's primetime television program, shares Carlson's skepticism towards the Trump administration's Iran policy, it is his views on Jews that are most likely to threaten his potential nomination […]

In a wide-ranging 2012 interview circulating among national security insiders, for example, Macgregor insisted that "neocons" are "making decisions in Washington that in their minds are beneficial to a foreign power and are not necessarily good for the American people or the United States."

"It is a mistake to insist, as I increasingly hear from people, that 'all Jews are somehow or another unconditional supporters of whatever the Israeli state wants to do regardless of what is in American interest," MacGregor told the Daily Bell. "That's simply not true. What you have are numbers of people who call themselves neocons. They operate in a variety of settings in the government and in the media, and they support or advocate, for all intents and purposes, unconditional support for whatever the Israeli government wants to do. They are no means the majority and they are by no means representative of what I would call Americans who happen to be Jewish."

[…] Paul adviser Doug Stafford told the Washington Free Beacon Macgregor would fit well in Trump's "America First" administration. "Senator Paul has always suggested to President Trump that he fill more foreign policy spots with people who agree with his foreign policy," Stafford said. "Colonel Macgregor agrees with President Trump and his America First policies."

[…] After publication, Tucker Carlson told the Free Beacon he has not spoke to President Trump about Col. Douglas Macgregor.

Maybe the fact they're so pressed to demonize Macgregor signals there's actually a chance Trump could make a solid appointment for a change.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61360

Coronavirus News: Tesla Furloughs Nonessential Workers, Reduces Pay

As Tesla (TSLA) ramps down vehicle production during the coronavirus pandemic, the electric carmaker has reportedly furloughed nonessential workers and reduced the salaries of its other employees until May 4.

The announcement was made to employees on Tuesday morning in an email by Tesla’s head of North American human resources and in-house counsel, Valerie Workman, which was obtained by CNBC. In the notice, Workman said the company was only keeping “minimal critical operations running.”

The email said, “While we are continuing to keep only minimum critical operations running, we expect to resume normal production at our U.S. facilities on May 4, barring any significant changes. Until that time, it is important we take action to ensure we remain on track to achieve our long-term plans."

Starting on April 13, Tesla said it would be taking some cost-cutting measures, which include temporarily reducing the pay of its salaried employees and placing those that do not have the ability to work from home or were not deemed “critical” on furlough.

According to the email, “For U.S. employees, these reductions are 30% for Vice Presidents and above, 20% for Directors and above, and 10% for everyone else.

“For non-U.S. employees, there will also be comparable reductions, of which the specifics will be communicated by the local leadership team in accordance with local laws and works-councils.”

The order is expected to be in place until the end of Q2, with furloughed workers continuing to receive healthcare benefits, the email said.

https://www.ibtimes.com/coronavirus-news-tesla-furloughs-nonessential-workers-reduces-pay-2955029

Saudi-Led Coalition Declares Ceasefire in Yemen to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak

Senior Saudi officials have announced a ceasefire in Yemen to begin on Thursday in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in that country.

A ceasefire in Yemen will begin on Thursday at noon local time between the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and its allied forces on the one side, and the Houthi militant group and its allies on the other, according to senior Saudi officials in Riyadh.

The officials said the ceasefire is aimed at bringing the Houthis to the negotiating table for peace talks led by the United Nations, as well as to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, which has already been wracked by famine and disease for years due to the war.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202004081078886620-saudi-led-coalition-declares-ceasefire-in-yemen-to-prevent-covid-19-outbreak/

SAVING FACE? Not because they were getting their asses kicked by the Houthis

Houthis Target Saudi-Backed Forces In Southern Yemen With Medium-Range Ballistic Missile

The Houthis announced on April 8 that they had targeted a large camp of Saudi-backed forces in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan with a “ballistic missile.”

Brig. Gen. Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Yemeni group, said the al-Ajarish camp, in the district of Lawdar, was struck with a Qassim “ballistic missile,” claiming that dozens of Saudi-backed fighters were killed or injured.

“Enemy forces in the al-Ajarish camp in Abyan were targeted in the morning as they were preparing to launch an attack in the direction of the province of al-Bayda’,” the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the missile strike was a response to the recent escalation by the Saudi-led coalition in al-Bayda. Coalition warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes on different parts of the province over the last few days.

Several sources confirmed that the al-Ajarish camp was struck. Locals claimed that at least ten Saudi-backed fighters were killed or injured. These claims are yet to be verified.

Qassim is reportedly a precision-guided medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM). It was first used by the Houthis back in August of 2019. However, the Yemeni group is yet to release any details about it.

The missile strike on the al-Ajarish camp confirms that the Houthis’ offensive capabilities are still growing, despite the immense pressure by the Saudi-led coalition and even the U.S.

https://southfront.org/houthis-target-saudi-backed-forces-in-southern-yemen-with-medium-range-ballistic-missile/

Under The Eyes Of U.S. Forces, Russian Reinforcements Arrive In Al-Qamishli Airport

On April 7, Russian forces deployed reinforcements in their base within the al-Qamishli Airport in Syria’s northeastern region.

According to the Anadolu Agency, the reinforcements included 50 trucks and armored vehicles. The reinforcements were sent from the town of Ayn Issa in northern Raqqa, where the Russian Military Police maintains a coordination center with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Russian reinforcements were escorted by two helicopters. Upon approaching the airport, a U.S. patrol chased the convoy.

The Russian base in the al-Qamishli Airport was established last year following a breakthrough agreement between the Damascus government and the SDF.

Initially, several opposition sources claimed that Russia will turn the airport to a full-scale air base, similar to the one in Hmeimim, Lattakia. However, these claims were false. The base was only established to oversee the implementation of the Damascus-SDF agreement, as well as the Russian-Turkish understanding on northeast Syria.

The deployment of fresh reinforcements in the al-Qamishli Airport signals Russia’s commitment to the agreements on northeast Syria. In the last few weeks, Turkish forces violated the agreements on several occasions, targeting Kurdish and government forces.

https://southfront.org/under-the-eyes-of-u-s-forces-russian-reinforcements-arrive-in-al-qamishli-airport-videos/