The Coronavirus Conspiracy Boom

Joseph E. Uscinski 17 hrs ago

"COVID-19 has created a perfect storm for conspiracy theorists. Here we have a global pandemic, a crashing economy, social isolation, and restrictive government policies: All of these can cause feelings of extreme anxiety, powerlessness, and stress, which in turn encourage conspiracy beliefs. For more than a month, an urban legend that the pandemic was predicted in an early-’80s Dean Koontz thriller has been circulating on social media. Meanwhile, QAnon believers are circulating the “mole children” theory, which holds that the virus is a ploy to arrest members of the satanic “deep state” (Tom Hanks, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton) and to release their hostages (sex-slave children) from underneath Central Park. (Tom Hanks’s appearance on Saturday Night Live should have quelled speculation that he had been arrested for child molestation, but—in typical conspiratorial fashion—believers simply explained the irregularity away, claiming that Hanks’s monologue was a deepfake.)"

moar:

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/coronavirus/the-coronavirus-conspiracy-boom

boom or boon? kek!

yesterday was a very busy Drop day so I will run articles

that are not as fresh because we prolly missed some and

as always new eyes

Trump says he has ‘high confidence’ Covid-19 originated in

Wuhan lab

30 Apr, 2020 22:04

Updated 3 hours ago

"US President Donald Trump told reporters he believes Covid-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, declining to elaborate why, after US intelligence said it believes the virus was natural in origin.

Asked on Thursday if he had a “high degree of confidence” that the coronavirus originated from the laboratory, Trump replied “Yes, I have.”

“I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that,” was his response to reporters who asked on what basis he was making that judgment."

moar:

https://www.rt.com/usa/487479-trump-wuhan-high-confidence/

I enjoy watching these stories travel the world circuit

Yuan Crashes After Trump Weighs Blocking Retirement

Fund Access To Chinese Stocks As War Of Words

Escalates

by Tyler Durden

Thu, 04/30/2020 - 22:52

"Having tumbled yesterday on the first set of headlines reporting on the Trump administration's plans to seek 'COVID reparations' amid accusations of Chinese 'meddling' in the US election (obviously not in favor of Trump), the Chinese yuan legged dramatically lower in this evening's illiquid session which sees most of Asia closed for May Day, after Bloomberg reports that Trump is exploring blocking a government retirement fund from investing in Chinese equities considered a national security risk.

Trump made his initial threats from the Rose Garden at the White House Monday after he was pressed by a reporter over a German newspaper report suggesting that China should be issued a $160 billion invoice for the impact on Europe's economy.

The president responded he had a "much easier" idea:

"We have ways of doing things a lot easier than that," Trump told the coronavirus press briefing. "Germany’s looking at things, and we’re looking at things, and we’re talking about a lot more money than Germany’s talking about."

"We haven’t determined the final amount yet. It’s very substantial," Trump added, suggesting it would be significantly more than the $160 billion floated in German media."

moar:

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/yuan-crashes-after-trump-weighs-blocking-retirement-fund-access-chinese-stocks-war-words

Jim Trusty: Michael Flynn prosecution offers these important

lessons on FBI, fairness and the rule of law

Published 11 mins ago

Jim Trusty By Jim Trusty | Fox News

"Newt Gingrich: 'Absolutely Trump should pardon General Flynn'

Newt Gingrich says President Trump should pardon Michael Flynn today or tomorrow and AG Barr should look into criminal charges against FBI officials

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Whatever your thoughts are about Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the slow unraveling of his case holds some deeper lessons than simply “he never should have been charged.”

Notes belatedly turned over to Flynn’s aggressive attorney include some telling nuggets of how Jim Comey’s FBI conducted itself. “What is our goal,” the notes read, “Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired.”

How about an unstated goal of simply investigating and going where the evidence leads? How about a goal that does not reflect a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose outcome on prosecution?"

moar:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/michael-flynn-prosecution-lessons-fbi-fairness-rule-law-jim-trusty