EO on the Establishment of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force Under Section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (Act) (Public Law 116-113), it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Establishment of Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (Task Force) is hereby established to monitor United States enforcement of the prohibition under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).

Sec. 2. Membership. The Task Force shall be chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security and shall be composed of representatives from the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The Chair may invite representatives from other executive departments or agencies, as appropriate, to participate as members or observers. Members of the Task Force may designate an officer of the United States within their respective executive department or agency to serve as their representative on the Task Force. Each executive department or agency represented on the Task Force shall ensure that the necessary staff are available to assist their respective representatives in performing the responsibilities of the Task Force.

Sec. 3. Task Force Decision-making. The Task Force shall endeavor to make any decision on an action under sections 742 through 744 of the Act by consensus, which shall be deemed to exist where no Task Force member objects to the proposed action. If the Task Force is unable to reach a consensus on a proposed action, and the Chair determines that allotting further time will cause a decision to be unduly delayed, the Task Force shall decide the matter by majority vote of its members. The Chair, in addition to voting, may also break any tie vote.

Sec. 4. Funding. Each executive department and agency shall bear its own expenses incurred in connection with the Task Force’s functions described in sections 741 through 744 of the Act.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof;

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

May 15, 2020.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/eo-establishment-forced-labor-enforcement-task-force-section-741-united-states-mexico-canada-agreement-implementation-act/

Secretary Pompeo: President Trump ‘Committed’ to Holding Chinese Communist Party Accountable for Coronavirus Pandemic

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Breitbart News exclusively that President Donald Trump is “committed” to holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for the coronavirus pandemic and will be considering options on how to do so in the near future.

Pompeo, who joined Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel for an exclusive interview, said he is coordinating with his counterparts around the world and working with the president on developing what “precise mechanisms” will be used to hold China accountable for the pandemic.

“I don’t want to get out in front of what President Trump will ultimately decide, but I think we all know in this administration that we have to make sure that something like this can never happen again,” Pompeo said when asked how the United States will proceed with accountability with regard to China over coronavirus. “That means deterrence. That means setting up processes. The president has already stopped funding to the WHO so that we can evaluate that and figure out which pieces of the WHO might actually work and which pieces don’t so that we can deliver good outcomes and keep Americans safe and make sure this doesn’t happen again. Then, there will come a time, there will come a day when we evaluate what it is that needs to be done to convince the Chinese Communist Party that there are real costs—real costs—connected to this kind of misbehavior. You know this—we say this all the time inside the United States but around the world too, we have to hold nations accountable. I’m talking with many of my counterparts around the world. We have to hold nations accountable for the things and actions that they undertake which create risk, and in this case created enormous loss of life here in the United States. President Trump is committed to doing that. The precise mechanisms we will choose. I want to make sure he gets fully briefed to make those decisions.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/16/exclusive-secretary-pompeo-president-trump-committed-to-holding-chinese-communist-party-accountable-for-coronavirus-pandemic/

Secretary Pompeo: Chinese Communist Influence Operations Inside America, Around World Present ‘Real Risk’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Breitbart News that the United States considers efforts by the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing to build influence around the world and here in the United States to be a “risk” to the nation’s national security.

Appearing on Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel, Pompeo explained efforts he has been leading to counter Chinese Communist Party influence operations around the world and here at home. In particular, the regime in Beijing has been through the Belt and Road Initiative and other global projects, building out its geopolitical dominance and control far beyond China’s borders throughout the Eurasian landmass into Africa and through moves to control significant shipping and maritime lanes like in the South China Sea and other strategically important waterways. Pompeo has, over the course of his time as Secretary of State, made a number of key moves to counter China’s global influence.

“The Chinese Communist Party working inside of their own country is one thing,” Pompeo told Breitbart News. “Their efforts to create control and influence around the world are quite another, and we have a responsibility to fix that. President Trump got this right in his campaign. He talks about it an awful lot. It’s something that presidents of both political parties have ignored for far too long. President Trump has taken it on squarely. You’ve seen it. It’s very public what he’s done on trade to try to make sure that that is fair and reciprocal. But to your point — your point about China’s efforts to use their wealth, state-owned enterprises, and their authoritarian regime in Africa, in straits and sea lanes all around the world, present a real risk to the United States of America and to free nations.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/16/exclusive-pompeo-chinese-communist-influence-operations-inside-present-real-risk/

‘Illegal’: Trump Goes After Tech Giants Google, Facebook For ‘Radical Left’ Bias

President Donald Trump appeared to express support for breaking up dominant tech companies in a tweet Saturday.

Trump’s tweet comes just hours after reports that the Justice Department was drafting an antitrust lawsuit against Google. Politicians have long feared that Google and its peers like Facebook and Amazon have become too dominant in their industry.

“The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google. The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names & events,” Trump tweeted.

State attorneys general are reportedly working alongside the DOJ to draft similar lawsuits alleging that Google has violated antitrust laws. Texas AG Ken Paxton is leading the coalition of 51 AGs, according to Bloomberg.

Google said in a statement to Bloomberg that it is participating in “the ongoing investigations led by the Department of Justice and Attorney General Paxton” and will continue “providing services that help consumers, support thousands of businesses, and enable increased choice and competition.”

Reports that the DOJ is drafting a lawsuit does not necessarily mean a suit will ultimately be filed. Officials investigated Google for similar reasons in 2013 only to end the investigation.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/05/16/trump-google-facebook-antitrust/

President Trump Retweets Michelle Malkin Video on Big Tech Censorship — So Twitter Censors Tweet and Deletes the Video!

President Donald Trump retweeted Michelle Malkin’s tweet this morning on the far left censorship at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google.

President Trump added that his administration is working to remedy “this illegal situation.”

Twitter then removed the video after the US President retweeted her!

The tech giants have absolutely NO FEAR in their open discrimination against conservative users!

Michelle Malkin then responded to the blatant censorship!

Michelle Malkin: Thank you @realdonaldtrump – @Twitter has DELETED the video clip you RT’ed of my remarks against Silicon Valley censorship this morning! OUT OF CONTROL. The situation must be remedied ASAP.

The video clip is reposted below.

For the record — The Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft spoke before Congress in September 2018 on big tech censorship.

The tech giants are only getting more brazen and partisan since this speech in 2018.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/wow-president-trump-retweets-michelle-malkin-video-big-tech-censorship-twitter-censors-tweet-deletes-video/

"We Need Help" - Cuomo Demands Federal 'Assistance', Claims Coronavirus Has Left New York State $61 Billion In Debt

As Democrats in Congress double-down on their demands for another $3 trillion in stimulus spending having passed their spending agenda in the Democrat-controlled House, Gov Andrew Cuomo warns that his state has accrued more than $61 billion in debt pertaining to its coronavirus response. Federal aid is the only feasible alternative for the state to manage such an incredible burden without essentially being forced in between a rock and a hard place, with the only alternative being a combination of draconian spending cuts and confiscatory tax hikes.

The problem for blue states like New York is that they fund their generous state budgets primarily with income tax and sales tax revenues, both of which have dried up during the crisis. At the same time, since Trump delegated most of the responsibility for on-the-ground virus response to the states (in cooperation with federal agencies like FEMA), spending has soared.

We have a significant economic problem in the state," Cuomo said. "It's the collective of all the other economic problems. And when you add up all the problems its a $61 billion hit to the state budget."

"We don't do state exploration in this state, we fund schools, we fund hospitals and we fund local governments. Local governments fund police, fire - all the heroes that we talk about. Hospitals - that's nurses that's doctors that's emergency room staff," Cuomo continued, as he pitched the Democratic spending bill to his audience.

"They bailed out the billionaires and the millionaires and the corporations," Cuomo said.

Did the Trump administration really forget "the little guy?". The fact that many 'non-essential' hourly workers in New York State are earning more sitting at home than they did at work should be enough to disabuse readers of that notion.

And we don't hear Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who leads a state with no income tax, complaining about how the rest of the country needs to pitch in.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/we-need-help-cuomo-demands-federal-assistance-claims-coronavirus-has-left-new-york-state-61

Intel Vets Provided Evidence Russians Didn’t Hack DNC to Sec of State Pompeo in 2017 – To Date No Evidence Pompeo Followed Up with President Trump

A group of more than 20 U.S. intelligence, military and diplomatic veterans determined that the DNC emails in 2016 were not hacked, but instead they were copied by someone on the East Coast. This information was provided to President Trump’s current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo but there is no evidence to date that Pompeo followed up with President Trump.

A number of veteran intelligence officials (VIPS) have been poking forks into the red herring of “Russian pre-2016-election hacking of the DNC emails” for the past three and a half years. In the process, they called attention to the tarnished reputation of CrowdStrike, a viscerally anti-Russian cyber-security firm that has had to retract erroneous forensic findings in the past. They also noted that CrowdStrike was paid by the Democrats; and that, instead of ordering the FBI to investigate, former and now fired FBI Director James Comey chose to defer to CrowdStrike to look into the alleged Russian “hack”.

The VIPS published in public sources, claims that (1) the Democratic National Committee was not hacked by the Russians in 2016, and (2) that the Democratic National Committee data was “leaked” and not “hacked”. Three key Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) Memoranda were produced for the President (two went to Barack Obama and one to President Donald Trump).

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/07/24/intel-vets-challenge-russia-hack-evidence/;

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/17/a-demand-for-russian-hacking-proof/;

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/12/us-intel-vets-dispute-russia-hacking-claims/.

The VIPS claims they applied the principles of physics and forensic science to show that the DNC emails were leaked in spring 2016 — not given to WikiLeaks via a hack by Russia or by anyone else. For the past three years, they have been trying to call attention to their findings.

In the second referenced Memoranda was addressed to President Obama on January 17, 2017, entitled “A Key Issue [namely, Russian ‘hacking’ given to WikiLeaks] That Still Needs to be Resolved”. The following day Obama actually addressed that issue at a press conference, when he conceded that the intelligence community had no idea how the DNC emails reached WikiLeaks.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/intel-vets-provided-evidence-russians-didnt-hack-dnc-sec-state-pompeo-2017-date-no-evidence-pompeo-followed-president-trump/

Hungary Donates Funds to Repair Greek Churches Vandalized by Migrants

The Hungarian government is donating $30,000 for the repair of Christian churches vandalized by migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos.

“As part of the @HungaryHelps Program, we’re contributing USD 30000 to the refurbishment of churches vandalized by immigrants on the Greek island of Lesbos,” said Tristan Azbej, State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians, in a social media post.

“I hope our messages about protecting Christian heritage & about illegal migration get through.”

This spring, Muslim migrants, mostly from Syria, have attacked several Christian sites on the island of Lesbos, such as the raid in early March on the Christian church of Hagios Georgios near the village of Moria, home to a large refugee camp.

Local residents said that when police prevented hundreds of migrants from being transferred to Athens, a mob of some twenty of them went to the church and took their revenge by destroying the nave and the altar, along with icons and church furnishings.

A group of 500 refugees attempted to march down to the port of Mytilini from the Moria camp but were met by members of MAT (riot police). The migrants pelted the Greek police with stones but were repelled with chemical and flash grenades.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/05/16/hungary-donates-funds-to-repair-greek-churches-vandalized-by-migrants/

Power Hungry Mayor Garcetti Says LA Beaches Will Only Be Open For Exercise on Wet Sand, No Sunbathing on Dry Sand

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti extended the Coronavirus lockdown until August for no good reason.

Garcetti said that beaches will reopen for exercise and active recreation only; people will not be allowed to touch dry sand.

Beach goers will only be allowed to exercise in the wet sand.

Sunbathing in dry sand is illegal, according to power hungry Garcetti.

“The beaches will open this week for exercise and active recreation only — in the wet sand I guess is a good way of thinking about it — not hanging out and tanning in the dry sand,” Garcetti said.

What is the science behind this? There is none!

WATCH Tucker Carlson torch “neurotic megalomaniac” Eric Garcetti who is “terrified of dry sand”:

Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday during an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Los Angeles won’t completely reopen until there is a cure for Coronavirus.

Citizens in Los Angeles who have had enough of Garcetti’s tyranny have started a petition to have him recalled and bounced from office.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/power-hungry-mayor-garcetti-says-la-beaches-will-open-exercise-wet-sand-no-sunbathing-dry-sand-video/

Sensational Revelations on How George Soros Packed the EU's Court of 'Human Rights'

A bombshell Europe documents the deep involvement of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations in the European Court of Human Rights, which has been key in forcing an “Open Borders” policy on countries like Italy.

In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) handed down the landmark case of “Hirsi Jamaa and others vs. Italy”, which ruled that European countries could not “push back” illegal migrants and would be fined hundreds of thousands of Euros if they did. The case involved a network of Soros-sponsored lawyers and NGOs who managed to track down 22 Somalian and Eritrean migrants in Libya who had been turned back in 2009 to bring their cases to Strasbourg.

Now, a report by conservative American activist Jay Sekulow’s European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ) has revealed that NGOs related to the Open Society Network are deeply involved with the ECHR, and many of its judges are tied to these organizations. The report identified seven NGOs that are both active at the Court, and have judges among their former staff. At least 22 of the 100 judges who have served on the ECHR since 2009 are former staff or leaders of these seven NGOs, the report stated.

https://russia-insider.com/en/sensational-revelations-how-george-soros-packed-eus-court-human-rights/ri30275

Massachusetts Contact Tracing NGO part of Clinton Pedophile Ring in Haiti

May 15, 2020 The state of Massachusetts has authorized an NGO named PIH which is connected to child abduction and pedophilia trafficking in Haiti via the Clinton Foundation, to operate in the state as a Contact Tracing organization.

PIH is a Clinton-Soros backed non profit that has been awarded a contract in Massachusetts to do Contact Tracing. Contact Tracing allows a state-sanctioned agency (NGO, governmental, etc.) to ultimately enter your home or have a parallel police-accompanied agency enter your home. They will do an inventory of your family, your number of children, the number of other adults in your house. They will make a human map of how close your relatives are, and how often you are in contact with your neighbors.

TLDR: This article is over 2800 words, so the following bullet points outline the main ideas so that they can be understood and this article can be shared with confidence in the facts it covers.

Children in group homes are 2800% (28 times) more likely to be sexually abused and raped than children who live with their parents according to a John Hopkins University Study (link below)

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Contact Tracing is being handled by NGOs and State governments which are financed various ways. HR 6666 provides financing for these even though states and other NGO’s can finance the work on their own where possible. (HR 6666 is not required for this scandal to take place. )

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Contact tracing ultimately allows the state to take children from homes where there is Covid-19 infection. Like HR 6666, you will not find that stated overtly in the literature the programs produce about themselves. It is an omission made possible because the authority to take children for health crisis reasons already exists in laws on the books. If children have guardians (i.e. parents) requiring quarantining or Covid-19 treatment

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Massachusetts (so far, we expect this nation-wide) is allowing a Clinton Foundation connected NGO named PIH, which through the foundation is tied to pedophilia and human trafficking, organ trafficking, child slavery and prostitution – under the auspices of healthcare for children without guardians. PIH will work with police and CPS to remove children from home (in the below as “cannot separate themselves from their children easily”)

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That the Clinton Foundation backed PIH specifically is involved in Contact Tracing even though their work in Haiti is with children’s health allows us to verify what Contact Tracing will be used for, at least partly. Those requiring more evidence connecting the focus on children’s health to Contact Tracing, please read the whole article below.

More

https://www.fort-russ.com/2020/05/revealed-massachusetts-contact-tracing-ngo-part-of-clinton-pedophile-ring-in-haiti/

Amazon Non-Committal on Having CEO Jeff Bezos Testify in Congress

US lawmakers earlier called on the Amazon chief to testify over allegations of misleading Congress about the company's use of sensitive business information from third-party sellers.

Amazon has declined to make Jeff Bezos available for testimony in the US Congress with regard to its use of sensitive data, the company said on Friday, and will instead provide an "appropriate executive" to address the issue.

"We disagree strongly with any suggestion that we have attempted to mislead the Committee or not been cooperative with the investigation", Amazon's vice president of public policy Brian Huseman said in a response to a House Judiciary Committee letter. "We have been working with the Committee in good faith for nearly a year to provide answers and information, and we remain prepared to make the appropriate Amazon executive available to the Committee to address these issues."

In a letter to Bezos on 1 May, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, Ranking Member James Sensenbrenner, and five other lawmakers called on him to testify before the House Judiciary Committee to address misleading information on its use of individual seller data. The lawmakers cited a Wall Street Journal article that said Amazon employees used sensitive business data from third-party sellers in order to develop competing products on its platform.

The lawmakers also threatened to subpoena Bezos if he did not comply with the request.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202005161079321695-amazon-non-committal-on-having-ceo-jeff-bezos-testify-in-congress/

Don’t Fool Yourself, the Elites Have Been Planning This Power Grab For Years

And here comes the next round of stimulus.

As long as large portions of the economy remain on lockdown, the government will be forced to perform massive stimulus programs/ social spending. As I write this Friday morning, the House is preparing to vote on a $3 trillion stimulus bill later today.

While the particular bill in question is chock full of Democrats’ legislation (more abortion funding, banning voter IDs, etc.), and likely won’t make it through the Senate in this particular form, the White House and the GOP are both in favor of providing additional stimulus checks to Americans in the near future.

Put simply, regardless of specific political affiliations, the political class is currently in favor of spending vast amounts of money right now.

All of this money has to come from somewhere. Currently, it’s the debt markets (the Treasury will borrow $3 trillion between April and June alone). But at some point, the Powers That Be will begin looking for new sources of capital.

Indeed, if history has taught us anything it’s that once the government/ elites use a crisis to make a massive power grab, rarely if ever is that power given back to the people.

We saw this with the Patriot Act in 2001, the policy response to the 2008 crisis. And it’s happening again today with the economic shutdown. While individual states will all eventually reopen, the fact is that the US just took a massive jump towards outright socialism/ central planning. And the political class LOVES it.

This will result in a collapsing economy, which in turn will mean lower tax revenues, which in turn will mean a greater need for capital to finance social spending programs/ unemployment/ stimulus checks.

The debt markets will pick up much of the slack here, but at some point the political class will start looking for new sources of capital.

That source will be you, me and everyone else.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/dont-fool-yourself-the-elites-have-been-planning-this-power-grab-for-years/

Video Surfaces of Joe Scarborough Joking About Having Affair With Intern and Having to Kill Her

President Donald Trump snapped back at MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough in a jaw-dropping way last week, calling for an investigation into the Morning Joe host’s deceased intern.

Liberal media was quick to blast him for peddling a “conspiracy,” but during an appearance on Imus in the Morning in 2003, the host and Scarborough joked about having an affair with his intern and having to kill her.

The audio had seemingly been scrubbed from the internet, but a record of it was found on Democrats.com.

Video of that “joke” has now been uncovered.

During the call between the radio host and Scarborough, Imus says that he asked him when he went into Congress and the then-representative said that “you said you had sex with an intern and then you had to kill her.”

“Exactly,” Scarborough responded with a laugh.

“That’s pretty risky to say,” Imus responded.

“What are you gonna do?” Scarborough continued to joke.

Theories and questions have long swirled about the death of Lori Klausutis, a young woman who worked and died in then-Representative Scarborough’s congressional office in 2001.

The 28-year-old intern’s death was ruled accidental, stemming from an “undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia” which caused her “breathing to stop.” They determined that she fell and hit her head on an office desk, fracturing her skull, and died.

Many have long doubted this account, however, as she was a marathon runner who had recently run an 8K race and belonged to the Northwest Florida Track Club. Additionally, the medical examiner who worked on the case lost his license in two states, Missouri and Florida, for lying about autopsy work. He was arrested in 2012 for storing human body parts in a commercial storage unit.

http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/05/breaking-video-surfaces-of-joe.html

Pentagon: US Drawdown From Afghanistan Continuing, Timeline Will Be Met

Taliban deal meant to see pullout in 14 months

US troops continue to withdraw from Afghanistan, and while there is no number being offered by the Pentagon, they do say that the process is not only continuing, but is expected to meet the timeline of the Taliban peace deal.

The peace deal was intentionally a bit vague on this question, but did say that if all was well, the US would be out of Afghanistan within 14 months. That timeline still seems achievable, with previous reports suggesting the US was well ahead on the process.

In recent months, the US was also seen to be driven by President Trump’s concern about coronavirus in Afghanistan, and the desire to get US troops out of the country before the virus took hold too much.

While the Afghan government has continued to push the idea that the Taliban is violating the deal, so far there is no sign that the US is taking the government’s criticism too seriously, and are continuing to move forward in spite of the lack of progress on intra-Afghan talks.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/05/15/pentagon-us-drawdown-from-afghanistan-continuing-timeline-will-be-met/

Federal Court Rules Every Drug Dog In Entire State is Unreliable—Will Alert to Nothing Just to Please Master

If every police K9 in one of the 50 states is unreliable with respect to random sampling, wouldn’t that mean that all police officer K9s are unreliable? That’s the question police accountability activists are asking today following a federal court ruling which concluded all police K9s in the state of Utah are unreliable.

On February 28, 2019, Desmond Travis Jordan was pulled over for speeding after being observed leaving a home suspected of being a place citizens could buy drugs. A drug dog police K9 was called to the scene. The dog’s name is Tank. Tank’s handler, Officer Clinton Moore, was called to the scene even before probable cause to search the vehicle was established.

Tank and Moore searched Jordan’s car for drugs and Moore told the detective who pulled over Jordan, Det. David Allen, Tank had alerted to the presence of drugs in the car — a tiny bit of marijuana. Jordan was subsequently charged and brought to jail.

In court, Jordan’s defense team called Dr. Mary Cabik as an expert K9 handler witness. Dr. Cabik testified Tank’s training did not include enough blind searches. A blind search is when the handler takes Tank to a search area or scene where it is already known no drugs exist. And no double-blind searches were ever conducted in Tank’s training. A double-blind test is when Officer Moore doesn’t know how many drugs are present in a test and also doesn’t know if the test does NOT include any drugs at all.

From reviewing Det. Allen’s body camera footage Dr. Cabik concluded Tank simply responded to his handler’s own desire (bias) to find drugs and alerted to the potential presence of drugs not actually doing a conclusive “trained response” whereby the dog may actually stop barking, stay pointed at the general area where drugs are present, and/or lay down among other trained responses.

As a result of Tank’s poor training, Moore’s bias towards accepting a “natural” response over his “trained” one, Jordan’s car was searched and he was found to be in possession of a very small amount of marijuana, a pipe and a firearm. Because he was a felon, he was charged with a felony in possession of a firearm and possession of narcotics.

Fortunately for Jordan, the Utah court concluded Tank’s training was so poor there was no way his “alert” should have been used as probable cause to search his vehicle. The court wrote in its opinion:

Notwithstanding Officer Moore’s testimony, evidence at the Hearing raised serious questions about the sufficiency and veracity of Tank’s training. First, the police training records supported that between July 2018, when Tank was certified, and November 2018, Officer Moore only conducted four narcotics trainings with him. Moreover, from October 20, 2018 through March 1, 2019, a period that enveloped the search of Mr. Jordan’s vehicle, Officer Moore only performed one narcotic training exercises that involved searching an area that did not contain narcotics, compared to 27 “normal” exercises where there were narcotics present to be found.

The U.S. appeals court also concluded Utah’s police K9 training program is flawed at its core because it did not implement double-blind testing. In fact, Moore knew just how many drugs were present during the test so he could simply wait until Tank demonstrated another appropriate cue until all the suspected drugs were located. The court’s ruling was unambiguous to say the least. It reads in part:

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/05/federal-court-rules-every-drug-dog-in-entire-state-is-unreliable-will-alert-to-nothing-just-to-please-master.html

Lindsey Graham Announces New Investigation Against FBI

Leading Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, confirmed a new investigation into officials at the FBI that played a role in allowing false information to be presented to the FISA courts and obtain spy warrants on President Trump’s campaign for alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 election. The announcement from Senator Lindsey Graham revealed that congressional hearings within the committee will begin as early as next month, noting that they will be reviewing several instances in which members of the Trump campaign were illegally targeted by law enforcement.

GOP investigators are hoping to find more details on the abuse of power that members of the intelligence community committed throughout their Crossfire Hurricane investigation, first placing particular focus on individuals in the Obama administration that were revealed to have called for unmasking General Flynn’s identity in recently declassified documents from the Director of National Intelligence.

Check out what Sara Carter reported below:

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-SC, announced Thursday that his committee will proceed with hearings on the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation starting in June, Graham said in a statement Thursday after President Donald Trump pressured him on Twitter earlier in the day.

“The Judiciary Committee will begin holding multiple, in-depth congressional hearings regarding all things related to Crossfire Hurricane starting in early June,” Graham said, “Our first phase will deal with the government’s decision to dismiss the Flynn case as well as an in-depth analysis of the unmasking requests made by Obama Administration officials against General Flynn. We must determine if these requests were legitimate.

He added, “Our next area of inquiry, later this summer, will be oversight building upon the Horowitz report about FISA abuses against Carter Page. My goal is to find out why and how the system got so off the rails. Finally, we will look at whether Robert Mueller should have ever been appointed as Special Counsel. Was there legitimate reason to conclude the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russians?”

Since President Trump’s acquittal in the Senate late last year, Republican lawmakers and officials in the Justice Department have advanced counter investigations on the FBI uncovering disturbing information that details just how extensively some individuals abused their power to pursue a faulty investigation against President Trump.

https://thedcpatriot.com/lindsey-graham-announces-new-investigation-against-fbi/

Stall tactic???

Reports of US not willing to cooperate with Russia on Moon incorrect — NASA

In his words, Russia’s participation in the Gateway lunar orbiter project can become a first step in signing a Moscow-Washington deal within the framework of the Artemis Accords

WASHINGTON, May 16. /TASS/. Media reports that the United States was not willing to include Russia into its draft agreement on Moon exploration were incorrect, Acting Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of International and Interagency Relations Michael Gold told reporters.

"I think it’s unfortunate that there were a lot of media leaks that did not properly describe what the Artemis Accords were, so I’m not surprised for some of those reactions. Frankly, if I was in their place, I might have reacted similarly, given the information that was presented," he said, when asked to comment on a Reuters report that the United States was preparing an international agreement on moon mining without Russia’s participation.

He also gave a positive answer to a TASS question on whether the United States viewed Russia as its partner in Moon exploration and whether Moscow could count on signing an agreement with Washington within the framework of Artemis Accords if it wants so.

"I think in many ways Russia already has. As you know, Russia is a signatory to the [1967] Outer Space Treaty," he said. "That’s why I’m very hopeful that now that we come out and have described what’s in these accords and that they are grounded on the Outer Space Treaty, that Russia will be able to take a hard look at this kind of thing now."

In his words, Russia’s participation in the Gateway project to create a lunar orbiter jointly with the US can become a first step in signing a Moscow-Washington agreement within the framework of the Artemis Accords.

"As we look at the Russian cooperation on Artemis, I expect a great deal of it. It may center around the Gateway," the NASA official said. "That may be a precursor, possibly, to Artemis Accords agreements, because Russia already expressed interest in participating in the Gateway program."

"There is nothing in the Accords, we would hope, that Russia would object to," he added.

https://tass.com/science/1157133

Legal challenges to stay-at-home orders gain momentum

Opponents of stay-at-home orders got a major boost this week when the Wisconsin Supreme Court invalidated the state’s coronavirus health order, a decision that’s already generating momentum behind similar challenges across the country.

Wednesday’s decision by the justices in Madison lifted statewide restrictions and produced a mixed reaction among Wisconsinites. Within hours, elated patrons rushed to newly reopened bars and restaurants, while the Democratic governor warned that the number of preventable infections and deaths from COVID-19 would rise as a result of the court’s 4-3 decision.

"We’re the Wild West," Gov. Tony Evers told MSNBC just hours after the ruling was handed down. "We’re just leaving it open. We're going to have more cases. We’re going to have more deaths. It’s a sad occasion for the state. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am."

Opponents of stay-at-home orders, however, are anything but disappointed.

“I imagine the individuals and organizations behind legal challenges in other states are taking heart from the Wisconsin legislature's legal victory,” said Lindsay Wiley, a law professor at American University.

Across the country, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed that take aim at the constitutionality of coronavirus-related state laws, according to an analysis by the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth.

Additionally, more than 40 legal challenges have been mounted against orders involving forced business closures and government decisions on which businesses are deemed essential and thus exempt from health restrictions.

The Wisconsin ruling may embolden protesters outside the state and add to the flurry of litigation, experts say.

“It’s entirely possible that the court’s ruling could generate political momentum in other states,” said Scott Idleman, a law professor at Marquette University. “Just as, I believe, earlier religious freedom challenges in other states such as Kansas and Kentucky likely encouraged subsequent lawsuits.”

The case reached Wisconsin’s top court after the state’s GOP-led legislature filed suit against Andrea Palm, the state's health secretary. The Republican lawmakers argued that Palm’s directive requiring Wisconsinites to stay home, forcing business to close and banning travel with only limited exceptions, was illegal.

The court ruled that Palm had failed to follow proper rulemaking procedure and exceeded her authority with the statewide health order.

Within hours of the decision, the Wisconsin Tavern League urged people to go to bars and restaurants — and many heeded the call.

But the outcome also inspired sharp criticism at the state and national levels. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) decried the decision.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/498096-legal-challenges-to-stay-at-home-orders-gain-momentum

Netanyahu appoints more ministers ahead of government’s planned swearing-in

Eli Cohen named as new intelligence minister as PM holds meeting with Likud lawmakers to finish doling out ministerial positions before ceremony on Sunday

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-16-2020/

Scientific American: Flu Deaths Are 'Substantially' Overestimated to 'Encourage Vaccination'

Scientific American ran an interesting column recently claiming the CDC's yearly reported flu deaths are "substantially" overestimated "in order to encourage vaccination."

From The Scientific American:

Comparing COVID-19 Deaths to Flu Deaths Is like Comparing Apples to Oranges

The former are actual numbers; the latter are inflated statistical estimates

By Jeremy Samuel Faust | April 28, 2020

[…] When reports about the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 began circulating earlier this year and questions were being raised about how the illness it causes, COVID-19, compared to the flu, it occurred to me that, in four years of emergency medicine residency and over three and a half years as an attending physician, I had almost never seen anyone die of the flu. I could only remember one tragic pediatric case.

Based on the CDC numbers though, I should have seen many, many more. In 2018, over 46,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. Over 36,500 died in traffic accidents. Nearly 40,000 died from gun violence. I see those deaths all the time. Was I alone in noticing this discrepancy?

I decided to call colleagues around the country who work in other emergency departments and in intensive care units to ask a simple question: how many patients could they remember dying from the flu? Most of the physicians I surveyed couldn’t remember a single one over their careers. Some said they recalled a few. All of them seemed to be having the same light bulb moment I had already experienced: For too long, we have blindly accepted a statistic that does not match our clinical experience.

The 25,000 to 69,000 numbers that Trump cited do not represent counted flu deaths per year; they are estimates that the CDC produces by multiplying the number of flu death counts reported by various coefficients produced through complicated algorithms. These coefficients are based on assumptions of how many cases, hospitalizations, and deaths they believe went unreported. In the last six flu seasons, the CDC’s reported number of actual confirmed flu deaths—that is, counting flu deaths the way we are currently counting deaths from the coronavirus—has ranged from 3,448 to 15,620, which far lower than the numbers commonly repeated by public officials and even public health experts.

There is some logic behind the CDC’s methods. There are, of course, some flu deaths that are missed, because not everyone who contracts the flu gets a flu test. But there are little data to support the CDC’s assumption that the number of people who die of flu each year is on average six times greater than the number of flu deaths that are actually confirmed. In fact, in the fine print, the CDC’s flu numbers also include pneumonia deaths.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61447

US Foreign Relations Committee Starts Probe Into Trump's Firing of State Dep't Inspector General

According to Politico, US President Donald Trump fired Steve Linick in a letter sent to Congress late on 15 May, saying he no longer had "fullest confidence" in the high-ranking official, who had been heading the oversight office of Washington’s diplomatic arm since his appointment in 2013 by President Barack Obama.

The US House Foreign Relations Committee has launched a probe into Trump's firing of the State Department inspector general, a statement from the panel said. The House Panel and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats have asked the Trump administration to submit records related to the State Department inspector general's firing by 22 May, according to the statement.

Earlier today, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at President Donald Trump for his dismissal of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, calling the move a part of a "dangerous pattern of retaliation".

Linick’s firing, which has turned out to be the latest in a series of oversight removals by Trump, is considered as an attempt to suspend an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for allegedly using department aides for personal tasks, Politico reported.

According to the news outlet, Congressman Eliot L. Engel, who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called Linick's dismissal an "outrageous act of a president trying to protect one of his most loyal supporters, the secretary of State, from accountability".

As acting head of the inspector general’s office, Trump proposed Stephen Akard, who currently heads the Office of Foreign Relations and was part of the Indiana governor’s administration under current Vice President Mike Pence.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202005161079327160-probe-into-trumps-firing-of-state-department-inspector/

Missouri Dem Touts Endorsement From Dark Money Group After Denouncing Dark Money

Galloway welcomes support from hybrid PAC behind $10 million election push

Missouri Democrat Nicole Galloway touted an endorsement from a liberal dark money group just days after claiming that she "hate[s] dark money with a passion."

The state auditor has repeatedly denounced dark money during her bid to unseat Missouri governor Mike Parson (R.). Galloway has told supporters and reporters that she "hate[s] dark money with a passion" and "absolutely think[s] it's wrong" in the past, but she now welcomes its support for her gubernatorial run. During a May 8 call with supporters, she boasted that she had won the backing of 314 Action, which has pledged to spend millions in 2020 but does not disclose donors for its nonprofit arm.

"I will point out that I am endorsed by 314 Action, which is one of the leading organizations promoting science and data in policymaking," she said. "I am proud of that endorsement."

The group operates as a "hybrid PAC," which allows it to contribute directly to candidates, as well as spend unlimited amounts on advertisements. While the PAC is required to disclose donors, the group also employs a nonprofit arm that can partake in political spending without making such disclosures. The group aims to become the "EMILY's List for scientists"—a pro-abortion hybrid PAC and major Democratic donor—and plans to spend at least $10 million in 2020 to support Democratic candidates. Josh Morrow, 314 Action's executive director, told Scientific American in 2018 that the group planned to use its nonprofit arm to buy political ads, saying, "It's about leveling the playing field."

Galloway's praise for 314 Action is not the first time that her campaign's actions have been at odds with her anti-dark money rhetoric. The Democrat criticized Parson for benefiting from a "dark money group" in March, pointing to a Parson-aligned PAC called Uniting Missouri, which is required to disclose donors. Galloway is backed by a similar PAC, Keep Government Accountable, which held nearly $940,000 on hand as of April 14, according to state records.

During her 2018 state auditor reelection campaign, Galloway said she would disassociate with any dark money groups that supported her, saying she has "taken a stand against dark money from the very beginning."

"I don't want anything to do with dark money," Galloway said. "I think it is wrong. I don't care where it comes from, I don't care what side it is from, I have taken a stand against dark money from the very beginning because I absolutely think it's wrong."

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/missouri-dem-touts-endorsement-from-dark-money-group-after-denouncing-dark-money/

Mask of the Beast and Deadly Distancing

Have you experienced a sense of unease when witnessing a group of individuals wearing masks and/or keeping strictly two meters apart? If so, that’s good news, because it means you’re still sufficiently human to be able to respond to life’s deeper survival instincts.

For those who don’t have an uneasy sense that something is wrong in this situation, I feel a genuine sense of concern and the strong hope that this will change – very soon. Here’s the reason why: you are being indoctrinated to allow a carefully constructed lie to direct your thinking, your behaviour and your individual powers of judgement.

For the purpose of this article, I am not going to repeat all the facts which make it quite plain to me that the so-called ‘pandemic’ given the name Coronavirus Covid-19, is most certainly not something to fear as a significant threat to health. And that the mask is a worse than useless piece of so called ‘protection’ which only serves to accentuate the fact that what it is supposed to protect against – doesn’t even exist in the form in which it is being described.

However, there is something about what this mask represents that should give rise to genuine alarm. That something, is the huge effort being made to turn what is essentially a corona virtual reality construction into a real life event. An event whose momentum is created by pressing down on the irrational fear button and keeping it down until the repetition of the preplanned indoctrination exercise has gone on long enough for the majority to believe that any other version of events must be ‘a conspiracy theory’.

This is basically where we are, ladies and gentlemen. Yet, in spite of the best efforts of our oppressors, the truth is coming out and awareness will follow-on not so far behind. However, until such awareness forms the bedrock for a critical mass of humanity, we will go on witnessing the manifestation of the lie in all public places and in homes where individuals stick doggedly to the scripted formula they have been fed.

Here is where the uneasy feeling rises into something considerably more than just ‘uneasy’. Because what is on exhibit is an open admission of slavery to the unquestioned commands of ‘the leader of the day’; and what better symbol of such (typically unconscious) subservience than the wearing of the mask of the beast?

What better conformism to ‘the system’ is there than maintaining belief in the validity of ‘social distancing’ at two military paces from our collective brothers and sisters? What starker statement can one make concerning one’s loss of ability to recognise one is being deceived – than not to question being segmented into anti-humanitarian social isolation through a modern day act of apartheid?

If there is a pervasive sickness connected with the ‘grand covid pandemic’ it is this: the willingness of tens of millions of individuals to adopt that which is so far removed from the truth that not even those who are in charge of purveying it can make it sound like sense.

The British Prime Minister, recently attempting to explain the inexplicable rules he expects the population of Britain to conform to, sounded and looked like a man suffering from ‘cognitive dissonance’.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/05/mask-of-the-beast-and-deadly-distancing.html