SABATON - Bismarck (Official Music Video)
New Members Have Been Added to the White House Wuhan Coronavirus Task Force
Vice President Mike Pence announced the addition of new members to the Wuhan coronavirus task force Friday afternoon, signaling the ongoing balance of opening up the economy, shoring up crucial food supply chains and prioritizing public health.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the efforts of the American people, we’ve saved lives, Slowed the Spread, and states are Opening Up Again,” said Vice President Pence. “The new members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force will add expertise in the fields of vaccines and therapeutics as well as worker safety as the Task Force renews its focus on getting Americans back to work,” Pence released in a statement.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2020/05/15/new-members-have-been-added-to-the-wuhan-coronavirus-task-force-n2568917
Imperial College model Britain used to justify lockdown a 'buggy mess', 'totally unreliable', experts claim
The heralded model United Kingdom experts have largely used to guide their coronavirus policies is “totally unreliable,” according to experts.
The criticisms follow a series of policy turnabouts, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to extend the national lockdown. The United States also used the model, which predicted upwards of 2.2 million deaths in the US without proper action. The prediction helped influence the White House to adopt a more serious approach to the pandemic.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/imperial-college-britain-coronavirus-lockdown-buggy-mess-unreliable
The US is Dramatically Overcounting Coronavirus Deaths
Over 86,500 people have reportedly died in the United States from the Coronavirus, and the fear generated by those deaths is driving the public policy debate. But that number is a dramatic overcount. Our metrics include deaths that have nothing to do with the virus. The problem is even worse as the Centers for Disease Control over counts even some of these cases and the government has created financial incentives for this misreporting. Relying on these flawed numbers is destroying businesses and jobs and costing lives.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnrlottjr/2020/05/16/the-us-is-dramatically-overcounting-coronavirus-deaths-n2568925
China faces angry world seeking virus answers at key WHO meeting
At the first meeting of the World Health Organization’s governing body since COVID-19 stormed the globe, China is set to be challenged on two of its most sensitive issues: The Communist Party’s initial handling of the virus and the status of Taiwan’s participation.
While the U.S. has launched a daily barrage of attacks on China, including suggesting the virus escaped from a laboratory in the central city of Wuhan, the European Union and Australia are set to play a key role pushing for a probe into the virus’s origin when the World Health Assembly — the WHO’s decision making body — gathers on Monday for an annual meeting in Geneva.
A U.S.-backed bloc is also pushing for Taiwan, whose handling of the virus has been a rare success story, to attend the meeting as an observer. The move — aimed at strengthening Taiwan’s official and unofficial diplomatic relationships — has angered China, which views the island as a province and has long sought to isolate it on the world stage.
The showdown reflects a broader geopolitical struggle pitting the U.S. and its allies against China, whose authoritarian system has come under scrutiny in the wake of a pandemic that has killed about 300,000 people and devastated the global economy. The U.S. has suspended funding for the WHO, claiming it’s biased toward China, and even suggested setting up an alternative body.
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/05/china-faces-angry-world-seeking-virus-answers-at-key-who-meeting/
The other secrets inside Grenell’s satchel are the key to the biggest political scandal in US history
That satchel that Acting DNI Ric Grenell personally delivered to the Department of Justice on May 7, 2020 was far too big for just a list of the 39 Obama administration officials, including his chief of staff and ambassador to Italy. Those higher ups have been exposed as requesting the unmasking of General Flynn. But there must have been a lot more inside, and that material was voluminous to require a briefcase-sized container, and that is the key to exposing the real extent of the spy operation that President Obama carried out on his political enemies, and the unmasking of General Michael Fynn is just the tip of the iceberg.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/the_emotheremsecrets_inside_grenells_satchel_are_the_key_to_the_biggest_political_scandal_in_us_history.html
Closer Everyday
Find out which facial recognition databases you may be in
Call me paranoid privacy conscious, but I don’t relish the thought of being present in too many government databases. This is especially so given the exorbitant levels of nation-state cyber activity and historically poor U.S. government data protection track records (I am looking at you, OPM). Alas, extensive public services ensure that I am forever associated with Uncle Sam and his environs. But not all hope is lost.
Thankfully, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) created a project aimed at increasing our understanding of government facial recognition databases. The EFF is a well-known non-profit organization dedicated to defending civil liberties in the digital world.
For the creation of this project, titled “Who Has Your Face,” the EFF worked with Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology to review “thousands of pages of public records” and determine the extent to which our photos are being used for facial recognition purposes. This comes in the form of a basic online quiz you can take to view the likelihood that your face is included in various government databases.
In SOFREP, we are major proponents of digital security and privacy. We believe that a core duty of the informed citizenry involves educating oneself on matters involving fundamental rights and civil liberties — of which, we believe, privacy is a part.
Knowing whether my face is in the FBI, Colorado Dept of Public Safety, DHS, DoD, or other databases is a great starting point in assessing the implications of digital encroachment to those fundamental rights.
https://sofrep.com/news/find-out-which-facial-recognition-databases-you-may-be-in/
BlackRock’s Self-Serving Climate Push
In the midst of the bear market resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to politicize financial markets have continued apace, with two-thirds of 400-plus shareholder resolutions filed in 2020 dealing with issues such as climate change, political spending and gender diversity on boards of directors. Now, activists appear to have persuaded many asset managers to support these proposals and push their agenda at public companies on their behalf.
Most notably are new commitments from BlackRock, which can leverage its tremendous assets to pressure companies to hew to its agenda. In fact, if BlackRock’s growth continues at a similar rate, independent research predicts BlackRock could control as much as 40% of the votes in the S&P 500 by the end of the next decade, which means even minor policy changes could have huge implications for public companies.
In January, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, noted that he was committed to pushing companies especially hard on climate change, but also lists board diversity as a key engagement priority.
https://issuesinsights.com/2020/05/15/blackrocks-self-serving-climate-push/
Saudi Arabia impounding 22 ships carrying fuel, food at Jizan port: Official
A official at Yemen's Hudaydah port says Saudi authorities have impounded nearly two dozen ships carrying energy derivatives and food destined for the impoverished and war-ravaged Arab country.
A total of 22 ships are moored at the port city of Jizan in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the unnamed official told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network on Sunday.
The official added that the vessels are loaded with more than half a million tons of oil derivatives, including gasoline and diesel fuel, more than eight thousand tons of gas, 10 thousand tons of flour and 9,000 tons of rice.
Later on Sunday, Reuters reported that a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Aden and offshore of Yemen's port city of Mukalla.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in notice on its website that the attack happened at 1230 GMT on Sunday, noting, “Vessels transiting the area are advised to exercise extreme caution.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/05/17/625552/Saudi-Arabia-impounding-22-ships-carrying-fuel,-food-at-Jizan-port:-Official
Commander of foreign jihadist group assassinated in Syria’s Idlib
BEIRUT, LEBANON (7:20 P.M.) – A commander of a foreign jihadist group was assassinated in the militant-held areas of the Idlib Governorate on Sunday, pro-opposition media reported.
According to the reports, the unnamed commander, who was said to have come to Syria from the Russian Caucasus, was assassinated inside the town of Al-Fou’ah, which is located north of Idlib city.
No further details were released and no group has claimed responsibility for this latest assassination inside the Idlib Governorate.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/commander-of-foreign-jihadist-group-assassinated-in-syrias-idlib/