American jet transporting US ventilators arrives in Russia

Overall, the US is aiming to donate 200 ventilators

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. US C-17 military transport aircraft with first shipment of 50 American ventilators has landed in Moscow’s Vnukovo-3 airport, TASS reports.

Overall, the US is aiming to donate 200 ventilators. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier pointed out that the US is delivering the equipment free of charge, just like Russia previously did with ventilators for Americans. Moreover, Russia in April sent a shipment of medical materials to help Washington to fight the coronavirus spread.

The landing ceremony was attended by US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan and first deputy director general of the Pirogov National Medical and Surgical Center Dmitry Nikitenko, as the center will receive these ventilators, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing.

Earlier, Trump told journalists that ventilators would be sent to Russia if need be. According to the US leader, he made the suggestion during a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on May 7.

https://tass.com/world/1158939

Chechen Leader Kadyrov Hospitalized With Coronavirus in Moscow: Reports – The Moscow Times

Doctors reportedly recommended that Kadyrov go to Moscow after his “condition began deteriorating rapidly.”

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been hospitalized in Moscow with a suspected coronavirus infection, Interfax reported Thursday.

Kadyrov, 43, was reportedly flown to the Russian capital Wednesday, a few days after reporting flu-like symptoms, the Baza Telegram channel reported earlier Thursday. Chechen doctors recommended that Kadyrov seek treatment there after his “condition began deteriorating rapidly,” Baza said.

The Telegram channel cited medical data as saying that Kadyrov has been diagnosed with lung damage and a suspected Covid-19 infection.

“He is under doctors’ supervision,” Interfax cited its source as saying.

A well-known transport tracker said Thursday that a private jet linked to Kadyrov arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport from the Chechen capital of Grozny.

Kadyrov’s official page on Russian social network Vkontakte has posted several updates in the past 24 hours, including posts on his charitable donations and birthday greetings for Russia’s defense minister, but has not yet addressed his alleged infection.

Kadyrov was last active on his Telegram account on Tuesday, while Instagram blocked his page last week.

https://theduran.com/chechen-leader-kadyrov-hospitalized-with-coronavirus-in-moscow-reports-the-moscow-times/

Pennsylvania Congressman Took Hydroxychoroquine to Beat Coronavirus in March

Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, 72, a GOP congressman, was diagnosed with the virus in March and has since recovered, revealed that he took hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 after he was infected with the coronavirus.

He explained some of his symptoms and revealed that he was prescribed hydroxychloroquine during an interview on The View Tuesday. “I thought at first I just had some strain of the flu,” he said. “I didn’t really recognize it as something that I hadn’t had before. My wife, though, was very, very aware of it and said, ‘You know what, you’re sleeping with two blankets on, you’re still cold, you’re not eating, you have no sense of taste, and when you sleep, you’re sleeping like 16 to 18 hours a day, and you’re still tired.'”

Kelly said that within a day of getting tested, “they told me you have the virus, so what we want you to do is stay home, and we’ll prescribe stuff’ So a Z-Pak, which most people use, and then the hydroxychloroquine, I took it. So maybe that reduced the effects on me, but I didn’t have the respiratory part, which is a real blessing.”

Joy Behar, one of the co-hosts of The View, was shocked to hear Kelly was prescribed and took the anti-malarial medication, and said, “Wow. I can’t believe anybody with a brain would take that stuff, but you seem like an intelligent guy,” she responded. “You’re a representative in Congress. Why would you take that drug? There are terrible consequences.”

“I appreciate that’s your view, that’s not my view,” the lawmaker responded. “And we’re on The View, but let me say this to you. In my case, I can’t say definitively that’s what cured me, but I can say definitively that I took it, and I can say that I went through a period of time that I was sick. I came out of it within about nine days, and then I self-quarantined for another month on top of that.”

Hydroxychloroquine is a medication designed to treat malaria and lupus. There has been speculation but no definitive evidence that it can be used to treat the coronavirus. President Trump, who has repeatedly promoted the drug throughout the pandemic, revealed on Monday that he’s been taking it for weeks. The White House physician later said he and Trump decided the “potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks.”

https://thedcpatriot.com/pennsylvania-congressman-took-hydroxychoroquine-to-beat-coronavirus-in-march/

China - Hong Kong Relations: Beijing To Adopt Measure Limiting Pro-Democracy Protests

The measure is the next step to limit Hong Kong's semiautonomous status, granted when the former British colony was handed over to Beijing in 1997

Sometimes violent protests roiled Hong Kong last year and only died down when the coronavirus began spreading

The measure would outlaw "treason, secession, sedition or subversion"

China is planning to clamp down on the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, preparing legislation to limit activities viewed as secessionist and subversive by Beijing, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday. Opposition leaders see the move as a means of limiting the city’s semiautonomous status granted when China regained control from Great Britain in 1997.

Large scale protests, some violent, roiled Hong Kong much of last year, disrupting the economy and angering Beijing, which alleged the unrest was being fomented by foreigners. The protests died down as the coronavirus pandemic erupted.

Quoting sources, the Post reported a resolution was to be introduced Friday at the National People’s Congress, which opened Thursday, that would ban activities aimed at toppling the government and all external interference in Hong Kong’s affairs, as well as target terrorist activities. A vote is expected May 28 after which a legal framework would be developed by the Standing Committee, next scheduled to meet in late June.

“We will ensure the long-term stability of ‘one country, two systems,’” Wang Yang, who heads the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, told the People’s Congress as it opened.

The move is the latest in a series of actions to tighten Beijing’s control of the city since its handover nearly a quarter-century ago. At the outset, China pledged to allow Hong Kong relative autonomy but that attitude has changed since Xi Jinping took control of the Communist Party. Hong Kong’s government has not enacted its own security law outlawing “treason, secession, sedition or subversion” amid opposition from city residents.

The Post said Beijing believes the inability of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to adopt a national security law makes it necessary for the People’s Congress to act. Council elections are scheduled for September, and pro-democracy leaders see them as an opportunity to win a majority block that could derail all government-sponsored bills.

“We can no longer allow acts like desecrating national flags or defacing of the national emblem in Hong Kong,” a source told the Post, adding, “The new law will be introduced in Hong Kong through promulgation, without the need for local legislation.”

Zhang Yesui, a diplomat who served as the vice minister of foreign affairs and party committee secretary for the People's Republic of China, told a news conference the bill is aimed at improving “enforcement mechanisms.”

Beijing loyalist Stanley Ng, a Hong Kong deputy to the Peoples Congress, said the protests must be quelled if the city is to survive.

“The social unrest last year showed that the Hong Kong government was unable to handle passing [national security legislation] on its own,” Ng said.

https://www.ibtimes.com/china-hong-kong-relations-beijing-adopt-measure-limiting-pro-democracy-protests-2980281

Party of Science Still Sticking COVID-19 Victims in Nursing Homes, Because Science

Democrats like to portray themselves as The Party of Science, so why are they still sticking COVID-19 victims in nursing homes in Democrat-run Minnesota?

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on Wednesday that “Minnesota nursing homes are still being allowed by state regulators to admit coronavirus patients who have been discharged from hospitals.”

This, despite the fact that nursing homes represent a whopping four out of five COVID-19 related death in the Democrat-run North Star State. The official figure is 81%.

Has the Party of Science learned nothing?

At the very best, they’re learning very slowly. The Star-Tribune reports that the “practice is drawing strong opposition from some lawmakers” who are “calling for more state scrutiny over transfers.”

So if I’m reading this correctly, there are a few Minnesota lawmakers who want state regulators who are already putting the infected in with the vulnerable, to finally take a closer look at that, approximately 629 dead nursing home residents later.

You have to read down to the fifth paragraph to learn that the one lawmaker reporter Chris Serres quoted actually calling for something to change is Sen. Karin Housley, a Republican.

In New York, where card-carrying Party of Science member Andrew Cuomo runs the show, the situation is even worse — including a coverup. As late as April 23, Cuomo still insisted that nursing homes “don’t have a right to object” to his executive order forcing them to take in COVID-19 patients.

“That is the rule,” he said, “and that is the regulation and they have to comply with that.”

Two weeks later Cuomo finally backed down, and last week the Daily Caller revealed that New York admitted to “knowingly undercounting nursing home deaths after quietly changing reporting rules” for COVID-19.

The Party of Science’s nursing home death toll in New York is now well over 5,000, at least according to the latest reporting rules. Who knows what rule changes might come in the future.

This same Party of Science has corrupted actual scientists’ ability to gather data about COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes or anywhere else.

Townhall’s Derek Hunter reported on Sunday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — no bastion of conservative thought in recent years — issued a guideline explicitly encouraging the medical community to inflate the number of deaths attributed to the Wuhan virus.

Hunter noted a CDC directive entitled, “New ICD code introduced for COVID-19 deaths,” that concluded with how to count deaths.

It suggests that doctors should report COVID-19 as the cause of death “for all decedents where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death.”

I didn’t add the boldface for emphasis, and neither did Hunter — the CDC did that.

Running up the COVID-19 numbers based on unproven or unverified assumptions — Party of Science!

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stephen-green/2020/05/21/party-of-science-still-sticking-covid-19-victims-in-nursing-homes-because-science-n412829

IMF Chief Asks Banks To Halt All Buybacks And Dividends

While certain companies have continued with their buybacks even if it might seem ill-advised from a corporate strategy standpoint, banks have mostly abstained, while plunging profits have prompted some to suspend their dividends.

That's probably for the best, according to a new opinion column published in the FT by the head of the IMF. As shares of banks around the world take a pounding thanks to the twin headwinds of low interest rates and a bleak economic outlook, we suspect more management teams - perhaps at the behest of activists nipping at their heels, or simply to try and hit their performance targets - might relapse and indulge once again in corporate America's favorite mechanism for returning capital to shareholders.

Unfortunately, returning capital to shareholders is not what banks should be doing right now, according to the IMF's Kristalina Georgieva, who penned a column in today's FT calling on banks to stop all buybacks and dividends and shore up cash to ensure they have adequate capital buffers to withstand any turbulence that might be coming down the pike.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/imf-chief-asks-banks-halt-all-buybacks-and-dividends

Leading Neocon Directs Pentagon Middle East Planning

The Global War on Terror or GWOT was declared in the wake of 9/11 by President George W. Bush. It basically committed the United States to work to eliminate all “terrorist” groups worldwide, whether or not the countries being targeted agreed that they were beset by terrorists and whether or not they welcomed U.S. “help.” The GWOT was promoted with brain-dead expressions like “there’s a new sheriff in town” which, after the destruction of large parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, later morphed into the matrix of the God-awful belief that something called “American Exceptionalism” existed.

With a national election lurking on the horizon we will no doubt be hearing more about Exceptionalism from various candidates seeking to support the premise that the United States can interfere in every country on the planet because it is, as the expression goes, exceptional. That is generally how Donald Trump and hardline Republicans see the world, that sovereignty exercised by foreign governments is and should be limited by the reach of the U.S. military. Surrounding a competitor with military bases and warships is a concept that many in Washington are currently trying to sell regarding a suitable response to the Chinese economic and political challenge.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo puts it another way, that the U.S. is a “force for good,” but it was former Secretary Madeleine Albright who expressed the fantasy best, stating that “…if we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future, and we see the danger here to all of us.” She also said that the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children through U.S. imposed sanctions was “…a very hard choice, but the price — we think the price is worth it.” That is the basic credo of the liberal interventionists. Either way, the U.S. gets to make the decisions over life and death, which, since the GWOT began, have destroyed or otherwise compromised the lives of millions of people, mostly concentrated in Asia.

One aspect of the American heavy footprint that is little noted is the ruin of many formerly functioning countries that it brings with it. Iraq and Libya might have been dictatorships before the U.S. intervened, but they gave their people a higher standard of living and more security than has been the case ever since. Libya, destroyed by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, had the highest standard of living in Africa. Iraq is currently one of the world’s most corrupt countries, so corrupt that there have been massive street demonstrations recently against the government’s inability to do anything good for the its own people. Electricity and water supplies are, for example, less reliable than before the U.S. intervened seventeen years ago.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/05/21/leading-neocon-directs-pentagon-middle-east-planning/

Trump Is "Exposing The Deep State Like No One Since JFK", Former CIA Spook

With every new revelation about what President Trump calls “Obamagate,” you see the curtain being torn down and revealing the corrupt players who were running America and attacking our Republic.

Former CIA Officer and counter-terrorism expert Kevin Shipp, who wrote a book about the Deep State called “From the Company of Shadows,” says any hint that POTUS is a tool of the Deep State is preposterous.

Shipp explains, “That is absolutely ridiculous…"

"Donald Trump has confronted the Shadow Government and Deep State more than any other president in history, and that includes JFK. JFK did, of course, confront the Deep State and we saw what happened there.

There has been no other president that has had the guts to expose the Shadow Government and Deep State like Donald Trump has. What has the Deep State done? They have gone after him with a vengeance. Why would the Deep State attack their own with attacks to try to destroy him and his family if he wasn’t threatening to expose the Deep State? No, he’s not a Deep State president. He’s not perfect. We all know that. There are members of his cabinet that we are concerned about with connections to some of the central banks. We all know that, but Donald Trump is not Deep State. He is splitting the Deep State wide open.

Look what DNI Rick Grenell just presented to the President. He authorized for release of names of all the unmaskers. Trump is exposing the Deep State, and, personally, I am proud of him because I have been waiting for this for 20 years for a president to come out and expose these things.”

On the virus crisis, Shipp says it’s turned into a political weapon for the Left. Shipp contends, “They (Democrats) want to delay any solution to the Coronavirus until the election so they can keep the economy ruined and point the finger at Donald Trump…"

"That’s one of the things they want to do. They also want mail-in ballots because that is one of the easiest ways to engage in election fraud. There is a report that just came out that people are getting mail-in ballots that already have the Democrat party checked on the box when they open it up, and they are not Democrats.

You better believe they are going to try to engage in voter fraud using mail-in ballots. There is no doubt about it because they are going to lose badly, and they know it. So, they have to do that. You bet.”

https://youtu.be/UjFew1RLzlc

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-exposing-deep-state-no-one-jfk-former-cia-spook

Andrew Weissmann Reportedly Hosting Virtual Biden Campaign Fundraiser

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Former lead prosecutor Andrew Weissmann is reportedly hosting a virtual fundraiser for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. The event is set for June 2nd and will feature the former attorney general of New Jersey Anne Milgram.

Weissmann has long been criticized for his immoral actions and is known for his anti-Trump sentiment.

In 1997, Weissmann was “reprimanded by a judge in the Eastern District of New York for withholding evidence,” according to Sara A. Carter’s reporting. In 2016, he was also reported to the Department of Justice Inspector General and Senate Judiciary Committee for alleged “corrupt legal practices,” according to documents and the attorney involved in a whistleblower case reviewed by Carter.

He was described as Mueller’s “Pitbull” for his legal strategy.

During his time in the Special Counsel’s office, Weissmann mainly oversaw the case against Paul Manafort, who was recently released from prison amid the novel coronavirus pandemic to serve the remainder of his sentence from home.

Weissmann later left his role at the Special Counsel’s office in 2019.

https://saraacarter.com/andrew-weissmann-reportedly-hosting-virtual-biden-campaign-fundraiser/

Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham Military Commander Assassinated In Idlib City

On May 21, a commander of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was assassinated in Idlib’s city center in northwest Syria.

According to HTS sources, the commander, known as Abu al-Harith al-Hamui, was killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) ripped through his SUV in the northern part of Idlib city. The incident took place in the morning.

Abu al-Harith, whose real name is Anas Nabahan, was reportedly a senior military commander of HTS. He is originally from the town of Janat Elsawarneh in the northeastern countryside of Hama.

No side has claimed responsibility for the assassination, thus far. However, HTS commanders are usually targeted by ISIS cells, or even the Syrian intelligence.

The assassination of Abu al-Harith came at a time when HTS is desperately working to rebuild its military capabilities. The terrorist group’s grip over Greater Idlib was weakened after the recent Syrian military operation. Nevertheless, it is still the largest group there.

https://southfront.org/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-military-commander-assassinated-in-idlib-city-photos/

Trump Extends Emergency Executive Order Allowing To Use Force To Secure US Oil Buisiness In Iraq

On May 20th, US President Donald Trump signed a decree to extend the National Emergency with Respect to the Stabilization of Iraq.

This is a continuation of an executive order issued by former US President George W. Bush back on May 22nd, 2003.

It establishes a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by obstacles to the orderly reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq.

The obstacles (namely ISIS terrorists, and Iranian influence) to the reconstruction of Iraq and “the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq” still pose a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US, according to the decree.

As a result, the national emergency is being extended by 1 year.

In 2003, the goal of the state of emergency was to provide legal protection for the interests of American companies operating in the oil sector of the Iraqi economy.

17 years later, this hasn’t changed, the “national emergency” occupation continues and is unlikely to end, since Iran shares a border with Iraq and is sure to have a justifiable amount of influence to perpetuate the protection of US companies exploiting Iraq’s oil resources indefinitely.

And as if to reinforce that threat, a rocket landed in Baghdad’s green zone, not too far from the US embassy.

The rocket hit an empty house and there were no injuries nor casualties.

The rocket was launched from an eastern district of Baghdad, according to the statement, and was the first to land in the high-security zone in weeks.

The blast could be heard across Baghdad and triggered security sirens at the US embassy compound, security forces told AFP news agency. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The United States blames a series of rocket attacks near or on bases hosting its troops this year on Iran-aligned groups, although those groups have not claimed them.

The US hopes to reset the relationship with Iraq since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took the helm earlier this month, with bilateral talks planned for June.

The negotiations are expected to set a framework for the presence of US troops, which deployed to Iraq in 2014 to lead a coalition fighting back the ISIL (ISIS) group.

On May 17th, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US “will not be staying either in Iraq or Syria and must withdraw and will certainly be expelled”.

https://southfront.org/trump-extends-emergency-executive-order-allowing-to-use-force-to-secure-us-oil-buisiness-in-iraq/

Crisis In Idlib: Ansar al-Islam Militant Group Begs For Money

Ansar al-Islam, one of several terrorist groups occupying Greater Idlib, has acknowledged that it is going through a financial crisis, calling on its supporters to donate.

In an official statement released on May 19, the group begged wealthy Muslims to donate money for its artillery, sniper and anti-tank units. The group said it desperately needs the funds to reactivate these important units.

“We urge the good people of the Muslims to support us because our resources are limited and we urgently need to activate these deadly weapons,” the statement reads.

The group added that its artillery unit is the most in need for support. The group claimed it needs the artillery to “repel attacks” by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies.

Ansar al-Islam, originally based in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, formed its branch in southern Syria in 2014. The branch was established by three factions [the Osama bin Zaid Brigade, the Al Ezz bin Abdul Salam Brigade and the al-Adiyat Battalion] which merged with each other. In 2015, new branch in Idlib was established.

In 2018, the terrorist group joined the al-Qaeda-affiliated Wa Harid al-Muminin operations room, which occupies some areas of Greater Idlib.

Ansar al-Islam’s cry for help reveals the miserable situation of the remaining terrorists in Greater Idlib. While the group is demanding more money for its useless, ragtag war machine, thousands of civilians in the region are suffering from poverty, displacement and hunger.

Terrorist groups like Ansar al-Islam should be fully neutralized, according to the recent Russian-Turkish agreement on Greater Idlib. Yet, they are taking advantage of the ceasefire to rebuild their military capabilities.

https://southfront.org/crisis-in-idlib-ansar-al-islam-militant-group-begs-for-money/

NOTE

Is this related, below? There have been unknown drone strikes over the last few week in Northern Syria. Is this the white hats?

Mysterious Drone Strike Targets SUV Loaded With Cash In Northern Syria

On May 21 morning, a mysterious drone strike targeted a vehicle in the district of Jandaris in the northern part of the Turkish-occupied area of Afrin.

The vehicle, a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, was struck as it was moving on a road between the towns of al-Ghazawyah and al-Iskan. The precision strike completely destroyed the vehicle. According to several sources, two unidentified individuals, who were aboard the vehicle, were killed, while a third was severely injured.

Opposition activists said that the SUV was carrying loads of cash, mainly foreign currencies. Some activists claimed that the U.S. was behind the drone strike. Nevertheless, there is no information confirming this.

The strike in Afrin coincided with another, which targeted a vehicle in the nearby region of Greater Idlib. The strike, that took place near the town of Hazano, didn’t result in any casualties.

Activists claimed that the vehicle struck near Hazano was also loaded with cash. While some accused the U.S, others said it was the Syrian military and its allies that targeted the vehicle.

U.S. drones carried out a series of strikes on ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists in northern Syria recently. Drones believed to be operated by Damascus’ allies were also behind several airstrikes on Turkish-backed militants. It’s still unclear what side was behind the new strikes.

https://southfront.org/mysterious-drone-strike-targets-suv-loaded-with-cash-in-northern-syria-video-photos/

>>9266970

Sorry wrong video

ASSANGE EXTRADITION: UK Minister Who Approved Trump’s Request to Extradite Assange Spoke at Secretive US Conferences with People Calling for Him to be ‘Neutralized’

Britain’s former home secretary attended “starlight chats” and “after-dinner cocktails” in off-the-record conferences involving high-level U.S. military and intelligence figures, report Mark Curtis and Matt Kennard.

Sajid Javid, who was Britain’s home secretary from April 2018 to July 2019, attended “starlight chats” and “after-dinner cocktails” in a series of off-the-record conferences involving high-level U.S. military and intelligence figures at a five-star island resort off the coast of Georgia. Many of those attending have been exposed in WikiLeaks publications and have demanded the organization be shut down.

Javid signed the Trump administration’s extradition request for Assange in June 2019. He was Britain’s chancellor until his recent resignation. One of the criteria under which a British home secretary can block extradition to the U.S. is if “the person could face the death penalty.”

The month before being appointed home secretary in April 2018, Javid visited Georgia for the “world forum” of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) — an influential neoconservative U.S. organization with close ties to the U.S. intelligence community. The AEI has run a campaign against WikiLeaks and Assange since 2010.

It can now be revealed [this article was first published on Feb. 22, 2020] that Javid spoke at the 2018 meeting, as did Jonah Goldberg, a fellow at the AEI who has called for Assange to be “garroted.” In a column published on the AEI website, Goldberg wrote: “WikiLeaks is easily among the most significant and well-publicised breaches of American national security since the Rosenbergs gave the Soviets the bomb. So again, I ask: Why wasn’t Assange garroted in his hotel room years ago? It’s a serious question.”

Bill Kristol, a close associate of the AEI who also spoke in Georgia with Javid, has written a column titled “Whack WikiLeaks” in which he asked: “Why can’t we use our various assets to harass, snatch or neutralize Julian Assange and his collaborators, wherever they are? Why can’t we disrupt and destroy WikiLeaks in both cyberspace and physical space, to the extent possible?” Kristol’s article was promoted on social media by another AEI fellow who spoke in Georgia with Javid.

Both Goldberg and Kristol spoke at all four of the AEI’s world fora that Javid attended from 2014 to 2018.

Assange and the AEI

The AEI has been running a campaign against WikiLeaks—and Assange specifically — throughout the U.S. media since 2010. The organization’s website lists 20 articles or events tagged with “Julian Assange” and 43 articles tagged with “WikiLeaks,” all of which are negative.

AEI resident fellow Marc A. Thiessen has written numerous articles demonizing Assange and the work of WikiLeaks. One article titled, “WikiLeaks must be stopped,” which is published on the AEI website, concludes, “If left unmolested, Assange will become even bolder and inspire others to imitate his example.” Another article in May 2019, also on the AEI website, is titled, “Assange is a spy, not a journalist. He deserves prison.” Thiessen attended all the same annual AEI fora as Javid from 2014-18.

In 2012, the AEI sponsored an event in Washington, D.C., called “Assange’s asylum in Correa’s Ecuador: Last refuge for scoundrels?” hosted by the AEI’s visiting fellow Roger F. Noriega, another figure critical of Assange. The question to be answered was listed as, “Can Ecuador’s president successfully whitewash his image by advancing Assange’s anti-American crusade?”

Sajid Javid and the American Enterprise Institute did not respond to requests for comment.

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/05/21/assange-extradition-uk-minister-who-approved-trumps-request-to-extradite-assange-spoke-at-secretive-us-conferences-with-people-calling-for-him-to-be-neutralized/

Pastor Admits Sexually Abusing An Infant. In October, He Pleaded Guilty To Abusing Another Child For Years.

PHILADELPHIA — A Hatboro, Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to charges of manufacturing and attempted manufacturing of child pornography. These charges arose from the defendant’s sexual abuse of an infant and his videotaping of that abuse, following an investigation by HSI Philadelphia, the Horsham Police Department, and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

“Homeland Security Investigations is committed to protecting the children and youth of our communities who are most vulnerable to online predators,” said Brian A. Michael, special agent in charge for HSI Philadelphia. “When a criminal places a record of that abuse online or in other public forums, the abuse continues and can resurface throughout the victim’s life. HSI and our law enforcement partners are committed to finding, and bringing to justice, those who exploit children.”

Investigators found the video of the infant, which was created in 2010, while preparing for 71-year-old Jerry Zweitzig’s sentencing hearing in a separate child exploitation case filed by this Office. In that previous case, Zweitzig was charged in May 2019 with five counts of manufacturing and attempted manufacturing of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Those charges arose from the defendant’s sexual exploitation of a different child over a period of years, his photographing and videotaping of his sexual abuse of that child, and his extensive collection of child pornography involving thousands of other children. Zweitzig pleaded guilty to all of those counts in October 2019.

He was previously a pastor at the now-closed Horsham Bible Church.

“Sexual exploitation of a minor of any age, let alone an infant, is utterly reprehensible and will be met with swift justice,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Because of the excellent forensic work by our partners at Homeland Security Investigations, we uncovered this additional crime, ensuring that the defendant will now be held accountable for his actions. Working with all of our law enforcement partners, my Office will continue to identify and punish sexual predators to protect our children and our communities.”

On June 16, 2020, the defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on both cases by United States District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 200 years’ imprisonment, a mandatory minimum term of 15 years, between five years and a lifetime of supervised release, a $1,750,000 fine, mandatory restitution, and a $700 special assessment.

https://breaking911.com/pastor-admits-sexually-abusing-an-infant-in-october-he-pleaded-guilty-to-abusing-another-child-for-years/

Chinese National Applied For 20 Million In Coronavirus Relief Loans: Feds

Federal officials in New York announced today the arrest of Muge Ma, a/k/a “Hummer Mars,” a Chinese national residing in Manhattan, for a fraudulent scheme to obtain over $20 million in Government-guaranteed loans designed to provide relief to small businesses during the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. In connection with loan applications for relief available from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) Program, MA falsely represented to the SBA and five financial institutions that his companies, New York International Capital LLC (“NYIC”) and Hurley Human Resources LLC (“Hurley”), had hundreds of employees and paid millions of dollars in wages to those employees, when, in fact, MA appears to have been the only employee of his companies. MA’s company NYIC also fraudulently represented that it was representing New York State in procuring COVID-19 test kits and personal protective equipment to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. MA was arrested this morning and will be presented later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Muge Ma, a/k/a ‘Hummer Mars,’ allegedly attempted to secure over $20 million in Government-guaranteed loans intended for businesses devastated by the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. In furtherance of the scheme, Ma allegedly falsely represented in his applications to banks and the SBA to own two companies with hundreds of employees to whom he paid millions in wages. As alleged, Ma described one of the companies as a ‘patriotic American’ firm, and said of the other company that it would ‘help the country reduce the high unemployment rate caused by the pandemic by helping unemployed American workers and unemployed American fresh graduates find jobs as quickly as possible.’ In truth, Ma appears to be the only employee of either company and had no legitimate claim to the funds for which he applied. Ma’s alleged attempts to secure funds earmarked for legitimate small businesses in dire financial straits are as audacious as they are callous, and now he now faces federal prosecution. Small businesses are facing uncertainty and unprecedented challenges, the least of which should be opportunists attempting to loot the federal funds meant to assist them. This Office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to vigilantly protect the integrity of those critical loan programs.”

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr said: “There are many people in desperate need of federal money right now to get them through an unbelievably difficult time. The last thing they need to hear is that a fraudster allegedly tried to steal millions of dollars for his own selfish use. We hope this serves as a demonstration to other criminals plotting a similar scam – we are acting and investigating in real time to stop anyone using this crisis as a means to rip off the federal government and the tax payers who fund that government.”

SBA OIG Eastern Region Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kupperbusch said: “Providing false statements to gain access to SBA’s programs will be aggressively investigated by our office. SBA OIG and its law enforcement partners are poised to root out fraud in SBA’s programs and bring wrongdoers to justice. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and pursuit of justice.”

IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen said: “As many American businesses are struggling to survive during these difficult times, it is alleged that Mr. Ma sought to steal millions of dollars in loans intended to assist legitimate businesses. Make no mistake about it, IRS-CI is committed to investigating and bringing to justice those individuals who defraud coronavirus relief programs.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

https://breaking911.com/chinese-national-applied-for-20-million-in-coronavirus-relief-loans-feds/

Koch-Soros Think Tank Features Defender of Chinese Censorship

Kaiser Kuo has argued that censorship can save lives and that some societies aren’t ready for the right to freedom of association

A defender of internet censorship with ties to one of China's largest tech companies moderated a panel Thursday at a new think tank funded by Charles Koch and George Soros.

Kaiser Kuo, the former director of international communications for the Chinese search giant Baidu, led a panel discussion hosted by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft on "Anti-Asian Racism and its Implications for Civil Liberties and National Security."

Kuo has argued that the Chinese Communist Party's rigorous domestic censorship of unflattering facts and information about the regime has, at times, saved lives and that some cultures, including present-day China, are not ready for what is widely recognized as a core human right: the freedom of association.

"I would love to say that Chinese society has reached the point where we should have the right to free assembly," Kuo told iTnews, an Australian digital outlet, in 2010. "But in reality, today assembly in China can have violent consequences. … Perhaps, and I hate to say this, some cultures aren't ready for free assembly."

The event coincides with signals from Chinese leadership on Thursday that the country is moving to strip Hong Kong citizens of their right to free assembly enshrined by the former British colony's Basic Law.

Kuo facilitated discussion between Stanford University professor Gordon H. Chang, Jewish Currents editor-at-large Peter Beinart, and Quincy Institute research fellow Jessica Lee.

Participants argued that racism against Asian-Americans, spurred in part by President Donald Trump's leadership during the pandemic, is harmful to U.S. national security. Lee referred to the "potential origin" of the virus in China and argued that the U.S. government has been "exaggerating the threat from China with inflammatory language."

The Quincy Institute has sought to position itself as a leading voice for accommodating China's rise and has launched repeated broadsides at critics of Chinese president Xi Jinping who are pushing the United States to take a harder line on issues ranging from Chinese trade policy to the country's military expansion in the South China Sea. Writers for its blog, Responsible Statecraft, have also equated Chinese malfeasance with that of the United States, arguing that maintaining sanctions against adversaries during the coronavirus pandemic is a "defiance" of liberal-democratic norms.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/koch-soros-think-tank-features-defender-of-chinese-censorship/

Trump hits the swing states, even with campaign battle in coronavirus limbo

President Trump arrived in Michigan on Thursday to tour a Ford Motor Company plant that’s producing ventilators for hospitals in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

Ford repurposed its manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti and teamed up with General Electric to quickly manufacture ventilators as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) used by health care workers and first responders on the front lines in the fight against the outbreak.

The trip will be the latest stop on a tour the president kicked off earlier this month to thank businesses producing PPE and important medical equipment. He made similar stops at a medical equipment distributor in Pennsylvania last week and two weeks ago at a facility in Arizona that is manufacturing surgical masks.

"I want to thank you, because you're making America proud," Trump told the workers at the medical distribution company in Allenstown, Pa., last week.

But the visits also help Trump spotlight his administration’s efforts steering the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, which could boost public confidence in the job he’s doing combating the crisis. Further, the trips have allowed him to make stops – and grab plenty of local media attention – in some of the most crucial states in November’s presidential election.

While the White House emphasizes that the visits are official in nature and that there’s absolutely “no involvement or coordination” with Trump’s reelection team, they do have some of the trappings of the Trump campaign rallies that the president seeks to soon resume. And that’s led critics to accuse the president of “wasting taxpayer dollars” as he visits crucial states he needs to carry to win reelection — even as the general election battle between him and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is still largely being waged in a series of virtual events.

“These are official events fully executed from beginning to end by the White House with no involvement or coordination with the campaign,” deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere told Fox News.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-hits-the-swing-states-even-with-campaign-battle-in-coronavirus-limbo

News Stories Avoid Naming Israel

There are two stories that seem to have been under-reported in the past couple of weeks. The first involves Michael Flynn’s dealings with the Russian United Nations Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. And the second describes yet another bit of espionage conducted by a foreign country directed against the United States. Both stories involve the State of Israel.

The bigger story is, of course, the dismissal by Attorney General William Barr of the criminal charges against former National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn based on malfeasance by the FBI investigators. The curious aspect of the story as it is being related by the mainstream media is that it repeatedly refers to Flynn as having unauthorized contacts with the Russian Ambassador and then having lied about it. The implication is that there was something decidedly shady about Flynn talking to the Russians and that the Russians were up to something.

In reality, the part left out of the story is that the phone call to Kislyak on December 22, 2016, was made by Flynn at the direction of Jared Kushner, who in turn had been approached by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu had learned that the Obama Administrating was going to abstain on a United Nations vote condemning the Israeli settlements policy, meaning that for the first time in years a U.N. resolution critical of Israel would pass without drawing a U.S. veto. Kushner, acting for Netanyahu, asked Flynn to contact each delegate from the various countries on the Security Council to delay or kill the resolution. Flynn agreed to do so, which included a call to the Russians. Kislyak took the call but did not agree to veto Security Council Resolution 2334, which passed unanimously on December 23rd.

In taking the phone calls from a soon-to-be senior American official who would within weeks be part of a new administration in Washington, the Russians did nothing wrong, but the media is acting like there was some kind of Kremlin conspiracy seeking to undermine U.S. democracy. It would not be inappropriate to have some conversations with an incoming government team and Kislyak also did nothing that might be regarded as particularly responsive to Team Trump overtures since he voted contrary to Flynn’s request.

The phone call made at the request of Israel was neither benign nor ethical as the Barack Administration was still in power and managing the nation’s foreign policy. At the time, son-in-law Jared Kushner was Trump’s point man on the Middle East. He and his family have extensive ties both to Israel and to Netanyahu personally, to include Netanyahu’s staying at the Kushner family home in New York. The Kushner Family Foundation has funded some of Israel’s illegal settlements and also a number of conservative political groups in that country. Jared has served as a director of that foundation and it is reported that he failed to disclose the relationship when he filled out his background investigation sheet for a security clearance. All of which suggests that if you are looking for possible foreign government collusion with the incoming Trumpsters, look no further.

https://russia-insider.com/en/news-stories-avoid-naming-israel/ri30344

The Real Virus is Communism (Satanism)

CCP = Chinese Communist Party

"The virus is merely a device to drive the plot, but it has no real relevance; in fact THE CCP IS THE REAL VIRUS. The CCP was created by a cabal who brought you Karl Marx and central banking; it's their tool to move the world to One World Order."

"The goals of this operation are obvious; make people live in fear (you can get them to do almost anything to themselves), take away independent means of income to create dependency (destroy small business), pass draconian laws to vaccinate the entire population (to alter their DNA, destroying humanity), provide fiat credit to businesses you deem essential (promote the monopolies), eliminate the useless eaters and remold everything into One World Order."

This virus is real, people have actually died from it, but so far it's more like a bad flu than the "Ebola" promoted by the media and some government officials.

Because it can reinfect people, it's always possible things could get worse during the next wave…or not.

Many call it the CCPVirus because it was created (or stolen) by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), released on accident or on purpose by the CCP in China and elsewhere, and it was covered up by the CCP to further the spread.

Ninety-five percent of the damage worldwide could have been avoided if the CCP had been transparent and honest with outside health officials. The CCP is using the virus to gain advantages; they don't care if they lose 100m Chinese, they have too many people anyway.

The CCP is fundamentally against Truth, Compassion and Tolerance (see faluninfo.net). They use slave labor, harvest organs and persecute innocent Falun Gong, Christians and Muslims – the CCP is the definition of evil.

Many high level government officials around the world are aligned with the CCP. Hotbeds of the virus are where the CCP has been welcomed (NY, Italy, etc). Lockdowns are the symptom of CCP infiltration and influence.

Like a McGuffin in a Hitchcock movie, the virus is a patsy, a device to drive the plot, but it has no real relevance; in fact THE CCP IS THE REAL VIRUS people need to eliminate. The CCP was created by a cabal who brought you Karl Marx and central banking; it's their tool to reach their goal to move the world from duality (communism and monopoly capitalism) and to impose the One World Order.

https://www.henrymakow.com/2020/05/virus-infecting-humanity-is-communism.html

Nearly 200 people arrested and two shot as hundreds of revelers hit the beach in their trucks for Texas' annual Go Topless Jeep weekend celebration despite social distancing orders

Nearly 200 people were arrested and two men were shot at the massive annual Go Topless Jeep Weekend celebration in Texas, where hundreds packed onto a beach in their pickup trucks for a day of drinking and partying.

Hundreds of Jeep vehicles and four-wheelers were gathered on Crystal Beach for the Jeep festival on Bolivar Peninsula, an annual event where Texans come out in their trucks, wave American and Confederate flags, and enjoy the sun and sand.

Hundreds of youngsters were seen ignoring social distancing orders as they piled into their trucks and swam in the water.

Overall 189 people were arrested and jailed over the weekend, a majority of the arrests being misdemeanor crimes, including driving while intoxicated, and traffic citations, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said Monday according to 12NewsNow.

Two men were shot at the event when a man fired into a group of people just before midnight Saturday, the second day of the weekend event, following an altercation.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2020/05/nearly-200-people-arrested-and-two-shot.html

Does Big Tech censorship ultimately fail, giving more legitimacy to the content it tries to hide?

Although it seems quick and easy to do and get away with, especially when you watch giant tech corporations do it these days – censorship might actually be hard to pull off when all’s said and done.

The crucial reason, that entrepreneur and YouTube personality Patrick Bet-David explores is this – does censorship even work?

Even before the “viral” capability to spread information on the web came about, regimes struggled to make censored information go away, provoking instead more interest in what’s forbidden.

But now, with the network effect, YouTube deleting a video to silence an issue or a person will likely lead to more eyes on it that would have been the case otherwise, he argues.

Ultimately, censorship doesn’t work, Bet-David concludes, because visibility of censored content grows exponentially on social networks, by that very fact increasing the likelihood of the ideas that are suppressed gaining more, not less credibility.

Human nature plays into this as most people are intrinsically and instinctively “rebellious,” this YouTuber tells his audience of 2.3 million subscribers.

Bet-David brings up two issues that have come up lately as he is putting together and publishing his content: his failed idea to host both Judy Mikovits and her critic, YouTuber know as Dr Mike; and, complaints from Republicans (that apparently surface in comments left on his videos) that their politics and ideology are being denied a voice on social and other media.

(A clip from Mikovits’ upcoming documentary “Plandemic” has recently been deleted by YouTube and Facebook as conspiracy; she agreed to a Bet-David hosted YouTube discussion, but Dr Mike canceled after confirming.)

And while censorship is impossible in the US at government-level, he says – powerful corporations can and will use it. He describes Democrats as “strategic” – having invested in controlling the narrative to the point of now being capable of controlling the audience and “dictating the next 50 years” – as opposed to Republicans’ focus on “the money – without an audience.”

Implying that Democrats do in fact own – figuratively and/or literally – social media platforms and corporate media outlets, Bet-David’s advice to people is to use that money they have to create, or buy, their own platforms.

“The next time a media platform censors – it’s going to happen! – why don’t you go to your party and ask them how come they’re not creating more media platforms,” he says.

https://reclaimthenet.org/censorship-backfire/

Galloway: Blair is last person to advise on the safety of our children… I saw his demonic grin when he heard about dead Iraqi kids

Seldom far from the centre of events, newly emboldened Tony Blair returns to what he knows best – the avoidable slaughter of the innocents.

Britain’s foremost expert on the deaths of children in the service of profits and politics, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, has made a significant intervention in the fierce national controversy over the return of our children to school on June 1. Full disclosure: none of my four school-age children will be returning until the children of the British elites return to their expensive private schools – currently slated for September.

The government had been toiling in its efforts to persuade the British public of the wisdom of such an early return – not least because it applied only to the state sector – with scientists, public health authorities (and the British Medical Association) and teaching trades unions. Several Labour-controlled local authorities, including Liverpool, had outright defied 10 Downing Street and declared they would not be complying.

Enter the Triffid.

Drawing on what he called “the evidence” (not to be confused with the bilge he proffered before the British Parliament to successfully persuade the assorted dupes and villains that Iraq was bristling with WMDs and in hot pursuit of nuclear weapons) and the “experts” (not to be confused with the British weapons expert Dr. David Kelly who ended up dead in the woods, as he’d predicted he would, after trying to tip off the British media that Blair was lying about Iraq) Mr. Blair assured us all was well.

From 1998 until 2003, as the only British member of Parliament then travelling to Iraq, I repeatedly tried to interest Mr. Blair in the topic of the mass destruction of Iraqi children by the siege on their country insisted upon most strongly by his own government.

I found him surprisingly unmoved given the religion he wore on his sleeve and the growing number of children in his own family.

He affected to believe that the mass slaughter of Iraqi kids (infamously acknowledged by the then-US ambassador to the UN, Madeleine Albright, to be at that time half a million children) was exaggerated, even invented.

When I told him that I had actually been at mass funerals, had helped lower the little white coffins into the ground amidst the wailing of their mothers, had actually seen, smelt, even tasted the filth and squalor of the sanctioned Iraqi children’s wards, he looked at me with a demonic rictus grin on his face, the wickedness of which has literally never left me.

And of course, together with George W. Bush, he would go on to help kill more such children, with his invasion and occupation of Iraq, the deliberate fanning of the flames of sectarian hatred – which consumed first Iraq, then much of the Middle East. In those flames was forged the madness of ISIS itself.

What I’m trying to say is, that with the possible exception of Henry Kissinger, the oldest living war-criminal, the very last man on Earth I would take advice on the safety of children from would be the Rt Hon Tony Blair PC.

The more he talked of how safe our children would be returning to the killing fields of the coronavirus, the faster I counted the corpses.

It’s not that I don’t want to hear Tony Blair speak. It’s just, as the Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle said, I want to hear him speak from the dock at The Hague.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/489367-uk-school-return-blair/

>>9267319

TOP KEK

NOTABLE

>>9267319