Our Media Are Themselves A Deadly Societal Pathogen:

Media botched the virus crisis and made it ‘worse’: Poll.

Just when the public needed the media to play it straight, the growing bias in the press let them down and made the coronavirus crisis “worse than it needed to be,” according to a new analysis.

Already facing a substantial trust gap, the latest Gallup/Knight Foundation survey found that people in the United States were concerned about the media exaggerating the illness or downplaying how the crisis caused substantial harm.

As with many things in the Trump political environment, partisanship played a role. Democrats saw a bigger problem with stories that downplayed the virus, while Republicans said reports that hyped the crisis were more harmful.

But in both cases, the majority of partisans in each political party agreed that the media’s coverage of the pandemic fell far short of what they wanted.

Asked if media exaggerating the coronavirus caused “unnecessary harm,” 87% of Republicans agreed. Among Democrats, it was 25 points lower, at 62%.

Asked if downplaying the crisis threatened public health, 78% of Democrats agreed. Among Republicans, it was 60%.

SORRY, MEDIA: YOU’RE NOT VICTIMS NO MATTER HOW MUCH ‘ABUSE’ YOU TAKE.

President John Adams signed a law making it a crime to criticize the government; 20 newspaper editors were imprisoned. Andrew Jackson not only had his own paper, edited by a member of his cabinet, but it got government subsidies. Kayleigh McEnany hurting your feelings is not a constitutional crisis.

You buy ink by the barrel, fill the airwaves 24 hours a day and get millions of clicks on your websites. Victims? Get over yourselves.

Earlier: Boom: Kayleigh McEnany Dropkicks Chris Wallace Over Suggestion That Journalists Shouldn’t Be Questioned.

Related: CNN Analyst to McEnany: How Many Deaths Are Okay for WH by November? “I answered your question once. But if you ask it twice, it doesn’t make it any better of a question, so I’ll respond in kind.”

ROGER SIMON: The Mainstream Media’s Malignant Moral Narcissism.

We are now a nation divided as never since the Civil War and these media lies are largely the instigator of that. This is especially bad because, coming out of a pandemic, the likelihood of our society to have the ability to work together is seriously undermined, perhaps for years to come.

We may never be the same.

Many, influenced by their moral narcissism, consciously or unconsciously, don’t want us to succeed. They are the media’s children.

It’s literally pathological.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/our-media-are-themselves-a-deadly-societal-pathogen/

President Macron battles to salvage his image amid PPE fiasco after it emerged France burned a BILLION masks ahead of coronavirus pandemic

Masks too old for use were burned and not replaced in cost-cutting measures

When the virus arrived just 117million masks remained from a peak of 1.7billion

That was short of the 40million masks healthcare workers needed every week

Medics have slammed how Macron's government has handled the pandemic

Leading pollsters say the face mask fiasco has 'really damaged' Macron's image

President Macron is battling to salvage his image amid a series of blunders in France's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including the revelation that a billion face masks were burned ahead of the crisis.

It has emerged that masks believed to be too old for use were destroyed and not replaced as France scaled back its pandemic planning after neither Sars nor swine flu were as deadly as predicted.

Earlier this year army base staff incinerated much of the country's stock of facemasks, which had reach a peak of 1.7 billion in 2011, as part of cost-cutting measures.

Just 117 million masks remained when the pandemic began to unfold across France - meaning frontline health workers struggled to get hold of one for weeks.

The number was desperately short of the 40 million masks health workers needed to protect them each week throughout March and April, during the height of the pandemic.

The facemask fiasco has had a tremendous impact on public faith in President Macron, who faces accusations of incompetence. Leading pollsters say the news has 'really damaged his image'.

The centrist president's government has also been accused of dishonesty for initially telling the public there was no point in wearing masks outside.

Some say this message was an attempt to disguise the fact that there were not enough masks for everyone.

Jean-Paul Hamon, Chairman of the Federation of Doctors of France, says he was reassured at a health ministry meeting in February that GPs were being equipped with FFP2 masks, which filter 94 per cent of particles.

Ordinary surgical masks filter just 80 per cent.

http://www.mr-mehra.com/2020/05/president-macron-battles-to-salvage-his.html

Mad Maxine Waters Blames President Trump For Cops Killing Black People

From the “you-can’t-make-this-up” files, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) now blames President Donald Trump for “cops killing black people.”

“I’m reflecting on all of the killings of young black men in particular, but of course black women too, at the hands of the police and at the hands of these white supremacists,” Waters told TMZ.

“And I’m thinking about the way that the president conducts himself — in a way he’s dog-whistling — and I think that they’re feeling that they can get away with this kind of treatment.”

So, there you have it: A black man gets killed in Minneapolis, it’s Trump’s fault. When hundreds of thousands of black men got killed during Barack Obama’s two terms in office, many in black-on-black murders, Obama was not, of course, to blame. But times have changed, right?

Trump, for his part, immediately took action.

“At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I have asked for this investigation to be expedited and greatly appreciate all of the work done by local law enforcement. My heart goes out to George’s family and friends. Justice will be served!”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/mad-maxine-waters-blames-president-trump-cops-killing-black-people/

Trump's draft order targets legal protections for social media platforms

President Trump is expected to escalate his feud with social media companies by signing an executive order Thursday that orders a review of a longstanding law protecting Silicon Valley firms from lawsuits, according to a draft viewed by The Hill.

"In a country that has long cherished the freedom of expression, we cannot allow a limited number of online platforms to hand-pick the speech that Americans may access and convey online," the draft reads. "When large, powerful social media companies censor opinions with which they disagree, they exercise a dangerous power."

The order would direct an agency within the Commerce Department to file a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to clarify the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law that is considered foundational to the internet's expansion. The statute provides platforms legal immunity for content posted by third-party users while also giving them legal cover to make good-faith efforts to moderate their platforms.

The draft order suggests that platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube could be considered publishers in some cases, making them liable for content posted on their sites.

Democrats in Congress and at the FCC slammed Trump's move.

"Donald Trump’s order is plainly illegal," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), one of the two authors of Section 230. "After driving our country into an economic and health care disaster, Trump is desperately trying to steal for himself the power of the courts and Congress to rewrite decades of settled law around Section 230. All for the ability to spread unfiltered lies."

“Protecting expression that resists the tyranny of those in power is the very foundation of the First Amendment," Wyden added in his statement. "Section 230 does not prevent Internet companies from moderating offensive or false content. And it does not change the First Amendment of the Constitution.”

Jennifer Rosenworcel, a Democratic commissioner at the FCC, bluntly stated, "This does not work."

“Social media can be frustrating. But an Executive Order that would turn the Federal Communications Commission into the President’s speech police is not the answer," she said in a statement.

The FCC, which is controlled by Republicans, could deny the request to conduct a review.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr (R) said in a Yahoo Finance interview Thursday morning that the proposal “makes sense.”

“[Section 230] has always said that if you engage in bad-faith takedowns, you don’t get those bonus protections,” he said. “I think given what we’ve seen over the last few weeks, it makes sense to let the public weigh in and say, ‘Is that really what Congress meant when they passed and provided those special protections?’”

The announcement of the executive order is the latest development in a feud between Trump and Twitter after the social media giant applied a fact-check warning to one of the president's tweets for the first time on Tuesday.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/499929-trumps-draft-order-targets-legal-protections-for-social-media

New study: Lockdowns destroy nearly twice as many years of life as the coronavirus

Four professors with backgrounds ranging from medicine to economics attempted to quantify the number of lives lost from the devastation of the lockdown itself

Using health and labor data as well as various actuarial tables, they projected 65,000 lives lost per month of lockdown in the U.S. – greater than the loss from the virus. That number was calculated by dividing the estimated $1.1 trillion lost from economic productivity per month of lockdown by $17 million because the best estimates predict one life lost from suicide, alcohol or drug abuse, or stress-induced illnesses per $17 million lost.

“These financial losses have been falsely portrayed as purely economic,” wrote the four professors in The Hill on Monday. “To the contrary … we calculate that these policies will cause devastating non-economic consequences that will total millions of accumulated years of life lost in the United States, far beyond what the virus itself has caused.”

The four authors were Scott Atlas of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, John Birge of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Ralph Keeney of Duke University, and Alexander Lipton of the Jerusalem Business School of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

For every 1,000 lives lost to the virus, the corresponding 1,000 lives lost to the lockdown will destroy exponentially more “life years,” because the median age of those who die from the virus is 80, while the median age for deaths caused by the lockdown – those who die due to suicide, substance abuse, despair, and poverty – is much lower.

We have already seen that doctors in Northern California are reporting more than a year’s worth of suicides in just four weeks. Knox County, Tennessee, experienced nine suicides in just one 48-hour period in March. On the other hand, there have only been five COVID-19 deaths in Knox County over nine weeks!

Also, the death toll of the economic consequences of the shutdown is just one piece of the pie. As the authors note, stroke patient evaluations are down 40%, nearly half of cancer patients have missed treatments, two-thirds to three-fourths of routine cancer screenings have been delayed, nearly 85% fewer living-donor transplants have occurred, and more than half of childhood vaccinations are not being performed. They estimate that the total years of lost life per month of shutdown from these missed treatments and diagnosis are 500,000! In total, they estimate that the lockdown, over its entire duration, has caused the loss of 1.5 million life years, as compared to 800,000 life years from the virus itself.

https://truepundit.com/new-study-lockdowns-destroy-nearly-twice-as-many-years-of-life-as-the-coronavirus/

Netanyahu: Palestinians in Israeli-annexed Jordan Valley won’t get citizenship

In interviews, PM also rebuffs settler complaints, saying his annexation plan won’t mention Palestinian state, any settlement freeze will also apply to Palestinians in Area C

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview Thursday that Palestinians living under Israeli rule in an annexed Jordan Valley would not receive Israeli citizenship.

Palestinian towns and villages in the area will remain “Palestinian enclaves” under Palestinian rule but Israel security control, he explained.

These Palestinian residential areas, which some estimates say are home to 50,000-65,000 Palestinians, “will remain as Palestinian enclaves,” he told the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom. “You don’t annex [the Palestinian city of] Jericho [which has a population of some 20,000]. There are one or two clusters [of Palestinian residential areas] where you don’t have to extend sovereignty; [their residents] will remain Palestinian subjects, you might say, but [overall Israeli] security control will apply there.”

In a separate interview Thursday, Netanyahu dismissed fears increasingly expressed by settlers leaders regarding the US peace plan’s vision for the West Bank, saying that the mapping process is ongoing and that they were criticizing elements of the plan that still haven’t been determined and published.

Speaking to the right-wing Makor Rishon newspaper, Netanyahu said he didn’t believe Jordan would annul the peace accord if Israel goes forward with his declared plan to annex some West Bank land including the Jordan Valley, and said any settlement construction freeze as part of the Trump plan would also apply to Palestinians in Area C — which is controlled by Israel.

Netanyahu said he was committed to extending Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank in July, after a joint Israeli-US team completes a process of mapping the exact vision for the future of the territory based on a conceptual map released by US President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year.

Many settler leaders have expressed concern about the Trump plan’s inclusion of a Palestinian state, even though it outlines many conditions for that state that are vehemently opposed by the Palestinian Authority, which has rejected the plan outright, calling it biased in favor of Israel.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/rejecting-settler-fears-pm-says-annexation-plan-wont-mention-palestinian-state/

Did Trump just cancel a potential double-war?

At this time of writing, it is too early to declare the danger over, but at least three out of five Iranian tankers have made it safely to Venezuela (confirmation from TeleSur and PressTV). Furthermore, while we should never say “never”, it appears exceedingly unlikely that the US would let three tankers pass only to then try to impede the arrival of the other two. So it ain’t over until its over, but as of right now things look way better than last week.

Besides, this is mostly a symbolic issue. While these 5 tankers will make a difference, it won’t be a huge one, especially considering the devastating consequences which the US sanctions, sabotage and subversion have inflicted on Venezuela.

Still, symbols are important, if only because they create a precedent. In fact, I would argue that the latest climbdown by Trump is no different than all his other climbdowns: Trump has had a very consistent record of threatening fire and brimstone before quietly deflating walking away. And since he did that many times now, we have to wonder whether this strategy is effective or not?

One could argue that this strategy could be described by saying that you put the maximum pressure on the other side in the hope that the bluff will entice the adversary to fold. This could be a semi-credible argument where it not for a very simple but crucial problem: so far the other guys have never folded. In other words, Trump’s bluff has been called over and over again, and each time Trump had to quietly deflate.

Some will say that this only proves that Trump is truly a peace-loving President who, unlike his predecessors, does not want to go to war. But then, what about the cruise missile strikes on Syria? What about the murder of Soleimani?

Truth be told, the kindest thing we can say about this strategy (assuming that it is a strategy to begin with, not the evidence of a total lack of one) is that it is tantamount to yelling “fire!” in a crowded movie theater: the fact that Trump did not set any movie theater ablaze hardly justifies his yelling “fire” in such a dangerous environment. The perfect example of this kind of irresponsible behavior is the murder of General Soleimani which truly brought the US and Iran a millimeter away from a real, full-scale war.

Furthermore, while I salute Trump’s climbing down following the Iranian strikes, I also believe that in doing so he hurt the international image of the USA. Why? Think about this: this is the first time ever (if I am not mistaken) that the US was the object of a major military strike coming from another state-actor and did not retaliate. In the past and until this Spring, the USA always held the view that if anybody dares to mess with it this would result in very serious consequences. Thus the US upheld a world order in which some where a lot more equal than others. Specifically, “others” had to meekly accept US strikes and shut up whereas Uncle Shmuel could strike left and right and expect no retaliation.

By “accepting” the Iranian counter-strike, Trump did essentially place an “equal” sign between Iran and the USA. He probably never understood that, but in the region this was understood by all.

https://thesaker.is/did-trump-just-cancel-a-potential-double-war/

Actress Frances Fisher Calls For A 'Race War' Against White People In Wake Of George Floyd's Death

Actress Frances Fisher called for a "race war" against white people in response to George Floyd's death and said she is on team "#BlackLivesMatter."

Fisher, who identifies as Jewish, tweeted Tuesday: "They want a race war. We'll give them a race war. I'm with #BlackLivesMatter. We will win."

"It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains," Fisher tweeted, quoting cop killer Assata Shakur.

Fisher's threatening tweet was deleted as of Wednesday night, though it's not clear whether she deleted it herself or it was deleted by Twitter for violating their rules.

I'd say odds are she deleted the tweet herself as Twitter generally allows leftists to call for violence without any issue.

Regardless, Minneapolis went up in flames a day after her tweet.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61476

EasyJet Plans To Slash 30% Of Workforce, Reduce Fleet, Expects Low Demand Until 2023

EasyJet warned that demand is unlikely to be restored to pre-pandemic levels until 2023

Unite union said the carrier made "an unnecessarily hasty decision.”

British government will impose a 14-day quarantine for all arrivals from abroad, beginning June 8

Another British airliner has enacted significant layoffs in response to the collapse of air travel demand due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Budget carrier EasyJet said on Thursday it will slash up to 30% of its workforce, or an estimated 4,500 jobs based on the number of total employees at the beginning of 2020.

Luton-based Easyjet, which has major operations in both Luton and Gatwick (London) airports, also said it will resume flights on June 15 – initially domestic routes in the U.K. and France. But the carrier – which grounded its entire fleet in March - warned that demand is unlikely to be restored to pre-pandemic levels until 2023.

By the fourth quarter of this year, EasyJet said expects to fly about 30% of capacity. By the end of its fiscal 2021 the airline will have a fleet of about 302 aircraft, or 51 fewer than what was expected prior to the pandemic.

British Airways, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic have already announced thousands of job cuts.

"To effect the restructure of our business, EasyJet will shortly launch an employee consultation process on proposals to reduce staff numbers by up to 30%, reflecting the reduced fleet, the optimization of our network and bases, improved productivity as well as the promotion of more efficient ways of working," the company said.

EasyJet’s chief executive Johan Lundgren stated: "We realize that these are very difficult times and we are having to consider very difficult decisions which will impact our people, but we want to protect as many jobs as we can for the long-term. We want to ensure that we emerge from the pandemic an even more competitive business than before, so that EasyJet can thrive in the future."

https://www.ibtimes.com/easyjet-plans-slash-30-workforce-reduce-fleet-expects-low-demand-until-2023-2984134

American Airlines Layoffs 2020: Airline Looks To Cut Staff By 30%

American Airlines (AAL) needs to cut 30% of its management and support staff team as the airline looks to move toward a leaner operation after 39,000 employees already took voluntary leave or early retirement amid the coronavirus crisis, Elise Eberwein, executive vice president of People and Global Engagement at American, said in a letter made public by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Although our pre-pandemic liquidity, the significant financial assistance provided by the government, and the cash we’ve raised in the capital markets provide a foundation for stability, we need to reduce our cost structure, including our most significant expense – the cost of compensation and benefits. And we must plan for operating a smaller airline for the foreseeable future,” Eberwein said in the letter to American management and support staff.

Eberwein continued: “We have already taken steps to prepare for this new reality, with nearly 39,000 team members electing to take a voluntary leave or early retirement. Fleet retirement accelerations are underway, and we will fly roughly 100 fewer aircraft next summer mostly widebodies than we had originally planned. Additionally, running a smaller airline means we will need a management and support staff team that is roughly 30% leaner.”

The cuts are part of an effort by American to preserve cash to help weather the downturn in air travel. The company said it is working to limit its “cash burn” by reducing expenses until consumer confidence in air travel returns.

American expects to make the job cuts by July and will continue to pay workers through Sept. 30. Eberwein said that the company will then review its frontline workers – pilots and flight attendants – asking for these employees to take voluntary leave or early retirement in June as American looks to avoid additional furloughs.

American, like other airlines, have said they need to reduce their staffing during the coronavirus pandemic despite the government aid they received, which prevents job cuts through Sept. 30.

Shares of American stock were down 3.93% as of 10:01 a.m. EDT on Thursday.

https://www.ibtimes.com/american-airlines-layoffs-2020-airline-looks-cut-staff-30-2984083

As Chief Prosecutor, Klobuchar Declined to Bring Charges Against Cop that Killed George Floyd

While serving as Minnesota’s chief prosecutor between 1999 and 2007, Klobuchar declined to bring charges against more than two dozen officers who had killed citizens while on duty – including against the cop that killed George Floyd.

The latest example of America’s racist police brutality problem was caught on camera in Minneapolis Monday, as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on 46-year-old African-American George Floyd’s neck for over seven minutes until he passed out and died. In its headline on its website, Minneapolis police described the event as “man dies after medical incident during police interaction,” laundering themselves of any responsibility. Chauvin continued his assault even as Floyd desperately pleaded that he could not breathe, while bystanders protested his brutality. “You’re fucking stopping his breathing there, bro,” warned one concerned passer-by. Even after passing out, Chauvin did not release pressure on his neck. Chauvin has killed multiple times before while in uniform, has shot and wounded others and is well-known to local activist groups.

A history of racist policing, thanks to Klobuchar

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who Joe Biden recently asked to undergo vetting to be his running mate for November, issued a very tepid statement about the incident, describing the police killing of an unarmed black man over an alleged forged check as merely an “officer involved death,” – a copaganda word often used by police as a euphemism for “murder.”

Klobuchar also called for a “complete and thorough outside investigation into what occurred, and those involved in this incident must be held accountable.” However, this is unlikely to occur, in no small part because of Klobuchar herself and the precedent she set while serving as the state’s chief prosecutor between 1999 and 2007. In that time, she declined to bring charges against more than two dozen officers who had killed citizens while on duty – including against Chauvin himself, who shot and killed Wayne Reyes in 2006 and would later go on to shoot more civilians while in uniform.

At the same time, however, Klobuchar was ramping up the number of arrests as part of her tough-on-crime agenda, something which inordinately affected people of color. In her first year in office alone, the prison sentences for first-degree drug crimes doubled. Activists allege her embracing of the broken window-style policing was a deliberate strategy to win support in the white suburbs of Minneapolis, to the detriment of the city’s non-white communities, bolstering her successful run for senate in 2006. A case in point is Elsayed Salim, who was convicted of failing to declare a secondary income that put him above the threshold for welfare and food stamps. A judge sentenced Salim to 364 days in jail – deliberately attempting to protect him from deportation by keeping his sentencing under a year which downgraded the case from a felony to a gross misdemeanor. An outraged Klobuchar appealed the decision, lobbying for an upgrade and condemning the state’s judges for “letting offenders off the hook too easily.” Mr. Salim was subsequently deported.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/chief-prosecutor-amy-klobuchar-dismissed-charges-cop-killed-george-floyd/267933/

It is time for the US to end its deadly exchange programmes with Israel

Yet another brutal killing of a black American by law enforcement officers has hit the headlines, especially on social media. George Floyd, 46, was unarmed when a Minneapolis police officer killed him on Monday by handcuffing him and then pinning him to the ground with his knee on his victim’s neck.

The white police officer ignored Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe, which can be heard clearly on a video of the incident which has gone viral. In the aftermath of the killing, protests have raged across the city.

Such shocking images of police brutality have become one of the defining features of American society. Getting killed by the police is a leading cause of death for young black men in America, a recent report found.

About 1 in 1,000 black men and boys in the US — a statistic that is higher than the number of deaths resulting from diabetes — can expect to lose their lives as a direct result of police brutality. In other words, if you are black, your chance of being killed by a law enforcement officer is 2.5 times greater than if you are white.

America has a long history of casual and institutional racism. This should come as no surprise in a country built upon the genocide of the indigenous population and slavery. For a number of human rights groups and activists there is, however, a more immediate concern which, they claim, is fuelling the use of lethal force — often for petty violations, or even none at all — by white police officers against black Americans: the training of US law enforcement officers by Israeli security officials.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200528-it-is-time-for-the-us-to-end-its-deadly-exchange-programmes-with-israel/

Google Affiliate Cancels Controversial Toronto “Smart City” Project

An increasing number of people worldwide are opposed to living in “Smart Cities” due to cybersecurity, health, and privacy concerns — and rightfully so (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Last year Activist Post reported about a highly opposed “Smart City” Project in Toronto. Earlier this month, it was abandoned.

From The Guardian:

Sidewalk Labs’ CEO said unpredictabilities stemming from pandemic meant project was no longer feasible

Google’s affiliate Sidewalk Labs has abruptly abandoned its vision to transform Toronto’s waterfront into one of the world’s first “smart cities”.

“As unprecedented economic uncertainty has set in around the world and in the Toronto real estate market, it has become too difficult to make the 12-acre project financially viable without sacrificing core parts of the plan we had developed,” he wrote.

The sudden end to the Quayside project marks a stunning downfall to the vision championed by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and Eric Schmidt of Google, of a community built “from the internet up”.

https://youtu.be/ZkzUfy-pnmE

https://youtu.be/Vo6K-bPh39M

Way to go, Toronto!

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/05/google-affiliate-cancels-controversial-toronto-smart-city-project.html

Pompeo Cuts Off Special U.S. Trade Relationship With Hong Kong

The city will now be treated like mainland China.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Hong Kong no longer has a “high degree of autonomy from China,” beginning a process to end the city-state’s special trade relationship with the United States.

The Chinese government promised Hong Kong the ability to maintain its own government after peacefully taking back the former British colony in 1997. This policy of “One Country, Two Systems” has allowed the United States to maintain separate trade ties with Hong Kong and the rest of China.

But the Chinese central government in Beijing is now attempting to ram through a controversial national security law for Hong Kong—which has pushed the Trump administration to revoke the special U.S.-Hong Kong trade relationship.

“Beijing’s disastrous decision is only the latest in a series of actions that fundamentally undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms and China’s own promises to the Hong Kong people,” Pompeo said in a Wednesday statement, citing older British-Chinese agreements. “No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground.”

Pompeo’s declaration could trigger the Hong Kong Policy Act, which would subject Hong Kong to the same tariffs and export controls as the rest of China. U.S.-China trade relations are currently taking a turn for the worse as competition between the two powers heats up.

David R. Stilwell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told reporters at a Wednesday conference call that the decision is now up to President Donald Trump.

“The actions will be considered, and they will be as targeted as possible to change behavior. We’re not hopeful that Beijing will reverse itself, but that is one of the options,” Stilwell said. “It’s a whole-of-government approach, certainly an administration approach, and so I’m not going to forecast or limit what it could be, but there’s a very long list of things that the President could do in response.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative estimates that U.S.-Hong Kong trade was worth $66.9 billion in 2018, making Hong Kong the tenth largest export market for U.S. goods.

The decision could further jeopardize Hong Kong’s status as a gateway to global markets. The city has suffered its worst economic contraction on record following months of political unrest and the coronavirus pandemic.

Beijing announced last week that it would impose a national security law on Hong Kong. Protests have broken out as the city’s government defends the proposal.

Hong Kong has seen widespread protests in March 2019, when millions of residents demonstrated against an extradition bill favored by Beijing. The opposition to the bill soon turned into a broad movement demanding more autonomy and democratic reforms for the city.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/pompeo-cuts-special-us-trade-relationship-hong-kong-157996

Army to Deploy Special Advisory Team to Colombia for Counter-Drug Op

The U.S. Army announced Thursday that it will soon deploy a team from the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) to Colombia to advise security forces in counter-drug operations.

The June 1 deployment of the company-sized element marks the first time an SFAB advisory team has been ordered to support a partner country in the region as part of the Enhanced Counter-Narcotics Operation, which was announced April 1 by President Donald Trump, according to a U.S. Army South news release.

The team will support U.S.-Colombia diplomatic and development efforts by training, advising and assisting local security units, as well as working in "priority areas" where they will focus on bolstering logistics and intelligence capabilities to directly support the cooperation agreement, the release states.

The Pentagon announced in mid-February that the 1st SFAB, based at Fort Benning, Georgia, would deploy to Africa to train local forces in an effort to contend with Russia and China in the region.

Elements of the unit were sent to the continent in March, but COVID-19 interrupted the deployment, according to a May 7 Army news release, which states that U.S. Army Africa is now working with the State Department to plan for a future security force assistance mission "once conditions allow the advisers to return."

The unit deployed for the first time in 2018 to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Army's 4th SFAB, stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, will soon deploy to Afghanistan to replace the 3rd SFAB as part of a regular rotation in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel, the service announced in late April.

SFABs are the first permanent Army units whose core mission is conducting security cooperation activities, which in the past had been conducted by regular brigade combat teams.

Upon arrival in Colombia, the 1st SFAB team will go into a 14-day preventive isolation that the local government mandated to control the spread of COVID-19, according to the release.

"The deployment has no specified duration, and the team will remain with their host units as determined by U.S. and Colombia military leadership assessment," the release states. "The SFAB deployment demonstrates [U.S. Southern Command's] enduring promise of friendship, partnership and solidarity with its partners."

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/05/28/army-deploy-special-advisory-team-colombia-counter-drug-op.html

‘Cult of Baal’ Otherwise Known As “Kabbalah”

New Jersey NAACP Leader Calls for Redo of Vote by Mail Election After Massive Irregularities

President Trump is proven right, yet again, this time over mail in ballots. Democrat-run Paterson, New Jersey’s city council elections this month was marred by massive irregularities including about 3,200 ballots not counted out of nearly 17,000 cast, prompting the local NAACP to call for a redo of the election, according to a report by WNBC-TV published Thursday.

Part of the problem: Mail in ballots delivered unsecured to apartment buildings:

A Paterson NAACP leader said the recent city council vote-by-mail election was allegedly so flawed that the results should be thrown out and a new election ordered.

“Invalidate the election. Let’s do it again,” said Rev. Kenneth Clayton said amid reports more that 20 percent of all ballots were disqualified, some in connection with voter fraud allegations…

…Rev. Clayton said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will soon be filing a written complaint to Gov. Phil Murphy — who ordered the vote-by-mail only election — and State Attorney General Grubir Grewal.

Paterson activist Ernest Rucker said his experience this election is an example of the kind of corruption that allegedly took place. Rucker said he never received a ballot but that election records show someone mailed in a ballot in his name…

…Murphy ordered elections vote-by-mail in an attempt to keep people safe during the coronavirus crisis. In the upcoming primary, the governor will allow one in-person voting site per town.

In addition to apparent problems with the vote count in Paterson, NBC New York has shown video of ballots left out in building lobbies, of one voter handling many ballots, and reported on postal workers reporting finding hundreds of ballots at a time stuffed in mailboxes in Paterson – and even in a neighboring town, Haledon…

More from Inside NJ:

…The results, if you want to call them that, speak for themselves. As Joe Malinconico of Paterson Press reported, the Passaic County Board of Elections last Friday released a report that showed about 3,200 of the 16,747 mail-in votes submitted in the Paterson election were rejected and not counted in the results.

County officials have said that more than 800 of those votes came under scrutiny for alleged improper bundling of mail-in ballots. But officials have not yet provided a detailed breakdown on why all 3,200 were disqualified…

…If the governor or anyone on his staff had bothered to take a closer look at Paterson’s recent voting history before declaring a total “mail-in’ balloting system for the beleaguered city, they would have found that voting irregularities have been common for at least the past decade, and that they often have concerned shenanigans involving mail-in or absentee balloting.

This is particularly true of the 2nd Ward, where the Election Day outcome is hardly ever the final outcome, and has been over the last few cycles always involved a recount or at least the suggestion of voter fraud. Indeed, four years ago, the current 2nd Ward incumbent, Shaheen Khalique and Akhtaruzzaman engaged in a bitter, lengthy court battle before Khalique was declared the winner.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/report-new-jersey-naacp-leader-calls-redo-vote-mail-election-massive-irregularities/

Texas Supreme Court Rules Lack Of COVID-19 Immunity Not Enough To Qualify For Mail-In Voting

The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that “a voter’s lack of immunity to COVID-19” is not a physical disability that qualifies people to vote by mail.

The court agreed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has argued that only a physical illness or disability that prevents voters from going to the polls should qualify an individual to vote by mail.

Judges decided that the risk of contracting the virus alone does not meet the state’s qualifications for voting by mail, noting that the decision to apply to vote by mail based on a disability is the voter’s and that they were confident clerks “will comply with the law in good faith.”

“We agree with the state that a voter’s lack of immunity to COVID-19, without more, is not a ‘disability’ as defined by the Election Code,” the court wrote (pdf). “But the state acknowledges that election officials have no responsibility to question or investigate a ballot application that is valid on its face.”

The decision is a loss for the Texas Democratic Party and voting rights groups who had pushed for expanded mail voting during the CCP virus pandemic and filed lawsuits in both state and federal courts on the matter, winning temporary victories in lower courts.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the court said the Texas Democratic Party’s definition of disability was overly broad and such an interpretation would enable things like “being too tired to drive to a polling place” to count as a physical condition.

“It would swallow the other categories of voters eligible for mail-in voting,” the judges said. “We agree, of course, that a voter can take into consideration aspects of his health and his health history that are physical conditions in deciding whether, under the circumstances, to apply to vote by mail because of disability. We disagree that lack of immunity, by itself, is one of them.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/texas-supreme-court-rules-lack-covid-19-immunity-not-enough-qualify-mail-voting

Pelosi: Mark Zuckerberg ‘panders to the White House’ To Avoid Taxes, Regulations

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg “panders to the White House” to avoid federal taxes and regulations. Earlier on Thursday, Zuckerberg said that Facebook and other online platforms shouldn’t be ‘arbiters of truth’ explaining that there’s a fine line between deciding what’s true and what isn’t as President Donald Trump prepares to sign an executive order to address big tech censorship.

“The fact is is that what they are is somebody who’s avoiding taxes and regulation,” Pelosi said. And that’s what they’re about. And, so, when you see all they want is to not pay taxes, which they got their tax break in 2017. The tax scam that gave all those advantages to the high end.”

She added, “And they don’t want to be regulated. So they pander to the White House. You see what Facebook’s Zuckerberg is saying today about all of this. They’re just pandering. Tax cuts, no regulation, our business model is to misrepresent the facts and be a platform to do that, and to try to hide under freedom of speech, which is, of course, a complete violation of everything freedom of speech stands for.”

https://saraacarter.com/pelosi-mark-zuckerberg-panders-to-the-white-house-to-avoid-taxes-regulations/

The Coronavirus scam is a criminal betrayal by the world's governments media and medicine, dictated by the Masonic Jewish (Illuminati, Satanist) central banking cartel. A failed gambit to impose totalitarian control, established authority will never recover legitimacy or trust. They are finished.