Brazil takes down COVID-19 data, hiding soaring death toll

"The cumulative data … does not reflect the moment the country is in," Bolsonaro said on Twitter.

Brazil removed from public view months of data on its COVID-19 epidemic on Saturday, as President Jair Bolsonaro defended delays and changes to official record-keeping of the world's second-largest coronavirus outbreak.

Brazil's Health Ministry removed the data from a website that had documented the epidemic over time and by state and municipality. The ministry also stopped giving a total count of confirmed cases, which have shot past 672,000 – more than anywhere outside the United States – or a total death toll, which passed Italy this week, nearing 36,000 by Saturday.

"The cumulative data … does not reflect the moment the country is in," Bolsonaro said on Twitter, citing a note from the ministry. "Other actions are underway to improve the reporting of cases and confirmation of diagnoses."

Bolsonaro has played down the dangers of the pandemic, replaced medical experts in the Health Ministry with military officials and argued against state lockdowns to fight the virus, hobbling the country's public health response.

Neither Bolsonaro nor the ministry gave a reason for erasing most of the data on the covid.saude.gov.br website, which had been a key public resource for tracking the pandemic. The page was taken down on Friday and reloaded Saturday with a new layout and just a fraction of the data, reflecting only deaths, cases and recoveries within the last 24 hours.

Late on Saturday, the ministry reported 27,075 new confirmed infections and 904 related deaths since its Friday update.

The government drew criticism this week for pushing back the release of its daily tally, previously available around 5 p.m. but released in recent days near 10 p.m.

https://www.jpost.com/international/brazil-takes-down-covid-19-data-hiding-soaring-death-toll-630573

Report: George W. Bush, Mitt Romney Won’t Support Trump’s Re-Election

Former President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) will not support President Donald Trump’s re-election in November, according to a report.

The New York Times reports:

Former President George W. Bush won’t support the re-election of Mr. Trump, and Jeb Bush isn’t sure how he’ll vote, say people familiar with their thinking. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah won’t back Mr. Trump and is deliberating whether to again write in his wife, Ann, or cast another ballot this November. And Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain, is almost certain to support Mr. Biden but is unsure how public to be about it because one of her sons is eying a run for office.

[…]

Former Republican leaders like the former Speakers Paul D. Ryan and John A. Boehner won’t say how they will vote, and some Republicans who are already disinclined to support Mr. Trump are weighing whether to go beyond backing a third-party contender to openly endorse Mr. Biden.

Bush, who has largely avoided politics since leaving office in 2009, has weighed in on the Chinese coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd in recent weeks — and while neither statement mentioned President Trump by name, they were regarded as veiled swipes at his handling of both matters.

In May, Bush published a video message urging for unity and togetherness amid the outbreak, saying Americans are all God’s children and deserve equal treatment.

“[L]et us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat,” he said. “In the final analysis we are not partisan combatants, we are human beings equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together, and we are determined to rise.”

Shortly after, President Trump hit back at Bush with a reminder that the former president failed to defend him during his impeachment trial, saying: “He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!”

On Tuesday, Bush, along with the former first lady, Laura Bush, said in a statement that they were “anguished by the brutal suffocation of George Floyd and disturbed by the injustice and fear that suffocate our country.”

“Yet we have resisted the urge to speak out because this is not the time for us to lecture. It is time for us to listen. It is time for America to examine our tragic failures — and as we do, we will also see some of our redeeming strengths,” the couple added.

On Monday, former Bush Treasury Department official Karen Kirksey launched a super PAC in support of former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

The group, named 43 Alumni For Biden, lists Kirksey as its custodian of records and group’s treasurer.

Romney was the sole Republican senator to convict President Trump in the upper chamber’s impeachment trial.

https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2020/06/06/report-george-w-bush-mitt-romney-wont-support-trumps-re-election/

50 State AGs Are Pushing To Breakup Google's Ad-Tech Dominance Alongside DOJ

In what would be a monumental move — and we might ad good for independent media breaking the shackles of the mainstream's ongoing attempts to police content and punish dissent — Google's total dominance over online advertising could soon come to an end.

CNBC revealed Friday that no less than 50 sate attorneys general have been investigating Google's business practices as part of a months long probe alongside a parallel DOJ effort, and momentum is gaining toward a looming major antitrust lawsuit against the internet giant.

Leading the probe among the states is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who did not comment in Friday's CNBC report. Google, however, did respond, with a Google spokesperson rebutting with, “The facts are clear, our digital advertising products compete across a crowded industry with hundreds of rivals and technologies, and have helped lower costs for advertisers and consumers.”

President Trump has lately put big tech in the spotlight over allegations of targeted censorship of conservative content, lately signing an executive order which seeks to reduce liability protections of major internet companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google.

Independent and alternative voices have also long complained of being demonetized or unfairly targeted for analysis and commentary falling outside of accepted 'groupthink'.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/50-state-ags-are-pushing-breakup-googles-ad-tech-dominance