Navy Upholds Firing of Aircraft Carrier Captain Who Warned of Coronavirus Outbreak on Ship

The Navy has decided to uphold the firing of an aircraft carrier captain whose warning of a coronavirus outbreak on board was leaked to the press, multiple outlets reported on Friday.

Brett Crozier, former captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, sent a letter to superiors in late March pleading for help in controlling coronavirus cases on the ship. Crozier was fired after his letter was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle almost immediately after the former captain had sent it to superiors.

Two sources familiar with the details of the decision said that the Navy will uphold the promotion of Rear Admiral Stu Baker to captain.

“The results of the investigation justified the relief [of Crozier],” one source told Politico. “He failed to take appropriate action, to do the things that the commanding officer of a ship is supposed to do, so he stays relieved.”

Towards the end of April, Admiral Mike Gilday, chief officer of the U.S. Navy, said he believed Crozier should be reinstated. It is not immediately clear what let to the reversal in the Navy’s position.

After Crozier’s warning leaked to the Chronicle, then-Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly condemned the captain for risking a leak by sending his letter to too many individuals. Modly then flew to Guam and excoriated Crozier in a speech to sailors on the ship. Modly subsequently apologized and resigned his post.

Crozier himself contracted coronavirus and has since recovered. Video of Crozier leaving the aircraft carrier following his firing showed sailors cheering the captain.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/navy-upholds-firing-of-aircraft-carrier-captain-who-warned-of-coronavirus-outbreak-on-ship/

China to Increase U.S. Agricultural Imports after Secret Trade Talks: Report

By ZACHARY EVANS

June 19, 2020 5:42 PM

China will increase its purchases of U.S. agricultural products following secret talks between the two nations held in Hawaii, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

China is a vital market for American soybeans, corn, ethanol, meat, and other agricultural products. But Beijing, which committed to buying $36.5 billion in American agricultural goods under the terms of a phase-one trade deal signed by President Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping, had only purchased $4.65 billion worth through the first four months of 2020.

The talks on Wednesday, attended by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chinese foreign-policy chief Yang Jiechi, were intended to smooth conflicts over the trade deal.

“During my meeting with CCP Politburo Member Yang Jiechi, he recommitted to completing and honoring all of the obligations of Phase 1 of the trade deal between our two countries,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter following the meeting.

The Chinese commerce ministry did not respond to Bloomberg‘s request for comment.

Phase one of the trade deal went into effect just before the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan, China ballooned into a global pandemic. Relations between the U.S. and China have soured considerably since then, with American officials blaming China for not preventing the spread of the virus. The two nations were already in the midst of a trade war, with each imposing tariffs on exports from the other.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/china-to-increase-us-agricultural-imports-after-secret-trade-talks-report/

Congressional Dems Sign Letter Demanding Education Dept. Allow Males in Girls Sports

of course they did, I despise these toads masquerading as senators and congressman

A group of congressional Democrats signed a letter on Wednesday demanding that the Department of Education allow males to participate in girls sports.

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal and 27 other Democratic members of Congress signed the letter, which stated that the department’s order “discriminates against transgender youth” by ruling that it is a violation of women’s access to education and athletics for public schools to allow biological males who identify as female to participate in female sports.

The decision of the Department of Education to issue a determination targeting transgender student athletes on the eve of Pride Month is not coincidental. It is a transparent example of their campaign against the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ children,” said lead signer Connecticut Representative Jahana Hayes in a statement.

The Education Department’s ruling, issued on May 15, provoked backlash from Democrats and transgender rights advocates, who called it “another attack from the Trump administration on transgender students.”

In March, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in a federal case against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy requiring males to compete against females. Three female high-school students and their families filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block transgender athletes from competing in girls sports in Connecticut. The female athletes argued that they have been personally been harmed by a policy allowing biological males to compete against them in their running events, missing their chances at championship titles, state records, and scholarship opportunities. The girls also filed a complaint last year with the Department of Education.

One of the girls, Chelsea Mitchell, who attended Canton High School, missed out on achieving the title of state champion four times because she was competing against transgender athletes. Another, Alanna Smith, who went to Danbury High School and is the daughter of former MLB pitcher Lee Smith, has placed close behind transgender competitors as well.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/congressional-dems-sign-letter-demanding-education-dept-allow-males-in-girls-sports/

Ex-Google CEO Schmidt Says Huawei Acts as ‘Signal Intelligence’ for CCP

the man and company that aided and abetted China to spy on their own people and people of the world, the biggest liar and creep of all time, finally tells the truth

Former Google CEO and chairman of the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board Eric Schmidt said that “there’s no question” Chinese telecom giant Huawei has business practices “not acceptable in national security.”

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 for a documentary, Schmidt said that a proper understanding of Huawei should make one see the company as a means of “signals intelligence” that functions as a spy agency.

“There’s no question that Huawei has engaged in some practices that are not acceptable in national security,” he stated. “There’s no question that information from Huawei routers has ultimately ended up in hands that would appear to be the state. However that happened, we’re sure it happened.”

In May, the U.S. Department of Commerce slapped additional sanctions on Huawei to limit its ability to acquire semiconductor chips using American technology. The Department of Justice said in February that the firm has conducted a “decades-long” operation to “misappropriate intellectual property” from U.S. technology firms, while Trump administration claimed that Huawei has secretly accessed American cell phone data for over a decade.

“Let’s cut to the chase: China’s main export is espionage, and the distinction between the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese ‘private-sector’ businesses like Huawei is imaginary,” Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) said in May. “Huawei’s supply chain depends on contracts with American companies and the Commerce Department ought to take a careful look at how we can effectively disrupt our adversary.”

In the interview, Schmidt admitted that he had held “prejudices” about China, such as the belief that tech firms in the country are “very good at stealing,” but said that these prejudices now “need to be thrown out.”

“The Chinese are just as good, and maybe better, in key areas of research and innovation as the West,” Schmidt explained. “They’re putting more money into it. They are putting it in a different way, it is state-directed in a way that is different from the West. We need to get our act together to compete.”

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/ex-google-ceo-schmidt-says-huawei-acts-as-signal-intelligence-for-ccp/

Charles Barkley Says ‘Defund the Police’ Would Hurt Black Communities: ‘Who the Black People Gonna Call, Ghostbusters

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/charles-barkley-defund-the-police-would-hurt-black-communities/

Round up Military Times

Police: Army Vet Empties Gun at Woman's SUV in Dick's Sporting Goods Parking Lot

An Army veteran is in custody after he was accused of emptying his 9mm pistol at another vehicle during a road rage incident in a Georgia parking lot.

Columbus police said Joe Harvey, 52, fired at least nine times in the parking lot of Dick's Sporting Goods about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported. No one was hurt.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/06/21/police-army-vet-empties-gun-womans-suv-dicks-sporting-goods-parking-lot.html

https://www.military.com/topics/headlines?page=2