Trafficking in Persons Report June 2020
570 pages
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020-TIP-Report-Complete-062420-FINAL.pdf
Army Won't Ban Confederate Flag Displays Without Pentagon Approval
U.S. Army leaders on Thursday announced an effort to reduce racial bias and foster inclusion in the ranks but will not ban the display of the Confederate flag without Pentagon approval.
Sweeping civil unrest across the country in protest of racial injustice has prompted branches of the U.S. military to take steps to root out discrimination and eliminate symbols of racism.
The Marine Corps and Navy have moved to ban the Confederate flag from their installations, but the Army has not taken similar action.
The service has made recommendations on the issue to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and is awaiting his decision, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told defense reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.
"The secretary of defense wants to make a uniform decision for the policy for the [Defense] Department," McCarthy said.
The Army on Thursday unveiled Project Inclusion, an effort that will focus on taking meaningful steps to eliminate unconscious bias that exists at the institutional level.
In one such change, the service will do away with official photos as a requirement in the promotion board process for officers beginning in August. The Army will also evaluate a similar move for warrant officers and sergeants.
Following weeks of demonstrations to protest racial injustice and police brutality, Army leaders decided to take "a hard look at ourselves and make sure we are doing all that we can to have a holistic effort to listen to our soldiers, our civilians and our families to enact initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion," McCarthy said.
But looming over the Pentagon are decisions on whether to ban the Confederate flag and to rename installations such as Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Benning, Georgia, that bear the names of members of the Confederacy.
McCarthy said in early June that he was open to consider renaming these installations, but President Donald Trump tweeted that his administration would not consider "renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations."
"The commander in chief put out specific guidance related to bases," McCarthy said. "In the Department of Defense, Secretary Esper wants us to look at all of these challenges that are potentially in front of us and have deliberate conversations so we can make the best recommendations possible."
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/06/25/army-wont-ban-confederate-flag-displays-without-pentagon-approval.html
GOP Rep Says Mask Mandates Are 'Symbolic' of an 'Authoritarian State'
Government-issued face mask mandates are a “symbol of tyranny” and of an “authoritarian state,” the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said Tuesday.
In an interview with The Western Journal at a Students for Trump event in Phoenix, Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona contended that such mandates take away residents’ ability to make their own choices.
Last week, the Board of Supervisors in Maricopa County, which Biggs represents parts of, adopted a resolution that requires most residents to wear masks “while inside the enclosed area of any Place of Public Accommodation.”
The resolution came after Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, gave local governments the ability to mandate mask use in public amid a statewide surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases.
But according to Biggs, government mask mandates are antithetical to the concept of self-determination.
“[Mask mandates] are very symbolic of a kind of authoritarian state,” he told The Western Journal.
“Instead of saying, ‘Look, you know what, folks, we trust you, you’re free, you make the choice, if you don’t want to go someplace because you think there’s a risk, don’t go to that place,’ what they’re saying is, ‘We’re going to impose these on you and everyone.’
“And I think that’s problematic,” Biggs said.
And just like this sort of mandate is a symbol of authoritarianism, Biggs said he believes “it’s a symbol of tyranny” as well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do recommend that all Americans cover their faces while in public.
“CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission,” the CDC says on its website.
“Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure.”
But according to Biggs, the issue isn’t whether or not Americans should be wearing masks — it’s that he believes it’s not the government’s place to force them to do so.
“A free society might handle this differently,” the Arizona Republican wrote in an Op-Ed for the Washington Examiner last week. “The easiest case is to allow private businesses and landowners to determine the measures they think most appropriate for public health and safety. We used to do that, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19.
“Further, those who are uneasy about the safety programs of the business would, as a responsible person, determine whether they wanted to patronize that business. Some businesses would see the need to be stricter in enforcement of health and safety measures, some less so.
Biggs emphasized that the “key” is for people to be able to decide for themselves what they want to do.
“The key is that each free person would be able to make their choice,” he wrote.
http://www.hideoutnow.com/2020/06/gop-rep-says-mask-mandates-are-symbolic.html
HOA Bans Police Chaplain's Thin Blue Line Flag, Calling It a 'White Lives Matter' Symbol
A Denver homeowners’ association has ordered a local police chaplain to remove the “thin blue line” flag from his property, even while allowing neighbors to fly similar flags for other first responders and the military.
The chaplain, who wishes to remain anonymous for sadly obvious reasons, has flown his Thin Blue Line flag since National Police Officers Day in May.
He told Fox News 31’s Deborah Takahara earlier this week, “I believe that’s why I’m being targeted — because I’m associated with them. I believe it’s just because it’s everything going on in the world right now, in this country.”
The notice from his HOA insisted that the well-known flag flown to show support for all police officers is actually a “white lives matter” symbol.
Or as our mysterious chaplain said, “There’s nothing about racism at all there. It’s simply saying, ‘We stand for you. You continue to do all the great things you do’.”
“I serve with so many different officers of so many different ethnic backgrounds. I’ve shared it with them. This isn’t a white lives, this is a blue lives matter because they do.”
The thin blue line between law and anarchy is thinner than ever, as police in cities like Atlanta (and maybe soon in New York) have caught the “blue flu.”
Blue flu is when police — who are forbidden to strike — call in sick en masse. In this case, they’re protesting against movements to cut their funding and give it to anti-police groups like the Marxist-tainted Black Lives Matter organization.
This isn’t the first time an HOA has gone bat-guano crazy in response to a recent crisis.
Forget the HOA: California Democrats Want Another $20 Million to Enforce Gig Job-Killer AB5
Back in March, after Tennesee had gone under COVID-19 lockdown, a local HOA actually threatened to evict a homeowner for working from home.
Brought to my attention by social media, the homeowner went to a legal advice thread on Reddit after his HOA tried to pull the following BS on him for trying to continue making a living during the lockdown:
The HOA complaint — which was verified as legit by thread moderators — says, “It has come to our attention that you are in violation of Article VII, Section 8 of our Bylaws” which state that “Commercial business may not be maintained or transacted on any Lot or in any residential unit.”
As a result, “we will be invoking section II, Article 4 of the Bylaws, which allows the Board to foreclose on any property that is in violation.” The HOA president demands, “You must vacate the premises by April 30, 2020.”
He wasn’t entertaining clients with loud music. He wasn’t causing a traffic jam in his neighborhood with an influx of customers. He was just a guy, working from home, the way so many of us have done these last few months.
Those of us lucky enough to still have jobs, that is.
As I wrote back then, “the HOA president is the kind of organically useless martinet for whom lampposts were invented,” and this seems to be the case in Denver, too.
Researching today’s story I found a related incident in Washington, where Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins just ordered workers to remove all Thin Blue Line materials from “anything associated” with the Sheriff’s office.
https://youtu.be/k-2Ycltspa4
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stephen-green/2020/06/25/thin-blue-line-flag-is-unsightly-hoa-attacks-police-chaplain-for-flying-one-n576862
Pakistan accuses 150 pilots of cheating to obtain licenses, grounds them
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s state-run airline said Thursday it will ground 150 pilots, accusing them of obtaining licenses by having others take exams for them, an accusation that followed a probe into last month’s crash that killed 97 people in Karachi.
Abdullah Hafeez, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, did not give additional details about the alleged cheating but said a process to fire the pilots had been initiated.
“We will make it sure that such unqualified pilots never fly aircraft again,” he told The Associated Press. He said the safety of passengers was the airline’s top priority.
Alarmed over the situation, the International Air Transport Association said it was following reports from Pakistan “regarding fake pilot licenses, which are concerning and represent a serious lapse in the licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator.”
The global airline organization said it was seeking more information.
The move by PIA to ground the pilots comes a day after the country’s aviation minister, Ghulam Sarqar Khan, said 262 out of 860 Pakistani pilots had “fake” licenses. He made the revelation while presenting preliminary findings of a probe to parliament into the May 22 Airbus A320 crash.
The announcement stunned lawmakers present in the National Assembly and shocked family members of passengers who died last month when Flight PK8303 went down after departing from the eastern city of Lahore, crashing in a congested residential area in Karachi. The crash killed 97 people, including all the crew members. There were only two survivors on board and a girl died on the ground.
Neither Khan nor Hafeez released additional details about the alleged methods used by the pilots to wrongfully obtain licenses to fly commercial planes. Khan said only that they did not take examinations themselves to get the required certificates, which are issued by the civil aviation authority.
But officials familiar with the process involved in issuing pilot’s licenses said an unspecified number of people who had the skills to fly a plane but lacked technical knowledge had in the past bribed qualified persons to take exams for them. They didn’t elaborate.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said Pakistan International Airlines learned about the scandal two years ago and fired at least four pilots at the time on accusations of falsifying exams to obtain a license from the civil aviation authority.
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/pakistan-accuses-150-pilots-cheating-obtain-licenses-grounds-them
Brendan Murphy leaves Chief Medical Officer role, warning borders could remain closed until coronavirus vaccine is developed
Australia's international borders are unlikely to fully reopen until a vaccine is found for COVID-19,outgoing Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says.
But Professor Murphy says he is growing more confident a vaccine will be discovered among hundreds of "candidate molecules" being assessed by scientists worldwide.
Until then, he says he remains very conscious of the enormous economic damage inflicted on Australia — often on the advice he proffered to National Cabinet as chair of the Australian Health Principal Protection Committee (AHPPC), a powerful group of medical experts.
In a wide-ranging interview with the ABC to mark his last day as CMO, Professor Murphy says it was "gut-wrenching" to see unemployment queues outside Centrelink after clubs, pubs, restaurants, gyms and some retail shops were shuttered following AHPPC's advice in March.
Professor Murphy will address his final National Cabinet as CMO today, ahead of becoming the Secretary of the Health Department next month.
Coronavirus update: Follow all the latest news in our daily wrap.
He was to have started his new role on February 29, but the move was put on indefinite hold four weeks earlier, when the threat posed by coronavirus began spiking outside China.
It was Saturday, February 1 and Professor Murphy was sitting at the kitchen table of his Melbourne home, poring over the latest infection statistics .
"I got the morning reports of the epidemiology and it was clear that the concerns that we'd had really for a week now that this virus had a lot of human-to-human transmission," he told the ABC.
"On February 1 we realized it was spreading significantly outside Hubei Province and there was widespread transmission in other provinces of China."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-26/brendan-murphy-last-day-cmo-borders-coronavirus-vaccine/12380456
How Was Coronavirus Relief Money Spent? $1.4 Billion In Stimulus Checks Went To Dead People, Congressional Watchdog Says
Treasury and its Bureau of Fiscal Service did not have access to Social Security data
The CARES Act requires GAO to assess stimulus spending every two months but Thursday's report was the first since the legislation was passed in March
GAO recommended the Department of Transportation implement an aviation plan for dealing with future outbreaks to minimize impact on travel and trade
The Treasury Department sent $1.4 billion in economic impact payments to 1.1 million dead Americans, and it will be up to the Internal Revenue Service to recoup the funds, the nonpartisan Government Accounting Office reported Thursday.
The congressional watchdog agency issued its first bi-monthly assessment of emergency economic assistance approved by Congress in March, noting it will not have access to complete data until next month. The report was based on financial and expenditure data from various federal agencies.
“It is unfortunate that the public will have waited more than four months since the enactment of the CARES Act for access to comprehensive obligation and expenditure information about the programs funded through these relief laws,” GAO said.
President Trump has been pushing for another round of stimulus checks, and House Democrats included more assistance in their HEROES Act.
GAO said the errant $1,200 payments were made due to the speed with which the IRS and Treasury moved to disburse $269.3 billion to 160.4 million taxpayers but noted Social Security data should have been used to minimize payments to dead taxpayers. Part of the problem was that Treasury and its Bureau of Fiscal Service did not have access. Improper payments were made not only to those who had died since 2018, but also due to fraud.
“According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, as of April 30, 2020, almost 1.1 million payments totaling nearly $1.4 billion had gone to decedents,” GAO said. “GAO recommends that IRS should consider cost-effective options for notifying ineligible recipients how to return payments. IRS agreed.”
As for other aspects of the CARES Act:
The Department of Health and Human Services provided $7 billion in COVID-19 Medicaid funding;
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been unable to obtain consistent and reliable data from states to track the level of coronavirus testing;
The Paycheck Protection Program processed $512 billion in loans to 4.6 million businesses as of June 12 and had paid lenders $2 billion in fees as of May 31 amid confusion about eligibility and other issues;
The Department of Labor has no mechanism to track whether people receiving unemployment payments also received wages through the Paycheck Protection Program, and
The federal government had $17 billion in procurement contracts for such items as ventilators and vaccine development as of May 31.
The GAO recommended Congress mandate the Department of Transportation develop an aviation-preparedness plan for communicable disease outbreaks, but there currently is no plan and the department wants the departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security to take the lead.
“GAO recommends Congress take legislative action to require DOT … to develop a national aviation-preparedness plan to ensure safeguards are in place to limit the spread of communicable disease threats from abroad while at the same time minimizing any unnecessary interference with travel and trade,” the agency said.
GAO also recommended Congress revise the Medicaid formula to address needs during an economic downturn.
https://www.ibtimes.com/how-was-coronavirus-relief-money-spent-14-billion-stimulus-checks-went-dead-people-3000629
Sen. Tim Scott exposes Dems' political games: They have 'no desire' to pass police reform 'before the election'
Partisan games
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) blasted Democrats Thursday for playing political games by blocking debate on Republican police reform legislation in the Senate.
In an interview with Fox News, Scott laid into his colleagues on the other side of the aisle, arguing they have "no desire" to address the issue before the election in November.
"Unfortunately, the Democrats really want to hold on to this issue," Scott said. "They believe they're going to win in November, so they'd rather write their own reform bill without any input from the Republican Party."
"They have no desire to actually solve this issue before the election," he continued.
Scott detailed how he offered several gracious amendments essentially offering to "rewrite the parts of the bill that [the Democrats] want[ed] to," but they still refused.
The Republican senator argued that the Democrats' stonewalling really came down to one thing: They didn't want to give Republicans a legislative victory before November.
"When you go piece by piece, the only thing you can conclude is that it wasn't what we were talking about, it was who was talking," he said. "And not just me, Tim Scott, but who was talking was the Republican Party saying to minority communities, to underserved communities, to liberal controlled communities like Atlanta, and Minneapolis, Cleveland; we were saying to those residents, 'We hear you. We see you. Here are reforms.'"
Despite Republicans holding a majority in the Senate, Democrats were able to vote down debate due to the procedural requirement of 60 "yea" votes to pass.
Democrats criticized the Republican bill — which would require police departments to compile use-of-force reports and ban chokeholds in order to receive full funding from the federal government — for not addressing qualified immunity and categorically banning chokeholds.
Scott said those issues could have been addressed in debate, but Democrats refused to even allow discussion.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/tim-scott-democrats-police-reform-election
Want an easy way to see who is good and who is bad?
Ask one question?
Are they aCREATOR or DESTROYER
Good v Evil
God V Satan
It really is that simple!
As another pro-Trump activist gets banned from Twitter, here’s how Big Tech intends to sway the 2020 election for the Democrats
As we get closer to the US Presidential election, the pressure is ramping up for the left. But their allies in Big Tech are setting the board to help the candidates they want to win. And guess what – they’re not Republicans.
There’s been worry about big tech companies having a specific political bias for many years. The firing of James Damore brought major attention to it given how he was let go from his job, and there have been multiple hearings on Capitol Hill on this concern.
Republican senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Joshua Hawley of Missouri especially have been keen to point out these issues of bias in those hearings. Independent journalist Tim Pool was featured on the Joe Rogan podcast bringing these issues up directly to the heads of Twitter as well, sadly to no avail.
Despite previous concerns and even the possibility of legislation that could affect how these companies run their businesses, it seems there’s little care from the tech giants, who seem to believe they can act as they wish, with impunity.
Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, has stated that if a politician gets their video taken down for having – in YouTube’s opinion – indulged in “hate speech,” the mainstream media can reupload it because they provide “context.” I can’t be the only one who thinks that this is backwards. The original clip is the context. I don’t need Don Lemon to shed alligator tears over something for me to understand it.
Beyond that, who is it that decides what is and isn’t hate speech? YouTube? In that case, the definition is whatever they want it to be at that exact moment. So if “hate speech” is talking about border security and law enforcement, you’re not going to see much from Conservatives without a spin from CNN or The Young Turks.
Twitter also recently suspended the popular pro-Trump memester Carpe Donktum, whose memes have been retweeted by the President before. The ban is also permanent, with the tech giant citing copyright infringement in the decision.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/492943-trump-twitter-election-2020/
kek was thinking no one is going to read any of that shit, 'paragraphs' gold!