July 30th, 2020 • 2h 56m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
China
UBC adds ''Province of China'' to Taiwan in records '' True North
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 03:32
The University of British Columbia has adopted the Chinese regime's preferred manner of referencing Taiwan in some official records.
According to the Ubyssey, UBC's annual enrollment report this year identifies Taiwan as ''Taiwan (Province of China),'' effectively denying recognition of Taiwanese independence. In previous years, the nation has been listed as ''Taiwan.''
UBC spokesperson Kurt Heinrich told the Ubyssey that the change was made as the university adopted a new data recording system which required adoption of International Organization for Standardization data standards. The UN-recognized ISO refers to Taiwan as ''Province of China.''
UBC would later say that the changes were ''necessary for the university's successful transition to Workday.'' Workday is a software system recently adopted by the university.
Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, has acted independently since 1949. The People's Republic of China (PRC) on mainland China claims Taiwan as part of its territory.
Canada officially does not recognize the independence of Taiwan, but does maintain diplomatic and economic ties.
The government of Taiwan has asked UBC to reverse its decision, calling the move an attack on the nation's sovereignty.
''We urge the University of British Columbia not to bow to China and to correct how it addresses Taiwan,'' a Taiwanese government spokeswoman said.
''Employing 'Taiwan (Province of China)' as a term to characterize UBC students from Taiwan is simply discriminatory.''
Students from the PRC makeup around a third of UBC's international student population, with UBC officials last year being concerned about declining Canada-China relations ''given our significant reliance on China for students/$.''
Relations between Canada and the PRC have declined significantly since Canada arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in 2018 on an American warrant.
Since Meng's arrest China has arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and blocked Canadian products without justification.
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Unlike the mainstream media, True North isn't getting a government bailout. Instead, we depend on the generosity of Canadians like you.
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This is why independent media in Canada is more important than ever. If you're able, please make a tax-deductible donation to True North today. Thank you so much.
Canada only Five Eyes member to not ban Huawei from 5G network '' True North
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 03:32
On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all of Huawei's 5G gear stripped from the UK's telecommunications networks by 2027. Johnson also banned the purchase of any new 5G equipment made by the Chinese company.
Johnson's decision now makes Canada the only member of the Five Eyes alliance that has not barred or restricted the use of Huawei equipment in its 5G networks.
According to the Globe and Mail, the Trudeau government has given no indication of whether it will follow the lead of Britain and the other members of the Five Eyes alliance '' United States, Australia and New Zealand.
An anonymous source close to the government told the Globe and Mail that cabinet is not expected to make a decision on Huawei any time soon and has had only one discussion on Huawei in recent months.
National security experts have warned for some time that if Canada were to partner with Huawei to develop its next-generation network, it could risk opening up a backdoor for the Chinese regime to spy on Canadians.
The US Department of State issued a statement saying it was prepared to re-assess its intelligence-sharing relationship with Canada should Prime Minister Justin Trudeau grant Huawei 5G access.
In Canada, telecommunications companies have taken matters into their own hands and have decided to forego implementing Huawei 5G technology. SaskTel, Telus, Bell and Rogers have all decided to not include any components from the Chinese company.
A vast majority of Canadians also oppose Huawei playing a part in Canada's upcoming 5G telecommunications system.
According to the latest Research Co. poll on the matter, 75% of Canadians are against Ottawa approving Huawei's involvement.
We're asking readers, like you, to make a contribution in support of True North's fact-based, independent journalism.
Unlike the mainstream media, True North isn't getting a government bailout. Instead, we depend on the generosity of Canadians like you.
How can a media outlet be trusted to remain neutral and fair if they're beneficiaries of a government handout? We don't think they can.
This is why independent media in Canada is more important than ever. If you're able, please make a tax-deductible donation to True North today. Thank you so much.
Don't Ban TikTok. Make an Example of It. - The New York Times
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 05:11
The Shift
There is plenty the U.S. government could do to ensure that TikTok acts responsibly without getting rid of it altogether.
TikTok, one of the world's most popular apps, has many of the same problems as other big social networks do. Credit... Charlotte Kesl for The New York Times Published July 26, 2020Updated July 27, 2020
For a while, it seemed that TikTok might dodge the techlash. After all, what could be problematic about a short-form video app featuring a bunch of teenagers and 20-somethings doing choreographed dances, roller skating, hanging out in influencer mansions and cutting into photorealistic cakes?
The answer turns out to be: Plenty.
In the past year, as it has become one of the most popular apps in the world, TikTok has accumulated many of the same problems that other large-scale social networks have. In addition to all the harmless Gen Z fun, there are TikTok conspiracy theories, TikTok misinformation and TikTok extremism. There are even activists using TikTok to influence our elections, including a network of teenagers and K-pop fans who claimed they used the app to sabotage President Trump's rally in Tulsa, Okla., last month by registering for tickets under false identities.
All of this might have been overlooked or forgiven, except for one fact. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, one of the largest tech companies in China.
TikTok's Chinese ownership has become a subject of intense scrutiny by lawmakers, regulators and privacy activists in recent weeks. Mr. Trump is considering taking steps to ban the app in the United States. Companies including Wells Fargo, and government agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, have instructed their employees to delete TikTok from their work phones because of concerns that it could be used for surveillance or espionage.
In response to the mounting pressures, TikTok is wrapping itself in the American flag. The company has hired a small army of lobbyists in Washington, has brought in an American chief executive (the former Disney executive Kevin Mayer) and is reportedly exploring selling a majority stake in the company to American investors.
Jamie Favazza, a TikTok spokeswoman, said in a statement that in addition to the chief executive, the social network had an American as its chief information security officer and another as its head of safety.
''We've tripled the number of employees in the U.S. since the start of 2020,'' she said, ''with plans to hire 10,000 more people over the next three years in places like Texas, New York and Florida.''
There are legitimate concerns about a Chinese-owned company capturing the attention and data of millions of Americans '-- especially one like ByteDance, which has a history of bending the knee to the country's ruling regime. Like all Chinese tech companies, ByteDance is required to abide by Chinese censorship laws, and it could be forced to give user data to the Chinese government under the country's national security law. Lawmakers have also raised concerns that TikTok could be used to promote pro-China propaganda to young Americans, or censor politically sensitive content.
Ms. Favazza said TikTok stored American user data in Virginia and Singapore. She added that the company's content moderation efforts were led by U.S.-based teams and not influenced by any foreign government, and that TikTok had not and would not give data to the Chinese government.
There are also reasons to be skeptical of the motives of TikTok's biggest critics. Many conservative politicians, including Mr. Trump, appear to care more about appearing tough on China than preventing potential harm to TikTok users. And Silicon Valley tech companies like Facebook, whose executives have warned of the dangers of a Chinese tech takeover, would surely like to see regulators kneecap one of their major competitors.
I'll be honest: I don't buy the argument that TikTok is an urgent threat to America's national security. Or, to put it more precisely, I am not convinced that TikTok is inherently more threatening to Americans than any other Chinese-owned app that collects data from Americans. If TikTok is a threat, so are WeChat, Alibaba and League of Legends, the popular video game, whose maker, Riot Games, is owned by China's Tencent.
And since banning every Chinese-owned tech company from operating in America wouldn't be possible without erecting our own version of China's Great Firewall '-- a drastic step that would raise concerns about censorship and authoritarian control '-- we need to figure out a way for Chinese apps and American democracy to coexist.
Image One option may be that ByteDance imposes strict internal controls to prevent its Chinese employees from accessing any of TikTok's systems. Credit... Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse '-- Getty Images Here's an idea: Instead of banning TikTok, or forcing ByteDance to sell it to Americans, why not make an example of it by turning it into the most transparent, privacy-protecting, ethically governed tech platform in existence?
As a foreign-owned app, TikTok is, in some ways, easier to regulate than an American tech platform would be. (One way of regulating it, a national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States of ByteDance's 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly, TikTok's predecessor app, is already reportedly underway.) And there is plenty more the U.S. government could do to ensure that TikTok plays a responsible role in our information ecosystem without getting rid of it altogether. It could require the company to open-source key parts of its software, including the machine-learning algorithms that determine which posts users are shown. It could pressure TikTok to submit to regular audits of its data-collection practices, and open up its internal content moderation guidelines for public comment. As Kevin Xu, the author of Interconnected, a blog about United States-China relations, points out, ByteDance could impose strict internal controls to prevent its Chinese employees from accessing any of TikTok's systems, and open-source those controls so that outsiders could verify the separation.
Samm Sacks, a cyberpolicy fellow at the centrist think tank New America, told me that some of the solutions being proposed for TikTok '-- such as selling itself to American investors '-- wouldn't address the core problems. An American-owned TikTok could still legally sell data to third-party data brokers, for example, which could then feed it back to the Chinese authorities.
Instead, Ms. Sacks said, the American government should enact a strong federal privacy law that could protect TikTok users' data without banning the app altogether.
''Let's solve for the problems at hand,'' she said. ''If the concern is data security, the best way to secure the data is to put TikTok under the microscope, and put in place really robust and enforceable rules about how they're using and retaining data.''
Forcing TikTok to operate in a radically transparent way would go a long way toward assuaging Americans' fears. And it could become a test case for a new model of tech regulation that could improve the accountability and responsibility of not just Chinese-owned tech companies but American ones, too.
At its core, a lot of the TikTok fear factor comes down to a lack of information. In March, TikTok announced that it would open ''transparency centers'' where independent auditors could examine its content moderation practices. The company has also begun releasing ''transparency reports,'' similar to those issued by Facebook and Twitter, outlining the various takedown requests it gets from governments around the world.
But we still don't know how TikTok's algorithms are programmed, or why they're showing which videos to which users. We don't know how it's using the data it's collecting, or how it makes and enforces its rules. We should know these things '-- not just about TikTok, but about American social media apps, too.
After all, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat are playing a huge role in the lives of millions of Americans, and for years, they have operated with a degree of secrecy that few other companies of their importance have been allowed. What little we understand about these platforms' inner workings is often learned years after the fact, gleaned from insider leaks or repentant former employees.
Image Alex Stamos, former chief security officer at Facebook, sees an opportunity to make TikTok ''a thoughtful model of how to regulate companies that operate in both the U.S. and China.'' Credit... Steve Marcus/Reuters Some experts see TikTok's current predicament as a chance to change that.
''I think TikTok is a bit of a red herring,'' Alex Stamos, Facebook's former chief security officer and a professor at Stanford University, told me in an interview. Ultimately, Mr. Stamos said, the question of what to do about TikTok is secondary to the question of how multinational tech giants in general should be treated.
''This is a chance to come up with a thoughtful model of how to regulate companies that operate in both the U.S. and China, no matter their ownership,'' he said.
The debate over TikTok's fate, in other words, should really be a debate about how all of the big tech companies that entertain, inform and influence billions of people should operate, and what should be required of them, whether they're based in China or Copenhagen or California.
If we can figure out how to handle TikTok '-- an app with a genuinely creative culture, and millions of American young people who love it '-- we'll have done a lot more than preserving a world-class time-waster. We'll have figured out a model for getting big tech platforms under control, after years of letting them run amok.
ESPN investigation finds coaches at NBA China academies complained of player abuse, lack of schooling
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 01:31
Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada 3:30 PM ET 14 Minute Read
The NBA's $5 billion operation in China has included not only merchandise sales but also efforts to develop young Chinese players. An ESPN investigation found that NBA employees complained about human rights concerns inside the training program.GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty ImagesLONG BEFORE AN October tweet in support of Hong Kong protesters spotlighted the NBA's complicated relationship with China, the league faced complaints from its own employees over human rights concerns inside an NBA youth-development program in that country, an ESPN investigation has found.
American coaches at three NBA training academies in China told league officials their Chinese partners were physically abusing young players and failing to provide schooling, even though commissioner Adam Silver had said that education would be central to the program, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the complaints.
The NBA ran into myriad problems by opening one of the academies in Xinjiang, a police state in western China where more than a million Uighur Muslims are now held in barbed-wire camps. American coaches were frequently harassed and surveilled in Xinjiang, the sources said. One American coach was detained three times without cause; he and others were unable to obtain housing because of their status as foreigners.
A former league employee compared the atmosphere when he worked in Xinjiang to "World War II Germany."
In an interview with ESPN about its findings, NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum, who oversees international operations, said the NBA is "reevaluating" and "considering other opportunities" for the academy program, which operates out of sports facilities run by the Chinese government. Last week, the league acknowledged for the first time it had closed the Xinjiang academy, but, when pressed, Tatum declined to say whether human rights were a factor.
"We were somewhat humbled," Tatum said of the academy project in China. "One of the lessons that we've learned here is that we do need to have more direct oversight and the ability to make staffing changes when appropriate."
In October, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's tweet in support of pro-democracy protesters led the Chinese government to pull the NBA from state television, costing the league hundreds of millions of dollars. The controversy continues to reverberate, as the NBA prepares to resume play this week after a 4 1/2-month hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. China Central TV recently said it still won't air NBA games, and U.S. lawmakers have raised questions about the league's business ties to China.
The ESPN investigation, which began after Morey's tweet, sheds new light on the lucrative NBA-China relationship and the costs of doing business with a government that suppresses free expression and is accused of cultural genocide. It illustrates the challenges of operating in a society with markedly different approaches to issues such as discipline, education and security. The reporting is based on interviews with several former NBA employees with direct knowledge of the league's activities in China, particularly the player-development program.
The program, launched in 2016, is part of the NBA's strategy to develop local players in a basketball-obsessed market that has made NBA China a $5 billion enterprise. Most of the former employees spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared damaging their chances for future employment. NBA officials asked current and former employees not to speak with ESPN for this story. In an email to one former coach, a public relations official added: "Please don't mention that you have been advised by the NBA not to respond."
One American coach who worked for the NBA in China described the project as "a sweat camp for athletes."
At least two coaches left their positions in response to what they believed was mistreatment of young players.
This photo, taken in May 2019, shows a facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained on the outskirts of Hotan in China's Xinjiang region.GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty ImagesOne requested and received a transfer after watching Chinese coaches strike teenage players, three sources told ESPN. Another American coach left before the end of his contract because he found the lack of education in the academies unconscionable: "I couldn't continue to show up every day, looking at these kids and knowing they would end up being taxi drivers," he said.
Not long after the academies opened, multiple coaches complained about the physical abuse and lack of schooling to Greg Stolt, the league's vice president for international operations for NBA China, and to other league officials in China, the sources said. It was unclear whether the information was passed on to NBA officials in New York, they said. The NBA declined to make Stolt available for comment.
Two of the former NBA employees separately told ESPN that coaches at the academies regularly speculated about whether Silver had been informed about the problems. "I said, 'If [Silver] shows up, we're all fired immediately,'" one of the coaches said.
Tatum said the NBA received "a handful" of complaints that Chinese coaches had mistreated young players and immediately informed local authorities that the league had "zero tolerance" for behavior that was "antithetical to our values." Tatum said the incidents were not reported at the time to league officials in New York, including himself or Silver.
"I will tell you that the health and wellness of academy athletes and everyone who participates in our program is of the utmost priority," Tatum said.
Tatum identified four separate incidents, though he said only one was formally reported in writing by an NBA employee. On three of the occasions, the coaches reported witnessing or hearing about physical abuse. The fourth incident involved a player who suffered from heat exhaustion.
"We did everything that we could, given the limited oversight we had," Tatum said.
Three sources who worked for the NBA in China told ESPN the physical abuse by Chinese coaches was much more prevalent than the incidents Tatum identified.
The NBA brought in elite coaches and athletic trainers with experience in the G League and Division I basketball to work at the academies. One former coach described watching a Chinese coach fire a ball into a young player's face at point-blank range and then "kick him in the gut."
"Imagine you have a kid who's 13, 14 years old, and you've got a grown coach who is 40 years old hitting your kid," the coach said. "We're part of that. The NBA is part of that."
It is common for Chinese coaches to discipline players physically, according to several people with experience in player development in China. "For most of the older generation, even my grandparents, they take corporal punishment for granted and even see it as an expression of love and care, but I know it might be criticized by people living outside of China," said Jinming Zheng, an assistant professor of sports management at Northumbria University in England, who grew up in mainland China and has written extensively about the Chinese sports system. "The older generation still sees it as an integral part of training."
In 2012, the NBA hired Bruce Palmer to work as technical director at a private basketball school in Dongguan in southern China, a program that predated the academies. The school has a sponsorship agreement that pays the NBA nearly $200,000 a year and allows the school to bill itself as an "NBA Training Center."
Palmer spent five years in Dongguan and said he repeatedly warned Chinese coaches not to hit, kick or throw balls at children. After one incident, he said he told a coach: "You can't do that to your kid, this is an NBA training center. If you really feel like hitting a 14-year-old boy, and you think it's going to help him or make you feel better, take him off campus, but not here, because the NBA does not allow this."
Palmer said the school's headmaster told him that hitting kids has "been proven to be effective as a teaching tool."
The issue was so prevalent in the NBA academies that coaches repeatedly asked NBA China officials, including Stolt, for direction on how to handle what they saw as physical abuse, according to three sources. The coaches were told to file written reports to the NBA office in Shanghai. One coach said he encountered no more issues after filing a report, but the others said the abuse continued.
"We weren't responsible for the local coaches, we didn't have the authority," Tatum said. "We don't have oversight of the local coaches, of the academic programs or the living conditions. It's fair to say we were less involved than we wanted to be."
WITH A POPULATION four times the size of the U.S., China is an exploding market for the NBA. The league's soaring revenues were propelled in part by the success of former Rockets center Yao Ming, who retired in 2011.
Tatum said the league sought advice from Yao and other experts in China on the development of its academy program. He also said NBA China's board of directors was briefed on the planning and placement of the three academies, including Xinjiang, adding that ESPN holds a seat on the board. An ESPN spokesperson said the network "is a non-voting board observer and owns a small stake" in NBA China, declining any further comment. (Games are streamed in China by internet giant Tencent, which also has a partnership with ESPN.)
Launching the academies had a primary goal for NBA bosses: "Find another Yao," according to two of the former employees who spoke with ESPN.
When Silver announced the plan to open three league-run academies in China in 2016, he said the goal was to train elite athletes "holistically."
"Top international prospects will benefit from a complete approach to player development that combines NBA-quality coaching, training and competition with academics and personal development," Silver said.
At a 2016 news conference in Beijing, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the goal of three NBA training academies in China was to train elite athletes "holistically."Rolex Dela Pena/EPAThe league's news release announcing the academies said, "The initiative will employ a holistic, 360-degree approach to player development with focuses on education, leadership, character development and life skills."
The NBA employees who spoke with ESPN said many of the league's problems stemmed from the decision to embed the academies in government-run sports facilities. The facilities gave the NBA access to existing infrastructure and elite players, Tatum said. But the arrangement put NBA activities under the direction of Chinese officials who selected the players and helped define the training.
"We were basically working for the Chinese government," one former coach said.
After his work in the NBA-sponsored facility in Dongguan, the league hired Palmer to evaluate the academies. He concluded the program was "fundamentally flawed." Palmer said it not only put NBA employees under Chinese authority but also prevented the league from working with China's most elite players.
In hindsight, Tatum said, the NBA might have been "a little bit naive" to believe the structure gave the league sufficient oversight.
In Xinjiang, players lived in cramped dormitories; the rooms were meant for two people, but a former coach said bunk beds were used to put as many as eight to 10 athletes in a room. Players trained two or three times a day and had few extracurricular activities. NBA coaches and officials became concerned that although education had been announced as a pillar of the academy program, the sports bureaus did not provide formal schooling. When the players -- some as young as 13 -- weren't training, eating or sleeping, they were often left unsupervised.
One coach said league officials who visited China seemed to be caught off-guard when they learned that players in the NBA academies did not attend school.
The NBA was able to work out an arrangement by which players at the academy in Zhejiang would be educated at a local international school. But similar efforts in Xinjiang and Shandong were unsuccessful.
Tatum said Chinese officials told the NBA that players at the academies would take classes six days a week in subjects such as English, math and sports psychology. He said when NBA employees later raised questions about whether the kids were in school, the Chinese officials reassured them they were.
But two former league employees said they complained directly to Stolt, who's based in Shanghai, that the players under their supervision were not in school.
Within the past month, as the NBA prepared to resume play in Florida, it began to face new questions about its relationship with China. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent separate letters to Silver questioning why the NBA is promoting social justice at home while ignoring China's abuses. The letters came shortly after China announced a new national security law in Hong Kong that gives authorities sweeping powers to crack down on pro-Democracy protesters. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also recently sparred on Twitter with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban over China.
Hawley's letter challenged the NBA for excluding messages supporting human rights in China among statements that players can wear on their jerseys. The approved messages are limited to social justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.
"Given the NBA's troubled history of excusing and apologizing for the brutal repression of the Chinese Communist regime, these omissions are striking," Hawley wrote in the letter, which was sent to media members.
One recipient, ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, replied with a profanity, which Hawley then tweeted out to his 235,000 followers. ESPN and Wojnarowski issued separate apologies, and the reporter was suspended for two weeks without pay.
IN XINJIANG, THE NBA opened an academy in a region notorious for human rights abuses.
In recent years, the Chinese government has escalated its use of high-tech surveillance, restricted freedom of movement and erected mass internment facilities, which the government describes as vocational training centers and critics describe as concentration camps holding ethnic minorities, particularly Uighur Muslims. The government says the policy is necessary to combat terrorism. In September, the United States joined more than 30 countries in condemning "China's horrific campaign of repression" against the Uighurs. Reports of separatist violence and Chinese government repression in Xinjiang go back decades.
Tatum said the NBA wasn't aware of political tensions or human rights issues in Xinjiang when it announced it was launching the training academy there in 2016.
In the spring of 2018, the U.S. began considering sanctions against China over human rights concerns there, and the issue became the subject of increasing media coverage within the United States. In August 2018, Slate published an article under the headline: "Why is the NBA in Xinjiang? The league is running a training center in the middle of one of the world's worst humanitarian atrocities."
Later, the NBA would receive criticism from congressional leaders, but it never addressed the concerns or said anything about the status of the facility until last week.
Sometime shortly after Morey's October tweet, the academy webpage was taken down.
Pressed by ESPN, Tatum repeatedly avoided questions on whether the widespread human rights abuses in Xinjiang played a role in closing the academy, instead citing "many factors."
"My job, our job is not to take a position on every single human rights violation, and I'm not an expert in every human rights situation or violation," Tatum said. "I'll tell you what the NBA stands for: The values of the NBA are about respect, are about inclusion, are about diversity. That is what we stand for."
Nury Turkel, a Uighur American activist who has been heavily involved in lobbying the U.S. government on Uighur rights, told ESPN before the NBA said it had left Xinjiang that he believed the league had been indirectly legitimizing "crimes against humanity."
One former league employee who worked in China wondered how the NBA, which has been so progressive on issues around Black Lives Matter and moved the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, over a law requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificates, could operate a training camp amid a Chinese government crackdown that also targeted NBA employees.
"You can't have it both ways," the former employee said. "... You can't be over here in February promoting Black History Month and be over in China, where they're in reeducation camps and all the people that you're partnering with are hitting kids."
Tatum said the NBA "has a long history and our values are about inclusion and respect and bridging cultural divides. That is what we stand for and that is who we are as an organization. We do think that engagement is the best way to bridge cultural divides, the best way to grow the game across borders."
China's soaring market for the NBA was propelled by the success of retired NBA star Yao Ming, seen in a 2012 photo with then-commissioner David Stern, left.Randy Belice/NBAE/Getty ImagesThe repression in Xinjiang is aimed primarily at Uighurs, but foreigners also have been harassed. One American coach said he was stopped by police three times in 10 months. Once, he was taken to a station and held for more than two hours because he didn't have his passport at the time. Because of the security restrictions, foreigners were told they were not allowed to rent housing in Xinjiang; most lived at local hotels.
Tatum said the league wasn't aware any of its employees had been detained or harassed in Xinjiang.
Most of the players who trained at the NBA's Xinjiang academy were Uighurs, but it was unclear to league employees who spoke with ESPN if any were impacted by the government crackdown.
After returning from Xinjiang last fall, Corbin Loubert, a strength coach who joined the NBA after stints at the IMG Academy in Florida and The Citadel, posted a CNN story on Twitter describing how the network's reporters faced surveillance and intimidation in Xinjiang.
"I spent the past year living in Xinjiang, and can confirm every word of this piece is true," Loubert tweeted. "One of the biggest challenges was not only the discrimination and harassment I faced," he added, "but turning a blind eye to the discrimination and harassment that the Uyghur people around me faced."
Loubert declined several interview requests from ESPN.
In a bipartisan letter to Silver last October after Morey's tweet, eight U.S. legislators -- including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Cruz -- called for the NBA to "reevaluate" the Xinjiang academy in response to "a massive, government-run campaign of ethno-religious repression."
Even though the NBA now says it had left Xinjiang in the spring of 2019, the league did not respond to the letter. The Xinjiang academy webpage disappeared soon after.
Last week, in response to Sen. Blackburn of Tennessee, the league wrote, "The NBA has had no involvement with the Xinjiang basketball academy for more than a year, and the relationship has been terminated."
John Pomfret, whose 2016 book, "The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom" covers the history of the U.S.-China relationship, called the decision to put an academy in Xinjiang "a huge mistake" that made the NBA "party to a massive human rights violation."
"Shutting it down was probably the smartest thing to do," he said. "But you can clearly understand from the NBA's point of view why they wouldn't want to make an announcement: Then you're just rubbing China's nose in it. What would you say, 'We're leaving because of human rights concerns?' That's worse than Morey's tweet."
Tatum said the league decided to end its involvement with the Xinjiang facility because it "didn't have the authority, or the ability to take direct action against any of these local coaches, and we ultimately concluded that the program there was unsalvageable."
Tatum said the NBA informed its coaches in Xinjiang that the league planned to cease operations, and coaches were then "moved out." But when Tatum was told that multiple sources had told ESPN that the NBA never informed the coaches of its plans to close Xinjiang, Tatum said he wasn't actually sure what conversations had taken place.
Two sources disputed that the NBA had any plans to leave Xinjiang in the spring of 2019. One coach said the league was still seeking other coaches to move there well into the summer and that the league's statement to Blackburn was "completely inaccurate."
"They were still trying to get people to go out there," the coach said. "It didn't end because [Tatum] said, 'We're gonna end this.'"
"They probably finally said, 'Why are we doing this?'" he continued. "Like we told them from the start, 'Why do we need to be here? We're the NBA, there's no reasons for us to be here."
ESPN researcher John Mastroberardino contributed to this report.
NWO
Ford Foundation
Hi Adam,
Hearing you talk about the bad things the Ford Foundation has been doing to the world made me remember something Bill Ford Jr told the employees a couple weeks ago. Someone asked him during a big "all hands" remote meeting what the connection was between Ford Motor Company, the Ford family, and the Ford Foundation.
He said that the family and the company lost control of the foundation in the past, and that the foundation does things the family and Ford Motor Company don't always agree with. A family member was recently brought onto the Ford Foundation's board and Bill Jr said he hopes that there will start to be some influence and cooperation happening.
''Lockstep'' Written 10 years ago chronicles how to bring the world down with a pandemic | This report was produced by The Rockefeller Foundation - TheWatchTowers.org
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 12:14
Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development
This report was produced by The Rockefeller Foundation and Global Business Network. May 2010Horrific! This evil doc written by the Rockefeller Globalist Foundation, gives scenarios for bringing the world to a global one world order. This pdf section called ''Lockstep.''Written 10 years ago chronicles how to bring the world down with a pandemic
EXCERPTS FROM THE PAPER LOCK STEP A world of tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian leadership, with limited innovation and growing citizen pushback In 2012, the pandemic that the world had beenanticipating for years finally hit. Unlike 2009'sH1N1, this new influenza strain '-- originatingfrom wild geese '-- was extremely virulent anddeadly. Even the most pandemic-preparednations were quickly overwhelmed when thevirus streaked around the world
''The United States's initial policy of''strongly discouraging'' citizens from flyingproved deadly in its leniency, accelerating thespread of the virus not just within the U.S. butacross borders. However, a few countries didfare better '-- China in particular. The Chinesegovernment's quick imposition and enforcementof mandatory quarantine for all citizens, as wellas its instant and near-hermetic sealing off ofall borders''
China's government was not the only one that took extreme measures to protect its citizens from risk and exposure. During the pandemic, national leaders around the world flexed their authority and imposed airtight rules and Restrictions, from the mandatory wearing of face masks to body-temperature checks at the entries to communal spaces like train stations and supermarkets. Even after the pandemic faded, this more authoritarian control and oversightof citizens and their activities stuck and even intensified. In order to protect themselves from the spread of increasingly global problems '-- from pandemics and transnational terrorism to environmental crises and rising poverty '-- leaders around the world took a firmer grip on power.
At first, the notion of a more controlled world gained wide acceptance and approval. Citizenswillingly gave up some of their sovereignty '-- and their privacy '-- to more paternalistic states in exchange for greater safety and stability. Citizens were more tolerant, and even eager, for top-down direction and oversight, and national leaders had more latitude to impose order in the ways they saw fit. In developed countries, thisheightened oversight took many forms: biometric IDs for all citizens, for example, and tighter regulation of key industries whose stability was deemed vital to national interests. In many developed countries, enforced cooperation with a suite of new regulations and agreements slowly but steadily restored both order and, importantly, economic growth.
Across the developing world, however, the story was different '-- and much more variable. Top-down authority took different forms in different countries, hinging largely on the capacity, caliber, and intentions of theirleaders. In countries with strong and thoughtful leaders, citizens' overall economic status and quality of life increased. In India, for example, air quality drastically improved after 2016, when the government outlawed high-emitting vehicles. In Ghana, the introduction of ambitious government programs to improve basic infrastructure and ensure the availability of clean water for all her people led to a sharp decline in water-borne diseases. But moreauthoritarian leadership worked less well '-- and in some cases tragically '-- in countries run by irresponsible elites who used their increased power to pursue their own interests at the expense of their citizens.
There were other downsides, as the rise of virulent nationalism created new hazards: By 2025, people seemed to be growing weary of so much top-down control and letting leaders and authorities make Choices for them.
Wherever national interests clashed with individual interests, there was conflict. Sporadic pushback became increasingly organized and coordinated, as disaffected youth and people who had seen their status and opportunities slip away '-- largely in developing countries '-- incited civil unrest. In 2026, protestors in Nigeria brought down the government, fed up with the entrenched cronyism and corruption. Even those who liked the greater stability and predictability of this world began to grow uncomfortable and constrained by so many tight rules and by thestrictness of national boundaries. The feeling lingered that sooner or later, something would inevitably upset the neat order that the world's governments had worked so hard to establish. '
TECHNOLOGY IN LOCK STEP
While there is no way of accurately predicting what the important technological advancements will be in the future, the scenario narratives point to areas where conditions may enable or accelerate the development of certain kinds of technologies.
Thus for each scenario we offer a sense of the context for technological innovation, taking into consideration the pace, geography, and key creators. We also suggest a few technology trends and applications that could flourish in each scenario.
Technological innovation in ''Lock Step'' is largely driven by government and is focused on issues of national security and health and safety. Most technological improvements are created by and for developed countries, shaped by governments' dual desire to control and to monitor their citizens. In states with poor governance, large-scale projects that fail to progress abound.
' Scanners using advanced functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)technology become the norm at airports and other public areas to detectabnormal behavior that may indicate ''antisocial intent.''
' In the aftermath of pandemic scares, smarter packaging for food and beveragesis applied first by big companies and producers in a business-to-businessenvironment, and then adopted for individual products and consumers.
' New diagnostics are developed to detect communicable diseases. Theapplication of health screening also changes; screening becomes a prerequisitefor release from a hospital or prison, successfully slowing the spread of manydiseases.
' Tele-presence technologies respond to the demand for less expensive, lower-bandwidth, sophisticated communications systems for populations whose travelis restricted.
' Driven by protectionism and national security concerns, nations create theirown independent, regionally defined IT networks, mimicking China's firewalls.Governments have varying degrees of success in policing internet traffic, butthese efforts nevertheless fracture the ''World Wide'' Web.
''WHAT IS OFTEN SURPRISING ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGIES IS COLLATERAL DAMAGE: THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM THAT YOU CAN CREATE BY SOLVING ANOTHER PROBLEM IS ALWAYS A BIT OF A SURPRISE.'''' Michael Free, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)
TECHNOLOGY IN CLEVER TOGETHERIn ''Clever Together,'' strong global cooperation on a range of issues drives technological breakthroughs that combat disease, climate change, and energy shortages. Trade and foreign direct investment spread technologies in all directions and make products cheaper for people in the developing world, thereby widening access to a range of technologies. The atmosphere of cooperation and transparency allows states and regions to glean insights from massive datasets to vastly improve the management and allocation of financial and environmental resources.
Technology trends and applications we might see:
' Intelligent electricity, water distribution, and transportation systems developin urban areas. In these ''smart cities,'' internet access is seen as a basic rightby the late 2010s.
' A malaria vaccine is developed and deployed broadly '-- saving millions of livesin the developing world.
' Advances in low-cost mind-controlled prosthetics aid the 80 percent of globalamputees who live in developing countries.
' Solar power is made vastly more efficient through advances in materials,including polymers and nanoparticles. An effective combination ofgovernment subsidies and microfinance means solar is used for everythingfrom desalination for agriculture to wi-fi networks.
' Flexible and rapid mobile payment systems drive dynamic economic growthin the developing world, while the developed world is hampered by entrenchedbanking interests and regulation.
There is much more in the original paper. Rockefeller Foundation Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International DevelopmentAs well please do like and share on your social media. Thank you.We Need Your Support Please even A $1.00 donation will help keep Uncensored Independent Media and Our Free Press going. Please CLICK ME AND DONATE VIA PAYPAL '' THANK YOU!
Models and Data
Teachers should be forced to teach children of essential workers
Dr. Fauci says kids over 9 years old can transmit the coronavirus as well as adults as some schools reopen
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 03:53
Published Wed, Jul 29 2020 12:53 PM EDT
Updated Wed, Jul 29 2020 3:06 PM EDT
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White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned parents sending kids back to school that children over 9 years old can spread the coronavirus as well as adults. A recently published study in South Korea indicated that although kids under the age of 9 were less likely than adults to transmit the virus to their families, teenagers were at least as likely to transmit the disease as adults.Some areas of the country will have an easier time welcoming students back to school since the virus isn't spreading uncontrollably, he added.Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci wears a face mask while he waits to testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the Trump Administration's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. June 23, 2020.
Kevin Dietsch | Reuters
White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned parents sending kids back to school that children over 9 years old can spread the coronavirus as well as adults, saying that should be considered when deciding whether to reopen schools in the fall.
"It's been shown that children from 10 to 19 can transmit the virus to adults as well as adults can," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during an interview Wednesday on MSNBC.
A recently published study in South Korea indicated that although kids under the age of 9 were less likely than adults to transmit the virus to their families, teenagers were at least as likely to transmit the disease as adults.
Members of the Infectious Disease Society of America have previously pointed to the study and warned against reopening schools in states where coronavirus cases are surging.
"The issue that we're facing is that we're in a big country, and it has significant differences where you are as to the level of virus," Fauci told MSNBC.
Fauci said there are negative consequences from keeping students at home '-- many depend on schools for meals '-- and districts should try the best they can to reopen. However, the main consideration should be the health and safety of the students, teachers and their families, he said.
Some areas of the country will have an easier time welcoming students back to school since the virus isn't spreading uncontrollably, he added. Areas with high levels of the virus may need to consider modifying their reopening plans, like moving some classes outdoors and adopting a hybrid of online and in-person instruction.
"When you get to the real hot zones, I think you're going to have to take a really good look and examine the advisability or not," he said. "What likely would happen is that you would have parents that don't want to send their children to school or you're going to have teachers that not going to want to be there."
Fauci again warned about a potential surge of Covid-19 cases brewing in states like Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana, which have reported an uptick in the so-called positivity rate, or the percentage of tests that are positive.
He said if they don't take further action to contain the spread of the virus, the states "that are not yet in trouble will likely get into trouble."
"It's very important to get ahead of the curve because what we're seeing now is what actually took place a couple of weeks ago, and what we're going to see a couple of weeks from now is what we're doing now," Fauci said.
View the full site
Glass recycling is slowing down, meaning less glass for vaccine vials
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:55
When the coronavirus began to spread in the U.S., recycling rates started to drop. Some cities suspended curbside recycling; in other areas, the recycling centers that sort through waste had to close because workers couldn't safely stay 6 feet apart. Several states suspended the bottle bills that pay consumers to bring containers back to stores. Some haulers started taking recyclables to landfills.
While most of the changes were temporary, recycling rates may still be lower in the coming months'--and that could be a challenge not only for the environment, but for tackling COVID-19. Vaccines are delivered in glass vials, and the pharma industry already faces a looming shortage of the containers; without a steady supply of recycled glass, the glass industry will struggle even more to make enough vials to supply a potential vaccine to 7 billion people. It could also slow down the production of other containers, like glass jars used to package food.
''We've designed our manufacturing process to use significant quantities of recycled glass, and so have all their other glass manufacturers in the country,'' says Randy Burns, vice president of governmental affairs at O-I Glass, a major producer. ''It takes less energy and heat to use recycled glass. So if you've designed your equipment to run on a high percentage of that, you have a choice to make if there's no recycled content available. You can use more virgin raw materials, yes. But the equipment may not produce the same quantity of those products because it has to run at higher temperatures. And the configuration isn't optimized for that input.''
[Photo: O-I Glass]Since the pandemic struck, the company has seen a 30% to 40% reduction in its supply of recycled glass as some recycling programs slowed or temporarily shut down. In New York and New Jersey, the supply of recycled glass going to processors was down 62% in April compared to January. ''One of the weak links that we have in our waste disposal and waste diversion chains in that recycling, unlike traditional waste management, is seen as something that you could just curtail or discontinue,'' he says. ''In 2020, the way we've constructed our manufacturing supply chains, it's actually not optional in any way.'' Glass is a truly circular material, unlike many; it can be fully recycled, repeatedly. On average, O-I glass uses 38% recycled material, and as much as 70% recycled material in some containers (100% recycled glass is also possible, with enough supply).
Some programs are ramping up again now, but the company still expects a slower supply of recycled glass. ''It is becoming clear that there's going to be an economic day of reckoning for many states and municipalities as a result of the pandemic,'' Burns says. ''And in some instances, we've seen already that recycling is one of the first things that's going to be on the chopping block for economic purposes.'' Consumer recycling habits may have also shifted during the pandemic, he says.
Public health experts have already raised the shortage of vaccine vials as a challenge in the pandemic response. In a whistleblower complaint, Rick Bright, the former head of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, wrote that it could take two years to produce enough vials for U.S. needs. Bill Gates has also highlighted the shortage of vials, which are also still needed for other critical vaccines, including the flu vaccine. Since everyone in the world will need the vaccine, that could mean 7 billion vials, or 14 billion if there are two doses. It's a massive undertaking that will take time, and it will move more slowly if glass industry supply chains are impacted.
This could be an opportunity to improve recycling rates through better recycling infrastructure, says Burns. ''The federal government and even state governments could view our response to the COVID crisis as an opportunity to invest in this vital infrastructure. It's a source of domestic materials that we can use right here to make products every day . . . supporting infrastructure improvements, as part of whatever stimulus recovery programs we decide to put in place, would be an excellent idea.''
'I Have NOT Been Tested': 600,000 Accidentally Told They've Had COVID-19
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 14:56
More than 600,000 people in Tricare, a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System, received emails July 17 asking if they would donate blood for research as ''survivors of COVID-19.''
But just 31,000 people affiliated with the U.S. military have been officially diagnosed with the coronavirus, which prompted confusion, Military.com reported last week.
''Just wondering [if] anybody [got] an email from Tricare saying since you are a COVID survivor, please donate your plasma.?? I have NOT been tested,'' wrote a beneficiary on Facebook. ''Just remember all those people inputting data are human and make mistakes.''
The mass email went to every beneficiary located near a collection point.
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''As a survivor of COVID-19, it's safe to donate whole blood or blood plasma, and your donation could help other COVID-19 patients. Your plasma likely has antibodies (or proteins) present that might help fight the coronavirus infection. Currently, there is no cure for COVID-19. However, there is information that suggests plasma from COVID-19 survivors, like you, might help some patients recover more quickly from COVID-19,'' the email said.
Six hours later, Humana issued a mea culpa, Military.com wrote.
''In an attempt to educate beneficiaries who live close to convalescent plasma donation centers about collection opportunities, you received an email incorrectly suggesting you were a COVID-19 survivor. You have not been identified as a COVID-19 survivor and we apologize for the error and any confusion it may have caused,'' the company wrote.
Marvin Hill, Humana's corporate communications lead, said the company apologizes ''for the confusion caused by the original message,'' which was sent to recipients based on their proximity to a plasma collection facility and not ''on any medical information or diagnosis.''
''As a part of an effort to educate military beneficiaries about convalescent plasma donation opportunities, Humana was asked to assist our partner, the Defense Health Agency. Language used in email messages to approximately 600k beneficiaries gave the impression that we were attempting to reach only people who had tested positive for COVID-19. We quickly followed the initial email with a clear and accurate second message acknowledging this. We apologize,'' Hill said in a statement sent to Military.com.
Masks & Muzzles
Mask-isms for 2020
He wears his mask on his sleeve
Masks down
Anti-masker
Unmasked
Masked society
New mask order
Mask love
It's me or the mask
Keep calm and "insert mask related The Chive 'keep calm' type messages" (PSA: all credit goes to The Chive for the "keep calm" phenom)
A mask a day..
GIVE ME MASK OR GIVE ME CORONA
Just mask
It takes a mask to tango
Do mask yourself
Do mask your feelings
No mask, no love
No mask, don't ask
Maskit
Mask it
Masker
Maks
Mask is whack(add 80s Crack art- side note No Agenda should look into the Crack is Whack movement of the 90s. I hear crack is better than ever and far from whack)
Mask me
What you do with out a mask is your business
Keep it masked
Mask it up
Straight mask
Straight masked
Playah mask!
Cover yo face!
------
The list will grow. Please share. ITM TYFYC.
Mike
Belarus president unwilling to accept additional terms to get foreign loans
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:45
MINSK, 19 June (BelTA) '' Additional conditions which do not apply to the financial part are unacceptable for Belarus, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said when speaking about external lending during a meeting to discuss support measures for the real economic sector on the part of the banking system, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko asked the participants of the meeting how things were with the provision of foreign credit assistance to Belarus. ''What are our partners' requirements? It was announced that they can provide Belarus with $940 million in so-called rapid financing. How are things here?'' the head of state inquired.
At the same time, he stressed that additional conditions which do not apply to the financial part are unacceptable for the country. ''We hear the demands, for example, to model our coronavirus response on that of Italy. I do not want to see the Italian situation to repeat in Belarus. We have our own country and our own situation,'' the president said.
According to the president, the World Bank has showed interest in Belarus' coronavirus response practices. ''It is ready to fund us ten times more than it offered initially as a token of commendation for our efficient fight against this virus. The World Bank has even asked the Healthcare Ministry to share the experience. Meanwhile, the IMF continues to demand from us quarantine measures, isolation, a curfew. This is nonsense. We will not dance to anyone's tune,'' said the president.
'Dumbfounded': Paramedics wearing masks that could spread COVID-19
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:50
But emergency doctor Carl Le said he had repeatedly encountered paramedics delivering patients to hospital while wearing vented masks.
"I'm sort of dumbfounded by what I'm seeing," he said. "There is a risk of cross-contamination."
Dr Le said he had personally raised the issue with paramedics.
"They just said, 'This is what we're supplied with'."
Emergency doctor Carl Le calling out fake medical masks in May. Only the orange mask is medical grade. Credit: Penny Stephens
When The Age asked Ambulance Victoria about the masks on Tuesday, the organisation said it was moving to non-vented masks "out of an abundance of caution", with supplies arriving on Wednesday.
"The N95 vented masks are manufactured to Australian standards and provide high levels of protection. They were approved by the Department of Health and Human Services as part of pandemic planning," a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
"However, the guidelines around masks continue to evolve as new evidence emerges, so out of an abundance of caution, Ambulance Victoria is transitioning to non-vented N95 masks, with deliveries of stock taking place from today."
Nine Ambulance Victoria paramedics have so far tested positive to COVID-19.
Australian Medical Association Victoria president Julian Rait said the paramedic mask situation was "another example of inconsistent advice" from the DHHS.
"That is not right for healthcare workers," he said. "It's just bizarre."
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said it was his understanding the masks were provided to paramedics by Ambulance Victoria. The masks are used when dealing with patients with COVID-19.
"It's concerning that it's come to the point where a doctor at a hospital has made a complaint before this issue has been detected," he said.
On July 10, the official YouTube account of the DHHS uploaded a video of Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton saying valved masks should not be used.
"Make sure that your mask does not have holes or a valve. This can result in breathing out the virus if you have coronavirus," he said.
On Saturday, Professor Sutton reiterated the advice.
"[A mask with a valve] allows the wearer to breathe out more easily and stops moisture build-up, but the problem is that it allows you to breathe out virus if you're infected," he wrote on Twitter.
"So although it might protect you, it won't properly protect others if you are infected. So please, no valves on masks for COVID-19."
N95 vented masks are typically sold to construction workers handling hazardous materials. They offer high protection to the user, effectively filtering out paint fumes and asbestos.
But masks worn during COVID-19 have a double purpose: to protect the wearer from the illness and to stop the wearer spreading the virus if they are infected. This is particularly important for people who have the virus but are asymptomatic.
Sign up to our Coronavirus Update newsletterGet our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments at a glance, the numbers you need to know and what our readers are saying. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter here and The Age's here.
Healthcare workers use N95 masks without vents for infection protection.
An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said paramedics were temperature-checked before every shift. They also did not attend work if they had any flu or COVID-like symptoms or were otherwise unwell.
Liam is The Age and Sydney Morning Herald's science reporter
Most Viewed in National Loading
Dutch government will not advise public to wear masks - minister - Reuters
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 08:17
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government on Wednesday said it will not advise the public to wear masks to slow the spread of coronavirus, asserting that their effectiveness has not been proven.
FILE PHOTO: Customers enjoy their drinks at the newly reopened cafes on Leidseplein Square, as Netherlands eases some of the lockdown measures put in place during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Amsterdam, Netherlands June 1, 2020. REUTERS/Eva Plevier
The decision was announced by Minister for Medical Care Tamara van Ark after a review by the country's National Institute for Health (RIVM). The government will instead seek better adherence to social distancing rules after a surge in coronavirus cases in the country this week, Van Ark said at a press conference in The Hague.
''Because from a medical perspective there is no proven effectiveness of masks, the Cabinet has decided that there will be no national obligation for wearing non-medical masks'' Van Ark said.
The decision bucks the trend as many European countries have made masks mandatory in stores or crowded outdoor areas.
RIVM chief Jaap van Dissel said that the organization was aware of studies that show masks help slow the spread of disease but it was not convinced they will help during the current coronavirus outbreak in the Netherlands.
He argued wearing masks incorrectly, together with worse adherence to social distancing rules, could increase the risk of transmitting the disease.
''So we think that if you're going to use masks (in a public setting) ... then you must give good training for it,'' he said.
Mask are currently required only on public transportation in the Netherlands and in airports.
The decision followed a meeting of health and government officials after new coronavirus cases in the country rose to 1,329 in the past week, an increase of more than a third.
Dutch cases have risen steadily since July 1, when the government announced an easing of lockdown measures to include restaurants and public gatherings if people maintain a 1.5 meter (five foot) physical distance.
Reporting by Bart Meijer and Toby Sterling; editing by Diane Craft and Jonathan Oatis
Vaccines and Such
Frontline doctors take down perfectly timed with anti trust hearing
Phase 3 clinical trial of investigational vaccine for COVID-19 begins | National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:58
News Release
Monday, July 27, 2020
Multi-site trial to test candidate developed by Moderna and NIH.
People 18 years of age and older who are interested in participating in this trial can visit https://www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org or ClinicalTrials.gov and search identifier NCT04470427 for details. Please do not contact the NIAID media phone number or email to enroll in this trial.
A Phase 3 clinical trial designed to evaluate if an investigational vaccine can prevent symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults has begun. The vaccine, known as mRNA-1273, was co-developed by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The trial, which will be conducted at U.S. clinical research sites, is expected to enroll approximately 30,000 adult volunteers who do not have COVID-19.
''Although face coverings, physical distancing and proper isolation and quarantine of infected individuals and contacts can help us mitigate SARS-CoV-2 spread, we urgently need a safe and effective preventive vaccine to ultimately control this pandemic,'' said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. ''Results from early-stage clinical testing indicate the investigational mRNA-1273 vaccine is safe and immunogenic, supporting the initiation of a Phase 3 clinical trial. This scientifically rigorous, randomized, placebo-controlled trial is designed to determine if the vaccine can prevent COVID-19 and for how long such protection may last.''
Moderna is leading the trial as the regulatory sponsor and is providing the investigational vaccine for the trial. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and NIAID are providing funding support for the trial. The vaccine efficacy trial is the first to be implemented under Operation Warp Speed, a multi-agency collaboration led by HHS that aims to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of medical countermeasures for COVID-19.
''Having a safe and effective vaccine distributed by the end of 2020 is a stretch goal, but it's the right goal for the American people,'' said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. ''The launch of this Phase 3 trial in record time while maintaining the most stringent safety measures demonstrates American ingenuity at its best and what can be done when stakeholders come together with unassailable objectivity toward a common goal.''
The NIH Coronavirus Prevention Network (CoVPN) will participate in conducting the trial. The network brings together expertise from existing NIAID-supported clinical research networks. The mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate will be tested at approximately 89 clinical research sites in the United States, 24 of which are part of the CoVPN. Investigators will use public health data and incidence trajectory modeling to identify sustained high-incidence areas and emerging hot zones, so sites near these locations can be prioritized for enrollment.
''Thanks to President Trump's leadership and the hard work of American scientists, the investigational vaccine developed by NIH and Moderna has reached this Phase 3 trial at record pace,'' said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. ''Operation Warp Speed is supporting a portfolio of vaccines like the NIH/Moderna candidate so that, if the results of clinical trials meet FDA's gold standard, these products can reach Americans without a day's delay.''
NIAID scientists developed the stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike immunogen (S-2P). SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19; the spike protein on its surface facilitates entry into a cell. Moderna's mRNA-1273 uses the mRNA (messenger RNA) delivery platform to encode for an S-2P immunogen. The investigational vaccine directs the body's cells to express the spike protein to elicit a broad immune response. A Phase 1 clinical trial found the candidate vaccine to be safe, generally well-tolerated and able to induce antibodies with high levels of virus-neutralizing activity. Moderna initiated Phase 2 testing of the vaccine in May 2020.
Hana M. El Sahly, M.D., principal investigator of the NIAID-funded Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium site at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; Lindsey R. Baden, M.D., principal investigator of the NIAID-funded Harvard HIV Vaccine Clinical Trials Unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; and Brandon Essink, M.D., principal investigator and medical director of Meridian Clinical Research, will serve as co-principal investigators for the Phase 3 trial of mRNA-1273.
As part of the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public-private partnership, NIH and other HHS agencies and government partners, in collaboration with representatives from academia, philanthropic organizations and numerous biopharmaceutical companies, advised on the trial protocol design and endpoints to ensure a harmonized approach across multiple vaccine efficacy trials.
The trial is designed to evaluate the safety of mRNA-1273 and to determine if the vaccine can prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses. As secondary goals, the trial also aims to study whether the vaccine can prevent severe COVID-19 or laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection with or without disease symptoms. The trial also seeks to answer if the vaccine can prevent death caused by COVID-19 and whether just one dose can prevent symptomatic COVID-19, among other objectives.
Trial volunteers will receive two intramuscular injections approximately 28 days apart. Participants will be randomly assigned 1:1 to receive either two 100 microgram (mcg) injections of mRNA-1273 or two shots of a saline placebo. The trial is blinded, so the investigators and the participants will not know who is assigned to which group.
Volunteers must provide informed consent to participate in the trial. They will be asked to provide a nasopharyngeal swab and a blood sample at an initial screening visit and additional blood samples at specified time points after each vaccination and over the two years following the second vaccination. Scientists will examine blood samples in the laboratory to detect and quantify immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.
Investigators will closely monitor participant safety. They will call participants after each vaccination to discuss any symptoms and will provide participants with a diary to record symptoms and a thermometer for temperature readings.
If a participant is suspected to have COVID-19, the participant will be asked to provide a nasal swab for testing within 72 hours. If the test is positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, the participant will be followed closely and referred for medical care if symptoms worsen. Participants will be asked to provide a daily assessment of symptoms through resolution and have saliva sampled periodically, so investigators can test for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Study investigators will regularly review trial safety data. An independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) will review blinded and unblinded data'--including safety data and cases of COVID-19 in both groups'--at scheduled data review meetings.
Adults who are interested in joining this study can visit www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org or visit ClinicalTrials.gov and search identifier NCT04470427 to find a study center to volunteer. ClinicalTrials.gov includes a complete listing of study locations.
NIAID conducts and supports research'--at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide'--to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH'...Turning Discovery Into Health®
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Can a century-old TB vaccine steel the immune system against the new coronavirus? | Science | AAAS
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:51
Vaccination with b acillus Calmette-Gu(C)rin leads to a small pustule that can develop into a scar.
Kwangmoozaa/iStock By Jop de VriezeMar. 23, 2020 , 6:25 AM
Researchers in four countries will soon start a clinical trial of an unorthodox approach to the new coronavirus. They will test whether a century-old vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), a bacterial disease, can rev up the human immune system in a broad way, allowing it to better fight the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 and, perhaps, prevent infection with it altogether. The studies will be done in physicians and nurses, who are at higher risk of becoming infected with the respiratory disease than the general population, and in the elderly, who are at higher risk of serious illness if they become infected.
A team in the Netherlands will kick off the first of the trials this week. They will recruit 1000 health care workers in eight Dutch hospitals who will either receive the vaccine, called bacillus Calmette-Gu(C)rin (BCG), or a placebo.
BCG contains a live, weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis, a cousin of M. tuberculosis, the microbe that causes TB. (The vaccine is named after French microbiologists Albert Calmette and Camille Gu(C)rin, who developed it in the early 20th century.) The vaccine is given to children in their first year of life in most countries of the world, and is safe and cheap'--but far from perfect: It prevents about 60% of TB cases in children on average, with large differences between countries.
Related Vaccines generally raise immune responses specific to a targeted pathogen, such as antibodies that bind and neutralize one type of virus but not others. But BCG may also increase the ability of the immune system to fight off pathogens other than the TB bacterium, according to clinical and observational studies published over several decades by Danish researchers Peter Aaby and Christine Stabell Benn, who live and work in Guinea-Bissau. They concluded the vaccine prevents about 30% of infections with any known pathogen, including viruses, in the first year after it's given. The studies published in this field have been criticized for their methodology, however; a 2014 review ordered by the World Health Organization concluded that BCG appeared to lower overall mortality in children, but rated confidence in the findings as ''very low.'' A 2016 review was a bit more positive about BCG's potential benefits but said randomized trials were needed.
Since then, the clinical evidence has strengthened and several groups have made important steps investigating how BCG may generally boost the immune system. Mihai Netea, an infectious disease specialist at Radboud University Medical Center, discovered that the vaccine may defy textbook knowledge of how immunity works.
When a pathogen enters the body, white blood cells of the ''innate'' arm of the immune system attack it first; they may handle up to 99% of infections. If these cells fail, they call in the ''adaptive'' immune system, and T cells and antibody-producing B cells start to divide to join the fight. Key to this is that certain T cells or antibodies are specific to the pathogen; their presence is amplified the most. Once the pathogen is eliminated, a small portion of these pathogen-specific cells transform into memory cells that speed up T cell and B cell production the next time the same pathogen attacks. Vaccines are based on this mechanism of immunity.
The innate immune system, composed of white blood cells such as macrophages, natural killer cells, and neutrophils, was supposed to have no such memory. But Netea's team discovered that BCG, which can remain alive in the human skin for up to several months, triggers not only Mycobacterium-specific memory B and T cells, but also stimulates the innate blood cells for a prolonged period. ''Trained immunity,'' Netea and colleagues call it. In a randomized placebo-controlled study published in 2018, the team showed that BCG vaccination protects against experimental infection with a weakened form of the yellow fever virus, which is used as a vaccine.
Together with Evangelos Giamarellos from the University of Athens, Netea has set up a study in Greece to see whether BCG can increase resistance to infections overall in elderly people. He is planning to start a similar study in the Netherlands soon. The trial was designed before the new coronavirus emerged, but the pandemic may reveal BCG's broad effects more clearly, Netea says.
For the health care worker study, Neeta teamed up with epidemiologist and microbiologist Marc Bonten of UMC Utrecht. ''There is a lot of enthusiasm to participate,'' among the workers, Bonten says. The team decided not to use actual infection with coronavirus as the study outcome, but ''unplanned absenteeism.'' ''We don't have a large budget and it won't be feasible to visit the sick professionals at home,'' Bonten says. Looking at absenteeism has the advantage that any beneficial effects of the BCG vaccine on influenza and other infections may be captured as well, he says.
Although the study is randomized, participants will likely know if they got the vaccine instead of a placebo. BCG often causes a pustule at the injection site that may persist for months, usually resulting in a scar. But the researchers will be blinded to which arm of the study'--vaccine or placebo'--a person is in.
A research group at the University of Melbourne is setting up a BCG study among health care workers using the exact same protocol. Another research group at the University of Exeter will do a similar study in the elderly. And a team at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology last week announced that'--inspired by Netea's work'--it will embark on a similar trial in elderly people and health workers with VPM1002, a genetically modified version of BCG that has not yet been approved for use against TB.
Eleanor Fish, an immunologist at the of the University of Toronto, says the vaccine probably won't eliminate infections with the new coronavirus completely, but is likely to dampen its impact on individuals. Fish says she'd take the vaccine herself if she could get a hold of it, and even wonders whether it's ethical to withhold its potential benefits from trial subjects in the placebo arm.
But Netea says the randomized design is critical: ''Otherwise we would never know if this is good for people.'' The team may have answers within a few months.
Immunity Due To TB Inoculation Points Directly To Coronavirus BioEngineering - Part 27
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:44
After beating the drum about the bioengineering of COVID-19 spliced with bovine tuberculosis (b-TB) and HIV, I am relieve to see several scientific studies are now being pursued on the relationship of early childhood BCG inoculation (against tuberculosis) to adulthood immunity against coronavirus infection during this worldwide pandemic. The key role of anti-TB immunization to preventing SARS-COV2 infection was raised as early as March by Dutch science journalist Jop de Vrieze in his "Can a century-old TB vaccine steel the immune system against the new coronavirus?", published in March by Science magazine.Why hasn't this clear-cut medical fact been promoted by the CDC, Anthony Fauci's NIH or Britain's National Health Service? What do these venerable institutions have to hide from the public? The reason, of course, as this series has proven beyond a shadow of doubt, is that there's been an official cover-up by Obama administration officials and the British military establishment of their lead role in funding, sponsoring, creating and deploying the biological weapon of COVID-19, which is modified with gene sequences from HIV and bovine tuberculosis (b-TB). The spread of coronavirus is not a natural disease but is mass murder by bioterrorism to promote the globalist insider agenda against populism, national interest and sovereign democracy.
Spanish, French, German and Dutch research groups have been preparing clinical trials using genetically-modified BCG vaccines. Meanwhile, BCG vaccine is in phase 3 trials in health-care workers in Australia and Netherlands. While hospitals conducting clinical trials have to tiptoe gingerly around the presence of TB antigens in COVID, I am under no such constraints.
Demographic confirmation of the TB-COVID linkage comes from a comparative study of 22 countries in their childhood inoculation policy on the anti-TB BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine) as compared with the local rate of COVID-19 infection. The researchers include Luis E. Escobar, Alvaro Molina-Cruz, and and Carolina Barillas-Mury with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and the paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science on July 9, 2020 , posted at Ihttps://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008410117). The findings, which disclose a higher infection rate in richer countries, is obviously "uncomfortable" but acceptable and maybe even insufficient for NIAID director Anthony Fauci, a leading culprit in the synthesis of COVID-19.
Crossing the Rubicon
Even with the increasing attention focused on the relationship between TB and COVID, researchers have yet to "cross the Rubicon" of disclosing how bovine tuberculosis genes were bioengineered into SARS-COV1 (Hong Kong SARS) to synthesize COVID-19. The Barillas-Mury paper stops short of that admission by stressing that BCG stimulates "cellular immunity" against many infectious diseases. While this is a step in the right direction, cellular immunity falls short of admission that a TB section was spliced into COVID to overcome the antibody defense of the human immune system. As explained earlier in this series, the TB gene-sequence captures and subverts the antibodies dispatched by the white blood corpuscles and reassigning these as antigens hostile to the host. In the confusion, the immune system releases a cytokine storm, basically an SOS, which can shut down the heart and other internal organs resulting in sudden death.
The hesitancy to go all the way and expose COVID as a biowarfare agent is due to the lead author's employment at Anthony Fauci's NIAID National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). Virginia Polytechnic University also participated that survey, Despite the reticence to blow the scandal wide open, the relationship of TB to COVID is nevertheless becoming a hot topic, too hot to handle. That famous (re)discovery o HIV sequences in COVID by Indian researchers in New Delhi was also suppressed by Indian government authorities under globalist pressure. A lot, perhaps the majority of biolab researchers and science administrators are by now aware that COVID is a biosynthesized weapon of mass destruction, so things are starting to get interesting.
Another factor in the delay of further exposure of the biowarfare origin of COVID-19 is the disruptive rioting and mainstream media support for Black Lives Matter, which is aimed at shielding Barack Obama and his criminal cronies and Wakanda henchmen from public blame for his administration's role in the bioengineering of COVID-19 along with their bioterrorist release against the French-led CISM World Military Games at Wuhan in October, more than two months prior to the Huanan seafood market attack.
The creation of SARS-COV2 (COVID-19) gets to the heart of the Illuminati-Salafist-Jesuit globalist Deep State nexus, which involves the Rothschilds, George Soros, the Clinton-Lansky mafia, the Emirate of Qatar, and their minor functionaries like the Mitt Romney wing of the Mormons recruited by the Oxford Movement. From the Arab Spring to the European Summer of Illegal Immigration and now the Black Lives Matter-Antifa terrorist operation, these events are scheduled. So is the series of biological warfare operations included Hong Kong SARS, West African Ebola, Brazil's Zika outbreak and now COVID-19. Yes, without a shadow of doubt, it's all connected and so it's high time to crush the head of the Black Mamba viper.
Notably the birther issue arises again due to the multiple British links to development and deployment of COVID-19 against targeted nations just as the London is preparing the restoration of the British Empire, which is possible only with the downfall of the American Republic. It turns out that Barack Obama was at birth a British subject when Kenya was still under colonial rule. Only after his third birthday did Kenya become a Republic with its own president, and still over the following year Jomo Kenyatta had to share the status of head of state with Queen Elizabeth II. None of his British Empire roots were disclosed during the birther controversy over the highly irregular and obviously forged birth certificate supposedly filed in Waikiki, Hawaii. Loyal to the Royals is the only explanation for his administration's collusion in the synthesis of COVID-19 in Canada and the UK, with the aim of toppling the American Republic and putting an end to sovereign popular democracy.
Biowar on ethnic Europeans and Asians
COVID-19 has had its greatest impact on the affluent societies of Western Europe and the United States. Meanwhile, the developing countries, with exception of Brazil and Ecuador, were spared the worst outcomes. In other words, if the outbreaks in China, Korea, Japan and Indonesia or Greater ASEAN, then it becomes clear that the wealthier Caucasian and Asian nations were the target for the COVID biowarfare extermination program.
The objective of this biowar is, simply put, genocide of Caucasian and Asian racial groups and elimination of their high civilizations perpetrated by a racist barbaric alliance of Muslim extremists, Voodoo practitioners and Yazidi worshipers of Satan, all these rogues and vandals being the assets of the Lord of Wakanda, Barack Hussein Obama, the most vile traitor in American history. Under customary patrilineal descent of his Muslim family, Obama was born in the British Empire's colony of Kenya, 3 years before its independence. This explains why this American President did the unacceptable curtsy to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at her throne. He is a worse traitor than Benedict Arnold, the latter never having funded, produce or release a weapon of mass destruction like COVID-19 against the American people.
A Supreme Court, cleared out of Deep State lackeys, needs to summon the highest ranked traitor in U.S. history to render a verdict, based on the Biological Weapons Convention with sentencing in accordance with the gallows decision at the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Trial. BLM is nothing but the bodyguard of this worse-case traitor and should serve hard-labor prison sentences until their national loyalty is determined with a shade of doubt. There can be no lenience for acts of treason now that more than 100,000 American citizens have been mass-murder by the biological weapon COVID-19. Perhaps, you now comprehend why Tony Fauci and company are so desperately trying to continue the cover-up of COV origins and deployment. The Subliminal Shock
Now let's move on from research labs into the daily life of normal people, whose only connection with biowarfare is as its victims. What does this all mean for those who can recall the shock of BCG inoculation versus the COV-vulnerable who never experienced that childhood trauma? The ratio of non-immunized people in different U.S. states and in foreign countries helps to explain the vast differences in infection rates, the seemingly arbitrary pattern of COVID outbreaks, and consequent severity of lockdown measures in different states and regions.
Can you remember the worst morning of your primary school years, waiting your turn in a room of other children screaming like banshees and blubbering in tears? Probably not right away, because the Hypocampus region of your brain has locked down the memory to prevent that trauma from impairing your ability to cope with life's pressure. The Hippocampus, which assigns memories into categories, puts the BCG inoculation into a psychological bottle with the label "The Bad Genie aka Bogeyman". The BCG is your primal fear, against which every other trauma is compared, it's that bad.
Getting stamped is a Freudian suppressed trauma, which can explain why some people have a fascination for tattoos and body piercing, and others are addicted to inserting hypodermics into their arms, a means to master the primal fear and sublimation of intense pain into subtle art. Is there a scar on your deltoid muscle, the lump of muscle at the top of your left arm? Now do you remember? Ouch! (Actually that's an understatement since there is no way to express this uncontrollable level of fear and loathing. Probably every anti-vaxxer got punctured by those needles.)
I can write about this trauma drama with cool recollection because I was the only nerd in class with any interest in science, or perhaps because my nerves were steeled by helping with the clean-ups inside my family's mortuary, being sort of like that brat Pugsley in the Addams Family.
Floridians as Covidians
Here in Florida, along with neighboring Alabama and further across the Sun Belt in Texas and Arizona, one might wonder why these otherwise healthiest states with lots of sunshine and therefore vitamin D, and citrus fruits packing vit C, and outdoors activity promoting general good health, now have the highest rates of coronavirus infection as compared with dreary Ohio or gloomy Maryland.
I popped the question to a big tall burly mechanic with a long beard, typical toxic male type, and his brow knitted and his eyes glazed over after I explained "the nurse swabbed your upper arm and poked it with a needle, either that or it was like a flower frog your mother pinned rose stems down in a vase."
With a far-off look in his glazed eyes, he uttered, "It was something that had six points." Even for a kid who's grow up to be a big tough fellow, the childhood shock is a subliminal presence, even though the six-point stamp of his generation was less painful that the earlier 4 fatter tipped needles, and needless to say, better than the medieval torture with a single needle jabbed innumerable times into your convulsing arm screaming to be released in the tight grip of the school nurse Miss Jabberwocky.
"One, two! One, two! And through and through, the vorpal blade went snicker-snack!" That was anti-vaxxer Lewis Carroll's revenge against the Jabberwock in "Alice in Wonderland".
The ancient Chinese discovered the efficacy of deliberate infection of healthy individuals back in the 10th century, but it was not until 1898 that Edward Jenner tested the smallpox vaccine on his patients. Since Lewis Carroll published Alice in Wonderland in 1865, vaccination by then was well-established although often with questionable results due to sanitary conditions and needle sharing.
The BCG vaccine, which uses attenuated or stretched live bacteria was introduced in 1921 with a checkered history of success and failure. The original version used bovine TB from infected cattle, the mycobacterium Bovis, which this series traced to the Kawaoka-Splitter-Plummer cooperation, prior to the U.S. ban on Gain of Function research, which targeted the secret research to develop biological weapons at the veterinary lab at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
When my turn came up in first grade, I took it silently with feigned bravado, which elicited a smirk from the nurse, who wrote me off as a stoic denier pretending to be tough. I had a glimmer that some sort of tiny creatures were crawling through the tunnels entering under my skin and that scratching or washing them would only arouse their ire. For me it was nearly a religious ordeal, like the crown of thorns with some hidden message in the pain, that being a Catholic school where we were heavily indoctrinated at every morning mass. Other kids ripped away their bandages and ran screaming into the schoolyard to scratch at the wound, resulting in thick red keloid scars, while most were permanently engraved with an indented scar, where their haunted memories burrowed to escape the brain synapses, lying hidden for a lifetime.
As it turned out. the BCG inoculation was a holy medallion that proves effective against leprosy, some types of ulcers and cancer, and specifically protected me from a sinful coronavirus during the 2003 Hong Kong contagion and again during this global pandemic. It was just a medical procedure yet something deeply psychological, and uncannily bordering on a religious experience, in preparation for the valleys of death ahead of me then.
So back to the garage, then my next standard question to bearded gentleman was: "Were you born and raised in Florida?"
His reply was "Uh, no, I was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania."
"That's a gloomy place with crappy winter weather and indoors steam heat, ideal conditions to come down with TB. BCG inoculation is why you're immune to COV, and probably never suffered much flu."
In contrast to the introspective mechanic, I know a native Floridian, my dentist in fact, who responded to the question about the childhood inoculation with a totally blank expression without any hint of pain or dread. So she's vulnerable. To the locals my advice has been to ignore the lockdown skeptics and err on the side of caution with mask and avoidance behavior. That's because the Sun Belt never suffered a wave of tuberculosis, which explains the high COVID infection rates. In comparison, most of Latin America, Brazil and Ecuador had an on-and-off TB vaccine policy, meaning different age-groups are differently affected. Now with TB inoculation in focus, all the contradictory reports are starting to make sense. Everything depends on the BCG policy during early childhood, or more cynically this problem began at the University of Bristol with funding from DHS and NIH. It never should have happend.
The bad news for adults is that the BCG inoculation is normally given only in early childhood when interference from other infectious diseases has yet to afflict the immune system. Another negative factor in warmer climates is immune reactions to other types of mycobacteria in the environment, which reduces the impact of inoculation, often down to zero. The Sun Belt does not seem so sunny anymore.
Medical authorities incriminated by TB denial
After a half-year of global pandemic, the now grudgingly recognized efficacy of childhood BCG inoculation is the strongest proof yet of gene-splicing of coronavirua for biological warfare purposes with a tuberculosis strand. The blackout at NIH, WHO and CDC of the TB gene presence in COVID-19 implicates the entire global pharmaceutical and medical sector as being under the censorial control of the biological warfare establishment, which is both a violation of ethics of the Hippocratic Code and a war crime under the Biological Weapons Convention of the mid-1970s (discussed in Part 17).
The denial of bioengineering of COV-18 with genes of TB and HIV is the biggest scandal ever in the history of medicine, with nearly every biologist, pharmacologist and medical doctor complicit with the international cover-up of bio-weapons of mass destruction unleashed against the entire world population. For justice to be rendered against this high crime, which has rarely ever been matched in enormity, capital punishment should be meted out to officials in the Obama administration and their counterparts in the UK, Australia, Japan and Israel, every participant in the design, assembly, testing and deployment of COVID-19 against the 100 nations that participated at Ground Zero, the CISM World Military Games at Wuhan in October 2019, and before that the British citizens affected by the "flu" pandemics since 2017 amid the cull of COVID-infected badgers, and by now millions worldwide.
Accountability and legal liability are mandatory in a civilized world to set a stern example of unwavering ethical standards. Those who gave the orders and funded this ultimate evil project must be hanged by the neck in full view of witnesses and broadcast worldwide, to ensure the rule of law and not the reign of criminals for future generation. Nothing less is acceptable on moral principles and legal grounds, if truthfully in God we trust.
Summary of the comparative study on infected nations
Briefly, here are the salient points of the research paper of Barillas-Mury et al on comparative impacts of anti-TB BCG inoculation against TB and several other infectious diseases with a focus on COVID-19 infection rates by regions.
First, the authors state clearly that BCG immunization has only an on-average 50 percent impact on preventing tuberculous infection among those infected. The vaccine does have some efficacious effects on other diseases as discussed above. Their methodology was on per nation death statistics rather than highly variable test-kit results or hospitalizations, since death numbers are a more accurate indicator of local contagions. The death rate was compared with by-nation historical records on BCG vaccination policy.
Second, "As the prevalence of TB decreased, countries like France, Germany, and Spain stopped mass vaccination of children and moved to vaccinate only individuals at high risk. Other countries like Russia, Ukraine, and China have continued national BCG vaccination to date." (Note my interpretation here: This accounts for the higher COVID mortality rate among older people in Wuhan, plus those cases impacted patients whose origins are in the mountainous hinterlands of Hubei Province during the time of "barefoot doctors" without modern medicine due to the US-NATO-Japan ban and blockade of pharmaceuticals and hospital equipment to the PRC during the 1950s Taiwan Straits crisis and Cold War. This is also why COVID-19 had relatively little impact on the commercial and industrial metropolises of China.)
Third: The study found "a consistent link between BCG vaccination and COVID-19 mortality". "More broadly, countries with current BCG vaccination had lower deaths as compared to countries with lack of, or interrupted, BCG vaccination."
Fourth: "COVID-19 mortality in the states of New York, Illinois, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida (not vaccinated) was significantly higher than states from BCG-vaccinated countries (Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo in Brazil; Mexico State and Mexico City)). This is remarkable, considering that three states from Latin America have much higher population densities than the North American states analyzed, including New York"
Five: "In West Germany, those 22 years to 59 years old were vaccinated, while, in East Germany, those 45 years to 84 years old today received at least one dose of BCG. A comparison of these two regions revealed that the average COVID-19 mortality rate in western German states (40.5 per million) was 2.9-fold higher than in eastern states (14.2 per million). Similarly, the mean mortality in Western Europe was 9.92 times higher than in Eastern Europe, where countries, in general, have active universal BCG vaccination programs. "
Sixth: "Cellular immunity is very important to control infections by intra-cellular pathogens, such as M. tuberculosis, responsible for TB in humans. Gamma IFN (Î"-IFN) is a key cytokine produced by CD4+ T cells that mediates macrophage activation and resistance to M. tuberculosis. Enhanced susceptibility to TB is seen in humans with mutations in the Î"-IFN receptor (38) and in mice in which the Î"-IFN gene has been disrupted. The BCG vaccine is thought to confer protection from TB by enhancing cellular immunity."
Seventh: "Most striking, COVID-19''related deaths are significantly higher in countries with higher quality of life, contradicting the expectation of lower rates of mortality in countries with improved health care systems. Because of the differences in latitude, one can envision that differences in climate, such as ambient temperature, between states in the United States and South America could be responsible for the lower mortality in southern countries. However, (when comparing relatively close temperatures in the Sun Belt with Latin America), there is preliminary evidence for lack of temperature dependence for the COVID-19 epidemic. The augmented COVID-19 mortality in developed countries when compared to developing countries remained consistent even after correcting for social confounding factors and age."
Biowarfare Blow-back
These comparative findings on the global spread of contagion expose another fact, which is that the bioweapon designers who developed COVID were not cognizant of the mass protection by prior BCG inoculations in targeted populations. This blind spot was inevitable for the U Wisconsin team in the USA, where BCG inoculations are determined by states and cities, not under a unified federal policy.
Britain delays immunization until children reach 12 years of age, too late for BCG to promote a counter-defense against the TB genes in COVID-19 or even cellular immunity. Thus Britain, in both its human and badger populations, was devastated by experimental release of COVID in Southwest England. Another biowar conspirator Japan has early age BCG inoculation and therefore a lesser mortality rate except for many foreigners and very elderly citizens.
The designers of COVID in Britain, Japan, Israel and the USA miscalculated in their introduction of TB genes into COVID to dismantled the human immune system. The weapons designers and their government patrons failed to consider that the BCG inoculation levels in targeted countries were far higher than in the US or age-delayed Britain, and thus COVID backfired on the Atlantic allies, massively hitting the USA and NATO nations of Europe while China escaped the worst-case scenario.
Recap of Lab Synthesis of COVID-19
For those of you who haven's kept up my series, here a recap of how COVID was created and mass-produced at "respectable" laboratories in the USA, Canada and Britain. (The Japanese role is a somewhat specialized topic, so to get the full picture, go to the article list on my writer's box on the left-hand side of rense.com
This series has traced in detail the secretive research cooperation on bovine TB by Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin veterinary school through his close colleague Gary Splitter with the late Frank Plummer at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Manitoba, Canada, with probable support from the University of Alberta's research team on tuberculosis in bison that has spread to the indigenous Plains Indians. The death of Dr. Plummer at Nairobi in February amid the Wuhan outbreak, following a lobotomy to insert electrodes into his brain in December, indicates an MI-6 assassination to maintain official secrecy related to the British biowar command involving the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, the Pirbright Institute, University of Bristol, and by extension thorough postwar Operation Matchbox, which sent captured German microbiologists to Winnipeg, Canada, the National Microbiology Laboratory.
Then following a breakthrough revelation, this series blew open the continuation of secretive bovine TB research done on English badgers at the University of Bristol, Gloucestershire, UK, following the 2013 U.S. ban on Gain of Function (GOF) research that increase the virulence of pathogens in a violation of the UN Treaty against Biological Weapons. The British research was funded with approval from Anthony Fauci of NIH ($800,000 grant) and a yet undisclosed larger amount from Jeh Johnson, the Obama-era director of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). After taking control from the U.S. Army biowar program, the DHS now operates the notorious biological warfare zoonotic diseases and GMO laboratory on Plum Island, New York, a center of development of zoonotic diseases targeting humans and the cloning of bizarre chimera creatures.
These bad players are, indeed, the core of the UK-USA-Japan-Israel biological warfare program, which unleashed COVID-19 against the 100 member-nation French-initiated CISM World Military Games held at Wuhan in the last two weeks of October 2019, as detailed in this series. In this light, the media-manipulation campaign to blame insect-eating bats at the Institute of Virology, under a program funded by the USAID Protect program and EcoHealth Alliance, which was founded in Britain, was a red herring dragged across the trail to divert public attention from the actual sequence of COVID synthesis at the University of Wisconsin, the Canadian NML, and the final TB splicing done at the University of Bristol in Gloucestershire, southwest England near Oxford.
The ongoing therapeutic studies on BCG-promoted immunity against COVID-19 are, in this context, tending to confirm my suggestion that the role of the TB segment in English Badgers and human counterparts was aimed at the capability of tuberculosis to counterattack the human immune system's defenses, specifically by hijacking the antibodies dispatched by the phagophages, which are part of the white blood corpuscles' arsenal of defenses. The TB segment's counter-attack with a decoy strategy triggers the immune system to release a cytokine storm, which puts the patient into shock, often resulting in heart failure and organ shutdown.
The BCG antibodies, however, can target the TB strand, immobilizing it or even dismembering its components, which initiates the process of crippling and then breaking down the COVID-19 structure. This power counterattack is something more targeted and effective than a mere "enhanced cellular immunity." The antibodies that target TB strongly suggest their potential role as the sought-after "silver bullet" to track down COVID and stop it cold. This therapy has been delayed by Fauci's fellow criminals at NIH and CDC, resulting in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. Punishment is overdue.
Human germline engineering - Wikipedia
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 04:17
Human germline engineering is the process by which the genome of an individual is edited in such a way that the change is heritable. This is achieved through genetic alterations within the germ cells, or the reproductive cells, such as the egg and sperm. Human germline engineering is a type of genetic modification that directly manipulates the genome using molecular engineering techniques.[1] Aside from germline engineering, genetic modification can be applied in another way, somatic genetic modification.[1] Somatic gene modification consists of altering somatic cells, which are all cells in the body that are not involved in reproduction. While somatic gene therapy does change the genome of the targeted cells, these cells are not within the germline, so the alterations are not heritable and cannot be passed on to the next generation.
For safety, ethical, and social reasons, there is broad agreement among the scientific community, and the public that germline editing is a red line that should not be crossed. Using germline editing for reproduction is prohibited by law in more than 40 countries and by a binding international treaty of the Council of Europe. However, in November 2015, a group of Chinese scientists used the gene editing technique CRISPR/Cas9 to edit single-celled, non-viable embryos to see the effectiveness of this technique. This attempt was rather unsuccessful; only a small fraction of the embryos successfully incorporated the new genetic material and many of the embryos contained a large amount of random mutations. The non-viable embryos that were used contained an extra set of chromosomes, which may have been problematic. In 2016, another similar study was performed in China which also used non-viable embryos with extra sets of chromosomes. This study showed very similar results to the first; there were successful integrations of the desired gene, yet the majority of the attempts failed, or produced undesirable mutations.
The most recent, and arguably most successful, experiment in August 2017 attempted the correction of the heterozygous MYBPC3 mutation associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in human embryos with precise CRISPR''Cas9 targeting.[2] 52% of human embryos were successfully edited to retain only the wild type normal copy of MYBPC3 gene, the rest of the embryos were mosaic, where some cells in the zygote contained the normal gene copy and some contained the mutation.
In November 2018, researcher He Jiankui claimed that he had created the first human genetically edited babies, known by their pseudonyms, Lulu and Nana. In May 2019, lawyers in China reported, in light of the purported creation by He Jiankui of the first gene-edited humans, the drafting of regulations that anyone manipulating the human genome by gene-editing techniques, like CRISPR, would be held responsible for any related adverse consequences.[3]
CRISPR-cas9 Edit Genome editing is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism's DNA. These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome. Several approaches to genome editing have been developed. CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9, is the most effective gene editing technique to date.
The CRISPR-Cas9 system consists of two key molecules that introduce a change into the DNA. An enzyme called Cas9, acts as a pair of 'molecular scissors' that can cut the two strands of DNA at a specific location in the genome so that specific pieces of DNA can then be added or removed. A piece of RNA called guide RNA (gRNA) that consists of a small piece of pre-designed RNA sequence (about 20 bases long) located within a longer RNA scaffold. The scaffold part binds to DNA and the pre-designed sequence 'guides' Cas9 to the right part of the genome. This makes sure that the Cas9 enzyme cuts at the right point in the genome.[4]
The guide RNA is designed to find and bind to a specific sequence in the DNA. The gRNA has RNA bases that are complementary to those of the target DNA sequence in the genome. This means that, the guide RNA will only bind to the target sequence and no other regions of the genome. The Cas9 follows the guide RNA to the same location in the DNA sequence and makes a cut across both strands of the DNA. At this stage the cell recognizes that the DNA is damaged and tries to repair it.[5] Scientists can use the DNA repair machinery to introduce changes to one or more genes in the genome of a cell of interest.
Although the CRISPR/Cas9 can be used in humans,[6] it is more commonly used by scientists in other animal models or cell culture systems, including in experiments to learn more about genes that could be involved in human diseases. Clinical trials are being conducted on somatic cells, but CRISPR could make it possible to modify the DNA of spermatogonial stem cells. This could eliminate certain diseases in human, or at least significantly decrease a disease's frequency until it eventually disappears over generations.[7] Cancer survivors theoretically would be able to have their genes modified by the CRISPR/cas9 so that certain diseases or mutations will not be passed down to their offspring. This could possibly eliminate cancer predispositions in humans.[7] Researchers hope that they can use the system in the future to treat currently incurable diseases by altering the genome altogether.
Conceivable uses Edit The Berlin Patient has a genetic mutation in the CCR5 gene (which codes for a protein on the surface of white blood cells, targeted by the HIV virus) that deactivates the expression of CCR5, conferring innate resistance to HIV. HIV/AIDS carries a large disease burden and is incurable (see Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS). One proposal is to genetically modify human embryos to give the CCR5 Î--32 allele to people.
There are many prospective uses such as curing genetic diseases and disorders. If perfected, somatic gene editing can promise helping people who are sick. In the first study published regarding human germline engineering, the researchers attempted to edit the HBB gene which codes for the human β-globin protein.[2] Mutations in the HBB gene result in the disorder β-thalassaemia, which can be fatal.[2] Perfect editing of the genome in patients who have these HBB mutations would result in copies of the gene which do not possess any mutations, effectively curing the disease. The importance of editing the germline would be to pass on this normal copy of the HBB genes to future generations.
Another possible use of human germline engineering would be eugenic modifications to humans which would result in what are known as "designer babies". The concept of a "designer baby" is that its entire genetic composition could be selected for.[8] In an extreme case, people would be able to effectively create the offspring that they want, with a genotype of their choosing. Not only does human germline engineering allow for the selection of specific traits, but it also allows for enhancement of these traits.[8] Using human germline editing for selection and enhancement is currently very heavily scrutinized, and the main driving force behind the movement of trying to ban human germline engineering.[9]
The ability to germline engineer human genetic codes would be the beginning of eradicating incurable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, sickle-cell anemia and multiple forms of cancer that we cannot stop nor cure today.[10] Scientists having the technology to not only eradicate those existing diseases but to prevent them altogether in fetuses would bring a whole new generation of medical technology. There are numerous disease that humans and other mammals obtain that are fatal because scientists have not found a methodized ways to treat them. With germline engineering, doctors and scientists would have the ability to prevent known and future diseases from becoming an epidemic.
State of research Edit The topic of human germline engineering is a widely debated topic. It is formally outlawed in more than 40 countries. Currently, 15 of 22 Western European nations have outlawed human germline engineering.[11] Human germline modification has been for many years heavily off limits. There is no current legislation in the United States that explicitly prohibits germline engineering, however, the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2016 banned the use of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) funds to engage in research regarding human germline modifications.[12] In recent years, as new founding is known as "gene editing" or "genome editing" has promoted speculation about their use in human embryos. In 2014, it has been said about researchers in the US and China working on human embryos. In April 2015, a research team published an experiment in which they used CRISPR to edit a gene that is associated with blood disease in non-living human embryos. All these experiments were highly unsuccessful, but gene editing tools are used in labs.
Scientists using the CRISPR/cas9 system to modify genetic materials have run into issues when it comes to mammalian alterations due to the complex diploid cells. Studies have been done in microorganisms regarding loss of function genetic screening and some studies using mice as a subject. RNA processes differ between bacteria and mammalian cells and scientists have had difficulties coding for mRNA's translated data without the interference of RNA. Studies have been done using the cas9 nuclease that uses a single guide RNA to allow for larger knockout regions in mice which was successful.[13] Altering the genetic sequence of mammals has also been widely debated thus creating a difficult FDA regulation standard for these studies.
The lack of clear international regulation has led to researchers across the globe attempting to create an international framework of ethical guidelines. Current framework lacks the requisite treaties among nations to create a mechanism for international enforcement. At the first International Summit on Human Gene Editing in December 2015 the collaboration of scientists issued the first international guidelines on genetic research.[14] These guidelines allow for the pre-clinical research into the editing of genetic sequences in human cells granted the embryos are not used to implant pregnancy. Genetic alteration of somatic cells for therapeutic proposes was also considered an ethnically acceptable field of research in part due to the lack of ability of somatic cells to transfer genetic material to subsequent generations. However citing the lack of social consensus, and the risk of inaccurate gene editing the conference called for restraint on any germline modifications on implanted embryos intended for pregnancy.
With the international outcry in response to the first recorded case of human germ line edited embryos being implanted by researcher He Jiankui, scientists have continued discussion on the best possible mechanism for enforcement of an international framework. On March 13, 2019 researchers Eric Lander, Fran§oise Baylis, Feng Zhang, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Paul Bergfrom along with others across the globe published a call for a framework that does not foreclose any outcome but includes a voluntary pledge by nations along with a coordinating body to monitor the application of pledged nations in a moratorium on human germline editing with an attempt to reach social consensus before moving forward into further research.[15] The World Health Organization announced on December 18, 2018 plans to convene an intentional committee on clinical germline editing.[16]
Ethical and moral debates Edit As it stands, there is much controversy surrounding human germline engineering. Editing the genes of human embryos is very different, and raises great social and ethical concerns. The scientific community, and global community, are quite divided regarding whether or not human germline engineering should be practiced or not. It is currently banned in many of the leading, developed countries, and highly regulated in the others due to ethical issues.[17]
One of the most significant issues related to human genome editing relates to the impact of the technology on future individuals whose genes are modified without their consent. Clinical ethics accepts the idea that parents are, almost always, the most appropriate surrogate medical decision makers for their children until the children develop their own autonomy and decision-making capacity. This is based on the assumption that, except under rare circumstances, parents have the most to lose or gain from a decision and will ultimately make decisions that reflects the future values and beliefs of their children. By extension, we might assume that parents are the most appropriate decision makers for their future children as well. Although there are anecdotal reports of children and adults who disagree with the medical decisions made by a parent during pregnancy or early childhood, particularly when death was a possible outcome. Of note, there are also published patient stories by individuals who feel strongly that they would not wish to change or remove their own medical condition if given the choice and individuals who disagree with medical decisions made by their parents during childhood.[18]
The other ethical concern lies in the principle of ''Designer Babies'' or the creation of humans with "perfect", or "desirable" traits. There is a debate as to if this is morally acceptable as well. Such debate ranges from the ethical obligation to use safe and efficient technology to prevent disease to seeing actual benefit in genetic disabilities. While typically there is a clash between religion and science, the topic of human germline engineering has shown some unity between the two fields. Several religious positions have been published with regards to human germline engineering. According to them, many see germline modification as being more moral than the alternative, which would be either discarding of the embryo, or birth of a diseased human. The main conditions when it comes to whether or not it is morally and ethically acceptable lie within the intent of the modification, and the conditions in which the engineering is done.The process of modifying the human genome has raised ethical questions. One of the issues is ''off target effects'', large genomes may contain identical or homologous DNA sequences, and the enzyme complex CRISPR/Cas9 may unintentionally cleave these DNA sequences causing mutations that may lead to cell death. The mutations can cause important genes to be turned on or off, such as genetic anti-cancer mechanisms, that could speed up disease exasperation.[18][19][20][21][22]
Other ethical concerns are: unintentionally editing the human germline forever, not knowing how one change to a human germline will affect the expression of the remainder of the genes. A scientist recently made an apt analogy for us to understand in regard to mapping and manipulating the human genome / germline is in relation to a stage play: it is if we have very precise character descriptions (the mapped genome), and yet we (the scientific community) have no idea yet how the characters interact with each other. In other words, if one makes one change to the human germline, what other cascade of changes might we be making? [23] [24]
Yet more ethical concerns might include the manipulation of viruses, the transfer of genes in order to use them as a weapon, or corporate America exploiting crops and animals in order to manufacture traits to meet economic needs, without ethical consideration. Although genome editing techniques may be a fairly inexpensive way to achieve genetic modification, there are larger issues of social justice that should be considered, specifically the issues that attach to distributing its benefits equitably. If corporations may be able to take unfair advantage and increase the inequalities in the event that they take advantage of patent law or other ways of restricting access to resources in relation to genome editing; there are already fights in the courts where these CRISPR-Cas9 patents and access issues are being negotiated.[25]
Genetically modified humans and designer babies Edit A genetically modified human contains a genetic makeup that has been selected or altered, often to include a particular gene or to remove genes associated with the disease. This process usually involves analyzing human embryos to identify genes associated with the disease, and selecting embryos that have the desired genetic makeup - a process known as a preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD or PIGD) is a procedure in which embryos are screened prior to implantation. The technique is used alongside in vitro fertilization (IVF) to obtain embryos for evaluation of the genome '' alternatively, ovocytes can be screened prior to fertilization. The technique was first used in 1989.
PGD is used primarily to select embryos for implantation in the case of possible genetic defects, allowing identification of mutated or disease-related alleles and selection against them. It is especially useful in embryos from parents where one or both carry a heritable disease. PGD can also be used to select for embryos of a certain sex, most commonly when a disease is more strongly associated with one sex than the other (as is the case for X-linked disorders which are more common in males, such as hemophilia). Infants born with traits selected following PGD are sometimes considered to be designer babies.[26]
One application of PGD is the selection of 'savior siblings', children who are born to provide a transplant (of an organ or group of cells) to a sibling with a usually life-threatening disease. Savior siblings are conceived through IVF and then screened using PGD to analyze genetic similarity to the child needing a transplant, in order to reduce the risk of rejection.
PGD technique Edit Embryos for PGD are obtained from IVF procedures in which the oocyte is artificially fertilized by sperm. Oocytes from the woman are harvested following controlled ovarian hyper stimulation (COH), which involves fertility treatments to induce production of multiple oocytes. After harvesting the oocytes, they are fertilized in vitro, either during incubation with multiple sperm cells in culture, or via intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI), where sperm is directly injected into the oocyte.[20] Such tests include amniocentesis, ultrasounds, and other preimplantation genetic diagnostic tests. These tests are quite common, and reliable, as we talk about them today; however, in the past when they were first introduced, they too were scrutinized.[20] The resulting embryos are usually cultured for 3''6 days, allowing them to reach the blastomere or blastocyst stage.Once embryos reach the desired stage of development, cells are biopsied and genetically screened. The screening procedure varies based on the nature of the disorder being investigated.Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a process in which DNA sequences are amplified to produce many more copies of the same segment, allowing screening of large samples and identification of specific genes. The process is often used when screening for monogenic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis.
Another screening technique, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) uses fluorescent probes which specifically bind to highly complementary sequences on chromosomes, which can then be identified using fluorescence microscopy. FISH is often used when screening for chromosomal abnormalities such as aneuploidy, making it a useful tool when screening for disorders such as Down syndrome.[20]
Following screening, embryos with the desired trait (or lacking an undesired trait such as a mutation) are transferred into the mother's uterus, then allowed to develop naturally.
He Jiankui controversy and research Edit On 25 November 2018, two days before the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong, Jian-kui HE, a Chinese researcher of the Southern University of Science and Technology, released a video on YouTube announcing that he and his colleagues have ''created'' the world's first genetically altered babies, Lulu and Nana.
HE explained the details of his experiment - in his address at the Hong Kong conference. HE and his team had recruited eight couples through an HIV volunteer group named Baihualin (BHL) China League (one couple later withdrew from the research). All the male participants are HIV-positive, and all female participants are HIV-negative. The participants' sperm was ''washed off'' to get rid of HIV and then injected into eggs collected from the female participants. By using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas9, a gene editing technique, they disabled a gene called CCR5 in the embryos, aiming to close the protein doorway that allows HIV to enter a cell and make the subjects immune to the HIV virus. The process led to at least one successful pregnancy and the birth of the twin baby girls, Lulu and Nana. [27][28] Researcher Alcino J. Silva has discovered an impact the CCR5 gene has on the memory function the brain.[29]A major concern has been that He Jiankui's attempts to cripple CCR5, the gene for a protein on immune cells that HIV uses to infect the cells, also made ''off-target'' changes elsewhere in the girls' genomes. Those changes could cause cancer or other problems. He contends that the babies have no such off-target mutations, although some scientists are skeptical of the evidence offered so far.[30]
People inherit two copies of CCR5, one from each parent. He chose the gene as a target because he knew that about 1% of Northern European populations are born with both copies missing 32 base pairs, resulting in a truncated protein that doesn't reach the cell surface. These people, known as CCR5Î--32 homozygotes, appear healthy and are highly resistant to HIV infection.In the embryos, He's team designed CRISPR to cut CCR5 at the base pair at one end of the natural deletion. The error-prone cell-repair mechanism, which CRISPR depends on to finish knocking out genes, then deleted 15 base pairs in one of Lulu's copies of the gene, but none in the other. With one normal CCR5, she is expected to have no protection from HIV. Nana, according to the data He presented in a slide at an international genome-editing summit held in November 2018 in Hong Kong, China, had bases added to one CCR5 copy and deleted from the other, which likely would cripple both genes and provide HIV resistance.
He added the genes for the CRISPR machinery almost immediately after each embryo was created through in vitro fertilization, but several researchers who closely studied the slide caution that it may have done its editing after Nana's embryo was already past the one-cell stage. That means she could be a genetic ''mosaic'' who has some unaffected cells with normal CCR5'--and ultimately might have no protection from HIV.
Aside from the primary HIV concerns, the gene edits may have inadvertently altered cognitive function. Researchers showed in 2016 that knocking out one or both CCR5s in mice enhances their memory and cognition. A subsequent study that crippled CCR5 in mice found that, compared with control animals, the mutants recovered from strokes more quickly and had improved motor and cognitive functions following traumatic brain injury. The later study, in the 21 February issue of Cell, also included an analysis of 68 stroke patients who had one copy of CCR5 with the HIV resistance mutation; it concluded they had improved recovery, too.
On the night of 26 November, 122 Chinese scientists issued a statement strongly condemning HE's action as unethical. They stated that while CRISPR-Cas is not a new technology, it involves serious off-target risks and associated ethical considerations, and so should not be used to produce gene-altered babies. They described HE's experiment as ''crazy'' and ''a huge blow to the global reputation and development of Chinese science''. The Scientific Ethics Committee of the Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences posted a statement declaring their opposition to any clinical use of genome editing on human embryos, noting that ''the theory is not reliable, the technology is deficient, the risks are uncontrollable, and ethics and regulations prohibit the action''.[31] The Chinese Academy of Engineering released a statement on 28 November, calling on scientists to improve self-discipline and self-regulation, and to abide by corresponding ethical principles, laws, and regulations. Finally, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences published a correspondence in The Lancet, stating that they are ''opposed to any clinical operation of human embryo genome editing for reproductive purposes."
Major studies of influence Edit The first known publication of research into human germline editing was by a group of Chinese scientists in April 2015 in the Journal "Protein and Cell".[32] The scientists used tripronuclear (3PN) zygotes, zygotes fertilized by two sperm and therefore non-viable, to investigate CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in human cells, something that had never been attempted before. The scientists found that while CRISPR/Cas9 could effectively cleave the β-globin gene (HBB), the efficiency of homologous recombination directed repair of HBB was highly inefficient and did not do so in a majority of the trials. Problems arose such as off target cleavage and the competitive recombination of the endogenous delta-globin with the HBB led to unexpected mutation. The results of the study indicated that repair of HBB in the embryos occurred preferentially through alternative pathways. In the end only 4 of the 54 zygotes carried the intended genetic information, and even then the successfully edited embryos were mosaics containing the preferential genetic code and the mutation. The conclusion of the scientists was that further effort was needed in to improve the precision and efficiency of CRISPER/Cas9 gene editing.
In March 2017 a group of Chinese scientists claimed to have edited three normal viable human embryos out of six total in the experiment.[33] The study showed that CRISPR/Cas9 is could effectively be used as a gene-editing tool in human 2PN zygotes, which could lead potentially pregnancy viable if implanted. The scientists used injection of Cas9 protein complexed with the relevant sgRNAs and homology donors into human embryos. The scientists found homologous recombination-mediated alteration in HBB and G6PD. The scientists also noted the limitations of their study and called for further research.
In August 2017 a group of scientists from Oregon published an article in Nature journal detailing the successful use of CRISPR to edit out a mutation responsible for congenital heart disease.[34] The study looked at heterozygous MYBPC3 mutation in human embryos. The study claimed precise CRISPR/Cas9 and homology-directed repair response with high accuracy and percision. Double-strand breaks at the mutant paternal allele were repaired using the homologous wild-type gene. By modifying the cell cycle stage at which the DSB was induced, they were able to avoid mosaicism, which had been seen in earlier similar studies, in cleaving embryos and achieve a large percentage of homozygous embryos carrying the wild-type MYBPC3 gene without evidence of unintended mutations. The scientists concluded that the technique may be used for the correction of mutations in human embryos. The claims of this study were however pushed back on by critics who argued the evidence was overall unpersuasive.
In June 2018 a group of scientists published and article in "Nature" journal indicating a potential link for edited cells having increased potential turn cancerous.[35] The scientists reported that genome editing by CRISPR/Cas9 induced DNA damage response and the cell cycle stopped. The study was conducted in human retinal pigment epithelial cells, and the use of CRISPR led to a selection against cells with a functional p53 pathway. The conclusion of the study would suggest that p53 inhibition might increase efficiency of human germline editing and that p53 function would need to be watched when developing CRISPR/Cas9 based therapy.
In November 2018 a group of Chinese scientists published research in the journal "Molecular Therapy" detailing their use of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to correct a single mistaken amino acid successfully in 16 out of 18 attempts in a human embryo.[36] The unusual level of precision was achieved by the use of a base editor (BE) system which was constructed by fusing the deaminase to the dCas9 protein. The BE system efficiently edits the targeted C to T or G to A without the use of a donor and without DBS formation. The study focused on the FBN1 mutation that is causative for Marfan syndrome. The study provides proof positive for the corrective value of gene therapy for the FBN1 mutation in both somatic cells and germline cells. The study is noted for its relative precision which is a departure from past results of CRISPR/Cas9 studies.
See also Edit Gene therapyGerminal choice technologyCRISPRReferences Edit ^ a b Stock G, Campbell J (2000-02-03). Engineering the Human Germline: An Exploration of the Science and Ethics of Altering the Genes We Pass to Our Children. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195350937. ^ a b c Cyranoski D, Reardon S (2015). "Chinese scientists genetically modify human embryos". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2015.17378. ^ Ma H, Marti-Gutierrez N, Park SW, Wu J, Lee Y, Suzuki K, Koski A, Ji D, Hayama T, Ahmed R, Darby H, Van Dyken C, Li Y, Kang E, Park AR, Kim D, Kim ST, Gong J, Gu Y, Xu X, Battaglia D, Krieg SA, Lee DM, Wu DH, Wolf DP, Heitner SB, Belmonte JC, Amato P, Kim JS, Kaul S, Mitalipov S (August 2017). "Correction of a pathogenic gene mutation in human embryos". Nature. 548 (7668): 413''419. Bibcode:2017Natur.548..413M. doi:10.1038/nature23305. PMID 28783728. ^ "About Human Germline Gene Editing | Center for Genetics and Society". www.geneticsandsociety.org . Retrieved 2018-12-05 . ^ Ormond KE, Mortlock DP, Scholes DT, Bombard Y, Brody LC, Faucett WA, et al. (August 2017). "Human Germline Genome Editing". American Journal of Human Genetics. 101 (2): 167''176. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.06.012. PMC 5544380 . PMID 28777929. ^ Rodrguez-Rodrguez, Diana Raquel; Ramrez-Sols, Ramiro; Garza-Elizondo, Mario Alberto; Garza-Rodrguez, Mara De Lourdes; Barrera-Salda±a, Hugo Alberto (April 2019). "Genome editing: A perspective on the application of CRISPR/Cas9 to study human diseases (Review)". International Journal of Molecular Medicine. 43 (4): 1559''1574. doi:10.3892/ijmm.2019.4112. ISSN 1791-244X. PMC 6414166 . PMID 30816503. ^ a b Katz G, Pitts PJ (November 2017). "Implications of CRISPR-Based Germline Engineering for Cancer Survivors". Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science. 51 (6): 672''682. doi:10.1177/2168479017723401. PMID 30227096. ^ a b National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24623. ^ Lock M, Nichter M (2003-09-02). New Horizons in Medical Anthropology: Essays in Honour of Charles Leslie. Routledge. ISBN 9781134471287. ^ Lanphier, Edward, et al. ''Don't Edit the Human Germ Line.'' Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 12 Mar. 2015, www.nature.com/news/don-t-edit-the-human-germ-line-1.17111 ^ Lanphier E, Urnov F, Haecker SE, Werner M, Smolenski J (March 2015). "Don't edit the human germ line". Nature. 519 (7544): 410''1. Bibcode:2015Natur.519..410L. doi:10.1038/519410a . PMID 25810189. ^ Cohen IG, Adashi EY (August 2016). "SCIENCE AND REGULATION. The FDA is prohibited from going germline". Science. 353 (6299): 545''6. Bibcode:2016Sci...353..545C. doi:10.1126/science.aag2960. PMID 27493171. ^ Wang, Tim; et al. (2014). "Genetic screens in human cells using the CRISPR-Cas9 system". Science. 343 (6166): 80''4. Bibcode:2014Sci...343...80W. doi:10.1126/science.1246981. PMC 3972032 . PMID 24336569. ^ "On Human Gene Editing: International Summit Statement". www8.nationalacademies.org . Retrieved 2019-04-18 . ^ "Germline gene-editing research needs rules". Nature. 567 (7747): 145. March 2019. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00788-5. PMID 30867612. ^ "WHO | Gene editing". WHO . Retrieved 2019-04-18 . ^ Krause, Kenneth W. (2017). "Editing the Human Germline: Groundbreaking Science and Mind-Numbing Sentiment". Skeptical Inquirer. 41 (6): 29''31. ^ a b Ishii T (August 2014). "Potential impact of human mitochondrial replacement on global policy regarding germline gene modification". Reproductive Biomedicine Online. 29 (2): 150''5. doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2014.04.001 . PMID 24832374. ^ Cole-Turner, Ronald (2008). Design and Destiny: Jewish and Christian Perspectives on Human Germline Modification. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262533010. ^ a b c d Stock, Gregory (2003). Redesigning Humans: Choosing Our Genes, Changing Our Future. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0618340835. ^ "Germ-line gene modification and disease prevention: Some me - ProQuest". search.proquest.com . Retrieved 2017-06-09 . ^ "A slippery slope to human germline modification - ProQuest". search.proquest.com . Retrieved 2017-06-09 . ^ Newson, A (2016). "Being Human: The Ethics, Law, and Scientific Progress of Genome Editing". Australian Quarterly. 87 (1): 3. ^ "Sickle Cell Anemia: Stem Cell Therapy '' Donald Kohn". YouTube. California Institute for Regenerative Medicine . Retrieved 20 February 2020 . ^ Newson, A (2016). "Being Human: The Ethics, Law, and Scientific Progress of Genome Editing". Australian Quarterly. 87 (1): 3. ^ Jin, Shouguang; March 27, University of Florida |; ET, 2015 01:17pm. "Are Tools for Tweaking Embryonic Cells Ethical? (Op-Ed)". Live Science . Retrieved 2018-12-05 . ^ Begley, Sharon (28 November 2018). "Amid uproar, Chinese scientist defends creating gene-edited babies". STAT News. ^ "å¤çè´ºå>>ºå¥ç人ç--轨蹼æ¯è°ç>>äºä>>åæ°--" (in Chinese). sina.com.cn. 27 November 2018 . Retrieved 28 November 2018 . ^ "He Jiankui Fired in Wake of CRISPR Babies Investigation". GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. 2019-01-21 . Retrieved 2019-04-18 . ^ "Amid uproar, Chinese scientist defends creating gene-edited babies". STAT. 2018-11-28 . Retrieved 2019-04-18 . ^ Liang P, Xu Y, Zhang X, Ding C, Huang R, Zhang Z, Lv J, Xie X, Chen Y, Li Y, Sun Y, Bai Y, Songyang Z, Ma W, Zhou C, Huang J (May 2015). "CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in human tripronuclear zygotes". Protein & Cell. 6 (5): 363''372. doi:10.1007/s13238-015-0153-5. PMC 4417674 . PMID 25894090. ^ Liang P, Xu Y, Zhang X, Ding C, Huang R, Zhang Z, Lv J, Xie X, Chen Y, Li Y, Sun Y, Bai Y, Songyang Z, Ma W, Zhou C, Huang J (May 2015). "CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in human tripronuclear zygotes". Protein & Cell. 6 (5): 363''372. doi:10.1007/s13238-015-0153-5. PMC 4417674 . PMID 25894090. ^ Tang L, Zeng Y, Du H, Gong M, Peng J, Zhang B, Lei M, Zhao F, Wang W, Li X, Liu J (June 2017). "CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in human zygotes using Cas9 protein". Molecular Genetics and Genomics. 292 (3): 525''533. doi:10.1007/s00438-017-1299-z. PMID 28251317. ^ Ma H, Marti-Gutierrez N, Park SW, Wu J, Lee Y, Suzuki K, et al. (August 2017). "Correction of a pathogenic gene mutation in human embryos". Nature. 548 (7668): 413''419. Bibcode:2017Natur.548..413M. doi:10.1038/nature23305. PMID 28783728. ^ ^ Zeng Y, Li J, Li G, Huang S, Yu W, Zhang Y, Chen D, Chen J, Liu J, Huang X (November 2018). "Correction of the Marfan Syndrome Pathogenic FBN1 Mutation by Base Editing in Human Cells and Heterozygous Embryos". Molecular Therapy. 26 (11): 2631''2637. doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.08.007. PMC 6224777 . PMID 30166242. Further reading Edit Enriquez, Juan; Gullans, Steve (2015). Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection is Changing Life on Earth. One World Publications. ISBN 978-1780748412. Metzl, Jamie (2020). Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks. "Special Issue: Human Germline Editing" . Bioethics. 34 (1). 2020. Venter, Craig (2014). Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life. United Kingdom: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143125907.
Bill Gates pushing for 7 billion mandatory experimental RNA injections that re-program human cells to produce coronavirus spike proteins '' NaturalNews.com
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 04:15
(Natural News) Operation Warp Speed is underway in the United States as the federal government moves forward with approximately $2 billion in contracts with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to produce and deliver up to 300 million experimental vaccine doses by January 2021.
In the meantime, state governments and health departments are coercing people into indefinite mask wearing, contact tracing, restrictions on personal liberty, and continued shutdowns and restrictions on certain activities, until new experimental vaccines are consumed en masse.
US President Donald Trump, seeking stock market growth for reelection, is caught up in a conflict of interest as he becomes Big Pharma's greatest spokesperson to advance new biologics and RNA injections.
Gates and Fauci pushing controversial trans-generational germ line editing vaccine for every human beingBig Pharma has over 170 covid-19 vaccines in development, but Bill Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci are pushing an experimental RNA technology to the front of the line. This technology, delivered via injection, is a type of genetic engineering called germ line editing. Bill Gates has been pushing this technology for over a decade and has the financial resources in place to carry out these genetic alterations on populations around the world. The technology inserts coronavirus genetic code into each person, forever changing genetics and cellular processes in their body. The coronavirus RNA reprograms human cells to produce spike proteins, forcing the immune system to fight properties of a virus that are being artificially manufactured by the body's own cells. The effects of this technology are trans-generational; the cellular manipulation can be passed down to future generations. Leading ethicists and scientists called for an end to this kind of trans-generational human genome editing in a January 2020 Geneva Statement.
January 2020 was also the time when Dr. Fauci and the NIH moved forward with licensure of this controversial technology to be used in Moderna's experimental RNA coronavirus vaccine. (The NIH owns half of Moderna's vaccine and stands to profit.) Even though Moderna has never brought a product to market, their latest controversial technology has been irresponsibly pushed through clinical trials, bypassing animal studies that are critically important to understand toxicity, histopathology, and disease processes. (Previous attempts to manufacture a coronavirus vaccine for SARS resulted in animal fatalities after injection and upon subsequent infection.)
In the first round of hasty human trials approved by Dr. Fauci, Moderna's results were embellished by the pharmaceutical-controlled media, despite the injection causing complications and hospitalizations in 20 percent of the participants in the high dose group. It has also proven to cause side effects in half of study participants and its effectiveness wanes in 2 to 3 months. Imagine this kind of damage being carried out among larger populations! It's reasonable to assume that wide-scale hospitalizations from the injection will be blamed on those who did not get the vaccine in the first place. These ''anti-vaxxers'' (which could represent well over half the population) will be shamed by the media and blamed for new outbreaks, resulting in government emergencies that force everyone to comply.
Despite the apparent risks, Moderna was given the green light to continue pushing their experiment forward. Moderna even received $483 million in federal funds from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to warp speed the process along. Bill Gates wants to make the technology mandatory for the world's population. He even said that anyone who refuses the injection is making the science less effective, putting everyone at risk. It's this kind of false guilt, mental degradation, and bondage that is coercing millions of people to follow along with ongoing fear-based mandates that do nothing to address our ability to overcome the virus with healthy immune function. This kind of illegal medical coercion will result in people being physically abused as they submit to experimental, inherently-dangerous injections just to get a sense of their freedom back.
But that's not freedom. It's all about control. Will you continue to go along?
Sources include:
ChildrensHealthDefense.org
GeneticsAndSociety.org
NaturalNews.com
NaturalNews.com
NaturalNews.com
NaturalNews.com
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Supreme Court & DACA: Negative Consequences | National Review
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:39
DACA recipients and their supporters celebrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. June 18, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) According to Chief Justice Roberts, the Constitution makes it easy for presidents to violate the law, but reversing such violations difficult -- especially for their successors. S uppose President Donald Trump decided to create a nationwide right to carry guns openly. He could declare that he would not enforce federal firearms laws, and that a new ''Trump permit'' would free any holder of state and local gun-control restrictions.
Even if Trump knew that his scheme lacked legal authority, he could get away with it for the length of his presidency. And, moreover, even if courts declared the permit illegal, his successor would have to keep enforcing the program for another year or two.
That incredible outcome is essentially what happened with the Supreme Court decision last week in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California (the latter being my employer, I might add). Regents blocked President Trump's repeal of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which halted the deportation of aliens brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and a parallel 2014 program that suspended the removal of their parents (DAPA). Until the Trump administration goes through the laborious result of enacting a new regulation to undo DACA and DAPA, approximately 6 million aliens can remain in the U.S. in defiance of federal immigration statutes.
While supporters of broader, more humane immigration policies (among whom I count myself) may have welcomed the result, they may well regret the Court's disruption of executive power. President Barack Obama could issue his extralegal visa programs for children and their parents aliens by simple executive fiat, according to Chief Justice John Roberts and four liberal Justices (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan), but President Trump had to pretend the order was legal and use the slow Administrative Procedure Act to reverse them. ''Even if it is illegal for DHS to extend work authorization and other benefits to DACA recipients,'' Roberts found, DACA ''could not be rescinded in full without any consideration whatsoever of a'' non-deportation policy other than on the ground of its illegality.
According to Chief Justice Roberts, the Constitution makes it easy for presidents to violate the law, but reversing such violations difficult '-- especially for their successors.
Such a rule upends the text, structure, and history of the Constitution, which generally prevents the occupants of a branch of government (who are temporary, after all) from binding their successors. The Constitution, for example, contains no system for undoing a statute. When Congress wants to repeal a law, it must pass a new law through the same process of bicameralism (House and Senate approval) and presentment (presidential signature). The Supreme Court effectively repeals past opinions simply by overruling the earlier case, though the Constitution does not expressly provide for such reversals. Brown v. Board of Education famously overruled Plessy v. Ferguson's rule of separate-but-equal. When a president wants to repeal an executive order, all he need do is issue a new executive order. When agencies want to reverse a regulation, they must resort to the same sluggish method of notice-and-comment rulemaking.
If anything, constitutional law grants presidents the power to reverse the acts of their predecessors even faster. Although Article II of the Constitution requires cabinet officers to undergo both presidential nomination and Senate advice and consent, practices from the earliest years of the Republic as well as Supreme Court precedents recognize the executive right to fire them unilaterally. A president similarly can terminate treaties, as Trump recently did with the Intermediate Nuclear Forces agreement with Russia, even though treaties must also receive Senate approval.
Recognizing a plenary power to reverse previous presidential acts, contrary to the Supreme Court's DACA rule, comports best with the purposes behind the creation of the executive branch. The Framers created an independent executive branch that could act unilaterally and with dispatch because the president's swift action was desirable in the execution of his constitutional and statutory responsibilities. They wanted each president to be fully accountable to the electorate for his actions without any diffusion of responsibility. The same reasons that support unitary executive action in the first instance support its potential unilateral reversal. A president may need to reverse his predecessor's decisions quickly to protect national security or take advantage of a great opportunity.
The Framers' careful protection against arbitrary government would be turned on its head if one president could insulate his unilateral policies against reversal by a subsequent president '-- for then the constitutional difficulty of enacting a statutory override would further entrench a tyrannical executive policy against electoral or statutory change.
It is important to understand that this principle applies even more strongly in the case of illegal presidential action. The Constitution vests in the president the responsibility to ''take Care that the Laws be faithfully Executed.'' The highest form of the law of the land is the Constitution. Under this duty, the president cannot enforce an executive order that violates the Constitution '-- here, the vesting of the power over immigration in Congress. Upon taking office, for example, President Thomas Jefferson immediately ended all prosecutions under the 1798 Sedition Act, which had made criticism of the government a crime, and pardoned those convicted under it.
This allocation of the power to execute the Constitution to the president reveals the perversity of Chief Justice Roberts's opinion in Regents. It forces President Trump to enforce an executive program that he believes violates the Constitution and federal immigration law, and hence it forces President Trump to violate the Constitution. This is doubly perverse because Trump supports a legislative solution that would allow DACA and DAPA beneficiaries to remain in the country. Nevertheless, Trump reversed DACA and DAPA because President Obama had no constitutional authority to impose the two policies.
The Obama administration claimed that it could still establish DACA and DAPA as a matter of prosecutorial discretion. The constitutional obligation that presidents enforce the law also includes their right, due to limited resources and time, to set enforcement priorities. Prosecutors cannot bring cases for every violation of every federal law at all times. But Obama's claim flew in the face of the Constitution by claiming that he could bring the enforcement of a federal law '-- here the removal provision of the immigration laws '-- completely down to zero.
If that were true, President Trump could simply restore the preexisting enforcement levels as a matter of his own exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Each new president's right to reverse the exercises of executive power by his predecessors means that no level of enforcement can bind any future administrations. If Obama were indeed free to set immigration removal levels to 50 percent of past cases, or even zero, Trump had the constitutional right to restore removals to those that prevailed under the Bush administration.
Trump's rationale was correct: President Obama had no constitutional authority to refuse to enforce the immigration laws against whole classes of aliens, amounting to 50 percent of the possible removal cases. As the Court in Regents concedes, he had intruded on Congress's constitutional prerogative to set immigration levels and to establish visa categories. As the lower courts had found, President Obama failed to live up to his constitutional responsibility to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. In such a situation, the Constitution compelled Trump to restore immigration enforcement to pre-DACA and pre-DAPA levels. By ignoring these aspects of the Constitution and presidential power, the Regents Court may have inflicted a harm on the nation that goes far beyond immigration law.
Trump eyes Supreme Court ruling on DACA as license to skirt the law - Axios
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:37
President Trump and top White House officials are privately considering a controversial strategy to act without legal authority to enact new federal policies '-- starting with immigration, administration officials tell Axios.
Between the lines: The White House thinking is being heavily influenced by John Yoo, the lawyer who wrote the Bush administration's justification for waterboarding after 9/11.
Yoo detailed the theory in a National Review article, spotted atop Trump's desk in the Oval Office, which argues that the Supreme Court's 5-4 DACA ruling last month "makes it easy for presidents to violate the law."
The president has brought up the article with key advisers, two Trump administration officials tell Axios. Yoo writes that the ruling, and actions by President Obama, pave the way for Trump to implement policies that Congress won't.
Some could remain in force for years even if he loses re-election.Yoo '-- who next week will be out with a new book, "Defender in Chief," on Trump's use of presidential power '-- tells Axios that he has met virtually with White House officials about the implications of the ruling.What's next: The first test could come imminently. Trump has said he is about to unveil a "very major" immigration policy via executive order, which he says the Supreme Court gave him the power to do.
The order could include some protections for immigrants who traveled to the U.S. illegally as children, something most Americans support. That could be a political olive branch to Latino voters, though the Trump administration moved to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which led to the Supreme Court's involvement.The order could also include significant new restrictions on immigration that couldn't get through Congress but are favored by the president, Jared Kushner and hardline adviser Stephen Miller.Driving the news: Yoo told Axios that Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion "sets out a roadmap about how a president can use his prosecutorial discretion to under-enforce the law."
The recourse would be if the next president tries to reverse what's set in motion."Suppose President Donald Trump decided to create a nationwide right to carry guns openly," Yoo writes in his National Review op-ed. "He could declare that he would not enforce federal firearms laws, and that a new 'Trump permit' would free any holder of state and local gun-control restrictions.""Even if Trump knew that his scheme lacked legal authority, he could get away with it for the length of his presidency. And, moreover, even if courts declared the permit illegal, his successor would have to keep enforcing the program for another year or two."Reality check: This is a somewhat strained reading of both procedural history and the law, according to Axios' Sam Baker. The Supreme Court has never ruled either way on DACA's legality.
But the Supreme Court wouldn't be able to decide the merits of anything Trump does before the election.Two administration officials told Axios that although the president has shown an interest in Yoo's thinking, the White House wouldn't rely solely on that."You have to act in good faith, and think that what you're doing is good and legal," one official said."It's very much in dispute as to whether or not the president has that much control over immigration through executive order," a second official said. What we're watching: Trump told Chris Wallace in an interview for "Fox News Sunday" that in addition to replacing DACA with "something much better," he's also going to be unveiling a health care plan within two weeks "that the Supreme Court decision on DACA gave me the right to do."
The White House declined to comment for this story.
EO on Delegating Authority Under the DPA to the CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to Respond to the COVID-19 Outbreak | The White House
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 04:03
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) (the ''Act''), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. In Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak), I declared a national emergency recognizing the threat that the novel (new) coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 poses to our Nation's healthcare systems. In recognizing the public health risk, I noted that on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of COVID-19 (the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2) can be characterized as a pandemic.
To ensure that our country has the capacity, capability, and strong and resilient domestic industrial base necessary to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is the policy of the United States to further expand domestic production of strategic resources needed to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, including strengthening relevant supply chains within the United States and its territories. It is important to use all resources available to the United States, including executive departments and agencies (agencies) with expertise in loan support for private institutions. Accordingly, I am delegating authority under title III of the Act to make loans, make provision for purchases and commitments to purchase, and take additional actions to create, maintain, protect, expand, and restore the domestic industrial base capabilities, including supply chains within the United States and its territories (''domestic supply chains''), needed to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sec. 2. Delegation of Authority Under Title III of the Act. (a) Notwithstanding Executive Order 13603 of March 16, 2012 (National Defense Resources Preparedness), and in addition to the delegation of authority in Executive Order 13911 of March 27, 2020 (Delegating Additional Authority Under the Defense Production Act With Respect to Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19), the Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is delegated the authority of the President conferred by sections 302 and 303 of the Act (50 U.S.C. 4532 and 4533), and the authority to implement the Act in subchapter III of chapter 55 of title 50, United States Code (50 U.S.C. 4554, 4555, 4556, and 4560).
(b) The Chief Executive Officer of the DFC may use the authority under sections 302 and 303 of the Act, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the heads of other agencies as he deems appropriate, for the domestic production of strategic resources needed to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, or to strengthen any relevant domestic supply chains.
(c) The loan authority delegated by this order is limited to loans that create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore domestic industrial base capabilities supporting:
(i) the national response and recovery to the COVID'19 outbreak; or
(ii) the resiliency of any relevant domestic supply chains.
(d) Loans extended using the authority delegated by this order shall be made in accordance with the principles and guidelines outlined in OMB Circular A-11, OMB Circular A-129, and the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as amended (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.).
(e) The Chief Executive Officer of the DFC shall adopt appropriate rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement this order.
Sec. 3. Termination. The delegation of authority in this order shall expire upon termination of the 2-year period during which the requirements described in section 302(c)(1) of the Act (50 U.S.C. 4532(c)(1)) are waived pursuant to title III of division B of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116-136).
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,May 14, 2020.
DFC to Sign Letter of Interest for Investment in Kodak's Expansion Into Pharmaceuticals | DFC
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 04:01
Project taps DFC expertise and new partnership with DOD; Kodak's heritage for innovation ROCHESTER, New York '' At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler will today sign a letter of interest (LOI) to provide a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) to support the launch of Kodak Pharmaceuticals, a new arm of the company that will produce critical pharmaceutical components. The project would mark the first use of new authority delegated by President Trump's recent executive order that enables DFC and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to collaborate in support of the domestic response to COVID-19 under the Defense Production Act (DPA).
"Addressing the unprecedented challenges we face today'--and preparing for future crises'--requires innovative ideas and partnerships,'' said Boehler. ''Today, we are bringing together the significant resources and expertise of the private sector and U.S. Government. We are pleased to support Kodak in this bold new venture. Our collaboration with this iconic American company will promote health and safety at home and around the world.''
''Kodak is proud to be a part of strengthening America's self-sufficiency in producing the key pharmaceutical ingredients we need to keep our citizens safe,'' said Kodak Executive Chairman Jim Continenza. ''By leveraging our vast infrastructure, deep expertise in chemicals manufacturing, and heritage of innovation and quality, Kodak will play a critical role in the return of a reliable American pharmaceutical supply chain.''
''If we have learned anything from the global pandemic, it is that Americans are dangerously dependent on foreign supply chains for their essential medicines,'' said Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy at the White House Dr. Peter Navarro. ''This DFC-Kodak partnership is a big win for the use of President Trump's DPA powers, a big win for New York, and a huge step forward towards American pharmaceutical independence.''
"This is about assuring our supply chains now and in the future,'' said Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, White House Supply Chain Task Force Lead. ''Kodak is stepping up to help onshore pharmaceutical production and this DPA action will allow the modernized Strategic National Stockpile to have domestic resiliency. Once Kodak ramps up we will have the ability to tap into that capacity for domestic use."
Boehler and Continenza will sign the LOI and be joined by Navarro, Polowczyk, and Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist. The signing ceremony will follow recorded remarks from President Trump and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Since George Eastman put the first simple camera into the hands of consumers in 1888, Rochester, New York-based Kodak has become a globally recognized American brand that has helped lead the innovation of the graphic communications industry. Today, Kodak is expanding its traditional product line to support the national response to COVID-19 by bolstering domestic production and supply chains of key strategic resources.
Kodak Pharmaceuticals will produce critical pharmaceutical components that have been identified as essential but have lapsed into chronic national shortage, as defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although Americans consume approximately 40 percent of the world's supply of bulk components used to produce generic pharmaceutics, only 10 percent of these materials are manufactured in the United States.
DFC's loan will accelerate Kodak's time to market by supporting startup costs needed to repurpose and expand the company's existing facilities in Rochester, New York and St. Paul, Minnesota, including by incorporating continuous manufacturing and advanced technology capabilities. The LOI that will be signed today indicates Kodak's successful completion of DFC's initial screening and will be followed by standard due diligence conducted by the agency before financing is formally committed.
Once fully operational, Kodak Pharmaceuticals will have the capacity to produce up to 25 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in non-biologic, non-antibacterial, generic pharmaceuticals while supporting 360 direct jobs and an additional 1,200 indirectly. The company plans to coordinate closely with the Administration and pharmaceutical manufacturers to identify and prioritize components that are most critical to the American people and U.S. national security.
Signed by President Trump on May 14, Executive Order 13922 delegates authority to the DFC CEO under the DPA to leverage its financial tools to re-shore production of strategic resources and strengthen related domestic supply chains in response to COVID-19. This authority is carried out in close partnership and coordination with DOD, which bears all costs of DFC's DPA program. DFC recently launched a request for proposals from private sector entities seeking DFC financing under the DPA for projects that support the domestic production or distribution of pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment (PPE), medical testing supplies, vaccines, ventilation equipment, or relevant ancillary materials and technologies. Visit dfc.gov/dpa to learn more.
These efforts complement DFC's global response to both the health-related and economic impacts of COVID-19. The agency, recently announced a call for proposals under its new Health and Prosperity Initiative, which seeks to catalyze $5 billion of investment in projects that help developing countries respond to COVID-19 and build greater health resilience. Under the initiative, DFC is particularly focused on investments in health system capacity, including supply chains that expand the distribution of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, and other medical supplies, products, and equipment.
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About DFCU.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is America's development bank. DFC partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world today. We invest across sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology. DFC also provides financing for small businesses and women entrepreneurs in order to create jobs in emerging markets. DFC investments adhere to high standards and respect the environment, human rights, and worker rights.
About KodakKodak is a global technology company focused on print and advanced materials & chemicals. We provide industry-leading hardware, software, consumables and services primarily to customers in commercial print, packaging, publishing, manufacturing and entertainment. We are committed to environmental stewardship and ongoing leadership in developing sustainable solutions. Our broad portfolio of superior products, responsive support and world-class R&D make Kodak solutions a smart investment for customers looking to improve their profitability and drive growth. For additional information on Kodak, visit us at kodak.com, follow us on Twitter @Kodak, or like us on Facebook at Kodak.
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Ohio HCQ rule
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:39
Req u ir e m en ts f o r D is p en sin g o r S ellin g C hlo ro q u in e a n dHyd ro xych lo ro q u in e in O hioOn J u ly 3 0, 2 020, r u le 4729:5 -5 -2 1 of t h e A dm in is tr a tiv e C od e g oes in to e ffe ct. I n g en era l,th e r u le p ro h ib it s a ll t e rm in al d is tr ib u to rs ( in clu din g p re scrib er c lin ic s, n on -re sid en tph arm acie s, a n d in stit u tio n al fa cilit ie s) fr o m s e llin g o r d is p en sin g h yd ro xych lo ro q u in e a n dch lo ro q u in e fo r t h e t r e a tm en t o r p re ve n tio n o f C O VID -1 9 [ s e e p ara g ra p h ( B ) b elo w ]. P le a sebe a d vis e d t h at t h is r u le r e p la ce s e m erg en cy r u le 4 729-5 -3 0.2 a n d t h at a ll a p pro va ls fo r t h euse o f t h ese m ed ic a tio n s m ad e u nder t h at r u le a re n o lo n ger a p plic a b le . 4729:5 -5 -2 1 P re scrip tio n r e q u ir e m en ts f o r c h lo ro q u in e a n d h yd ro xych lo ro q u in e.(A ) N o p re scrip tio n fo r c h lo ro q u in e o r h yd ro xych lo ro q u in e m ay b e d is p en se d b y a p h arm acis t o r s o ldat r e ta il b y a lic e n se d t e rm in al d is tr ib u to r o f d an gero u s d ru gs, in clu din g p re scrip tio n s fo r p atie n tsre sid in g in O hio d is p en se d o r s o ld a t r e ta il b y n on re sid en t t e rm in al d is tr ib u to rs o f d an gero u s d ru gsas d efin ed in r u le 4 729:5 -8 -0 1 o f t h e A dm in is tr a tiv e C od e, u nle ss t h e p re scrip tio n b ea rs a w rit te ndia g n osis c o d e fr o m t h e p re scrib er o r a s ta te m en t in dic a tin g it s v e te rin ary m ed ic a l p u rp ose .(B ) E xce p t a s p ro vid ed in p ara g ra p h ( C ) o f t h is r u le , p re scrip tio n s is su ed fo r c h lo ro q u in e o rhyd ro xych lo ro q u in e fo r p ro p h yla ctic u se r e la te d t o C O VID -1 9 o r fo r t h e t r e a tm en t o f C O VID -1 9 a restr ic tly p ro h ib it e d u nle ss o th erw is e a p pro ve d b y t h e b oard 's e xe cu tiv e d ir e cto r in c o n su lt a tio n w it hth e b oard p re sid en t, a t w hic h t im e a r e so lu tio n s h all is su e. U pon t h e e ffe ctiv e d ate o f t h is r u le , a llpre vio u s a p pro va ls fo r t h e u se o f c h lo ro q u in e o r h yd ro xych lo ro q u in e s h all b e d eem ed v o id a n d m ustbe a p pro ve d u sin g t h e p ro ce ss o u tlin ed in t h is p ara g ra p h .(C ) T h e p ro h ib it io n in p ara g ra p h ( B ) o f t h is r u le d oes n ot a p ply t o p re scrip tio n s is su ed a s p art o f adocu m en te d in stit u tio n al r e vie w b oard -a p pro ve d c lin ic a l t r ia l t o e va lu ate t h e s a fe ty a n d e ffic a cy o fth e d ru gs t o t r e a t C O VID -1 9. P re scrip tio n s m ust in clu de d ocu m en ta tio n t h at t h e p atie n t is e n ro lle din a c lin ic a l t r ia l.(D ) P ara g ra p h s ( B ) a n d ( C ) o f t h is r u le s h all a ls o a p ply t o m ed ic a tio n o rd ers a n d o u tp atie n tpre scrip tio n s d is p en se d b y in stit u tio n al p h arm acie s a s d efin ed in a g en cy 4 729 o f t h e A dm in is tr a tiv eCod e.To a ssis t lic e n se es in c o m ply in g w it h t h is n ew r u le , t h e B oard h as d eve lo p ed t h e fo llo w in gfr e q u en tly a sk e d q u estio n s: www.p h arm acy .o h io .g ov/h yd ro xy
Insufficient vitamin D increases risk of severe COVID-19, says new study - The Jerusalem Post
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 12:32
Vitamin D has long been understood to impact immune response. Vitamin D laying on the table with prescription bottle behind them.
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Low levels of vitamin D may put people at risk for developing
COVID-19, according to a new study by Leumit Health Care Services and Bar-Ilan University's Azrieli Faculty of Medicine.
''The main finding of our study was the significant association of low plasma vitamin D level with the likelihood of
COVID-19 infection among patients who were tested for COVID-19, even after adjustment for age, gender, socioeconomic status and chronic, mental and physical disorders,'' said Dr. Eugene Merzon, head of Leumit's Department of Managed Care and its leading researcher. ''Furthermore, low vitamin D level was associated with the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection, although this association wasn't significant after adjustment for other confounders.''
Vitamin D has long been understood to impact immune response. According to Dr. Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern, leader of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine research group, as much as 70% of the adult population worldwide is vitamin D insufficient or deficient.
The Leumit and Bar-Ilan scientists analyzed if the risk of developing COVID-19 or becoming hospitalized because of it increases for people who have a low level of vitamin D.
They studied 782 Israeli COVID-19-positive patients and 7,825 negative patients and determined that a low plasma vitamin D level appears to be an independent risk factor for COVID-19 infection and hospitalization.
''We don't know the mechanism,'' Frenkel-Morgenstern said. ''What we do know is that people who develop severe COVID and were hospitalized '' these people have significantly low vitamin D levels.''
The research has just been accepted to be published in
The FEBS Journal on molecular, cellular and biochemical life sciences.
This is the largest study of its kind to date, Frenkel-Morgenstern said. Similar studies have yielded the same results.
A report published earlier this month in Clinical Neurology News stressed the importance of individuals obtaining the daily recommended dose of vitamin D in helping to ward off the novel coronavirus. Studies have suggested that taking vitamin D supplements and spending 30 minutes in sunlight in the summer could help.
''Our finding is in agreement with the results of previous studies in the field,'' said Dr. Ilan Green, head of Leumit's Research Institute. ''Reduced risk of acute respiratory tract infection following vitamin D supplementation has been reported.''
The next step will be to evaluate this and other factors in association with mortality due to COVID-19, the press release said.
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MedicineUncensored
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 00:32
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NEJM study on hydroxychloroquine for post-exposure prophylaxis shows no benefit and no harm
American Journal of Epidemiology..."Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk Covid-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis"
Lancet study of HCQ treatment in sick, hospitalized patients MORE THAN 10 DAYS after symptom onset. Authors admit data does NOT apply to HCQ treatment in an ambulatory or outpatient setting (MR Mehra, et al)
S. Korea prospective trial in long-term care hospitals on prophylaxis with HCQ was 100% protective in 211 patients...Over 2 months and 30,000 LTCH deaths later, the US struggles to publish its 1st HCQ prophylaxis study (SH Lee, et al)
EARLY treatment with HCQ (mean time 5.6 days from symptom onset) decreases both hospital stay and time to viral clearance compared to lopinavir-ritonavir (MS Kim, et al)
ZINC shown to amplify efficacy of HCQ + AZ treatment regimen in hospitalized patients ( J Rahimian, et al)
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No surprise...BMJ study finds HCQ ineffective once patients are already in cytokine storm (M Mah(C)vas, et al)
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Hydroxychloroquine increases survival in EARLY treatment of COVID-19 (FJ Membrillo, et al)
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HCQ + AZ reduces transfer to ICU and death compared to standard therapy...p=0.002 (B Davido, et al)
Early treatment of COVID-19 with HCQ and AZ results in 98.7% cure rate in study of 1061 cases in France (D Raoult, et al)
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NY study FAILS to evaluate EARLY treatment with HCQ, and becomes just another study looking at treatment after cytokine storm (ES Rosenberg et al)
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American Health Association: "In the largest reported cohort of COVID-19 patients to date treated with chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine {plus minus} azithromycin, no instances of TdP or arrhythmogenic death were reported. " (M Saleh, et al)
Widespread antibody testing shows 5% of Spaniards have contracted coronavirus (Ministry of Health, Spain)
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Remdesivir WITHOUT clinical benefit in randomized placebo-controlled trial (Y Wang, et al)
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Prospective study at Prevent Senior Institute in S£o Paulo, Brazil shows EARLY outpatient treatment with HCQ + AZ results in DECREASED need for hospitalization (RB Esper, et al)
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Todaro MD, Krug, Praver MD and Zelenko MD propose strategy to reopen America with hydroxychloroquine and age-based self-quarantining (JM Todaro, et al)
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Pharmacokinetics study proposes new HCQ dosage for faster time to therapeutic levels (S Perinel, et al)
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RCT of HCQ vs standard therapy resulted in significantly shorter time to temperature recovery and cough remission (Z Chen, et al)
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VA study shows treatment of LATE STAGE COVID-19 with HCQ + AZ is not effective (J Magagnoli, et al)
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Didier Raoult publishes landmark study showing all COVID-19 patients treated with HCQ + AZ virologically cured in 6 days (P Gautret, et al)
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CENSORED BY GOOGLE The original google doc on "An Effective Treatment for Coronavirus" by Todaro and Rigano (since taken down by Google in March 2020)
Archived studies and reports on HCQ/AZ/Zinc in treatment of COVID-19 and antibody prevalence studies can be found in the following Google Doc curated by JM Todaro, MD .
CENSORED BY YOUTUBE
Professor Dr. Karol Sikora speaks about COVID-19 antibody tests, immunity in the young and possibility that the virus may be burning out naturally
Tips or news stories? Please email
James Todaro, MD received his medical degree from Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in NY, and completed his surgical training with four additional years of residency in ophthalmology.
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A long-time advocate of free speech, Dr. Todaro has doggedly pursued the dissemination of vital medical knowledge and evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite censorship by social media platforms and ad hominem attacks by mainstream media outlets.
'
On March 13, 2020, Dr. Todaro and Gregory Rigano, Esq published the first widely disseminated paper proposing chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in treatment of COVID-19 . The publication was later taken down by Google despite triggering widespread use and ongoing clinical investigation of the drug's effectiveness in over 100 clinical trials.
'
Vaccine company touted by Trump accused of running a bait-and-switch stock operation to bilk investors
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:39
Moderna, the vaccine company touted by the President after announcing extremely limited phase 1 results (on just 8 patients) for its experimental vaccine, now stands accused of running a pump-and-dump scheme / bait-and-switch stock operation that appears to have been timed to immediately follow its P.R. propaganda push on Monday morning.
Zero Hedge reports on how the scheme works:
Shortly after the close '' following its massive intraday surge on the back of what, at best, were extremely limited and extremely early results of its COVID-19 vaccine '' Moderna has announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $1.25 billion in shares of common stock.
Moderna expects to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund working capital needs related to the manufacturing of mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), for distribution in the United States and outside the United States, assuming necessary regulatory approvals are obtained, and the remainder, if any, to fund clinical development and drug discovery in existing and new therapeutic areas; to fund further development of its mRNA technology platform and the creation of new modalities; or to fund working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Morgan Stanley is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.
The shares are reportedly offered between $75 and $77.50 each, and MRNA shares are sliding after hours'...
So MRNA manages to raise equity capital at a price 15-20% above its Friday close'... Can anyone say ''pump'n'dump'''...
If it walks like a stock promotion, if it quacks like a stock promotion'... https://t.co/UTiWka8rRd
'-- Jin SEO (@JTSEO9) May 18, 2020
And jumping quickly on the bandwagon, several other biotech stocks immediately offered shares in secondaries:
*KRYSTAL BIOTECH SHARES ARE SAID TO BE OFFERED AT $55 TO $56
*CLOVIS SHARES ARE SAID TO BE OFFERED AT $8.05 TO $8.50
*BELLEROPHON SHARES ARE SAID TO BE OFFERED AT $13 EACH
*NOVAVAX FILES TO SELL UP TO $250M OF SHARES
*HEXO ANNOUNCES PROPOSED OFFERING
This morning, drug company Moderna shouted from the mountaintops that the first study of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine candidate '' a pre-clinical human trial '' showed ''promising results''. But as analysts later pointed out, the details '' for example, the study's focus was 'safety', and vaccine was only tested in two low doses on 8 patients.
Well, one twitter user @TESLACharts who has obtained a large following for their incisive tweets about Tesla (and other valuation-related absurdities) tweeted a surprisingly detailed explanation of why investors should take today's announcement with a massive grain of salt, and why '' going forward '' they should be wary of the company and any results from the trial, which is being carried out in partnership with NIAID.
As it turns out, not only has Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel (whose Moderna stake has made him a billionaire) been selling a surprising amount of Moderna stock, but a mysterious company called ''Flagship Pioneer'' that also happens to be Moderna's largest shareholder has been selling large blocks of shares as well. That company, as @TeslaCharts explains, is controlled by Bancel.
1/ It is good to be Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. He gets to go on @CNBC and pump interim Phase I partial data on a rona vaccine. Let's have a closer look. $MRNAhttps://t.co/hj45UKbyGC
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
2/ Mr. Bancel is a prolific seller of his own company stock, with an aggressive 10b5 plan. He basically sells every week. What's that green flag you say? Let's have a look. $MRNA pic.twitter.com/vuWwIIIrTR
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
3/ The top holder of $MRNA is Flagship Pioneering Inc. They've been selling as well, as you can see. But there's more. pic.twitter.com/WQV9ndGPFH
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
4/ The little green flag in the second tweet of this thread shows us that Mr. Bancel is also in investor in Flagship. $MRNA pic.twitter.com/o3slLO0akf
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
5/ Mr. Bancel also owns and sell stock from a couple of LLCs. Check out the footnotes. $MRNA pic.twitter.com/b5hLi9s7cL
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
Though he's not well known to the wider public, Bancel was once compared to Elizabeth Holmes '' and that was after the WSJ published its series of reports exposing Theranos as a fraud.
6/ It wasn't that long ago that Mr. Bancel was being compared to Elizabeth Holmes. That's nice. https://t.co/9Z2rhkAV2e
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
Another thing: Trump's own Vaccine Czar owns a large slug of Moderna call options. Some have called for him to sell them because of the obvious conflict. But the fact hasn't been widely discussed on Monday is surprising.
7/ Naturally, Trump's vaccine czar owns 156,000 options in $MRNA. There are loud calls for him to divest these options because of obvious conflicts of interest. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to do so at these prices. https://t.co/ycrZDHDABu
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
The Twitter user suspects that Bancel will continue selling tomorrow, guaranteeing that ''whether or not his vaccine works'' Bancel will be ''quite rich either way.''
8/ As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, Mr. Bancel will be selling $MRNA stock again very soon at even higher prices. I sure hope his vaccine works. Mr. Bancel will be quite rich either way.
'-- TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020
Basically, while the results released today seemed to suggest that the vaccine can create COVID-19 antibodies in patients, there's still some doubt about how long COVID-19 antibodies can keep patient's immune, or whether COVID-19 might end up evolving like the flu, requiring repeated immunizations to maintain its protective effects. In other words, while this is indeed a promising development, whether or not the vaccine will ultimately be effective remains uncertain.
Via ZeroHedge.com
Kodak to make drug ingredients with $765 million federal loan
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 21:25
July 28, 2020 | 1:21pm
The phrase ''Kodak moment'' could soon have a new meaning.
Kodak, a 132-year-old camera company, is launching a new pharmaceuticals arm with help from Uncle Sam, officials announced Tuesday.
The Trump administration awarded the onetime photography titan $765 million under the Defense Production Act to make ingredients for a wide range of drugs in an effort to reduce the US's dependence on foreign drug manufacturers. It's the first such loan awarded under the DPA program.
''By leveraging our vast infrastructure, deep expertise in chemicals manufacturing, and heritage of innovation and quality, Kodak will play a critical role in the return of a reliable American pharmaceutical supply chain,'' Kodak executive chairman Jim Continenza said in a statement.
The news sent Kodak's stock price up as much as 350 percent to $11.80 Tuesday morning. The shares were recently trading at $8.76, more than triple Monday's close of $2.62.
One of the drugs for which Kodak will make ingredients is hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria medicine that President Trump has promoted as a treatment for COVID-19, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the deal. The Food and Drug Administration has said the drug does not help coronavirus patients recover faster or reduce their chance of death.
Kodak's loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation will directly support 360 jobs, indirectly support 1,200 others, and help the company expand its existing facilities in Rochester, New York and St. Paul, Minnesota, officials said.
It's the first use of an executive order Trump signed in May enabling the corporation to support the production of ''strategic resources'' needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic under the Defense Production Act. Trump has also used the Korean War-era law to shore up supplies of ventilators and respirator masks.
Federal officials noted that Americans consume roughly 40 percent of the world's supply of bulk generic drug ingredients, but only 10 percent of those materials are made in the US.
''If we have learned anything from the global pandemic, it is that Americans are dangerously dependent on foreign supply chains for their essential medicines,'' White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in a statement.
More Vitamin C Studies Approved in China to Fight Coronavirus: Therapy Censored in U.S.
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:17
Comments by Brian ShilhavyEditor, Health Impact News
On January 27, 2020 we published a press release from Orthomolecular Medicine News Service regarding Vitamin C and its use in treating the Coronavirus. See:
Vitamin C Protects Against CoronavirusIt soon went viral on Facebook, until Facebook labeled it as ''Fake News.'' Facebook partners with a website called ''Lead Stories'' to discredit news stories they do not want becoming popular on Facebook. Health Impact News is a popular target of ''Lead Stories.''
Since we published this news release in January, however, several hospitals in China have begun to conduct trials on intravenous Vitamin C therapy, so it is hardly ''Fake News'' as Facebook is claiming.
In fact, Facebook is the one guilty of promoting ''Fake News'' by erroneously claiming there is no proof that Vitamin C can help combat the Coronavirus, when in fact clinical research trials are well underway in China with ample evidence that should be shared with the public, and not suppressed, simply because U.S. sources in bed with Big Pharma do not want the public to have this information.
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service editor Andrew Saul has just published an updated report, and he notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has, literally, met with Google and Facebook and other media giants to stop the spread of what they declare to be wrong information.
Physician-directed, hospital-based administration of intravenous vitamin C has been marginalized or discredited. Scientific debate over COVID-19 appears to not be allowed.
Ironically, Facebook, blocking any significant users' sharing of the news of approved vitamin therapy research, is itself blocked in China by the Chinese government. As for the internet, yes, China has it. And yes, it is censored. But, significantly, the Chinese government has not blocked this real news on how intravenous vitamin C will save lives in the COVID-19 epidemic.
Hence, the news about Vitamin C therapy helping with the Coronavirus outbreak is found mostly in Chinese language websites, endorsed by the Communist China Government's controlled media, but mostly banned in the English language social media platforms like Facebook, or censored from Google search results.
Three Intravenous Vitamin C Research Studies Approved for Treating COVID-19by Andrew W. Saul, EditorOrthomolecular Medicine News Service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE(OMNS February 21, 2020) Intravenous vitamin C is already being employed in China against COVID-19 coronavirus. I am receiving regular updates because I am part of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board to the International Intravenous Vitamin C China Epidemic Medical Support Team. Its director is Richard Z. Cheng, MD, PhD; associate director is Hong Zhang, PhD. Among other team members are Qi Chen, PhD (Associate Professor, Kansas University Medical School); Jeanne Drisko, MD (Professor, University of Kansas Medical School); Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD; and Atsuo Yanagisawa, MD, PhD. (Professor, Kyorin University, Tokyo).
To read the treatment protocol information in English: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n07.shtml(Protocol in Chinese at http://www.doctoryourself.com/Coronavirus_Chinese_IV_C_Protocol.pdf)
Direct report from ChinaOMNS Chinese edition editor Dr. Richard Cheng is reporting from China about the first approved study of 12,000 to 24,000 mg/day of vitamin C by IV. The doctor also specifically calls for immediate use of vitamin C for prevention of coronavirus (COVID-19).
A second clinical trial of intravenous vitamin C was announced in China on Feb. 13th. In this second study, says Dr. Cheng,
''They plan to give 6,000 mg/day and 12,000 mg/day per day for moderate and severe cases. We are also communicating with other hospitals about starting more intravenous vitamin C clinical studies. We would like to see oral vitamin C included in these studies, as the oral forms can be applied to more patients and at home.''
Additional information at http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n11.shtml
And on Feb 21, 2020, announcement has been made of a third research trial now approved for intravenous vitamin C for COVID-19.
Dr. Cheng, who is a US board-certified specialist in anti-aging medicine, adds:
''Vitamin C is very promising for prevention, and especially important to treat dying patients when there is no better treatment. Over 2,000 people have died of the COIV-19 outbreak and yet I have not seen or heard large dose intravenous vitamin C being used in any of the cases. The current sole focus on vaccine and specific antiviral drugs for epidemics is misplaced.''
He adds that:
''Early and sufficiently large doses of intravenous vitamin C are critical. Vitamin C is not only a prototypical antioxidant, but also involved in virus killing and prevention of viral replication. The significance of large dose intravenous vitamin C is not just at antiviral level. It is acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) that kills most people from coronaviral pandemics (SARS, MERS and now NCP). ARDS is a common final pathway leading to death.
''We therefore call for a worldwide discussion and debate on this topic.''
News of vitamin C research for COVID-19 is being actively suppressedAnyone saying that vitamin therapy can stop coronavirus is already being labeled as ''promoting false information'' and promulgating ''fake news.'' Even the sharing of verifiable news, and direct quotes from credentialed medical professionals, is being restricted or blocked on social media. You can see sequential examples of this phenomenon at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/themegavitaminman .
Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has, literally, met with Google and Facebook and other media giants to stop the spread of what they declare to be wrong information. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/02/14/facebook-google-amazon-met-with-who-to-talk-coronavirus-misinformation.html?__twitter_impression=true
Physician-directed, hospital-based administration of intravenous vitamin C has been marginalized or discredited. Scientific debate over COVID-19 appears to not be allowed.
Ironically, Facebook, blocking any significant users' sharing of the news of approved vitamin therapy research, is itself blocked in China by the Chinese government. As for the internet, yes, China has it. And yes, it is censored. But, significantly, the Chinese government has not blocked this real news on how intravenous vitamin C will save lives in the COVID-19 epidemic. Here is the protocol as published in Chinese: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n11-chi.shtml
Medical orthodoxy obsessively focuses on searching for a vaccine and/or drug for coronavirus COVID-19). While they are looking for what would be fabulously profitable approaches, we have with vitamin C an existing, plausible, clinically demonstrated method to treat what coronavirus patients die from: severe acute respiratory syndrome, or pneumonia.
And it is available right now.
Read the full press release at Orthomolecular.com.
Comment on this article at HealthImpactNews.com.
Leaving a lucrative career as a nephrologist (kidney doctor), Dr. Suzanne Humphries is now free to actually help cure people.
In this autobiography she explains why good doctors are constrained within the current corrupt medical system from practicing real, ethical medicine.
One of the sane voices when it comes to examining the science behind modern-day vaccines, no pro-vaccine extremist doctors have ever dared to debate her in public.
Book '' The Vaccine Court , by Wayne Rohde '' 240 pages''The Dark Truth of America's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program''FREE Shipping Available!ORDER HERE!Published on February 23, 2020
Gohmert says he will take hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 treatment | TheHill
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 04:13
Rep. Louie Gohmert Louis (Louie) Buller GohmertGOP's Gohmert introduces resolution that would ban the Democratic Party Gaetz says Cheney should be removed or step down as GOP leader Conservatives clash with Cheney over her support for Fauci, Massie primary challenger MORE (R-Texas) said Wednesday he will take an anti-malaria drug that experts have warned doesn't treat the coronavirus after he tested positive for the virus.
"My doctor and I are all in," Gohmert said about hydroxychloroquine during a Wednesday evening interview with Fox News, according to Newsweek.
"I got a text before I came on from a friend doctor who just found out he had it, and he started the regimen too '-- zinc and hydroxychloroquine. And that will start in a day or two, so thank you," the congressman added.
Congressional aides confirmed Wednesday that Gohmert, who has largely opted against wearing a mask around the Capitol, tested positive for COVID-19.
President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden hits Trump's 'law and order' message: He's trying to 'scare the devil' out of people Pelosi bashes Barr after testimony: 'He was like a blob' and 'henchman' for Trump Schumer: Trump should want COVID-19 deal to help GOP election chances MORE has touted hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus, and recently retweeted a since-removed video that contained false claims about the pandemic. The video included a physician who said people don't need to wear masks to prevent spreading the virus and criticized studies showing that hydroxychloroquine is not effective for treating coronavirus infections, calling the studies ''fake science.''
Anthony Fauci Anthony FauciTrump doubles down on hydroxychloroquine, praises doctor in viral video Trump questions how Fauci has a high approval rating 'but nobody likes me' Overnight Health Care: Marlins outbreak casts harsh light on US coronavirus response | Senate GOP's COVID-19 response sets up battle over Medicaid | Virginia imposes new restrictions in part of state MORE , a member of the White House coronavirus task force and the nation's top infectious disease expert, again stated, in light of the video, that the drug is not effective in treating COVID-19.
Fauci told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday that scientific evidence has shown "consistently that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in the treatment of coronavirus disease, or COVID-19.''
Trump defended retweeting the video on Wednesday.
"I was very impressed with her and other doctors who stood with her," Trump told reporters, referring to the controversial doctor Stella Immanuel. "I think she made sense, but I know nothing about it."
"With hydroxy, all I want to do is save lives," the president added. "All I want to do is save lives."
Hydroxychloroquine could save up to 100,000 lives if used for COVID-19: Yale epidemiology professor | Fox News
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 03:04
Dr. Harvey Risch, an epidemiology professor at Yale School of Public Health, said on Tuesday that he thinks hydroxychloroquine could save 75,000 to 100,000 lives if the drug is widely used to treat coronavirus.
''There are many doctors that I've gotten hostile remarks about saying that all the evidence is bad for it and, in fact, that is not true at all,'' Risch told ''Ingraham Angle," adding that he believes the drug can be used as a "prophylactic" for front-line workers, as other countries like India have done.
Risch lamented that a "propaganda war" is being waged against the use of the drug for political purposes, not based on "medical facts."
DEMS CALL CHINA TRAVEL BAN XENOPHOBIC, NOW CHANGE THEIR TUNE
Researchers at the Henry Ford Health System in Southeast Michigan have found that early administration of hydroxychloroquine makes hospitalized patients substantially less likely to die.
The study, published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, determined that hydroxychloroquine provided a "66 percent hazard ratio reduction," and hydroxychloroquine'and azithromycin a 71 percent reduction, compared with neither treatment.
In-hospital mortality was 18.1 percent overall; 13.5 percent with just hydroxychloroquine, 22.4 percent with azithromycin alone, and 26.4 percent with neither drug. "Prospective trials are needed" for further review, the researchers note, even as they concluded: "In this multi-hospital assessment, when controlling for COVID-19 risk factors, treatment with hydroxychloroquine alone and in combination with azithromycin was associated with reduction in COVID-19 associated mortality."
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS MAP
"Our results do differ from some other studies," Dr. Marcus Zervos, who heads the hospital's infectious diseases unit, said at a news conference. "What we think was important in ours ... is that patients were treated early. For hydroxychloroquine to have a benefit, it needs to begin before the patients begin to suffer some of the severe immune reactions that patients can have with COVID."
A statement from the Trump campaign hailed the study as "fantastic news."
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Risch said that most in the mainstream are not allowing people to speak about the evidence on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine. Risch also said discussions about the drug became ''political'' as opposed to ''medical.''
''All the evidence is actually good for it when it is used in outpatient uses. Nevertheless, the only people who actually say that are a whole pile of doctors who are on the front lines treating those patients across the country and they are the ones who are at risk being forced not to do it,'' Risch said, arguing that the mainstream media is not covering the benefits of hydroxychloroquine.
Brian C. Procter MD on Twitter: "'--HCQ is simple: 2 tabs once weekly for 1 week, then 1 tab once weekly for week 2&3, then 1 tab once weekly every other week as long as necessary. '--This is the biggest disinformation campaign in US History. '--This
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 10:19
Brian C. Procter MD : '--HCQ is simple: 2 tabs once weekly for 1 week, then 1 tab once weekly for week 2&3, then 1 tab once weekly every ot'... https://t.co/bbys9s4nc2
Tue Jul 28 23:46:31 +0000 2020
Pope
Vatican allegedly hacked by China ahead of key talks
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:44
VATICAN CITY (AP) '-- The Vatican and the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong have been the targets of alleged Chinese state-backed hackers ahead of talks on renewal of a landmark 2018 deal that helped thaw diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China, according to a monitoring group.
The alleged attacks by a group called RedDelta began in May with an eye on September talks to renew a provisional agreement on bishop appointments, according to a report Tuesday by the U.S.-based Recorded Future, which tracks state-backed cyber attacks. The attacks were first reported by the New York Times.
The Vatican had no immediate comment. The Chinese foreign ministry denied any involvement, calling the report ''groundless speculation.''
Recorded Future said that the Hong Kong Study Mission to China '-- a key link between the Vatican and China '-- and the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions also were targeted.
''The suspected intrusion into the Vatican would offer RedDelta insight into the negotiating position of the Holy See ahead of the deal's September 2020 renewal,'' the report said. It also could provide ''valuable intelligence'' about Hong Kong-based Catholic entities' position on the pro-democracy movement.
The attacks continued at least through July 21. They included an apparent phishing attempt with a document on Vatican Secretariat of State letterhead directed to the head of the Hong Kong Study Mission to China.
China's estimated 12 million Catholics are split between those belonging to the government-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is outside the pope's authority, and an underground church loyal to the pope. Underground priests and parishioners are frequently detained and harassed.
A landmark 2018 deal between the Holy See and China on bishop nominations was aimed at uniting the flock, regularizing the status of seven bishops who were not recognized by Rome and thawing decades of estrangement between China and the Vatican.
But some of China's underground faithful have deep reservations about the deal, seeing it as a sell-out to the Communist government and a betrayal of their long loyalty to the pope.
China routinely denies engaging in a state-sponsored program to steal commercial secrets or sensitive government information over the internet, and says it is among the biggest victims of hacking attacks. The U.S. disputes that and says it has traced cyber intrusions to the Chinese military. Earlier this month, Washington indicted two Chinese citizens for allegedly launching hacking attacks against companies in the U.S. and other countries.
The Justice Department also said hackers working with the Chinese government targeted firms developing vaccines for the coronavirus. China says Washington has provided no information to back up the charges.
BLM
Teachers should be forced to teach children of essential workers
Starbucks Chickie Savannah Kinzer is daughter of Seattle Real Estate Mogul
Austin City Council declares racism a public health crisis that is 'killing Black and Brown people' | KXAN Austin
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:15
Rally for Black Lives and Black Voices at Huston-Tillotson University (KXAN/Todd Bailey)
Austin (KXAN) '-- Racism in Austin is a ''public health crisis,'' the Austin City Council declared on Wednesday.
Council members approved a resolution making the declaration '-- asking the city manager to address racism, in addition to asking state leaders to take similar actions.
''Racism is literally killing Black and brown people,'' Council member Natasha Harper-Madison said. ''It's a public health crisis and its beyond time to treat it as such.''
The resolution cites a definition of crisis from the Boston University School of Public Health that a crisis must ''affect large numbers of people, it must threaten the health over the long-term, and it must require the adoption of large-scale solutions.''
The resolution itself says that the city of Austin's overall prosperity depends on equal access to opportunity for every resident ''regardless of the color of their skin.''
It also acknowledges the 1928 Master Plan '-- a Jim Crow city policy '-- created a ''negro district'' and resulted in the intentional restriction of resources for the Black community, ''the residual effects of which are still experienced today.''
This 1928 policy pushed Black and Hispanic Austinites to the part of the city that is now the area east of I-35.
The resolution also states that racism in Austin causes persistent discrimination and disadvantages, including in areas of housing, education, businesses, employment and criminal justice.
The document points to more and more research that indicates racism itself is a social determinant of health.
Citing census data, the resolution notes that while white Austin residents experience a poverty rate of 9.1%, Black residents experience a poverty rate of 22.9% and have incomes that are 55% of the median income of their white neighbors.
Specifically, the resolution directs the city manager to continue efforts to advance race equity in Austin and to identify ways to enhance diversity and make sure that anti-racism principles make their way into leadership, city staffing and contracting.
Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk is also directed to add to educational training and activities for employees ''aimed at understanding, addressing, and dismantling racism.''
The resolution also calls on Cronk to advocate locally and through the National League of Cities as well as the Texas Municipal League for policies that improve health and help to dismantle systemic racism.
Cronk is being asked to report back to the Council annually on these advocacy efforts.
Additionally, the resolution asks the city's Equity Office to review recommendation's from the Mayor's Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities and make recommendations in education, housing, health, finance, and civil and criminal justice.
Finally, the Council is calling on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Texas Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to join in declaring racism as a public health crisis and to ''enact equity in all policies of the state of Texas.''
Media Fails To Point Out That The Chick Leading The Strike Against Whole Foods For Not Letting Them Wear BLM Masks Is The Daughter Of A Multi-Millionaire Seattle Real Estate Mogul '' Turtleboy
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 17:55
For the last month now these whiny cunts at the Cambridge Whole Foods have been crying because they have a company policy that prevents them from wearing black lives matter masks at work. They've been led by a chick named Savannah Kinzer, who of course is as white as her name sounds.
Because God forbid the white girl let black people lead a movement called black lives matter.
Either way, this is really, really simple '' you don't have a right to wear clothing with political messages on them at work if your boss says you can't. Period. Whole Foods is there to sell food, and even though probably 80% of their customers support BLM, they can't afford to lose the 20% who actually understand what BLM stands for. These are just a bunch of entitled twats who have never been told no, and the adults who are supporting them are the reason why they grew up to be brats in the first place.
A class action attorney filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods and Savannah is one of the lead plaintiffs. Except there's just one problem '' she lied about the reason she was fired.
The lead attorney in the class-action lawsuit against Whole Foods over the grocery store's decision to discipline employees who wore Black Lives Matter face coverings is ripping the company for ''falsely attacking'' one of the plaintiffs in the case.
Following news of the lawsuit Monday, a Whole Foods spokesperson told Boston.com that Savannah Kinzer '-- a former employee at the chain's River Street location in Cambridge who was fired over the weekend after organizing protests against the policy '-- was fired for ''not working her assigned shifts, reporting late for work multiple times in the past nine days and choosing to leave during her scheduled shifts.''
Oops! Turns out she's just lazy and didn't feel like going to work on time.
But of course her lawyer disagrees.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, the Boston-based labor lawyer representing Kinzer and 13 other plaintiffs in the case, said the company's statement is misleading. According to the lawsuit, Kinzer was terminated due to an ''accumulation of disciplinary points, most of which she received as a result of wearing the Black Lives Matter mask.'' The plaintiffs' complaint also claims her firing '-- which happened an hour after the 23-year-old Boston resident informed managers of the lawsuit this past Saturday '-- was ''in retaliation for being a leader in organizing the employees to wear the masks and protesting the company's policy of disciplining employees for wearing the masks.''
In a statement, Liss-Riordan told Boston.com that Whole Foods' response to the lawsuit was ''despicable.''
''Their decision to retaliate against employees expressing support for this racial justice movement was bad enough, but their efforts to disparage an amazing activist and leader are beyond the pale,'' she said. ''We look forward to making our argument in federal court.''
So you're telling me that Whole Foods fired a person who sued them? Wow, that's crazy! Wonder why they'd do something like that.
Although this is a class action lawsuit, it's pretty clear that this basic Becky is at the front of it. Her hyphenated attorney called her an ''amazing activist and leader.'' But here's the thing I don't understand '' why is Savannah Kinzer working at Whole Foods in the first place?
Savannah is a Northeastern graduate from Washington state who worked for Seattle/Chaz Mayor Jenny Durkan, and served as an ''Investment intern'' for some climate change group.
This is her father Craig Kizner.
Craig is a multi-millionaire real estate developer and former owner of the Seattle Supersonics whose clients and friends include Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Bill Gates and Melinda Gates. He calls himself a ''capitalist pig.''
''What I really am is a capitalist pig.'' The man many consider to be Seattle's top real-estate rainmaker, Kinzer offered the self-assessment half-tongue-in-cheek. But like many of the brash things he blurts out, this one conveyed more than meets the ear. He's a big-time capitalist, all right, regardless of whether you pair that word with ''pig.'' A CPA, he also holds a law degree and a master's in business administration
In the early 1990s, Kinzer helped orchestrate Starbucks' decision to locate its world headquarters in Seattle's Sodo neighborhood. He and his team helped relocate 30 businesses to clear space for Safeco Field, and helped the city buy the 62-story Key Tower for little more than half what it cost to build
Check out where she grew up.
Nice digs!
So why is this chick, who was born into more money than you can possibly imagine and has a degree from Northeaster, bagging groceries at Whole Foods? And why has she suddenly become the leader of this movement?
Oh right, she's just bored and looking for a social justice project to add to her resume. This job meant absolutely nothing to her because she realized she didn't need it to begin with. She wanted to keep it real with the common folk, but she didn't feel like working as hard as them which is why she was always late to or missing work. Now she's dragging down a bunch of working class kids with her, because at the end of the day they will lose this lawsuit and their SJW lawyer is doing it for the headlines.
When this is all said and done the outcome won't matter to her. She'll be traveling the world with Mommy and Daddy like she always does. Check out her Instagram and you'll see that just in the last couple years she's been to Hong Kong, France, and Iceland.
Funny, you don't see many people of color in her pictures either, which kind of makes sense considering her hometown of Issaquah, Washington is 1.4% black, and the median income is $114K.
On her IG she says she wants to defund the police.
The effect this would have is that people like her would be just fine because Daddy can pay for private security. But the working class black and brown people she treats like pets on a leash would be completely helpless as crime rates skyrocketed in urban areas.
Of course none of this very relevant information is ever mentioned by the Globe or any other media outlet praising this girl as some sort of civil rights leader, using her white privilege to speak on behalf of minorities. She also started a GoFundMe that's raised over $12,000 to pay for worker's salaries as they're basically on strike by refusing to adhere to company policy and wear a mask that doesn't have a political message on it.
''They told us to take them off. No conversation, no dialogue. This is of course unacceptable to us.''
It's almost as if you have to do what your boss tells you to do when you're at work. Fucked up, right?
But of course this spoiled brat said it's unacceptable, because she's never been told no her entire life. You think she's gonna put up with excuses from the maid or the nanny when they don't bring her a wine spritzer? Unacceptable.
Why is she starting a GFM for them when her Daddy could easily just cover their wages instead? Why is she asking working class people to support this when it's all her idea in the first place? Like I said, this is just fun and games to her. It's something to add to her woke resume while she's slumming it up to see how the other half lives. She's lived this insanely privileged existence and she believes it's a product of her skin color, and not the product of some really smart business deals her Dad made. The Globe might not see through her bullshit, but I do.
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China Lasers
China is shipping in high end lasers to protestors that are being used to shine in the eyes of police in an attempt to blind them. They can also effectively ground helicopters.
Several have been seized by Customs.
Arkansas Sen Tom Cotton calls slavery 'necessary evil' as he attacks New York Times' 1619 Project | Daily Mail Online
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 12:19
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton sparked outrage by calling the enslavement of millions of African people in the early years of the United States a 'necessary evil'.
Cotton, an outspoken Republican, made the jarring remark in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday as he promoted a new bill that would defund schools that teach the New York Times' controversial 1619 Project about slavery in the US.
The senator argued that slavery is a critical piece of American history, saying: 'As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.'
Cotton later defended his comment by insisting that he was merely citing the Founding Fathers in a tweet reposted by President Donald Trump, and his office stated that the senator does not personally believe slavery was a 'necessary evil'.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (pictured on July 1) called the enslavement of millions of African people in the early years of the United States a 'necessary evil upon which the union was built' in an interview promoting his new bill that would defund schools that teach the New York Times' controversial 1619 Project about the history of American slavery
Cotton last week introduced his bill, the Saving American History Act, which aims to 'prohibit the use of federal funds to teach the 1619 Project by K-12 schools or school districts'.
The 1619 Project was launched by the Times in 2019 to mark the 400th anniversary of African slaves' arrival in what later became the US.
The venture examines how slavery shaped and continues to permeate all aspects of American society by expanding on early accounts that are largely left out of the historical narrative taught in most schools.
The Times subsequently teamed up with the nonprofit Pulitzer Center to create a curriculum based on the project for primary and secondary schools.
In his interview with the Democrat-Gazette, Cotton argued: 'The entire premise of the New York Times' factually, historically flawed 1619 Project '... is that America is at root, a systemically racist country to the core and irredeemable.
'I reject that root and branch. America is a great and noble country founded on the proposition that all mankind is created equal. We have always struggled to live up to that promise, but no country has ever done more to achieve it.
'We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can't understand our country.'
Cotton's bill does not have any co-sponsors and is not expected to pass in Congress, despite widespread GOP opposition to the 1619 Project and the curriculum created out of it.
The 1619 Project was launched by the New York Times in 2019 to mark the 400th anniversary of African slaves' arrival in what later became the US. The venture examines how slavery shaped and continues to permeate all aspects of American society by expanding on early accounts that are largely left out of the historical narrative taught in most schools
Cotton took to Twitter to decry media reports about his 'necessary evil' comment
Nikole Hannah-Jones, the project's creator who won a Pulitzer Prize for her introductory essay to the inaugural issue, reacted to Cotton's bill on Friday and said it 'speaks to the power of journalism more than anything I've ever done in my career'.
Hannah-Jones spoke out again on Sunday after Cotton's interview came out, tweeting: 'If chattel slavery '' heritable, generational, permanent, race-based slavery where it was legal to rape, torture, and sell human beings for profit '' were a "necessary evil" as Tom Cotton says, it's hard to imagine what cannot be justified if it is a means to an end.'
She continued: 'Imagine thinking a non-divisive curriculum is one that tells black children the buying and selling of their ancestors, the rape, torture, and forced labor of their ancestors for PROFIT, was just a "necessary evil" for the creation of the "noblest" country the world has ever seen.
'So, was slavery foundational to the Union on which it was built, or nah? You heard it from Tom Cotton himself.'
Cotton hit back at Hannah-Jones in his own tweet, writing: 'More lies from the debunked 1619 Project.
'Describing the views of the Founders and how they put the evil institution on a path to extinction, a point frequently made by Lincoln, is not endorsing or justifying slavery. No surprise that the 1619 Project can't get facts right.'
Cotton also attacked media reports about his 'necessary evil' comment, tweeting: 'This is the definition of fake news.
'I said that *the Founders viewed slavery as a necessary evil* and described how they put the evil institution on the path to extinction, a point frequently made by Lincoln.'
That tweet attracted attention from President Trump, who retweeted it on his account.
A spokesman for Cotton's office similarly told Talking Points Memo: 'As [Cotton's] quote makes clear, that view was held by some Founding Fathers. Reporting to the contrary is politically motivated and dishonest.'
It's unclear when the Founding Fathers expressed such views, or if they did at all.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of the 1619 Project, slammed Cotton's 'necessary evil' remark in a Twitter thread on Sunday (pictured)
Cotton hit back at Hannah-Jones in his own tweet (pictured), again insisting that he was quoting the Founding Fathers
Cotton is widely considered a possible contender for president in 2024 and is currently running unopposed for re-election this fall, after having won his seat by a wide margin in 2014.
Like many right-wing figures including Trump, Cotton has frequently criticized the Times for what he perceives to be biased and incorrect reporting.
The senator clashed with the newspaper earlier this summer after it published - and later apologized for - an op-ed he wrote calling to deploy the military to break up protests against racism and police brutality.
Cotton's column, entitled 'Send in the troops', sparked outage both outside and within the ranks of the Times, whose journalists branded it 'fascist' and said that it lacked adequate fact checking to the point that it contradicted reporting from the paper's own writers.
Times publisher AG Sulzberger initially defended the decision to publish the op-ed, saying the paper was committed to representing 'views from across the spectrum'.
But the Times later issued a statement acknowledging that the piece fell short of its editorial standards, prompting the resignation of editorial page director James Bennet.
Portland BLM protestors, Wall of Moms sue Trump administration
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:19
SEATTLE '-- Days after a legal effort by the state of Oregon failed, protesters sued the Trump administration Monday to rein in what they describe as an out-of-control response by federal agents to demonstrations in Portland.
The nonprofit Protect Democracy filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of several individual protesters as well as the anti-racist organization Don't Shoot Portland and Wall of Moms, a group of mothers who have sought to insert themselves between protesters and police despite being blasted with tear gas.
The complaint argues that while federal law allows federal officials to protect federal property, the heavily militarized agents who have responded in Portland have gone far beyond simply protecting property. Instead, it said, they have repeatedly fired tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades at the crowds in an effort to quell the protests in violation of the Constitution.
''The intent of the administration's deployment of federal agents in Portland appears to be to stifle speech the president doesn't like," Protect Democracy lawyer Deana El-Mallawany said in a news release. "It's important to check this unlawful administration policy now, before it is allowed to spread to other cities across the U.S."
The complaint accuses President Donald Trump of trying to create a federal domestic police force. Trump has announced he will also send federal agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to fight rising crime, despite objections from leaders there.
Portland has had nightly protests for two months since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. Trump said he sent federal agents to Portland to halt the unrest, but state and local officials said their presence has inflamed tensions and they have asked them to leave.
Previously reported: Portland police detain two suspects after reported shooting near federal courthouse protest site
'Somebody's going to die': Portland mayor tear-gassed by federal officers
A small segment of the demonstrators have shot large fireworks or thrown other projectiles over a fence protecting the federal courthouse. Several agents were injured over the weekend, including one who suffered burns, authorities said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit.
''These are attacks on federal officers protecting fed property,'' acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli tweeted Monday. ''Anyone who tells you otherwise is willfully ignoring the facts or lying.''
The state attorney general had sued the federal government in an effort to restrict the federal response, saying some people had been whisked off the streets in unmarked vehicles without probable cause. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled Friday the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters.
Lawsuits have also been filed on behalf of journalists and legal observers and on behalf of medics who have treated injured protesters. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon has ordered the agents not to target or disperse journalists or legal observers at the protests. The federal government is due to respond Tuesday to the lawsuit on behalf of the medics.
Federal judges in Portland, Denver and Seattle have previously restricted the use of tear gas and other less-lethal munitions on protesters by local police.
Protect Democracy's lawsuit argues that the administration's response violates the free speech and assembly rights of the protesters, as well as the rights to due process and to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. It argues that because the federal agents at times have driven the demonstrators several blocks from the courthouse or made arrests far from it, the notion that they are simply protecting federal property is a pretext.
''Thousands of protesters in Portland are engaged in peaceful, creative efforts to defend Black lives and dismantle white supremacy and state violence," Teressa Raiford, the founder of Don't Shoot Portland, said in a news release. ''Portland police have long engaged in aggressive tactics and violence against protesters, and adding federal agents to the mix has done nothing to improve the situation."
View | 57 Photos
Police: 'Umbrella Man' was a white supremacist trying to incite George Floyd rioting | Star Tribune
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 17:15
See more of the storyA masked man who was seen in a viral video smashing the windows of a south Minneapolis auto parts store during the George Floyd protests, earning him the moniker ''Umbrella Man,'' is suspected to be a member of the Hell's Angels biker gang seeking to incite racial tension in a demonstration that until then had been peaceful, police said.
A Minneapolis police arson investigator said the man's actions at the AutoZone on East Lake Street set off a chain reaction that led to days of looting and rioting. The building was later burned to the ground.
''This was the first fire that set off a string of fires and looting throughout the precinct and the rest of the city,'' Erika Christensen wrote in a search warrant affidavit filed in court this week. ''Until the actions of the person your affiant has been calling 'Umbrella man,' the protests had been relatively peaceful. The actions of this person created an atmosphere of hostility and tension. Your affiant believes that this individual's sole aim was to incite violence.''
Police identified the suspect thanks to a tip that came via email last week, Christensen said.
At least two people died in the subsequent riots, which eventually spread as far as north Minneapolis and South St. Paul, and caused an estimated $500 million in damage.
Police have also connected the 32-year-old man to a widely-publicized incident in Stillwater late last month, in which a Muslim woman was confronted by a group of men wearing white supremacist garb.
The man has so far not been charged with a crime, which is why the Star Tribune is not naming him.
A livestream video from May 27 '-- two days after Floyd's death '-- showed the man walking casually along the front of the former site of Auto Zone store, at E. Lake Street and Minnehaha, breaking out its windows with a 4-pound sledgehammer, prompting some protesters to confront him and ask him to stop.
One protester, seen wearing a pink shirt in the video, is seen following ''Umbrella Man'' around the rear of the building and demanding to know who he was, prompting the suspect to shout back.
Prior to that, police say, the man, clad in black head-to-toe and carrying a black umbrella, had spray painted ''free (expletive) for everyone zone'' on the double front doors.
Christensen wrote in the affidavit that she watched ''innumerable hours'' of videos on social media platforms like Tik Tok, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube to try to identify the suspect, to no avail. Investigators finally caught a break when a tipster e-mailed the Minneapolis Police Department identifying the man as a member of the Hell's Angels biker gang who ''wanted to sow discord and racial unrest by breaking out the windows and writing what he did on the double red doors,'' the affidavit said.
A subsequent investigation revealed that the man was also an associate of the Aryan Cowboy Brotherhood, a small white supremacist prison and street gang based primarily in Minnesota and Kentucky. Several of its members were present at the Stillwater incident.
In the days after the rioting started, video of ''Umbrella Man'' ricocheted around social media, prompting a flurry of speculation about the man's identity.
One widespread online rumor claimed ''Umbrella Man'' was a St. Paul police officer, apparently based on a tweet citing information from a ''close friend'' who claimed to have been married to the officer.
In response, St. Paul police released a series of time-stamped surveillance videos showing that the officer was in St. Paul at the time of the incident and police Chief Todd Axtell released a statement scolding social media users for spreading misinformation that could ''jeopardize the officer's reputation and safety and chip away at the trust this police department has worked so hard to build with its community.''
Libor Jany ' 612-673-4064 Twitter: @StribJany
White Fragility Response
Troll response with doing the work
Brian Beezley on Twitter: "@adamcurry @KimJohnston @MedHatDentist The idea that someone who is obviously suspect can't be called out solely because they are a minority and I am not has nothing to do with "privilege." I'd think that group was a bunch of po
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:12
Brian Beezley : @adamcurry @KimJohnston @MedHatDentist The idea that someone who is obviously suspect can't be called out solely be'... https://t.co/rrWtstZqui
Wed Jul 29 13:28:04 +0000 2020
Adam Curry - Texas : @BZBeezley @KimJohnston @MedHatDentist I never said she was a minority. Unless you consider women to be a minority. You need to do the work
Wed Jul 29 15:07:32 +0000 2020
Vehicle Plates : @BZBeezley @adamcurry @KimJohnston @MedHatDentist Well, she has treated hundreds of covid patients in Houston w/o l'... https://t.co/80mRoCUMEl
Wed Jul 29 13:50:07 +0000 2020
Noodle Gun
Bezos is the millennial lightning rod, 13B in a sinlge day!
Amazon (AMZN) Q1 2020 earnings
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 16:09
Amazon reported its first-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, revealing the pandemic's impact on the business that has been a rare bright spot on the stock market. The stock fell about 5% after hours after missing estimates on earnings while beating revenue expectations.
Here's what Amazon reported:
Earnings per share (EPS): $5.01Revenue: $75.45 billionAmazon Web Services (AWS) revenue: $10.22 billion Beyond the results, the biggest news in Amazon's report was that it plans to spend all of its profit from the second quarter -- an estimated $4 billion -- on responding to the coronavirus pandemic. That includes hundreds of millions of dollars it plans to spend on Covid-19 tests for its workers and beefing up its delivery network to get packages to customers on time.
"If you're a shareowner in Amazon, you may want to take a seat, because we're not thinking small," Amazon said in the press release. "Under normal circumstances, in this coming Q2, we'd expect to make some $4 billion or more in operating profit. But these aren't normal circumstances."
Wall Street had been anticipating earnings per share of $6.25 on revenue of $73.61 billion, based on Refinitiv consensus estimates. Amazon Web Services revenue was expected to come in at $10.33 billion, based on FactSet estimates. However, it's difficult to compare reported earnings to analyst estimates for Amazon's first quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit global economies and makes earnings impact difficult to assess.
Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky told CNBC's Deirdre Bosa he expects the company will spend $1 billion on Covid-19 testing in the full year 2020. Amazon has designated a team of researchers, engineers, procurement specialists and program managers to work on building incremental testing capacity. Amazon said the team is building a lab and has already begun a pilot test of front-line employees.
"We're not sure how far we will get in the relevant timeframe, but we think it's worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn," Amazon said in the release about its testing plans.
Some of the $4 billion will also fund higher wages for workers, personal protective equipment (PPE), better cleaning protocols at facilities and "less efficient process paths" that will allow for social distancing.
This marked the first quarter AWS revenue topped $10 billion. More organizations have relied on cloud services like Amazon's during stay at home orders to cope with the pandemic. AWS helped the NFL stream its virtual draft last week, for example.
For the second quarter, Amazon said it expects net sales to come in between $75 billion and $81 billion, representing year-over-year growth between 18% and 28%. The company anticipates a range of an operating loss of $1.5 billion to an operating income of $1.5 billion based on its expectation of spending $4 billion on coronavirus-related costs. That compares to its operating income of $3.1 billion during the same quarter last year.
Olsavsky told CNBC that Amazon saw a big spike in grocery sales. Physical store sales were up 8% year-over-year in the first quarter, which Olsavsky said was mostly in March after previously seeing growth around 1% per quarter.
On a call with analysts, Olsavsky said shipping delays were mostly the result of inventory shortages, rather than issues with Amazon's delivery logistics.
"It's taking longer to get things into our warehouse than out of our warehouse," he said, adding that it's still unclear when operations will go back to normal.
"The biggest questions we have in Q2 is more about the ability to service that demand and the products people are ordering in a full way," he said.
Olsavsky said Amazon has seen its advertising growth rate remain largely consistent with the previous quarter despite seeing some pullback in March. He said it wasn't as sharp a drop as other companies have reported seeing. Over the past couple days, Google, Facebook and Twitter have all reported hits to their advertising business in March, though Google and Facebook said they've seen signs of recovery.
Much of Amazon's earnings release centered on its response to the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon addressed how it is helping employees stay safe with measures like procuring 100 million face masks and increased pay for hourly employees. The company has faced significant push-back from warehouse employees who have complained of unsafe conditions and inadequate benefits as their jobs have been deemed essential. It has now hired all 175,000 additional workers it had opened positions for in March and April.
Amazon also talked about how it is servicing customers during the pandemic by prioritizing stocking essential goods like household staples and medical supplies. Amazon said it's suspended more than 10,000 sellers from its platform for violating policies against price gouging. It's also working to expand capacity for food-related delivery and pick-up services like Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods.
Amazon also highlighted organizations using AWS to run their own coronavirus responses and info-gathering, including the World Health Organization and schools around the world.
-CNBC's Deirdre Bosa contributed to this report.
Correction: This story's headline has been updated with the correct quote from Amazon's press release about its plan to spend its Q2 profits on the coronavirus response.
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
WATCH: What it's like inside an Amazon warehouse during the Covid-19 pandemic
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Taylor Swift Responds to Accusations of "Stealing" Her folklore Logo From a Black Designer - E! Online
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 07:45
Is Taylor Swift's "Folklore" Album About Breaking Up With Joe?
Taylor Swift's team responded to accusations she stole the folklore merch logo from a Black designer.
In a statement issued to Good Morning America on Tuesday, the singer's rep responded to artist Amira Rasool's accusations. "Yesterday, we were made aware of a complaint that the specific use of the word 'the' before 'folklore album' on some of the folklore album merchandise was of concern," they stated. "Absolutely no merchandise using 'the' before the words 'folklore album' has been manufactured or sent out."
The statement continued, "In good faith, we honored her request and immediately notified everyone who had ordered merchandise with the word 'the' preceding 'folklore album' that they will now receive their order with the design change."
Rasool later expressed gratitude on Twitter to Swift and her team for resolving the issue. She said, "I commend Taylor's team for recognizing the damage the merchandise caused to my company @TheFolklore's brand. I recognize that she has been a strong advocate for women protecting their creative rights, so it was good to see her team is on the same page."
Beth Garrabrant
The owner of The Folklore brand, a company that exclusively sells goods from Africa and the diaspora per its website, expressed her concerns that Swift's merch logo bared striking similarities to her own. She tweeted on July 24, "Wait hold up. Taylor Swift, it's one thing to use the name "Folklore," but we're out here stealing Black women's logos too?"
"I am sharing my story to bring light to the trend of large companies/celebrities copying the work of small minority-owned business owners. I am not going to let this blatant theft go unchecked," she added on Instagram.
After the issue was resolved the next day, Rasool told her thousands of followers that her lawyers were in communication with Taylor's to determine the "necessary next steps to make this situation right."
Louisiana Supreme Court grants 'diploma privilege' to let recent grads practice without bar exam | Courts | nola.com
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:59
The Louisiana Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will grant "diploma privilege" to recent law school graduates, allowing them to practice law without taking the now-canceled July 27 bar exam, which the court called off last week in light of a new spike in coronavirus cases.
The announcement set off fiercely opposing reactions: Many recent law school graduates celebrated after months of studying for the most critical exam of their careers, while three of the seven Supreme Court justices filed blistering dissents into the record, saying the state would be licensing unqualified attorneys who may be unfit to serve the public. Last year, a quarter of Louisiana law school graduates who took the July bar exam for the first time '-- the same classification as those now receiving "diploma privilege" '-- failed it.
The Supreme Court's order, issued Wednesday, designates which of those who were set to take the July 27 bar exam are "qualified candidates" to start practicing law without it. To be a "qualified candidate," applicants must have been registered for the July or October 2020 bar exams, have graduated from an American Bar Association-accredited law school and not previously sat for any other bar exam in another state.
More than 250 recent Louisiana law school graduates are asking the state Supreme Court to let them start work as attorneys before taking the n'...
The lawyers receiving "diploma privilege" must also complete 25 hours of continuing legal education and a mentoring program from the Louisiana Bar Association by the end of 2021.
Others, however, will still have to take remote versions of the bar exam later this year. More experienced attorneys who may have spent years practicing in other states and who were signed up for the now-canceled exam will not be granted licenses without taking the Louisiana bar. And those who previously took the Louisiana bar exam but did not pass it cannot qualify for diploma privilege '-- they'll have to endure the exam's rigors again.
"While we know that cancellation of the in-person July 2020 bar examination was concerning to the many law school graduates who have spent countless hours in preparation, we believe that our action today is not only warranted, but necessary during this public health crisis," said Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson in a news release.
Recent Tulane Law School graduates Hailey Barnett and Hank Greenberg, who created a United for Emergency Admissions Louisiana chapter after the exam's cancellation, basked in their victory on Wednesday. Both said the announcement came as a major relief after months of stress and studying for the bar.
The Louisiana Supreme Court announced Wednesday that the state's July 27 bar examination has been canceled amid climbing coronavirus cases, se'...
''Our advocacy worked and we highlighted what we were going through,'' Barnett said.
Law school deans also celebrated the announcement after having asked the Supreme Court to allow those who were supposed to take the bar on July 27 "emergency admission" into the bar. Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Dean Madeleine Landrieu, a former appeals court judge, said that it took courage for the Supreme Court to grant that request.
''No other bar examinees have faced these kinds of circumstances,'' she said Wednesday. ''And yet they have soldiered on, and they have done everything the court has asked them to do.''
Still, three justices disagreed and filed dissents on the decision: Will Crain, James Genovese and Jefferson Hughes.
On July 15, just 12 days before recent law school graduates were scheduled to take the most consequential exam of their lives, the Louisiana S'...
Crain wrote a scathing critique of the majority's decision, recalling how Louisiana did not do away with bar exam requirements even after Hurricane Katrina. The last time the Supreme Court did so was during the Korean War, according to the Supreme Court's order. Abandoning the requirements was an "incalculable disservice to the public, our profession, and these otherwise deserving students," he wrote.
"The excuse for gifting licenses to applicants who have not proven their competency is the COVID-19 pandemic," Crain wrote. "Will we allow that as an excuse against the victims of incompetence?"
Genovese argued there are plenty of other licensed attorneys who can service the public until recent graduates pass the bar.
"Certainly, there is no shortage of attorneys nor is there any emergency," he wrote. "The emergency, if any, is not allowing over 500 applicants into the practice of law without testing and a proof of competency."
Just hours before they might have tried to qualify for reelection, the Louisiana Supreme Court effectively ended the judicial careers of well-'...
And Hughes said granting diploma privilege "is an overreaction to the earlier overreaction to the virus," which caused the bar exam to be canceled.
Landrieu said she's less concerned about ''the few who might not have passed'' in comparison to those who she said were qualified to be attorneys but were likely to fail the bar because of the circumstances around them: those grieving coronavirus deaths, fighting racial injustices, having inadequate home environments to prepare for and take the exam remotely.
Louisiana bar passage rates are generally the highest among graduates of LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Last year, for example, 85.6% of LSU Law's first-time test takers passed the bar exam. Tulane had 78.6% pass, Loyola had 74.8% pass and Southern had 64% pass.
In some other states that have adopted diploma privilege rules, those who qualify for getting their license without taking the bar have had to graduate from law schools with a certain historical bar passage rate. In Oregon, for example, out-of-state law school graduates can receive ''diploma privilege'' only if their American Bar Association-accredited law school had an 86% bar exam passage rate or higher for first-time test-takers during 2019. If a Louisiana law school graduate was trying to move to Oregon, only those from LSU Law would qualify for the necessary bar passage rates '-- assuming they rounded up.
Big Pharma
PBM List
A breakdown of PBM market share, by total equivalent prescription claims managed in 2018:
Caremark (CVS Health) / Aetna: 30 percent.
Express Scripts: 23 percent.
OptumRx (UnitedHealth): 23 percent.
Humana Pharmacy Solutions: 7 percent.
MedImpact Healthcare Systems: 6 percent.
Prime Therapeutics: 6 percent.
PBM earnings
I do healthcare research and present at healthcare conferences.
I few years ago I did a speech in Charleston for a Pharmacy Benefits Manager.
I was the most insanely lavish conference I've ever spoken at, so it make me curious.
I looked up the PBM company revenues... $4 billion
I then looked up the number of employees they had... 500. Five. Hundred.
That's $8 million in revenue per employee.
The company was later bought by Amerisource Bergen, a larger PBM.
Their revenue per employee? $7.9 million.
That's the highest revenue per employee in the S&P 500. See attached.
In the morning,
Ron
Big Tech
Tech CEO's are used to dumb questions from unimpressive people - They have Venture Capital investors and board meetings
Zero Section 203 Questions
Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "If Congress doesn't bring fairness to Big Tech, which they should have done years ago, I will do it myself with Executive Orders. In Washington, it has been ALL TALK and NO ACTION for years, and the people of our Country are
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:23
Donald J. Trump : If Congress doesn't bring fairness to Big Tech, which they should have done years ago, I will do it myself with Exe'... https://t.co/Fs3KGqYEUv
Wed Jul 29 16:07:56 +0000 2020
HappyCanuck : @realDonaldTrump @DiamondandSilk Listen to the Mark Zuckerberg response about why DJT jr had his post taken down,
Wed Jul 29 18:23:29 +0000 2020
Patrick Hagerty : @realDonaldTrump Stop it with your BLOW HARD Executive orders! The only reason you are doing all this blustering i'... https://t.co/O8yLNb2WG5
Wed Jul 29 18:23:27 +0000 2020
Jack OConnor : @realDonaldTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr BIdEN 2020
Wed Jul 29 18:23:27 +0000 2020
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the Implementation of President Trump's Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship | The White House
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 04:07
On Monday, the Department of Commerce, as directed by President Donald J. Trump's Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship, filed a petition to clarify the scope of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. The petition requests that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) clarify that Section 230 does not permit social media companies that alter or editorialize users' speech to escape civil liability. The petition also requests that the FCC clarify when an online platform curates content in ''good faith,'' and requests transparency requirements on their moderation practices, similar to requirements imposed on broadband service providers under Title I of the Communications Act. President Trump will continue to fight back against unfair, un-American, and politically biased censorship of Americans online.
Ministry of Truthiness
Barr Repeats Trump Falsehoods in Congressional Testimony - The New York Times
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:06
Fact Check
The attorney general echoed many of the president's inaccurate claims on nationwide protests, police shootings and the coronavirus.
Attorney General William P. Barr testifying on Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee. Credit... Pool photo by Chip Somodevilla July 29, 2020Updated 4:51 p.m. ET
Attorney General William P. Barr, in a contentious congressional hearing on Tuesday, defended President Trump and the Justice Department on a variety of matters. Here is a fact-check.
What Mr. Barr SAID
''The president has not attempted to interfere in these decisions. On the contrary, he has told me from the start that he expects me to exercise my independent judgment to make whatever call I think is right, and that is precisely what I've done.''
This is misleading. In posts on Twitter and in other public statements, Mr. Trump has repeatedly disparaged the Justice Department's investigations and employees and made his feelings clear in high-profile cases, including those of allies like Roger J. Stone Jr. and Michael T. Flynn. Mr. Barr has expressed frustration with Mr. Trump's attacks, saying in February that the president's attacks ''make it impossible for me to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that we're doing our work with integrity.''
What Mr. Barr SAID
''According to statistics compiled by The Washington Post, the number of unarmed Black men killed by police so far this year is eight. The number of unarmed white men killed by police over the same time period is 11. And the overall numbers of police shootings has been decreasing.''
This is misleading. Mr. Barr accurately cited a database of police shootings compiled by The Washington Post. But the raw numbers obscure the pronounced racial disparity in such shootings. (The statement was also an echo of Mr. Trump's technically accurate, but misleading claim that ''more white'' Americans are killed by the police than Black Americans.)
When factoring in population size, Black Americans are killed by the police at more than twice the rate as white Americans, according to the database. Research has also shown that in the United States, on average, the probability of being shot by a police officer for someone who is Black and unarmed is higher than for someone who is white and armed.
Nationwide, the number of police shootings has remained steady since independent researchers began tracking them '-- declining in major cities, but increasing in suburbs and rural areas.
When Representative Cedric L. Richmond, Democrat of Louisiana, took issue with Mr. Barr's presentation of the data, Mr. Barr responded, ''You have to adjust it by, you know, the race of the criminal.'' But some research has shown that even when controlling for the demographics of those arrested, there are still racial disparities in the use of police force.
What Mr. Barr SAID
''The vast majority of them, around 90 percent, are killed by other Blacks, mainly by gunfire.''
This is misleading. Mr. Barr cited this statistic to argue that ''the threat to Black lives posed by crime on the streets is massively greater than any threat posed by police misconduct.''
He is correct that about 88.9 percent of Black murder victims were killed by Black perpetrators in 2018. But left unsaid was the fact that murder victims and their perpetrators are overwhelmingly of the same race or ethnicity: 80.7 percent of white murder victims were killed by white perpetrators, and 68.4 percent of Latino murder victims by other Latinos.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in a 2018 report on police shootings, identified claims like Mr. Barr's about intraracial crime among Black Americans as part of an ''inevitability argument.''
''The 'Black on Black' crime narrative as an explanation for police excessive use of force disregards the structural and historical issues that formed these neighborhoods, as well as the social and economic factors that currently sustain them,'' the commission wrote.
Mr. Trump cited several inaccurate statistics to make a similar version of this argument on Twitter during his 2016 presidential campaign.
What Mr. Barr SAID
''In the wake of George Floyd's death, violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protest to wreak senseless havoc and destruction on innocent victims. The current situation in Portland is a telling example. Every night for the past two months, hundreds of rioters have laid siege to the federal courthouse and other nearby federal property.''
This is exaggerated. While some protesters in Portland have been violent, many others have been peaceful and have included high school students, military veterans, off-duty lawyers and lines of women who call themselves the ''Wall of Moms.''
Videos show that federal agents, who arrived in the city on July 4, have responded aggressively and sometimes with disproportionate force through the use of tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls. In some cases, they attacked protesters when there was no apparent threat, including the case of a Navy veteran whose hands were smashed by officers.
Mr. Barr's timeline of two months of nonstop riots in Portland is also hyperbolic. Protests have ranged in size and violence levels, and the police have not declared the situation a riot every night. The Oregonian also reported that the courthouse was not a target of protests until July, when federal agents were dispatched to the city.
What Mr. Barr SAID
''The problem with the testing system was a function of President Obama's mishandling of the C.D.C. and his efforts to centralize everything in the C.D.C.''
False. Mr. Barr, like Mr. Trump, was most likely referring to a ''draft guidance'' issued in 2014 by the Obama administration to regulate laboratory-developed tests necessary to track a pandemic. But the policy was never made final or enforced, undermining the argument that it was to blame for the scattered and insufficient delivery of coronavirus tests this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention botched the development of its own tests, leaving the United States initially blind to the virus's spread and behind other nations. (The Justice Department plays no role in procuring or distributing coronavirus tests.)
What Mr. Barr SAID
''The historical building on Lafayette Park was burned down. St. John's was set on fire.''
This is exaggerated. When protesters gathered on June 1 in Lafayette Square, near the White House, as part of demonstrations in response to the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, the authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the area of peaceful protesters. Mr. Trump then walked across the park for a photo opportunity in front of St. John's Church. A day earlier, a small fire had been set in the basement of the church, but it was contained.
A spokesman for Washington's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said that damage from the fires was largely negligible throughout the protests and that no buildings were permanently destroyed as many had sprinkler systems installed.
Mr. Barr may have been referring to a utility and bathroom facility in Lafayette Square that was badly damaged, but not ''burned down.'' But other than its location in the park, the spokesman said, it had no historical significance.
What Mr. Barr Said
''Well, first, it is my understanding that no tear gas was used on Monday, June 1.''
This is misleading. The United States Park Police has said it did not use chloroacetophenone, or CS, gas, one of the most common types of tear gas. But it did use ''smoke canisters and pepper balls'' '-- and specifically products made by the PepperBall company '-- on protesters in Lafayette Square that day.
The C.D.C. defines the term ''tear gas'' as riot control agents made of chemical compounds that ''temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs and skin'' '-- symptoms that protesters and reporters described experiencing in Lafayette Square.
Mr. Barr's denial was also disputed by an Army National Guard officer who was present during the protests and who also testified to Congress on Tuesday.
''I could feel irritation in my eyes and nose, and based on my previous exposure to tear gas in my training at West Point and later in my Army training, I recognized that irritation as effects consistent with CS or tear gas,'' Maj. Adam DeMarco wrote in his opening statement. ''And later that evening, I found spent tear gas canisters on the street nearby.''
A 2009 Justice Department review on its use of less-lethal weapons classified the PepperBall system as a chemical agent and noted that it contains a ''highly irritating pepper powder.''
A 2014 Justice Department assessment of the police response to the protests in Ferguson, Mo., similarly observed that PepperBalls ''would likely cause a burning sensation'' if the content touches the skin. Last year, Mr. Trump signed a law banning the export of certain munitions to Hong Kong police. That list included both tear gas and pepper balls.
What Mr. Barr Said
Representative Mary Scanlon, Democrat of Pennsylvania: ''OK. But in fact, you have no evidence that foreign countries can successfully sway our elections with counterfeit ballots, do you?''
Mr. Barr: ''No, I don't, but I have common sense.''
This lacks evidence. Election officials and experts have widely rejected this idea as nearly impossible, noting that ballots are printed on very specific stock and often have specific tracking systems like bar codes.
''It's so much more difficult than a cyberattack,'' said Lawrence Norden, the director of the election reform program at the Brennan Center. ''You'd not only have to attack the printer, you'd have to get information from the jurisdiction and get voter registration information. You'd have to have some way of mailing the ballots from an address and get the signature of the voter. It would be an exceptionally difficult attack.''
Curious about the accuracy of a claim? Email factcheck@nytimes.com.
OTG
OTG Convert
Hi Adam,
Thank you for the recommendation of the Alcatel Go-Flip. I'd been thinking about it for months and finally made the switch about 10 days ago. In the shitstorm that is 2020, this decision will likely be one of the highlights of my year! In addition to the privacy / no apps / tracking benefits, I am already realizing the following benefits....
* Ability to simply be present without distractions in more life situations.
* No more constant distractions from notifications, likes, emails, sounds, buzzes, etc.
* No more temptation to look at my phone while driving
* Better able to keep a work/life balance now with no email on the phone (even though the device supports it)
* More inclination to actually call someone to talk instead of constant texting (since texting is a bit of a pain and i'm not turning on Google voice assistant)
* Tech minimalism. All those apps were "great" but also represented life clutter...stuff to do, etc.
* Better manners in social situations....no distraction of looking at phone in the middle of a real conversation
* Reclaiming my natural sense of direction by not having to constantly have Google maps directing me when I don't need it.
* Less worry about "being out of juice" and needing a charger close by. This battery life is AWESOME!
* More time freed up for reading actual books, prayer, meditation, quiet time when I would typically just have my phone out.
In sum,
* Now I have better control of my tech instead of my tech controlling me
Cheers,
(Sir Art Vandelay)
Garmin attacked by WastedLocker ransomware in demand for $10 million | Cyclingnews
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 02:56
Garmin, the GPS technology and wearable device manufacturer, has reportedly been hit by WastedLocker ransomware in a cyberattack that is demanding $10 million to release its data. According to the report in BleepingComputer, the company has been under a worldwide outage since Thursday.
The cyberattack has affected consumers who use the run and bike fitness sessions in the Garmin Connect app and pilots who use the aviation database services, and all call centres are shutdown.
"We are currently experiencing an outage that affects Garmin.com and Garmin Connect," reads a message on the company's website. "This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails or online chats. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and apologize for this inconvenience."
Garmin confirmed through its FAQs that it has had no reason to believe that user data has been impacted.
"Garmin has no indication that this outage has affected your data, including activity, payment or other personal information."
BleepingComputer were reportedly sent screenshots that showed long lists of the company's files encrypted by the malware, with a ransom note attached to each file. Sources told BleepingComputer that the ransom amount was $10 million, but the website stated that it was not able to confirm that amount independently.
According to a report in ZDNet, Garmin is "planning a multi-day maintenance window to deal with the attack's aftermath, which includes shutting down its official website, the Garmin Connect user data-syncing service, Garmin's aviation database services, and even some production lines in Asia."
It has also been reported that the company has closed all databases and employee computers that are connected through a VPN to prevent further spread of the ransomware.
EuroLand
Poland says it will QUIT European treaty on violence against women over requirement to teach children 'ideological' gender theory '-- RT World News
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:20
The Polish government is pulling out of a European treaty said to focus on violence against women. Warsaw says it contains a provision for schools to teach children about gender theory, which calls biological sexes ''archaic.''
The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has been directed to take the steps necessary to withdraw from the Council of Europe's so-called Istanbul Convention, Poland's Ministry of Justice said on Monday. Poland ratified the treaty, which was signed in haste in 2012, back in 2015, but countries such as neighboring Hungary, Lithuania and the Czech Republic have yet to do so.
''It contains elements of an ideological nature, which we consider harmful,'' Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said, explaining the move.
Also on rt.com Poland is villain in EU drama as bungling Brussels bean counters award it '¬16bn in aid despite least economic damage in Europe In particular, Warsaw takes issue with ''the false assumption that biological sex is archaic, and in fact everything comes down to the socio-cultural gender,'' Ziobro said.
Forcing nations to promote the theory to children not only violates parental rights, he added, but ''we believe this to be false, and we completely reject it.''
The Council of Europe reacted to the move by calling it ''highly regrettable.'' Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric said the Istanbul Convention was an ''international treaty to combat violence against women and domestic violence, and that is its sole objective,'' adding that Poland's departure would be ''a major step backwards'' for their efforts. She added they were ready to clarify ''any misconceptions or misunderstandings about the convention.''
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Sports Virtue Signalling
Watching Baseball with cutout crowds, to someone who doesn't watch it wasn't very noticiable
Baltimore Blast owner defends T-shirt with anti-China sentiment sold on team's website - Baltimore Sun
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:37
The owner of the Baltimore Blast is defending a T-shirt listed on the professional indoor soccer team's website that drew criticism for its anti-Chinese sentiment.
The $20 shirt, which reads ''Strong'' and features an American flag and the Blast logo on the front, has a circle-backslash symbol over the word ''China'' and an outline of the country on the back.
The shirt was temporarily removed from the team's website Tuesday morning, but Baltimore Blast owner Edwin F. Hale Sr. said that he hoped to have it back online as soon as possible. He said the shirts have been listed on the website since March and are now sold out, however three adults sizes '-- medium, large and extra large '-- were available for purchase before The Baltimore Sun called for comment.
The ''Blast Strong'' shirt was reposted and listed as sold out without showing the backside design by mid-afternoon.
''A lot of people thought it was timely, and most people thought it was funny,'' Hale, a developer and former CEO of First Mariner Bancorp, said. He said people who take offense to the shirt are ''incorrect,'' as it relates to the Chinese government and not its citizens or descendants.
''I have a great affinity for the people of China,'' Hale said. He added he disagrees with the Chinese government's use of force against its citizens and blamed the country for the deaths of nearly 145,000 Americans from the coronavirus.
''It has affected our country to the effect that I don't like it,'' he said.
But Asian American and Pacific Islander groups said the T-shirt is more than just harmless fun, as it unjustly discriminates against several racial and ethnic groups and incites racism. Leaders of organizations representing those groups have called for an apology from team leaders.
In a statement, Clarissa Chen, member of the Chinatown Collective and Charm City Night Market '-- which celebrate and promote Asian artists and culture in Baltimore '-- said the shirt reflects the same anti-Chinese rhetoric espoused by President Donald Trump and other top Republicans in Congress, who have referred to the coronavirus as the ''China Virus'' or ''Kung Flu.''
''We're not claiming the Chinese government to be without faults, but this graphic lacks nuance and does not open discourse. Rather, it suggests exclusionary nationalism, which we cannot condone as a collective that promotes cultural exchange,'' Chen said.
In a statement, Dana Vickers Shelley, executive director of the ACLU of Maryland, said stigmatizing China as the whole world struggles to contain COVID-19 is ''dangerous, reckless, and racist.''
''Racism and xenophobia have no place anywhere,'' she said.
In the months since COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, swept into the United States, groups representing Asian Americans have reported a rise in xenophobic incidents, ranging from targeted harassment to vandalism of Asian American-owned businesses. Some Americans have placed blame on Chinese Americans for the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, but has disrupted life around the world.
The U.S. leads the world in confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 4.3 million as of Tuesday. China ranks 26th, with over 86,000 infections reported, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
The T-shirt sparked anger and condemnation online, with several city residents calling for its removal.
Owen Silverman Andrews, a Baltimore Blast fan, said a boycott of the organization might be necessary to drive the message home that hateful speech has no place in the city.
''Institutions need to be held accountable for their mistakes,'' he said. ''Fans who care about racial justice should hit these institutions where it hurts: in the pocketbook.''
Hale said people who don't like the message of the T-shirt simply shouldn't buy it, nor should they come to Blast games if they're uncomfortable.
Anyone complaining should ''get out of the basement where they're living,'' he said, and recognize his contributions as a patriot and a businessman, including his work in the shipping industry and his relationships with Asian countries and people of Asian descent.
''I don't care what they think because they're wrong. They want to talk about me for being insensitive '-- what, are you kidding me?'' he said. ''It's not about the people. It's about the Chinese Communists.''
The situation follows weeks of protest, demonstration and boycotts around the country following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police. The killing sparked renewed fervor among supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement to spotlight racism and cut it off at the root.
The Baltimore Blast posted a statement on Facebook last month voicing support of the group's mission, using the hashtag #RiseAsOne.
''The Baltimore Blast strongly condemns racism in all forms,'' the team's statement said. ''We stand arm and arm, hand in hand with those who seek to inspire change. Black lives matter and we stand by those living in fear.''
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Chen said the team's words ring hollow.
''If the Baltimore Blast claims they do not have 'room for violence, bigotry, or prejudice,' they should remove this shirt, publicly apologize for it, and take additional action to repair their internal staff culture that allowed this to occur,'' she said.
The Blast have been a Baltimore institution for decades, winning at least 10 national championships since the 1980s. The Blast were relocated in 2017 from their home turf in Baltimore at what is now called Royal Farms Arena to Towson University's SECU Arena, a significantly smaller venue.
Hale said he was not sure, given the coronavirus, when the Blast will be able to play again. He has more T-shirt designs in mind to put up online in the meantime.
Baltimore Sun reporter John-John Williams IV contributed to this article.
NFL Helmet Tributes to Include Full Names of Police Brutality Victims, Pics Show
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 22:38
NFL Helmet Tributes Show Full Names of Police Brutality Victims ... New End Zone Phrase Too 7/27/2020 3:59 PM PT Exclusive
When, and if, the NFL returns ... THIS is what many of the players' helmets will look like -- names like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor emblazoned on the back.
TMZ Sports obtained a few of the mocked-up images the league plans to release shortly ... confirming a report players would be able to honor victims of social injustice.
The images show the full names of victims like Floyd, Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Botham Jean. When Front Office Sports first mentioned the plans for these decals ... most people probably expected initials or some sort of commemorative sticker, but these images show the plan is to make the tributes wayyyy more prominent.
We're told the NFL will also roll out a new catchphrase ... "It Takes All of Us" ... which will be painted across the back of the end zones.
NFL Commish Roger Goodell has recently said the league is focusing on social justice initiatives -- and working with players to help make an impact.
Now, all we need is for NFL players and personnel to stay SAFE from COVID so we can see these new helmets in action.
Related Articles TMZ Sports Football NFL
NFL Helmet Tributes to Include Full Names of Police Brutality Victims, Pics Show
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 22:38
NFL Helmet Tributes Show Full Names of Police Brutality Victims ... New End Zone Phrase Too 7/27/2020 3:59 PM PT Exclusive
When, and if, the NFL returns ... THIS is what many of the players' helmets will look like -- names like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor emblazoned on the back.
TMZ Sports obtained a few of the mocked-up images the league plans to release shortly ... confirming a report players would be able to honor victims of social injustice.
The images show the full names of victims like Floyd, Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Botham Jean. When Front Office Sports first mentioned the plans for these decals ... most people probably expected initials or some sort of commemorative sticker, but these images show the plan is to make the tributes wayyyy more prominent.
We're told the NFL will also roll out a new catchphrase ... "It Takes All of Us" ... which will be painted across the back of the end zones.
NFL Commish Roger Goodell has recently said the league is focusing on social justice initiatives -- and working with players to help make an impact.
Now, all we need is for NFL players and personnel to stay SAFE from COVID so we can see these new helmets in action.
Related Articles TMZ Sports Football NFL
2020
Kamala leak is a trial balloon
Kanye West Visits Hospital Over Anxiety, Invites Paparazzi Inside Ranch House
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 02:54
Backgrid
Exclusive Details
Kanye West Goes to Hospital Over Anxiety ... Invites Paparazzi Inside Ranch House 7/25/2020 7:33 PM PT 7:33 PM PT -- After the ambulance left, Kanye invited 4 paparazzi inside his home. We're told they were there for 2 hours -- waiting -- and Kanye finally came out for a few minutes. WE're told he wanted the photogs to let him "control the narrative." That was pretty much it, and they left.
A source connected to Kanye and with direct knowledge tells TMZ, he went to the hospital for anxiety, but there were lots of people inside, he got uncomfortable and left. His people then arranged for an ambulance to come to the ranch. Ye apparently calmed down ... EMTs checked his vitals -- heart rate and blood pressure -- and determined he was not in danger.
Kanye West showed up at a hospital near his Wyoming ranch Saturday, and a short time later an ambulance arrived at his property ... TMZ has learned.
Kanye entered the E.R. door of the hospital in Cody Saturday afternoon, and stayed inside for about 10 minutes. We're told he returned to his ranch and a short time later an ambulance arrived on the property.
This comes just an hour or so after Kanye went public to apologize to Kim for his hurtful comment -- presumably about abortion. She has been desperately trying to convince her husband, who is in the middle of a serious bipolar episode, to get help, but he had shut down her efforts.
We've also learned Kanye had flown from Wyoming to San Francisco. It's unclear why he went, but he returned to Wyoming earlier on Saturday.
It's unclear why Kanye went to the E.R. and why an ambulance showed up. The big question ... did he go for help?
And, we just found out the ambulance left without Kanye. He's currently on the ranch riding his ATV.
Story developing ...
Originally Published -- 4:40 PM PT
(C) 2020 EHM PRODUCTIONS,INC.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Trump says Harris would be 'fine choice' for Biden running mate | TheHill
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:28
President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden hits Trump's 'law and order' message: He's trying to 'scare the devil' out of people Pelosi bashes Barr after testimony: 'He was like a blob' and 'henchman' for Trump Schumer: Trump should want COVID-19 deal to help GOP election chances MORE on Wednesday said he thinks Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala Devi HarrisBiden notes show talking points about Kamala Harris Lawmakers, public bid farewell to John Lewis Biden: I'll have a running mate picked next week MORE (D-Calif.) would be a "fine choice" for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden Joe BidenBiden hits Trump's 'law and order' message: He's trying to 'scare the devil' out of people Biden notes show talking points about Kamala Harris The opportunity cost of Congress's 'Big Tech' antitrust obsession MORE 's running mate.
"I think she'd be a fine choice. Kamala Harris. A fine choice," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Texas.
Biden said Tuesday that he would announce his pick for a running mate in the first week of August. He has been tight-lipped about his selection, though he has committed to choosing a woman.
Harris, who herself ran for president but dropped out before the Iowa caucuses, has long been seen as a front-runner for the vice presidential slot, but speculation around the choice has intensified in recent days.
Biden's notes were captured by a photographer at a campaign event on Tuesday. The paper included talking points about Harris in the event he was asked about her, including "do not hold grudges," seemingly in reference to a fierce clash between the two at a primary debate earlier this year.
His notes also mention that Harris ''campaigned with me & Jill,'' is ''talented'' and has been a ''great help to [the] campaign.''
Politico on Tuesday inadvertently published a piece that referred to Harris as Biden's pick for vice president, stoking further discussion about the choice. The news outlet issued an apology for "the error and any confusion that it caused," while the Biden campaign said the published report was not accurate.
Vape Wars
Altria to Expand Marketing of Heated-Tobacco Device - WSJ
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:51
Cigarette seller reports net sales fell almost 4% in second quarter
Cigarette seller Altria Group Inc. said it would expand marketing of a heated-tobacco device, a few weeks after the government authorized a marketing claim in the U.S. that it exposes users to fewer harmful substances than cigarettes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month approved the Virginia-based company's IQOS and HeatSticks...
Cigarette seller Altria Group Inc. said it would expand marketing of a heated-tobacco device, a few weeks after the government authorized a marketing claim in the U.S. that it exposes users to fewer harmful substances than cigarettes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month approved the Virginia-based company's IQOS and HeatSticks to be marketed as having ''reduced exposure.''
Altria said Tuesday that Philip Morris USA, which is under Altria, expects that the heated-tobacco device will be sold in Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta and Richmond, Va., in over 700 stores by the end of next month. Altria said Philip Morris USA expects to expand the device to four more markets over the next year and a half.
Altria said Tuesday that second-quarter profit was $1.94 billion, or $1.04 a share, down from last year's $2 billion, or $1.07 a share.
Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.09 a share, Altria said. According to FactSet, analysts were expecting $1.06 a share.
Net revenue fell, slipping almost 4% to $6.37 billion, the company reported.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Altria logged $50 million in pre-tax charges for the quarter.
The company also gave an outlook for adjusted earnings of $4.21 a share to $4.38 a share for 2020. In April, the company suspended its earnings outlook, given uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, it was expecting adjusted earnings of $4.39 a share to $4.51 a share.
Altria also now expects the domestic-cigarette-industry adjusted decline rate to be less than previously expected at between 2% and 3.5%. It had been expecting between 4% and 6%.
Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com
Down Under
The Mullet Makes a Comeback and Divides Australia - WSJ
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 22:19
SYDNEY'--As the world grappled with the coronavirus pandemic, one Australian lawmaker faced a different hairy situation: how would he respond to a local news report that an 18-year-old wasn't let into a pub because of his mullet hairstyle?
''I'd just encourage people with mullets to rise up and rebel against these extreme rules pubs are imposing,'' said Mark McGowan, the premier of Western Australia state, when asked by reporters about the incident last month. ''Some of my best friends have mullets, and if you've got a mullet, it shouldn't preclude you from going out and having a beer.''
The mullet'--short on the front and sides, and long in the back'--was a 1980s hair phenomenon that many who lived through that era would prefer to forget.
Some say it was already making a comeback before the pandemic in Australia, where it's debatable how much it really went out of style. But coronavirus lockdowns have accelerated the mullet's resurgence, as Aussies who no longer needed to clean up for work or school had time to grow out their locks.
That has renewed a national discussion over whether mullets are hip, cool, and amusingly ironic, or if it's better that they be shorn from the history books.
''I was a teenager in the '80s, I have very bad memories of the mullet,'' said Lucy Race, who lives in Melbourne, Australia's second-biggest city, and ultimately gave up her resistance to her 15-year-old son's desire to get a mullet during the lockdown. ''It reminds me of the boys that you didn't really want to talk to.''
The issue escalated last month, when a letter was posted online from a private high school that reminded parents it was against school regulations for students to show up with a mullet, which it described as an extreme hairstyle. One commenter decried the letter as ''un-Australian.'' The school put out a statement saying its uniform policy was meant to develop a sense of unity and belonging.
Jay Blitsas, a 23-year-old hairstylist in Melbourne, used to have his hair shaved once a week. But when his salon closed for about a month because of coronavirus, Mr. Blitsas decided he would grow a mullet because he was sitting at home without much else to do. His mullet is dyed blue.
''My dad definitely isn't a fan,'' said Mr. Blitsas, who plans to get hair extensions to make his mullet longer at the back. ''Although I did say to him the other day that he is my inspiration. He had the biggest mullet and the longest mullet I had ever seen.''
The hairstyle has gained more attention in the U.S., particularly after the popularity of the Netflix Inc. documentary series ''Tiger King,'' which featured the mulleted former zookeeper Joe Exotic. Singer Blake Shelton, who appears on the television show ''The Voice,'' said on his verified Twitter account in March that he would grow a mullet because everything he had scheduled was canceled.
In Australia, mullets have often been panned as ''bogan,'' a slang term with similar connotations to ''redneck'' in the U.S. To others, the hairstyle is a homage to Australian culture. The term may even have originated there. The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary say the name for the hairstyle was popularized by the Beastie Boys, the U.S. band that in 1994 released a song called ''Mullet Head.'' The academics looked into a claim that the term appeared earlier in a 1992 issue of an Australian car magazine, but couldn't verify it.
A mullet shows that ''somebody's got a sense of humor and doesn't take themselves too seriously,'' said Craig Smith, a mullet-wearer and salon owner in Brisbane, Australia, who won an award for being the top Australian hairdresser last year. ''That sort of resonates as being quite Australian, doesn't it? We're quite happy to poke fun at ourselves.''
Australian-rules footballer Warwick Capper famously wore a mullet in the 1980s. Other athletes, such as cricketers Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie, sported them in the 1990s or 2000s. By the 2010s, it was a favorite hairstyle among ''tradies,'' a general term for manual laborers that includes construction workers, who found that length in the back protected their necks in the hot Australian sun.
In 2018, the inaugural Mulletfest was held in a small town about a two-hour drive from Sydney, and is now an annual event. Judges award best mullet in various categories, which included everyday, extreme, and grubby at this year's event, held before lockdowns hit.
Despite that history, mullet enthusiasts have at times been denied entry into bars and clubs because there is a belief they could be badly behaved, said Bradley Woods, the chief executive of the Western Australia branch of the Australian Hotels Association. It is legal for venues to enforce a dress code as long as it doesn't discriminate based on race, gender or religion, Mr. Woods said.
He said his organization believes venues should continue to set their own dress codes, as long as they comply with the law. But Mr. Woods, who is bald, said pubs might want to consider being more tolerant because not everyone has been able to get a haircut due to lockdowns.
''I'm extremely jealous because I wish I could grow my hair,'' Mr. Woods said.
The mullet momentum may be difficult to stop. Melbourne-based Moon Dog Brewery offered to give a year's worth of free beer to whoever grew the best mullet during lockdown earlier this year. The brewery was inspired in part by its Magnificent Mullet beers, a line of fruity sour ales named after mulleted celebrities. Beers have included Melon DeGeneres, Billy Ray Citrus and Cherry Seinfeld.
After a few weeks, the brewery received 200 entries, plus photos from more than 300 people who didn't qualify because they had mullets before the lockdown began, said Brook Hornung, the brewery's brand marketing manager.
The winner was Ryan Stewart, a 27-year-old IT worker in Sydney, who then went on to participate in a fundraiser, Mullets for the Kids, which raised money for a children's hospital. Mr. Stewart said he had long hair before the lockdown, but it wasn't cut into a mullet.
''With the long hair, I couldn't drive, I couldn't eat, I couldn't do anything without hair in my face,'' Mr. Stewart said. With the mullet, he can avoid those problems, and still keep his hair long in the back.
''It's not really acceptable to have a mullet most of the time. But we went into lockdown, so things changed,'' he said.
Write to Mike Cherney at mike.cherney@wsj.com
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VIDEO - (989) Congressman Louie Gohmert tests positive for coronavirus - YouTube
VIDEO - Americas Frontline Doctors summit Session 2 in full
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 13:06
First published at 21:01 UTC on July 28th, 2020.
#covid#covid-19#doctorsDoctors expose the agenda in their states from governors to Teachers associations/unions. Doctors come together to speak the truth about HCQ and that Covid19 is 100% treatable, even in the aged and immune compromised. We've been lied to for a p'...
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Doctors expose the agenda in their states from governors to Teachers associations/unions. Doctors come together to speak the truth about HCQ and that Covid19 is 100% treatable, even in the aged and immune compromised. We've been lied to for a political and global agenda. All doctors need to stand up and tell the truth so that we can get rid of masks, social distancing and open up the country.
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VIDEO-WATCH: Biden addresses the Million Muslim Votes Summit remotely - YouTube
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VIDEO-1h13m-President Trump Campaign Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma | C-SPAN.org
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June 20, 2020 | Part Of Campaign 2020: President Trump Holds Rally in Tulsa, OK 2020-06-20T20:11:12-04:00 https://images.c-span.org/Files/42f/20200620201712001_hd.jpg President Trump, in his first campaign rally since the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown of the country in March, spoke at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He talked about the pandemic, presidential politics, and the economy.President Trump, in his first campaign rally since the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown of the country in March, spoke at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He talked about the pandemic, presidential politics, and the economy.
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VIDEO-Kamala Harris on Twitter: "This is the most important election of our lifetime. With @JoeBiden as president, we'll be able to build an America that lives up to our ideals. https://t.co/q9xVPd2PuF" / Twitter
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 07:38
Kamala Harris : This is the most important election of our lifetime. With @JoeBiden as president, we'll be able to build an America'... https://t.co/ks6hBlNBgz
Wed Jul 29 00:43:17 +0000 2020
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VIDEO-Dave Rubin on Twitter: "In which @RepVernonJones demolishes MSNBC host for implying he's a paid operative. The mass red polling continues. https://t.co/wvnMxlzibP" / Twitter
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 02:01
Dave Rubin : In which @RepVernonJones demolishes MSNBC host for implying he's a paid operative.The mass red polling continues.'... https://t.co/Sw0l0pPE3t
Wed Jul 29 18:52:28 +0000 2020
TimbersBeliever : @RubinReport @RepVernonJones This is what this country was founded on!
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justjanine : @RubinReport @RepVernonJones This man has got your number ! Trump 20/20
Thu Jul 30 01:59:48 +0000 2020
Mary Zebolsky : @RubinReport @RepVernonJones Love it!! Showed him what's up!
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ccMarcy7 : @RubinReport @RepVernonJones Msnbc opinion host...you deserved that! And more!'... https://t.co/A1A7ENzKiL
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Joe Kash : @RubinReport @RepVernonJones https://t.co/iBuCsYL4gS
Thu Jul 30 01:58:11 +0000 2020
VIDEO-Jason Kint on Twitter: "This is a BFD line of questioning. Watch @RepValDemings probe on Google's 2016 data merge. She absolutely nailed it. More on this in a minute. But watch it. This is at the nexus of antitrust right now. https://t.co/7YP4kCaX
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 01:55
Jason Kint : This is a BFD line of questioning. Watch @RepValDemings probe on Google's 2016 data merge. She absolutely nailed it'... https://t.co/jBKnjcLQtz
Thu Jul 30 01:15:41 +0000 2020
Goop Adoo : @jason_kint @RepValDemings Wow, asking aggressive questions when considered for Vice President. Another Kamala Harris?
Thu Jul 30 01:55:27 +0000 2020
Neville : @jason_kint @RepValDemings Does @RepValDemings just naturally eat this stuff for breakfast or does her staff prepar'... https://t.co/b1QmqOKWKJ
Thu Jul 30 01:20:10 +0000 2020
VIDEO-Austin police video of Mike Ramos' fatal shooting released | The Texas Tribune
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:21
Editor's note: This story contains explicit video.
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The Austin Police Department released video footage Monday of the fatal police shooting of Mike Ramos, an unarmed Black and Latino man who was killed as he pulled out of a parking space in April after officers first shot him with ''less-lethal'' munition.
Ramos' name has become a rallying cry in Texas during the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial injustice that followed George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. The videos show Ramos pulling out of the parking spot before turning right and stopping as officers follow the car, pointing their rifles toward the driver's side of the vehicle. The release of the footage spurred protestors to gather at Austin police headquarters Monday night, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
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An attorney for Ramos' mother and Austin-area activists say the videos show the shooting was not justified.
''The first thing that stuck out to me is what I did not see and that was any justification for the shooting. That is glaringly absent from the video,'' attorney Scott Hendler told Austin radio station KUT. ''What's clear is that there's nothing Mike Ramos did to justify Officer [Christopher] Taylor opening fire and killing him.''
Attorneys for Christopher Taylor, the officer who shot and killed Ramos, said that based on their perceptions of the officers' reactions, law enforcement was ''in fear that Mr. Ramos' vehicle was going to put them in danger.'' An Austin Police Department report said that Ramos intended to use the moving vehicle as a deadly weapon and Taylor was justified in shooting him as a result.
''At the moment Mr. Ramos sort of drives forward shows that we believe they believed they were in fear of serious bodily injury or death or something along those lines,'' said Ken Ervin, one of Taylor's attorneys.
Ramos' death brought out tensions that have long plagued the state's capital, a place that is recognized for its moments of progressivism yet has deep-rooted racial biases.
The release of the videos depicting Ramos' death comes two days after the death of Garrett Foster, an armed white demonstrator who was protesting police brutality in downtown Austin when an unnamed, armed driver shot and killed him, according to The New York Times. The shooter in that incident has cooperated with police and was released, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Austin police did not answer The Texas Tribune's questions about that shooting Monday.
Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore announced last week that she will not bring Ramos' case in front of a grand jury during her term, which is set to end after she lost her reelection bid to Democratic primary challenger Jos(C) Garza. Moore's decision, which also affects the case of Javier Ambler '-- an unarmed Black man killed by Williamson County law enforcement last year '-- effectively delays criminal charges against any officers involved in either shooting.
Austin residents in the past few months have pushed for reforms to police conduct and cuts to the department's budget. The City Council in June asked for some police budget cuts, banned the use of ''less-lethal'' munitions by law enforcement at protests and limited officers' use of deadly force.
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Meanwhile, hundreds of Austinites called in to a City Council meeting Thursday to advocate for significant police department budget cuts that exceed the proposed $11.3 million reduction. Some callers proposed cutting the budget in half, and others said the department should eliminate its firearms, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
The five videos released Monday, which include a version in Spanish, depict officers' encounter with Ramos. One begins with a 911 caller alleging that Ramos and a woman were using drugs inside a car in an apartment complex parking lot. The caller first says Ramos is pointing a gun at the woman and later says he is holding up the gun. The caller also describes Ramos as wearing a white shirt. But Ramos is shown to be wearing a red shirt. The Austin Police Department confirmed in May that no gun was found in Ramos' possession, according to the Statesman.
Before confronting Ramos, eight police officers are shown on video convening to discuss a strategy. They mention there is one entrance to the parking lot that they plan to block off with their vehicles.
''Don't try to pin [Ramos and the woman] in,'' one of the officers says. ''If they got a gun, I don't want to do that.''
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The officers also mention that the car is one they have been ''dealing with and actually looking for.'' Austin police did not respond to questions Monday about what the officers meant by that statement.
During the encounter, police officers approach Ramos, who is inside the car, and demand that he step outside and put his hands up. Once he does, an officer tells him to lift his shirt up, turn around and walk toward the officer.
''You're gonna get impacted if you don't listen,'' the officer says. ''Walk toward me.''
Ramos complies with those demands, but the officer continues to tell him to comply as Ramos repeatedly asks what he did.
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''I can't explain it now, Michael, I'll explain it in a second, but you need to turn around,'' the officer says.
Ramos tells the officers he ''ain't got no fucking gun, dog'' and asks them to not shoot before Officer Mitchell Pieper fires a lead pellet-filled bag, known as an impact munition considered ''less lethal'' by police, a few seconds later. After the shot is fired, Ramos reenters the car with the woman and proceeds to drive. Another officer, Christopher Taylor, fires three rounds at the moving vehicle, killing Ramos.
Taylor has been placed on administrative leave and is the subject of parallel administrative and criminal investigations by the Austin Police Department.
Ervin and Doug O'Connell, Taylor's attorneys, declined to comment on Taylor's case and said that the department has prohibited them from interviewing the other officers involved in the incident. They also said they were disappointed that the police department released the videos before a grand jury has been empaneled or a judge has ruled on the admissibility of the videos as evidence.
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''I think this is because [the government wants] to dribble out evidence and control what the community is able to see in order to get some sort of strategic advantage,'' O'Connell said.
They referred to another video released Thursday that shows the incident from the dashboard camera of Valerie Tavarez, another officer at the scene.
While that video does not show the car Ramos was driving, O'Connell said it depicts officers ''scrambling to get out of the way of Mr. Ramos' car.''
''They're running for cover behind police vehicles and one officer jumps into the police vehicle,'' O'Connell said.
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But the Austin Justice Coalition said the video released by the police department Monday ''validates'' Ramos and shows he was never an aggressive man.
''It's frustrating and it's sad to see this,'' said Chas Moore, the group's founder and executive director. ''How senseless. This shouldn't even be something that we're talking about. If they just would have took a second to try to deescalate the situation because [in the video] they asked him to raise up his shirt and all this type of stuff, and he kept saying, 'I don't have a gun.' So this is very frustrating.''
KUT 90.5 and The New York Times have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
VIDEO-ABC News Live on Twitter: "Dr. Anthony Fauci to @DrJAshton: "If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it. It's not universally recommended, but if you really want to be complete, you should probably use it if you can." https://t.co/3B7YO
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:53
ABC News Live : Dr. Anthony Fauci to @DrJAshton: "If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it. It's not universally rec'... https://t.co/SAdZhDUFQ1
Wed Jul 29 17:24:09 +0000 2020
Bob Wolff : @ABCNewsLive @DrJAshton Wow Fauci is disgusting. Changes advice by which way the wind is blowing. #FauciFraud
Wed Jul 29 22:52:32 +0000 2020
Wyoming Patriot : @ABCNewsLive @DrJAshton I wish people would stop taking this clown serious.
Wed Jul 29 22:48:33 +0000 2020
Mark : @ABCNewsLive @DrJAshton Fauci is a jackass.
Wed Jul 29 22:42:46 +0000 2020
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Wed Jul 29 22:40:39 +0000 2020
It's Better in Florida : @ABCNewsLive @DrJAshton We wouldn't need ANY of this crap if you hadn't squelched hydroxychloroquine. It prevents,'... https://t.co/Y3FgD5QWK9
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Wed Jul 29 22:30:41 +0000 2020
VIDEO-Coronavirus updates: 150,000 dead in US - ABC News
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:53
The novel coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 662,000 people worldwide.
Over 16.8 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their nations' outbreaks.
The United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 4.4 million diagnosed cases. On Wednesday, the U.S. death toll climbed over 150,000 and now stands at 150,090.
Latest headlines:
Texas reports day of record fatalities NJ counties reemerging as 'hot spots' Alabama, Maryland enforce new mask mandatesHere is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Check back for updates.
6:40 p.m.: Maryland expands mask order, discourages travel to hotspotsMaryland is expanding its mask mandate and has implemented an out-of-state travel advisory amid rising COVID-19 hospitalizations, Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday.
Marylanders ages 5 and up will now be required to wear face coverings in public spaces of all businesses and outdoors in public when physical distancing is not possible. The new order goes into effect Friday at 5 p.m. It expands upon the existing order, in effect since April 18, which required face coverings in stores and on public transit.
The state is also immediately advising against travel to states with positivity rates of 10% or higher. As of Wednesday, the state said its advisory applies to nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas.
Staff members of the Baltimore Orioles clubhouse clean players shoes in the photo well before the start of the Orioles and New York Yankees game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 29, 2020 in Baltimore. Rob Carr/Getty ImagesMaryland is also pausing its reopening, Hogan said; statewide it is in stage 2 of a three-stage plan.
"We are doing much better on our health metrics than most of the rest of the country, and we are doing much better on our economic recovery than most of the rest of the country, and we want to do what it takes to keep it that way," Hogan said.
Maryland has 86,285 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to state data. Its testing positivity rate is nearly 5%. Hospitalizations and new cases have increased steadily in July.
5:05 p.m.: Texas reports record fatalitiesHard-hit Texas reported a record 313 fatalities on Wednesday, bringing the state's total death toll to 6,190.
The state had never reported more than 200 in a single day.
Members of the medical staff treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020, in Houston. Go Nakamura/Getty ImagesDallas County also reported a record high number of daily COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday with 36 new fatalities, county officials said.
The U.S. Army is sending roughly an additional 255 Army Reserve medical task force personnel to the Coastal Bend and Rio Grande Valley in Texas to support hospitals, an official told ABC News.
2:20 p.m.: NJ counties reemerging as 'hot spots' A "daily hot spot triage" report distributed by the Department of Homeland Security and obtained by ABC News identifies 98 emerging hot spots in 30 states.
Twenty-one of these are ''new emerging hot spots."
Among the new emerging hot spots are New Jersey's Camden County, located near Philadelphia, and Mercer County, which includes Princeton and Trenton. These counties had not been on the hot spot list since April 13.
Atlantic County, New Jersey, which includes Atlantic City, has also returned to the list, last appearing on May 3.
People gather on the beach in Atlantic City, N.J., for Independence Day holiday weekend, July 4, 2020. SMXRF/starmaxinc.com via NewscomOther current hot spots include: Miami County, Ohio; Waupaca County, Wisconsin; Okmulgee County, Oklahoma; Madison County, Texas; Clay County, Missouri; and Gila County, Arizona.
1:54 p.m.: Georgetown moving classes all online Georgetown University is moving classes fully online this fall for undergraduate and graduate students "due to the acceleration of the spread," the administration said Wednesday.
Earlier this month Georgetown said it planned to bring some undergraduates, including freshmen, to campus.
"We are revising this approach based on current pandemic conditions," Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said. "We plan to introduce in-person course elements as soon as health conditions permit."
A sign reminding people to wear face masks sits in front of a library on Georgetown University's main campus in Washington, D.C., July 7, 2020. Xinhua News Agency via Getty ImagesNeighboring George Washington University announced Monday that all undergraduate courses would be online this fall.
12:45 p.m.: Alabama gov. extends statewide mask mandate, encourages in-classroom learningAlabama's "safer at home" order, which was set to expire this Friday, has now been extended until the end of August, Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday.
This includes extending the statewide mask ordinance through Aug. 31, Ivey said at a news conference.
At school, second-graders through college students are required to wear masks, she said.
Ivey said she encourages schools to phase-in classroom learning when and where possible.
Alabama Teachers Against Covid-19 protest the reopening of schools amid the coronavirus pandemic on Dexter Ave. in Montgomery, Ala., on July 23, 2020. Jake Crandall/Advertiser via USA Today Network"I respect those districts that have elected to go to virtual classrooms," Ivey said, adding that she believes "a slide will come by keeping our kids at home."
"And that slide is likely to have a dramatic, negative impact on Alabama's future -- our young people," the governor said.
A closed sign is displayed at J.H. Philips Academy school in Birmingham, Ala., April 28, 2020. Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILEAlabama has over 81,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,400 confirmed fatalities, according to state data.
In the last few days, some hospitals have set all-time high patient numbers, state health officer Dr. Scott Harris said Wednesday.
11:10 a.m.: Florida reports 2nd day of record-setting deaths In hard-hit Florida, 217 new fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours -- a second day in a row of record-setting deaths, the state's health department said Wednesday.
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) arrive with a patient while a funeral car begins to depart at North Shore Medical Center where coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients are treated, in Miami, July 14, 2020. Maria Alejandra Cardona/Reuters People are seen outside the entrance to the emergency room at Oak Hill Hospital in Hernando County, Fla., July 26, 2020. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images via ShutterstockOn Tuesday, the department said a record 191 new fatalities had been reported in the previous 24 hours.
Throughout Florida, 15.69% of the state's adult ICU beds were available as of Wednesday morning, according to the state's Agency for Healthcare Administration.
Three counties -- Monroe, Okeechobee and Putnam -- had no ICU beds, the agency said.
These numbers are expected to fluctuate throughout the day as hospitals and medical centers provide updates.
10:25 a.m.: Rep. Louis Gohmert diagnosed with COVID-19Congressman Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican who has refused to wear a mask, has tested positive for the coronavirus, sources told ABC News.
Rep. Louie Gohmert questions Attorney General William Barr before the House Judiciary Committee hearing in the Congressional Auditorium at the US Capitol Visitors Center, July 28, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Matt Mcclain/AFP via Getty ImagesPeople familiar with the matter said Gohmert was tested because he was slated to travel with President Donald Trump to Texas. Gohmert was pre-screened at the White House, and following his positive diagnosis, he returned to his Capitol Hill office to inform his staff, people familiar with the matter said.
His staff has not responded to requests for comment.
Gohmert was in the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday for Attorney General William Barr's hearing.
Barr will be tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday, Department of Justice spokesperson Kerri Kupec said. Video from Tuesday showed Gohmert walking into the hearing room in close proximity to Barr; neither wore a mask.
Gohmert is the 10th member of Congress to be diagnosed with COVID-19.
9:40 a.m.: Teens, pre-teens make up highest positivity rate in AustinThose ages 10 to 19 have had the highest positivity rate average in Austin in the last two weeks, Austin Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said, ABC Austin affiliate KVUE reported.
A social distancing sign stands on display at a temporary hospital in the Austin Convention Center in Austin, July 27, 2020. Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesAccording to Escott, school district officials say 20% to 25% of students are expected to learn from home when the school year begins, KVUE reported.
Travis County, which includes Austin, has over 19,900 coronavirus cases, according to county data.
8:54 a.m.: Deaths on the rise in western Washington for 1st time since MarchCoronavirus deaths are on the rise in western Washington for the first time since March, the state's department of health said Tuesday, according to ABC Seattle affiliate KOMO.
People work at an orchard pull on equipment as they prepare to thin apple trees in Yakima, Wash., June 16, 2020. Elaine Thompson/AP,FILEDeaths are continuing to rise in eastern Washington, KOMO said.
There's a new concentration of cases among young adults, the report said, according to KOMO.
Hospitalizations are on the rise with most age groups, the report said.
"We are still at great risk for significant growth as the virus continues to spread in Washington state," Secretary of Health John Wiesman said, according to KOMO. "And, as it moves into more vulnerable age groups, I am very concerned that hospitalizations and deaths will continue to increase."
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What to know about coronavirus: How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptomsTracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map4:25 a.m.: McAllen, Texas Convention Center will be used to treat coronavirus patientsTexas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that the McAllen Convention Center would be transformed into a temporary medical facility to treat coronavirus patients.
Abbott visited the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday to survey damage caused by Hurricane Hanna and meet with local leaders -- who are contending with both hurricane damage and the coronavirus pandemic.
"And if there's one thing that I want to emphasize to everyone in the Rio Grande Valley it is this: This hurricane has not eliminated COVID-19," Abbott said.
Abbott announced several major steps designed to assist the Valley, including:
-The McAllen Convention Center will be transformed into a temporary medical facility to treat coronavirus patients. The convention center's maximum capacity will be 250 patients, Abbott said.
-The U.S. Department of Defense will deploy additional medical teams to the Valley. A U.S. Army Reserve unit arrived in Cameron County on Tuesday to assist local hospitals.
Another U.S. Army Reserve unit will arrive in Hidalgo County on Wednesday to assist DHR Health.
"This is on top of the more than 2,000 medical personnel that we have already allocated to this region," Abbott said.
Starr County Judge Eloy Vera said hospital capacity remains a major problem.
Adding capacity in Hidalgo County and Cameron County will help Starr County, Vera said.
3:07 a.m.: 73 COVID cases in Illinois traced to July 4 parties Seventy-three people are now part of a COVID-19 outbreak in Lake Zurich which has been traced back to several Fourth of July gatherings, health officials said.
The outbreak was first detected in a group of Lake Zurich High School students earlier in July. Lake County, Illinois, health officials said contact tracing has now led them to believe the infections stem from multiple July 4 parties, and was not the result of a super spreader event.
"We have identified multiple smaller gatherings where COVID-19 infections occurred," said Hannah Goering, Lake County Health Department.
The outbreak was detected on the first day of an athletic camp scheduled to take place to Lake Zurich High School, when several students tested positive during an initial health screening. The camp was cancelled, and a mobile testing unit was sent to the high school for several days. Free testing was offered to those in the area.
"At least half of the cases are Lake Zurich High School students, but there are also parents and family members and people from other community members tied to this outbreak," Goering said.
County officials said during this process they've had some trouble with contact tracing, as many people have either ignored messages, delayed responding, or simply didn't pick up the phone. They said they really need anyone who is contacted by a tracer because of possible exposure to COVID-19 to take the call seriously and get themselves tested as soon as possible.
2:06 a.m.: FEMA says the the COVID-19 death toll is surgingAn internal FEMA memo obtained by ABC News reports that new cases are going down but deaths are surging.
A person undergoes a finger prick blood sample as part of a coronavirus antibody rapid serological test on July 26, 2020 in San Dimas, California, 30 miles east of Los Angeles. The free blood tests were offered by appointment to anybody without COVID-19 symptoms by the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and Medical Task Force International, two US-based charitable organizations. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty ImagesIn the seven days ending Monday, new cases nationwide have decreased 0.6% from the previous week but that time period also saw a 30.1% increase in deaths from the disease and deaths have been increasing steadily in recent days.
1:59 a.m.: Alaska requiring all visitors to have negative COVID-19 result within 72 hours prior to arrivalAlaska Governor Mike Dunleavy announced Tuesday evening that all visitors to the state will have to present a negative result on a COVID-19 test performed within 72 hours prior to arrival. The policy goes into effect on August 11.
Testing will no longer be available for non-residents when they arrive and residents can still be tested when arriving at the airport
"If you are going to other countries you require shots so we are not trying to make this difficult when you come here. We just want to make sure we are taking care of Alaskans first," said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy during a press briefing.
ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Marilyn Heck, Ahmad Hemingway, Alex Mallin, Josh Margolin, John Parkinson, Jordyn Phelps, Ben Siegel, Gina Sunseri and Scott Withers contributed to this report.
VIDEO-Rep. Jim Jordan on Twitter: "Big tech's out to get conservatives. It's time they face the consequences. https://t.co/jfPRPL1rZ1" / Twitter
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:23
Rep. Jim Jordan : Big tech's out to get conservatives. It's time they face the consequences. https://t.co/jfPRPL1rZ1
Wed Jul 29 17:46:19 +0000 2020
Gene Emerick : @Jim_Jordan 100% correct https://t.co/8DJG8oGpnl
Wed Jul 29 22:23:20 +0000 2020
CoachingPath : @Jim_Jordan Which consequences?
Wed Jul 29 22:23:20 +0000 2020
Robert O'Donnell : @Jim_Jordan Jimmy, I think their censure policy is essentially a Venn diagram of conservative talking points and bullshit.
Wed Jul 29 22:23:12 +0000 2020
VIDEO-51mins coin shortage -Monetary Policy and the Economy | C-SPAN.org
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 20:34
June 17, 2020 2020-07-06T10:00:47-04:00 https://images.c-span.org/Files/091/20200617121848011_hd.jpg Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before the House Financial Services Committee on monetary policy and the state of the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chair Powell took questions from lawmakers on a variety of topics, including the low interest rates, unemployment from COVID-19 shutdowns, the coinage shortage and what the future of economic growth and recovery from the virus might look like. This was Mr. Powell's second day testifying before a congressional committee. He appeared before the Senate Banking Committee the previous day.The hearing was interrupted for approximately one minute by a Senate pro forma session.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before the House Financial Services Committee on monetary policy and the state of the economy amid'... read more
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before the House Financial Services Committee on monetary policy and the state of the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chair Powell took questions from lawmakers on a variety of topics, including the low interest rates, unemployment from COVID-19 shutdowns, the coinage shortage and what the future of economic growth and recovery from the virus might look like. This was Mr. Powell's second day testifying before a congressional committee. He appeared before the Senate Banking Committee the previous day.
The hearing was interrupted for approximately one minute by a Senate pro forma session. close
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*This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
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VIDEO-CEOs Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos & Sundar Pichai testify before House Judiciary Cmte - YouTube
VIDEO-Jim Jordan says Dems cut off GOP video at Barr hearing: Here's the full version | Fox News
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 19:36
Published July 29, 2020
Last Update 6 hrs ago
Jerry Nadler, D-NY, said Republicans hadn't given enough notice that they would play the videoRep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning that Democrats cut off a video he showed during his opening statement at a Tuesday hearing with Attorney General William Barr before it ended.
"They wouldn't let us complete our video, they wouldn't let him answer questions..." Jordan, R-Ohio, said.
"They pulled the plug on the video?" host Steve Doocy asked.
BARR SPARS WITH DEMS ON TRUMP TIES, RIOTS AT FIERY HOUSE HEARING
"Yeah, it wasn't all the way through. We had more to show. They wouldn't let him answer the questions. And there was a point where they weren't even going to let him take a restroom break," Jordan responded.
The House Judiciary GOP posted the full video on its Twitter account Tuesday after the opening statement by Jordan. A comparison between the video posted by the Judiciary Committee Republicans and the tape from the hearing shows that the 10-minute video was cut off about two minutes before its conclusion.
In that time, the video shows a woman holding a sign that says, "Good Cops Quit" while rioters smash the windows of an Amazon store in the background, then a person yelling at the individual filming to "put your phone down!" It then shows a cardboard police officer wearing a Klan hood being burned in effigy while a person holds a "Black Lives Matter" sign nearby and others loudly cheer the burning.
GUY BENSON TORCHES DEMOCRATS OVER 'EMBARRASSING' BEHAVIOR TOWARD BARR: 'SORT OF PAINFUL TO WATCH'
There is also film of a 7-Eleven being looted, fires being burning and other stores being looted for big-ticket items, including an 85-inch Sony television.
The video, according to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was out of order. He said they had not provided adequate notice that they were going to play it and criticized its length.
"I hope that Mr. Jordan will never complain about the length of my opening statement," Nadler said after Jordan's video was cut off. "I am going to insert the committee's audio-visual policy into the record of this hearing. And note that the minority did not give the committee the 48-hour notice required by that policy."
BARR DINGS NADLER AFTER SPARRING OVER WHETHER TO TAKE HEARING BREAK
Nadler then moved to Barr's opening statement.
As racially charged protests have swept the nation in recent months following the death of George Floyd in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department, for which one officer was charged with murder and three others charged as accessories, the Trump administration's handling of such protests has come under scrutiny. Democrats, including Nadler himself, challenged Barr Tuesday on how his department has dealt with the protests, many of which have turned into violent riots, especially those outside of a federal courthouse in Portland that has essentially been under siege for months.
"[U]nder your leadership, the department has endangered Americans and violated their constitutional rights by flooding federal law enforcement into the streets of American cities, against the wishes of the state and local leaders of those cities, to forcefully and unconstitutionally suppress dissent," Nadler said in his opening statement. In Portland specifically, the city banned its police from working with federal law enforcement.
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But Barr, later in the hearing, responded to the criticism of the use of federal law enforcement to defend the Portland courthouse.
"Federal courts are under attack. Since when is it OK to burn down a federal court?" Barr said.
He continued: "If someone went down the street to the Prettyman Court here, that beautiful courthouse we have right at the bottom of the hill and started breaking windows and firing industrial-grade fireworks in to start a fire, throw kerosene balloons in and start fires in the court, is that OK? Is that OK now? No, the U.S. Marshals have a duty to stop that and defend the courthouse, and that's what we are doing in Portland. We are at the courthouse, defending the courthouse."
Fox News' Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
VIDEO-The video Chairman Nadler doesn't want you to see! - YouTube
VIDEO-Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: Presidential Hopeful: Ronald Reagan - YouTube
VIDEO - Alex Salvi on Twitter: "Pres. Trump on pulling troops out of Germany: ''They haven't paid their NATO fees. They're way off. And they've been off for years and they have no intention on paying it. The U.S. has been taken advantage of." https://t.c
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:27
Alex Salvi : Pres. Trump on pulling troops out of Germany: ''They haven't paid their NATO fees. They're way off. And they've been'... https://t.co/3EQWFR19s9
Wed Jul 29 15:52:03 +0000 2020
Chris Mann : @alexsalvinews @OANN I hope they don't pull their troops put of the US in retaliation.
Wed Jul 29 18:25:34 +0000 2020
MAGA is the virus : @alexsalvinews @OANN Putin's goals:Minimize NATOMinimize the EU https://t.co/14zaM9GXnS
Wed Jul 29 17:58:15 +0000 2020
FreeSpeech : @alexsalvinews @BourdinFred President Trump is right again! Do you ever think he gets bored of being right? Nahhhh
Wed Jul 29 17:36:48 +0000 2020
VIDEO-Valerie Jarrett On Fake Dossier And Russia Probe: It 'was four years ago' Let's Move On - Sara A. Carter : Sara A. Carter
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 16:15
A former top senior advisor and loyalist to President Barack Obama told Fox News Business host Maria Bartiromo Tuesday that the FBI's false investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and that it conspired with Russia is old news and ''why our focus isn't what's happening right now.''
This stunning statement came from Obama's most loyal advisor Valerie Jarrett, who also stated that the investigators in the Trump Russia investigation behaved appropriately, despite a plethora of evidence suggesting otherwise.
Baritromo asked Jarrett, if former FBI Director James Comey knew that former British spy Christopher Steele's dossier was garbage but he continued to renew warrants to spy on Carter Page, a member of the 2016 Trump campaign, shouldn't he be prosecuted.
According to several government officials who spoke to SaraACarter.comm Comey is a central figure being investigated by the Justice Department's criminal probe being headed by Connecticut prosecutor John Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr.
''Well, Maria look I have highly great confidence that our intelligence community, investigators comported themselves responsibly,'' Jarrett said.
This ''was nearly four years ago and I don't understand why our focus isn't on what's happening right now,'' Jarrett added.
Durham's secret investigation is ongoing and is now a full scale criminal probe into the actions of Obama administration and FBI officials involved.
Jarrett's comments are infuriating as she, along with so many others in the Obama administration, act as though there is a two tiered justice system.
The probe into Trump and his administration has torn the nation apart and put the nation's security at risk. Yet, it appears that those involved in the illegal investigation operate with impunity and unless Durham brings indictments and exposes the full scale of what happened to the Trump administration it could happen again.
The malfeasance was widespread in the FBI and now evidence suggested that the most senior members of Obama's administration were aware that there was no evidence to suggest members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russia. However, it didn't stop the FBI agents '' who were opposed to Trump's presidency- from continuing their illegal investigation into the President and his team.
Those officials weaponized the intelligence and federal law enforcement apparatus for political purposes. It should never be allowed to happen again.
The investigation was illegal. Just look at the evidence discovered by investigators and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz with regard to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Application warrant submitted to the secret court by the FBI.
FBI special agent Kevin Clinesmith, along with others, omitted exculpatory information and inserted flat out lies in the Carter Page application, who was a short term volunteer.
The same apparent bureau corruption existed in the FBI's investigation into former Trump national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Flynn was strong armed into pleading guilty and has since dropped his plea. The DOJ is also asking for his case to be thrown out of court.
After nearly three years, it was discovered that there was absolutely no derogatory information on Flynn, or those he communicated with, or that he was conspiring with Russia. In fact, Flynn continued throughout to hold the highest level of security clearance and should have never been investigated.
It took roughly four years of investigations by Congress, the Department of Justice, the DOJ's Inspector General and journalists to unearth mountains of evidence showing Obama's senior FBI, State Department and Justice officials were complicit in what appeared to be an attempt to hijack the election and then remove President Trump from office.
Those investigating the FBI's malfeasance have stated that senior members of the Obama administration should be investigated as well and it is uncertain if Durham will issue a report or indict people connected to the Trump probe before the November presidential election.
Jarrett may want us to forget what happened four years ago but that will never be the case.
Why? Because for the past four years our nation has been reeling from the corruption initiated by the Obama administration and those who were aware of it need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
We can't forget what happened. Our nation's fundamental principals are at stake. If people aren't held accountable our nation will fundamentally change forever and the corrupted bureaucrats will win.
Sorry Jarrett, we cannot afford a two-tiered justice system.
VIDEO-fuknukl: "Anybody who argues is a #wanker @adam" - No Agenda Social
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:24
@ fuknukl the mask debate, the mask debate, the great mask debate, the mask debate, I master bate, the mask debate, master bate, the mask debate.
VIDEO-Former AIDS Scientist Exposes Dr Fauci's Medical Corruption - YouTube
VIDEO-Russia claims it's on track to approve Covid-19 vaccine by mid-August. But speed of process raises questions - CNN
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:01
Moscow(CNN) Russia intends to be the first in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine, in less than two weeks -- despite concerns about its safety, effectiveness and over whether the country has cut essential corners in development, CNN has learned.
Russian officials told CNN they are working toward a date of August 10 or earlier for approval of the vaccine, which has been created by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute.
It will be approved for public use, with frontline healthcare workers getting it first, they said.
"It's a Sputnik moment," said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world's first satellite by the Soviet Union.
"Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik's beeping. It's the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first," he added.
But Russia has released no scientific data on its vaccine testing and CNN is unable to verify its claimed safety or effectiveness. Critics say the country's push for a vaccine comes amid political pressure from the Kremlin, which is keen to portray Russia as a global scientific force.
There are also wide concerns the human testing of the vaccine is incomplete.
Dozens of vaccine trials are underway around the world and a small number are in large-scale efficacy trials, but most developers have cautioned that much work remains before their vaccines can be approved.
While some global vaccines are in the third phase of trials, the Russian vaccine is yet to complete its second phase. Developers plan to complete that phase by August 3, and then conduct the third phase of testing in parallel with the vaccination of the medical workers.
Russians scientists say the vaccine has been quick to develop because it is a modified version of one already created to fight against other diseases. That's the approach being taken in many other countries and by other companies.
Notably, Moderna, whose vaccine is being backed by the U.S. government and which started Phase 3 testing Monday, has built its coronavirus vaccine on the backbone of a vaccine it had been developing for a related virus, MERS. While this has sped the development process, US and European regulators are requiring the full complement of safety and efficacy tests for the vaccine.
Russia's defense ministry says that Russian soldiers served as volunteers in human trials.
In recorded comments provided to CNN, Alexander Ginsburg, the director of the project, said he has already injected himself with the vaccine.
Russian officials say the drug is being fast-tracked through approval because of the global pandemic and Russia's own severe coronavirus problem. The country now has more than 800,000 confirmed cases.
"Our scientists focused not on being the first but on protecting people," said Dmitriev.
The vaccine uses human adenovirus vectors that have been made weaker so they do not replicate in the body. Unlike most vaccines in development it relies on two vectors, not one, and patients would receive a second booster shot.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with health workers at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on June 20.
Officials say their scientific data is currently being compiled and will be made available for peer review and publication in early August.
"Russia marshaled its leadership position in vaccine development and its proven Ebola and MERS vaccine platform to bring the first safe and efficient solution to the world's biggest problem," Dmitriev told CNN previously.
The World Health Organization says there is no approved vaccine for MERS.
The Russian health ministry, which has not yet confirmed the August approval date, says frontline medical staff will be first to be vaccinated once the new drug has been approved for public use.
Large-scale vaccine trials in the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere are proceeding rapidly but have not committed to deadlines by which their products will be approved.
Early results from trials of a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca were promising, but Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization Health Emergencies Program, said earlier this month that "there's a long way to go."
"These are Phase 1 studies. We now need to move into larger scale real-world trials, but it is good to see more data and more products moving into this very important phase of vaccine discovery," he said.
Earlier this month, the Kremlin denied allegations Russian spies hacked into American, Canadian and British research labs to steal vaccine development secrets.
Russian officials also denied reports members of the country's political and business elite -- including Russian President Vladimir Putin -- had been given early access to the vaccine.
CNN's Rob Picheta contributed to this report.
VIDEO-Is COVID there if nobody looks? - YouTube
VIDEO-Mike Coudrey on Twitter: "MUST WATCH: I sat down with @drsimonegold, the lead organizer for today's #WhiteCoatSummit in DC that has since been censored by social media companies. Please share to help get her message out! ðºð¸ https://t.co/erm2
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 10:17
Mike Coudrey : MUST WATCH: I sat down with @drsimonegold, the lead organizer for today's #WhiteCoatSummit in DC that has since bee'... https://t.co/Yza95G63Hw
Tue Jul 28 07:54:02 +0000 2020
VIDEO-Top economist Paul Krugman thinks economy is going to lockdown again - YouTube
VIDEO-Nancy Pelosi: Bill Barr Looked Like Trump 'Henchman'
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:27
Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted Attorney General Bill Barr over Tuesday's contentious hearing and said he looked like a ''henchman'' for the president.
After talking about the Republican covid relief proposal, MSNBC's Ari Melber asked Pelosi about the House Judiciary Committee hearing with Barr, in which Democrats got very combative with the AG on subjects ranging from federal agents in cities like Portland to the ouster of U.S. attorney Geoffrey Berman.
Pelosi said the hearing showed people ''the contempt that he has for our democracy'' and illustrated ''the inconsistency'' he showed.
''I just thought he was despicable and just so beneath the dignity of an attorney general,'' Pelosi continued. ''I did tune in to hear certain questions that I had an interest in his answers, and they all related to upholding the Constitution of the United States. And he felt very short in that regard.''
Melber played a clip of one Republican asking about the Speaker's tweet denouncing ''stormtroopers'' and Barr's answer calling that comment ''irresponsible'' and potentially dangerous to law enforcement.
Pelosi dismissed Barr's response and brought up a ''stormtroopers'' comparison Rudy Giuliani drew two years ago.
''I said they acted like stormtroopers and they did,'' Pelosi said. ''Peaceful protest is who we are and what we do. And do some other people come along and try to disrupt? Yes. But you don't send in people acting like stormtroopers into the scene and evoking even more unease and unrest.''
Pelosi brought up the clearing of protesters in Lafayette Square before saying of Barr, ''He was like a blob, he was like '-- just a henchman for the President of the United States.''
You can watch the interview above (the relevant discussion starts at the 9-minute mark), via MSNBC.
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VIDEO-User Clip: The Real Problem | C-SPAN.org
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:57
April 10, 2019 | Clip Of Insulin Costs This clip, title, and description were not created by C-SPAN. User-Created Clipby GrantliusJanuary 27, 2020 2019-04-10T21:33:45-04:00 https://images.c-span.org/Files/bff/20190410213620003_hd.jpg How Big Pharma and the Insurance Companies are colluding, and what govt policy should really be focused on.How Big Pharma and the Insurance Companies are colluding, and what govt policy should really be focused on.
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*This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
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VIDEO-Heated Vaccine Debate - Kennedy Jr. vs Dershowitz - YouTube
VIDEO-How BLM & Covid-19 Will Change The Future of Travel | Mashable - YouTube
VIDEO-Yle Uutiset | Yle Uutiset 20.30 | TV | Areena | yle.fi
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00
Yle Uutiset 20.30 24 min ti 28.7.2020 28 pv Eurooppaan syntyy uusia koronapes¤kkeit¤ - kriittisin tilanne isoista EU-maista on Espanjassa. Suomalaismeppien mielest¤ elvytyspakettineuvottelut eiv¤t muuttaneet Suomen asemaa EU:ssa. Suuren fuusioreaktorin rakentaminen etenee Ranskassa. Maailmankuulu koreografi poimi 23-vuotiaan suomalaistanssijan Atte Kilpisen Hampurin balettiin.
Ohjelman tiedot TV-l¤hetyksen ¤¤niraidat suomi stereo
Katsottavissa ulkomailla
L¤hetykset ti 28.7.2020 20.29 Yle TV1 N¤yt¤ lis¤tiedot Piilota lis¤tiedot
VIDEO-FIREWORKS: "You Just Can't Say What You Want!" Bill Barr Hearing Goes Off TRACK - YouTube
VIDEO-Greg Price on Twitter: "SUPERCUT: Bill Barr: "The law says..." Democrats: "RECLAIMING MY TIME!!" https://t.co/pajVJqFBTz" / Twitter
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 22:35
Greg Price : SUPERCUT:Bill Barr: "The law says..."Democrats: "RECLAIMING MY TIME!!" https://t.co/pajVJqFBTz
Tue Jul 28 20:44:20 +0000 2020
Gwell : @greg_price11 #reclaimingmytime we will never get our time back.
Tue Jul 28 22:35:02 +0000 2020
charles pierce : @greg_price11 @1Aand2 The clowns are not interested in the law. Another shit show
Tue Jul 28 22:34:38 +0000 2020
Payton Pearson : @greg_price11 It's like our congress is run by a bunch of six-year-olds...
Tue Jul 28 22:34:32 +0000 2020
YoYoMa : @greg_price11 Just another clown show...
Tue Jul 28 22:34:23 +0000 2020
SpeakingUp2 : @greg_price11 Must have had a conference call "ask a ? But don't let him answer, say "this is my time"
Tue Jul 28 22:34:14 +0000 2020
JS ðºð¸ : @greg_price11 @TheDemocrats are the biggest bunch of children I have ever seen. They know they are lying their asse'... https://t.co/QMqMtkcKwK
Tue Jul 28 22:34:02 +0000 2020
Kind Human : @greg_price11 @GiantPolScy Every. Single. Time. It wasn't a hearing. It was a bunch of so called ejected officials pontificating. ð
Tue Jul 28 22:33:37 +0000 2020
Phil : @greg_price11 Whats the point of these hearings/questions if they just interrupt him the whole time?? #BarrHearing
Tue Jul 28 22:33:20 +0000 2020
William J. Ryan : @greg_price11 Why didn't he walk out?
Tue Jul 28 22:33:12 +0000 2020
racy tay : @greg_price11 Idc what they think, but THIS was NOT a good look for the Democrats at all.!
Tue Jul 28 22:33:11 +0000 2020
Pete : @greg_price11 Unfortunately for this country due to these Democrats we are not allowed to reclaim all of the time t'... https://t.co/TZJHIx3a4e
Tue Jul 28 22:32:59 +0000 2020
Lori Donnelly : @greg_price11 @dbongino ð¤ð¤®ð¤ð¤®ð¤ð¤®
Tue Jul 28 22:32:52 +0000 2020
Denny : @greg_price11 It's not a normal conversation. You still have right but they're rules. If i was elected to Congress,'... https://t.co/MMjwWLBCdD
Tue Jul 28 22:32:47 +0000 2020
No Slack : @greg_price11 What a bunch of immature punks. Power does strange things to some.
Tue Jul 28 22:32:46 +0000 2020
John Bohan : @greg_price11 Snippet shows what a clown show current procedures are. Changes need to be made once swamp drained!
Tue Jul 28 22:32:37 +0000 2020
Matt Williams : @greg_price11 I reclaim my tax money from paying those fucking twits.
Tue Jul 28 22:32:36 +0000 2020
ð±ð·Vote Redð±ð· : @greg_price11 Lord willing thesr ð¤ð¤ð¤time will be up on November 3rd then they'll have all the time in the world.
Tue Jul 28 22:32:03 +0000 2020
EssJhey : @greg_price11 This is so edited you can't even hear if a question was asked. https://t.co/t5U8UYwj8o
Tue Jul 28 22:31:17 +0000 2020
Sam : @greg_price11 @Tomas3percenter I wish he would have rolled his eyes every single time "reclaiming my time" was spoken.
Tue Jul 28 22:31:11 +0000 2020
Colin Buxton : @greg_price11 @dbongino AG Barr completely shamed the Dems today. He asked them what they would if the mobs attacke'... https://t.co/6FQjyMesJA
Tue Jul 28 22:30:46 +0000 2020
RAT12 : @greg_price11 Wow I will use that next time
Tue Jul 28 22:30:44 +0000 2020
Buster Q McGillicutty ðºð¸ : @greg_price11 God, could you imagine being married to that screeching women @RepCicilline
Tue Jul 28 22:30:39 +0000 2020
Eric Bushor : @greg_price11 ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£ if you can't see how much of a joke the Democratic Party is becoming then I don't know what you're paying attention to
Tue Jul 28 22:30:22 +0000 2020
Jeremiah_1:19 : @greg_price11 @Surabees If AG Barr has any reservation to enforce the Law before, he will not hold off anymore! The'... https://t.co/IB1xmR62sf
Tue Jul 28 22:30:14 +0000 2020
John Horne : @greg_price11 What are these trials , meeting all about . They waste time effort and money and nothing is ever rare'... https://t.co/1cxjLLirk6
Tue Jul 28 22:30:04 +0000 2020
Warren Palestino : @greg_price11 fucking ludicrous. how is this tolerated / allowed?
Tue Jul 28 22:30:00 +0000 2020
Todderick Dietsch : @greg_price11 Is ''reclaiming me time'' secret code for ''I'ma dumbshit?'' ð¤--ð
Tue Jul 28 22:29:57 +0000 2020
jim rush : @greg_price11 @dbongino reclaime american VOTE OUT DEMOCRATS
Tue Jul 28 22:29:45 +0000 2020
My Name is Earl ð : @greg_price11 Too funny. ð
Tue Jul 28 22:29:33 +0000 2020
Inna Kreer : @greg_price11 It's just painful to watch. It's USSR under Stalin, Germany under Hitler... Terrible... Dem party is'... https://t.co/3bqZdZZA0F
Tue Jul 28 22:29:08 +0000 2020
Pat at the Pointe : @greg_price11 Ill-mannered Demotwits.
Tue Jul 28 22:28:43 +0000 2020
Sidewinderð : @greg_price11 @QueenoQuestions Reclaiming My Time! Im going to begin everything I say on Twitter with "Reclaiming'... https://t.co/nI0ijCK8My
Tue Jul 28 22:28:32 +0000 2020
John M. : @greg_price11 Disgusting and cowardly display by the dems today. Shameful.
Tue Jul 28 22:28:15 +0000 2020
Sean Groom : @greg_price11 @dbongino The @DNC is an absolute disgrace. #Shameful #InTheirOwnWords #NeverForget #VoteThemOut https://t.co/fYvwz8Tm91
Tue Jul 28 22:28:09 +0000 2020
Dansch : @greg_price11 "now who's being hysterical?" - Jan, The Office
Tue Jul 28 22:28:05 +0000 2020
MisterDer : @greg_price11 ð¶ðµð¶ "Ti-i-i-ime ain't on your side, no it ain't!" What a bunch of pansies.
Tue Jul 28 22:27:30 +0000 2020
Gianna : @greg_price11 Aaaand.... I'm voting for Trump.
Tue Jul 28 22:27:26 +0000 2020
charllets115 : @greg_price11 democrats are a disgrace
Tue Jul 28 22:27:18 +0000 2020
ron s : @greg_price11 toolbags... this is what he term was meant for! demacrats are TOOLBAGS!
Tue Jul 28 22:27:15 +0000 2020
StylinUkrainian : @greg_price11 https://t.co/mA5gTy1Qin
Tue Jul 28 22:27:11 +0000 2020
Tootie : @greg_price11 Jesus Christ democrats are the worst people on earth
Tue Jul 28 22:27:08 +0000 2020
VIDEO-The White House on Twitter: "Our 33rd use of the Defense Production Act will mobilize Kodak to make generic, active pharmaceutical ingredients. https://t.co/zqhQFJAfAk" / Twitter
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 22:30
The White House : Our 33rd use of the Defense Production Act will mobilize Kodak to make generic, active pharmaceutical ingredients. https://t.co/zqhQFJAfAk
Tue Jul 28 21:48:08 +0000 2020
VIDEO-WATCH: Attorney General William Barr Testifies on Capitol Hill
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 22:28
July 28, 2020 2020-07-28T11:08:17-04:00 https://images.c-span.org/Files/fc1/1595950822.jpg Attorney General William Barr testified on the Justice Department's mission and programs in an oversight hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. This portion includes opening remarks from Mr. Barr, and part of questions and answers.Attorney General William Barr testified on the Justice Department's mission and programs in an oversight hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. This portion includes opening remarks from Mr. Barr, and part of questions and answers.
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Points of InterestFor quick viewing, C-SPAN provides Points of Interest markers for some events. Click the play button and tap the screen to see the at the bottom of the player. Tap the to see a complete list of all Points of Interest - click on any moment in the list and the video will play.
*This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
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VIDEO-Louie [BTC] on Twitter: "Joe doesn't know where he is again. https://t.co/uLE6VQ4Sm8" / Twitter
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 21:36
Louie [BTC] : Joe doesn't know where he is again. https://t.co/uLE6VQ4Sm8
Tue Jul 28 19:50:32 +0000 2020
Diesel Wife : @LouPalumbo When was this?
Tue Jul 28 20:04:28 +0000 2020
''The Essential'' Dirt dawg : @LouPalumbo He's in OH-hi-OWA.
Tue Jul 28 20:00:29 +0000 2020
VIDEO-Attorney General William Barr testifies before House Judiciary Committee - YouTube
VIDEO-Jamie Dlux ð¸ð'¨ on Twitter: "Trust the ''experts'' they would NEVER try to start a pandemic https://t.co/2cHfaLmn81" / Twitter
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 17:20
Jamie Dlux ð¸ð'¨ : Trust the ''experts'' they would NEVER try to start a pandemic https://t.co/2cHfaLmn81
Tue Jul 28 15:45:56 +0000 2020
MTN1117 : @jamiedlux don't know if it's all relevant but the novavax name is a combo of two very popular mainframe computer s'... https://t.co/pP5PnnwIzj
Tue Jul 28 16:47:25 +0000 2020
Michael Carl Fuchs : @jamiedlux Cdc a private company with 20 vaccine patents . Jfk jr
Tue Jul 28 16:02:32 +0000 2020
Face Diaper Fan : @jamiedlux *Amazing
Tue Jul 28 15:48:05 +0000 2020
Face Diaper Fan : @jamiedlux I'm not sure if you follow @99freemind but she found amazing stuff tying all the medical bureaucracy tog'... https://t.co/lPNOGhGfTw
Tue Jul 28 15:47:51 +0000 2020
VIDEO - Luxury restaurants found inside levee amid massive floods; Mysterious packages from China sent to US - YouTube
VIDEO - Rising Light: Clearing, Cleansing, and Revitalizing Humanity's Energy Field - Intuitive Astrology with Molly McCord
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 15:03
Monday 6 April 2020
https://www.blogtalkradio.com/mollymccord Open in Pocket Casts 00:00
00:00
The astrology of April 2020 begins a powerful energy 'flip' that will unfold into November 2020
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VIDEO - Mad Maxine Waters Goes FULL Lib Mode - Look What She Wants You to Believe About Trump NOW! - YouTube
VIDEO-Tom Elliott on Twitter: ".@ValerieJarrett on new evidence FBI knew Steele Dossier was garbage: This ''was nearly four years ago and I don't understand why our focus isn't on what's happening right now'' [via FBN/@MariaBartiromo] https://t.co
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 14:43
Tom Elliott : .@ValerieJarrett on new evidence FBI knew Steele Dossier was garbage: This ''was nearly four years ago and I don't u'... https://t.co/ZcW7PCUzQa
Tue Jul 28 11:46:03 +0000 2020
Rani07 : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo She dam well knew https://t.co/zGwIAX0e7w
Tue Jul 28 14:43:00 +0000 2020
sbj : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo She is so lying down her ugly teeth
Tue Jul 28 14:42:57 +0000 2020
ð>>Daniað>> : @tomselliott @JohnWHuber @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo Are you flipping kidding me? The biggest scandal in US po'... https://t.co/1eo1MBOM6X
Tue Jul 28 14:42:55 +0000 2020
Rita : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo There is no statute of limitations for treason #18USCode*2384*Sedition#18USCode*2381*Treason
Tue Jul 28 14:42:43 +0000 2020
Ófoðºð¸'' : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo She sounds exactly like Hillary. Avoid & twist. Well done'... https://t.co/AZcJO7zqq4
Tue Jul 28 14:42:29 +0000 2020
mr b ðºð¸ : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo According to @ValerieJarrett, if you lie long enough, it becomes ok.
Tue Jul 28 14:42:29 +0000 2020
Grace42dy : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo If the people want an investigation? ð¤--We do. We did. Now someone is go'... https://t.co/nuVGPrAvYf
Tue Jul 28 14:42:26 +0000 2020
ðºð¸The American ðºð¸ : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo @ValerieJarrett is evil incarnate and an Iranian agent. She is at the'... https://t.co/QUh8BEZrmW
Tue Jul 28 14:41:48 +0000 2020
Rob Ng '...¸ ' ðºð¸ð : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo Typical response by someone getting caught red handed. Sounds similar'... https://t.co/nQOSo2s0ZN
Tue Jul 28 14:41:28 +0000 2020
Sandra P Gosser : @tomselliott @Crimsontider @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo Valerie....you WILL understand what is lawful and not la'... https://t.co/eszGBQL54Y
Tue Jul 28 14:41:25 +0000 2020
Turbo : @tomselliott @ValerieJarrett @MariaBartiromo Screw Valerie for trying to push it off. Doesn't work that way. Justice will be served.
Tue Jul 28 14:41:16 +0000 2020
VIDEO-Europa Countdown | Wilde Life
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 14:07
45 minute programme dedicated to an interview with Kim Wilde. Host Adam Curry interviews Kim, in between videos by Kim plus one chosen by her.
The videos are:The Touch (Countdown performance)Kids in AmericaChequered loveCambodiaLove blondeThe glamorous life (Sheila E)The second timeSchoolgirl (Countdown performance)
First of all, that song, 'The touch', let's see, it was a year ago since you were last in our studio, singing that song, could you give me the executive summary of what's been happening since then and now?Since 'The touch', I had 'Rage to love' out, which did pretty good, then after 'Rage to love' I started writing for my new album, I was writing with my guitarist Steve Byrd, and Ricky and Marty, they were writing as well. We concentrated mostly on the album. Going into the studio, my recording studio in Knebworth, and doing very good demos, I did a few gigs, I did a benefit gig for Greenpeace, and I did a Rock against Racism gig in Paris.
Now, this writing, is it writing the songs or composing? Lyrics, or music as well?Oh both, both yeah.
How is that coming along?Very good! (smiles) A lot of my songs will be on my new album and I'm really very happy with the way it's been going. I've been working very hard and that's why I've been very silent.
(Music video for 'Kids in America' shown.)
(As the video plays out, Kim is singing a song)What was the song you were singing?It was 'The nearness of you', Julie London.
Uh-huh, I know, way back when, when I was a little kid.When you were a little kid and I was much older. You can't be that young anyway. How old are you?
Wait a minute, I'll ask how old you are first, you can lie about it.Okay, I'm 25.
Okay, I'm 21 going on 30. Marty and Ricky have always been working on the Kim Wilde projects, of course, and mum stays at home and keeps everything together...Yeah, and the business.
...and the business, right, was it a natural thing to happen in the beginning or did you all sit down and say, hey let's make this a family deal?No, you know, I mean. No, it was never like that. It just happened like that. My dad was first and foremost a performer and a writer, and that was all happening a long time before I ever had anything to do with the music business. My mum was managing and taking care of him. But as soon as I became famous and needed looking after, mum came in at the helm and kindof did the more boring side of the music business, like publishing and business and contracts and GPL and PRS, you know what I mean.
ABC and KLM...I just listen for as long as I can take it but the business side is another world.
What do Marty and Ricky do?They write. Ricky got married last year.
That I didn't know. Congratulations when you see him.He's having a baby this July.
He is? That's interesting.Maybe his wife is.He's really happy, he's still writing, he's also working on producing other projects. A guy called Alan Cowley who's a singer/songwriter, who will be doing very well, I'm sure you'll see. And Marty's doing his thing, you know, being a dad also, 'cause I have a six year old sister and a four year old brother, so there's a lot of people around all of a sudden. A new wife, more kids... And then there's me, all on my own, still.
How about the men in your life? Anyone I should know about?...or the life in my men? Oh well you know it's a shady subject.
You don't have to answer all the questions. Let's take a look at another one of your videos, how about 'Chequered love'? Tell me something about that before we take a look at it.It was my second hit single, and I thought of the title.
(Music video for 'Chequered love' shown.)
How do you come up with things like that? It just pops up in your head, or...?Well, you know, I wasn't writing songs at that time. My dad wrote it with my brother. And he was coming up with all sorts of really not very good titles. I didn't like any of them very much. And in the end I just thought 'Chequered love', an inspired piece of thinking there. Rare for me, of course, but...
1982, I heard that you were voted runner up for the most beautiful woman in England? Is that true? Oh really? Oh, how nice. I don't know. Where?
Probaby 'The Sun' or something like that.Oh well... I'm truly flattered, 'The Sun'. (Looks unimpressed.) Well, you know I remember doing well in those sorts of things in magazines like the Sun, but I mean, that's not Vogue.
Ever been on the cover of Vogue?No.
No, you want to?Why not?
I can give them a ring...No, I mean, I've no... I don't want to be a model. But it would be very flattering to be voted a more beautiful woman in Vogue than it is in the Sun really.
We're gonna have another look at a video, It's 'Cambodia'. You like this one?I like the song.
You don't like the video?The video... The best bits are the bits that I'm not in.
(Music video for 'Cambodia' shown.)
What do you do for kicks? I mean, spare time, do you have any spare time at all?I don't have much but I have many good friends and they are a joy to me in my life. So I spend as much time with them.
Do you collect stamps or any other...What kind of kicks do you get?
Do you want to see my stamp collection? (They laugh.)No thank you.
Why don't we take a look at another video, then. Here's the love blonde.
(Music video for 'Love blonde' shown.)
Do blondes have more fun?Some do.
How about yourself?I do sometimes.
You're working with a German producer, Reinhold Heil. Why did you choose him?Initially it came about because Ricky was going to be working with Nena's band, except that he couldn't work with them in Berlin, because his wife was having a baby. So he had to postpone that project. But through Nena he met Reinhold and I met him too. They came over to England. He's a wizard on the Fairlight and we just bought the new Fairlight, and it made a lot of sense that he came over and worked with Ricky and myself. And he was a lovely person. He produced two of the tracks and couldn't finish it off because he had a commitment to his girlfriend who he also produces. Rosa. So I'm gonna finish the rest of the album with Ricky in the studio.
We have something called the video request on this show, which gives you the opportunity to not only choose your own video but to announce it as well. Yes, well this is really difficult because to tell you the truth, I don't really see or watch that many videos and even in England there aren't that many outlets for videos on TV. So I'll take a stab in the dark and say that I would like to see Sheila E's 'The glamorous life'. A, because I love the song, and B, because she's dead cute.
(Music video for 'The glamorous life' shown.)
What is the all time high in your career up until now?I'll tell you one time I really felt very good was when I was awarded the BPI Award in London a few years ago for Best Female singer and that was fantastic.
And all time low? Choose one (laughs).I don't know. You know, my life very rarely has lows, which I could talk about. They exist, but they're not really good conversation pieces.
One more video, and after that you'll be doing your new single on stage. So let's take a look at 'The second time'.
(Music video for 'The second time' shown.)
I'm sure you know Sade says it's 'Never as good as the first time'. I don't know. I'd have to disagree there. I've had quite a few good experiences the second time around, but I won't even go into that now.
Why don't we talk about what going to happen from here? What are you gonna be doing now? When I get back I finish rehearsing in the studio with my band before we go in and record the rest of my album at my studio. And then in October and November I'm doing a big European tour and I should be here and elsewhere and beyond. Maybe even go off to America.
(Performance of 'Schoolgirl' shown)
VIDEO-Benny on Twitter: "A COVID Doctor is challenging CNN's @ChrisCuomo and Dr. Fauci to take a urine test to prove they aren't taking Hydroxychloroquine. https://t.co/Y4iA1RtFjO" / Twitter
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 05:21
Benny : A COVID Doctor is challenging CNN's @ChrisCuomo and Dr. Fauci to take a urine test to prove they aren't taking Hydr'... https://t.co/45KdNompNI
Mon Jul 27 19:26:29 +0000 2020
Peter Armitage : @bennyjohnson @ChrisCuomo What's this doctors name and which hospital does she work in in Houston
Tue Jul 28 05:21:41 +0000 2020
ttienne'' : @bennyjohnson @ChrisCuomo Mandatory urine samples for Congress!!Those murder pilots had better watch out.
Tue Jul 28 05:21:28 +0000 2020
Denise : @bennyjohnson @ChrisCuomo Right On!
Tue Jul 28 05:21:26 +0000 2020
VIDEO-''Samm Sacks on the US-China Technology Relationship, Huawei, TikTok, and More'' (Two Think Minimum) | The Technology Policy Institute
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 05:16
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''Samm Sacks on the US-China Technology Relationship, Huawei, TikTok, and More'' (Two Think Minimum)by Scott Wallsten, Sarah Oh and Samm SacksJune 23, 2020
Scott Wallsten: Hi, and welcome back to Two Think Minimum, The Technology Policy Institute's Podcast. Today is Friday, June 12th, 2020. I am TPI's President and Senior Fellow Scott Wallsten, and I'm with my cohost TPI Senior Fellow Sarah Oh. Today we are honored to be joined by Samm Sacks. Samm is the Cyber Policy Fellow at New America and a Senior Fellow at the Yale Law School Paul Tsai China Center. Her research focuses on emerging information and communication technology policies globally, particularly in China. Her work covers issues ranging from the US-China technology relationship, the Chinese government's tech ambitions, China's cybersecurity regulatory environment, and the global expansion of Chinese tech companies. In fact, she has worked on Chinese technology policy issues for over a decade, both with the US government and in the private sector, and now at New America and the Yale Law School. She is currently working on a book titled Data and Great Power Competition. We could spend all of our time reading Samm's impressive bio, but we should probably turn to Samm herself. So thanks for joining.
Samm Sacks: Thanks so much for the kind introduction and for having me, Scott, it's always great to talk with you about these issues.
Scott: Thanks. We really appreciate your being here. So you gave this really impressive testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in March and from that and from much of your work, it sounds like you broadly try to deal with this big question of how we enjoy the benefits of maintaining openness in the US and engaging with China for commercial, scientific, and diplomatic reasons, but also manage the potential cyber threats, and also not ignoring the human rights abuses in China. How do you hold those all in your head and try to think of a, put something coherent?
Samm: So I was listening to a podcast recently, not a tech policy podcast, not a foreign policy podcast. They were interviewing the Duplass brothers. Brene Brown was interviewing the Duplass brothers. The topic of the podcast was on paradox and on holding tension. And I think about this a lot in my work with China, it's about be comfortable with understanding that paradoxical things will be on your mind all the time and being comfortable sitting with that and being capable of grappling with the issues in spite of that paradox. But to get at your question about how we think about this in a more concrete way. One of the things I often think about is, how do we maintain the openness of the US system, which has been a source of innovation, of prosperity, of security, that's contributed to having world-class research institutions and leading companies around the world, but knowing that that openness has been exploited. And to me, the question is, where do we put the guardrails? Are we putting those guardrails in the right places? And I would argue that we probably aren't right now, but we need them. So how do we think about that in a more effective way?
Scott: So let's start with what are the guardrails that we are now putting in place and where do they go wrong? And then we can turn to maybe what they should look.
Samm: Sure. There are a spate of different actions coming down from Washington right now, focused on finally confronting Beijing over years of economic and cyber espionage, taking advantage of the openness of research and university systems, technology transfer, the like. Not to mention the dominance of companies like Huawei, and there are a couple of others that have come in the crosshairs. So maybe we should just step back and look at what's the state of play. Where are we currently looking to put up new barriers? Huawei is obviously top of mind. The most recent action is the Commerce Department amended what's called the foreign direct product rule. And what that essentially does is it closes a loophole that had allowed foreign suppliers, primarily, I think the main targets of this are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, TSMC, to continue to sell to Huawei, even if they relied on semiconductor manufacturing equipment or software from the United States. So this rule closes that loophole and requires a license, even for third party suppliers like TSMC, with the assumption being that that license would be denied. That's just the latest in a spate of actions about Huawei and we could talk about some of the others. We're also seeing expanded export controls really meant to target what had been loopholes in the export control regime, where the Chinese government would seek certain kinds of dual use technologies, purchase them for ostensibly civilian end users, but then under the banner of China's military civil fusion initiative, those products could end up in the hands of the PLA. We're also seeing a number of other Chinese companies caught in controversy. TikTok is under a CFIUS investigation right now. And there are questions around how is TikTok managing the data of US citizens as well as content control issues. Chinese companies like the drone maker DJI are also under scrutiny. So we could go on and on. There's a list of these initiatives. And what they're all sort of aiming to do is first focus on national origin. So create new restrictions that are really targeted at Chinese companies, Chinese end users, Chinese researchers, so national origin in nature. And I think at the same time to try to build up, US and Western alternatives in areas where we have become reliant on Chinese suppliers like Huawei.
Scott: So the way that you talked about the foreign direct product rule, it almost sounded like you think that one may have been properly targeted in ways that address real problems rather than guardrails that are not effective. Am I hearing that correctly? That one you think maybe does more good than harm?
Samm: Well, I think it depends on what's the end goal here. What's the aim that we're trying to achieve? If the aim is to cause significant damage to Huawei and put a real dent in its global technology ambitions, this is the way to do that because it cuts at the heart of Huawei's ability to be self-sufficient. It's internal chip division, HiSilicon, may have been able to survive without directly receiving US parts. But then once you go after the third party suppliers, I think that takes a real strike at its self-sufficiency. I think the problem with these ongoing actions against Huawei are the second and third order consequences in ways that will create difficulty when it comes to US technological leadership. So I'm already hearing that when countries around the world are looking at vendors to go to, they're now beginning to design out US suppliers. There's a sort of perception that the US has politicized the supply chain and that relying on US parts is now politically risky. So you heard pushback from the US semiconductor industry earlier this year, appealing directly to the Pentagon, saying, look, if you want us to be a viable source for the US defense industrial base, but now these actions are going to significantly take a dent out of our global revenue and ability to be in markets around the world, we're not even talking about supplying China directly, that's going to take an effect. And I think at one point they had found this sort of receptive ear, but not so much anymore.
Scott: So one byproduct of these rules is closing markets to US companies and possibly, but not explicitly, opening them up to Huawei.
Samm: Right, exactly. So that's just on Huawei. On the data side, with the Senate testimony that you mentioned, so Senator Hawley has proposed a bill, which would essentially stop US citizen data at the physical border of the United States, instead of going to certain named adversary countries, China and Russia were named, or potentially others could be included in that category. Here, and I think for all of these actions, what I like to do is sort of say, what are the consequences of this that actually extended beyond the direct competition between the US and China, because increasingly that competition is going to be playing out in third countries. It's going to be in India. It's going to be in Europe. It's not going to be as much in each other's markets. So what happened after this hearing where the idea would be let's restrict storage and transmission of US data to these adversary countries, the Indian government called up counterparts in Washington and said, oh, you've been upset about Indian data localization now for years, lobbying against this, but now you're essentially localizing US data. Why can't we do it as well? And so what this does is it creates an environment where when our companies need large, novel international data sets in order to get ahead in data intensive technologies like AI, we now maybe in a position where others around the world are going, I guess we're in a race to the bottom with data nationalization.
Scott: Are you seeing any US policy makers trying to respond to that or react to it in any way? Because you're right, for years, the US has been the one saying, no, no, data localization laws are harmful to innovation.
Samm: You know, I haven't. It's seen as this is a national security issue and protesting that is unpatriotic. I haven't heard any pushback.
Scott: National security seems to be a justification for a lot of things. But when you said earlier that one of the things that the foreign direct product rule would be good at is, possibly as an attempt to destroy Huawei rather than target it at a particular problem. Do you think that these efforts are in fact more targeted at particular companies than dealing strongly with a particular problem? Does that have something to do with people seeing China as a monolith of rather than a place of many, many interests?
Samm: I do think people see China as a monolith, and I think Chinese companies are also seen as monolithic. And look, going back to this question of openness, we do know that there are Chinese companies that are connected with the defense establishment, that are doing contracts for the security services. There are areas in which it does make sense to block investment and trade with certain actors. So the question is, are we targeting the right companies? My view on Huawei, personally, is I don't think that we should have Huawei in US networks, particularly when it comes to critical ones and in a 5G era when we're more and more reliant on software. The question is, how do we do this in sort of a smart way? I know that there's sort of initiatives underway that would create a kind of public private partnerships in the US to try to create more diversity in the supply chain. If we're reliant on just a handful of actors, that's not going to benefit anyone. So how can we get incumbents in? How can we create more diversity? So you have more, it's not just a sort of one stop point of failure. Those efforts are underway here. And I think that's positive.
Scott: You do think that's positive? I mean, the history of these public private partnerships, it doesn't always lead to positive outcomes. In this case, it's a good thing?
Samm: Well, it depends on how it's done. I mean, the good thing is we need more diversity. We need to have more players there, but can we do this in a market driven way? I think it's a bit too early to tell will there be a market distortion or not. My understanding of the so-called TSMC deal, where they announced recently that they're going to build a fab in Arizona. And the idea was that this would sort of come in conjunction with the new restrictions on supplying Huawei under the SDPR. My understanding is that TSMC sort of wanted to do this in a market-oriented way, not wanting to have distortions. I don't have visibility into how that's playing out so far. Do you?
Scott: No, I don't. I'm always worried that if you have an initiative that tries to get companies to work together, the potential downside is that they don't compete anymore and that's risky. But we faced this issue with the semiconductor industry, back in the 1980s, although there was a national security component to it then, the countries that we were worried about were not considered adversaries.
Samm: Right. So one of the questions is, could some of these initiatives end up removing areas where there have been market distortions, because you just had basically less than five suppliers here. The ORAN initiative, which would encourage operators to migrate to interoperable interfaces over the next few years, what that could do is just open up the playing field and create a space where you didn't just have locked in certain vendors in the tech stack.
Scott: What do you think about the ORAN? We're certainly hearing a lot about it now, does it seem like it has the chance of living up to the hype?
Samm: I don't know. It depends on who you talk to. And to be totally honest with you, I'm not really in the weeds on it. There's also criticism of it. Some have said, this is untested. This is sort of pie in the sky. I think the aspirations of it, in my mind, are encouraging. If what it can do, those who say we can't just have an outright ban on Huawei, the rip and replace just completely unfeasible, maybe this could be a sort of softer transition, where, over the coming years, you could sort of work out Chinese companies out of the network while using these sort of interoperable interfaces to create more space, more incentives, to have other vendors come in, in theory. To me, that sounds like a good theory, but again, it's going to sort of depends on what exactly is the relationship between the public and the private side.
Scott: So actually, to go back a little bit, mostly what we've ended up talking about so far is how we deal with Chinese companies operating in the US but as you've pointed out, there are two parts of this. One is Chinese companies operating in the US and the other is US companies operating in China. What should US companies operating in China worry about, what rules should they follow? How do you balance protections that we put in place against Chinese company, how do they end up affecting US companies operating there?
Samm: So when we hear about US companies in China, I think that there's this myth, that I've heard people say this so much, no data is confidential in China, US companies that are in China by default, by the very fact that they're given permission to operate there, provide back doors to the Chinese government and do all sorts of things that are compromising from a values perspective. And also in terms of turning over IP and tech transfer. My sense is it's not really as black and white as that sounds. I think people that say that sometimes haven't actually talk with anyone that has to comply with the regulations required to be in China. So when you talk with multinational companies in China that are involved in these audits with Chinese regulators, in sort of following what exactly does the cyber security law require? What is the domestic encryption law require? What you find out is it's really not black and white. It's a negotiation, it's this dance and the local officials in China, often, whether it's the security bureaus that are enforcing things like the multilevel protection scheme, these are sort of the dozens and dozens of myriad regulatory schemes that multinationals have to pay attention to over there. What you find is the local officials in China, they don't just have security incentives. They also have economic incentives. And so for a local public security bureau official to go to a company, a US company and say, give me all of your data. That's not necessarily in their economic interest. I think particularly now, because China's under major economic pressure in the pandemic era, even now, more, I think there's more space and need for foreign investment. And so a local official might say, hey, I'm not going to implement the strictest most conservative reading of this requirement and listen to the company when they push back on it, because commercially it's not in their interest to turn over all their data. And if I'm a local official, economically, I have quotas in my jurisdiction that I need to meet. So it's not always about let me enforce this to the letter of the law in the most conservative, worrying way. And it's much more of a negotiation. And so that's why I think that we need to sort of take a deep breath before saying, no, multinationals shouldn't be in China because of the compromises they have to make by being there.
Scott: How could US policy take those sorts of things into account? I mean, you're saying that there are laws on the books, and then there are the way the laws are interpreted, how rigorously different laws are enforced. And of course that true, not just in China, but everywhere. And is the problem the laws are enforced in a different way in China than they are here or is it that we, for the most part, don't understand the way Chinese institutions work?
Samm: I mean, I think right now we really don't understand the way Chinese institutions work. I think there are so many misconceptions about that. And Chinese law is a tool that's used selectively, in an uneven way, depending on the whim of the party state and what's going on in the broader environment. So there are certain companies that I think are more savvy than others in navigating that. Zoom has been in the news recently, it's sort of showing how difficult it is to both be in the US and in China at the same time. They're certainly not the first nor the only company that's dealt with these issues. So the question is, what's the role of the US government here? So one of the things that I advocated for in my Senate testimony, particularly on this issue of data access and law enforcement access to data in China, I think that this is an area that is really more of a moral and an ethical issue. It's not really an area that is in, I would say, is not one for policy makers to legislate on. I don't know how they would do that. On the flip side of it, on Chinese companies operating overseas in the United States, this is an area where US law and policy can play a role and what I've argued for is, let's get away from a national origin approach and let's focus on coming up with more robust rules for data collection and retention for all companies. And what that does is it keeps data secure, if you're an Equifax and you're potentially vulnerable to a sophisticated state sponsored hacker, it's a way to secure and limit retention of that data, so it wouldn't be vulnerable in the first place, or if you're a company like TikTok, then that data wouldn't be available to be transmitted back to the Chinese government in the first place.
Scott: Do you get any traction with that argument among policy makers? It's hard to get Congress people to not think in a national security way.
Samm: I was really surprised, actually, during hearing, I thought that there were some members that were much more receptive than others, I'll say. It seemed like people were sort of receptive to exploring how can we do this in the most responsible and effective way. We'll see if they are able to actually do that in this environment. It looks unlikely.
Scott: What would you do, if you could, to get policy makers to better understand how China works? I mean, I know you're already doing a yeoman's work of patiently explaining it every time you testify, but what needs to happen to get policy makers to understand the ways that China is different from us, the way that they aren't, and all of the incentives that Chinese policy makers are under. Why don't they get that now, where it's we do more or less with European countries or even Japan?
Samm: I think a lot of them don't really want to understand or have an accurate fact based understanding of how things work in China. I think we are in a China bashing moment where there's sort of bigger fish to fry. And if we throw the baby out with the bath water, to mix all of my metaphors there, I don't think that's seen as problematic, right now, among policymakers. Is that too cynical?
Scott: Well, not for me, but for a lot of people probably. But does that cynicism carry over to other aspects of this? Are you generally cynical about the future of these issues, China/US relations and technology cooperation and all of the struggles that we're having?
Samm: I have a pretty bleak outlook. So I think we're looking at two scenarios. One is partial decoupling and the other is comprehensive decoupling. I think a return to the good old days, which I call dysfunctional equilibrium, where the idea that we continue to have ongoing bilateral trade and investment with an occasional flare up, but there's a sort of baseline of stability. I think those days are over. We no longer have any diplomatic or communication channel at a high level, right? So now it's a question of how far do we go? What is the degree and the speed of decoupling. My base case right now, I think we're in a partial decoupling scenario. And I'll tell you why. When I talk with US technology company executives, what I've been hearing lately, and of course it depends on the company, it depends on the industry. But I think in general, the idea that we're going to rip and replace China from our supply chains, not just Huawei, but across the board, different sectors and companies, I don't think that's feasible, particularly right now. China, what I've heard recently, is that of all the suppliers in the world, we look just sort of from a manufacturing base perspective, China is the most stable given what's going on with the pandemic. Whereas others, whether you're talking about India or Vietnam or Mexico, are kind of in chaos. But that's just a near term thing. Over the long term, I don't think it's possible to completely unwind supply chains. If you look at some of the specific issues, like let's look at TikTok, for example, we don't know a lot about what's going on with the CFIUS investigation into TikTok, but TikTok appears to be devoting a lot of resources to geofencing, to sort of really separating out the overseas business from the Chinese version, which is called Douyin, accessible to Chinese cell phone users in China. They've gone to great lengths in terms of hiring senior executives in the US, trying to keep data, using third party verification to keep the data stored here. Let's see if that passes muster with CFIUS. If so, it kind of says, okay, our company is going to be in a position where if they want to be both in China and the US they really need to fence off and have a China presence and a US presence. If TikTok were kicked out altogether then I think we'd be more in that completely decoupling scenario.
Scott: I think TikTok is a particularly fascinating case because on the one hand it's a Chinese company. So it falls into all of these debates. On the other hand, it is providing direct competition to Facebook and Instagram and all of these companies that so many of the same people who are critical of China, those same people also worry about competition among big tech companies. So on the one hand TikTok is providing enormous competition, by some measures people spend more time on it now than they do on Instagram or Facebook, but at the same time, they also don't want it because it's Chinese owned. That's not really a question, it's more of a statment. But what are the specific security issues that people worry about with TikTok? What information is anybody giving? Are these dances of particular national security importance?
Samm: I think there are two issues. So one is the data collected on who's dancing with who, when, in what backyard, with what cat. Could the Chinese government, in 20 years, when that 16-year-old applies for a national security clearance to work in the Department of Defense, as part of this sort of Orwellian big data analytics project, would they reach into that data pool and then launch coercion, blackmail, investigation, operation against that person. That to me, if the data even reached some central pool of data in China, which I don't think exists. If that even happened, to me is a very inefficient way to run any kind of intelligence operation, so I'm kind of skeptical of that. What I do think is more of a concern is how are they dealing with content moderation? We just don't have any visibility into that. But again, this is not a question that's specific to TikTok. I think this is a question that all platforms, US ones included, are grappling with. So they're not unique in that way. And so when we say, oh, we have no visibility into when they're taking down content and if political information is going up and are they censoring that blah, blah, blah. That's not unique to TikTok. Everyone is kind of under the gun for that right now.
Sarah Oh: Related to the different regulations in the US and China, how much of the tension is about US increasing their standards on Chinese companies? Like for the securities markets, the New York Stock Exchange, they're talking about not listing Chinese companies, because they're not auditing their books properly. I think there was a case of Luckin Coffee that was a major fraud. And so they kicked them off the exchange. How much of this is actually putting some compliance standards on Chinese companies?
Samm: What you're referring to is called the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which recently passed the Senate. And what this would do is require listed companies to certify that they're not under the control of a foreign government and undergo three years of audits by the PCAOB, which, for years, this has been an issue, this has been a loophole, right? Luckin Coffee is not the only one. And it's something that Chinese companies have long said, this is state secret, I can't provide that. So I think this is one of these areas, when we talk about are we putting guardrails in the right place, one of the questions I've had is, is this an area that's been a loophole where there should be more transparency, there should be more oversight and there hasn't been. The issue with this is if it goes forward, it has pretty massive ramifications, because it would essentially lead companies like Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com, a host of companies, they would have to delist and they would go back to Chinese markets. So what are the implications of that? And there is a three year window, which could provide some kind of a buffer around this, but this is a really big deal as we think about the suite of tools that are out there.
Sarah: Do you think the standards have been not enforced as strictly towards Chinese companies? How about European companies? Are they more in compliance than Chinese companies?
Samm: I believe so. They have to be, right?
Sarah: I would believe so. So it's not, I mean, China can't say, oh, you're asking us for more documentation than you ask other people.
Samm: Oh no, no.
Scott: Although that seemed to happened with the technical comparisons, or the security audits of the Huawei networking equipment though, right? Because we didn't know the comparisons with Nokia and Ericsson. I don't know if that's still true or not.
Samm: Right. So I think this is a really good point, which is about the national security implications of losing visibility. And when we talk about decoupling and justify it around national security grounds, I think something that's often missing from that conversation is if we have no channel, if Chinese tech companies, and some of leading researchers in emerging technologies, as their opportunities in the United States shrink, as do our channels for having visibility and engagement, I think there are also major national security implications that come along with that, with loosing insight into what are they doing? How are they approaching these issues? Particularly these are technologies that are going to be so massive in terms of their implications for society. I think it's not all about economics here.
Scott: I think that's right. I think there are also additional implications, economic implications. There a fair amount of research now looking at what happened to scientific output during world wars, when scientists who had once worked together had to stop. Overall innovation decreased because you had just cut off connections between people used to work together.
Samm: Totally. And this is really true when it comes to AI research. So Macro Polo, the Paulson Institute, just put out a study on the leading AI researchers in the US and China. And they found that some of the top talent coming out of China has been coming to the US but now, as we go down this decoupling path, when these researchers are facing scrutiny, are they spies for the Chinese government? Are they sending their things back to China? That hostile environment is just going to, will lead them to go back to China. And so I think we benefited from that cross pollination of innovation going both ways across the Pacific, and as it increasingly shifts back to China, we lose that as well.
Scott: We're beginning to run out of time, but let me ask, what do you think would have to happen for your outlook to become more positive? Is there anything you could point to that make you think, oh, maybe things will get better?
Samm: Well, we've seen a lot of bluster recently from the President on China.
Scott: Only on China? [Laughter]
Samm: We've seen a lot of it when it comes to China. So a week or so ago when he made this speech in the Rose Garden, it happens to be the same time when protests were erupting around the United States. And so you have this sort of split screen of police protests and the President coming out and blaming China for everything. He announced a stream of things, some related to Hong Kong and revoking its autonomous status, some related to Uyghurs and even been talked about some Uyghur, there's an act that would sanction officials and companies linked to Xinjiang and the like, all of the things that he announced I think had more bark than bite. And so there are still a lot of more concrete steps that could be taken that are hanging out there. That to me would be a sign, okay, things are sort of deteriorating even further than where they've already gone.
Scott: So you can only see ways that it can get worse at the moment.
Samm: Oh, right. I'm always going to the negative, your question was how can things get better? And my best case scenario was on things not getting worse.
Scott: And maybe that's the way it is.
Samm: Yes. Maybe that is the way it is. So we focused a lot on what's happening from Washington. There's a lot also going on in Beijing and the Chinese government, it's important to note, hasn't really responded in a significant way, yet. We've heard threats of retaliation, threats about putting companies on the unreliable entity list, but they haven't done it yet. I think there are a lot of sort of tools in the toolkit that haven't been brought out from China, whether it's new anti-monopoly investigations coming from SAMR in China, whether it's use of this, it's called the cyber security review measures, which is a way that the Chinese government can kick out a company by saying it's a security risk in the supply chain. Things could get a lot worse if they start taking some retaliatory action which they have not to date.
Scott: Why do you think they haven't?
Samm: So I think it goes back to the point I was saying earlier about the economic slowdown in China. So I think there are two things at play. One, the government is still very much needs foreign investment, but the other is, does the Chinese government have a long term ambition to kick out foreign suppliers in core technologies? Yes. Are they anywhere near having the capability to do it? No. And I think so long as there's still this sort of gap in what the domestic companies are able to provide, I think it's still very much open for business.
Scott: Well, that's actually another interesting point because I think conventional wisdom, I mean among people who don't know China very well, is that China's really caught up technologically, is that kind of not true?
Samm: It's sector by sector. And this is an area where if you look at the digital economy, mobile apps, this is an area where China's almost kind of futuristic. Mobile payments, E-Commerce. If you look at some of the underlying hardware, I know that the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies at Georgetown recently had a report on AI chips. This is an area, these sort of advanced semiconductors, where China had lagged behind and why the Commerce Department's actions against Hauwei have really struck at the heart of their technological ambitions. So I think this is an area where they're still a couple years behind, but catching up fast, but you have to take a sector by sector approach.
Scott: Well, I think that's probably a good place to leave it since most things are fact-based and sector by sector in whatever we're talking about, it's hard to generalize overall, although I'm just generalizing about generalizing. Samm, thanks so much for talking with us today. That was really interesting. Really appreciate your time.
Samm: Thanks so much. It's great to talk with you guys.
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VIDEO-American Doctors Address COVID-19 Misinformation with Capitol Hill Press Conference
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 04:37
First published at 03:06 UTC on July 28th, 2020.
American Doctors Address COVID-19 Misinformation with Capitol Hill Press ConferenceThis is not my content, merely a backup in case of censorship.Please support the content creator if you find this of value.
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VIDEO-Dane County catches up on COVID-19 testing backlog, counts 17,000 more negative results '' WKOW
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 18:05
MADISON (WKOW) -- Public Health Madison and Dane County addressed Friday its struggle to process a backlog of negative COVID-19 test results, skewing its reported infection rates.
According to DHS secratary Andrea Palm, this was a problem plaguing many municipalities across the state.
"As they prioritized those positive cases, negative cases are dragging behind a day or two or even three as they are making sure they're focusing on stopping the spread,"she said.
In a massive update, the online data dashboard public health maintains added around 17,000 negative test results adjusting the positive rate from the past week down to 2.1 percent.
The percent positive rate measures how many COVID-19 tests have returned with positive results. Expressing the returns as a percentage helps account for if an increase in new cases is due to more testing or greater spread.
Public health uses the percent positive rate as one of its metrics in the Forward Dane reopening plan governing how and when certain social distancing measures, including many imposed on businesses, can be relaxed or eliminated.
Acknowledging the issue, public health suspended calculating its metrics concerning percent positive results and total tests conducted this week.
"Over the past couple of weeks, our data dashboard has appeared to have a high percent positivity rate," public health said in a Facebook post. "This is because each negative test has to be processed manually by a staff person. Our staff prioritize processing positive results, and as the amount of testing has increased, we have had a backlog of negative tests to process."
In the past several weeks, it had not been uncommon for Dane County's percent positive rate for the most recent day to begin in the double digits and then slowly adjust lower as time passed and the county processed more negative tests.
The numbers on the data dashboard gave the impression that the county was continuously seeing greater spread of COVID-19.
The most current data displayed Friday morning was for July 18. The numbers showed a 6.1 percent daily positive rate and a weekly average of 13.4 percent. By Friday afternoon, following the addition of the new negatives, July 18's daily rate was down to 2.1 percent and the weekly rate at that point was under four percent.
Dane County, according to the now up-to-date dashboard, did see a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases beginning in late June. However, that rate began to subside as the weeks progressed.
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VIDEO-Top Democrat Jerry Nadler: Violent Antifa Riots In Portland Are 'A Myth' | The Daily Wire
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:27
Democrat House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler claimed without evidence on Sunday that the violent Antifa riots in Portland were ''a myth.''
Nadler's remarks directly contradict video evidence that is widely available on social media and contradict what the Department of Homeland (DHS) says is happening in Portland.
''The violent situation Portland has witnessed for the past eight weeks continues with violent anarchists rioting on the streets as federal law enforcement officers work diligently and honorably to enforce federal law, defend federal property, and protect the lives of their fellow officers,'' DHS said in a statement on Sunday. ''As federal officers left the courthouse to respond to attacks on the fence, just like on previous nights they were met by rioters with hard projectiles, mortar style fireworks and lasers that can cause permanent blindness. Over the previous 24 hours, such assaults have resulted in at least 14 federal officers injured.''
Nadler was approached by journalist Austen Fletcher and asked if he disavowed the violent riots.
''It is true. There's violence across the whole country,'' Fletcher said. ''Do you disavow the violence from Antifa that's happening in Portland right now? There's riots'--''
''That's a myth that's being spread only in Washington, D.C.,'' Nadler claimed without evidence.
''About Antifa in Portland?'' Fletcher pressed.
''Yes'--'' Nadler once again claimed without evidence.
A person with Nadler, presumably an aide, rushed in to get Nadler away from the camera and took him to a car nearby.
''Sir, there's videos everywhere online,'' Fletcher said as Nadler walked away. ''There's fires and riots, they're throwing fireworks at federal officers. DHS is there. Look online. It gets crazy, Mr. Nadler.''
WATCH:
I ran into Jerry Nadler in DC and asked him to disavow the Antifa violence/rioting in Portland.
His response?
''THATS A MYTH'' pic.twitter.com/veImyE2rju
'-- Essential Fleccas ðºð¸ (@fleccas) July 27, 2020
Dozens of people have been arrested during the violent riots in Portland, which have been going on for nearly 60 consecutive days.
The Department of Justice said in a statement late last week:
According to court documents, since May 26, 2020, protests in downtown Portland have been followed by nightly criminal activity including assaults on law enforcement officers, destruction of property, looting, arson, and vandalism. The Hatfield Federal Courthouse has been a nightly target of vandalism during evening protests and riots, sustaining extensive damage.
U.S. Marshals Service deputies and officers from the Federal Protective Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection working to protect the courthouse have been subjected to nightly threats and assaults from demonstrators while performing their duties.
Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf added on Twitter yesterday, ''Day 56. Last night six DHS law enforcement officers were injured in Portland. To be clear, criminals assaulted FEDERAL officers on FEDERAL property'...and the city of Portland did nothing.''
''It's time Portland join other responsible cities around the country to hold criminals accountable and protect federal property and officers,'' Wolf continued.
It's time Portland join other responsible cities around the country to hold criminals accountable and protect federal property and officers.
'-- Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) July 25, 2020
Destroying a federal courthouse is not a constitutional right. pic.twitter.com/RvNL3ETltB
'-- CBP Mark Morgan (@CBPMarkMorgan) July 26, 2020
RELATED:
WATCH: Extremists Attack Authorities In Portland, Tear Down Part Of Fence Before Getting Rushed By PoliceThree Federal Officers Face Permanent Blindness After Rioters Shine Lasers In Their EyesWATCH: Rioters Attack Federal Law Enforcement Official Who Was On The Ground The Daily Wire is one of America's fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member .
VIDEO-Joe Pags Pagliarulo on Twitter: "I didn't know Garrett Foster and I wish he were alive. But the left is portraying him as a hero who just wanted justice and was peacefully marching. He was interviewed earlier in the night and asked why he was carryi
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Joe Pags Pagliarulo : I didn't know Garrett Foster and I wish he were alive. But the left is portraying him as a hero who just wanted ju'... https://t.co/XCi5WNXXcn
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Caelectrician : @JoeTalkShow @stillgray You have a weird definition of peaceful, stopping a vehicle with gang like behavior is anyt'... https://t.co/e4QkkOjwP4
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ð Lil Spunky Skunk ð...¨ : @JoeTalkShow @stillgray Ann Coulter tweeted out a photo of the interaction. Sure looks like to me Garrett was point'... https://t.co/ku06aW6U5h
Mon Jul 27 03:55:11 +0000 2020
Matthew : @JoeTalkShow @stillgray To resist arrest, intimidate and maybe other stuff. Idiot.
Mon Jul 27 03:46:48 +0000 2020
Michele Gman : @JoeTalkShow @stillgray https://t.co/CJ5MvM9zBl
Mon Jul 27 03:43:49 +0000 2020
VIDEO-An0maly on Twitter: "Even CBS pressures Bill Gates on the topic that almost everyone had side effects. He doesn't seem to care. https://t.co/2SiBmowJo3" / Twitter
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:28
An0maly : Even CBS pressures Bill Gates on the topic that almost everyone had side effects. He doesn't seem to care. https://t.co/2SiBmowJo3
Sun Jul 26 22:06:02 +0000 2020
Big Shoots : @LegendaryEnergy Why are they even giving #BillGates, this piece of shit, the time of day? He's not a freaking expe'... https://t.co/JyZWDt8wWz
Mon Jul 27 00:27:06 +0000 2020
Lee : @LegendaryEnergy NO: "...are these #vaccines safe?"BG: "Well, the FDA..." Squirms, touches glasses, rubs noseYeah, he's believable ð
Mon Jul 27 00:24:20 +0000 2020
Blue Swallow : @LegendaryEnergy Justified anger.
Mon Jul 27 00:23:28 +0000 2020
Audacious Pundit : @LegendaryEnergy https://t.co/svdhUGbQwK
Mon Jul 27 00:21:19 +0000 2020
yuantewsx : @LegendaryEnergy I'm I the only one that wants to see him held down and stuck with needles till he seizures out and dies?
Mon Jul 27 00:16:20 +0000 2020
Thomas Gerard : @LegendaryEnergy Doctor: we have good news and bad news. Good news is the patient's Covid free. The bad news is, the patient's dead
Mon Jul 27 00:15:16 +0000 2020
fifty_sense : @LegendaryEnergy @bradhumm Y'all gonna trust this fidgety, weird dude with your health? How tf did this happen??
Mon Jul 27 00:14:56 +0000 2020
Richard Amerling : @LegendaryEnergy That's not #BillGates. It's #WoodyAllen imitating Gates. ðð
Mon Jul 27 00:12:01 +0000 2020
STORIES
How the 'woke' globalist cult is trying to reprogram Americans into unthinking bots | Blogs | LifeSite
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 12:15
July 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) '' ''A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us.''' ' St. Anthony the Great
''What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.'' ' HBO's Chernobyl
What is happening to our planet?
Americans now risk being shamed, attacked, and even murdered for not wearing a mask in public. The ''right of the people to peaceably assemble'' has basically been abolished (the right of the people to violently assemble, however, is another story).
Petty bureaucrats delight in creating and enforcing arbitrary rules about everyday life. Attempts to launch an iconoclastic cultural revolution are picking up steam. Kindergarten now takes place over Zoom. Government hotlines have been created for people to report on others playing tennis, going to church, or showing their faces in public.
What can Catholics do in the face of this insanity?
First, we must pray and work on getting our own lives and souls in order. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest form of prayer we have. We must take advantage of the graces offered to us in Holy Communion, especially now that we know how easily we can lose access to the Sacraments. St. Padre Pio said it would be easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Mass. Depriving the faithful of the Eucharist is like depriving us of oxygen. Frankly, I was dismayed over how eagerly bishops banned Masses at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak and how quickly their priests went along with it. One friend recently wished bishops and priests treated sin as seriously as they do the virus (and what we can only assume is fear of lawsuits related to the virus).
The deep feeling of abandonment so many Catholics felt when Masses were banned '' not only because of the actions of our bishops but also those of many, many priests '' was and still is very real. Some priests didn't protest when they were banned from giving the Last Rites; others went along with episcopal orders to lock church doors, giving parishioners the clear message that the Church's mission of giving out soul-saving sacraments was not really an essential service.
Will we have Christmas Masses in much of the country this year? Flu season and whatever ''wave'' of coronavirus we're on then make it seem unlikely. What a wretched thought: no Easter or Christmas Masses in 2020. I hope I am wrong.
Receive Communion while you can. Try to find a priest who will give you the Sacraments, including the Eucharist. Go to Confession. Pray the rosary.
Read books that share accounts of keeping the faith under oppressive communist governments, like Bishop Athanasius Schneider's Christus Vincit: Christ's Triumph Over the Darkness of the Age.
Mass cult recruitment and reprogramming Second, we must understand group psychology and how cults operate. It is impossible to stress enough how important this is.
The Marxist mob feeds on loneliness and uses the universal desire for acceptance to coerce people into proclaiming the dogmas of the revolution, thus signaling that they are ''with the program.''
In November 2018, cult expert and former intelligence analyst Stella Morabito wrote at The Federalist, ''As a nation, we need to talk openly and clearly about the reality of coercive thought reform. We must understand how easily our minds can be molested when isolated from real conversation and debate. The only people who profit from such conditions are powerful elites in their never-ending quest to control the lives of others.''
''What about the transgender movement? Is that a cult? What about a huge administrative state? Does it operate in a cult-like manner? How about socialism? Does the socialist movement have features of a cult?'' (Yes, yes, and yes.)
''The stated beliefs of any of the above groups are irrelevant to the questions above,'' she explained. ''To figure out whether something is a cult, you must just look at the tactics and methods of those groups, especially their tolerance for different points of view.''
Morabito, who has for years been sounding the alarm about the cult-like nature of political correctness and gender ideology, offered seven notes on how cults operate, based on the book Cults in Our Midst, by Margaret Thaler Singer. She also shared Singer's list of the ''six conditions practiced by cults.''
Morabito summarizes:
Cults are defined by their methods and tactics, not their supposed beliefs. Cults and cult-like thinking always proliferate at times of great social upheaval, when people feel displaced.Cults always serve a powerful elite, with recruits manipulated from above to profit those elites, who employ coordinated persuasion programs.Cults always have a hidden agenda that is never exposed when recruiting. They isolate their recruits from other points of view in order to control and manipulate them.Cults control language in order to blunt independent thought. They cultivate dependency, debilitation, deception, dread of separation, and desensitization in people, all of which makes it harder for them to walk away.The main goal of a cult is simply to grow, grow, grow. There is no end in sight in terms of recruitment or fundraising or power.Cults make a point of getting footholds in the institutions of society '-- including government, media, and education '-- in order to get mainstream credibility.Cults are very organized in suppressing critics and criticism.According to Singer, cults:
Keep the person unaware of what is going on and how he or she is being changed a step at a time.Control the person's social and/or physical environment; especially control the person's time.Systematically create a sense of powerlessness, fear, and dependency in the person.Suppress old behavior and attitudes by manipulating a system of rewards, punishments, and experiences.Instill new behavior and attitudes by manipulating a system of rewards, punishments, and experiences that induce group-approved behaviors.Put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure that permits no feedback and refuses to be modified except by leadership approval.Anyone with ears to hear and eyes to see should be able to detect that what Singer and Morabito are talking about is exactly what's going on today. The ''new normal'' we are constantly being told to accept is, in reality, a re-programming simulation being carried out in the aftermath of the coronavirus response and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Increasingly, Americans are being forced to isolate themselves. Sometimes this isolation is literally mandated by the state in the name of public health. Other times this isolation is a result of rejecting political correctness. For example, in June, one New York Times columnist urged people to text relatives and loved ones ''telling them you will not be visiting them or answering phone calls until they take significant action in supporting black lives either through protest or financial contributions'' (Morabito describes this as ''emotional blackmail'').
Isolate people, break them down, reprogram them. They emerge as compliant, unquestioning bots, aware that no dissent is ever acceptable and that questioning any contradictions is a cardinal sin of the highest degree.
The simple fact is that this new ''religion of wokeness'' '' being, as it is, an error '' is full of contradictions and absurdities. For example, sex discrimination is wrong, it claims. But it also says there are no meaningful distinctions between men and women. Receiving Communion is too dangerous, its proponents argue. But sex with strangers is alright, ''if you're willing to take a risk'' (according to this religion's high priest Dr. Anthony Fauci). Similarly, going to church or protesting the lockdowns (even while wearing a mask) will spread the plague but rioting will not.
Essential for this new cult to thrive is that the collective memory of society must be whitewashed and cast out into the abyss. One way this is being accomplished is that Americans are increasingly told they are ''white supremacists'' for believing that any part of Western Civilization or Christianity should be preserved. It doesn't matter if one believes black lives matter and wants to avoid spreading disease; what matters is that he goes along with the cult's prescribed rituals related to these matters. Any deviance from the ''party line'' is unacceptable.
George Orwell's 1984 quote about history comes to mind: ''Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.''
Just what is the antidote to the ongoing mass cult recruitment to the ''Church of Woke'' and the ''Sanitary Dictatorship''? For one, speaking out, which empowers and inspires others to realize they are not alone and can share their same opinions. Building community, which combats loneliness, is also essential. Focusing on building strong, meaningful, and loving connections with family and friends is a must (Morabito has written about this extensively). And recognizing that yes, rejecting the cult recruitment of the mob may get you shunned or ''cancelled,'' but the consequences of going along with anti-freedom, anti-Christ, Marxist lies are far worse. As the two expressions go, ''better to die standing than to live on your knees,'' and ''better to die with the Sacraments than live without them.''
Don't be a conformist. Think for yourself. Ask questions, especially when you're told not to ask questions.
Finally, take Sohrab Ahmari's ''Courage Pledge.'' Ahmari, recognizing that people will continually be ''asked to acquiesce to ever more extreme positions, on penalty of their jobs, livelihoods, family relationships and their presence in the digital public square,'' crafted the following pledge for all free thinkers:
I believe in the inherent dignity of all people.I will not submit to outrage mobs.I will stand for the truth, not your truth or my truth.I will not hang that sign on my office door, make that symbolic gesture and so on if I don't believe in its message.I will not denounce my friends.I am not ashamed of traditional faith or the American flag.In other words: I do not consent. I will not comply. I will not submit.
Say those words to yourself over and over, and live by them.
Stephen Kokx contributed to this article.
Donald Trump, the 'Suburban Lifestyle Dream', and Fair Housing - Rolling Stone
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:50
On Wednesday, Donald Trump tried out a new pitch on the suburbanites he is desperate to win back over before November: Stick with me, and the Poors won't be allowed to bother you! In an announcement on Twitter addressed to ''all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream,'' the president declared he has ended the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule.
I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood'...
'-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2020
The rule, part of the Fair Housing Act signed into law by Lyndon Johnson in 1968, was finalized by the Obama administration in 2015. It was intended to dismantle the racist systems that prevent people '-- usually poor and non-white people '-- from living in certain neighborhoods and accessing the level of public services available to their wealthier and whiter neighbors.
As former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julin Castro put it on Twitter last week: ''The AFFH rule was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, and we finalized it at HUD to fulfill the promise of fair housing to every American. Trump is desperate, and he's terminating it to play white identity politics in an election year.''
Designed to reverse the discriminatory outcomes of segregation and redlining, AFFH requires cities that receive federal funding to create goals to reduce segregation, and to track and publicly report their progress toward those goals.
Current HUD secretary Ben Carson recently suggested the rule is ''a ruse for social engineering under the guise of desegregation.'' His boss put it more plainly on Twitter: Trump opposes the AFFH '-- and seems to assume all suburbanites do too '-- because he thinks allowing low-income housing will lower property values.
'...Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!
'-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2020
The announcement comes amid a larger overture Trump is attempting to make toward suburban voters. He beat Hillary Clinton among such voters by 4 points in 2016. The pitch has included direct appeals on Twitter to the '' Suburban Housewives of America '' and ads like this one, depicting a woman attacked inside her big suburban home while on hold with 911. So far though, it doesn't appear to be working: Trump is trailing Joe Biden by a whopping 25 points with suburban voters.
Review: 'Putin's People' by Catherine Belton - The Atlantic
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:49
Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West by Catherine Belton Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Illustration by Celina Pereira; BStU; Ulrich H¤ssler / Ullstein Bild / GettyI t was December 1989 , the Berlin Wall had fallen, and in Dresden, crowds were gathering outside the headquarters of the Stasi, the East German secret police, shouting insults and demanding access. Nearby, frantic KGB officers'--the Soviet advisers whom the Stasi had long referred to as ''the friends'''--were barricaded inside their villa, burning papers. ''We destroyed everything,'' remembered one of those officers, Vladimir Putin. ''All our communications, our lists of contacts and our agents' networks '... We burned so much stuff that the furnace burst.''
Toward evening, a group of protesters broke away from the Stasi building and started marching toward the KGB villa. Panicked, Putin called the Soviet military command in Dresden and asked for reinforcements. None were forthcoming. ''I got the feeling then that the country no longer existed. That it had disappeared,'' Putin told an interviewer years later. ''It was clear the union was ailing. And it had a terminal disease without a cure'--a paralysis of power.'' The shock was total, and he never forgot it.
For hundreds of millions of people, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a great triumph: The moment marked the end of hated dictatorships and the beginning of a better era. But for the KGB officers stationed in Dresden, the political revolutions of 1989 marked the end of their empire and the beginning of an era of humiliation. In interviews, Putin has returned to that moment'--the moment when reinforcements did not come'--always describing it as a turning point in his own life. Like Scarlett O'Hara shaking her fist at a blood-red sky, Putin swore, it seems, to dedicate his life to restoring his country's glory.
From the January/February 2018 issue: Julia Ioffe on what Putin really wants
But Putin's cinematic depiction of his last days in Dresden captures only part of what happened. As Catherine Belton demonstrates in Putin's People, large chunks are missing from his story and from the stories of his KGB colleagues'--the other members of what would become, two decades later, Russia's ruling class. As the title indicates, Belton's book is not a biography of the Russian dictator, but a portrait of this generation of security agents. And many of them were not, in fact, entirely shocked by the events of 1989.
On the contrary, some of them had been preparing already. In August 1988, a high-ranking official from Moscow arrived in East Berlin and began recruiting German sleeper agents, who continued to work with the KGB, or rather the institutions that replaced the KGB, even after the reunification of Germany and the fall of the Soviet Union itself. At about the same time, the KGB was also setting up the offshore accounts, fake businesses, and hidden ''black cash'' funds that would, in the 1990s, propel some of its members to great wealth and power. From 1986 to 1988, for example, the Stasi transferred millions of marks to a network of companies in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Singapore, all run by an Austrian businessman named Martin Schlaff. He and his companies would reemerge years later, Belton writes, as ''central cogs in the influence operations of the Putin regime.''
The KGB's Dresden team may have also played another role in the organization's careful preparations for a post-Communist future. Precisely because the city was a backwater'--and thus uninteresting to other intelligence agencies'--the KGB and the Stasi organized meetings in Dresden with some of the extremist organizations they supported in the West and around the world. One former member of the Red Army Faction'--the West German terrorist organization, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, that killed dozens of people during its heyday'--told Belton that one of its most notorious final actions was planned with the help of the KGB and the Stasi in Dresden. In late November 1989, Alfred Herrhausen, the chairman of Deutsche Bank, died after a bomb hit his car. Herrhausen was, at that time, a close adviser to the German government on the economics of reunification, and a proponent of a more integrated European economy. Why him? Perhaps the KGB had its own ideas about how reunification should proceed and how the European economy should be integrated. Perhaps Russia's secret policemen didn't want any rivals messing things up. Or perhaps they wanted, as their successors still do, to create havoc in Germany and beyond.
Belton does not prove Putin's personal involvement in any of these projects, which isn't surprising. The Russian leader has gone to great lengths to conceal his real role during the four and a half years he spent in Dresden. But throughout her book, which will surely now become the definitive account of the rise of Putin and Putinism, she adds enough new details to establish beyond doubt that the future Russian president was working alongside the people who set up the secret bank accounts and held the meetings with subversives and terrorists. More important, she establishes how, years later, these kinds of projects came to benefit him and shape his worldview. Building on the work of others'--Masha Gessen's The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, Karen Dawisha's Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?, Steven Lee Myers's The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin, and Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy's Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin, among many books on this subject'--Belton, a former Financial Times correspondent in Moscow, incorporates crucial new material from interviews with former KGB operatives, Kremlin insiders, and bankers in various countries. She shows that Putin may have been burning documents in Dresden, but he never lost touch with the people, the tactics, or the operations launched by the KGB at that time.
Read: Fiona Hill and Clifford G. Gaddy on how the 1980s explains Vladimir Putin
Step by step, Belton demonstrates how the future president made full use of KGB methods, contacts, and networks at each stage of his career. She describes the famous swindle he ran in St. Petersburg in the '90s, selling oil abroad on the city's behalf, supposedly to buy food for its inhabitants; instead the profits went to create a hard-currency slush fund'--known in Russian criminal slang as an obschak'--much of which financed other operations and eventually enriched Putin's friends. Later, Putin won the confidence of the Russian oligarchs of President Boris Yeltsin's era, in part by promising them immunity from prosecution after Yeltsin resigned; once he took power, he eliminated them from the game, arresting some throughout the early 2000s and chasing others out of the country. In the years that he has been president, his cronies have launched a series of major operations'--the Deutsche Bank ''mirror trading'' scheme, the Moldovan ''laundromat,'' the Danske Bank scandal'--all of which used Western banks to help move stolen money out of Russia. Similar schemes continue to the present day.
But the pivotal political event for Putin took place in 2005, when a pro-Western president, Viktor Yushchenko, came to power in Ukraine after a street revolution. The Russian president blamed these events on American money and the CIA (an organization that, for better or worse, never had anything like that kind of influence in Ukraine). ''It was the worst nightmare of Putin's KGB men that, inspired by events in neighboring countries, Russian oppositionists funded by the West would seek to topple Putin's regime too,'' Belton writes. ''This was the dark paranoia that colored and drove many of the actions they were to take from then on.'' Not coincidentally, this scenario'--pro-Western-democracy protesters overthrowing a corrupt and unpopular regime'--was precisely the one that Putin had lived through in Dresden. Putin was so upset by events in Kyiv that he even considered resigning, Belton reports. Instead, he decided to stay on and fight back, using the only methods he knew.
Although the American electorate awoke to the reality of Russian influence operations only in 2016, they had begun more than a decade earlier, after that first power change in Ukraine. Already in 2005, two of Putin's closest colleagues, the oligarchs Vladimir Yakunin and Konstantin Malofeyev, had begun setting up the organizations that would promote an ''alternative'' to democracy and integration all across Europe. With the help of intermediaries and friendly companies, and more recently with the assistance of troll farms and online disinformation operations, they promoted a whole network of think tanks and fake ''experts.'' Sometimes they aided existing political parties'--the National Front in France, for example, and the Northern League in Italy'--and sometimes they helped create new ones, such as the far-right Alternative for Germany. The most important funder of the British Brexit campaign had odd Russian contacts. So did some cabinet ministers in Poland's supposedly anti-Russian, hard-right government, elected after a campaign marked by online disinformation in 2015.
From the March 2017 issue: Franklin Foer on how Vladimir Putin became the hero of nationalists everywhere
The pro-Russian ''separatists'' who would later launch a war in eastern Ukraine got their start around 2005 too, with an even more apocalyptic result. Russian propaganda deliberately sought to divide Ukraine and polarize its citizens, while Russian corruption reached deep into the economy. Within a decade, the Russian operations in Ukraine led to mass violence. Some of the Ukrainians who attended Kremlin youth camps or joined the Eurasian Youth movement during the 2000s'--often funded by the ''charities'' created by Malofeyev, Yakunin, and others'--took part in the storming of Donetsk's city-administration buildings in 2014, and then in the horrific Russian-Ukrainian war, which has disrupted European politics and claimed more than 13,000 lives. Russian soldiers, weapons, and advisers fuel the fighting in eastern Ukraine even now.
All of these Russian-backed groups, from refined Dutch far-right politicians in elegant suits to the Donetsk thugs, share a common dislike for the European Union, for NATO, for any united concept of ''the West,'' and in many cases for democracy itself. In a very deep sense, they are Putin's ideological answer to the trauma he experienced in 1989. Instead of democracy, autocracy; instead of unity, division; instead of open societies, xenophobia. Amazingly, quite a few people, even some American conservatives, are taken in by Russian tactics. It is incredible, but a group of cynical, corrupt ex-KGB officers with access to vast quantities of illegal money'--operating in a country with religious discrimination, extremely low church attendance, and a large Muslim minority'--have somehow made themselves into the world's biggest promoters of ''Christian values,'' opposing feminism, gay rights, and laws against domestic violence, and supporting ''white'' identity politics. This is an old geopolitical struggle disguised as a new culture war. Yakunin himself told Belton, frankly, that ''this battle is used by Russia to restore its global position.''
Ultimately, all of these tactics had their culmination in the career of Donald Trump. In the last chapter of Putin's People, Belton documents the activities of the biznesmeny who have circled around Trump for 30 years, bailing him out, buying apartments in his buildings for cash, offering him ''deals,'' always operating in ''the half-light between the Russian security services and the mob, with both sides using the other to their own benefit.'' Among them are Shalva Tchigirinsky, a Georgian black marketeer who met Trump in Atlantic City in 1990; Felix Sater, a Russian with mob links whose company served, among other things, as the intermediary for Trump buildings in Manhattan, Fort Lauderdale, and Phoenix; Alex Shnaider, a Russian metals trader who developed the Trump hotel in Toronto; and Dmitry Rybolovlev, an oligarch who purchased Trump's Palm Beach mansion in 2008 for $95 million, more than double what Trump had paid for it in 2004, just as the financial crisis hit Trump's companies.
While many of these stories have been written before, Belton puts them in the larger context. The hard truth is that Trump was not exceptional. He was just another amoral Western businessman, one of many whom the ex-KGB elite have promoted and sponsored around the world, with the hope that they might eventually be of some political or commercial use. Many of these bets didn't pay off, but in 2016, Putin finally hit the jackpot: His operatives helped elect an American president with long-standing Russian links who would not only sow chaos, but systematically undermine America's alliances, erode American influence, and even, in the spring of 2020, render the American federal government dysfunctional, damaging the reputation of both the U.S. and democracy more broadly.
A huge success for Putin's people has proved a terrible tragedy for the rest of the world'--a tragedy that also touches ordinary Russians. In her epilogue, Belton notes that in seeking to restore their country's significance, Putin's KGB cronies have repeated many of the mistakes their Soviet predecessors made at home. They have once again created a calcified, authoritarian political system in Russia, and a corrupt economy that discourages innovation and entrepreneurship. Instead of experiencing the prosperity and political dynamism that still seemed possible in the '90s, Russia is once again impoverished and apathetic. But Putin and his people are thriving'--and that was the most important goal all along.
This article appears in the September 2020 print edition with the headline ''The World Putin Made.''
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.
Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at
The Atlantic, a senior fellow of the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and the author of
Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.
Second Bakken pipeline shutdown further threatens shale recovery
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:26
By Catherine Ngai on 7/21/2020
HOUSTON (Bloomberg) --Earlier this month, a federal judge stunned the U.S. energy sector with an order to shut down the Dakota Access pipeline. Environmentalists hailed it as the first time a fully operating system had been forced to close by a legal challenge.
As it turns out, it was actually the second time an oil pipeline was ordered shut in a matter of four days.
On July 2, a lesser-known conduit called Tesoro High Plains was ordered shut for the first time in its 67 years of operation. Together, the two pipelines ship more than one-third of crude from America's prolific Bakken shale formation to market. Their travails signal the ebbing of the oil industry's sway in the U.S. heartland and underscore the growing heft and savvy of challengers who've become emboldened to demand higher compensation and safeguards.
''In the past, it was a shotgun approach of challenging pipelines,'' said Brandon Barnes, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. ''Now, the resources are more plentiful and the challengers are far more nuanced and sophisticated in their approach.''
The stakes are high. If the shutdown of both pipelines proceeds, it would force the region's drillers to turn to more expensive options to ship their oil -- or shut in production altogether, just as the entire oil industry is reeling from depressed prices that have pushed a steady stream of producers into bankruptcy.
The outlook for the U.S. pipeline industry has perhaps never been more uncertain. Earlier this month, Dominion Energy Inc. and its partner Duke Energy Corp. announced they were no longer moving forward with their $8 billion Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline after years of delays and ballooning costs. In the ensuing 24 hours, the Supreme Court left in force a lower court order blocking the start of construction on TC Energy Corp's Keystone XL pipeline, while a district court ordered the shutdown of Dakota Access (although that project scored temporary relief last week).
In the case of High Plains, which delivers oil to Marathon Petroleum Corp.'s 74,000 barrel-a-day Mandan refinery, the U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs ordered it shut after determining the pipeline was trespassing on Native American land. The ruling also found the company responsible for $187 million in damages and gave it 30 days to appeal.
Rights of Way
The legal right-of-way for High Plains to cross some 90 acres of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota was first initiated in 1953 and renewed every 20 years -- in 1973 and again 1993 -- according to court documents.
In 2013, Andeavor, the owner of the pipeline at the time, started negotiations for a new right-of-way with the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. Once that was accomplished, the company moved on to discussions about compensation for individual owners whose land is traversed by High Plains. But those talks broke down, according to an October 2018 lawsuit seeking payment and damages from Andeavor and the removal of the pipeline.
The case involves roughly 450 people who own some 65 acres, according to Tex Hall, one of the plaintiffs. About four years ago, Hall said, he and other landowners started receiving letters from Andeavor offering $850 an acre, an amount later increased to $6,000. He said they discovered the company offered a much more favorable agreement to the MHA Nation government.
According to Bureau of Indian Affairs documents, Marathon, which acquired Andeavor in 2018, signed over $53.8 million to the MHA Nation, which owns about 28 acres of affected land, a sum that included trespass damages. According to the lawsuit, that works out at more than $615,000 an acre.
Because it failed to reach an agreement with the individual landowners, Marathon has been trespassing for seven years, according to Reed Soderstrom, an attorney for Pringle & Herigstad, P.C., which is representing the plaintiffs. He said the suit isn't a rebellion against oil and gas pipelines or producers but a push for individuals to be adequately protected.
Fair Value
That's echoed by Hall, who's the president of the Fort Berthold Allottee Land and Mineral Owners Association. He said pipelines are generally the safest way to transport oil and he doesn't want to ban High Plains, so long as Marathon acts responsibly and negotiates in good faith. ''Pay us fair market value,'' he said.
''People are now rising up to say, you're not going to put a pipeline in, without our consent, that's potentially damaging our drinking water or disingenuous in the way you're paying us,'' Hall said. ''You can't do that anymore.''
Marathon spokesman Jamal Kheiry declined to comment on the operational status of the pipeline and whether the company will appeal the shutdown order. He added that while Marathon doesn't discuss plans regarding litigation, it respects the rights of the MHA Nation and hopes to ''come to an agreement that benefits all parties.''
Whatever happens with High Plains, further uncertainty for pipelines may come with the U.S. presidential election in November. While President Donald Trump has worked to pave the way for both Dakota Access and Keystone XL early in his presidency, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to support lower-carbon energy sources.
As more constituents clamor to be heard in the increasingly politicized discussion over what America's energy landscape will look like, existing and potential projects are likely to become ensnared. As a result, more companies could follow Dominion and Duke and shy away from building new energy infrastructure.
''Operators think they know where the goal post is,'' said Kevin Birn, vice president of North American crude oil markets at IHS Markit. ''But the goal post ends up moving around on them. As that goal moves, the costs associated escalate and the ultimate return for projects'' is less certain.
'The Hater' Film Review: Polish Drama Shows Off a Social Media Sociopath
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:21
Polish director Jan Komasa's ''Corpus Christi'' was the biggest surprise of this year's Oscar nominees in the Best International Feature Film category, slipping into the final five over a number of better-known films with its nuanced and electric portrait of a young ex-con masquerading as a priest at a rural church.
And now, a little more than five months after ''Corpus Christi'' lost to ''Parasite'' and debuted in theaters, Komasa is back with ''The Hater.'' Like the Oscar-nominated film, ''The Hater'' is about a feral, charismatic young man engaged in elaborate deceptions '' but in this case, it's set in a more modern and urban world of dance clubs and social media, where it's harder for the film to have the same kind of impact as ''Corpus Christi.''
The film was an early casualty of the coronavirus: Its early-March theatrical release in Poland ended prematurely because of the pandemic, and a planned U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival was a casualty of that festival's cancellation. But the Tribeca juries still viewed the film's online, and ''The Hater'' won the award as the best international narrative film before being picked up by Netflix, which released it this week.
Also Read: 'Corpus Christi' Review: Poland's Oscar Entry Explores the Rough Road of Redemption
Despite the themes it has in common with ''Corpus Christi,'' ''The Hater'' is far more closely linked to an earlier film of Komasa's, the 2011 drama ''Suicide Room.'' In that film, a teenage boy becomes desperate as his life falls apart after he's mocked on social media sites '' a situation that is flipped in ''The Hater,'' in which the central figure is a young man who becomes an expert in destroying lives on the internet. (Some actors show up in both films as well, and certain scenes in the new film echo the older one.)
The young man at the center of the action is Tomasz (Maciej Musialowski), who at the beginning of the film is expelled from law school for plagiarism. As he spews a line of hogwash in an attempt to save himself, and then gives up and asks the teacher who's just thrown him out if she'll please sign the textbook she wrote, Tomasz appears a little desperate, but also slick and soulless. And when he uses the signed textbook to show the Krasuckis, well-off family friends who are financing his education, just how well he's doing, it's clear that lying and conniving is second nature to him.
And so are tactics that go beyond that, because Tomasz ''accidentally'' leaves a phone behind in the couple's house, and then uses a second phone to eavesdrop on the mocking conversation they and their daughter, Gabi, have about him when he leaves. They dismiss him as a rube, which somehow drives him to prove himself by talking his way into a trial assignment for Big Buzz PR, a sleazy agency that seems to specialize in spreading rumors on social media.
Also Read: 'Radioactive' Film Review: Rosamund Pike Glows as Marie Curie in Curious Biopic
Tomasz turns out to be surprisingly good at this, in short order destroying the career of a young fitness guru by planting fake stories that her elixir turns hands yellow. Then he moves on to using social media to derail the candidacy of Pawel Rudnicki, a liberal politician running for mayor. A calm sociopath ready to do whatever it takes, he goes after the candidate partly because Tomasz himself is a secret white nationalist, partly because the Krasuckis support Rudnicki, partly because he's trying to impress Gabi with his suavity and power and partly just because he can.
To a certain degree, Komasa approaches the story in a calm, austere manner befitting the face that Tomasz presents to the world; it's a story of terrible things done quietly, a cautionary tale for the age in which warfare can be fought from the anonymity of a computer keyboard.
But we already know that Tomasz is himself something of a fake, so the dexterity with which he wields the power of social media gets less and less believable as his schemes escalate. He engineers a minor scandal with a barrage of fake posts, whips up a sex scandal and on the side uses online gaming to recruit a far-right numbskull for a plot that goes way beyond web-based reputation smearing. At some point in the movie, virtually everyone he knows mistrusts Tomasz, with good reason '' and yet they all forgive him and think that they're the ones who have wronged him.
By the end, the restrained movie has turned florid and lurid; let's just say that this isn't the first time a moviemaker has combined Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with a bit of the old ultra-violence. And by the time things calm down again, the silence is oppressive, not calming.
''The Hater'' is occasionally effective as a vision of the unnerving power of fake news and social-media manipulation, a premise we can easily embrace these days. And Komasa can be a stylish director, whether he's going for quiet menace, shooting in a silent dance club where everyone hears the music through glowing headphones or staging bursts of startling violence. But the film drags on until the story becomes harder to buy and the central character harder to remain interested in; at a certain point, Tomasz stops being fascinating or even threatening, and simply becomes tiresome.
All the Hollywood Films Arriving on Demand Early Because of the Coronavirus Since most U.S. movie theaters have shuttered in response to the coronavirus pandemic, studios are rushing out VOD home releases of movies that were only just in theaters.
Disney/Warner Bros./Universal
"Trolls World Tour"
The sequel to the 2017 animated hit announced it would be available for digital download on April 10 -- the same day it was supposed to land in theaters. Now it's a VOD exclusive.
Universal Pictures "Birds of Prey"
The Margot Robbie spinoff of 2017's "Suicide Squad" debuted on demand on March 24. The film grossed $84 million since opening on Feb. 4.
Warner Bros. "The Hunt"
The Universal/Blumhouse horror film was first delayed from release last fall due to controversy over its violent content -- and then sidelined after its March 13 opening by the coronavirus. It's available to stream now.
Universal Pictures "The Invisible Man"
The Universal horror film starring Elisabeth Moss grossed nearly $65 million since its Feb. 26 release in theaters. It's available to stream now.
Universal Pictures "Emma."
Focus Features' adaptation of the Jane Austen novel opened in limited release Feb. 21 -- and picked up $10 million in ticket sales until the pandemic shut down theaters. It's available to stream now.
Focus Features "Bloodshot"
The Vin Diesel comic-book movie opened March 6 and grossed $10 million before theaters shut down. It's available on VOD now.
Sony Pictures "I Still Believe"
Lionsgate's biopic starring K.J. Apa as Christian music star Jeremy Camp hit VOD on March 27 -- just two weeks after it opened in theaters.
Lionsgate "The Way Back"
Warner Bros. released the Ben Affleck drama "The Way Back" -- which grossed $13 million in theaters since its March 6 opening -- on VOD less than three weeks later, on March 24.
Warner Bros. "Onward"
Disney and Pixar's animated feature was made available for purchase on Friday, March 20, and the film hit Disney+ on April 3.
Disney/Pixar "Sonic the Hedgehog"
Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog" set a new record for video game adaptations with a $58 million domestic opening weekend on Feb. 14 and has grossed $306 million worldwide theatrically. It's available on demand now.
Paramount Pictures "The Call of the Wild"
20th Century Studios' feel-good film starring Harrison Ford and a giant CGI dog is available on demand now.
20th Century "Downhill"
Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation, a married couple (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell) is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other. It's available on demand now.
Fox Searchlight "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
"Never Rarely Sometimes Always" is the story of two teenage cousins from rural Pennsylvania who journey to New York City to seek an abortion. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and walked away with a Special Jury award. It's available for VOD now.
Focus Features "Endings, Beginnings"
"Endings, Beginnings," a romantic drama from Drake Doremus starring Shailene Woodley, Sebastian Stan and Jamie Dornan, opened early on digital on April 17 and on demand on May 1. It was meant to open theatrically on May 1.
Samuel Goldwyn Films "To the Stars"
"To the Stars," a period drama set in 1960s Oklahoma that stars Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato, Jordana Spiro, Shea Whigham, Malin Akerman and Tony Hale, was bumped up to a digital release on April 24 and an on demand release on June 1. Martha Stephens directed the film that premiered at Sundance in 2019 and was meant to be released theatrically by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Samuel Goldwyn Films "Impractical Jokers: The Movie"
truTV's first-ever feature-length film arrived early on digital on April 1. Follow James "Murr" Murray, Brian "Q" Quinn, Joe Gatto, and Sal Vulvano, aka The Tenderloins, playing themselves in a fictional story of a humiliating high school mishap from the early '90s.
truTV "Artemis Fowl"
Disney's adaptation of the Eoin Colfer fantasy novel "Artemis Fowl" was meant to debut in theaters on May 29 but premiered exclusively on Disney+. The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Colin Farrell and Judi Dench.
Disney "The Infiltrators"
The theatrical release of Oscilloscope's docu-thriller "The Infiltrators" has been postponed, and the film was released on both Cable On Demand and Digital Platforms starting June 2.
Oscilloscope "Working Man"
The March 27 theatrical release of "Working Man" has been canceled due to the theater closures, and the film premiered on May 5 via Video On Demand.
Brainstorm Media "Jump Shot: The Kenny Sailors Story"
"Jump Shot: The Kenny Sailors Story," a sports documentary executive produced by NBA star Steph Curry, was made available for streaming on the new service Altavod between April 16-18 for $7.99 and is available for pre-order beginning April 9. 10% of all the proceeds will be donated to COVID-19 relief efforts. The documentary tells the story of the player, Kenny Sailors, who pioneered the jump shot, and it features interviews with Curry, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Clark Kellogg, Bobby Knight and more.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images "Scoob!"
Warner Bros. announced on April 11 that it would release the family animated film ''Scoob!'' for digital ownership and premium video on-demand on May 15, making it the second film (after Universal's "Trolls World Tour") to cancel a planned theatrical release and head straight to home release pandemic.
Warner Bros. "The King of Staten Island"
"The King of Staten Island," the comedy starring and co-written by "SNL" star Pete Davidson and directed by Judd Apatow, skipped its theatrical release date of June 19 and opened one week early on VOD everywhere on June 12.
Universal Pictures "The High Note"
"The High Note," the latest film from "Late Night" director Nisha Ganatra that stars Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson, made its premiere on VOD on May 29. It was meant to open on May 8 theatrically.
Focus Features "Waiting for the Barbarians"
Ciro Guerra's film starring Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson was originally slated for a theatrical release but was picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films to instead be released via cable on demand and on digital in August
Samuel Goldwyn Films "Irresistible"
Jon Stewart's latest film, a political comedy called "Irresistible," will skip theaters and make its premiere online for on demand digital rental on June 26. The film from Focus Features stars Steve Carell and Rose Byrne and was meant to open in theaters on May 29.
Daniel McFadden / Focus Features "My Spy"
The Dave Bautista action comedy "My Spy" was originally meant for a theatrical release from STXfilms and was due to hit theaters in March. Amazon then acquired the film from STX and will now release it on streaming on June 26.
Amazon Studios "The One and Only Ivan"
The animated Disney film based on Thea Sharrock's best-selling children's book "The One and Only Ivan" is the latest feature to skip theaters and move to Disney+. The movie features the voice talent of Angelina Jolie, Danny Devito, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren. The film was previously slated for theatrical release on August 14 but will now debut on Disney+ one week later on Aug. 21.
Disney "The Secret Garden"
The re-imagining of the book "The Secret Garden" was meant to open in UK theaters in April but delayed its theatrical release until August. But STXfilms will now release the StudioCanal and Heyday Films movie on PVOD for $19.99 on August 7 in North America. "The Secret Garden" stars Colin Firth, Julie Walters and Dixie Egerickx.
STXfilms ''Irresistible'' joins a list of big films heading to digital home entertainment platforms early
Since most U.S. movie theaters have shuttered in response to the coronavirus pandemic, studios are rushing out VOD home releases of movies that were only just in theaters.
Side Hustle Spy on Twitter: "@adamcurry Get ready Adam, you are headed to Mars soon ð½ð¾ #noagendashow https://t.co/8fjjsH5z4Q" / Twitter
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 08:19
Side Hustle Spy : @adamcurry Get ready Adam, you are headed to Mars soon ð½ð¾ #noagendashow https://t.co/8fjjsH5z4Q
Wed Jul 29 05:18:16 +0000 2020
Trump administration moving forward with social media executive order - Washington Times
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 04:05
The White House on Wednesday said the Trump administration is moving forward to implement a recent presidential executive order on social media, ahead of testimony from top tech company executives on Capitol Hill.
The Commerce Department this week filed a petition to clarify that social media companies can be held liable if they ''alter or editorialize users' speech,'' according to the White House.
The petition also requested that the Federal Communications Commission clarify online platforms' curation methods.
SEE ALSO: Big Tech CEOs expect to be grilled over antitrust issues, role in elections by Congress
''President Trump will continue to fight back against unfair, un-American, and politically biased censorship of Americans online,'' said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
The announcement came hours before top tech company executives were slated to testify on Capitol Hill.
It also came after Twitter, Facebook and YouTube removed a viral video earlier this week of a doctor touting hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the coronavirus and saying masks aren't necessary.
Mr. Trump had shared the video on social media.
''I don't know which country she comes from, but she said that she's had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients,'' the president said on Tuesday. ''And I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her.''
Copyright (C) 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.
Portland's Wall of Moms crumbles amid online allegations by former partner, Don't Shoot PDX
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 01:39
The Wall of Moms arrives downtown to the Portland Protest on July 28, 2020.Portland Wall of Moms, a group formed in recent weeks and quickly recognized as a staple of nightly downtown protests, was accused publicly Wednesday of ''anti-Blackness'' by leaders of an existing, Black-led community group.
Wall of Moms, whose members said they aimed to support and protect other Black Lives Matter protesters near the fence in front of the federal courthouse, announced Friday that its white leadership had rescinded their positions to allow women of color to be in charge. New leaders announced Friday include Teressa Raiford, executive director of Don't Shoot Portland, Demetria Hester and Danialle James.
But less than a week later, Don't Shoot Portland took to Instagram to urge people against supporting the Wall of Moms, saying that it was no longer working with the moms group.
''The lies are finally clear and we are sad but ultimately not surprised that anti-Blackness showed its ugly head,'' read the post published on Wednesday by Don't Shoot Portland, a local Black Lives Matter and mutual aid group founded in 2014.
The Wednesday post alleges that Wall of Moms founder Bev Barnum filed for business registrations without consulting the newly instated Black leaders and that the safety of Black members at the nightly protests in downtown Portland was overlooked.
The post said that issues of Black mothers' safety have only come to light in the past 24 hours.
Barnum appeared to file three business registrations on Tuesday including one that makes The Wall of Moms a 501c3 nonprofit. Don't Shoot Portland interpreted the filings to mean that Wall of Moms goal was to get federal officers out of Portland -- not to support Black Lives Matter, according to the Instagram post. The newly instated Black leaders were not told about the registrations, according to the post.
''None of the Black leadership WOM claimed to implement knew about this,'' the Wednesday post reads. ''Combined with the lack of care for Black women, we were used to further the agenda unrelated to BLM.''
Don't Shoot Portland's statement was retweeted on Twitter by the Wall of Moms' official Twitter account.
The Wall of Moms answered a commenter's question saying, ''The founder went rogue. Many of us do not agree with her decisions. And she does not currently have access to this account.''
The Wall of Moms tweeted just before 1 p.m. that it's trying to regroup and ''do things the right way,'' but that there were no official announcements.
In a comment Barnum appeared to post Wednesday morning on the private Wall of Moms Facebook group, she addressed the situation.
''The announcement of the 501c3 really hurt some of you,'' she wrote. ''That was never my intention. In fact, it was just the opposite. WOM will be led by a BIPOC board and BIPOC advisor committee. WOM is a group that supports BLM, not a BLM group. If that is not good enough for you, please feel free to leave this group. And if you currently volunteer your time, please feel free to leave your positions.''
A new Facebook group has formed called Moms United for Black Lives. A post from Faith Lightsy, a member of the group said she and others are in contact with Raiford, Hester and James to figure out what to do next.
''This group is only a few hours old with 3k members already...please be patient with us. I am in direct contact with Teressa and she has asked repeatedly this group be centered around Demetria and Danialle,'' the post read.
Wall of Moms and Don't Shoot Portland filed a joint federal lawsuit Monday against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The filing accused federal officers of violating their free speech and using excessive force.
This story will be updated.
--Alex Hardgrave | ahardgrave@oregonian.com | @a_hardgrave
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Madonna's Instagram flagged for spreading 'false' COVID-19 information
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 01:28
Entertainment
By Hannah Sparks
July 29, 2020 | 9:01am
Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.
Madonna is doing what she does best again: getting censored.
Yesterday, Instagram obscured a video from the superstar's account for touting a conspiracy theory that claims a cure for the coronavirus has ''been found and proven and has been available for months.''
''They would rather let fear control the people and let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,'' the caption read for the 61-year-old pop icon's 15 million followers.
The censored clip features Dr. Stella Immanuel, a primary-care physician based in Houston, Texas, and major figure in the so-called ''America's Frontline Doctors'' video, which has already been removed from major social-media platforms, including Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. In the now-viral video, Dr. Immanuel claimed to have treated 350 coronavirus patients with hydroxychloroquine.
The video on Madge's account '-- in which she declared Dr. Immanuel her ''hero'' '-- soon appeared blurred and re-captioned as ''False Information,'' alongside a link that lead to another page on the platform, which clarifies the claims.
British singer Annie Lennox, 65, commented, ''This is utter madness!!! I can't believe that you are endorsing this dangerous quackery. Hopefully your site has been hacked and you're just about to explain it.''
Madonna, who said she tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, has since deleted the post altogether '-- a perhaps surprising move following speculation among insiders that she is ''selling out to keep getting attention [on Instagram] and she doesn't know how weird she's coming off.''
Since the COVID-19 outbreak took hold globally, the legendary artist has been keeping fans updated through her ''Quarantine Diaries.'' In one scene, the ''Like a Prayer'' singer is soaking in a petal-filled bathtub. She tells the camera: ''What's terrible about it is that it's made us all equal in many ways, and what's wonderful about is, is that it's made us all equal in many ways.''
Reps for Madonna did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.
The censored post comes after Twitter temporarily suspended Donald Trump Jr. for sharing a clip of Dr. Immanuel discussing the anti-malarial drug.
''This virus has a cure: It's called hydroxychloroquine, zinc and Zithromax,'' says Immanuel in the footage. ''You don't need masks. There is a cure.''
Linda Qiu - The New York Times
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:07
Linda Qiu is a fact-check reporter for The New York Times, based in Washington. She came to The Times in 2017 from PolitiFact, a fact-checking service of the Tampa Bay Times. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago.
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Val Demings is on Biden's VP List. Will Her Police Career Hurt or Help? - The New York Times
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:58
An Orlando police officer shoved a 27-year-old Hispanic woman down a flight of stairs, breaking her ankle. A jury ordered him to pay her medical bills.
Another officer slammed an 84-year-old World War II veteran to the ground during a car-towing dispute, resulting in doctors' putting him into a medically induced coma. The city had to pay him $880,000.
Outside a Target store, officers investigating a robbery surrounded a minivan and fired into it nearly a dozen times, critically injuring an unarmed man. He won a $750,000 settlement.
The episodes all occurred between 2007 and 2010, long before the ongoing protests currently sweeping the country, denouncing the disproportionate use of police force against people of color. If the Orlando police felt even a fraction of the pressure that departments face today, the leadership did not bend to it: The chief, Val B. Demings, defended the officers in each case.
A decade later, Ms. Demings, now a second-term Democratic congresswoman, has emerged as a finalist to be Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s running mate. She rose in politics as a Black woman with law enforcement credentials, but her moment in the spotlight comes as the nation reckons with the difficult legacy of police brutality and racial discrimination.
If she is chosen as the vice-presidential nominee, her career could prove to be a political asset against an incumbent president who is building his re-election campaign around his call for law and order, while attacking Mr. Biden as weak on crime. But in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with protests continuing to rock the country, it could also be a political liability.
''This is an opportunity to change the way things are,'' said David Porter, a former newspaper columnist active in progressive causes, who worked for Ms. Demings early in her political career. ''I just don't know that picking a cop would send the right message right now.''
Police misconduct cases are also the focus of renewed scrutiny for another top contender for the vice presidency, Senator Kamala Harris, who has been criticized for not aggressively prosecuting officers accused of wrongdoing as California's attorney general. And they derailed the hopes of another candidate, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who withdrew last month amid criticism that as a prosecutor she had failed to charge officers accused of misconduct.
In recent weeks, Ms. Demings has become a leading voice calling for changes in policing, and she has cast herself as an experienced reformer, repeating that she started out as a social worker and brought a ''social worker's heart'' to police work. But a review by The New York Times shows a more complicated record: that of a police leader with a long history of defending the status quo.
Ms. Demings, 63, spent 27 years in one of the most violent police departments of its size in the United States. She repeatedly defended fellow officers, dating at least to 1999, when she helped vindicate a white chief in a neighboring city of allegations of racial discrimination. During her time as chief, crime sharply declined, but police use of force remained high; a 2015 study by The Orlando Sentinel showed that in the second half of Ms. Demings's tenure and during the tenure of her successor, officers used force at a rate that was twice as high as those of officers at other departments of similar size.
While she was chief, her department also began arresting people for violating a years-old ban on distributing food to homeless residents in city parks.
Image In her 27-year career, Ms. Demings rose through the ranks, serving in nearly every part of the department. Credit... Reinhold Matay/Associated Press And in Congress, Ms. Demings is one of the only Democrats to co-sponsor the Protect and Serve Act, which would make it a hate crime to attack a law enforcement officer.
In an interview this week, Ms. Demings stood by her record on police accountability, saying she improved hiring practices and increased officer training. But she said her top priority as chief was addressing a spike in crime.
''Police work is not a perfect science,'' she said. ''We're there to clean up messes. And sometimes when you clean up messes, it's not pretty.''
Supporters said Ms. Demings should not be judged for all the flaws of policing in America.
''You can't blame Val for institutional racism,'' said Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress.
Mr. Clyburn, who has not endorsed anyone to be Mr. Biden's running mate, is one of many Democrats who believe Ms. Demings could bring a lot to the ticket.
She rose from humble roots to become Orlando's first female chief and a House manager in Mr. Trump's impeachment trial this year. Her supporters believe she could appeal to enough independents, and perhaps even Republicans, to improve Mr. Biden's prospects in Florida, a battleground state where major elections are routinely decided by razor-thin margins.
Mr. Biden is expected to announce his decision next week.
Ms. Demings is well liked by colleagues, though for a time she was confusingly a member of both the centrist and progressive caucuses.
On Tuesday, during a nationally televised hearing, she leveraged her experience in law enforcement while questioning the attorney general, William P. Barr, about the removal of U.S. attorneys under President Trump. ''As a former police detective, I have solved many cases based on patterns of behavior, and there is an alarming pattern I believe that is developing,'' she said. ''It appears that any time a U.S. attorney investigates the president or those close to them, he or she is removed and replaced by one of your friends.''
Ms. Demings was born Valdez Butler, the youngest of seven children of a maid and a janitor. She grew up in a two-room house outside Jacksonville, and said growing up she experienced racism and the vestiges of segregation. She has said that her law enforcement career began in sixth grade, when she served on the school patrol and intervened in altercations on the bus.
After graduating from Florida State University with a degree in criminology, she worked for a year at a security company and then for two years as a counselor to children in foster homes.
In 1983, she heard a radio ad recruiting officers for the Orlando Police Department and decided to apply.
Ms. Demings rose through the ranks, serving in nearly every part of the department, including the patrol division, the hostage negotiation team and the public information office, and earning stellar reviews.
Image Ms. Demings was elected to Congress in 2016 after her second campaign for the office. Credit... Frank Torres/Alamy She also met a fellow officer whom she later married '-- Jerry L. Demings. He became Orlando's first Black police chief in 1998; when she served as chief, he was the sheriff of Orange County, which encompasses Orlando. He is now Orange County's mayor.
In 1999, the Gainesville Police Department asked Ms. Demings to help review its chief, who had resigned after 28 complaints from his 30 Black officers. Her review cleared the chief, saying they found no evidence of racial discrimination. The local chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. derided the inquiry as a public relations stunt.
When similar issues arose in Orlando, Ms. Demings often supported police leadership, including in multiple op-eds in The Sentinel.
''As the highest-ranking African-American member of the Orlando Police Department, I have read and heard quite enough about the suggestions of racism, racial profiling and the like,'' she wrote in 2006, seeming to try to shut down a conversation that is still burning years later.
Violent crime in Orlando was at a high when Ms. Demings became chief the next year. She responded by focusing on specific neighborhoods and housing complexes, and during her tenure, violent crime fell by 40 percent.
''If I had not been successful in reducing the crime rate, we know what people would've said,'' Ms. Demings said recently during a television appearance. '''First woman chief, oh my God, she can't handle that job.'''
But her tenure also was marked by repeated allegations of police brutality.
The first major case to come across her desk in 2007 involved an officer who pushed a woman down the stairs at a club where he worked as a security guard. The officer claimed the woman spit on him and drunkenly fell. Prosecutors charged her with felony battery on a police officer, and she lost her job. (They later dropped the charges, but she did not get her job back, her lawyer said.)
In a rare instance of imposing discipline on an officer, investigators concluded his version was not accurate and removed two of his vacation days. But Ms. Demings returned one of the vacation days, citing a technical mistake in the process.
Perhaps the most scrutinized case she faced occurred in 2010, when Officer Travis LaMont, then 26, encountered 84-year-old Daniel Daley arguing with a tow-truck driver outside of a bar.
Mr. Daley urged Mr. LaMont to help, and he later acknowledged tapping the officer's arm several times. The officer told him to stop, and when he did not, he performed what is known as a ''dynamic takedown,'' leaning into Mr. Daley with his hip and throwing him to the ground.
Mr. Daley landed on his head and broke his neck.
Ms. Demings defended Mr. LaMont, saying, ''The officer performed the technique within department guidelines,'' although she said she would review the guidelines.
That decision set off a protest outside Police Headquarters; one demonstrator held a sign with a photo of the veteran wearing a neck brace. ''Threat neutralized,'' it said, according to The Sentinel.
A jury ordered the city to pay Mr. Daley $880,000.
That same year, a group of officers pursuing an alleged credit card thief fired a flurry of shots into a minivan they claimed had rammed their vehicles, hitting one man at least five times. Video later showed that a police car pushed the minivan into the vehicles.
Again, outrage against the police erupted, and the city paid the man $750,000. But the department cleared the officers.
Ms. Demings declined to answer written questions about specific cases but said she did her best to hold officers accountable.
''I did what I could, when I could and where I could,'' she said in an email.
Asked in the interview her biggest mistake as chief, she cited the time her service weapon was stolen from her vehicle.
Image Ms. Demings served as one of the House impeachment managers during the Senate trial of President Trump earlier this year. Credit... Erin Schaff/The New York Times Dwain Rivers, the longtime head of internal affairs at the Orlando Police Department, disputed the notion that Ms. Demings was overly protective of officers accused of misconduct. He said she was limited by union contracts, but she was as tough as any of the other chiefs for whom he has worked.
Mr. Rivers said that Ms. Demings had engaged the community and helped create a professional organization to support Black officers.
Under Ms. Demings, officers used force about 600 times a year, according to a New York Times analysis of city data. That did not significantly change during her tenure, although shootings involving police officers slightly increased. Today, the website MappingPoliceViolence.org lists Orlando as the fourth-worst major city for police killings per capita, a culture that activists say stems in part from Ms. Demings's tenure as chief..
''It wouldn't be that high if she had gotten with the community. She ignored us,'' said Lawanna Gelzer, the president of the Central Florida chapter of the National Action Network. ''And she gets up and criticizes other law enforcement agencies. It's hypocritical.''
Ms. Demings has said comparisons are unfair, in part because Orlando has many bars that attract rowdy crowds.
After Ms. Demings retired in 2011, she ran unsuccessfully for Congress and for mayor of Orange County. When she ran for Congress a second time in 2016, police brutality became a major campaign issue in the primary.
Still, with support from the national party, Ms. Demings prevailed, impressing Democratic officials with her lively speaking style and the ease of her victory.
''If she had done a bad job as police chief, she wouldn't have been elected to Congress,'' said John Morgan, a major Democratic donor from Orlando. Mr. Morgan added, ''If being a police officer and a police chief is now a liability, then God help the country.''
As protests have swept the nation, Ms. Demings has responded carefully. She published an op-ed in The Washington Post entitled, ''My fellow brothers and sisters in blue, what the hell are you doing?'' But she has declined to say whether the officers who killed Breonna Taylor should be arrested, as protesters have demanded.
This spring, before the protests began but after impeachment hearings increased her profile, Ms. Demings updated her campaign website. Her logo previously read ''Chief Val Demings for Congress.'' Now it says ''Val Demings for Congress.''
Kitty Bennett contributed research.
Updated July 29, 2020
President Trump has pulled back from television advertising in Michigan as he slips in polls there. Get the latest updates here. Here are 13 women who have been under consideration to be Joe Biden's running mate, and why each might be chosen '-- and might not be. Get an email recapping the day's news Download our mobile app on iOS and Android and turn on Breaking News and Politics alerts
HUD revokes Obama-era rule designed to diversify the suburbs | Fox News
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:56
The Trump administration said Thursday that it is revoking an Obama-era housing regulation designed to eliminate racial disparities in the suburbs, a move that fair housing advocates have decried as an election year stunt designed to appeal to white voters.
The move comes after President Donald Trump characterized the 2015 rule as an existential threat to the suburban way of life that will bring about more crime and lower home prices.
In a statement, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said the regulation known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, or the AFFH rule, was ''unworkable and ultimately a waste of time for localities to comply with.''
It will be replaced by a new rule that reduces the burden of local jurisdictions to prove that they are actively taking steps to address historical patterns of racial segregation in order to qualify for HUD financing.
"Washington has no business dictating what is best to meet your local community's unique needs,'' Carson said.
The topic has become a potential hot-button issue in an election year as Trump, using language that fair housing advocates describe as openly racist, has repeatedly said the rule would force the construction of low-income housing in the suburbs.
''Your home will go down in value and crime rates will rapidly rise,'' Trump said last week. ''People have worked all their lives to get into a community, and now they're going to watch it go to hell. Not going to happen, not while I'm here.''
HUD had already floated the idea of changing the rule earlier this year, but ultimately decided to cancel it entirely. Fair housing advocates says the latest HUD move attempts to skip over the traditional months-long notice and comment process where stakeholders are inviting to weigh in on a proposed rule change.
A statement from The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law called the change, ''a full-frontal assault on the rule of law'' and promised, "the civil rights movement will fight this tooth and nail.''
The 2015 rule established a 92-question survey and grading tool requiring local jurisdictions to assess their own racial and economic disparities and present detailed plans on how to address them. Carson said the jurisdictions were ''forced to comply with complicated regulations that require hundreds of pages of reporting.''
The issue has been a long-standing issue for Carson, and fair housing advocates say the program never truly got off the ground because Carson suspended its implementation shortly after taking office.
Trump has used the AFFH rule as a means of contrasting himself with Joe Biden, his Democratic challenger and Barack Obama's vice president. Biden has said he would implement the Obama administration's housing rule.
City Council members propose sweeping cuts to Austin police - News - Austin American-Statesman - Austin, TX
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:43
Austin Police senior lake patrol officers Brad Smith and David Becker make their routine checks on at Bull Creek in austin Tuesday, July 28, 2020. [RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]'²
Austin police officers and protesters face off on Interstate 35 during demonstrations May 30 in downtown Austin. Some Austin City Council members are proposing moving some money and responsibilities from the Police Department. [RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/FILE]'²
Austin police officers on horseback arrive at a liquor store that was looted during a June 1 protest. Some Austin City Council members are seeking major changes to police operations. [LOLA GOMEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/FILE]'²
Austin Police senior lake patrol officers Brad Smith and David Becker make their routine checks on at Bull Creek in austin Tuesday, July 28, 2020. [RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]'²
Three Austin City Council members have rolled out proposals to shift money and responsibilities away from the Austin Police Department amid protests against police brutality and calls to defund law enforcement agencies.
Council Members Greg Casar, Jimmy Flannigan and Leslie Pool all posted proposals to the council's online message board Friday outlining ways to revamp policing in Austin.
Casar suggested three amendments to the city's proposed budget that would remove internal affairs and forensics from the Police Department and shift money from previously scheduled police cadet classes to programs that prevent violence and other harm in the city. Such programs could include family violence shelters, homeless services, and housing and mental health care, among others.
"These three initial amendments alone would have a $40 million impact '-- and combined with amendments proposed by my colleagues and future amendments from me '-- we can reach an over $100 million change in the police budget toward progressive change," Casar wrote in an email to constituents.
Flannigan proposed a plan to reconstruct police operations into separate departments with independent department heads and civilian executive leadership in the city manager's office.
"This could shift more than $90 million from under the control of sworn leadership to civilian leadership and allow for each department to have separate metrics and oversight, thereby creating a way to shift organizational culture and drive outcomes," Flannigan said. "The size of these departments is more in-line with the size of other city departments, putting them on-par in terms of organizational influence."
Flannigan's initial proposal includes departments of emergency communications and technology, patrol, investigations, traffic safety and professional standards.
His second proposal was to move Austin police headquarters out of its downtown building and into other city space that is underutilized. Flannigan said the building could be used to address historical economic inequities in Austin's Black community.
Pool said she was supportive of cuts proposed by the advocacy group Just Liberty, which estimated the city could save $41.5 million by eliminating unfilled positions and cadet classes scheduled for this year, and cut the Police Department's budget for overtime and mounted patrols.
Pool said she also is looking into making cuts to the department's explosive ordinance disposal team and lake patrol, along with reviewing the Austin Regional Intelligence Center.
Structural changes proposed by Pool also include moving the forensics lab and internal affairs away from the department, and shifting police communications, victim services, recruiting and training to civilian leadership.
"Enacting just the first four items on this structural change list results in $36.6 million more in APD budget reductions and gets us started toward the essential cultural change that we need," she said.
After protests against police brutality and calls for Austin leaders to defund police erupted in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Mike Ramos, City Manager Spencer Cronk and the city's financial staff announced plans to cut about $11 million from the Police Department. But they said they could not get more substantive changes in this year's budget due to time constraints.
On Tuesday, Cronk said the current city budget proposal should be viewed as a moment-in-time document, which will be amended throughout the year.
More budget discussions and public input sessions are scheduled to continue through August. The city has scheduled a public input session July 30, a council budget work session Aug. 4, and further discussion at the Public Safety Committee meeting Aug. 6. The city's budget adoption process begins Aug. 12.
Which proposals will become public policy and how has yet to be seen, but council members have repeatedly said they want significant changes made quickly to the department.
"I think it's really important for the community to understand and for us to act in a way that shows that this is about reducing harm and reducing violence, and that is a big part of why we're trying to change public safety budgets, because we want to make things safer," Casar said.
What Teachers' Unions Are Fighting For as Schools Plan a New Year - The New York Times
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:20
Unions are threatening to strike if classrooms reopen, but are also pushing to limit live remote teaching. Their demands will shape pandemic education.
Angela Andrus, who teaches junior high, at a protest in Salt Lake City last week. Utah's largest teachers' union has called for starting the school year online because of safety concerns. Credit... Rick Bowmer/Associated Press July 29, 2020Updated 5:21 p.m. ET
As the nation heads toward a chaotic back-to-school season, with officials struggling over when to reopen classrooms and how to engage children online, teachers' unions are playing a powerful role in determining the shape of public education as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage.
Teachers in many districts are fighting for longer school closures, stronger safety requirements and limits on what they are required to do in virtual classrooms, while flooding social media and state capitols with their concerns and threatening to walk off their jobs if key demands are not met.
On Tuesday, the nation's second-largest teachers' union raised the stakes dramatically by authorizing its local and state chapters to strike if their districts do not take sufficient precautions '-- such as requiring masks and updating ventilation systems '-- before reopening classrooms. Already, teachers' unions have sued Florida's governor over that state's efforts to require schools to offer in-person instruction.
But even as unions exert their influence, they face enormous public and political pressure because of widespread acknowledgment that getting parents back to work requires functioning school systems, and that remote learning failed many children this spring, deepening achievement gaps by race and income.
With the academic year set to begin next month in much of the country, parents are desperate for teachers to provide more interactive, face-to-face instruction this fall, both online and, where safe, in person. But many unions, while concerned about the safety of classrooms, are also fighting to limit the amount of time that teachers are required to be on video over the course of a day.
The unions are ''really on the backs of their heels on this,'' said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a research and advocacy group that sometimes takes positions contrary to unions. She is concerned that the urgent needs of children who have not physically attended school for many months are getting lost. ''I feel like we are treating kids as pawns in this game.''
Pressure from President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who are distrusted by many educators, has hardened the opposition of many teachers to returning to classrooms, even in places where the virus is under control. They contend that political leaders are putting the needs of the economy above their safety and pushing schools to reopen without adequate guidance or financial support.
''It's been a terrible disservice to parents, to kids, to educators, who basically are left holding the bag and trying to figure this out,'' said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which voted to support its members who choose to strike while stressing that such actions should be a ''last resort.''
About 70 percent of American teachers were union members in 2016. Educators have enjoyed significant parental support in recent years during a series of walkouts, including in Republican-led states, in favor of higher wages and more school funding.
But now, with the economy sputtering and many parents struggling to balance work and child care while overseeing remote learning, teachers who resist demands to appear over video or to work in classrooms where it is considered safe risk fraying those hard-won bonds.
Some critics see teachers' unions as trying to have it both ways: reluctant to return to classrooms, but also resistant in some districts to providing a full day of remote school via tools like live video '-- the kind of interactive, online instruction that many parents say their children need after watching them flounder in the spring.
Union leaders point out that many teachers went above and beyond the work hours laid out in emergency labor agreements that were quickly pulled together after schools closed in March. Their members provided technical support to families and answered emails and text messages from students and parents late into the night, leaders say.
Now, those representatives must balance the concerns of an often-feisty membership against the urgent needs of vulnerable children and the often-competing demands of local and federal officials. Complicating matters, parents disagree sharply on what they want from schools during the pandemic.
A July poll found that 60 percent of parents supported delaying school reopenings until the virus is under control. Polls show that Black and Latino families, who have suffered disproportionately from the pandemic, have expressed more concern about returning to school than white parents have, but are also more worried about the academic and social impacts of online learning.
In New York City, where the coronavirus caseload is now relatively low, a June parents' survey found that most respondents were at least somewhat willing to send their children back to physical classrooms, despite teachers' fears.
Image New York City is one of the few large districts in the country planning to reopen classrooms even part time this fall. But some teachers, concerned about their health, are threatening a sick out. Credit... Spencer Platt/Getty Images Dionn Hurley, who lives in the South Bronx, said her 18-year-old son, who has autism, ''regressed by a year in a month'' after schools shuttered. ''Our kids need in-person learning,'' she said.
She and her husband are both essential workers who have been commuting across the city to their jobs since the pandemic began. She contends teachers should do the same, with adequate safety precautions.
''We all know there's a pandemic. It's affecting everyone,'' Ms. Hurley said. ''You can't just keep saying you're scared. We're all scared.''
Union representatives said they were aware of those sentiments, and the very real needs behind them. That makes the job of negotiating for their members especially difficult.
''I would not say that being a teachers' union leader is a job most people would want to have at this moment,'' said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, the largest local teachers' union in the country.
Pressure from California's politically powerful teachers' unions helped push Gov. Gavin Newsom to announce guidelines this month that will require many of the state's districts, covering more than 80 percent of its population, to start school remotely, opening classrooms only once new infections and hospitalizations decline sufficiently in a region.
Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest school district, had already made the decision to start the year online because of soaring infections. Now the union and administrators are engaged in long negotiating sessions via Zoom, with one of the stickiest points of contention being how many hours per day teachers should be required to teach live via video.
Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of the United Teachers Los Angeles union, said she understood the benefits '-- she watched her own son engage with teachers online during the spring shutdown '-- but she argued that a full school day over video would not be feasible for either students or teachers (although some private schools have embraced it).
''You're not going to see people engaged,'' she said. ''Kids will turn off to that.''
The union's priorities, Ms. Myart-Cruz said, include ensuring that remote mental health counseling is available to students, and that teachers are reimbursed for work-from-home expenses such as upgrading their internet connections.
In the Sacramento City Unified School District, a history of mistrust between the union and administration has led to a series of repeated breakdowns in talks during the pandemic.
The district will open in a remote-only mode on Sept. 3, and has proposed that lessons delivered live over video or audio should be recorded for families to access at times that are convenient for them. But the union has objected, arguing that recording lessons could be a violation of privacy for educators, students and families because their likenesses could be posted and viewed without their explicit permission.
In the spring, the union argued in favor of providing more paper materials to students, making the case that it was unfair to lean into high-tech learning when some students lacked laptops and internet access.
Across the country, it is likely that most students will experience a mix of online and in-person education this academic year, sometimes during the same week. That means teachers will need to do two very different jobs: teach in classrooms and online.
The Coronavirus Outbreak 'ºFrequently Asked QuestionsUpdated July 27, 2020
Should I refinance my mortgage?It could be a good idea, because mortgage rates have never been lower. Refinancing requests have pushed mortgage applications to some of the highest levels since 2008, so be prepared to get in line. But defaults are also up, so if you're thinking about buying a home, be aware that some lenders have tightened their standards.What is school going to look like in September?It is unlikely that many schools will return to a normal schedule this fall, requiring the grind of online learning, makeshift child care and stunted workdays to continue. California's two largest public school districts '-- Los Angeles and San Diego '-- said on July 13, that instruction will be remote-only in the fall, citing concerns that surging coronavirus infections in their areas pose too dire a risk for students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll some 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country so far to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution won't be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the nation's largest, New York City, are devising hybrid plans that involve spending some days in classrooms and other days online. There's no national policy on this yet, so check with your municipal school system regularly to see what is happening in your community.Is the coronavirus airborne?The coronavirus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, mounting scientific evidence suggests. This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain super-spreading events reported in meatpacking plants, churches and restaurants. It's unclear how often the virus is spread via these tiny droplets, or aerosols, compared with larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech. Aerosols are released even when a person without symptoms exhales, talks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have outlined the evidence in an open letter to the World Health Organization.What are the symptoms of coronavirus?Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was ''very rare,'' but she later walked back that statement.Districts without collective bargaining, like Marietta, Ga., have more flexibility over assigning teachers' roles, and plan to staff their remote learning programs with educators who have demonstrated skill in engaging students online.
But unions elsewhere, including in Miami-Dade County, the nation's fourth-largest district, are resisting that model, saying teachers with their own health concerns should be the first to get the opportunity to work online from home.
On Wednesday, the district announced that it would delay the start of the academic year by a week, to Aug. 31, and that schools would open online. It hopes to begin bringing students back to classrooms by early October.
Image Story Collins, 9, and her mother, Heather Correia, at a protest in Jacksonville, Fla., earlier this month. Teachers in the Duval County Public Schools say it's not safe for them to return to classrooms next month as planned. Credit... Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union, via Associated Press This spring, when classrooms closed because of the coronavirus, an emergency agreement between the district and union required Miami teachers to interact with their students for a minimum of three hours per day, which could include making phone calls or responding to emails.
Parents have since made it clear that was not enough, according to Alberto Carvalho, the Miami superintendent. ''One of the biggest concerns was how much of a difficult time they had in terms of time management with their children,'' he said, adding that the district expects teachers to provide something closer to a regular school day this fall, with live instruction over video.
The local union president, Karla Hernandez-Mats, said her members were willing to follow a more traditional schedule, but many teachers have expressed anxiety about how they and their homes would look on camera during live teaching.
''If a teacher does not feel comfortable, and the teacher is not secure in the modality, they are not going to flourish and give the best of themselves,'' she said.
In Orange County, another large Florida district that includes Orlando, a major concern for the union is that teachers working in schools might be expected to simultaneously broadcast their lessons live to students at home and respond to children both in-person and virtually.
''You can't keep track of people remotely and in front of you at the same time,'' said Wendy L. Doromal, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association.
New York City, the nation's largest district, is one of the few big systems in the country planning to reopen schools even part time this fall. Mr. Mulgrew, the local teachers' union leader, helped officials settle on an approach that would allow children to report to classrooms one to three times per week.
But in the weeks since the plan was unveiled, Mr. Trump's push to reopen classrooms has magnified growing alarm among educators about returning to work, and some have threatened to stage a sick-out.
In a town hall with members last week, Mr. Mulgrew threw the plan he helped create into disarray, telling teachers he does not currently believe it is safe for schools to reopen physically in September, absent a major funding influx to pay for more nurses and upgraded air filtration systems.
''I am preparing to do whatever we need to do if we think the schools are not safe and the city disagrees with us,'' Mr. Mulgrew said on the call.
City officials said they were caught off guard when Mr. Mulgrew backed away from reopening, in part because the city had already agreed to a number of safety measures, including requiring masks and social distancing in the classroom, and to allow teachers over 65 and those with pre-existing conditions to work remotely.
Some New York City teachers are encouraging their colleagues to apply for medical exemptions that would allow them to teach at home, even if they are not eligible, and asking parents not to send their children back.
Still, educators hardly present a monolithic view.
''I'm a public servant, and I'm ready to serve wherever I'm needed,'' said Carlotta Pope, a high school English teacher in Brooklyn. Ms. Pope said she had some lingering questions about safety but was hopeful they would be resolved before September.
''I'm excited to go back, if that's what's decided,'' she said. ''I miss my students.''
Opinion | Trump's crackdown sputters as 'phased withdrawal' from Portland begins - The Washington Post
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:19
The Trump administration and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) have agreed to something of a cease-fire in their battle over President Trump's insistence on keeping federal law enforcement in Portland. As so often happens in such situations, Trump's armies are withdrawing while declaring victory.
But, based one what we know now, it appears Trump's lieutenants have agreed to something of a climb-down, though it appears local officials have also made concessions.
During an interview, Brown used some interesting language to describe this truce, telling me that Trump's acting homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, had agreed to a ''phased withdrawal'' from the city.
If it seems jarring to hear the phrase ''phased withdrawal'' being applied to U.S. law enforcement's actions with regard to an American city, that's because it is: Those law enforcement battalions have been in Portland in direct defiance of Brown and Portland's mayor, Ted Wheeler.
The terms of this cease-fire are somewhat murky. Brown put out a statement earlier saying that federal officers had agreed to ''withdraw from Portland.''
But Wolf told reporters that Department of Homeland Security officers in Portland '-- many of whom appeared to be redeployed from immigration enforcement '-- would ''remain'' on standby until they were assured that Oregon State Police had secured the embattled Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse.
When I asked the governor about the discrepancy, she said the agreement is as follows: Those immigration enforcement officers will withdraw from ''downtown Portland,'' and some federal security officers will remain inside the courthouse, but in ''soft uniform.''
''It is a phased withdrawal,'' Brown told me. ''They're leaving downtown Portland.''
When I asked where they would be stationed in the interim, per this agreement, Brown reiterated: ''They are leaving downtown Portland.''
When I asked Brown when they would be leaving Oregon, she again said: ''It is a phased withdrawal.''
So it appears homeland security officers might be temporarily stationed somewhere nearby, giving Wolf a way of claiming he isn't surrendering, even as they are pulling out of the zone that has been contested so bitterly.
However, Brown was adamant on another core point: She declared that the departure of federal law enforcement constituted the opposite of victory, and, instead, represented a concession that the incursions utterly failed, and indeed considerably exacerbated matters.
Wolf, unsurprisingly, did try to declare victory. He put out a statement claiming Oregon State Police had agreed to ''begin securing properties and streets,'' as though they hadn't done so before, and that this agreement was ''possible due to the valiant efforts'' of his officers over ''the past two months.'' That's the tried-and-true tactic of declaring victory and leaving.
But Brown offered a sharply different rendering of events: Trump's invasion made things substantially worse, and the departure is both an admission of failure and a victory for the rule of law.
''Having federal officers here has brought violence and strife to our community, and, in response, the crowds have increased dramatically,'' Brown told me. ''It needed to end.''
Brown also countered Wolf in another way: Far from agreeing that Oregon State Police would be carrying out a pacifying role that it wasn't before '-- as Wolf insisted '-- Brown said the emphasis would now be on de-escalating the situation (which Trump's actions made worse), while simultaneously defending the civil liberties of protesters.
''We will have Oregon state police in charge of protecting free speech,'' Brown told me. ''They have to be accountable to Oregon law.''
Brown also suggested she hopes Oregon will now treat this as a teachable moment when it comes to systemic racism. De-escalating, she said, will entail getting ''more serious about bold reforms to police practices and our justice system,'' with a focus on ''racial equity.''
The new focus for Oregon state police, Brown insisted, would be to ''de-escalate and avoid confrontation.'' She added: ''They will only use crowd control tactics as a last resort.''
Brown flatly declared that the federal withdrawal was a concession of failure. ''They are leaving for a reason,'' she said. ''Their work here has substantially exacerbated an already challenging situation.''
That is the most plausible reading '-- that, and the fact that it has become clear that this depraved scheme hasn't delivered Trump the political dividends he'd hoped for '-- and is likely backfiring.
The big question has always been what Wolf and Trump actually wanted to accomplish in Portland. Wolf is best seen as Trump's chief general carrying out the mission of delivering straight to swing-state living rooms the sort of authoritarian TV imagery that thrills Trump, and persuades him he's winning back frightened white suburbanites and elderly voters.
Wolf, of course, continues to claim his agency's incursions have been all about protecting federal property. But imagery of violent street clashes has appeared in millions of dollars of Trump campaign advertising, even as the federal incursion continued in spite of clear evidence it was making things worse, not just in Portland but in other cities as well.
That may have been the whole point all along. But it now looks like that mission is getting aborted.
Watch Opinions videos:
Read more:
Henry Olsen: Portland's protests will not end well for anyone
David Ignatius: For Trump, the Portland protests are a dream come true
Max Boot: Trump wants protests to turn violent. Don't give him what he wants.
The Post's View: Trump's deployment of federal agents in cities has everything to do with his reelection
Marilyn J. Mosby and Larry Krasner: Mr. President, stay out of our cities
Karen Bass - Wikipedia
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 21:04
Karen Ruth Bass (/Ëb...s/; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 37th congressional district since 2013. From 2011 to 2013, she was the U.S. Representative for California's 33rd congressional district . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served for six years in the California State Assembly, the last two as its Speaker.
On November 28, 2018, Bass was elected chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) during the 116th Congress.[7][8][9] She also serves as Chair of the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations and United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Bass represented the 47th district in the California State Assembly (2004''2010). In 2008, she was elected to serve as the 67th Speaker of the California State Assembly, becoming the first African American woman in United States history to serve as a Speaker of a state legislative body.[10][11] For her leadership during the worst recession California had faced since the Great Depression, she, along with three other legislative leaders whom she worked alongside, was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2010.[12] Bass is on the shortlist to become Joe Biden's Vice Presidential running mate in 2020.[13]
Early life and education Edit Bass was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Wilhelmina (n(C)e Duckett) and DeWitt Talmadge Bass.[14][unreliable source? ] Her father was a postal letter carrier and her mother was a homemaker.[5] She was raised in the Venice and Fairfax neighborhoods of Los Angeles and graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in 1971.[15]
Witnessing the civil rights movement on television with her father as a child sparked her interest in community activism. While in middle school, Bass began volunteering for Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign.[16]
She went on to study philosophy at San Diego State University, and graduated from the USC Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program. She then earned a bachelor of science degree in health sciences from California State University, Dominguez Hills.[1][17] She also received her masters in social work from the University of Southern California.
Community Coalition and the crack cocaine epidemic Edit In the 1980s, while working as a physician assistant and as a clinical instructor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC Physician Assistant Program,[1] Bass witnessed the impact of the crack epidemic in South Los Angeles. After attending a San Francisco conference hosted by Rev. Cecil Williams entitled "Crack: The Death of a Race", Bass decided to organize a response.
In the late 1980s, Bass and other local community organizers founded Community Coalition, an organization with a mission to help transform the social and economic conditions in South Los Angeles that foster addiction, crime, violence, and poverty by building a community institution that involves thousands in creating, influencing, and changing public policy.[17][18]
Since its founding, Community Coalition has blocked the construction of liquor stores and encouraged construction of small businesses, affordable housing, and nonprofits. Community Coalition has also secured funding for low-income students in middle and high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District.[19] Community Coalition activists spoke at the March for Our Lives rally in 2018.[citation needed ]
California Assembly Edit In 2004, Bass was elected to represent California's 47th Assembly district. At her inauguration, she became the only African-American woman serving in the state legislature.[20] She was re-elected in 2006 and 2008 before her term limit expired. Bass served the cities and communities of Culver City, West Los Angeles, Westwood, Cheviot Hills, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, View Park-Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights, the Crenshaw District, Little Ethiopia and portions of Koreatown and South Los Angeles.[citation needed ]
Leadership prior to speaker election Edit Speaker Fabian Nº±ez appointed Bass California State Assembly Majority Whip for the 2005''2006 legislative session and Majority Floor Leader for the 2007''2008 legislative session.[10] During her first term, she founded and chaired the California Assembly Select Committee on Foster Care, implementing a host of new laws to help improve the state's Foster Care System and leading the effort to secure $82 million in additional funding for the state's child welfare system. Under her direction, the Select Committee brought together bipartisan and broad-based community support, together with the voices of youth and families, to pass legislation designed to improve the lives of California's most vulnerable children.
During her term as Majority Whip, Bass also served as vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. As vice chair, she commissioned the first ever 'State of Black California' report, which included a statewide organizing effort to involve Black Californians in town halls in every part of the state with a prevalent Black community to solicit ideas to develop a legislative agenda.[21] The result of the report was a legislative agenda for the Black community, which was released during her term serving as Majority Floor Leader.[22]
Speakership Edit Speaker Nº±ez termed out of the Assembly at the end of the 2007-2008 session, leaving Bass as the next-highest-ranking Democrat in the Assembly. After consolidating the support of a majority of legislators, including some who had previously been planning to run for the Speakership themselves, Bass was elected Speaker on February 28, 2008 and then sworn in as Speaker on May 13, 2008.[23]
Under her Speakership, Bass promoted numerous laws to help improve the state's child welfare system.[24] During her first year, she ushered through expansion of Healthy Families Insurance Coverage to help prevent children from going without health insurance and worked to slash bureaucratic red-tape to help speed up the certification of small businesses. She also secured more than $2.3 million to help revitalize the historic Vision Theater in Los Angeles; and more than $600 million for Los Angeles Unified School District.[25] Bass worked with the governor and initiated the California Commission on the 21st Century Economy to reform the tax code in California. She also fought to repeal the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.[26]
Bass' speakership was defined by the economic turmoil dominating the state. It was characterized by the John F. Kennedy Foundation in the following way:
"In February 2009, amid one of the worst budget crises in California's history, an imploding economy, and potentially catastrophic partisan deadlock, the state's Republican and Democratic party leaders came together to address the financial emergency. After weeks of grueling negotiation, the legislative leaders and Gov. Schwarzenegger reached an agreement on a comprehensive deal to close most of a $42 billion shortfall, putting an end to years of government inaction and sidestepping of the difficult decisions necessary to address California's increasingly dire fiscal crisis. The deal was objectionable to almost everyone; it contained tax increases, which the Republicans had long pledged to oppose, and draconian spending cuts, which brought intense criticism to the Democrats. Bass, David Cogdill, Darrell Steinberg, and Michael Villines were presented with the 2010 Profile in Courage Award in recognition of the political courage each demonstrated in standing up to the extraordinary constituent and party pressure they faced while working with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to address California's severe financial crisis."[27]
Bass was criticized[by whom? ] for the following statement to Los Angeles Times reporter Patt Morrison: "The Republicans were essentially threatened and terrorized against voting for revenue. Now [some] are facing recalls. They operate under a terrorist threat: 'You vote for revenue and your career is over.' I don't know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech, but it's extremely unfair."[28]
U.S. House of Representatives Edit Elections Edit 2010 Edit Karen Bass with Diane Watson on the day Bass announced she would run for US Congress in 2010.
In 2010, Congresswoman Diane Watson retired from Congress and encouraged Bass to run for her seat. Bass was ineligible to run for reelection to the State Assembly in 2010 due to California's term limits so on February 18, 2010, Bass confirmed her candidacy to succeed retiring Watson in California's 33rd congressional district.[29]
Bass raised $932,281.19 and spent $768,918.65. Her 2010 campaign contributions came from very different and diverse groups with none donating more than 15% of her total campaign funds. The five major donors to her campaign are Labor Unions with $101,950.00; Financial Institutions with $90,350.00; Health Professionals with $87,900.00; the Entertainment Industry with $52,400.00 and Lawyers and Law Firms with $48,650.00.[30]
Bass won the election with over 86% of the vote on November 2, 2010.[31]
2012 Edit In redistricting following the 2010 census, the district was renumbered from 33rd to 37th. In 2012 she had no primary opponent, and carried the general election with 86%.[5] She raised $692,988.53 and spent $803,966.15, leaving $52,384.92 on hand and a debt of $3,297.59.[30]
Bass was involved in the Presidential election, having endorsed Barack Obama for a second term. She played a leadership role in the California African Americans for Obama organization in addition to serving in her post on Obama's national African American Leadership Council. Bass had also served as a co-chair of African Americans for Obama in the state of California during the 2008 presidential campaign.
2014 Edit Bass received 84.3% of the vote to be re-elected for a third term.[32]
2016 Edit Bass received 81.1% of the vote to be re-elected for a fourth term.[32] Bass endorsed Hillary Clinton for President in 2015. On August 3, 2016, Bass launched a petition to have then-candidate for President Donald Trump to be psychologically evaluated, suggesting that he exhibited symptoms of Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). The petition was signed by 37,218 supporters. She did not attend the Trump's inauguration after conducting a poll on Twitter.
2018 Edit Fueled by the 2016 election of Donald Trump and in an effort to channel the political frustrations of Angelenos, Bass created the Sea Change Leadership PAC to activate, educate, and mobilize voters. Bass won her primary with 89.18% of the vote. Bass received 88.2% of the vote to be re-elected for a fifth term.[32]
Committee assignments Edit Committee on the JudiciarySubcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations (Chair)[5]Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the InternetCommittee on Foreign AffairsSubcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights (Chair)[5][33]Caucuses Edit Congressional Black Caucus, Chair[34]Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, Founder and Co-Chair[35]Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA)[36]American Sikh Congressional CaucusCongressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus[37]Coalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE)Congressional Caucus on Black Men and BoysCongressional Creative Rights CaucusCongressional Diabetes CaucusCongressional Entertainment Industries CaucusCongressional Ethiopia CaucusCongressional HIV/AIDS CaucusCongressional International Conservation Caucus[38]Congressional LGBT Equality CaucusCongressional Library of Congress CaucusCongressional Military Mental Health CaucusCongressional Multiple Sclerosis CaucusCongressional Quiet Skies Caucus[39]Congressional Progressive CaucusCongressional Social Work CaucusCongressional Valley Fever Task Force United States''Africa relations Edit Throughout her entire time in Congress, Bass has held the position of being the top Democrat on the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. Her goal is to transform how we think and engage African nations and to promote the many opportunities to expand trade and economic growth between the U.S. and African nations. During her time in that post, one of her key priorities was the re-authorization and Strengthening of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which enables the nations of Africa to export goods to the U.S. duty free. In 2015, Bass was instrumental in reauthorizing the bill.
Bass has been a leading voice and an advocate for preventing and ending famine in Africa. In 2017, she helped secure nearly $1 billion in funds to combat famine in Nigeria, Somalia, and South Sudan.
She has introduced more than 50 bills and resolutions pertaining to democracy protection, expanding economic opportunity, and other issues pertaining to the continent. Bass continues to engage the African diaspora with regular popular policy breakfasts, which are open for public participation, to discuss issues on the continent.
Child welfare reform Edit Upon arriving in Congress, Bass founded the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth (CCFY), a bipartisan group of Members of Congress who develop policy recommendations to strengthen the child welfare system. One of the group's most significant achievements was the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act, also known as Family First, which was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act on February 9, 2018. This historic reform aims to change child welfare systems across the country by addressing the top reasons children are removed from their homes and placed in foster care.[40]
Starting in May 2012, the Caucus began hosting an annual Foster Youth Shadow Day, during which foster youth come to Washington DC for a week-long trip to learn about advocating for reforms to the child welfare system. The week culminates in Shadow Day, which is when participants spend a day following their Member of Congress through their daily routine.[41] Bass serves on the organization's Board of Directors.
Committee on Caucus Procedures Edit Previously known as the Committee on Oversight, Study and Review (OSR), Bass was appointed by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to chair the Democratic Committee on Caucus and Procedures in 2014. She served in that capacity for six years. The Committee is responsible for the review and recommendation of Democratic Caucus Rules in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Congressional Black Caucus Edit Bass served as the 2nd Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 115th Congress. She was elected to Chair the Congressional Black Caucus on November 28, 2018.[42] Her priorities include the restoration of the Voting Rights Act, reinforcement of the Affordable Care Act, the lowering of health care costs, and the advancement of comprehensive criminal justice reforms, in addition to ensuring that more Americans learn about the actions of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Criminal justice Edit Bass believes that the criminal justice system is broken in part due to the disproportionate incarceration rates of poor people of color. Bass currently serves as Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security. She has long called for criminal justice reform and to pay special attention to the way women are treated by the criminal justice system '' from how they originally entered the criminal justice system, how they are treated when in prison, and what happens to them after they return to their communities.
In 2018, she voted in favor of the First Step Act, which divided Democrats and focused on rehabilitating people in prison by incentivizing them with the possibility of earlier release. Her contribution to the bill was a section addressing what she considers the inhumane practice of shackling women during pregnancy, labor and delivery.[43]
Environment Edit Bass believes that combating climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the United States and the entire international community. Shortly before EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned, Bass signed a letter to President Trump demanding he be fired for ethics violations. Bass is also a strong supporter of the Paris Climate Agreement. She was also one of the first 30 Members of Congress to support the Green New Deal.
Gun law Edit Her National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund Lifetime Score is an F. The Gun Owners of California Positions on Gun Rights have also given Bass an F. In 2010 while campaigning for Congress, Bass supported legislation that with other regulations would have made all gun dealers report their sales to the federal government.
Bass participated in the 2016 sit-in against gun violence in the House of Representatives. Democratic members of Congress adopted the slogan "No Bill, No Break" in an attempt to push the introduction of legislation making it more difficult for Americans to own guns for self-protection. Bass is a strong supporter of legislation to prohibit the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of semiautomatic weapons and ammunition-feeding devices capable of accepting more than ten rounds in the United States. In 2019, she voted in favor of legislation to require a background check for every firearm sale[44] and also to close the same loophole that allowed a gun to be acquired in the Charleston church massacre.[45]
Health care Edit Bass supports universal health care and was one of the founders of the Congressional Medicare for All Caucus. She has voted more than 60 times against a repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and believes that Congress should improve the landmark piece of legislation instead of trying to repeal it.
Housing Edit In November 2016, Bass supported the passage of Measure HHH and Measure H, that promises billions of dollars towards housing for homeless individuals. Bass believes that supporting public housing, promoting loan modifications and protecting consumers against unsustainable loans are not only necessary to help at-risk families and individuals, but fundamental for economic recovery.[citation needed ]
Immigration Edit In July 2018, Bass visited a federal facility used to detain migrant families and children separated from their parents after calling for the resignation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. She also introduced the Family Unity Rights and Protections Act, which would require the federal government to reunite families that have been forcibly separated at the border. Bass also paid special attention to the impact that this policy was having on the child welfare system given her work on the issue.
Edit Karen Bass has supported a ballot proposal in California that will repeal the ban on race-based admission policies.[46]
Impeachment of Donald J. Trump Edit Bass voted "yea" to support the proposed articles of impeachment against Trump.[47] Regarding her vote to support the articles of impeachment, Bass tweeted "He abused the power of his office. He obstructed Congress. No one is above the law."[48]
Intellectual property Edit Bass is in favor of net neutrality and has supported legislation to protect the internet from attempts to roll back regulations. Bass supported the 2018 passage of the Music Modernization Act, which creates a formalized body, run by publishers, that administers the "mechanical licensing" of compositions hosted on music streaming services.
Israel Edit Bass criticized Israel's plan to annex parts of Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank.[49]
Jobs Edit Bass has fought to give tax reductions for small businesses to hire new employees, increase the flow of credit to small businesses so they can grow and create jobs, and extend the research and development tax credit that encourages innovation and job creation. She also introduced the Local Hire Act to allow cities and counties to prioritize hiring local residents for infrastructure projects. The rule resulted in new jobs in Los Angeles. In May 2018, Bass and members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) introduced the Jobs and Justice Act of 2018, omnibus legislation that would, if passed, increase the upward social mobility of Black families, and help ensure equal protection under the law.[citation needed ]
LGBTQ rights Edit In 2018, Bass was awarded the "Public Official of the Year" from the Los Angeles Stonewall Democratic Club.[50] In 2019, she voted in favor of the Equality Act, which ensures LGBTQ individuals have an equal opportunity to succeed and contribute to their communities by banning discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing, employment, education, credit and financing, and more.
Student loan debt Edit In 2019, she introduced two pieces of legislation to address student loan debt. The Student Loan Fairness Act of 2019 addresses this crisis in three major ways: creating a new "10-10" standard, capping the interest rate, and accounting for cost of living. She also introduced the FAFSA Act of 2019 (Financial Aid Fairness for Students Act), which would repeal a law that makes it all but impossible for people with a drug conviction to receive federal financial aid for higher education.
Taxes Edit Bass is considered a liberal in her fiscal positions. She has a rating of 10% from the conservative California Tax Payers Association. However, the more liberal Consumer Federation of California gives her very high ratings. Bass has supported keeping taxes low for the middle class and "tax credits for small businesses to hire new employees". She states that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should expire. In 2017, she voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, citing a disproportional impact the bill would have on California's middle class families.
Personal life Edit From 1980 to 1986, Bass was married to Jesus Lechuga. Following their divorce, Bass and Lechuga jointly raised their daughter and her siblings, Bass's four step-children, Scythia, Omar, Yvette, and Ollin, together.[51] Her daughter, Emilia Bass-Lechuga, and son-in-law, Michael Wright, were killed in a car accident in 2006.[52][13]
See also Edit List of African-American United States RepresentativesList of female speakers of legislatures in the United StatesWomen in the United States House of RepresentativesReferences Edit Edit ^ a b c Young, Kerry (November 6, 2010). "112th Congress: Karen Bass, D-Calif. (33rd District)". Congressional Quarterly. ^ "California Assembly District 47". California Assembly. July 7, 2008. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009 . Retrieved October 1, 2013 . ^ "Full Biography | Congresswoman Karen Bass". U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013 . Retrieved October 1, 2013 . ^ "Karen Bass '' Archives of Women's Political Communication". Archives of Women's Political Communication. Iowa State University . Retrieved October 1, 2013 . Bass was born October 3, 1953, and raised in Los Angeles. She attended San Diego State University from 1971''1973 and was graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1990 with a bachelor of science in health sciences. ^ a b c d e Barone, Michael; Chuck McCutcheon (2013). The Almanac of American Politics 2014. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 243''245. ISBN 978-0-226-10544-4. Copyright National Journal. ^ "Aztec Action Network". San Diego State University . Retrieved October 2, 2013 . Residence: Los Angeles ^ "Largest-Ever Congressional Black Caucus Sworn In". Diverse. January 3, 2019. ^ "Congressional Black Caucus Chair Cedric Richmond Says Goodbye to Seat as he Prepares to Pass "Chair" to Rep. Karen Bass". January 2, 2019. ^ "The Blue Wave Of Black Politicians Gets Sworn In". January 3, 2019. ^ a b Vogel, Nancy (February 28, 2008). "L.A. woman to follow Nunez". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035 . Retrieved December 21, 2015 . ^ "African American Speakers of the California". Los Angeles Sentinel . Retrieved December 21, 2015 . ^ "Karen Bass, David Cogdill, Darrell Steinberg, and Michael Villines | JFK Library". www.jfklibrary.org . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ a b "Karen Bass rises as sleeper pick to be Biden's VP". POLITICO . Retrieved July 28, 2020 . ^ "Karen Bass ancestry". RootsWeb . Retrieved October 1, 2013 . ^ Ho, Catherine (February 21, 2009). "After budget battle, Bass has news for her old school". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 4, 2020 . ...humanities magnet from which she graduated in 1971. ^ "Karen Bass: Madame Speaker". Los Angeles Times. June 27, 2009 . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ a b "About Karen". KarenBass.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010 . Retrieved December 4, 2010 . ^ "About Us". Community Coalition. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014 . Retrieved February 15, 2014 . ^ "BREAKING NEWS: LAUSD Settlement Announced by Community Coalition and Parents". Community Coalition . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth Profile Series: Representative Karen Bass -". February 27, 2018 . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ Samad, Anthony Asadullah. "Between the lines". 8 February 2007. The Black Commentator . Retrieved September 11, 2012 . ^ Bass, Karen. "The State of Black California" (PDF) . February 2007. California Democratic Caucus. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 5, 2013 . Retrieved September 11, 2012 . ^ Yi, Matthew (February 29, 2008). "L.A. lawmaker first African American woman to lead state Assembly". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved March 1, 2008 . ^ "Karen Bass Makes United States History as the first African American Woman to be named to Speaker of | Black Voice News". March 6, 2008 . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "Q&A with Karen Bass: Life in the Hot Seat". Jewish Journal. June 3, 2009 . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "African American Speakers of the California". Los Angeles Sentinel. April 29, 2010 . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ Cogan, Marin. "Former California speaker resets". POLITICO . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ Morrison, Patt (June 27, 2009). "Madam Speaker: An interview with state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 30, 2009 . Retrieved July 8, 2009 . ^ Merl, Jean (February 18, 2010). "Karen Bass confirms candidacy for seat in Congress". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 3, 2010 . ^ a b "Representative Karen Bass' Campaign Finances '' Project Vote Smart" . Retrieved October 2, 2013 . ^ Van Oot, Torey (November 3, 2010). "Bass, Denham win seats in Congress". The Sacramento Bee . Retrieved November 3, 2010 . ^ a b c "California's 37th Congressional District election, 2018". Ballotpedia . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations '' House Foreign Affairs Committee". House.gov. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. ^ "Membership". Congressional Black Caucus . Retrieved March 7, 2018 . ^ "Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth". fosteryouthcaucus-karenbass.house.gov . Retrieved June 10, 2020 . ^ https://www.ccainstitute.org/for-members-of-congress-/list-of-cca-members.html ^ "Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus". Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. ^ "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018 . Retrieved August 1, 2018 . ^ "Rep. Bass Rejoins Quiet Skies Caucus in 115th Congress". Congresswoman Karen Bass. February 2, 2017 . Retrieved June 10, 2020 . ^ "Family First Prevention Services Act '' CWLA" . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "National Foster Youth Institute | Non-Profit Organization". www.nfyi.org . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ Tully-McManus, Katherine; Tully-McManus, Katherine (November 28, 2018). "Rep. Karen Bass Elected to Lead Growing Congressional Black Caucus" . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ Lopez, German (May 22, 2018). "Congress's prison reform bill, explained". Vox . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "Rep. Bass Applauds Background Check Legislation". Congresswoman Karen Bass. February 27, 2019 . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "Rep. Bass Speaks on Closing the Charleston Gun Loophole". Congresswoman Karen Bass. February 28, 2019 . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/support-grows-for-california-bill-giving-voters-power-to-expand-opportunity-for-women-people-of-color-301066697.html ^ Almukhtar, Sarah; Buchanan, Larry; Corum, Jonathan; Lu, Denise; Parlapiano, Alicia; Ward, Joe; Yourish, Karen (December 13, 2019). " ' No Choice' or 'a Sham': Where Every House Member Stands on Impeachment". The New York Times . Retrieved December 13, 2019 . ^ Bass, Congressmember (December 13, 2019). "I just voted to proceed on both articles of impeachment into Donald Trump.He abused the power of his office.He obstructed Congress.No one is above the law.pic.twitter.com/Y8C70Ol0Ox". @RepKarenBass . Retrieved December 13, 2019 . ^ "Rep. Karen Bass: House letter against annexation must be 'bipartisan ' ". Jewish Insider. June 22, 2020. ^ www.grandpixels.com (March 23, 2018). "42nd Annual Stoney Awards". Suzanne Westenhoefer . Retrieved December 4, 2019 . ^ "Karen Bass Makes United States History as the first African American Woman to be named to Speaker of (sic)". The Black Voice News. Riverside, California: Brown Publishing Company. March 6, 2008. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013 . Retrieved October 2, 2013 . ^ "Couple die in crash on 405". Los Angeles Times. October 31, 2006 . Retrieved July 28, 2020 . Sources Edit External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karen Bass .Official U.S. House websiteKaren Bass at CurlieAppearances on C-SPANBiography at the Biographical Directory of the United States CongressProfile at Vote SmartFinancial information (federal office) at the Federal Election CommissionLegislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
Not April Fools Day: AP Brands Itself as 'Advancing the Power of Facts' | Newsbusters
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 20:38
Here's something that might make you laugh. The Associated Press wire service, the liberal-tilting longtime home of Helen Thomas, has a new slogan: ''Advancing the Power of Facts.'' The Editor & Publisher website reports:
The Associated Press recently revealed a new brand campaign which, according to a press release, emphasizes the global news organization's ''vital role as the provider of accurate, unbiased, fact-based reporting to the world.''
''The main goal is to elevate our position and our mission in the world,'' global marketing director Julie Tucker told E&P. ''People think they know who we are, but we have not been as bold in saying who we are, why we matter and what our mission is.''
When they were putting together the campaign, the theme of neutrality spoke to Tucker, but as they worked to unpack that idea it became clear that the AP was ''all about facts,'' she said.
That certainly sounds good -- but it's not the trend we've noticed at AP. Decades ago, AP still had that reputation as straight news, almost boring news, not a place for salty opinions That's changed.
We recently noted AP's Jonathan Lemire (now a Morning Joe regular) writing badly disguised editorials with headlines like "As pandemic deepens, Trump cycles through targets to blame."
Or take Calvin Woodward's recent piece, headlined "Coronavirus shakes the conceit of 'American exceptionalism'." Woodward wisecracked "At the time of greatest need, the country with the world's most expensive health care system doesn't want you using it if you're sick but not sick enough or not sick the right way."
Even the "AP Fact Check" is all about bashing Trump, not even allowing the president to predict the future of coronavirus with "no evidence." Who has "evidence" from the future?
By contrast, in January the AP published an embarrassing 831-word puff piece about ''the typically reserved and measured'' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's ''rare display of emotion'' in which his ''voice cracked under the weight of the moment'' at terrorist Qasem Soleimani's funeral.
But the AP marketing guru insists they're all facts, all the time:
''This is an enduring brand mission and positioning. It's something that we'll roll off for next year,'' Tucker said. ''It's not a tagline or slogan. It is really what we do in the world and how we should behave. Unless we decide to go into a completely different industry, it is what the Associated Press will always do'--advance the power of facts.''
NewsBusters Reader,
The media are hard at work weaving a web of confusion, misinformation, and conspiracy surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
At MRC's NewsBusters, we cut through the hypocrisy and expose the media's bias, bringing the truth to the American people'--but without you, our efforts can only go so far.
The media is using whatever crisis it can to swing the upcoming election'--they have an agenda and the truth is not part of it.
This is why NewsBusters, a program of the MRC, exists. To take on the liberal media, expose their toxic bias, and stop them in their tracks. We are part of the only organization purely dedicated to this critical mission and we need your help to fuel this fight.
Donate today to help NewsBusters continue to document and expose liberal media bias. $25 a month goes a long way in the fight for a free and fair media.
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Bye Bye Benjamin! Russia & China speed up de-dollarisation process: most trade no longer conducted in greenbacks '-- RT Russia News
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 19:44
After years of talking about abandoning the US dollar, Russia and China are doing it for real. In the first quarter of 2020, the share of the dollar in trade between the countries fell below 50 percent for the first time.
To give an indication of the scale of the adjustment, just four years ago the greenback accounted for over 90 percent of their currency settlements.
According to Moscow daily Izvestia, the share has dropped to 46 percent, tumbling from 75 percent in 2018. The 54 percent of non-dollar trade is made up of Chinese yuan (17 percent), the euro (30 percent), and the Russian ruble (7 percent).
The dollar's reduced role in international trade can mainly be blamed on the ongoing trade war between the US and China. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated even further in 2020, after US politicians accused Beijing of hiding the severity of Covid-19 and President Donald Trump called disease the "China Virus" and "Kung Flu."
Also on rt.com Kremlin rubbishes American suggestion that Moscow & Washington form anti-China alliance In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained that Moscow is continuing "its policy aimed at gradual de-dollarization" and is looking to make deals in local currencies, where possible.
Lavrov called the rejection of the greenback "an objective response to the unpredictability of US economic policy and the outright abuse by Washington of the dollar's status as a world reserve currency."
Movement away from the dollar can also be seen in Russia's trade with other parts of the world, such as the European Union. Since 2016, trade between Moscow and the bloc has been mainly in Euros, with its current share sitting at 46 percent.
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
Veritas Video Heartens Congressman To Solicit AG Barr For Criminal Referral Related To Zuckerberg | Project Veritas
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:14
Gaetz Refers Zuckerberg to DOJ: 'for Materially False Statements Made to Congress While Testifying Under Oath'Gaetz: Project Veritas Investigations 'Have Shown Ample Evidence of Such Bias and Manipulation'Facebook CEO Mislead Congress When He 'Repeatedly and Categorically Denied Any Bias'Zuckerberg's congressional testimony 'violates the ''good faith'' provision of Section 230(c)(2)(A) of the Communications Decency Act'[Washington'--July 27, 2020] A criminal referral sent to Attorney General Attorney General William Barr called for investigation into Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg formisleading Congress into how his company censors' content as announced by HouseJudiciary Committee member Matt Gaetz.
''As a member of this body, I question Mr. Zuckerberg's veracity, and challenge hiswillingness to cooperate with our oversight authority, diverting congressionalresources during time-sensitive investigations, and materially impeding ourwork,'' wrote Gaetz in a letter released today.
Zuckerberg testified April 10, 2018 before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and then the next day before the House Energy and Commerce Committee'--and in both hearing the Facebook CEO was asked about his company's suppression of content supporting the president and his agenda.
On both occasions, members of Congress asked Mr. Zuckerberg about allegations that Facebook censored and suppressed content supportive of President Donald Trump and other conservatives. In his responses, Mr. Zuckerberg repeatedly and categorically denied any bias against conservative speech, persons, policies, or politics. Mr. Zuckerberg also dismissed the suggestion that Facebook exercises any form of editorial manipulation. However, recent reports from Project Veritas, featuring whistleblowers who worked as Facebook's ''content moderators,'' have shown ample evidence of such bias and manipulation.''
Gaetz cited federal laws that require truthful testimony in his criminal referral:
Accordingly, I respectfully refer Mr. Zuckerberg to the Department for an investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. §§1001, 1505, and 1621 for materially false statements made to Congress while testifying under oath.
Access the full letter HERE.
Federal Perjury Carries Maximum Five-Year Sentence
Zuckerberg would be guilty if a jury is convinced, he falsified, concealed or covered up by any trick, scheme of device a material fact or made any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation during his congressional testimony.
If convicted, Zuckerberg would be facing up to five years in federal prison.
James O'Keefe, the founder and CEO of Project Veritas, said Gaetz letter is an important first step.
''If someone'--anyone'--lies to a lawmaker, he or she is deliberately manipulating the legislative process,'' he said.
''I urge DOJ to act quickly and investigate Mark Zuckerberg before Americans vote in November,'' said O'Keefe.
Project Veritas Facebook Investigations Based on Insiders Wearing Hidden Cameras
Project Veritas released two reports from its investigation into Facebook, based on former content moderators, Zach McElroy and Ryan Hartwig. Both men came to Project Veritasoffering to become insiders and each documented their work environments for at least three months.
In the report released June 23, McElroy told Project Veritas founder and CEO James O'Keefe, ''I would say, given what I've seen, I think that there is inherent bias and inherent bias against conservatives in what is allowed to be said about conservatives.''
McElroy said he would eagerly testify before Congress and tell them everything he knows. ''I am ready and willing to join the fight by testifying about what I saw at Facebook. We must take action on big tech censorship now, before it's too late.''
McElroy, who worked at a facility in Tampa, Florida, said the artificial intelligence program that flags content for review by the content moderators had to have been programmed to seek out Facebook posts and comments favorable to Republicans.
''I saw a stark contrast between Republicans versus Democrats in the queue,'' said McElroy. ''I saw upwards of 75-to-80 percent of the posts in that queue were from Republican pages, politicians, journalists and pages that supported the president or supported conservatives.''
The content queue gives moderators the options to allow, delete or escalate to a supervisor, he said.
One of the Facebook content moderators caught on tape said: ''If Someone is Wearing a MAGA Hat, I Am Going to Delete Them for Terrorism.''
In the report released June 25, Hartwig said it reached the point at his Phoenix facility, where he felt it was dangerous for him to come out as a Trump supporter.
Hartwig said he was a daily witness to censorship of conservative viewpoints, but he wanted the American people to have proof.
Ashley Judd scores appeals court victory in sexual harassment claim against Harvey Weinstein
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:07
revivalEdit Ashley Judd scores appeals court victory in sexual harassment claim against Harvey Weinstein1:51 p.m.
Earth to MarsEdit NASA is going back to Mars with 'explicit mission to find life on another world'1:48 p.m.
Opinion
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wear a maskEdit Rep. Louie Gohmert told his staff he tested positive for coronavirus in person12:33 p.m.
portland protestsEdit Federal agents to begin 'phased withdrawal' from Portland, Oregon governor says12:25 p.m.
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The Unlikely New Generation of Unabomber Acolytes
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 16:40
ecoextremism Dec. 11, 2018 Two decades after his last deadly act of ecoterrorism, the Unabomber has become an unlikely prophet to a new generation of acolytes. John Jacobi discovered Ted Kaczynski's writing at an anarchists camp in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Photo: Colby Katz
John Jacobi discovered Ted Kaczynski's writing at an anarchists camp in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Photo: Colby Katz
John Jacobi discovered Ted Kaczynski's writing at an anarchists camp in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Photo: Colby Katz
When John Jacobi stepped to the altar of his Pentecostal church and the gift of tongues seized him, his mother heard prophecies '-- just a child and already blessed, she said. Someday, surely, her angelic blond boy would bring a light to the world, and maybe she wasn't wrong. His quest began early. When he was 5, the Alabama child-welfare workers decided that his mother's boyfriend '-- a drug dealer named Rock who had a red carpet leading to his trailer and plaster lions standing guard at the door '-- wasn't providing a suitable environment for John and his sisters and little brother. Before they knew it, they were living with their father, an Army officer stationed in Fayetteville, North Carolina. But two years later, when he was posted to Iraq, the social workers shipped the kids back to Alabama, where they stayed until their mother hanged herself from a tree in the yard. John was 14. In the tumultuous years that followed, he lost his faith, wrote mournful poems, took an interest in news reports about a lively new protest movement called Occupy Wall Street, and ran away from the home of the latest relative who'd taken him in '-- just for a night, but that was enough. As soon as he graduated from high school, he quit his job at McDonald's, bought some camping gear, and set out in search of a better world.
When a young American lights out for the territories in the second decade of the 21st century, where does he go? For John Jacobi, the answer was Chapel Hill, North Carolina '-- Occupy had gotten him interested in anarchists, and he'd heard they were active there. He was camping out with the chickens in the backyard of their communal headquarters a few months later when a crusty old anarchist with dreadlocks and a piercing gaze handed him a dog-eared book called Industrial Society and Its Future. The author was FC, whoever that was. Jacobi glanced at the first line: ''The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.''
This guy sure gets to the point, he thought. He skimmed down the paragraph. Industrial society has caused ''widespread psychological suffering'' and ''severe damage to the natural world''? Made life more comfortable in rich countries but miserable in the Third World? That sounded right to him. He found a quiet nook and read on.
The book was written in 232 numbered sections, like an instruction manual for some immense tool. There were two main themes. First, we've become so dependent on technology that the real decisions about our lives are made by unseen forces like corporations and market flows. Our lives are ''modified to fit the needs of this system,'' and the diseases of modern life are the result: ''Boredom, demoralization, low self-esteem, inferiority feelings, defeatism, depression, anxiety, guilt, frustration, hostility, spouse or child abuse, insatiable hedonism, abnormal sexual behavior, sleep disorders, eating disorders, etc.'' Jacobi had experienced most of those himself.
The second point was that technology's dark momentum can't be stopped. With each improvement, the graceful schooner that sails our shorelines becomes the hulking megatanker that takes our jobs. The car's a blast bouncing along at the reckless speed of 20 mph, but pretty soon we're buying insurance, producing our license and registration if we fail to obey posted signs, and cursing when one of those charming behavior-modification devices in orange envelopes shows up on our windshields. We doze off while exploring a fun new thing called social media and wake up to big data, fake news, and Total Information Awareness.
All true, Jacobi thought. Who the hell wrote this thing?
The clue arrived in section No. 96: ''In order to get our message before the public with some chance of making a lasting impression, we've had to kill people,'' the mystery author wrote.
Kaczynski at the time of his arrest, in 1996. Photo: Donaldson Collection/Getty Images
''Kill people'' '-- Jacobi realized that he was reading the words of the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, the hermit who sent mail bombs to scientists, executives, and computer experts beginning in 1978. FC stood for Freedom Club, the pseudonym Kaczynski used to take credit for his attacks. He said he'd stop if the newspapers published his manifesto, and they did, which is how he got caught, in 1995 '-- his brother recognized his prose style and reported him to the FBI. Jacobi flipped back to the first page, section No. 4: ''We therefore advocate a revolution against the industrial system.''
The first time he read that passage, Jacobi had just nodded along. Talking about revolution was the anarchist version of praising the baby Jesus, invoked so frequently it faded into background noise. But Kaczynski meant it. He was a genius who went to Harvard at 16 and made breakthroughs in something called ''boundary functions'' in his 20s. He joined the mathematics department at UC Berkeley when he was 25, the youngest hire in the university's then-99-year history. And he did try to escape the world he could no longer bear by moving to Montana. He lived in peace without electricity or running water until the day when, maddened by the invasion of cars and chain saws and people, he hiked to his favorite wild place for some relief and found a road cut through it. ''You just can't imagine how upset I was,'' he told an interviewer in 1999. ''From that point on, I decided that, rather than trying to acquire further wilderness skills, I would work on getting back at the system. Revenge.'' In the next 17 years, he killed three people and wounded 23 more.
Jacobi didn't know most of those details yet, but he couldn't find any holes in Kaczynski's logic. He said straight-out that ordinary human beings would never charge the barricades, shouting, ''Destroy our way of life! Plunge us into a desperate struggle for survival!'' They'd probably just stagger along, patching holes and destroying the planet, which meant ''a small core of deeply committed people'' would have to do the job themselves (section No. 189). Kaczynski even offered tactical advice in an essay titled ''Hit Where It Hurts,'' published a few years after he began his life sentence in a federal ''supermax'' prison in Colorado: Forget the small targets and attack critical infrastructure like electric grids and communication networks. Take down a few of those at the right time and the ripples would spread rapidly, crashing the global economic system and giving the planet a breather: No more CO2 pumped into the atmosphere, no more iPhones tracking our every move, no more robots taking our jobs.
Kaczynski was just as unsentimental about the downsides. Sure, decades or centuries after the collapse, we might crawl out of the rubble and get back to a simpler, freer way of life, without money or debt, in harmony with nature instead of trying to fight it. But before that happened, there was likely to be ''great suffering'' '-- violent clashes over resources, mass starvation, the rise of warlords. The way Kaczynski saw it, though, the longer we go like we're going, the worse things will get. At the time his manifesto was published, many people reading it probably hadn't heard of global warming and most certainly weren't worried about it. Reading it in 2014 was a very different experience.
The shock that went through Jacobi in that moment '-- you could call it his ''Kaczynski Moment'' '-- made the idea of destroying civilization real. And if Kaczynski was right, wouldn't he have some responsibility to do something, to sabotage one of those electric grids?
His answer was yes, which was almost as alarming as discovering an unexpected kinship with a serial killer '-- even when you're sure that morality is just a social construct that keeps us docile in our shearing pens, it turns out setting off a chain of events that could kill a lot of people can raise a few qualms.
''But by then,'' Jacobi says, ''I was already hooked.''
Jacobi in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Photo: Colby Katz
Quietly, often secretly, whether they gather it from the air of this anxious era or directly from the source like Jacobi did, more and more people have been having Kaczynski Moments. Books and webzines with names like Against Civilization, FeralCulture, Unsettling America, and the Ludd-Kaczynski Institute of Technology have been spreading versions of his message across social-media forums from Reddit to Facebook for at least a decade, some attracting more than 100,000 followers. They cluster around a youthful nickname, ''anti-civ,'' some drawing their ideas directly from Kaczynski, others from movements like deep ecology, anarchy, primitivism, and nihilism, mixing them into new strains. Although they all believe industrial civilization is in a death spiral, most aren't trying to hurry it along. One exception is Deep Green Resistance, an activist network inspired by a 2011 book of the same name that includes contributions from one of Kaczynski's frequent correspondents, Derrick Jensen. The group's openly stated goal, like Kaczynski's, is the destruction of civilization and a return to preagricultural ways of life.
So far, most of the violence has happened outside of the United States. Although the FBI declined to comment on the topic, the 2017 report on domestic terrorism by the Congressional Research Service cited just a handful of minor attacks on ''symbols of Western civilization'' in the past ten years, a period of relative calm most credit to Operation Backfire, the FBI crackdown on radical environmental efforts in the mid-aughts. But in Latin America and Europe, terrorist groups with florid names like Conspiracy of Cells of Fire and Wild Indomitables have been bombing government buildings and assassinating technologists for almost a decade. The most ominous example is Individualidades Tendiendo a lo Salvaje, or ITS (usually translated as Individuals Tending Toward the Wild), a loose association of terrorist groups started by Mexican Kaczynski devotees who decided that his plan to take down the system was outdated because the environment was being decimated so fast and government surveillance technology had gotten so robust. Instead, ITS would return to its guru's old modus operandi: revenge. The group set off bombs at the National Ecology Institute in Mexico, a Federal Electricity Commission office, two banks, and a university. It now claims cells across Latin America, and in January 2017, the Chilean offshoot delivered a gift-wrapped bomb to Oscar Landerretche, the chairman of the world's largest copper mine, who suffered minor injuries. The group explained its motives in a defiant media release: ''The pretentious Landerretche deserved to die for his offenses against Earth.''
In the larger world, where no respectable person would praise Kaczynski without denouncing his crimes, little Kaczynski Moments have been popping up in the most unexpected places '-- the Fox News website, for example, which ran a piece by Keith Ablow called ''Was the Unabomber Correct?'' in 2013. After summarizing some of Kaczynski's dark predictions about the steady erosion of individual autonomy in a world where the tools and systems that create prosperity are too complex for any normal person to understand, Ablow '-- Fox's ''expert on psychiatry'' '-- came to the conclusion that Kaczynski was ''precisely correct in many of his ideas'' and even something of a prophet. ''Watching the development of Facebook heighten the narcissism of tens of millions of people, turning them into mini reality-TV versions of themselves,'' he wrote. ''I would bet he knows, with even more certainty, that he was onto something.''
That same year, in the leading environmentalist journal Orion, a ''recovering environmentalist'' named Paul Kingsnorth '-- who'd stunned his fellow activists in 2008 by announcing that he'd lost hope '-- published an essay about the disturbing experience of reading Kaczynski's manifesto for the first time. If he ended up agreeing with Kaczynski, ''I'm worried that it may change my life,'' he confessed. ''Not just in the ways I've already changed it (getting rid of my telly, not owning a credit card, avoiding smartphones and e-readers and sat-navs, growing at least some of my own food, learning practical skills, fleeing the city, etc.) but properly, deeply.''
By 2017, Kaczynski was making inroads with the conservative intelligentsia '-- in the journal First Things, home base for neocons like Midge Decter and theologians like Michael Novak, deputy editor Elliot Milco described his reaction to the manifesto in an article called ''Searching for Ted Kaczynski'': ''What I found in the text, and in letters written by Kaczynski since his incarceration, was a man with a large number of astute (even prophetic) insights into American political life and culture. Much of his thinking would be at home in the pages of First Things.'' A year later, Foreign Policy published ''The Next Wave of Extremism Will Be Green,'' an editorial written by Jamie Bartlett, a British journalist who tracks the anti-civ movement. He estimated that a ''few thousand'' Americans were already prepared to commit acts of destruction. Citing examples such as the Standing Rock pipeline protests in 2017, Bartlett wrote, ''The necessary conditions for the radicalization of climate activism are all in place. Some groups are already showing signs of making the transition.''
The fear of technology seems to grow every day. Tech tycoons build bug-out estates in New Zealand, smartphone executives refuse to let their kids use smartphones, data miners find ways to hide their own data. We entertain ourselves with I Am Legend, The Road, V for Vendetta, and Avatar while our kids watch Wall-E or FernGully: The Last Rainforest. An eight-part docudrama called Manhunt: The Unabomber was a hit when it premiered on the Discovery Channel in 2017 and a ''super hit'' when Netflix rereleased it last summer, says Elliott Halpern, the producer Netflix commissioned to make another film focusing on Kaczynski's ''ideas and legacy.'' ''Obviously,'' Halpern says, ''he predicted a lot of stuff.''
And wouldn't you know it, Kaczynski's papers have become one of the most popular attractions at the University of Michigan's Labadie Collection, an archive of original documents from movements of ''social unrest.'' Kaczynski's archivist, Julie Herrada, couldn't say much about the people who visit '-- the archive has a policy against characterizing its clientele '-- but she did offer a word in their defense. ''Nobody seems crazy.''
Two years ago, I started trading letters with Kaczynski. His responses are relentlessly methodical and laced with footnotes, but he seems to have a droll side, too. ''Thank you for your undated letter postmarked 6/11/18, but you wrote the address so sloppily that I'm surprised the letter reached me '...'' ''Thank you for your letter of 8/6/18, which I received on 8/16/18. It looks like a more elaborate and better developed, but otherwise typical, example of the type of brown-nosing that journalists send to a 'mark' to get him to cooperate.'' Questions that revealed unfamiliarity with his work were poorly received. ''It seems that most big-time journalists are incapable of understanding what they read and incapable of transmitting facts accurately. They are frustrated fiction-writers, not fact-oriented people.'' I tried to warm him up with samples of my brilliant prose. ''Dear John, Johnny, Jack, Mr. Richardson, or whatever,'' he began, before informing me that my writing reminded him of something the editor of another magazine told the social critic Paul Goodman, as recounted in Goodman's book Growing Up Absurd: '''
'If you mean to tell me,'' an editor said to me, ''that Esquire tries to have articles on serious issues and treats them in such a way that nothing can come of it, who can deny it?''
'' (Kaczynski's characteristically scrupulous footnote adds a caveat, ''Quoted from memory.'') His response to a question about his political preferences was extra dry: ''It's certainly an oversimplification to say that the struggle between left & right in America today is a struggle between the neurotics and the sociopaths (left = neurotics, right = sociopaths = criminal types),'' he said, ''but there is nevertheless a good deal of truth in that statement.''
But the jokes came to an abrupt stop when I asked for his take on America's descent into immobilizing partisan warfare. ''The political situation is complex and could be discussed endlessly, but for now I will only say this,'' he answered. ''The current political turmoil provides an environment in which a revolutionary movement should be able to gain a foothold.'' He returned to the point later with more enthusiasm: ''Present situation looks a lot like situation (19th century) leading up to Russian Revolution, or (pre-1911) to Chinese Revolution. You have all these different factions, mostly goofy and unrealistic, and in disagreement if not in conflict with one another, but all agreeing that the situation is intolerable and that change of the most radical kind is necessary and inevitable. To this mix add one leader of genius.''
Kaczynski was Karl Marx in modern flesh, yearning for his Lenin. In my next letter, I asked if any candidates had approached him. His answer was an impatient no '-- obviously any revolutionary stupid enough to write to him would be too stupid to lead a revolution. ''Wait, I just thought of an exception: John Jacobi. But he's a screwball '-- bad judgment '-- unreliable '-- a problem rather than a help.''
The Kaczynski moment dislocates. Suddenly, everyone seems to be living in a dream world. Why are they talking about binge TV and the latest political outrage when we're turning the goddamn atmosphere into a vast tanker of Zyklon B? Was he right? Were we all gelded and put in harnesses without even knowing it? Is this just a simulation of life, not life itself?
People have moments like that under normal conditions, of course. Sigmund Freud wrote a famous essay about them way back in 1929, Civilization and Its Discontents. A few unsettled souls will always quit that bank job and sail to Tahiti, and the stoic middle will always suck it up. But Jacobi couldn't accept those options. Staggered by the shock of his Kaczynski Moment but intent on rising to the challenge, he began corresponding with the great man himself, hitchhiked the 644 miles from Chapel Hill to Ann Arbor to read the Kaczynski archives, tracked down his followers all around the world, and collected an impressive (and potentially incriminating) cache of material on ITS along the way. He even published essays about them in an alarmingly terror-friendly print journal named Atassa. But his biggest influence was a mysterious Spanish radical theorist known only by the pseudonym he used to translate Kaczynski's manifesto into Spanish, ltimo Reducto. Recommended by Kaczynski himself, who even supplied an email address, Reducto gave Jacobi a daunting reading list and some editorial advice on his early essays, which inspired another series of TV-movie twists in Jacobi's turbulent life. Frustrated by the limits of his knowledge, he applied to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to study some more, received a full scholarship and a small stipend, and buckled down for two years of intense scholarship. Then he quit and hit the road again. ''I think the homeless are a better model than ecologically minded university students,'' he told me. ''They're already living outside of the structures of society.''
Four years into this bizarre pilgrimage, Jacobi is something of an underground figure himself '-- the ubiquitous, eccentric, freakishly intellectual kid who became the Zelig of ecoextremism. Right now, he's about to skin his first rat. Barefoot and shirtless, with an old wool blanket draped over his shoulders, long sun-streaked hair and gleaming blue eyes, he hurries down a rocky mountain trail toward a stone-age village of wattle-and-daub huts, softening his voice to finish his thought. ''Ted was a good start. But Ted is not the endgame.''
He stops there. The village ahead is the home of a ''primitive skills'' school called Wild Roots. Blissfully untainted by modern conveniences like indoor toilets and hot showers, it's also free of charge. It has just three rules, and only one that will get us kicked out. ''I don't want to be associated with that name,'' Wild Roots' de'¯facto leader told us when I mentioned Kaczynski. ''I don't want my name associated with that name,'' he added. ''I really don't want to be associated with that name.''
Jacobi arrives at the open-air workshop, covered by a tin roof, where the dirtiest Americans I've ever seen are learning how to weave cordage from bark, start friction fires, skin animals. The only surprise is the lives they led before: a computer analyst for a military-intelligence contractor, a Ph.D. candidate in engineering, a classical violinist, two schoolteachers, and a rotating cast of college students the older members call the ''pre-postapocalypse generation.'' Before he became the community blacksmith, the engineering student was testing batteries for ecofriendly cars. ''It was a fucking hoax,'' he says now. ''It wasn't going to make any difference.'' At his coal-fired forge, pounding out simple tools with a hammer and anvil, he feels much more useful. ''I can't make my own axes yet, but I made most of the handles on those tools, I make all my own punches and chisels. I made an adze. I can make knives.''
Freshly killed this morning, five dead rats lie on a pine board. They're for practice before trying to skin larger game. Jacobi bends down for a closer look, selects a rat, ties a string to its twiggy leg, and hangs it from a rafter. He picks up a razor. ''You wanna leave the cartilage in the ear,'' his teacher says. ''Then cut just above the white line and you'll get the eyes off.''
A few feet away, a young woman who fled an elite women's college in Boston pounds a wooden staff into a bucket to pulverize hemlock bark to make tannin to tan the bear hide she has soaking in the stream '-- a mixture of mashed hemlock and brain tissue is best, she says, though eggs can substitute if you can't get fresh brain.
Jacobi works the razor carefully. The eyes fall into the dirt.
''I'm surprised you haven't skinned a rat before,'' I say.
''Yeah, me too,'' he replies.
He is, after all, the founder of The Wildernist and Hunter/Gatherer, two of the more radical web journals in the personal ''rewilding'' movement. The moderates at places like ReWild University talk of ''rewilding your taste buds'' and getting in ''rockin' fit shape.'' ''We don't have to demonize our culture or attempt to hide from it,'' ReWild University's website enthuses. Jacobi has no interest in padding the walls of the cage '-- as he put it in an essay titled ''Taking Rewilding Seriously,'' ''You can't rewild an animal in a zoo.''
He's not an idiot; he knows the zoo is pretty much everywhere at this point. He explained this in the philosophical book he wrote at 22, Repent to the Primitive: ''My focus on the Hunter/Gatherer is based on a tradition in political philosophy that considers the natural state of man before moving on to an analysis of the civilized state of man. This is the tradition of Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Paine.'' His plan is to ace his primitive skills, then test living wild for an extended time in the deepest forest he can find.
So why did it take him so long to get out of the zoo?
''I thought sabotage was more important,'' he says.
But this isn't the place to talk about that '-- he doesn't want to break Wild Roots' rules. Jacobi goes silent and works his razor down the rat's body, pulling the skin down like a sock.
When he's finished, he leads the way back into the woods, naming the plants: pokeberry, sourwood, rhododendron, dog hobble, tulip poplar, hemlock. The one with orange flowers is a lily that will garnish his dinner tonight. ''If you want, I can get some for you,'' he offers.
Then he returns to the forbidden topic. ''I could never do anything like that,'' he says firmly '-- unless he could, which is also a possibility. ''I don't have any moral qualms with violence,'' he says. ''I would go to jail, but for what?''
For what? The first time I talked to him, he told me he had dreams of being the leader Kaczynski wanted.
''I am being a little evasive,'' he admits. His other reason for going to college, he says, was to plant the anti-civ seed in the future lawyers and scientists gathered there '-- ''people who will defend you, people who have access to computer networks'' '-- and also, speaking purely speculatively, who could serve as ''the material for a terrorist criminal network.''
''Did you convince anybody?'' I ask.
''I don't know. I always told them not to tell me.''
''So you wanted to be the Lenin?''
''Yeah, I wanted to be Lenin.''
But let's face it, he says, the revolution's never going to happen. Probably. Maybe. That's why he's heading into the woods. ''I want to come out in a few years and be like Jesus,'' he jokes, ''working miracles with plants.''
Isn't he doing exactly what Lenin did during his exile in Europe, though? Honing his message, building a network, weighing tactical options, and creating a mystique. Is he practicing ''security culture,'' the activist term for covering your tracks? ''Are you hiding the truth? Are you secretly plotting with your hard-core cadre?''
He smiles. ''I wouldn't be a very good revolutionary if I told you I was doing that.''
At the last minute, Abe Cabrera changed our rendezvous point from a restaurant in New Orleans to an alligator-filled swamp an hour away. This wasn't a surprise. Jacobi had given me Cabrera's email address, identifying him as the North American contact for ITS, which Cabrera immediately denied. His interest in ITS was purely academic, he insisted, an outgrowth of his studies in liberation theology. ''However,'' he added, ''to say that I don't have any contact with them may or may not be true.''
Now he's leading me into the swamp, literally, talking about an ITS bomb attack on the head of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Chile in 2011. ''Is that a fair target?'' he asks. ''For Uncle Ted, it would have been, so I guess that's the standard.'' He chuckles.
He's short, round, bald, full of nervous energy, wild theories, and awkward tics '-- if ''Terrorist Spokesman'' doesn't work out for him, he's a shoo-in for ''Mad Scientist in a B-Movie.'' Giant ferns and carpets of moss appear and disappear as he leads the way into the swamp, where the elephantine roots of cypress trees stand in the eerie stillness of the water like dinosaurs.
He started checking out ITS after he heard some rumors about a new cell starting up in Torre"n, his grandparents' birthplace in Mexico, he says, but the group didn't really catch his interest until it changed its name from Individuals Tending Toward the Wild to Wild Reaction. Why? Because healthy animals don't have ''tendencies'' when they confront an enemy. As one Wild Reaction member put it in the inevitable postattack communiqu(C), another example of the purple prose poetry that has become the group's signature: ''I place the device, and it transforms me into a coyote thirsting for revenge.''
Cabrera calls this ''radical animism,'' a phrase that conjures the specter of nature itself rising up in revolt. Somehow that notion wove together all the dizzying twists his life had taken '-- the years as the child of migrant laborers in the vegetable fields of California's Imperial Valley, his flirtation with ''super-duper Marxism'' at UC Berkeley, the leap of faith that put him in an ''ultraconservative, ultra-Catholic'' order, and the loss of faith that surprised him at the birth of his child. ''Most people say, 'I held my kid for the first time and I realized God exists.' I held my kid the first time and I said, 'You know what? God is bullshit.''
'' People were great in small doses but deadly in large ones, even the beautiful little girl cradled in his arms. There were no fundamental ethical values. It all came down to numbers. If that was God's plan, the whole thing was about as spiritually ''meaningful as a marshmallow,'' Cabrera says.
John Jacobi is a big part of this story, he adds. They connected on Facebook after a search for examples of radical animism led him to Hunter/Gatherer. They both contributed to the journal Atassa, which was dedicated on the first page to the premise that ''civilization should be fought'' and that the example of Ted Kaczynski ''is what that fighting looks like.'' In the premier edition, Jacobi made the prudent decision to write in a detached tone. Cabrera's essay bogs down in turgid scholarship before breaking free with a flourish of suspiciously familiar prose poetry: ''Ecoextremists believe that this world is garbage. They understand progress as industrial slavery, and they fight like cornered wild animals since they know that there is no escape.''
Cabrera weaves in and out of corners like a prisoner looking for an escape route, so it's hard to know why he chose a magazine reporter for his most incendiary confession: ''Here's the super-official version I haven't told anybody '-- I am the unofficial voice-slash-theoretician of ecoextremism. I translated all 30 communiqu(C)s. I translated one last night.''
Abe Cabrera: Abracadabra.
Yes, he knows this puts him dangerously close to violating the laws against material contributions to terrorism. He read the Patriot Act. That's why he leads a double life, even a triple life. Nobody at work knows, nobody from his past knows, even his wife doesn't know. He certainly doesn't want his kids to know. He doesn't even want to tell them about climate change. Math homework, piano lessons, gymnastics, he's ''knee-deep in all that stuff.'' He punches the clock. ''What else am I gonna do? I love my kids,'' he says. ''I hope for their future, even though they have no future.''
His mood sinks, reminding me of Jacobi. Shifts in perspective seem to be part of this world. Puma hunted here before the Europeans came, Cabrera says, staring into the swamp. Bears and alligators, too, things that could kill you. The cypress used to be three times as thick. When you look around, you see how much everything has suffered.
But we're not in this mess because of greed or nihilism; we're in it because we love our children so much we made too many of them. And we're just so good at dominating things, all that is left is to lash out in a ''wild reaction,'' Cabrera says. That's why he sympathizes with ITS. ''It's like, 'Be the psychopathic destruction you want to see in the world','
'' he says, tossing out one last mordant chuckle in place of a good-bye.
Kaczynski is annoyed with me. ''Do not write me anything more about ITS,'' he said. ''You could get me in trouble that way.'' He went on: ''What is bad about an article like the one I expect you to write is that it may help make the anti-tech movement into another part of the spectacle (along with Trump, the 'metoo movement,' neo-Nazis, antifa, etc.) that keeps people entertained and therefore thoughtless.''
ITS, he says, is the very reason he cut Jacobi off. Even after Kaczynski told him the warden was dying for a reason to reduce his contacts with the outside world, the kid kept sending him news about them. He ended his letter to me with a controlled burst of fury. ''A hypothesis: ITS is instigated by some country's security services '-- probably Mexico. Their real task is to spread hopelessness, because where there is no hope there is no serious resistance.''
Wait '... Ted Kaczynski is hopeful? The Ted Kaczynski who wants to destroy civilization? The idea seems ridiculous right up to the moment it spins around and becomes reasonable. What better evidence could you find than the unceasing stream of tactical and strategic advice that he's sent from his prison cell for almost 20 years, after all. He's hopeful that civilization can be taken down in time to save some of the planet. I guess I just couldn't imagine how anyone could ever manage to rally a group of ecorevolutionaries large enough to do the job.
''If you've read my Anti-Tech Revolution, then you haven't understood it,'' he scolds. ''All you have to do is disable some key components of the system so that the whole thing collapses.'' I do remember the ''small core of deeply committed people'' and ''Hit Where It Hurts,'' but it's still hard to fathom. ''How long does it take to do that?'' Kaczynski demands. ''A year? A month? A week?''
On paper, Deep Green Resistance meets most of his requirements. The original core group spent five years holding conferences and private meetings to hone its message and build consensus, then publicized it effectively with its book, which speculates about tactical alternatives to stop the ''planet from burning to a cinder'': ''If selective disruption doesn't work soon enough, some resisters may conclude that all-out disruption is needed'' and launch ''coordinated actions on a large scale'' against key targets. DGR now has as many as 200,000 members, according to the group's co-founder '-- a soft-spoken 30-year-old named Max Wilbert '-- who could shave off his Mephistophelian goatee and disappear into any crowd. Two hundred thousand may not sound like much when Beyonc(C) has 1 million-plus Instagram followers, but it's not shabby in a world where lovers cry out pseudonyms during sex. And Fidel had only 19 in the jungles of Cuba, as Kaczynski likes to point out.
Jacobi says DGR was hobbled by a doctrinal war over ''TERFs,'' an acronym I had to look up '-- it's short for ''trans-exclusionary radical feminists'' '-- so this summer they're rallying the troops with a crash course in ''resistance training'' at a private retreat outside Yellowstone National Park in Montana. ''This training is aimed at activists who are tired of ineffective actions,'' the promotional flyer says. ''Topics will include hard and soft blockades, hit-and-run tactics, police interactions, legal repercussions, operational security, terrain advantages and more.''
At the Avis counter at the Bozeman airport, my phone dings. It's an email from the organizers of the event, saying a guy named Matt needs a ride. I find him standing by the curb. He's in his early 30s, dressed in conventional clothes, short hair, no visible tattoos, the kind of person you'd send to check out a visitor from the media. When we get on the road and have a chance to talk, he says he's a middle-school social-studies teacher. He's sympathetic to the urge to escalate, but he'd prefer to destroy civilization by nonviolent means, possibly by ''decoupling'' from the modern world, town by town and state by state.
But if that's true, why is he here?
''See for yourself,'' he said.
We reach the camp in the late afternoon and set up our tents next to a big yurt. A mountain rises behind us, another mountain stands ahead; a narrow lake fills the canyon between them as the famous Big Sky, blushing at the advances of the night, justifies its association with the sublime. ''Nature is the only place where you feel awe,'' Jacobi told me after the leaves rustled at Wild Roots, and right now it feels true.
An hour later, the group gathers in the yurt outfitted with a plywood floor, sofas, and folding chairs: one student activist from UC Irvine, two Native American veterans of the Standing Rock pipeline protests, three radical lawyers, a shy working-class kid from Mississippi, a former abortion-clinic volunteer, and a few people who didn't want to be identified or quoted in any way. The session starts with a warning about loose lips and a lecture on DGR's ''nonnegotiable guidelines'' for men '-- hold back, listen, agree or disagree respectfully, avoid male-centered words, and follow the lead of women.
By that time, I'd already committed my first microaggression. The cook asked why I was standing in the kitchen doorway, and I answered, ''Just supervising.'' Her sex had nothing to do with it, I swear '-- I was waiting to wash my hands and, frankly, her question seemed a bit hostile. But the woman who followed me out the door to dress me down said that refusing to accept her criticism was another microaggression.
The first speaker turns the mood around. His name is Sakej Ward, and he did a tour in Afghanistan with the U.S. Joint Airborne and a few years in the Canadian military. He's also a full-blooded member of the Wolf Clan of British Columbia and the Mi'kmaq of northern Maine with two degrees in political science, impressive muscles bulging through a T-shirt from some karate club, and one of those flat, wide Mohawks you see on outlaw bikers.Unfortunately, he put his entire presentation off the record, so all I can tell you is that the theme was Native American warrior societies. Later he tells me the societies died out with the buffalo and the open range. They revived sporadically in the last quarter of the 20th century, but returned in earnest at events like Standing Rock. ''It's a question of 'Are they there yet?' We've been fighting this war for 500 years. But climate change is creating an atmosphere where it can happen.''
For the next two days, we get training in computer security and old activist techniques like using ''lockboxes'' to chain yourself to bulldozers and fences '-- given almost apologetically, like a class in 1950s home cooking. In another session, Ward takes us to a field and lines us up single file. Imagine you're on a military patrol, he says, turning his back and holding his left hand out to the side, elbow at 90 degrees and palm forward. ''Freeze!,'' he barks.
We freeze.
''That's the best way to conceal yourself from the enemy,'' he tells us. He runs through basic Army-patrol semiotics. For ''enemy,'' you make a pistol with your hand and turn it thumbs-down. ''Danger area'' is a diagonal slash. After showing us a dozen signs, he stops. ''Why am I making all the signs with my left hand?''
No one knows.
He turns around to face us with his finger pointed down the barrel of an invisible gun. ''Because you always have to have a finger in control of your weapon,'' he says.
The trainees are pumped afterward. ''You can take out transformers with a .50 caliber,'' one man says.
''But you don't just want to do one,'' says another. ''You want four-man teams taking out ten transformers. That would bring the whole system to a halt.''
Kaczynski would be fairly pleased with this so far, I think. Ward is certainly a plausible contender for the Lenin role. Wilbert might be too. ''We talk about 'cascading catastrophic effects,''
'' he tells us in one of the last yurt meetings, summing up DGR's grand strategy. ''A large percent of the nation's oil supply is processed in a facility in Louisiana, for example. If that was taken down, it would have cascading effects all over the world.''
But then the DGR women called us together for a lecture on patriarchy, which has to be destroyed at the same time as civilization. Also, men who voluntarily assume gendered aspects of female identity should never be allowed in female-sovereign spaces '-- and don't call them TERFs unless you want a speech on microaggression.
Matt listens from the fringes in a hoodie and mirrored glasses, looking exactly like the famous police sketch of the Unabomber. I'm pretty sure he's trolling them. Maybe he's remembering the same Kaczynski quote I am: ''Take measures to exclude all leftists, as well as the assorted neurotics, lazies, incompetents, charlatans, and persons deficient in self-control who are drawn to resistance movements in America today.''
At the farewell dinner, one of the more mysterious trainees finally speaks up. With long, wild hair, a floppy wilderness hat, pants tucked into waterproof boots, a wary expression, and an actual hermit's cabin in Montana, he projects the anti-civ vibe with impressive authenticity. He was involved in some risky stuff during the Cove Mallard logging protests in Idaho in the mid-1990s, he says, but he retreated after the FBI brought him in for questioning. Lately, though, he's been getting the feeling that things are starting to change, and now he's sure of it. ''I've been in a coma for 20 years,'' he says. ''I want to thank you guys for being here when I woke up.'' One of the radical lawyers wraps up with a lyrical tribute to the leaders of Ireland's legendary 1916 rebellion. He waxes about Thomas MacDonagh, the schoolteacher who led the Dublin brigade and whistled as he was led to the firing squad.
On the drive back to the airport, I ask Matt if he's really a middle-school teacher. He answers with a question: What is your real interest in this thing?
I mention John Jacobi. ''I know him,'' he says. ''We've traded a few emails.''
Of course he does. He's another serious young man with gears turning behind his eyes.
''Can you imagine actually doing something like that?'' I ask.
''Well,'' he answers, drawing out the pause, ''Thomas MacDonagh was a schoolteacher.''
The next time I talk to John Jacobi, he's back in Chapel Hill living with a friend and feeling shaky. Things were getting strange at Wild Roots, he says '-- nobody could cooperate, there were personal conflicts. And, well, there was an incident with molly. It's been a hard four years. First he lost Jesus and anarchy. Then Kaczynski and ltimo Reducto dumped him, which was really painful, though he understood why. ''I've been unreliable,'' he says woefully. To make matters worse, an ITS member called Los Hijos del Mencho denounced him by name online: The trouble with Jacobi was his ''reluctance to support indiscriminate attacks'' because of his sentimental attachment to humanity.
Jacobi is considering the possibility that his troubled past may have affected his judgment. He still believes in the revolution, he says, but he's not sure what he'd do if somebody gave him a magic bottle of Civ-Away. He'd probably use it. Or maybe not.
I check in a couple of weeks later. He's working in a fish store and thinking of going back to school. Maybe he can get a job in forest conservation. He'd like to have a kid someday.
He brings up Paul Kingsnorth, the ''recovering environmentalist'' who got rattled by Kaczynski's manifesto in 2012. Kingsnorth's answer to our global existential crisis was mourning, reflection, and the search for ''the hope beyond hope.'' The group he co-founded to help people with that task, a mixture of therapy group and think tank called Dark Mountain, now has more than 50 chapters worldwide. ''I'm coming to terms with the fact that it might very well be true that there's not much you can do,'' Jacobi says, ''but I'm having a real hard time just letting go with a hopeless sigh.''
In his Kaczynski essay, Kingsnorth, who has since moved to Ireland to homeschool his kids and write novels, put his finger on the problem. It was the hidden side effect of the Kaczynski Moment: paralysis. ''I am still embedded, at least partly because I can't work out where to jump, or what to land on, or whether you can ever get away by jumping, or simply because I'm frightened to close my eyes and walk over the edge.'' To the people who end up in that suspended state now and then, lying in bed at four in the morning imagining the worst, here's Kingsnorth's advice: ''You can't think about it every day. I don't. You'll go mad!''
It's winter now and Jacobi's back on the road, sleeping in bushes and scavenging for food, looking for his place to land. Sometimes I wonder if he makes these journeys into the forest because of the way his mother ended her life '-- maybe he's searching for the wild beasts and ministering angels she heard when he fell to his knees and spoke the language of God. Psychologists call that magical thinking. Medication and counseling are more effective treatments for trauma, they say. But maybe the dream of magic is the magic, the dream that makes the dream come true, and maybe grief is a gift too, a check on our human arrogance. Doesn't every crisis summon the healers it needs?
In the poems Jacobi wrote after his mother hanged herself, she turned into a tree and sprouted leaves.
*This article appears in the December 10, 2018, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!
The Unlikely New Generation of Unabomber Acolytes
The Technological Society: Jacques Ellul, John Wilkinson, Robert K. Merton: 9780394703909: Amazon.com: Books
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:50
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Biden's notes: 'Do not hold grudges' against Kamala Harris - POLITICO
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 04:02
The comments attributed to Dodd have drawn condemnation, especially from influential Democratic women who maintain that Harris is being held to a standard that wouldn't apply to a man running for president.
The debate-stage skirmish was one of the seminal moments of the Democratic primary. Harris, who is Black, said Biden made ''very hurtful'' comments about his past work with segregationist senators before she slammed his opposition to busing as schools began to integrate.
''There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day,'' she said. ''And that little girl was me.''
At the time, Biden called her comments ''a mischaracterization of my position.''
Their relationship has become considerably more amicable.
Biden has praised Harris publicly many times and noted that he's thought highly of her personally and professionally since she became close to his late son, Beau Biden, when both were state attorneys general.
It is common for high-profile politicians to take notes with them to the podium, either handwritten additions to formal remarks or a bullet-point list like what Biden held on stationery featuring his full name: Joseph R. Biden Jr.
In March, early in the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump's notes were photographed to show ''Chinese'' written over ''corona,'' part of the president's efforts to blame the pandemic on a foreign adversary. Last year, as Trump faced impeachment for pressuring Ukraine officials to help his reelection by finding dirt on Biden, the president had notes that read: ''I want nothing'' and ''I want no quid pro quo.''
Biden's list, at the least, suggests that he wants to defuse any tensions around his relationship with Harris. As reflected in his notes, Harris has become a reliable surrogate for Biden, appearing with him in online fundraisers amid the unusual social distancing standards forced on the campaign by the COVID-19 pandemic. As recently as last week, Harris headlined her own event for Biden, one focused on the Raleigh area in North Carolina, a battleground state where Harris' dual appeal to Black voters and college-educated white women could boost Democrats' prospects.
Biden ultimately did not field a question specifically about Harris. A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In just his third extended news conference in four months, Biden also sidestepped specific questions about the timing of his decision on a running mate, an approach reflected in another entry on Biden's notepad. Under the heading ''VP,'' Biden wrote ''highly qualified'' and ''diverse group,'' signifying his intention not to tease out any more details.
Beyond vice presidential politics, Biden's topics included the Justice Department, an allusion to Attorney General William Barr testifying Tuesday on Capitol Hill. His notes did not name Barr, but Biden referenced ''the people's lawyer '... not the president's lawyer,'' echoing his previous assertions that Barr has used his post as the latter.
On the ''Last 100 days'' of the campaign, Biden wrote that he'd be ''offering clearest contrast,'' ''tell the truth,'' ''take responsibility'' and ''listen to the scientists'' '' all swipes at Trump.
The list also included the original three-part slogan of Biden's campaign: ''Restore soul'' of the nation, ''Rebuild MC'' (the middle class) and ''unite country.''
Fact Checking the Portland Protests: How Violent Are They? - The New York Times
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 03:57
Attorney General William P. Barr said protesters had used fireworks, Tasers, pellet guns and lasers to target federal officers in Portland.
The ''Wall of Moms'' group walked towards the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., on Monday. Credit... Mason Trinca for The New York Times July 28, 2020Updated 10:28 p.m. ET
PORTLAND, Ore. '-- Attorney General William P. Barr forcefully defended the federal response to long-running protests in Portland on Tuesday, telling the House Judiciary Committee that the protests had become violent. The federal intervention has been condemned by state and city officials, but Mr. Barr argued it was necessary to prevent violence from spreading to other American cities.
The nightly protests in Portland, which began in late May as a response to the police killing of George Floyd, have become the backdrop for a conflict between federal officials and local leaders. Mr. Barr and other federal officials have drawn attention to vandalism and other reckless behavior on the part of the protesters, while city officials have said that federal agents dispatched to the district court in downtown Portland have exceeded their authority and harmed peaceful protesters.
There are currently 114 federal law enforcement officers in Portland, according to a legal filing from the U.S. attorney's office, drawn from various agencies including Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Protective Service. Their presence has reinvigorated tensions that had been subsiding, local officials said. Several peaceful protesters have been seriously injured, including a Navy veteran whose hand was smashed by officers and a man who was shot with a projectile that fractured his skull.
''As I've said from the beginning, these peaceful protests are being hijacked by a very hard core of instigators, violent instigators,'' Mr. Barr said. ''Police casualties far exceed anything on the civilian side.''
Have protesters used violence against federal officers?The crowds have been largely peaceful and have included high school students, military veterans, off-duty lawyers and lines of mothers who call themselves the ''Wall of Moms.''
Mr. Barr acknowledged in response to questions from representatives that many protesters had remained peaceful. ''You have a lot of people who are out protesting and demonstrating,'' he said. ''The particular violent opportunists who are involved here get into these crowds and engage in very violent activity and hijack it.''
But he emphasized that some protesters have thrown rocks, water bottles and fireworks at federal officers. Others have shone lasers at federal agents and at security cameras surrounding the building, in an effort to block their view of the crowd. Several fires have been set near the courthouse, which federal officials have said could spread to the building and harm the agents inside.
This has been amply documented with photographs, videos, and by New York Times reporters on the ground.
Mr. Barr also claimed that protesters had used Tasers, pellet guns and slingshots against the federal officers. The Times could not independently confirm the use of those weapons.
As federal agents moved beyond the courthouse and into the streets of Portland '-- which experts have said they may not have legal authority to do '-- agents have also been involved in scuffles with protesters who tried to prevent arrests.
Have any federal officers been injured?In a July 22 court filing, the U.S. attorney's office in Oregon said that 28 federal law enforcement officers had been injured during protests in Portland.
''The most serious injury to an officer to date occurred when a protester wielding a two-pound sledgehammer struck an officer in the head and shoulder when the officer tried to prevent the protester from breaking down a door to the Hatfield Courthouse,'' the filing stated. Other injuries included ''broken bones, hearing damage, eye damage, a dislocated shoulder, sprains, strains, and contusions.''
The Department of Homeland Security said in daily briefings about the protests that agents had been burned by fireworks and a ''caustic substance'' that were thrown over a fence surrounding the courthouse.
The legal filings and daily reports from the Department of Homeland Security do not make reference to one of the injuries described by Mr. Barr: that projectiles fired from pellet guns ''have penetrated marshals to the bone.'' On July 23, the White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany referenced a similar incident. ''Another federal agent was shot with a pellet gun, leaving a wound deep to the bone,'' she said. A Department of Homeland Security spokesman did not respond to a request for more information about this injury.
Has there been violence used against protesters?Mr. Barr emphasized the injuries sustained by federal officers and said that they outnumbered those incurred by protesters.
There is not a comprehensive tally of injured protesters, but at least five people have filed civil lawsuits describing injuries and seeking damages of up to $950,000. Other injuries, like those sustained by the Navy veteran, have been captured on video.
Videotranscript
transcript
'They Pushed Portland Too Far': How Trump's Crackdown Strengthened ProtestsPresident Trump's deployment of federal agents is fueling the unrest in Portland, where protests have continued for over 50 consecutive days.''Hey hey, ho ho, these racist cops have got to go. Hey hey, ho ho, these racist cops have got to go. Hey hey, ho ho.'' ''I'm here right now because the feds are here, and that's terrifying to me as a citizen.'' President Trump's deployment of federal agents is fueling the unrest in Portland, where protests have continued for over 50 consecutive days. ''This represents a new turning point, and that's really scary.'' Protesters tell us that the presence of federal forces is bringing more people to the streets. ''They have no business being here. As soon as they showed up, they pushed Portland too far, and as long as they are hurting innocent citizens '-- the moms, the dads '-- everybody's coming out.'' Crowd: ''Yes!'' ''Ahhhh!'' Crowd: ''Ahhhh!'' ''Ahhhh!'' Crowd: ''Ahhhh!'' ''That's the sound of frustration.'' ''I think that people are becoming reinvigorated by seeing how they're treating us. The energy has definitely changed in the past week, like way more people here the past two nights than I've seen since we started. We're going to continue doing this, and we're going to continue doing it peacefully.'' ''There we go, Portland.'' ''When we are together as a unit, when we are together we're not afraid. We have each other's back. When we have each other's back, we show who the real strength is.'' ''The biggest thing today that's changed is that you see people of all ages. You know, this has really been led by a kind of Generation Z feeling, and right now we're seeing a larger swath of Portland coming together, and my parents' generation is finally paying attention.'' ''Say her name!'' Crowd: ''Breonna Taylor.'' ''Say her name!'' Crowd: ''Breonna Taylor!'' People initially came out to protest systemic racism and police violence, but say the federal response has raised the stakes. ''My friends got tear-gassed, time and time again. And tear gas is internationally banned in war, and they're using it on our streets, on our young people. This is only my second day. I was scared before, but I've had enough.'' ''Whose lives matter?'' Crowd: ''Black lives matter!'' ''We want Black lives to matter just as much as white lives, and we want to protect the children.'' ''We know they're out here. It doesn't matter. We're still going to be out here protesting.'' ''Portland, are you scared?'' Crowd: ''Hell no!'' ''I ain't scared!'' Crowd: ''I ain't scared!'' ''I ain't scared!'' Crowd: ''I ain't scared!'' ''Trump had no business sending people here. We are standing up for what we believe in.''
President Trump's deployment of federal agents is fueling the unrest in Portland, where protests have continued for over 50 consecutive days.Groups of nurses and doctors have recently joined the protests, voicing objections to violence from the federal forces. Jillian Trent, an emergency room nurse who joined a recent march, said that she had seen an uptick of patients with injuries caused by rubber bullets and other police munitions. ''People are coming in with their jaws falling off,'' she said.
Under questioning, Mr. Barr said that tear gas and violence were not appropriate responses to peaceful protesters. In response to a question about the use of tear gas, he said, ''The problem when these things sometimes occur is, it's hard to separate people.''
Were police officers attacked in Seattle?Outrage over the federal agents' actions in Portland extended to Seattle over the weekend, when thousands of protesters took to the streets on Saturday against police violence and the deployment of federal agents to Portland.
Some protesters lit several construction trailers on fire at a youth detention center, smashed windows of businesses and, according to the police, injured Seattle police officers with explosive devices. The Seattle Police Department released partial body camera video that showed explosions erupting near officers and photographs of cuts and burns suffered by officers that they said were from explosives set off by the protesters.
Officers, meanwhile, doused protesters in pepper spray, rushed into crowds and knocked people to the ground, including some who were trying to help a woman who had been bloodied by a flash grenade. A video posted online showed officers riding on bicycles into a group of protesters, pushing them to the ground with their bikes and their hands.
The police said 59 officers had been injured, including one who was hospitalized. Many of the injured officers were able to return to duty.
Kate Conger reported from Portland, Ore., and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs from New York.
Planet Fitness to Require Face Masks in All Locations Effective August 1
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:55
HAMPTON, N.H. , July 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: PLNT), one of the largest and fastest-growing global franchisors and operators of fitness centers with more members than any other fitness brand, today announced that members and guests will be required to wear a mask at all times while inside all open stores, beginning August 1 . Currently, all Planet Fitness employees are required to wear masks. To date, the Company has approximately 1,450 locations open across 46 states, the District of Columbia , Canada , and Australia .
"As we continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic, amid an ongoing global health crisis, wellness has never been as essential to our collective community as it is today," said Chris Rondeau , Chief Executive Officer at Planet Fitness. "Gyms are part of the solution and a key element of the healthcare delivery system, providing much needed access for people to exercise and stay healthy. Given our leadership position within the industry, we believe it's our responsibility to further protect our members, employees, and communities so that we can all safely focus on our health, which is more important now than ever before."
According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA)1, safety and sanitization policies implemented at gyms that have been allowed to reopen have been extremely effective. In addition to the updated mask requirement, Planet Fitness has already taken several additional steps to strengthen its existing cleanliness policies and procedures to help keep members, guests and employees safe. These include enhanced cleanliness and sanitization policies and procedures, extensive training for employees, physical distancing measures in its spacious and well-ventilated stores, and reducing physical touch points with touchless check-in. Earlier this month, the Company also launched a Crowd Meter feature on its free mobile app to allow members to check club capacity before coming into the gym.
"I believe that as people return to their daily activities, they need to be able to safely access gyms and fitness centers with confidence, and reestablish their norms and routines," said Dr. Ian Norton, Health Emergency response expert, founder of Respond Global and former head of Emergency Medical Team response with World Health Organization. "While COVID-19 is a serious public health issue, so too is the epidemic of obesity and chronic disease killing 1.7 million Americans every year. Fitness contributes to lowering rates of non-communicable disease related to sedentary lifestyles and obesity, and improves mental health, physical health and overall well-being."
In the United States over the last 20 years, there's been a significant increase in obesity, with 42.4 percent of U.S. adults2 and approximately 18.5 percent of children and adolescents3 obese. Chronic conditions, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease increase the risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19. Evidence shows that physical activity has both immediate and long-term health benefits including helping to improve cognition, bone health, fitness, and heart health while also reducing the risk of depression. And, while federal physical activity guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, in addition to muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week, only about 23 percent of adults ages 18 to 64 are hitting both of those marks according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).4
In addition to reopening stores across the country, Planet Fitness also offers free live "Home Work-Ins" which are part of Planet Fitness' "United We Move" campaign, designed to motivate and inspire everyone to stay physically and mentally fit. Featuring Planet Fitness certified trainers and celebrity guests, each workout is streamed Monday-Friday at 7 p.m. ET and are available both on Facebook and the Planet Fitness YouTube channel once the broadcast is over. Each virtual class is 20 minutes or less and doesn't require any equipment. Planet Fitness also offers exclusive fitness content and more than 500 exercises on its free mobile app.
For more information about Planet Fitness' response to COVID-19 and safety measures in stores, visit https://www.planetfitness.com/health.
About Planet Fitness Founded in 1992 in Dover, NH , Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States by number of members and locations. As of March 31, 2020 , Planet Fitness had more than 15.5 million members and 2,039 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia , Puerto Rico , Canada , the Dominican Republic , Panama , Mexico and Australia . The Company's mission is to enhance people's lives by providing a high-quality fitness experience in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment, which we call the Judgement Free Zone®. More than 95% of Planet Fitness stores are owned and operated by independent business men and women.
1 International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association 2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) '' Adult Obesity Facts 3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) '' Childhood Obesity Facts 4 National Health Statistics Report ( June 28, 2018 ); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
SOURCE Planet Fitness, Inc.
Related Links http://www.planetfitness.com
People over 6 feet tall are more likely to contract coronavirus
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 22:34
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By Amanda Woods
July 28, 2020 | 4:04pm
Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.
People over six feet tall are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with the coronavirus, the results of a new survey reveal.
The global team of researchers, including experts from the University of Manchester and Open University, surveyed 2,000 people in the country, as well as the US, to determine whether their personal attributes, work and living practices might play a role in transmission, The Telegraph reported.
The results found that taller people are at a higher risk, which researchers say suggests that the contagion is spreading through the air '-- because height would not be a factor if the virus was only contractible through droplets, according to the report.
''The results of this survey in terms of associations between height and diagnosis suggest downward droplet transmission is not the only transmission mechanism and aerosol transmission is possible,'' Professor Evan Kontopantelis, of the University of Manchester, told the outlet.
''This has been suggested by other studies, but our method of confirmation is novel,'' he added.
''Though social distancing is still important, because transmission by droplets is still likely to occur, it does suggest that mask-wearing may be just as '-- if not more '-- effective in prevention. But also, air purification in interior spaces should be further explored.''
Droplets are larger than aerosols and are thought to travel relatively short distances and plummet from the air, according to the report. But aerosols, which can build up in poorly ventilated areas, are carried by air currents.
The study also found that using a shared kitchen or accommodation played a large role '-- especially in the US, where those circumstances made the chances of contracting the bug 3.5 times as high.
In the UK, chances were 1.7 times higher.
Fauci Reiterates Moderna Vaccine Data Is 'Cautiously Optimistic,' Expects Pfizer's Results To Be The Same
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 21:23
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We Wuz Kangs | Anti-Defamation League
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 17:23
''We Wuz Kangs'' is a racist catchphrase and collection of memes directed at African-Americans and other people of sub-Saharan African descent. Originating in 2015 and popularized by the website 4chan, the phrase is a racist shorthand reference to discredited but popular Afrocentric theories that claimed sub-Saharan Africans were descended from ancient Egyptians.
The phrase and meme are intended to mock the Afrocentric theories and, by extension, anyone who might believe in them. Users employ phrases such as ''We Wuz Kangs,'' ''We Wuz Kings,'' and ''Kings N Shiet,'' featuring mock black American dialect that is intended to portray blacks as ignorant and a contrast to the ostensibly more civilized ancient Egyptians. Meme versions of the phrase similarly tend to feature images with racist stereotypes of black people, often contrasted with images of Egyptian pharaohs. The overall intent is to portray blacks as crude, ignorant and uncivilized.
Memes featuring the phrase often include an image of an African leader taken from The African Kingdoms expansion of the video game Age of Empires II, which debuted around the time the meme was created in 2015. Usage of the meme seemed to increase with the release of the popular movie Black Panther in 2018.
Grand on Twitter: "@adamcurry (Trumps censored tweet) (Positive reports of #Hydroxychloroquine are being suppressed because big-pharma makes billions on #Remdesivir WOW!! ð'¥ Doctor calls out what should be the biggest scandal in modern American history;
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 17:20
Grand : @adamcurry(Trumps censored tweet)(Positive reports of #Hydroxychloroquine are being suppressed because big-phar'... https://t.co/8FkkdXK2sh
Tue Jul 28 16:00:32 +0000 2020
Tom Brady: 'If Anyone on My Team Kneels, I Quit' '' ALLOD-1
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 15:00
The league itself may have shown its opposition to patriotism through their new rules that will allow kneeling during our national anthem, but Roger Goodell does not speak for everyone in the league. Already, several teams have indicated they will not allow kneeling from their players. They've threatened to take players who do so off the roster or to fine them. Now, players themselves are speaking up.
Tom Brady, former quarterback of the New England Patriots, and multiple Super Bowl winner is known for his love of America. The fact that he started his career with the Patriots is very fitting. Now he has moved on to a new team in Tampa Bay, but his pro-America, pro-Trump attitude has not changed.
Brady announced to team ownership and to his teammates his thoughts on the whole kneeling controversy. The team's co-owner, Joe Barron, was so moved by Brady's enthusiasm that he recorded the whole speech he gave in the locker room that day:
''Everybody here knows how I feel about this country. We are the luckiest people on earth to live here and we should be showing gratitude for it every single day.
This brings me to kneeling for our flag and our anthem. You can probably guess that I'm not for it. It's an insult to our soldiers, to our veterans, to our President, and to every single citizen who does what they can do every single day to make this country as great as it is. It's a disgrace and, as far as I'm concerned, an act of treason.
I won't stand for it. I won't stand for your kneeling. Let me be perfectly clear, if anybody on this team kneels, I walk. I will be off the field and out the door in an instant. Don't test me.
And remember, I won six Super Bowls. I am the best. You guys are nothing without me. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. I AM THIS TEAM.''
Brady may sound arrogant to some, but not us. Real Americans know they are capable of anything. His confident words once again prove that he belongs.
Stella Immanuel, Trump's New COVID-19 Doctor, Believes in Alien DNA, Demon Sperm, and Hydroxychloroquine
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 14:52
A Houston doctor who praises hydroxychloroquine and says that face masks aren't necessary to stop transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus has become a star on the right-wing internet, garnering tens of millions of views on Facebook on Monday alone. Donald Trump Jr. declared the video of Stella Immanuel a ''must watch,'' while Donald Trump himself retweeted the video.
Before Trump and his supporters embrace Immanuel's medical expertise, though, they should consider other medical claims Immanuel has made'--including those about alien DNA and the physical effects of having sex with witches and demons in your dreams.
Immanuel, a pediatrician and a religious minister, has a history of making bizarre claims about medical topics and other issues. She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches.
She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious. And, despite appearing in Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress on Monday, she has said that the government is run in part not by humans but by ''reptilians'' and other aliens.
Immanuel gave her viral speech on the steps of the Supreme Court at the ''White Coat Summit,'' a gathering of a handful of doctors who call themselves America's Frontline Doctors and dispute the medical consensus on the novel coronavirus. The event was organized by the right-wing group Tea Party Patriots, which is backed by wealthy Republican donors.
In her speech, Immanuel alleges that she has successfully treated hundreds of patients with hydroxychloroquine, a controversial treatment Trump has promoted and says he has taken himself. Studies have failed to find proof that the drug has any benefit in treating COVID-19, and the Food and Drug Administration in June revoked its emergency authorization to use it to treat the deadly virus, saying it hadn't demonstrated any effect on patients' mortality prospects.
''Nobody needs to get sick,'' Immanuel said. ''This virus has a cure.''
Immanuel said in her speech that the supposed potency of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment means that protective face masks aren't necessary, claiming that she and her staff had avoided contracting COVID-19 despite wearing medical masks instead of the more secure N95 masks.
''Hello, you don't need a mask. There is a cure,'' Immanuel said.
Toward the end of Immanuel's speech, the event's organizer and other participants can be seen trying to get her away from the microphone. But footage of the speech captured by Breitbart was a hit online, becoming a top video on Facebook and amassing roughly 13 million views'--significantly more than ''Plandemic,'' another coronavirus disinformation video that became a viral hit online in May, when it amassed roughly 8 million Facebook views.
''Hydroxychloroquine'' trended on Twitter, as Immanuel's video was embraced by the Trumps, conservative student group Turning Point USA, and pro-Trump personalities like Diamond & Silk. But both Facebook and Twitter eventually deleted videos of Immanuel's speech from their sites, citing rules against COVID-19 disinformation. The deletions set off yet another round of complaints by conservatives of bias at the social-media platforms.
Immanuel responded in her own way, declaring that Jesus Christ would destroy Facebook's servers if her videos weren't restored to the platform.
''Hello Facebook put back my profile page and videos up or your computers with start crashing till you do,'' she tweeted. ''You are not bigger that God. I promise you. If my page is not back up face book will be down in Jesus name.''
Immanuel is a registered physician in Texas, according to a Texas Medical Board database, and operates a medical clinic out of a strip mall next to her church, Firepower Ministries.
Immanuel was born in Cameroon and received her medical degree in Nigeria. In a GoFundMe legal defense fund, which swelled from just $90 to $1,616 hours after her speech, Immanuel claims without offering any proof that members of a Houston networking group for women physicians are scheming to take her medical license away over her support for hydroxychloroquine.
It's not clear whether anyone is actually trying to take Immanuel's license. But many of her earlier medical claims are definitely ludicrous.
In sermons posted on YouTube and articles on her website, Immanuel claims that medical issues like endometriosis, cysts, infertility, and impotence are caused by sex with ''spirit husbands'' and ''spirit wives'''--a phenomenon Immanuel describes essentially as witches and demons having sex with people in a dreamworld.
''They are responsible for serious gynecological problems,'' Immanuel said. ''We call them all kinds of names'--endometriosis, we call them molar pregnancies, we call them fibroids, we call them cysts, but most of them are evil deposits from the spirit husband,'' Immanuel said of the medical issues in a 2013 sermon. ''They are responsible for miscarriages, impotence'--men that can't get it up.''
In her sermon, Immanuel offers a sort of demonology of ''nephilim,'' the biblical characters she claims exist as demonic spirits and lust after dream sex with humans, causing all matter of real health problems and financial ruin. Immanuel blames real-life ailments such as fibroids and cysts stem from the demonic sperm after demon dream sex, an activity she claims affects ''many women.''
''They turn into a woman and then they sleep with the man and collect his sperm,'' Immanuel said in her sermon. ''Then they turn into the man and they sleep with a man and deposit the sperm and reproduce more of themselves.''
According to Immanuel, people can tell if they have taken an demonic spirit husband or spirit wife if they have a sex dream about someone they know or a celebrity, wake up aroused, stop getting along with their real-world spouse, lose money, or generally experience any hardship.
Alternately, they could just be having dream-sex with a human witch instead of a demon, she posits.
''There are those that are called astral sex,'' Immanuel said in the sermon. ''That means this person is not really a demon being or a nephilim. It's just a human being that's a witch, and they astral project and sleep with people.''
Immanuel's bizarre medical ideas don't stop with demon sex in dreams. In a 2015 sermon that laid out a supposed Illuminati plan hatched by ''a witch'' to destroy the world using abortion, gay marriage, and children's toys, among other things, Immanuel claimed that DNA from space aliens is currently being used in medicine.
''They're using all kinds of DNA, even alien DNA, to treat people,'' Immanuel said.
Immanuel's website offers a prayer to remove a generational curse originally received from an ancestor but transmitted, in Immanuel's telling, through placenta. Immanuel claimed in another 2015 sermon posted that scientists had plans to install microchips in people, and develop a ''vaccine'' to make it impossible to become religious.
''They found the gene in somebody's mind that makes you religious, so they can vaccinate against it,'' Immanuel said.
Immanuel built on her fascination with witchcraft in her 2015 Illuminati sermon, claiming that witches were intent on seizing control of children.
In her 2015 sermon on the Illuminati's supposed agenda to bring down the United States, Immanuel argues that a wide variety of toys, books and TV shows, from Pok(C)mon'--which she declares ''Eastern demons'''--to Harry Potter and the Disney Channel shows Wizards of Waverly Place and That's So Raven were all part of a scheme to introduce children to spirits and witches. Immanuel warned that the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana was a gateway to evil, because its character had an ''alter ego.'' She has claimed that schools teach children to meditate so they can ''meet with demons.''
In the sermon, Immanuel preserved special vitriol for the Magic 8-Ball, a toy that can be shaken up to ''reveal'' any answer. Immanuel claims the otherwise innocuous Magic 8-Ball was in fact a scheme to get children used to witchcraft.
''The 8-Ball was a psychic,'' she said.
Immanuel's oddball claims about the world extend to politics. She didn't bring up this allegation publicly in Washington, but Immanuel has claimed that the American government is run in part by non-human reptilians.
''There are people that are ruling this nation that are not even human,'' Immanuel said in her 2015 Illuminati sermon, before launching into a conversation she had with a ''reptilian spirit'' she described as ''half-human, half-ET.''
Immanuel has also used her pulpit to preach hatred of LGBT people. Shortly before before the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, Immanuel warned her flock that gay marriage meant that ''very soon people are going to be seeking to marry children'' and accused gay Americans of practicing ''homosexual terrorism.'' In the same sermon, she praised a father's decision to not love his transgender son after a gender transition.
''You know the crazy part?'' Immanuel said. ''The little girl demands he must love her anyway. Really? You will not get it from me, I'd be like 'Little girl, when you come back to be a little girl again, but you talk'--for now, I'm gone.'''
Unusually for a pediatrician, Immanuel has praised corporal punishment for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes corporal punishment, and claims that the ''vast majority'' of pediatricians do not recommend it.
''Children need to be whipped,'' she declared in a 2015 sermon, before adding that she didn't think children should be ''abused.''
It's also not clear that Immanuel has abided by her claims that face masks aren't necessary. In her Washington speech, Immanuel claimed that she and her medical staff had avoided any COVID-19 infections while wearing only medical masks. But in two videos shot at her clinic, Immanuel appears to be wearing an N95 mask, which offers more protection.
Immanuel has also alleged that masks of all kinds are superfluous, because she says COVID-19 can be easily cured with hydroxychloroquine. But in a Facebook video advertising her clinic, Immanuel said anyone seeking treatment should wear a face mask before entering the clinic.
''Wear a mask, or a scarf, or anything to cover your face,'' Immanuel said in the video.
Immanuel has seized on her newfound celebrity, tweeting a video demanding that CNN hosts and National Institutes of Health Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci give her jars of their urine so she can test if they're secretly taking hydroxychloroquine even as they caution against its use.
''I double dog dare y'all give me a urine sample,'' Immanuel tweeted in her challenge.
Now Immanuel is angling for the key rite of passage for any budding MAGA-world personality: a visit to the Trump White House. Late Monday night, Immanuel tweeted that she was open to meeting the president.
''Mr President I'm in town and available,'' she tweeted. ''I will love to meet with you.''
Kanye West Exposes Dark Truths About Kardashians, Tries to Break Away From Them - The Vigilant Citizen
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 14:46
Kanye West has been dropping all kinds of truth bombs regarding his wife Kim Kardashian, her mother Kris Jenner, and the entire system surrounding them. And, judging by the severity of his accusations, it appears that West is desperately trying to leave Kim Kardashian and distance himself from her family. Oh, and he's also running to become the President of the United States. What is going on?
To put things in context, we need to go back to 2016 when Kanye West was forcefully handcuffed and hospitalized for ''acting erratically''. He was placed in ''5150 Hold'', California law code for ''temporary, involuntary psychiatric commitment of individuals who present a danger to themselves or others due to signs of mental illness''.
Kanye spent 10 days at the Reagan UCLA Medical Center and came out of there a changed person. It should be noted that industry slaves Britney Spears and Amanda Bynes were both placed in 5150 Hold at the Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
So what happened to Kanye during these 10 days? While there's a shroud of mystery surrounding this bizarre episode, Kanye provided some insight during an interview with David Letterman.
''They handcuff you, they drug you, they put you on the bed, and they separate you from everyone you know. When you're in this state, you're hyper-paranoid about everything. Everyone '-- this is my experience, other people have different experiences '-- everyone now is an actor. Everything's a conspiracy. You feel the government is putting chips in your head. You feel you're being recorded. You feel all these things.''
Did these things actually happen to him? One thing is for sure, Kanye was subjected to some rather extreme treatments because he literally lost his memory for several months afterward. Indeed, about four months after Kanye's forced hospitalization, his longtime collaborator Malik Yussef provided some important insight:
''I've been to his house sat down with him for about six, seven hours, just walking through his health and recovery. His memory is coming back, which is super good. [He's] just healing, spending time with his family.''
What happened to Kanye for him to lose his memory while not being able to recover it for months? Did he undergo MKULTRA-like ''treatments'' such as electroshock therapy (ECT)?
''Memory loss is the primary side effect associated with ECT treatment. Most people experience what's called retrograde amnesia, which is a loss of memory of events leading up to and including the treatment itself. Some people's memory loss is longer and greater with ECT. Some have trouble recalling events that occurred during the weeks leading up to treatment, or the weeks after treatment. Others lose memories of events and experiences in their past.
Memory loss generally improves within a few weeks after ECT treatment. As with psychiatric medications, no professional or doctor can tell you for certain what kind of memory loss you will experience, but virtually all patients experience some memory loss. Sometimes the memory loss in some patients is permanent.'''' PsychCentral, Risks of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
When Kanye was released from the hospital, he had bleached hair. MK slaves are often identified with blond hair or wigs.
Kanye with bleached hair shortly after his release from the hospital.
Since this episode, Kanye simply hasn't been the same. He's yet another man who got involved with the Kardashians and ended up in a disastrous situation. A few years ago, Scott Disick went to rehab several times and kind of disappeared. Bruce Jenner became a woman and kind of disappeared as well. In 2015, Lamar Odom (Khloe Kardashian's ex-husband) was found unconscious in a brothel and almost died. In my article about Odom, I concluded:
''When you get involved with a family that is controlled by the occult elite, bad things often happen. Watch out Kanye.''
Back in 2015, things between Kanye and Kim K were seemingly great. But it was only a matter of time before this family of succubi got the best of him. And, in the past days, Kanye basically confirmed everything I've been discussing for years. And then some.
On July 19th, Kanye held in South Carolina his first political campaign rally. And it was probably the most bizarre campaign rally in US history. But what else would you expect from the year 2020?
In a lengthy and sometimes emotional speech, Kanye covered a wide variety of topics. For instance, Kanye talked about how he'd like to meet George Soros to build homes in Africa.
''George Soros knows how to build homes. That's what we would like to do. I would like to meet with George Soros.''
If that wasn't weird enough, Kanye also yelled ''I almost killed my daughter'' a couple of times because he wanted Kim Kardashian to have an abortion.
Kanye cries as he talks about the near abortion of his daughter North.
A few days later, Kanye launched Twitter bombs aimed at the people closest to him (he deleted them about an hour later). Here are some screenshots.
In these tweets, Kanye says that Kim was trying to ''lock him up with a doctor'' (MKULTRA reprogramming?) because he talked about the near-abortion. To drive his point further, Kanye compares his situation to the movie Get Out which is about black men being ''recruited'' by a white family and kept under mind control until they can be harvested for body parts and brain transplants.
The entire movie is based on mind control. Indeed, the slaves are taken to the ''sunken place'' (a state of complete dissociation) using hypnotic triggers, elements of neuro-linguistic programming, and references to childhood trauma.
In 2018, Kanye said that he was out of the ''sunken place'' '' a clear reference to mind control. Are they trying to bring him back in?
A tweet from 2018 about Kanye being ''out of the sunken place''.
In another recent tweet, Kanye claims that the Kardashians are trying to ''5150 him''. He also states that he's been trying to divorce Kim for years while calling Kris Jenner ''Kris Jong-Un''. That's because she is the undisputed dictator of the family.
In another tweet, Kanye tells Kris Jenner that she is not allowed near his children. That's pretty harsh. What did she do to them?
In other tweets, Kanye accuses Kris Jenner of photographing Kim Kardashian for Playboy and being behind the selling of her infamous sex tape with Ray J.
Interesting ''typo'' at the end.
Kris Jenner taking picture of naked Kim for Playboy.
Like Kanye stated, there are strong rumors claiming that Kris Jenner was behind the entire Kim Kardashian sex tape stunt.
In April 2016, Ian Halperin alleged in his book Kardashian Dynasty that Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, had deliberately leaked the sex tape to Vivid Entertainment. According to Halperin, ''A mutual friend of Kim and Paris Hilton had advised her that if she wanted to achieve fame, a sex tape would be the way to go '... Kim had discussed the idea of producing a tape with her family beforehand '... It was Kris who engineered the deal behind the scenes [with Vivid Entertainment] and was responsible for the tape seeing the light of day''. Upon the release of Kardashian Dynasty, a representative for Kardashian and Jenner denied all of Halperin's assertions'' Wikipedia, Kim Kardashian, Superstar
In another tweet, Kanye talked about Michael Jackson and Tommy Mottola. While this seems to have nothing to do with his other tweets, the core subject remains the same: MKULTRA in the entertainment industry.
In this tweet, Kanye refers to Michael Jackson's feud with Tommy Mottola who was the CEO of Sony. In the following video, Jackson talks about his financial dispute with Sony and how Tommy Mottola controlled his ex-wife Mariah Carey.
Yes, you heard correctly. Michael literally said that ''Tommy Mottola is the devil''. He was basically the MK handler of Mariah Carey. Jackson went on to explain the extent of Mottola's control and surveillance of Mariah Carey. About seven years later, Michael Jackson died in very mysterious circumstances.
Therefore, Kanye theorized that Jackson was killed for rebelling against Tommy Mottola and Sony. In short, Kanye might seem like a rambling lunatic. But everything he tweeted makes sense when one understands the MKULTRA context of the entertainment industry.
Kanye attacked his wife and his mother-in-law. He accused them of wanting to ''lock him up''. He exposed their MKULTRA ways and even claimed that he was trying to break away from them. How do you respond to that? Well, the Kardashians did some very slick PR. Kim posted on Instagram a message asking people to be ''compassionate about Kanye's mental health''. In other words, she says, in the most politically-correct way: Don't listen to him, he's crazy.
''As many of you know, Kanye has bi-polar disorder. Anyone who has this or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand. I've never spoken publicly about how this has affected us at home because I am very protective of our children and Kanye's right to privacy when it comes to his health. But today, I feel like I should comment on it because off the stigma and misconceptions about mental health.
I understand Kanye is subject to criticism because he is a public figure and his actions at times can cause strong opinions and emotions. He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bi-polar disorder. Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times do not align with his intentions.''
In response to this message, Kanye tweeted:
He's really trying to get out of that marriage.
Upon seeing all of this, one might ask: Is Kanye crazy? Well, it is obvious that he is not doing great. I don't believe that many people would do great after being forcibly hospitalized and drugged for months. And he might be bipolar, I don't know. However, when one knows about the dark side of the entertainment industry and its MKULTRA tendencies, everything he says actually makes sense. He would probably make more sense to people if he wasn't prone to rambling and jumping from one topic to another. But to those who get what he is saying, he's making perfect sense.
By viciously attacking his wife and her mother (the ''Grand Priestess'' of that family), Kanye is clearly trying to burn bridges and break away from the Kardashian coven. He is currently at his ranch in Wyoming, far away from Hollywood. Shortly after this Twitter rant, Dave Chapelle came by to visit him. That's 100% appropriate because Chapelle knows that those who are deemed ''crazy'' in Hollywood are often the sanest ones. Check out this video about Chapelle talking about Martin Lawrence:
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Killer heat: US racial injustices will worsen as climate crisis escalates | US news | The Guardian
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:52
Dangerous heatwaves are exacerbating systemic racial inequalities, with soaring temperatures expected to further disadvantage communities of colour if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, new research shows.
Extreme heat is among the deadliest weather hazards humanity faces due to the climate crisis, which contributes to thousands of deaths in the US every year.
Heatwaves have been occurring more frequently since the mid-20th century, and there's mounting consensus among climate scientists that dangerous bouts of high temperatures and humidity will become substantially more common, more severe, and longer-lasting without adequate action to curb global heating.
Now, new data provided exclusively to the Guardian by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), reveals:
Killer heat is already affecting communities unequally: between 1971 and 2000, US counties with more than 25% black residents endured an average of 18 days with temperatures above 100F (38C) compared to seven days per year for counties with fewer than 25% African Americans.
By mid-century if Paris climate accord targets are not met, US counties with larger black populations will face a staggering 72 very hot days a year on average '' compared with 36 days in counties with smaller African American populations, according to the UCS.
Latin communities also suffer disproportionately: historically, counties with more than a 25% Hispanic/Latinx residents experienced 13 days very hot days a year, rising to 49 by mid-century if greenhouse gas emissions are not curtailed.
''The significantly higher exposure to extreme heat is an artefact of where black people tend to live in the US which is a legacy of slavery,'' said senior climate scientist Kristina Dahl, who conducted the county divide analysis for the Guardian.
The findings come as the Guardian launches a series this week, Climate countdown, on the implications of Donald Trump's decision to take the US out of the Paris climate accord on 4 November, one day after the presidential election.
Dahl added: ''Even if rapid action is taken to limit the future temperature rise to 2C, the US can expect a significant increase in the frequency of extreme heat which will affect people of colour most severely as a result of systemic racism. If we blow past that target, the increase and the disparities will be enormous. Extreme heat is a climate justice issue.''
African American historical dataGuardian graphic | Source: 'Killer Heat in the United States', Union of Concerned ScientistsLatin American historial dataGuardian graphic | Source: 'Killer Heat in the United States', Union of Concerned ScientistsParis mattersOfficial figures show that this year is on track to be at least the second hottest on record, though some scientists warn that 2020 could even beat 2016.
Meanwhile coronavirus cases are soaring in much of the country amid sweltering temperatures that make life-saving protective face masks and stay-at-home orders difficult to comply with, and life-saving heat mitigation measures like public cooling centres and swimming pools difficult to provide.
Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement triggered widespread international condemnation because failing to reduce greenhouse gasses will have devastating consequences on every aspect of life including our ability to work, study and play.
By mid-century, a third of America's 481 largest cities will endure temperatures above 105F (40.5C) on at least 30 days a year '' a rise from just three cities historically (El Centro and Indio, California, and Yuma, Arizona), according to a landmark UCS report from 2019.
By the end of this century, this would rise to 60% of cities, which is the equivalent of 180 million Americans at risk of potentially fatal complications caused by heatstroke and heat exhaustion. In this scenario, children wouldn't be able to play outside and farmers would struggle to get crops to market.
Agriculture, an industry which depends on cheap migrant labour, many workers, especially undocumented migrants, already often lack access to crucial mitigation measures such as regular breaks, shade, medical services, adequate clean water and health insurance.
The Covid-19 pandemic is hitting people of color and native communities hardest, and Dahl's new analysis adds to a growing body of evidence linking systemic racism to the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis, including extreme heat.
Heat islandsIn US cities nationwide, heatwaves disproportionately affect underserved neighbourhoods thanks to the legacy of discriminatory housing policies denying home ownership and basic public services to people of colour, according to research published in Climate earlier this year.
This is the result of streets where people of colour lived being graded as ''hazardous'' starting in the 1930s '' otherwise known as redlining '' which were then denied a whole range of public and private services including banking, healthcare and parks, while being earmarked for environmentally toxic projects such as landfills and chemical plants.
Urban heat islands '' characterised by abundant heat-trapping structures such as housing projects and asphalt car parks, and inadequate vegetation '' are up to 12.6F hotter than non-redlined neighborhoods in the same city.
The heat disparity exists in 94% of the 108 cities analysed. For instance in Birmingham, Alabama, the average temperature in redlined neighbourhoods, which account for 64% of the city, is currently 8F higher than historically white neighbourhoods.
Vivek Shandas, professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University and lead author of the Climate study, said: ''It was a systematic insidious process which has had a domino effect on underserved communities that today we see playing out in terms of climate impact.''
Heatwaves will continue to be worse in the south, but extreme temperatures are also expanding to areas unaccustomed and ill equipped to mitigate the impact, according to Jen Brady, senior data analyst at Climate Central, a not-for-profit group.
Climate Central (@ClimateCentral)It's not an illusion: Summers are getting hotter across much of the U.S. Check your location here: https://t.co/5OE8Qwzf6L #ClimateMatters pic.twitter.com/OQrXzMieI5
July 21, 2020In Minneapolis, where the police killing of George Floyd triggered nationwide anti-racism protests, the average daytime summer temperature has risen 2.3F since the 1970s; at night it's up by 4.3F, according to Climate Central. The number of above-average hot days is up by 25% over the same period.
As with police brutality, racism also dictates exposure to deadly heat. In Minneapolis, former redlined neighbourhoods, where mostly low-income people and people of colour still live, are almost 11F hotter '' the third-largest temperature disparity after Denver and Portland.
It's not just the lack of trees and parks, access to economic resources to mitigate the harmful, potentially fatal impact of extreme heat such as air conditioning, cinema tickets, and even bus fare to reach a mall, is also inequitable, studies show.
In 2016, the net worth of a typical white family was $171,000 '' almost 10 times greater than that of a black family, according to the Brookings Institution.
Meanwhile, underlying health and environmental hazards which more commonly affect people of colour such as air pollution, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure, also increase the risk of heat-related illnesses.
School performanceOn very hot days, students struggle to learn as a result of heat-induced physiological changes. As the temperature climbs, children in schools without adequate air conditioning perform worse in tests.
In one recent nationwide study, using data from over 12,000 schools and 10 million middle- and high-school students, researchers found that a 1F hotter-than-average academic year reduces learning by about 1%.
But the effects of heat on learning are more pronounced for black and brown students and those living in poorer neighborhoods, because air conditioning '' like other essential school infrastructure '' is locally funded and unequally distributed.
The negative impact of heat accumulates, according to the data published in the American Economic Journal, which suggests that up to 7% of racial achievement gaps can be attributed to a combination of more hot days and hotter classrooms for African American and Latin students.
In an op-ed for USA Today last year, co-author R Jisung Park, an environmental economist at UCLA's Luskin Center for Innovation, wrote: ''Washington contributes essentially $0 to improving or maintaining school facilities. This is shortsighted '... adapting to climate change is a matter of racial and economic justice, especially in schools.''
St(C)phane Bancel - Wikipedia
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:35
St(C)phane Bancel (born 1972/1973) is a French businessman and the CEO and 9% owner of Moderna, an American biotechnology company.
Early life Edit Bancel was born in France and earned his master's degrees in engineering from cole Centrale Paris, and the University of Minnesota.[1] He went on to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School.[2]
Career Edit Bancel was a sales director at Eli Lilly and Company, eventually becoming head of operations for Belgium.[2] In 2007, he became CEO of French diagnostics company BioM(C)rieux.[2]
In 2016 Bancel joined Moderna, becoming CEO. Stat news, reported that Bancel led a highly secretive culture with little outside review of its science or research.[2]
Personal life Edit In April 2020, with the Moderna share price rising on news of imminent phase 2 human trials for its potential COVID-19 vaccine, Bancel's stake of about 9% became worth over $1 billion.[1]
References Edit
Dr. Anthony Fauci isn't 'particularly concerned' about safety of Moderna coronavirus vaccine
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:34
Published Mon, Jul 27 2020 12:24 PM EDT
Updated Mon, Jul 27 2020 4:19 PM EDT
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White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday he is "not particularly concerned" about the safety risk of a potential coronavirus vaccine by Moderna, despite the fact that it uses new technology to fight the virus. The vaccine, which entered a large phase-three human trial Monday, uses messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA molecules, to provoke an immune response to fight the virus. While early studies show promise, mRNA technology has never been used to make a successful vaccine before. "I'm not particularly concerned," Fauci said. "But I don't want a lack of severe concern to get in the way that we are keeping an open mind to look for any possible deleterious effects as we get into and through the phase-three trial."Dr. Anthony Fauci (R), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, participates in the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on April 22, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday he is "not particularly concerned" about the safety risk of a potential coronavirus vaccine by Moderna, despite the fact that it uses new technology to fight the virus.
The vaccine, which entered a large phase-three human trial Monday, uses messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA molecules, to provoke an immune response to fight the virus. Scientists hope mRNA, which relays genetic instructions from DNA, can be used to train the immune system to recognize and destroy the virus. While early studies show promise, mRNA technology has never been used to make a successful vaccine before.
"It's a novel technology. We are certainly aware of the fact that there's not as much experience with this type of platform as there are with other standards," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters on a conference call alongside National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins.
"I'm not particularly concerned," Fauci said. "But I don't want a lack of severe concern to get in the way that we are keeping an open mind to look for any possible deleterious effects as we get into and through the phase-three trial."
Scientists could know whether a potential coronavirus vaccine by Moderna works as early as October but will likely have the full results by November, Fauci said.
Moderna, which is working in collaboration with the NIH, announced earlier in the day that it began its late-stage trial for its vaccine. The trial will enroll at least 30,000 participants across at least 87 locations, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. Participants in the experimental arm will receive a 100 microgram dose of the potential vaccine on the first day and another 29 days later. Some patients will receive a placebo.
If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Moderna's experimental vaccine would be the first of its kind. Researchers will follow participants after the phase-three trial for one year to monitor the vaccine's potential safety risks and two years to monitor its efficacy, Fauci said.
Fauci said he hopes the vaccine will have an efficacy of at least 60%, meaning on average the vaccine reduces a person's risk of a Covid-19 infection by 60%. "Obviously, we would like to see it much, much higher. But 60% is the standard that you do for the cutoff. That's not unusual," he said. "I would like to see the highest percentage that we could possibly get."
Fauci touted the potential vaccine as a huge achievement, saying the time it took from getting the virus' genetic sequence to a phase-three trial was a record for the United States.
The comments by Fauci came days after he said a coronavirus vaccine likely won't be "widely available" to the American public until "several months" into 2021.
Public health officials and scientists expect to know whether at least one of the numerous potential Covid-19 vaccines in development is safe and effective by the end of December or early next year, he said during a live Q&A with The Washington Post on Friday.
"It is likely that at the beginning of next year we would have tens of millions of doses available," Fauci said, adding that some drugmakers have predicted more doses than that. "I think as we get into 2021, several months in, that you would have vaccines that would be widely available."
Though scientists expect to have an effective vaccine widely available by next year, there is never a guarantee. While drugmakers are racing to make millions of doses of vaccines, there's a chance the vaccine will require two doses rather than one, potentially further limiting the number of people who can get vaccinated once a vaccine becomes available, experts say.
Moderna said it remains on track to deliver between 500 million and 1 billion doses per year starting next year.
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Persistent hiccups as an atypical presenting complaint of COVID-19
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 05:36
Am J Emerg Med . 2020 Jul; 38(7): 1546.e5''1546.e6.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Cook County Health, 1950 W Polk Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
Received 2020 Apr 8; Accepted 2020 Apr 13.
Copyright (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
AbstractHiccups (singultus) are reflex inspiratory movements that involve the swallowing reflex arc and can be classified as acute (<48 h) or persistent (>48 h). A 62-year-old man with no history of malignancy or pulmonary disease presented to the Emergency Department with a four-day history of persistent hiccups. Other than episodic hiccupping, his physical examination was otherwise unremarkable. An abnormal chest X-ray led to a CT scan of the chest with IV contrast, which demonstrated regional, peripheral groundglass opacities of the upper lobes with small focal groundglass opacities scattered throughout the lungs. He was tested for COVID-19 per admission protocol, started on hydroxychloroquine, his hiccups improved, and he was discharged to home after 3 days. An emergency medicine physician should keep COVID-19 on the differential and be vigilant of exposure in atypical presentations.
1.'IntroductionHiccups are involuntary, spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles [1]. The majority of hiccup bouts (<48 h) are transient and resolve spontaneously, however, prolonged hiccups lasting >48 h may be attributable to serious underlying pathology and affect quality of life [2]. Although a specific etiology is often not found, a detailed history, physical examination, and diagnostic testing should be pursued to rule out underlying disease and target therapeutic intervention [3].
In December of 2019, a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was discovered in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China and has since spread throughout the world. To date, >750,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported globally [4]. A case report of 138 COVID-19 positive patients in Wuhan, China described fever, fatigue, and dry cough as the most common presenting symptoms, although a wide array of presenting complaints have been identified, including but not limited to myalgias, headache, hemoptysis, and isolated gastrointestinal symptoms among others [5,6]. Here we describe a case report of a male patient who presented with persistent hiccups as his chief complaint and was found to be COVID (+) with ground glass opacities on computed tomography (CT) of his chest.
2.'Case reportA 62-year-old male with a past medical history of diabetes, hypertension, and coronary artery disease presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with a chief complaint of weight loss and hiccups. He endorsed a twenty-five-pound unintentional weight loss over the last four months, and more recently, persistent hiccups for four days prompting his visit to the ED. He denied a history of cancer or current cigarette use. He denied fevers, nasal congestion, sore throat, chest pain, or shortness of breath that was different from baseline. He denied recent travel or sick contacts.
On arrival to the ED, vital signs were temperature 37.3 °C, heart rate 96 beats per minute, blood pressure 137/70, 20 respirations per minute, and oxygen saturation 97% on room air. Lung examination was notable for non-labored respirations with clear breath sounds bilaterally. The reminder of his physical examination was unremarkable.
The ED treatment team pursued imaging to rule out a mediastinal mass in the setting of persistent hiccups and weight loss. A chest X-ray showed new groundglass opacities in the right upper lung, left mid and lower lungs, and right costophrenic angle ( Fig. 1 ). A CT chest with contrast demonstrated regional, peripheral groundglass opacities of the upper lobes with small focal groundglass opacities scattered throughout the lungs ( Fig. 2 , Fig. 3 ). Laboratory values were notable for a leukopenia of 4200 cells and thrombocytopenia of 15,000 platelets. He was found to be hyponatremic (131) and hypochloremic (98), otherwise the remainder of his laboratory studies including his troponin, metabolic panel, lactate, and urine studies were non-contributory. The patient was subsequently moved to an isolation room and received 1 g of ceftriaxone and 500 mg of azithromycin intravenously for possible pneumonia. A respiratory viral panel and COVID-19 swab were sent, and he was admitted to the COVID medical unit as a person under investigation.
A chest radiograph demonstrating groundglass opacities in the right upper lung, left mid and lower lungs, and right costophrenic angle.
A computed tomography scan of the chest demonstrating peripheral groundglass opacities of the upper lung lobes.
A computed tomography scan of the chest demonstrating scattered ground glass opacities in the lower lung lobes.
On arrival to the medical unit he was febrile to 38.4 °C and mildly tachycardic with a heart rate of 104 beats per minute. He placed on contact and airborne isolation and started on hydroxychloroquine 400 mg BID for one day, followed by 200 mg BID for 5 days for suspected COVID-19 infection. The following day the patient was found to be COVID positive. Symptomatic care was continued and the patient was discharged three days after admission in stable condition.
3.'DiscussionInformation regarding the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 is rapidly evolving as data continues to emerge throughout the world. Here we present a case of persistent hiccups as the presenting symptom of a COVID-19 infection in a 62-year-old man. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of persistent hiccups as the presenting complaint in a COVID-19 positive patient in emergency medicine literature.
This case report highlights two important issues: first, it stresses the importance of a detailed evaluation in those presenting with hiccups, at a minimum taking a thorough history, physical exam, obtaining basic laboratory work, and getting a chest X-ray. Second, physicians should keep COVID-19 infection on their differential as more cases are discovered through atypical presentations. Providers must be vigilant and maintain personal protective equipment to avoid exposure from the undifferentiated patient.
Meetings/funding/conflicts of interestNone.
References2.
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Alleging breaches of confidentiality, Covington teen's attorney vows further legal action against CNN and Washington Post
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 04:42
An attorney representing Covington Catholic alum Nick Sandmann vowed Monday to take additional legal action against CNN and the Washington Post over alleged breaches of confidentiality.
''There is a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking,'' attorney Lin Wood told the Washington Examiner. ''I will not be speaking on this subject today beyond my tweets. But I will be taking actions.''
The Washington Post confirmed last week that it agreed to settle a $250 million defamation lawsuit stemming from the newspaper's flawed coverage in 2019 of a confrontation between Sandmann and Nathan Phillips, an elderly Native American protester. Like most major news outlets, the Washington Post misreported that Sandmann and his Covington Catholic High School classmates had ''swarmed'' Phillips, abusing him with racist taunts and jeers. CNN, which settled its own multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit with Sandmann in January, similarly mischaracterized the 2019 incident, giving the distinct impression that Sandmann had indeed harassed Phillips with racist insults.
Video footage of the confrontation shows that Sandmann and his cohort did not abuse or even approach Phillips. Rather, footage of the incident shows that it was Phillips who harassed the teens.
It is standard in legal settlements for both parties to agree to keep the details of the final arrangement confidential, meaning neither CNN nor the Washington Post nor Sandmann's attorneys are to discuss the dollar amount awarded or whether anyone admitted or denied guilt. The entire point of a settlement is that one party quietly pays another so that they can both walk away and never speak of the matter again, thus avoiding a costly, drawn-out, and possibly devastating trial.
Someone should tell that to certain CNN and Washington Post staffers.
It makes sense that the Washington Post settled with Sandmann, one of its reporters, Dan Zak, said this weekend in a since-deleted tweet.
''You settle for a small amount '' without admitting fault (because there was none) '' in order to avoid a more expensive trial that you would nonetheless win,'' he added. ''It is, you might say, the American way.''
A spokesperson for the Washington Post said Monday that Zak's tweet was deleted because he has no idea what he is talking about.
''Dan's tweet was taken down because it had no basis in fact,'' she told the Washington Examiner. "Dan has no knowledge about the agreement.''
Elsewhere, CNN's Brian Stelter shared a tweet Monday by attorney Mark Zaid, which reads, ''Those with zero legal experience (as far as I can tell) should not be conjecturing on lawsuits they know nothing about. What kind of journalism is that? I've litigated defamation cases. Sandman was undoubtedly paid nuisance value settlement & nothing more.''
CNN analyst Asha Rangappa also theorized about the dollar amount her employer paid Sandmann.
''I'd guess $25K to go away,'' she speculated on social media.
On Monday, Wood publicly addressed Stelter's retweet as well as Zak's and Rangappa's remarks, alleging all three had violated their respective newsrooms' confidentiality agreements with his client.
''This retweet by [Stelter] may have cost him his job at [CNN],'' Wood said. ''It is called breach of confidentiality agreement. Brian Stelter is a liar. I know how to deal with liars.''
He added in reference to Rangappa's remarks, ''Heads are going to roll at CNN or [Nick Sandmann] is going to filing another lawsuit & reveal truth.''
Wood had the same to say regarding Zak's tweet.
Spokespersons for CNN did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment.
Lincoln and the ''Necessity'' of Tolerating Slavery before the Civil War | The Review of Politics | Cambridge Core
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 23:34
Abstract
In an unsent 1860 letter, Abraham Lincoln mocked Sidney Fisher's claim that the ''institution [of slavery] is a necessity imposed on us by the negro race.'' And yet, Lincoln himself had often said that while slavery was an evil, the founders had to tolerate it where it existed owing to ''necessity.'' This raises the questions: What kinds of arguments about slavery and ''necessity'' did Lincoln find legitimate, and what kinds did he find to be illegitimate? In Lincoln's view, what exactly was it that necessitated the toleration of slavery where it existed at the time of the founding and into the 1850s? Lincoln's answers to these questions depart from the answers offered by Fisher, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Clay; this departure helped pave the way not only to Lincoln's later embrace of emancipation, but also his eventual movement toward the position that African-Americans would and should be full citizens.
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT: (C) University of Notre Dame 2015
ReferencesHide All
The author is very grateful to Martin P. Johnson, Jennifer Page, Joe Hebert, and the anonymous reviewers of this journal for their comments and suggestions.
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Episode 305 '' The Secret Life of Timothy McVeigh : The Corbett Report
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 22:12
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Timothy McVeigh. We've been told so much about him, the Oklahoma City bombing, and what it meant for America. But what if it's all a lie? Join us today for this special Corbett Report podcastumentary as we examine the multiple trucks, multiple bombs, government informants, faked executions and other pieces of information suggesting that McVeigh was not a ''lone wolf bomber'' at all but a sheepdipped special forces operative working for the government, exactly as he claimed.
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TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES:
[NOTE: A French translation of this podcast is available in the subtitles of the YouTube post.]
JAMES CORBETT: Timothy McVeigh. The Oklahoma City bomber. The ''face of American terrorism.'' The face of evil.
On the morning of April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Building was torn apart by explosions, killing 168. Office workers. Passersby. Children in the building's day care centre. Horrified, a nation in grief turned to the authorities for answers.
Now, 20 years after that tragic day, we all know the story the public was told:
NEWS REPORTER: ''Less than a week away now from the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. It's still the largest act of domestic terrorism our countries ever seen.''
NARRATOR: ''At approximately 8:40 in the morning of April 19th, 1995, a slow-moving Ryder truck was seen near the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
NEWS REPORTER: ''A Ryder truck loaded with a diesel fuel and fertiliser bomb, blew up next to Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, cutting it in half. 168 people, including 19 children it's in daycare centre, died.''
NEWS REPORTER: ''There you see, as the building was just simply cut away by this huge explosion.''
NEWS REPORTER: ''Collapsed into a shifting house of cards. Pulling at the rubble they sometimes wonder whether they're tugging the piece that holds it all up.''
NEWS REPORTER: ''The nation-wide search for suspects in the Oklahoma City bombing'...''
NARRATOR: ''The government has claimed that McVeigh was alone. Terry Nichols was also later arrested and convicted as an accomplice.''
NEWS REPORTER: ''The plot was said be an attempt to avenge the deaths of about 80 people in the government siege at the Branch Dividian compound in Waco, Texas, exactly 2 years earlier.''
And that story quickly centered on one man:
NARRATOR: ''Timothy James McVeigh was born on April 23rd, 1968, in Pendleton, New York.''
INTERVIEWEE: ''Tim, in his neighbourhood got to be pretty well known for being kind of an attention getter, an out-going type kid.''
NARRATOR: ''For Timothy McVeigh, guns would become a life-long passion.''
NARRATOR: ''McVeigh's decision to join the army in 1988 comes after high-school and a series of dead-end jobs. With his love of guns, this is a natural fit for him.''
NARRATOR: ''He and his unit, part of the 1st infantry division The Big Red One, we're sent to the Gulf and were in place, ready for war, by January 1991. When the war ended his unit was part of the security force signed to guard General Norman Schwarzkopf in Saudi Arabia.''
ED BRADLEY: ''McVeigh says several keys events caused him to, in his words 'snap'. Beginning in 1992 when federal agents killed the wife and young child of white supremacist Randy Weaver during a stand-off at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. His hostility towards the U.S. government solidified 8 months during another stand-off. This one at Waco, Texas. At one point during the 51-day siege, McVeigh traveled to Waco to witness events first hand and he happened to be video-taped there by a local news crew.''
(Source: The Execution of Timothy McVeigh 60 Minutes '' no longer available online)
NARRATOR: ''A call for an imminent war with the government spreads to cell groups across the far-right. Timothy McVeigh also becomes convinced by this time. Shortly thereafter he writes Michael and Laurie Fourtier, telling them that he wanted to 'take action against the government'. He then enlists the help of his old army buddy Terry Nichols.
He then rents a Ryder truck under the alias Robert Kling. The next morning, April 18th, he drives to a storage unit in Harrington. When Nichols arrives, the two load the bomb materials onto the truck and drive to nearby Geary Lake. There they spend the morning assembling the bomb.
At dawn he continues driving to Oklahoma City. The Regency Towers security cameras photograph McVeigh's Ryder truck passing-by on his way to the Murrah Building.''
(Source: Terror From Within (1995 Oklahoma Bombing Documentary))
JANET RENO: ''One of the individuals believed to be responsible for Wednesday's terrible attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, has been arrested.''
SHEPHARD SMITH: ''A highway patrol officer pulled over Timothy McVeigh less than 2 hours after the bombing for a missing license plate.''
(Source: 20 Years After Oklahoma City Bombing (video no longer online))
NEWS REPORTERS: ''In 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on 11 federal counts of murder and conspiracy. He was sentenced to death and executed in 2001.''
Timothy McVeigh. We've been told so much about him. What he did. Why he did it. What it meant for America. But how much of it is true?
For 20 years a handful of tireless researchers have been working to expose the lies surrounding the legend of Timothy McVeigh, the lone wolf terrorist mastermind. And what they have uncovered has been remarkable. These researchers are not isolated cranks, but US Air Force weapons experts, Oklahoma State Representatives, FBI whistleblowers, government informants, attorneys, eyewitnesses, veteran journalists and many others whose direct experience contradicts the narrative of the OKC bombing that we have been told. But perhaps the most compelling contradiction of the official story comes from McVeigh himself.
According to the official account, McVeigh had set his sights early on in his military career in joining the Special Forces, and it was the frustration of not achieving that goal that caused him to quit the forces suddenly and unexpectedly in 1991:
NARRATOR: ''During his stay at Fort Riley, Kansas in 1991, McVeigh had been selected to tryout for the Special Forces. The exclusive 'Green Berets', his dream assignment in the military.''
LAWRENCE MYERS: ''And trained extensively for it, doing hundreds of push-ups and hundreds of sit-ups everyday. Carrying hundreds of pounds of gear 13 '' 15 miles a day to get himself in the physical condition for the course. The Gulf War changed that for him.''
NARRATOR: ''Sergeant Timothy McVeigh was awarded the bronze star for valour and the combat infantry badge for his part in the fighting. When the war ended his unit was part of the security force signed to guard General Norman Schwarzkopf in Saudi Arabia. Suddenly he was told to return to the United States. His long-desired wish to try out for the Special Forces, his revered 'Green Berets', had finally become a reality.''
SHEFFIELD ANDERSON: ''He was getting everything ready, he was happy, he was excited, he getting things moving because he was going to the Special Forces.''
NARRATOR: ''One week later, Sergeant Timothy McVeigh was at Fort Bragg, North Carolina undergoing the strenuous Special Forces tryout. But he was not the soldier he had been before the war in the Gulf.''
LAWRENCE MYERS: ''After living in the desert for 4 months, he was physically drained particularly (because of) the desert conditions. His equipment was wore out.''
BRANDON STICKNEY: ''One of the tests was for him to carry a 45 pound sack with him on a long journey. He was wearing new boots, his ankles were aching. His body and mind were physically out of shape.''
LAWRENCE MYERS: ''His feet were blistered, his ankle was sprained.''
NARRATOR: ''At that point, McVeigh knew he could not pass the physically gruelling Special Forces tests. It was the most devastating thing that ever happened to him.''
LAWRENCE MYERS: 'And he sent a written notice to the CAP supervisor, a voluntary statement of withdrawal that reads: ''I am not physically ready.''
KENNETH STERN: ''It was his first failure in the military and his buddies saw a really altered McVeigh when he returned from that experience. He was somebody who had succeeded in everything in the military before, now he had failed and he seemed somewhat embittered and soured.''
(Source: Timothy McVeigh Biography Documentary)
But in a letter to his sister in October 1993, published in the New York Times in 1998, McVeigh tells a very different story:
'''Why would Tim, (characteristically non-drinker), super-successful in the Army (Private to Sergeant in 2 yrs.) (Top Gun) (Bronze Star) (accepted into Special Forces), all of a sudden come home, party HARD, and, just like that, announce he was not only 'disillusioned' by SF [the special forces], but was, in fact, leaving the service?'
He goes on to answer:
''Now here's what led to my current life: It all revolves around my arrival at Ft. Bragg for Special Forces. We all took intelligence, psychological, adeptness, and a whole battery of other tests. (Out of a group of 400). One day in formation, ten (10) Social Security numbers were called out (no names) and told to leave formation. Mine was one.
''The 10 of us were told that out of the select group of 400, we had scored highest on certain tests. We had been selected because of our intelligence, physical make-up['...], and physical abilities. We were to feel special, part of a hand-picked group). . . .
''We were all asked to ''volunteer'' (talk about peer pressure!) to do some ''work for the government on the domestic, as well as international, front.. . .
''What I learned next, both from the briefings, and from the questions and private talks included:
''1.) We would be helping the CIA fly drugs into the U.S. to fund many covert operations;
''2.) Military ''consultants'' were to work hand-in-hand w/civilian police agencies to ''quiet'' anyone whom was deemed a ''security risk.'' (We would be gov't-paid assassins!)''
How did the New York Times address these startling claims in a feature length article on the letter? A single, parenthetical remark:
''(The Government has always denied such activities.)''
This is a remarkable claim to be sure, but the question should not be whether or not this version of events has 'always been denied' in an unattributed way by an unidentified representative of an unidentified government agency, but whether or not there are facts to back up the claim.
So what evidence can we find in the public record that would shed light on the question of whether or not McVeigh was, in fact, still in the military at the time he wrote the letter? And, if such information exists, how does it change the story of the Oklahoma City Bombing?
Firstly, it makes sense to ask whether or not such a claim is even possible. Does the military engage such task forces of undercover operatives to carry out off-the-record missions? The answer to that question is ''yes.''
That answer comes from a number of sources, including Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty. As a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and Chief of Special Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Prouty worked from 1955 to 1964 as the liaison procuring military supplies, equipment and logistics support for CIA special operations worldwide. In his 1973 tell-all, The Secret Team, Prouty discussed the inner workings of America's intelligence community, noting:
'''Sheep-dipped' is an intricate Army-devised process by which a man who is in the service as a full career soldier or officer agrees to go through all the legal and official motions of resigning from the service. Then, rather than actually being released, his records are pulled from the Army personnel files and transferred to a special Army intelligence file. Substitute but nonetheless real-appearing records are then processed, and the man 'leaves' the service. He is encouraged to write to friends and give a cover reason why he got out. He goes to his bank and charge card services and changes his status to civilian, and does the hundreds of other official and personal things that any man would do if he really had gotten out of the service. Meanwhile, his real Army records are kept in secrecy, but not forgotten.''
This tactic was used, for example, in Project Heavy Green during the U.S. military participation in Vietnam in the 1960s. Restricted from deploying troops in Laos by the 1962 Geneva accords, forty-eight Air Force personnel were instead sheep-dipped and deployed in Laos as ''civilian employees'' of Lockheed to service a bombing radar installation there.
But was McVeigh sheep dipped? By its very definition this process is designed to be hidden from public view. Under such an operation, McVeigh's resignation, paper work, even his personal life would all look exactly as it should if he had genuinely been discharged from the military. Even more frustratingly, the sources of information that could potentially prove that McVeigh was in fact sheep dipped are being deliberately kept from the public.
Take the testimony of Terry Nichols. He is serving an unprecedented 161 consecutive life sentences for his part in the bombing at ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Colorado where he shares a cell block with Ramzi Yousef and Ted Kaczynski. In 2007 he provided a sworn deposition to attorney Jesse Trentadue where he stated: ''In December of 1992, Timothy McVeigh told me that while he was serving in the U.S. Army, he had been recruited to carry out undercover missions.''
McVeigh again told the same story to one of his fellow inmates on death row, David Paul Hammer.
DAVID PAUL HAMMER: ''Ah, McVeigh told me and another inmate here that he was actually an agent working for a guy called 'The Major' and he met this, allegedly met this man, when he reported for special trainings duty. He was told to wash out his special training and was asked to accept what was called 'Black Ops Operations' and he would be working as an independent person and he would recruit people to be in his unit.
According to McVeigh, this association went on for several years from the end of 1993, ah excuse me, 1992, throughout the date of the bombing of the Murrah Building on April 19th, 1995.''
(Source: David Hammer Talks About McVeigh and Government Prior Knowledge of OKC Bombing on Alex Jones Tv 1/5)
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the federal government has made it as difficult as possible for the general public to access this information or find out more about these claims.
After granting the interview discussing McVeigh's military connections, Hammer was placed on lock down and even prevented from contacting his attorneys. After receiving Nichols' sworn declaration that McVeigh was an undercover army operative, attorney Jesse Trentadue was prevented from gaining access to depose Nichols by a federal judge. The judge in McVeigh's own case also placed sensitive documents obtained by the defense during discovery under seal, documents that the producer of Oklahoma City bombing documentary ''A Noble Lie'' claims prove these connections.
JAMES CORBETT: ''So perhaps we can start with just laying out the parts of the record that we can all agree on about Timothy McVeigh and his background.
CHRIS EMERY: Well, he actually served in the U.S. Army. He was on the security detail for General Schwarzkopf, at the time the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the first Persian Gulf War back in 1990. He was a sharpshooter, a sniper, and he was commended actually when he was in custody at the Denver Federal Courthouse awaiting trail, the army had to award his two medal of commendation for his stellar service. As far the Special Forces, well it's still murky, we weren't able to find any documentation to support the fact that he did work Special Forces but we do know that was an employed by the CIA. He was a drug-smuggler and professional assassin. This was in the two years leading up too the devastation of April 19th, 1995.
We also know that he was on a joint-task force with the ATF and the FBI, tried to recruit people to help him blow federal buildings in seven different cities around the United States.
JAMES CORBETT: What you have just said will be stunning to those who have only heard the mainstream narrative of McVeigh. So let's talk about those pieces of evidence that document what you are talking about.
CHRIS EMERY: We were able to go through the defense council records. Stephen Jones was very generous in giving us access to those records. They're stored at a particular institution on the campus of UT Austin and through the hard work of Wendy Painting, one of our key researchers. Oddly enough she was born and raised less than an hour from where McVeigh was raised in upstate New York. But she had paid several visits to Austin and was able to access these records. The curator of the institutions was very kind to us as a film crew and I had the honor of actually joining her for about the 2 and a half, 3 months she was done there off and on of the course of 9 months. I joined her for 3 days and saw what she was going through and the records. I mean, this is what the defense council through a discovery process was able to put together.
Unfortunately the trial only last 3 and a half weeks, so they weren't able to present a lot of this evidence. And it was by the efforts of Judge Matsch, who was the presiding judge, he put a lot of these records under seal. It was never allowed to present to the jury. The prosecution wasn't ever aware of the records. So it was a very stunted and a very unfortunate set of events on that short trial.''
(Source: Corbett Report Interview 1026 '' Chris Emery on the Real Timothy McVeigh)
So what does this evidence amount to? Are these claims true? Until McVeigh's full defense records are unsealed or witnesses like Nichols and Hammer are deposed and their testimony investigated by a grand jury, researchers will have to rely on evidence in the public record to corroborate these claims and arrive at a better understanding of the bombing and McVeigh's role in it.
We do know that in August of 1993, director Bill Bean recorded some footage of Camp Grafton, a National Guard training center that provided explosives and demolitions training, while scouting locations for a film shoot. While filming at the center, one and a half years after McVeigh's supposed discharge from the Army, Bean had an encounter with a man he now firmly believes to have been McVeigh.
BILL BEAN: ''So what's your job?
TIMOTHY MCVEIGH: What was that?
BILL BEAN: What's your job?
TIMOTHY MCVEIGH: Oh, I'm a parts clerk.
BILL BEAN: You're just parking this one huh?
TIMOTHY MCVEIGH: Yeah, basically.''
BILL BEAN:''Hi my name is Bill Bean, I work in the film industry. On August 3rd, 1993 I was at Camp Grafton, North Dakota. Camp Grafton is a military training academy for the United States Army, the army reserve and the National Guard. The reason I was there was too scout locations for a film project I was working on. I was given a tour of the base, designated by Colonel. Dohl.
We were by the motor pool and there were a large group of tanks that were parked there. I saw 2 soldiers parking an armored vehicle. I asked the billeting director if I could go over and interview the soldiers. So I walked over to the armored vehicle, it had a port-hole in the back. I entered inside. The solider who had been driving the vehicle was closing the hatch in the front when he turned around, he looked at me and he froze. I had my video camera running at I said to him 'What's your job?' And he looked at me and he said 'What?' I said 'What's your job?' He says 'I'm nobody, I'm just a parts clerk.'
On August 3rd, 1993 is when I videotaped and interviewed Timothy McVeigh and year and a half after he was supposedly out of the military completely.''
BILL BEAN: ''So what's your job?
TIMOTHY MCVEIGH: What's that?
BILL BEAN: What's your job?
TIMOTHY MCVEIGH: Oh, I'm a parts clerk, I just'...
BILL BEAN: Oh you just parking this one huh?
TIMOTHY MCVEIGH: Yeah, basically.''
(Source: FMR '' Bill Bean Interview)
Was McVeigh involved in explosives training at Camp Grafton after his supposed discharge? Camp Grafton denies that McVeigh was ever present on base, but beyond the physical resemblance to McVeigh, Professor Michael Blomgren of the University of Utah conducted a voice analysis of the tape and found an 86% match between the person speaking on the tape and audio of McVeigh's interview on 60 Minutes.
BILL BEAN: ''I ended up going to Professor Blomgren of the University of Utah, who was in the speech pathology department. He did a voice forensics test. He did various computer and scientific tests on it and did human voice analysis tests also.
His final report to me was that we would that he would testify in a court of law that this is Timothy McVeigh. He had compared it to a 60 minutes interview and found a near perfect, near exact match.''
(Source: FMR '' Bill Bean Interview)
This footage is possible corroboration of McVeigh's story, but it is only that: possible corroboration. What else can we find in the public record that helps to back up this fantastic tale of McVeigh as a sheep-dipped special forces operative?
Let's start by examining Nichols' declaration. In it, Nichols, fearing for the safety of his family, notes:
''I cannot possibly discuss in this declaration all the information I have concerning the Oklahoma City bombing and others involved. But crucial parts of this terrorist act remain hidden from the American people '-- especially the identities of the 'Others Unknown,' who collaborated with McVeigh in the bombing.''
Nichols goes on to reveal the name of one of these collaborators. After noting McVeigh seemed ''upset and angry'' in learning about a ''change in targets for the bombing'' Nichols writes that ''in what I believe was an accidental slip of the tongue, McVeigh revealed the identity of a high-ranking FBI official who was apparently directing McVeigh in the bomb plot. The name McVeigh let slip was Larry Potts '' lead FBI agent at Ruby Ridge.'' According to Nichols, McVeigh was furious with Potts for ''changing the script'' on the bombing and, presumably, targeting the Murrah Building.
So who is Larry Potts?
Larry Potts was described as the Bureau's ''fastest rising star'' in the early 1990s, and as such was in the center of the Bureau's two most controversial incidents of that time, the Ruby Ridge shootout in which Vicki Weaver and her 14 year old son were killed by federal agents, and the Waco standoff that ended with federal agents burning down the Branch Davidian compound, killing 76 men, women and children. In May of 1995, directly after the Oklahoma City bombing, he was promoted to Deputy Director of the FBI where he was chief operating officer in charge of hundreds of criminal investigations. He was also the lead investigator on the bombing of the Murrah building.
So do we have any evidence that the FBI participated in a cover up of the OKC investigation? The answer is such a resounding yes that even high-ranking FBI officials have alleged just such a cover up.
DANNY COULSON: ''We know there were 24 people that were interviewed by the FBI, that said they saw Mr. McVeigh on April 19th with someone else. They had no reason to make it up, they didn't have a dog in the fight, they didn't have any reason to just make something up. They told the agents exactly what they saw and the agents wrote it down. If only one person had seen it, or two or three'...but 24! 24 people say 'yes I saw him with somebody else', that's pretty powerful.''
(Source: Oklahoma Bomb '' The Conspiracy Files)
That Danny Coulson, the man in charge of the FBI's collection of evidence from the Oklahoma City bombing, is himself alleging a cover up is significant.
As Coulson points out, in the immediate wake of the bombing the largest manhunt in the history of the bureau was launched to find the two men who were reported as having rented and driven the Ryder truck to its destination. John Doe No. 1 was soon identified as McVeigh, but John Doe No. 2, his accomplice, remained at large.
NARRATOR: ''Who is John Doe #2 and where is he? Employees at the truck rental business in Kansas that also helped with the sketch of a man who they say was with McVeigh. A square-jawed suspect with a tattoo on his left arm. Authorities made a second and then a third sketch of John Doe 2 based on a description from a Oklahoma City man who says he gave McVeigh and John Doe 2 directions to NorthWest Fifth and Harvey, the Murrah Building, 30 minutes before the bombing.
NEWS REPORTER: So he pulls up and then what, gets out of the truck?
WITNESS: No, he pulls up and I go up to the truck, went to see what he needed. He said he was kinda lost a little bit, said he was looking for Fifth & Harvey, the words he gave me, he did not distinct the building, the Murrah Building or nothing like that. He just asked me what direction Fifth & Harvey was. I kinda tried to explain it to him verbally and he seemed a little confused by the way I was explaining it to him. So at that time he got out of the truck and I kinda walked him about 3 or 4 feet from where we were standing and pointed it out to him, the direction where it was.''
(Source: 1995 KWTV '' Oklahoma City Bombing Special)
NEWS REPORTER: ''Now all these accounts share a common and unsettling similarity. The witnesses say they saw several accomplices including the infamous John Doe #2. ATF officials tell us the elusive John Doe is still part of this case but will not comment any further. However, they did tell us that there's a lot about this case that we don't know yet. Information you can't find in the indictments against Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Michael Fourtier.''
(Source: Oklahoma City Bombing Federal Surveillance Tapes Coverup)
FBI AGENT: ''The 1st man is of medium-build with a light-brow crew cut and he is right-handed.''NARRATOR: McVeigh is identified as the mystery man John Doe 1 and arrested.
FBI AGENT: The 2nd man is also of medium-build. He's further described at 5ft 9in to 5ft 10in tall. With brown hair and tattoo visible on his left arm.
NARRATOR: What happens next is conspiracists dream.
JANET RENO: John Doe #2 remains at large. He should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.
NARRATOR: But 2 months later, the FBI calls off the search. The official line is 'John Doe 2 doesn't exist'.''
(Source: Oklahoma Bomb '' The Conspiracy Files)
Why was the manhunt called off? Why were 24 separate eyewitnesses along the Ryder truck's route that morning dismissed as having imagined John Doe 2's existence? Is it because even more damning evidence, evidence that might reveal his real identity, was about to emerge?
NEWS REPORTER: ''It was just hours after the bombing when the news channel told you about the possibility that surveillance camera may have captured the explosion and the killers on tape. Our sources and the sources for the LA Times describe what's actually on those tapes.
The information shows some huge surprises. The biggest, that it may have been John Do #2, not Timothy McVeigh, who detonated the bomb. Brad Edwards has the latest on the investigation and this exclusive News Channel report.
BRAD EDWARDS: Our new information comes directly from a source that has seen parts of those surveillance tapes. It also comes from reports now in the Los Angeles Times but perhaps the biggest surprise is contained in the News Channels' own information:
Timothy McVeigh was not the last person to leave the Ryder truck, in fact another man sat inside the cab of the truck after McVeigh got out. We believe that man is John Doe #2. A man, for all we know is still on the loose. Leaving open a vital question. Was it John Doe #2 who actually set off the bomb not Timothy McVeigh as we've all been lead to believe?
News Channel 4 has for weeks been demanding copies of a surveillance tape from the FBI. The federal government so far is dragging it's feet. But many people in the investigation have seen the tapes and now, so has a source willing to describe to the News Channel what the tapes show.
The LA Times report shows there was a surveillance camera near the corner of 5th and Harvey and another near the corner of 5th and Robinson. Federal investigators recreated the time sequence leading up to the bombing, by matching the video and still photos from the surveillance cameras.
Since we can't show you the tape ourselves, we're reenacting what our sources says he saw on those tapes. As witnesses told the News Channel before, the tapes show the Ryder truck parked in front of the Murrah Building where we know now the blast went off. As witnesses also told us, the tapes show 2 men sitting inside the Ryder truck. A man strongly resembling Timothy McVeigh gets out of the drivers side, steps down, he then appears to have dropped something on the step up into the truck. He bends down and appears to pick something up off the step. Then, he turns and walks directly across 5th street towards the Journal Record Building. All this time, John Doe #2 is still inside the Ryder trucks cab sitting on the passenger side.
Time passes, the surveillance tape is time-lapsed photography. Without knowing exactly the time interval between shots, our source can't be sure how long John Doe #2 sat in that cab. What was he doing all that time?
Then the tape shows John Doe #2 getting out of the passengers side of the Ryder truck. Again, the tape shows what a bombing witness accurately described what happened next to News Channel 4.
WITNESS: I was standing in the building and looked out to the window and I seen the Ryder truck and I seen a man get out of the Ryder truck.
BEN EDWARDS: The tape shows John Doe #2 getting out, shutting the passengers side door. He steps toward the front of the truck and is momentarily out of the frame of the surveillance camera. But shortly he appears back in frame, walking towards the rear of the truck still on the sidewalk in front of the Murrah Building. Again, he turns east towards the front of the truck looking towards the street. John Doe #2 then walks diagonally across 5th street towards the east as if heading towards the YMCA or the intersection of 5th and Robinson. He again leaves the frame of the camera. Another camera shooting from another angle clearly shows the actual explosion that destroyed the Federal Building and killed 169 people.''
(Source: Oklahoma City Bombing Federal Surveillance Tapes Coverup | Time Reference TBA)
In any normal trial, the footage of the defendant at the scene of the crime with the alleged murder weapon would be the centerpiece of the trial. But this was no ordinary trial. Not only did the FBI never produce the surveillance footage at the trial, they never released it at all. Despite multiple sworn affidavits showing that the tapes exist, that they show John Doe No. 2, and that the cameras were removed from the scene by the FBI on the day of the bombing, they have still never been shown to the public. After a years-long court case that continues to this very day, the FBI claim that they have searched their records for the tape, but they just can't find it.
So why is the FBI so concerned about keeping this footage from the public? It shows two things which could completely change our understanding of what happened on April 19, 1995. The first is the possibility that the Ryder truck bomb was not the only bomb at the Murrah Building that day.
NEWS REPORTER: ''The 1st bomb that was in the Federal Building did go off. It did the damage that you see right there. The 2nd explosive was found and defused. The 3rd explosive that was found and they are working on as we speak as I understand. Both the 2nd and 3rd explosives, if you can imagine this, were larger than the 1st.
NEWS REPORTER: '...fact that they have found a 2nd explosive device of some kind inside this building.
NEWS REPORTER: Justice Department is reporting that a 2nd explosive device has been found'...
NEWS REPORTER: One device was deactivated, currently there currently there's another device'...
MIKE ARNETT: That in fact 2 explosive devices were found in addition to the one that went off'...
NEWS REPORTER: 2nd bomb to the east-side of that building. A bomb squad is on the scene'...
INTERVIEWEE: The medical teams downtown are unable to get into the wreckage to retrieve more of the injured because of the presence of other bombs in the area.
NEWS REPORTER: I just took a look down the street at the Murrah Building again, I see another bomb truck going so apparently they're going to try to get out that 3rd bomb that's been talked about.''
(Source: Oklahoma City Bombing RARE footage )
As retired US Air Force Brigadier General Ben Partin noted in an exhaustive report in the wake of the bombing, the evidence is conclusive that the Ryder truck bomb could not have accounted for the damage done to the Murrah Building.
GENERAL BENJAMIN PARTIN: ''I went to a 2 year graduate program'...(inaudible)'... of armament engineering graduates. It was the first that was ever set up and after that I worked at the ballistics research laboratories at Aberdeen which was 2 years of hands on work designing, developing continuous rod warheads for the'...(inaudible)'...and other weapons systems.
Well the truck bomb, even though it was fairly massive, it was somewhat removed from some of the structures that were damaged. It clearly has something what you call brisance damage, where the blast pressure was way above what you would expect to get from the truck, at distance.
CHRIS EMERY: Brisance damage is that caused by an explosive whose blast wave is powerful enough to shatter and destroy the material affected. The problem with the failed columns at the Murrah Building, is at that distance the air blast from an ANFO bomb would've been 10 times less powerful than what was needed to dissolve the concrete and cut the rebar. Those columns, had they failed due to air blast, should've broken with sharp chunks of concrete connected by rebar. Not sheered off at critical points. Brisance damage indicates contact explosives placed directly on the beams.
Even more perplexing is the total collapse of column B3 which caused the floors on the east side to pancake onto one another. The building was gutted to within feet of the other side. Column B4, closer to the truck bomb is completely intact. Yet we are supposed to believe that a blast wave traveled through B4, leaving the sheetrock almost untouched and completely destroyed the column farther away. And most of the front columns were destroyed when the supporting header beam failed, but the cause of failure supposedly being air blast should've thrown it into the building. Instead, it fell straight down and rolled towards the crater.
General Partins' report was conclusive. The Murrah Federal Building was not destroyed by one sole truck bomb. A major factor in it's destruction appears to have been detonation of explosives carefully placed at 4 critical junctures on supporting columns within the building.
Many independent experts concurred with the Partin report. Sam Cohen, inventor of the neutron bomb, issued this statement: ''I believe that the demolitions charges in the building, that were placed inside at certain key concrete columns, did the primary to the Murrah Federal Building. it would have been absolutely impossible, and against the laws of nature, for a truck full of fertilizer and oil'... no matter how much used'... to bring the building down.''
The FBI put all their weight behind the lone bomber theory and tailored the evidence to fit that scenario. Dr. Frederick Whitehurst, a supervisor at the FBI crime lab, turned whistle-blower over the Bureau 's handling of the evidence in the Oklahoma City bombing.
REPORTER: '...release a report today condemning the FBI crime lab for mishandling evidence and for slanting it analysis. The report is expected to specifically criticize the labs' handling of the Oklahoma City and World Trade Center bombing cases. It was the allegations of FBI whistle-blower Frederick Whitehurst that sparked that investigation.
CHRIS EMERY: Forced to resign, Dr. Whitehurst testified in Terry Nichols trial, that a fellow FBI chemist had changed his findings and lied under oath after meeting with federal prosecutors. The Office of the Inspector General, or OIG, investigated Whitehursts' charges and issued a report which concluded that the FBI crime lab had improperly identified the characteristics of ANFO, the weight of the bomb, the detonation system and even what kind of explosive was used.''
(Source: A Noble Lie)
But perhaps even more importantly, the missing surveillance tapes from the Murrah Building threaten to reveal the identity of John Doe Number 2. And as it turns out, there is every reason to believe that the missing accomplice in the case is, exactly as McVeigh himself alleged, a government informant, agent or operative.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act over the past decade have exposed a long-classified FBI operation from the early 1990s. This operation, dubbed ''PATCON'' for ''Patriot Conspiracy,'' involved FBI infiltration of the militia movement, including the very circles that McVeigh himself, model soldier and special forces recruit, was now moving in.
Attorney Jesse Trentadue has been one of the most outspoken voices about the PATCON operation and how it relates to the events in Oklahoma City.
JESSE TRENTADUE: ''As I pursued this over the last 16 years and lots of lawsuits and fights with the FBI. I stumbled across an operation that the FBI called PATCON. P-A-T-C-O-N.
PATCON was an acronym for Patriot Conspiracy and the FBI began to distance itself from PATCON when I was probing. And they said it was just a simple operation where they were going to infiltrate some militia folks in Alabama, who had stolen some night-vision goggles from a military base and were selling them.
But it was clear to me that PATCON was bigger than that, much much bigger and there were PATCON operations going on all over the country. They referred to them as PATCON Group 1, PATCON Group 2, PATCON Group 3.
INTERVIEWER: PATCON meaning, that's the FBI's name for their wide-scale, you say, investigation and infiltration of the radical right in the early-mid 1990's.
JESSE TRENTADUE: It went, apparently it went on throughout the 90's because here last summer I received a phone call from a fellow who said that 'I've been seeing what's being posted on the internet from your FOIA lawsuits with the FBI'. He said, 'You have all the pieces but you just haven't put them together'. And I said, 'What do you mean?' And he said, 'Well, you just don't see the picture', and so he came to see me and I directed him to Newsweek magazine and too some other reporters. He had been one of the top undercover operatives for the FBI in PATCON, for almost 10 years. He had infiltrated some 23 groups.
He started out believing it was the right thing, he wasn't ya know, so many of these informants are people who are caught in the act of committing a crime and are forced to go undercover for the FBI. He did it voluntarily because he thought these hate groups, what the(y) described to him as hate groups, were dangerous.
In hindsight he said looked back on it and he sees now that the agenda, the agenda was too infiltrate and insight the militia movement, the right-wing Christian movement to violence. So that the Justice Department could crush them. He said that Ruby Ridge was a PATCON operation. He said that Waco was a PATCON operation. He believed that Oklahoma City was but he wasn't involved in it but he did say that other members of the PATCON group were involved in Oklahoma City.''
(Source: dissentradio.com Interview with Jesse Trentadue 11/12/27)
At the center of the many threads of this operation was ''Elohim City,'' a white supremacist compound in Oklahoma whose ''chief of security'' was the enigmatic Andreas Strassmeir, son of former German chancellor Helmut Kohl's Chief of Staff and a former lieutenant in the German army with military intelligence training.
JAMES CORBETT: '''... and we have another angle of this as well from Carol Howe. Are you familiar with her case?
CHRIS EMERY: She was actually hired by the ATF to infiltrate the compound in Elohim City which was in eastern Oklahoma, almost right on the Arkansas border. Which she, they gave her ordinance, they gave her pipe bomb material, everything, to just find out if the people within Elohim City were capable of actually doing something such as the Oklahoma City bombing and come to find out that there was ATF and FBI informants that she didn't even know about. So it was really an odd mix of informants and not communicating with each other, catastrophic breakdown in communication.''
(Source: Corbett Report Interview 1026 '' Chris Emery on the Real Timothy McVeigh)
CAROL HOWE: ''I gave them warnings, targets, specific targets, addresses of targets, names of targets. I know of too many people that were talking about that building, talking about Oklahoma City, talking about doing something on that date using a truck bomb.''
(Source: Oklahoma Bomb '' The Conspiracy Files)
NARRATOR: ''In a report to the ATF in December, Howe reveals that Strassmeir planned to forcibly act to destroy the U.S. government with assassinations, mass-shooting and bombings.
CAROL HOW (audio recording): He said he wanted to go and blow up federal buildings. I mean just point black he said that what he'd like to be out there doing.''
(Source: Terror From Within (1995 Oklahoma Bombing Documentary))
Jane Graham, an eyewitness who worked in the Murrah Building, observed Strassmeir in the building the week before the bombing, going over blueprints and carrying what looked to be the components for C4 explosives and detonators.
CHRIS EMERY: ''As alleged in David Hoffman's book The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror, Strassmeir first aroused suspicion that he was an undercover operative when he was caught in Texas entering a federal building at night with a key code. Did he have access to the Murrah Building also?
CRAIG ROBERTS: When we interviewed Jane Graham, who is a survivor, she said that when she went to work, either the day before or 2 days before I don't remember which, she parked in the basement parking and when she got out of her car and was walking across the parking garage. She saw 3 guys down there wearing coveralls and placing putty on the columns and stringing wire between the putty. Later, she picks out one of the guys from photographs and says 'that's him' and it was Andrew Strassmeir.
JANE GRAHAM: Strassmeir was there, listening, going over the plans. He was listening to everything, what they were talking about, looking at place(s), pointing too things. But when they we're talking, whatever they happened to finally be talking about and when I was looking at him at that point that he left and went over to the other side of the building so I wouldn't keep watching him.
The second man that was there, who appeared to be military, he's the one, that man in charge told to put the stuff back in the car. The second man obviously was taking orders from the first man because he had wire in his hands, which I thought was telephone wire it's that real light color thin wire, and he also had what appeared to be grey putty.
CRAIG ROBERTS: Well that's exactly how you string composition C4 with det cord.
(Source: A Noble Lie)
Despite all of this evidence, Strassmeir was never interviewed by the FBI as part of their Oklahoma City investigation before he fled the country and returned to Germany.
This is just one of many examples of seeming foreknowledge of the attack that have since been covered up or suppressed by the FBI and the ATF.
ROGER CHARLES: ''The government has claimed that they had absolutely no prior warning and yet we start off with the interesting little episode where two Air Force bomb squad guys, and these are very special Air Force bomb squad guys that we know were cleared to work for Presidential security, VIP security and so on. They were ordered from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico to Oklahoma City arriving on Monday the 17th of April, 2 days before the bombing. Their orders were to go to a motel and wait there until contacted by the FBI.
I had become aware of this information in 1997, developed some confirming information but the key was that in the summer of 2001, two journalists had separate conversations with one of the individuals, one of the two individuals on this bomb squad team. He admitted he was there when asked in separate conversations by both journalists. 'Why he was there?' He responded 'You'll have to ask the FBI'.''
(Source: Corbett Reporrt Interview 509 '' Roger G. Charles on What the OKC Investigation Missed)
INTERVIEWEE: ''There was this fairly large truck with a trailer behind it and it had a shield on the side of the door and it said Bomb Disposal or Bomb Squad below it.
20/20 REPORTER: Authorities now claim in federal investigative reports, that the huge ominous truck with it's trailer was being used by deputy to run routine errands.
Other documents obtained by 20/20 show that someone called the Executive Secretariats Office at the Justice Department in Washington and said 'The Murrah Building had been bombed but this was 24 minutes before the blast. No action was apparently taken.''
(Source: A Noble Lie)
NEWS REPORTER: ''Yet another witness, a rescue worker says after she talked with an agent at the bombing scene she also suspected the ATF was warned and agents stayed away from their office that morning.
WITNESS: I asked him if his office was in the building and he said 'Yes' and I asked if there were any ATF agents that were still in the building and he said 'No, we weren't here.'
NEWS REPORTER: Witness #1 approached an ATF agent nearby. He claims he asked the agent what had happened and witness #1 says this is what they agent told him.
WITNESS #1: He started getting a little bit nervous, he tried reaching somebody on a 2-way radio. (He) couldn't get anybody and I told him I wanted an answer right then. He said they were in debriefing and the agents hadn't been in there, they'd been tipped by their pagers not to come in to work that day. Plain as day out of his mouth. They were tipped, why wasn't anybody else?''
(Source: OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING '' THE CONSPIRACY)
Any one of these indications of foreknowledge of the blast would be incredible enough. Taken together, they provide corroboration of the thesis that the government in fact had informants in the plot and were allowing it to go ahead.
But more startling by far than all of these accusations is the case of Dipole Might. Dipole Might was an ATF project ''to familiarize BATF agents with truck bomb debris patterns and to calibrate the effect of vehicular explosions on a variety of materials and structures.'' Beginning in 1994, the Bureau conducted a series of experiments at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, blowing up vehicles with C4 and ANFO explosives and analyzing the blasts to gauge the effect of terrorist bombings on government buildings.
Even more incredible, pictures emerged in 1997 of a Ryder truck parked at Camp Gruber Training Center in Oklahoma. The source of the image, who feared for his safety and requested anonymity, asserted that the images were taken in early April of 1995, just two weeks before the bombing. The National Guard did eventually confirm that the images were authentic and that the Ryder truck's presence at the camp was related to a ''weapons sensor'' project connected with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, but issued a statement insisting that this Ryder truck and the weapons project it was associated with ''had no association whatsoever with the tragedy at the Alfred P. Murrah Building.''
Could this be the other Ryder truck that witnesses reported seeing at Lake Geary several days before Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols arrived to construct their bomb?
CHRIS EMERY: ''The official narrative dictates that Tim McVeigh alone rented the Ryder truck in Junction City, Kansas on April 17, 2 days before the bombing. He and Terry Nichols supposedly constructed the bomb on April 18th. But the bulk of eyewitness accounts assert that the Ryder truck was at Geary lake several days before that.
JAMES SERGEANT: I retired April 11th, 1995 and after finishing up that morning I decided to stop by here and fish at Geary State Lake. Right in this general area here that I was fishing from, the pier or jetty. And I stayed here most of the afternoon fishing, of course with no luck. Later on that afternoon I had decided to maybe go back over this way over here to the other point back there and see if I'd have any luck. I noticed a Ryder truck over there.
I was sitting at home one day and my wife came in from work and she said she had been stopped at a road-block up here at Geary Lake in reference to the Oklahoma City Bombing and the making of the bomb here at Geary State Lake with a Ryder truck. And I said well I had told you about the Ryder truck I had seen there before this and that's how I became aware of it. The next thing I knew, she told the ATF and FBI the people at the road-block what I had seen and before I knew it my house was swarming with agents.''
(Source: A Noble Lie)
Multiple trucks. Multiple bombs. Government informants. Prior warnings. PATCON. John Doe Number 2. Andreas Strassmeir. The indications of government participation and cover up in the bombing itself continue to mount and mount. And they paint a very different picture of McVeigh than that of the lone wolf bomber that the government and media have spent 20 years asking us to believe in.
But why? If there was government complicity in the plot to blow up the Murrah Building, why would this be so? What would the government stand to gain from this?
Firstly, PATCON gained its objective of discrediting militias, gun rights groups, and those concerned about governmental overreach once and for all in the mind of the American public.
PHIL DONAHUE: ''The United States of America they believe the the United States government is prepared to usurp the Constitution and break down doors and confiscate guns. Am I lying to these people Bob Fletcher and Jim Trochman?
JOHN TROCHMANN: John Trochman.
PHIL DONAHUE: John sorry, it says John here. You believe this?
JOHN TROCHMANN: No not quite like that. Not the U.S. government.
PHIL DONAHUE: Which government, the one world government?
JOHN TROCHMANN: Yes sir.
PHIL DONAHUE: The United Nations?
JOHN TROCHMANN: Yes sir.
PHIL DONAHUE: And you're in the woods now and you're not, neither of you'...
JOHN TROCHMANN: No.
PHIL DONAHUE: You're not in the woods?
JOHN TROCHMANN: No no no.
PHIL DONAHUE: You're from Montana, the city of Noxon.
JOHN TROCHMANN: Yes sir, the little town of Noxon.
PHIL DONAHUE: 350 people.
JOHN TROCHMANN: Maximum.
PHIL DONAHUE: Are you're living in the woods?
JOHN TROCHMANN: No, we're not.
PHIL DONAHUE: No, you're not. Is anybody in Montana?
JOHN TROCHMANN: Just their plain homes.
PHIL DONAHUE: You're sitting next to Ray Southwell who does from Michigan. You're living, you gather in the woods don't you, in Michigan?
RAY SOUTHWELL: When we train?
PHIL DONAHUE: Yeah.
RAY SOUTHWELL: That's correct.
PHIL DONAHUE: But you're not living there?
RAY SOUTHWELL: I don't quite understand when you say living there. I live in Northern Michigan and I have 20 acres that I live on and there's a house there.
PHIL DONAHUE: Right.
(Source: Phil Donahue Show regarding the Militia 1994 Part 1 )
Secondly, an ATF that had suffered a severe backlash from its mishandling of events at Ruby Ridge and Waco, could win public support and sympathy by parading as the victim of anti-government crazies.
Thirdly, it provided new life to the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995, a controversial bill introduced by Joe Biden two months before the bombing that would have given police broad new powers to use secret sources and secret evidence in terrorism proceedings. Widely denounced as an affront to civil liberties, the bill was languishing in committee. But all that changed on April 19, 1995. The very day after the blast at the Murrah Building the New York Times wrote about the bill that ''after the Oklahoma City bombing, there are few surer legislative bets in Washington.'' The legislation morphed into the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 and was passed the next year, with President Clinton specifically linking the bill to the bombing in his signing statement. Years later, Biden claimed that his original bill was the core of what eventually became the PATRIOT Act.
Fourthly, the bombing also conveniently destroyed a number of documents that were proving to be problematic for the Clinton administration. Documents that had all somehow or other ended up being housed at the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995.
CRAIG ROBERTS: ''Day 1, hour 2 of the bombing the most significant event that happened is when they said found other bombs in the building. The second most significant event is when they moved everybody back and held them back there were still people alive trapped in the building but they came in with 2 trucks and backed them up to the Murrah Building and a bunch of these guys dressed in blue jackets with no letters on the back started taking boxes of files out and started putting them on this truck.
DON BROWNING: We were told by a blonde female agent that there were files so serious to the government that until the files were located there would not be any recovery effort.
V.Z. LAWTON: If you remember the Whitewater investigation in Arkansas, all of the paperwork was stored in the Murrah Building. They had FBI just over in the fields to the west of the Murrah Building just picking up paper almost all day long.
CRAIG ROBERTS: And it was during this time that early in the investigation I started receiving some various phone calls. One of them was a phone call from Little Rock, Arkansas, the guy said that he was a federal agent he was not an FBI agent he was not ATF but what he did say was during their investigation of the Clintons all the drug-running that through Mena, Arkansas, Lasaters' Ranch and all of that stuff that was going on during the time of Iran-Contra that those records when Clinton went to Washington were transferred there to the Murrah Building.''
(Source: A Noble Lie)
But what about McVeigh? What was his role in all of this? Criminal mastermind? Convenient patsy? Unwitting dupe? Or sheep-dipped operative, exactly as he claimed to be?
It's at this point that most such investigations would end, with the narrator metaphorically shrugging his shoulders and suggesting that the secrets of the bombing might have gone to the grave with McVeigh himself. But this is not such a story.
In fact, there are reasons to believe that McVeigh never actually went to the grave at all.
DAVID PAUL HAMMER: ''He told us many time he would vacillate on this issue from time to time but his main thing was that was he not gonna be executed that 'The Major' was gonna have someone infiltrate the execution team and that he would be given drugs that would feign the appearance of death but, and he says the CIA and other people use these drugs and that they would be taken out and he would be given some kind of medication that would counteract the other and that he would be rewarded for serving his country. It sounds a little bit far-fetched but I mean I've talked to several people who witnessed the execution including Janie Coverdale and she doesn't know one way or another whether Tim was executed. He was covered up from toe to neck couldn't see any IV lines running into his veins and so she clearly says that she doesn't know if he was executed or not, and she watched him. So, I don't know if Tim McVeigh is dead.''
(Source: David Hammer Talks About McVeigh and Government Prior Knowledge of OKC Bombing on Alex Jones Tv 2/5 )
McVeigh spent much of his time on death row fighting for a very unusual request: to not have an autopsy performed on his body after his execution. Autopsies are standard procedures after federal executions and would have been performed on McVeigh, but the request was granted.
During the execution itself, one of the eyewitnesses, Susan Carlson of WLS-AM radio, reported Mcveigh ''appeared to be still breathing or what appeared to be shallow breathing, even after being pronounced dead, and his eyes remained open.''
After the execution, prison officials admitted to using a decoy to throw the public off the trail of McVeigh, who was ostensibly transported to a local funeral home and cremated before his ashes were turned over to his attorneys.
Perhaps it's appropriate in a sick way that we don't even have closure on this, the one part of the OKC bombing story that even the most incredulous have long believed was unquestionable. After all, the only constant in the case is that at every turn the government has lied about what they know, withheld evidence and otherwise kept the public in the dark about what really happened that day.
Meanwhile those brave few who have sought to shed light on these issues or just gotten caught up in the story have ended up with their lives transformed, their reputations shattered and, in some cases, have lost their lives. All in maintenance of this mystery:
Who is Timothy McVeigh?
Filed in: Podcasts Tagged with: clinton ' false flag ' fbi ' okc
ðºð¸ Pismo ðºð¸ on Twitter: "Mug shots of Antifa members arrested in Portland!! 13 out of 20 are TEACHERS!! This should be a "wake up call". https://t.co/VThmXOdCmF" / Twitter
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 18:18
ðºð¸ Pismo ðºð¸ : Mug shots of Antifa members arrested in Portland!!13 out of 20 are TEACHERS!!This should be a "wake up call". https://t.co/VThmXOdCmF
Sat Jul 25 22:48:21 +0000 2020
Mary Mary : @Pismo_B They're soulless looking creatures!
Mon Jul 27 18:17:52 +0000 2020
Judi Block : @Pismo_B We need vouchers in the school system...better yet, homeschool if you can.
Mon Jul 27 18:15:19 +0000 2020
Rosemarie Jensen : @Pismo_B Teachers were protesting. there is no antifa membership card. You are making shit up.
Mon Jul 27 18:14:53 +0000 2020
Cmann : @Pismo_B Sick. These people are scum.
Mon Jul 27 18:05:47 +0000 2020
jimmytwohands : @Pismo_B This rules, thank's
Mon Jul 27 18:05:25 +0000 2020
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson become official Greek citizens
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 16:27
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are officially citizens of Greece, the country's prime minister announced.
The famous couple appeared in an Instagram post from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which showed both actors posing with passports alongside Mitsotakis and his wife, Mareva Grabowski.
"@ritawilson @tomhanks are now proud Greek citizens!" the caption read.
Wilson, 63, is of Greek and Bulgarian ancestry. She and Hanks, 64, frequently spend their summer vacations on the Greek island of Antiparos. USA TODAY has reached out to the couple's representatives for more information.
Last December, Greece's President Prokopis Pavlopoulos signed an honorary naturalization order allowing the actor to claim Greek citizenship, his office told The Associated Press at the time.
Hanks celebrated the news in January, announcing on social media that he was "starting 2020 as an Honorary citizen of all of Greece!"
Under Greek law, honorary naturalization may be granted to people "who have provided exceptional services to the country or whose naturalization serves the public interest."
'Just wear a mask!':Rita Wilson reflects on her 'scary' COVID experience, making music in lockdown
Hanks and Wilson have had a rollercoaster of a year: After celebrating his honorary citizenship in January, Hanks announced March 11 that he and Wilson had contracted the novel coronavirus while in Australia filming Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley movie.
After two weeks of isolation, the couple was able to return to their home in Los Angeles. The have since recovered and Hanks made his first appearance post-coronavirus in April as the first host of a remote "Saturday Night Live" from his kitchen.
Contributing: Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY and The Associated Press.
Road to Socialism USA
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:43
Preface
The Road to Socialism USA is the Program of the Communist Party USA, adopted in 2005 and updated by our 100th Anniversary Convention in 2019 in Chicago. It offers our view of the path from the struggles of the present all the way to socialism, a strategy of struggle, unity, reform, and revolution.
All of humanity is faced with multiple, interlocking crises''in the economy, in our shared environment, in extreme weather disasters, in the growing danger of pandemics. These crises expose the rampant income inequality, the disparate impacts of these crises on those facingexploitation and oppression, and, in the U.S. especially, the inhumane lack of health care for all.
These are crises of capitalism, an inhumane, exploitative, oppressive economic system of greed. In the present we struggle to improve the lives of workers and poor people, in our country and around the globe. Ultimately, to solve the challenges facing humanity, we need to replace capitalism with socialism, a system of cooperation, democracy, and equality.
The world is changing around us. As we adopted this program, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic exploded around us. This pandemic has laid bare the economic weakness of capitalism. The system is unable to adequately compensate workers for lost income, unable to deal with the economic devastation for both small businesses that crash with only a few weeks of being shut down and the workers who are laid off as a result, unable to take the necessary concerted collective action when saddled with a financial system geared only to endless profit-taking instead of prioritizing the health of the entire population.
An economic system that demands death for seniors in order to ''restart the economy'' is a system that is morally and economically bankrupt. The immediate crises of health care and the economy are intertwined with the long-range crisis of climate change and the need for fundamental transformation. Capitalism is a cause of much of the problems we face, and is also the main obstacle to finding real and lasting solutions. We need a system that prioritizes the needs of the people before the greed of the few, the 1%.
The ultimate results of the pandemic, in lives lost, in economic devastation for billions of workers, in massive political repercussions for the ineptitude and criminality of the Trump administration's response, will not be understood for some time. We don't yet know enough to adequately address the crisis and its effects in this program. We will amend the program to account for those changes as both the total impact of the problems and the struggles to address and solve them become clear.
We stand with the workers of our country, and the working class of the whole world, for health care for all, for an end to income inequality, against racism, sexism, and all injustice. Join with us!
The Road to Socialism USA: Unity for Peace, Democracy, Jobs, and Equality
I Introduction II Capitalism, Exploitation, & OppressionPresent Features of CapitalismCapitalism Versus the EnvironmentIII The Working Class, Class Struggle, and Forces for ProgressThe Working Class and the Trade Union MovementSpecial Oppression & ExploitationThe Complexity and Interconnection of National and Racial OppressionMultiracial, Multinational Unity for Full Equality and Against Racism'--Core Forces for ProgressAfrican AmericansMexican AmericansPuerto RicansNative PeoplesOther Indigenous PeoplesImmigrantsMuslims and Middle Eastern PeoplesAsians and Asian AmericansThe Struggle for Full Equality for WomenYouth and StudentsAdditional Social Forces for ProgressLGBTQ CommunityFarmers and the Rural PopulationSeniorsThe Jewish Community and Anti-SemitismSocial Movements for ProgressProgressive CultureHealth Care StrugglesProgressive and Democratic Religious MovementsIV The Democratic StruggleV Unity Against the Extreme RightThe Extreme RightThe Other Capitalist CampDefeating the Extreme RightVI Building the Anti-Monopoly CoalitionAn Anti-Monopoly ProgramA Labor-led People's PartyThe Left in the Anti-Monopoly CoalitionVII The Revolutionary Transition to Working People's PowerVIII International Capital versus International SolidarityCapitalism in the Era of Monopoly and ImperialismThe International Front for Peace and ProgressInternational Working Class SolidarityIX Socialism in the USAX The Role of the Communist Party
I Introduction
A better world is both possible and essential for human survival. Working class people around the world need a future without war, racism, exploitation, inequality, environmental destruction, and poverty. Through growing consciousness and experience in struggles on the job and in our communities, we strive to build a brighter future based on democracy, peace, justice, equality, cooperation, a healthy environment, and meeting human needs. That future is socialism, a system in which working-class people control their own lives and destinies. The Communist Party USA is dedicated to the struggle for socialism in this country and peace throughout the world. This is our program.
Millions of working people have the power'--if organized and united'--to govern this country and create a government of, by, and for the people. The people of our country, suffering from an exploitative, oppressive economic system, have the right and responsibility to alter or abolish it. We can remove corporate financial donors from the election process, throw the speculators out of the banks, breakup or nationalize ''too big to fail'' banks, eject CEOs from their golden parachutes, and elect honest working people to represent us in government instead of corporate lawyers, multimillionaires, and billionaires.
What socialism could look like
Socialism, with the active participation of millions, will usher in a new era. The great wealth of the U.S. will for the first time be used to benefit all people. Democratic rights will be guaranteed and expanded. Racial, gender, and social equality will be the basis of domestic policies and practices. Foreign policy will be based on mutual respect, peace, and solidarity. Socialism is not a dream but rather a necessity to improve working class people's lives and ensure the survival of developed human civilization. Only socialism has the solutions to the problems of capitalism. The working class, the vast majority of the population, will have full political and economic power with socialism.
We, the working class and people of the United States, face tremendous problems: exploitation, oppression, racism, sexism, a deteriorating environment and infrastructure, huge budget deficits to pay for tax cuts for the 1%, and a government dominated by the most vicious elements of big capital and its political operatives. We face the problems of everyday living, making ends meet, and having a voice at work and in our communities.
We, the working people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, need socialism'--a system based on people's needs, not on corporate greed. A radical critique of capitalism and the vision of socialism form the basic ideas of the Communist Party, USA.
Our Party's history
The United States has a rich history of radical and revolutionary struggles. Mass movements have demanded and won economic and social programs to meet some basic needs of the people, of protecting and expanding democracy, and of uniting to overcome obstacles with initiative, energy, and innovation. The Communist Party is a proud part of our country's radical traditions. Since our founding in 1919, we have participated in the historic struggles of our class and people: for Social Security, unemployment insurance, the right to unionize, racial equality and justice through the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement, peace through the anti-Vietnam War and other anti-war movements, restoring a struggle orientation to labor, and many other struggles.
Over our history, the Communist Party has helped bring dedicated working class and other progressive forces together in united action. We understand that the battles for reforms, to protect and extend democracy, and to protect hard fought gains constitute the field upon which class and socialist consciousness will be built, laying the foundation for more advanced struggles.
Problems of Inequality, Exploitation, and Oppression
Our current class divide is characterized by extreme inequality, between the CEO ''earning'' $10,000 per hour and the minimum wage workers who must work multiple jobs to provide for their families'--all while suffering discrimination, sexual harassment, and loss of the right to unionize. Workers are losing rights due to new restrictions on voting, attacks on unions and other organizations, and eroding living standards. Working class people, as individuals, have little power in the face of the elite corporate class that controls the banks and other large, multinational corporations.
The working class, all those who depend on a payroll check'--the vast majority of the people'--face a relentless, vicious, opponent: the capitalist class, embedded in an amoral system: capitalism. The U.S. working class and people are oppressed by one of the most controlling, entrenched capitalist ruling classes ever, concentrating enormous political, economic, and military power in the hands of a few transnational corporations, led by global finance banks and the politicians who do their bidding. They exploit workers on the job and at the checkout counter, as renters and homebuyers, and as taxpayers. In addition, these corporations seek to steal, embezzle, extort, and scheme more wealth from tens of millions of working people, from small businesses and family farmers, from men, women, and children, from seniors and youth, and from the employed, underemployed, and unemployed. Barbaric methods are used to divide workers and achieve excess profits. Their foremost weapons to maintain their dominance are racism, sexism, ultra-nationalist anti-immigrant hysteria, and anticommunism. The most backward corporate and wealthy elements work hard to extend the control of the political extreme right over the government and government policy.
Every movement for change and progress challenges the power of the corporations. Workers confront corporate power daily in their workplace and in every contract negotiation. African Americans, Mexican Americans and other Latinos/Latinas, Native Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBTQ community, and women all confront corporate power when they fight for equality on the job and in their communities. Youth confront corporate power when they fight for free quality education and relief from the student debt crisis. Environmental organizations confront corporate power when they try to stop global warming, pollution, the dumping of industrial waste, or the ravaging of the remaining wilderness areas for profit.
The threat of nuclear war, which can destroy all humanity, grows with the spread of nuclear weapons, space-based weaponry, and a military doctrine that justifies their use in preemptive wars and wars without end on behalf of corporate profits. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. has been constantly involved in aggressive military actions both big and small. These military actions have cost millions of lives and casualties, huge material losses, as well as trillions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. ''Defense'' costs are a cash cow for the armaments industry and eat up more than half the federal budget, draining money desperately required for social needs.
Capitalists have been working for decades to reverse working-class gains, such as those won during the New Deal, as part of a global attack on workers, unions, and progressive movements and organizations.
The last decade has intensified the fight for dominance by the most reactionary section of the capitalist class. The only way to defeat this extreme right domination lies in building the broadest, most inclusive unity among our multiracial, multinational, multigender, multigenerational working class, along with the major progressive forces that are its allies. This starts with the labor movement unifying its diverse working class base and building alliances with the whole of the racially and nationally oppressed people, women, and youth. We must unite lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight people; professionals and intellectuals; seniors; the disabled; and the mass people's movements. These include the peace, environmental, health care, education, housing, and other movements. In limited instances, splits in the ruling class appear and the less reactionary segments of the capitalist class will join the fight against the more backward sections. This all-people's front to defeat the extreme right is in the process of developing, learning, and being tested in giant struggles: for peace, to address environmental crises, to protect social programs and services, to win health care for all, and to wrest control of all three branches of government from the stranglehold of the extreme right.
The extreme right is led by the most reactionary, militaristic, racist, antidemocratic sectors of the transnationals. They gain support for their extreme right agenda from other backward political trends, most of which are misled as to their real interests, sometimes blinded by the propaganda of fear and scapegoating, by racism, sexism, right-wing nationalism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and xenophobia.
Our people, our country, and our environment are being destroyed by the greed of a few obscenely wealthy capitalist groupings. Our world is threatened by relentless efforts to drive wages down to the lowest level, attempts to destroy unions and all protections won by workers, the spread of toxic wastes and greenhouse gases, and imperialist war. Global capitalist trends have resulted in more child poverty, higher infant mortality rates, less health care, less quality public education, higher income inequality, epidemics of drug use and depression, and the rise of Donald Trump and other neo-fascists.
Reform and Revolution
Another world is possible. It is our job, the job of the U.S. working class to help win it. We need radical solutions, expanded democracy, and broad unity. We, the working class and our allies, need to take power from the hands of the wealthy few, their corporations, and their political operatives. We need real solutions to real problems, not the empty promises of establishment politicians and corporate bosses. We need peace, justice, and equality. We need socialism.
In constant battles over issues large and small, the working class learns that more fundamental changes are necessary to have a truly humane society. The struggles for the immediate demands and reforms needed by working people today are essential steps toward our ultimate goal of the revolutionary transformation of society and the economy, toward socialism and then communism'--an even higher stage of social and economic development. Communism will be a society without exploitation, without social classes, without war, without constant attacks on our shared environment, and without any coercive apparatus, and with only such administration required to meet people's needs, create the conditions for full democratic freedom, and for the humane development of society and the individual'--for human happiness.
The appeal of a communist society is a response to the real human needs of the masses of people. Communism will enable people to set aside worries about health care and education, about losing their livelihood and their dignity. Communism will eliminate the economic insecurity of the masses of working people. Instead, it will offer us the opportunity to reach our full human potential.
Fighting Division
Racism remains one of the most potent weapons to divide the working class. Institutionalized racism provides hundreds of billions in extra profits for the capitalists every year due to the unequal pay that racially oppressed workers and women receive for work of comparable value. All workers receive lower wages when racism succeeds in dividing and disorganizing us.
In every aspect of economic and social life, African Americans, Latinas/Latinos, Native peoples, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Arabs and Middle Eastern peoples, all people of color and other nationally and racially oppressed people experience conditions riddled with the effects of racist discrimination. Racist violence and the poison of racist ideas affect all people of color no matter to which economic class they belong. Attempts to suppress and undercount the vote of African Americans, Latinas/Latinos, Native peoples, and other racially oppressed people affect the very foundation of our country's democracy and thereby have an impact on all.
Racism permeates the police, the courts, and the prison system, perpetuating unequal sentencing, racial profiling, discriminatory enforcement, police brutality, police killings, immigrant deportations, and separation of immigrant families'--even to the extent of ripping babies from their mothers' arms.
These attacks also include growing massive government surveillance, including of activist social movements and the Left; open denial of basic rights to immigrants; and violations of the Geneva Conventions up to and including torture of prisoners. These abuses serve to maintain the grip of the capitalist class on government power. They use this power to ensure their continued ideological, economic and political dominance.
The democratic, civil, and human rights of all working class people are under constant attack. These attacks range from increasingly difficult procedures for union recognition and attempts to prevent full union participation in elections, to the absence of the right to strike or even to unionize for many public workers. They range from undercounting communities of color in the census, diluting the vote of people of color through gerrymandered political boundaries, voter suppression through voter ID laws and other means, and disenfranchisement through mass incarceration. These attacks make it difficult for working people to run for office because of the domination of corporate campaign financing and the high cost of advertising.
Working class women continue to face a considerable differential in wages for work of equal or comparable value. Women confront barriers to promotion, physical and sexual abuse, a continuing double workload in home and family life, and male supremacist ideology perpetuating unequal and often unsafe working conditions. The constant attacks on social welfare programs severely impact single women, single mothers, nationally and racially oppressed women, and all working-class women and their children. The reproductive rights of all women are continually under attack. The extreme right hypocritically projects an ideology of faux-Christian fundamentalism, promoting restrictions on the role and activity of women in society. Violence against women in the home and in society at large remains a shameful fact of life in the U.S., and a threat to the wellbeing of all.
These attacks are being met with fierce resistance. Women are not only rallying by the millions, they are running for office and winning in record numbers at all levels of government. The 2018 midterm elections resulted in the most diverse incoming group of representatives in history, including record numbers of women of color.
Youth, especially working-class and racially and nationally oppressed youth, are often subjected to segregated education and inadequately-funded public education, and increasingly priced out of higher education. Youth face school gun shootings, police harassment and violence, racism, sexism, and attacks on civil liberties. Poverty and lack of opportunity compel large numbers of young people to enter the military to face possible loss of life and limb in one war after another. Escalating environmental crises threaten their very existence. Taken together, these constitute the denial of a future for our youth.
Youth are fighting back, including the voter registration efforts led by the victims of the Parkland school shooting working against gun violence, demanding action in the streets and in the courts against climate change and the oil companies, demanding relief from crushing student debt, and supporting the rights of immigrant youth.
The crisis of the cities is chronic and growing and embraces all aspects of life. Financial burdens are steadily transferred from the federal government to the states and then to the cities, causing crippling budget deficits. As the majority of racially and nationally oppressed people live in urban areas, the crisis of the cities also reflects institutional racism. There is a chronic and growing shortage of affordable housing across the country, and a deterioration of public education, health care, mass transit, and infrastructure.
Capitalist Globalization
By the 1980s, transnational corporations dominated economic and political life in the U.S. and around much of the globe. At the same time, the conditions that capital has created contain the seeds of the destruction of the capitalist system.
Combined with capitalist globalization, there has been a series of merger and acquisition waves, forming oligopolies or monopolies in almost every industry. As a result, there is an increase in the chronic relative overproduction of commodities, unused capacity, and currency imbalances and speculation. This has led to increased levels of unemployment and underemployment in all the major capitalist powers, as well as greater instability in most developing countries. The gap between rich and poor is growing both internationally and within the major capitalist countries, rising to unprecedented levels.
The transnationals have become increasingly intertwined with the governments of the leading imperialist powers. Multistate capitalist institutions, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and others, are dominated by the U.S. ruling class. Instead of promoting the welfare of all people, they work to politically and economically dominate developing countries and extract outrageous interest for the international banks.
Disproportions in the world's highly interdependent economy spread and are harder to control because of the transnationals' dominance. Regulation by any single country has less effect. International trade agreements in some cases even overrule national sovereignty in favor of the transnationals. Economies are therefore more vulnerable to supply and currency manipulations. Relative overproduction'--while millions starve'--and gross trade and currency imbalances are among the causes of the chronic volatility in the world capitalist economy. The result is greater instability, more severe boom-and-bust cycles such as that in 2008, and prolonged stagnation. Therefore, the contradiction between the increasingly international social character of production and distribution on the one hand and the concentration of capital among fewer and fewer of the obscenely wealthy on the other hand sharpens economic and social problems and contradictions.
This also sharpens the class struggle. The globalization of economic and social life, dominated by the transnational monopolies, requires higher levels of environmental protection, education, health care, culture, housing, and family care to produce the quantity and quality of labor now needed.
This is in contradiction to the greater quantities of capitalist profit needed to sustain the growth of the transnationals. This can only come from higher rates of exploitation of existing workers and from the exploitation of growing numbers of workers worldwide. Intensification of the class struggle and sharper attacks on the living conditions of the working class are inherent in the dominance of the transnationals. The increasing merger of the transnationals with the state in the main imperialist countries means that capitalist globalization is both an economic and a political process.
In some developed and developing capitalist countries, the labor movement has become a more militant force in both economic and political arenas. There is some renewed strengthening of socialist and other Left forces'--including the communist movement'--associated with the international and regional progressive social and economic forums in recent years. The movement leftward is not a simple direct movement toward socialism, Marxism, and Communist Parties. It is a multifaceted and wide-ranging process, with new left parties and political formations rising quickly in several countries.
Peace versus U.S. Imperialism
There is growing worldwide resistance to U.S. military action and to military action by other imperialist powers. There is growing recognition that U.S. policies threaten not only world peace and the environment but the very existence of humanity.
The peace front consists of overwhelming world public opinion against war and for peaceful solutions, along with organized peace and social justice movements working directly to accomplish these aims. It includes the existing socialist countries and developing countries that maintain some degree of independent policies. The U.S. extreme right defies the existing world balance of forces for peace at the expense of weakening its general international influence. The peoples of the world don't hate the people of America, they hate the actions of U.S. imperialism.
There is also a growing resistance to U.S. international economic actions in international, bilateral, and multilateral relations, and an alliance of developing countries which resists the worst aspects of economic imperialism.
On the world scale, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are developing as major economic and political players, providing at times a partial counter-balance to U.S. imperialism, and in some cases leading to new inter-imperialist rivalries. China's economic growth provides an alternative to trade with imperialist countries for developing and socialist countries, including Cuba and other progressive Latin American countries.
U.S. imperialism is home to the bulk of the dominant transnational corporations. It seeks control over the entire world, including over other imperialist powers. Under extreme right political leadership, U.S. imperialism has immense instruments for winning its aims'--ranging from its direct military power to its various means of economic domination and political pressure, from sanctions to bribery to ideological attacks. But even with all of these instruments, U.S. domination is slowly weakening.
The need for international working-class unity is more important than ever. We cannot rule out the danger of war between imperialist powers in the future, though the destructive effects of modern nuclear and space weaponry, the overwhelming military superiority of the U.S., and the certainty of internal political opposition all serve to discourage ambitions for direct military inter-imperialist conflict. Working people are the victims on both sides of all imperialist wars and military adventures.
The absolute and relative exploitation of the working class of modern capitalism are at unprecedented levels and continue to grow rapidly. Each transnational corporation now exploits not only its own workers in many countries and the working class of its home country, but the working class of the entire world.
The development of modern capitalism and its exploitation, oppression, and imperialist ambitions requires the strengthening of the economic and political organizations of the working class and all working people both within our country and internationally.
The global working class has common interests in or mutual understanding of, solidarity, liberation, peace, environmental sustainability, and development. We share common enemies: world imperialism, particularly U.S. imperialism, its reactionary transnationals, and the governments they dominate. We support the broadest possible unity of the international working class. We also support international solidarity with other forces, peoples, and movements struggling for liberation worldwide.
A Better World
The peoples of the world need a new economic order, one which helps countries develop at the expense of imperialism, the transnationals, and the super-rich. This will require replacement of the current capitalist international economic institutions with ones led by anti-imperialist countries.
The problems facing humankind'--of exploitation, oppression, environmental degradation and human survival'--can only be solved, ultimately, by the elimination of the exploitative system of capitalism. Our survival depends on a transformation to socialism. The U.S. working class, with a long revolutionary history of powerful mass movements and organizations, will be the main force making this transition in our country. That means building unity for peace, for protecting and expanding democracy, for sustainability, for living-wage jobs, for universal health care, for real equality for all those who are nationally or racially oppressed and for all women, for an end to the control of the extreme right over our political institutions, and for an end to the economic rule of the transnational corporations. Building and strengthening organizations of the working class and unity with its allies, winning real unity in the course of struggle, is the path from our current struggles toward socialism.
The Communist Party USA is an organization of working class people dedicated to the fight for a better world. Our basic principles are rooted in today's struggles, informed by our history and experience, and guided by our scientific Marxist outlook and vision of socialism. Our bedrock principles include the leading role of the working class in the struggle for social change. Working class unity is a necessity. Fighting against racism and sexism and for immigrant rights is essential to build that unity.
Members of the Communist Party work to strengthen the labor unions, civil rights, peace, youth, student, religious and other community organizations and social networks in which they participate. They promote the voice and effective participation and leadership of the working class in all struggles for progress. They promote unity with the allies of the working class in the course of fighting for the interest of the working class and common goals shared with a majority of the people of our country. Our members organize to build activism and leadership at the grassroots level.
Our Communist Party is both a political party and the organized expression of a broad political movement, and we welcome all who accept our program. Our Party brings science into the struggle for socialism'--an understanding based on an examination of real life and history and brings a history of organizing action based on that understanding. The Communist Party is guided by Marxism-Leninism, the theory and practice of scientific socialism. We seek to build a powerful majority movement to transform society and put working class people in charge.
We pledge to work with everyone fighting for a better world. Marx said, ''The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.'' The Communist Party USA is about changing the world.
As W. E. B. DuBois stated in his application to join the Communist Party USA, ''Today I have reached my conclusion: Capitalism cannot reform itself; it is doomed to self-destruction. No universal selfishness can bring social good to all. Communism, the effort to give all men (and women) what they need and to ask of each the best they can contribute; this is the only way of human life. I want to help bring that day.'' for
We hope you will join with us to bring that day!
II Capitalism, Exploitation, and Oppression
The capitalist class owns the factories, agribusiness, financial institutions, distributive infrastructure, and retail giants'--the means of production and distribution. This, not personal possessions, is what we mean by private property. Workers are the creators of all wealth and value not found directly in nature. Workers sell their ability to work in order to acquire the necessities of life. Capitalists buy the workers' ability to labor but pay them only a portion of the wealth they create. Capitalists keep the surplus wealth created by workers above and beyond the cost of workers' wages and other costs of production. This unpaid labor is appropriated by capitalists and used to achieve ever-greater profits. This surplus is the source of profit, interest, and private accumulated wealth. These profits are turned into capital, which capitalists use to further exploit the sources of all wealth'--nature and the working class. Exploitation of workers for profit is inherent in capitalism and causes or exacerbates all the major social and environmental ills of our times.
Capitalists are compelled by competition and greed to seek to maximize profits. They do this by extracting a greater surplus from the unpaid labor of workers, by increasing exploitation'--what capitalists often call ''increasing productivity.'' Under capitalism, economic development happens only if it is profitable to the individual capitalists, not because of social need or benefit.
Exploitation of workers for profit is inherent in capitalism and causes or exacerbates all the major social and environmental ills of our times. Economic globalization and advanced technology have enabled increased exploitation. With the rapid advance of technology and productivity, new forms of capitalist ownership have developed to maximize profit and exploit new markets. In our globalized economy, capitalists export factories and even entire industries to other countries in a relentless search for the lowest wages and highest profits. This drive for profit fuels imperialism, as capitalist powers appropriate raw materials, maximize dependency, and export capital to exploit cheaper labor wherever it can be found around the globe, instigating a global race to the bottom.
Inherent in the laws of capitalism are periodic crises that cause millions of workers to lose their jobs, homes, health insurance, and pensions, as happened in 2008. Periods of stagnation and slow ''recovery'' from these crises drive the standards of working-class pay and conditions ever lower. After World War II the norm was one breadwinner per household, but now capital forces multiple household members to work, with parents often working second and third jobs to make ends meet. Retirement-age workers are often forced to continue working to provide food, medicine, health care, and housing for themselves and their families. Tens of millions live below the poverty level; many suffer homelessness and hunger. Public and private programs to alleviate poverty and hunger do not reach everyone and are inadequate even for those they do reach.
Capitalism uses ideological poisons to maintain the status quo. Racism remains one of the most potent weapons to divide, disarm, and confuse the working class. All workers receive lower wages when racism succeeds in dividing and disorganizing them. Racism permeates the police, judicial, and prison systems, perpetuating unequal sentencing and mass incarceration, racial profiling, discriminatory enforcement, police brutality, police killings, immigrant deportations, and the forcible separation of immigrant families.
Another potent weapon in the capitalists' arsenal is sexism. All women are subjected to gender inequality. The constant attacks on social welfare programs, limitations on health care and reproductive rights, and wage differentials based on gender severely affect all women, but especially single mothers, nationally and racially oppressed women, and all working-class women. The reproductive rights of all women are continually under ideological and political attack, removing women's autonomy over their own bodies and disadvantaging them in the labor market.
Capitalism uses other ideological poisons to divide the working class and allies from each other: national chauvinism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and anticommunism, spread in part by huge capitalist media conglomerates, and in its most vicious forms by right-wing websites. Capitalist ideology promotes false beliefs: that capitalists rightfully earned their wealth, everyone has an equal shot at the ''American dream,'' poor people are merely lazy, discontent with injustice is an adolescent phase, nature takes care of itself, and capitalism is the freest and most humane economic system. The divisive ideology of individualism has a particularly strong hold in our society.
The legal system is thoroughly racist and anti''working class. U.S. prisons are bursting with millions of prisoners and ''detainees,'' many in for-profit prisons. As many as two-thirds of prisoners are poor people accused of non-violent crimes; many cannot afford cash bail and must rely on underfunded and low-paid public defenders. Prisoners face widespread abuse and are often forced to work for subminimum wages, replacing organized labor. Many prisoners are subject to abuse, solitary confinement, and the threat of the death penalty.
At the same time, prosecution of ''white collar'' capitalist criminals is at a twenty-year low, despite the damages they caused working people during the Great Recession of 2008. Billionaire criminals are not apprehended, prosecuted, or punished. Corruption, speculation, fraud, market manipulations, and theft on a massive scale are all increasing, with the approval of, and increasingly with the participation of, high ranking members of the government.
Present Features of Capitalism
A thorough understanding of capitalism, its essential features and durable conditions, and of the political balance of forces are key to guiding class and democratic struggles for progress. Exploitation of the working class has increased quantitatively and qualitatively. Automation and robotization using computer control and artificial intelligence, the ''gig'' or freelance economy, the looming possibility of a national right-to-work law, and the surreptitious gathering of vast amounts of data about individuals are all new weapons that monopoly capital has in its class warfare arsenal. At the same time, greater capitalist profits, which sustain the giant transnational corporations, come from the exploitation of growing numbers of workers worldwide, at the same time as they lay off workers in the U.S. and export jobs. These developments have reversed many of the gains made during the New Deal when the influence of the CPUSA was at its height, and have left workers with even less chances for healthy, dignified, and fulfilled lives.
Meanwhile, monopoly capital is doubling down on its privileges, accruing vast amounts of wealth and gaining ever greater control over the movement of capital throughout the world. Lately, the most backward elements of the capitalist class have funded, promoted, and built populist far-right white- and male-supremacist ultra-nationalist movements that attempt to divide and disable the working class. Monopoly capital strives to promote a culture of cynicism, low expectations, fatalism, violence, and distraction to hinder the working class from uniting and fighting for its own interests.
At the same time, the objective conditions that monopoly capital has created contain the seeds of its own future destruction. The grotesque economic inequalities are getting harder to hide and to rationalize; new means of communication developed by capital can be harnessed by the working class and used for its own purposes; more and more people are outraged by the links between monopoly capital and far-right-wing populist movements of nativism and white supremacy. In short, the working class is fighting back through the trade union movement and struggles for democratic and civil rights.
Capitalism versus the Environment
We cannot have a healthy humanity without a healthy natural world. Humans are part of nature and rely on the resources of nature for our very existence. We can't continually harm major parts of the natural world without suffering the consequences.
Climate change is the most far-reaching symptom of the broader imbalance between humanity and the rest of nature. There are many environmental challenges: polluted water, air, and soil; respiratory and reproductive health problems; and disappearing animal and insect habitat, to name but a few. We are facing major adjustments to the balance between humanity and nature, which we can plan to address and ameliorate or suffer the brutal consequences of runaway CO2 levels: rising seas, more frequent and damaging weather events, and more droughts.
Capitalism is both the major cause of these environmental challenges and the major obstacle to solving them. Environmental struggles rapidly run up against the rule of private property over our collective health and well-being. Communities faced with powerful companies dumping toxic waste into their sources of drinking water must wrestle directly with private interests. They run up against both the capitalist economic system and the politicians beholden to corporate interests.
As activists learn that the economic system must be fundamentally altered to meet the growing environmental crises, environmental activism provides a new pathway to socialist consciousness. Fixing environmental challenges requires social decision making based on the needs of society as a whole and the environment on which we depend. Private property ''rights'' and profits must be discarded as the main determinants on which decisions are based. In addition, if capitalism sufficiently degrades the environment, that will destroy the material basis necessary to build socialism.
Environmental issues will grow in importance and play an ever-larger role in electoral, legislative, and public policy struggles. Communities faced with powerful companies dumping toxic waste into their sources of drinking water must wrestle directly with corporate power. They run up against both the capitalist economic system and against politicians beholden to corporate interests.
Just as our politics and economy need fundamental transformation, so too does the entirety of the intersection between humanity and the rest of the natural world. We need a transformation of not only energy production but also agriculture, industrial production, transportation, distribution, waste disposal, and construction. We need immediate changes that can be won or begun under capitalism. However, permanent solutions require an environmentally conscious socialism.
We need to make personal changes as well. First and most important is for millions more people to become organized environmental activists, building alliances between the environmental movement and all other progressive movements they are part of'--community groups, religious groups, unions, and more. Personal changes are most effective when part of mass campaigns that help change the habits and practices of millions of people. We are not chasing a short-lived personal purity but working for basic changes to the systems affecting all of us. Individual changes in consumption and diet can make a major contribution only when linked to changes by millions of people, and linked to changes in our systems of production, construction, and agriculture.
The environmental movement is one key element of the massive coalition that must be built to defeat the extreme-right stranglehold on too much of U.S. governance and public discourse. Environmental issues will grow in importance and play an ever-larger role in electoral, legislative, and public policy struggles. Youth especially have a vested interest in finding real solutions for their future, the kind that only socialism can permanently institute.
III The Working Class, Class Struggle, and Forces for Progress
The Working Class and the Trade Union Movement
Workers always seek to solve the chronic exploitation and oppression they face. Whether individual workers are conscious of it yet or not, the ultimate outcome of this struggle is socialism. To determine the strategy and tactics required for immediate progress and more basic change, it is necessary to be clear about what propels progressive change, and about which struggles, classes, and social forces have the potential to play decisive roles. The history of our country confirms the Marxist assertion that the struggle of our multi-racial, multi-national, multi-gender, young and old U.S. working class against the capitalist class is the chief driving force for fundamental progressive change.
The working class is compelled to resist increased exploitation. It seeks to improve living conditions by increasing workers' share of the new value they create, at the expense of the capitalists. This class struggle takes place in the workplaces where goods and services'--commodities'--are produced. This is a crucial part of the economic side of the class struggle.
The class struggle is not only the fight over wages, hours, benefits, working conditions, job security, and jobs. It also includes an endless variety of other forms for fighting specific battles: resisting speed-up, picketing, negotiating contracts, waging strikes (even general strikes), demonstrating, boycotting products, lobbying for pro-labor legislation, and working on elections. When workers struggle against the capitalist class or any part of it on any issue with the aim of improving or defending their lives, it is part of the class struggle. In every area of workers' lives, the fight is to defend themselves and their families from corporate assault.
The class struggle also takes place in the political arena. It plays out in struggles over governmental action or inaction, over social spending and tax policy, over elections, and ultimately over which class or formation of class and social forces becomes dominant in holding and exercising political power. The class struggle also exists in the realm of ideology, between social and political ideas and values that justify the political and economic policies of the contending classes.
Workers struggle to sustain themselves and their families. Every wheel that turns, every product produced, every service provided, is done by workers. Workers produce all wealth, but much of the value they produce is taken, in the form of profit-taking or exploitation by the capitalist class. Workers can run society without capitalists, but capitalists cannot function without workers. The working class is our society's only revolutionary class able, with its allies, to establish a new, better, more just society for all: socialism.
The working class is made up of all who must labor to make a living and their families. It constitutes the great bulk of the country's population and is continually growing. Some are low-wage workers, others have won higher wages through struggle; some are contingent workers, freelance workers, or part-time workers, but all are workers. Service workers, transportation workers, highly-trained workers, teachers, and laid-off workers and retirees are all part of the working class. The working class is being joined by some who were once independent professionals'--including doctors and engineers'--but are now employees of vast corporations. Everyone who must make their living from wages and salaries, except for the CEOs and managers ''earning'' exorbitant salaries, is part of the working class.
The working class is diverse. It includes skilled and unskilled labor, white-collar and blue-collar workers, people of all ages, the organized and unorganized, and the employed, underemployed, and unemployed. Our working class is almost evenly composed of men and women. Most nationally and racially oppressed communities are more heavily working class and together constitute a major segment of the working class, one that is rapidly increasing in number.
Ours is a single working class, a class whose unity is growing and deepening as its consciousness of itself develops and strengthens. It reaches full class and socialist consciousness only when it understands itself as the central social force that in alliance with other social forces can and must win power and construct socialism. In the words of the Communist Manifesto, the working class is ''the only truly revolutionary class'' because only the working class has an interest in ending capitalism and replacing it with socialism. These qualities and experiences make the working class fertile ground for the ideas of socialism and Marxism, and for Communist Party membership.
The working class's large size and experience of collective labor and collective struggle prepare it to lead the struggle for progress along with its allies. The working class and its allies are the only force capable of becoming the general leader of the struggle for full social progress and socialism. It is the workers who turn every wheel, manufacture every product, and provide every service. In doing so, they produce all wealth, but the majority of value they produce is taken, in the form of profit by the capitalist class. The capitalists depend on workers to create the wealth they appropriate, giving the workers not only a strategic role in the production process but also great potential power.
Marx declared, ''Workers of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.'' From the smallest of class struggles to the largest, unity within the working class is key to victory. The experience of working people in their workplaces and neighborhoods demonstrates that only by joining together to fight for their common interests and demands can they win. This is the guiding principle of all unions and people's organizations: in unity is strength.
As united as the working class itself needs to be, it cannot be the sole force in these struggles, because its opponents at each stage are powerful, with great resources at their command. Many of the key needs of working people cannot be won by the trade union movement or the working class alone. There are other major social forces whose interests substantially parallel those of the working class. Unions must engage in coalitions with community, civil rights, women's, student, seniors', and other organizations to increase their combined ability to win against a powerful enemy. From strike struggles to legislative initiatives to the fight for the White House, labor must build unity with these forces to achieve progress. Building unity requires relationships of equality, trust, mutual respect, and understanding. There is a constant need to reinforce and defend this unity.
The new stage of capitalist globalization makes unity even more imperative. As in the past, when capital's production expands to new, wider forms, labor's organization must do so as well, or lose its leverage in the fight against capital. Globalization demands a new level of labor internationalism to unite workers worldwide, regardless of nationality or ideology, to jointly confront our common enemy. In the U.S., the common struggle against capitalist globalization has ushered in an advanced phase of working unity between the labor movement, civil rights movements, the women's movement, the environmental movement, the student movement, and others.
Workers organizations ranging from unions to labor-community coalitions bring to the people's movement their strength, experience in the struggle, infrastructure, context, and a fighting orientation. In turn, the wider people's movements bring a much-needed infusion of youth, enthusiasm, and optimism, as well as a history of fighting for equality and the advancement of democracy. Organized labor increasingly recognizes the strength and experience brought to the table by the movements of the racially and nationally oppressed, women, and youth.
When all sectors of the people's movement come together with labor's militant leadership, huge gains in the fight against corporate control can be made, as in the New Deal during the 1930s. Our nation's people are still enjoying the benefits of the gains from that period. Unity with the active multiracial, multinational, multigender, young and old, gay and straight, native and immigrant working class will position us to fight successfully for state power to establish a more just society: socialism. Only by joining together can the working class and its allies win the larger struggles for dignity, rights, and power. This principle is true not just in struggles in the workplace, on the campus, or in neighborhoods but also at the ballot box, in larger political and social struggles, and in the battle for the hearts and minds of the public.
Unity is not a given. One of the major obstacles to working class unity is racism, which is promoted by the capitalist class and must be fought by all. Unity depends on substantial numbers of white workers participating in the fight for full equality and against racism, based on an understanding of how racism injures and lowers the wages and living conditions of all workers. Another major obstacle to working-class unity is capitalist class''promoted misogyny and male supremacy. Misogyny, the hatred and disrespect of women, wage discrimination, employment segregation, and male supremacy must be fought by all'--full unity will be built only when substantial numbers of working-class men participate in the fight for full equality and against misogyny and male supremacy based on an understanding of their self-interest and the interest of the whole of the working class in real class unity.
The labor movement is the organized sector of the working class and is the key strategic factor to achieving fundamental social change. The diversity of the labor movement is growing in composition and leadership. The labor movement is no longer limited to ''pure and simple'' trade union struggles. It plays a major, often leading role, in legislative and electoral struggles and has developed a large and increasingly independent labor electoral apparatus. Labor has increasingly become one of the leading forces for progress on many social issues. It has developed ongoing relationships with organizations of the nationally and racially oppressed, women, students, and others. It is increasingly seeking forms of international labor cooperation. Especially since the election of Donald Trump, many unions are encouraging and training their members to run for political office at all levels of government to represent the interests of working-class people. A related development is the large number of women and youth of many racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds, including those who support the idea of socialism, stepping forward to run for public office. New forms of working-class organization, such as the Fight for Fifteen and Internet-based organizing efforts, mobilize workers in different ways than the union movement of old and add to the organized power of the class.
Unions have lost membership due to massive corporate and government attacks. Speeding up the organization of unorganized workers is one of the most important challenges to labor and all progressive forces. For nation-wide success in new organizing, unity of the labor movement is crucial, overcoming narrow and sectarian interests in the interests of the working class as a whole. Organizing the unorganized by itself, however, is not sufficient'--continuing to win unions and their memberships to class-struggle trade unionism and to broad trade-union unity is also required. The broad people's movement is dependent upon organized labor's ability to rebuild its strength.
Nearly a century ago, in times of tremendous struggle, communists and socialists, working with allies, helped bring the modern union movement into being, playing key roles not only in organizing but in helping workers then win victories that benefit all. Communists have a special responsibility to help labor win the fight to save and rebuild our nation's labor movement, the first line of defense for our nation's workers.
To this end, the activities of the Communist Party aim to:
Build broad unity to achieve the strategic and tactical goals of the working class.Bring forward working-class leadership and the interests of the working class in all progressive movements. National progressive coalitions, community-based organizations in working-class communities, and student-labor coalitions are all forms that bring working-class leadership to the broader movement.Build full class and socialist consciousness. It is the job of Communists, while engaged with others in active struggle, to show how all struggles have common aspects and common interests, to show the interests of organized labor and all the people's movements in uniting against our common capitalist enemies.Special Oppression and Exploitation
The most important allies of the working class are those who suffer special oppression due to capitalism and are also overwhelmingly members of the working class. Special oppression is discrimination, extra-exploitation, and social domination based on race, nationality, gender, and/or age. The racially and nationally oppressed, women, youth, and immigrants all face types of special oppression, as do seniors, the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer (LGBTQ) community, and the disabled and mentally ill. All specially oppressed social groups are in their majority working class, but also include some members of other classes. Those who are part of the working class suffer the exploitation and social problems of all other workers and, in addition, suffer from special oppression that is not solely based on class, such as racism, national discrimination, and male supremacy. Some people experience triple and quadruple oppression, since they face multiple layers of intense exploitation, discrimination, and social domination.
Many features of special oppression cut across class lines and affect to some degree all members of each oppressed social group. Oppression affects not only those who are workers or part of professional and small business groups but to some extent even those from sections of the capitalist class. This common experience of oppression creates a wide basis for unity within each oppressed social group and among all groups facing discrimination and social domination.
Capitalists directly gain from special oppression. Extra profits to the tune of many hundreds of billions of dollars per year are extracted by the special oppression and exploitation of the working-class section of each group and from the disunity caused among the entire working class. Capitalists and their apologists use ideological poison to justify and cover up both the special oppression and the exploitation of all workers. Working-class members of specially oppressed peoples and groups play a key role in building alliances between the working class and oppressed groups, since they are an important part of both.
The Complexity and Interconnection of National and Racial Oppression
Our discussion of national and racial oppression is not intended to be comprehensive or limiting. These are complex issues, intertwined with each other and with class exploitation and oppression. There are variations in national oppression, not just broad categories'--for example, different Native Indian nations have distinct histories, cultures, languages, resources, treaties, and territories, so within Native Indian communities there are many different national questions, not one. Within groups, too, there are variations'--for example, people of Japanese descent whose ancestors came to the U.S. during the latter part of the 1800s do not face identical issues as those who came following World War II. People from Caribbean countries who have English as their first language have different issues than those from the Caribbean whose first language is Spanish or French. We can't ignore or reduce these complexities, we have to understand, appreciate, and respond to them in order to create a solid basis for strong working class unity and to advance the power of the working class with its allies.
People of many nationalities face special oppression related to their national origins'--issues of language, culture, history, immigration rights and status, professional status or lack thereof, historical and colonial oppression, the various reasons and pressures for their immigration, and more. Another complexity is that though most of the discrimination following the terrorist attacks on the U.S is directed at Arab and Middle Eastern peoples; many Latinos/Latinas face racial profiling due to claims that they ''look'' like people from the Middle East. African immigrants have their own specific nationality issues but also face the generalized racial discrimination directed against African Americans due to skin color. Mexican Americans whose families have been citizens for centuries face harassment from immigration authorities due to racist assumptions based on skin color.
We can't ignore or reduce these complexities, nor do we artificially separate discrimination and oppression into either national or racial categories. Instead our purpose is to understand the interconnections of these categories and the different oppressions faced by individuals and peoples. Understanding, appreciating, and responding to these categories will help create a solid basis for strong working-class unity.
Multiracial, Multinational Unity for Full Equality and Against Racism'--Core Forces for Progress
Some of the foremost allies of the working class, through the various stages of struggle all the way to socialism, are the nationally and racially oppressed peoples. They live and work in every region, in every state, and in every major city. Likewise, the working class is the most multiracial, multinational entity in our society. Among the nationally and racially oppressed are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and other Latino peoples, Native peoples, Muslims, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, Arabic and Middle Eastern peoples, and many groups of immigrants and their descendants.
Racism is one of the most important weapons the ruling class uses to weaken the unity within the working class itself and the relationship between the working class as a whole and nationally and racially oppressed peoples. A classic divide-and-conquer tactic, racism is used to spread division and weaken all movements and struggles. Against this division, we must build multiracial unity'--with the struggle against racism and the fight for full equality at its core.
Racism in its many forms continues to play a negative but central role in every aspect of U.S. life, including keeping the extreme right in power, producing extra profits, and developing, justifying, and maintaining institutionalized discrimination and oppression.
From its inception, the United States was built on racism. From the displacement and near genocide of Native people, to the enslavement of Africans, to the theft of huge sections of Mexico, to the racist exclusion of Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants, to the current xenophobic hysteria against Latinas/Latinos, Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians, racism has been a convenient tool for the maintenance of power and extra profits by the ruling class at the expense of oppressed people and all workers.
The working class must fight against racism, for full equality of all nationally oppressed, and for affirmative action, if it is to unite internally and form lasting alliances with the organizations and movements of racially oppressed peoples. Similarly, the nationally and racially oppressed groups must support working-class demands in order to unite internally and to ally with labor.
Racism affects the unity of the working class at all levels. Racism is a tool that not only exploits racially oppressed people but also aids in the exploitation of white workers. Racial discrimination in hiring, racist wage and salary policies, and racial stratification of various industries and trades has resulted in the lowest-paying, most dangerous jobs generally being held by workers from nationally and racially oppressed groups. This undermines the interests of all workers. The ability of employers to pay workers differently based on skin color, country of origin, immigration status, or hire date in two-tier wage systems exerts downward pressure on the wages of all workers. It allows bosses to extract even higher profits from racially oppressed workers. Racism is good for business but bad for working people of every race. White workers have a powerful self-interest in fighting racism'--they will gain greater victories to the degree that they unite with nationally and racially oppressed workers. Multiracial unity in the workplace and on the shop floor is key to lifting wages and improving working conditions and honoring the dignity of every worker.
The workplace is not the only place where building multiracial unity is essential. Multiracial unity is necessary at all levels of class and democratic struggles. This is the reason for the long-standing coalition between the labor and civil rights movements. Not only do these movements have common enemies, they have a common agenda of expanding economic, social, and civil rights. The working class and racially oppressed people have common interests in housing, employment, education, voting rights, the environment, world peace, and other areas.
Members of the working class who are white must take an initiating and leading role in combating all instances of racism and national oppression wherever and whenever they occur and provide support to people of color who are in leadership of movements and organizations. Such acts are the building blocks of grassroots unity and trust. They prove that the struggle against racism is not for racially oppressed people to combat alone. It is in the self-interest of all workers, leading to greater unity, respect, and strength, for the labor movement and all other movements.
The depression of wages, the suppression of voting power, and the oppression of culture and language all hurt the working class. An essential aspect of class and socialist consciousness is for the working class to have a deep understanding of exploitation and national, racial, and gender oppression.
To fully understand its own exploitation and oppression as a class, the working class has to understand the extra-exploitation and special oppression of its component parts and allies. This means understanding the historical experience well enough to develop an organic allegiance to the specific democratic demands for equality of each. This includes taking action as a leading, solid advocate of those demands. The working class cannot win without the collective class achievement of an understanding of the complexity of its natural allies and of building multiracial, multinational working-class unity. This understanding must be utilized to guide action. Racially and nationally oppressed people have a history of being subjected to oppression on the one side and resistance and fightback on the other, all of which contribute to the collective wisdom and range of action of the entire working class.
African Americans
Historically and continuing today, African Americans and their organizations play a tremendous role in democratic and class struggles, and in building alliances with progressive movements, especially the labor movement. An exceptionally high percentage of African Americans are members of the working class. In addition, the struggle for equality and against racism in relation to African Americans has played a central role in the entire struggle for democracy and progress. The labor movement and the African American people have achieved a significant level of coordinated struggle.
Today, forms of extra-exploitation and oppression against African Americans include voter suppression, criminalization and mass incarceration, police brutality including murder, wage inequality, continued segregation, and cultural domination.
The African American people play a major role in national politics. Their concentration in large urban centers and the South, high working-class composition, heavy concentration in the labor movement, and high level of political/social organization including churches and mosques, civil rights organizations, and social and fraternal organizations, all make it possible for these groups to politically mobilize millions, including many beyond the African American community. From the historic NAACP, to the Civil Rights Movement led by Rev. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., to the more recent Black Lives Matter movement, African Americans have a long history of resistance and struggle, beginning with the fight against slavery. The Poor People's Campaign that grew from the Moral Monday demonstrations in North Carolina is playing an important national role in struggles for racial and economic justice.
In national elections, African Americans, especially African American women, vote overwhelmingly against the extreme right. There are thousands of Black elected officials nationally; almost all run as Democrats. In many areas, the Black vote is decisive for victory against more backward candidates. Recent elections revealed that the only way the most backward candidates can win, even in the deep South, is through voter suppression and vote theft directed especially against the African American community. Because they vote almost unanimously as a block in most elections, African Americans have a level of influence beyond their numbers.
Mexican Americans
Mexican Americans together with African Americans are the two largest nationally oppressed peoples in the U.S., with Mexican Americans being one of the fastest growing sections of the population. The Mexican American population is concentrated in the U.S. Southwest, land that was originally stolen from Mexico, with U.S. domination being imposed on the many Native and Mexican American people living in those areas. With the entrance of Mexican Americans into the agricultural, industrial, hospitality, and service industries, Mexican American communities exist in most major cities and in small towns throughout the country.
Among the problems faced by Mexican Americans are racial and national oppression, language discrimination on the job and in schools, cultural suppression, anti-immigrant laws and abuses, lack of full political representation, police brutality, and hate crimes.
Mexican Americans have played an important part in U.S. history, from resistance to U.S. imperialist annexation to struggles for full civil rights for immigrants, from resistance to cultural domination to the struggle for a holiday honoring Cesar Chavez and his groundbreaking leadership organizing farmworkers, from community battles for bilingual education to struggles for voting rights and full participation in the electoral process, among many others. The historic Chicano Moratorium broadened the peace movement in the fight against the Vietnam War.
Mexican Americans mainly vote against the extreme right and have a major and growing impact on national elections. They have emerged as perhaps the most decisive group of voters in California and the southwestern states. Nationally, there are thousands of Mexican Americans holding public office, most elected as Democrats. The Mexican American people are overwhelmingly working-class and are a major force in the trade union movement nationally. There are also many large national, regional, and local mass organizations among the Mexican American people that have a big impact on the U.S. political scene, especially with the increase in the Mexican and Mexican American population all over the country.
Puerto Ricans
There are more than five million Puerto Ricans in the U.S. Puerto Ricans are the second-largest Spanish-speaking Latin American population in the country, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans being the largest. While concentrated in New York, especially New York City, Puerto Ricans are found in every state of the union.
The overwhelming majority of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. are an integral part of the working class. Puerto Ricans have a higher rate of union membership than the general population. Puerto Ricans unite with other Latinos, as well as with African Americans, to fight against national and racial oppression. In fighting for their self-interests on the important issues that affect them, Puerto Ricans fight for all peoples.
The features of the Puerto Rican people in the U.S. cannot be completely understood without taking into account that Puerto Rico is a U.S. colonial possession. Puerto Rico is an oppressed colonial nation. Colonial oppression takes many forms, from control of the economy by subsidiaries of U.S. corporations to imposition of U.S. death penalty laws on Puerto Ricans.
This colonial oppression is the main reason Puerto Ricans have been forced to immigrate to the U.S. The horrific conditions experienced in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria exemplify the subordinate status that U.S. right-wingers constantly try to impose. This left the island to suffer from the destruction of most infrastructure for much longer than necessary, and ignored the debt which has been saddled on the government of Puerto Rico. Inadequate and incompetent actions by the Trump administration exponentially increased the suffering of Puerto Ricans, forced many to move to the mainland U.S.
The first step to freedom from this oppression is the acquisition of their internationally recognized right to independence and self-determination for Puerto Rico.
U.S. colonialism has forced Puerto Rico's economy into dependency. For Puerto Ricans to exercise their right to independence they must be able to break with the colonial dependency forced on them by the U.S.; otherwise independence would be a sham. We support the full transfer of all powers to the Puerto Rican nation and monetary compensation with no strings attached to Puerto Rico to make up for the super-exploitation of Puerto Ricans and for colonial oppression. Usage of those funds is to be wholly decided by Puerto Ricans so that Puerto Rico can develop freely.
A free and independent Puerto Rico would not mean that all Puerto Ricans in the U.S. will go back to Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans in the U.S. are an historically constituted permanent community.
Native Peoples
There are many unique features to the national struggles of Native peoples in the U.S. Issues of sovereignty and treaty rights, language and cultural rights, fishing and hunting rights, land rights, health care, and education, give a different character to these struggles, which vary from Indian nation to Indian nation. The kidnap and murder of Native women is also a major issue. In addition, the abuse and mismanagement by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as well as tribal government issues, impact Native American Indian forms of organization and struggle. Native peoples have played an important role in the ironwork, construction, and other industries in some regions of the country, and have a long history of struggle for survival and democratic rights.
The genocide against Native peoples must be recognized and acknowledged by honoring treaties and tribal sovereignty, by reparations and affirmative action for Indian nations as well as urban Indians, and by the replacement of the BIA by a body composed primarily of representatives of Indian nations.
Native peoples are playing a vigorous role in the electoral process. The struggle against the suppression of their vote is intense and expansive. This growing political clout contrasts with the most vicious effects of racism on the living conditions, education, employment, health, and survival of many, who on some reservations are subjected to the worst possible living conditions and the highest rates of infant mortality, disease, suicide, unemployment, and murder at the hands of the police. The growth of gambling casinos on many reservations has not alleviated conditions for the large majority of Native peoples and is not a solution to the racism and national oppression they face.
Other Indigenous Peoples
Other indigenous peoples, including Aleuts, Inuit, and native Hawaiians, have their own cultures and traditions. Hawaii, one of the most multiracial states, had its independent monarchy overthrown by an invading army, and was a colony of the U.S. for many decades. Native Hawaiians face national oppression with distinct language, cultural, and economic issues, in addition to the problems faced by Hawaii as a whole.
The U.S., contrary to myth making in many U.S. histories, maintains several colonies around the world. To hide this fact, the government uses the term ''protectorate'' or ''commonwealth'' to describe the occupied nations. The U.S. maintains colonies in Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Samoa, whose populations have no vote and no sovereignty.
Immigrants
The labor movement has in recent years embraced the importance of unity between immigrant and native-born workers. Not only did anti-immigrant sentiment and racist repressive laws allow bosses to relegate immigrant workers to near-slavery conditions with no recourse, but also undercut the attempts by native-born workers to organize unions and win concessions from management. Attacks on immigrants in farm fields, at the borders, at their workplace, and by law enforcement lay the basis for undermining everyone's rights. Raids purportedly against undocumented immigrants often also impact family members who have been citizens for many generations.
The U.S. has large communities of immigrant workers. These workers are often violently exploited, working in the most unhealthy, non-union conditions. Each immigrant group faces its own oppression based on nationality, and many face racial oppression as well. Basic human, civil, and labor rights are often denied. Thousands of undocumented workers crossing the border with Mexico are subjected to the murderous policies of the Border Patrol and racist vigilantes. They are hounded and chased down like criminals. Hundreds have tragically died or been murdered, especially in border areas, for simply trying to unite their families or find a better life. Many immigrants come with advanced degrees but are relegated to the lowest-paid jobs. Wage theft against immigrant workers is common.
Latinos/Latinas are extremely diverse culturally and in terms of national origin. Common use of Spanish or Portuguese and shared experience of discrimination in the U.S. are forging unity among most Latino peoples. At the same time, some immigrants from Latin America speak an indigenous language as their first language or do not speak Spanish at all. Over half of all Latinos in the U.S. are foreign-born and face discrimination as immigrants, including Brazilians whose main language is Portuguese.
Mexican Americans and newly immigrated Mexicans are increasingly targets of xenophobic, racist hysteria. The extreme right (including neo-fascists and white nationalists) is manufacturing a political climate of fear against immigrants of color. Mexican immigrants are verbally attacked as ''criminals'' and ''rapists'' and as national security threats. These racist attacks are meant to scapegoat Mexican immigrants as the cause of low wages and a lower standard of life for U.S. workers in general, and for supposedly ''draining'' social benefits. The extreme right weaves a false story of illegal voting by undocumented immigrants to help justify voter suppression. These xenophobic attacks blame Latino immigrants for unwelcomed cultural changes, as though non-white immigrants are not quite American. The extreme right combines these racist attacks with nationalism and the politics of fear.
The extreme right opposes comprehensive immigration reform. Millions of immigrants are denied equal protection under the law and denied a clear path to citizenship with voting rights. They are taxed without representation and excluded from government programs supported by their taxes. Refugees fleeing Central American violence are denied due process and refugee and asylum rights in violation of international human rights laws. The children of detained refugee immigrants have been separated from their parents and placed in detention centers, a euphemism for concentration camps. The extreme right is deporting Dreamers'--young undocumented children whose deportation was deferred by government programs called DACA (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals). Dreamers were brought to the U.S. by their undocumented parents as very young children, and many currently attend institutions of higher learning or serve in the armed forces. These racist attacks have met with broad united resistance, including the creation and defense of sanctuary cities and civil disobedience.
Many people come to the U.S. as a result of wars due to either direct U.S. military involvement or military campaigns by surrogates financed and trained by the U.S. For example, many flee repression caused by U.S.-supported death squads in Central America. In response, many received Temporary Protected Status, a program the Trump administration is trying to eliminate. People from many countries emigrate to the U.S. because of dire economic situations in their home countries, in many cases caused by U.S. banks and U.S.-led international monetary institutions.
Backward forces use such immigration to bolster their claim that the U.S. is a beacon of freedom. Being forced to leave one's homeland is most often a result of U.S. transnational corporations and their intensive exploitation abroad, backed up by U.S. foreign and military policy. Many people who immigrate to the U.S. looking for economic survival are refugees from the economic policies of U.S. imperialism and the neocolonial, neoliberal ''free trade'' exploitation experienced around the world.
Many refugees flee their countries due to right-wing dictatorships and death squads supported and trained by the U.S., such as those in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and elsewhere in Central America.
Many immigrants from the Caribbean are trying to escape the U.S. stranglehold on their home countries. Dominicans, Haitians, Jamaicans, and others play vital roles in many communities in the U.S. Haitian immigrants, from the poorest country in the hemisphere, have experienced U.S. support for dictators and death squads, have witnessed U.S. attempts to subvert and co-opt popular democratic movements, and have been subjected to direct exploitation by U.S., French, and other transnational corporations. Once in the U.S., they face continued impoverishment, health crises, racism, and discrimination.
Increasing populations of immigrants from countries in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe have come to the U.S. in recent years, fleeing economic oppression, war, decreasing living standards, lack of opportunity, famine, and genocide.
Muslims and Middle Eastern Peoples
Three and a half million Muslims of various backgrounds live in the United States. An estimated five million people of Middle Eastern descent live in the U.S., including 3.7 million Americans of Arabic descent, a half million from Iran, and substantial populations from Syria, Iraq, Armenia, Turkey, and others. People of Middle Eastern descent are concentrated in communities in Michigan, Illinois, California, and New York. Most are workers, with many active in the labor movement and in organizations fighting for civil rights and for a more humane foreign policy. People of all these nationalities have been citizens of the U.S. for generations; at the same time, many are recent immigrants. Under the Trump administration, the number of immigrants from these areas has been deliberately decreased through the so-called Muslim ban and limits on the number of refugees.
As a result of U.S. aggression throughout the Middle East, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, a substantial majority of Arabs, Muslims, and South Asian peoples in the U.S. have become active opponents of the extreme right. The U.S. has close relationships with the most reactionary forces in the region, supports Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, refuses to accept the rights of the Palestinian people to form their own autonomous state, and demonizes Muslims. Islamophobia and discrimination have dramatically increased in the last two decades, first in the immediate wake of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center when Muslim men and boys were required to register with the federal government, and in the intervening years, when open hostility toward and discrimination against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent became widespread. Despite the fact that the majority of acts of random violence and political terrorism are not committed by foreigners or non-whites, the label ''terrorist'' is reserved for people of color, especially Muslims. Since the election of Donald Trump, racist violence against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent has increased substantially, including racial profiling by government agencies and brutal attacks by Islamophobes inspired by right-wing rhetoric. There are more restrictions on freedom of religion, and more voter intimidation, imprisonment without due process or legal counsel, and mass deportations.
The demonization of Arabs, South Asians, and all Muslims does not make anyone safer. It is in reality a support for the aggressive military policies of U.S. imperialism and a racist justification of oppression. Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent have been mobilized by groups fighting discrimination and Islamophobia, struggling for rights through the courts, lobbying, education, organized protests, and in the electoral arena. In the 2018 mid-term elections, the first two Muslim women were elected to Congress.
Asians and Asian Americans
Asian Americans come from many different nations, with different cultures, histories, languages, and politics. The widely varying conditions in their homelands have a big impact on the consciousness, level of organization, and integration into U.S. society of the different Asian immigrant groups. While a large number of Asian Americans are foreign-born, millions of Asian Americans are from families that have been living in the U.S. for generations.
The timing and conditions of immigration are important factors in the political consciousness of Asian American communities. During World War II, many Japanese Americans, most of whom were citizens, were wrongly incarcerated in internment camps. They have a different life experience and political history than the Vietnamese who immigrated during the turmoil of the defeat of U.S. armed forces in the mid-1970s. Filipinos whose parents or grandparents came to the U.S. in the 1920s to work in the agricultural fields of California have different national issues than South Koreans who immigrated following the Korean War. Cambodians, Laotians, Indonesians, and nationalities from within those countries endure virulent racism, discrimination, and forced exclusion from major parts of society.
Pacific Islanders come from countries and lands with widely varying political and economic conditions, from colonies of the U.S. like Guam, to independent nations like Fiji, to hundreds of smaller islands which are struggling to create and maintain their own national identities. Samoans, Fijians, Micronesians, and other Pacific Islander nationalities all face national discrimination and particular forms of racial discrimination.
As more recent immigrants from Asia live in this country for longer periods, they increasingly face and understand the racial and national discrimination rife in the U.S., and increasingly struggle against that oppression.
The Struggle for Full Equality for Women
The ideology of gender inequality and misogyny is another potent weapon against unity within the working class and between the working class and the people's movements. Sexism causes working-class women to suffer additional forms of oppression and exploitation. Capitalists gain extra profits as a result of the gender pay gap'--hundreds of billions of dollars each year. They also gain greater profits when male supremacy helps capitalists divide male and female workers, weakening the struggle for all workers' rights. As a result, working-class women, men, and families suffer reduced incomes.
Although women now make up almost half of the workforce, the gender stratification of the job market ensures that many women are relegated to the lowest-paying, least secure jobs. As a result, more women and children are pushed into poverty. Cuts in social welfare programs and rapidly increasing health-care and housing costs hit single mothers and their children especially hard. Women of oppressed groups, including LGBTQ and women of color, can be hit even harder.
Working-class women of color are subject to extra-exploitation on the basis of gender as well as race and class, which adds to individual and collective suffering. Race and/or sexual orientation can become a dividing factor among women, and gender and/or sexuality can divide communities of color. The working-class and people's movements must work to bridge such divides, respecting differences and participating in the struggle for the democratic and civil rights of all. In the movement, we have to ensure that all voices are heard and the participation of women, including in leadership, is encouraged.
Women continue to be compelled to shoulder, on an unpaid basis, most childcare and domestic labor (work in the home). Access to quality, affordable day care remains extremely limited. Changes in domestic arrangements have not kept pace with the increased prevalence of women working full-time, which has added to the difficulties of and demands on women's lives. Women face special challenges in balancing family and work, especially when managing the added responsibilities that come with being an activist. It is especially important for childcare to be provided so that women can participate fully in activities and play leadership roles.
Additional forms of oppression women experience are attacks on their reproductive rights and domestic and sexual harassment and violence. These forms of oppression are valid reasons for immigrant women to request amnesty. The extreme right has launched an ideological attack on women's roles in society and the family. The extreme right is trying to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term and to revert back to a submissive role. It wants women to be limited to taking care of the family and children and seeks to assign blame for the high rates of divorce and poverty on women. This ''blame the victim'' approach seeks to divert attention from the system that oppresses women along with all workers.
The treatment of women as sexual objects brings additional profits to the capitalists. A misogynist culture, which includes pornography, violent video games, and human trafficking, demeans all human beings, but especially women, and contributes to sexist and abusive attitudes in the home, workplace, and online. Courageous women have launched the ''#Me Too'' movement to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment, assault, and the embrace of rape in capitalist culture. In addition to the personal harm they inflict, such behaviors limit women's freedom and effectiveness in the public sphere and warp the full development of both men and women.
The special oppression of women cuts across class lines. This cross-class oppression means that women play a progressive role as a social group. Partnerships between national women's organizations, the labor movement, and other progressive organizations are important in building the all-people's front against the extreme right.
Today, more women are accepting leadership roles and running for political office'--and winning on issues of broad appeal, such as jobs and housing, and their special experiences as women are increasingly valued. Women of all ages are playing creative, important, high-profile roles in the struggle for democracy, including robust movements for equality and against gun violence, police brutality, and racial profiling. Women are leading fights for public schools, public unions, free universal childcare, and for the rights of all.
Working-class men must realize that childcare, domestic work, and equal wages are not just women's issues; they are issues that affect everyone. They have an important role to play in leading other men to combat gender discrimination and inequality. They should speak out when they see gender discrimination and advocate in a way that wins other men to the fight for gender equality. They should take an initiating role in combating all instances of sexism and male supremacy in the labor and people's movements as well as in the family. Women need and deserve an equal place as elected officials, and in the ranks and in the leadership of the labor movement, the people's mass democratic movements, and in the Communist Party.
Working-class men have a strong self-interest in this project. Whether subtle or overt, the capitalist culture of male supremacy and misogyny is a barrier to collective activity and struggle. This culture creates an environment in which especially working-class men experience pressure to conform to ruling-class ideology.
The effort to develop equality, full respect, and trust gives men the opportunity to understand how women's experiences under capitalism promote mutual interests and a stake in a better world. The working class otherwise loses the valuable contributions women make. Half of all human potential is lost when women are excluded or when their participation is limited or stunted. Also, people whose thinking is clouded by male supremacy, misogyny, and racism cannot have clear, reliable insights into the dynamics of social inequality, oppression, and exploitation. In addition to hurting women and limiting human progress, such attitudes hurt the men whose thinking and behavior they distort. Greater principled unity between working-class men and women means greater victories for the whole of the working class. A working-class conscious of and aligned with the fight for women's equality is a working class that can unleash its full power in every arena.
Youth and Students
Today's youth face unique and unprecedented challenges as a result of capitalist exploitation, class stratification, and climate change. Youth are acutely aware that the planet they live on will be drastically changed unless we reduce carbon emissions. Under capitalism, youth and students experience special oppression and exploitation. Capitalists gain from pitting generations of workers against one another. Capitalism gains extra profits using two-tier contracts imposing lower wages for new hires and through extremely low minimum wages. Both have a devastating impact on young workers.
Capitalism deprives youth of free access to quality education, of cultural and sports activities, of living-wage jobs and entry-level training and apprenticeship programs. Poverty and great uncertainty in the job market compel large numbers of young people to enter the military and face possible loss of life and limb in one war after another. Youth are highly impacted by the opioid crisis, which benefits big drug companies at the expense of the rest of society. Youth also face additional racism, sexism, and attacks on their civil liberties.
Youth, especially working-class youth and racially and nationally oppressed youth, are subjected to inadequate, underfunded, and segregated public education. The ruling class is ensuring its own survival across generations by crippling public education and profiteering off substandard charter schools that under-educate kids in the inner cities, while the children of the wealthy are provided the best education money can buy. Austerity programs at the state level have shifted more and more of the costs of higher education to students and their families. Those who are not priced out of higher education often begin their working lives with heavy debt burdens'--totaling $1.5 trillion as of 2018'--that tie them to the big banks for decades, narrow their choices, stifle their creativity, and start their adult lives on a stress-laden footing.
The forces of extreme right reaction attempt to appeal demagogically to the young generation, especially on college campuses and in the military. Simultaneously, the extreme right wages an ideological war on our youth by criminalizing them, attempting to pit them against seniors, and blaming them for various social ills such as drugs, crime, and sexually transmitted diseases. This assault especially affects black and brown youth, who are disproportionately incarcerated and thrown into the school-to-prison pipeline. Simultaneously, there are efforts to mobilize youth to support the extreme right, especially on college campuses and in the military. Capitalism seeks to use youth as cannon fodder in its imperialist adventures.
Taken together, these challenges constitute a complete denial of a safe, clean world and a secure future for our youth.
Working-class youth and students of today are in a powerful position to act as a key link between the overall working class and youth; they are the core element of the labor/youth alliance. The youth who experience special oppression in addition to generational oppression can act as a link to ally youth with other core forces in the struggle for social progress and change. The increasing desire of today's young people to secure a safe future for themselves and upcoming generations encourages the ongoing alliance between themselves and the labor movement. Further, today's youth are more open to socialism than their parents. They are on the march, whether against gun violence or for a sustainable environment and clean planet. All these factors are advancing the youth movement in a leftward direction.
Additional Social Forces for Progress
LGBTQ Community
As do all other people, LGBTQ Americans demand and deserve full and equal civil rights, including the right to marry. The LGBTQ community consists of people from all classes and all sections of the country and economy, and it increasingly votes against the extreme right. LGBTQ organizations play an important role in many coalitions and are increasingly allied with many progressive organizations and the labor movement.
Members of the LGBTQ community face discrimination in housing and employment, lack full legal and civil rights, and are frequently subjected to hate crimes. Hiring discrimination is so pervasive as to condemn large numbers of LGBTQ people to long periods of joblessness, forcing them into dangerous situations.
The extreme right uses homophobia, transphobia, and attacks on gender non-conformists, gays, and lesbians as wedges to split the working-class and people's movements. Using false notions of ''morals'' and ''family values,'' the right attempts to use homophobia to gain allies for its corporate agenda among the working class and other social forces. The real threat to working families is not LGBTQ civil rights but the extreme right agenda of maximum profits and war. Homophobia, a weapon used by the Nazis and later by the McCarthyites in their attack on democracy, continues to be called on by the extreme right in attempts to split the growing unity against their right-wing program.
Unity against homophobia and for LGBTQ rights is an important defense of human rights for all people and is a key to building unity against the broad antidemocratic agenda of the right. Discrimination in housing, employment, education, and public facilities, as well as hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, need to be punished under existing antidiscrimination laws, and such laws created where they do not exist.
Farmers and the Rural Population
All working people are affected by the chronic crisis in rural America. Food prices are soaring, while family farmers, farm workers, and workers in food processing who place that bounty on our tables receive a shrinking share of the food dollar. Most of the wealth is flowing into the coffers of ADM, Monsanto, Cargill, Tyson, and other agribusiness giants. These leeches suck the lifeblood out of rural America, leaving farmers and rural communities to shrivel and die while delivering to the supermarkets and fast-food chains modified and processed foods of dubious safety and nutrition.
Family farmers, farm cooperatives, and workers have a heroic history of fighting common enemies'--the banks and corporations. Examples include the Populist Party, North Dakota's Non-Partisan League, and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party that embraced socialist Governor Elmer A. Benson. African American and white tenant farmers in Alabama joined the Sharecroppers Union. The unity of farmers and workers was the bedrock of the New Deal. Smashing this alliance contributed to the seizure of power by the extreme right over the past thirty years. Methodically they targeted progressive lawmakers in predominantly rural states, replacing them with hardline, extreme right supporters of agribusiness.
We support legislation to ensure fair commodity prices for farmers who today are forced to sell their commodities at prices below the cost of production. Such legislation is being blocked by the right-wing, pro-agribusiness majority in the House and Senate.
We need federal programs that enable farmers to stay on their farms and encourage young people to go into farming. We need programs to stop rapacious real estate developers from gobbling up fertile farmland. The federal government must stop stalling and pay Black farmers the restitution ordered by a federal judge for a century of racist discrimination in farm loans. The Communist Party USA supports a policy of sustainable agriculture that produces safe and nutritious food, fair farm commodity prices for farmers, and union wages for farm workers.
A growing movement by independent farmers, farm workers, and workers in the food processing industry is fighting for union rights and the rights of small independent farmers. But so far, those struggles are on parallel tracks that have not yet merged into one mighty voice for progressive change in rural America. This remains an urgent task.
Seniors
Seniors and retirees are under attack. This attack includes right-wing efforts to privatize Social Security and slash Medicare, price gouging by pharmaceutical companies, and the divestment of pension plans by businesses eager to avoid their contractual obligations. Many public workers and retirees face pension and benefit cuts. Some aspects of our culture devalue seniors, their ongoing contributions to society, and their rights to full participation in public life. Increases in the retirement age, the rapidly escalating cost of health care, company demands that workers and retirees pay more for their health care, and cuts in funding for social programs all make life more difficult for seniors, threatening their health, economic security, and quality of life. The escalating cost of housing and over-reliance on regressive property and sales taxes in most urban areas have a disproportionate impact on seniors living on a fixed income. Assisted care living facilities are often run by for-profit companies that shamelessly exploit workers and cut corners in caring for the elderly.
The high level of organization of seniors, including union retiree groups, combined with high rates of voting, give seniors the political muscle, in alliance with the labor movement and other progressive forces, to defeat these attacks and to expand social programs that provide essential support for them. National health care, including coverage of catastrophic illness, increased Social Security benefits and COLAs, expanded housing programs for low-income seniors, social support for culture accessible to all, and the acknowledgment of seniors' contributions to society will all help this expanding sector of society.
The Jewish Community and Anti-Semitism
Jewish immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries contributed substantially to the development of working-class consciousness and the fight for socialism in the United States. The seven million Jews in the U.S., religious and secular, continue to vote heavily (more than 70%) against the extreme right. One reason for this is the extreme right's efforts to erase the separation of church and state to favor their religious fundamentalist allies. There have long been strong progressive trends in the Jewish community on a wide range of domestic issues and for peace. Most U.S. Jews favor a two-state solution and an end to the occupation of the Palestinian lands. However, a substantial number are also influenced by right-wing Israeli demagogy.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise as an instrument of reaction, and under the Trump administration has reached new extremes, including the deadly rampage in October 2018 at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh. When the right danger gets stronger, so does anti-Semitism as an instrument of division and diversion. It is the responsibility of the working class and its allies to condemn and work against anti-Semitism whenever and wherever this danger appears.
Social Movements for Progress
Other class and social forces and movements play important roles in the political life of our country. These include small-business owners and professionals who operate private practices. Numerous movements support improved public education and public health care, the rights of the disabled and mentally ill, and democratic reform of our electoral systems. There are peace groups, environmental organizations, and civil liberties organizations. Also playing important roles are independent media groups, various community and neighborhood organizations, and democratic progressive sections of religious denominations and organizations. This remarkable breadth of organizations and movements affords many opportunities for alliances with the working class.
At times, one or another struggle led by these groups can be the sharpest battle in a region or in the nation, galvanizing new support, understanding, and activism. For example, the massive worldwide movement to end climate change brings together environmentalists, young people concerned about their future, and workers advocating for clean-energy jobs. The movement to end mass incarceration brings together African Americans, whose communities are inordinately affected by this scourge, civil liberties advocates, and even conservative libertarians. Medicare for All and universal health care are demands supported by workers, health-care professionals, and youth.
It is not our intention here to make a comprehensive estimate of all social movements, as this changes rapidly and includes significant complexity. Here we give some examples of how social movements and currents are related to our estimate of the balance of forces and strategic policy.
Progressive Culture
Our people have a rich heritage of many kinds of culture, a heritage that needs to be celebrated, supported, developed, and preserved. Public support for the arts, the encouragement of many forms of cultural expression, and the appreciation of the rich diversity of ethnic and multinational cultural celebrations are all part of our struggle for ending racism, prejudice, and negative stereotypes. Public funding can deepen our education about the important contributions of all peoples to our multicultural country. Many forms of artistic expression have a humanistic, democratic content'--even some commercial art forms'--and can and do contribute to the struggle against the extreme right. Many popular artists support progressive candidates, take pay cuts to appear in humanistic films, volunteer for fund-raising efforts for pro-people causes, make public statements about crucial political issues, and join demonstrations and marches.
The increasing commodification of mass culture and the restriction of the availability of some forms of art to only the wealthy undermine the democratic participation of all in developing progressive culture. The entertainment industry fosters a popular culture that brings it the greatest short-term profits rather than an all-sided development of all forms of culture. This distorts education and culture, exploits artists, and increasingly impoverishes and limits the cultural forms available to masses of people. Corporate sponsorship of culture, in addition to providing an alternate form of advertising, also tends to restrict or censor progressive or anti-corporate content.
Progressive, democratic artists and cultural workers struggle to create art that reaches and involves the working class and all people, often in the face of serious obstacles'--lack of funding, difficulty being heard over the din of commercialism, small audience base, and lack of encouragement and support for anything that challenges the dominant capitalist culture. People's artists create for picket lines, mass movements, various forms of independent media, and venues outside mainstream commercial markets. Artists who work in commercial media run up against the barriers the system places in their way. They search for ways to combat the antidemocratic, chauvinistic culture promoted by the extreme right.
Developing a vibrant people's culture, with working-class culture at its core and an appreciation for the cultural expressions of all peoples, is an essential part of building mass struggle against the system. A people's culture offers a hopeful alternative vision, a means of communicating working-class and democratic values, and a venue for celebrating our multicultural society.
Health Care Struggles
U.S. capitalism's aversion to ensuring health care as a human right has hurt working people the most. Because so much profit flows to large pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and other for-profits, the United States spends more on health care than any other nation, and yet experiences poorer outcomes than other developed countries. Before the Affordable Care Act of 2010, some 44 million Americans had no health insurance. Due to Trump administration cuts and sabotage, that number began rising once more. For the first time in a decade, the number of young children without health care is rising. Health care costs, especially drug costs, are soaring even for those with coverage. Millions work at jobs with no health insurance or other benefits. Even some unionized workers have been forced to negotiate lower wages to pay for their health benefits, or face reductions in health benefits and increased out-of-pocket costs. As a result, the demand for Medicare for All is gaining support among the public and in Congress. Single-payer coverage would be the most comprehensive and cheapest way to guarantee quality health care for everyone.
In many countries health care is recognized constitutionally as a human right, but not in the United States. Unorganized workers are left with little or no real access to health care, which forces them to pay for their health services out of pocket and often beyond their means. Millions of people are forced to choose between critical needs such as medicines, hospital appointments, food, education, and housing. Many more have woefully inadequate health insurance benefits.
In the United States, health care is a big business. This industry comprised nearly 18% of the U.S. Gross National Product in 2017. Removing profit from Wall Street''controlled health industry can fully fund a system that puts health before profit. Communists support comprehensive and free guaranteed access to quality care whenever needed, and the more robust funding of preventative programs. Until socialized medicine is achieved, the CPUSA advocates protecting and expanding the American Care Act and implementing Medicare for All.
A health care system is more than just medical care. Health care also means prevention of occupational and community environmental hazards and eliminating infectious conditions that threaten people's health. It means guaranteeing that women are fully in control over their own reproductive health and family planning. It means expanding mental health and suicide-prevention programs. Health experts now view poverty as a major health issue, as it may lead to inadequate nutrition, diabetes, heart problems, and other poor outcomes. Gun violence is also increasingly seen as a health emergency, as it takes over 30,000 lives annually, mostly suicides. In addition, the lack of affordable housing has become a major public health problem. A comprehensive health care system would mean that all health workers in hospitals and community clinics must reflect the populations they are serving'--we support the aggressive application of affirmative action programs for equal access to medical, nursing, and other professional training and education programs.
Progressive and Democratic Religious Movements
Many organized religions have within them segments of progressive and democratic religious activists who seek to make their moral values of peace, equality, and justice into a positive force for progress. They increasingly confront the efforts of the extreme right to mobilize religious groups for reactionary or backward causes. Some religious organizations have long traditions of progressive activism, and they increasingly ally themselves with the labor movement, the peace and justice movements, anticapitalist globalization movements, and all democratic movements. They participate in efforts to build people-to-people international solidarity.
There is a small but growing trend among the religious community which considers capitalism as immoral and socialism as the answer. The Communist Party welcomes these developments and expects them to grow.
IV The Democratic Struggle
Our country's revolutionary history is filled with massive struggles to protect and expand democracy. The people have won democratic gains such as the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, successful legal battles ensuring that all people have inalienable rights, elimination of property requirements for voting, outlawing of poll taxes, enrollment of former slaves as voters, voting rights for women and Native peoples, lowering of the voting age, the Voting Rights Act, and the restoration of voting rights to felons who have served their time.
The desire of people to actively participate in decision making drives battles for voting rights, expanding the electorate, reforming the electoral system, protecting civil liberties, guaranteeing civil rights, ending all forms of discrimination, eliminating the power of large financial contributions that enables the rich to dominate elections, and ending all forms of exploitation. The constant struggles of the working class to expand its political power and opportunities are struggles to expand democratic rights. The fight to protect and expand union rights is a fight for democracy. The democratic struggle embraces class and other social forces in struggles against one or another sector of the capitalist class and its dominant transnational monopolies. Many victories have been won in this struggle; however, democratic rights in a capitalist society are not only restricted but always under attack.
The characterization of the U.S. as the ''most democratic country on earth'' is propaganda. Our democracy is restricted and has been from the start, when the Constitution originally limited the right to vote to property owners who were white men. Today, many people don't vote because obstacles have been placed in the way of exercising their franchise; or they are discouraged when they see no real alternatives and little real change. The U.S. winner-take-all form of elections limits choice and denies those who are not in the majority a real voice and real representation.
Democratic rights are being attacked in multiple ways all over the U.S. Republicans have successfully restricted the size of the electorate by making voter registration harder for workers, people of color, youth, and students. This has been achieved by requiring forms of voter identification that many do not have, by restricting or eliminating early voting and decreasing the number of polling places in their opponents' districts, by creating gerrymandered legislative districts to prevent fair representation, and by purging voters from the rolls without informing them and without reasonable precautions against abuse of the process. The racist ''war on drugs'' and resulting mass incarceration have further reduced the number of voters; even after their sentences have been served, ex-prisoners are often denied the right to vote.
Corporate funding of elections also restricts democracy. Citizens United and other court cases have enshrined the notion of corporate personhood, giving corporations free speech rights and equating speech with money, thus setting the stage for unlimited spending on elections by corporations and billionaires. Under capitalist rule, people's voices over their government are constantly being restricted, leaving only the trappings of democracy. We have the right to vote, but often only very wealthy people can run for national office.
Both Democrats and Republicans have collaborated over many decades to restrict ballot access for ''minor'' parties, massively increasing signature requirements to get on the ballot and increasing the percentage of votes needed to remain on the ballot over several election cycles. Many media outlets also restrict democracy by focusing on the horserace and personality aspects of elections, reporting endlessly on polls and perceptions rather than on coverage of the issues of importance to voters.
Democracy is under attack when Republicans seek to limit, and in some cases eliminate, the right of organized groups to fully participate in the electoral system. Examples include attacking the right of unions to donate money to candidates, their right to set up their own political campaigns, and their right to play a role representing their members in the legislative process. Republicans have attacked institutions that organize opposition to their policies, from Associations for Reform Now (ACORN) to Planned Parenthood to unions.
Another area where democratic rights are under attack is the public space. Efforts to bar protest on public property, to force organizers to pay for insurance for demonstrating in public places, and to criminalize protest are on the rise. At the same time, decriminalizing violence against demonstrators and demonizing those who object to the steps toward fascism is the order of the day.
Finally, democracy is restricted in the workplace. In reality, workplaces often function as dictatorships. Only where unions have forced limitations on corporations do workers have some voice in the economic and workplace decisions that impact their working lives. Even the limited victories that have been won are constantly under attack. Workers deserve democracy on the job as well as in their communities. Workers deserve a say in the economic decisions that determine the quality of life of their families.
We must sharpen our understanding of the class nature of the ways that democracy functions differently under capitalism and socialism, and of how to fight to expand people's rights.
A workers' democracy is more expansive, meaningful, and inclusive than democracy under capitalism. Democracy is about democratic rights, civil liberties, and free and fair elections. It is about the right to protest, demonstrate, and work for change. It is concerned with protecting an independent media and access to an Internet free of political censorship. But a workers' democracy also means having democratic input and control of the economy and being free from corporate power and domination at work, in the community, and in government.
Democratic struggle includes struggles for peace and sharply reduced military spending; equality for the racially and nationally oppressed and for women; job creation programs and an increased minimum wage; adequate health care, education, day care, and housing; social security, pension, and other retirement benefits; and much more. The struggles of all class and social forces who seek to curb the power of the transnationals are democratic struggles.
The class struggle and the democratic struggle are closely linked; they overlap and intertwine. However, they are not identical. The class struggle in an immediate sense pits groups of workers against specific capitalists at the point of production as well as in broader social and economic struggles. The aim of working-class struggle is to subordinate capital to the will of labor. In the long term, this means winning power to construct socialism. The aim of the democratic struggle is to advance equality in all its forms and in all arenas and to widen the democratic space for all working people as much as possible.
The interaction of these two streams objectively advances the struggle for socialism because socialism is necessary for us to permanently eliminate inequality. After a revolution, a qualitative change happens, with democracy progressing in a planned process in harmony with the dominance of working-class power. The victory of socialism will open a new stage in the continual development of democracy.
Every specific class struggle is part of the democratic struggle because in those struggles, masses of workers seek to enlarge or protect democratic possibilities. Often, class battles are played out in the political arena where the democratic action of millions of workers can powerfully affect the battle's outcome. Examples include battles to increase the minimum wage, to make labor laws that encourage union organization, and to stop so-called right-to-work laws in many states and nationally.
The democratic struggle brings together the working class and other class and social forces for common struggle against one or another sector of the capitalist class. The democratic struggle is where alliances and coalitions between labor and other forces take place. This is one reason the extreme right seeks to curtail and limit democratic rights. As the battle against the extreme right intensifies, extreme right attacks on democratic rights also intensify.
There are millions of workers organized into unions, but there are also millions who belong to organizations in their neighborhoods, cities, and states. Workers and allies join together in many kinds of struggles, for a better life, for progressive change, for saving the planet, and for full democracy for all.
The fight for the right of workers to organize is a fight for democracy. Workers fight to make their voices heard'--in election campaigns, in legislative battles, and in the workplace. Toward this end, since the mid-1990s many unions have established their own independent, issue-based, worker-to-worker political apparatus. They are working at better communication, with education and mobilization of union membership as key tasks. Unions are increasing their efforts to organize workers, build relationships with allies, and fight in the political arena, making labor the key element of many progressive coalitions and election campaigns. As a result, the votes of union members and their households are consistently more progressive than the general voting population.
Third parties which recognize the need for Left-Center unity to defeat the extreme right play an important and positive role toward shifting the balance of forces and moving closer to the formation of a viable anti-monopoly third party. Some successful projects work by building local independent electoral formations, some by utilizing fusion tactics, some by building national networks or parties'--such efforts can make a great contribution to the defeat of the extreme right. Some, however, adopt tactics which divide them from the main forces necessary to sustain long-term independent political action.
The Communist Party, as part of the developing all-people's front to defeat the extreme right, participates fully with the labor movement and its allies in building a strong people's electoral force. Communists fight for expansion of democratic rights, including the participation of working people not only in voting but also in running for office and decision making at every level, whether local, state, or national. The Communist Party's approach to people's electoral politics reflects our view that the current stage of struggle requires an all-people's front to defeat the extreme right and requires within that front a strong and growing labor movement, Left, and Communist Party. This is an essential strategy for this historical period, not just a temporary tactic.
Extreme right political dominance threatens the vast majority of people in this country'--even including some sectors of monopoly capital'--and very broad unity is both possible and necessary to bring about a major political shift. The struggle to protect and expand democracy is the path to defeat the extreme right. It is the way to prevent fascism. It is the path of curtailing the power of the monopolies. In and through the democratic struggle, the class struggle advances toward victory. Democratic struggle is the way to bring the working class and people's forces to the brink of socialism.
Often, class battles are played out in the political arena, where the democratic rights of millions of workers can powerfully affect the outcome, strengthening the ability of the working class to survive, flourish, and win power. Every democratic struggle, by weakening the capitalist class or a section of it, objectively helps shift the balance of forces, strengthening the working class. The struggle to defend and enlarge democracy in every realm of life is therefore the only path to socialism in our country'--any other path will fail and is politically indefensible. As Lenin said, ''All 'democracy' consists in the proclamation and realization of 'rights' which under capitalism are realizable only to a very small degree and only relatively. But without the proclamation of these rights, without a struggle to introduce them now, immediately, without training the masses in the spirit of this struggle, socialism is impossible.''
The Communist Party supports all efforts to protect and expand the right to vote and guarantee democracy. Here are some:
Restore and expand the protections of the Voting Rights Act to ensure an end to discrimination and gerrymandering, and apply voting rights guarantees nationally.Eliminate the Electoral College, institute direct elections for President and Vice-President.Establish non-partisan redistricting commissions to end hyper-partisan gerrymandering.Implement ranked-choice voting, as in the state of Maine, enabling voters to vote for both their first and second choices, allowing more voters to support both minor party candidates and their major party candidate of choice.Allow automatic voter registration for all eligible voters, as already happens in Oregon, New York State, and several other states.Implement proportional representation.Allow fusion voting (the same candidate nominated by more than one party), as already practiced in New York State.End right-wing voter purges, which are aimed at placing obstacles in the path of voting by people of color, poor people, and students.Expand opportunities to vote, such as extended voting days and hours, voting by mail as in Washington State and Oregon, same-day registration and same-day registration updating, and Election Day as a federal holiday. Prosecute voter suppression as a form of electoral fraud. Restore voting rights to felons who have served their time, as already happens in Maine and Vermont. Provide a pathway to citizenship for immigrants; enable non-citizen immigrants to vote in local elections. Support congressional reversal of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowing unrestricted and unreported money in politics, or if necessary through a Constitutional amendment. End the corrupting influence of private money in politics by expanding democratic election rights and establishing public financing of all elections. Make ballot access for minor parties easier, expanding democratic choice. Make it mandatory that states maintain paper ballots, to prevent computer fraud in our election system. Hold debates with all candidates for an office, including ''minor'' party candidates. Expand the range of issues requiring democratic input, for example instituting elected civilian review boards.The battle for full democracy, in the political and in the economic systems, is a battle to win the support of the majority. There is no successful path to lasting revolutionary change without waging such a struggle.
V Unity against the Extreme Right
We cannot wish our way to socialism; the struggle to transform our country will of necessity pass through several stages of struggle, with each successive stage taking us closer to a direct struggle for working class power.
Understanding the present stage of struggle requires knowing the level of development of the capitalist economy and social system, and the extent of organization and unity of working-class and progressive forces.
Analyzing the objective stages of struggle is essential to developing correct long-term strategy. This is not a mechanical prescription; these are stages of struggle, not stages of social development from one socioeconomic system to another. The social system remains capitalist during all stages up to the conquest of power by the working class. There is no firm, complete barrier between these stages. In the current stage, while identifying the most reactionary sector of the transnationals as the main opponent and developing an anti''extreme right consciousness, Communists seek to grow anti-monopoly consciousness and class and socialist consciousness. While the extreme right is the focus of the overall struggle in the present, a transnational which is not part of the extreme right may be the opponent in a political fight or a strike struggle.
The present period of capitalist development poses a grave danger to democratic rights and civil liberties in the United States. Since the early 1980s, the Republican Party, increasingly dominated by its extreme right wing, has controlled much of the national legislative agenda, while the leadership of the Democratic Party often ceded ground and initiative. Some Democrats openly collaborated with fossil fuel companies, and some engaged in unprincipled compromise with Republicans, with anti-people objectives such as ''welfare reform'' and ''three strikes laws'' that led to mass incarceration.
Ever since the major victories for the working class during the New Deal of the 1930s, the rich and their paid operatives have worked diligently to chip away at or destroy these concessions to the political power of workers. They have attempted to slow down or restrict progressive programs that benefited people's lives, and to undermine every victory for unions, civil rights, and the environment. Now the extreme right seeks to eliminate many of these programs, which they refer to pejoratively as ''entitlement'' programs. They want a government that has no role except to facilitate the ruthless power grabs and accumulation of wealth by the giant monopoly corporations: banks, giant retailers, brokerage houses, private equity companies, insurance companies, fossil fuel transnational corporations, agribusiness, pharmaceutical companies, and arms merchants.
After suffering setbacks in the 1970s, sections of the U.S. ruling class sought to reassert their power by seriously funding right-wing think tanks and extreme-right political campaigns and bringing religious fundamentalists into the electoral arena. They constructed an alternate media universe to endlessly repeat right-wing propaganda. They sought to build a mass base that would enable them to reassert U.S. military dominance through massive investments in new weapons systems, reaping super profits for ''defense'' contractors in the process. They sought to break up the grand political coalition that supported the Democratic Party, starting with building their own coalition of transnationals and economic and social conservatives who worked to dominate the Republican Party. Conservative Evangelicals aiming to roll back women's reproductive rights joined the new Republican coalition.
Central to their political program was the ''Southern Strategy,'' a two-pronged approach to maintaining political control of the South: drawing southern whites away from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party using racist ''dog whistle'' code phrases such as ''law and order'' and ''reverse discrimination,'' and disfranchising African Americans through voter suppression tactics.
The Extreme Right
Two major political tendencies have developed in the capitalist class in recent decades in the U.S., both among the transnationals and among the political parties and administrations with which they are intertwined.
The first tendency represents the interests of the most reactionary section of the transnationals. It took over the Republican Party and elected Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush as presidents. The candidacies of Pat Buchanan were used to drive the Republican Party sharply to the right, at first giving off a whiff of fascism and then escalating to the full-blown embrace of policies that lay the basis for fascism, as we see clearly today.
The extreme right coalition also includes the mass base of voters in Republican primaries. The Koch Brothers''funded Astroturf movement known as the Tea Party helped drive this mass base further rightward. ''Establishment'' Republicans encouraged this development, seeing in it a hope of postponing the consequences of major demographic shifts and growing progressive sentiments among younger voters.
The extreme right is not a monolithic group. It includes elements of national and international corporate power, neoconservatives determined to use military adventurism to promote the interests of the fossil fuel industry and others, and the more traditional conservatives, who refuse to reject the extremes of Trumpism in order to gain more tax cuts and who seek the privatization of Social Security, Medicare, and other social safety-net programs. The extreme right relies on non-party forces such as neo-Nazis, ultra-nationalists, extreme religious fundamentalists, and right-wing militias to promote the interests of the top 10th of the 1%.
The extreme right includes the military-industrial complex, the oil and energy industries, and the pharmaceuticals. It also includes sections of the high-tech industry, finance capital, massive manufacturing corporations, and distribution giants such as Wal-Mart. The extreme right includes the so-called neoconservatives, social and fiscal conservatives, religious fundamentalists, nativists, libertarians, and other right-wing groupings. The extreme right has achieved a mass base among sections of different class and social forces that currently support extreme-right candidates, often against their own interests.
Following the election of Reagan, the impact of the extreme right was felt immediately, both locally and internationally. They worked to establish and maintain a unipolar world with the U.S. as the sole superpower, starting with the dramatic buildup of the U.S. military. They demonized foreign opponents of the U.S., covertly funded right-wing-initiated civil wars in Nicaragua and elsewhere in Central America, and gave weapons to Al Qaeda's al-Nusra Front in Syria. Starting in the late 1970s and dramatically escalating following the election of Reagan, the U.S. government increased the U.S. military build-up. Most Republican and Democratic elected officials supported capitalist globalization. This led to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other international trade agreements and organizations, and to increased outsourcing of union manufacturing jobs. This reactionary coalition attacked the very existence of unions and bargaining rights, gave tax cuts to the rich, and imposed cuts to social programs. They worked to establish and maintain a unipolar world with the U.S. as the sole superpower.
The extreme right capitalized on the economic failures facilitated by the Clinton administration's removal of banking regulations such as the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated investment and commercial banks. This change played a large part in the 2008 global financial crisis. Other neoliberal policies resulted in escalating economic and social inequality. While the extreme right suffered some setbacks during the Obama years, it did not receive a major, lasting rebuff. After Obama's election, the extreme right stepped up attacks on Democrats, liberals, and progressives, and the social programs promoted by them. With the presidency of Trump, this trend took an even sharper turn to the right, publicly allying itself with avowed racists and fascists.
Extreme right policies on the domestic front are openly anti-union, anti-worker, misogynist, and racist. They diligently promote the interests of the biggest transnationals and the wealthy, especially the most reactionary sectors, through further tax cuts and giveaways. Concurrently, the extreme right attacks the social safety net'--measures such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), Head Start, and environmental protections. To divide working people, the extreme right opposes affirmative action, has shredded the social safety net in ways that disproportionately affect women and people of color, and has fostered increased police profiling and brutality. They increasingly rely on anti-immigrant hysteria to divide, divert, and scapegoat.
Its policies include open domination by the transnationals over most of the government, with corporate lobbyists actually drafting bills, subverting the democratic process. The extreme right actively seeks the elimination of governmental regulation and all opportunities for popular intervention in the public interest in key sectors of the economy. It has enshrined a radical shift of the tax burden from the transnational corporations and wealthy onto the working class, professionals, and small capitalists. There has been a dramatic reduction of government spending on the needs of the poor, the nationally and racially oppressed, and the working class, while increasing various forms of subsidies and tax cuts for big corporations and the super-rich.
The international policies of the extreme right are no less oppressive. Determined to use the overwhelming military power of the United States, neoconservatives claim the right to dominate the world for U.S. capitalist economic and political-military interests. They rationalize their doctrine with phony claims of ''freedom'' and ''democracy,'' really meaning freedom for the corporations and finance capital to exploit and oppress. Austerity measures are imposed worldwide to guarantee the ''freedom'' of capitalist investment and transnational domination.
The extreme right claims the moral right to attack and subvert any country, establish unilateral economic sanctions, conduct war without end, use ''tactical'' nuclear weapons, and militarize space. The U.S. government established and uses organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, and USAID to routinely interfere with the self-determination of people all over the once-colonized world. More recent examples of interference include the overthrow of the elected government in Ukraine, attempts to undermine and overthrow those of Venezuela and Nicaragua, and support for coups in Honduras and Bolivia.
Under the Trump administration, the extreme right has used ultra-nationalism and Islamophobia to justify its attempts to dictate to the world and to beat down internal opposition. Whenever international organizations such as the United Nations do not follow U.S.-dictated policies, they are ignored until the U.S. government is able to dominate, undermine, or override them.
The present extreme right government is not an ordinary bourgeois-democratic regime'--it is authoritarian in nature. To consolidate power, the extreme right seeks not to unite the capitalist class through compromise but rather to dominate the less militaristic sections of the capitalist class. The current success of the right wing in the electoral arena is not just the replacement of one set of politicians by another; it is a grab for control by one section of the capitalist class over all other sections and over the whole of society.
Another way the extreme right is consolidating its power is to undermine democratic and constitutional rights. It does this in part by wielding the threat of terrorism as a cudgel. Using the ''war on terrorism'' as a smokescreen, several administrations have curtailed constitutional rights of free speech and assembly. Police powers, control of the media, and surveillance of legal opposition movements have accelerated. Reaction declares ''big government'' the enemy of individual freedom and prosperity at the same time it is increasing government powers and curtailing democratic rights. In reality, the greatest terrorist threats come from the domestic racist, white nationalist, right-wing fringe.
The extreme right's consolidation of power, the chipping away of democratic and constitutional rights, the Electoral College victory of Trump, and the spineless capitulation of almost all Republican elected officials have dramatically escalated the danger of fascism. Fascism would be the open terrorist dictatorship by the most reactionary, militarist, racist section of monopoly capital and the elimination of all avenues of popular resistance and protest. Fascism is not inevitable, but the working class and allied forces will not be able to prevent the extreme right section of the capitalist class from moving further toward fascism unless we combat structural changes in that direction now.
To pursue their aims, Trump and the most reactionary transnational corporations seek to maintain a mass base of support to hold governmental power and sustain the illusion of legitimacy. This mass base is largely unaware of the agenda of the extreme right.
Part of this mass support comes from some Christian fundamentalists. Although they have real material interests in opposing the basic program of reaction, Christian fundamentalists have been won over by the extreme right's false appeals supposedly based on ''family values'' and ''human life.'' In reality, they oppose women's reproductive rights, attack the civil liberties of LGBTQ communities, oppose all affirmative action to move toward equality by the racially and nationally oppressed and women, attack all social welfare programs, and seek to undermine the separation of church and state. At the same time, they set records for immorality by repeatedly lying to the entire country, engaging in corruption on a large scale, and by killing and maiming tens of thousands of people in pursuit of their imperialist designs.
However, other sections of the religious community oppose the direction of the extreme right and support peace and democracy because of their moral beliefs and religious values. Millions of believers vote against and actively fight the program of the extreme right. Among the religious forces weighing in on the side of democratic struggle are the predominant church forces in the African American communities, continuing a long tradition growing out of opposition to slavery and racism. But even here, the extreme right actively seeks to co-opt churches for reactionary purposes.
The Other Capitalist Camp
In pursuit of their particular imperialist interests, other sectors of transnational capital and their political representatives are somewhat more reluctant to use military force. They see a greater role for the United Nations and other international bodies. Domestically, they see a continued need for economic regulation and social welfare programs to keep social peace and avoid the extremes of destructive capitalist competitiveness. They acknowledge the reality of climate change and the immediate need for climate action and environmental protections.
These divisions in the capitalist class contain opportunities for working-class and progressive forces. On some issues, the more moderate, more realistic sections of the capitalist class and their political operatives move in parallel with the people's movements, as important though partial and temporary allies. They can be pressured to adopt a more progressive stance by the strength of the people's movements and mass sentiment.
While the Democratic and Republican Parties are both controlled by capitalists, they are not identical, and the Left and Communist movements cannot ignore these differences. The Democratic Party has been the main vehicle used by African American and Latino communities to gain representation, as well as the main mechanism used to elect labor, progressive, and even Left activists to public office, especially at the local level. There exists an internal struggle within the Democratic Party among centrist forces who collaborate with the right wing, centrist forces opposed to the right wing, and more progressive, even socialist, trends. Those opposed to the right wing are sometimes willing to align with progressive elements that seek to defeat the program of the extreme right. There are struggles within both the Democratic Party and within the labor and people's movements, which are reflective of the overall struggle to gain political independence from corporate dominance. The Left must help build the movement against the extreme right, while strengthening the ability of the working class and its allies to effectively exert their will through massively broadening and deepening their organized reach. Any serious strategy that hopes to win millions of people to a more advanced political program must contend with this reality and relate to these struggles.
Defeating the Extreme Right
The only strategy capable of defeating the extreme right's implicit and explicit drive toward fascism is the widest possible organized unity of all class and social forces whose interests run counter to those of the most reactionary section of the transnationals. Such an all-inclusive coalition needs to be led by labor and the working class in close alliance with the core forces and everyone except the most reactionary section of transnational capital. This unity will include an ever-growing Left-Center political coalition that includes the Democratic Party base, left and progressive independents, independent parties who recognize the danger the extreme right poses, and all the progressive social movements on the major issues of our day. This unity will be strengthened by the issue-based, door-to-door grassroots efforts by African American, Latino, Asian American, women's, youth, LGBTQ, and environmental organizations. This all-people's front must strive to increase working-class voter participation and attract even some who voted Republican in the past out of anger or delusion, influenced by extreme right propaganda and ideology.
The struggle to defeat the extreme right is a democratic struggle which has the potential to shift the balance of forces in a direction more favorable for winning working-class victories, for mounting offensive struggles to improve the quality of life for the vast majority of our people. Defeating the extreme right will expand the freedom of working people, and such a defeat requires the most rigorous defense of all democratic rights, even partial, limited rights.
The struggle against the extreme right, against the most reactionary sector of the transnationals, and for achieving a decisive electoral defeat of its political power, is of great significance. However, such a defeat alone will not end the extreme right danger. There will still be the danger that the most extreme reactionaries, militarists, and racists in our country will seek to impose fascism. In the struggle to defeat the extreme right and in subsequent stages of struggle, the working class must seek to strengthen its ideological bearings, organizational capacity, and political muscle, along with building alliances. It must become evident that only the replacement of capitalism, which gives birth to these backward and antidemocratic political trends, with socialism can finally do away with the extreme right threat.
Defeat of the extreme right in the political/electoral arena will weaken the most reactionary sector of the monopolies. In doing so, their defeat objectively weakens all monopolies and the capitalist class as a whole. The struggle against that sector of the ruling class also serves the purpose of uniting, educating, and assembling a major portion of the forces needed for the next historic task of the working class, that of struggling to radically curb the monopolies as a whole. The struggle against the extreme right helps millions of people understand more clearly who the next main strategic opponent is and who can and must unite to achieve that next goal. Through their own activity, millions are taught the methods of struggle, forms of organization, and demands necessary to move forward.
Grassroots organizing around a program for working people's needs is key to shifting the balance of forces to the left. Building a multiracial, multinational movement and expanding union organization and other movements into the South and rural areas are crucial to overcoming that which weakens us: the racism and bigotry utilized by the extreme right.
The labor movement has made significant shifts in its organization and outlook. It now leads many coalitions for progress and change, as well as defensive struggles against the attacks of the corporations and the extreme right. Labor's intensified participation in electoral struggles has resulted in the election of thousands of union members to office, the creation and development of labor's own independent political apparatus, and better communication with, education of, and mobilization of union membership.
Some demands and victories that begin to curb the power of monopoly may be won in part or in whole in the course of the struggle against its extreme right section. Some essential people's demands may not be won completely or at all in the anti-monopoly stage and may have to await the succeeding stage of working people's power and the construction of a socialist society.
It is not the specific demands but rather the strategy of that particular period of struggle, the depth and breadth of mobilizing masses, and the level of unity that develops which are the most crucial factors in defining the stage of struggle. The shift between stages is not a mechanical calculation but rather is based on a changed balance of forces'--when the people's forces gain strength and unity sufficient to administer significant defeats to the extreme right and to decisively shift the balance of forces, then advancing to the anti-monopoly stage becomes possible.
VI Building the Anti-Monopoly Coalition
U.S. capitalism is presently in the transnational monopoly capitalist, imperialist stage of development: state monopoly capitalism. Once the most reactionary extreme right transnationals receive a major defeat, it will be both necessary and possible for the people's democratic forces to take on the transnationals as a whole. This more advanced, anti-monopoly stage of struggle will be the next key step on the road to socialism in the U.S.
The strategic aim of the people's forces will be to radically curb the power of the transnational monopolies over the political, economic, and ideological life of our country. A serious effort to curb that power to a substantial extent requires a broad coalition of all class and social forces whose actual interests conflict with those of the monopolies. It will need to embrace all the social movements and political tendencies who oppose these transnationals on some or many issues.
Such a coalition will build on the alliances and organizational forms developed in the current struggle to defeat the extreme right. Because an anti-monopoly coalition will seek to curb the power of all sections of the transnationals, it will no longer include the less backward section of the transnationals and their political representatives. But that shift need not mean a narrowing of the anti-monopoly coalition. It must involve a great mass upsurge of millions. The coalition can broaden and deepen as sections of the objectively anti-monopoly strata shed illusions through their experience of struggle and the successful achievement of a major shift of the political balance of forces against the extreme right.
This coalition must include all who share with the working class the common enemy of monopoly power. They all have a stake in radically curbing the power of monopolies and in seeking to win an anti-monopoly government.
An Anti-Monopoly Program
The anti-monopoly people's coalition will put forward a program of public policies and government practices as the coalition grows and strengthens. A developed anti-monopoly program will build on the many struggles and issues already begun and won in the fight against the extreme right. As part of that coalition, the Communist Party will propose radical democratic demands aimed at curbing the political, economic, and ideological power of the monopolies. Unless they are already won at an earlier stage, our demands will include
The building of a mass people's party capable of contending for governmental power, a party free of domination by any monopoly interests.Removal from the electoral system of the financial contributions of monopolies, to be replaced by public funding and guarantees of honest elections where each vote counts and all votes are counted.Full restoration and expansion of the Bill of Rights and all democratic rights; the complete separation of church and state.Full legal protection from hate crimes and racial profiling, the institution of police accountability by civilians, an end to police violence, and the outlawing of oral and written racist propaganda.No discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, gender, nationality, or disability and against other protected groups. Employers must provide equal pay for equal work. Employers must prove performance-based non-discrimination.Implementation of affirmative action and compensatory programs to achieve actual equality for the racially and nationally oppressed and women.Prevention of the ''freedom'' of monopolies to move assets in ways that harm workers and communities without full compensation; the guaranteed right to a job at living wages through public works and public service jobs or full income; the growth of public ownership of industries; nationalization of ''too big to fail'' banks.The right to form and join a union free from interference or retaliation; guarantees that corporations must fulfill their contractual obligations of providing pensions and other benefits.Full funding for public education, affordable housing programs, day care, Social Security, and a universal health care program, youth job training and recreational and cultural programs.Accelerating the transition to a green, carbonless economy, as part of a massive public works jobs programCreation of a social fund to make up for past and continuing wrongs and to help achieve equality in facilities and infrastructure for communities of the racially and nationally oppressed and women.No taxes for low-income people; progressive taxation of the wealthy, for-profit corporations, and taxation on financial transactions such as purchases and sales of stocks, bonds, derivatives, and other investment instruments.Replacement of the imperialist foreign policy of preemptive strikes and dictating to the world in the interests of U.S.-based transnationals by a policy of international cooperation to solve problems of war and aggression, poverty, education, environment, health, and development.Military budget slashed to a fraction of current spending with funding transferred to social programs. All media to be free of monopoly corporate ownership.A Labor-Led People's Party
Currently, the development of political and electoral independence for the working class and its allies mainly supports candidates who utilize the Democratic Party to run for office. Despite the various new political forms and experiences of the labor and people's movements, ''third'' parties have had only limited success. Undemocratic, legal difficulties remain a barrier to creating a successful national political party free from control of the monopolies. Major restrictions on full democracy include the ''winner take all'' electoral system, as opposed to proportional representation and ranked-choice voting. Other restrictions on democracy include excessive requirements for ballot access and virtually no limits on campaign spending. These and other obstacles need to be eliminated to allow the fullest democratic participation of all people. Further, public financing of elections will enable more working-class candidates to contend for major public offices.
The development of a national mass people's party will take place through electoral and other progressive struggles inside and outside the two-party system. The political and organizational forms that are currently developing toward such a party include:
labor's independent electoral apparatus;independent election financing;labor candidates, and candidates who come from grassroots movements;independent electoral apparatus in the African American community and other oppressed communities;independent progressive political action committees and campaigns, get-out-the-vote, and voter registration campaigns;Internet-based activist networks not controlled by the Democratic Party;issue-based organizations such as the League of Conservation Voters and Planned Parenthood;movements running candidates in the Democratic Party, or on two ballot lines, or as independents;Communists running for office'--as Communists, as independents, for nonpartisan offices, and as part of progressive slates; andorganizational forms that provide unity among these different forces and movements.Independent election tickets and parties, when they support the current central objective of defeating the extreme right and do not weaken that effort, are objectively preparing the ground for a powerful people's anti-monopoly party in the future. The successful candidates will be those who fight for real economic and political reforms and who build coalitions that reach into the neighborhoods and communities with campaigns that produce sustainable wins. This means putting forth working-class demands and platforms that respond to the reality on the ground at a particular moment and in a particular area.
The struggle for a program that radically curbs the power of the transnationals will take place not only through a people's party but also through non-electoral struggles at all levels'--workplace and neighborhood grassroots forms, and city, state, and national coalitions. These organizational forms can gradually coalesce into ongoing multi-issue coalitions and an anti-monopoly front of struggle. Methods of struggle include demonstrations, strikes, petitioning, picketing, boycotts, civil disobedience, and mass and general strikes, in addition to electoral struggle.
It is possible and desirable that a people's party and anti-monopoly coalition will win governmental control at the local, city, state, or even national level. The goal of this governmental participation is to implement those parts of the program of radical democratic demands not already won and to organize for the next stage in the struggle'--the fight for socialism.
The Left in the Anti-Monopoly Coalition
Curbing the power of the monopolies weakens capitalism and puts the country on a new, sustainable development path. The building of a people's party and an anti-monopoly coalition capable of competing for governmental power leads to shifts in the balance of forces toward the qualitative change, which will open the direct struggle for working people's power and socialism.
The growth of an anti-monopoly coalition and a people's party depends on a greater socialist-minded current, a mass Communist Party, and a larger Left. A large and growing Left within all the class and social forces and social movements is essential to help keep the grand anti-monopoly coalition unified and moving forward. A much larger Left will help all democratic anti-monopoly forces focus on the transnational monopolies as the main enemy and will help assure a leading role of the multiracial, multinational, multigender working class in close alliance with all nationally and racially oppressed peoples, women, and youth.
A mass Communist Party is necessary for developing an anti-monopoly coalition, overcoming obstacles placed by the transnationals, solving difficulties internal to the coalition, and moving ahead to a coalition of working people's power led by the working class. The Communist Party will help assure that the anti-monopoly coalition moves on to seek an end to capitalism itself and the construction of socialism. Our Party, with its deep roots in U.S. history and culture, and its long-standing principled fight for working-class unity, civil rights and full equality for all, genuine reforms, and maintaining and extending Constitutional rights, is an indispensable component of the coalition needed to win socialism.
It is not possible to predict to what extent an anti-monopoly people's coalition and government will implement its radical anti-monopoly program before the lesson is learned by tens of millions that winning radical anti-monopoly reforms is not enough. So long as the capitalists and transnationals own the means of production and are able to command political and economic power, new social problems will emerge, and old ones will be reintroduced in new forms. A full, lasting solution to modern social, economic, and environmental problems requires socialism, starting with social ownership of the key major sectors of the economy and working people's democratic power led by the working class.
The wider and deeper the unity of the anti-monopoly coalition, the more the working class and its key allies lead it, the stronger the Left and socialist-oriented sector, the bigger and more influential a mass Communist Party, more the power of the transnationals will be curbed by radical measures. These will make easier the move to the next stage of struggle, the direct struggle for immediate revolutionary change. This move to a new stage will be made possible by a major change in the balance of political power in favor of working people led by the working class.
Although the coalition of working people fighting for socialism will not include any section of the monopoly capitalist class (except those individuals who might abandon their capitalist class interests in favor of the interest of the working class), it can be broader and deeper than all previous political coalitions of the working class and its allies, embracing nearly the entire population of each of its class and social movement components. The anti-monopoly coalition that brings the working class to full political power will be a fuller expression of democracy of, for, and by the vast majority. It will be and require a more developed expression of class and socialist consciousness by tens of millions of workers and their allies.
VII The Revolutionary Transition to Working People's Power
Because of the capitalist class's enormous power, its dominant ideology in the media and educational systems, and its ability to create and foster division, the next major social transformation, to socialism, requires a massive movement infused with both class and socialist consciousness. Revolutionaries must be steeled in the battles of the working class for better wages and working conditions and a better quality of life for all, tested in building alliances between workers and all oppressed peoples, and consistent in battling real and perceived divisions based on age, sex, nationality, and sexual orientation. Being a revolutionary requires a mindset of thinking beyond oneself, thinking about what will move the working class forward. Class and socialist consciousness must be solidified within the entire working class.
Working-class power comes from the united action of tens of millions of working people and their allies, from their commitment to end exploitation and oppression. Anything short of that will be unable to succeed in bringing about a fundamental transformation of the economic system, redirecting priorities to solve people's needs, both short and long term.
We see revolution as a profoundly democratic process, one that involves the actions and decisions of the vast majority. The more unified the majority, the more likely it is that a transition can be accomplished without the capitalists using violence to block the building of socialism. We reject all approaches that welcome and seek violent action. We fight for and commit ourselves to building enough unity to win socialism peacefully, though we recognize that the ruling class may initiate violence against progressive and radical movements in an attempt to maintain its power. We have no illusions that the capitalists will willingly give up power and control unless they have no possibility of successfully stopping social transformation by initiating capitalist class-led violence.
A revolutionary majority, based on mass organizations and political parties, must work to make it politically impossible for the former ruling class to use political or military means to return to power. As with all governments, should any forces try to take power by unconstitutional means, by coup or counter-revolutionary insurrection, the full weight of the government and mass people's power would be used to uphold socialist legality and working people's power.
The Communist Party aims for a peaceful transition to socialism, based on all forms of mass democratic expression and social action, electoral and non-electoral, to win and maintain working people's power. Our Party, with deep roots in U.S. history and culture, with its long-standing principled fight for working-class unity, for civil rights and full equality for all, for genuine reforms, for maintaining and extending Constitutional rights, is an indispensable component of the coalition needed to win socialism.
The struggle to achieve power and construct socialism will be difficult. The capitalists have great resources and great determination to keep their riches and power. For an organization to play a leading role and develop strategy and tactics that fit the objective circumstances requires Marxist-Leninist analysis based on the actual material conditions of society. It requires the ability to influence millions, based on long experience of common struggle and mutual respect. It requires a Communist Party steeled in action. A leadership role in the struggle for socialism is not proclaimed; it can be won only through millions of working people gaining direct experience with a Communist Party, with its deeds, and with its application of theory to real struggles. A Communist Party must win this respect anew at every step of the struggle.
We do not propose any detailed plan for exactly how this transition will come about, since it will depend on the specific circumstances at the time. Revolutionary transformations have happened differently in each country that has gone through such a transition. In some cases, it was under the leadership of a single party, in others it was a multiparty coalition. In some, it came as a result of a direct struggle for socialism; in others, socialist goals only came following an anticolonial or anti-imperialist revolution. We can't predict the exact challenges we will face; we can only focus on building a revolutionary movement strengthened and seasoned by participation in mass struggles.
A socialist USA will be democratic, egalitarian, humane, and sustainable. The working people of our country need this transformation, and the people of the world need us to work for it, to take the threat of imperialist domination and invasion out of their political calculations.
The creation of a better world is both possible and essential. This will only happen with the creation of an environmentally-conscious socialism. A democratic society based on working people's power will enable us to solve exploitation, oppression, remove the power of finance capital from our necks, and create and maintain a healthy balance with the natural world on which we depend.
VIII International Capital versus International Solidarity
Capitalism in the Era of Monopoly and Imperialism
Because capitalism is a global system, the struggle of the working class for a better life and for socialism must be global. The chronic problems working people face today are rooted in the birth and history of the capitalist system itself. ''Free'' competitive capitalism was replaced at the end of the nineteenth century by monopoly capitalism. Great amounts of capital were concentrated in a few companies in each industry, both in our country and internationally. At the same time, industrial and banking capital merged into finance capital. These monopolies proceeded to divide up the world economically, each with its own sphere of control. To ensure the stability of investment and free access to resources, corporations sought to dominate the governments within their spheres. The transnational corporations succeeded in backing up their economic division of the world with a military-political division of the world. Africa, most of Asia and Latin America, and parts of Europe were divided into colonies or semi-colonies of the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the other monopoly capitalist states. Colonial domination resulted in concentration of worldwide wealth in the hands of the few and the impoverishment of the many. Imperialism is not just a policy of the major capitalist powers; it is a stage of capitalism itself.
The current stage, state monopoly capitalism, provides greater and more permanent economic and political support to capitalist monopoly corporations, especially global banks. Despite the trappings of democracy, the U.S. government, like those of other imperialist countries, implements foreign policy as a direct instrument of monopoly capital, enabling the accumulation of capital for the monopolies. The government maintains international economic institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization. State monopoly capitalism also develops international trade agreements that impinge on national sovereignty.
Unlike labor, capital moves freely across borders in most of the world in search of higher profits. Stimulated by the internationalization of economic life and the scientific and technical revolution, transnational corporations control many aspects of economic life. These range from financing, to research and development, to sources of supply, to production, all the way to wholesale and retail distribution. Globalization gave the monopolies more alternatives for resource extraction and production based on which country is cheapest for each operation. This enabled greater coordination and planning within the bounds of a single corporation and in cartel-type arrangements with other transnational corporations.
As of 2017, of the 100 largest economic entities in the world, 51 were transnational corporations, the rest being entire countries. Transnationals increasingly dominate many industries worldwide. These include Walmart and Amazon in retail; JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs in investment banking; Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix in technology; News-Corp, Viacom, Comcast, Disney, and Fox in mass media; and Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and Johnson & Johnson in pharmaceuticals. These and other transnational corporations dominate the governments of the leading imperialist powers as well as multistate institutions, and politically and economically dominate many less developed countries.
Global corporations have led to unprecedented concentrations of wealth, and the resulting degree of inequality is even more staggering at the individual level; the three wealthiest individuals in the United States have more wealth than the poorest 163 million Americans combined. Twenty-six individuals have more wealth than half of the world's population.
Growing wealth inequality, joblessness, and wars have resulted in mass human migrations. More recent human migrations include refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa moving to Europe; Central Americans to the U.S.; and more. These mass migrations have been used by the extreme right in Europe, the UK, and in the U.S. to stir up racist/xenophobic anger against immigrants and all people of color. Refugees from the climate crisis will only add to the numbers of economic and political immigrants, as extreme weather, crop failures, drought conditions, and imperialist oppression affect countries without the resources to adapt.
The International Front for Peace and Progress
With each major international issue of struggle comes a new balance of forces. Peace sentiments and movements worldwide constitute a major force against imperialism and aggression. Our people have a material interest in ending the attempts of U.S. imperialism to use military power to dominate the world'--the tax dollars used to invade and control other countries and regions are desperately needed to fund adequate services, programs, and benefits for our people.
The U.S. is the main imperialist power in the world and is therefore the main threat to peace worldwide. The Communist Party and progressive forces in the U.S. have a responsibility to our own people and to the people of the world to build the broadest, strongest peace movement opposed to U.S. imperialist aggression anywhere in the world. We must demand the dismantling of U.S. military bases in other countries. We have a responsibility to all past, present, and potential future victims of direct U.S. military aggression, including those from Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cuba, Syria, Yemen, Russia, Iran, Central America, and North Korea.
Building international unity against war and aggression is increasingly a matter of human survival. Unity against the development and use of nuclear weapons and against expanding the arms race into space is an escalating necessity.
On some issues, only a handful of client states side with the U.S. because there is growing recognition that U.S. policies threaten not only world peace but increasingly threaten the very existence of humanity. The most flagrant examples are the U.S. imperialist invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Trump's abandoning the Paris Agreement and Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, backing off US-Cuba rapprochement, continued attacks against Venezuela, threats against Central America over the migrant-refugee crisis and against Nicaragua, support for Saudi attacks on Yemen, threats against North Korea, and the arming of Ukrainian fascists.
The peace front consists of overwhelming world public opinion in all countries against war and for peaceful solutions, along with organized peace and social movements working directly to accomplish these aims. It also consists of the existing socialist countries and developing countries that maintain some degree of independent policies. Even most other developed imperialist powers, less dominated by weapons manufacturers and other war capitalists, recognize that military options result in highly dangerous consequences and seldom are useful or lasting even for their imperialist aims. The extreme right forces in the U.S. and across the global economy work in opposition to the broad peace front.
After the counterrevolution in the Soviet Union, the U.S. escalated its aggressive, unilateral foreign policy. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was expanded after the end of the Cold War. The U.S. continued its imperialist policy of containment of socialism in China and also against Russia, the second most powerful military country. It continued to surround China with military bases in the Pacific and intensified the military and economic containment of China through its ''Pivot to East Asia'' policy. The U.S. helped orchestrate a successful coup against the elected government in the Ukraine with the assistance of neo-Nazi elements trained in Poland. The primary aim was adding the Ukraine to NATO and the E.U. and military containment of Russia.
The U.S. also created a now-defunct trade arrangement with Pacific Rim nations called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP was meant to economically isolate China. The U.S. continues to challenge China militarily in the South China Sea. Countries bordering the South China Sea must resolve island and maritime claims without U.S. intervention. The Trump administration has escalated a tariff war against China. The purpose is to push U.S. elections to the right and to pressure China against the DPRK (North Korea). The U.S. wants to unilaterally denuclearize the DPRK with no corresponding steps to end the U.S. military and nuclear presence on the Korean Peninsula. World peace continues to be threatened by the belligerent, hegemonic actions of U.S. imperialism.
The U.S. and transnational corporations dominate most of the world through economic means, not just military ones. With nearly all the socialist and developing countries now members of the WTO, IMF, and other international trade alliances, struggle also takes place within these organizations. Increasingly, the developing countries have challenged the trade alliances' aim to regulate international economic relations in the interests of the transnational corporations and their ''home countries,'' particularly the U.S.
There is a growing recognition that the globalization of economic and social life means that social problems anywhere in the world affect all countries, including the richest ones. Mass poverty and hunger, extreme inequality, debt, lack of access to health care and education, and environmental devastation are problems facing all humanity and require international solutions.
In the 2000s, there was a resurgent leftward movement in several parts of the world, most notably in Latin America with the election of Left and Left-Center governments. They rejected imperialist ''free trade'' schemes, worked to expand social benefits, and politically rejected U.S. domination. In attempts to reverse this trend, U.S. intelligence and diplomatic services have supported and organized massive efforts, including supporting the 2009 coup in Honduras and aiding fascists in Brazil and coup plotters in Venezuela. The extreme right gained ground in some countries and continued its political dominance in others. With the defeat of some of the ''Bolivarian'' and progressive governments, neoliberalism is again on the ascendancy in Latin America.
In a number of developed capitalist countries, the labor movement has become a more militant force in both economic and political arenas. There is some continued strengthening of socialist and other Left forces. It is multifaceted and eclectic, with the eventual outcome uncertain at this point.
In Europe, there is a sharpening of inter-imperialist conflicts with the U.S. and among the European powers. There is a growing opposition by much of the labor movement and Left to further European integration at the expense of working people. The extreme right is threatening democracy by seeking victories for right-wing governments, as in Poland and Hungary, and for ultra-nationalist parties in France, Germany, Austria, Britain, Italy, and elsewhere. There is also a resurgence of right-wing parties across Scandinavia. Many of these parties base themselves on anti-immigrant hysteria and anti-Semitism.
China, India, and Vietnam, with their rapidly growing economies, provide some counter-balance to U.S. imperialism in their region. At the same time, the Duterte regime in the Philippines engages in the open military oppression of all opposition.
In the Middle East, there is a growth of resistance to U.S. attempts to dominate military, political, and economic life, through its own direct intervention and invasion and through support for the Israeli occupation and military control of the territory that must belong to the Palestinians under the necessary two-state solution.
The U.S. is the leader of world imperialism and home to the bulk of the dominant transnationals. It seeks control over the entire world, including over its rival imperialist powers. Under extreme right political leadership, U.S. imperialism has massive power at its disposal'--ranging from its military preponderance to its various means of economic domination and political pressure, from bribery and ideological weapons to force and violence. But even with these extremely dangerous instruments, U.S. domination is slowly weakening.
The ''war on terrorism'' has been a cover for higher military spending, excessive war profiteering, and internal repression. Imperialism has been a chief supporter of terrorism, both by individual and small-group actors and by states, to promote its global agenda. The targeting of civilians for military attack is just as terroristic as individual acts of violence. U.S. imperialism's role in promoting Osama bin Laden, state- and corporate-sponsored terror in Colombia, the terror-based regimes of Pinochet in Chile, Suharto in Indonesia, the Argentine military junta and its Dirty War, Saddam Hussein, and many others, is well known. U.S. support for Israel in its use of state military terrorism against the Palestinian population of the occupied territories is one of the main obstacles to a lasting solution to conflicts in the Middle East. U.S. imperialism has also supported, employed, and harbored terrorists, who used such methods as bombing civilian airplanes, in an effort to destroy Cuba's socialist state.
International Working-Class Solidarity
The need for international working-class unity is more important than ever. U.S. imperialism, particularly under extreme right dominance, is increasingly warlike and belligerent. There are similar trends in some competing imperialist powers. In their attempts to spread economic, political, and military control across the globe'--in short, to spread their empires'--some capitalist nations do not hesitate to start war on weaker nations. We cannot rule out the danger of war between imperialist powers in the future, though the destructive effects of modern weaponry, the overwhelming military superiority of the U.S., and the certainty of internal political opposition all serve to discourage ambitions for direct military imperialist conflict. Working people are the victims on both sides of all imperialist wars and military adventures.
Terrorism substitutes individual acts of violence, frequently targeting civilians, for the mass action essential to real progressive change. We have long rejected and opposed terrorist methods as a means of struggle, even for a just cause. The organizers of much individual terrorism in the world today are not pursuing social progress but rather are trying to impose right-wing regimes, often under the banner of religious extremism.
Imperialism has promoted terrorism by installing and supporting reactionary, oppressive regimes around the world and helping to suppress and eliminate communist and other democratic and working-class movements that offer broad avenues for positive social change.
The global and exploitive expansiveness inherent in capitalism is laid out clearly in the Communist Manifesto. Lenin's revolutionary strategy was grounded in a clear understanding of imperialism. Workers of all countries will have to unite in a multifaceted international movement to bring a socialist future into being.
Like other forms of unity, international unity must be built on respect, trust, and joint action on issues of common interest. International working-class solidarity and unity is not built in the abstract but in the process of specific struggles.
The Communist Party is rooted in working-class internationalism'--we recognize that the working classes of the whole world have common interests in mutual understanding, solidarity, liberation, peace, a sustainable environment, and development. We share common enemies: world imperialism, particularly U.S. imperialism, the most reactionary transnational corporations, and the governments they dominate. We support the broadest possible unity of the international working class. We also support international solidarity with other peoples and movements struggling for liberation worldwide. One such expression of international solidarity is the annual Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, in which our Party participates.
Only much greater unity and solidarity by the labor and people's movements internationally can counter the ravages of capitalist globalization, its exploitation and oppression, and its environmental destruction.
There exists today a growing level of international consciousness and functional unity among working people which proclaims, ''A better world is possible.''
IX Socialism in the USA
Socialism will solve many of the intractable problems of capitalism and provide mechanisms for solving others over time. Once human need replaces greed and private profit as the driving force of the economy, once working people can together make decisions about the priorities of society, once serious steps to end exploitation and oppression are being implemented, once the people remove the power of the transnational corporations from the U.S. political system, then we can begin real, humane problem solving and create lasting solutions.
The most successful movements for workers' rights around the world are not imposed from without but emerge from within. Socialism in the United States will have distinctive characteristics because it will emerge from our unique political culture. The Communist Party seeks to build socialism in the United States based on the revolutionary traditions and struggles of the people of our country. From before the start of the American Revolution up to today, workers and their allies have struggled to create and extend democracy.
One unique aspect of U.S. political culture is the foundation of working people's rights embodied in the Bill of Rights'--the rights to free speech, to free assembly, to freedom of religion, to a secular government. It is these rights and the struggles to realize them that guarantee the right of all to work for a better world, for a more perfect union.
Our Party since its inception has fought for democracy; we have fought for voting rights for women and people of color, against Jim Crow voter suppression in the Deep South, and for the right to organize and strike. Our Party fought against efforts to restrict free speech rights throughout the McCarthy period. We waged battles in the court system and in the court of public opinion for our and the public's right to freedom of assembly and association. Our commitment to democracy has been tested as we fought against efforts to deport many of our members, to outlaw our organization, and to restrict the democratic choices available to citizens. A socialist USA, resting on the foundation of the Bill of Rights, will open up possibilities and potential for all.
A Socialist Bill of Rights, enshrined in amendments to the U.S. Constitution, will guarantee all the freedoms we have won over centuries of struggle. It will include freedom from unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, discrimination, and oppression. It will include extended rights fundamental to socialism: the rights to justice, liberty, and equality; free quality health care and education; living-wage jobs and decent housing; and a healthy environment.
Our vision is of a humane socialist USA, which can be achieved in part by enshrining more freedom and democracy in a Socialist Bill of Rights:
Where working people run the country on behalf of the needs of all, where people, peace, and planet come before profits;Where all can participate, no matter their religion, race, or nationality;Where immigrants have the same human rights as the native born;Where the strength of our multinational, multiracial, multigenerational, gender-diverse working class can solve the problems we face in the interests of all people;Where creating a sustainable, demilitarized economy takes priority over profits;Where the supposed ''right'' of companies to pollute is outlawed;Where working people are guaranteed union rights;Where women have full rights and actual guaranteed equality;Where all ethnic, national, gender, and racial groups have full guaranteed equality and civil rights, implemented through an immediate and urgent program of compensatory measures;Where fully funded quality education from pre-school to university is the highest priority;Where fully funded universal health care for all is a right;Where a job and a superior standard of living are a right.Socialism will not create an instant workers' paradise. Socialism is a phase of socioeconomic development during which millions of people increasingly decide their own destiny and work step-by-step to build new democratic institutions to run the economy. Socialism will provide mechanisms by which working people can work together cooperatively to extend political democracy into substantive democracy in all spheres of social life including the economy. Socialism will put an end to oppression and exploitation and create a sustainable, equitable, democratic economy. Socialism will enable us to work to end the unsustainable exploitation of nature.
Socialism is an economic system in which the decisive sectors of the economy'--its ''commanding heights'''--will be socially owned and controlled; that is, the anarchy and destructive competition of capitalism will be replaced by a strategically planned economy. Under socialism, key industries will be nationalized, but there will be other forms of socialist ownership: public ownership at many different levels from national to state to municipalities, private ownership of small businesses, joint ownership cooperatives, and other mixed-economy forms that best fit production and social needs. The forms of ownership will reflect both political developments and the needs of economic development and sustainability.
And of course, every individual will privately own their personal possessions and personal property.
Socialism will eliminate the waste of the capitalist system and the private appropriation of profit generated by the working class. This unearned profit will be utilized for the public good. To make the economy more effective and efficient, a socialist economy must tackle issues of incentives, productivity, the organization of production and distribution, research and development, sustainability, and technological change. While capitalism uses technological improvements and increases in productivity to further exploit the working class, socialism uses these to fund social programs, shorten the workweek, and provide free health care and education. Socialism is not a utopian system but bases social programs on the achievements of social production: people working in concert for a better life for all.
Socialism will eliminate much inequality by taking unearned profit away from the capitalist class and utilizing it for the public good. Workers will be paid according to the principle, ''from each according to their ability, to each according to their labor.''
The people of our country have the potential to eliminate the greedy corporations that doom working people to poverty, to deteriorating working conditions, to plant closings and the export of jobs, to wage differentials between male and female workers, between racially and nationally oppressed workers and white workers, wage differentials which place hundreds of billions of dollars of excess profits every year in the coffers of the already obscenely wealthy. The people can thwart the power of corporations which dooms working people to elections where money speaks louder than votes, to a court system which protects the ''rights'' of private property over the basic human rights of the majority. The people can end unequal education, homelessness, malnutrition, and lack of health care.
Our country has vast resources and productive industrial plants, extremely advanced technology and science, a huge reservoir of skilled workers, and great traditions of democracy, initiative, innovation, and creativity. In a socialist society, the millions of people now unemployed, homeless, and underemployed could create more wealth for all to share. Once the power of the corporations is broken, the vast majority of the country can use the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, a Socialist Bill of Rights, and local governments to build real democracy and equality.
Society and government should have the responsibility to steadily improve the lives of the majority. Government and the people should measure progress by improvements in human rights and justice, in living standards, in real equality, in environmental sustainability.
As the working class and its allies accomplish these goals in the context of a new socially owned and governed society, our country will be able to afford social programs on a constantly expanding basis. To ensure the productivity and efficiency of labor, we would:
Consider which aspects of production and distribution will be socially owned and how;Strive for strategic planning that maintains the necessary balances in the economy between our use of natural resources and the need for nature to regenerate itself, and between the production of goods and commodities, heavy industry, and the production of machinery;Seek the proper combination of material and moral incentives at all levels of the economy'--from the individual worker and work collectives in specific industries, through city, state, regional, and national levels;Consider market mechanisms in combination with strategic planning and regulation;Seek mechanisms for the daily functioning of the economy such that the quality, variety, flexibility, and efficiency of production are constantly increased.Many details of the constructing of socialism will of necessity depend on the specifics of the socialist transformation, the politics of the time, and the wishes and demands of the majority. Should the governing coalition of class and social forces led by the working class make substantial mistakes and lose the confidence of the majority of people, it could be voted out of office. The Communist Party will work hard to keep this from happening, both by working to keep the confidence of the working class and by working to win contested elections.
Many myths have been propagated about socialism. Contrary to right-wing claims, socialism would not take away the personal property of workers, only the private ownership of major industries, financial institutions, and other large corporations. It would eliminate private wealth derived from stock speculation, the export of capital and jobs, and the exploitation of workers. Socialism would not make all wages completely equal but would end the great disparity in income between workers and the former ruling class, whose wealth is unearned. Socialism would not do away with small businesses or family farms. Small business owners, professionals, and farmers, who currently suffer from the heavy hand of monopolies, are important potential allies of the progressive majority even after the advent of socialism.
There are two major reasons why socialism has become even more imperative for the survival of the human race in recent decades. One is the development of nuclear, chemical, space-based, and biological weapons, which threaten the very existence of humanity. These weapons dramatically escalate the dangers of war, already a horrendous and destructive force. The war-oriented extreme right could drive the world to the brink of destruction or even over the brink. For our very survival, we need a world in which the arms trade is curtailed and then eliminated, in which nuclear proliferation is ended by the complete destruction of all nuclear weapons, and in which all chemical and biological weapons are outlawed and destroyed. As an initial step, we need all nations to pledge no first-use of nuclear weapons, no preemptive nuclear war, and no extension of the arms race into space. A socialist world, in which the economic incentives for war would be eliminated, is humankind's great hope for peace and survival.
The other development which makes socialism necessary is the threat to the world's environment. Tackling the solutions to global warming, air and water pollution, habitat loss, mass extinctions, and other environmental crises will require the combined cooperation, scientific knowledge, and research resources of all the countries and peoples of the world. Only global multinational agreements can address major environmental problems. The forces of nature, the laws of nature, cannot be violated without paying a heavy cost; if the violations are serious enough, this could threaten our very existence as a species, as well as the planet's ability to reproduce life as we know it.
Many environmental problems are rapidly approaching a turning point after which the ability of nature to regenerate and overcome problems will be forever altered. Capitalism, while not the sole cause of environmental problems, exacerbates and escalates these threats. For this reason, our survival depends on establishing a system that places human needs ahead of private profit, which enables the working people of the world to make decisions about the threats to our survival. Humanity needs a system that takes away the ability of capitalists to make short-term, profit-based decisions which threaten our long-term survival.
Communists advocate socialism as the first phase of a new stage of society, but we don't think that social and economic development will end at socialism. We see socialist society eventually leading to a higher phase'--communism'--where the capitalist class and all classes will no longer exist, replaced by a commonwealth of all working people, where national, racial, and gender enmity and prejudice will be things of the past. In a communist society, the essentials of life will be readily available to all, and the repressive apparatus of government will wither away, leaving purely administrative functions. In the communist phase of society, social production and distribution of wealth would be according to the principle, ''From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.'' In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels wrote, ''In place of the old bourgeois [capitalist] society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.''
X The Role of the Communist Party
Within the struggle to achieve a more democratic, equitable socialist society, the Communist Party plays an indispensable role. As Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote in the Communist Manifesto, ''in the movement of the present, the Communists also represent and take care of the future of the movement.''
The working class needs its own political party, a party dedicated to the interests of the whole class, dedicated to the long-term vision necessary for winning fundamental changes, dedicated not to an abstract ideal but to the real people who make up the working class and their struggles. Even when a labor-based anti-monopoly people's party is built, the working class still needs a revolutionary party which can project strategy for socialism and do so more clearly and consistently than a coalition electoral party. Victory relies not on slogans, gimmicks, or conspiracies but rather on developing the understanding of millions cultivated in hard struggles, an understanding that grows into full class and socialist consciousness. Such consciousness cannot develop out of ordinary life experience and spontaneous struggle alone. Advanced consciousness must be brought into being through education and training in the ideas of scientific socialism, formulated by Marx, Engels, and Lenin, and through practical experience in struggles with the working class. We work to enhance the growth and development of socialist consciousness and scientific socialism in today's world and for the future. This is the work of the Communist Party USA.
From the moment of its inception in 1919, the Communist Party's history has been deeply entwined with that of the U.S. labor movement. Under the leadership of great working-class leaders such as William Z. Foster, the Party struggled successfully to free itself and the labor movement of the ideas and practices of narrow, conservative craft unionism, which opened the door to organizing millions of workers into industrial unions.
Providing unique leadership to the movement for industrial unionism, the CPUSA fought for and implemented the slogan ''Black and white, unite and fight!'' as well as demands for full inclusion and equality for women in the labor movement. As an organization rooted in immigrant communities, the Party advanced demands for protection of the foreign-born. It was Communist efforts to organize the unemployed that laid the groundwork for broad working-class unity leading to the building of the CIO and the growth of the AFL. Often overlooked is the Communist Party's role in infusing many of the new CIO unions with the democratic principles it inherited from the IWW and other pioneering labor organizations.
The Communist Party fights the abuses of the capitalist class by participating in organizing at the grassroots in working-class communities, workplaces, and in broad coalitions for immediate needs. We expose the capitalist system as the root cause of exploitation, oppression, poverty, racism, continuing male supremacy and misogyny, war, threats to the environment, and human suffering, and we point the way to socialism as the fundamental solution. We strive to provide timely analysis of problems in mass movements in a way that illuminates the path to the deepest, widest unity for progress. We propose and support, where useful, advanced demands for reform in order to mobilize and organize our class struggle. Our theory and analysis guide our action and contribute to winning immediate reforms and the promotion of a new system based on people's needs rather than private profit.
The Communist Party upholds both the immediate and long-range interests of the multiracial, multinational, multigender, and multigenerational working class and people of our country and builds unity of the entire working class with its allies.
The critique of capitalism and the promise of socialism and communism form the basic ideas of the Communist Party, USA, which came into being in Chicago in 1919. The Communist Party celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019. Over its history, the Party has distinguished itself in numerous ways:
Developing leadership of working-class people striving for a better world, organizing collective struggle against the capitalist ruling class.Providing leadership to eradicate systemic and institutionalized racism.Extensive participation in the struggles for African American equality and other civil rights struggles and a history of building principled multiracial unity. Examples include the initiating role of the CPUSA in global campaigns to save the Scottsboro Nine, engagement in the Civil Rights Movement, building the movements to Free Angela Davis and defeat South African apartheid.Making key contributions to the working-class struggles of the United States: building industrial unions, organizing for rights on the job and for a social safety net including Social Security and unemployment compensation.Its steadfastness in the struggle for labor and union rights for all workers'--the formation of the CIO, the great strikes of industrial workers in steel and coal for example, bringing an end to child labor, and the establishment of the eight-hour day.Upholding democratic rights against the threat of fascism and the extreme right and supporting international working-class solidarity against imperialism and for peace. The Party was heavily involved in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigade, which fought against fascism in Spain, and in the anti-Vietnam War movement. We fought attempts to subvert democratic rights while under attack during the McCarthy period.Striving to develop the application of theory to the specifics of the U.S. and to apply theory to practice, with practice as the test of theory, by being the most consistent fighters for broad-based unity and against all divisions opposed to working-class interests'--racism, sexism, nationalism, chauvinism, homophobia, and anticommunism.The capitalist class has long feared socialists and communists who campaign for the logical and viable alternative to capitalism. It has fought wars against awakening socialist and communist movements worldwide, throughout the last century and continuing today. The capitalist ruling class has long singled out the Communist Party USA for special repression, from making membership illegal in some states during the McCarthy period to pressuring unions and community organizations to expel CPUSA members.
The Communist Party contributes to the struggle of the working class to win its ultimate aim of working-class political power, socialism, and eventually communism. The Communist Party combines and promotes political, economic, organizational, and ideological struggle, the exact nature of which changes alongside changes in the stages of struggle and in the balance of power. The role of the Party during each stage of struggle leading up to socialism is to combine participation with the millions in struggles where they are at, agitation for the next phase of struggle, and advocacy for socialism, linking activism in the struggles of the present with preparation for the struggles of the future.
To advance to the immediate struggle for working people's political power for the construction of socialism, the Party will seek to win a leading role among the working class and its core allies. The strategic opponent in this stage becomes the capitalist class as a whole and the system of capitalism. The alliance for socialism will have to embrace a large majority of the labor movement and the whole working class, who will have developed class and socialist consciousness through their own experience of struggle and through the activity of the Communist Party. The Party's role will include organization, education, agitation, and advocacy for a fully developed socialist society. The Party will contribute concretely to the examination and projection of an approach to the way forward. Our goal is a society without an oppressive state or exploiting classes. The working class, indeed, all of humanity, needs a society that meets people's basic needs and achieves the conditions for the full development of the individual'--genuine freedom.
To fulfill this role, the Communist Party needs to be a party:
of the working class and of all the exploited and oppressed. Our Party is part of the class, its most conscious and consciously active segment that defines its objective as the construction of a society without exploiters or exploited, a socialist society;with a revolutionary theory, Marxism-Leninism, a scientific socialism that explains not only how society works but also how to change the world for the better;that is simultaneously internationalist and a defender of the interests of our own country's working class;with internal democracy and a central leadership; andthat is completely independent of the interests and ideology of capitalism.To accomplish all this requires a much larger Communist Party USA. Building Communist Party clubs'--with strategy, tactics, education, and organization within workplaces and working-class neighborhoods'--helps win day-to-day struggles. Grassroots Communist Party clubs are vital to bringing the Party's vision, strategy, and tactics into local work with masses of working people. Being of the working class and sharing its problems and struggles, the policies of the Party are tested and honed and become the property of more and more working people, eventually of millions.
Since the publication of the Communist Manifesto in 1848, the communist movement has engaged in prolonged struggle against the capitalist system, playing a conscious role in working to end exploitation, oppression, and injustice worldwide. The experiences of the world communist movement, along with the experiences of our own Party since its founding, enrich our theory and practice. The Communist Party USA has had many victories and some defeats, accomplishments and mistakes, successful tactics and errors from which we have learned. Continuing along this course and becoming ever bigger and better will enable us to play a key role in the transition to socialism.
The science of Marxism-Leninism positions the Communist Party to take a leading role in the struggles of the working class. The continuous development of strategy and tactics and a scientific vision of a socialist USA are combined with efforts to build our size and mass influence. If our policies prove sound, if we can learn from others, if we are rooted in the working class, if we are able to develop coalition ties with mass movements and organizations, if we can learn from our mistakes, the Party will grow steadily and strengthen its leading role. As the struggle proceeds through the anti-monopoly and socialist stages, the Communist Party will reach the point where along with other socialist forces it wins a role in the leadership of the millions of workers and their allies.
Marxism-Leninism provides a scientific foundation that corresponds to the interest of the working class. Its essential aspects consist of:
Dialectical and historical materialism'--the laws of social development which enable masses of people to be active and conscious shapers of their destiny, and a philosophical methodology for understanding how change and development take place.Political economy'--the laws of capitalist development and theories of its functioning.The theory of socialist revolution'--how to move through the stages of struggle to achieve socialism, and the organizational forms necessary to accomplish that.Taken together, with the experience of the world working-class movements for justice and socialism, Marxism-Leninism provides a scientifically based grounding which helps in the development of a guide to action. It enables the Communist Party to have a starting point from which to make important contributions at every stage of struggle, and to point the way forward. It does not make us infallible, nor does it mean we cannot learn from others. It does enable our Party to be the most consistent fighter for unity, progress, and socialism.
The Party must wage a constant ideological battle on two fronts, to keep from being pulled in either direction away from a sound Marxist analysis of the real existing conditions of struggle. We must continuously struggle against the capitalist ideological pull to the right, toward reformism, social democracy, and weakening of the Communist Party. Reformists try to limit the working-class struggles and coalition to reforms alone, indefinitely postponing the struggle for socialism. Social Democratic parties want to build ''socialism'' without ending the exploitive system of capitalism.
We must also struggle against left sectarianism, a form of utopianism which claims that socialism can be achieved without engaging in the mass economic and political struggles necessary to raise working-class and socialist consciousness, without building a united mass working-class movement.
Our party claims no monopoly on wisdom or on Marxism. We seek to work with all who are genuinely interested in building united mass movements'--those on the Left and Center, all who participate in progressive social activism and working-class organization. There have been instances in some countries where more than one organization saw themselves as proponents of socialism. In most cases, these organizations eventually merged with the Communist Party or developed a strong working coalition with the shared aim of winning and constructing socialism. Only Communists, in coalition with mass movements and other working-class parties, have overthrown capitalism and are building socialism.
The Communist Party depends on its working-class form of organization, of turning individual work into collective strength. Just as a union requires all workers to go out on strike after a strike vote no matter how any individual worker voted, so too a working-class revolutionary party needs both democratic decision making and centrally led, unified action. In addition, the Party requires unity of purpose, of vision'--in other words, acceptance of the Party's general program. We call this approach democratic centralism. We strive for flexibility, unity, collectivity, and mutual commitment, strive to win all our members to our democratically agreed-on policies, not to artificially impose discipline on the minority. We ask a voluntary commitment and discipline from our members to achieve our mutual goals, our collectively agreed-on strategy.
Democratic centralism starts with the connection of local Party organization with the working class in struggle. Once decisions have been made based on democratic discussion, the whole Party must strive to implement them. It means we strive for collective functioning, not just individual good work. It means encouraging and organizing the full democratic participation of all members, but with a prohibition against factional organizing. It means working to unite theory and practice, and to collectively advance the development of theory based on the continual examination of a constantly changing world. Unity'--of purpose, of action, of vision'--is important not just in a union, mass movement, or coalition; it is crucial for a Communist Party.
We have epic struggles ahead of us that we must win on the way to building a socialist and then communist society. We need an organization that identifies these stages, alliances, and their interconnections. That organization is the Communist Party USA. Join us!
Garrett Foster, Austin protest shooting victim, devoted to fianc(C)e
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:09
Katie Hall and Danny Davis | Austin American-Statesman | 8:57 am EDT July 27, 2020
AUSTIN, Texas '-- Garrett Foster, who was shot to death during a downtown Austin protest Saturday night, was remembered as a man dedicated to exercising his Second Amendment rights, stamping out racial injustice and caring for his fianc(C)e, according to family and friends.
The incident leading up to the 28-year-old's death began about 9:50 p.m. when a driver honked his horn and turned right onto a street where there was a crowd of protesters, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said Sunday.
Several protesters '-- including Foster, who was holding an assault rifle '-- approached the car, Manley said. He said the driver reported that Foster pointed the weapon at him. The driver then pointed his handgun outside the window, fired multiple shots and drove away, Manley said.
Someone else in the crowd opened fire on the car as it drove off, Manley said.
First responders performed CPR on Foster, but he died at Dell Seton Medical Center less than an hour after the shooting, officials said. No other injuries were reported.
Austin police said they detained the person who fired the fatal shots, and he cooperated with investigators. He has been released, along with the second shooter, Manley said.
Witnesses who attended the protest told the American-Statesman that the driver appeared to drive into the crowd and came to a stop when the vehicle hit an orange barrier. They also said Foster had his weapon pointed down.
Manley would not say why the driver was originally at the scene of the protest.
In a Facebook Live video of the hourslong march, a car's honking is heard before two volleys of gunshots, a total of eight rounds, are unleashed. Several screaming protesters immediately take cover.
''We are heartbroken over the loss of Mr. Foster last night. It is actively being investigated ... in conjunction with the Travis County district attorney's office,'' Manley said.
Foster grew up in Plano and had been living in Austin with his fianc(C)e, Whitney Mitchell, for about two years. Mitchell was at the protest in a wheelchair with him at the time, and the two had been to such events in downtown Austin against police violence for months, according to protesters and Foster's family.
Mitchell is Black and Foster is white, and issues of racial injustice were incredibly important to him, his family said.
''They've experienced so much hate just for their relationship in general,'' said his sister, Anna Mayo. ''From day one, he's fought to end that.''
Mitchell and Foster started dating about a decade ago. Foster enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in his late teens and had to leave for basic training two months after Mitchell had all four of her limbs amputated after she developed a medical condition that led to sepsis.
Foster worked in the Air Force as a flight mechanic until he was 19, when he was discharged to be Mitchell's full-time caretaker, his family said.
''That time when he was gone was so detrimental to both of them, because they were very much in love, and he had cared for her so well,'' his aunt Karen Sourber said. ''He's been her primary caretaker ever since. He just loved her unconditionally and took care of everything.''
Protesters said they got to know the couple well throughout the many protests this summer.
''A lot of us haven't slept '-- I haven't been asleep,'' protester Julian Salazar, who witnessed the shooting, said Sunday morning. ''It's been heartbreaking. A lot of us are angry, depressed, sad to learn that his (fianc(C)e) now is going to be struggling. The one person she had here in Austin, who was always going to be there for her, is now gone.''
Foster often talked to protesters about his rifle, which he brought to the protests, Salazar said. Mayo said Second Amendment rights were important to him.
''My brother would have never, ever pointed a gun at somebody,'' Mayo said. ''He always carried his guns with him. He had a license to carry in Texas '-- we're an open carry state. He always would exercise his right to carry, but he would never threaten somebody. He was one of the most kindhearted people '-- that was the whole reason he was out there.''
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Cory Booker's "Baby Bonds" Plan | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 14:21
Presidential candidate Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has put forward a proposal to establish savings accounts for every child born in America funded annually by contributions from the federal government '' a concept commonly referred to as ''Baby Bonds.'' In October 2018, he introduced legislation based on this concept, the American Opportunity Accounts Act.
Senator Booker estimates his plan would cost approximately $60 billion per year. By our estimates, it would cost roughly $650 billion over a decade. To offset this cost, the legislation would increase the top tax rate on capital gains and dividends to 28 percent (including the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax, or NIIT), eliminate step-up basis of capital gains at death, and increase the estate tax in a number of ways.
We estimate these revenue increases would more than offset the cost of the legislation, raising about $700 billion over a decade.
This policy explainer is part of US Budget Watch 2020, a project covering the 2020 presidential election. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to publish analyses of candidate proposals that are having the greatest impact on the debate over our nation's future. You can read more of our policy explainers and factchecks here. US Budget Watch 2020 is designed to inform the public and is not intended to express a view for or against any candidate or any specific policy proposal. Candidates' proposals should be evaluated on a broad array of policy perspectives, including but certainly not limited to their approaches on deficits and debt.
What's In the Baby Bonds Plan?Under Senator Booker's Baby Bonds proposal, the federal government would create an ''opportunity account'' for every child born in the United States, funded with an initial contribution of $1,000 as well as ongoing contributions.
Specifically, the government would make annual contributions until a child reaches 18 years of age. The size of these contributions would be based on family income, ranging from $2,000 per year for children in families with income below the federal poverty line to $0 for children in families with income above 500 percent of the federal poverty line. Contributions would be indexed to inflation. We estimate average annual payments would total approximately $850 per child in today's dollars.
IncomeIncome for Family of FourSupplemental Payment AmountEst. Account Balance for 18-Year-Old<100% of FPL<$25,100$2,000$46,215125% of FPL$31,375$1,500$35,081175% of FPL$43,925$1,000$23,948225% of FPL$56,475$500$12,815325% of FPL$81,575$250$7,248500% of FPL$125,751$0$1,681Average (estimated)N/A$850$20,700Note: Amounts in 2019 dollars. Source: Booker Senate Office, CRFB estimates for average.
The funds in these accounts would be invested in 30-year Treasury bonds and would be expected to grow at an average rate of 3 percent per year, roughly 1 percentage point above inflation. By the time a child turns 18, these accounts could hold as much as $46,000 or as little as $1,700 (in 2019 dollars), depending on the size of annual contributions from the federal government.
Funds in these tax-free accounts would be off-limits until after a child reaches 18 years of age, except for higher education expenses. Even then, the funds could only be used for specific ''asset-building'' purposes, such as paying college tuition or making a down payment on a house.
In addition to creating accounts for children born after the date of enactment, the plan would allow children under the age of 15 to establish accounts and receive annual contributions from the government as well. These accounts would only be created upon request, as opposed to automatically, and would not receive the initial $1,000 contribution.
How Would the Baby Bonds Plan be Paid For?To offset the cost of his Baby Bonds plan, Senator Booker would increase tax rates on investment income and inherited assets and estates.
Specifically, the plan would increase the top rate on long-term capital gains and dividends (inclusive of the NIIT) from 23.8 percent to 28 percent. It would also eliminate step-up basis of capital gains at death. Under current law, gains from assets passed on through inheritance are essentially exempt from taxation, even upon realization. Under Senator Booker's proposal, those gains would generally be taxed at the time of death (with some exceptions).
Senator Booker would also increase the estate tax, which taxes very large inheritances, in a number of ways. A decade ago, the estate tax applied a 45 percent tax to inherences above $3.5 million. As a result of the American Taxpayer Relief Act in 2013 and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017, the rate was reduced to 40 percent and the exemption increased to over $11 million per individual and $22 million for couples (that exemption falls by roughly half after 2025).
The Baby Bonds plan would restore the 2009 estate tax parameters and further increase rates in a manner similar to Senator Bernie Sanders's (I-VT) Responsible Estate Tax Act. Specifically, it would set the estate tax rate to 45 percent above $3.5 million of assets for a deceased individual, 55 percent above $10 million, and 65 percent above $50 million. It would also close or restrict various estate and gift tax loopholes.
It is worth noting that taxing capital gains at death, in combination with a higher estate tax, could potentially result in a very high effective top tax rate on capital gains held until death. Assuming capital gains payments are deductible from estate taxes, the top effective federal rate on capital gains at death '' for those with over $50 million in taxable assets '' would rise from 40 percent under current law to about 75 percent under the proposal (excluding state and local taxes). Assuming half of assets represent gains, the top effective tax on estates as a whole would rise from 40 percent to 70 percent.
On one hand, these high rates may encourage more pre-tax redistribution and charitable giving. On the other hand, they may also discourage saving and investment among the wealthy in a way that would shrink the economy.
How Much Would the Baby Bonds Plan Cost and How Would It Affect the Deficit?The Booker campaign estimates its Baby Bonds proposal would cost about $60 billion per year. This is consistent with our estimate of $650 billion over a decade.
Based on the Census Bureau's projections for births over the next decade, we estimate that issuing Baby Bonds to newborn children would cost about $250 billion. We estimate another $400 billion of new spending in the first decade from making annual contributions to accounts created for children who have already been born. While parents of already-born children would have to opt-in to the program, we assume the participation rate would be high '' 90 percent of eligible children '' since the program effectively represents free money for beneficiaries.
Importantly, our estimates score the cost as being imposed on the federal government at the time funds are contributed into accounts. Since federal money would be used directly to purchase federal bonds, an argument could be made that costs should instead be estimated at the time funds are withdrawn from accounts by beneficiaries. Scoring the proposal this way would result in dramatically reduced costs over the first decade but increased costs in subsequent decades.
First DecadeNew Spending Contributions for Those Born After Enactment$250 billion Contributions for Those Born Prior to Enactment$400 billionSubtotal, New Spending$650 billion Offsetting Revenue Increase Estate Tax, Including by Lowering Exemption to $3.5M and Setting Rates of 45%, 55%, and 65%-$400 billion Tax Capital Gains at Death and Increase Top Rate to 28%-$300 billionSubtotal, Offsetting Revenue-$700 billion Net Deficit Effect-$50 billionSource: American Opportunity Accounts Act, Census Bureau, ITEP, CBO, CRFB calculations.
We estimate increases in capital gains and estate taxes would more than offset the $650 billion cost of the plan. The estate tax increases would raise about $400 billion over a decade and the capital gains increases about $300 billion for $700 billion in total. While these estimates are rough, they demonstrate that the plan is essentially paid for and may in fact reduce deficits by roughly $50 billion over the next ten years.
Revenue will drop off somewhat in 2026, after temporary changes to the estate tax included in the TCJA expire. However, the cost of the Baby Bonds proposal would grow more slowly than other revenue increases over time. As a result, we expect the plan would reduce deficits even more over the long term. In the second decade, we expect net deficit reduction in the neighborhood of $200 billion to $500 billion.
Where Can I Read More?Legislative Text '' American Opportunity Accounts ActSenator Booker's Senate Website '' Booker Announces New Bill Aimed at Combating Wealth InequalityNaomi Zewde '' Universal Baby Bonds Reduce Black-White Wealth Inequality, Progressively Raise Net Worth of all Young AdultsVox '' An exclusive look at Cory Booker's plan to fight wealth inequality: give poor kids moneyVox '' Cory Booker's baby bonds nearly close the racial wealth gap for young adultsPeople's Policy Project '' Cory Booker's $700 Billion Social Wealth Fund ProposalCATO Institute '' Cory Booker's 'Baby Bonds' Wouldn't Support a Savings Culture''--'It's Just More Government SubsidiesWashington Post '' Booker wants a 'baby bond' for every U.S. child. Would it work?Fatherly '' Senator Corey Booker Wants to Close the Wealth Gap By Giving Every Newborn a Trust Fund. Could It Work?New America '' 'Give People Money' Comes to Child SavingsCNBC '' Cory Booker wants to give 'baby bonds' to every newborn. Here's how that would work****
With the 2020 campaign now in full gear, the presidential candidates are putting forward many ambitious proposals aimed at solving very real problems and concerns. The voting public deserves to know how much these proposals will cost and what it means for the debt we will be leaving to our children and grandchildren.
This policy explainer is part of our US Budget Watch series covering 2020 presidential election. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to publish analyses of candidate proposals that are having the greatest impact on the debate over our nation's future. You can read more of our policy explainers and factchecks here.
Bernie Sanders's Social Security Expansion ActKamala Harris's LIFT the Middle Class ActElizabeth Warren's Higher Education Plan After the 2020 Election, Fiscal Challenges Await
The Bad Feature | Issue 37 | n+1
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 12:40
Body by Daddy When I was 13 years old, as if overnight, a mole appeared on my right cheek, diagonal to the upper corner of my mouth. This seemed like a forbidding omen, though I did not yet know it was the beginning of the end. I had been put on attention-bending stimulants at the tender age of 8, and my baby fat had melted off in inverse proportion to my sudden increased ability to spend hours at the piano practicing Air on the G String. I spent my latency period seraphic, a tawny lanugo coating my long legs and arms. The geriatric greeters at Walmart smiled behind their support our troops buttons, complimenting my mother on her beautiful children. In the heat of the car ride home, my mother would rebuke me for vanity, but I didn't experience my body as beautiful or unbeautiful. I was''--'and I cannot emphasize this enough''--'fucking high for the entire opening act of the millennium. But the mole was sudden and felt ugly, portending worse transformations to come.
I caught my father in the master bathroom one night shortly after the mark appeared. He was still in his blue scrubs, returning late from another complicated hospital birth. We both took in my face, not looking directly at each other but at our reflections in the large mirror over the sink. He told me it was like the beauty mark gracing Cindy Crawford, whom he called, within earshot of my mother in the adjacent bedroom, ''the most beautiful woman in the world.'' My father, the evangelical obstetrician-gynecologist, was for once on the same page as the puberty enchiridion published by American Girl , which I would read in the coming months crouched between the magazine racks in the public library, poring over cartoon diagrams of the vagina: You Are Beautiful the Way You Are. I was beautiful the way I was then, but it wouldn't stay that way.
In the years to come, as my face grew pocked and twisted with the precipitous growth spurt of my upper jaw, as my father became ashamed of my awkward body suddenly veiled in a chastity garment of ill-laid fat, I held this moment''--'my father and I regarding each other quietly in the mirror''--'as incorruptible. For years, I planned to tell this story at his funeral.
Things fell apart. I left home. Years later, I returned. My father had not exactly divorced my mother, but he had a new ultra-beige apartment and was sporting a puka-shell necklace procured as a memento of the most recent of his new indulgences, Caribbean cruises. I started telling friends, ''My father is in his Gauguin phase.'' His Gauguin phase, it turned out, was financed by a specialty dermatology clinic catering to women targeted by skin-care advertising terms like firming and tightening . After a long career birthing the lily-white evangelical children of our Lollardy southern town, my father's gimlet eye lit upon the new needs of his aging clientele. He was determined to be a better man than his deadbeat Canadian father, and had spent the heady first months of Bush II's sequel term devouring an investing-for-beginners book and tape series titled Rich Dad Poor Dad , which promised insight into the secrets of the wealthy, and possibly''--'secondarily''--'fatherhood. After a series of opaque real-estate deals tanked in the 2008 crash, Rich Dad returned his gaze to the oldest moneymaker, the female body.
There are treatments that needle the entire face so that the body, mistaking itself as under violent attack, pumps blood to the epithelium. There are threads you can attach to the inside of the temple and pull up through the hairline, tightening the sagging skin. All this under local anesthetic, if any. The business in injectables alone''--'Restylane Lyft, Juv(C)derm Voluma, Bellafill''--'is brisk and easy money, at around $800 per syringe, with each multi-syringe procedure requiring an apotropaic annual repetition. ''Almost everyone you know is having it done,'' my father told me. After a few years at it, he'd developed a kind of craftsman's appreciation for techne: inability to detect the art was the measure of excellence. Casting his diagnostic eye on the public and discreetly remarking ''what she'd had done''''--'this woman at Chick-fil-A, that celebrity in the supermarket checkout tabloids''--'became one of his standard and most entertaining bits.
Almost everyone you know is having it done. The market for cosmetic surgery in the US climbed rapidly between 1992 and 2005, increasing by 725 percent, with over $10 billion spent in 2005 alone. The same period saw so-called noninvasive procedures, like peels and soft-tissue fillers, increase by 3,158 percent, as a raft of new products came to market. Over the next decade the injectables market outperformed even the most optimistic predictions of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, hitting 9.92 million procedures annually in the US if you include Botox. The global market for facial injectables in 2016 was valued at $6.5 billion and is projected to reach $17.2 billion by 2025. (For comparison, the global statin market was valued at $19.2 billion in 2017.) The main cause behind these ever-increasing numbers is the rise of noninvasive procedures, purveyed by clinics that can book you last minute and have you back at your desk the same day. A new, younger demographic of people in their twenties and thirties is flocking to plastic surgeons and dermatologists, lured by the pied pipers of Instagram. ''Invest in your skin,'' one campaign reads, beside an image of a woman with radiant cheeks and bee-stung lips. ''It's going to be with you a long time.''
For my father, the lateral move into the medicalized beauty market was a ''Meet the new hysteric, same as the old hysteric'' sort of situation. My father's approach to the female body was, by and large, that of a sanguine auto mechanic dealing with a clientele he benevolently regarded as clueless. He was the first physician in our southern state to perform surgeries with the laparoscopic wonder dubbed the da Vinci system, a suite of high-tech gadgets the university hospital network introduced in the melee for patient-customers in the early 2000s. The system allows the surgeon to perform procedures via tiny incisions in the skin. A robot that looks like a praying mantis is inserted into the body cavity, its movements tracked by a camera, the whole thing leaving only a whisper of a scar.
As if to provide encyclopedic dispatches of the gore machine my prepubescent body was poised to become, my father shed magazine-size, high-def color photographs of innumerable uteri gleaned from his robotic labors into the maw of his new Miata's passenger seat. This purchase my mother had greeted darkly with a tight-lipped quotation from Ecclesiastes, ''All is vanity and vexation of the soul,'' notwithstanding the fact that he had bought it secondhand, and that it was constantly sputtering what seemed to be its final protest. With Leonardine optimism, my father would coax it to continued efforts, prostrate under its body or hunched under its hood. As I helped him clean out the car during one such session, carrying armfuls of vivid glossies of women's guts to dump in piles on his desk, from under the car came my father's voice: ''You wanna know what it's like doing a vaginal hysterectomy? It's like changing the engine through the exhaust pipe.''
''El da Vinci'' was not the only innovation pioneered by my father in the wild early Aughts. After leaving a group practice of seven ob-gyns, my father struck out on his own, an American utopianist all the more American for being a Canadian refugee fleeing the penurious margins of socialized medicine. He was a man who believed in being smart so you could make money, so you could use that money to engineer solutions to problems caused by the sad fact that everyone in the world was a fucking moron. He was a man whose fight against the man turned out to involve, to his great regret, day-jobbing as the man. He had migrated south in search of a B-I-N-G-O of warmer climes, a privatized health-care system, and a community of believers who would honor the Holy Ghost while otherwise leaving him the hell alone. His late-career embrace of the out-of-pocket beauty industry was simply an extension of this earlier logic. After a series of weekend courses in the subtle arts of the needle, he was ready to set up shop. Under the golden sun of American capitalism, taking out a uterus was a mere shade of difference away from cool-sculpting the drooping fat of the upper arm, microblasting the depredations of fine webbing around the eye, hypodermically finessing the turgid lip into a sinuous, artisanal pout.
To be a woman is to engage in constant revision of our horrific, obdurate bodies.
Tweet And so, although he was not a man eager to acknowledge his shortcomings, my father offered amenities as if in tacit recognition that there had been faults meriting redress. Mistakes may have been made. When I met him for dinner over Christmas break after my first semester of graduate school, my father had his business partner in tow, a nurse practitioner my boyfriend at the time would later describe admiringly as ''stacked.'' She was more than stunning, the sort of woman you could imagine, if you didn't know any better, feeling Beautiful the Way She Are. She beamed at me with a Pre-Raphaelite glow while fawning on his arm: ''Your daddy did my lips.'' Over the following years, my aunts would have their wrinkles blasted, their cheeks and lips plumped, their underarms de-flabbed, all gratis. My mother found it a dark business, and anyway it had been curtains for her. As we kissed goodbye after dinner, my father paused in the restaurant's foyer light. Peering at the right side of my face, he noticed the mole as if for the first time. ''You know, I could get rid of that mole real easily.'' For free, he said, as a gift.
He had forgotten, of course. A pang of fondness shot through me. I didn't remind him. I knew he was just trying to help. Several nights later, we drove to the dark clinic, where I lay on the tissue paper''covered dais as he burned off the mole with workmanlike detachment. Pressing gauze to my face in the car on the way home, I thought, You Are Not Beautiful the Way You Are, But with Some Smart Investment, You Could Be Okay. By my early twenties, having seen the direct correlation of opportunities both social and professional with being hot, I was not not desperate. Most women are, if you ask me. Vanity and vexation of the soul. To be a woman is to engage in constant revision of our horrific, obdurate bodies. It often involves surgeries.
The Bad Feature In the years after the mole, I came to the realization of the Bad Feature. The Bad Feature waxed and waned in my mind on its own mysterious cycles, eclipsing my ability to think and then receding. Under its moon I became a monster, a lunatic. By the end of the worst year, the Bad Feature had ballooned cancerously to the size of a white whale. It was a year in which I could not stay sober from the intoxication of its shame, months on end in which my mind was occupied by it''--'not like a handicraft, but like a foreign army. It had become first hard, then impossible, to leave the house without white-knuckling my way through a handful of juiceless CBT routines. That this misery enveloped me so entirely was only an added mark in my own bad book. Wasn't the political situation getting worse and more worthy of my attentions? I was shallow, stupid, bad, evil, hideous, vain. The language of shame has always been my natural grammar, but by the end any tensegrity of my mind had collapsed; I was speaking fully, ecstatically, in tongues. It sounds like a joke to say that for several years I seriously contemplated suicide in a pattern of reasoning that fastened to the unlivability of a life in which, in addition to everything else, I was grotesque; it sounds even more like a joke to say that I don't anymore. The Bad Feature is the only changed variable.
To be clear, I'm not complaining. Even in the worst phases of a dysmorphia too mortifying to describe any further, I knew, rationally, that it was a politically conditioned tic of the mind, inseparable''--'like everything else''--'from its political-economic-historical conditions, but not inherently politically valorous for being so. Two months before my consultation with the surgeon, I had run the numbers. Surgery was cheaper than therapy, assuming as I did that it would take at least two years to get to the bottom of things by way of the couch. I didn't want to stop wanting what I wanted. What I wanted was to be wanted in the way that I wanted. I wanted to change my appearance, not how I related to my own visibility. I was making a targeted strike.
I had found the practice of a doctor I'll call William Fabriole through a website that advertised him with unsettling modesty as the best cosmetic surgeon in the ''greater metropolitan area'' of a midsize town. During the night car ride to my father's clinic years earlier, swatting at the silence that seemed to be radioactively emanating from the mole, I'd asked him if his new profession had caused him to view his own face differently, as something with the potential to be improved. Had he ever been tempted to get high on his own supply? My father had eluded giving a straight answer, but Dr. William Fabriole was not a man who left you in any doubt on the question. It was hard to find what art historians call the ''detail'' in his face, which caused it to look like something that would melt if left in a hot car, but by the time we met for my surgical consult, I'd already decided that any change would be better than continuing as I had. And anyway, the consultation fee was nonrefundable.
Perhaps I'd been half hoping that in the harsh light of the medical clinic, the professional gaze would size me up and tell me I was insane to think I needed any surgical help. Fabriole eyed my head like a secondhand purchase, turning it this way and that by the chin, and asked me to discuss my ''concerns about my face.'' I spoke in clipped sentences, as if describing troubles with a piece of machinery. ''I definitely see what you mean,'' he said, while in the background a nurse nodded silent amens. As in every instance of ritual humiliation, I felt myself to be in a state of grace. I left with a bill for the $4,000 I had scraped together and a surgery date, on which morning I arrived alone, was put under, awoke bedazed by painkillers, called a cab, and recovered in solitude in an Airbnb for several days. I told no one save my two closest friends where I was or what I was doing, considering this one of my weirder experiments, certainly no one else's business politically or otherwise. The first rule of feminine labor is that you don't talk about your feminine labor.
The Sovereign Consumer During my final battle with the Bad Feature, a significant piece about gendered body-modification surgery caught my attention. In an op-ed in the New York Times titled ''My New Vagina Won't Make Me Happy,'' the author, a transgender woman on the eve of bottom surgery, argued that the question of whether or not someone should be able to get trans surgery should be decided simply by whether or not they want it, end of story.1
On its own terms, this holds water. If I could opt to have my Bad Feature addressed as I willed it, why not Andrea Long Chu or anyone else? As things stand, trans surgery is ghettoized within a bureaucratic hedge of medical ethics and specialist evaluation that arrogates to itself the power to decide whether a procedure will be ''good for the patient.'' Chu argues that this medicalization of trans surgery in the name of ''patient outcomes'' is rank paternalism masquerading as ethics. As I read Chu's piece, laid up post-op through a veil of bandages, it did not escape me that it was possible that this was the dumbest thing I had ever done. I hadn't asked anyone for advice because I hadn't wanted any. Even including the sizing-up my Airbnb host's lumpen boyfriend gave me as I staggered in from the cab, my face swollen as a bitten tongue, the only thing that could have made the process more humiliating would have been a state-licensed high inquisitor of my sanity asking me if I was sure I really needed what I wanted . My Airbnb host was a perfectly lovely woman dating a man who, as far as I could tell, spent most of his time playing a cacophonous video game involving dragons, and occasionally screaming invectives at the postal worker, and I was in a pink haze of Vicodin facing the reality that I had disfigured myself permanently; nobody was checking in on us to make sure ''we knew best for ourselves.'' Why start asking if women are sure they know what they want only when they get to the consultation chair for trans surgery?
At first blush, what's so persuasive about Chu's reasoning is that the decisionism vested in the physician in trans surgery is exceptional, one of the few remaining holdouts of a physician sovereignty that has by now become largely antique. In every genre of gendered body modification other than trans surgery, all that was solid in the physician's little kingdom has melted into air. Chu's demand is that the same standard of patient choice apply in trans procedures. Yet what's missing from this political program is a sense of how the dethroning of the physician''--'whose completion Chu calls for''--'was achieved and how it ended with the recurring triumph of commoditized medicine and the great failed experiment of the current American health-care system.
Following World War II, the vast expenditure of the American military state on applied sciences like medicine suggested that the state could replace the market and provide its citizens with universal health care. Spooked by the threat of national health plans in the style of Britain's new National Health Service, American capitalists and the state struck a deal: the state would invest in health care, but health care would remain a commodity. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the US federal government invested dizzying amounts in medical science to sponsor research and fund hospitals. By the mid-'60s, medicine was reeling into what would be called the biological revolution, as cutting-edge technologies from genetic engineering to cardiac pacemakers sprang to life, nourished by federal funding aimed at maintaining the nation's cold-war edge.
But the rapid pace of technological change throughout the 1950s and 1960s introduced an ever-widening knowledge gap between physicians and their patients. Soon patients began to grow suspicious of doctors' unchecked power, and several radical civil rights and liberation movements coalesced to demand patients' rights. The antipsychiatry movement railed against psychiatry's medicalized imposition of social normativity, often implemented through underfunded state institutions that confined rather than treated patients. Simultaneously, the women's health movement revolted against the lack of autonomy available for women in making decisions about their bodies, particularly reproductive decisions, while demands for medical justice were likewise key features of antiracist liberation movements, animating the Black Panthers' campaigns for free health care and against medical experimentation in prisons, for example, and the Young Lords' free medical clinics.
At the same time that patients were seeking greater autonomy over their medical care, a crisis of unevenly distributed medical capacity was underway. Following the defeat of Harry Truman's 1950 proposal for a national health plan, which left it to employers to provide health care to their employees, huge portions of rural, often agricultural populations were without coverage or care, and the majority of even the employed population had only inadequate fee-for-service''--'or nonexistent''--'benefits. (By 1960, three in four American workers were nonunion and thus lacked the ability to wrangle a strong contract.) The Lyndon Johnson Administration's creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 likewise did not succeed in resolving the health system's central contradiction: that the most technologically advanced nation failed to deliver the benefits of its medical advances to the estimated fifty million Americans too poor to afford any type of medical care. The bitter irony of the situation was that by introducing a system of generous direct subsidies to hospitals and physicians without introducing effective price controls, Medicare and Medicaid only contributed to the runaway spiraling of health-care costs throughout the late 1960s, as hospitals and physicians jacked up their fees. Conservatives could have hardly asked for a better example of an alleged failure of central-government planning with which to argue that the solution to the health-care crisis could only be mediated by the information-processing functions of the market.
By the mid-1960s, as the health-care system began to buckle into permanent crisis, patient suspicion toward doctors began to be normalized. Even the average citizen was skeptical of the kind of scientific ''expertise'' that authorized the Tuskegee scandal and human experiments in Nazi death camps and US prisons alike. The push to topple the dictatorship of the white coat was increasingly articulated not as a subsidiary of the civil, feminist, or environmental rights movements, where it had originated, but of the burgeoning consumer rights movement, whose assault on corporate power was by then propulsive enough to have procured Kennedy's 1962 Consumer Bill of Rights. Reframing the problem of medical care as an issue of protecting buyers from unfair business practices gave everyone a partial victory: the patient would be empowered, but with the power of the consumer.
Milton Friedman's 1962 Capitalism and Freedom argued that professional medicine was a licensed guild that should be exposed to market forces. Instead of the state-backed profession limiting consumers' choices by professional and ethical restrictions, Friedman argued that the consumer should be trusted to choose among any medical service offered for purchase''--'including from ''crackpots'' and experimentalists lacking good standing in the medical profession. The only consideration restricting what types of treatment and body modification are available to a patient should be whether party A is willing to sell it and party B is willing to buy. Friedman's argument was an edgelord version of what was rapidly becoming common sense. The lesson seemed clear: the failure of federal planning demonstrated that only the market could discipline prices to calibrate demand and value.
The result was that across the political spectrum, opinions converged in agreement that the proper role of the government was not to provide or subsidize services, but to guarantee that each individual was equipped with accurate information as they navigated the health-care market. The consumer's discretion among services came with the condition that the patient shoulder moral responsibility for their choices. As John Knowles's influential 1977 essay ''The Responsibility of the Individual'' argued, the consumer's increased discretion correlated to a deeper responsibility for their own decisions: ''The idea of a 'right' to health should be replaced by the idea of an individual moral obligation to preserve one's own health''--'a public duty if you will.''
The marketization of medicine was also attracting increased financial investment throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. In the wake of the Reaganite triumph''--'which spelled a clear end to any threat of a national health plan''--'Wall Street plunged into a health-care bonanza. Investors staked out markets in hospitals, commercial laboratories, and long-term care facilities while a suite of new biotech companies held IPOs. With health care launched through the financialized looking glass, the everyday decisions of patient care were increasingly governed not by sovereign physicians, but according to the terms worked out between for-profit health-care giants and insurance companies.
This effectively describes our situation now, the result of a political bait and switch. The patient has been empowered, sure, but only because she is paying. Getting our heads around how the present state of affairs came about means grasping that capitalism is the sine qua non of modern American medicine's historical development. The logic of the market was grafted into its DNA, and its essential character is that of a commodity, not a juridical right.
Chu's case for the sovereign right of the individual to modify their body in accord with their desires is the clear-sighted and internally consistent extension of the logic that has come to govern health care in the United States. On these terms, Chu's reasoning is not just persuasive, but the ineluctable extension of a dialectic in which the radical critique of the patriarchal institution of medicine was coopted by the neoliberal transformation of medical science into a marketplace. If medical care is a purchasable commodity, and if the consumer is not harming other people, then what right does the physician have to interfere in the workings of the market?
It can feel so much like sickness that you agree to suspend the quotation marks around ''sick'' if it will get you the ''cure.''
Tweet Of course, not all body modification procedures are privatized. In the US, twenty-one states plus Washington DC provide Medicaid coverage for transition therapies. Only eighteen states have Medicaid programs that explicitly include hormone replacement therapy and both genital and chest modification. Of these, six states provide coverage for hair removal, and three provide surgery for facial feminization or masculinization. The long legal struggle to secure these provisions relied on establishing transition as ''medically necessary,'' a technical term that hinges on qualifying the mental anguish trans individuals often suffer because of gender dysphoria as a kind of sickness. In consequence, procedures that would be cosmetic for someone cisgendered are medically necessary to mitigate intense psychological distress. As the World Professional Association for Transgender Health argues, ''Although it may be much easier to see a phalloplasty or a vaginoplasty as an intervention to end lifelong suffering, for certain patients an intervention like a reduction rhinoplasty [a nose job] can have a radical and permanent effect on their quality of life, and therefore is much more medically necessary than for somebody without gender dysphoria.'' The case for the state's coverage of trans surgery is predicated on the medicalization of dysphoria as being different in kind from everyday cosmetic dysmorphia. By this logic, the role of the physician in rationing state resources is to sort the cosmetic from the medically necessary, the aesthetic from the political.
Which brings us to the paradox of trying to hold Chu's position while also imagining socialized medicine: you can either demand sovereignty over the body as a customer investing in your human capital, or you can make the case for the state rationing resources to provide medical care. What you can't do is try to have it both ways, both appealing to professionalized medicine to underwrite the legitimacy of desires for bodily transformation as ''medically necessary'' while stripping the physician of precisely the authority your claim annexes.
But of course, when you really want something, contradictions matter less. Everyone knows that. As many trans people have argued, acceding to the medical narrative that being trans is a sickness is simply making a deal with the devil. That's one thing I've learned about desire: it can feel so much like sickness that you agree to suspend the quotation marks around ''sick'' if it will get you the ''cure.'' That's what it means to want something.
Desire doesn't say yes or no; it holds two irreconcilables and says ''and yet'¯.'¯.'¯.'' I've learned to call this a dialectic: I want to want to not want to be beautiful, and yet I want to be beautiful; I am a woman, and yet I am not really a woman; I don't believe plastic surgery is or should be necessary, yet I needed plastic surgery. For some time now I have kept my whole story a secret, thinking I could never survive the humiliation of anyone knowing, and yet there's something I can't stop myself from telling you. Desire is the Bad Feature.
Plastic Desire It's become a fashionable gesture to call things ''neoliberal,'' a gambit raised to a coup d'(C)clat if the speaker's target has pretensions to liberatory politics, preferably feminism. That's not what I'm up to here. Neoliberalism is not something to be revealed by scanning the zeitgeist and picking off X but not Y cultural phenomenon (Hillary Clinton but not tenant organizing, Instagram but not blood donation). It doesn't work that way; neoliberalism is a historically specific infrastructure''--'of central banks, software, language, policing, kinship, and so on''--'that conditions contemporary social reality, infusing its logic into the most intimate zones of everyday life. What I am describing is the development of a historical condition: the rise of medicalized body modifications aimed at making gender performances ''better,'' undertaken within the subsumption of health care into neoliberalism's ontology of the market.
Is being trans in 2020 conditioned by neoliberalism? Understood historically, yes. So is being a nurse, taking an evening course in graphic design, signing up for food stamps, quitting Instagram and then signing back up for it, apologizing to Dad so he'll sign your FAFSA, going another year without seeing the dentist''--'in short, so is everything we do within the political horizons and ordinary calculus of everyday life.
This doesn't mean there is no outside to neoliberalism, but that''--'like neoliberalism itself''--'the outside is nowhere in particular. To find the outside you have to look at people who think they're disagreeing, then follow the logic of both parties to its terminus of secret agreement: the shared paradigms, language, values, and logic forming the consensus required for them to understand what they're disagreeing about in the first place. That's where neoliberalism lives, in the secret back laboratory of politics, the place where the molecular units of common sense are concocted.
In this secret laboratory, neoliberalism breeds its synthetic life-form, a parasitic hybrid of Homo economicus and financialized postindustrial capitalism that Foucault called the entrepreneur of the self. After centuries of interminable struggle between labor and capital, the parasite got wise: she sees that the body of the host organism''--'its health, intellect, physical attractiveness, knowledge''--'is itself a form of capital whose value must be maximized through investment. Once the parasite has hacked the organism, activities that used to look like very different sorts of things''--'namely, production (or labor) and consumption''--'are now a single genre: all activity becomes investment in the human body the parasite has taken over in order to maximize returns on its human capital.
Monetary returns are only one potential form that dividends might assume. ''Not all investment in human capital is for future earnings alone,'' Theodore Schultz, an early theorist of human capital, explained in 1962. ''Some of it is for future well-being in forms that are not captured in the earnings stream of the individual in whom the investments are made.'' Seen this way, incels who fail to compete in the Darwinian sexual marketplace can invest in ''chad surgery'' to generate returns on their ''sexual capital,'' and the enormous global market for cosmetics becomes a rational ramification of women's savvy investment in what economists by 1997 were calling ''beauty capital,'' the advantage bestowed by good looks.
This is to say, nature is a sentimentality the parasite cannot afford, though the illusion of it can lend value as superadded artifice. As proprietor of its host's body, the parasite takes a cool, ecumenical approach to augmenting and optimizing the organism and has no qualms about becoming cyborg, provided the likelihood for return on investment is there. It manages the body as a privatized investment property, responsible to no one for its life and, it follows, imbued with the right to do whatever it likes to that body.
The equivocal status of the cyborg as private investment property has prompted some contemporary feminists to wonder what became of the political potential of biotechnology heralded by feminists at the end of the biological revolution in the 1970s. In a recent essay, Jia Tolentino sketches the imperative for feminized self-valorization under postindustrial capital''--'barre class, orthorexia sponsored by Sweetgreen, dermal-injectable-plumped features''--'before homing in on the early works of Donna Haraway, the paladin of an earlier generation's techno-optimist feminist school. In the 1980s, Haraway sized up the hippified romanticization of the natural among feminist second-wavers''--'think Gaia, menstrual cups, and trans exclusion''--'and concluded that liberation would not ramify out of continued enthrallment to the idea of an unreconstructed nature. Instead, in her 1985 ''A Cyborg Manifesto,'' the most-likely-to-be-abused essay in critical theory since Marx's ''Fragment on Machines,'' Haraway argued that because the construct ''woman'' is already constitutively artificial, feminist politics shouldn't be afraid of abandoning nature. There is no natural essence of woman to be faithful to in the first place. Since woman is already cyborg, feminists could torque technology toward liberation, even if the technological marvels of the day were the offspring of the US military-industrial complex and the consumerization of medicine.
But while in 1985 Haraway thought that by 2020 women would be using technology to biohack their way out of oppression, the feminine cyborg these days seems to use technology only to get a leg up within the game patriarchal capitalism has set up for her. Visions of radical gestational engineering to free women from the division of labor chaining them to the home have given way to global commercial surrogacy markets that keep Mommy's tummy flat. Cyberspace is less a zone of radical freedom from political hierarchy than a panopticon that relentlessly quantifies and transacts social capital. Woman is born cyborg, yet she is everywhere Instagramming.
In a further weird turn of the dialectical screw, the cyborgification of women's bodies seems to tend toward a virtuosic augmented performance of the natural. The contemporary fashioning of woman is notable not for the embrace of the artificial that marked Haraway's Eighties woman''--'the camp-artificial silhouette of jutting shoulder pads and the no-holds-barred conspicuous makeup''--'but for its recommitment to ''the natural.'' We get injections now so we can meet beauty ideals without seeming to wear any makeup at all. Now, we not only have to look hot but to conceal the artificiality of hotness, to veil the labor required to achieve the effect. Under this politics of reenchanted nature, the entire political spectrum agrees that women should not spend a lot of time or money looking hot''--'or if they must, they should be discreet about it, because making your complicity in your own oppression obvious is in bad taste. Camp is dead, or at least kind of gross. If you want to be a woman now, you had better mean it without the quotation marks, regardless of your genitals at birth. For someone who had been resistant to doing either for years, I found it less personally or politically embarrassing in polite left-liberal society to come out as queer than to admit to having had plastic surgery. The supposedly liberatory insouciance of the woman who ''woke up like this'' is the structural isomorph of the queer who was ''born this way,'' two claims that only function, like the commodity fetish, by occluding the conditions of their production.
Why has the cyborg collapsed as a political figure? If the Harawayan project was to use technology to facilitate nonnormative desires, why does the expression of those desires look like a relentless drive toward self-optimization? It is as if desire is itself a kind of hybrid, both plastic and organic. It is as if the desires for transformation that enlist technology are formed in the conditions of technocapitalism. The cyborg, it turns out, was easily colonized: it has no desires, and the parasite does.
This is the problem with the politics of desire. The parasite is already within us, and our desires are not our own. It's not that a ''real'' self has been colonized by the infrastructures of desire, but that the very thing that we call ''self'' is composed of that colonization; the self does not exist without it. The politics of desire that undergird both the private transformation I pursued and Chu's argument hinge on an idea of ''rights'' without referent to the constructions of both subjectivity and social collectivities as the transparent outcome of nature. With their framing of desires as natural rather than artificial''--'an expression of essence rather than the historical contingencies of power''--'the politics of desire end up reanimating the very carcass of romanticized nature that Haraway attacked. As in so many post-'68 political impulses that unwittingly reinscribe the politics of natural law that they claim to revolt against, here desire comes to stand in as nature, in the sense both of ''that which could not be otherwise'' and ''that from which our politics must be deduced.''
Extracting political projects from this naturalized desire''--'as if it were impossible to want anything other than what we want''--'plays the same card as any other naturalization of politics: from the neofascists, it looks like blood-and-soil racism linking arms with evolutionary biological notions of gender; from the center, the idea that political constructs like queerness or ''mental health'' can be found in the folds of the cerebellum or the gene. The entire ideological project of neoliberal governance hinges on this gambit's success: Will we buy into the illusion that the desires of the parasite are inevitable? This is what Foucault meant by saying that the entrepreneur of the self is ''eminently governable'': the apparatus of power doesn't have to resort so much to open coercion or violence. It is already on the inside, pulling the levers of the individual's desires with an invisible hand.
The Ethical Body Some private medical insurance will cover bottom surgery, mostly after putting the applicant through a grotesque bureaucratic stations of the cross, but balks at covering anything beyond getting the genitals or chest to make the quantum leap onto the other side of the gendered binary opposition. Aetna's policy language on coverage for transitioning is a litany of denials: blepharoplasty, body contouring (liposuction of the waist), breast enlargement procedures such as augmentation mammoplasty and implants, face-lifting, facial bone reduction, feminization of torso, hair removal, lip enhancement, reduction thyroid chondroplasty, rhinoplasty, skin resurfacing (dermabrasion, chemical peel), and voice modification surgery, which have all been used in feminization, are considered ''cosmetic.'' The same goes for the tools of masculinization, whether chin implants, lip reduction, breast reduction, or nose implants. In other words, after bottom surgery, for the rest of the long slog toward woman- or manhood, you're on your own, fighting your fat hips or square jaw like the rest of us.
In terms of achieving acceptance as your identified gender, it's arguable that so-called cosmetic procedures are a priority on par with genital surgery. After all, most people won't be looking below the belt. The tragedy of public violent attacks and discrimination against trans people would conceivably be better addressed by cosmetic surgery that facilitates ''passing,'' not to mention the payoffs of the ''beauty premium'' that pays dividends in social, monetary, and sexual capital. Improving the normative performance of gender is an effective strategy in the arsenal of human capital's self-valorization. As a 2017 Columbia Law Review article noted, both hair removal and facial transformation procedures can offer significant benefit to transgender patients, and it seems arbitrary to offer coverage of certain gender-affirming procedures yet deem others to be cosmetic. But by insurance companies' logic, reductive gender biopolitics are what keep them from going belly-up. If insurers started covering the myriad forms of bodily modification beyond those of the genitals, the infinite optimizations that make one's gender performance more ''real,'' who wouldn't take out a policy?
Decommodifying health care requires decommodifying the human being.
Tweet With the world that we have, Chu is right to demand that trans surgery be treated as all other forms of bodily modification, as nobody's business but the patient's. But it's telling that exactly the loss of such autonomy is held up as a bªte noir by conservatives and neoliberals alike in the face of demands for socialized medicine, from the specter of ''death panels'' to the ability to ''see your doctor.'' It's not for nothing that opponents of single-payer programs reach for the plastic surgery market first as an example in their arguments against universal coverage. Because costs in the plastic surgery market are borne directly by the customer-patient, they argue, cosmetic surgery markets have been immune to the ballooning costs otherwise prevalent in health care. Demanding the extension of the regnant logic of privatized medicine only punts on the question of what bodily modification and its medicalization would look like under the conditions of collective, socialized medicine.
The socialization of medicine is not simply a process of installing a government payer to pick up the tab for a system that remains otherwise intact, but a transformation of the ethical relationship between the individual body and a collectivity. The ethical premise of the welfare state is that statistical risk to the individual should be borne by the body politic as a whole. In return for insurance against the risk of accident or injury, the citizen's body is not her own; her body is sponsored by a collectivity whose lives are bound up in each other's. In many senses, the story of the late 1970s is the story of how social institutions were dismantled in the name of freeing the individual to fulfill their desires: in place of the institutions of collectivity, the libertarian imagination promised infinite freedom from the repressive mores of the welfare state. But if neoliberalism is found not in one specific entity or phenomenon but in the fabric of a way of life, the way out is the disintegration of the paradigm that provides the individual with absolute sovereignty over the body in the name of private property and the freedom to invest in her own human capital. Decommodifying health care requires decommodifying the human being.
What this means is that there is a fundamental anachronism in attempting to transact the political projects of the neoliberal subject within the framework of the welfare state. The welfare state disciplines the individual into the political imagination of a collectivity as the price of its care for her life. By contrast, the politics of the sovereign consumer in the era of neoliberal medicine are predicated on taking one's own desire so seriously that it forms the core of a political project that is coterminous with investment in the self. The marketplace seems to be the supervenient structure that conditions all possible realities in which bodies relate to each other and transform. If the rallying phrase ''My body, my choice'' originated as a call for women's liberation, its cooptation by astroturfed protesters calling for the post-Covid economy to be flung back open is no surprise: the rights of the individual over her body reach a limit in the ethical relation of the individual to a political body. The medicalized aesthetic projects of the body can make us hot; they can aid in chasing the asymptote of becoming woman, no scare quotes; but they cannot get us out of the fundamental paradigm of the neoliberal subject: the ownership of the self as private property to self-optimize. It's every woman for herself out here under the unforgiving glint of the needle, the scalpel, the credit card chip.
If we conjure the political will to create socialized medicine under the argument that health care is a human right, what forms of becoming gendered will be covered? To say that only bottom surgery would qualify is to reinscribe precisely our enemies' reductive biopolitics of genital obsession. But what if becoming woman is a process not simply of jumping across a gendered binary, but one constantly occurring within gender itself? Do we then lean into or out of the medicalization of the gendered body? Do we have a right to be hot? Why should the socialist state cover one woman's acquisition of breasts and not another's augmentation of them? What is the space of nonequivalence between these two visions of ''rights,'' the right to purchase a commoditized medical service and the rights of an individual within a sociopolitical collectivity? If the welfare state is staked on the ethical wager that the plastic body is sponsored by the collectivity to help realize a collective vision of the good, what is the relation between rights and desires? And if the body is not private property to be managed as an investment, then how do we relate to it?
Epilogue If you're wondering whether my surgery worked, the answer is yes and no. Yes, in that I am no longer tortured, and no in the sense that I don't look particularly different from how I did before, certainly not hotter. Truth be told, I was disappointed in the surgical results, and sank into a brief state of nigh-psychotic despair, arriving at my one-month follow-up appointment ready to wage war. Like all the most dangerous lunatics, I was cunning. ''I think it's important for us to have honesty in the surgeon-patient relationship,'' I said, citing the highest principle I reckoned I could force Dr. Fabriole to pretend to agree to. ''And if I'm speaking honestly, I feel that we''''--'a lesson from Rich Dad, when negotiating always use we ''--'''haven't achieved the results I was hoping we would.''
He understood my gambit perfectly and adapted without a downbeat. ''Sure, OK,'' he concurred, hauling out his phone from the back pocket of his scrubs and holding it at a farsighted arm's length as we inspected the pre- and post-op photos, side by side. ''And if we're being honest, your befores aren't so hot either.'' Point and counterpoint. There was nothing to say to this but to revert to the first principle of negotiating, Dwell on Common Ground, in this case that we both agreed on that. In the following weeks, our therapeutic relationship fell apart precipitously in the course of an email thread whose critical juncture was my suggestion that ''Just keep hoping and praying for the best'' was not confidence-inspiring medical advice. By the end, he suggested that if I wasn't happy, I was free to take my cash to a new physician, or pay him four thousand more dollars, preferably the former, as far as he was concerned. That's how the marketplace works.
ES-What 'Defund the Police' Actually Means - The Atlantic
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 12:27
America needs to rethink its priorities for the whole criminal-justice system.
June 5, 2020 Staff writer at The Atlantic
Scott Heins / GettyAnnie Lowrey and Adam Harris will discuss the future of policing, live at 2 p.m. ET on June 11. Register for The Big Story EventCast here.
What are the police for? Why are we paying for this?
The death of George Floyd and the egregious, unprovoked acts of police violence at the peaceful protests following his death have raised these urgent questions. Police forces across America need root-to-stem changes'--to their internal cultures, training and hiring practices, insurance, and governing regulations. Now a longtime demand from social-justice campaigners has become a rallying cry: Defund the police. This is in one sense a last-resort policy: If cops cannot stop killing people, and black people in particular, society needs fewer of them. But it is also and more urgently a statement of first principles: The country needs to shift financing away from surveillance and punishment, and toward fostering equitable, healthy, and safe communities.
As a general point, the United States has an extreme budget commitment to prisons, guns, warplanes, armored vehicles, detention facilities, courts, jails, drones, and patrols'--to law and order, meted out discriminately. It has an equally extreme budget commitment to food support, aid for teenage parents, help for the homeless, child care for working families, safe housing, and so on. It feeds the former and starves the latter.
Read: Who will hold the police accountable?
The distinctions are stark when comparing America with its peer nations. The U.S. spends 18.7 percent of its annual output on social programs, compared with 31.2 percent by France and 25.1 percent by Germany. It spends just 0.6 percent of its GDP on benefits for families with children, one-sixth of what Sweden spends and one-third the rich-country average. It spends far more on health care than these other countries, notably, but for a broken, patchy, and inequitable system, one that leaves people dying without care and bankrupts many of those who do get it.
Meanwhile, the U.S. spends twice what Europe does on the military. It spends more on domestic public-safety programs than virtually all of its peer nations, double what Singapore spends in GDP terms. It locks up millions, with an incarceration rate many times that of other NATO countries. If the state with the lowest incarceration rate, Massachusetts, were its own country, it would imprison more people than all but nine other nations, among them Turkmenistan.
Does this spending make the country safer than its peers? No. Violent crime has reduced markedly in the past few decades. But America's murder rate is still higher than the average among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and about four times the rate in Canada. The number of rapes, adjusted to the size of the population, is four times higher than it is in Denmark. Robberies are more than twice as common as they are in Poland. Gun violence is rampant; deaths and injuries from firearms among children are considered ''a major clinical and public health crisis.'' And Americans absorb far, far more violence from police officers. As a Guardian investigation demonstrated, the police shot dead 55 people in 24 years in England and Wales. There were more fatal police shootings in the first 24 days of 2015 in the U.S.
A thin safety net, an expansive security state: This is the American way. At all levels of government, the country spends roughly double on police, prisons, and courts what it spends on food stamps, welfare, and income supplements. At the federal level, it spends twice as much on the Pentagon as on assistance programs, and eight times as much on defense as on education. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will ultimately cost something like $6 trillion and policing costs $100 billion a year. But proposals to end homelessness ($20 billion a year), create a universal prekindergarten program ($26 billion a year), reduce the racial wealth gap through baby bonds ($60 billion a year), and eliminate poverty among families with children ($70 billion a year) somehow never get financed. All told, taxpayers spend $31,286 a year on each incarcerated person, and $12,201 a year on every primary- and secondary-school student.
Read: Teachers vs. prisons
Looking at cities, the numbers are at least sometimes similarly skewed: Oakland spends 41 percent of its general-fund budget on policing, Minneapolis 36 percent, and Houston 35 percent. Cops and courts are not just a cost for local governments, though. Fines, fees, and forfeitures are a major source of revenue, encouraging violent overpolicing and harassment, especially of black neighborhoods and black individuals. In 80 cities and towns across the country, fines and forfeitures account for half of general-fund revenue, a practice particularly prevalent in Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas. A Department of Justice investigation found that in Ferguson, Missouri, the town used the police and the courts as a kind of fundraising office, plugging budget holes with ginned-up traffic tickets and housing-code violations and charges for missed court dates.
America badly needs to rethink its priorities for the whole criminal-justice system, with Floyd's death drawing urgent, national attention to the necessity for police reform. Activists, civil-rights organizations, academics, policy analysts, and politicians have drawn up a sprawling slate of policies that might help end police brutality, eliminate racist policing, improve trust between cops and the communities they work in, and lower crime levels.
A more radical option, one scrawled on cardboard signs and tagged on buildings and flooding social media, is to defund the cops. What might that mean in practice? Not just smaller budgets and fewer officers, though many activists advocate for that. It would mean ending mass incarceration, cash bail, fines-and-fees policing, the war on drugs, and police militarization, as well as getting cops out of schools. It would also mean funding housing-first programs, creating subsidized jobs for the formerly incarcerated, and expanding initiatives to have mental-health professionals and social workers respond to emergency calls.
Read: How to actually fix America's police
More broadly, the demand to divest from policing doubles as a call to invest in safety, security, and racial justice. This week, cops in riot gear teargassed teenagers, Humvees patrolled near the White House, and military helicopters buzzed protesters. At the same time, health workers fought COVID-19 wearing reused masks. This is not serving. This is not protecting.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.
Annie Lowrey is a staff writer at
The Atlantic, where she covers economic policy.
Cancel culture takes the fun out of life, says comedian John Cleese - Reuters
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 12:08
(Reuters) - John Cleese does not have much time for political correctness or cancel culture, and as for the state of the world? It's completely hopeless, the former ''Monty Python'' star says.
Instead Cleese, 80, is promising ''a short selection of Peruvian burial ditties,'' when he presents a comedic live-stream plus Q&A session from London next month.
''Why There is No Hope'' is described as part lecture and part comedy standup livestream. Cleese describes it as an experiment in front of the small audience required by social distancing in the coronavirus era.
The British actor is perhaps best known as rude hotel owner Basil Fawlty in the 1970s British TV series ''Fawlty Towers,'' and the man from the Ministry of Silly Walks in the absurdist sketch series ''Monty Python's Flying Circus.''
Cleese last month called the BBC ''cowardly and gutless'' for temporarily taking down an episode of ''Fawlty Towers'' that made fun of Germans and World War Two and also featured a character using a racial slur.
Cancel culture ''misunderstands the main purposes of life which is to have fun,'' Cleese told Reuters, referring to the trend in which people are ostracized because of behavior or remarks seen as objectionable.
''Everything humorous is critical. If you have someone who is perfectly kind and intelligent and flexible and who always behaves appropriately, they're not funny. Funniness is about people who don't do that, like Trump,'' he said, referring to the U.S. president.
Slideshow (2 Images) The problem with political correctness, he added, is that comedians ''have to set the bar according to what we are told by the most touchy, most emotionally unstable and fragile and least stoic people in the country.''
As for the Aug. 2 livestream to be held at London's Cadogan Hall, Cleese says he expects to perform for about 50 people seated at social distance.
Cleese says he is not bothered at playing in front of such a small crowd. ''I played to an audience once in New Zealand where I did not get a laugh,'' he said.
Reporting by Rollo Ross. Writing by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Alistair Bell
How Trump's Prescription Drug Executive Orders Reduce Costs For Seniors & Taxpayers
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:39
Trump signs executive orders on prescription drug prices in the South Court Auditorium at the White House on July 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump signed a series of four executive orders aimed at lowering prices that for prescription drugs in the United States. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Americans have long complained about the fact that drug companies overcharge U.S. patients for medicines that cost much less elsewhere. A quartet of executive orders from President Trump, issued today, will change that.
''We are putting patients over lobbyists, senior citizens before special interests, and we're putting America first,'' said Trump.
Medicare incentivizes drug companies to raise pricesThe most important of the orders concerns what Medicare pays drug companies for drugs administered in physician offices, like those requiring an intravenous infusion.
First, some background. Today, Medicare Part B'--our single-payer program for seniors' visits to doctors' offices'--has a crazy way for paying for such drugs, called ''ASP plus 6 ,'' which stands for ''average selling price plus 6 percent.'' Doctors get a 6 percent commission'--technically, now a 4.3 percent commission'--on any drug they administer to a patient in their offices.
When Congress designed this provision of the Medicare program, it effectively turned doctors into glorified real estate brokers. Just as a real estate broker is incentivized to sell you a bigger house, so he can get a bigger commission, doctors are now incentivized to prescribe you the costliest medication, even if a more effective, lower-cost option is available.
The existence of this perverse incentive is an open secret in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Manufacturers know that if they develop a drug that needs to be infused intravenously, and is primarily used by Medicare patients, they can generally charge whatever they want , and force taxpayers and seniors to pay the bill.
Trump's International Pricing Index gets stalledIn an effort to reform the broken system for Medicare Part B drugs, in 2018 President Trump proposed benchmarking Medicare's reimbursement rates for physician-administered drugs to an International Pricing Index: the average price paid by a group of industrialized countries.
As you would expect, the drug lobby and its allies attacked the proposed rule, claiming that it was ''socialist'' to reduce federal subsidies to drug companies. The administration estimated that the plan could reduce Medicare Part B spending by $17 billion over five years. Even though that sum represents less than 1 percent of all U.S. pharmaceutical spending, the drug lobby histrionically claimed the rule would threaten their business model.
That doesn't mean the proposed International Pricing Index is perfect. As I noted in Forbes at the time, the index ''leaves out the more market-oriented health care systems in Europe, and includes more single-payer oriented systems like Canada and the U.K.'' A market-based benchmark that focused on countries with private health insurance, instead of those with single-payer systems, would be more philosophically consistent with the Trump administration's approach to health reform, while being just as effective at reducing Medicare drug costs.
The debate, until now, has been theoretical, because progress on the IPI had been stalled within the White House.
The new concept: 'Most Favored Nation' pricingTrump has reportedly expressed frustration at the lack of progress on his drug pricing reform agenda, due in part to internal disagreements among his staffers. And that leads us to today's news, in which the President has issued four executive orders'--in effect, direct and explicit instructions to his subordinates'--to implement drug pricing reform.
''It is the policy of the United States that the Medicare Program should not pay more for costly Part B prescription drugs or biological products than the most-favored-nation price,'' Trump declares in a draft version of the executive order that I obtained from a source close to the White House. That price, he says, ''shall mean the lowest price, after adjusting for volume and differences in national gross domestic product, for a [drug] in a member country, with a comparable per-capita gross domestic product, of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and development.''
The order instructs the Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, to come up with a plan to test wither such a rule would reduce costs and improve outcomes. The order will be effective on August 24th, unless the drug industry comes up with a ''better plan'' that Congress can enact.
This is, in effect, a turbocharged version of the International Pricing Index. Instead of Medicare paying drug companies at the average price of a group of industrialized countries, Medicare would pay the lowest price among comparably wealthy nations.
(According to the FREOPP World Index of Healthcare Innovation , Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are OECD-member countries whose GDP per capita are within 60 percent of the United States'.)
The move from an average price of the group to the lowest price makes eminent sense. In any normal market, the biggest purchaser of a product is able to negotiate the lowest bulk price for that product. In the bizarro world of Medicare drug spending, taxpayers are forced to pay the highest price even though they represent, on the whole, the largest market in the world for prescription medicines. Most importantly, the most-favored-nation approach will do the most to reduce seniors' out-of-pocket costs, and the most to reduce entitlement spending and thereby the deficit.
The new MFN rule continues to use single-payer countries as components of its benchmark, such as Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. But that isn't necessary to achieve the desired goal of reducing seniors' and taxpayers' costs, as I point out above. A benchmark composed solely of the non-single-payer countries would save just as much .
Having said that, the Trump administration makes a legitimate argument for considering single-payer countries' drug prices. Contrary to the assertions of the drug lobby, single-payer countries don't ''impose'' their prices on manufacturers.
If, say, the U.K. were to pay zero dollars for Gilead's hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi, Gilead would be fully within its rights to pull out of the U.K. market. The U.K. government knows this, and tries to come up with'--you might even say ''negotiate'''--a price that keeps Gilead at the table, while also minimizing the fiscal burden to taxpayers.
In this way, the prices that Gilead accepts from the various European countries are a kind of market price, in the same way that a seller of any product that involves major bulk purchasers is generating a market price.
It is certainly true, though, that Medicare could generate a more market-oriented price by focusing on countries without single-payer health care. As Trump officials develop their new rule, they would be well-served to keep this in mind.
Reforming the role of pharmaceutical middlemenIn early 2019, the Trump administration proposed changing the way that prescription drug rebates work in the Medicare Part D program, which helps seniors afford the medicines they buy at the retail pharmacy counter. (Rebates are the payments that drug companies make to pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, in order to incentivize more patients to use their drugs. In Medicare Part D, rebates amount to around $30 billion a year.)
The proposed reform would require PBMs in Medicare Part D to pass their discounts directly to the patients using those drugs, in ways that would improve the efficiency of the prescription drug market and lower costs for seniors.
Unfortunately, in July of 2019, after heavy pushback from PBMs and others, the administration withdrew the rule.
The President appears to have reconsidered. Today, the second of his four executive orders revives the rebate rule, directing Sec. Azar to ''complete the rule making process he commenced'' to pass rebates back to patients.
The industry isn't sitting still. According to Adam Cancryn and Sarah Owermohle of Politico , the White House is set to receive ''massive blowback'' from PBMs, who are preparing ''a major ad campaign against any effort to eliminate rebates'...in several swing states ahead of November.''
Reducing the cost of insulin and epinephrineThe two other orders are targeted at reducing the cost of specific drugs, like insulin for diabetics and epinephrine for those with certain severe allergies.
One order enables states to create programs for the importation of low-cost drugs from other countries, ''provided such importation poses no additional risk to public safety and results in lower costs to American patients,'' and specifically authorizes ''the re-importation of insulin products upon a finding by the [HHS] Secretary that it is required for emergency medical care.''
Importing drugs from other countries might help some patients, at the margin, access lower-priced treatments. But a lot of people don't realize that Canada's drug prices are the second-highest in the world, just behind those of the U.S. And drug companies have become quite sophisticated at managing their inventories in order to prevent drugs from flowing across borders. Nonetheless, the order could provide an escape valve for those who struggle to afford the medicines they need.
The fourth and final order focuses on insulin and epinephrine prices at Federally Qualified Health Centers , or FQHCs. FQHCs are federally subsidized primary care clinics that serve low-income or rural populations. 28 million patients visit FQHCs each year. FQHCs commonly participate in a prescription drug purchasing program known as 340B , under which providers can purchase drugs at deeply discounted rates.
The problem is that many providers'--especially hospitals'--take advantage of the 340B program to buy drugs at low prices, and then administer them to patients at high prices, pocketing the difference as profit. President Trump's fourth order ends this practice at FQHCs, by ensuring that the prices charged to low-income uninsured patients align ''with the cost at which the FQHC acquired the medication.''
The U.S. prescription drug system is not a marketAlong with the drug lobby, there are a number of otherwise conservative organs that have criticized Trump's efforts to reduce the cost of prescription drugs to patients and taxpayers. Their argument is that the present system is a ''free market,'' and that Trump's moves would undermine market forces.
This is plainly ridiculous.
First: Branded drugs in the U.S. are protected by government-imposed and government-enforced monopolies, often'--but not always'--through the patent system. Monopolies, whatever their merits, are not markets. And drug companies have become adept at convincing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to grant them patents for trivial and non-innovative modifications to their drugs , extending their monopolies and allowing them to continue raising their prices.
Second: The U.S. health care system makes it easy for drug companies to charge whatever they want. The tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance prevents patients from shopping for the coverage and care that serves them best. Insurance mandates force coverage of certain drugs regardless of their cost. And government programs like Medicare Part B, today, effectively write blank checks to drug companies to charge whatever they think they can without causing excessive reputational damage.
Conservatives talk a good game about reducing government spending and reforming entitlements. But in practice, too many are selective in applying that philosophy: opposing aid for low-income patients, while ardently defending tens of billions in subsidies to multinational drug companies.
President Trump has many faults, but he deserves credit for tearing up this stale ideological loaf. His executive orders could save tens of billions in taxpayer funds, and help millions of low- and middle-income Americans better afford their medicines.
FOLLOW @Avik on Twitter and YouTube, and The Apothecary on Facebook. Or, sign up to receive a weekly e-mail digest of articles from The Apothecary. Read more about Avik's work on prescription drug pricing and other topics at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP.org).
I am Forbes' Policy Editor, and president of a non-partisan think tank, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP.org), which focuses on expanding economic
'... Read More I am Forbes' Policy Editor, and president of a non-partisan think tank, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP.org), which focuses on expanding economic opportunity to those who least have it. I'm on Twitter at @Avik. My work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Atlantic, and other publications. I'm often on cable news; you can find a collection of my TV clips at YouTube.com/aviksaroy.
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Garmin services struggle back to life after reported ransomware attack - The Verge
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:17
Owners of Garmin wearables are seeing their data sync again
By Thomas Ricker on July 27, 2020 5:19 am Garmin services appear to be coming online after having been down since late Wednesday from an apparent ransomware attack. Garmin Connect, the service that lets runners, swimmers, and athletes of all sorts obsessively track their performance measured by Garmin wearables, is now syncing data again, The Verge can confirm. All of our activity data collected since Wednesday is now visible in the Garmin app.
Dozens of relieved Garmin owners on Twitter are also reporting the first signs of life, seeing data collected from their wearables now appear in the Garmin Connect app on their phones.
Garmin's app, however, is still reporting server maintenance and the Garmin status page says Garmin Connect access is ''limited,'' so Garmin users are not totally in the clear yet. Garmin said on Saturday that it had ''no indication that this outage has affected your data, including activity, payment or other personal information.''
The outage was caused by a new strain of ransomware called WastedLocker, according to sources speaking to ZDNET, Bleeping Computer, and Techcrunch. WastedLocker, operated by the hacker group known as Evil Corp, encypts data but doesn't exfiltrate it, allowing affected systems to be recovered from backups without having to pay a ransom.
We'll update this article when Garmin responds to requests for a statement.
BREAKING UPDATE: Austin Police Release Driver Who Shot and Killed Antifa Protester Garrett Foster During Saturday Night Protest
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 03:55
Police have confirmed that two people fired shots during an altercation in Austin on Saturday night between a motorist and a Black Lives Matter protester, during which the protester was shot and killed.As reported earlier by Cassandra Fairbanks'... Police say that the man who was killed, Garrett Foster, was armed and confronted the vehicle '-- but was not the other person who fired shots.
''Officials believe one shooter was the driver of a car and the other was in the crowd and may have opened fire on the car as it drove away,'' KVUE reports. ''Neither shooter was the man who was killed.''
The Austin Police said during a late night press conference that Foster was carrying a rifle and may have approached the vehicle prior to the shooting.
TRENDING: BLM Protester Fatally Shot in Austin: 'People Who Hate Us' Are 'Too Big of P-ssies to Actually Do Anything About It'
A still frame from footage of the incident appears to show Foster in a posture that looks like he was pointing a weapon at the driver.
''One adult male victim was located with a gunshot wound,'' the press officer said, before confirming he passed away at the hospital shortly after. ''Initial reports indicate that the victim may have been carrying a rifle and approached the suspect vehicle. Suspect was in the vehicle and shot at the victim. Suspect was detained and is cooperating with officers.''
Police have not yet determined what charges either shooter will face, if any. The driver is in custody and has been cooperating with the investigation.
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The shooting was captured on video by local activist.
Via Hiram Live.
Now this'...
On Sunday night Austin police released the driver who shot Garrett Foster.Dallas News reported:
AUSTIN '-- Police have released the driver who allegedly killed an armed protester Saturday night in downtown Austin, while they investigate what led to the fatal shooting.
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley identified the man who was shot as Garrett Foster.
Foster was attending the protest against police violence and had been pushing the wheelchair of his fianc(C)e, Whitney Mitchell, 28, who is a quadruple amputee. The couple, who met in North Texas as teenagers, moved to Austin a couple of years ago and had attended protests in recent weeks, their mothers told The Dallas Morning News.
Austin police are investigating what occurred between Foster, who they said was carrying an AK-47-style rifle during the protest, and the driver, who called police to report that he'd shot someone'...
'... Witnesses reported that just before 10 p.m. Saturday, a car turned down the street toward the protesters and the driver started honking its horn. The vehicle stopped in the roadway, police said, and Foster approached the driver's side window as others began striking the car. The driver then opened fire, striking Foster.
Manley said at a news conference Sunday that the driver reported Foster pointed his weapon at them before the shooting. KVUE-TV reported that police have said Foster did not discharge his weapon, but the chief did say someone else in the crowd did return fire as the car left the scene.
Billion-dollar tech startup wades into downtown Austin with new campus - CultureMap Austin
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 03:23
A ''unicorn'' '-- a startup valued at $1 billion or more '-- that sells home insurance online is building a new home for its Austin workforce that eventually could house 310 employees.
Hippo, based in Palo Alto, California, already maintains offices in Austin, but now, the ''insuretech'' startup is beefing up its local presence. Work is underway on a 40,000-square-foot office campus at Fifth and Sabine streets in downtown Austin that's scheduled to open by the end of 2021.
The new Austin campus will enable the startup to more than double the size of its local workforce.
This year alone, Hippo envisions adding 100 employees companywide to its current 280-person workforce. Today, 145 employees work from a downtown office at 522 Congress Ave. that the startup opened in 2017. If the company fills up its new downtown space, that would translate into 165 more employees here.
Hippo's current job postings in Austin include roles in sales, customer support, claims, IT, training, and social media. The Capital City location serves as the company's customer service hub.
''Austin really fit Hippo's mentality of a modern tech center,'' Rick McCathron, the company's Austin-based chief insurance officer, told the Built In news website. ''It has strong a strong insurance presence and is located in the Central time zone, which allows us to better serve our customers throughout the country. What Hippo is trying to do is modern, and Austin is a modern place.''
Hippo aims to take the company public next year through an IPO.
On July 21, the company announced it had raised a $150 million round of venture capital, bringing its total investment haul to nearly $360 million since it was founded in 2015. It is now valued at $1.5 billion.
Hippo forecasts its 2020 revenue will exceed $100 million, according to the Bloomberg news service. Aside from selling home insurance, Hippo operates a home maintenance division.
''We don't want to be just an insurance company,'' CEO Assaf Wand told the Silicon Valley Business Journal in June. ''I want to be your 1-800 for everything to do with your home.''
Garrett Foster Brought His Gun to Austin Protests. Then He Was Shot Dead. - The New York Times
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 02:57
The police in Austin, Texas, have not identified the motorist who fatally shot a protester after driving his car in the direction of marchers.
Videotranscript
transcript
1 Killed in Shooting at Protest in AustinOne person was killed in a shooting at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas, after a car drove into the crowd.''Every night!'' [chanting] [car honking] [muffled shouting and chanting] ''Everybody back up!'' [five gunshots, from nearby] [screaming, commotion] [four gunshots, farther away] [screaming, commotion] ''Look out! [unintelligible]!'' ''Look out! [unintelligible]!''
One person was killed in a shooting at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas, after a car drove into the crowd. Credit Credit... Hiram Gilberto /@imhiram-HIRAMLIVE July 26, 2020Updated 8:17 p.m. ET
AUSTIN, Texas '-- It was not unusual for Garrett Foster to be at a protest against police brutality on a Saturday night. And it was not out of character for him to be armed as he marched.
Mr. Foster was carrying an AK-47 rifle as he joined a Black Lives Matter demonstration blocks from the State Capitol in Austin, Texas. Gun-rights supporters on both the left and the right often carry rifles at protests in Texas, a state whose liberal gun laws allow it.
Mr. Foster, wearing a black bandanna and a baseball cap, bumped into an independent journalist at the march on Saturday, and he spoke matter-of-factly about the weapon that was draped on a strap in front of him.
''They don't let us march in the streets anymore, so I got to practice some of our rights,'' Mr. Foster told the journalist, Hiram Gilberto Garcia, who was broadcasting the interview live on Periscope. ''If I use it against the cops, I'm dead,'' he conceded.
Later that night, Mr. Foster was fatally shot, but not by the police. The authorities said he was killed by a motorist who had a confrontation with protesters.
The police and witnesses said the man in the car turned it aggressively toward the marchers, and Mr. Foster then approached it. The driver opened fire, shooting Mr. Foster three times. He was rushed to a hospital and was later pronounced dead.
Austin's police chief, Brian Manley, told reporters on Sunday that as the motorist turned, a crowd of protesters surrounded the vehicle, and some struck the car. The driver, whose name has not been released, then opened fire from inside the car as Mr. Foster approached. Another person in the crowd pulled out a handgun and shot at the vehicle as it sped away.
Minutes after the shooting, the driver called 911 and said he had been involved in a shooting and had driven away from the scene, Chief Manley said. The caller told dispatchers he had shot someone who had approached the driver's window and pointed a rifle at him.
''His account is that Mr. Foster pointed the weapon directly at him and he fired his handgun at Mr. Foster,'' the chief said of the driver.
Both the driver and the other person who fired a weapon were detained and interviewed by detectives. Both had state-issued handgun licenses and have been released as the investigation continues, Chief Manley said.
The shooting stunned a capital city where demonstrations and marches are a proud and commonplace tradition. A GoFundMe page to help Mr. Foster's relatives with his funeral expenses had already raised nearly $100,000 by Sunday evening.
And while Mayor Steve Adler and other officials expressed their condolences on Sunday, at least one police leader criticized Mr. Foster.
On Twitter, Kenneth Casaday, the president of the Austin police officers' union, retweeted a video clip of Mr. Foster explaining to Mr. Garcia, the independent journalist, why he brought his rifle. In the clip, Mr. Foster is heard using curse words to talk about ''all the people that hate us,'' but are too afraid to ''stop and actually do anything about it.''
In his tweet, Mr. Casaday wrote: ''This is the guy that lost his life last night. He was looking for confrontation and he found it.''
Mr. Garcia, who has filmed numerous Austin demonstrations in recent weeks, captured the chaotic moments of the shooting live on video. Protesters are seen marching through an intersection when a car blares its horn. Marchers appear to converge around the car as a man calls out, ''Everybody back up.'' At that instant, five shots ring out, followed shortly by several more loud bangs that echo through the downtown streets.
Mr. Foster, who had served in the military, was armed, but he was not seeking out trouble at the march, relatives and witnesses told reporters. At the time of the shooting, Mr. Foster was pushing his fianc(C)e through the intersection in her wheelchair.
Mr. Foster and his fianc(C)e, Whitney Mitchell, had been taking part in protests against police brutality in Austin daily since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Mr. Foster is white, and Ms. Mitchell, who is a quadruple amputee, is African-American. She was not injured in the shooting.
''He was doing it because he feels really strongly about justice and he's very heavily against police brutality, and he wanted to support his fianc(C)e,'' Mr. Foster's mother, Sheila Foster, said in an interview with ''Good Morning America,'' adding that she was not surprised he was armed while at the march.
''He does have a license to carry, and he would've felt the need to protect himself,'' Ms. Foster said.
In Texas, it is lawful to carry rifles, shotguns and other so-called long guns on the street without a permit, as long as the weapons are not brandished in a threatening manner; state-issued licenses are required only to carry handguns.
The presence of Mr. Foster's weapon could play a key role in the case if the driver claims that he shot Mr. Foster out of fear for his life, a defense allowed under the so-called ''stand your ground'' law in the state.
The shooting reignited a long-running debate in Texas about the ''open carry'' movement, in which many men and women carry their rifles and other weapons in public places.
Gun-control supporters say the movement that encourages such displays seeks to intimidate the police and the public, while gun-rights activists defend it as a celebration of their Second Amendment rights.
In a 2016 attack on police officers at a downtown Dallas demonstration, several marchers carried AR-15s and other military-style rifles, and local officials said their presence created confusion for police officers. A single gunman, Micah Johnson, a former Army reservist, killed five officers.
''There are multiple layers to this tragedy, but adding guns to any emotional and potentially volatile situation can, and too often does, lead to deadly violence,'' Ed Scruggs, the board president of Texas Gun Sense, a gun legislation reform group, said in a statement about the Austin shooting.
C.J. Grisham, founder and president of the gun-rights organization Open Carry Texas, defended the practice of bringing rifles to rallies and marches, particularly after numerous attacks around the country in which motorists have driven their cars into demonstrations and injured or killed protesters.
''Protesters are under attack from a wide variety of people,'' Mr. Grisham said. ''It's unfortunate these days that if you're going to exercise your First Amendment rights, you probably need to be exercising your Second Amendment rights as well.''
The shooting occurred shortly before 10 p.m. James Sasinowski, 24, a witness, said it seemed the driver was trying to turn a corner and did not want to wait for marchers to pass.
''The driver intentionally and aggressively accelerated into a crowd of people,'' Mr. Sasinowski said. ''We were not aggravating him at all. He incited the violence.''
Michael Capochiano, another witness, had a slightly different account of what happened. He said he was marching with other demonstrators when he saw a motorist honk his horn and turn toward the crowd, forcing people to scatter.
''You could hear the wheels squealing from hitting the accelerator so fast,'' said Mr. Capochiano, 53, a restaurant accountant. ''I'm a little surprised that nobody got hit.''
The car came to a stop after turning from Fourth Street onto Congress Avenue and appeared to strike a traffic pylon. As people shouted angrily at the driver, Mr. Foster walked toward the car, with the muzzle of his rifle pointed downward, he said.
''He was not aiming the gun or doing anything aggressive with the gun,'' Mr. Capochiano said. ''I'm not sure if there was much of an exchange of words. It wasn't like there was any sort of verbal altercations. He wasn't charging at the car.''
David Montgomery reported from Austin and Manny Fernandez from Houston. Bryan Pietsch contributed reporting from Andover, Minn.
Republicans and Democrats want Mueller to testify again. They may regret it.
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 02:56
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller waits to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on July 24, 2019. | Alex Wong/Getty Images
Lindsey Graham once said he had no interest in hearing from Robert Mueller.
Now, 100 days out from Election Day, the South Carolina Republican and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman is teasing a blockbuster hearing with the former special counsel, joining Democrats' monthslong push for Mueller to appear before the panel.
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But hauling Mueller back to the Capitol won't be easy. And some doubt it will even happen so close to the election, in part because of the political land mines such an event would create for both Republicans and Democrats.
''I'll believe it when I see it,'' Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a Judiciary Committee member, said in a brief interview. ''I have seen nothing since that leads me to think [Graham] is actually going to call Mueller.''
Despite the public bipartisan agreement, there are real obstacles and risks to securing Mueller's testimony. For Republicans, a strong defense by Mueller could shed unwelcome light on President Donald Trump's previous statements and conduct in the final stretch of the election. For Democrats, another halting performance by the ex-FBI chief could give Trump and his allies more ammunition for their attacks on the investigations that have dogged Trump and his associates for years.
Then, there's the logistical hurdles.
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House Democrats faced an uphill battle to pressure a reluctant Mueller to testify last year; it took weeks of talks, and eventually a subpoena, for Mueller to appear before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees '-- an appearance Graham later called ''not pretty.''
Negotiating with Mueller a second time won't be any easier, and Graham said his staff isn't yet in contact with Mueller or his team.
Graham is spearheading a comprehensive review of the origins of the Russia investigation, which ensnared Trump and his allies for years. And he's eyeing testimony from former FBI bigwigs in the coming months, including former FBI Director James Comey and the ex-FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe, even before hearing from Mueller.
That puts a potential Mueller hearing just weeks before Americans head to the polls. Democrats view Graham's posture as simply an effort to discredit Mueller's investigation and, in the process, boost a key theme of Trump's reelection campaign as close to the November election as possible. Graham has maintained that his investigation has nothing to do with the election.
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''He'll be invited,'' Graham reiterated last week. ''[But] that'll come at the end. I'm just working through the nuts and bolts.''
A spokesman for Mueller and former deputy special counsel Aaron Zebley, declined to comment on possible testimony before the panel.
With Graham's investigation, Democrats also see an election-year plot by Republican senators to run cover for Trump, who has sought to hit back against those who spearheaded the various investigations that targeted him and his associates. To this day, Trump continues to remind Americans of the probes that he believes unfairly targeted him '-- an effort that invigorates his loyal base of supporters.
At the same time, Democrats still welcome Mueller's appearance before the committee and dismiss the notion that it would be politically risky for them, leaning on Mueller to push back on Republicans' characterizations of his investigation as unfounded and to defend what they believe was a properly predicated inquiry.
''They'll hear more of the truth. It's the old Harry Truman story '-- someone from the crowd called out, 'Give 'em hell, Harry.' And he said, 'I'm just going to tell them the truth and they'll think it's hell,''' Blumenthal quipped.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), another member of the panel, talked up Mueller as a skilled professional who is ''more than capable'' of defending his probe, which yielded 34 criminal indictments.
''I would think for people who are trafficking in these conspiracy theories and these unfounded allegations about Mueller, the risk is that he'll be forceful and clear, and demonstrate that it was a well-predicated investigation,'' Coons said in a brief interview.
In justifying their investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, Republicans point to several pieces of recently declassified information that calls into question the genesis of the investigation into potential ties between Trump associates and the Kremlin. That includes a Justice Department inspector general report that documented serious errors and abuses as part of the warrant application process for a former Trump campaign adviser.
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Earlier this month, Graham released documents suggesting that senior FBI officials were initially skeptical of the emerging narrative early in Trump's presidency that his campaign was in contact with Russian intelligence officers. Republicans assert that the risks of hearing from Mueller instead lie with Democrats, whom they say will be forced to defend an investigation riddled with biases and corruption.
''I want to know how, [did] this become a fishing expedition '-- and we got plenty of evidence that it should have never started in the first place,'' said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the former Judiciary Committee chairman.
''Now, that's probably not his fault. He didn't make the decision to set up his job,'' Grassley added of Mueller. ''But it's just kind of irritating that the president has gone through two years of Russia-gate, $30 million, and then you've got impeachment and I don't know how many other things that ever since before he was elected president, they were going to get him out of office.''
Indeed, Republicans concede that their concerns about the Russia investigation have less to do with Mueller himself and focus more on the Justice Department officials who spearheaded the counterintelligence investigation that eventually spun off into the Mueller probe, after then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel.
Republicans have focused more of their ire on the Obama administration, specifically the senior FBI agents who opened and continued pursuing an investigation that Trump has said was a ''hoax'' and a ''witch hunt,'' even as more evidence began to emerge that Russia was interfering in the 2016 campaign to boost Trump's prospects against Hillary Clinton.
''More and more disturbing evidence has come up about the politicization and corruption of the Obama FBI and Department of Justice, and I think it's important for Mr. Mueller to describe what they knew and when they knew it,'' said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a one-time Trump foe who has used his perch on the Judiciary Committee to hammer the Obama administration for its handling of the Russia probe.
Graham announced earlier this month that he would grant Democrats' request for Mueller to appear before the committee, citing Mueller's July 11 Washington Post op-ed in which he strongly defended his nearly two-year investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
In the op-ed, Mueller also defended his office's prosecution of Roger Stone, the longtime Trump confidant whose prison sentence the president had commuted just a day earlier. Stone was convicted on seven counts including obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements.
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''Bottom line is, I had no intention of calling Mr. Mueller. He testified before the House. It was not pretty to watch. But at the end of the day, Trey, he decided to interject himself into the Roger Stone case,'' Graham said recently on a Fox News podcast with former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).
Democrats had said they were eager for Mueller to appear before the committee to allow him to more thoroughly justify his investigation, which has drawn consistent attacks from Trump and his allies, particularly as the committee continues to release new information about the probe's origins.
Asked about the timing of Mueller's possible appearance before the Senate, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), a Judiciary Committee member, said her party's initial calls for Mueller to testify came months ago, noting that Democrats have since sought testimony from other central figures in the Russia investigation like Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort '-- only to be shut down by the committee's Republican majority.
''That pretty much gives you an idea of where Lindsey is coming from with regard to getting to the truth of anything,'' Hirono added.
Democrats insist they're not afraid of what could come out of a Mueller hearing, even if it happens so close to the election. They said Americans would see through what they perceive to be a partisan stunt.
''Everything that Lindsey has been doing lately is really, in my view, for political purposes,'' Hirono said. ''And he's very much in step with the president, who does nothing without a political motive behind it, which has to do with protecting '-- as we say in Hawaii '-- his okole.''
