“Jill Biden temporarily colored a strand of her hair purple to show some solidarity with Megan Rapinoe”
“I dyed my hair purple in solidarity for pay equity,” Dr. Jill Biden tells @mPinoe”
More
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Friday, May 01, 2020
Jill Biden Dyes Hair Purple for ‘Pay Equity’ for Women
“Jill Biden temporarily colored a strand of her hair purple to show some solidarity with Megan Rapinoe”
“I dyed my hair purple in solidarity for pay equity,” Dr. Jill Biden tells @mPinoe”
More
Shocker: FBI Lied, Hid Evidence, Covered Up State of Disorder
Notorious for failing in its duty to thwart terrorist attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is under fire again, this time from a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who want the beleaguered law enforcement agency investigated for “major abnormalities” involving evidence in a terrorism case. Known for its corrupt method of operating, the FBI appears to be hiding evidence critical to a pendingJustice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) lawsuit brought by family members of 9/11 victims. Two years ago, the FBI received a civil subpoena in the case and the lawmakers believe the agency has committed numerous violations and may be trying to conceal that its “investigative files are in a state of disorder.”
In a letter to the FBI watchdog, the Department of Justice Inspector General (DOJ IG), the senators write about “troubling reports concerning the FBI’s irregular treatment of a civil subpoena issued by the September 11 families.” The lawmakers, New York Democrat Charles Schumer, Iowa Republican Charles Grassley and Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal mention half a dozen concerns that merit a probe by the IG, including the FBI’s refusal to conduct methodological searches of its electronic databases, “instead empowering FBI officials with inherent conflicts of interest to hand-select the materials to be considered for possible production, and to control the information that is produced.” Judicial Watch has regularly encountered similar obstacles over the years in efforts to obtain public records from the FBI, most recently involving the shady anti-Trump “dossier” masterminded by corrupt FBI officials plotting against the president. Last month the FBI used coronavirus as an excuse to shut down its electronic public records operations.
In the 9/11 lawsuit families are seeking information about the FBI’s investigation of two Saudi Arabian government employees—Omar al Bayoumi and Fahad al Thumairy—who provided 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al Hazmiand and Khalid al Mihdhar and their accomplices “substantial assistance.” Thumairy was a Saudi consular official in Los Angeles and his ties to the hijackers are detailed in a once-classified portion of the 9/11 Commission Report that was declassified in 2016. In the spring of 2018 attorneys representing the 9/11 families served a civil subpoena on the FBI for the information critical to their case, but there may have been major abnormalities in the FBI’s handling of that subpoena that deserve the inspector general’s attention, the lawmakers write.
More
In a letter to the FBI watchdog, the Department of Justice Inspector General (DOJ IG), the senators write about “troubling reports concerning the FBI’s irregular treatment of a civil subpoena issued by the September 11 families.” The lawmakers, New York Democrat Charles Schumer, Iowa Republican Charles Grassley and Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal mention half a dozen concerns that merit a probe by the IG, including the FBI’s refusal to conduct methodological searches of its electronic databases, “instead empowering FBI officials with inherent conflicts of interest to hand-select the materials to be considered for possible production, and to control the information that is produced.” Judicial Watch has regularly encountered similar obstacles over the years in efforts to obtain public records from the FBI, most recently involving the shady anti-Trump “dossier” masterminded by corrupt FBI officials plotting against the president. Last month the FBI used coronavirus as an excuse to shut down its electronic public records operations.
In the 9/11 lawsuit families are seeking information about the FBI’s investigation of two Saudi Arabian government employees—Omar al Bayoumi and Fahad al Thumairy—who provided 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al Hazmiand and Khalid al Mihdhar and their accomplices “substantial assistance.” Thumairy was a Saudi consular official in Los Angeles and his ties to the hijackers are detailed in a once-classified portion of the 9/11 Commission Report that was declassified in 2016. In the spring of 2018 attorneys representing the 9/11 families served a civil subpoena on the FBI for the information critical to their case, but there may have been major abnormalities in the FBI’s handling of that subpoena that deserve the inspector general’s attention, the lawmakers write.
More
Mueller and His Team of Angry Democrats Withheld Evidence, Lied to the Court and Indicted Innocent Men… Are These Crooks Looking at Jail Time?
Yesterday, the DOJ released earth-shattering details about how the Obama-Biden FBI set up General Michael Flynn to sow chaos, destroy his life and sabotage the incoming Trump administration.
Handwritten notes were even released showing the Obama deep state’s intent to sabotage the Trump administration.
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) responded to this momentous news of government corruption by asking if Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his corrupt team of angry Democrat lawyers will face justice for deceiving the American public and lying to the court.
More
Handwritten notes were even released showing the Obama deep state’s intent to sabotage the Trump administration.
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) responded to this momentous news of government corruption by asking if Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his corrupt team of angry Democrat lawyers will face justice for deceiving the American public and lying to the court.
More
Cuomo's CV19 Cover-Up — Killing High-Risk Patients
New York City resident Arlene Mullin asked an important question last week: “I am wondering who will hold Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo accountable for the deaths of so many older people due to his reckless decision to place COVID19 patients in nursing and rehabilitation homes. I am writing as a daughter who lost her beautiful 88 year old mother who was receiving physical therapy at one such facility. … I really want to know why the governor would put that population at such risk.”
At a press conference on 2 March, just prior to acknowledging that New York City was the national epicenter of CV19 infections and deaths, Gov. Cuomo, who had previously made fateful decisions that left New York unprepared despite multiple warnings about leaving the state unprepared for a pandemic, declared: “Once you know the facts, once you know the reality, it is reassuring, and we should relax, because that’s what’s dictated by the reality of the situation. … What happened in other countries versus what happened here — we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries.”
Taking his cue from Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also downplayed the CV19 threat: “We have a lot of information now, information that is actually showing us things that should give us more reason to stay calm and go about our lives. This is not, so far, something that you get through casual contact. There has to be some prolonged exposure. And I think it’s really important to get that information out to all New Yorkers. … I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives and get out on the town despite Coronavirus.”
For the record, Cuomo and de Blasio had the same information the CDC and other federal health agencies were providing the Trump administration’s CV19 Task Force. They knew that Dr. Anthony Fauci made clear the threat to older Americans: “It’s so clear that the overwhelming weight of serious disease and mortality is on those who are elderly and those with a serious comorbidity. … If you look at the weight of the data, the risk group is very, very clear.”
According to The New Yorker, Cuomo and de Blasio largely ignored the warnings.
The consequences have been deadly.
At a press conference on 2 March, just prior to acknowledging that New York City was the national epicenter of CV19 infections and deaths, Gov. Cuomo, who had previously made fateful decisions that left New York unprepared despite multiple warnings about leaving the state unprepared for a pandemic, declared: “Once you know the facts, once you know the reality, it is reassuring, and we should relax, because that’s what’s dictated by the reality of the situation. … What happened in other countries versus what happened here — we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries.”
Taking his cue from Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also downplayed the CV19 threat: “We have a lot of information now, information that is actually showing us things that should give us more reason to stay calm and go about our lives. This is not, so far, something that you get through casual contact. There has to be some prolonged exposure. And I think it’s really important to get that information out to all New Yorkers. … I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives and get out on the town despite Coronavirus.”
For the record, Cuomo and de Blasio had the same information the CDC and other federal health agencies were providing the Trump administration’s CV19 Task Force. They knew that Dr. Anthony Fauci made clear the threat to older Americans: “It’s so clear that the overwhelming weight of serious disease and mortality is on those who are elderly and those with a serious comorbidity. … If you look at the weight of the data, the risk group is very, very clear.”
According to The New Yorker, Cuomo and de Blasio largely ignored the warnings.
The consequences have been deadly.
COVID-19 patients respond positively to remdesivir in major US trial
Gilead Science’s remdesivir, one of the most highly anticipated drugs being tested against the new coronavirus, showed positive results in a large-scale US government trial, the company said Wednesday.
“We understand that the trial has met its primary endpoint and that NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) will provide detailed information at an upcoming briefing,” the company said.
Though it is difficult to precisely quantify the finding in the absence of results, it represents the first time any drug has been shown to improve outcomes against the COVID-19 illness, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives globally and brought the world economy to a grinding halt.
There have been mixed results for the intravenous antiviral in recent weeks. A [draft] summary of results ['accidentally'] posted on the website of the World Health Organization showed it failed in a smaller Chinese trial, but days before that, Stat reported it had shown significant efficacy at a Chicago hospital.
However, this trial, begun in late February and overseen by the US government, is the largest and technically most robust.
According to a data sheet, its estimated enrollment was 800 patients, a portion of whom received the drug while the rest received a placebo.
Neither the patients nor their physicians were aware of which group they belonged to, in order to eliminate unconscious bias.
More
“We understand that the trial has met its primary endpoint and that NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) will provide detailed information at an upcoming briefing,” the company said.
Though it is difficult to precisely quantify the finding in the absence of results, it represents the first time any drug has been shown to improve outcomes against the COVID-19 illness, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives globally and brought the world economy to a grinding halt.
There have been mixed results for the intravenous antiviral in recent weeks. A [draft] summary of results ['accidentally'] posted on the website of the World Health Organization showed it failed in a smaller Chinese trial, but days before that, Stat reported it had shown significant efficacy at a Chicago hospital.
However, this trial, begun in late February and overseen by the US government, is the largest and technically most robust.
According to a data sheet, its estimated enrollment was 800 patients, a portion of whom received the drug while the rest received a placebo.
Neither the patients nor their physicians were aware of which group they belonged to, in order to eliminate unconscious bias.
More
Fmr AG Jeff Sessions: Vote-by-Mail a ‘Huge Threat to Democracy’
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions argues if the push to use federal power to require voting by mail as an election offering is successful, it could threaten democracy in the United States.
During a telephone town hall with the Tuscaloosa County, AL Republican Party, Sessions, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama, explained how changing the election process would be a deviation from American traditions.
“That is a huge threat to democracy,” he said. “It is unthinkable that Congress would agree to such a demand, and if they stand firm, the Democrats will have to back down, for sure. Only if they weakened, could that be successful. Look, historically Election Day was a day that in every hamlet, village, farm and city people went to a polling place on the same day and they cast ballots. Then people decided if you were sick or if you were out of town, you should be able to vote absentee ballot.”
“The ideal of all of the nation gathering on a given day to decide the future of elected official is an important American value,” Sessions continued. “What the Democrats would do, ideally they’re saying they want to close polling places and send out ballots by mail. So, if your brother Billy is not here, or your mother passed away, or somebody has dementia — these ballots can be sent to a home, and anybody can cast them and send them in. People can intercept ballots if they are voting for someone who is not legal.”
More
During a telephone town hall with the Tuscaloosa County, AL Republican Party, Sessions, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama, explained how changing the election process would be a deviation from American traditions.
“That is a huge threat to democracy,” he said. “It is unthinkable that Congress would agree to such a demand, and if they stand firm, the Democrats will have to back down, for sure. Only if they weakened, could that be successful. Look, historically Election Day was a day that in every hamlet, village, farm and city people went to a polling place on the same day and they cast ballots. Then people decided if you were sick or if you were out of town, you should be able to vote absentee ballot.”
“The ideal of all of the nation gathering on a given day to decide the future of elected official is an important American value,” Sessions continued. “What the Democrats would do, ideally they’re saying they want to close polling places and send out ballots by mail. So, if your brother Billy is not here, or your mother passed away, or somebody has dementia — these ballots can be sent to a home, and anybody can cast them and send them in. People can intercept ballots if they are voting for someone who is not legal.”
More
Virginia’s reported coronavirus cases jump by nearly 900 in a day — highest yet
There are now 15,846 coronavirus cases in Virginia and another 30 deaths were reported overnight, bringing the statewide tally to 552, according to statistics released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health.
The number of cases, which includes people who have tested positive and those who are symptomatic with a known exposure to a coronavirus case, increased by 885, the biggest one-day jump yet.
Gov. Ralph Northam has said that before Virginia starts to ease restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus, there would need to be two weeks of declines in the number of hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients, along with a steady drop in the percentage of coronavirus tests each day that come back positive. So far this week, the number of reported cases has eclipsed previous daily highs twice and the number of deaths continue to hover around 30 a day.
More
The number of cases, which includes people who have tested positive and those who are symptomatic with a known exposure to a coronavirus case, increased by 885, the biggest one-day jump yet.
Gov. Ralph Northam has said that before Virginia starts to ease restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus, there would need to be two weeks of declines in the number of hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients, along with a steady drop in the percentage of coronavirus tests each day that come back positive. So far this week, the number of reported cases has eclipsed previous daily highs twice and the number of deaths continue to hover around 30 a day.
More
Cuomo Finally Orders Deep Cleaning of New York City Subway Trains
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) this week ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to develop a comprehensive cleaning plan, which includes nightly cleanings, for New York City subway trains — an order that comes over a month after the Chinese coronavirus began wreaking havoc on the city.
“Any essential worker who shows up and gets on a train should know that that train was disinfected the night before,” Cuomo told reporters, asking MTA to provide a plan for the deep cleanings by Thursday.
“It’s realistic. It’s an essential. How realistic is it? What’s the alternative?” Cuomo said of the state funding the sanitization efforts.
Cuomo’s order comes as New York’s homeless flock to the subway stations, with pictures showing homeless people sleeping on empty trains — images that caught the attention of the governor:
More
“Any essential worker who shows up and gets on a train should know that that train was disinfected the night before,” Cuomo told reporters, asking MTA to provide a plan for the deep cleanings by Thursday.
“It’s realistic. It’s an essential. How realistic is it? What’s the alternative?” Cuomo said of the state funding the sanitization efforts.
Cuomo’s order comes as New York’s homeless flock to the subway stations, with pictures showing homeless people sleeping on empty trains — images that caught the attention of the governor:
More
Grassley: There should be 'consequences' for FBI, DOJ misconduct
Sen. Chuck Grassley went on a rare Twitter tirade on Thursday, blasting the Justice Department and the FBI for their handling of the false statements case against former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and urging Attorney General Barr to intervene.
Grassley, R-Iowa, served as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman at the onset of the Russia investigation. His tweets come after the Justice Department unsealed new FBI files a day earlier showing agents discussing their motivations for even interviewing Flynn in the first place -- including whether they should try "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired."
Grassley on Thursday said there should be "consequences" for misconduct, as critics have accused the FBI of entrapment.
“New DOJ docs seem 2back Lt Gen Flynns claim that FBI/DOJ/Mueller team railroaded 30yr veteran in Russia probe For yrs, Ive asked for DOJs Flynn records Their response: ‘nothing 2see here,'" Grassley tweeted, in his trademark Twitter style. “Obviously not true! Time to put all cards on the table Transparency brings accountability.”
More
Grassley, R-Iowa, served as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman at the onset of the Russia investigation. His tweets come after the Justice Department unsealed new FBI files a day earlier showing agents discussing their motivations for even interviewing Flynn in the first place -- including whether they should try "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired."
Grassley on Thursday said there should be "consequences" for misconduct, as critics have accused the FBI of entrapment.
“New DOJ docs seem 2back Lt Gen Flynns claim that FBI/DOJ/Mueller team railroaded 30yr veteran in Russia probe For yrs, Ive asked for DOJs Flynn records Their response: ‘nothing 2see here,'" Grassley tweeted, in his trademark Twitter style. “Obviously not true! Time to put all cards on the table Transparency brings accountability.”
More
Chinese Ventilators Could Kill Coronavirus Patients, UK Doctors Warn
British doctors have warned that 250 ventilators bought from China could cause “significant patient harm, including death” if there are used on Chinese coronavirus suffers in hospitals in the United Kingdom.
Senior doctors from a National Health Service (NHS) regional trust in Birmingham said that the build of the Shangrila 510 model ventilators, made by Beijing Aeonmed Co Ltd, was “basic” and that the oxygen supply was “variable and unreliable”.
It was also the wrong type as it was designed for ambulances, meaning medics had to set up make-shift stands for the mobile devices to place next to hospital beds. The cloth casing is also said to be difficult to clean, causing hygiene concerns in the high-infection environment, according to the letter seen by American network NBC News and published on Thursday.
“We believe that if used, significant patient harm, including death, is likely,” the letter said, continuing: “We look forward to the withdrawal and replacement of these ventilators with devices better able to provide intensive care ventilation for our patients.”
More
Senior doctors from a National Health Service (NHS) regional trust in Birmingham said that the build of the Shangrila 510 model ventilators, made by Beijing Aeonmed Co Ltd, was “basic” and that the oxygen supply was “variable and unreliable”.
It was also the wrong type as it was designed for ambulances, meaning medics had to set up make-shift stands for the mobile devices to place next to hospital beds. The cloth casing is also said to be difficult to clean, causing hygiene concerns in the high-infection environment, according to the letter seen by American network NBC News and published on Thursday.
“We believe that if used, significant patient harm, including death, is likely,” the letter said, continuing: “We look forward to the withdrawal and replacement of these ventilators with devices better able to provide intensive care ventilation for our patients.”
More
Sen. Mike Braun Urges Trump to Make Canned Fruit and Vegetable Supply Critical Infrastructure
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) sent a letter to the Donald Trump administration on Wednesday, urging him to make the canned fruit and vegetable supply a part of America’s critical infrastructure.
President Trump announced on Tuesday that he would sign an executive order declaring meat processing plants part of critical infrastructure. Trump said he would use his authority under the Defense Production Act to enforce the order. The order will keep the companies open but also provide protective gear for employees as well as guidance for how to keep their companies safe to operate.
Sen. Braun sent a letter to the Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, urging him and the Trump administration to take similar action to protect the nation’s canned and frozen fruit and vegetable supply chain.
“As American citizens do their part to help slow the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing and other measures, it remains critical that our nation’s canneries and frozen food suppliers are able to keep shelves stocked with a full supply of non-perishable foods,” Braun wrote to Perdue.
He continued:
This industry operates on extremely short harvest and processing windows. It is particularly vulnerable to shortages in labor and personal protective equipment (PPE), or other regulatory and administrative barriers that could disrupt the harvest window. For example, our nation’s annual supply of canned and frozen corn, green beans, tomatoes, peaches and peas are harvested and packed within the span of two to three months.
More
President Trump announced on Tuesday that he would sign an executive order declaring meat processing plants part of critical infrastructure. Trump said he would use his authority under the Defense Production Act to enforce the order. The order will keep the companies open but also provide protective gear for employees as well as guidance for how to keep their companies safe to operate.
Sen. Braun sent a letter to the Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, urging him and the Trump administration to take similar action to protect the nation’s canned and frozen fruit and vegetable supply chain.
“As American citizens do their part to help slow the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing and other measures, it remains critical that our nation’s canneries and frozen food suppliers are able to keep shelves stocked with a full supply of non-perishable foods,” Braun wrote to Perdue.
He continued:
This industry operates on extremely short harvest and processing windows. It is particularly vulnerable to shortages in labor and personal protective equipment (PPE), or other regulatory and administrative barriers that could disrupt the harvest window. For example, our nation’s annual supply of canned and frozen corn, green beans, tomatoes, peaches and peas are harvested and packed within the span of two to three months.
More
50 Democratic lawmakers call on Hogan to cancel rent and mortgage payments for Marylanders hurt by pandemic
Fifty Maryland lawmakers are calling on Gov. Larry Hogan to cancel rent and mortgage payments in the state for residents and businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter sent to Hogan Wednesday, the 50 Democratic lawmakers thanked the Republican governor for the actions he’s taken during the pandemic shutting down businesses and limiting gatherings, which they said have saved “countless” lives.
But they said they shutdown orders to slow the spread of the virus will cause “economic hardship on millions of Marylanders for months and years to come.”
"Bold action is necessary to mitigate this financial devastation,” states the letter, written by Del. Jheanelle Wilkins of Montgomery County and signed by 49 other state delegates. “We therefore urge you to implement aggressive housing relief measures, such as cancelling rent and mortgage payments for businesses and residents affected by COVID-19.”
More
In a letter sent to Hogan Wednesday, the 50 Democratic lawmakers thanked the Republican governor for the actions he’s taken during the pandemic shutting down businesses and limiting gatherings, which they said have saved “countless” lives.
But they said they shutdown orders to slow the spread of the virus will cause “economic hardship on millions of Marylanders for months and years to come.”
"Bold action is necessary to mitigate this financial devastation,” states the letter, written by Del. Jheanelle Wilkins of Montgomery County and signed by 49 other state delegates. “We therefore urge you to implement aggressive housing relief measures, such as cancelling rent and mortgage payments for businesses and residents affected by COVID-19.”
More
Trump Told America’s Governors They Were On Their Own. So Maryland’s Larry Hogan Is Taking Charge
Larry Hogan has got another of his ideas, and this one cracks him up. “I’m gonna call Pence!” says Hogan, startling his chief of staff, Matthew Clark, who sits across a large, round faux-wood table. Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, is meeting with his coronavirus command team, a skeleton crew of state officials still reporting to the capitol in Annapolis. The conference rooms are all too narrow, so they are gathered in a cavernous event room, seated in alternate chairs to maintain social distancing. Hogan, a ruddy 63-year-old with jug-handle ears, has in front of him a dispenser of hand sanitizer, a can of Diet Coke and a starfish-shaped conference-call speaker.
The President, Hogan reminds the group, recently chided him for going around Vice President Mike Pence’s coronavirus task force to procure supplies. “Remember, Trump said, ‘He’s wasting his time. He should’ve just called Mike!'” He laughs a wheezy laugh. “So I’m gonna joke with him and say, ‘Hey, Mike, where’s my tests? The President said I should just call you!’ But then seriously say, ‘You both said we can use federal labs. When can we start?'”
“Right. Got it,” Clark says.
“I got a feeling they’re gonna backpedal on all that,” Hogan says.
Like every other governor in America, Hogan is dealing with a crisis for which there is no playbook. The team assembled here began its April 22 briefing on a somber note, as the state’s health secretary, Bobby Neall, read off the numbers: 14,775 total confirmed cases of COVID-19, up 582 from the day before; 631 deaths in the past five weeks, up 47 from the previous day’s count. Hogan was briefed about a possible outbreak at a chicken plant on the Delaware border and about a convention center being converted into a field hospital; he got word that his latest shipment of testing supplies from South Korea had arrived, greeted at Baltimore-Washington International Airport by his Korean-American wife Yumi with platters of crab cakes and kimchi.
More
The President, Hogan reminds the group, recently chided him for going around Vice President Mike Pence’s coronavirus task force to procure supplies. “Remember, Trump said, ‘He’s wasting his time. He should’ve just called Mike!'” He laughs a wheezy laugh. “So I’m gonna joke with him and say, ‘Hey, Mike, where’s my tests? The President said I should just call you!’ But then seriously say, ‘You both said we can use federal labs. When can we start?'”
“Right. Got it,” Clark says.
“I got a feeling they’re gonna backpedal on all that,” Hogan says.
Like every other governor in America, Hogan is dealing with a crisis for which there is no playbook. The team assembled here began its April 22 briefing on a somber note, as the state’s health secretary, Bobby Neall, read off the numbers: 14,775 total confirmed cases of COVID-19, up 582 from the day before; 631 deaths in the past five weeks, up 47 from the previous day’s count. Hogan was briefed about a possible outbreak at a chicken plant on the Delaware border and about a convention center being converted into a field hospital; he got word that his latest shipment of testing supplies from South Korea had arrived, greeted at Baltimore-Washington International Airport by his Korean-American wife Yumi with platters of crab cakes and kimchi.
More
Nancy Pelosi Appoints Only Democrats To House Select Coronavirus Committee
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has appointed seven Members of Congress to her House Select Coronavirus Committee, designed to “oversee” how the White House spends the money allocated for coronavirus relief in the CARES Act, passed last month — and perhaps to no one’s surprise, the committee has only Democrats.
“Pelosi had already announced that she intended to name the House’s third-ranking Democrat, Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), to lead the committee. On Wednesday, she selected six additional members, a mix of trusted lieutenants, veteran policy-writers and a vulnerable freshman to fill the high-profile positions,” Politico reported Thursday.
Among those selected, House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), House Small Business Committee Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), and House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman — and notable anti-Trump “resistance” leader — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
More
“Pelosi had already announced that she intended to name the House’s third-ranking Democrat, Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), to lead the committee. On Wednesday, she selected six additional members, a mix of trusted lieutenants, veteran policy-writers and a vulnerable freshman to fill the high-profile positions,” Politico reported Thursday.
Among those selected, House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), House Small Business Committee Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), and House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman — and notable anti-Trump “resistance” leader — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
More
Biden's assault accuser says no networks except Fox have asked her on
Tara Reade, the woman who accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 when she was a Senate aide, said in an interview this week that no television network except Fox has invited her on to speak.
Reade spoke Wednesday with The New York Times' media columnist Ben Smith and said that the major networks 'are not offering to put me on TV - they're just doing stories. No anchors, no nothing like that.'
She told Smith she was trying to avoid being branded as a partisan. 'I've been trying to just kind of wait to get someone in the middle. I don't want to be pigeonholed as a progressive, I don't want to be pigeonholed as a Trump supporter.'
More
Reade spoke Wednesday with The New York Times' media columnist Ben Smith and said that the major networks 'are not offering to put me on TV - they're just doing stories. No anchors, no nothing like that.'
She told Smith she was trying to avoid being branded as a partisan. 'I've been trying to just kind of wait to get someone in the middle. I don't want to be pigeonholed as a progressive, I don't want to be pigeonholed as a Trump supporter.'
More
United States Deaths Clock
A person dies approximately every 11.14 seconds
Number of deaths per year: 2,830,688
Number of deaths per day: 7,755
Number of deaths per hour: 323
Source: United Nations World Population Prospects 2019
Number of deaths per year: 2,830,688
Number of deaths per day: 7,755
Number of deaths per hour: 323
Source: United Nations World Population Prospects 2019
Governor Hogan Provides Update on Delmarva Poultry Plant COVID-19 Outbreaks, Expands Testing on Eastern Shore
Continues to Ramp Up Multi-State, Multi-Agency Effort to Protect Affected Workers Case Rate in Wicomico County Is Now Fourth-Highest in Maryland
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Larry Hogan today issued the following update on Delmarva poultry plant COVID-19 outbreaks:
“As of today, we have at least 279 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 associated with poultry workers in Maryland. The case rate in Wicomico County is now the fourth-highest in the state, higher than both Baltimore City and Baltimore County. These outbreaks are not only a serious public health concern, they are also a potential threat to Maryland’s leading agricultural industry and to our nation’s essential food supply chain.
“At my request, a CDC field team has arrived on the ground and is working closely with state and local health officials on a comprehensive public health plan for the Eastern Shore poultry industry.
“As part of our expanded testing strategy, we have launched a new testing site at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. Additionally, we have quickly mobilized a community testing site in Caroline County.
“We have convened a Delmarva Poultry Production Task Force meeting between Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia as part of our multi-state, multi-agency response.
“This remains a rapidly evolving situation, and we will continue to keep Eastern Shore residents informed about these outbreaks in their area.”
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Larry Hogan today issued the following update on Delmarva poultry plant COVID-19 outbreaks:
“As of today, we have at least 279 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 associated with poultry workers in Maryland. The case rate in Wicomico County is now the fourth-highest in the state, higher than both Baltimore City and Baltimore County. These outbreaks are not only a serious public health concern, they are also a potential threat to Maryland’s leading agricultural industry and to our nation’s essential food supply chain.
“At my request, a CDC field team has arrived on the ground and is working closely with state and local health officials on a comprehensive public health plan for the Eastern Shore poultry industry.
“As part of our expanded testing strategy, we have launched a new testing site at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. Additionally, we have quickly mobilized a community testing site in Caroline County.
“We have convened a Delmarva Poultry Production Task Force meeting between Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia as part of our multi-state, multi-agency response.
“This remains a rapidly evolving situation, and we will continue to keep Eastern Shore residents informed about these outbreaks in their area.”
Cops discover up to 100 decomposing bodies in U-Haul trucks outside Brooklyn funeral home after neighbors complained they could 'smell death' and that corpses had been 'mounting up for weeks'
Police discovered 100 bodies stacked in unrefrigerated trucks outside a funeral home in Brooklyn Wednesday after police responded to 911 complaints from neighbors who had been complaining for weeks about the smell.
Authorities found two unrefrigerated U-Haul box trucks being used to store the bodies outside of Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in Flatlands after neighbors filmed body bags being dragged into them in recent days.
There were as many as 50 corpses being stored in each truck, according to ABC News, as the facility struggled to keep up with the overwhelming surge of bodies due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Police found the bodies in various stages of decomposition.
The owner told city officials that its freezer had stopped working and they were forced to use the trucks as storage while bodies awaited burial or cremation.
More
Authorities found two unrefrigerated U-Haul box trucks being used to store the bodies outside of Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in Flatlands after neighbors filmed body bags being dragged into them in recent days.
There were as many as 50 corpses being stored in each truck, according to ABC News, as the facility struggled to keep up with the overwhelming surge of bodies due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Police found the bodies in various stages of decomposition.
The owner told city officials that its freezer had stopped working and they were forced to use the trucks as storage while bodies awaited burial or cremation.
More
Biggest threat to the Foodchain
Joe,
The $600/week bonus to unemployment benefits is crippling poultry industry on the shore and industries all over the country.
The national reports about the closures I am sure are misleading. Lack of labor is the reason not infections. Unless you count an infection of cash.
Unemployment begins paying additional $600 per week
MADISON (WKOW) – The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development today began paying the additional $600 unemployment benefit to people out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) payments provide an additional $600 to people who are collecting benefits from ANY of the following programs:
Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI), including:
Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE)
Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX)
Partial Unemployment Compensation
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
Work-Share (STC)
Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA)
Those who receive the above benefits DO NOT need to take any additioanl action to receive the additional $600-per-week benefit; the payment will be automatically added to their benefit payments.
More
The $600/week bonus to unemployment benefits is crippling poultry industry on the shore and industries all over the country.
$1000/week without having to work is a windfall. Employees do not even have to quit their job or have the plant they work at close. All that is requires is fear of infection and/or a family member to take care of. Processors on the shore are struggling to get product in a usable form.
The national reports about the closures I am sure are misleading. Lack of labor is the reason not infections. Unless you count an infection of cash.
Unemployment begins paying additional $600 per week
MADISON (WKOW) – The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development today began paying the additional $600 unemployment benefit to people out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) payments provide an additional $600 to people who are collecting benefits from ANY of the following programs:
Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI), including:
Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE)
Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX)
Partial Unemployment Compensation
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
Work-Share (STC)
Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA)
Those who receive the above benefits DO NOT need to take any additioanl action to receive the additional $600-per-week benefit; the payment will be automatically added to their benefit payments.
More
Mark Zuckerberg backs the lockdown and warns against easing measures
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has backed the US coronavirus lockdown and expressed his concerns that easing measures 'too quickly' will 'guarantee future outbreaks'.
His warning comes just a day after Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk called sweeping US stay-at-home restrictions to curtail the outbreak 'fascist'.
Musk, who has often made outspoken and even inflammatory comments on conference calls and on Twitter, said in comments to analysts on Tesla Inc's earnings call that it was 'fascist' to say people cannot leave their homes.
He said:'This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.'
More
His warning comes just a day after Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk called sweeping US stay-at-home restrictions to curtail the outbreak 'fascist'.
Musk, who has often made outspoken and even inflammatory comments on conference calls and on Twitter, said in comments to analysts on Tesla Inc's earnings call that it was 'fascist' to say people cannot leave their homes.
He said:'This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.'
More
China's 'Confucius' Espionage and Propaganda Institutes
On April 21, the London Times reported that Sweden closed the last remaining Confucius Institute in that country. “The Chinese government in 2004 launched Confucius institutes at various foreign universities, with the stated goal of promoting Chinese language and culture,” explains columnist Zachary Evans. “However, U.S. officials have stated that the institutes are a propaganda tool meant to enhance China’s ‘soft power.’” Really? Then why are we still allowing 86 Confucius Institutes to operate in the United States?
That’s the most recent number compiled by the National Institute of Scholars, and a list provided by that website reveals a number of high-profile universities have embraced Chinese propaganda for years. Among them are UCLA, Purdue, Stanford, George Washington University, Wesleyan, Michigan State, Tufts, UNC Charlotte, Rutgers, Oklahoma, Temple, Columbia, several campuses of the University of California (UC), and a host of others.
Even more insidious, numerous K-12 public school systems around the nation have also embraced these propaganda mills. In addition to Confucius Institutes, there are “Confucius Classrooms” that ostensibly teach language, operating in more than 500 elementary, middle, and high schools.
These entities remain embedded in American educational institutions despite the alarm having been sounded at least two years ago. A year later, the Senate issued a scathing bipartisan report by a Homeland Security subcommittee stating that, without major changes, Confucius Institutes operating on American college campuses should be shut down.
The report further noted that Hanban provides colleges between $100,000 and $200,000 in start-up costs, and a large amount to teaching supplies. It also chooses a director and teachers at no cost to the university. Those teachers sign contracts pledging not to undermine China’s national interests, and the Chinese government gets to approve approve every teacher, event, and speaker at the institutes. “Such limitations,” the report says, “attempt to export China’s censorship of political debate and prevent discussion of potentially politically sensitive topics.”
More
[To their credit, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio closed their Confucius Institute in March 2020. --Editor]
That’s the most recent number compiled by the National Institute of Scholars, and a list provided by that website reveals a number of high-profile universities have embraced Chinese propaganda for years. Among them are UCLA, Purdue, Stanford, George Washington University, Wesleyan, Michigan State, Tufts, UNC Charlotte, Rutgers, Oklahoma, Temple, Columbia, several campuses of the University of California (UC), and a host of others.
Even more insidious, numerous K-12 public school systems around the nation have also embraced these propaganda mills. In addition to Confucius Institutes, there are “Confucius Classrooms” that ostensibly teach language, operating in more than 500 elementary, middle, and high schools.
These entities remain embedded in American educational institutions despite the alarm having been sounded at least two years ago. A year later, the Senate issued a scathing bipartisan report by a Homeland Security subcommittee stating that, without major changes, Confucius Institutes operating on American college campuses should be shut down.
The report further noted that Hanban provides colleges between $100,000 and $200,000 in start-up costs, and a large amount to teaching supplies. It also chooses a director and teachers at no cost to the university. Those teachers sign contracts pledging not to undermine China’s national interests, and the Chinese government gets to approve approve every teacher, event, and speaker at the institutes. “Such limitations,” the report says, “attempt to export China’s censorship of political debate and prevent discussion of potentially politically sensitive topics.”
More
[To their credit, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio closed their Confucius Institute in March 2020. --Editor]
Michigan House Won’t Extend State of Emergency, Votes to Sue Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
The Michigan House of Representatives declined to extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state of emergency another 28 days, and instead voted on Thursday to sue her.
Whitmer’s initial state of emergency order, which is separate from the stay-at-home order, expires on Thursday and requires legislative action to be lengthened.
Negotiations on that front fell apart on Wednesday when Whitmer refused to make any concessions on the matter, asserting she has the ultimate control of emergencies.
So the House voted to authorize Speaker Lee Chatfield to sue the governor, saying Whitmer’s “unchecked and undemocratic approach” is not the best way, ABC 12 reported.
“The current status quo relies on one-size-fits-all edicts that unfairly punish millions of people across the state without giving them any recourse or voice in the process,” Chatfield said.
“The people deserve a better solution, and we can provide it.”
The House also passed a resolution restricting a governor’s state of emergency declarations to 14 days. Whitmer has vowed to veto that legislation.
More
Whitmer’s initial state of emergency order, which is separate from the stay-at-home order, expires on Thursday and requires legislative action to be lengthened.
Negotiations on that front fell apart on Wednesday when Whitmer refused to make any concessions on the matter, asserting she has the ultimate control of emergencies.
So the House voted to authorize Speaker Lee Chatfield to sue the governor, saying Whitmer’s “unchecked and undemocratic approach” is not the best way, ABC 12 reported.
“The current status quo relies on one-size-fits-all edicts that unfairly punish millions of people across the state without giving them any recourse or voice in the process,” Chatfield said.
“The people deserve a better solution, and we can provide it.”
The House also passed a resolution restricting a governor’s state of emergency declarations to 14 days. Whitmer has vowed to veto that legislation.
More
"Something Far More Troubling Here" - Trump Rages At Docs Exposing FBI Entrapment Of General Flynn
The release of the Flynn documents highlight what Attorney General William Barr said on “The Ingraham Angle” on April 10th and stated that “far more troubling” material will be released as a result of the investigation of U.S. Attorney John Durham.
Barr stated that “My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness.”
He added “there was something far more troubling here. We’re going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.”
And, on the heels of last night's revelations that expose Comey (and perhaps Obama) as complicit in allegedly trapping Flynn, President Trump has tweeted his disgust:
As Jonathan Turley opined earlier, the Flynn material discloses additional evidence of a hostile intent to target key Trump aides, including the use of a law that is notoriously and presumptively unconstitutional. The material reflects a wild search for any ground upon which Flynn could be entrapped.
More
Barr stated that “My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness.”
He added “there was something far more troubling here. We’re going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.”
And, on the heels of last night's revelations that expose Comey (and perhaps Obama) as complicit in allegedly trapping Flynn, President Trump has tweeted his disgust:
As Jonathan Turley opined earlier, the Flynn material discloses additional evidence of a hostile intent to target key Trump aides, including the use of a law that is notoriously and presumptively unconstitutional. The material reflects a wild search for any ground upon which Flynn could be entrapped.
More
They Can't Be Serious!
Some restaurants have proposed performing customer temperature checks and only seating small parties.Many Americans are still under strict stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, amid fervent calls from a growing number of groups to restart the economy, several states have begun the process of reopening businesses.
Restaurants in particular face unique hurdles when it comes to how they may serve customers in the immediate future and beyond. Now diners are wondering what their next meal out might look like.
Will people be forced to wear masks at all times? Will customers have to get their temperatures checked before entering any eatery? Will friends and partners be forced to sit behind plexiglass dividers?
More
Judicial Watch Sues to Force Pennsylvania to Clean Its Voter Rolls
Judicial Watch announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania and three of its counties for failing to make reasonable efforts to remove ineligible voters from their rolls as required by the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). According to Judicial Watch’s analysis of voter registration data, these counties removed almost no names under NVRA procedures for identifying and updating the registrations of those who have moved.
The lawsuit also points out that the Commonwealth has over 800,000 “inactive” registrations on its voter rolls. One Pennsylvania county almost immediately removed 69,000 inactive names earlier this year in response to a Judicial Watch letter.
In its complaint, Judicial Watch points out that the State’s abnormally low number of removals under NVRA procedures designed to identify voters who have changed residence indicates that it is not removing inactive registrations as the law requires.
More here
The lawsuit also points out that the Commonwealth has over 800,000 “inactive” registrations on its voter rolls. One Pennsylvania county almost immediately removed 69,000 inactive names earlier this year in response to a Judicial Watch letter.
In its complaint, Judicial Watch points out that the State’s abnormally low number of removals under NVRA procedures designed to identify voters who have changed residence indicates that it is not removing inactive registrations as the law requires.
More here
California releases detailed list of outdoor activities allowed during shutdown
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is encouraging residents to go outdoors during the shelter-in-place order as long as they follow social distancing guidelines.
"We want you to see sunsets," he said. "We want you to enjoy activities outdoors. What they don't want is people congregating outside in large groups."
The governor noted the state has released a new list of activities allowed on its COVID19.ca.gov website, and we've posted it below. All of these activities are allowed as long as they're done only with members of your household and if you maintain a distance of six feet from others.
-- Athletics
-- Badminton (singles)
-- Throwing a baseball or softball
-- BMX biking
-- Canoeing (singles)
-- Crabbing
-- Cycling
-- Exploring rock pools
-- Gardening (not in groups)
-- Golf (singles, walking – no cart)
-- Hiking (on trails and paths allowing distancing)
-- Horseback riding (singles)
-- Jogging and running
-- Kite boarding and kitesurfing
-- Meditation
-- Outdoor photography
-- Picnics (with your stay-home household members only)
-- Quad Biking
-- Rock Climbing
-- Roller Skating and Roller Blading
-- Rowing (singles)
-- Scootering (not in groups)
-- Skateboarding (not in groups)
-- Soft martial arts – Tai Chi, Chi Kung (not in groups)
-- Table tennis (singles)
-- Throw and catch an American mini football, Frisbee or Frisbee golf (not in groups)
-- Trail running
-- Trampolining
-- Tree climbing
-- Volleyball (singles)
-- Walk the dog
-- Wash the car
-- Watch the sunrise or sunset
-- Yoga
"We want you to see sunsets," he said. "We want you to enjoy activities outdoors. What they don't want is people congregating outside in large groups."
The governor noted the state has released a new list of activities allowed on its COVID19.ca.gov website, and we've posted it below. All of these activities are allowed as long as they're done only with members of your household and if you maintain a distance of six feet from others.
-- Athletics
-- Badminton (singles)
-- Throwing a baseball or softball
-- BMX biking
-- Canoeing (singles)
-- Crabbing
-- Cycling
-- Exploring rock pools
-- Gardening (not in groups)
-- Golf (singles, walking – no cart)
-- Hiking (on trails and paths allowing distancing)
-- Horseback riding (singles)
-- Jogging and running
-- Kite boarding and kitesurfing
-- Meditation
-- Outdoor photography
-- Picnics (with your stay-home household members only)
-- Quad Biking
-- Rock Climbing
-- Roller Skating and Roller Blading
-- Rowing (singles)
-- Scootering (not in groups)
-- Skateboarding (not in groups)
-- Soft martial arts – Tai Chi, Chi Kung (not in groups)
-- Table tennis (singles)
-- Throw and catch an American mini football, Frisbee or Frisbee golf (not in groups)
-- Trail running
-- Trampolining
-- Tree climbing
-- Volleyball (singles)
-- Walk the dog
-- Wash the car
-- Watch the sunrise or sunset
-- Yoga
Newly-Revealed Texts Show Strzok, Page Altered Flynn Interview Notes
Yet another bombshell development emerged Thursday in the case of former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn: the release of additional exculpatory evidence FBI officials had withheld from the courts and the defense for three years.
Crucially, this includes evidence that the Bureau’s official “302 report” filed by the lead agent who interviewed Flynn was edited multiple times, including by an official who never participated in the interview.
Thursday’s revelations come on top of yesterday’s disclosures indicating an apparent attempt by FBI officials to trap Flynn into committing a criminal offense during an interview.
The new revelation could prove even more significant: In addition to the apparently calculated effort to get Flynn to commit perjury or obstruction, top FBI figures, including FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, repeatedly altered the “302 report” that was filed after the Flynn interview.
More here
Crucially, this includes evidence that the Bureau’s official “302 report” filed by the lead agent who interviewed Flynn was edited multiple times, including by an official who never participated in the interview.
Thursday’s revelations come on top of yesterday’s disclosures indicating an apparent attempt by FBI officials to trap Flynn into committing a criminal offense during an interview.
The new revelation could prove even more significant: In addition to the apparently calculated effort to get Flynn to commit perjury or obstruction, top FBI figures, including FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, repeatedly altered the “302 report” that was filed after the Flynn interview.
More here
Maryland Covid-19 Stats 5-1-2020
COVID-19 Statistics in Maryland
Number of confirmed cases : 23,472
Number of negative test results : 97,511
Number of confirmed deaths : 1,098
Number of probable deaths : 94
Currently hospitalized : 1,668
Acute care : 1,100
Intensive care : 568
Ever hospitalized : 4,718
Released from isolation : 1,517
Cases and Deaths Data Breakdown:
Parenthesis = Confirmed death, laboratory-confirmed positive COVID-19 test result
Asterisk = Probable death, death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause of death but not yet confirmed by a laboratory test
NH = Non-Hispanic
By County
County Cases Deaths
Allegany 118 (7)
Anne Arundel 1,807 (82) 8*
Baltimore City 2,162 (106) 9*
Baltimore County 3,013 (116) 13*
Calvert 161 (9)
Caroline 74
Carroll 460 (46)
Cecil 176 (8)
Charles 611 (44) 2*
Dorchester 54 (2)
Frederick 942 (49) 7*
Garrett 4
Harford 437 (9) 6*
Howard 896 (18) 1*
Kent 86 (4)
Montgomery 4,754 (236) 26*
Prince George's 6,735 (231) 12*
Queen Anne's 52 (7)
St. Mary's 159 (7)
Somerset 30
Talbot 35 (1)
Washington 216 (4)
Wicomico 425 (7)
Worcester 65 (2) 1*
Data not available (103) 9*
By Age Range and Gender
Age/Gender Cases Deaths
0-9 330
10-19 652
20-29 2,742 (8)
30-39 4,025 (14) 1*
40-49 4,226 (28) 2*
50-59 4,242 (68) 8*
60-69 3,215 (164) 11*
70-79 2,181 (259) 14*
80+ 1,859 (453) 51*
Data not available (104) 7*
Female 12,500 (531) 51*
Male 10,972 (567) 43*
By Race and Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity Cases Deaths
African-American (NH) 8,093 (436) 30*
Asian (NH) 475 (38) 3*
White (NH) 5,147 (436) 51*
Hispanic 3,884 (69) 3*
Other (NH) 840 (16)
Data not available 5,033 (103) 7*
Pelosi cuts off reporter who compares Kavanaugh allegations to Biden's
Nancy Pelosi lashed out at a reporter Thursday morning when she was confronted about her reaction to the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh compared to her endorsing Joe Biden for president after he was accused.
'Well let me just say, I respect your question, and I don't need a lecture or a speech,' Pelosi said, cutting off the reporter at her press briefing at the Capitol Thursday.
'I have complete respect for the Me Too movement,' Pelosi continued to the abbreviated room of reporters. 'I have four daughters and one son, and there's a lot of excitement around the idea that women will be heard and be listened to.'
'There is also due process,' she asserted.
Pelosi made the comments after claiming earlier Thursday morning that she was 'satisfied' with Biden's response to the allegations levied against him – even though he has never directly addressed the claims.
The reporter was asking Pelosi during her press conference how Democrats will explain the fact that they demanded an investigation into the allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's but not into the ones against Biden.
More
'Well let me just say, I respect your question, and I don't need a lecture or a speech,' Pelosi said, cutting off the reporter at her press briefing at the Capitol Thursday.
'I have complete respect for the Me Too movement,' Pelosi continued to the abbreviated room of reporters. 'I have four daughters and one son, and there's a lot of excitement around the idea that women will be heard and be listened to.'
'There is also due process,' she asserted.
Pelosi made the comments after claiming earlier Thursday morning that she was 'satisfied' with Biden's response to the allegations levied against him – even though he has never directly addressed the claims.
The reporter was asking Pelosi during her press conference how Democrats will explain the fact that they demanded an investigation into the allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's but not into the ones against Biden.
More
Michelle Asks DC Residents to ‘Stay Home’ While Barack Goes Golfing
Former First Lady Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama do not appear to be on the same page regarding Washington, DC’s stay-at-home orders.
Michelle Obama recorded a message for Washington, DC, residents, urging Americans to stay home, even though her husband went golfing in Virginia two days earlier.
“Remember, we urge you to stay home except if you need essential healthcare, essential food or supplies or to go to your essential job,” she said in a message released on Monday. “Thank you and please stay home DC.”
On Sunday, Politico‘s Playbook shared a photo of former President Obama playing golf in Virginia Saturday.
More
Michelle Obama recorded a message for Washington, DC, residents, urging Americans to stay home, even though her husband went golfing in Virginia two days earlier.
“Remember, we urge you to stay home except if you need essential healthcare, essential food or supplies or to go to your essential job,” she said in a message released on Monday. “Thank you and please stay home DC.”
On Sunday, Politico‘s Playbook shared a photo of former President Obama playing golf in Virginia Saturday.
More
BREAKING: New Docs Detail How FBI Concluded Flynn Probe ‘No Longer a Viable Case’ in Jan 2017 – But Rogue Strzok Went off the Rails and Kept it Going!
New documents filed in Flynn’s case reveal the FBI investigation was concluded on January 4, 2017 as ‘no longer a viable case’ – but rogue Strzok and other FBI leaders went off the rails and kept the investigation going.
On January 4, 2017, the FBI field office found “No derogatory information” on Flynn and decided to close CROSSFIRE RAZOR.
But Peter Strzok wasn’t finished with Flynn because he had a political ax to grind.
More
On January 4, 2017, the FBI field office found “No derogatory information” on Flynn and decided to close CROSSFIRE RAZOR.
But Peter Strzok wasn’t finished with Flynn because he had a political ax to grind.
More
Hillsdale College: ‘You Can Do This’
Parents are fully capable of teaching their children at home, said Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, associate provost for Hillsdale College’s K-12 charter school initiative, in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow.
Hillsdale College and its Barney Charter School initiative have launched a series of more than 40 free YouTube videos for parents and their children engaged in at-home learning during the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
O’Toole said her group’s usual work has been advising a network of charter schools and some private schools, but that, since the coronavirus shutdowns have closed schools, they have switched gears to helping parents provide American classical education at home.
“We’re making the curriculum that we use in our charter schools available to the general public,” O’Toole said. “It’s a liberal arts curriculum. If you sent your child to a Hillsdale-affiliated school – there are 21 of them across the country and more happening all the time … they will receive a well-rounded liberal arts education,” based on the same education as Hillsdale College students.
More
Hillsdale College and its Barney Charter School initiative have launched a series of more than 40 free YouTube videos for parents and their children engaged in at-home learning during the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
O’Toole said her group’s usual work has been advising a network of charter schools and some private schools, but that, since the coronavirus shutdowns have closed schools, they have switched gears to helping parents provide American classical education at home.
“We’re making the curriculum that we use in our charter schools available to the general public,” O’Toole said. “It’s a liberal arts curriculum. If you sent your child to a Hillsdale-affiliated school – there are 21 of them across the country and more happening all the time … they will receive a well-rounded liberal arts education,” based on the same education as Hillsdale College students.
More
"I Don't Need A Lecture": Pelosi Praises Biden For His Response To Sexual Assault Allegations Despite Biden Not Responding
Speaker Nancy Pelosi went on CNN to praise former Vice President Joe Biden for his response to the sexual assault allegations by former Biden staffer Tara Reade.
Biden however has not personally responded to the allegations and continues to refuse to release his Senate documents being kept under key by the University of Delaware.
We previously disclosed the glaring disconnect in the positions of Democrats like Pelosi in prior demands that women “must be believed” when the allegations were directed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Pelosi also supported Bill Clinton through his various allegations by multiple women ranging from sexual harassment to rape.
Pelosi told CNN:
“Well, I have great sympathy for any women who brings forth an allegation; I’m a big strong supporter of the #MeToo movement. I think it’s made a great contribution to our country and I do support Joe Biden. I’m satisfied with how he has responded, I know him, I was proud to endorse him Monday, very proud to endorse him, so I’m satisfied with that.”
Pelosi was praising Biden for his response as even liberal media outlets are running editorials and columns calling for Biden to respond rather than continue his silence.
More importantly, Pelosi is not calling upon Biden to release his official papers and the media is not pressing her on these points.
More
Biden however has not personally responded to the allegations and continues to refuse to release his Senate documents being kept under key by the University of Delaware.
We previously disclosed the glaring disconnect in the positions of Democrats like Pelosi in prior demands that women “must be believed” when the allegations were directed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Pelosi also supported Bill Clinton through his various allegations by multiple women ranging from sexual harassment to rape.
Pelosi told CNN:
“Well, I have great sympathy for any women who brings forth an allegation; I’m a big strong supporter of the #MeToo movement. I think it’s made a great contribution to our country and I do support Joe Biden. I’m satisfied with how he has responded, I know him, I was proud to endorse him Monday, very proud to endorse him, so I’m satisfied with that.”
Pelosi was praising Biden for his response as even liberal media outlets are running editorials and columns calling for Biden to respond rather than continue his silence.
More importantly, Pelosi is not calling upon Biden to release his official papers and the media is not pressing her on these points.
More
Pro-Trump PAC filing FOIA request seeking Biden's Senate records
A group backing President Trump is filing a Freedom of Information Act request seeking to release Joseph R. Biden’s Senate papers that could shine more light on the sexual assault allegation Tara Reade leveled against him.
Great America PAC announced Thursday it is requesting the University of Delaware unseal the records from Mr. Biden’s 36 years in the Senate, which the Democrat’s critics believe could corroborate Ms. Reade’s accusation that he sexually assaulted her in 1993.
“While Democrats leaders and the national media can try to protect Joe Biden by ignoring this serious allegation, the University of Delaware cannot do the same,” said Ed Rollins, the group’s chairman. “As a publicly funded university holding public records, they must immediately release these critical documents in the public interest.”
“If Biden blocks their release, what is he hiding?” Mr. Rollins said.
More
Great America PAC announced Thursday it is requesting the University of Delaware unseal the records from Mr. Biden’s 36 years in the Senate, which the Democrat’s critics believe could corroborate Ms. Reade’s accusation that he sexually assaulted her in 1993.
“While Democrats leaders and the national media can try to protect Joe Biden by ignoring this serious allegation, the University of Delaware cannot do the same,” said Ed Rollins, the group’s chairman. “As a publicly funded university holding public records, they must immediately release these critical documents in the public interest.”
“If Biden blocks their release, what is he hiding?” Mr. Rollins said.
More
In "Decision He'll Come To Regret," Judge Allows Warrantless Aerial Surveillance Of Baltimore
For many years we've been documenting the developments surrounding spy planes over the skies of the Baltimore metro area, monitoring residents as the region has become the testing ground for the surveillance state.
In early April, under cover of the coronavirus pandemic, Baltimore City's Board of Estimates approved the contract to resurrect the spy plane program.
Now it appears three planes have been cleared for takeoff by a federal judge on Friday (April 24).
According to AP News, US District Judge Richard Bennett in Baltimore on Friday ruled against a grassroots think tank and local community organizing groups. They asked the judge to ground the three planes from taking off, indicating the surveillance program violates the First and Fourth Amendment rights of residents. Flights are expected to begin next week.
"The United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit have long upheld the use of far more intrusive warrantless surveillance techniques than the (Aerial Investigation Research) program," Bennett wrote in an opinion rejecting the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction.
The spy plane program will fly the planes equipped with large optical sensors that would be typically mounted on a warplane. Each sensor can surveil up to 32 square miles, effectively covering the entire city and monitor everyone and everything that moves.
More
Coronavirus Globaloney
“It’s an obscure U.S. government bureau with many missions, including this vital one: hunting down viral diseases like COVID-19 that spill over from animals to the human world,” write James Rainey and Emily Baumgaertner of the Los Angeles Times. That would be the Global Health Bureau, part of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
In late 2019, USAID found itself “squarely in the Trump administration’s budget-slashing sights,” but is now getting as much as $535 million. That is a sizeable boost from $100 million, which the Trump administration initially proposed trimming down to a $90 million.
The new funds drew applause from Jonna Mazet, executive director of the One Health Institute at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, who “headed USAID’s previous initiative to track dangerous viruses.” The Times authors do not chart how many dangerous viruses USAID succeeded in tracking down, or how many viral diseases like COVID-19 the Global Health Bureau managed to stop or control. It was also unclear “how much of the $535 million will be spent in the coming year” and how much of it would go to administration.
For 2020, Congress allocated $123 million for the World Health Organization, which the Trump administration sought to reduce to less than $58 million. That proposal set off alarms at Foreign Policy magazine, where Robbie Gramer and Column Lynch hailed the WHO as “leading the fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak.”
More
In late 2019, USAID found itself “squarely in the Trump administration’s budget-slashing sights,” but is now getting as much as $535 million. That is a sizeable boost from $100 million, which the Trump administration initially proposed trimming down to a $90 million.
The new funds drew applause from Jonna Mazet, executive director of the One Health Institute at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, who “headed USAID’s previous initiative to track dangerous viruses.” The Times authors do not chart how many dangerous viruses USAID succeeded in tracking down, or how many viral diseases like COVID-19 the Global Health Bureau managed to stop or control. It was also unclear “how much of the $535 million will be spent in the coming year” and how much of it would go to administration.
For 2020, Congress allocated $123 million for the World Health Organization, which the Trump administration sought to reduce to less than $58 million. That proposal set off alarms at Foreign Policy magazine, where Robbie Gramer and Column Lynch hailed the WHO as “leading the fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak.”
More
After This Development, It Might Be Time to Revisit the State Department's Role in Trump-Russia Collusion Fiasco
Christopher Steele, the ex-MI6 spook who compiled the infamous Trump dossier, was deposed being that he’s being sued by some of the Russians he named in the now-debunked document that set off the Trump-Russian collusion circus. During this lawsuit, we’ve learned that his emails with his primary source were wiped clean in December of 2016 or January of 2017. Also, it appears that there is more evidence pointing to Clinton-Russia collusion, as Steele used intelligence sources that were still active inside the Kremlin.
That part of the story really never went away. Now, we’re learning that Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton both knew about his anti-Trump activities. He testified that Rice had possibly briefed one of his friends, Strobe Talbott, who is a longtime Clinton ally, on their work (via The Federalist):
On March 17 and 18, Christopher Steele testified in a British court where he revealed both 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice knew about his anti-Trump dossier research.
When pressured to address exactly who knew what about the anti-Trump research, Steele conceded Hillary Clinton herself knew about the dossier research.
“I believed it was the campaign, yes,” Steele said.
“The leadership of the Clinton campaign?” a lawyer asked Steele.
“Fine, the leadership of the campaign,” Steele said.
“You also understood that Hillary Clinton herself was aware of what you were doing?” the lawyer asked.
“I think Glenn had mentioned it, but I wasn’t clear,” Steele said.
During his second day of testimony, Steele connected Rice to the dossier research. State official Jonathan Winer and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland set up a meeting with Steele alongside longtime Clinton adviser and Steele’s friend Strobe Talbott.
Steele confirmed Nuland, Winer, and Talbott invited him for a meeting to discuss the dossier research when lawyers asked whether Talbott helped open the doors for a meeting with State officials.
More
That part of the story really never went away. Now, we’re learning that Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton both knew about his anti-Trump activities. He testified that Rice had possibly briefed one of his friends, Strobe Talbott, who is a longtime Clinton ally, on their work (via The Federalist):
On March 17 and 18, Christopher Steele testified in a British court where he revealed both 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice knew about his anti-Trump dossier research.
When pressured to address exactly who knew what about the anti-Trump research, Steele conceded Hillary Clinton herself knew about the dossier research.
“I believed it was the campaign, yes,” Steele said.
“The leadership of the Clinton campaign?” a lawyer asked Steele.
“Fine, the leadership of the campaign,” Steele said.
“You also understood that Hillary Clinton herself was aware of what you were doing?” the lawyer asked.
“I think Glenn had mentioned it, but I wasn’t clear,” Steele said.
During his second day of testimony, Steele connected Rice to the dossier research. State official Jonathan Winer and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland set up a meeting with Steele alongside longtime Clinton adviser and Steele’s friend Strobe Talbott.
Steele confirmed Nuland, Winer, and Talbott invited him for a meeting to discuss the dossier research when lawyers asked whether Talbott helped open the doors for a meeting with State officials.
More
FBI discussed interviewing Michael Flynn 'to get him to lie' and 'get him fired,' handwritten notes show
Explosive new internal FBI documents unsealed Wednesday show that top bureau officials discussed their motivations for interviewing then-national security adviser Michael Flynn in the White House in January 2017 -- and openly questioned if their "goal" was "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired."
The handwritten notes -- written by the FBI's former head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap after a meeting with then-FBI Director James Comey and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Fox News is told -- further suggested that agents planned in the alternative to get Flynn "to admit to breaking the Logan Act" when he spoke to then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
The Logan Act is an obscure statute that has never been used in a criminal prosecution; enacted in 1799 in an era before telephones, it was intended to prevent individuals from falsely claiming to represent the United States government abroad.
"What is our goal?" one of the notes read. "Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?"
More
The handwritten notes -- written by the FBI's former head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap after a meeting with then-FBI Director James Comey and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Fox News is told -- further suggested that agents planned in the alternative to get Flynn "to admit to breaking the Logan Act" when he spoke to then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
The Logan Act is an obscure statute that has never been used in a criminal prosecution; enacted in 1799 in an era before telephones, it was intended to prevent individuals from falsely claiming to represent the United States government abroad.
"What is our goal?" one of the notes read. "Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?"
More
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-flynn-fbi-handwritten-notes-get-him-lie-fired
Videos of Teachers Brainwashing Students to be Anti Trump
Lately we’ve heard stories about teachers brainwashing students to be anti Trump. It is absolutely insane how much of this is going on. Teachers have no business talking about politics to students, let alone downing our President and his supporters. These teachers are attempting to brainwash children and it has to stop!
In the first video you will hear a teacher of very young children telling them that President Trump probably cheated to win the election. Almost all of the kids join in to down our President except for one little boy, that obviously can’t be brainwashed. As far as the teacher, if anyone knows who she is, please comment! She must be reported and fired!
In the second video, math teacher Shaan Aabaan compares our President and supporters to isis. I have sent this video to Westview High, where Aabaan teaches, and to the school district. It doesn’t appear that they care. See more details here.
More/Videos
In the first video you will hear a teacher of very young children telling them that President Trump probably cheated to win the election. Almost all of the kids join in to down our President except for one little boy, that obviously can’t be brainwashed. As far as the teacher, if anyone knows who she is, please comment! She must be reported and fired!
In the second video, math teacher Shaan Aabaan compares our President and supporters to isis. I have sent this video to Westview High, where Aabaan teaches, and to the school district. It doesn’t appear that they care. See more details here.
More/Videos
Ayanna Pressley Has A Challenger -- Meet Rayla Campbell
When elected to represent Massachusetts’s Seventh Congressional District last year, Ayanna Pressley became the state’s first black Congresswoman.
Now, Rayla Campbell, a 37-year-old Randolph resident, hopes to be the second — by defeating Pressley in the general election this November.
A D+34 district, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, the district is one of the most Democratic-leaning in the nation. In general elections, the seat has been uncontested since 2010. After unseating Michael Capuano in the Democratic primary in September 2018, Pressley ran unopposed in the general election.
In fact, Democrats ran unopposed in four of the state’s nine congressional districts in 2018 (in the First, Fourth, Seventh, and Eighth).
Campbell told New Boston Post that’s unacceptable, especially when she sees many in her community who are not happy with Pressley.
More
Now, Rayla Campbell, a 37-year-old Randolph resident, hopes to be the second — by defeating Pressley in the general election this November.
A D+34 district, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, the district is one of the most Democratic-leaning in the nation. In general elections, the seat has been uncontested since 2010. After unseating Michael Capuano in the Democratic primary in September 2018, Pressley ran unopposed in the general election.
In fact, Democrats ran unopposed in four of the state’s nine congressional districts in 2018 (in the First, Fourth, Seventh, and Eighth).
Campbell told New Boston Post that’s unacceptable, especially when she sees many in her community who are not happy with Pressley.
More
Trump said he might bring Michael Flynn back to work at White House
President Donald Trump said Thursday he would considering bringing Michael Flynn back to work at the White House and expressed confidence his former national security adviser was going to be cleared.
'I would certainly consider it,' he said at an event in the East Room, when asked if he'd hire Flynn again.
'He will be fully exonerated one way or another, and he would be capable of coming back ,' Trump noted.
More
'I would certainly consider it,' he said at an event in the East Room, when asked if he'd hire Flynn again.
'He will be fully exonerated one way or another, and he would be capable of coming back ,' Trump noted.
More
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)