Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.
RNC moving ‘full steam ahead’ for 2020 convention, while DNC’s still up in the air
https://www.oann.com/rnc-moving-full-steam-ahead-for-2020-convention-while-dncs-still-up-in-the-air/
Exclusive: Trump says China wants him to lose his re-election bid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid in November.
In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump talked tough on China and said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for Beijing over the virus. “I can do a lot,” he said.
https://www.oann.com/exclusive-president-trump-says-china-wants-him-to-lose-re-election-race/
TheGunBlog.ca — A report by Canada’s firearm regulator shows there are “no reasons why” the country’s 2.2 million men and women with a gun licence shouldn’t have firearms, suggesting the prime minister’s plans for mass confiscations are unjustified.
“All applicants are screened to ensure that there are no reasons why, in the interest of public safety, they should not possess a firearm,” the Ottawa-based Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in its 2018 Commissioner of Firearms report, published online yesterday.
The commissioner of firearms is Brenda Lucki, also the commissioner of the RCMP.
https://thegunblog.ca/2020/01/23/rcmp-new-report-undermines-trudeaus-planned-gun-confiscations/
Note: this article is from January, long before the Nova Scotia mass shooting, yet it asserts that Trudeau is planning a gun grab…
Beyond the ‘Deep State’: Motive for sedition
By J.E. Dyer April 30, 2020
In 2004, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. interviewed Stefan Halper for Tyrrell’s book The Clinton Crack-up. The reason: Halper and Bill Clinton attended Oxford together. They were there at the same time, and ran in the same circle with Clinton’s roommate Strobe Talbott. Another, more peripheral member of that circle was a young banker named Edwin David Edwards. He went by David, was an American posted in London, and briefly shared an apartment with Clinton and Talbott.
Clinton went to the UK for his Oxford scholarship, and met these various personalities, in 1969. David Edwards continued a lifelong connection with the Clintons, going on to pay for a visit by Bill and Hillary Clinton to Haiti during their honeymoon in 1975, a visit that included a voodoo ritual attended (according to some accounts) by the three of them. (Bill and Hillary Clinton later wrote of multiple voodoo encounters, such as one in which “spirits arrived, seized a woman and a man”; and another in which “a woman, in a frenzy, screamed repeatedly, then grabbed a live chicken and bit its head off.”)
https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/04/30/beyond-the-deep-state-motive-for-sedition/
Many board members at UDelaware, which houses Biden-Reade docs, have monetary ties to Biden
By Daily Caller News Foundation April 30, 2020
Senate records pertaining to allegations against 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden are stored at the University of Delaware, where top officials with monetary ties to the former vice president sit on the board of trustees, according to records reviewed by Fox News.
As Biden faces increased scrutiny for allegations of sexual assault made against him by Tara Reade, pressure is mounting for the former vice president to unseal documents related to his time in the Senate — during which period Reade said Biden kissed her, touched her, and penetrated her with his fingers without her consent.
These Senate documents are housed by the University of Delaware Library and cover a wide swath of Biden’s political career but are being kept secret until he “retires from public life,” spokeswoman Andrea Boyle Tippett told The Washington Post in July 2019.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/04/30/many-board-members-at-udelaware-which-houses-biden-reade-docs-have-monetary-ties-to-biden/
Danish Police Foil Terror Plot in Copenhagen (sputniknews, Apr 30, 2020)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/202004301079148907-danish-police-foil-terror-plot-in-copenhagen/
“Copenhagen police arrested a man on Thursday for plotting a terror attack in the Danish capital, the city’s chief police inspector said during a press briefing.
The operation was conducted together with the national intelligence and security authority, PET, Jorgen Bergen Skov said.
“You must have no doubt that PET’s efforts helped avert a terrorist attack”, he told reporters.
The suspect will appear in court behind closed doors on Friday. He is accused of having tried to illegally obtain weapons and ammunition and is believed to have been motivated by Islamist ideology.
A drop in crime has been observed across Denmark against the backdrop of the restrictive measures imposed by the government to curb the COVID-19 outbreak, the country’s police said earlier in April.
In early March, the Danish authorities announced the shutdown of schools, universities and all public places in the country due to the outbreak. Gatherings of more than 10 people were also banned, and citizens were urged to stay home and not to get out unless it was urgently needed.”
Neighbour of French Terror Attacker Arrested Claiming to Have Same ‘Plans’ (breitbart, Apr 30, 2020)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/04/30/neighbour-french-terror-attacker-arrested-claiming-have-same-plans/
“The neighbour of a man who attempted to assassinate several police officers in Colombes on Monday has been arrested for claiming he has the same “plans” as the suspected terrorist.
Police arrested the 20-year-old while searching the home of 29-year-old Youssef Tihlah, who rammed his car into two police officers on motorbikes on Monday in an attempt to kill the officers in an apparent terrorist attack.
The neighbour challenged police, according to a report from Le Point, and said that he had similar “plans” as the attacker, without specifying any details.
Pictures of the attack were also found on his mobile phone with investigators waiting to determine if he took the photos and videos himself or if they were sent to him…”
UN Urges Govts to Release Illegal Migrants, ‘Provide Access to Healthcare, Housing’ (breitbart, Apr 30, 2020)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/04/30/un-urges-govts-release-illegal-migrants-provide-access-healthcare-housing/
“The United Nations (UN) is urging countries around the world to release illegal migrants from detention in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, and highlighted steps towards giving them “access to healthcare, housing, and other services”.
Already under scrutiny over the supine posture of its health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), towards the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the UN may now be in for another wave of criticism as it uses the pandemic to push for open borders — highlighting states “responsibilities” under the contentious Global Compact for Migration as it does so.
“Yesterday, the United Nations Network on Migration released urgently needed practical recommendations with guidance for States and stakeholders on preventing and responding to COVID-19 in the context of immigration detention,” announced the UN Migration Agency, or International Organization for Migration (IOM), in an official press release.
“[T]he brief highlights steps that several governments have already taken to swiftly release migrants from detention and to provide access to healthcare, housing and other services regardless of migration status,” it continued approvingly.
“The Network’s Working Group on Alternatives to Detention – co-led by UNICEF, UNHCR and the International Detention Coalition – has developed this guidance in partnership amongst UN agencies and civil society… The Network calls on States to introduce a moratorium on the use of immigration detention; to scale up and implement non-custodial community-based alternatives [and] to release all migrants in detention into alternatives,” it added, suggesting that illegal aliens should only be detained as a “last resort”.
The UN and its subsidiary agencies, which are funded for this sort of activism through large fees and voluntary contributions from member countries — countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, disproportionately.
Like the activists and politicians pushing for the release of illegal aliens and prisoners, however, the global bureaucracy has failed to explain why it is better, in terms of controlling the coronavirus, to release criminals and migrants into the general population rather than keep them in detention — where they will be less likely to infect each other, but more likely to infect the public at large.
The UN’s remark in its press release that it “reminds States of their commitment in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration to prioritize alternatives to immigration detention, using detention as a measure of last resort only and working towards ending child immigration detention” may also raise eyebrows, given many governments refused to sign it.
These included the Trump administration in the United States, the government of Australia, and many populist or populist-influenced governments in countries like Austria, Hungary, and Poland, which believed the “legal framework” provided by the supposedly “non-binding” pact would result in activists using lawfare and other mechanisms to enforce open borders policies by the back door.”
‘Devastating Flashback’ Shows Comey Bragging About Getting ‘Away With’ Flynn Set Up
A 2018 video of former FBI Director James Comey is circulating again after the Department of Justice released bombshell documents that appear to show the FBI was planning a perjury trap for President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
In the clip, MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace asks Comey who went around protocol to send FBI agents directly into the White House to interview the retired general in January 2017.
“I sent them,” Comey reveals.
“[S]omething I probably wouldn’t have done and maybe gotten away with in a more organized investigation,” he added.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/04/30/devastating-flashback-shows-comey-admitting-he-sent-fbi-agents-n2567910
BREAKING: Former FBI General Counsel James Baker Has Flipped! Durham is Building Conspiracy Case on All of Those Who Lied to the Court!
Former US Attorney Joe diGenova was on the Howie Carr Show this week and he provided some more inside information regarding General Flynn’s case and the unraveling of the coup to remove President Trump from office.
diGenova discussed the Durham investigation and said at the 5:30 mark that Durham is building a conspiracy case and anyone who lied to the court will be indicted for obstruction of justice charges:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/breaking-former-fbi-general-counsel-james-baker-flipped-durham-building-conspiracy-case-lied-court/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily
Joe diGenova about the latest Deep State updates, President Trump will pardon Flynn.
‘This is deeper than a cover-up’: Rose McGowan denounces Democratic party, calls the media a cult
McGowan is angry over the hypocrisy on sexual allegations against Joe Biden
Actress Rose McGowan denounced the Democrat party and the media in an emotional post calling both a “cult” that only pretended to be “the good guys.”
McGowan, who sounded the alarm against sexual predator Harvey Weinstein but went unheeded, posted her comments on social media on Wednesday.
“I used to be a proud Democrat. I would have died for this damned country & its ideals. I was raised to be a proud Democrat,” she said, explaining how much she supported the party in her youth.
“And I was always told it was the Democratic Party that were the good guys, that our papers were [the New York Times] and [the Washington Post] & we as a family loved listening to [All Things Considered] & we’d talk about how much we loved [Ira Glass’] voice,” she continued.
“But now i know too much,” McGowan said.
“And I feel really quite a sense of loss tonight. I am not a cynical person, but America goddamn. Republicans have always been painted as the bad guys, and i’ve always seen them more as a cult, but now i realize so are the democrats and the media. Macro and micro,” she continued.
“This is deeper than a cover-up,” McGowan concluded. “And I’m sad because there’s death around all corners & shadows in the daytime. It hurts.”
McGowan did not elaborate on why she was denouncing the Democrat party, but it was likely because so many on the left were defending Joe Biden against allegations of sexual assault. In another tweet from Monday, McGowan excoriated Biden over the assault claims.
“Answer your taxpayers, answer Tara Reade, stop speaking through your manager,” she said.
“You are a creep. You know it,” McGowan added. “We know it. I know it. Tara definitely knows it.”
Here’s Rose McGowan’s accusations against Harvey Weinstein:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/rose-mcgowan-calls-dems-media-a-cult?utm_source=theblaze-breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200430Trending-RoseMcGowan&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Breaking%20News
As my husband and I were using bleach wipes on incoming food packages, my husband remarked that in the 70’s, his school had shown a Cold War throwback instructional film on how to cleanse canned goods of radiated particles. “Turn the can upside down and open from the bottom” is the advice he recalls. So, for anyone wondering if this is a dress rehearsal, I found the following unofficial advice https://www.quora.com/Are-canned-food-safe-from-radiation-fall-out-from-a-nuclear-bomb?share=1
My neighbors are from Belarus, just across the border from Chernobyl. After a protracted coverup, the authorities doled out mixed messages. The family panicked, lived off old canned army rations brought from some distant warehouse. Then they contacted the Jewish Agency and made aliya.
Their kids were treated for exposure in Israel. Barely settled in, they learned to use gas-masks in case Saddam got lucky with a Scud. Oslo Intifada had them packing their few things again, finding their way here.
If you didn’t know their history, you’d think they were neurotic. They’re American citizens with a bug-out bag in easy reach all the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if my Russki kept his own there too.
Oop, late! Shabbat Shalom!
Associated Press – US intel: Coronavirus not manmade, still studying lab theory
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence agencies are debunking a conspiracy theory, saying they have concluded that the new coronavirus was “not manmade or genetically modified” but say they are still examining a notion put forward by the president and aides that the pandemic may have resulted from an accident at a Chinese lab.
The statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the clearinghouse for the web of U.S. spy agencies, comes as President Donald Trump and his allies have touted the as-yet-unproven theory that an infectious disease lab in Wuhan, the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak, was the source of the global pandemic, which has killed more than 220,000 people worldwide.
In recent days the Trump administration has sharpened its rhetoric on China, accusing the geopolitical foe and vital trading partner of failing to act swiftly enough to sound the alarm to the world about the outbreak or to stop the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. U.S. officials have said the Chinese government should “pay a price” for its handling of the pandemic.
The new statement says, “The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.”
“The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”
Trump on Thursday again blamed China for not doing enough to contain the coronavirus.
“We just got hit by a vicious virus that should never have been allowed to escape China,” he said during an Oval Office meeting with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Earlier this month, Trump addressed the lab theory saying, “More and more, we’re hearing the story.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added at the time, “The mere fact that we don’t know the answers — that China hasn’t shared the answers — I think is very, very telling.”
Pompeo also pressed China to let outside experts into the lab “so that we can determine precisely where this virus began.”
While Trump and Pompeo have made public statements speculating about the lab, a U.S. intelligence official disputed the notion that there was any pressure on agencies to bolster a particular theory. The intelligence official was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
Scientists say the virus arose naturally in bats. Even so, Pompeo and others have pointed fingers at an institute that is run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It has done groundbreaking research tracing the likely origins of the SARS virus, finding new bat viruses and discovering how they could jump to people.
“We know that there is the Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was,” Pompeo said two weeks ago. The institute has an address 8 miles, or 13 kilometers, from the market that is considered a possible source.
U.S. officials say the American Embassy in Beijing flagged concerns about potential safety issues at the lab in Wuhan in 2018, but they have yet to find any evidence the virus originated there nearly two years later.
The Chinese government said Thursday that any claims that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory are “unfounded and purely fabricated out of nothing.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang cited the institute’s director, Yuan Zhiming, as saying the lab strictly implements bio-security procedures that would prevent the release of any pathogen.
“I would like to point out again that the origin of the virus is a complex scientific issue, and it should be studied by scientists and professionals,” Geng said.
The U.S. was providing funding to the Wuhan lab for its research on coronaviruses, Michael Morell, former acting director and deputy director of the CIA, said Thursday.
He said State Department cables indicate that there have been concerns in past years among U.S. officials about the safety protocols at that lab. If the virus did escape from a Chinese lab, it not only reflects negatively on China but also on the United States for providing research funding to a lab that has safety concerns, Morell said during an online forum hosted by the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy and International Security at George Mason University.
“So if it did escape, we’re all in this together,” Morell said. “This is not a gotcha for China. This is a gotcha for both of us.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng also criticized U.S. politicians who have suggested China should be held accountable for the global pandemic,saying they should spend their time on “better controlling the epidemic situation at home.”
But another government spokesman, Zhao Lijian, demonstrated that China was not above sowing confusion in the face of the pandemic. He tweeted in March the falsehood that the virus might have come from the U.S. Army.
Trump, whose early response to the outbreak has been questioned, also pushed back on news reports that he was repeatedly warned about the virus by intelligence agencies. Trump said he was given the first intelligence briefing in “later January.” Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar also briefed Trump on the threat by phone on Jan. 18.
https://apnews.com/c9499f7b8ab2ae7097c8588f1ccdddea
Putin’s Coronavirus Crisis Is Not “Under Control”
Putin’s Coronavirus Crisis Is Not “Under Control”
By Dr. Jiri and Leni Valenta
April 30, 2020
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Vladimir Putin, photo by the Russian Presidential Press and Information Office via Wikimedia Commons
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,544, April 30, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The coronavirus has caused a three-dimensional crisis in Russia: a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a personal crisis for Putin. The false low figures Moscow has released about domestic virus cases and deaths are an attempt to disguise a devastating situation.
The health crisis
Though Russia contains 146 million people, it has been largely ignored by the global media in its coverage of the coronavirus crisis. What little information is available on the state of the virus inside the country appears highly suspect.
Moscow initially claimed that out of more than 116,000 tests for coronavirus in Russia, there were only 147 confirmed cases and zero deaths—fewer casualties than Luxembourg, which has a population of fewer than 628,000 people.
Russia credits its own foresight for this anomaly. Its representative to the WHO, Melita Vunovic, told CNN that Russia started testing “literally at the end of January” (whereas US testing only got underway in March), and that tracing contacts, quarantining, and social distancing all started “relatively early.”
https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/putin-coronavirus-control/
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BREITBART – Ann Coulter: Q & A on the Wuhan Virus
As you can well imagine, my mailbox has been overflowing with questions about the coronavirus from precisely ZERO readers. So I decided to write my own questions. I know this is what you would be asking if you were not standing in line, outside, 6 feet apart, to purchase a quart of milk.
What do you think of the media’s coverage of the Wuhan virus?
It’s like a nonstop “War of the Worlds” broadcast, which in 1938 panicked more than a million Americans into believing Martians had landed in New Jersey, sending people fleeing to the mountains, loading their shotguns and barricading their homes. And that was a single radio broadcast!
Today we have nearly all of media — which I notice are doing fantastically well during the crisis — terrifying the public about an apparently indestructible, omnipresent virus.
You don’t think the China virus is as dangerous as they say?
Well, it is a virus capable of eliminating all human life, which would be bad, but not all bad because then you’d never have to see another TV commercial with some company saying they consider you “family.”
So you think it’s safe to start lifting the stay-at-home orders?
Of course. I ask again: What was the purpose of telling everyone to stay home? Aren’t we all Wuhan-free now? More than 90 percent of the country has been self-quarantining for more than a month. Either we had it and didn’t know it, or never had it at all. But in any event we don’t have it now.
Or was that whole stay-at-home mandate just for fun?
What about threats of a resurgence?
Luckily the hospitals are half-empty, waiting for the gusher of coronavirus patients.
So we do nothing?
No, not at all, but now that 90 percent of us are Wuhan-free, these are the only things we need to do:
1) A real immigration moratorium, like this country had from 1924 to 1965. (I’d also recommend that the other 49 states shut down flights from New York, but I’ll leave that up to them);
2) Concentrate all protections on the elderly/immunocompromised;
3) No more handshaking, and liberal use of surgical masks in confined spaces.
Other than that, WE’RE DONE NOW.
But we know virtually nothing about this virus: why it kills, what stops it, how it’s transmitted.
Actually, we know one very important thing: By total serendipity, the Wuhan virus mostly kills people over the age of 70. Nearly 80 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are of people over 70 years old.
What about Italy?
About 80 percent of the dead were over 70.
That sounds a little callous.
Not at all. It’s a stroke of good luck! We’d be lucky if the virus targeted any specific group — the nearsighted, left-handers, golfers — because that would allow us to concentrate protections on that one group.
But it’s doubly good news because the Wuhan targets people who are mostly out of the workforce anyway. And we already have their names and addresses! How about the feds send a box of masks along with Social Security checks every month?
How will you get Democratic governors to go along with that?
Liberals can triple down on all their fascist stuff — as long as it’s limited to the vulnerable.
Over 65? You need a note from the governor to leave your home!
Fine! But let the rest of us get back to work.
Why haven’t they done this already?
Because that wouldn’t have the effect of wrecking the economy before the election.
Apart from the election, why would the media want to impoverish the nation?
1) Reporting on disasters is fun!
2) Their ratings are terrific — and, of course, they’re still being paid.
3) Liberals enjoy controlling people, especially with enragingly nonsensical rules.
I thought Trump was the authoritarian!
No, he’s the lazy, narcissistic blowhard. Liberals are the authoritarians.
The shutdown is airport security for the whole country. Nineteen Muslim immigrants flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and suddenly little old ladies from Oklahoma had to be goosed at airports. We have to be safe!
A horrible Chinese virus sweeps the planet, which is devastating to older people but virtually harmless to the young — and the entire country has to be shut down. We have to be safe!
What about polls showing a majority of Americans want to keep the restrictions in place?
The media have frightened gullible suburban woman into a state of hysteria. (Talk about whipping up your ignorant base!) Kids could basically mainline coronavirus and they’d be fine. But soccer moms don’t want their kids going back to school.
Whether it’s rational or not, people aren’t going to go out like they used to.
My entire life, liberals have said, “Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one.” “Don’t like pornography? Don’t look at it.” And so on.
I say: “Don’t want to leave your home? Don’t leave your home!”
So you recommend going out again?
Sure, what’s the worst that could happen? Sure, you could die, but you probably won’t.
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/04/30/ann-coulter-q-a-on-the-wuhan-virus/
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes gave Tara Reade’s credible assault allegation against Joe Biden a few minutes of airtime on Wednesday, and now he’s facing a #FireChrisHayes hashtag and accusations of being a Russian spy.
If I may digress for just a moment…
How pathetic is MSNBC when Chris Hayes, of all people, is the network’s first anchor to cover the Reade story?
Hayes is an admitted opinion host. MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Brian Williams, and Chuck Todd all pretend to be objective journalists, and all three refuse to cover Reade’s allegations. All three are suppressing the news, are aiding in a cover-up of Reade’s increasingly-credible allegations.
Anyway, here’s the Hayes segment, which is basically a quick, informative rundown of where things are at:
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/04/30/nolte-firechrishayes-trends-after-msnbc-host-covers-assault-allegation-against-joe-biden/
Brazil: Hundreds of graves dug for coronavirus victims in Sao Paulo’s Vila Formosa cemetery
The largest burial ground in Latin America, Sao Paulo’s Vila Formosa cemetery, is preparing for an increase in deaths related to the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil.
Drone footage recorded on Thursday shows the cemetery’s expansion work. Excavators can be seen digging hundreds of new graves, forming large rows of tombs.
The city’s mayor, Bruno Covas, announced that 13,000 new graves would be prepared in the municipal cemeteries on Thursday of last week.
According to reports, the plan is to dig 8,000 new tombs in the Vila Formosa cemetery, while in the Vila Nova Cachoerinha and Sao Luis cemeteries some 5,000 will be opened.
According to data from the Brazilian Health Ministry, Sao Paulo is the most affected state with 26,158 cases of COVID-19 and 2,247 related deaths. In total, 81,329 cases and 5,628 deaths have been reported in the country to date.
Sky News – Coronavirus strikes a struggling Brazil
UK: Huge queues form as first Burger King reopens
Scores of drivers queued in their vehicles on Thursday as the first Burger King in the UK opened its doors to drive-thru customers. The fast-food restaurant in Havant, Hampshire, resumed its services after all fast food stores were closed during the lockdown to help curb the coronavirus outbreak.
Employees with masks and gloves delivered the food orders at the outlet’s service window to customers in their vehicles.
Customer Lily was excited to place her food order despite being the last in line. “They just let me in because I am a social care worker so, luckily we just got in,” she said. “Whatever is on the menu, apparently, there is a limited availability that’s left so, we are lucky to be here,” she said of her order preference.
Gavin acknowledged the massive queues, that some customers had to bear for more than half an hour. “Just can’t believe how people are acting but I guess I am here as well,” said the customer.
The fast food company announced the further opening of subsidiary stores across the UK this week, also expecting to reopen a branch in every city by the end of May.
Protesters, some armed, spill into Michigan Capitol building demanding end to stay-at-home order
Protesters, some armed, spill into Michigan Capitol building demanding end to stay-at-home order
[ABC News]
IVAN PEREIRA
ABC NewsApril 30, 2020
Hundreds of protesters entered the Michigan State Capitol building Thursday and crowded its halls and staircases demanding that the state legislature not extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s coronavirus stay-at-home order.
Numerous protesters, some not wearing masks, got into the faces of state police officers stationed inside the building and shouted to be let into the chambers, which are closed to visitors due to health precautions.
State legislators were meeting to discuss extending Michigan’s state of emergency, which was issued on March 10 and was slated to end on Thursday.
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/michigan-rally-against-shelter-place-order-spills-capitol-193513207–abc-news-topstories.html
China: Peking has no interest in US election meddling – foreign ministry spokesman
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Beijing had no interest in meddling in the upcoming US presidential election. Geng Shuang was speaking at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.
“The US presidential election is an internal affair. We have no interest in interfering in it. Meanwhile, we hope the US [internal] politics does not involve China,” he said.
Geng also urged Washington to end its campaign blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is no precedent in the international community. I don’t think we punish anyone for large global diseases like H1N1, Ebola etc. I think we should increase mutual trust and strengthen unity to fight against the virus,” said the spokesperson.
The statement came after US President Donald Trump accused China of trying to prevent him from being re-elected as he stepped up criticism of Beijing’s handling of the pandemic.
Covid-19 impact on Bangladesh | More than 2mn on verge of unemployment
The Covid-19 pandemic is causing mass unemployment. In Bangladesh, the crisis could reach a whole other dimension: nearly two million workers are on the verge of unemployment with the clothes-making industry in the country already suffering losses of around $3 billion.
COVID-19 respects no rite: NYPD disperse Jewish funeral over virus concern
Police in Williamsburg, Brooklyn broke up a huge crowd of people participating in what reportedly was a funeral for a rabbi who’d died after contracting Covid-19. No arrests were made.
EUROPRAVDA – Coronavirus: Remdesivir antiviral drug reduces recovery time from COVID-19, says study
“….. the first potentially effective treatment …”
Unusual Developments in Flynn Case | Declassified
AFP – Coronavirus: is Latin America ready for what’s next?
( 8 min 13 )
VICE News – Scientists Are Worried About Wild Animals That Could Get Coronavirus From Humans
Your cats and dogs are probably going to be fine but some particularly vulnerable animals, like bats and endangered ferrets, may not be.
Here’s how scientists are trying to protect them.
#coronavirus
America’s Main Street Bailout Is Failing
FASCINATING READ
They’re called the Good Club – and they want to save the world
This article is more than 10 years old
Paul Harris in New York reports on the small, elite group of billionaire philanthropists who met recently to discuss solving the planet’s problems
It is the most elite club in the world. Ordinary people need not apply. Indeed there is no way to ask to join. You simply have to be very, very rich and very, very generous. On a global scale.
This is the Good Club, the name given to the tiny global elite of billionaire philanthropists who recently held their first and highly secretive meeting in the heart of New York City.
The names of some of the members are familiar figures: Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, David Rockefeller and Ted Turner. But there are others, too, like business giants Eli and Edythe Broad, who are equally wealthy but less well known. All told, its members are worth $125bn.
The meeting – called by Gates, Buffett and Rockefeller – was held in response to the global economic downturn and the numerous health and environmental crises that are plaguing the globe. It was, in some ways, a summit to save the world.
The existence of the Good Club has struck many as a two-edged sword. On one hand, they represent a new golden age of philanthropy, harking back to the early 20th century when the likes of Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Carnegie became famous for their good works. Yet the reach and power of the Good Club are truly new. Its members control vast wealth – and with that wealth comes huge power that could reshape nations according to their will.
MORE here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/31/new-york-billionaire-philanthropists
Amazon buys from blacklisted Chinese firm
channel 4 – Is Sweden’s controversial approach to coronavirus working?
President Trump has justified America’s lockdown, claiming that Sweden is – by contrast – ‘paying heavily’ in lives, with its more relaxed approach.
The Swedish government has trusted rather than ordered its people to follow social distancing rules, with most schools and businesses staying open.
Sweden’s death toll is higher than its Scandinavian neighbours, and the US president can not be the only world leader hoping its unique approach is eventually proved wrong.
the rebel – Exposing CBC’s disgraceful story attacking anti-Communist China Epoch Times
Are “Canadians upset” at the “racist and inflammatory” Epoch Times sending free copies of their anti-CCP newspaper to some major urban centres and smaller communities?
Or is the CBC publishing fake news?
the rebel – Omar Khadr event at Dalhousie U: Was this $8,000 payment a speaker’s fee for a convicted terrorist?
Trump says he would consider bringing Flynn back into the administration
Director of the FBI. That’s where I see Flynn. He’ll be ruthless re draining the Swamp.
Tucker: Truth behind the Michael Flynn saga is even worse than we guessed
Discriminative Lockdown in Wuhan: Jobless Residents Deprived Their Freedom | CCP Virus | COVID-19
Sky News – WHO left out of China coronavirus investigation
The WHO has complained that the organisation has been kept from fully investigating the origins of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China.
Anti-Viral Drug,Remdesivir Can Be The Cure For Covid-19: 31% Faster Recovery Rate Showed By Patients
Corona War Twist: Could India Smash China’s Cover-Up For Covid-19? |India First
Wuhan lab scientists investigated; Locals dispute CCP’s claim of 0 new virus cases
“Former NYC Mayor Bloomberg Speaks On Developing Contact Tracing Plan, Isolating Virus | MSNBC”
MSNBC – April 30, 2020
During Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily coronavirus briefing, he is joined by former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who explains the first-ever contact tracing program being implemented in NYC. Aired on 04/30/2020.
“… as Andrew said, the contract, contact tracing, is a way to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus, but don’t know it…”
– Mike Bloomberg
“Report: New York Nursing Home Let Coronavirus-infected Staff Treat Residents” by Joel B. Pollak – April 30, 2020
https://www.breitbart.com/health/2020/04/30/report-new-york-nursing-home-let-coronavirus-infected-staff-treat-residents/
YT has a playlist – 12 videos – Updated 7 days ago
“CGI U 2020 – At Home – Combating the COVID-19 Crisis”
Clinton Foundation
Video # 2 Bill Clinton & Cuomo
Short Clip – Different Source
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAbeW9rMuo8
Video #4 Bill Clinton & Newsom
Contact Tracing Program
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/04/30/finally-germany-bans-hezbollah-and-raids-its-mosques-n386849
Finally. Germany Bans Hezbollah and Raids Its Mosques
Sudan makes female genital cutting a crime in ‘new era’ for women’s rights
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200430-sudan-makes-female-genital-cutting-a-crime-in-new-era-for-womens-rights/
“Sudan has criminalised female genital mutilation (FGM), making it punishable by three years in jail, a move campaigners said ushered in a “new era” for women’s rights in the African nation, Reuters reports.
Almost nine out of 10 women and girls in predominately Muslim Sudan have undergone FGM, United Nations data show. The procedure usually involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia and can cause a host of health problems.
The Sudanese government approved an amendment to its criminal legislation on April 22, stating that anyone who performs FGM either inside a medical establishment or elsewhere faces three years’ imprisonment and a fine.
Women’s rights groups said the punishment would help to end FGM, but warned it would be difficult to change minds in communities that view the traditional practice as necessary to marry their daughters…”
Ten Egyptian army members killed or wounded in a bomb attack: spokesman
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-security/ten-egyptian-army-members-killed-or-wounded-in-a-bomb-attack-spokesman-idUSKBN22C3JY
“Ten Egyptian army members including an officer were killed or wounded on Thursday when a bomb exploded in an armoured vehicle south of Bir al-Abd city in the Northern Sinai region, a military spokesman said in a statement.
He did not specify how many had been killed in the attack, which not immediately claimed by any group. Militants loyal to Islamic State are active in the strategic border region.
Egypt has been fighting Islamist insurgents who have killed hundreds of police and soldiers in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since the ousting of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.
Militants have also carried out attacks elsewhere in the country.
An Egyptian policeman and seven suspected militants were killed on April 14 in an exchange of gunfire after the ministry of interior received information about potential Easter attacks against Coptic Christians, the ministry said, adding that three other policemen had also been wounded.
The military and police launched a major campaign against militant groups in 2018, focusing on the Sinai Peninsula as well as southern areas and the border with Libya.”
US religious freedom report baseless: Foreign ministry
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-religious-freedom-report-baseless-foreign-ministry-154322
“Turkey on April 29 slammed a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom which recommended the U.S. government include Turkey on its “Special Watch List” (SWL) for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.
“The report contains baseless, unaccredited and vague allegations as in the past years while trying to portray isolated incidents as violations of religious freedoms through far-fetched accusations,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a written statement.
“This biased and unsubstantiated approach casts doubt on the credibility of the report,” Aksoy said, adding that it was a clear indication of the “biased mindset behind it” and “the circles under whose influence it was drawn up.”
Highlighting the importance attached by Turkey to protect religious freedom, including that of religious minorities, he said his country made it clear that it would not tolerate any harm to the religious liberty of its people.
Aksoy also accused the report of excluding any mention of xenophobia, Islamophobia and discrimination on religious grounds on the rise in the West and the U.S.
“This clearly reveals that the purpose of the report is not to protect religious rights and freedoms. It is clear that the Commission, which has been accused of being anti-Muslim in the past, has drawn up this report based on its unwarranted agenda and priorities under the influence of circles that are hostile to Turkey, rather than objective criteria,” he underlined.
Aksoy also blasted the report mentioning Fetullah Gulen as a “U.S.-based cleric” and said they deliberately turned “a blind eye to the heinous coup attempt against democracy in Turkey.”
He invited the U.S. authorities to examine the evidence regarding the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which Gulen is the ringleader of, and to engage in effective cooperation in line with the spirit of the alliance between
Ankara and Washington “to reveal the true nature of this terrorist organization.”
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Turkey accuses FETÖ of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
Operation Peace Spring area
Regarding Turkey’s anti-terrorist operations, Aksoy said Turkey worked against all forms of terrorism in northern Syria, including in the Operation Peace Spring area.
“The labeling of the Operation Peace Spring area as an “occupation zone” nevertheless is a contradictory and inconsistent approach,” he said, adding that Turkey’s legitimate security concerns on its Syrian border had been
acknowledged by the US itself in 2019.
In January 2018, Turkey launched a major military operation- Operation Olive Branch- to rid the district of Afrin in northwestern Syria of terrorist YPG/PKK elements and liberated the city and province that March.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terrorist operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable peaceful settlement of locals: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.”
Danish poet Yahya Hassan dead at 24
https://www.thelocal.dk/20200430/danish-poet-yahya-hassan-dead-at-24
“Danish-Palestinian bad-boy poet Yahya Hassan, who stormed on to Denmark’s literary scene in 2013 and quickly became a household name, has died aged just 24, his publisher said Thursday.
The exact cause of his death on Wednesday has not been made public but police said they did not believe it was a criminal act.
“Twenty-four years. That’s nothing, this is a catastrophe,” Simon Pasternak, head of publisher Gyldendal, said in an Instagram post. “I have known him, since he was 16 years, this brilliant boy with enormous talent.”
Police in Aarhus, the country’s second largest city where Hassan lived, told local media that they had responded to reports of the death of a man in his mid-20s.
“Currently there is nothing in our investigation that indicates that this is a criminal act,” police spokesman Jakob Christiansen told newspaper BT.
Hassan’s debut poetry collection was printed in a record 120,000 copies after it was released in 2013, in a country where poetry collections are usually printed in the hundreds.
Writing in all capital letters without any punctuation, he used street slang and blunt word play to deliver a damning indictment of his parents’ generation of immigrants who came to Denmark in the 1980s, describing domestic violence, benefit fraud and religious hypocrisy on the Aarhus housing estate where he grew up.
In the poem “Satellite dish” he wrote: “WE HAD NO DANISH CHANNELS/WE HAD AL JAZEERA … WE HAD NO PLANS/BECAUSE ALLAH HAD PLANS FOR US.”
“Yahya insisted on not bending to anyone, he didn’t want to be anyone’s representative… He wanted to be himself,” Pasternak said.
Many young Danes of immigrant origin disliked Hassan for his negative views on their communities and their religion. In November 2013, he was assaulted in Copenhagen’s main train station by a 24-year-old man previously convicted of trying to commit an act of terror.
In November 2019, Hassan released a follow up poetry collection, which like the first was named after himself, also to critical acclaim.
In between, he made headlines more for his rantings, his attempts to enter politics and his dealings with justice than for the quality of his writing.
In 2016, he was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison for shooting a 17-year-old boy with a pistol, wounding the boy’s foot and leg.”
Germany’s Decision to Prohibit Hezbollah Movement Activities Slammed by Iran
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202005011079152646-germanys-decision-to-prohibit-hezbollah-movement-activities-slammed-by-iran/
“Tehran condemns Germany’s decision to designate the Lebanese Hezbollah movement as a terrorist organization and ban its activities, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Thursday.
“The decision of the German government is completely disrespectful to the government and people of Lebanon since Hezbollah is an official and legitimate part of the government and the parliament”, Mousavi said in a statement.
On 30 April, spokesman for the German Interior Ministry Steve Alter said that Minister Horst Seehofer had banned the activities of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement across the country…”
Syrian Government Condemns Berlin’s Decision to Ban Activities of Hezbollah Movement
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202004301079150393-syrian-government-condemns-berlins-decision-to-ban-activities-of-hezbollah-movement/
“The Syrian authorities decisively condemned Germany’s decision to designate the Lebanese Hezbollah movement as a terrorist organization and ban its activities in the European country, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
“Syria strongly condemns the German government’s decision to recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization”, the ministry said, as quoted by the SANA news agency. According to Damascus, Germany’s decision was taken under the pressure of Israel and the United States.
Earlier in the day, spokesman for the German Interior Ministry Steve Alter said that Minister Horst Seehofer banned the activities of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement across the country…”
‘First 96 Hours is Crucial’: US Fails to Find Missing American After Raiding Afghan Village – Report
https://sputniknews.com/us/202004301079151917-first-96-hours-is-crucial-us-fails-to-find-missing-american-after-raiding-afghan-village—report/
“New details emerging on the American government contractor believed to be a captive of Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan suggest that efforts to locate him have let up after leads went cold over the past several weeks.
Sputnik reported back in February that 57-year-old government contractor and US Navy veteran Mark R. Frerichs, a resident of Lombard, Illinois, was kidnapped by members of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, according to US intelligence.
While it was suspected that Taliban-linked militants captured Frerichs, no group has taken responsibility for his disappearance or demanded a ransom. At the time of the initial report, US government sources claimed that a joint rescue effort had been launched by the US Department of State, the Department of Defense and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The Associated Press reported on Thursday that, for the past month, US officials have been in contact with the news agency and revealed details of the rescue mission in question. The outlet granted the sources anonymity, as they are not permitted to discuss such matters publicly.
“The first 96 hours is crucial,” a senior US government official briefed on the case told AP. “If they’re not recovered in the first few days, it becomes harder every minute after.”
Both a senior US government official and another official with the Department of Defense told the outlet that the government’s original search effort for Frerichs stretched from Afghanistan’s Khost Province to areas south of Kandahar Province.
US Navy SEALs were tasked with conducting a night operation in a known Taliban location on February 3, but ultimately had to delay their gathering intelligence due to poor visibility, according to the senior US official. The location and other details of the site referenced could not be disclosed due to operational security reasons.
According to the two aforementioned sources, the SEAL platoon waited for hours before returning to the area and were not met with resistance when they raided the compound and detained several individuals alleged to be Haqqani militants. A weapons cache was also uncovered on the grounds.
The senior government official claimed those detained by the platoon were questioned about the 57-year-old’s disappearance and later turned over to the Afghan government.
US intelligence officials were notified on February 4 that Frerichs could possibly be in Quetta, Pakistan, which the two officials described as a historical safe haven for the Taliban. However, the intelligence gathered by the platoon did not prove to be credible enough to warrant another special operations mission, the senior government official said.
“Operationally, the reason why time is critical in a kidnapping is because you can close the distance quicker, ideally immediately or by utilizing sources,” the senior government official said. “This is not the case right now. He could be two houses down from where he was taken and we would not know.”
Details gathered by the SEALs also conflicted with information gathered electronically from signals broadcast from radios and cellphones. The two officials said that Frerichs’ suspected cellphone and other related devices stopped pinging on February 5.
It’s unclear whether further efforts have been pursued since then.
Art Frerichs, the 57-year-old’s father, issued a statement to AP and said that while he has faith in US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, “I just need them to tell their people negotiating with the Taliban that America won’t lift a finger until my son comes home. He’s a veteran. This is America. We don’t leave people behind.”
Though little has been said about Frerichs over the past two months, the FBI-led Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell told the LA Times in a recent statement that it was working with partners to see “that Mark Frerichs and all Americans held hostage abroad are returned home.””