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.
Dear Leader announces more money for natives to cope with pandemic. There are 1.7 million indigenous people in Dystopia. Recent funds totalling approximately $400m gives over $230k/person. Add to this the billions of dollars already spent on this demographic. Such a massive burden on the productive class is unfair and unsustainable.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5578275
CCP hoarding PPE for possible second wave?
It’s difficult to imagine our economies going through another shutdown. The financial and human toll–never mind even the direct damage from the virus itself which primarily attacks the non-productive class–would be an economic cliff. I cannot help but wonder if the CCP would engineer a second wave to ensure such damage occurs. (While such thoughts are gruesome, if we can imagine any offensive, so can the enemy.)
https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-ppe-factories-seizures-coronavirus-wave-fears
JU check out the real state of the Chinese economy, 1) There were in a recession when the bug escaped from the lab.
2) We both know that they are an expost economy and can’t export when we don’t import.
3) The Swine Flu placed a major strain on their food supply.
4) The Bird Flu stress it more.
5 The late blizzard destroyed most of this years Wheat and Rice crops.
6) Thanks to the CCP spreading the flu most of the food producing nations are hoarding their food for internal use.
7) The CCP allowing the flu to spread around the world has pissed off every nation.
8) The CCP selling defective and infected medical equipment has really pissed off the world.
Odds are sometime this year or next the CCP will collapse and China will be ina masive struggle to get food, shelter and medicine.
Given the above facts what are the odds that Xi will choose the Sampson option? If he releases a second wave of a
genetically modifiednaturally mutated virus to force the rest of the world over the edge of the economic cliff China won’t be the only nation that is destroyed and there is a chance that they can remain a world power during and after the long struggle for the world to recover and rebuild civilization.It is an apocalyptic view of the future but Xi and the CCP don’t care about the cost in human lives and suffering so it is a possibility we have to keep in mind.
To compound this ghastly outrage, the car is the color of a banana (not of a water melon). https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/21/business/volkswagen-racist-ad-instagram/index.html
Dear Leader remains silent over Dystopia’s determined takeover of strategic assets:
https://ottawasun.com/opinion/columnists/furey-the-chinese-government-is-still-allowed-to-buy-up-canadian-firms-thats-got-to-change/wcm/3b74d2d2-cd8b-48c5-9c66-af147d0091e4
How many rats does it take to screw in a light bulb? We will see:
https://youtu.be/F8PYOsOPCG8
Depends on how many are suicidal.
Unless more evidence comes out it will be hard to get Obama and Biden on the coup attempt. The framing of Flynn looks to be a horse of a different color, and if they can convict him of one crime it will make it easier to convict him of the rest of his crimes.
Contact tracing, the next arm of government control. What twisted minds think this shit up?
https://youtu.be/xXVKhGQ3SXg
LANGUAGE!
Absolutely no need for that.
Sorry Coram Deo. I will try my dang darndest to behave.
Language options exist. English uses a change of language mid-sentence as a way to show emphasis. Try “mairde.” But I suggest a better word for rendering this opinion: mishigas (last syllable pronounced like the first in “gossamer”), the nomial form of https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meshuga. “Craziness,” in American English, borrowed from Yiddish, derived by way of Aramaic, Hebrew, or the Borscht Belt, depending who you ask. I favor the BB derivation because it explains the derisive humorous connection when when imported into English.
LOL Malca! As an avid contributor to this site I greatly value the standards it maintains. Intelligent dialogue is its currency. I also value the beat and melody of language, and understand the impact certain words achieve. Low language even has its place in high art when properly placed. Since I am not a purveyor of high art, however, I will continue to weigh my choice of words so as not to affront good peoples’ sensibilities. I just can’t promise I won’t slip up for, alas, I am but a free-spirited cowboy on his own lonesome range.
I usually write “shiite”.
I’m uncomfortable with usage of the Lord’s name in vain: e.g.
“g-x-damned”.
– – Because it’s bad juju, a karma-killer.
Last thing we need is a lighting-bolt thru a server or an earthquake that swallows VTB.
Yes, it’s amazing how childhood lessons stick with a person. My mother always said never to use the Lord’s name in vain. I never forgot it.
WATCH: German journalist reports from the Muslim-dominated district of Marxloh in Duisburg and is therefore pelted with eggs – “This part of town belongs to us, the German authorities have no business here!”
A journalist reports from the Muslim migrant district of Marxloh in Duisburg and is thrown eggs at him there.German state power does not belong there, the Muslim invaders tell him. “This district belongs to us” they also tell him.It was only last Tuesday that 200 Arab clan members tried to hinder the arrest of a criminal.
https://medforth.blog/2020/05/22/watch-german-journalist-reports-from-the-muslim-dominated-district-of-marxloh-in-duisburg-and-is-therefore-pelted-with-eggs-this-part-of-town-belongs-to-us-the-german-authorities-have-no-busines/
Meshuggeners
(People who are meshuga)
As in:
Your landsman are meshuga to expect these meshgenners to make omelettes for brunch.
My Mum thought Yiddish was ALL dirty words. People tended to use it for euphemisms, I guess, so that’s all she understood. She would quietly get up and leave the room. Pick up her blanket from the park and leave without a word.
Polacos vs. Turkos
Live Updates: Pakistan International Airlines’ Airbus A320 Crashes Near Karachi (abcnews, May 22, 2020)
https://sputniknews.com/asia/202005221079385486-pakistan-international-airlines-plane-reportedly-crashes-near-karachi/
“A Pakistan International Airlines plane en route from Lahore to Karachi crashed near Karachi’s Model Colony area, according to media reports.
According to reports, the A320 Airbus was carrying at least 90 people and was scheduled to land at Jinnah International Airport.
Rescue teams and law enforcement are at the crash site and have started rescue operations.
The plane crashed at the Jinnah Ground area near the Jinnah International Airport, according to reports.
According to Geo News citing the Civil Aviation Authority, communications with the plane were lost one minute before landing…”
Iran Supreme Leader Slams Israel as ‘Cancerous Growth’, Urges ‘Holy Struggle to Liberate Palestine’ (sputniknews, May 22, 2020)
https://sputniknews.com/world/202005221079385437-iran-supreme-leader-slams-israel-as-cancerous-growth-urges-holy-struggle-to-liberate-palestine/
“On 20 May Iran’s Supreme Leader said his country would “support and assist any nation or any group anywhere” in its struggles against Israel, after the PA announced withdrawal from agreements with Tel Aviv over an announcement by the newly formed Israeli government to begin extending sovereignity over one-third of the West Bank as soon as July.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei announced on Friday that the struggle to “liberate Palestine” was an obligation and an Islamic goal, adding “everyone must assist the Palestinian nation in this holy struggle”.
“The struggle to liberate Palestine is Jihad in the way of God, and it is an obligation and an Islamic goal. Victory in this such a struggle has been guaranteed,” said Khamenei.
Speaking as millions took part in worldwide events celebrating International Quds Day, Ayatollah Khamenei lashed out at the “Zionist regime”, which he branded a “deadly, cancerous growth and a pure detriment loss to this region”.
The Ayatollah Khamenei took the opportunity to slam “abortive vain and futile” efforts by “certain Arab governments in the region, which act as the minions” of Washington, as they express a desire to normalize relations with Israel through establishing economic ties.
The Supreme leader was speaking on the occasion of International Quds Day – an annual event held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which was launched by Iran in 1979 to show its solidarity with Palestinians and to counter what Tehran sees as Israeli aggression.
Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem, at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Traditionally, people in Iran and across the world hold rallies on the occasion, which this year had to be cancelled over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Zionist Regime Incompatible with Peace’
Earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader announced his country would “support and assist any nation or any group anywhere” in its struggles against Israel, after the Palestinian Authority announced it was withdrawing from all agreements with Israel over its proposed “annexation” of the West Bank.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei wrote in a Wednesday series of twitter posts that the “Zionist regime” had shown it “understands no logic except force”…”
Fekakteh Supreme Mishuggener has a bad day, knowing he can’t take a joke after he realizes God is in charge and Quds is the Hebrew name for the holiest of cities, virus or not.
I thought Quds was the Iranian name for Jerusalem, which is how it is written hundreds of time in the Bible. Please explain.
Quds is Arabic for qodesh, which is Holy in Hebrew, as in The Holy City, as in Al Quds, The Holy [City]. It took a speaker of Amharic to point this out to me–anyone who marches miles to Jerusalem has that clarity.
Vikiipaedia sagt:
“Ir Ha-Kodesh” “City of the Holy Place/Holiness”(??? ?????) in Isa 48:42, Isa 51:1, Dan 9:24 Neh 11:1 and Neh 11:18.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Jerusalem
(The k here indicates the back k, which is the q sound, as it is in Arabic, but used sparingly by Hebrew speakers and those Arabic speakers who prefer to use a tissue when clearing the throat.
Indeed, this translation accounts for the constrct form (the “of”), called smikhut in Hebrew and a-hidaafa in Arabic grammar).
I don’t know if proper Arabic would us madinah al-quds, City of Holy
Iran: Drive-in Quds day event replaces traditional demonstrations due to COVID-19
Iranians celebrated the infamous Quds day at a drive-in event in Eram Park in Tehran on Thursday night as coronavirus restrictions forced the cancellation of the traditionally huge street demonstrations.
Quds Day, which translates to ‘Jerusalem Day’ takes place annually, and is usually held on the last Friday of Ramadan.
The animosity towards Israel and Zionism was evident throughout all speeches and interviews on Thursday night. “There is a Zionist regime that is being destroyed and Quds day can be seen in other days of the year. Coronavirus cannot divide the enemy issue with the Zionist regime,” said cleric Ali-Reza Panahian during a speech to the large crowd.
The event organiser, Mr Pahlevani, explained the reason behind holding the drive-in ceremony was “due to the continuation of coronavirus and no events for Quds day.”
“We have come here with masks and gloves to sit inside our cars to show that US and Israel cannot stop this demonstration being held across the world. This is to show them that no matter if we face a virus or bigger problems, we are here to support Palestine and the oppressed ones,” stated attendee Mohammad Sadeq Fadaei.
Iran: Khamenei
Family of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Pardons Murderers of Their Father (sputniknews, May 22, 2020)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202005221079381073-family-of-saudi-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-pardons-murderers-of-their-father/
“The Saudi journalist was murdered inside the embassy of his own country in Istanbul in October 2018. A Saudi court sentenced five suspects to death and jailed another three for a total of 24 years.
The family of the late Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, has pardoned the killers of their father on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, which is approaching its end on Saturday, Salah Khashoggi, son of the journalist, announced on Friday.
“In this blessed night of the blessed month (of Ramadan) we remember God’s saying: If a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah,” Salah tweeted in the early hours of Friday morning. “Therefore we the sons of the Martyr’s Jamal Khashoggi announce pardoning those who killed our father, seeking reward God almighty”.
Khashoggi, a Riyadh insider and columnist for the Washington Post, went missing October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Riyadh initially denied knowledge of the journalist’s whereabouts but investigation later revealed that he was murdered and dismembered while inside the embassy.
In December 2019, a Saudi court sentenced five suspects in Khashoggi’s murder to death, and jailed another three for a total of 24 years.
In late March, the Turkish office of the Chief Public Prosecutor, following lengthy investigation, charged 20 Saudi citizens in absentia for the premeditated murder of the Saudi journalist, including former deputy head of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services, Ahmed al-Asiri, and former royal adviser Saud al-Qahtani.
Istanbul authorities charged the two former officials with incitement of first degree murder, and demanded life sentences for the other 18 alleged participants of the crime.”
From The Historians’ History of the World – 1905
Battle of Bedr, 624 A.D.
In order to rescue a large caravan from danger and distress, the Koreish marched into a field a thousand strong, with seven hundred camels and one hundred horses. The train of merchandise escaped the ambush bY the clever management of Abu Sufyan, but nevertheless Abu Jahl persisted in the conflict.
The battle ended with complete defeat of the Koreans.
The Battle of Bedr was of the greatest importance for the victory of Islam, and in consequences all the combatants whose names were entered in the lists henceforth formed the hightest nobility of the Muslims. The spoils and the ransoms were equally devided, but soon after a saying of the Koran commanded that in the future the fifth part of all spoils should go to the Prophet, for HIMSELF, his kinsmen, for the poor, orphans and wanderers.
Modern day Iran, Khomeini is worth two hundred million.
Khamenei worth 200 billion.
His estimated PERSONAL fortune is in excess of $200B.
The IRGC honchos have hidey-holes all over the world. The apocalyptic jazz with the Mahdi and all – that’s for the poor suckers.
IRGC send their kids to school in Europe and America, get another citizenship – just in case.
Keeps changing Koreish
Peterborough hospital put on lockdown after people ‘assaulted with weapons’ (express, May 21, 2020)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1285277/peterborough-hospital-lockdown-police-assault-weapons-dogsthorpe
“PETERBOROUGH City Hospital was placed on lockdown by Cambridgeshire police after a violent shooting outbreak.
Police were forced to place the hospital in lockdown following a shooting on Welland Road in Dogsthrope. A large number of officers are in attendance at the scene after a number of people were reported to have been assaulted with weapons.
A 14-year-old boy was rushed to hospital after being left injured by the shooting and the hospital was consequently placed on lockdown.
At least two people sustained injuries believed to have been caused by pellets.
It is not believed any of the injures are life-threatening.
Two roads have been shut while the police and ambulance services deal with the incident.
A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire police said: “A section of Welland Road has been closed near to the junction with Cedar Grove following reports of violence in Dogsthorpe.
“We were called at 10.35am this morning (Thursday May 21) with reports that a number of people had been assaulted and weapons had been used.
“The incident is very much ongoing at this stage.”
Two 14-year-old boys and a 33-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent following the incident.
Peterborough City Hospital turned away patients at the door while it was on lockdown, however, the building as since re-opened.
A statement released on social media by the hospital read: “Our hospital is now running normally following an incident earlier today in which we activated our lockdown procedure.
“This was a precautionary measure to safeguard patients and staff.
“The incident is now over. Thank you to all for their patience.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact police either by calling 101 or reporting online…”
Shocking moment mob of teenagers kick police officer and drag him across the floor after he challenged them for flouting lockdown rules in park (dailymail, May 22, 2020)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8347779/Moment-mob-teenagers-kick-police-officer-challenged-flouting-lockdown-rules.html
“This is the shocking moment a mob of laughing teenagers kick a police officer and drag him across the floor after he challenged them for flouting lockdown rules in a park.
Surrey Police say a lone officer was called to West Byfleet Park in Woking, outside south-west London, yesterday at 7.40pm.
The officer was attacked while engaging with the men, and was taken to hospital with minor injuries to the wrist and head.
A group of young males were reported to be potentially contravening social distancing guidelines.
Police say three people – one adult and two juveniles – were arrested a short time later and taken into custody…”
Britain is having a breakdown of law and order, their selective enforcement of the laws has given a large portion of the population the idea they are above the law and convinced the rest they have no rights. This is not going to end peacefully.
Dozens of Turkish soldiers invade and occupy small patch of Greek land, install their flag and set up camp along disputed border (dailymail, May 22, 2020)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8347505/Dozens-Turkish-soldiers-invade-occupy-small-patch-Greek-land.html
“Turkish troops have invaded Greece and occupied a small patch of land on their contested border.
Around 35 soldiers marched on to a floodplain site on the east bank of the River Evros at Melissokomeio yesterday.
Turkish soldiers and police special forces now have a solid presence within the Greek territory and have camped in the pocket of Apiary at Feres, reports Greek site Army Voice.
At the camp there is now a small Turkish flag flying from a tree. Troops have rejected Greek demands to withdraw.
It comes weeks after thousands of Syrian refugees failed to break through into Greece.
Local reports say the invasion is in response to a Greek army survey of the 1.6-hectare site as part of plans to expand the border fence which kept the refugees out.
Turkey refuses to acknowledge that some of the land on the eastern side of the Evros River still belongs to Greece, even if the river changes its natural course.
Tensions between the two countries have grown under hardline President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Four times in recent weeks, Greek soldiers have been shot at over the border and Turkish fighter jets have to be chased out of Greek airspace regularly.
Greece is trying to de-escalate tensions through diplomatic channels and has not yet made an official response.
Tens of thousands of migrants tried to get into EU member Greece after Ankara said on February 28 it would no longer prevent them from doing so, as agreed in a 2016 deal with Brussels in return for European aid for Syrian refugees.
Turkey, which hosts some 3.6 million Syrians, the world’s largest refugee population, lifted restrictions on the migrants because it was alarmed by the prospect of another wave of refugees fleeing war in northwest Syria.
The rush to the border was met a strong response from Greek security forces. Greek authorities have strongly rejected accusations by Ankara that their forces killed migrants at the border, and have denied firing live ammunition.
The tension on the border had largely settled since the outbreak of the new coronavirus prompted Turkey to close the borders with Greece and Bulgaria.”
Re the “nurse” attacking an old man, allegedy this is the same guy attacking an elderly woman in her sleep. Note that he filmed the assault himself:
https://twitter.com/McguireScotty/status/1263523423218741248
Apparently this is his YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5txct3xHK1eHXN4OJymLZA
Save any videos that may catch your eye before it all gets taken down!
He’s been arrested, personal details in the response tweet. One Jadon Hayden:
https://twitter.com/mjblw/status/1263568134704955392
More on the story. It’s the Westwood Rehabilitation Nursing Center, they deny the attacker works there. He’s a temporary resident, “for rehabilitation and recovery”:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/detroit-police-make-arrest-attack-nursing-home-patient-captured-video-n1212626
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/05/21/detroit-police-make-arrest-after-nursing-home-assault-video-surfaces/
I can’t read this from the EU:
https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/articles/news/man-arrested-in-beating-of-detroit-nursing-home-patient
madinah al-quds,
City of the Holy
Ir ha-qodesh
(I forgot “the”)
This is taken to be the City of the Holy Temple, that place where Muslim souls yearn to visit in fulfillment of the Five Pillars of Faith NOT. Seriously, Shi’a like to centralize Jerusalam has a back-handed way of reminding their co-religionists that Mecca isn’t the only place that is a meccah for tourists.
Another gaybashing attack in Amsterdam. Like the previous attacks, this took place in the east docklands, more or less a muslim area now.
https://nltimes.nl/2020/05/22/three-teens-held-new-amsterdam-oost-gay-bashing-attack
Another gay couple was attacked in Amsterdam Oost on Thursday evening. One man was stabbed with a piece of glass, injuring his arm. Three teenagers were arrested, the police said on Twitter.
The incident happened on J.C. van Epenstraat. According to AT5, the victims were in a canoe when the perpetrators started shouting insults at them due to their sexual orientation. When they went to the side to address the teens, they were attacked.
The victim was taken to hospital by ambulance.
The teenager suspected of stabbing the man is 14-years-old, according to NOS. The other two suspects are 14 and 15.
The police are investigating.
This is the third incident of a gay couple being harassed and attacked in Amsterdam since Easter.
Also here:
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/05/amsterdam-politicians-want-action-after-third-homophobic-attack/
Controversial Amsterdam school eavesdropped on Education Inspectorate: report
https://nltimes.nl/2020/05/22/controversial-amsterdam-school-eavesdropped-education-inspectorate-report
The director of the Cornelius Haga Lyceum in Amsterdam planted eavesdropping equipment in the office assigned to the Education Inspectorate for its investigation into the school, four sources around the Islamic high school told NRC. According to the newspaper, it heard one of the recordings and confirmed its authenticity.
The Inspectorate conducted an intensive investigation at the Cornelius Haga Lyceum between March and May 2019, after intelligence service AIVD warned that there were anti-democratic tendencies at the school. The Inspectorate eventually concluded that the school management was guilty of “maladministration, conflicts of interest, and self-enrichment”, but there are no indications that “some of the lessons have a Salafist character”
During the investigation, the school made an office available to the inspectors, where they had sensitive conversations with each other, with pupils, and with staff. These conversations were recorded and eavesdropped on multiple times, according to the newspaper.
NRC’s sources said that school director Soner Atasoy wanted to keep an eye on the Inspectorate’s investigation and on what employees of the school said about him and the school. Atasoy denies that he made these recordings, but told the newspaper that he does have them. “I got that on a USB stick,” he said, according to NRC. “I don’t know from whom.”
The Education Inspectorate told NRC that there was a “suspicion” that the room given to inspectors to use was being tapped. After that, the inspectors slightly adjusted their working methods at the school, switching rooms “with some regularity” and conducting confidential conversation by phone or outside. The office in question was never searched for eavesdropping equipment because there was “insufficient cause” for it and it would have led to “unnecessary unrest”, the Inspectorate said.
According ton NRC, the inspectorate recently receive “concrete signals” that their inspectors were eavesdropped on at the school and is considering steps.
Also here:
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/05/islamic-school-recorded-inspectors-conversations-with-staff-and-pupils-nrc/
COVID-19: ‘Case 42’, Bangladeshi man who spent 2 months in ICU, thanks Singapore healthcare workers
Hong Kong reacts to mainland China’s push for national security law in the city
Car drives into hadscarve shop in Sydney, AU. Police do not suspect a terrorist motive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jh4oWeC8Hc
https://www.nu.nl/280939/video/auto-rijdt-in-volle-vaart-winkel-binnen-in-sydney.html
French Police Raid Alleged Far-Left Antifa Bomb Factory HQ (breitbart, May 22, 2020)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/05/22/french-police-raid-alleged-far-left-antifa-bomb-factory-hq/
“French police in the Paris suburb of Bagnolet have arrested four people after discovering the alleged headquarters of the city’s far-left extremist Antifa movement, where it is claimed explosives were being manufactured…”
WATCH: Farage Releases More Footage of French Handover of Illegal Migrants to UK Border Force (breitbart, May 22, 2020)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/05/22/watch-farage-releases-more-footage-french-handover-illegal-migrants-uk-border-force/
British health workers begin hydroxychloroquine trial
Indonesia’s social distancing challenge | The Straits Times
Donald Trump Shuts Huge Migrant Pipeline Run by Coyotes, Federal Agencies (breitbart, May 21, 2020)
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/05/21/donald-trump-shuts-huge-migrant-pipeline-run-by-coyotes-federal-agencies/
“President Donald Trump and his deputies have shut down the coyote-run smuggling pipeline that has used federal agencies to deliver almost 500,000 youths and children to their illegal-alien parents living in northern cities.
The success in closing the 12-year-old “Unaccompanied Alien Child”‘ pipeline was admitted by the New York Times:
Hundreds of migrant children and teenagers have been swiftly deported by American authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic without the opportunity to speak to a social worker or plea for asylum from the violence in their home countries — a reversal of years of established practice for dealing with young foreigners who arrive in the United States.
The deportations represent an extraordinary shift in policy that has been unfolding in recent weeks on the southwestern border, under which safeguards that have for decades been granted to migrant children by both Democratic and Republican administrations appear to have been abandoned.
The shutdown is allowed by the combination of China’s coronavirus and by Congress’s Title 42 law. The Title 42 law allows border agents to block any migrants coming across the border at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it trumps the 2008 law that created the coyote/agency pipeline.
On May 20, Chad Wolf, chief of the Department of Homeland Security, said that CDC had ordered the Title 42 barrier to continue indefinitly, “until it is determined that the serious danger from #COVID19 has ceased.”
The Associated Press showed May 14 how Trump’s 2020 changes surprised a Honduran mother in Mexico who had watched the UAC pipeline work for years:
When she lost an initial [aslum legal] decision, she decided [the 10-year-old boy] would be better off temporarily with her brother in the United States. She watched him swim across the Rio Grande.
The woman expected he would be treated the same as before, when such children were picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol and taken to Department of Health and Human Services facilities for eventual placement with a sponsor, usually a relative.
But the mother heard nothing until six days later, when her family received a call from a shelter in Honduras. “They had thrown him out to Honduras,” she said. “We didn’t know anything.”
The New York Times added a comment from the “shocked” uncle in Houston:
“I’m not going to tell you that we were going to shower him with riches,” Mr. Rodríguez said. “We’re poor, but we were going to fight to support him. We were going to welcome him like he deserved.”
The two articles did not mention the child’s father. In all likelihood, he may have traveled illegally to his brother in Houston, while fully expecting the federal agencies to deliver his child to Houston.
Democrats, however, are fighting to reopen the UAC pipeline’s delivery of migrant youths and children to the illegal-immigrant parents and relatives:
A 2008 law created the UAC pipeline. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) law directed officials in the border agencies and the Department of Health and Human Services to safeguard and help trafficked children — such as youth prostitutes — until they could find sponsors to live and recover in the United States.
The U.S. generosity was quickly exploited by smugglers, who used the 2008 TVPRA law to safely deliver the children of illegal migrants into the United States. The illegal-migrant parents were happy to use the joint coyote-agency pipeline because it was a safe, cheap, and reliable way to reunite their families and transfer their kids into Americans’ K-12 schools.
President Barack Obama protected the UAC pipeline, and portrayed the smuggler-delivered children as “unaccompanied,” even as his agency officials were relaying the children from the cartel-backed coyotes to their illegal-alien parents throughout the United States. “The influx of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) across the southwest border of the United States has resulted in an urgent humanitarian situation requiring a unified and coordinated Federal response,” Obama declared in June 2014.
From 2007 to 2011, roughly 45,000 non-Mexicans were caught at the border each year. But the migration spiked in 2012 as the coyotes spread the news that Obama’s border agencies were turning a blind eye to migrants from Central America. By 2013, the migration inflow had reached 140,000 — and that inflow of working adults created a huge population of Latin American illegals who had the money and the desire to bring their abandoned children north via the UAC pipeline.
The UAC pipeline grew from roughly 8,000 in 2008, to 20,000 in 2009, 30,000 un 2012, 69,000 in 2014, 41,000 in 2017, and peak of 76,000 in 2019.
All told, the pipeline imported roughly 478,000 migrant youths and children between 2008 and 2019. Few were sent home, and most were teenagers, so boosting the current population of illegal workers seeking jobs in the coronavirus crash.
The pipeline was a boon for many Central Americans because it provided a means to move families out of Central American poverty into peaceful prosperity throughout the United States.
But those young migrants and their parents spiked rental prices across blue-collar America. Migrant parents felt less pressure to go home and their eagerness to work allowed employers to cut wage rates at many blue-collar jobs. Their children crowded into the schools used by the children of blue-collar Americans, forcing educators to divert time and money into English lessons.
Some of the migrant youths joined MS-13 and murdered other youths, but the establishment media sympathized with each new wave of migrant youths. But most quietly left the schools and blended into the blue-collar labor markets that are so disdained by the college-bound children of pro-migration progressives, journalists, and immigration lawyers.
The massive exit from Central America has also destabilized those countries, partly by reducing the labor force and slowing international investment.
Many legislators and experts in Washington quietly understood that the 2008 law allowed the coyotes to subcontract their child-delivery contracts to federal agencies. But Republican legislators also knew that companies wanted the illegal workers and the extra customers. In contrast, Democratic legislators recognized the pipeline was helping grow the population of illegals who would vote Democrat after getting citizenship.
The 2008 law made “the U.S. government a de facto co-conspirator with the smuggling organizations,” said a 2019 report by the Center or Immigration Studies.
Some of Trump’s deputies stated the obvious. Ken Cuccinelli told the Texas Public Policy Foundation on August 22:
The federal government has been the final link in the human trafficking effort up to this point. People put children in this pipeline with a certain degree of confidence — they’re obviously willing to risk their children –– that they will end up with the parents in the end. We are helping them pull this off.”
Along the way, the 2014 rush of “unaccompanied children” sank Obama’s polling numbers and helped kill his “Gang of Eight” amnesty. It also set the stage for a New York TV personality to begin planning his successful run for the presidency.
The Title 42 rule is a capstone in a series of hard-nosed decisions by Trump, which largely blocked the migration of Central American migrants into tough, blue-collar jobs throughout the United States….”
Covid-19 cases in Singapore surpass 30,000 | Beijing moves to tighten control of HK | THE BIG STORY
Different strain of COVID-19 in Itaewon cases
Kosovo Albanian women charged with joining IS terror group (abcnews, May 22, 2020)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kosovo-albanian-women-charged-joining-terror-group-70832034
“Kosovo prosecutors on Friday filed terrorism charges against two ethnic Albanian women for allegedly joining the Islamic State group in Syria.
Prosecutors alleged in a statement that the two women, identified only as A.A. and L.I., went to Syria where they “willingly became part of the terrorist organization” and provided logistical support to the group’s male fighters.
They moved around Syria “depending on the change of territory of the Islamic State,” the statement added.
Following the defeat of the Islamic State group, the women were handed to Kurdish forces and deported to Kosovo on April 24, 2019, with the assistance of the American army, prosecutors said.
They face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
Last year a group of 110 Kosovo citizens was repatriated from Syria and most were charged with terrorism offenses. About 30 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo are still believed to be with terror groups in Syria and Iraq.”
Bosnia to probe alleged police brutality in migrant camp (abcnews, May 22, 2020)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bosnia-probe-alleged-police-brutality-migrant-camp-70830883
“Bosnian authorities will hold an internal investigation into police conduct at a U.N.-run migrant camp in the country after a video emerged this week allegedly showing a group of police savagely beating a camp resident.
In a statement Friday, the United Nations resident office in Bosnia welcomed the announcement, saying Bosnian authorities must “at all times abide by local laws as well as international human rights norms and standards.”
The U.N. had previously requested an immediate investigation of the incident which allegedly occurred earlier this month at the Miral camp, in the northwestern city of Velika Kladusa. Local police initially dismissed accusations of brutality, saying they were called to the camp to pacify a hostile, stone-throwing crowd during a protest by migrants over movement restrictions due to the pandemic.
The 30-second video uploaded on YouTube and shared by various Balkan news outlets allegedly showed a group of police approaching a random migrant in an apparently peaceful section of the camp and hitting the young man with fists and batons.
Bosnian authorities have recently grown increasingly hostile to thousands of migrants trapped in the country, with security minister Fahrudin Radonicic proposing in April to start deporting them en masse. Many migrants enter Bosnia illegally in hope of continuing their journey towards Europe’s prosperous heartland through neighboring Croatia, a European Union member.
The U.N. migration organization, IOM, which manages all temporary migrant accommodation centers in Bosnia, has been reporting serious overcrowding since mid-March when police started rounding up migrants who had been sleeping rough in the streets and driving them to its facilities.
Authorities said at the time they had to move migrants off the streets as part of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Migrants who have since not been allowed to leave the camps, not even to go to a shop, say authorities are unjustly depriving them of their freedom.
IOM camps in Bosnia currently house 6,200 people, or nearly 20% more than before the advent of the pandemic in the country in mid-March.”
Syria bars Assad’s cousin from travel amid financial dispute (abcnews, May 22, 2020)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/syria-bars-assads-cousin-travel-amid-financial-dispute-70829460
“A Syrian court has ordered a travel ban on the cousin of the country’s president and one of its wealthiest businessmen in the latest measure to contain a financial dispute that has pried open divisions in the Assad family.
The decision was published on the Syrian Justice Ministry’s Facebook page late on Thursday. The court said Rami Makhlouf would be temporarily banned from leaving Syria until a dispute over outstanding financial dues is settled.
There has recently been a quick succession of government measures against Makhlouf, including confiscating his assets earlier this week and warning that more financial claims would be made against the man, once believed to be at the heart of the economy of Syria. The escalation appears aimed at wrapping what has been an unusually widely publicized family rift.
Makhlouf has defiantly and in public statements challenged the financial claims made against him, saying they are unjust and called for his cousin President Bashar Assad to be an arbiter. Makhlouf heads the largest telecommunication company in the country, Syriatel, among other things.
The president has made no public statements about the affair — the most visible split in the tight-knit family which has ruled Syria for nearly 50 years. Makhlouf is Assad’s maternal cousin.
In a stunning gesture, Makhlouf had taken his grievances to social media starting earlier this month, posting videos online in which he challenged claims that Syriatel owed the state any money and appealed to Assad to prevent persons he did not name from destroying his business. It was the clearest indication that Assad’s cousin and once a close aide has been isolated from the president.
The government on Tuesday ordered Makhlouf’s assets and those of his wife and children seized and barred him from doing business with the state for five years. On Thursday, the Justice Ministry posted the court order on the travel ban. It said that based on a case filed by the Telecommunications Ministry, Makhlouf would be barred from traveling outside of Syria until he settles his debt with the government. A telecommunications regulatory body had said Makhlouf owes the government some $180 million in outstanding operational fees.
Makhlouf has contested the legality of all the moves in his recorded videos. In his last one on Tuesday, he said they “just want to control the company and they see nothing else,” without elaborating.
Syriatel is one of Syria’s largest employers with thousands of staff and 11 million subscribers.
The rift comes as the country, already under Western sanctions, enters a new phase of economic hardship. Syria’s currency has spiraled downward, sending prices of basic commodities soaring. Economic activity is also being hurt by restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus, following austerity measures taken during the war which has displaced nearly half the population.”
Suspected IS member arrested after being deported to Germany (abcnews, May 22, 2020)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/suspected-member-arrested-deported-germany-70827928
“A German woman suspected of joining the Islamic State group in Syria has been taken into custody in her homeland after being deported from Turkey.
The suspect, identified only as Zeynep G. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested at Frankfurt airport on Thursday. Federal prosecutors said she was brought before a judge on Friday and he ordered her held pending a possible indictment.
Prosecutors allege that she left Germany in 2014 for Syria, where she married a Chechen IS fighter and joined the extremist group. They say she married a second IS fighter, this one from Germany, after her husband was killed in fighting in 2015. The two had a child in 2016.
Zeynep G. was captured by Kurdish forces in early 2019 and escaped about a year later from a refugee camp in northern Syria, according to prosecutors. She was then arrested after entering Turkey.
German federal police told news agency dpa that two women and their four children landed in Frankfurt on Thursday evening on a flight from Ankara. There was no arrest warrant against the other woman.”
Trump Will Lose Reelection in a Landslide!
108,219 views
•May 21, 2020
Official forced into mental hospital; 2nd virus outbreak; Trump: US to react strongly to new HK law
COVID-19 Outbreak In India: 6,000 New Cases Recorded In A Day, Total Tally At 1,12,359
China moves to impose Hong Kong national security law as Trump vows ‘strong’ US response
Hong Kong reacts to mainland China’s push for national security law in the city
The Chinese communist party plans to impose a new law to end Hong Kong’s autonomy| NTD
rump: fix dams not votes in Michigan; Pompeo: pandemic has cost world $9TR | NTD
South Africa: Queue for food donations stretches for kilometres near Pretoria
Thousands of squatter camps residents queued in the township of Laudium near Pretoria in South Africa to receive food donations on Wednesday. Many people in the line complained about the lockdown which as they say left them out of work with few other means of support.
“The problem about this lockdown is our squatter camps. There’s just too many passages, and there’s not so much social distance and a lot of the population is not working. It’s tough for us because we can’t go outside anymore. Maybe hassle and buy something you know to eat,” said one of the residents.
Many of the people living in the settlement are undocumented migrants who rely on day labour and cannot receive government aid.
“These people have not been at work for almost two months. A lot of them are foreigners, they’re also not getting any help from government. And we as a community decided to come here and try to make a difference,” said one volunteer.
Volunteers gave out 10 kilogram bags of maize meal, along with two protective masks, hand sanitiser and a loaf of bread to each person.
Biden-Burisma Investigation Ramps Up
Are Coronavirus Lockdowns Unconstitutional?
How Is China Uncensored Funded?
France: March held in memory of teen allegedly killed in motorcycle crash with police car
Several thousand people took part in a memorial march in Argenteuil, Val-d’Oise, on Thursday, to commemorate Sabri Choubi, an eighteen-year-old man who died in the night between Saturday and Sunday in a motorcycle accident, which some in the community say involved a police vehicle.
Many could be seen wearing a white shirt reading ‘Light for Sabri’, as well as protective masks in line with the safety rules against coronavirus. Sabri’s family rallied behind a giant banner as they carried a portrait of the young man. […]
Sabri Chouhbi reportedly lost control of his motorcycle and died after hitting a pole while he wasn’t wearing a helmet, but many of his friends believe that a car of the BAC (national police service) which was in the same street caused the accident.
https://ruptly.tv/en/videos/20200521-068
China’s plans for security agencies in Hong Kong will ‘silence city’, activists say
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Chinese proposal to impose national security laws on Hong Kong could see mainland intelligence agencies set up bases there, raising fears of direct law enforcement and what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a “death knell” for the city’s autonomy.
Communist Party rulers in Beijing unveiled details on Friday, a day after proposing the legislation that critics see as a turning point for China’s most free-wheeling city.
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Pro-democracy activists and politicians in the former British colony have for years opposed such legislation, arguing it could erode its autonomy, guaranteed under the “one country, two systems” agreement under which Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.
“Beijing is attempting to silence Hong Kongers’ critical voices with force and fear,” activist Joshua Wong, one of the leaders of pro-democracy street protests in 2014, tweeted.
Some pro-democracy lawmakers denounced the plans as “the end of Hong Kong”.
https://www.oann.com/calls-for-protest-march-in-hong-kong-as-china-pushes-new-security-laws/
Former Obama Ambassador to China Compares Trump to Hitler on Chinese State TV
The former U.S. ambassador to China during the Obama administration has compared President Trump to Adolf Hitler and Joseph McCarthy on Chinese state-run television.
Max Baucus, who served as Montana senator from 1978 to 2014 until he was appointed ambassador to Beijing, compared Trump’s rhetoric on China to that of Hitler and McCarthy during a May 6 interview on CNN. Since then, Baucus has appeared on Chinese state television and repeated his claims.
“Joe McCarthy [and] Adolf Hitler…rallied people up, making people believe things that were really not true,” Baucus told China Global Television Network on May 12. “The White House and some in Congress are making statements against China that are so over the top and so hypercritical, they are based not on the fact, or if they are based on fact, sheer demagoguery, and that’s what McCarthy did in the 1950s.”
On May 14, Baucus told China’s state-run Global Times, “We Americans are so used to being number one. We’re so used to being the leader in the world. Now that might change.”
While in Congress, Baucus rose to become chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. According to his biography on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website, Baucus is also the “architect” of the Affordable Health Care Act. The bio states that Baucus is on the “Board of Advisors” to Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce group, and that he is an “External Advisor” to the Central Intelligence Agency.
Following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump and Republican lawmakers have significantly increased criticism of China. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Chinese government concealed the extent of the initial outbreak, which began in the city of Wuhan, in part in order to hoard supplies of medical equipment.
A poll for Politico released on Wednesday indicates that 31 percent of U.S. voters see China as an “enemy,” while another 30 percent view China not as an enemy but still “unfriendly.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/former-obama-ambassador-to-china-compares-trump-to-hitler-on-chinese-state-tv/ar-BB14qlWR
Pompeo’s Wuhan lab charge makes no sense: former US ambassador to China
Die Renaissance des Polizeistaats? Ehem. DDR-Oppositionelle Angelika Barbe im Gespräch [DFP 78]
The renaissance of the police state? Interview with former GDR opposition Angelika Barbe [DFP 78]
https://youtu.be/aRzkRxdaS1U
Reports: Albanian Migrant Charged with Murder of 7-year-old Emily Jones (breitbart, May 22, 2020)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/05/22/reports-albanian-migrant-charged-murder-7-year-old-emily-jones/
“A 30-year-old Albanian migrant has been charged with the murder of seven-year-old Emily Jones on Mother’s Day, according to reports.
Eltiona Skana (24/2/90), “formerly of Turnstone Road, Bolton”, according to a Greater Manchester Police news bulletin, has been charged with murder and possession of a bladed article.
She is accused of having lashed out at the youngster with a knife in a “totally unprovoked and random attack” while she was riding her scooter with parents Mark Jones and Sarah Barnes in Queen’s Park, Bolton, leaving her with injuries which proved fatal “despite the best efforts of Emily’s family and medical responders” at the scene.
The migration background of Skana, who was detained under the Mental Health Act shortly after the attack, has been the subject of much public speculation. Local reports now indicate that she is “understood to be originally from Albania” — as do reports in national outlets including the right-leaning MailOnline and the left-wing Independent.
Emily’s parents described her as our “only child and the light of our lives”, paying tribute to her as a “little social butterfly” with “a cheeky smile” and “a heart as big as her smile.”
“It is truly heartbreaking to wake up to a world without Emily in it and we cannot comprehend why this has happened,” they added.
Eltiona Skana will appear before Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on May 26th.”
Schumer demands answers on V.A.’s use of drug
“…..hydroxychloroquine has been proven not to help with Covid19….”
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer is demanding answers from the Department of Veterans Affairs after officials say it administered a controversial COVID-19 remedy to more than 1,000 patients at its hospitals.
THE HILL – VA gave hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 to 1,300 veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has used hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus for approximately 1,300 veterans, according to a letter sent to the top Senate Democrat.
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, in a letter and documents provided to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), said the department had prescribed hydroxychloroquine to about 1,300 coronavirus patients of more than 10,000 veterans treated for the coronavirus “and will continue to do so in accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines.”
In addition to treating approximately 1,300 veterans with hydroxychloroquine for the coronavirus, the VA has also prescribed the medication to approximately 7,500 for non–COVID-19 conditions since the start of the pandemic.
Wilkie told Schumer that the VA is also planning studies into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria medication touted by President Trump.
The VA’s Office of Research and Development is planning a study on whether the drug would help prevent veterans potentially exposed to the coronavirus from being infected, and the San Francisco VA Medical Center is studying if it could treat coronavirus infections.
Wilkie noted that the VA facilities are also looking at whether existing drugs can be repurposed for coronavirus patients.
The details come after Schumer sent a letter to Wilkie earlier this month about the department’s use of hydroxychloroquine.
CNN reported in April on a study, which hadn’t been peer reviewed, based on hundreds of patients in VA medical centers that found that coronavirus patients taking the drug did not see a reduced need for ventilation and had higher death rates compared to patients who did not take the medication.
Wilkie, in a letter sent to veterans organizations, said the analysis of those hospitalized in Veterans Health Administration medical centers led to “misinformation” about what was taking place at its facilities. He said hydroxychloroquine was only being given to veterans at the “highest risk prior to receiving medication.”
But Schumer countered on Friday that the new details provided by Wilkie shows that the original VA study reported by CNN “is really just the beginning.” He is asking for the VA to disclose the location of the VA facilities where trials will be conducted, as well as the location of the approximately 1,300 COVID-19 patients already treated with hydroxychloroquine and their health status.
“What I am able to say today is that more than one-thousand vets have been given hydroxychloroquine, a clinical trial is set to launch in California and other states that could begin as soon as next week,” Schumer said.
“Why did we not know this until now? What happened to the 1,300 vets who took this drug so far and where will the next trials take place. We need these answers and we need them now,” Schumer added.
Wilkie, in a separate letter obtained by NBC News, said that the VA had made the drug available pursuant to FDA guidelines “because some of our Veterans and families are requesting the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.”
Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and has not been approved for COVID-19. The FDA has authorized its use for COVID-19 in situations where clinical trials are unavailable or infeasible.
Trump has touted the drug, even though numerous studies have shown almost no evidence of any benefit. He told reporters earlier this week that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine, in combination with zinc, as a way to prevent getting COVID-19.
“I think it gives you an additional level of safety,” Trump said, despite warnings that the drug can cause heart problems in certain patients.
Wilkie, in documents provided to Schumer, said neither he nor anyone else at the VA had been pressured by the White House to prescribe the medication.
“The idea that VA health care providers would make treatment decisions based on anything other than the best medical interests of our patients as individuals is preposterous,” he added.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/499166-va-gave-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-to-1300-veterans
Bloomberg – Hydroxychloroquine linked to deaths, heart risks in COVID-19 study
Antimalaria drugs that U.S. President Donald Trump has touted for treatment of COVID-19 were linked to an increased risk of death and heart ailments in a study.
Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine didn’t benefit patients with the coronavirus, either alone or in combination with an antibiotic, according to the study published Friday by The Lancet medical journal.
Researchers are searching through available options to treat the coronavirus, which has killed more than 330,000 people, including drugs like the antimalarials that are also already approved to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Trump’s endorsement has led many people to take the medications without scientific proof of their benefit.
The study looked at the records of 15,000 people who had been treated with the antimalarials and one of two antibiotics that have sometimes been paired with them. Treatment with any combination of the four drugs was associated with a higher risk of death than seen in 81,000 patients who didn’t receive them.
The biggest risk increase was seen in the group treated with hydroxychloroquine and an antibiotic, where 8 per cent of patients who got the combination developed a heart arrhythmia, compared with 0.3 per cent of those in the comparison group.
The drugs should only be used for COVID treatment as part of robust studies that will definitively show their impact, the researchers said.
Study Pulled
Authors of a separate study that supported the use of antimalaria drugs with antibiotics for Covid requested that their paper be withdrawn, according to the Retraction Watch website. The paper had been posted online May 11 and hadn’t been reviewed or published in a medical journal.
The lead author of the study, Benjamin Davido of the Hopital Raymond Poincare near Paris, declined to comment when reached by telephone. The paper’s text has been replaced with a statement that the authors intend to revise the manuscript because of “controversy about hydroxychloroquine and the retrospective nature of their study.”
Only one drug, Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir, has been shown to benefit coronavirus patients in a clinical trial. It reduced patients’ recovery time from an average of 15 days to 11 days in that study.
Trump said this week that he’s taking hydroxychloroquine in an effort to ward off the coronavirus.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hydroxychloroquine-linked-to-deaths-heart-risks-in-covid-19-study-1.1439921
CNBC – Dr. Fauci: We can build on Remdesivir success
OANN- Reports: Dr. Fauci tied to Deep State, Soros, Gates & Clintons
CNBC – Dr. Anthony Fauci says staying closed for too long could cause ‘irreparable damage’
Stay-at-home orders intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus could end up causing “irreparable damage” if imposed for too long, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNBC on Friday.
“I don’t want people to think that any of us feel that staying locked down for a prolonged period of time is the way to go,” Fauci said during an interview with CNBC’s Meg Tirrell on “Halftime Report.”
He said the U.S. had to institute severe measures because Covid-19 cases were exploding then. “But now is the time, depending upon where you are and what your situation is, to begin to seriously look at reopening the economy, reopening the country to try to get back to some degree of normal.”
However, Fauci also cautioned states against reducing social distancing measures too quickly, adding they must take “very significant precautions.”
“In general, I think most of the country is doing it in a prudent way,” he said. “There are obviously some situations where people might be jumping over that. I just say please proceed with caution if you’re going to do that.”
Fauci has been criticized in recent days by Republicans, including U.S. lawmakers Rand Paul and Andy Biggs, for making comments appearing to advocate for keeping some businesses closed longer.
[…]
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/22/dr-anthony-fauci-says-staying-closed-for-too-long-could-cause-irreparable-damage.html
CNN – Coronavirus vaccine trial volunteers speak to CNN
“….they see it as a sense of duty …. 10 000 people will be involved”
New York Post columnist slammed city shutdown in blistering op-ed
GENEVA – WHO Says It’s Missing $900 Million to Fund Coronavirus Response
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it is missing 900 million US dollars to fund its response to the coronavirus during an executive board meeting on Friday.
In its first virtual meeting for the board, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO had worked “day and night” to coordinate a global response to the pandemic.
Tedros said the WHO published its first comprehensive package of guidance for COVID-19 on January 10, and said they have since issued “almost 100 technical documents”.
He said the organisation has worked with multiple tech platforms to “fight the infodemic”.
Since February, he said WHO has convened more than 400 researchers worldwide to “identify research priorities”, and that they are tracking more than 700 clinical trials globally.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Tedros threatening to end funding for the agency unless it committed to “substantive improvements” in the next 30 days.
Trump has already ordered a pause in US funding for the WHO, which totalled nearly 900 million US dollars in 2018-19, according to information on the agency’s website.
CBC – No evidence of benefit in hydroxychloroquine treatment of COVID-19 patients, study suggests
Researchers examining data from nearly 15,000 COVID-19 patients have found no evidence that taking hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine provides any treatment benefits and may be linked to an increased risk of serious heart complications, a study published in The Lancet says.
“This is the first large-scale study to find statistically robust evidence that treatment with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine does not benefit patients with COVID-19,”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/hydroxychloroquine-the-lancet-covid-19-may-22-1.5580142
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canadian press – Big study casts more doubt on malaria drugs for coronavirus
Malaria drugs pushed by President Donald Trump as treatments for the coronavirus did not help and were tied to a greater risk of death and heart rhythm problems in a new study of nearly 100,000 patients around the world.
Friday’s report in the journal Lancet is not a rigorous test of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, but it is by far the largest look at their use in real world settings, spanning 671 hospitals on six continents.
“Not only is there no benefit, but we saw a very consistent signal of harm,” said one study leader, Dr. Mandeep Mehra, a heart specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
[…]
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/lifestyle-news/big-study-casts-more-doubt-on-malaria-drugs-for-coronavirus-2369828
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USA TODAY – Coronavirus patients who took hydroxychloroquine had higher risk of death, study shows
The study, published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet, also found that COVID-19 patients were more likely to develop serious heart arrhythmias if treated with hydroxychloroquine, or its closely related cousin chloroquine.
Arrhythmias can lead to a sudden cardiac death, the report said, but researchers did not associate the study’s fatalities with adverse cardiac affects.
Even though it’s only an observational study – not the gold standard double-blind, randomized, controlled trials – experts say the enormous sample size makes it compelling.
The study comprises of 96,000 coronavirus patients from six different countries who were hospitalized between Dec. 20, 2019 and April 14, 2020. Nearly 15,000 patients were treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine alone or in combination with an antibiotic – similar to the cocktail President Donald Trump said he was taking Monday.
[…]About 8% of those taking hydroxychloroquine and an antibiotic developed a heart rhythm problem vs. 0.3% of the patients not taking any of the drugs in the study. More of these problems were seen with the other drugs, too.
“When you add azithromycin, it’s always worse,” Heinz said. “Cardiac death is something you can’t monitor for, you can’t detect.”
[…]“This is science. COVID-19 isn’t Democrat or Republican. It doesn’t get upset with tweets,” Heinz said. “We’re going to science our way through this pandemic .”
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2020/05/22/covid-19-study-links-hydroxychloroquine-higher-risk-death/5244664002/
reuters – US Trial Shows Gilead’s Remdesivir Drug Works Best in Coronavirus Patients Who Require Extra Oxygen
Gilead said it expects results from its own study of remdesivir in patients with moderate COVID-19 at the end of this month.
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Friday said that data from its trial of Gilead Sciences Inc’s remdesivir show that the drug offers the most benefit for COVID-19 patients who need extra oxygen but do not require mechanical ventilation.
The peer-reviewed data was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
[…]
https://www.news18.com/news/world/us-trial-shows-gileads-remdesivir-drug-works-best-in-coronavirus-patients-who-require-extra-oxygen-2633125.html
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Gilead’s Remdesivir drug mainly helped healthier Covid-19 patients: Report
The drug helped patients infected with the novel coronavirus heal faster, allowing them to return home after about 11 days, compared to 15 days for those who were treated with a placebo, according to the report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Some outside experts welcomed the findings, saying the results showed patients on remdesivir cut their recovery time by 27%.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/gilead-s-remdesivir-drug-mainly-helped-healthier-covid-19-patients-report/story-mn8jHw4Zi9XFAUwakDMMlN.html
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yahoo news – US Trial Shows Gilead’s Remdesivir Drug Works Best in Coronavirus Patients Who Require Extra Oxygen
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Friday said that data from its trial of Gilead Sciences Inc’s remdesivir show that the drug offers the most benefit for COVID-19 patients who need extra oxygen but do not require mechanical ventilation.
The peer-reviewed data was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
[…]The data detailed in the journal is similar to early results that the NIH released last month from the study, which began in February with 1,063 participants in 10 countries.
Researchers now calculate that after follow up, 7% of patients given remdesivir will have died, compared with 12% in the placebo group, but they said the difference in the death rate was not significant.
https://in.news.yahoo.com/us-trial-shows-gileads-remdesivir-031400767.html
INDIA – In New Advisory, ICMR Renews Hydroxychloroquine Use as Evidence Remains Lax
In a strange turn of events, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued a new advisory late on May 22 renewing its commitment to the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a prophylactic against COVID-19 among India’s frontline healthcare workers.
While the previous advisory limited the drug’s use among workers treating COVID-19 patients, the new one reaches out to include “asymptomatic healthcare workers working in non-COVID hospitals/non-COVID areas of COVID hospitals/blocks” and “asymptomatic frontline workers, such as surveillance workers deployed in containment zones and paramilitary/police personnel involved in COVID-19 related activities”.
This is strange because the new advisory, while tacitly acknowledging that the previous one did not present clinical evidence in favour of the apex research body’s decision, presents subpar or insufficient evidence this time round to expand the scope of HCQ’s use instead of shrinking it – a paradoxical change.
[…]According to the advisory, the side-effects among 1,323 healthcare workers were:
“… nausea (8.9%), abdominal pain (7.3%), vomiting (1.5%), hypoglycaemia (1.7%) and cardio-vascular effects (1.9%). However, as per the data from the pharmacovigilance programme of India, there have been 214 reported instances of adverse drug reactions associated with prophylactic HCQ use. Of these, 7 were serious individual case safety reports, with prolongation of QT interval on ECG in 3 cases.”
[…]
https://science.thewire.in/health/in-new-advisory-icmr-renews-hydroxychloroquine-use-as-evidence-remains-lax/
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reuters – Coronavirus vaccine safe in early trial, hydroxychloroquine may increase death risk
CORONAVIRUS VACCINE APPEARS SAFE IN FIRST HUMAN TRIAL
A coronavirus vaccine developed by CanSino Biologics Inc appears to be safe and induced a rapid immune response in its first human trial, Chinese researchers reported on Friday in The Lancet medical journal.
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE TIED TO HIGHER DEATH RISK IN HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS
In an observational study of more than 96,000 COVID-19 patients at 671 hospitals on six continents, the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine was tied to an increased risk of death, researchers reported on Friday.
[…]
https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/23/20/coronavirus-vaccine-safe-in-early-trial-hydroxychloroquine-may-increase-death-risk
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Associated Press Big study casts more doubt on malaria drugs for coronavirus
Malaria drugs pushed by President Donald Trump as treatments for the coronavirus did not help and were tied to a greater risk of death and heart rhythm problems in a new study of nearly 100,000 patients around the world.
“Not only is there no benefit, but we saw a very consistent signal of harm,” said one study leader, Dr. Mandeep Mehra, a heart specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
[…]
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/article242928076.html
*****TRUMP DEEMS ‘HOUSES OF WORSHIP’ ‘ESSENTIAL’
video – 1 min 51 secs
On Friday, President Trump pronounced churches, synagogues, and mosques “essential places that provide essential services,” demanding governors open them back up for worship “right now, for this weekend.”