Sep 092020
 
 September 9, 2020  Posted by at 9:29 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,


Pablo Picasso The Dream 1932

 

Assange Legal Team Focuses On US Torture And War Crimes (Gosztola)
Politics and Violence Go Hand in Hand (Knapp)
Scott Adams: Trump Is The Most Successful Stand-Up Comic Ever (RCP)
Biden Loses His Florida Lead As Latino Voters Shift To Trump (Week)
Docs Show Former Officials “In Real Trouble” In Durham Probe – Meadows (ET)
Vindman, Not Whistleblower, Was Driving Force Behind Impeachment (Fed.)
On-the-Record Sources, Paper Trail Rebut Anonymous Atlantic Claims (JTN)
AstraZeneca COVID19 Vaccine Trial Put On Hold Due To Adverse Reaction (STAT)
England To Ban Gatherings Of More Than 6 People As Coronavirus Cases Spike (AP)
Britons Scrambling To Get Back Home From Greek Islands On UK Red List (K.)
Netherlands Puts All Greek Islands On Orange Travel List (K.)
35 Migrants In Moria Found Positive For Coronavirus (K.)
1,000s Flee Fire At Moria Migrant Camp On Virus Lockdown In Greece (K.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CNN’s Zucker wanted to give Trump a show

 

 

“Lewis insisted the U.S. government only charged Assange with documents that revealed the names of informants..”

Assange personally redacted out 10,000 names in one night after the journalists at the Guardian etc. refused to do it. He’s the only one who cared.

Assange Legal Team Focuses On US Torture And War Crimes (Gosztola)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s legal team spent the second morning of a major extradition hearing focusing a magistrate court judge’s attention on United States torture and war crimes that Assange helped to expose. Defense attorney Mark Summers called Clive Stafford Smith, a human rights attorney who has represented prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, to the witness stand. He was asked about human rights cases he pursued, which were bolstered by revelations in documents WikiLeaks published. For example, Stafford Smith told Judge Vanessa Baraitser that U.S. State Department cables helped those impacted by U.S. drone killings in Pakistan. It contributed to “court findings that US drone strikes are criminal offenses and that criminal proceedings should be initiated against senior U.S. officials involved in such strikes.”

A high court in Pakistan ruled “drone strikes carried out by the CIA and U.S. authorities were a ‘blatant violation of basic human rights’ including ‘a blatant breach of the absolute right to life’ and ‘a war crime,’” Stafford Smith declared in a statement to the court. Due to the decision, drone strikes that caused many “innocent deaths” stopped “very rapidly.” None were reported in 2019. The defense had Stafford Smith testify in order to persuade the court that Assange “disclosed U.S. involvement in criminal activity.” Specifically, these were “public interest disclosures” of war crimes and torture. Some of the publications are currently the subject of a criminal investigation into the CIA that is before the International Criminal Court (ICC). In other words, the prosecution against Assange is retaliation for bringing increased scrutiny to U.S. actions throughout the world.

But James Lewis, the lawyer representing the Crown Prosecution Authority on behalf of the U.S. government, was irritated by the defense’s focus on documents that exposed torture and war crimes. Lewis insisted the U.S. government only charged Assange with documents that revealed the names of informants, and none of the materials Stafford Smith was asked about mattered in the extradition case. [..]

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Word. But not sure I would say Power Corrupts. I think the people seeking power are already mentally corrupted.

Politics and Violence Go Hand in Hand (Knapp)

“[W]e currently have an inferno of political violence to which the president of the United States adds fuel,” Jennifer Rubin thunders from her bully pulpit at the Washington Post. “[I]t is time for bipartisan voices, local and state leaders, police and other first responders, civic and religious leaders, and all responsible media outlets to try to quench the flames of violence.” Rubin is no lone voice in the wilderness. As America’s latest long hot summer drags into autumn, politicians and pundits are getting louder and more shrill in their denunciations of political violence. Considering the sources, those denunciations smack of hypocrisy. In another Post column published the very same day as her rant against political violence, Rubin tells us US Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) should be “revered and thanked for her courage and service to the country.”

Duckworth lost her legs co-piloting a helicopter during the US occupation of Iraq. That is, engaging in unambiguously political violence on behalf of the US government. Rubin denounces political violence out of one side of her mouth while lionizing it out of the other. Politics as we know it today is entirely based on violence and the threat of violence. That’s most obvious in the case of war, in which governments settle their political conflicts by sending forth their armed servants in large numbers to murder one another (and anyone else with the bad luck to get in the way), but don’t be fooled: Every government edict, at home and abroad, is backed by the credible threat of violence.

According to the Declaration of Independence, government exists to protect our rights. It may only legitimately use force to do so, and to bring to justice those who violate those rights. If government accomplished that mission and went no further, it might be an acceptable, even worthwhile institution. But it doesn’t accomplish that mission very well, and it inevitably turns the inch it’s given into miles. Why? Because the problem with power, as Lord Acton noted, is that it corrupts. Governments, and those who run and rely on them, always turn from the task of protecting our rights to increasing their power. At the far, not always visible, end of every government demand — a speed limit, a tax code, a drug prohibition, what have you — stand men and women with guns, waiting to cage or kill you for non-compliance or defiance.

As for democracy, as currently practiced it’s merely a contest to see who gives armed enforcers their marching orders. America’s two “major” political parties don’t want to end political violence; they merely want control of those they deem its “legitimate” combatants. The present conflagration — marches in the streets, clashes between protesters and police, cities on fire — shouldn’t surprise us. Sometimes the state’s victims fight back. And then the state pours on even more force, because that’s its nature. It’s a cycle that can only be broken by abolishing the state itself. Which means that only anarchists enjoy moral standing to denounce political violence.

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“We’ve decided to call all our rallies peaceful protests.”

 

 

Scott has his own way of looking at things. Is he that far off here?

Scott Adams: Trump Is The Most Successful Stand-Up Comic Ever (RCP)

During Monday morning’s “Coffee With Scott Adams” podcast, the comedian and ‘Dilbert’ creator again discussed Joe Biden’s repeated references to what Adams calls the “fine people in Charlottesville” race hoax. Last week, Adams extensively explained how a simple edited video has convinced tens of millions of people that President Trump ever praised members of hate groups after the deadly clash in Charlottesville 2017. This week, he compared the “fine people” hoax to the newest outrage about the president, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s “anonymous source” alleging that the president insulted those buried in an American war cemetery during a visit to France in 2018.

According to Adams, the common thread between why so many people believe these claims to be true without any evidence (or even in the face of counterevidence) could be that they simply have no sense of humor. People hate the president so much because they literally can’t recognize the difference between an off-color joke and violent hate speech. Adams described a conversation he had on Twitter with an actress who said she believed the claims in Goldberg’s article because of the joke Trump made in 2015 about John McCain not being a war hero because he was “captured.” “This is typical Trump, he is a dumb, hate-filled liar and misogynist!” Scott’s Twitter correspondent said. “When I saw that I commented back [that] Trump told a Chris Rock joke about McCain because Chris Rock actually did that same joke before Trump did,” Adams replied.

“And then I said, you literally want to overthrow the government because you don’t recognize a joke. That’s actually what happened, this is someone who wants to get rid of Trump at any cost in part because she doesn’t recognize a joke. So, I said maybe the problem’s on your end.” She responded: “B.S. Circus with Trump’s trained Monkeys defending his stupidities. What’s wrong with you people? Who cares if Chris Rock made a joke?” “See where this is going?” Scott asked, holding back a laugh. “She has now acknowledged that the president told a joke. She did not know until I explained it that it was a joke. So now she has to change her objection from being a horrible thing he said, to ‘Yeah, it was a joke but it was still horrible, and here’s why.'” She responded: “A president must know better than to say something like that! There are better things to quote as president, how do you fall for this crap?”

“Now, she also said earlier that Trump had no sense of humor, therefore it couldn’t be a joke. To which I pointed out that he is the most successful stand-up comedian in the history of humanity. His rallies with gigantic audiences are literally stand-up comedy. He does it to entertain. He literally says funny things and his audience laughs. And they go because he will say funny things that will make them laugh. He’s literally the most successful stand-up comedian in the history of civilization if you look at the numbers of people who go in person,” Adams revealed. “You have to admit the reason the crowd is so big is because he brings entertainment and humor.”

Chris Rock

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Uh-oh.

Biden Loses His Florida Lead As Latino Voters Shift To Trump (Week)

The sun may be setting on Democrats’ hopes of picking up Florida. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has seemingly lost his advantage over President Trump in the crucial swing state of Florida, an NBC News/Marist poll released Tuesday found. A lot of that shift seemingly stems from Florida’s Latino voters, who have gone from resoundingly supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016 to actually tipping in Trump’s favor this time around, the poll showed. Less than two months before election day, Biden and Trump are tied in Florida with 48 percent support among likely Florida voters. Biden had previously pulled as much as a 13-point lead over Trump in Florida. That dip comes as a majority of Latino respondents say they’re voting for Trump over Biden, 50-46 percent; Latino voters went for Clinton 62-35 in 2016.


A poll from the Miami Herald and Bendixen & Amandi International backed up NBC News’ findings, at least in Miami-Dade County. Biden still has a strong advantage, 55-38 percent, in the heavily Democratic part of the state, the Tuesday poll found. But it’s not the best news considering Clinton won that county by 30 points in 2016 and still lost the state by 1.2 points. In addition, the Miami Herald poll found Trump and Biden are splitting Hispanic voters, 47-46, though there’s a larger margin of error among that smaller subset. NBC News/Marist surveyed 766 likely Florida voters from Aug. 31–Sept. 6, with a 4.5 percentage point margin of error. The Miami Herald poll surveyed 500 likely Miami-Dade voters from Sept. 1–4, with a margin of error of 4.4 points.

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Wonder if the Durham report will ever come out.

Docs Show Former Officials “In Real Trouble” In Durham Probe – Meadows (ET)

Newly reviewed documents show that former FBI agent Peter Strzok and other officials involved in the counter-intelligence probe against Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign are in trouble, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said. U.S. Attorney John Durham is reviewing the origins of that investigation and landed his first guilty plea last month. While he doesn’t have visibility into the timeline of Durham’s probe, Meadows said he’s reviewed additional documents that “say that a number of the players, the Peter Strzoks, the Andy McCabes, the James Comeys – and even others in the administration previously – are in real trouble because of their willingness to participate in an unlawful act.”

“And I use the word unlawful at best, it broke all kinds of protocols and at worst people should go to jail as I mentioned previously,” Meadows said during a virtual appearance on Fox Business’ “Mornings With Maria” on Monday. Strzok, McCabe, and Comey are former high-level FBI officials. Strzok, best known for exchanging biased text messages about Trump with an FBI lawyer he was having an affair with, was fired by FBI officials in 2018. The former agent sat down for an interview with CBS that ran over the weekend. He insisted that the counter-intelligence probe, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, was opened on a legitimate basis. Meadows said it was easy for Strzok to make claims when not under oath.

“In all of his interview, I can tell you this: It’s not backed up by the facts. It’s not backed up by documents that I’ve seen. And ultimately his house of cards will come falling down,” Meadows said. The facts that have come out show that officials treated Trump “very differently, in an inappropriate way, and they must be held accountable,” he added. Durham’s criminal investigation is being kept under tight wraps, prompting much speculation about when another development will come, or even if any other people will be charged. Trey Gowdy, a Fox News contributor who used to serve in the House of Representatives, said over the weekend that there’s concern that Durham “is dragging his feet.” Durham, he said, “is going to access documents that the FBI never shared with Congress and he’ll write the definitive accounting of what happened.”

“Whether or not there’ll be more indictments or not, I don’t know and I like to assume that there will not be,” he said, adding: “That puts me in a small minority, but I’m assuming that the Clinesmith indictment will be the only one.” Kevin Clinesmith recently pleaded guilty to altering an email to say Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, was not a CIA asset when the CIA had said the exact opposite. The altered email was used to obtain spy warrants against Page, enabling the FBI to conduct surveillance against Page and people he was linked to in the future and past. Meadows, meanwhile, said Trump supports the declassification of all documents, along with full transparency. “He has nothing to hide,” he said.

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New book. Vindman was the whistleblower, but nobody knew it. That allowed him to be a witness – twice.

Vindman, Not Whistleblower, Was Driving Force Behind Impeachment (Fed.)

The most interesting thing about Byron York’s exhaustively reported and richly detailed new impeachment book, “Obsession: Inside the Washington Establishment’s Never-Ending War on Trump,” is that the whistleblower who filed the official complaint that got impeachment rolling isn’t ever identified. It turns out that the heated discussion over the whistleblower, who was previously identified by Real Clear Investigations as the CIA’s Eric Ciaramella, was a diversion from allowing the American people to understand who was the actual instigator of the failed effort to oust President Donald Trump from office.

Rather than being a witness who independently supported the claims of the whistleblower, the National Security Council’s Lt. Col Alex Vindman was the driving force behind the entire operation, according to the book’s interviews with key figures in the impeachment probe and other evidence. The whistleblower’s information came directly from Vindman, investigators determined. “Vindman was the person on the call who went to the whistleblower after the call, to give the whistleblower the information he needed to file his complaint,” said Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. “For all intents and purposes, Vindman is the whistleblower here, but he was able to get somebody else to do his dirty work for him,” explained one senior congressional aide.

[..] In his complaint, the whistleblower claimed “multiple White House officials with direct knowledge of the call” described to him the contents of the conversation. It is unclear if he was sourcing his knowledge just to multiple Vindmans or any other White House officials. The description of the call appeared to come from the White House’s rough transcript, which Vindman helped prepare. It repeated Vindman’s unique interpretation of the call as seeking foreign interference in a campaign. It mentioned that lawyers had been informed, and Vindman had done just that. The complaint also included information from public news reports.

At first Schiff publicly promised that the whistleblower would testify and that any attempt by the White House to thwart that would be fought vigorously. But then news broke that Schiff’s office had worked with the whistleblower prior to him filing his complaint. Schiff switched his stance to refusing to allow the whistleblower to testify. What’s more, he refused to allow any investigation into how the Ukraine investigation began. [..] Vindman repeatedly said that he viewed Trump’s phone call with Zelensky as “wrong,” but he was unable to articulate precisely why. He expressed frustration that the elected president was pushing a foreign policy at odds from the “interagency consensus” of the bureaucracy that he felt should control foreign policy.

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I count 15. That does not include Bolton. But it doesn’t matter, the story is out there, it’s doing its damage, and who cares if it’s true? Because what are the odds the Atlantic will be sued over it?

On-the-Record Sources, Paper Trail Rebut Anonymous Atlantic Claims (JTN)

Trump advisor Derek Lyons: “I was with the President the morning after the scheduled visit. He was extremely disappointed that arrangements could not be made to get him to the site and that the trip had been canceled. I have worked for the President for his entire administration. One of my responsibilities is working with him on the many letters he signs to the families of our nation’s fallen heroes. In all my time at the White House, I have never heard him utter a disparaging remark, of any kind, about our troops. In my view, he holds the brave men and women of our armed forces in the highest regard.”

U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco Jamie McCourt: “In my presence, POTUS has NEVER denigrated any member of the U.S. military or anyone in service to our country. And he certainly did not that day, either. Let me add, he was devastated to not be able to go to the cemetery at Belleau Wood. In fact, the next day, he attended and spoke at the ceremony in Suresnes in the pouring rain.” Trump Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino: “I was with POTUS in France, with Sarah, and have been at his side throughout it all. Complete lies by ‘anonymous sources’…” Trump Senior Advisor Stephen Miller: “The President deeply wanted to attend the memorial event in question and was deeply displeased by the bad weather call.” Former presidential advisor Johnny DeStefano: “I was on this trip. The Atlantic bit is not true. Period.”

Former Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Walsh: “I can attest to the fact that there was a bad weather call in France and that the helicopters were unable to safely make the flight. Overall, the President’s support and respect for our American troops, past and present, is unquestionable.” Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders: “I was actually there and one of the people part of the discussion — this never happened.” Former Deputy Chief of Staff Zach Fuentes: “I did not hear POTUS call anyone losers when I told him about the weather.” Maj. General (Ret.) William Matz: “No one has done more for our veterans than President Trump, and he enjoys a relationship of mutual affection and honor with those who wear and have worn the uniform of the United States military and their families. Those who know President Trump know that the anonymous smears peddled by The Atlantic have no basis in fact or reality, and do a terrible disservice to journalism and to our veterans, living and deceased.”

Secretary Of Defense Mark Esper: “President Trump has the highest respect and admiration for our nation’s military members, veterans and families. That is why he has fought for greater pay and more funding for our armed forces.” Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo: “I’ve been with this president now for coming on four years. I’ve never heard the president use the language that assertively is said in that article.” Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie: Denied ever hearing President Trump make such remarks: “Absolutely not.” Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato: Denied the Atlantic’s story.

Lt. General and National Security Advisor to Vice President Pence Keith Kellogg: “The Atlantic story is completely false. Absolutely lacks merit. I’ve been by the President’s side. He has always shown the highest respect to our active duty troops and veterans with utmost respect paid to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and those wounded in battle.” Former Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney: “I never heard the President disparage our war dead or wounded. In fact, the exact opposite is true. I was with him at the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy. As we flew over the beaches by helicopter he was outwardly in awe of the accomplishments of the Allied Forces, and the sacrifices they paid.”

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So surprised.

AstraZeneca Covid19 Vaccine Trial Put On Hold Due To Adverse Reaction (STAT)

A large, Phase 3 study testing a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford at dozens of sites across the U.S. has been put on hold due to a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the United Kingdom. A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, a frontrunner in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine, said in a statement that the company’s “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.” In a follow-up statement, AstraZeneca said it initiated the study hold. The nature of the adverse reaction and when it happened were not immediately known, though the participant is expected to recover, according to an individual familiar with the matter.


The spokesperson described the pause as “a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials.” The spokesperson also said that the company is “working to expedite the review of the single event to minimize any potential impact on the trial timeline.” An individual familiar with the development said researchers had been told the hold was placed on the trial out of “an abundance of caution.” A second individual familiar with the matter, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the finding is having an impact on other AstraZeneca vaccine trials underway — as well as on the clinical trials being conducted by other vaccine manufacturers.

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Boy, what a mess that country is. I can see the experts brainstorming for hours: 5, no 7, how about 8? Raise your hand for 6!

England To Ban Gatherings Of More Than 6 People As Coronavirus Cases Spike (AP)

Britain’s government is banning gatherings of more than six people in England, as officials try to keep a lid on daily new coronavirus infections after a sharp spike across the U.K. that has been largely blamed on party-going young adults disregarding social distancing rules. Downing Street said urgent action was needed after the number of daily laboratory-confirmed positive cases hit nearly 3,000 on Sunday. The figure dipped Tuesday to 2,460. Officials said that starting Monday, the legal limit on all social gatherings in England will be reduced from the current 30 people to six. The new law applies both indoors and outdoors, including private homes, restaurants and parks. Failure to comply could result in a 100-pound ($130) fine.

Weddings, school, funerals and organized team sports are exempt, and larger gatherings will also be allowed if the household or “support bubble” is larger than six. Government ministers and scientists took to the airways to urge Britons not to let down their guard. “We’ve been able to relax a bit over the summer … but these latest figures really show us that much as people might like to say ‘Oh well, it’s gone away’ — this hasn’t gone away,” said Dr. Jonathan Van-Tam, the government’s deputy chief medical officer. He said while the rise in infections is “much more marked” among people between 17 and 21, he was concerned about a “more general and creeping geographic trend” across the U.K. “People have relaxed too much,” he said. “Now is the time for us to re-engage and realize that this is a continuing threat.”

[..] Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government has faced strong criticism for its mixed messages since it started easing the coronavirus lockdown in late spring. It spent much of the summer encouraging people to eat out to help the hard-pressed hospitality sector and is now urging workers to return to their offices to help hard-hit businesses in city centers. John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said cases are rising, though “not spectacularly,” but he’s worried about what will happen following the reopening of schools and universities. “There are big movements afoot in the country and these will inevitably accelerate transmission,” he told Sky News. “I’m not sure we have to go back to work when we can work from home.”

The government has also been criticized for testing problems, prompting an apology from Sarah-Jane Marsh, director for the National Health Service’s Test and Trace program. “All of our testing sites have capacity, which is why they don’t look overcrowded. It’s our laboratory processing that is the critical pinch point,” she said. “We are doing all we can to expand quickly.” “The testing team work on this 18 hours a day, seven days a week,” she said.

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60,000 people told from one day to the next that they must quarantine when they return home. Good for the airlines: ticket prices triple. Bad for the airlines: tons of cancellations.

Britons Scrambling To Get Back Home From Greek Islands On UK Red List (K.)

Some 60,000 Britons are scrambling to get back home from seven Greek islands that were recently added to the UK’s quarantine list, before restrictions take effect at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday. According to the British newspaper, holidaymakers were blindsided by the announcement on Monday by UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that the Greek islands of Crete, Lesvos, Mykonos, Santorini, Serifos, Tinos and Zakynthos have been put on the government’s red list of destinations from which arrivals would have to spend 14 days in quarantine once returning to the UK.


The measure was announced in response to a spike in coronavirus infections, particularly in Crete, Mykonos and Zakynthos. “I don’t understand it because if anything it seems safer here than in the UK. It’s been very quiet, there’s barely anyone on the beaches, all the staff wear masks and there are hand-sanitizers on every table,” Julie Frew, who is holidaying on Crete, told the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail also said that holidaymakers have seen ticket prices for return flights almost treble since the measure was announced.

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The Brits do 7 islands, the Dutch do them all, including many that have never had one case.

But what’s even funnier: it’s the UK and Holland that have large outbreaks, Greece is nothing compared to that. And now they want to claim that their outbreaks come from Greece?

Netherlands Puts All Greek Islands On Orange Travel List (K.)

The Dutch government has placed Greece’s islands on its orange list of destinations approved for essential travel only, just a day after Britain said that people returning from seven Greek holiday islands would be quarantined for two weeks after arrival to check for symptoms of coronavirus. According to the directive, citizens of The Netherlands are “strongly discouraged” from traveling to the Greek islands and those who do will be subjected to 10 days of self-isolation on their return. The Foreign Ministry directive also advises that while citizens planning to travel to mainland Greece and the Peloponnese recreationally should not cancel their plans, they should exercise caution and abide by health safety regulations.

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Well, they don’t have to worry about infections in the camp anymore, because it burned down. See below

35 Migrants In Moria Found Positive For Coronavirus (K.)

A total of 35 migrants and refugees living in the Moria identification and registration centre on the island of Lesvos have been infected with the novel coronavirus, the Migration Ministry said in a press release on Tuesday, announcing the completion of the checks. The ministry said health teams from the National Organization of Public Health (EODY) conducted a total of 2,000 tests, of which 100 were done on employees and 1,900 on residents. Those infected have been transferred to a separate section of the camp, according to official procedure. Only one of the 35 patients has so far shown any symptoms of the illness, the ministry said. The overcrowded identification and registration centre has been placed on lockdown since last Wednesday (Sept. 2) after a 40-year-old Somalian national tested positive for the virus. During this time, residents are not allowed to enter of exit the camp.

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It’s all gone, the entire camp.

I know there are fires in California., but this is such a human tragedy, visited upon people who already were at the bottom of every ladder you can imagine.

What the EU going to do? Finance a new extra-secure camp? Moria was emant for 3,000 people But still in 2020 there were 15,000 or so living there.

“Some 12,500 people were living at the Moria camp” [..] now “more than 12,000 migrants being guarded by police on a highway..”

1,000s Flee Fire At Moria Migrant Camp On Virus Lockdown In Greece (K.)

Thousands of migrants fled a camp under COVID-19 lockdown after multiple fires gutted much of the site on the Greek island of Lesvos, authorities said early Wednesday. Some 12,500 people were living at the Moria camp and the surrounding area, where additional restrictions have been imposed over the past week after a Somali resident tested positive for the coronavirus. “The fire spread inside and outside of the camp and has destroyed it … There are more than 12,000 migrants being guarded by police on a highway,” Stratos Kytelis, mayor of the island’s main town, Mylinene, told private Skai radio. “It is a very difficult situation because some of those who are outside will include people who are positive (for the coronavirus).” There were no reports of injuries.


The fires broke out overnight, police and fire officials on the island told The Associated Press, adding the cause of the blazes, as well as the full extent of the damage, remained unclear. They did not confirm local reports that the fires had been set deliberately in protest at the lockdown measures but said firefighters had “met resistance” from some camp residents. Health authorities on Tuesday said 35 people had been confirmed infected with the virus so far after a major testing drive was ordered at the overcrowded facility. They were being kept in isolation at a separate site that was not affected by the fire, officials said. Early Wednesday, riot police were deployed along the highway that connects the camp to Mytilene, some 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the south.

Moria fire

https://twitter.com/i/status/1303554698083995650

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A comprehensive list from Professor Mark Feldstein, witness who testified on Day 1 of Assange hearing about frequency of published leaks in journalism. The list includes over 20 examples from 1844-2018.

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle September 9 2020

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
  • Author
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  • #63032

    Pablo Picasso The Dream 1932   • Assange Legal Team Focuses On US Torture And War Crimes (Gosztola) • Politics and Violence Go Hand in Hand (Knap
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle September 9 2020]

    #63033
    zerosum
    Participant

    Leak – confidential
    School is going to start.
    Virus cases are on rise.
    Extra safety precautionary measures recommended for seniors.
    Avoid gran-kids until further notice.
    Long weekend risks increased.
    Avoid west coast heat wave.
    Take a trip to a mountain location and enjoy nature.

    #63034

    Maybe kids should go see their grand parents while they still can. Wonder what the infection rate is in that sort of contact. Most infections appear to come from different sorts.

    #63035

    But for sure things like the British 6-people max rule shows you how utterly clueless all these politicians hiding behind equally clueless ‘scientists’ are. That’s just a number they made up. We’re going to see so much more of that, and everyone will come up with different ‘solutions’. Just not rapid tests, HCQ, zinc and N95 masks indoors, the one thing that would actually work.

    #63036
    Mr. House
    Participant

    Or maybe the entire thing is 10% truth and 90% bullshit

    #63037

    The entire “thing” is not a clear definition. What’s the thing?

    #63039
    Mr. House
    Participant

    Covid

    #63040
    Mr. House
    Participant

    ha but you could also argue the economy is the same.

    #63041
    Susmarie108
    Participant

    Julian Assange is a hero. His destiny is our destiny.

    Unfulfilled DESIRE, and the quest to fulfill it at any cost will always result in corruption.

    Oh now it all makes sense Scott Adams! We have a comedian running the country – it doesn’t matter what he says EVER – because it’s all a joke.

    Vindman as THE whistleblower is a logical conclusion. His testimony was significant, in that he reported on what he perceived as an inappropriate and disturbing policy negotiation on the part of the President. Did Vindman not have a right to do so? Is it Vindman’s fault that his”report” was mishandled? That mis-handling should not minimize the importance what he saw/heard and reported. Whistleblower Vindman = smuck. How did that happen? Guess it depends what “side” you are on.

    Since we have a comedian for a president, any comments said or unsaid at any time about military vets, military heroes, military families are just plain silly. The whole darn Atlantic thing is a big fat joke. Heyyy a hoax is a joke, right? Get over it people. You all know what we pay our comedians to do – rub our faces in our own crap so we can LAUGH about it – instead of cry. Give me “moar” comedy, please.

    “It’s all gone, the entire camp. Moria was meant for 3,000 people but still in 2020 there were 15,000 or so living there”. Reminds me of the fenced enclosures/camps along US borders, stuffed with moms and kids. I am sorry for the suffering of refugees and ask for forgiveness for how we are treating the least of us. We are all in the same human family. Their destiny is our destiny.

    #63043
    John Day
    Participant

    https://www.johndayblog.com/2020/09/two-ways-out.html
    This is a good article, which explains the Spanish hospital study of treating a randomized group with vitamin-D on admission, while not treating the matched control group. It does point out that the form of vitamin-D given in the study was immediately bioavailable as circulating vitamin-D, whereas oral Vitamin-D2 and Vitamin-D3 may take something like a week to be fully metabolized to the bioavailable 25-OH vitamin-D in the bloodstream. This does not matter today, if you are well. Make sure you are taking 5000 units per day of vitamin-D3, or start with 2 pills per day, 10,000 IU, for the first month or two. Normal range is 30-100 and optimum range is 60-100.
    New Study: Vitamin D reduces risk of ICU admission 97%

    Good video presentation on the paper:

    Update on Available COVID-19 Treatments, from 8/20/20 Ivermectin/zinc/doxycycline can be prescribed to anybody without specific allergies. Hydroxychloroquine/zinc/(azithromycin or doxycycline or nothing) is a good consideration for most people without heart problems.
    Diagnosing early and treating early is the right way to manage this, like any other infectious disease.
    https://www.johndayblog.com/2020/08/update-on-available-covid-19-treatments.html

    Ivor Cummins, in Ireland, presents a normative viral epidemiologic argument, with very good supporting historical graphs, country by country, region by region, virus by virus. He asserts that COVID-19 deaths and illness are, indeed, very similar to those caused by influenza, from a public health perspective. (The manifestations of the virus in each person are clearly different from Flu.) He estimates that something like 20% of a population is susceptible to any new strain of influenza or coronavirus, and that this novel coronavirus is tracking the patterns of previous years pretty well. He uses a lot of graphic overlays. He makes a very good case. His attention to the different patterns in Northeastern US (European) and Southwestern US (semi-tropical) spread are especially instructive, and match our experience to date quite well.
    The big question is, “How predictive will this be going into winter?”

    I intend to push 5000 units per day of vitamin-D on people weighing over 100#, and proportionately weight adjusting it down from that point, Test and diagnose as early as possible, and treat people with systemic symptoms like fever, malaise, body aches, nausea, diarrhea, shortness of breath, or higher risk status, with either ivermectin/zinc/doxycycline, or hydroxychloroquine/zinc(+/- doxy or azithromycin)

    #63045
    John Day
    Participant

    Oh, nasty, the internet does not want to allow the rest of the links, batched. Here goes one by one:
    MKULTRA And The CIAs War On The Human Mind
    (I am very sorry, but this is the world in which we live.)
    ​ ​It was at Camp Detrick that Blome encountered a rising star in the CIA, Sidney Gottlieb. Gottlieb, a bacteriological specialist who had been a star student of Ira Baldwin’s at Wisconsin, is the main figure in Kinzer’s book. His career is virtually synonymous with MKULTRA. Under the direction of Gottlieb, the CIA’s laboratories at Camp Detrick transitioned from R&D on bioweapons—often using unwitting American subjects, such as in 1950 when a US Navy minesweeper “specially equipped with large aerosol hoses” spent six days spraying the Serratia marcescens bacterium into the San Francisco fog, infecting some eight hundred thousand people (pp. 37–38)—to drugs which could be used for mind control. (MKNAOMI, MKULTRA’s sister CIA project, was also tasked with finding poisons and biotoxins which the CIA and the US government could use in various operations.) Gottlieb provided the big ideas into which to fit Blome’s nefarious knowledge of mass murder by bacillus. Gottlieb became, virtually overnight and with the help of former Nazi doctors, America’s “poisoner in chief.”
    ​ ​The CIA’s mind control program, which was assuming a bigger and bigger importance as fears of Soviet brainwashing grew in the US, was originally called Operation Bluebird and was personally overseen by CIA higher-up Allen Dulles.
    https://mises.org/wire/mkultra-and-cias-war-human-mind

    #63047
    John Day
    Participant

    Oh, I see it will not accept the 9/11 link. https://www.johndayblog.com/2020/09/two-ways-out.html
    Let me try the next one:
    “Transition Integrity Project” (hint: may mean the opposite.) does “war-games” on the upcoming (US-uniparty) November elections:
    In the TIP’s “clear Trump win” scenario (see page 17), Joe Biden – played in the war game by John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager and chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton – retracted his election night concession and subsequently convinced “three states with Democratic governors – North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan – to ask for recounts.” Then, the governors of Wisconsin and Michigan “sent separate slates of electors to counter those sent by the state legislature” to the Electoral College, which Trump had won, in an attempt to undermine, if not prevent, that win.
    Next, “the Biden campaign encouraged Western states, particularly California but also Oregon and Washington, and collectively known as “Cascadia,” to secede from the Union unless Congressional Republicans agreed to a set of structural reforms. (emphasis added)” Subsequently, “with advice from [former] President Obama,” the Biden campaign laid out those “reforms” as the following:
    Give statehood to Washington, DC and Puerto Rico
    Divide California into five states “to more accurately represent its population in the Senate”
    Require Supreme Court justices to retire at 70
    Eliminate the Electoral College
    In other words, these “structural reforms” involve the creation of what essentially amounts to having the U.S. by composed 56 states, with the new states set to ensure a perpetual majority for Democrats, as only Democrat-majority areas (DC, Puerto Rico and California) are given statehood. Notably, in other scenarios where Biden won the Electoral College, Democrats did not support its elimination.
    https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/09/investigative-reports/bipartisan-washington-insiders-reveal-their-plan-for-chaos-if-trump-wins-the-election/

    #63048
    John Day
    Participant

    Yeah, the internet is filtering out the 9/11 link again. Look at the blog. It’s got one of many 9/11 information site links, with the same important information that we are still not supposed to share with each other.
    https://www.johndayblog.com/2020/09/two-ways-out.html

    #63049

    John Day et al, this is a court case that played in Holland today, I Google-translated it. It again makes me ask: when did the idea that HCQ killed people vanish in the US, only to be turned into: it’s ineffective?! Obviously, in Holland the “killer drug” notion still sticks. And who is YouTube to remove the content? What policy is that based on?

    This Doctor Says He Will Cure Corona Patients, But The Judge Supports YouTube, Which Removed The Video

    General practitioner Rob Elens and entrepreneur Ab Gietelink are not getting their way. A video in which the Limburg general practitioner claims that he can cure people with corona with an anti-malaria drug, does not return on Youtube. The judge in Amsterdam decided this today.

    Gietelink recently interviewed the Limburg GP Rob Elens, who firmly claims to have cured ten patients with hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug that US President Donald Trump also takes. According to Elens, the drug works well if you are there at an early stage and if you combine it with other products, such as zinc. The videos were shown on YouTube, complete with instructions on how to get the drug cocktail together even without a doctor’s prescription. That went too far for YouTube. Opinions are divided about the effectiveness of the drug against corona, in fact, the old malaria drug has already been written off as an anti-corona weapon. Hydroxychloroquine can even be dangerous if used incorrectly. YouTube removed the videos based on the house rules.

    And Gietelink did not accept that, with GP Elens in his wake. Video platform YouTube is so large and influential that freedom of expression is being violated here, says Gietelink. And if YouTube is so concerned about public health, why still show old cigarette ads and not a story about an anti-malaria drug that would fight corona.

    “Disinformation”
    The court does not agree with that. Although the judge finds YouTube’s policy to only post content that is in line with the RIVM, ‘too strict’, but the point is, the judge says, how YouTube uses its policy. According to the judge, the interviews could be considered ‘are marked and could therefore be removed by YouTube.

    According to the judge, the doctor may well believe in his waist, he may even claim on YouTube that he has cured ten people and he may certainly debate about it. But according to the judge he must also add some nuance. And he does not, the judge ruled. “His statements contain false information that is potentially harmful and dangerous,” the ruling said.

    #63051
    papanca
    Participant

    Raul wrote:

    “Word. But not sure I would say Power Corrupts. I think the people seeking power are already mentally corrupted.”

    What is power, but the ability to influence or fully control the behaviour of others? At root it is the ability to persuade others, or coerce them by physical force.

    “Government” in any form (priestly, monarchical, dictatorial, democratic) is a social (re-)distribution of power from individuals to some group, or groups.

    Is what you are saying, Raul, that anyone seeking power (as I define it) “already mentally corrupted?” Or would you define it some other way?

    Our species could not have evolved without some distribution of power within the family and extended family groups. How could even a simple society exist in a completely egalitarian state with respect to power? The problem of power corrupting, seems to arise when, for some reason, a universally accepted distribution of power (within a group) is challenged, or undermined, by some individual or sub-group who wants to alter behaviour of the group. I think this happens as human groups grow in population and become so large that their members are largely anonymous to one another.

    Knapp wrote: “Politics as we know it today is entirely based on violence and the threat of violence.”

    Because we (reasonable) people believe in persuading others by (our) reasoned arguments, we like to think that politics is not entirely (or even largely) based on the “threat of violence.” But if we can’t convince others we have to be prepared to accept and live with the prevailing norms, in other words give up the “right” we feel we have to act in a certain way.

    Knapp again: “According to the Declaration of Independence, government exists to protect our rights. It may only legitimately use force to do so, and to bring to justice those who violate those rights.

    “If government accomplished that mission and went no further, it might be an acceptable, even worthwhile institution. But it doesn’t accomplish that mission very well, and it inevitably turns the inch it’s given into miles.”

    The problem with Knapp’s description lies in the “legitimate” use of force, in what constitutes “justice,” and in what are our “rights” are. But how can these be defined without the exercise of power? Simply by everyone in a society of millions seeing “reason?”

    Back to your point, Raul: does power corrupt, or are those seeking power already corrupt? I’m not an anarchist, but I think the problem of power is inseparable from our problem as a species. As long as small groups revered their collective ancestors and sought the material well-being of their descendants (to the nth generation), the problem of power was probably resolved with the minimum of violence. Then societies grew and collective identification with forbearers and concern for generations beyond grandchildren collapsed into a kind of extended “individuality.” The problem of who has the power of persuasion and coercion has become institutionalized in various dictatorships, but no less in constitutional forms of government where power is supposedly defined by laws.

    How can our huge societies exist without someone seeking and exercising power? And how can any exercise of power backed by the threat of violence be good or ‘uncorrupted?’

    I have long agreed with your view that those seeking power are “mentally corrupt.” In my no-doubt naive picture of early human groups, there must have been a universally held view of how power was and should be distributed for the common good. Hence, violently enforcing power was, I like to think, rare. In our huge, “advanced,” and complex societies, I cannot see how power and mental corruption can be separated.

    #63052
    teri
    Participant

    The holiday weekend is over, so we are back to reporting the numbers again, I guess.

    So far today (on Worldometers’ time-frame), we have 912 Covid deaths, bringing us to just shy of 195,000 deaths YTD.

    Not sure Spain is such a good example of what to aim for. US has an average of 588 Covid deaths per million population. Not too many countries are worse, but Spain is one of them. They average 634 Covid deaths per million.

    #63053
    Susmarie108
    Participant

    Pablo Picasso The Dream 1932: I love how the rounded shapes fit together, very feminine in their expression. Then there is a play of opposites, seen in the face, shoulders, breasts, arms, and in the garment. The use of such unique colors is a wonder all its own. The drama that is the orange and yellow chair and the printed tapestry. The folded hands resting firmly on the womb. Her half face in an unusual shape. What is she dreaming about?

    #63054

    Gee, Zucker likes Trump? Who’da thought? Ka-ching!
    I laughed out loud at 2am when I heard Trump was the winner in 2016.
    I watched Watergate hearings (skipped school to do it); I watched Iran/contra (still have the tapes)…Nothing comes of anything. I’m not holding my breath on Durham. But I can dream.

    So it’s time for that joke:
    A man sat on his roof as the floodwaters rose around him. A boy with an extra life vest swam by: “C’mon! We can swim!,” he cried. “No thanks,” said the man, “Jesus will save me.”
    Then a man in a canoe paddled by. “C’mon! Hop in!,” he cried. “no thanks,” said the man. “Jesus will save me.”
    A helicopter spotted him and sent down a rope. “C’mon!,” cried the pilot. “Grab the rope!” “no thanks,” said the man, “Jesus will save me.”
    Standing before the Lord, the man asked “Why didn’t you save me?”
    Jesus said: “I sent a boy with a life vest, a man in a canoe, and a helicopter with a rope! What more did you want?”

    Change “flood” to “virus”. Change “life vest” to “socializing”, change “canoe” to “Sunshine and/or Vitamin D”; change “helicopter” to”HCQ+ zinc”….and you can even keep Jesus if you want.

    #63055
    Glennda
    Participant

    What can I say??? It just breaks my heart what is being done to Julian Assange.

    We live in a deplorable, desperate time. Disasters everywhere. Poor Julian the scape-goat. Covid 19 turning the world upside down with no certainties or comfortable ruts to go along.
    Here the sky was dark red- orange when I woke and was still that way at high noon, the smoke from the fires on top of the thick fog. At least it was not in the 90s and 100s around here in the SF Bay Area, it was 64F. As the fog has thinned over the day now the air quality is in the red, but the sky just very dark and golden orange at 4 pm. Soot and ash has covered the cars and everywhere. Climate change has moved the hot weather of LA up here and the ocean currents have move the Alaskan rain south to LA.

    Perhaps CA should be 5 states, but what a fiasco that would turn into.

    What really concerns me right now, is not the elections; it’s always been a choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. But I’ll hold my nose and vote for ol’ white Joe.
    Local elections are more important to drive a Green New Deal locally, if possible. TPTB are so rich and powerful, it is more likely things will be stalled.

    What really concerns me right now is The Economy… more bankruptcies of main street, and more service jobs going, going gone. More food banks, more parking lots for people to live in cars, more real health care with vitamins and quick tests. The people in central CA picking the crops have no health care, few resources, probably live in tents or crowded rooms, with working in fields when the Air Quality is code red and no N95 masks to protect them. Nobody has N95 masks; all sold out. No Medicare for All, No Jubilee, No future to be hoped for. These are sad, sad times.

    My heart breaks for all the suffering.

    #63056
    ezlxa1949
    Participant
    #63057

    I watched some of the vaccine hearings today on cspan: How can they reassure the public that the vaccine(s) are safe?
    Not once did someone say: the companies will be held liable for their vaccine’s efficacy and safety.

    Nope. Not a word even close to it.

    #63075
    Germ
    Participant

    @ Susmarie108 – “What is she dreaming about?”

    Sorry to lower the tone here but, purely in the spirit of a little desperately needed levity (and purile crude humour), it’s obvious what she’s dreaming about: What to do with that giant cock flopped on top of her head!

    #63077
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    @ Germ

    “You’re a braver man than I Gunga Din”…
    My thoughts exactly…har, har, har…

    #63079
    Dr. D
    Participant

    ““According to the Declaration of Independence, government exists to protect our rights.”

    This is quite interesting because the Constitution says the opposite: the PEOPLE have the rights, and the Constitution exists to tell the government what they are NOT allowed to do. “You can do this, and only this, and nothing else” best seen in 10A. Odd because although both are true, they conflict only on the surface. This is why they protect “Life, Liberty, and Property.” Because property is life. You eat it (food) live it (shelter) and work it (tools). Without it, and unlike wild beasts, you will very, very shortly die. Which is why Communists attack it, and why 100M immediately die when they do. Like now, as they begin doing, and begin killing.

    How can our huge societies exist without someone seeking and exercising power?”

    All human action, human will, is “exercising power”. Power over, or power with? This is the fallen state of man, the dividing line of good and evil in our own hearts. That’s why we “Balance of Powers” instead of concentrating and monopolizing powers, as Socialism and Oligarchies do.
    What does that mean? Leave people alone to their own ways. That is the Tao, the “Natural Law” of the Enlightenment. Telling people what to do is a first and pivotal step over the line into violence. That’s why telling other people what to do is the universal national sport of all nations and peoples. Violence. War of all on all. When that happens, and there are no police, the ruthless and wealthy win.

    “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?” –A Man for all Seasons.

    Ah, but the laws aren’t flat at all, are they? “The Law is in my mouth.” It’s whatever I say it is, from minute to minute. And the “Law” is now enforced by our new black-shirted policemen of AntiFa and the CHAZ. For a last quote “Abandon hope all ye who enter here”.

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