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Post by soonernvolved on May 11, 2020 17:47:15 GMT -6
Inmates in the Los Angeles County prison system are deliberately trying to contract the coronavirus so that they will be released, according to Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
During a press conference on Monday, Sheriff Villanueva said that some inmates believed that if more inmates caught the virus, it would force the county to begin releasing more inmates.
“There was some mistaken belief among the inmate population that if they tested positive, there was a way to force our hand and somehow release more inmates out of our jail environment, and that’s not gonna happen,” he said.
The prison system has seen a 60% jump in cases of the virus in just one week.
The sheriff also played a video of inmates passing around a hot water bottle and each drinking from it before having their temperatures taken by a nurse.
“With the hot water, they were trying to falsely elevate their temperature readings to generate a symptom for COVID-19,” Villanueva said.
Footage also showed inmates crowding together instead of social distancing and passing around a mask they all breathed into.
“Then all of a sudden we saw a spike, a few weeks, ago, a very noticeable jump, and we couldn’t really understand why, when everything seemed to be going the way we wanted to,” Villanueva said.
CBS Los Angeles reports that since February, L.A. County’s inmate population has been reduced from 17,000 – the largest in the nation — to currently a little over 11,700.
“Had this pandemic swept through while we were sitting on 17,000 inmates, the results would have been catastrophic,” Villanueva said.
As of Monday, 357 inmates have tested positive and 117 of those inmates have recovered.
“There’s a reason why these people are behind bars to begin with, because they violated the norms of society,” Villanueva said. “But to then imperil not only their only safety, but the safety of their fellow inmates who did not want to participate in this behavior. It also endangers all the personnel, both the professional staff and the sworn staff.”
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Post by soonernvolved on May 11, 2020 18:33:24 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/05/11/brian-stelter-trump-benefit-of-the-doubt-china/Brian Stelter: Trump Doesn’t Get ‘The Benefit Of The Doubt,’ His China Comment Was ‘Racist’ NN’s Brian Stelter declared on air Monday that President Donald Trump’s comment to a reporter about China was “racist,” adding that Trump doesn’t have the “benefit of the doubt” on this charge of racism. WATCH: “I think what we saw in that exchange with Weijia Jiang is something that has racial overtones,” Stelter said. “It is racist to look at an Asian-American White House correspondent and say, ‘ask China.’ This isn’t happening in a vacuum. This is part of a pattern of behavior from the president that goes back many years,” he added. “So, he doesn’t have the benefit of the doubt that someone might have if for the first time ever in their life they made a comment like that to a reporter,” Stelter continued. This is in reference to an incident Monday when CBS reporter Weijia Jiang asked Trump about testing, and he replied in part by telling her to “ask China.” “Well, they’re losing their lives everywhere in world. And maybe that’s a question you should ask China. Don’t ask me, ask China that question, okay?” Trump said to her. “When you ask them that question, you may get a very unusual answer.” Stelter also claimed that Trump has a “pattern of reacting to minority journalists in a very specific and different way,” citing an incident when Trump asked April Ryan if members of the Congressional Black Caucus were her “friends.” “Now, of course he says … he would have said the same thing to anyone. But the pattern suggests otherwise. The pattern suggests a racial reaction to certain individuals in the press corps. And that’s deeply, deeply disturbing,” the CNN personality also said of Trump’s comment to Jiang.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 11, 2020 20:38:10 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/05/11/van-jones-rapper-will-i-am-join-forces-with-chinas-huawei-on-coronavirus-disinformation-webinar/CNN’s Van Jones, Rapper will.i.am Team with China’s Huawei on Coronavirus Disinformation Webinar CNN host Van Jones and the rapper known as will.i.am are teaming up with China’s Huawei to lead a virtual panel discussion about the rise of disinformation during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s right. A Chinese tech giant is sponsoring a coronavirus disinformation panel. And it will be headlined by a CNN anchor.Huawei announced Monday that the free webinar will take place Wednesday at 2 p.m. E.T., and will focus on how disinformation about the coronavirus disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. “Since the 2016 general election, Americans have faced an endless barrage of misinformation designed to undermine democratic values and sow social division among various communities,” Huawei said in its announcement. “Now in the face of a global pandemic, the misinformation tide continues to rise, hitting African Americans, as well as Asian, Hispanic, rural and lower-income Americans particularly hard.” Huawei, which is the largest maker of telecom equipment in the world, has come under intense scrutiny as the Trump administration has sought to block its 5G equipment from being used in domestic networks due to concerns over spying.”If Huawei is embedded in 5G networks, they’ll scoop up the world’s data,” Gordon Chang, a China expert, told Breitbart News. While Huawei claims that it is privately owned, it is widely believed that China’s ruling Communist Party exerts significant influence over the company’s operations. Huawei’s coronavirus panel comes as China carries out a massive disinformation campaign seeking to deflect responsibility for its role in the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan. Beijing has created an army of fake and hijacked social media accounts aimed at spreading Chinese propaganda about the virus. Communist Party officials are also coming under fire for their discriminatory treatment of Africans living in China. Human Rights Watch has accused China of mistreating African immigrants, including forcing them into quarantine and denying them entrance to certain public areas. CNN has also received criticism for parroting official Chinese propaganda. Last month, the left-wing cable news outlet ran an online article about the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), citing China’s state-controlled Global Times as its source. Wednesday’s Huawei panel will also feature broadcast journalist Roland S. Martin, who is a former CNN contributor.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 11, 2020 22:07:41 GMT -6
Excerpt from Cohen’s informed speculative article published Monday: www.forbes.com/sites/sethcohen/2020/05/11/president-pelosi-with-the-white-house-as-a-coronavirus-hot-spot-its-possible/#3152086f16eb…While nobody has immediate reason to believe that either of our nation’s top two leaders will be infected or would face the same difficult recovery as Prime Minister Johnson, it is possible that if both men were concurrently incapacitated as a result of infection there would need to be a third person to take over the reins of government, even if for an interim period.
That person would be the current Speaker of the House, Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
Is this at all likely? In these uncertain times nothing can be ruled out. But there is some irony that the President who was elected over the nation’s first major party woman candidate would nonetheless have a role in the elevation of the nation’s first woman president, even if just for a short window of time.
And in a spring that has defied all imagination, that might just be the most unimaginable event of all.”Excerpt from Ballasy’s Just the News article: justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/if-trump-and-pence-catch-covid-19-pelosi-could-serve-president-says“The White House’s internal challenge with coronavirus has brought the official presidential line of succession into the forefront.
According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the line of succession would go from President Trump to Vice President Mike Pence to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The Constitution states that “in Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.”
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Post by soonernvolved on May 11, 2020 22:10:20 GMT -6
Governor Tom Wolf, D, Pennsylvania, is popping his lid at the notion that counties are planning on opening up without his approval and in defiance of his orders. In the minds of the democrats, only they are allowed to decree when businesses are allowed to operate. In fact, Governor Wolf is vowing to withhold funding from these counties. Wolf is somehow framing this as an act of “surrender” and “cowardice.” Because somehow in the minds of the democrats it’s brave to stay quarantined in your own home. The Franklin County Journal reports: thefranklincountyjournal.com/2020/05/11/its-on-governor-wolf-declares-war-on-pennsylvania-citizens/The revolt by a dozen or more Pennsylvania counties who are opening up their businesses against the dictatorial edicts of Democrat Governor Tom Wolf has apparently thrown him into a blind rage, which was further exacerbated by a Tweet from President Trump in support of Pennsylvania patriots and a news conference by State Senator and gubernatorial aspirant Doug Mastriano, in which he called for the resignation of the incompetent Health Secretary Rachel Levine.
Wolf attacked business owners who reopen from coronavirus shutdowns before they are allowed and the politicians who have encouraged them, calling them “cowardly”, threatening serious consequences to both groups.
Wolf said he would revoke state licenses for businesses that open early and stop some state funding to county governments, saying businesses that open before the state allows could lose licenses that are required to operate, including liquor licenses, health certificates and certificates of occupancy.
“These folks are choosing to desert in the face of the enemy, in the middle of a war that Pennsylvanians are winning and must win,” said Wolf, seemingly angry at times, at a press briefing.
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman stated that companies that ignore Wolf’s edicts could be jeopardizing their insurance coverage and putting themselves at risk of having their claims denied, adding that many policies have provisions that exclude coverage stemming from “illegal acts or conduct,” and could result in denied claims for property damage, protection from liability and other hazards should a business decide to reopen in violation of Wolf’s order.www.wgal.com/article/gov-tom-wolf-warns-of-consequences-for-pennsylvania-counties-planning-to-reopen-early/32435607#Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf issued a warning Monday about the consequences for counties and businesses that plan to reopen in defiance of his shutdown order. During a news conference, Wolf urged Pennsylvanians to stay the course in the fight against the coronavirus. He said reopening early is a cowardly act. “Over this past weekend, some have decided to surrender to this enemy. These are politicians who were elected to serve their fellow citizens. Others are business owners who have chosen to serve their customers by putting them in harm’s way. These folks are choosing to desert in the face of the enemy, in the middle of a war that we Pennsylvanians are winning and that we must win,” Wolf said. Wolf said reopening decisions are based on the advice of scientists, medical professionals, and the state’s epidemiologists. Case counts, modeling, geographic location, contact tracing and testing capabilities are taken into account, Wolf said. Each county is considered individually before it is placed in the red, yellow or green phases. “I cannot allow residents in a red county to get sick because their local officials can’t see the invisible risk of the virus in their community. So, I must and I will impose consequences if a county locally lifts restrictions when it has not yet been given the go-ahead by the state,” Wolf said.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 12, 2020 3:26:43 GMT -6
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Post by kcrufnek on May 12, 2020 11:18:54 GMT -6
Governor Guido is now referring to it as the "European" virus.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 12, 2020 15:54:23 GMT -6
Jimmy Kimmel is playing the victim card now lol. dailycaller.com/2020/05/12/jimmy-kimmel-victim-misleading-edited-video-twitter-vice-president-mike-pence-ppe-delivery-donald-trump/The Outpouring Of Venom Was Disgusting’: Jimmy Kimmel Says He Received Death Threats After Showing Deceptively-Edited Clip Of Pence ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel suggested Monday evening that he was the victim after a deceptively-edited video that he made of Vice President Mike Pence went viral. The video, which is now labeled as “manipulated media” by Twitter, shows Pence suggesting he should pick up empty boxes that were full of personal protective equipment (PPE) for a photo shoot. Vice President of Whitman Insight Strategies Matt McDermott posted the video on Twitter and claimed that Pence was “caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.” The full video shows Pence delivering PPE to a hospital and then joking about delivering empty boxes for the photographs. No empty boxes were delivered, the full video indicates. Kimmel half-heartedly apologized on Twitter shortly before the video was labeled “manipulated media” on May 8 and further lamented about the incident Monday evening following criticism. “But the outrage from the MAGA hats, the outpouring of venom was disgusting,” Kimmel said Monday. “Stupid too, but mostly disgusting. Some of these lunatics have the audacity to use the word ‘Christian’ in their bios, but that didn’t stop them from wishing death on me, on my family, on my son. Some of them said they hope my son dies.” “They threatened my wife. There were hundreds of horrible, hateful, sometimes violent Twitter and Facebook posts,” the late-night host added. “Because I showed what they kept calling a doctored video.” WATCH: Kimmel continued on to claim the video was not doctored. He said they “didn’t do anything to it” and “didn’t ‘doctor’ it.” Kimmel then turned the blame back to President Donald Trump, saying that “doctored videos are something” he “posts all the time.” Kimmel also doubled down on the claim that Pence’s delivery of PPE “was a publicity stunt” and claimed he had no idea Pence was joking when he suggested delivering the empty boxes. Pence closed the doors to the van after joking about the empty boxes. The late-night host said that he did not watch the full clip because he doesn’t “have the mental endurance it requires.” He also said that he “was wrong” and “made a mistake.” (RELATED: ‘An American Patriot’: Pence Says He Would Be ‘Happy’ To See Return Of Michael Flynn To Trump Administration) Kimmel pointed to his “apology of sorts” tweeted on May 8, which included a backhanded comment about the Trump administration valuing “truth.” He added that he took his tweet sharing the video down. “Apologizing to the Trump administration for spreading untruth is like apologizing to [former professional baseball player] Barry Bonds for using steroids. It’s hard,” Kimmel said, later adding that Pence’s office contacted him to ask for an on-air apology. “Because this is what they’re thinking about while thousands of Americans are dying every day,” Kimmel said. “Jokes from late-night talk show hosts. But okay, you know what, it was my mistake, I do apologize to the vice president, again, for spreading misinformation about him. Spreading misinformation is their thing, and I stepped on their toes.” Kimmel also asked Pence to have Trump apologize “for the following perversions of decency and democracy,” giving a list of apparent misdeeds from the president. Kimmel’s monologue furthers his feud with the president and administration, which partially played out on Twitter during Mother’s Day, Fox News reported.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 12, 2020 15:55:59 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/12/los-angeles-health-official-predicts-county-will-slowly-lift-restrictions-over-the-next-3-months/Los Angeles County officials are eyeing “with all certainty” to extend its stay-at-home order for three more months as part of an effort to combat the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, reports The Los Angeles Times. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, told the county’s Board of Supervisors that officials are likely to extend the stay-at-home efforts through July and said the country’s “hope is that by using the data, we’d be able to slowly lift restrictions over the next three months.” “Without widely available therapeutic testing for the coronavirus or rapid at-home tests that would allow people to test themselves daily, it seems unlikely that restrictions would be completely eased,” notes the Times. The report comes after officials announced Monday that the county’s beaches will reopen with restrictions. Visitors will be required to engage in social distancing and wear face coverings on the sand. “Beginning on Wednesday, May 13, beaches operated by Los Angeles County, including those in Manhattan Beach, will be reopened with restrictions for limited active uses with physical distancing as a requirement,” said a press release. “Following numerous discussions and meetings with Los Angeles County, I am excited that one of our most valued resources, the beach, will once again be accessible to the public,” Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery said in a separate statement. As of Tuesday, Los Angeles County has 32,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,569 deaths. California has 67,939 cases and 2,770 fatalities, according to data tracked via Johns Hopkins University. On Friday, California began to loosen restrictions for certain businesses to reopen, such as select retailers with curbside pickup and clothing stores. However, shopping malls, offices, gyms, and dine-in restaurants still remain closed.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 12, 2020 15:57:53 GMT -6
Maxine admits the truth & that is, Democrats want people to be unemployed & dependent on the government. www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/05/12/maxine-waters-trump-protesters-should-be-ashamed-we-dont-want-businesses-opened-back-up/Maxine Waters: Trump, Protesters ‘Should Be Ashamed’ — We Don’t Want Businesses ‘Opened Back Up’ Monday night on Spectrum News 1’s “Inside the Issues,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said President Donald Trump and the lockdown protesters should be ashamed of themselves for pressuring governors to reopen their states. Waters said, “You know our governors are under great stress. The protests that have been organized, the protests trying to intimidate our governors to open up everything are protests where the people participating in that should be ashamed of themselves. They should not be encouraged in any way. They should not be encouraged from the top leadership of this country to go out and do that.” She continued, “I know the pressure is on. I know that you’re trying to hold the line. I want you to hold the line. I don’t want to see these establishments opened back up. I want the federal government to join with the cities and the states to support these families in every way that we can. I do want a moratorium on rent evictions. I have a huge bill. I have a $100 billion bill to pay the landlords. We don’t want them to risk their properties, many of them have bought a small number of units, ten units, four units as retirement property. I know that they need to pay their mortgages. I am going to absolutely see to it that they are reimbursed, that they are paid for the moratorium on evictions on their apartments.” Waters added, “So we’re doing everything that we can give support to our constituents, to our citizens, to the people who work every day, who have families to take care of. So if we do that, this will support our states and our governors and not having to open back up. So that you know the small businesses that are in direct contact with people nail shops, beauty shops, barbershops, flower shops, these are people in touch with folks every day, and they’re risking their lives, and we don’t want them opened up. We are very sympathetic to the pressure that is being put on by the president of the United States and organize efforts of these protesters. We want the governors to hold the line. Be as tough as you can be. Be as thoughtful as you can be. Do everything you can to hold the line. I know that Governor Newsom is doing that. And any small steps that he takes, he is doing it with a lot of support. We are with you, governor. Hold the line. ”
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Post by soonernvolved on May 12, 2020 17:46:35 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/05/12/huawei-seminar-on-coronavirus-misinformation-canceled-after-widespread-mockery/Huawei Seminar on Coronavirus ‘Misinformation’ Canceled After Widespread Mockery A coronavirus “misinformation” webinar sponsored by controversial Chinese technology company Huawei featuring the likes of author and CNN commentator Van Jones and pop star will.i.am has been canceled after organizers said it had “become a distraction from other priorities.” The webinar, organized by the National Association of Black Journalists, quickly became the subject of mockery after it emerged that a discussion on “misinformation” was being organized by a company with intimate links to the Chinese communist state, which has recently launched a massive disinformation campaign seeking to deflect responsibility for its hand in causing the pandemic. “NABJ has canceled a webinar scheduled for tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET, entitled “The Rise of Misinformation” because it has become a distraction from other priorities,” the NABJ said in a statement. They continued: It had come under attack because controversial technology giant Huawei was planning to sponsor the webinar though it had no editorial control. NABJ always retains editorial control over all such content along with final say over moderators and panelists. Huawei knew all of this in advance. Additionally, Huawei officials were not part of the scheduled webinar. Seasoned journalist and CNN’s Van Jones was a panelist and NABJ’s Roland Martin was the moderator for the webinar. They were to be joined by panelists will.i.am, musician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, and Dr. Ebony Hilton, a noted medical professional at the University of Virginia. They were all poised to talk about the purveyance of information regarding COVID-19. There is no signed contract and NABJ has not accepted funding from Huawei. NABJ will continue its COVID-19 dialogue with the greater community-at-large. After the NABJ released their statement, CNN’s Van Jones claimed he had been planning to cancel his appearance anyway. “I accepted invite to participate in NABJ webinar, warning black community about #COVID misinformation. I said “yes” without knowing sponsor,” he wrote on Twitter. “Glad NABJ canceled; I wouldn’t have participated. I’ll keep raising alarm about pandemic’s impact on vulnerable people.” I accepted invite to participate in NABJ webinar, warning black community about #COVID misinformation. I said “yes” without knowing sponsor. Glad NABJ canceled; I wouldn’t have participated. I’ll keep raising alarm about pandemic’s impact on vulnerable people. #StaySafe #StayHome t.co/CtIodwQfzZ— Van Jones (@vanjones68) May 12, 2020 According to the event’s initial description, it was to reflect on how coronavirus disinformation disproportionately affects communities of color and those individuals in low-income neighborhoods. “Since the 2016 general election, Americans have faced an endless barrage of misinformation designed to undermine democratic values and sow social division among various communities,” it read. “Now in the face of a global pandemic, the misinformation tide continues to rise, hitting African Americans, as well as Asian, Hispanic, rural, and lower-income Americans particularly hard.” Despite being the largest privately owned telecom company in the world, Huawei is widely believed to be effectively controlled by the Chinese communist state. As a result, it has faced increasing scrutiny in recent years, with the Trump administration deciding to ban its 5G equipment from being used in domestic networks due to concerns they may engage in spying on behalf of Beijing.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 12, 2020 19:29:07 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/05/12/nbc-chuck-todd-apologizes-on-air-deceptively-edited-clip-bill-barr-michael-flynn/NBC’s Chuck Todd Apologizes On-Air For Playing Deceptively Edited Clip Of Barr, But He Claims It Wasn’t Their Fault BC host Chuck Todd apologized on-air Tuesday for playing a deceptively edited clip of Attorney General Bill Barr on “Meet the Press” Sunday, although he appeared to defend the network by alleging that it “was not our edit.” The clip showed Barr being asked by CBS News’ Catherine Herridge how the decision to dismiss former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s case will be viewed upon looking back. Todd’s clip showed Barr responding by saying that “history is written by the winners, so it largely depends on who’s writing the history.” Todd chastised Barr for the comment Sunday, saying Barr “didn’t make the case that he was upholding the rule of law.” However, the partial clip that NBC News played did not show that Barr did, in fact, say that the decision “upheld the rule of law.” “In the full version of the interview and transcript, he [Barr] went on to say, ‘But I think a fair history would say that it was a good decision because it upheld the rule of law,’” Todd said Tuesday on “MTP Daily.” “Now, we did not edit that out. That was not our edit. We didn’t include it because we only saw the shorter of two clips that CBS did air.” “We should have looked at both and checked for a full transcript. A mistake that I wish we hadn’t made and one that I wish I hadn’t made. The second part of the Attorney General’s answer would have put it in the proper context. Had we seen that part of the CBS interview, I would not have framed the conversation the way I did, and I obviously am very sorry for that mistake. We strive to do better going forward.” WATCH: Todd’s apology came a few days after the network took major heat for airing the deceptively edited clip. “Meet the Press” apologized Sunday evening in a reply tweet to Department of Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec. (RELATED: Trump And Fauci Team Up To Knock Down Question From NBC Reporter) “You’re correct,” the show’s Twitter admitted. “Earlier today, we inadvertently and inaccurately cut short a video clip of an interview with AG Barr before offering commentary and analysis. The remaining clip included important remarks from the attorney general that we missed, and we regret the error.”
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Post by soonernvolved on May 12, 2020 21:06:23 GMT -6
www.foxnews.com/politics/mccarthy-slams-liberal-wishlist-in-democrats-new-coronavirus-relief-billHouse Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy slammed the Democrats’ new coronavirus relief as a “liberal wish list” that has “no chance of becoming law.” “Tens of thousands of Americans have lost their lives due to COVID-19, and more than a million have gotten sick. A record number of Americans are out of work,” McCarthy said in a statement on Tuesday. “Yet while Americans are searching for answers, House Democrats are releasing a liberal wish list that has no chance of becoming law.” McCarthy said the demands of the bill “were drafted behind closed doors, predate the crisis, and are not targeted to coronavirus.” The bill seeks to change election laws, bail out “mismanaged” pensions and temporarily suspend the cap on SALT tax deductions for the very wealthy, according to McCarthy. The House Democrats’ $3 trillion new coronavirus bill, released Tuesday, includes $1 trillion in funding for state and local governments, which Republicans have long rejected… Still, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., alerted House members who have been away on recess to return to Washington Friday. The House is scheduled to vote on the massive coronavirus legislation and a proposal to allow lawmakers to work remotely.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 13, 2020 0:59:08 GMT -6
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Post by soonernvolved on May 13, 2020 13:30:33 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/13/controversial-decisions-governors-ny-nj-pa-criticized-factors-high-level-covid-19-nursing-home-deaths/Controversial Decisions by Governors in NY, NJ, and PA Criticized as Factors in High Level of COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths The governors of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are under fire for controversial nursing home policy decisions that critics say fueled coronavirus deaths in those facilities. On March 25, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) ordered nursing homes to accept patients who tested positive for COVID-19, as the New York Post reported: An executive at the unnamed Queens nursing home says that the facility was coronavirus-free until Gov. Andrew Cuomo forced facilities in the state to accept coronavirus patients on March 25. In Pennsylvania, the Bucks County Courier Times reported: On March 29, as Pennsylvania, New York and other states began ordering nursing homes to admit medically stable residents infected with the coronavirus, national trade groups warned it could unnecessarily cost more lives. The health directives put “frail and older adults who reside in nursing homes at risk” and would “result in more people going to the hospital and more deaths,” the American Health Care Association and affiliates said at the time. A month later, it appears government officials should have heeded the dire call to pursue different pandemic emergency plans. Then on April 6, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy followed Cuomo’s lead and ordered New Jersey nursing homes to accept patients who tested positive for COVID-19, as NorthJersey.com reported: New Jersey nursing homes cannot bar coronavirus patients from being admitted into their facilities, a new state policy designed to make room at hospitals already stressed from a growing surge of critically ill patients. Though not all 50 states are currently providing complete data, a huge percentage of the 83,231 COVID-19 deaths in the United States, as of 5 p.m. eastern on Tuesday, May 12, were among residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation has assembled nursing home/long-term care facility COVID-19 mortality data from the 33 states that report that data, and calculates that, as of May 7, nursing home and long term care facility residents accounted for 38 percent of the COVID-19 deaths in those states. The percentage of coronavirus deaths from nursing homes appears to be increasing as the pandemic drags on. Table 1 below shows a summary of the ten states with the highest number of nursing home/long-term care facility COVID-19 deaths, as of May 7. Table 1 Number of Nursing Home COVID-19 Deaths Highest Ten States, as of May 7, 2020 (Source: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) State Deaths New York 5,215 New Jersey 4,556 Massachusetts 2,653 Pennsylvania 2,355 Connecticut 1,249 Illinois 1,082 California 946 Maryland 804 Louisiana 738 Georgia 633 33 State Total 24,974 (States not reporting COVID-19 deaths in long term care facilities in the Kaiser Family Foundation report as of May 7, 2020 include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. ) In New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s political star was rising nationally as recently as last month, the shocking revelations of his decisions to force nursing homes to take in patients who tested positive for COVID-19 appear to not only have burst that political bubble for Cuomo, but more ominously they appear to be the driving force in the surge of nursing home COVID-19 deaths, as the New York Post reported on April 23. On Sunday, Gov. Cuomo reversed that controversial order, as NY1 reported: Governor Cuomo is effectively reversing a much-criticized policy directive that was sending seniors treated for COVID-19 back into nursing homes. A March 25th order from the state Department of Health required all nursing homes to readmit seniors who left to be treated for coronavirus at a hospital.. Critics said that policy led to more than 5,000 deaths in nursing homes, which are regulated by the state. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy’s handling of nursing homes has come under fire for additional decisions by some who say the long term care facility regulatory control bill he signed last year was too “watered-down” to address what become the coronavirus pandemic, as Politico reported on Monday: Almost a year after a 2018 adenovirus outbreak killed 11 children at a long-term care facility in northern New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation requiring every such facility in the state to develop outbreak response plans to prevent future tragedies. . . Six sources with direct knowledge of the bill’s drafting in 2019 say the state Health Department — worried about its limited resources — objected to a requirement that all of the plans be submitted for state vetting. Lawmakers reworked the legislation to limit the mandate to less than two dozen sites. Now, 11 months after the bill was sent to Murphy’s desk, nearly 4,900 deaths have been linked to coronavirus cases at 500-plus facilities across New Jersey — more than half of all the fatalities in the state and one of the worst outbreaks in the nation. In Pennsylvania, Morning Call reported Gov. Tom Wolf has been criticized for inattention to nursing homes: The escalating tragedy in Pennsylvania nursing and personal care homes, which have more than two-thirds of the state’s coronavirus deaths, has prompted lawmakers to point fingers at the Wolf administration. “There is no excuse for what is going on, OK?” said Chester County state Sen. Andrew Dinniman, who like Gov. Tom Wolf is a Democrat. “The Department of Health has failed our nursing homes.” Dinniman’s comments came Wednesday. On Thursday, state Sen. Judy Ward and other Republican senators said the administration failed to pay enough attention to nursing homes and their highly vulnerable residents when the virus first arrived in the U.S. The percentage of coronavirus deaths from residents of nursing homes varies by state, ranging from 19 percent in Nevada to 81 percent in Minnesota. In Massachusetts it is 60 percent. On March 25 Worldometers reported there were 775 COVID-19 deaths in the United States. New York State had the most COVID-19 deaths of any state in the country, 271, or 35 percent of the country’s total at the time. Rounding out the top ten states for reported number of COVID-19 deaths on March 25 were Washington with 123, California with 51, Louisiana with 46, New Jersey with 44, Georgia with 38, Michigan with 24, Florida with 20, Illinois with 16, and three states were tied for the tenth spot with 12 deaths each: Connecticut, Texas, and Indiana. As of 5 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday May 12 there are 83,231 COVID-19 deaths in the United States. New York State still has the most COVID-19 deaths of any state in the country, with 27,166, or 32 percent of the country’s total. Georgia, Washington, Texas, and Indiana are no longer in the top ten states for COVID-19 deaths, but Pennsylvania and Massachusetts now are, as Table 2 below indicates: Table 2 Ten States With Most COVID-19 Deaths As of May 12, 2020 (Source: Worldometers) State Deaths New York 27,166 New Jersey 9,532 Massachusetts 5,141 Michigan 4,674 Pennsylvania 3,917 Illinois 3,601 Connectict 3,041 California 2,847 Louisiana 2,347 Florida 1,782 Total US 83,231 New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are not the only states where governors have come under criticism for nursing home decisions that backfired, but they are the highest profile due to the high number of total COVID-19 deaths and the high number of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 13, 2020 18:27:21 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/05/13/gretchen-whitmer-proof-protests-coronavirus-rural/I Don’t Have Proof’: Whitmer Balks When Challenged By Reporter About Claim That Protests Are Spreading Coronavirus emocratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told a reporter that she doesn’t “have proof” that coronavirus is being spread in rural areas because of large gatherings of protesters in the state. During an appearance on ABC’s “The View” earlier Wednesday, Whitmer said anti-lockdown protesters making a “political statement” return home and increase “the risk of perpetuating the spread” of the virus. “These protests, they do undermine the effort, and it’s very clearly a political statement that is playing out where people are coming together from across the state, they are congregating, they’re not wearing masks, they are not staying six feet apart and then they go back home into communities and the risk of perpetuating the spread of COVID-19 is real,” she said on “The View.” Demonstrators take part in an “American Patriot Rally,” organized on April 30, 2020, by Michigan United for Liberty on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, demanding the reopening of businesses. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images) Whitmer was questioned later at a press conference about whether she has “proof” of the claim. “I don’t have proof,” she responded. “I’m not following everyone home and taking their temperatures and watching their lives for two weeks, but here’s what we know, when it comes to COVID-19, the way that it spreads is person-to-person contact.” “It can stay in the air for a while,” she continued, according to WSJM. “It is when you’re touching one another, and we saw a lot of that at these protests at the Capitol.” Whitmer reportedly referred to a group that tracked cell phone data from protests, then tied it to “hot spots in rural parts of Michigan,” but also said she doesn’t “know the group” that produced it and “can’t vouch” for the data. Nevertheless, she added that it “would not be a surprising outcome if that were the case.” Meanwhile, cell phone data reported by The New York Times showed 1 million Michigan residents began moving around the state after Whitmer extended her lockdown order May 1. (RELATED: ‘Gretchen Whitmer Is A Ghoul’: Tucker Wonders Why ‘People Rotting In Wheelchairs’ Is Allowed But Abortion Is ‘Essential’) Local media outlet 9&10 News posted part of the clip during a news segment covering the issue.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 13, 2020 18:29:34 GMT -6
China related: dailycaller.com/2020/05/13/drone-surveillance-dji-jim-jordan-matt-gaetz-lockdown/EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Open Inquiry Into Mysterious Drone Program Officials Use To Police Americans Who Aren’t Social Distancing House Republicans want answers from the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security about a Chinese-based company supplying cities with drones to policy citizens who are not abiding by social distancing guidelines. Reps. Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz want to know if local and state officials are using federal grant money to obtain the drones, and they are concerned the company, DJI, could pose a risk to national security. DJI’s website notes that the drone program has donated 100 drones to more than 40 agencies, but the company does not specify which cities are receiving the technology or what they are doing with the drones.
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are opening a congressional inquiry into a drone company that provides city mayors and other officials with drone technology to help monitor and fine American citizens who fail to employ social distancing guidelines, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Jim Jordan of Ohio requested information from the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security Wednesday into Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), a Chinese-based company dolling out drones to city officials. Past reports suggest DJI could pose a security threat to U.S. infrastructure.
“Although federal law enforcement agencies have warned of potential information security concerns with DJI drones, it is not clear whether state and local law enforcement agencies are fully aware of these issues,” Jordon and Gaetz and other Republican lawmakers noted in separate letters to the DHS and DOJ obtained by the DCNF. They are referring to reports warning that DJI poses a risk to the country’s national security. (RELATED: One US City Is Deploying A Chinese Firm’s Drones To Police Americans Who Are Not Social Distancing) DJI donated drones to 43 agencies in 22 states to help enforce social distancing, MSNBC reported in April. The donations are part of the company’s “COVID-19 US Disaster Relief Program,” which provides cities access to the drones for the purpose of surveilling populations during the pandemic. Jordan, Gaetz and other Republicans on the committee want a list of the state and local enforcement agencies that are receiving federal tax dollars to purchase DJI drones dating back to 2017. They also want to know if the departments are monitoring the supply of drones to these municipalities, and whether any concerns have sprung up internally since 2017 about DJI. A 2017 memo from the Los Angeles office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said officials had “moderate confidence” that DJI’s commercial drones are giving critical U.S. “infrastructure and law enforcement data to the Chinese government.” Drones fly above a city at night. (Shutterstock/Volodymyr Goinyk) Drones fly above a city at night. (Shutterstock/Volodymyr Goinyk) The memo cited first- and second-hand anonymous sources inside the drone industry. ICE, an agency under the DHS, has not responded to the DCNF’s request for comment about the memo, which was initially reported in November 2017 by The New York Times. The memo also stated that officials had “high confidence the company is selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.” The U.S. Army banned the use of all DJI drones in 2017, citing “cyber vulnerabilities.” DJI previously disputed the thrust of the Times article and now disputes the insinuation that the company is a threat. “With more front-line workers testing positive for COVID-19, our focus is giving our public safety professionals every tool possible to fight the virus and protect citizens. That is our goal,” Adam Lisberg, corporate communications director for DJI, told the DCNF DJI has not provided the DCNF with a list of the cities that have received drones. Some cities are making use of the company’s drones. Elizabeth, New Jersey Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, for instance, has no issue using the drones as a means of social control. His city’s drones blare sirens and issue this warning: “Stop gathering, disperse and go home.” “If these drones save one life, it is clearly worth the activity and the information that the drones are sending,” the mayor said in an April interview with MSNBC. New Jersey is considered a coronavirus hotspot — more than 9,000 people in the state have died from the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, before skipping across the globe and landing in the United States, where it has killed more than 30,000 people. The Elizabeth Policy Department announced in an April 8 Facebook post how the drones will work. “These drones will be around the City with an automated message from the Mayor telling you to STOP gathering, disperse and go home,” the post noted before issuing a warning that violating the policies subjects them to potential $1,000 fines. “You have been advised.”
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Post by soonernvolved on May 13, 2020 18:30:57 GMT -6
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Post by soonernvolved on May 14, 2020 0:08:34 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/05/14/nyc-health-commissioner-blew-off-plea-masks/REPORT: ‘I Don’t Give Two Rats’ Asses About Your Cops’: NYC Health Commissioner Blew Off Desperate Plea For Masks New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot blew off the NYPD’s desperate plea for more masks as coronavirus cases were on the rise. According to a report from the New York Post, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan requested 500,000 surgical masks for his officers in late March. Barbot, claiming she needed the masks for others, told him, “I don’t give two rats’ asses about your cops.” Barbot said that she could only provide the police department with 50,000 masks, but as New York City quickly became a hot zone, it became clear that was not going to be enough. By the end of the first week in April, nearly 20% of the police department was out sick with coronavirus symptoms. In addition, 500 firefighters had tested positive for the virus and a total of about 3,000 firefighters and paramedics were sick. Monahan then asked the White House for help, prompting a quick response from Peter Navarro, who is serving as Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy and the national Defense Production Act policy coordinator. Operation Blue Bloods: WH officials sprung into action after receiving “SOS” email from NYPD asking for protective equipment — delivering the frontline gear just 16 hours later…More than 1,750 crime scene Tyvek suits arrived on private Raytheon plane. t.co/7JguPxrMA5— Peter Navarro (@peternavarro45) April 2, 2020 Upon learning of Barbot’s response to the request for masks, many have called for her resignation. Coronavirus News: Calls for dismissal of NYC health commissioner over NYPD comments t.co/opQC7ZlImz pic.twitter.com/0iQOkYfR7r — Eyewitness News (@abc7ny) May 14, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SBA President calls for the firing of Dr.Oxiris Barbot, Commissioner of NYC Dept of Health pic.twitter.com/RSBLqkU5aZ — SBA (@sbanypd) May 14, 2020
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Post by soonernvolved on May 15, 2020 7:10:55 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/05/14/pbs-chinese-foreign-agent-propaganda-film/PBS Stations That Received Millions In Federal Funds Partnered With Chinese Foreign Agent On Pro-Beijing Film PBS affiliates receiving millions of dollars in federal funds yearly are airing a documentary produced in conjunction with CGTN, a Chinese government controlled media outlet that is registered as a foreign agent. PBS affiliates KOCE and KCET received more than $5.5 million combined in federal funding last year, according to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s records. Both stations are airing a film that touts Chinese President Xi Jinping’s poverty alleviation program. The film is written and directed by an American financier who has acknowledged having close ties to Chinese officials and who has touted Beijing’s coronavirus response. PBS affiliates that receive millions of dollars in federal funding each year are airing a pro-Beijing documentary produced in conjunction with CGTN, a Chinese-government controlled media outlet that is registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department. The film, “Voices from the Frontline: China’s War on Poverty,” did not disclose CGTN’s links to the Chinese government. Nor did it detail the ties that the film’s producer, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, has to Chinese officials and the government’s State Council Information Office, which specializes in foreign propaganda. PBS affiliate KOCE, known as PBS SoCal, helped produce the film and premiered it Monday. KCET, which merged with KOCE in 2018, will air the show on Saturday. Other PBS affiliates, including in Idaho and Las Vegas, have either already aired the film or plan to do so later this month. The one-hour documentary touts Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative to alleviate poverty in China by this year. “In the last forty years, China’s economic development has lifted more than 700 people out of poverty,” reads the introductory script in the film. “To President Xi Jinping, ending poverty is his most important task,” the script states. The closing credits of the documentary show that it was produced by “The Kuhn Foundation and PBS SoCal in association with CGTN.” One PBS SoCal employee is listed as an executive producer of the film and another is listed as a production assistant. PBS and other publicly-funded news outlets like NPR have come under fire in recent years, with conservatives pushing to defund the organizations over a perceived liberal bias. Other news outlets have come under scrutiny for publishing propaganda promoted by the Chinese government. President Donald Trump has proposed defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides the federal dollars that go to PBS affiliates and NPR. KCET received $5.6 million in funding from CPB in 2019, according to CPB records. The station received more than $1.8 million in 2018. KOCE received more than $1.8 million in 2018 and more than $2.2 million in 2017. PBS and its 350 affiliates are funded through a mixture of government grants, corporate sponsorships and private donations. While federal funding makes up a small percentage of PBS affiliates’ revenue, the organization says that government money is crucial to its survival. “There is no viable replacement for federal funding – which amounts to $1.35 per citizen per year,” PBS SoCal says on its website. “The loss of federal funding would make it difficult for local stations to operate and would cause many of them to close, which would result in a collapse of the PBS system. Loss of federal funding would also have a devastating effect on PBS’s ability to produce the quality content our viewers love.” The Los Angeles Times reported in March 2017 that KOCE receives between $2.5 million and $3 million in federal funding, or 11-15% of its budget. The Kuhn Foundation has given $70,000 in grants to KOCE between 2015 and 2018, according to tax filings. The foundation gave $35,000 in 2015 and $17,500 in both 2017 and 2018. Kuhn, a former investment banker, appears to be highly regarded in China, though he is not as well known in the U.S. He has made appearances on channels like CNN and Bloomberg over the years to discuss issues in China, but appears frequently on Beijing-controlled news outlets like CGTN, CCTV, and China Daily. In December 2018, Kuhn was awarded the China Reform Friendship Medal at an event held in Beijing and attended by Xi Jinping. Kuhn’s personal website shows a photo of him shaking hands with Xi at the event, and refers to the medal as “China’s highest award.” Kuhn hosted a delegation that same year to Beijing to meet with Jiang Jianguo, who served as minister of the State Council Information Office, the office reported. The State Council is also the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Office of Foreign Propaganda, according to the Wilson Center. Kuhn’s name previously surfaced in connection to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who committed suicide while in jail on charges that he molested underage girls. Epstein through his nonprofit contributed $150,000 to the Kuhn Foundation in 2017, The Daily Beast has reported. Epstein’s nonprofit also bankrolled a PBS series that Kuhn produced on spirituality called “Closer to Truth.” CNBC reported that Epstein contributed $500,000 to Kuhn’s project in 2018. Kuhn offers his views on the Chinese government on a weekly segment hosted by CGTN and through documentaries he has produced in coordination with Chinese media outlets. Xi’s program to fight poverty has been one area of focus for Kuhn, as has the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “To truly understand China, one has to recognize their genuine commitment to eradicating poverty,” Kuhn last year told China Daily, a government-controlled outlet, of his documentary. “Today, in the Western world, especially in the United States, there is concern about China’s actions and suspicion of China’s motives. But one of the things I wanted this film to do was to undermine the stereotype of China as a ruthless giant out to dominate the world. It’s just not the case.” “Xi’s commitment and determination frames the film, informing its open and close,” Kuhn said. In a recent episode of “The Watcher,” a segment that airs on CGTN, Kuhn praised the Chinese Communist Party’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. “China’s mobilization is unprecedented in global health history. Nowhere could it work like it works in China. The reason it works is because the party works, the Communist Party of China,” Kuhn said. “President Xi Jinping calls for fighting the outbreak in an open and transparent manner. That’s the key: transparency, complete transparency. As China has done and is doing updating all confirmed patients and updating all the data everyday,” he added. WATCH: In a televised event aired by China Daily, another outlet controlled by Beijing, Kuhn asserted that China will win praise in future generations for its response to coronavirus. “Future historians may well look upon China’s fight against the coronavirus as a turning in worldwide efforts to contain outbreaks of novel diseases, and stop their spread,” Kuhn said at the event, which aired March 31. “History may well thank China for pioneering how to deal with virulent contagions in a globalized world,” he said. Kuhn’s view is not shared by health experts and government officials across the world who have blamed Chinese authorities for failing to contain the virus and for providing misleading information about the early stages of the outbreak. China has been accused of releasing false statistics about the number of infections and deaths in China from coronavirus. Authorities there also offered false assurances to the World Health Organization that the coronavirus was not transmitted person to person. (RELATED: Chinese Propaganda Has Infected Daily Mail’s Coronavirus Coverage) WATCH: Kuhn’s praise for Chinese leaders has earned him blowback from some China watchers. In 2005, The New York Times reviewed Kuhn’s book, “The Man Who Changed China,” noting that a “secret state propaganda team” oversaw the writing of the book. Kuhn rebutted some of those allegations, telling China Daily in 2011 saying that he was “indeed an advisor to the Chinese government.” Kuhn denied being paid by Beijing. “I have never been paid by the Chinese government,” he said, adding: “I am paid by foreign companies that do business in China.” It’s unclear if the PBS stations were aware of CGTN’s status as a foreign agent for the Chinese government. The company formally registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on Aug. 2, 2019. (RELATED: China’s Propaganda Machine Loves WHO’s Bruce Aylward) A spokesman for KOCE and KCET provided the Daily Caller News Foundation with a press release for the Kuhn film but did not respond to a detailed list of questions. PBS did not respond to a request for comment, nor did The Kuhn Foundation. Requests for comment submitted through Kuhn’s personal website were also not returned. The Chinese government has long used its propaganda arms to disseminate pro-Beijing narratives. The initiative has involved Chinese news outlets partnering with mainstream U.S. and Western newspapers, such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, to publish paid inserts in those newspapers that promote a pro-China view. The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2017 that the Chinese government was partnering with Western TV companies to produce glossy documentaries aimed at burnishing Beijing’s image. The story said that Xi “has also stepped up support for co-productions with foreign partners, including documentary tie-ups spotlighting the country’s culture, technological advancements and infrastructure projects.” The report pointed to “China: Time of Xi,” a documentary that Discovery channel’s Asia division aired. Kuhn was interviewed for the film.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 16, 2020 8:38:45 GMT -6
Dr. Carol Baker was appointed Chair of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in 2009. Carol is well known for her work in immunization and education.
Dr. Carol Baker: “So I have the solution. Every study published in the last five years, when you look at vaccine refusers. I’m not talking about…hesitance, most of them we can talk into coming to terms. But refusers. We’ll just get rid of all the whites in the United States… Guess who wants to get vaccinated the most? Immigrants.”
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Post by soonernvolved on May 16, 2020 8:40:39 GMT -6
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Post by soonernvolved on May 16, 2020 8:42:23 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/05/15/new-york-coronavirus-reporting-nursing-home-deaths-undercounting/EXCLUSIVE: New York Admits Knowingly Undercounting Nursing Home Deaths After Quietly Changing Reporting Rules The New York State Department of Health acknowledged that its recent reporting does not fully reflect the known carnage coronavirus has caused among nursing home and adult care residents. The revelation comes as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is under fire for his policies regarding nursing homes amid the coronavirus pandemic. New York is the only state with large coronavirus outbreaks among its long-term care facilities that doesn’t count residents who died at a hospital. New York quietly changed the way it reports long-term care fatalities around April 28. New York has omitted an unknown number of coronavirus deaths in recent reports regarding residents of nursing home and adult care facilities, the New York State Department of Health acknowledged in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. In early May, those reports quietly began omitting long-term care residents who died of coronavirus in hospitals. Even so, New York still leads the nation with 5,433 reported deaths at nursing homes and adult care facilities as of Wednesday. The revelation comes as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faces criticism for ordering nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to accept patients from hospitals who had tested positive for coronavirus. Cuomo rescinded the March 25 order, which experts say led to higher levels of death among nursing home residents, on May 11 to allow such facilities to wait until a coronavirus patient tests negative before readmitting them. The NYSDOH confirmed to the DCNF that until around April 28, it was disclosing coronavirus deaths for all nursing home and adult care facility residents, regardless of whether the patient died at their long-term care facility or at a hospital. But the department made a subtle change to its disclosures beginning around May 3, according to web archives. The NYSDOH told the DCNF its disclosure now only reports coronavirus deaths for long-term care patients that died while physically present at their facility. New York’s coronavirus tracker “currently does not include out of facility deaths,” NYSDOH spokeswoman Jill Montag told the DCNF. “Deaths of nursing home and adult care facility residents that occurred at hospitals is accounted for in the overall fatality data on our COVID-19 tracker.” In other words, New York’s nursing home and adult care facility coronavirus deaths tracker omits any individuals who contracted coronavirus while living at a long-term care facility but died in a hospital. Montag told the DCNF that the state is opting to not disclose out of facility deaths “in order to maintain consistency and reliability in the data as presented, and to avoid any potential for double-counting.” But the reporting change has, in fact, resulted in inconsistencies in New York’s disclosure of long-term care coronavirus fatalities, particularly regarding deaths of residents of adult care facilities, which don’t typically don’t have the medical capacity of nursing homes or hospitals. New York reported on April 28 that there had been 644 deaths from residents of adult care facility residents who died at either the facility or at a hospital. Montag confirmed that the table “contained lab-confirmed and, in some cases, presumed COVID-19 deaths.” The New York State Department of Health reported 644 adult care facility residents who died from coronavirus at either their facility or at a hospital. Department spokeswoman Jill Montag confirmed that this chart “includes lab-confirmed and, in some cases, presumed COVID-19 deaths.” (NYSDOH/Screenshot) But on May 13, after the state ceased disclosing long-term care residents who died at hospitals, New York reported a total of 165 coronavirus-confirmed and presumed deaths at adult care facilities — a reduction of 479 deaths from its disclosure 16 days prior. Of the nine states with the largest coronavirus outbreaks at long-term care facilities, according to a New York Times tracker, New York is the only state that omits the deaths of residents who died at hospitals from its reporting. Spokespeople for the health departments of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts confirmed to the DCNF that their disclosures include coronavirus deaths of long-term care residents regardless of their place of death. The health departments of California, Connecticut and Georgia all make clear in their reporting that their disclosures of long-term care residents who died of coronavirus includes those who died in hospitals. Connecticut’s reporting of nursing home deaths, for example, specifically “includes residents currently in-house, in the hospital, or who are deceased.” The NYSDOH did not respond to the DCNF when asked if it disputes that the state is omitting at least 479 adult care facility residents that died from coronavirus at a hospital in its reporting on long-term care deaths. The department also did not respond when asked what the health benefits are of concealing the deaths of long-term care residents who died in hospitals from its reporting on long-term care coronavirus fatalities. (RELATED: REPORT: New York Allowed Coronavirus-Infected Nurses To Work In Nursing Home) New York ceased reporting deaths of long-term care residents who died in hospitals the same day it unveiled 1,700 previously undisclosed deaths that occurred on the grounds of long-term care facilities from residents presumed to have coronavirus. The change was made as Cuomo began facing increasing scrutiny from the media over his order forcing nursing homes to take in patients who had tested positive for coronavirus. The president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, Sally Aiken, told the DCNF that “from a public health point of view, tracking the possible location of exposure to COVID-19 is important.” “It is important to track possible exposures, and not doing so accurately interferes with appropriate public health response,” Aiken said. Betsy McCaughey, a former Republican lieutenant governor of New York and current chairman of the patient advocacy group Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, told the DNCF that New York should rejoin other states and resume disclosing the deaths of all long-term care patients, regardless of whether they died at a hospital. “It would be a more accurate reflection of the peril at nursing homes,” McCaughey said. “If you look at the more accurate figures reported by other states, it’s reasonable to conclude that half of all deaths in the United States are among nursing home residents and that rather than shutting down the economy they could have focused resources on nursing homes.” Indeed, of the nine states with the largest coronavirus outbreaks, New York has the lowest reported share of state deaths from long-term care residents at 20%, according to The Times. The share of long-term care resident fatalities reported by the other eight states ranges from 36% to 66%, according to The Times.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 16, 2020 14:27:41 GMT -6
They still swear it’s not a cover up lol www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8326583/China-admits-destroying-early-coronavirus-samples-says-NOT-cover-up.htmlChina has acknowledged it destroyed early samples of COVID-19, confirming a claim put forward by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late last month. On Friday, Liu Dengfeng, a supervisor with China’s National Health Commission, admitted that ‘the Chinese government issued an order on January 3 to dispose of coronavirus samples’ at unauthorized laboratories, according to Newsweek. But Liu denied that the samples were destroyed as part of a cover-up, insisting that they were disposed of so as to ‘prevent risk to laboratory biological safety and prevent secondary disasters caused by unidentified pathogens.’ He stated that the labs were ‘unauthorized’ to handle such samples, and they had to be terminated in order to comply with Chinese public health laws. The admission comes amid souring diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China over the COVID-19 outbreak – which originated in Wuhan late last year. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month accused the Asian superpower of not being transparent about spread of the coronavirus.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 17, 2020 3:03:01 GMT -6
Who didn’t see this one coming? losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/05/14/coronavirus-santa-ana-robberies-increase-suspects-face-covering-orders/Santa Ana PD: Robberies Increase By 50%, Suspects Using Face Covering Orders To Their Advantage SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Pointing a gun right at a gas station clerk, a man in a traffic vest and a ball cap demanded money as his accomplice, wearing a mask, grabbed the cash. “We’re sitting here not knowing who’s going to walk through that door,” Elias Khawan, the owner, said. ADVERTISING The thieves, who did not initially raise the clerk’s suspicion due to local orders for face coverings in light of the coronavirus pandemic, took off in a silver Nissan Altima last Friday at 2 a.m. Khawan said he has never seen anything like it the 17 years he’s run his Santa Ana gas station and convenience store. He said local face covering requirements put his staff in danger. “It’s horrible,” he said. “I mean, I know we have to take certain measures because of what’s happening with COVID-19, but it’s the perfect script or manual for a robber — the mask, the sunshade and a hoodie. You don’t know who’s coming, who’s walking in.” Khawan and his staff feel so unsafe that he has cut his hours from being open all night to closing at 10 p.m., a 25% hit to his bottom line. He has also added signs at his store prohibiting hoodies, backpacks and handbags. “They’re very scared,” he said. “I have two employees who said, ‘No, we don’t want to work at nighttime.'”
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Post by soonernvolved on May 17, 2020 4:00:48 GMT -6
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Post by soonernvolved on May 17, 2020 4:25:35 GMT -6
Still think these lockdown orders by overreaching Governors is about a virus? First it was Shelley Luther, in Dallas, Texas. Now Lindsey Graham (no, not *that* Lindsey Graham), a salon owner in Salem, Oregon, is being targeted by state officials for having the audacity to open her business. Despite being threatened with upwards of $70,000 in fines, she opened up on May 5th, in defiance of governor Kate Brown’s lockdown orders, while dozens rallied in support along the sidewalk. Then the state started follow through with their threats. She has been fined $14,000 by OSHA, claiming she is putting her employees at risk. Except she doesn’t have any employees. Like many other salons, she rents out chairs to other stylists. They are threatening more fines if she doesn’t close down again. State child welfare authorities have even threatened to take her children away. Since the city of Salem owns the building she leases, they’ve also threatened to terminate her lease: www.wweek.com/news/business/2020/05/15/salem-salon-owner-who-defied-stay-home-orders-hit-with-14000-fine/Oregon Occupational Safety and Health issued a $14,000 fine to Lindsey Graham, owner of Glamor Salon in Salem, for reopening her salon May 5 in defiance of Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-home order. Aaron Corvin, a spokesman for Oregon OSHA, confirmed the $14,000 fine to WW. The agency says Graham is endangering her workers. She is unquestionably operating in violation of the governor’s executive order, designed to protect workers and the public,” Corvin told WW. “The penalty reflects both the nature of the violation and the employer’s willful decision to violate the law.” “I’m being threatened and intimidated and bullied daily by the government,” Graham said during a press conference Friday. “I’m sad that I can drive 20 minutes down the freeway, and that person’s job as a hairstylist is essential, according to Kate Brown. But my job, 20 minutes up the street, is nonessential.” Graham said during Friday’s press conference that OSHA “illegally deemed” the Glamour Salon hairdressers as employees rather than independent contractors (OSHA does not have jurisdiction over the latter). “Not everyone whose employer refers to them as an independent contractor actually falls outside our jurisdiction,” Corvin said. “Based on the findings of our inspection, at least some of those working at the salon qualify as employees under the Oregon Safe Employment Act, and we have acted accordingly.” “I don’t want anyone to get sick. I know you guys don’t want anyone to get sick,” Graham said. “But I also don’t want to go bankrupt and lose everything I worked for and neither do you.” Graham said Friday the salon opened May 5 so that she and the other 23 hairdressers who work in her salon could earn a living for their families. She also claimed that Child Protective Services had visited her house and questioned her child. “I’ve never expected such a violent, aggressive, vindictive thing could ever be done to me or my family,” she said, “because I’m trying to earn a living, because I’m trying to work.” Department of Human Services spokesman Jake Sutherland said the agency is unable to comment on whether the visit occurred, due to confidentiality laws. “I want to stress, however, that not following Gov. Brown’s Stay Home, Save Lives executive order or not following physical distancing guidelines would never be a reason to assign a CPS assessment,” Sutherland said. Graham said that OSHA told her she will have three days to close down her salon after receiving the $14,000 fine, and that if she does not comply, she will receive another citation.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 17, 2020 4:29:20 GMT -6
And another doctor disagrees with Fauci & the CDC.
Dr. Scott Atlas, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, joined Jesse Watters on Watters’ World on Saturday night to share his 5 key points on treating the coronavirus.
Dr. Atlas made five points in describing the coronavirus and the absurd response to the pandemic by Dr. Fauci and the CDC.
1.) The evidence shows the fatality rate is much less, maybe one-tenth, of what was originally estimated at 3.4%. And the reality is for people under 60 the mortality rate is less than or equal to the common flu!
2.) The second fact is we know who to protect. The elderly and immuno-compromised are most at risk. Those Americans in nursing homes need to be protected.
3.) By isolating every single person and avoiding human contact you have literally eliminated the best method to accomplish population immunity.
4.) Americans are dying because they’re not going to the hospital to get the medical care for things other than COVID-19. The policy of lockdown is killing people.
5.) Society must function. The cure here is worse than the disease.
Jesse Watters made a good point, “It’s unbelievable how the politicians don’t look at the new data and make different decisions.”
Via Watters’ World:
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Post by soonernvolved on May 17, 2020 4:35:36 GMT -6
YouTube removed a video from a Doctor about the Coronavirus. Wonder why? dailycaller.com/2020/05/16/knut-wittkowski-youtube-censorship-coronavirus-herd-immunity/Epidemiologist’s Video On Coronavirus ‘Herd Immunity’ Had 1.3 Million Views, Until YouTube Removed It YouTube removed a video of a prominent epidemiologist explaining his view that achieving “herd immunity” is the best way to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Knut M. Wittkowski is a former head of biostatistics, epidemiology and research design at Rockefeller University, but his contrarian take on tackling coronavirus was removed by the tech company for purported “misinformation.” A prominent advocate for the concept of “herd immunity” as being the only effective way, short of a vaccine, that society can fully return to normal life, Wittkowski considers social distancing and lockdown measures to be unnecessary and even counterproductive. A video on the topic produced by British company Journeyman Pictures and featuring the former Rockefeller University epidemiologist had 1.3 million views before it was removed for what YouTube called a violation of their “community standards,” the New York Post reported Saturday. “With all respiratory diseases, the only thing that stops the disease is herd immunity,” Wittkowski reportedly said in the video. “About 80% of the people need to have had contact with the virus, and the majority of them won’t even have recognized that they were infected.” (RELATED: Tucker: WHO ‘Admitting’ Sweden’s ‘Model’ Is Working But US Policy Makers Won’t ‘Abandon A Sweeping Power Grab’) “I was just explaining what we had,” Wittkowski explained to The Post’s Jon Levine, adding that he did not know why the video was taken down. “They don’t tell you. They just say it violates our community standards. There’s no explanation for what those standards are or what standards it violated.” Levine explained that Wittkowski’s argument, though a “minority opinion,” is “still well within mainstream thought and currently is the basis for Sweden’s non-lockdown approach to the pandemic.” Dr. Scott Atlas, former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, also made a case for herd immunity in an April appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “Instead of total lockdown going on which prevents that, we have a chance to have people develop their own antibodies and eventually have enough people have these antibodies to block this sort of network of progression and contagion to the people who are vulnerable,” Atlas told Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The Daily Caller has reached out to YouTube for comment.
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Post by soonernvolved on May 17, 2020 4:42:02 GMT -6
www.dailywire.com/news/report-california-governor-asks-tribal-leaders-to-not-reopen-casinos-on-their-own-landReport: California Governor Asks Tribal Leaders To Not Reopen Casinos On Their Own Land California Governor Gavin Newsom has written a letter to Native American tribal leaders who plan to reopen casinos in the San Diego County area asking them to reconsider and wait until stage three of his reopening plan. According to the Los Angeles Times, Newsom recognizes that the casinos do not fall under his jurisdiction, but emphasized in the letter that the coronavirus pandemic “remains a serious threat for all Californians.” “I understand that some tribal governments are planning on reopening casinos on their lands,” said Newsom. “This deeply concerns me, and I urge tribal governments to reconsider and instead make those determinations based on how they align with the current local public health conditions and the statewide stage of reopening.” “I am not asking that tribal governments receive authorization from the state or local governments prior to moving forward with reopening or suggesting that tribal casinos remain closed indefinitely,” said the governor, who asked the tribal leaders, “in the spirit of sovereign-to-sovereign engagement,” to wait until areas next to their land reach stage three of his reopening plan. Under the governor’s four-phase plan, “higher risk work places” like gyms, movie theaters, and salon cannot reopen until phase three. Newsom recently teased phase three may be as little as one month away, and San Diego has just started to reopen under the phase two guidelines. Despite the California governor’s guidelines, the Times reports that three San Diego area casinos have told customers that they plan to reopen over the next week with a focus on safety. Sycuan Casino Resort, for example, will stagger available slot machines and limit card tables to three players, and the Viejas Casino & Resort said it will enforce physical distancing and conduct temperature checks before entry. Outside of California, some casinos have been preparing for experimental gambling practices that go even further, such as putting up shield guards at poker tables. Yet, inside San Diego County, other businesses that have been asked to wait until stage three have also grown impatient. Lou Uridel, a gym owner in San Diego, reopened his business on Thursday, less than a week after he was arrested for defying the county’s public health order and opening up the gym to guests, according to The San Jose Mercury News. “We lost a third of our membership that took us a year and a half to get,” Uridel told the news agency, explaining that he had no choice but to reopen. “If we waited, with the bills mounting, we weren’t going to be able to recover.” Bonnie Stauffer, a spokesperson for the Oceanside Police Department in San Diego County, told the news agency that Uridel will continue to receive daily citations, which amount to $1,000 or 90 days in jail per violation. “I don’t know what other enforcement can be done at this point,” said the spokesperson, who added that the department was working with the district attorney’s office to explore other options.
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