Eh, this is only innuendo for now, but there might be a scandal about to drop on Graham. A gay escort is hinting on social media that Lindsey Graham has used the services of a number of male escorts over the years, including himself, and made them sign NDAs. I don't want this to be taken as fact because it isn't at this stage.
B12 Orders?
CLI Life is a bit of an obsession. Automatic as much as possible. Creatin gyour own time and Freedom!
On Monday, August 15, people all over the world woke up to find their email inboxes stuffed with unwanted email, victims of an organized and relentless ''subscription bombing'' attack. This attack used a bot designed to find sign-up forms and enter thousands of email addresses on a site before moving on to the next one, where the process was repeated. Before the bot was through, each address ended up subscribed to hundreds of newsletters. The owners of the email addresses remained unaware of what had happened until they started receiving the emails. Faced with what appeared to be unsolicited emails, they did what many people would do in this situation: they flagged the mailings as spam, which sent the reputation scores for the attacked companies spiraling down.1
Most of the companies that were victims of this attack were respectable, legitimate companies whose only crime was that they made their newsletter sign-up processes too easy, also making it easy for attackers to enter false information. Many well-respected email senders suddenly were having trouble landing in the inbox and were getting relegated to junk status. Even the New York Times felt the effects of this attack.
The attacks started over the weekend, but because not everyone checks their mail services on Saturdays and Sundays, by Monday morning some accounts were packed with new, unwanted emails. In many cases, the amount of emails was massive enough to make it impossible to identify and separate the legitimate mailings from the junk. More diligent people took the time to try and unsubscribe from these emails, but as security expert Brian Krebs noted, ''By the time I'd finished deleting and unsubscribing from the first page of requests, there would be another page or two of new newsletter-related emails.'' For most people, the easiest solution was to select all the new email and either delete it or mark it as spam, which sent reputation scores spiraling. Suddenly, hundreds of a company's mailings were being identified as spam, landing several legitimate companies on blacklists.
High-profile companies that use a single opt-in method without a verification test appeared to be the most at risk, but were, by no means, the only ones affected. Many of the sign-up email addresses ended in ''.gov,'' suggesting that the attack might have had a political motive behind it. A belief strengthened by the recent Russian hacker reports. Some people have speculated that it was simply the work of bored computer geeks out for kicks. Whatever the reason, it caused many legitimate companies to wind up being blacklisted.
No Easy Unsubscribe The problem was exacerbated by the fact that, by its very structure, there's no quick way to mass unsubscribe from several email subscriptions. It's easy to select a dozen emails and either delete them or send them to the spam folder, because both of these actions occur within the mail reader. Unsubscribing is a little trickier. Each piece of email must be unsubscribed from separately. There's no way to select a batch of emails and unsubscribe from them en masse because the unsubscribe information for each piece of email is going to a different place and is handled in a different fashion. Some require verification, others present a display of settings that need to be unchecked.
Some services, such as Gmail, Outlook.com, and the latest update to the iPhone's Mail app feature an unsubscribe button, but only when the unsubscribe link in the email leads to automatic unsubscribe. Links with multiple choices, or multiple step unsubscribes don't show up. So when hundreds of emails arrive in the inbox at the same time, nobody (Brian Krebs notwithstanding) is going to go to the trouble of trying to unsubscribe separately from all those mailings. It is far easier to accomplish the same effect by selecting everything and deleting it, but since none of these emails were actually solicited, it is even more likely for people to use the spam button to show their dissatisfaction. When enough people do this, blacklisting services, such as SpamCop, Junk Email FIlter, Barracuda, and especially Spamhaus, sit up and take notice.
Blacklists How each of these blacklist services handles junk mail varies, with equally varied results in terms of effectiveness. The most well-known and commonly used blacklisting service is Spamhaus. When Spamhaus decides to put you on their ''Spamhaus Block List'' (SBL), you've got a serious problem. Everyone from Yahoo to McAfee, and Gmail (to some extent) use the SBL data, so staying off this list is mandatory of you ever want your mailings to be read.
After this latest subscription attack, we saw several obviously legitimate news organizations end up on blacklists after this attack. Getting on this list is relatively easy. Getting off it often takes a concerted effort by your ESP or deliverability team. How difficult that process is will depend on several factors, such as past transgressions as well as subjective considerations, such as the general impression of your site by the people at the blacklist service (and not just Spamhaus either).
The Double Opt-In Spamhaus has always maintained that the double opt-in (DOI'--also known as the confirmed opt-in) will help prevent surreptitious sign-ups. Some services, such as MailChimp, now use double opt-ins exclusively (much to the dismay of their subscribers if the questions Quora and Reddit are any indication). But a DOI doesn't solve the initial problem of bot sign-ups. Even Spamhaus acknowledges that a DOI does not automatically prevent your company from landing on their blacklist. The recipients will still receive that annoying first deluge of DOI verification mail, which, when thousands have been entered, is enough of a problem by itself. The double opt-in might keep the problem from compounding though, which is certainly preferable than continuing to send emails to increasingly more annoyed recipients.
For Canadian and European emails, where adequate verifications of acknowledged sign-ups are required, the double opt-in is already the safest option. While most ESPs (Goolara included) let you decide what sort of opt-in procedure you want to implement, you should be aware that a single opt-in puts you in greater danger of a malicious and erroneous sign-ups. If your site is popular enough to experience more than one or two sign-ups a day, you should consider switching to a double opt-in.
CAPTCHAs Currently, Spamhaus recommends the use of a CAPTCHA as part of your sign-up process. A CAPTCHA requires an action by the user, such as solving an equation or identifying two words that are either distorted or partially obscured by a pattern. They are easy to implement and may be the only way to get your company off the SBL. The most common one is ReCAPTCHA, which is provided by Google, but there are others on the market. We also recommend using a CAPTCHA, but this technology brings its own set of issues, which we'll take a look in more detail in our next blog post.
Worst Case Scenario So what do you do if you've already fallen prey to an attack? Preventative maintenance is always the best course of action. Besides double opt-ins and the use of a CAPTCHA, a regular practice of looking at your report metrics and subscription sign-ups can alert you to potential problems before they get out of hand. Noticeable increases in the amount of email being greylisted or sent to the junk folders might be a warning sign of worse things to come. Sudden increases in sign-ups from ''gov'' sources can also indicate potential bot attacks, so you may want to segment out these mailings for closer examination. In most cases, though, these attacks are sudden and unexpected, and nothing you do once the attack starts will stop the problem from escalating.
If you do end up on a blacklist, you should notify your ESP immediately and see what steps they can take to solve the problem. Some ESPs, such as Goolara, also offer deliverability services, and they can help you get your IP removed from the blacklist. Otherwise, you might want to seek the services of a professional deliverability expert. As long as you don't have a history of sending to spam traps (which will normally only occur if you don't keep your list up to date, or have a nasty habit of buying questionable lists), you should be okay.
Next time we'll take a closer look at CAPTCHAs and other methods of sign-up verification.
1. The reputation score is how email services identify whether a mailing has any value. The higher your reputation score, the better your chances of ending up in the inbox. For more information on this, see our white paper Deliverability Enhanced.
Meetup
Coors light promo lady at meetup with social media posts on flip phone and lite phone2
BLM
I Can't Breathe Irony
I just think it is ironic that the protesters signs all saying "I can't breath" when the main symptom of Covid is that you can't breath - yet their acts are encouraging the increase of the disease (and thus real cases of 'I can't breath') in the very communities (those being hit hardest by Covid) which they pretend to love - all the while thinking their youth or flimsy worthless Cowboys and Indians masks will save themselves. Just looks like one big game they playing. Making a mockery of all the millions who suffered during the lockdown.
GBR Note
Adam and John,
Sharing my insight from Minneapolis on the recent pandemonium.
I am one of those mystical GBR's (Gay-Black-Republican, that is).
I live in Minneapolis, and used to live 6 blocks from the 3rd precinct for 3 years.
I was also on the I-35W Bridge on Sunday when a semi drove into a crowd of protesters (insanity).
It would suffice to say, that what's happened here over the last 10 days has been downright bizarre, but to me, not entirely surprising.
The race problem in Minneapolis, from my perspective, is compounded largely by one large group of residents: White Liberals.
The vast majority of my friends are white liberals and as most people know, Minneapolis is often described as one of the most liberal places in the country (something I always laugh at when someone brings it up). So why is it that is is also one of the most segregated cities in America? Why does it rank at the bottom in education for students of color? Why do so many black people move away after a just few years, if even that long?
Well, in my estimation, this city is an echo chamber for white liberal virtue-signalling, backed often by as little action as possible. So often, I hear them cheering for Black Lives Matter, or see yard signs that say "we love our black and brown neighbors," yet, ask the majority of them if they would go have dinner in one of the black neighborhoods in the city. The answer is almost always an awkward "not really." Ask them if they have black friends; if they don't have one token one (that doesn't happen to be me), the answer is almost always no. Ask them if they would be comfortable with a black family moving in next door. If you tell them you went to a store in one of the black neighborhoods, you'll be met with "oh yikes... why would you go over there?" .. you get the point.
As I've seen it play out, Minneapolis's largely white, largely liberal population loves supporting these causes in theory, so long as it's not in their backyard (NIMBYism is strong here). What's worse, there is a sense of pure arrogance when you question one of them about this problem, typically met with a response to the effect of, "racism is Minneapolis? I don't think so, this is a deep blue city."
The past 10 days have forced many of these same residents to question - how did we let this happen here? How bad is it really? As well as, hopefully, finally acknowledging that masquerading as a liberal utopia is not an actual solution to our city's persistent and potentially fatal flaw.
The top editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer has stepped down from his role after the newspaper published an article with the headline ''Buildings Matter, Too,'' last week, according to an internal memo sent to newsroom staff and obtained by CNN.
Stan Wischnowski, has worked for the Inquirer for 20 years and has been its executive editor for a decade, according to the memo from publisher Lisa Hughes. He is also senior vice president.
Wischnowski's last day will be June 12, Hughes said in the memo.
A successor for the executive editor position has not been named.
Wischnowski's resignation follows uproar from Inquirer staff over the headline of an article published on Tuesday about concerns that historical buildings could be damaged during protests over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
Wischnowski declined to comment to the Inquirer for its story announcing his resignation and has not responded an emailed request from CNN for comment.
Journalists called out sick in protestMore than 40 journalists of color at the newspaper called out sick on Thursday, according to organizers of the sick out.
The 44 journalists signed an open letter to their editors explaining their decision to call out ''sick and tired.'' They said they have spent ''months and years'' trying to gain the public's trust only to have it ''eroded in an instant by careless, unempathetic decisions.''
Wischnowski, along with the Inquirer's editor Gabriel Escobar and managing editor Patrick Kerkstra, signed an apology following the action from staff.
Paper reviewing headline processThe senior editors said in the apology that the headline was ''unacceptable'' despite having gone through the process for editing and headline writing.
''The headline offensively riffed on the Black Lives Matter movement, and suggested an equivalence between the loss of buildings and the lives of black Americans. That is unacceptable,'' the editors wrote in the apology.
The paper will review the process to ''implement safeguards to flag sensitive content and prevent single-person publication,'' the apology continued.
In a tweet Thursday the paper said the headline was ''offensive, inappropriate'' and should not have been printed.
''We will expand on our commitment to build a newsroom that better reflects the community it serves, with more recruiting resources and requirements for diverse finalist pools,'' the apology said. ''And we will define a process for flagging, discussing and publicly disclosing lapses in editorial judgment that aren't addressed with a simple factual correction.''
Hughes said the paper will continue to look at its processes as it searches for a new executive editor. ''We will use this moment to evaluate the organizational structure and processes of the newsroom, assess what we need, and look both internally and externally for a seasoned leader who embodies our values, embraces our shared strategy, and understands the diversity of the communities we serve,'' the memo from Hughes said.
The gaffe came the same week that the New York Times came under fire from some of its staffers for publishing an op-ed titled ''Tom Cotton: Send In the Troops'' by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, arguing the military should be sent to quell protests in cities and ''restore order.''
The Times responded by adding an editor's note which read, ''After publication, this essay met strong criticism from many readers (and many Times colleagues), prompting editors to review the piece and the editing process. Based on that review, we have concluded that the essay fell short of our standards and should not have been published.''
We Assemble MovementsFrom grassroots organizations to advocacy groups, we seed the narratives and gather the audience you desire. When your strategy demands paid protest, we organize and bring it to life.
Learn MoreUnassailable Authenticity We are strategists mobilizing millennials across the globe with seeded audiences and desirable messages. With absolute discretion a top priority, our operatives create convincing scenes that become the building blocks of massive movements. When you need the appearance of outrage, we are able to deliver it at scale while keeping your reputation intact.
DemonstrationsWe develop, recruit, manage, and execute on your high-level objectives. Our trained operatives can lead entire crowds or simply steer events in your favor.
MovementsWe have the proven expertise required to expertly shape political, corporate, or public health perceptions.
IntelligenceOur operatives can embrace and steer existing organizations, providing you valuable insights about those involved and their future actions.
TrainingOur strategists can train your organization in our methods of creating effective demonstrations and design the situations that will deliver your goals.
Full Service Rest easy knowing that every detail of your campaign is in the hands of experts.
Recruitment Our top priority is preventing any associations back to you. Our operatives only know us, and we have a proven track record of maintaining secrecy.
Directed Action We demand action of our operatives on the ground and provide them in-person support. Create the scenes that will sway public opinion and perception without any guesswork.
Deniability By taking every precaution, keeping our clients secret, and only hiring the best individuals, we can ensure that all actions will appear genuine to media and public observers.
Partner Stories We drive radical results. 93% of partners launch additional campaigns with us.
'' We have seen some momentous changes as a result of our first two campaigns. It was astonishing to watch operatives go above and beyond, sometimes to their own detriment, to drive our story with the public. ''
Campaign Chair Unnamed 2016 Presidential Campaign
'' Not only were we able to counter feel-good misconceptions held by millennials, we were able to drive a measurable decline in key metrics and introduce a powerful new story. ''
Executive Director Unnamed Public Health Non-profit
'' Young Americans were lacking enthusiasm when it came to our goals ... Demand Protest was able to formulate a strategy and street campaign that quickly ignited fierce feelings and action. ''
Chairman Unnamed Fund Management
17Causes
15Partners
48Campaigns
1817Operatives
Connect with us Let's write tomorrow together.
Drew Brees makes a second apology for kneeling remarks
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees '-- who apologized on social media in a statement Thursday for his national anthem comments in the wake of George Floyd's death '-- expressed his sorrow verbally in an Instagram post later in the day.
''I know there's not much that I could say that would make things any better right now,'' Brees said in the video. ''But I just want you to see in my eyes how sorry I am for the comments that I made yesterday. I know they hurt many people, especially friends, teammates, former teammates, loved ones, people that I care and respect deeply.''
Brees '-- who struck a nerve with his comments on Wednesday about how kneeling during the national anthem is ''disrespecting the flag'' '-- said it was never his intention to be hurtful.
''I wish I would have laid out what was on my heart in regards to the George Floyd murder, Ahmaud Arbery, the years and years of social injustice, police brutality and the need for so much reform and change in regards to legislation and so many other things to bring equality to our black communities,'' Brees said.
''I'm sorry, and I will do better, and I will be part of the solution. And I am your ally. I know no words will do that justice, that's going to have to be [earned].''
Earlier, reaction to Brees' initial apology was mixed in the sports community with some athletes saying it was too little or too late. But Saints teammates Michael Thomas, Demario Davis and Alvin Kamara were willing to forgive Brees and are looking to move forward.
Floyd, 46, died on May 25 in Minneapolis after police officer Derek Chauvin, 44, pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes after Floyd was suspected of spending a counterfeit $20 bill.
The charges against Chauvin were upgraded on Wednesday. He now faces the more serious charge of second-degree murder, in addition to the original charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence.
The other officers on the scene Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, are now being charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Reddit's Alexis Ohanian RESIGNS to help 'curb racial hate' | Daily Mail Online
Serena Williams' Reddit co-founder husband Alexis Ohanian has resigned from the company's board because he is a 'father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?''
The tech founder, who shares two-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. with his tennis star wife, made the shock announcement in a video uploaded to his Instagram page around midday Friday.
In the footage, he says he is stepping down 'for me, for my family, and for my country' so that his seat on the board can be filled by a black candidate and so he can focus on helping to 'curb racial hate'.
The move comes after the company faced a backlash this week when it sent an open letter to staff addressing the Black Lives Matter protests.
Reddit's former CEO Ellen Pao blasted the company saying it 'monetizes white supremacy' while two of its biggest subreddits staged a blackout and called for leadership to stand down if they don't tackle 'bigotry' on the platform.
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has resigned from the company's board because he is a 'father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?''
'Fifteen years ago I cofounded Reddit as a place for people to find community and a sense of belonging,' Ohanian says in the video shared Friday.
'It is long overdue to do the right thing. I'm doing this for me, for my family, and for my country.'
Ohanian continues: 'I'm saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?'
He says he hopes the company will hire a black person to replace him on the board and pledges to use his future gains on Reddit stock to 'serve the black community'.
'So I have resigned as a member of the Reddit board, I have urged them to fill my seat with a black candidate, and I will use future gains on my Reddit stock to serve the black community, chiefly to curb racial hate, and I'm starting with a pledge of $1M to Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Right's campaign,' he says.
'I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now. To everyone fighting to fix our broken nation: do not stop.'
Ohanian made the shock announcement in a video uploaded to his Instagram page around midday Friday
The tech founder and investor is married to tennis star Serena Williams and they have a two-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. (pictured together here)
A BRIEF HISTORY OF REDDIT AND ITS SCANDALS2005 - Reddit was founded by college roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in June 2005. It later merges with Aaron Swartz's company Infogami under the new name Not a Bug.
2006 - Publishing giant Cond(C) Nast buys Reddit for less than $20 million. The exact price has never been confirmed.
2007 - Aaron Swartz leaves the firm.
2009 - The two co-founders Ohanian and Huffman left the company, launching new ventures Breadpig and Hipmunk respectively.
2011 - Reddit becomes operationally independent of Cond(C) Nast. The platform comes under fire for hosting a subreddit called jailbait which features an image of an underage girl. Reddit shutters the subreddit.
2013 - A subreddit called 'findbostonbombers' wrongly identifies a number of people as suspects in the Boston Bombings.
2014 - After five years away from the company, Ohanian and Huffman returned to Reddit. Ohanian became full-time executive chairman and Huffman became CEO.
2015 - Reddit introduces an anti-harassment policy for users to report bad behaviors on the platform. 'the_donald' subreddit was set up by users when Donald Trump announced he was running for president.
2018 - The subreddit MillionDollarExtreme was banned for violating Reddit's policy about violent content with its content often being racist, homophobic and transphobic.
2020 - Ohanian stands down from the company.
Williams shared the post on her own social media accounts saying she is 'proud' of her husband.
'So proud of your commitment to not just me but to ''us'',' she wrote on Twitter alongside a retweet of her husband's post.
In another Tweet she wrote: 'Having diverse views on any boards is important. So proud of you Alexis. I know Olympia will be too.'
The shock news comes just days after Reddit's former CEO Ellen Pao slammed the company when it published an open letter to staff condemning racism, following the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of a white cop in Minneapolis last week.
Pao laid in to the tech company in a Twitter post Tuesday saying the company 'nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long'.
'I am obligated to call you out: You should have shut down the_donald instead of amplifying it and its hate, racism, and violence. So much of what is happening now lies at your feet,' wrote Pao, who was interim CEO between late 2014 and mid-2015.
'You don't get to say BLM when reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long.'
Her outrage came in response to co-founder and current CEO Steve Huffman, known on the platform as /u/spez, sending a letter to staff Monday in response to Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter protests across America that are calling for an end to police brutality and racism against African-Americans.
'We do not tolerate hate, racism, and violence, and while we have work to do to fight these on our platform, our values are clear,' Huffman wrote in the letter also shared on social media.
Reddit also faced a backlash from two of its biggest subreddits, as many companies are coming under fire for appearing to jump on the bandwagon of slamming racism while taking zero action in their firms to root out the issue.
The NFL and NBA subreddits both blasted the tech firm's response and participated in a 24 hour blackout in participation with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Williams shared the post on her own social media accounts saying she is 'so proud of your commitment to not just me but to ''us'''
Ohanian with daughter Alexis Olympia. He said he is stepping down 'for me, for my family, and for my country' so that his seat on the board can be filled by a black candidate
Williams with Alexis Olympia. The tennis star has not yet commented publicly on the news
Anyone navigating to the sites came up against a message calling on Reddit leadership to resign if they cannot tackle hatred on the platform.
'Reddit has harbored racists as policy for years /u/spez. It has led to battling racism constantly, increased by the kneeling that encompassed Black Lives Matter's message,' read the message on NFL subreddit.
The site then issued a number of requests to Reddit leadership including a policy against bigotry, a way to report subreddits based on their content, and 'deplatforming heavy participants in hate subreddits through their main account and alts'.
It added that if the requests are not met, then they call for the resignation of the company's leadership.
A similar message was shared by the NBA subreddit.
The shock news comes just days after Reddit's former CEO Ellen Pao slammed the company for 'amplifying' hate and racism
Her anger came in response to current CEO Steve Huffman, known on the platform as /u/spez, sending a letter to staff Monday in response to Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter protests across America
The two subreddits make up some of the largest Reddit communities.
Reddit has long come under fire for hosting racist forums on its platform, and has been forced to shut down several subreddits over the years.
'the_donald,' which Pao referred to in her tweet has existed on the site since Donald Trump announced he was running for president in 2015 and is well-known for housing racist and misogynistic content.
Reddit decided to 'quarantine' the subreddit in June 2019 meaning users have to opt in to view its content, which it said many would find 'highly offensive or upsetting' but the subreddit continues to remain active.
Ohanian co-founded Reddit, the discussion website and network of communities, with Huffman back in 2005.
They sold it publishing house Cond(C) Nast in 2006 for between $10 million and $20 million.
It is now one of the biggest websites in the world.
1200 Public Health Experts Sign Letter Advocating Mass Gatherings Because ''White Supremacy'' is a Bigger Threat Than COVID-19 '' USSA News | The Tea Party's Front Page
1200 public health experts have signed an open letter asserting that Black Lives Matter mass gatherings should be encouraged because ''white supremacy'' is a bigger health threat than COVID-19.
Yes, really.
''White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19,'' states the letter, before adding, ''Black people are twice as likely to be killed by police compared to white people, but the effects of racism are far more pervasive,'' (a claim which is completely misleading given that black people are far likelier to be involved in violent confrontations with police).
The letter goes on to basically assert that COVID-19 isn't a threat, so long as people are protesting against racism, which is a bigger threat, a completely ludicrous assertion that sounds like it came straight from a far-left protest group, not 1200 public health experts.
''As public health advocates, we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission,'' states the letter. ''We support them as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.''
The letter then claims that 'stay-at-home' protests shouldn't be treated the same because they ''not only oppose public health interventions, but are also rooted in white nationalism and run contrary to respect for Black lives.''
The health experts then go on to assert that BLM protesters shouldn't be arrested, shouldn't be held in vans and that tear gas shouldn't be used against them due to the threat of it exacerbating symptoms of people infected with COVID-19.
The letter also says that facemasks should be 'celebrated' and not seen as an easy way for criminals and looters to hide their identity.
The letter was drafted by infectious disease ''experts'' at the University of Washington, which has been integral in studying the coronavirus in the US. They write that ''pervasive racism'' is now ''the paramount public health problem,'' superseding the virus. WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!
'-- Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 5, 2020
Commenting on the letter, journalist Michael Tracey tweeted, ''The letter was drafted by infectious disease ''experts'' at the University of Washington, which has been integral in studying the coronavirus in the US. They write that ''pervasive racism'' is now ''the paramount public health problem,'' superseding the virus. WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!''
In the space of 10 days, leftists and even public health officials have gone from demanding police arrest 'stay-at-home' protesters for the crime of gathering outside, to demanding the abolition of police and encouraging mass gatherings of people outside.
You're bad and ''killing granny'' for participating in a protest while remaining inside your car, but tens of thousands of people gathering in close proximity in cities across America is good because ''racism'' or something.
No, this isn't an episode of the Twilight Zone, it's 2020.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos posted an email to Instagram Friday expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement in reply to an upset customer.
The screenshot of an email from a customer said it was ''disturbing'' and ''offensive'' that Amazon posted a message on its website in solidarity with the movement. The customer's name was blurred, but he used the phrase ''ALL LIVES MATTER!'' which is considered offensive by many, as it seeks to supercede the intended message.
''I have to disagree with you,'' Bezos said to the customer.'"'Black Lives Matter' doesn't mean other lives don't matter. Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people face in our law enforcement and justice system.''
Bezos said he doesn't have to worry that his son ''might be choked to death while being detained one day. I want you to know I support this movement that we see happening all around us and my stance won't change,'' said.
On Wednesday, Amazon
announced it would donate $10 million to social justice organizations. Along with that, the company issued a tweet that said the ''inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people'' must stop.
LA Galaxy to 'Part' with Aleksandar Katai, Whose Wife Made 'Racist and Violent' Comments About Protesters | PEOPLE.com
"The LA Galaxy have mutually agreed to part with midfielder Aleksander Katai," the team said in a statement Friday
Los Angeles Galaxy player Aleksander Katai has been released from the team after his wife made "racist and violent" comments about people protesting systemic racism and police brutality after the killing of George Floyd.
The Galaxy announced that Katai would no longer be part of the MLS team in a brief statement shared on Twitter Friday.
Get push notifications with news, features and more.
+ Follow Following
You'll get the latest updates on this topic in your browser notifications.
"The LA Galaxy have mutually agreed to part with midfielder Aleksander Katai," the statement said. Katai joined the team in December after two seasons with the Chicago Fire.
Katai's parting with the team comes two days after the Galaxy "strongly condemned the social posts" shared by Katai's wife, Tea Katai, and one day after the team held a meeting with the athlete to "determine next steps."
"The LA Galaxy stands firmly against racism of any kind, including that which suggests violence or seeks to demean the efforts of those in pursuit of racial equality," the Galaxy said in a statement Wednesday.
RELATED: LA Galaxy Meeting with Player After His Wife Posted 'Racist and Violent' Comments About Protestors
"The LA Galaxy stand with communities of color, and especially the black community, in protests and fight against systemic racism, social inequality, bigotry and violence," the statement said. "Now is the time to reflect on our role in helping fight racism in our community."
Katai also condemned his wife's social media posts, calling them "unacceptable."
"These views are not ones that I share and are not tolerated in my family," the Serbian soccer player said in a Wednesday statement shared on Instagram.
Aleksander Katai
TF-Images/Getty Images)
Aleksandar Katai and wife Tea
Aleksandar Katai/ Instagram
RELATED: Jake Fromm Apologizes After Saying Only 'Elite White People' Should Be Allowed to Own Guns
Tea reportedly wrote in Serbian a call to "kill" protesters, according to the Associated Press, also writing in Serbian that protestors were "disgusting cattle."
"Racism, particularly toward the black community, is not only prevalent in the United States and Europe, but across the globe," Katai said in his statement. "I strongly condemn white supremacy, racism, and violence toward people of color. Black lives matter. This is a mistake from my family and I take full responsibility."
"I understand that it will take time to earn back the support of the people of Los Angeles," he continued. "I am committed to putting in the necessary work to learn from these mistakes and be a better ally and advocate for equality going forward. I am sorry for the pain these posts have caused the LA Galaxy family and all allies in the fight against racism."
To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:
' Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
' ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities.
' National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help black youth succeed in college and beyond.
Snoop Dogg says he will be voting in upcoming presidential election for the first time in his life | Daily Mail Online
Snoop Dogg will vote for the first time in the upcoming presidential election: 'I can't stand to see this punk in office one more year'By Dailymail.com Reporter
Published: 12:11 EDT, 6 June 2020 | Updated: 12:18 EDT, 6 June 2020
Snoop Dogg will vote for the first time ever this year.
The 48-year-old rapper revealed that he previously wrongly assumed he was not eligible to vote because he has a criminal record.
But this year, he is determined to cast a vote in the US presidential election, because he wants to see Donald Trump removed from office.
Mistaken: Snoop Dogg is going to vote for the first time in the presidential election after being under the impression he couldn't vote with a criminal record
'I ain't never voted a day in my life, but this year I think Imma get out and vote because I can't stand to see this punk in office one more year,'
He told The Real 92.3: 'For many years it had me brainwashed thinking that you couldn't vote because you had a criminal record.'
However, when asked if he will vote this year, Snoop said: 'Definitely, 'cause we got to make a difference. I can't talk about it and not be about it.
'I can't tell you to do it then you don't go do it. Everybody know I'm a front-liner. I ain't gonna tell you to do something I didn't do.'
Meanwhile, back in 2018, Snoop said anyone who supports President Donald Trump is a 'racist', including Kanye West.
'I ain't never voted a day in my life, but this year I think Imma get out and vote because I can't stand to see this punk in office one more year,' Snoop said of Trump
Follow my lead: 'Everybody know I'm a front-liner. I ain't gonna tell you to do something I didn't do.'
The 'Doggy Dogg World' rapper took aim at his fellow Americans who are on the 'Trump Train' in a foul-mouthed rant against their beliefs and opinions and insisted Kanye had sided with racists over his own community.
Speaking to DJ Suss One on SiriusXM, Snoop said: 'I don't give a f**k. I tell 'em straight up, 'Motherf**ker, if you like that n**ga, you are a motherf**kin' racist. F**k you and f**k him.'
Referring specifically to Kanye, he added: 'When you drew the line and start pointing motherf**kers out and singling them out, f**k y'all then, n**ga. You and them.
'Throw him in the bag, he right with them motherf***ers': 'Back in 2018 Snoop hit out at Kanye West and accused him of siding with racists because of his support for Trump
'Kanye too. Don't forget about him too. F**k you too. Throw him in the bag, he right with them motherf***ers.'
Snoop insisted Trump has only himself to blame for the amount of criticism and hatred he receives because he drew the battle lines with the rhetoric he used during his election campaign.
The musician added: 'He drew the lines. Before him, there were no lines. Everybody was everybody, we respected everything, we didn't trip.'
The musician added: 'He drew the lines. Before him, there were no lines. Everybody was everybody, we respected everything, we didn't trip.'
Wietse Zweitze Venema (born 1951) is a Dutch programmer and physicist best known for writing the Postfix email system. He also wrote TCP Wrapper and collaborated with Dan Farmer to produce the computer security tools SATAN and The Coroner's Toolkit.[1][2]
Wietse Venema
Wietse Venema speaking at a conference in 2004
Born1951 (age 68''69)JakartaNationalityDutchAlma materUniversity of GroningenKnown forPostfix MTA, TCP WrappersScientific careerFieldsComputer scienceInstitutionsGoogle, Inc.Thomas J. Watson Research CenterEindhoven University of Technology
Wietse Venema demonstrating the pronunciation of his nameContents
1 Biography 2 Awards 3 External links 4 References Biography Edit He studied physics at the University of Groningen, continuing there to get a PhD in 1984 with the dissertation Left-right symmetry in nuclear beta decay.[3] He spent 12 years at Eindhoven University as a systems architect in the Mathematics and Computer Science department, and spent part of this time writing tools for Electronic Data Interchange. Since emigrating to the U.S. in 1996 and until 2015, he has been working for the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York State.[4] On March 24, 2015, he announced he was leaving IBM for Google.[5]
Awards Edit Awards Venema has received for his work:
Security Summit Hall of Fame Award (July 1998)SAGE Outstanding Achievement Award (November 1999)NLUUG Award (November 2000)Sendmail Milter Innovation Award (November 2006)The 2008 Free Software Foundation Award for the Advancement of Free Software (March 2009)ISSA Hall of Fame award (October 2012)External links Edit Official website Interview with Wietse Venema (2004) - interview with Linuxsecurity.comInterview with Wietse Venema (1999) - interview about TCP Wrapper developmentReferences Edit ^ "Wietse Venema - Faces of Open Source -". facesofopensource.com. 2018-10-01. ^ Dunston, Duane (2004-09-07). "Catching up with Wietse Venema, creator of Postfix and TCP Wrapper". LinuxSecurity.com. ^ Wietze Zweitze Venema at Album Promotorum - Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit Groningen ^ "Wietse Z. Venema, UNIX/Internet Security, IBM.com ^ Email announcement
Billie Eilish Agrees With People Who Say She Only Won Her Grammys Because She's White
Billie Eilish is using her voice to call out racist double standards in the music industry. Danny Moloshok / Reuters In a recent interview with British GQ, the "Bad Guy" singer criticized the industry for labeling white artists' music as pop and Black artists' music as rap or R&B '-- an issue Tyler, the Creator also addressed at this year's Grammys. Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images"It sucks that whenever we '-- and I mean guys that look like me '-- do anything that's genre-bending or that's anything they always put it in a rap or urban category," Tyler said at the time. "I don't like that 'urban' word '-- it's just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me."
"I have always hated categories," Billie told GQ. "I hate when people say, 'Oh, you look like blank. You sound like blank.' It was such a cool thing Tyler said. I agree with him about that term." Eric Gaillard / Reuters "Don't judge an artist off the way someone looks or the way someone dresses," she continued. "Wasn't Lizzo in the Best R&B category that night? I mean, she's more pop than I am." Emma Mcintyre / Getty Images "Look, if I wasn't white I would probably be in rap. Why? They just judge from what you look like and what they know. I think that is weird," she said. Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images"The world wants to put you into a box; I've had it my whole career," the 18-year-old stated. "Just because I am a white teenage female I am pop. Where am I pop? What part of my music sounds like pop?"
Billie also revealed she at least partially agrees with people who say she only won her five Grammys because of her race, saying, "Then there's the other side of this whole thing: people shitting on me because I am white. 'Oh, she's white, that's why she won.' You know what? I agree with the sentiment; I get why people say that." Mario Anzuoni / Reuters"Truth is, they can say whatever they like, but don't undermine all the hard work it took for me to get here," she added.
Earlier this year, Billie admitted she felt "embarrassed" of her historic Grammy wins, telling Dazed she felt there were others artists who were more deserving: "I was dead surprised. And I was embarrassed, dude, I was fuckin' embarrassed," Billie shared. "I was in front of Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey and fuckin' Beyonc(C) is nominated, and I win. I was like, Noooo ... I don't deserve it. They deserve it." Monica Almeida / ReutersIn her Song of the Year acceptance speech, Billie said she thought there were "so many other songs" that deserved the award.
More recently, Billie used her platform to speak out against racial injustice, posting a statement on Instagram in response to the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by Minneapolis police: View this photo on Instagram
instagram.com"THE SLOGAN OF #blacklivesmatter DOES NOT MEAN OTHER LIVES DON'T. IT'S CALLING ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT SOCIETY CLEARLY THINKS BLACK LIVES DON'T FUCKING MATTER!!!!!! AND THEY FUCKING DO!!!!!!" she wrote.
What do you think of Billie using her platform to speak out against systemic racism and acknowledging how she's benefitted from it? Tell me in the comments below!
HCQ
Retraction: "Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis"
");}}if(responsiveDesign==1){//Page is responsive design, check if it is an article pageif($("[data-widget-def='UX3articleContent']").length!=0){//Its an article page, disable the sticky sidebardisableStickySidebar = 1;}}if(disableStickySidebar==0){//Check for disableStickySidebar in QuerystringdisableStickySidebar = gpt_GetQuerystring('disableStickySidebar',0);}if(disableStickySidebar!=0){//Disable the sticky leaderbard//Check for page flag, if it does not exist, create it.if($('#disableStickySidebar').length==0){$("body").append("
');}googletag.cmd.push(function(){var gptAdSlots = [];//***********************************************//Start Define Size mapping based on client Viewport//***********************************************var gptLeaderboardSizeMapping = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([768, 0], [[728, 90]]). // LeaderboardaddSize([0, 0], [[320, 50], [300, 50]]). // Mobile Leaderboardbuild();var gptSideBarSizeMapping = googletag.sizeMapping(). addSize([1140, 800], [[160, 600], [300, 250]]). // SkyScraper - Desktop (Require min 800 vertical), Fall back to BoomboxaddSize([1140, 450], [[300, 250]]). // BoomBox - Desktop (Require min 450 vertical)addSize([0, 0], []). // Phone-Tabletbuild();var gptSideBarNotResponsiveSizeMapping = googletag.sizeMapping(). addSize([1140, 800], [[160, 600]]). // SkyScraper - Desktop (Require min 800 vertical)addSize([0, 0], []). // Phone-Tabletbuild();var gptSideBarNotStickySizeMapping = googletag.sizeMapping(). addSize([1140, 800], [[160, 600], [300, 250]]). // SkyScraper Not Sticky (Require min 800 vertical), Fall back to BoomboxaddSize([1140, 450], [[300, 250]]). // BoomBox Not Sticky (Require min 450 vertical)addSize([0, 0], []). // Phone-Tabletbuild();//***********************************************//End Define Size mapping based on client Viewport//***********************************************//***********************************************//Start detection for ad slots on page//***********************************************$(".gpt-ad").each(function( index ){var gptSite = GPT_CheckForNULL($('#gptSite').val());var gptPage = '';var adSizeMapping='';var adId;var gptPOS;var gptMasterPage = GPT_CheckForNULL($('#gptPage').val());if (gptSite == null) {gptSite = GPT_CheckForNULL($('#gptAltSite').val());if (gptSite == null) {gptSite = GPT_CheckForNULL($(this).data('site'));}}if (gptSite == null) {gptSite = GPT_CheckForNULL($('#gptDefaultSite').val());}if(gptSite!=null){adId = 'gpt-ad-' + index + 1;gptPOS = parseInt($(this).data('pos')) || -1;if(gptPOS == -1){gptPOS = index + 1;} if (gptMasterPage != null) { gptPage = '/' + gptMasterPage; } else { gptPage = GPT_CheckForNULL($(this).data('page')); if (gptPage != null) { gptPage = '/' + gptPage; } else { gptPage = ''; } }//Determine sizemapping based on data-adsizeswitch($(this).data('adsize')){case 'cell-leaderboard':adSizeMapping = gptLeaderboardSizeMapping;if(gptPOS==1){$(this).addClass('GPT-Leaderboard-Cell');}break;case 'leaderboard':adSizeMapping = gptLeaderboardSizeMapping;$(this).addClass('GPT-Leaderboard');break;case 'boombox':adSizeMapping = gptBoomBoxSizeMapping;break;case 'skyscraper':if($(this).hasClass("disableStickySidebar")){adSizeMapping = gptSideBarNotStickySizeMapping;}else{$(this).addClass('GPT-StickySideBar');adSizeMapping = gptSideBarSizeMapping;}break;case 'skyscrapernotresponsive':adSizeMapping = gptSideBarNotResponsiveSizeMapping;break;}}//Ignore any invalid adsizes that could be on the pageif(adSizeMapping!=''){$(this).addClass('gpt-ad-defined');$(this).attr('id',adId);gptAdSlots[index] = googletag.defineSlot('/6053/els.' + gptSite + gptPage, [], adId).defineSizeMapping(adSizeMapping).addService(googletag.pubads()).setTargeting("pos", gptPOS);}else{$(this).remove();}});//***********************************************//End detection for ad slots on page//*********************************************** //*********************************************** //Start page level targeting //*********************************************** //Logged in or IP Access gpt_TargetAccessType(); //Check for DFP Test gpt_GetDFPTestId(); //Check for Staging gpt_CheckForStaging(); //Check for Additional Targeting gpt_GetAdditionalTargeting() //*********************************************** //End page level targeting //***********************************************//Enable google dfp servicesgoogletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest();googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs();googletag.enableServices();//Add Listener for Leaderboardgoogletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event){if (!event.isEmpty){$('#' + event.slot.getSlotElementId()).closest(".GPT-ad-placeholder").css("display", "block");//Sticky LeaderBoard JBSif ($('#' + event.slot.getSlotElementId()).hasClass("GPT-Leaderboard")){if($('#disableStickyLeaderboard').length==0){$('body').addClass("hasLeaderboard");// INJECT SOME CSS FOR STICKY LEADERBOARD// THIS INCLUDES CHANGING THE TOP OF THE STICKY HEADER #jbs-fixed-hdr$("body").append("
');$("div.cell-top-head").attr("style","display:block !important;"); $("body").append("");var tmp;tmp = $(".article.enhanced .tab-nav").attr("style");tmp = "top:110px;" + tmp;$(".article.enhanced .tab-nav").removeAttr("style");$(".article.enhanced .tab-nav").attr("style",tmp);tmp = $(".article.enhanced #fixedPane").attr("style");tmp = "top:148px;" + tmp;$(".article.enhanced #fixedPane").removeAttr("style");$(".article.enhanced #fixedPane").attr("style",tmp);setTimeout(handleStickyLeaderboard_CELL, 8000);}// THE FOLLOWING MAKES SURE THAT THE FIGURES PANE POPULATES// (there might be a bug on the live site)$("li.showFullText a").click();}//Sticky SideBarif ($('#' + event.slot.getSlotElementId()).hasClass("GPT-StickySideBar")){if($('#disableStickySidebar').length==0){enableStickySideBar();}}}});//Populate Defined Ad Slots$(".gpt-ad-defined").each(function( index ){var adId = $(this).attr('id');googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(adId);});});});}
Remdesivir: George Soros & Bill Gates Partner with China on Coronavirus Drug! - Civilian Intelligence Network
ð--¥The U.S. FDA recently granted orphan drug status to Remdesivir for treating COVID-19.ð--¥The status gives Gilead various benefits, including the FDA's fast-track drug review.
ð--¥But 48 hours after they got this status Gilead walked away & partners with China! pic.twitter.com/vY9mkTPQfh
'-- StandUpNow007 (@TrudeauMustGo19) April 10, 2020As drug manufacturers speed up their efforts to find a new treatment drug for the coronavirus outbreak that has devastated China and has caused a world-wide panic, a Chinese drug company just announced that it has started mass-producing an experimental drug from Gilead Sciences that has the potential to fight the novel coronavirus (1).
BrightGene Bio-Medical Technology, a Suzhou based company (2), just announced that it has developed the technology to synthesize the active pharmaceutical ingredients of Remdesivir, the drug developed by Gilead Biosciences. Its stock price surged 20% in Tuesday morning trading in Shanghai (1).
''While BrightGene said that it intends to license the drug from Gilead, its move to start manufacturing at this early stage is highly unusual and a potential infringement of the American company's intellectual property.''(1) This comes a week after Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology filed an application to patent Gilead's drug Remdesivir to treat the new coronavirus, a bid that would give China leverage over the global use of the therapy to fight the outbreak (1)(3)(4).
The decision to seek a patent instead of invoking a ''compulsory license'' option that lets nations override drug patents in national emergencies, signals China's commitment toward intellectual property rights. The timing is uncanny! Right? Gilead will retain the global rights to market the antiviral medication, once approved (3). Gilead has also announced that it is partnering with the Chinese Health Authorities on the clinical trials of Remdesivir as a treatment for coronavirus (5). Remdesivir was originally developed in 2016 by Gilead as a treatment for the Ebola virus (13). Many have argued that China stole the patent from Gilead due to a technicality, but you will soon see that this is indeed not the case (14).
And who exactly is Gilead Biosciences? Gilead is partnered with Wuxi Pharmaceuticals (Wuxi AppTec) owned by New World Order philanthropist and mass manipulator himself, George Soros (6)(7)! Here is a printout of Soros Fund Managaement Portfolio which will confirm this (8)!
Wuxi Pharmaceuticals is conveniently located in the epicenter of the outbreak near Wuhan Institute of Virology that has been implicated as the Bioweapons manufacturer of this coronavirus (10)(11)(12)! Looks like China has both the Bioweapon and the cure! And let's not forget the patent on the treatment drug! How charitable do you suppose China will be with the west?
But this story doesn't end here. George Soros also owns Gilead Biosciences (15).
According to The Gateway Pundit, doctors at Providence Regional Medical Center successfully treated a coronavirus patient within hours using Gilead's drug Remdesivir (16). Given the current outbreak that has taken the world by surprise, it's important to look at all the current players. How is Gilead Biosciences tied to this viral outbreak?
Gilead endorsed and is involved in a drug purchasing group called UNITAID whose mandate is to create a ''patent pool'' for pharmaceutical companies to share their ''drug patents'' with other companies in order to produce generic drugs for distribution to poor African nations (17)(18). The royalties from the sales of these generic drugs are then paid to the patent holders (19). UNITAID emerged from the United Nations 2000 Millennium Declaration, which has now evolved into the UN Global Compact (20)(21). Their internet timeline shows that the UNITAID website Unitaid.org is also linked to Refunite.org an agency partnered with the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR that helps to connect refugees with their families using the internet (22)(23)(24)(25)(26).
UNITAID has several financial backers including: WHO, UNAIDS, Global Fund, and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. In addition, UNITAID has corporate sponsorship from pharmaceuticals with the ''Medicines Patent Pool'' (28).
One billionaire investor behind UNITAID is George Soros himself (29). But why stop there? UNITAID is also financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and also involves a partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) (30)(31). And interestingly enough both UNITAID and Gilead Biosciences supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 (32)(33).
UNITAID's objectives are to exclude high and middle-income countries from ''drug pool'' while allowing ''developing'' countries to benefit from lower drug prices (35). In 2009 UNITAID's board voted to exclude China and other more lucrative nations when considering targeted nations outside of Africa. However, since then all that has changed and UNITAID has now included China in its ''drug pool'' (36).
Minutes of the Executive Board of UNITAID dated December 5-6, 2018 in Marrakesh Morocco (which coincided with the signing of the UN Global Compact on Migration) stated the following (37)(38):
THE REPRESENTATIVE OF WHO informed the Board of a recent meeting coordinated by WHO with several global health partners (GPEI, GFF, Gavi, Unitaid, Global Fund) to support the development of a common health narrative. With regard to parliamentary engagement, he informed of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between WHO and the Inter-parliamentary Union and encouraged Unitaid to build on this commitment in its country work. He underlined the important role of Board members in supporting the Unitaid Secretariat by opening new doors and leveraging existing political and other connections. He also gave positive feedback on the recent Unitaid-WHO visit to China, which explored opportunities for engagement.
A year later we now have a Global Pandemic emerging from Mainland China and the Chinese are the holders of the patent for the treatment drug and they are also included in the United Nation's UNITAID initiative that will see them benefit with lower drug pricing. Furthermore Gilead, a main supporter of UNITAID (39), has also announced that it is partnering with the Chinese Health Authorities on the clinical trials of Remdesivir as a treatment for coronavirus (5). And once approved, Gilead will retain the global rights to market the antiviral medication (3).
UNITAID is the UN and this is bio-warfare, where they control the drugs. China did not steal Gilead's patent; Gilead was a willing participant, they are even working with the Chinese government on clinical trials. The question remains, how will this impact western nations that are excluded from the acquisition of lower-priced treatment drugs? Will our economies be held hostage to Chinese imperialism? And has the coronavirus outbreak been the vehicle for George Soros, Bill Gates, and the United Nations to implement the New World Order? It sure look's like it! Checkmate!
One week after defending the clinical trial, the state and three major health systems in South Dakota are abandoning the hydroxychloroquine trail.
The decision came after the publication of new research that found the drug does NOT prevent COVID-19 for people exposed to the coronavirus.
A University of Minnesota study published in the New England Journal Of Medicine found no benefit of hydroxychloroquine'--when compared to a placebo'--as a post-exposure preventative therapy.
The clinical trial started on May 14th, and state and health officials say a few patients enrolled, but after repeated calls would not say how many. The state hoped to enroll 2000 people.
Last week, the state and Sanford announced a new phase of the clinical trial to see if it's a preventative.
Hydroxychloroquine has been controversial since President Trump began touting it as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
Noem announced the trial in mid-April. She said the state would ''go on offense'' against the coronavirus with the clinical trial. Noem says the federal government sent 1.2 million doses to South Dakota, which she said could treat up to 100,000 people.
Studies from the World Health Organization, New York state and the Department of Veterans Affairs showed poor or even harmful results from the drug.
Sanford officials declined to comment on the trial suspension.
The governor's office says they're in communication with the federal government to see if it can use the hydroxychloroquine doses for other purposes.
A Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine as Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19 | NEJM
18 References1 Citing ArticleRelated ArticlesAbstract BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) occurs after exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). For persons who are exposed, the standard of care is observation and quarantine. Whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent symptomatic infection after SARS-CoV-2 exposure is unknown.
MethodsWe conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial across the United States and parts of Canada testing hydroxychloroquine as postexposure prophylaxis. We enrolled adults who had household or occupational exposure to someone with confirmed Covid-19 at a distance of less than 6 ft for more than 10 minutes while wearing neither a face mask nor an eye shield (high-risk exposure) or while wearing a face mask but no eye shield (moderate-risk exposure). Within 4 days after exposure, we randomly assigned participants to receive either placebo or hydroxychloroquine (800 mg once, followed by 600 mg in 6 to 8 hours, then 600 mg daily for 4 additional days). The primary outcome was the incidence of either laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 or illness compatible with Covid-19 within 14 days.
ResultsWe enrolled 821 asymptomatic participants. Overall, 87.6% of the participants (719 of 821) reported a high-risk exposure to a confirmed Covid-19 contact. The incidence of new illness compatible with Covid-19 did not differ significantly between participants receiving hydroxychloroquine (49 of 414 [11.8%]) and those receiving placebo (58 of 407 [14.3%]); the absolute difference was ''2.4 percentage points (95% confidence interval, ''7.0 to 2.2; P=0.35). Side effects were more common with hydroxychloroquine than with placebo (40.1% vs. 16.8%), but no serious adverse reactions were reported.
ConclusionsAfter high-risk or moderate-risk exposure to Covid-19, hydroxychloroquine did not prevent illness compatible with Covid-19 or confirmed infection when used as postexposure prophylaxis within 4 days after exposure. (Funded by David Baszucki and Jan Ellison Baszucki and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04308668.)
IntroductionSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the global, rapidly emerging virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).1 The current public health strategies to mitigate transmission are rapid identification of cases, isolation, contact tracing, and self-quarantine of those exposed. Once a person is exposed, observation and quarantine during a 14-day incubation period is the standard of care. To date, no medication has been shown to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Both chloroquine and the derivative molecule hydroxychloroquine have in vitro activity against SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.2,3 Hydroxychloroquine is thought to impair the terminal glycosylation of the angiotensin-converting''enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, which is the binding site for the envelope spike glycoprotein and has been shown to inhibit endolysosome function.2,4 In addition, hydroxychloroquine may have greater in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 than chloroquine.3
The majority of clinical studies of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 have focused on hospitalized patients.5-8 Yet, to alter the trajectory of the epidemic, it is necessary to break the chain of transmission. The risk of secondary household transmission has been estimated as 10 to 15%.9,10 Small, nonrandomized, noncontrolled cohort studies have suggested that the use of hydroxychloroquine might reduce or even eliminate this risk.11 Whether short-term high-dose hydroxychloroquine can prevent disease soon after a high-risk exposure remains unknown. We hypothesized that hydroxychloroquine could potentially be used as postexposure prophylaxis, to prevent symptomatic infection after exposure to Covid-19.
Methods Trial Design and OversightWe conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate postexposure prophylaxis with hydroxychloroquine after exposure to Covid-19.12 We randomly assigned participants in a 1:1 ratio to receive either hydroxychloroquine or placebo. Participants had known exposure (by participant report) to a person with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19, whether as a household contact, a health care worker, or a person with other occupational exposures.
Trial enrollment began on March 17, 2020, with an eligibility threshold to enroll within 3 days after exposure; the objective was to intervene before the median incubation period of 5 to 6 days. Because of limited access to prompt testing, health care workers could initially be enrolled on the basis of presumptive high-risk exposure to patients with pending tests; however, on March 23, eligibility was changed to exposure to a person with a positive polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) assay for SARS-CoV-2, with the eligibility window extended to within 4 days after exposure.
This trial was approved by the institutional review board at the University of Minnesota and conducted under a Food and Drug Administration Investigational New Drug application. In Canada, the trial was approved by Health Canada; ethics approvals were obtained from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Alberta.
ParticipantsWe included participants who had household or occupational exposure to a person with confirmed Covid-19 at a distance of less than 6 ft for more than 10 minutes while wearing neither a face mask nor an eye shield (high-risk exposure) or while wearing a face mask but no eye shield (moderate-risk exposure). Participants were excluded if they were younger than 18 years of age, were hospitalized, or met other exclusion criteria (see the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org). Persons with symptoms of Covid-19 or with PCR-proven SARS-CoV-2 infection were excluded from this prevention trial but were separately enrolled in a companion clinical trial to treat early infection.
SettingRecruitment was performed primarily with the use of social media outreach as well as traditional media platforms. Participants were enrolled nationwide in the United States and in the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta. Participants enrolled themselves through a secure Internet-based survey using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system.13 After participants read the consent form, their comprehension of its contents was assessed; participants provided a digitally captured signature to indicate informed consent. We sent follow-up e-mail surveys on days 1, 5, 10, and 14. A survey at 4 to 6 weeks asked about any follow-up testing, illness, or hospitalizations. Participants who did not respond to follow-up surveys received text messages, e-mails, telephone calls, or a combination of these to ascertain their outcomes. When these methods were unsuccessful, the emergency contact provided by the enrollee was contacted to determine the participant's illness and vital status. When all communication methods were exhausted, Internet searches for obituaries were performed to ascertain vital status.
InterventionsRandomization occurred at research pharmacies in Minneapolis and Montreal. The trial statisticians generated a permuted-block randomization sequence using variably sized blocks of 2, 4, or 8, with stratification according to country. A research pharmacist sequentially assigned participants. The assignments were concealed from investigators and participants; only pharmacies had access to the randomization sequence.
Hydroxychloroquine sulfate or placebo was dispensed and shipped overnight to participants by commercial courier. The dosing regimen for hydroxychloroquine was 800 mg (4 tablets) once, then 600 mg (3 tablets) 6 to 8 hours later, then 600 mg (3 tablets) daily for 4 more days for a total course of 5 days (19 tablets total). If participants had gastrointestinal upset, they were advised to divide the daily dose into two or three doses. We chose this hydroxychloroquine dosing regimen on the basis of pharmacokinetic simulations to achieve plasma concentrations above the SARS-CoV-2 in vitro half maximal effective concentration for 14 days.14 Placebo folate tablets, which were similar in appearance to the hydroxychloroquine tablets, were prescribed as an identical regimen for the control group. Rising Pharmaceuticals provided a donation of hydroxychloroquine, and some hydroxychloroquine was purchased.
OutcomesThe primary outcome was prespecified as symptomatic illness confirmed by a positive molecular assay or, if testing was unavailable, Covid-19''related symptoms. We assumed that health care workers would have access to Covid-19 testing if symptomatic; however, access to testing was limited throughout the trial period. Covid-19''related symptoms were based on U.S. Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists criteria for confirmed cases (positivity for SARS-Cov-2 on PCR assay), probable cases (the presence of cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, or the presence of two or more symptoms of fever, chills, rigors, myalgia, headache, sore throat, and new olfactory and taste disorders), and possible cases (the presence of one or more compatible symptoms, which could include diarrhea).15 All the participants had epidemiologic linkage,15 per trial eligibility criteria. Four infectious disease physicians who were unaware of the trial-group assignments reviewed symptomatic participants to generate a consensus with respect to whether their condition met the case definition.15
Secondary outcomes included the incidence of hospitalization for Covid-19 or death, the incidence of PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, the incidence of Covid-19 symptoms, the incidence of discontinuation of the trial intervention owing to any cause, and the severity of symptoms (if any) at days 5 and 14 according to a visual analogue scale (scores ranged from 0 [no symptoms] to 10 [severe symptoms]). Data on adverse events were also collected with directed questioning for common side effects along with open-ended free text. Outcome data were measured within 14 days after trial enrollment. Outcome data including PCR testing results, possible Covid-19''related symptoms, adherence to the trial intervention, side effects, and hospitalizations were all collected through participant report. Details of trial conduct are provided in the protocol and statistical analysis plan, available at NEJM.org.
Sample SizeWe anticipated that illness compatible with Covid-19 would develop in 10% of close contacts exposed to Covid-19.9 Using Fisher's exact method with a 50% relative effect size to reduce new symptomatic infections, a two-sided alpha of 0.05, and 90% power, we estimated that 621 persons would need to be enrolled in each group. With a pragmatic, Internet-based, self-referral recruitment strategy, we planned for a 20% incidence of attrition by increasing the sample size to 750 participants per group. We specified a priori that participants who were already symptomatic on day 1 before receiving hydroxychloroquine or placebo would be excluded from the prophylaxis trial and would instead be separately enrolled in the companion symptomatic treatment trial.
Because the estimates for both incident symptomatic Covid-19 after an exposure and loss to follow-up were relatively unknown in early March 2020,9 the protocol prespecified a sample-size reestimation at the second interim analysis. This reestimation, which used the incidence of new infections in the placebo group and the observed percentage of participants lost to follow-up, was aimed at maintaining the ability to detect an effect size of a 50% relative reduction in new symptomatic infections.
Interim AnalysesAn independent data and safety monitoring board externally reviewed the data after 25% and 50% of the participants had completed 14 days of follow-up. Stopping guidelines were provided to the data and safety monitoring board with the use of a Lan''DeMets spending function analogue of the O'Brien''Fleming boundaries for the primary outcome. A conditional power analysis was performed at the second and third interim analysis with the option of early stopping for futility. At the second interim analysis on April 22, 2020, the sample size was reduced to 956 participants who could be evaluated with 90% power on the basis of the higher-than-expected event rate of infections in the control group. At the third interim analysis on May 6, the trial was halted on the basis of a conditional power of less than 1%, since it was deemed futile to continue.
Statistical AnalysisWe assessed the incidence of Covid-19 disease by day 14 with Fisher's exact test. Secondary outcomes with respect to percentage of patients were also compared with Fisher's exact test. Among participants in whom incident illness compatible with Covid-19 developed, we summarized the symptom severity score at day 14 with the median and interquartile range and assessed the distributions with a Kruskal''Wallis test. We conducted all analyses with SAS software, version 9.4 (SAS Institute), according to the intention-to-treat principle, with two-sided type I error with an alpha of 0.05. For participants with missing outcome data, we conducted a sensitivity analysis with their outcomes excluded or included as an event. Subgroups that were specified a priori included type of contact (household vs. health care), days from exposure to enrollment, age, and sex.
Results Participants Figure 1. Figure 1. Screening and Randomization. Of the 821 participants who underwent randomization, 96 did not complete the day 14 follow-up survey, of whom 8 formally withdrew from the trial (4 in each group). Investigators confirmed the vital status and lack of infection in 19 participants (10 in the hydroxychloroquine group and 9 in the control group); 17 completed some follow-up surveys without symptoms before being lost to follow-up (13 in the hydroxychloroquine group and 4 in the control group). A total of 52 participants never completed any surveys after enrollment and did not respond to investigators e-mails, text messages, or telephone calls (23 in the hydroxychloroquine group and 29 in the control group). SARS-CoV-2 denotes severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
Table 1. Table 1. Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of the Participants at Baseline. We recruited 821 asymptomatic adult participants who were randomly assigned to the hydroxychloroquine group (414 participants) or the placebo group (407 participants) (Figure 1 ). The demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants are provided in Table 1 . The median age was 40 years (interquartile range, 33 to 50). Women accounted for 51.6% of the trial participants (424 of 821). A total of 27.4% of the participants (225 of 821) reported chronic health conditions, with hypertension being the most common (99 of 821 [12.1%]), followed by asthma (62 of 821 [7.6%]). Health care workers accounted for 66.4% of the participants (545 of 821), the majority being physicians or physician assistants (342 of 545 [62.8%]) and nurses or nursing assistants (128 of 545 [23.5%]). In the case of health care workers, exposure was predominantly from patients (418 of 545 [76.7%]) or ill coworkers (107 of 545 [19.6%]). Among the 29.8% of the participants (245 of 821) who enrolled as a household contact, the majority reported that their Covid-19 contact exposure was either a spouse or partner (114 of 245 [46.5%]) or a parent (43 of 245 [17.6%]).
Overall, 87.6% of the participants (719 of 821) had high-risk exposures without eye shields and surgical masks or respirators. Of those, 365 received hydroxychloroquine and 354 received placebo. Approximately 60% of the participants reported not wearing any element of personal protective equipment during their Covid-19 exposure.
Primary Outcome Table 2. Table 2. Outcomes of Hydroxychloroquine Therapy for Postexposure Prophylaxis against Covid-19. Figure 2. Figure 2. Cumulative Incidence of Illness Compatible with Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19). The cumulative incidence of illness compatible with Covid-19 was 11.8% in the hydroxychloroquine group (49 of 414 participants) and 14.3% in the placebo group (58 of 407) (P=0.35). The difference equates to a number needed to treat to prevent one infection of 42 persons (lower boundary of the 95% confidence interval for the number needed to treat to prevent one infection, 14 persons; upper boundary of the 95% confidence interval for the number needed to treat to harm 1 person, 50 persons). When we excluded participants who were lost to follow-up, who withdrew, or who were not fully adherent to the trial intervention, the results were similar. When we excluded 13 persons with possible Covid-19 cases who had only one symptom compatible with Covid-19 and no laboratory confirmation, the incidence of new Covid-19 still did not differ significantly between the two groups: 10.4% in the hydroxychloroquine group (43 of 414 participants) and 12.5% in the placebo group (51 of 407) (P=0.38). The vertical bars represent 95% confidence intervals. (Details on symptoms and the adjudication of cases are provided in the Supplementary Appendix.)
Overall, new Covid-19 (either PCR-confirmed or symptomatically compatible) developed in 107 of 821 participants (13.0%) during the 14 days of follow-up (Table 2 ). The incidence of new illness compatible with Covid-19 did not differ significantly between those receiving hydroxychloroquine (49 of 414 [11.8%]) and those receiving placebo (58 of 407 [14.3%]) (P=0.35). The absolute difference was ''2.4 percentage points (95% confidence interval, ''7.0 to 2.2). Figure 2 shows the development of Covid-19 over time. Two hospitalizations were reported (one in each group). No arrhythmias or deaths occurred. There was no meaningful difference in effectiveness according to the time of starting postexposure prophylaxis or in any of the prespecified subgroups (Fig. S1 in the Supplementary Appendix). Overall, 10.7% of the participants (46 in the hydroxychloroquine group and 42 in the placebo group) did not complete the day 14 survey; among these participants, vital status was unknown for 36 in the hydroxychloroquine group and 33 in the control group. In sensitivity analyses, exclusion of these persons from the denominator or inclusion of them as having had an event did not affect the trial conclusions (Table S1).
Of 113 persons in whom symptomatic illness developed, 16 had PCR-confirmed disease, 74 had illness that was compatible with probable Covid-19 per the U.S. case definition, 13 had possible Covid-19 with compatible symptoms and epidemiologic linkage, and 10 were adjudicated as not having Covid-19 on the basis of the symptom complex (Table S2). Four additional participants had positive PCR tests and were asymptomatic during the 14-day trial period; symptoms eventually developed in 3 of these participants. The median number of symptoms was 4 (interquartile range, 2 to 5) among participants with Covid-19. The most frequent symptoms were cough (44.9% of the 107 participants with Covid-19), fever (34.6%), shortness of breath (18.7%), fatigue (49.5%), sore throat (40.2%), myalgia (37.4%), and anosmia (23.4%). Among participants who were symptomatic at day 14, the median symptom-severity score (on a scale from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater severity) was 2.8 (interquartile range, 1.6 to 5.0) in those receiving hydroxychloroquine and 2.7 (interquartile range, 1.4 to 4.8) in those receiving placebo (P=0.34).
Adherence and Safety Table 3. Table 3. Participant-Reported Adherence and Side Effects. Adherence among the trial participants was moderate. Full adherence to the trial intervention differed according to trial group, with 75.4% of participants in the hydroxychloroquine group (312 of 414) and 82.6% of those in the placebo group (336 of 407) having taken all 19 prescribed tablets over a period of 5 days (P=0.01). The most common reason that participants stopped taking the assigned hydroxychloroquine or placebo was side effects (17 participants in the hydroxychloroquine group and 8 in the placebo group). Side effects were more frequent with hydroxychloroquine than with placebo (Table 3 ). Among the participants who took any hydroxychloroquine, 40.1% (140 of 349) reported a side effect by day 5, as compared with 16.8% (59 of 351) receiving placebo (P<0.001). Nausea, loose stools, and abdominal discomfort were the most common side effects. There were no serious intervention-related adverse reactions or cardiac arrhythmias.
On day 14, we assessed how well the masking of the trial interventions was maintained. Of the 344 participants in the hydroxychloroquine group who completed the day 14 survey question, 160 (46.5%) correctly identified that they received hydroxychloroquine, 151 (43.9%) were unsure, and 33 (10%) believed that they received placebo. Of the 353 participants in the control group who completed the day 14 survey question, 126 (35.7%) correctly identified that they received placebo, 168 (47.6%) were unsure, and 59 (16.7%) believed that they received hydroxychloroquine. Participants who reported any side effect (regardless of trial group) at day 5 were 3.7 times as likely to believe that they received hydroxychloroquine as participants who did not report side effects (122 of 179 participants [68.2%] reporting side effects and 94 of 504 participants [18.7%] not reporting side effects; P<0.001). In the absence of side effects, blinding was well maintained.
DiscussionIn this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we investigated the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as Covid-19 postexposure prophylaxis. In this trial, high doses of hydroxychloroquine did not prevent illness compatible with Covid-19 when initiated within 4 days after a high-risk or moderate-risk exposure.
We used a pragmatic approach to recruitment and follow-up of participants through Internet-based self-referral and online follow-up surveys, and we couriered the trial interventions directly to participants' homes. This approach allowed for recruitment across North America, minimized the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection to researchers, lowered the burden of research participation, and provided a timely answer to this question of whether postexposure prophylaxis was effective. Moreover, this approach allowed broad geographic participation regardless of anyone's physical distance from academic centers, increasing the generalizability of the findings. One result of our approach was that enrolled participants were generally younger and healthier than those at risk for severe Covid-19. Although the risk of severe Covid-19 is related to age and coexisting conditions,16 the risk of acquiring symptomatic infection is generally still present among adults, regardless of age. Although PCR or serologic testing for asymptomatic infection would have added to the scientific strength of this trial, this was not possible, and we cannot assess an effect on mild or asymptomatic infections. Although a marginal possible benefit from prophylaxis in a more at-risk group cannot be ruled out, the potential risks that are associated with hydroxychloroquine may also be increased in more at-risk populations, and this may essentially negate any benefits that were not shown in this large trial involving younger, healthier participants.
We acknowledge that this trial has limitations. Because of the lack of availability of diagnostic testing in the United States, the vast majority of the participants, including health care workers, were unable to access testing. Thus, an a priori symptomatic case definition was used '-- the U.S. clinical case definition of probable Covid-19.15 This trial represents real-world implementation after exposure. In the context of a randomized trial design, any non''SARS-CoV-2 viral infection (e.g., influenza, adenovirus, or rhinovirus) should be equally distributed in the trial groups. Owing to the Internet-based approach used to rapidly recruit participants in the context of a pandemic, data were obtained by means of participant report. The types and frequency of symptoms that were observed are similar to those in previous studies involving U.S. health care providers.17 The U.S. case definition is how probable Covid-19 cases are nationally reportable.15,18 However, the predictive power of this case definition is unknown, particularly in the younger populations that we studied; given the small number of PCR tests, it remains theoretically possible that hydroxychloroquine therapy limits proven infection. Reproduction of our results in other, ongoing trials would confirm our findings.
This randomized trial did not demonstrate a significant benefit of hydroxychloroquine as postexposure prophylaxis for Covid-19. Whether preexposure prophylaxis would be effective in high-risk populations is a separate question, with trials ongoing. In order to end the pandemic, a reduction in community transmission is needed.
Funding and Disclosures Supported by David Baszucki and Jan Ellison Baszucki, the Alliance of Minnesota Chinese Organizations, the Minnesota Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Minnesota. Ms. Pastick and Ms. Okafor are supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through a grant supporting the Doris Duke International Clinical Research Fellows Program at the University of Minnesota. Drs. Nicol, Rajasingham, and Pullen are supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (K08AI134262, K23AI138851, T32AI055433). Dr. Lofgren is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH121220). Dr. Skipper is supported by the Fogarty International Center (D43TW009345). Drs. Lee and McDonald receive salary support from Fonds de Recherche du Qu(C)bec''Sant(C). Dr. Zarychanski receives research support as the Lyonel G. Israels Professor of Hematology at the University of Manitoba. In Quebec, funds were received from the Clinical Practice Assessment Unit of the McGill University Health Centre and the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity Emergency Covid-19 Research Funding Program. In Manitoba, research support was received from the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation and Research Manitoba. In Alberta, the trial was funded by the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre Covid-19 Clinical Research Grant. Purolator Canada provided in-kind courier support for the participating Canadian sites. The REDCap software was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (grant UL1TR002494).
Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.
This article was published on June 3, 2020, at NEJM.org.
A data sharing statement provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.
We thank the participants who consented to participate in this randomized trial; the members of the data and safety monitoring board (Drs. George Thompson III, Andrej Spec, Tom Chiller, and Bozena Morawski) for their thoughtful, generous service; and Drs. Jakub Tolar, Alexis Turgeon, Brad Benson, Tim Schacker, and Peter Igarashi for institutional support. Dr. Boulware thanks Drs. Paul Bohjanen and Ed Janoff for their mentorship.
Author AffiliationsFrom the University of Minnesota (D.R.B., M.F.P., A.S.B., K.A.P., S.M.L., E.C.O., C.P.S., A.A.N., M.R.N., M.A., N.W.E., R.R., K.H.H.) and M Health Fairview Investigational Drug Service Pharmacy (D.L.), Minneapolis; and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and the Clinical Practice Assessment Unit, Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal (M.P.C., E.G.M., T.C.L.), the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba (S.A.L., L.J.M., G.D., N.M., R.Z.), the Research Institute in Oncology and Hematology, CancerCare Manitoba, University of Manitoba (R.Z.), and the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation (L.E.K.), Winnipeg, and the University of Alberta, Edmonton (I.S.S.) '-- all in Canada.
Address reprint requests to Dr. Boulware at the University of Minnesota, 689 23rd Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55455, or at [email protected] .
Supplementary Material References (18)1. Li Q , Guan X , Wu P , et al. Early transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China, of novel coronavirus''infected pneumonia. N Engl J Med 2020 ;382: 1199 - 1207 .
2. Vincent MJ , Bergeron E , Benjannet S , et al. Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread. Virol J 2005 ;2: 69 - 69 .
3. Yao X , Ye F , Zhang M , et al. In vitro antiviral activity and projection of optimized dosing design of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Clin Infect Dis 2020 March 9 (Epub ahead of print).
4. Liu J , Cao R , Xu M , et al. Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. Cell Discov 2020 ;6: 16 - 16 .
5. Pastick KA , Okafor EC , Wang F , et al. Review: hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Open Forum Infect Dis 2020 ;7: ofaa130 - ofaa130 .
6. Geleris J , Sun Y , Platt J , et al. Observational study of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized patients with Covid-19. N Engl J Med. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2012410.
7. Mehra MR , Desai SS , Ruschitzka F , Patel AN . Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis. Lancet 2020 May 22 (Epub ahead of print).
8. Rosenberg ES , Dufort EM , Udo T , et al. Association of treatment with hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin with in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19 in New York State. JAMA 2020 May 11 (Epub ahead of print).
9. Burke RM , Midgley CM , Dratch A , et al. Active monitoring of persons exposed to patients with confirmed COVID-19 '-- United States, January''February 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020 ;69: 245 - 246 .
10. Park SY , Kim YM , Yi S , et al. Coronavirus disease outbreak in call center, South Korea. Emerg Infect Dis 2020 April 23 (Epub ahead of print).
11. Lee SH , Son H , Peck KR . Can post-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 be considered as an outbreak response strategy in long-term care hospitals? Int J Antimicrob Agents 2020 April 17 (Epub ahead of print).
12. Lother SA , Abassi M , Agostinis A , et al. Post-exposure prophylaxis or pre-emptive therapy for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): study protocol for a pragmatic randomized-controlled trial. Can J Anaesth 2020 May 7 (Epub ahead of print).
13. Harris PA , Taylor R , Minor BL , et al. The REDCap Consortium: building an international community of software platform partners. J Biomed Inform 2019 ;95: 103208 - 103208 .
14. Al-Kofahi M , Jacobson P , Boulware DR , et al. Finding the dose for hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis for COVID-19; the desperate search for effectiveness. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2020 April 28 (Epub ahead of print).
15. Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Interim-20-ID-01: standardized surveillance case definition and national notification for 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). 2020 (https://www.cste.org/resource/resmgr/2020ps/Interim-20-ID-01_COVID-19.pdf).
16. McMichael TM , Currie DW , Clark S , et al. Epidemiology of Covid-19 in a long-term care facility in King County, Washington. N Engl J Med 2020 ;382: 2005 - 2011 .
17. CDC COVID-19 Response Team. Characteristics of health care personnel with COVID-19 '-- United States, February 12''April 9, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020 ;69: 477 - 481 .
18. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. FAQ: COVID-19 data and surveillance. 2020 (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/faq-surveillance.html).
Citing Article (1)
Western Cape to use high-flow nasal oxygen as early signs show improved treatment | News24
The Western Cape health department says early signs using high-flow nasal oxygen has been positive.A trial on seven patients yielded six recoveries, and the seventh did not need to go on a ventilator.The province will be rolling out its use at many more facilities.Western Cape doctors are feeling hopeful about the early results of using nasal oxygen instead of ventilators to treat serious Covid-19 cases at public hospitals.
As a result, the provincial Department of Health will now be rolling out high-flow nasal infrastructure, it was revealed during a digital press conference on Thursday.
Head of department Keith Cloete said at Tygerberg Hospital, the team had decided to test the measure on seven people who were in critical care for Covid-19, which can cause serious respiratory problems.
This after a low recovery rate was recorded on previous six patients who were placed on ventilators.
According to Cloete, of the seven on high-nasal oxygenation, six recovered and the seventh was not placed on a ventilator.
This had changed the way Tygerberg was treating patients critically ill with Covid-19, he said.
Since then, 114 patients in critical care were assessed, with 70% going on to high-flow nasal oxygen.
None of them required it.
Of the 70% who used it, 70% recovered, which was considered an "excellent result", Cloete said.
ALSO READ | Mediclinic: Only 5% of our beds occupied by Covid-19 patients
The department has therefore decided high-flow nasal oxygen can become an alternate ventilated care.
Because of this, it is bringing high-flow nasal oxygen infrastructure on line.
The department is arranging for the laying of pipes for the infrastructure and bringing the necessary equipment to Groote Schuur Hospital as well.
The team from Tygerberg found this could be done in a ward bed as well, if managed properly.
However, this means the hospital has to acquire the necessary mix of humidified oxygen required, and is competing with other countries which have also discovered this alternative.
Turning to bed use, Cloete warned the increased rate of incoming trauma cases meant there would be less intensive care unit beds for Covid-19 cases because they were set aside to cope with the anticipated number of patients in distress because of Covid-19.
2020
Biden claims '10 to 15 percent' of Americans are 'just not very good people' | Fox News
Former Vice President Joe Biden claimed Thursday that "10 to 15 percent" of Americans are "just not very good people."
As first reported by The New York Times, Biden held a virtual town hall on Thursday evening with black supporters where he knocked President Trump's divisiveness and weak leadership.
''The words a president says matter, so when a president stands up and divides people all the time, you're gonna the worst of us to come out,'' Biden told actor Don Cheadle, who was moderating the virtual town hall.
''Do we really think this is as good as we can be as a nation? I don't think the vast majority of people think that," Biden continued. "There are probably anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the people out there who are just not very good people, but that's not who we are. The vast majority of the people are decent. We have to appeal to that and we have to unite people -- bring them together. Bring them together.''
It is unclear who exactly he was referring to within the "10 to 15 percent" of people and whether or not he believes they support President Trump.
NY TIMES EDITOR BARI WEISS SAYS THERE'S A 'CIVIL WAR' WITHIN PAPER AMID TOM COTTON UPROAR
The remarks harken back to the controversial comments made by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election when, at a campaign event, she estimated that "half" of Trump's supporters belong in a "basket of deplorables."
While Biden received praise earlier this week for his address following the May 25 death of Minneapolis man George Floyd while in police custody, the presumptive Democratic nominee previously landed himself in hot water during a recent interview on "The Breakfast Club." During the show, he told radio host Charlamagne tha God "you ain't black" if any black voter is still undecided between supporting him or President Trump. He later walked those comments back, saying he shouldn't have sounded so "cavalier" and acted like a "wise guy."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
However, in multiple interviews since then, Biden appeared to cast blame for the remarks on Charlamagne tha God, insisting the host was also acting like a "wise guy" and later claimed he was "baiting" him, which prompted the offensive remark.
Charlamagne tha God shot back Wednesday night, telling Stephen Colbert "I didn't bait" Biden and that he "volunteered that fish" on his own.
''We believe in American exceptionalism,'' reads the opening line of the 2016 Republican Party Platform. ''We believe the United States of America is unlike any other nation on earth.''
Yet today, the Republican Party finds itself entertaining some of the same unsettling nativist and authoritarian impulses that characterized Europe throughout the 20th century. These ideals are antithetical to what it means to be a Republican, and what it means to be American.
Defending Democracy Together is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization created by lifelong conservatives and Republicans '-- many of whom have served in Republican administrations and write for conservative publications. We are dedicated to defending America's democratic norms, values, and institutions and fighting for consistent conservative principles like rule of law, free trade, and expanding legal immigration.
Through research, education and grassroots activism, Defending Democracy Together is fighting abuses of power that threaten to undermine the integrity of U.S. elections, federal agencies, and the Republican Party as a whole. We aim to elevate voices across the conservative political spectrum who advocate for these principles. We hope Americans on the Left, Right, and Center will join us.
General inquiries and media requests can be sent to [email protected] .
Leadership and Staff
William Kristol
Director
Bill Kristol is editor-at-large of The Bulwark. He was a founder of The Weekly Standard, and is a regular guest on leading political commentary shows. Prior to his work at The Weekly Standard, Kristol led the Project for the Republican Future, an organization that helped shape the strategy that produced the 1994 Republican congressional victory. From 1985 to 1993, Kristol served as chief of staff to Education Secretary William Bennett in the Reagan Administration and as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle in the George H. W. Bush administration. Before coming to Washington, Kristol taught politics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.
Mona Charen
Director
Mona Charen is a Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center, columnist, and the author of two New York Times bestsellers: Useful Idiots and Do-Gooders. Her new book, Sex Matters, was released in June. Charen began her career writing for National Review magazine, and she served as a speechwriter for Nancy Reagan before joining President Reagan's staff in the White House Office of Public Liaison and in the Office of Communications. Her work has been featured in over 200 newspapers and websites, and she is a regular guest on public affairs programs.
Linda Chavez
Director
Linda Chavez is one the of chairmen for the Center for Equal Opportunity, a syndicated columnist, has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Commentary, and Reader's Digest, and has served on two Fortune 500 company boards. She authored Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation, discussing the timeline of Hispanic progress regarding bilingual education, voting rights, immigration, and affirmative action. Chavez served in the Reagan administration as the Director of the Office of Public Liaison, making her the highest-ranking woman in President Reagan's White House. In 2000, the Library of Congress named Chavez a Living Legend.
Governor Christine Todd Whitman
Director
Christine Todd Whitman is the President of The Whitman Strategy Group (WSG), a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environmental issues. Governor Whitman served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. She was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001. As Governor, Christie Whitman earned praise from both Republicans and Democrats for her commitment to preserve a record amount of New Jersey land as permanent green space. She is the author of a New York Times best seller called ''It's My Party Too'', and in 2017, Governor Whitman was awarded The Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service.
Jennifer Horn
Director
Jennifer Horn is the former Chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party. In 2008, she became the first female Republican nominee to run for Congress. Prior to working in politics, Horn was a radio talk show host and a journalist for The Telegraph. She currently writes a political column for the New Hampshire Union Leader and serves on the leadership for Log Cabin Republicans.
Bob Inglis
Director
Bob Inglis is the Executive Director of republicEn.org, a growing group of conservatives who care about climate change. He served in the U.S. Congress from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2005-2011, a Republican representing Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina. On leaving Congress Inglis went full-time into promoting free enterprise action on climate change, launching a 501(c)(3) educational initiative now based at George Mason University and known as republicEn.org. Inglis was a Resident Fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics in 2011, a Visiting Energy Fellow at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment in 2012, and Resident Fellow at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics in 2014.
Chris Gagin
Director
Chris Gagin is a Director of Defending Democracy Together. An attorney, Chris shot into the national consciousness when he resigned his post as chairman of the Belmont County (Ohio) GOP following the now infamous summit in Helsinki. A former District Director and Staff Attorney for an Ohio member of Congress, Chris lives with his wife and three-year-old daughter in St. Clairsville, Ohio.
Andy Zwick
Director
Andy Zwick was the founder and chief executive officer of Derm101, a pioneer in online medical education, which he sold in 2016. Mr. Zwick also played a pivotal role in the creation of the Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology, a medical practice in New York City, and has been a principal in a real estate firm in Manhattan. He is currently involved in various philanthropic efforts in online civic education and higher education.
Sarah Longwell
Executive Director
Sarah Longwell is the President and CEO of
Longwell Partners, a full-service communications firm in Washington, D.C. Sarah is a Co-Founder of the organization Defending Democracy Together and spokeswoman for its project, Republicans for the Rule of Law. She is also the Publisher of
The Bulwark and Chief Strategist for Republic Affairs, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening our country's core values and institutions. A long-time Republican strategist and former national board chair of the Log Cabin Republicans, Sarah launched Longwell Partners to engage in issues beyond partisan politics and focus on solving some of the country's most intractable problems through cross-partisan coalitions. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her family and is a graduate of Kenyon College.
Ben Parker
Associate Director
Benjamin Parker is the associate director of Defending Democracy Together. He has worked on local, statewide, and national political campaigns since 2012, as well as in the House of Representatives. His writing has been published in The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Examiner. He received his B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and Russian and East European Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
Barry Rubin
Video Production Director
Barry Rubin is director of video production at Defending Democracy Together. Barry started making videos at the age of 13, when he guilted his mother into allowing him to use his bar mitzvah money to buy a video camera and editing equipment. Barry holds a B.A. in film production from Arizona State University.
COVID-19
1200 Public Health Experts Sign Letter Advocating Mass Gatherings Because ''White Supremacy'' is a Bigger Threat Than COVID-19 '' USSA News | The Tea Party's Front Page
1200 public health experts have signed an open letter asserting that Black Lives Matter mass gatherings should be encouraged because ''white supremacy'' is a bigger health threat than COVID-19.
Yes, really.
''White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19,'' states the letter, before adding, ''Black people are twice as likely to be killed by police compared to white people, but the effects of racism are far more pervasive,'' (a claim which is completely misleading given that black people are far likelier to be involved in violent confrontations with police).
The letter goes on to basically assert that COVID-19 isn't a threat, so long as people are protesting against racism, which is a bigger threat, a completely ludicrous assertion that sounds like it came straight from a far-left protest group, not 1200 public health experts.
''As public health advocates, we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission,'' states the letter. ''We support them as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.''
The letter then claims that 'stay-at-home' protests shouldn't be treated the same because they ''not only oppose public health interventions, but are also rooted in white nationalism and run contrary to respect for Black lives.''
The health experts then go on to assert that BLM protesters shouldn't be arrested, shouldn't be held in vans and that tear gas shouldn't be used against them due to the threat of it exacerbating symptoms of people infected with COVID-19.
The letter also says that facemasks should be 'celebrated' and not seen as an easy way for criminals and looters to hide their identity.
The letter was drafted by infectious disease ''experts'' at the University of Washington, which has been integral in studying the coronavirus in the US. They write that ''pervasive racism'' is now ''the paramount public health problem,'' superseding the virus. WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!
'-- Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 5, 2020
Commenting on the letter, journalist Michael Tracey tweeted, ''The letter was drafted by infectious disease ''experts'' at the University of Washington, which has been integral in studying the coronavirus in the US. They write that ''pervasive racism'' is now ''the paramount public health problem,'' superseding the virus. WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!''
In the space of 10 days, leftists and even public health officials have gone from demanding police arrest 'stay-at-home' protesters for the crime of gathering outside, to demanding the abolition of police and encouraging mass gatherings of people outside.
You're bad and ''killing granny'' for participating in a protest while remaining inside your car, but tens of thousands of people gathering in close proximity in cities across America is good because ''racism'' or something.
No, this isn't an episode of the Twilight Zone, it's 2020.
The Swedish model, in this context, refers to Sweden's approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared with other Western nations, Sweden's policies were relatively more lax. There were still some restrictions '-- Sweden did restrict large gatherings and close some schools, and those who could work from home were advised to do so. But much of life in Sweden carried on as normal. No hard lockdowns, no sweeping isolations. Schools for children under 16 remained open. So did restaurants and bars. This was a calculated decision, strongly advocated by the country's top epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell. Tegnell became, perhaps unfairly, something of a poster boy for the many lockdown skeptics across the free world, who argued that Sweden's policies were a better balance between preserving the economy and saving lives.
The problem is, it didn't work, and even Tegnell now admits that.
The Swedish model always had a certain cold, logical appeal to it. In theory, Sweden could have absorbed somewhat higher initial deaths, in exchange for more rapid development of herd immunity and a preserved economy. It has been fashionable of late to casually dismiss any concern about the economy as some crass capitalist valuation of dollars over lives. That's nonsense. The economy is life '-- the quality of life, certainly, but also literally life. Our complex civilizations are sustained only by fantastically complicated interconnected supply chains that keep critical utilities and supply chains operating. Without those, a case of COVID might soon be the least of our worries. The economy matters, and again, it was always clear what Sweden was trying to do '-- take a blow, withstand it, and get back to normal.
People enjoy the sunny weather at an outdoor restaurant in Stockholm on May 30, 2020. Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images It was a gutsy strategy, to be blunt '-- and if you are wondering just how gutsy, consider that Sweden was the only advanced Western democracy to give it a whirl. But guts don't override facts. The strategy was not successful.
Sweden's death rate exceeds, considerably, that of its immediate peers '-- the other Nordic countries. Sweden has seen 450 deaths per million (just over 4,500 actual deaths). The comparable deaths-per-million figures for its neighbours are 100 for Denmark, 58 for Finland and 44 '-- one-tenth Sweden's figure! '-- for Norway. (Canada's 7,400-some-odd deaths, for those wondering, works out to just under 200 per million '-- far better than Sweden but nothing to write home about.) Overall, Sweden's deaths-per-million figure is one of the worst in the world, ahead of hard-hit France (443), though considerably behind the U.K. (585), Spain (580) and Italy (555).
Sweden's numbers, therefore, are obviously bad, though not the worst. But the death rate is just part of Sweden's calculus. If Sweden had taken the heavy blow and achieved herd immunity or preserved its economy, you could argue '-- grimly, but fairly '-- that the strategy had worked.
But it didn't. Sweden's economic numbers aren't the worst in Europe, but they also aren't markedly better (a Swedish economist recently noted that any economic benefit to Sweden's COVID strategy was proving to be ''marginal.'') Setting aside comparisons, the country's economy is objectively suffering, as are economies all over the world '-- economic activity has cratered in Sweden, with a GDP drop of seven per cent projected '-- again, in line with what we're looking at elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the hoped-for herd immunity also didn't materialize. Though epidemiological experts will cite varying figures for how much of a population must survive exposure to the virus to achieve herd immunity '-- the point at which the virus struggles to find enough vulnerable human hosts to continue spreading '-- the low-end figure is somewhere around 60 per cent, with many experts believing the true figure is much higher. Swedish officials had been saying as recently as a few weeks ago that herd immunity in hard-hit Stockholm, at least, was a matter of weeks away. In fact, blood testing of Stockholm residents showed that by the end of April, 7.3 per cent of the population had acquired some degree of immunity. Tegnell admitted in an interview late last month that he was surprised how low that figure was, and estimated that Stockholm's true figure might now be above 20 per cent. It might be! But that's still wildly off the minimum threshold of 60. The herd immunity strategy has proven a bust.
Top Swedish epidemiologist Adners Tegnell, seen at a news conference on June 3, 2020, says that if he knew before what he knows now, he would have taken a different approach to handling the pandemic. Andres Wiklund/TT News Agency Tegnell now accepts this, and says that if he knew before what he knows now, he would have taken a different approach '-- somewhere between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world did. That's probably fair. As we learn more about COVID, there's little doubt that we'll discover that other jurisdictions overreacted in some ways '-- imposing economic or social restrictions that weren't necessary, or keeping them in place longer than needed. No country hard hit by COVID-19 will have performed perfectly. We'd all likely have been better off aiming for that undefined middle ground Tegnell referred to.
Granted. But the facts are clear: confronted by a novel viral threat, most of the world locked down hard, to preserve health-care systems and buy time to study the virus and its effect on humans. Sweden chose a far more liberal course, and paid for it in lives relative to their peers, but did not escape the economic consequences or achieve herd immunity. By any metric, this is a failure. Sweden stoically took the pain, but realized no gain.
Editor's note: Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigan² has released this powerful letter today to President Trump warning him that the current crises over the coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd riots are a part of the eternal spiritual struggle between the forces of good and evil. He encourages the president to continue the fight on behalf of the ''children of light.'' Read the letter in PDF form here.
June 7, 2020
Holy Trinity Sunday
Mr. President,
In recent months we have been witnessing the formation of two opposing sides that I would call Biblical: the children of light and the children of darkness. The children of light constitute the most conspicuous part of humanity, while the children of darkness represent an absolute minority. And yet the former are the object of a sort of discrimination which places them in a situation of moral inferiority with respect to their adversaries, who often hold strategic positions in government, in politics, in the economy and in the media. In an apparently inexplicable way, the good are held hostage by the wicked and by those who help them either out of self-interest or fearfulness.
These two sides, which have a Biblical nature, follow the clear separation between the offspring of the Woman and the offspring of the Serpent. On the one hand there are those who, although they have a thousand defects and weaknesses, are motivated by the desire to do good, to be honest, to raise a family, to engage in work, to give prosperity to their homeland, to help the needy, and, in obedience to the Law of God, to merit the Kingdom of Heaven. On the other hand, there are those who serve themselves, who do not hold any moral principles, who want to demolish the family and the nation, exploit workers to make themselves unduly wealthy, foment internal divisions and wars, and accumulate power and money: for them the fallacious illusion of temporal well-being will one day '' if they do not repent '' yield to the terrible fate that awaits them, far from God, in eternal damnation.
In society, Mr. President, these two opposing realities co-exist as eternal enemies, just as God and Satan are eternal enemies. And it appears that the children of darkness '' whom we may easily identify with the deep state which you wisely oppose and which is fiercely waging war against you in these days '' have decided to show their cards, so to speak, by now revealing their plans. They seem to be so certain of already having everything under control that they have laid aside that circumspection that until now had at least partially concealed their true intentions. The investigations already under way will reveal the true responsibility of those who managed the Covid emergency not only in the area of health care but also in politics, the economy, and the media. We will probably find that in this colossal operation of social engineering there are people who have decided the fate of humanity, arrogating to themselves the right to act against the will of citizens and their representatives in the governments of nations.
We will also discover that the riots in these days were provoked by those who, seeing that the virus is inevitably fading and that the social alarm of the pandemic is waning, necessarily have had to provoke civil disturbances, because they would be followed by repression which, although legitimate, could be condemned as an unjustified aggression against the population. The same thing is also happening in Europe, in perfect synchrony. It is quite clear that the use of street protests is instrumental to the purposes of those who would like to see someone elected in the upcoming presidential elections who embodies the goals of the deep state and who expresses those goals faithfully and with conviction. It will not be surprising if, in a few months, we learn once again that hidden behind these acts of vandalism and violence there are those who hope to profit from the dissolution of the social order so as to build a world without freedom: Solve et Coagula, as the Masonic adage teaches.
Although it may seem disconcerting, the opposing alignments I have described are also found in religious circles. There are faithful Shepherds who care for the flock of Christ, but there are also mercenary infidels who seek to scatter the flock and hand the sheep over to be devoured by ravenous wolves. It is not surprising that these mercenaries are allies of the children of darkness and hate the children of light: just as there is a deep state, there is also a deep church that betrays its duties and forswears its proper commitments before God. Thus the Invisible Enemy, whom good rulers fight against in public affairs, is also fought against by good shepherds in the ecclesiastical sphere. It is a spiritual battle, which I spoke about in my recent Appeal which was published on May 8.
For the first time, the United States has in you a President who courageously defends the right to life, who is not ashamed to denounce the persecution of Christians throughout the world, who speaks of Jesus Christ and the right of citizens to freedom of worship. Your participation in the March for Life, and more recently your proclamation of the month of April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, are actions that confirm which side you wish to fight on. And I dare to believe that both of us are on the same side in this battle, albeit with different weapons.
For this reason, I believe that the attack to which you were subjected after your visit to the National Shrine of Saint John Paul II is part of the orchestrated media narrative which seeks not to fight racism and bring social order, but to aggravate dispositions; not to bring justice, but to legitimize violence and crime; not to serve the truth, but to favor one political faction. And it is disconcerting that there are Bishops '' such as those whom I recently denounced '' who, by their words, prove that they are aligned on the opposing side. They are subservient to the deep state, to globalism, to aligned thought, to the New World Order which they invoke ever more frequently in the name of a universal brotherhood which has nothing Christian about it, but which evokes the Masonic ideals of those want to dominate the world by driving God out of the courts, out of schools, out of families, and perhaps even out of churches.
The American people are mature and have now understood how much the mainstream media does not want to spread the truth but seeks to silence and distort it, spreading the lie that is useful for the purposes of their masters. However, it is important that the good '' who are the majority '' wake up from their sluggishness and do not accept being deceived by a minority of dishonest people with unavowable purposes. It is necessary that the good, the children of light, come together and make their voices heard. What more effective way is there to do this, Mr. President, than by prayer, asking the Lord to protect you, the United States, and all of humanity from this enormous attack of the Enemy? Before the power of prayer, the deceptions of the children of darkness will collapse, their plots will be revealed, their betrayal will be shown, their frightening power will end in nothing, brought to light and exposed for what it is: an infernal deception.
Mr. President, my prayer is constantly turned to the beloved American nation, where I had the privilege and honor of being sent by Pope Benedict XVI as Apostolic Nuncio. In this dramatic and decisive hour for all of humanity, I am praying for you and also for all those who are at your side in the government of the United States. I trust that the American people are united with me and you in prayer to Almighty God.
United against the Invisible Enemy of all humanity, I bless you and the First Lady, the beloved American nation, and all men and women of good will.
+ Carlo Maria Vigan²
Titular Archbishop of Ulpiana
Former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America
Fauci: It's time to start thinking about reopening schools; and saying we 'shouldn't open schools' is 'a bit of a stretch' - TheBlaze
Dr. Anthony Fauci said it is time to start thinking about reopening schools, but also noted that the hardest-hit communities will need to "be creative" by implementing "some modifications" to avoid COVID-19 outbreaks.
"I think we need to discuss the pros and the cons of bringing kids back to school in September," Fauci told CNN.
"I hesitate to make any broad statements about whether it is or is not quote 'safe' for kids to come back to school," Fauci said. "Children can get infected, so, yes, so you've got to be careful. You got to be careful for them and you got to be careful that they may not spread it. Now, to make an extrapolation that you shouldn't open schools, I think is a bit of a reach."
"When you talk about children going back to school and their safety, it really depends on the level of viral activity, and the particular area that you're talking about," he continued. "What happens all too often, understandably, but sometimes misleadingly, is that we talk about the country as a whole in a unidimensional way."
Fauci warned that there is no one-size-fits-all policy for reopening schools across the country.
"In some situations, there will be no problem for children to go back to school," said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said. "In others, you may need to do some modifications. You know, modifications could be breaking up the class, so you don't have a crowded classroom, maybe half in the morning, half in the afternoon, having children doing alternate schedules. There's a whole bunch of things that one can do."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published guidelines and precautions schools can make to ensure a safe reopening. The CDC recommends personal hygiene, hand-washing, staying home when sick, wearing face coverings, social distancing, spacing desks six feet apart, regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces, proper ventilation, and limiting sizes of groups.
By mid-May, at least 124,000 U.S. public schools across 48 states were closed because of the coronavirus, affecting over 55 million public school students, according to Education Week. There were also hundreds of colleges that moved to online courses or canceled classes, affecting more than 14 million U.S. students.
More than 160 countries closed schools over COVID-19 concerns, forcing nearly 90% of the world's student population out of class.
After research and studies discovered that the coronavirus didn't affect children as severely as adults in most cases, some countries kept their schools open, including Singapore, Australia, Sweden, and Taiwan.
Researchers at the University College London published a paper in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health that doubted the effectiveness of shutting down schools to prevent the coronavirus deaths.
"The international research team reviewed 16 studies, which included nine peer-reviewed papers on the 2003 SARS outbreak, one not peer-reviewed preprint on previous coronavirus transmission and five not peer-reviewed pre-prints and one report on the COVID-19 pandemic," the paper said. "Data collected from the SARS epidemic did not generally support a role for school closures; one modeling pre-print showed that school closure, as an isolated measure, was predicted to reduce total deaths by only around 2-4% during a COVID-19 outbreak in the U.K."
Wayze now adding social distancing information of buildings
Check-mark Recovery!
Dow futures surge 700 points as May jobs report shows 'mind-blowing' 2.5 million increase in payrolls and unemployment falls - MarketWatch
U.S. stock-index futures surged higher, adding to already sharp gains in the morning after a report on employment in the U.S. showed an unexpected rise in jobs and the rate of unemployment fell rather than rose as had been feared. The report showed that 2.5 million jobs were added last month and the unemployment rate fell to 13.3% from 14.7% in April. Economists had predicted the official unemployment rate will climb to 19% in May, a MarketWatch survey showed. Friday's nonfarm-payroll also was expected to show that 7.25 million U.S. jobs were lost in May, after 20 million were lost in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The US unemployment rate has shocked everyone because the number was much lower than the market expectation," wrote Naeem Aslam, chief market strategist at AvaTrade, in a note after the report was released. "Speculators were whispering for 20%. This a mind-blowing number and shows that the economy is improving," he wrote. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +2.49% YMM20, +2.49% rose 733 points, or 2.8%, at 26,995, those for the S&P 500 index ES00, +1.67% ESM20, +1.67% climbed 2% at 3,172.25, while Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, +0.31% NQM20, +0.31% climbed a more modest 0.6% at 9,683.75, as investors shifted out of technology-related names and into those that had been most battered by the global epidemic. The move for equities on Friday comes after the Dow DJIA, +0.04% ended 11.93 points, or less than 0.1%, higher on Thursday at 26,281.82. The fourth straight gain matches a similar streak of wins for the blue-chip index ended April 27, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.33% fell 10.52 points, or 0.3%, to close at 3,112.35 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.69% finished 67.10 points, or 0.7%, lower to wrap up the session at 9,615.81, putting the index about 2.1% from its Feb.
Cramer: The pandemic led to a great wealth transfer
The coronavirus pandemic and corresponding lockdown made way for "one of the greatest wealth transfers in history," CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.
The stock market is rising as big business rebounds from state-ordered stoppage of nonessential activity, while small businesses drop like flies, the "Mad Money" host said.
"The bigger the business, the more it moves the major averages, and that matters because this is the first recession where big business '... is coming through virtually unscathed, if not going for the gold," he added.
The comments come after Wall Street took a breather during a mixed day of trading in the midst of hopes of a quick recovery from the pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up almost 12 points to 26,281.82 during the session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both finished the day in the red by less than 1%.
Investors reacted to worse-than-predicted economic data ahead of the May jobs report Friday. The Labor Department reported on Thursday that new jobless claims the past week came in at 1.877 million, while experts expected a read of 1.775 million claims.
Despite the ongoing economic woes, the S&P index of 500 large-cap companies, which is considered a benchmark for the stock market, is within striking distance of its levels from the start of the trading year. Since bottoming near 2,191 in March, the index is up about 42%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has recovered all of its losses from the coronavirus meltdown and set a new high on Thursday. Many investors are betting on a V-shaped economic recovery, Cramer said.
"I think we're looking at a V-shaped recovery in the stock market, and that has almost nothing to do with a V-shaped recovery in the economy," he said.
In order to help small businesses make it to the other side of the pandemic, the federal government needs to pass another stimulus package, given the social distancing mandates that remain in place, he added. The American Bankruptcy Institute said Thursday that U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcies in May ballooned by 48% compared to a year ago.
"That's that pesky real world asserting itself, but the only big bankruptcy we've seen int he stock market is Hertz," Cramer said.
Cramer said it still only scratches the surface of what impact the halt in global economic activity will have on the country.
The Senate on Wednesday sent a bill to be signed by President Donald Trump to relax rules on how businesses can spend relief funds provided by the Paycheck Protection Program.
"The companies that took the money just got a big break: they only need to spend 60% on their employees to get the loans forgiven, down from the original 75%. That's important, as most small businesses fail because they can't afford to pay the rent," Cramer said.
"But, in the end, the stimulus package probably won't be enough, for one simple reason," he said. "It's not going to work because of social distancing."
Trump may come to regret his big celebration of a small dip in unemployment '' Alternet.org
Though the unemployment rate remains in the double-digits, the official unemployment numbers are slightly lower than economists expected, prompting self-congratulations by President Donald Trump.
But experts say celebration is premature.
Indeed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate fell from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent in May as the economy added 2.5 million jobs. The high April number was the worst that the American workforce had seen since monthly record-keeping began in 1948, and almost certainly the worst since the Great Depression. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett predicted last month that unemployment would rise above 20 percent, a view that was widely shared by economists.
Trump took to Twitter to boast about the new numbers, tweeting ''Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!'' and ''Oh no, the Dems are worried again. The only one that can kill this comeback is Sleepy Joe Biden!'' He also tweeted, ''Experts said we would lose 7.5 million jobs in May, but we added 2.5 million.'' He also connected the unemployment dip to the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, saying, ''hopefully George is looking down and saying this is a great thing that's happening for our country. (It's) a great day for him. It's a great day for everybody.''
There are a number of reasons to pause before celebrating these results, however. (And it should go without saying that there is no good reason to connect them to an unrelated hate crime.) For one thing, the gains were not evenly distributed: Black unemployment is at 16.8 percent while white unemployment is at 12.4 percent, a significant discrepancy. Latino women had a staggering 19 percent unemployment rate. Moreover, 20.7 million jobs vanished in April. That total doesn't even included all of the jobs that were lost prior to that month.
In any case, this still leaves more than 18 million Americans unemployed, with Trump's inadequate response to the pandemic seemingly the main culprit. Finally, a 13.3 percent unemployment rate is still far higher than anything seen during the Great Recession.
Notably, the discrepancy between the anticipated unemployment numbers and the ones released this month don't bode well for future economic growth, as Gabriel Mathy, a macroeconomist at American University, told Salon.
One reason, Mathy said, ''is that employers must rehire their payroll to qualify for forgiveness of their PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loans, and so many workers are being rehired for that reason. Whether they remain on the payroll once that program expires later this year remains to be seen.''
Mathy also pointed out that the numbers do not include all of the workers who were furloughed, and are thus out of a job, because employers incorrectly classified them as ''employed but not at work.'' He pointed out that ''the BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] discussed this in their report, and perhaps there be ways to improve business reporting in future reports.''
Mathy also told Salon that there were a number of factors complicating predictions about America's economic future. He noted that the number of coronavirus cases and deaths are significantly down from April and the government stimulus has helped people who would otherwise be suffering much more economically.
At the same time, ''spending is still massively depressed and stimulus measures are scheduled to expire later this year, some as early as this summer.'' He added that investment is continuing to fall, businesses may contract because of reduced sales, forbearances on homeowners and renters may be suspended and state and local governments may need to cut more jobs unless they receive trillions in federal aid.
''The rosy jobs report today will reduce the perceived need to act to alleviate the crisis, and so may end up being a net negative, but making forecasts given all these conflicting impulses and the unprecedented nature of this crisis is very difficult,'' Mathy concluded. ''However, given the weak recovery from the Great Recession, it is hard to see a scenario of a rapid recovery back to the booming economy we saw before the pandemic without continued stimulus and an eradication of the virus.''
At least one prominent economist, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, speculated on Twitter that ''you can't completely discount the possibility that they've gotten to the BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics], but it's much more likely that the models used to produce these numbers '-- they aren't really raw data '-- have gone haywire in a time of pandemic.'' Krugman later received pushback for this speculation and apologized, tweeting that ''I was just covering myself, because so many weird things have happened lately. But I apologize for any suggestion that a highly professional agency might have been corrupted.''
Yale University economist William Nordhaus told Salon by email that he also doubts the BLS would have deliberately produced misleading statistics, writing, ''it seems unlikely. The Current Population Survey is too deeply embedded in the deep state for the incompetents in the White House to know what to do. Nixon tried to intervene at the BLS and failed.''
Nordhaus' assessment was echoed by Princeton economist Henry Farber, who wrote to Salon that ''I can't imagine that the numbers were influenced by the White House. The BLS has an elaborate procedure, run by serious career professionals, for generating and releasing these numbers.''
Farber also argued that the less-terrible-than-expected results could be attributed to ''the anticipated numbers being too pessimistic by not understanding the timing. The release this morning was based on conditions for the week of May 10-16, about 2 months after the crisis and shutdown began. Most of the employment reductions well predated this period (see the previous month's employment report covering the week of April 12-18), and it may be that things were beginning to open up by mid-May.''
Austan Goolsbee, who served on President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, told Salon that America's long-term economic prospects are still not very good.
''The job market is still at basically the worst condition it has been in almost a century,'' Goolsbee explained. ''This rebound filled only about 10 percent of the hole dug last month and we have to hope we get many, many more months in a row like this one or else we could be years from getting back to where we were before this started. I think it is still doable if we are getting a handle on containing the spread of the virus. If we don't do that, we won't succeed on the economy.''
Enjoy this piece?'... then let us make a small request. AlterNet's journalists work tirelessly to counter the traditional corporate media narrative. We're here seven days a week, 365 days a year. And we're proud to say that we've been bringing you the real, unfiltered news for 20 years'--longer than any other progressive news site on the Internet.
It's through the generosity of our supporters that we're able to share with you all the underreported news you need to know. Independent journalism is increasingly imperiled; ads alone can't pay our bills. AlterNet counts on readers like you to support our coverage. Did you enjoy content from David Cay Johnston, Common Dreams, Raw Story and Robert Reich? Opinion from Salon and Jim Hightower? Analysis by The Conversation? Then join the hundreds of readers who have supported AlterNet this year.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure AlterNet remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to AlterNet, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
EuroLand
Dutch PM Rutte sceptical about Black Pete tradition - BBC News
Image caption A Black Pete performer in The Hague Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says his attitude to Black Pete - a Christmas character traditionally played by a white person in black face paint - has undergone "major changes".
He said he used to be among those who argued that "Black Pete is just black", accepting the Dutch tradition.
But now he expects the tradition to die out, he told the Dutch parliament.
He was speaking after Dutch protests triggered by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Thousands rallied in Amsterdam and Rotterdam earlier this week in solidarity with US demonstrations over the unarmed black man's death.
For years anti-racism campaigners in the Netherlands have been protesting over Black Pete ("Zwarte Piet" in Dutch), seeing the tradition as an offensive relic of colonial times.
Supporters, meanwhile, argue that it is a harmless part of Christmas celebrations enjoyed by children.
Video caption Dutch protests over Black Pete festival-goers Mr Rutte, a liberal, said he expected that in a few years' time there "will be no Zwarte Piets any more".
He said many people, including children, had told him they felt discriminated against because Black Pete is black.
"And I thought, that's the last thing we want during Sinterklaas (Santa Claus) celebrations."
Behind the legacy of America's blackface Is it always racist to black up your face? Black Pete is 'negative stereotype'On Wednesday he stated that racial discrimination affected many people in the Netherlands. He was responding to journalists' questions about the unrest in the US linked to George Floyd's death.
In 2014 he revealed that he had dressed up as Black Pete - with blackface - himself in the past.
Some Dutch people playing Black Pete now dab soot on their cheeks, as an alternative to blackface.
A prominent anti-racism campaigner opposed to Black Pete, poet Jerry King Luther Afriyie, welcomed Mr Rutte's comments, tweeting: "Nice. Better late than never! Now let's get rid of Zwarte Piet and we can all enjoy a party for all children."
There was mockery for Mr Rutte from anti-immigration populist Geert Wilders, who tweeted that the PM "is now joining the leftist multi-culti camp and opposing Zwarte Piet".
The Freedom Party (PVV) leader went on: "We have a prime minister who now stands for nothing. The PVV holds on to national traditions well, for us Zwarte Piet will forever remain black!"
Riots
In Rare Statement, Soros Denies Paying Protesters To Riot | Zero Hedge
Following accusations that paid protesters are hijacking the George Floyd protests and inciting riots, George Soros' Open Society Foundation has issued a rare statement claiming that he - nor anyone else, is funding the chaos.
Introducing the statement, Spokesman Michael Vachon writes:
Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms are being used to spread the now familiar and thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory that George Soros and the Open Society Foundations are paying people to protest, in this case over the murder of George Floyd. We are appalled by this attempt to delegitimize the genuine outpouring of anger and concern from people in the U.S. and around the world.
Open Society's statement claims that "We abhor violence of any kind, and will not allow the destructive acts of a few to distract us from the crucial work of coming together and forging a better future for all of our neighbors."
Soros then claims that the Open Society Foundation nor "any other" are funding protests.
"Those protesting the death of Mr. Floyd and police brutality across the nation do so out of a deep and abiding concern for their country; they don't do so for pay from these foundations or any other, as some cynics claim. Such assertions are false, offensive, and do a disservice to the very bedrock of our democracy, as enshrined in the First Amendment."
Many began to question whether the protests have an organized, staged component after piles of mysterious bricks were discovered in major protest towns, and a video of what appears to be an organizer paying a protester emerged.
ANTIFA is a virtually all-white terror organization of cowards who pay minorities to commit their terrorism for them.This is demonstrated perfectly in the video below.
ANTIFA are the scum of the earth and every one of their members should be in jailpic.twitter.com/s3nyNBvK1x
'-- Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 31, 2020Soros' statement comes days after a hoax flyer appeared in Washington State claiming that the Thurston County Democrats was seeking "a professional anarchist" with funding supplied by the Open Society Foundation.
While that was , this wouldn't be the first time leftists have conspired to disrupt otherwise peaceful events. In 2016, Clinton operative Robert Creamer - who visited the Obama white house nearly 350 times - 'stepped back' from his role as an organizer after a Project Veritas undercover video revealed a discussion on paying agitators to incite violence at Trump rallies in 2016.
"One of the things we do is we stage very authentic grassroots protests right in their faces at their own events. Like, we infiltrate," said Creamer's former minion, Scott Foval.
Soros has donated early $90 million to feminist groups which were behind January, 2017 protests of Donald Trump's inauguration.
Heavily armed men who refuse to identify themselves are patrolling the streets of Washington, DC. They were sent by the Bureau of Prisons.
As part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on protests against racism, federal agents wearing no insignia have been patrolling the streets of Washington, DC. The officials have refused to identify themselves, but reporters have established that they're from the Bureau of Prisons. In a statement to ABC News, the bureau said the officials were not wearing identifying clothing ''as they are serving a broader mission.'' Law-enforcement experts said that officials operating with no identifying insignia could evade accountability and spread confusion. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Heavily armed federal agents wearing no badges or identifying markings have been patrolling the streets of Washington, DC, this week as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on protests against racism.
As part of Trump's bid to ''dominate'' protests that have swept US cities in the wake of the death of George Floyd, his administration has deployed a variety of military forces and federal law-enforcement officials.
The Secret Service agents, DC police officers, and US military members are usually easy to identify. But they have been joined by federal officials, many with no identifying information.
5PM WHITE HOUSE '-- These are the unidentified DOJ officers holding the perimeter at 15th and H Streets.They won't tell the public to whom they report exactly'...It's generating HUGE frustration here #GeorgeFloyd @WUSA9 pic.twitter.com/GOSbeyplLb
'-- Mike Valerio (@MikevWUSA) June 3, 2020
Wearing helmets and plain uniforms and carrying weapons or riot shields, the officials have refused to identify themselves when asked by reporters what branch of the federal government or military they represent.
They were seen on Tuesday and Wednesday. Washington, DC, had a curfew of 7 p.m. on Tuesday and 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
One official told Mother Jones' Dan Friedman that they were with the Department of Justice. That department oversees agencies like the FBI but has no direct enforcement personnel of its own.
Asked who they're with, these guys say only that they're with ''The Department of Justice.'' pic.twitter.com/ciVDtP8ndk
'-- Dan Friedman (@dfriedman33) June 2, 2020
Some people on social media discussing the identity of the mysterious officials compared them to the ''little green men'' Russian President Vladimir Putin sent to annex Crimea in 2014 who wore no insignia identifying them as members of the Russian military.
There is no generic DOJ police force, obviously. No badges, no identifying info, refusal to say who they represent '' it's like Russia's little green men have taken over the nation's capital. https://t.co/2DFOxcgd1M
'-- Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) June 2, 2020
Some observers noticed that details on the officials' uniforms indicated that they were members of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Closeups. A lot of them are federal Bureau of Prisons officers. SORT stands for Special Operations Response Team, a BOP tactical unit. Probably based in Texas going off the flag patches and ''FCC Beaumont.'' pic.twitter.com/WAQDtuiUik
'-- Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) June 3, 2020
The bureau told ABC News that the officials were members of a crisis-management unit (like those involved in quelling prison riots).
The bureau said they were not wearing ''BOP specific clothing as they are serving a broader mission.''
Just In: NBC's Mike Kosnar obtains a statement from the Bureau of Prisons about their un-badged officers in DC. It's long so I screen-shotted it, and their previous statement, sent upon their deployment pic.twitter.com/BbTdJNDpBg
'-- Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) June 4, 2020
Thaddeus Hoffmeister, a law professor at the University of Dayton, told The Hill that unlike members of the military, federal law-enforcement agents aren't always required to wear identifiable uniforms.
''As a general rule, members of the Army (Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserves) must wear an identifiable uniform,'' Hoffmeister said. ''The folks you see without an identifiable uniform are primarily federal law enforcement who don't have the same requirements.''
Law-enforcement experts said that it was extremely unusual for officers to be operating incognito and that people had no way of telling whether they were genuinely officials, which could generate confusion and chaos during unrest.
William Bratton, a former New York City police commissioner, told The Washington Post that the development was ''very concerning.''
''If those officers engage in any type of misbehavior during the time that they are there representing the federal government, how are you to identify them?'' Bratton said. ''What is the need for anonymity in controlling crowd demonstrations?''
Officer Charged With Floyd's Murder May Have Voted Illegally In FL In 2016, 2018
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin '-- who was charged with murder after he knelt on George Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes '-- may have voted illegally in Florida, where he owns property, in the last two elections.
According to a new report in Minneapolis' Star Tribune, an attorney in Florida has alerted state prosecutors to the possible illegal votes in 2016 and 2018. State records show that Chauvin is an active voter in the state of Florida and is affiliated with the Florida Republican Party.
Chauvin reportedly owns property in Oakdale, Minnesota as well as Windermere, Florida. The Florida attorney Dan Helm told the Star Tribune that he checked the Orange County Florida voting file after learning about the Windermere property.
''When I learned he voted here to influence our elections, while living in Minnesota, I was outraged,'' Helm told the Star Tribune.
Chauvin is one of the four officers charged in George Floyd's death, though Chauvin's charges are the most serious. He was captured in video footage pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee for nearly 10 minutes while Floyd shouted that he couldn't breathe and called out for his mother. Floyd was initially taken into police custody for allegedly using counterfeit money to buy food.
The TPM Journalism Fund: A New Way To Support TPM
We're launching the TPM Journalism Fund as an additional way for readers and members to support TPM. Every dollar contributed goes toward:
-Hiring More Journalists -Providing free memberships to those who cannot afford them -Supporting independent, non-corporate journalism
Old Man Knocked to Ground by Buffalo Police EXPOSED as Left-wing Agitator-Actor-Agent who Used Fake Blood Pack During the Incident | (VIDEO) '' Listen to everyone, trust no one.
I'm so tired of this shit. The perpetrators of these false flags need to be hung. The doctor who writes off on his fake medical status needs to lose their license and the news agencies who prepared this story and ran with it need to be jailed or hung also.
Date: June 6, 2020 Author: Jerry Derecha 0 Comments You piece of shit. These fucking people man. THIS IS NOT ALLOWED. That's social terrorism. We need new legislation to deal with this Clear & Present Danger to the sovereignty & civility of American society. The perpetrators of these false flag events need to be rounded up, tried and hung.
https://t.co/xeSpBtnCxK
'-- ''¨Q3a3a''¨''¨ (@Qbaba369) June 5, 2020I believe he faked it. pic.twitter.com/4eIy77HGLF
'-- Adrian Llama (@Adriana00777) June 5, 2020WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Video shows two police officers in Buffalo, New York, shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground. The sound of a crack is heard and blood trickles from the man's head https://t.co/JOGKvPOjoD pic.twitter.com/TBqs4gelmi
'-- Reuters (@Reuters) June 5, 2020Post navigationPrevious Previous post: Very Rare Moose Sighting in Connecticut Next Next post: Leftists will claim that we found a terrible story to report on to make the rioters look bad. Damn straight we did & we shouldn't have been able to find ANY stories like this! | Rioters Destroy Detroit Family's Home and Truck, Kill Their Dog Leave a Reply Cancel replyEnter your comment here...Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:
Email (Address never made public) NameWebsiteYou are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )
You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out / Change )
You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )
You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )
CancelConnecting to %s
Notify me of new comments via email.
Notify me of new posts via email.
Supreme Court is Once Again Inspiring Civil War | Armstrong Economics
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, I find it really amazing how you have forecast politics, markets, war, disease, and even said in 2014 race riots would return. I understand it is not you personally. What do you see from here with these riots even taking place in London?
PH
ANSWER: Civil Unrest has been taking place for a very long time. If you step back and correlate it to the economy, you will notice that it rises when people start to struggle. The race riots right now would NOT takes place has we also accelerated the unemployment dramatically to where there are officially 40 million people who have lost their jobs. There have been plenty of deaths inflected by police since 2014. This would have normally peaked out by 2018, but the economic conditions show this cycle will continue into 2027 if the Supreme Court does not overrule its previous decisions.
On May 25, Minneapolis, Minnesota police officers arrested George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, after a deli employee called 911, accusing him of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Seventeen minutes after the first squad car arrived at the scene, Mr. Floyd was unconscious and pinned beneath three police officers, showing no signs of life.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police has re-energized a national debate over misconduct by law enforcement officials that the Supreme Court may be poised to enter. Both the left and the right finally agree on one thing '' qualified immunity for government officials is unsupported by the Constitution and was even one of the express complaints in the Declaration of Independence:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
There can be no equal protection of the law as long as a government employee is above the law. Both prosecutors and police should be held to the same standards as any citizen. Until that happens, then the Supreme Court has placed the nation in jeopardy of civil war. There are plenty of good police, but they will be gunned down because of the abuses of the bad ones. Protecting bad prosecutors and police puts at risk others in the same field and the nation itself.
To understand Shakespeare's famous line ''the first thing we do let's kill all the lawyers'' we must view the context. Private citizens were not allowed to hire lawyers '' only the king. So this saying comes from a tax rebellion where the ''lawyers'' were the king's prosecutors who were seizing people's property (farms and houses) because they were unable to pay his taxes. Prosecutors are by no means trustworthy simply because they hold that position. They are human just like the police and have knowingly prosecuted people wrongfully for political purposes.
If the Supreme Court does not ABOLISH all immunity for prosecutors and police, they will lead the country into civil war just as the Dread Scott decisions did in 1860 holding black were not covered by the Constitution in a stupid attempt to defuse the rising tension between North and South.
While looting is wrong, if the underlying legality is not changed, this is going to get far worse.
'A giant wheezing kazoo': Golden Gate Bridge starts to 'sing' after design fix | US news | The Guardian
Strange sound coming from bridge explained by new bicycle-path railings that make 'music' as wind passes through
San Francisco's famous Golden Gate Bridge has started ''singing'' following recent changes to bicycle-path railings that appear to make music as the wind blows through them, residents have reported.
The eerie sound has prompted perplexed, cheeky, and even desperate reactions from locals.
''Can someone explain me why is this eerie sound has been going on for an hour in #SanFrancisco #presidio #sound #eerie #whatisthis #2020SoFar #2020BingoCard,'' one Twitter user wrote Friday afternoon.
City officials offered an explanation for the sound, which can seemingly be heard several miles away.
Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, a Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District spokesperson, said the sounds stemmed from long-planned wind retrofitting.
''The new musical tones coming from the bridge are a known and inevitable phenomenon that stem from our wind retrofit project during very high winds. The wind retrofit project is designed to make the Bridge more aerodynamic under high wind conditions and is necessary to ensure the safety and structural integrity of the Bridge for generations to come,'' Cosulich-Schwartz said.
''We knew going into the handrail replacement that the bridge would sing during exceptionally high winds from the west, as we saw yesterday. We are pleased to see the new railing is allowing wind to flow more smoothly across the bridge.''
A headline on the website of local NPR radio station KQED read: ''The Golden Gate Bridge Sounds Like a David Lynch Movie Now.'' The director is a prominent user of wind sounds in his films.
The station reported: ''Because it spans a very windy gap across the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge is now effectively a giant orange wheezing kazoo.''
Others who posted videos of the novel sound appeared more at ease, however. One described it as ''so peaceful''. Another said: ''So crazy but also kinda beautiful!!''
''We can hear this in our house more than three miles away from the bridge. It's crazy making,'' one user wrote Friday evening.
The noise is not the first time a suspension bridge's physical qualities have raised eyebrows. Central London's Millennium Bridge, for example, closed days after it opened in 2000 because of dramatic swaying. It reopened a year and a half later.
Soros
George Soros to fund Open Society University Network - Washington Times
DAVOS, Switzerland '-- George Soros says he's injecting $1 billion into a new university network that the 89-year-old billionaire investor calls the ''most important and most enduring project of my life.''
''And I would like to see it realized while I am still around,'' he told journalists on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Soros, a vociferous critic of U.S. President Trump, announced the plans at the end of a speech to reporters during which he criticized Trump as a ''con man,'' the ''ultimate narcissist'' and a ''climate denier.''
The philanthropist who made his billions in the markets, also reiterated his criticisms of other alleged autocrats. He branded as dictators both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary '' Soros' native country.
Aside from the invective, Soros presented his plans for the Open Society University Network. His office said OSUN would pull together higher-education networks worldwide with ''in-person and online discussions'' '' and will look for partners.
The network will be built around Soros' Central European University and Bard College, north of New York City.
''To demonstrate our commitment to OSUN, we are contributing $1 billion to it,'' he said. ''But we can't build a global network on our own; we will need partner institutions and supporters from all around the world to join us in this enterprise.''
''I consider OSUN the most important and enduring project of my life and I should like to see it implemented while I am still around,'' Soros said.
Copyright (C) 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.
Antifa Calls Out George Soros for Late Payment - Truth And Action
New information has emerged suggesting the Beverly Hills Antifa chapter and the movement overall are being paid to protest and create anarchy.
New Jersey Department of Homeland Security labeled Antifa ''anarchist extremists'' and added them to their domestic terror watch list on June 12th, 2017.
Whoever is funding Antifa is deliberately trying to stir up civil unrest and potentially a war or revolution within the U.S.
It's no secret that George Soros and his infamous 'organizations' wield an ungodly amount of influence with the Deep State and American politics.
However, the allegations suggesting an alliance between Soros and Antifa are less verifiable and complicated. These allegations are being made by disgruntled Antifa members angry that they've haven't been paid yet for their criminal activities and volatile protesting. And the details surrounding these alleged Soros/Antifa connection only gets more bizarre and shockingly accurate in retrospect of recent events. More on the next page
Next Page >>
Bats
2020 Quarters Will Have Bats On Them and I Want One
DISCLAIMER: This post may contain affiliate links.
Surely you are in our super cool Facebook group by now, right? If not click here to join!
Here is a $10 bill, I need a whole roll of these quarters NOW!
The U.S. Mint is bringing us these National Park of the American Samoa quarters, and they feature a Samoan fruit bat. I just heard a collective, *AWWW*.
As if the fruit bat, alone wasn't cute enough, they have included her holding her pup. I'm in love!
These will officially be released into circulation in February, and I'm going to be first in line at the bank to get a roll.
Why is it that REAL bats scare the bejesus out of me, but drawings of bats are the cutest thing EVER?
The design is intended to promote awareness of the species' threatened status due to habitat loss and commercial hunting.
CollectorCoinsI totally can't get the Batman theme song out of my head now. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, BATMAN!
There are five designs being released this year in the America The Beautiful series, but this is the only design that will include an animal '-- unless you count the butterfly in the Kansas Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve quarter.
Thinking ahead a bit, these would be so cool to hand out with Halloween candy in October!
Come on, February! It can't get here soon enough. I NEED these quarters in my life.
About Amanda Amanda lives in NC with her sweet little family and her off-the-wall dachshund. She enjoys ALL things Disney, watching Avengers Movies, and obsessing over True Crime on Netflix. She is more than a little addicted to Gift Swaps, and she has this weird phobia of birds. Amanda LOVES pop culture, traveling any chance she gets, and writing about it all. Bring her fresh fruit, colorful pens, fuzzy blankets, and flavorful iced coffee; she'll love you for life.
MIC
Lightning laser weapon developed by US Army - BBC News
Image caption The weapon is capable of emitting 'huge' power, researchers said US Army scientists are developing a weapon which can fire a laser-guided lightning bolt at a target.
The Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) is designed to hit targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them.
The weapon went through extensive testing in January.
George Fischer, lead scientist on the project, said: "We never got tired of the lightning bolts zapping our simulated [targets]."
Details of the weapon were released on the US Army's website.
Mr Fischer explained how the usually unpredictable lightning bolts can be controlled.
"If a laser puts out a pulse with modest energy, but the time is incredibly tiny, the power can be huge," Mr Fischer said.
"During the duration of the laser pulse, it can be putting out more power than a large city needs, but the pulse only lasts for two-trillionths of a second."
50 billion wattsThis means, Mr Fischer said, the air could be manipulated to "act like a lens".
"We use an ultra-short-pulse laser of modest energy to make a laser beam so intense that it focuses on itself in air and stays focused in a filament," he said.
Fifty billion watts of optical power are used. By comparison, a typical filament lightbulb uses 100 watts of power.
"If a laser beam is intense enough, its electro-magnetic field is strong enough to rip electrons off of air molecules, creating plasma," Mr Fischer said.
"This plasma is located along the path of the laser beam, so we can direct it wherever we want by moving a mirror."
The team said it faced a challenge in making the technology rugged enough to survive in harsh battle conditions.
Venezuela
Venezuela arrests DirecTV executives after US firm pulls out | News | Al Jazeera
Venezuelan authorities have jailed three local DirecTV executives under an arrest warrant issued after the Dallas-based company abruptly cut off services to the South American country last month, citing US sanctions against the socialist government, the men's lawyer said on Friday.
Carlos Villamizar, one of the three men, told reporters in his lawyer's office before surrendering that he had no prior knowledge that the services were being ended and that he was innocent of any crimes.
More:US sanctions four shipping firms for transporting Venezuelan oilVenezuela reaches UN deal to use gold held in UK bank to buy foodOil rises: OPEC+ to talk soon about steadying global markets"I hope there is justice in this country," Villamizar, vice president of strategy for DirecTV, told reporters before surrendering himself.
Villamizar said he was "very, very surprised," at the warrant issued against him and his former colleagues Hector Rivero and Rodolfo Carrano.
He was accompanied by lawyer Jesus Loreto, who said the other two managers had "voluntarily surrendered" to authorities and were being held at the intelligence service headquarters in Caracas, known as El Helicoide.
Former DirecTV employees expressed solidarity with the trio on social networks, with the hashtag #DIRECTVSomosTodos (We are DirecTV) trending on Twitter.
Venezuela charges two ex-US soldiers with 'terrorism, conspiracy'
The arrest warrants were issued almost three weeks after AT&T announced on May 19 its "immediate" withdrawal from the pay-TV market in Venezuela, where it offered the DirecTV satellite platform.
Under the terms of its pay-TV licence granted by President Nicolas Maduro's government, DirectTV was obliged to carry private news network Globovision and PDVSA TV.
AT&T joined a number of other US companies - General Motors, Kellogg and Kimberly-Clark - that have abandoned Venezuela due to shrinking sales, government threats and the risk of US sanctions.
The three arrested executives "did not participate in what happened, they did not know what was happening," the lawyer said.
Three days after AT&T's decision to close operations, Venezuela's highest court ordered the seizure of the company's facilities and equipment.
The board of directors at the company that provides the DirecTV service in Venezuela, Galaxy Entertainment, have also been barred from leaving the country.
DirectTV's departure has left two million subscribers in limbo, with soccer fans deprived of the popular Futbol Total programme which was broadcast by DirecTV Sports for Latin America.
The administration of President Donald Trump has increased political pressure on Maduro in what it calls a "maximum-pressure" campaign aimed at ending the socialist leader's rule, which it says has led the once-wealthy oil nation into ruin.
Clips
VIDEO - Monologue: Is America Great Enough For You Yet? | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube
The Democratic party is ''frantic'' that an increasing number of black Americans are leaving the party to back President Donald Trump and Republicans in the November election, Former Oakland Raiders Super Bowl star and Republican candidate for Congress Burgess Owens explained to ''The Sara Carter Show'' on Thursday's episode.
Right now, the party is ''frantic that they are going through they realize that the black people black vote is leaving them,'' Owens told Carter adding that ''they try to do everything they can and they're not going to get us back.''
Many Democrats have seized the opportunity of the tragic death of George Floyd and the anger that followed. ''They will have to think outside of the emotions they have. Then you destroy their family. You make sure they don't say anything about respect of anything. No respect of God country, family, or women. You take that. That is a concoction for disaster. So what we have to understand is that they will continue to lie. That's what godless people do. There's no shame there's no consciousness. There's no maybe I should apologize. Their end game is power.''
At the end of the day, Owens said, it's about winning the 2020 election and nothing else for Democrats and they have ''no shame'' in doing so. ''You have Marxist governors and mayors who will put their knee on the neck of their own constituents so that they will feel pain and hopelessness. And therefore in November, they're going to think that this is not the way people are broken people.''
''This is not organic. black people right now are not going in and burning down their own black businesses it's Antifa. And that's why I love the fact that we now have got a president who's going to call out for it. We have domestic terrorists. People are trying to take down our country we have because of this Marxist ideology. These governors and mayors could care less and represent could care less about the pain it brings as long as they get their power back. So yeah this is a power play and the great thing about this is this we can now talk across the board among about Americans about we the people do we want to work to vote for those who are against us doing these bad times or those who give us hope.''
VIDEO - Man shot in head by defense attorney at Alamosa protest Thursday, police say - KRDO
ALAMOSA, Colo. (KRDO) -- A man is in a Colorado Springs hospital tonight after police say he was shot in the head by a defense attorney during a protest in Alamosa.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 investigative reporter Chelsea Brentzel was in Alamosa Friday where the violence has shaken the small southeastern Colorado community.
Police tell us a 27-year-old defense attorney shot at a driver during a protest Thursday night on Main Street. Until then, the protests in town had been peaceful.
Zoila Gomez, a local protester, was there to describe the aftermath and the initial investigation.
"The street was blocked," said Gomez. "The protestors that arrived at 5 were sitting on the floor filling out forms and giving their testimony"
Police say the suspect, James Marshall, was on the streets protesting when he shot a man who was driving. The gunshot victim was identified by police as 49-year-old Danny Pruitt of Canon City.
Witnesses tell KRDO the driver ran into the crowd, but police say current evidence doesn't support those claims.
KRDO learned that Marshall is a defense attorney in Alamosa. State records show Marshall has practiced law in Colorado since at least October 2018. Those who live in town are stunned by the allegations against him.
"I'm just sad that the way things turned in a matter of a second," said Gomez. "This was unexpected. Fully unexpected."
A video from the night before the shooting shows protesters chanting in the streets. Gomez is hopeful protesters will remain peaceful and says Thursday night's incident is not a true reflection of the small city.
"It could have happened in any other place. It was just the wrong time at the wrong place. Alamosa is home for me and I'm proud to be from this community," Gomez said.
Protest organizers tell KRDO they do not condone violence. Marshal remains in jail on charges of attempted murder and assault.
At this hour, the condition of the victim is unknown.
Something went wrong, but don't fret '-- let's give it another shot.
VIDEO - (23) Robby Starbuck on Twitter: "This is important because it illustrates how the far left always eats their own. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has groveled and virtue signaled to the far left constantly but it will never will be enough. The Democr
VIDEO - (21) Sana Saeed on Twitter: "Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey showed up today at the protests. He was asked if he would commit to abolishing/defunding the police. Incredible to witness crowd hold him directly accountable. Man did a literal walk of sha
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (KMSP) - The son of a prominent north Minneapolis pastor was shot twice in the legs during a violent home invasion in Brooklyn Park Friday morning.
Julian McAfee, 30, was expected to make a full recovery, and posted a picture on his Facebook page from his hospital bed, making a crude gesture with his finger, along with the message, ''Couple shots ain't stopping s'--t, try again.'' He is the son of Rev. Jerry McAfee, a long-time community leader in north Minneapolis.
Just after 11 p.m. Thursday, police said three masked people entered the home on the 8000 block of Brunswick Ave. at gunpoint and tied up seven adults and two children with duct tape. The suspects then moved their captives into a bedroom.
Shortly after midnight, Julian McAfee arrived home and was shot twice in the legs near the front door. Police said McAfee managed to run through the home and into the bedroom where the others, including his two children, were held hostage, and then jumped through the window. Several of the others untied themselves and also escaped through the window.
The three gunman escaped and are still at large.
''We don't believe this was random,'' said Deputy Chief Mark Bruley, Brooklyn Park Police. ''We have information this home was targeted specifically.''
Julian McAfee, and another man who had been pistol whipped, ran to neighbor Les Olson's home for help.
''They were scared to death,'' said Olson. ''When I opened up the door, [McAfee] collapsed. They kept saying, 'They're shooting at us. They're shooting at us.'''
Rev. Jerry McAfee stopped by the home in the afternoon and looked at a bullet hole in the front door. He speculated a gunman may've been outside the home, waiting for his son.
''I'll find out. I still have my connections,'' the older McAfee said.
His son, Julian, has a criminal history that includes convictions for armed robbery and drugs. He was also grazed by a bullet three years ago in a case where his father said he was the intended target. Julian was also the suspect in a Minneapolis homicide in 2008, but was never charged with the crime.
Rev. McAfee said he bought the home in Brooklyn Park two years ago for his daughter-in-law. He said his son spends most of his time now in Chicago, pursuing a career in rap music.
VIDEO - Live: Boris Johnson hosts coronavirus Global Vaccine Summit - YouTube
As most of the communities UPMC serves prepare to move to '' green '' '' the least restrictive of Pennsylvania's COVID-19 reopening phases '' the health system today provided an update on what its data are showing and plans to keep patients safe.
UPMC doctors also shared that the health system's experts drafted recently passed state legislation to help long-term care providers prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their facilities, which house elderly people who are most vulnerable to the disease.
''Protecting the elderly is a critically important component of safely reopening society,'' said Dr. David A. Nace , chief medical officer of UPMC Senior Communities , at a UPMC press briefing. ''UPMC is sharing what we've learned so that long-term care facilities in our regions and nationwide can replicate our success and prevent untimely deaths.''
None of the 3,000 residents of the more than 30 UPMC Senior Communities ha s tested positive for COVID-19. UPMC recently began testing residents without symptoms and still has not detected the virus. The health system is also introducing antibody testing to its staff so they can learn if they ever had the virus without knowing it.
UPMC employees prepare COVID-19 antibody tests.
''We do not want to passively wait for the virus to appear '' we need to hunt it down ,'' said Nace , who, as a UPMC Senior Communities employee, recently received the antibody testing and is awaiting results.
Dr. Donald Yealy , chair of emergency medicine at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, said that UPMC's testing of patients and staff outside of long-term care facilities has also provided reassuring results . Less than 4% of all tests and only 0.2% of tests in asymptomatic patients are coming back positive, indicating that the virus is less prevalent in the communities UPMC serves.
UPMC never stopped providing patients with necessary, essential care, though only about half of the normally expected number of patients were visiting the health system's hospitals for care during the height of pub lic concern over the virus. In the past month, UPMC returned to nearly 100% of its inpatient pre-COVID care levels.
''The rapid return of patients to our hospitals and outpatient sites reflects the pent-up demand for care at UPMC,'' Yealy said. ''And we are providing this care in the cleanest and safest hospitals and outpatient sites with the best infection prevention techniques you'll find anywhere.''
VIDEO - (22) Jenny Jarvie on Twitter: "Countdown to curfew in Atlanta https://t.co/vvITsNMSdB" / Twitter
AUSTIN (KXAN) '-- When the coronavirus pandemic began and Stay Home, Work Safe orders went into effect in March, silence fell over the Live Music Capital of the World.
This week, however, some local musicians once again filled the streets of Austin with the sound of guitars, drums and saxophones.
''This is open band, open mic,'' said Travis Salas, one of the organizers. ''If you want to come join in, tap someone on the shoulder and say you want to get in. We want all of Austin voicing their voices in a positive protest.''
Salas and Xavier Coffee told KXAN they got some local Austin musicians together to play in front of the Austin Police Department headquarters. The next night, they played in front of the Texas State Capitol.
''I'm against police brutality. I'm against anything that puts anyone in a negative light,'' said Coffee. ''But what I am for is bringing out those that are committing these injustices and bringing that to the light.''
He said one way to do that is to use music to connect people and unite their voices to fight for justice and equality.
''It's a universal language. It doesn't matter what the genre is, music is universal,'' Coffee said.
Salas said when they were in front of APD, they had officers come and talk to the protestors and enjoy the music side by side. ''It's gone from a wall of silence through riot masks and shields, weapons armed against us on the steps, to human beings,'' he said.
Sloan Fussell was one of the musicians performing.
''The level of peace, the level of emotions that everyone was able to portray, from screaming to laughing to crying to dancing, it was everything that you can imagine,'' he said. ''The answer is not to divide and conquer. The answer is to work together.''
Fussell said his group has been sampling black musicians' songs.
''We're a group of jazz musicians that play jazz standards and we turn them into hip hop samples live so that rappers can freestyle and musicians can jam over it,'' he explained.
George Floyd, whose death sparked these protests in Austin and across the country, was part of Houston's hip hop scene.
Salas and Coffee said they'll keep bringing musicians out to in front of the Capitol.
''We want to walk up to you, look you in the eye and speak to you as a human being because in the end, that's what we all are,'' Salas told KXAN.
VIDEO-Melania Trump's messaging frustrating the West Wing, source says - CNNPolitics
(CNN) First lady Melania Trump's messaging in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the resulting protests around the country has frustrated the West Wing, according to a White House official.
Out of sync with the "law and order" mantra President Donald Trump has supported, the first lady in a handful of tweets has noted peace and healing.
On Monday, at almost exactly the same time as the President was on a conference call with governors telling them from the West Wing they looked like "jerks" for being "weak" and unable to "dominate" and "put down" protests, the first lady was tweeting about the country's need for peace.
"Focus on taking care of one another & healing our great nation," she tweeted.
The first lady's office did not respond to CNN requests for comment.
"First Lady Melania Trump cares deeply for the American people and her messages of comfort, encouragement, healing, and peace are an important part of the President's commitment to stop the violence and restore security to our neighborhoods," Judd Deere, White House deputy press secretary, told CNN.
Though Melania Trump has done little to actively soothe racial pain and disparity in America, she does have the ability in one strategically timed tweet to contradict the directive from the West Wing.
Last week, as the country was waking after a night of protests, Twitter slapped a violation warning on a tweet from the President posted late the night before, labeling protesters as "THUGS," and included the charged phrase, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
Within hours, Trump had turned his ire to Twitter for rebuking him. But at 10 a.m. ET, Melania Trump appeared to align with the social media company, posting: "Our country allows for peaceful protests, but there is no reason for violence."
"As a nation, let's focus on peace, prayers & healing," she added.
That contradiction did not sit well in the West Wing, a White House official told CNN, who noted Trump's antithetical tweeting, "doesn't help. It frustrates the West Wing."
Part of the animus lies in the timing of her tweets, which are often lobbed after her husband has posted something controversial.
"There's a feeling of deliberateness to her timing that makes it seem even more disjointed," said one person familiar with the first lady's actions.
That juxtaposition has led the West Wing to keep the East Wing out of strategic conversations.
Earlier this week, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks were formulating the plan for the President to walk to St. John's Church and hold up a bible for a photo op. Melania Trump's name never came up, says someone with knowledge of the meetings.
"To be honest, I don't think it was even part of the discussion," a White House official told CNN.
The first lady's actions fall dramatically short of an array of potential options available to her to join the country's conversation about race; she hasn't had a thoughtful discussion with African American leaders, or a targeted public appearance to shore up support for a nation under duress, as many of her predecessors before her have done.
Instead Trump, like her husband, has so far only opted to tweet.
It is not the first time the first lady, or a member of her staff, has put out oppositional messaging within hours of something the President has said.
She has supported the work of LeBron James after Trump called his intellect into question, broke with the President on separating children from their parents at the United States border, calling it "unacceptable," and made a PSA about the importance of face masks after the President has refused to wear one in public.
The autonomy of Trump's East Wing strikes a notable difference from previous administrations, where the work and messaging of first ladies was often designed to dovetail with the directives of the West Wing. There is also tension over the chaotic nature of the President's unsupervised tweeting, which keeps staffers on a constant state of high-alert, and the disciplined timing of the first lady's posts, says the official, which are minimal, but can be radically different when compared side-by-side with those of Trump.
Often, there is zero discourse on news of the day between the two sides of the building and that is likely to continue, one White House official said.
"I won't comment on internal procedures but the West Wing and the East Wing are in regular communication," Deere told CNN.
Yet Melania Trump has never fallen out of public favor with the President, unlike so many of his aides and advisers, many of whom have seen their reputations trashed and their previous work come under question in the posting of angry tweets from the commander-in-chief.
VIDEO - WATCH LIVE: 'Race Matters: America in Crisis,' a PBS NewsHour Special | PBS NewsHour
Across the United States, frustration and outrage are pouring out onto the streets over police brutality and the death of George Floyd, as well as deep, systemic racial disparities in education, the criminal justice system, the economy and health care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
READ MORE: Two-thirds of black Americans don't trust the police to treat them equally. Most white Americans do.
On Friday, June 5, the PBS NewsHour will focus on these issues in a special called ''Race Matters: America in Crisis,'' when we'll turn to grassroots voices from around the country and host roundtable conversations of thought leaders, newsmakers and experts. The special will air on PBS stations nationwide at 9 p.m. ET.
MORE:What to read, listen to and watch to learn about institutional racism5 ways to approach racial equity at workThe critical role white parents play in shaping racism '-- and eradicating itWhat's behind racial disparities in American policing '-- and how to solve them
VIDEO - George Floyd: Reddit co-founder quits board and asks for black replacement - BBC News
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is married to tennis champion Serena Williams Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has resigned from the tech firm's board and urged the company to replace him with a black candidate.
The tech entrepreneur has also pledged to use future gains on his Reddit stock to "serve the black community."
In a series of tweets, he said he was doing it "as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?'"
It follows days of US protests against police brutality and racial inequality.
Mr Ohanian, who is married to black tennis champion Serena Williams, said he would be donating $1m (£800,000) to Know Your Rights Camp, a non-profit started by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
"I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now," he said in a video. "To everyone fighting to fix our broken nation: do not stop."
Mr Ohanian founded social media website Reddit 15 years ago with his college roommates Aaron Swartz and Steve Huffman.
He stepped down from daily duties in 2018 but has retained a seat on the company's board until now.
Reddit promoted its first female board member, Porter Gale, last year.
But the website has come under fire for hosting forums that promote racist content. The company has banned groups like r/blackpeoplehate and alt-right r/MillionDollarExtreme. It has also "quarantined" a pro-Trump forum, r/TheDonald, ensuring that its content does not appear in website searches or recommendations.
Earlier this week, several popular Reddit forums switched their access rights to private, or banned new posts entirely, to protest against the company's hate speech policies. Ex-chief executive Ellen K Pao also lambasted her former employer in a tweet, saying: "You don't get to say [Black Lives Matter] when reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long."
More on George Floyd's death
VIDEO-G_ozzy ð #IDoNotConsent #CommonLawCommeth on Twitter: "The most disgusting moment in Canadian history! @POTUS @realDonaldTrump @VP @DonaldJTrumpJr" / Twitter
3 others I'm sorry but this doesn't bother me. I'm not good with rioting, looting and murder, but I agree we need to do more to get rid of institutionalized racism. I hope you understand what I mean.
VIDEO-Neizan on Twitter: "Imagine being someone that actually knew and cared about George Floyd and seeing this in person https://t.co/lAyXZjmibR" / Twitter
@PMDawnStan Well guys, this got to that 1k like Mark, so instead of promoting some song that sounds like a bunch of wet farts, I'm going to repost this obligatory PSA
@PMDawnStan For the sake of my sanity I choose to believe George Floyd saved this man's life and is godfather to the child this man conceived with the wife Floyd introduced him to.
@BokoHarambe @PMDawnStan Yes but more importantly if it weren't for George saving him and the rest of his platoon that day none of those things would have ever been possible.ð
View conversation · Enter a topic, @name, or fullname
Settings Help Back to top ·
Turn images off
VIDEO-LA Officials Push To Cut Police Budget By Up To $150M After Riots | The Daily Wire
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on Wednesday that city officials are planning to cut the police department's budget by $100-$150 million.
Garcetti's announcement comes after violent riots have ravaged the city's businesses and residents. The mayor called in the National Guard to help curb the unrest that has overwhelmed the city's law enforcement.
The mayor said the cuts to the police department will be replicated across other departments as the city redirects roughly $250 million from its budget to invest in ''communities of color and women and people who have been left behind.'' The Los Angeles Police Department's total annual budget is $1.86 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The cuts will hit ''every department, including the Police Department because we all have to be part of this solution together. We all have to step up and say, 'What can we sacrifice?''' the mayor said.
Shortly after Garcetti's announcement, three Los Angeles City Council members introduced legislation to cut funding from the LAPD's 2020-21 budget.
Protesters began marching last week over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The protests have been overshadowed by violent rioters that have wrecked stores, attacked police, and stolen with impunity.
Garcetti has drifted some in his response to the riots. Soon after saying National Guard units would not be necessary, Garcetti called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to send in the National Guard on May 31 and imposed a city-wide curfew to stop the violence and restore order.
The increased police presence appears to have curbed much of the violence as officers arrested hundreds of people for violating curfew, stealing, or attacking officers and others, per the Los Angeles Times. At least 60 people are now facing charges.
On Monday, Garcetti and Los Angeles police chief Michel Moore gave a virtual press conference in which Moore said that looters were ''as much'' responsible for Floyd's death as the Minneapolis police officers who arrested him. The statement sparked strong blowback, and Garcetti apologized for Moore's statement later on Twitter.
''The responsibility for George Floyd's death rests solely with the police officers involved. Chief Moore regrets the words he chose this evening and has clarified them,'' Garcetti said.
The responsibility for George Floyd's death rests solely with the police officers involved. Chief Moore regrets the words he chose this evening and has clarified them.
'-- MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) June 2, 2020
The protests-turned-riots over Floyd's death, which began last week in Minneapolis, have spread to many of the largest cities in the United States such as San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City. Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, is now facing murder and manslaughter charges after holding his knee on Floyd's neck for roughly nine minutes while Floyd remained handcuffed on the ground.
Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd's arrest were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department after a video of the incident surfaced on social media. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is leading the prosecution against Floyd, announced charges of aiding and abetting in a murder against the other officers involved on Wednesday.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media's rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.
VIDEO-AG Barr, FBI Director Wray hold a press conference - YouTube
VIDEO-James Woods on Twitter: "George Soros (at Davos, January 2020) ruminates on the American economy that was soaring all through the Trump Presidency. He brags that if the economy is destabilized, it will destroy Trump. Here he is in his own words: htt
Log in Sign up James Woods @ RealJamesWoods George Soros (at Davos, January 2020) ruminates on the American economy that was soaring all through the Trump Presidency. He brags that if the economy is destabilized, it will destroy Trump. Here he is in his own words:
pic.twitter.com/O72pBGrDvp 10:56 AM - 4 Jun 2020 Twitter by: paperbacknovel.com @paperbacknovel ELM111 @ ELM13411111
3h Replying to
@RealJamesWoods @ElisabethPhili1 Here's another telling one:
@ELM13411111 @RealJamesWoods @ElisabethPhili1 That sounds like a bit of a threat on POTUS' life...or not. Can be taken that way or somehow he'll be out of office. Soros is the devil himself.
View conversation · ðºð¸ðºð¸ Jim ðºð¸ðºð¸ @ KeepUSA2020
@RealJamesWoods I wonder: who are waiting to stop him?
pic.twitter.com/oLeXBdT0YQ View conversation · Enter a topic, @name, or fullname
Settings Help Back to top ·
Turn images off
VIDEO-Philippe Leblanc on Twitter: "DERNIRE HEURE: le r(C)v(C)rend Al Sharpton nous dit que les Etats-Unis sont au point de rupture sur l'enjeu racial... et critique au passage le premier ministre Justin Trudeau pour son silence en r(C)ponse une quest
@phil_leblancSRC Did Al notice that former Presidents of the US also resisted going after Trump. Seeing and understanding the issue is more important. The Rev. is off base.
View conversation · B. Thomas Hall @ ThomasHall17
3h Replying to
@gill_godwin @phil_leblancSRC The Rev. also doesn't understand international politics. Nor do most of our Cdn critics, it seems. Trudeau did the right thing.
View conversation · Chris Tyrus Parlow @ Manitowan
4h Replying to
@phil_leblancSRC Perhaps one of the most telling 21 seconds of silence ever witnessed of a Canadian Prime Minister. P.s Today Duchess Of Sussex indicated in her personal view "The only wrong thing to say, is to say nothing."
@phil_leblancSRC @kick1972 Fi¨re du silence de Trudeau.C'est notre (C)conomie qui (C)tait en jeu.Je ne suis pas un Pro Trudeau, mais avant de parler il faut tourner sa langue 7 fois avec le
#DictatorTrump View conversation · Apropos of Nothing @ elisechenier
5h Replying to
@phil_leblancSRC This is not, I admit, the take I initially had on Trudeau's pause, but having looked more closely at the expression on his face while he paused, perhaps it is the right one. What do you think?
View conversation · Greg K @ GKeasily
5h Replying to
@phil_leblancSRC Hahahha love the shot at blackface Trudeauðð--¥
@GKeasily @phil_leblancSRC Sadly it showed Sharpton's lack of understanding.
View conversation · Sandra Nicholas @ SandraN43529005
3h Replying to
@phil_leblancSRC He needs to look at his own house before he criticizes mine
View conversation · Deborah McCaig @ damccaig
59m Replying to
@phil_leblancSRC Al Sharpton is a product of his environment in the same way PMT is a product of his. One believes leadership means tough words and false bravado. The other knows leadership requires thoughtfulness and respect, and that the best form of rebuke is silence.
