Posts on Thursday, April 30, 2020
Germany on Thursday completely banned Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement from carrying out activities on its soil, as police raided mosques and venues linked to the group. Like the European Union, Germany had until now only outlawed Hezbollah's military wing while tolerating its political wing. But in a shift immediately welcomed by the United States and Israel, the German interior ministry said it now considered the entire movement a "Shiite terrorist organisation". "Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation deemed responsible for numerous attacks and kidnappings worldwide," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told Germany's Bild daily. The interior minister "has banned the operation of the group" in Germany with immediate effect, his spokesman tweeted.
Like Mrs. Grundy making the entire class stay after school because of something Reggie and Veronica did, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom is shutting down the beaches, just as the entire population of California goes stir-crazy and the sunniest weekend of the year beckons.
According to CNN, which actually did a good report:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom intends to order the closure of all state beaches and parks starting Friday, according to a copy of a memo provided to CNN by a senior law enforcement official.
"We wanted to give all of our members a heads up about this in order to provide time
The Michigan House of Representatives declined to extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state of emergency another 28 days, and instead voted on Thursday to sue her.
Whitmer’s initial state of emergency order, which is separate from the stay-at-home order, expires on Thursday and requires legislative action to be lengthened.Negotiations on that front fell apart on Wednesday when Whitmer refused to make any concessions on the matter, asserting she has the ultimate control of emergencies.So the House voted to authorize Speaker Lee Chatfield to sue the governor, saying Whitmer’s “unchecked and undemocratic approach” is not the best way, ABC 12 reported.“The current status quo relies on one-size-fits-all edicts
Justice Samuel Alito this week ordered the Pennsylvania government to respond to arguments from a variety of Pennsylvanians asking the Supreme Court to halt enforcement of Gov. Tom Wolf's strict stay-at-home order, aimed at fighting the coronavirus, because they say it is unconstitutional.
The Pennsylvanians behind the suit [snip] are arguing that their rights under the First, Fifth and 14th Amendments have been violated through Wolf's order. [snip]
Alito, who handles emergency requests such as this one for the Third Circuit, which encompasses Pennsylvania, found those arguments convincing enough to order that Pennsylvania respond with a defense of Wolf's order by Monday.
Joe diGenova: Former FBI General
Counsel James Baker Has Flipped
and There’s a Mole Inside the FBI replies
Counsel James Baker Has Flipped
and There’s a Mole Inside the FBI replies
Washington attorney Joe diGenova, a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, spoke to radio show host Howie Carr on Wednesday. Though the interview took place before Thursday night’s stunning release of FBI documents pertaining to Gen. Michael Flynn, he reported some fascinating new information about the Durham investigation.
DiGenova told Carr there is now a mole inside the FBI “who is leaking to the press about the current conduct of FBI Director Christopher Wray and his general counsel, Dana Boente.
“What’s very clear is according to two stories, one in The Federalist and one in The Daily Caller, diGenova said, “is someone inside the FBI is now whistleblowing by leaking
Former Vice President Joe Biden will appear on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday morning, where for the first time he will address allegations from a former staffer named Tara Reade who says he sexually assaulted her in 1993."Morning Joe" booker Michael Del Moro said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee would be responding to the allegations during an appearance on the show.The appearance from his home studio in Wilmington, Del., would allow Biden to deal with the issue in what could be a more favorable setting
Additional 11-Pages of FBI Documents
Unsealed – Biggest Surprise: President
Obama Implicated… replies
Unsealed – Biggest Surprise: President
Obama Implicated… replies
This afternoon Judge Emmet Sullivan unsealed an additional 11-pages of documents showing more background information about how the FBI was targeting former National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn. [Court pdf Here] Also embedded below.
The release today is even more revealing than the handwritten notes released last night; and specifically President Obama’s “by the book” statement on January 5, 2017, takes on an entirely new light. They may not realize it yet, but this release implicates Obama.
There are common themes with these stories, particularly that Biden’s position as a senator or as the vice president made it difficult for these women to speak at the time of their experiences or even later. How many women have remained silent out of fear? Who can know? But, Biden has a lot to answer for that the media (and, quite frankly, his primary opponents) refused to make him answer when these women came forward a year ago. Let’s recall them and their stories.
After sidestepping ruling on gun rights,
Supreme Court win for gun control groups
could be temporary replies
Supreme Court win for gun control groups
could be temporary replies
When the Supreme Court on Monday tossed out a dispute over since-changed New York City rules restricting the transport of handguns, it avoided issuing a major decision on the scope of the Second Amendment, handing a victory to gun control groups that advocate for stricter rules on firearms. But gun control advocates caution that victory could be fleeting, as the high court is already poised to consider whether to take up other pending legal battles involving the scope of the Second Amendment. “It’s a win, but it’s a temporary one based on the appetite of at least the four justices who joined separate opinions to take up another (snip) case,”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh says it’s time for the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify its previous gun rights rulings — and a challenge to Massachusetts’ public-carry law could give them the chance to do that. On Friday, the justices will hold their regular conference — by phone — to consider adding cases to next term’s docket. Up for consideration: a challenge to the state’s law governing licenses to carry firearms outside the home. That law allows local authorities to make applicants demonstrate the need to carry a gun because they have “good reason to fear injury to the applicant or the applicant’s property.” That case, as well as a challenge to
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported violent criminal alien after he illegally crossed from Mexico into Texas. A Texas court previously convicted the Mexican national for attempted murder. He was deported after serving his sentence. Agents assigned to the Del Rio Border Patrol Station on April 24 encountered an illegal alien after he crossed the Rio Grande near the city of Del Rio, Texas. The agents arrested the man after he crossed the border and transported him to the Del Rio Station for identification and processing, according to information obtained from Border Patrol officials. (snip) All apprehended by Border Patrol agents undergo a biometric background investigation.
Stocks fell Thursday after the Labor Department’s latest print on new weekly jobless claims showed a greater than expected 3.8 million individuals filed for initial unemployment insurance last week. However, rallies earlier in the month pushed the S&P 500 to post its best monthly gain since 1987. The blue-chip index was up 12.68% for April. The Dow rose 11% for April, and the Nasdaq jumped 15.45%. Market participants took most of the recent major corporate earnings results in stride, even as the impacts of the coronavirus permeated commentary in the reports. Facebook and Microsoft each reported quarterly sales growth over last year, as the company’s products and services showed
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday said she would only lay off or furlough city workers as a “last, last, last resort,” but that she would do so before considering raising property taxes. Speaking at a news conference about reopening Chicago police detective areas, Lightfoot said she isn’t now considering following other cities in laying off workers or cutting back their hours or pay. “As somebody who worked in city government in days when there were mandatory furlough days and layoffs, that’s demoralizing to your workforce,” Lightfoot said.
Fifty-two out of 400,000 in-person voters and poll workers who participated in Wisconsin’s controversial primary have since tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and Wisconsin officials are not certain that those individuals — none of whom have died — contracted the virus at polling stations on Election Day.Wisconsin proceeded in holding its in-person election in early April, despite attempts from Gov. Tony Evers (D) to postpone the vote. The Republican legislature challenged his order, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court allowed the election to proceed as planned.
Dr. Jill Biden, sitting in on an Instagram livestream with her husband presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden, showed off her newly dyed purple strand of hair Thursday. Jill Biden told host Megan Rapinoe, captain of the 2019 Women’s World Cup champion U.S. United States women’s national soccer team and virulent Trump-hater, that she dyed her hair in solidarity with Rapinoe’s campaign for pay equity for women. Rapinoe is known for dying her hair purple and other colors. (Photo)
NEW YORK CITY -- A new subway cleaning plan was unveiled Thursday that involves a complete suspension of overnight service after Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered officials to figure out how to "disinfect every train every night." "When people get into the train in the morning, they have to know that train was disinfected the night before," Cuomo said. "So that I can say to essential workers that are killing themselves for our state, we are keeping the subways open for you, and when you get on the subway in the morning or the afternoon, know that car was disinfected the night
“Incompetent” and “immoral” are just two of the scathing adjectives unleashed by Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown as he attacked President Donald Trump and what he called the White House’s “mishandling” of the coronavirus crisis in a new interview with Yahoo Finance. “What President Trump has not done and has done badly will cost American lives,” Brown told Yahoo Finance’s On The Move on Tuesday, contending that Trump miscalculated the seriousness of the lethal virus and is responsible for ten of thousands of deaths.
FBI found no 'derogatory' Russia evidence on Flynn,
planned to close case before leaders intervened replies
planned to close case before leaders intervened replies
Evidence withheld for years from Michael Flynn's defense team shows the FBI found "no derogatory" Russia evidence against the former Trump National Security Adviser and that counterintelligence agents had recommended closing down the case with a defensive briefing before the bureau's leadership intervened in January 2017.
The recommendation to close the case came 16 days before President Trump took office with plans to have Flynn serve as his National Security Adviser, and after agents had found no incriminating evidence by sweeping counterintelligence files and talking to confidential human sources, the memos show.
Why did U.S. taxpayers spend $3.7 million to investigate bat coronaviruses in Asia?
It's one of the media's mysteries that has endured during the COVID-19 pandemic, spurring plenty of speculation and intrigue. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's chief infectious disease specialist, was the latest to fan the debate when he mentioned the grant during a White House briefing without offering many details.
Officials at the National Institutes of Health and Fauci's own division there, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), say there is far less to the story than meets the eye.
New unsealed documents in the Michael Flynn case show that FBI officials openly questioned whether their goal in interviewing the former Trump national-security adviser was “to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired.”
Dated January 24, 2017, the same day of the White House interview with Flynn that was conducted by FBI agents Peter Strzok and Joe Pientka, the handwritten notes apparently reveal that at least one agent believed the purpose of the interview was to entrap Flynn — or he believed that was the goal of his fellow agents and was trying to push back on them in the name of institutional integrity.
President Trump was interviewed on the coronavirus crisis by Reuters on Wednesday. But he also offered an interesting quick take on the Navy's official release this week of three videos showing U.S. Naval Aviators intercepting UFOs in 2004 and 2015.“I just wonder if it’s real, that’s a hell of a video," Trump said.That might seem like a lighthearted comment designed to shut down further conversation. And it is. But Trump's particular choice of words should pique our curiosity for other reasons.First, he is reinforcing the fact that the U.S. military and intelligence communities cannot explain what these objects are.
Pelosi Says She is 'Satisfied' With Biden's
Response to the Sexual Assault Allegation
Against Him replies
Response to the Sexual Assault Allegation
Against Him replies
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday told CNN she's "satisfied" with how former Vice President Joe Biden has responded to the allegation made by a former staffer, who says Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993.“I am satisfied with how he has responded. I know him. I was proud to endorse him on Monday. Very proud to endorse him. And, so, I am satisfied with that,” said Pelosi.However, Biden himself has not responded personally, nor has he been asked about the allegation in any of the recent podcasts he has done from the basement of his Delaware home.Biden's campaign has denied Tara Reade's allegation,
Introducing his new video detailing Project Veritas’ investigation into fraud, waste, abuse and corruption in COVID, starting with interviewing funeral directors in New York skeptical about the number of cases attributed to COVID-19, James O’Keefe states, “We know there are many unanswered questions during the pandemic. We’ve been out in the street, talking to some folks who are on the frontlines, talking to the unsung heroes of the people of New York City … And we’ve talked to these unsung heroes and we’ve learned some troubling things. Some things that should disturb us.”Here are some of the comments O’Keefe and his team elicited from various funeral directors:
New Jersey professor responds to
backlash after ‘F--- each and every
Trump supporter’ comment replies
backlash after ‘F--- each and every
Trump supporter’ comment replies
A professor at a New Jersey university doubled down Thursday, saying she's tenured, after blaming President Trump and his supporters for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, claiming it’s their fault African-Americans have been dying at a disproportionate rate.
“F--- each and every Trump supporter. You absolutely did this. You are to blame,” were among the comments – several of them containing profanity – posted on Twitter this week by Brittney Cooper, an associate professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Rutgers University.
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been holding Congress’ feet to the fire for a lack of depth in economic relief bills that should protect working people. Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly brought attention to the fact that many people will not be able to make their rent or mortgage payments at the end of April, especially with more than 30.3 million people currently filing for unemployment benefits as a result of losing work due to the global pandemic. (Snip) The proposed bill, called the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act, will include full forgiveness of missed payments with no impact on renters’
Devastating clip of cocky Comey admitting
he broke protocol to set-up Flynn interview
reemerges replies
he broke protocol to set-up Flynn interview
reemerges replies
In a sit-down interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace hosted at the 92nd Street Y community center in Manhattan two years ago, disgraced former FBI Director James Comey made a bombshell admission that’s taken on new meaning amid just-released evidence showing that the bureau had set up Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Asked by Wallace to explain how two FBI agents were allowed to waltz into the White House and casually interview Flynn during the first few days of the Trump administration back in early 2017, Comey admitted it was because of him. [Video]
House Oversight Committee ranking member and Freedom Caucus founder Jim Jordan appeared on Fox News early Thursday morning to respond to the bombshells surrounding the FBI’s malicious case against Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Over the course of about 10 minutes, he offered some key observations about the revelations and, more importantly, how they fit into a wider pattern of abuse seen at the FBI during disgraced former Director James Comey’s tenure in office.
“The FBI in 2016 spies on two American citizens associated with the Trump campaign,” he said as he began to outline the abuses of power witnessed over the past four years.
Tucker Carlson asks why Obama was out
golfing while wife Michelle lectures Americans
about lockdowns replies
golfing while wife Michelle lectures Americans
about lockdowns replies
Former President Barack Obama has apparently concluded that playing golf is an essential activity during the coronavirus pandemic that has most the country quarantined.
Last Saturday, according to Politico, he was spotted on the links at the Robert Trent Jones Country Club in Virginia, which is located approximately 40 minutes from his residence in an upscale Washington, D.C., neighborhood.
This outing occurred despite the fact that both D.C. and Virginia are under a strict lockdown and have been for about a month.
Tucker Carlson the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight on the Fox News Channel, pointed out the hypocrisy of the situation,
This $12 million yacht looks like a spaceship and can cross the Atlantic twice on a single tank
replies
Some people can't simply settle for a regular, run-of-the-mill superyacht like all the other millionaires and billionaires — they need something a bit flashier to set them apart from the crowd.
When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union dissolved, the Western world thought, with considerable justification, that the generational struggle with communism had ended. But in our exultation, we forgot to finish the job. Communism lived on in mainland China and is once again challenging the free world for dominance. This time, they’re doing it with our money. As we have begun to realize these past few years, and as the coronavirus outbreak has made even clearer, China has used our free markets and open-mindedness against us, running an economy based on the bizarre fusion of communism and mercantilism while cracking down ever more on
The US Navy hospital ship sent to the Big Apple to assist during the coronavirus pandemic will be saluted Thursday by New York’s Bravest and Finest as it leaves town.
The USNS Comfort, which has treated 182 people since it docked off Manhattan’s Pier 90 on March 30, will be honored by an array of NYPD and FDNY vehicles and boats as it departs for its homeport in Virginia at about noon, sources told NBC New York.The 1,000-bed vessel, which discharged its last patient on Sunday, will return to Norfolk to be restocked and prepped for another possible assignment, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told the station.The ship’s departure is a
A city in Sweden is set to dump a ton of chicken manure in a central park to discourage crowds from gathering for an annual festival amid the coronavirus pandemic.The move is an attempt to deter as many as 30,000 residents in Lund, a university town east of Copenhagen, from gathering in the park for traditional celebrations to mark Walpurgis Night on Thursday, The Guardian reported. The festival features parties and bonfires scattered across Europe.“Lund could very well become an epicentre for the spread of the coronavirus on the last night in April, [so] I think it was a good initiative,”
Rite Aid has set up 25 drive-thru coronavirus testing sites at its stores in eight states, but CEO Donigan Heyward said Thursday that the sites are not hitting their "full volume."
"We wish that we had more people coming," Heyward told "Mornings with Maria." "We're still not seeing the full volume of people making appointments to get these tests." Rite Aid, along with chains including Walgreens, CVSHealth and Walmart, is helping in the fight against the novel coronavirus by opening drive-thru testing sites at hot spots across the U.S.
Rite Aid is able to test 400 people a day. Results return in two to five days, Heyward said.
Roger Stone to appeal prison sentence, judge's denial of new trial
© Greg Nash
Roger Stone's lawyers told a court on Thursday that they intend to appeal the right-wing political operative's 40-month prison sentence and a judge's decision to deny him a new trial.
Stone was convicted in November following a jury trial on charges of lying to Congress and witness tampering in a case that stemmed from his efforts to serve as a backchannel between President Trump's 2016 campaign and WikiLeaks.
After the verdict was pronounced, his lawyers alleged that one of the jurors was biased against Stone because of political beliefs she had voiced on social media.
An illegal alien has been charged in Polk County, Florida, for possessing more than 200 video files depicting child pornography, some involving toddler victims.
Nabor Molina, a 45-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested on April 27 by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on 125 counts of possessing child pornography, including depictions of child rape and sexual battery.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described the files allegedly in Molina’s possession as “horrific displays of children being forced to expose their genitals, forced to perform sex acts — images of children being raped.”
“Nabor Molina has access to children; at this time in the investigation, it doesn’t appear that any of them are victims,
The U.S. stock market is a day away from having its best month since 1974.
The optimism helped the S&P 500 jump 2.66 percent higher, and it extended a rally that’s brought the U.S. stock market to the brink of its best month in 45 years. The S&P 500 has surged more than 15 percent in April, putting it within one day of its best month since its 16.3 percent gain in October 1974.
Over the past 12 months, the S&P is down 2.6 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.2 percent. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 3.57 percent. The small-cap Russell 2000 soared 4.83 percent.
Bill Clinton rape accuser Juanita Broaddrick slammed Hillary Clinton for endorsing Joe Biden for president at precisely the time the presumptive Democrat nominee finds himself mired in a sexual assault allegation.
“Who better to support Joe Biden than someone with not only years, but decades of experience in enabling a serial sexual predator?” asked Broaddrick sarcastically.
“Hillary has no morals,” Broaddrick told Breitbart News. “She does everything for money and power. Her standard of behavior depends entirely on ‘What’s in it for me?’”
Clinton yesterday endorsed Biden as the two ironically appeared in a virtual townhall focused on women’s issues and titled a “Virtual Women’s Town Hall.”
Dozens of dead bodies were found stored in unrefrigerated U-Haul trucks outside a Brooklyn funeral home Wednesday, according to two senior law enforcement officials. Around 50 bodies were discovered inside as many as four different storage vehicles over the past few days, the law enforcement officials said. The Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home, located on Utica Avenue in the Flatlands neighborhood, was using ice inside the trucks in an effort to maintain the bodies. A neighboring business reported seeing liquid leaking out from the back of the trucks — presumably water from all the melting ice — and called 311, according to
If you want a preview of Democrats’ agenda should they gain more political power this fall, look no further than coronavirus legislation that Nancy Pelosi released last month. That bill includes an array of liberal spending provisions out of sync with the American people’s priorities — including taxpayer funding of plans that cover abortion.
One costly provision in Democrats’ 1,404-page monstrosity would significantly expand the Obamacare insurance subsidy system. These provisions, which Pelosi wants to enact under the guise of the coronavirus emergency, would raise federal spending on these insurance subsidies in perpetuity — without attempting to pay for this new spending.
Elon Musk says orders to stay home are ‘fascist’
in expletive-laced rant during Tesla earnings call replies
in expletive-laced rant during Tesla earnings call replies
Tesla CEO Elon Musk lashed out at government stay at home orders as “fascist” in an expletive-laced rant on Tesla’s Q1 2020 earnings call. While answering analysts’ questions about liquidity amid the coronavirus pandemic, Musk called shelter-in-place orders “forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights.” Musk said he was concerned about not being able to resume operations at the company’s factory in Fremont, California, saying that possibility should be considered “a serious risk” given Tesla produces most of its cars there in addition to its Shanghai-based plant. Tesla had initially said the factory would remain open
2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden’s accuser Tara Reade is demanding transparency from the man she has accused of sexually assaulting her in 1993. Reade called on the former vice president to release documents pertaining to his time in the Senate, during which period she alleges that Biden kissed her, touched her and penetrated her with his fingers without her consent, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Joe Biden, I want you to release all the personnel records from 1973 to 2009 and be transparent about your office practices,” Reade told the DCNF. “I would like to hold you accountable for
Biden Should Release His Papers
replies
Tara Reade’s allegation against Joe Biden is not going away. Reade, who worked on his Senate staff in the 1990s, accuses Biden of sexually assaulting her in a hallway. Last week, The Intercept discovered a 1993 call to the talk-show host Larry King from a woman who Reade says was her now-deceased mother. The call, which refers to “problems” that the woman’s daughter had while “working for a prominent senator,” does not prove that Reade is telling the truth. But it does buttress her claim that she told her mother about an assault at the time. Then, yesterday, Business Insider interviewed a former neighbor who said,
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently stated that “a crisis tends to strip away façades and reveal who we are and what we believe.
“At best, we become stronger as communities and a nation; at worst, we slip into fear and oppression.”
The new information concerning coronavirus is revealing more and more about what we already know to be characteristic of those who love freedom and those who love power.
As the number of cases of COVID-19 in the United States begins to flatten and decline, several states are preparing to reopen their economies. It is no longer a partisan issue, as states with Democratic governors —
Did I Already Have COVID-19?
replies
It is an increasingly common statement, in comments sections, in social media posts and from callers on talk radio programs, “I think I had COVID-19 back in [name your month].” This is an important phenomenon for public policy. If they believed the experts, if they trusted what their governments had told them, then would people make that statement? Governments around the world saw COVID-19 start in early March and shuttered their economies, claiming it necessary to stop its spread. To ponder if one had COVID-19 before March is to doubt that narrative, and that pondering is amplified by those who tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
A New York Times spokesperson said Wednesday that former Vice President Joe Biden’s White House campaign twisted their reporting on Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations and claimed an exoneration that the paper never suggested.
In a statement to BuzzFeed, who first reported on the talking points, the Times said the Biden campaign’s characterization of its reporting was “inaccurate.” The talking points claim the paper ruled that Reade’s story “did not happen,” which the statement rebuts: “Our investigation made no conclusion either way,” it states. [Tweet]
BuzzFeed reported Wednesday while Biden has yet to publicly address Reade’s allegation, his campaign has urged surrogates to push back on reports
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Wednesday suggested that “far too many” of the individuals who are desperately urging officials to reopen the economy so they can resume earning a living and recover from economic hardship are not actually “workers.”
“Far too many of the people who want to prematurely reopen the economy aren’t workers, but the powerful and wealthy — those who benefit most from exploiting workers’ labor,” Omar proclaimed.
“The wealthy have a history of putting luxury over workers’ livelihoods, and this crisis is no different,” she added: [Tweet]
Omar’s assertion comes as citizens across the country gather to protest lockdown orders in their respective states,
C-SPAN is publishing inaccurate transcripts of President Donald Trump’s remarks during the vitally important national coronavirus task force daily briefings.
Yes, really.
So Trump is being falsely attacked for what Trump never said (again). The worst of it, lately, is Trump asking questions to scientists. Those questions have been transformed into statements that Trump never made. But as I endeavored to clear up the fog, I was shocked to discover that C-SPAN’s textual transcript are the source of the confusion. The quotes that Trump haters are throwing around happen to be accurate reports of the inaccurate C-SPAN transcript.
Buried in a story about the overly generous unemployment “bonus” that Democrats added to the CARES Act is the reason why they insisted on it in the first place — and why it will drag down the recovery once the lockdown ends.
While lawmakers were hammering out the massive $2 trillion bill, a key focus of which was to keep workers connected to their jobs through a loan guarantee program — Democrats insisted on a huge increase in unemployment benefits.
The result was a $600 a week bonus. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer was right to call this “unemployment on steroids.”
Well,
Like most Americans, a Florida grandmother has been unable to get her hair done since the pandemic began spreading across the US — but unlike most Americans, she has a doting grandson around to do her hair for her. TikTok user Matthew Stewart from Destin, Florida said his 87-year-old grandmother 'needed her hair done' recently — so, he said, 'I'd give it my best shot.' He went on to wash, blow-dry, and style her locks, leaving Grandma Bobbe with a perfectly-coiffed 'do.(Video/Photos) Matthew's no stylist, but he certainly did his best to keep Grandma Bobbe — or GB, as he calls her — looking and feeling good.
The news is suddenly awash in reports that, on May 6, Netflix and the Barack and Michelle Obama production company will premiere a documentary about the book tour Michelle Obama did in connection with her memoir. Both the memoir and the documentary are entitled Becoming. What’s interesting is that this premiere is a surprise:
Michelle Obama 'Becoming' documentary is a surprise new Netflix release
[snip]
"Those months I spent traveling — meeting and connecting with people in cities across the globe — drove home the idea that what we have in common is deep and real and can't be messed with," she wrote in Monday's press release announcing the documentary.
New revelations about the possible motives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in meeting with then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in January 2017 raise questions about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s role.Documents unsealed Wednesday, including notes and emails, indicate that FBI agents were not focused on the investigation of Russian “collusion” when they met with Flynn at the White House early in President Donald Trump’s term.Rather, they were determined to extract an admission, or a lie, that would see Flynn prosecuted or fired.In one note, an FBI agent wrote: “What’s our goal?
California will reportedly close all beaches and state parks beginning Friday after swells of beachgoers fled to the shore last weekend in defiance of social distancing rules.The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, will formally announce the decision Thursday, according to a memo outlining the move obtained by FOX 11.“After well-publicized media coverage of overcrowded beaches this past weekend, in violation of Governor Newson’s shelter in place order, the governor will be announcing tomorrow that beaches and all state parks in California will be closed, effective Friday, May 1,”
Willie Nelson may be the most important figure in country music history; if he’s not, only Hank Williams matters more. Willie’s also one of the most important musical artists in American history, a first-name-only giant like Elvis and Ella. The contours of the career that brought him to those heights are familiar. There was the huge, early-sixties success writing songs like “Crazy” and “Hello Walls” for big country stars, then the failed attempt to become one himself over the rest of the decade, his talents an ill fit for a stiff Nashville mold.
Justin Amash: a study in vanity
replies
Every Democrat’s favorite ex-Republican has just announced he’s going to seek the Libertarian Party nomination for president. If he gets it, Justin Amash will be the third ex-Republican in a row to be the LP’s standard bearer, tracing the footsteps of former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr (2008) and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (2012 and 2016). Neither of those two had an appreciable impact on the Obama-McCain, Obama-Romney, or Clinton-Trump contests, and the odds are not good that Amash will be any more significant.
So why is he running? The immediate explanation is probably that he concluded he couldn’t win his race for re-election to Congress.
Failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is what the kids these days call "thirsty AF." For weeks, Abrams has been all but begging former vice president Joe Biden to pick her as a running mate.
Abrams's thirst for power appears to know no bounds. According to a Politico report published Tuesday, the former Georgia lawmaker has been waging an aggressive behind-the-scenes lobbying effort in addition to her public self-promotion campaign.
Abrams, who has repeatedly declared herself the winner of Georgia's 2018 gubernatorial election despite receiving fewer votes than her Republican opponent, has been "privately calling Democratic powerbrokers, asking them to tell Biden campaign officials that she should be vice president."
De Blasio the Denier
replies
In the middle of March, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was among those not entirely sold on social distancing as a prophylactic measure against the coronavirus epidemic. “If you love your neighborhood bar, go there now,” he famously said. A few days later, he was threatening to padlock the city’s synagogues — permanently — if social-distancing protocols went unheeded.
We sympathize with those New Yorkers driven to drink or inspired to prayer by Mayor de Blasio’s incompetence, vanity, and stupidity, which have been highlighted by but are by no means limited to his response to COVID-19. For the time being, they must suffer
The publication of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton’s tell-all book has been pushed back again to at least late June, according to a notice from Amazon.com, amid an extensive prepublication review by the National Security Council.
Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” is now scheduled to be published on June 23, more than three months after it was originally supposed to be released. This is the second delay for the much-anticipated book; after the March 17 publication date slipped, it got pushed back to May 12.
A spokesperson for Bolton declined to comment, while a spokesperson for the National Security Council, whose records management division
For more than three weeks, progressive activists and women’s rights advocates debated how to handle an allegation of sexual assault against Joseph R. Biden Jr. The conversations weren’t easy, nor were the politics: Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, faced one allegation; his opponent, President Trump, at least a dozen.
Finally, several of the women’s groups prepared a public letter that praised Mr. Biden’s work as an “outspoken champion for survivors of sexual violence” but also pushed him to address the allegation from Tara Reade, a former aide who worked in Mr. Biden’s Senate office in the early 1990s.
“Vice President Biden has the opportunity, right now,
Unsealed internal FBI documents reveal that top FBI officials conspired to set up General Michael Flynn to “get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired.” The fact that these documents only turned up now is just one part of the DOJ’s and FBI’s Russia hoax, an ongoing effort to stage a coup against the Trump administration. The DOJ’s and FBI’s malicious prosecution against Flynn consisted of withholding exculpatory information (including the material discussed here), threatening without cause to prosecute Flynn’s son to force Flynn to plead guilty, and blackmailing Flynn’s attorneys into working against him.
The most pressing problem facing people today is how and when states and local areas reopen after the coronavirus lockdowns. President Trump, stressing the terrible economic damage the lockdowns have done, has (mostly) pressed for reopening sooner rather than later. He has released detailed guidelines for state officials to consult when deciding when to reopen.
Where does Joe Biden stand on all this? Even though he is the presumptive presidential nominee of his party, even though reopening is the most urgent issue of the time, even though he claims far greater competence and leadership ability than the current president, and even though he has said quite a lot
Mayor de Blasio of New York City recently tweeted what has become a controversial tweet. After hearing of a large gathering of Chasidic Jews in Brooklyn attending a funeral for a well known neighborhood rabbi, de Blasio tweeted: "My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups." (snip) I would wager my last subway token that he would never publicly tweet against the Muslim, Hispanic, or black community in the general terms he did just now
It is always great when the media reports news that isn’t really news. Reports are surfacing today that some awful Republican governors are telling citizens if they are recalled to work and refuse to go, they will be ineligible for unemployment. This is not startling and will most likely be the case in blue states as well. Of course, you won’t hear about that.
Unemployment is a system for people who are able to work but either out of work for reasons beyond their control or going through a period of reduced work because of reduced business operations. The entire goal of the Paycheck Protection Program was to keep employees
The Chicom News Network
replies
Bill Weir hates Jesus, America, and the internal combustion engine — not necessarily in that order. His job as Chief Climate Correspondent at CNN gives Weir ample opportunity to express his hatred of America’s petroleum-consuming habits, but it was not until recently that Weir explained how he blames Christianity for the world’s problems.
In a bizarre online essay entitled “To my son, born in the time of coronavirus and climate change,” Weir implies that the pandemic is somehow related to global warming, connected by “stories in a very old book” (i.e., the Bible) to explain why “we burned gasoline for no good reason.” Does that make sense?
It’s the mantra of the World Health Organization and globalists everywhere: The coronavirus does not respect borders.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu keeps telling us so: “This virus does not respect borders.”
G-20 leaders last month pledged to act as a “united front” against the virus that “respects no borders.”
Chinese officials agreed the virus “does not respect borders or discriminate between races.”
“Coronavirus offers an excuse to close borders,” declared the left-wing Guardian newspaper this week. “That would be a mistake.”
The former vice president and probable Democratic presidential nominee has yet to speak publicly about the allegation Ms. Reade has lodged against him: that when she was a member of his Senate staff in the 1990s, Mr. Biden pushed her against a wall and put his fingers up her skirt and then inside her. Mr. Biden’s campaign says “this never happened.” Contemporaneous accounts of Ms. Reade’s claim are counterweighted by the denials of her superiors at the time that she reported any misconduct, as well as inconsistencies in her retelling.
There are, at the moment, no clear conclusions. There may never be. But that is no excuse for not searching.
New Jersey professor assigns blame
for coronavirus outbreak: ‘F---
each and every Trump supporter’ replies
for coronavirus outbreak: ‘F---
each and every Trump supporter’ replies
A professor at a New Jersey university is blaming President Trump and his supporters for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, claiming it’s their fault African-Americans have been dying at a disproportionate rate.
“F--- each and every Trump supporter. You absolutely did this. You are to blame,” was among the comments – several of them containing profanity -- posted on Twitter this week by Brittney Cooper, an associate professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Rutgers University.
In another post, Cooper wrote that she and other African-Americans suspect that recent efforts to reopen the country following stay-at-home orders were “all about a gross necropolitical calculation
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will be closing all beaches and state parks across the state starting Friday to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, according to a memo sent to California police chiefs Wednesday.
The decision comes less than a week after Newsom called out the massive crowds that flocked to Newport Beach in Orange County last weekend during a heatwave.
Newsom called the beach crowds an example of "what not to do" for the state to make progress toward easing restrictions in the statewide stay-at-home order.
Wait, this title is misleading in that it could be read that either “reporters” or “liberals” suck, and the fact is that both suck. But reporters don’t have to suck. Liberals always do, because their trash ideology is terrible and yet they adhere to it. Reporters could be no-holds-barred truthtellers who could not care less, whose agenda they skewer or narrative they shatter in pursuit of the truth. That’s at least theoretically possible, even though most of them merely aspire to be skeevy prog transcriptionists typing out ham-handed propaganda to please their pinko masters.
But if our reporters were not human cesspools, what would they be doing right now?
Four environmental groups sued the state of California in state court Wednesday, claiming the complex series of dams, channels, aqueducts and pumps responsible for transferring water from Northern California to the south state are killing fish. “It’s time for the state to be honest about the damage being done to the delta ecosystem and our native fish by the unsustainable water diversions of the State Water Project,” said Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. The center joined the Sierra Club, Restore the Delta and the Planning and Conservation League as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco County Superior Court
WASHINGTON — Another ugly partisan fight may be brewing on Capitol Hill, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speculating that President Trump would block a new oversight committee on the government’s coronavirus response.
In an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, the New York Democrat accused conservatives of abandoning their principles and said he feared Trump would stop members of his coronavirus task force from testifying before Congress.
Schumer also accused several Supreme Court justices of being “so ideological” that they “don’t look at facts” and speculated they could also block witnesses from coming forward.
“So many of the conservatives have abandoned that principle and just got along with Donald Trump,
Never-Trumper Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) believes President Trump will likely win reelection in November. The Utah senator said the president, unlike Joe Biden, has a clear vision for the country and said it's very difficult to take out an incumbent president, something Romney knows all too well.
"I think it is likely that the incumbent will win," Romney said. "Why do I say that? Well, it's been 28 years since an incumbent lost in his bid for reelection. There's great power to incumbency. You basically set the national agenda. You get TV time when your opponent can't. Particularly in a crisis, you get a lot of TV time."
Jerry Nadler: Thousands More People Will Die
If Trump Reopens the Economy to Help Win
Re-election replies
If Trump Reopens the Economy to Help Win
Re-election replies
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told MNSBC's Katy Tur on Wednesday that President Trump's attempts to reopen the country too early amid the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic will result in thousands of people being killed from the virus. Rep. Nadler accused the president of rushing the reopening process to boost his chances of winning re-election.
"In terms of reopening, we have to be very, very careful. I know that the people are eager to reopen businesses. There are several things to consider. Number one, people are not going to come back to restaurants so fast when they’re worried about their own health. So that’s a little premature.
The Most Tragic Case of Governmental, Medical,
and Media Malpractice In the History of the
World replies
and Media Malpractice In the History of the
World replies
Just over two months ago, I spoke with an infectious disease doctor who not only believed that millions of Americans had already been exposed to COVID-19, but that the lockdowns were counterproductive and we needed to let herd Immunity take hold in our nation.
Two months ago.
With each passing day, we are told that multiple more Americans were in-fact exposed to the virus than the “experts” suspected. Or more to the point…guessed.
I will keep asking this question until the groupthink-thought-police come to arrest me: “When has it ever been sound medical or governmental practice to sacrifice – and destroy –