11:04 AM 9/6/2020 - Ex-FBI agent: Attacks from Trump outrageous and cruel
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| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Drive-in theater in Bidens birthplace gives customers an old-school break from coronavirus restrictions | |||||||||||
Drive-in movie theaters across the country have gained traction once more amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Drive-in theater in Biden's birthplace gives customers an old-school break from coronavirus restrictions first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.  | |||||||||||
| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Justice Department charges 2 with plotting to support Hamas, shoot cops in Minnesota | |||||||||||
Two men who are members of a far-right group were arrested on terror charges Thursday.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Justice Department charges 2 with plotting to support Hamas, shoot cops in Minnesota first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.  | |||||||||||
| Counterintelligence from Michael_Novakhov (51 sites): counterintelligence Google News: Ex-FBI agent: Attacks from Trump outrageous and cruel wpde.com | |||||||||||
Ex-FBI agent: Attacks from Trump ‘outrageous’ and ‘cruel’ wpde.com
The post Counterintelligence from Michael_Novakhov (51 sites): "counterintelligence" - Google News: Ex-FBI agent: Attacks from Trump 'outrageous' and 'cruel' - wpde.com first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org. | |||||||||||
| 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): Stars and Stripes: Hunger is threatening to kill more people than COVID this year | |||||||||||
The pandemic is upending food supply chains, crippling economies and eroding consumer purchasing power. Some projections show that by the end of the year, COVID-19 will cause more people to die each day from hunger than from virus infections.
The post 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): Stars and Stripes: Hunger is threatening to kill more people than COVID this year first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org. | |||||||||||
| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: California firefighters battle wildfire; Oak Glen ordered evacuated | |||||||||||
A small Southern California town was under an evacuation order Saturday as firefighters battled a rapidly spreading wildfire.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: California firefighters battle wildfire; Oak Glen ordered evacuated first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.  | |||||||||||
| News and Times from Michael_Novakhov (15 sites): Saved Stories None: 4:47 PM 9/5/2020 Saved and Shared Stories | |||||||||||
 4:47 PM 9/5/2020 Saved and Shared Stories in 25 Posts on RSS Dog | New Page _______________________________________
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| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Grand jury empaneled in Daniel Prude investigation | |||||||||||
New York Attorney General Letitia James will empanel a grand jury in her investigation into the death Daniel Prude in Rochester, she announced Saturday.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Grand jury empaneled in Daniel Prude investigation first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.  | |||||||||||
| 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): Eurasia Review: Common Cold Combats Influenza | |||||||||||
 As the flu season approaches, a strained public health system may have a surprising ally — the common cold virus. Rhinovirus, the most frequent cause of common colds, can prevent the flu virus from infecting airways by jumpstarting the body’s antiviral defenses, Yale researchers report in the journal The Lancet Microbe. The findings help answer a mystery surrounding the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic: An expected surge in swine flu cases never materialized in Europe during the fall, a period when the common cold becomes widespread. A Yale team led by Dr. Ellen Foxman studied three years of clinical data from more than 13,000 patients seen at Yale New Haven Hospital with symptoms of respiratory infection. The researchers found that even during months when both viruses were active, if the common cold virus was present, the flu virus was not. “When we looked at the data, it became clear that very few people had both viruses at the same time,” said Foxman, assistant professor of laboratory medicine and immunobiology and senior author of the study. Foxman stressed that scientists do not know whether the annual seasonal spread of the common cold virus will have a similar impact on infection rates of those exposed to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. “It is impossible to predict how two viruses will interact without doing the research,” she said. To test how the rhinovirus and the influenza virus interact, Foxman’s lab created human airway tissue from stem cells that give rise to epithelial cells, which line the airways of the lung and are a chief target of respiratory viruses. They found that after the tissue had been exposed to rhinovirus, the influenza virus was unable to infect the tissue. “The antiviral defenses were already turned on before the flu virus arrived,” she said. The presence of rhinovirus triggered production of the antiviral agent interferon, which is part of the early immune system response to invasion of pathogens, Foxman said. “The effect lasted for at least five days,” she said. Foxman said her lab has begun to study whether introduction of the cold virus before infection by the COVID-19 virus offers a similar type of protection. The article Common Cold Combats Influenza appeared first on Eurasia Review. | |||||||||||
| 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): Eurasia Review: The Slow Death Of Gaza OpEd | |||||||||||
 On August 31, 2020, Hamas announced that it had reached a ceasefire with Israel that would end the recent hostilities in Gaza. Since 6 August, the besieged Palestinian enclave was being bombed daily by the Israeli forces. In order to bomb Gaza, the terror balloon narrative has been used by the Zionist state. These so-called terror balloons are contraptions made from everyday materials, gas-soaked rags, home-made explosives and are used by Gazans as symbols of resistance against Israel. While Israel has dubbed the launching of balloons as arson attacks, they are merely indicators of the existential oppression suffered by Palestinians. Till date, no one has ever been killed or injured by these incendiary balloons. Nevertheless, at the end of a meeting held on 9 August, 2020, commanders of Israels security services had concluded that the continued launching of balloons will lead to a violent response even if this leads to a comprehensive escalation. True to the statement, Israels response to symbolic acts of resistance has been particularly violent: On 13 August, 2020, an Israeli war drone launched a missile at Al Shate Elementary School for Boys in the West of Gaza, run by the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); On 15 August, 2020, – the fifth night of Israeli bombings on Gaza- four Palestinian children were wounded. Defense Minister Benny Gantz has termed this destruction of civilian life as a change in the equation of response where he took the balloon issue seriously. Reflecting on the sheer absurdity of Israels policy of disproportionate response, Ahmed Abu Artema, a writer living in Gaza and a researcher at the Center for Political and Development Studies, says: Israel has tried to portray these balloons as akin to a military threat. By doing so, it has tried to devise new rules. Under those rules, Israel thinks it may respond to crude balloons with missiles launched from F-16 warplanes. The near-nightly reprisal raids conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Gaza have gone unreported by the Western Media which is fixated on the Israel-UAE peace agreement. In this respect, a poem written by the Tunisian English teacher Olfa Drid serves as a painful reminder to our present-day world where every effort are made to erase the Palestinian struggle from the socio-political imaginary: shelling shelling shelling barren land, fruitless trees, wingless birds, eclipsed sun, miniscule corpses, entombed hopes, decapitated present, castrated future death ghost death’s specter & global silence In addition to a 4-week long bombing, Israel barred the entry of construction materials to Gaza on 11 August; closed the regions offshore fishing zone on 16 August; limited entry of goods to food and medicine only on 23 August ; and lastly, it banned fuel shipments to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing on 13 August, leading to the closure of the only electricity plant in the region five days later. With the closing of the power station, electricity supply was limited to three of four hours per day, causing serious disruptions of basic services. This disruption has proved to be fatal for some. On 1 September, 2020, 3 Gazan children passed away as a fire broke out because of a candle lit in their room. They were deprived of electricity due to the power outage and were forced to use candles. Sami al-Amassi, president of the General Federation of the Palestinian Trade Union, said that fuel shortage in Gaza had the potential to destroy 90% of the local factories, which would lead to the unemployment of nearly 50,000 Palestinian workers. 500 factories would have shrunk to 20% of their production capacity if the ban on the entry of fuel was prolonged any longer. In addition to economic devastation, the power outage crisis had the capacity to jeopardize the lives of 120 newborns who needed neonatal care to survive. Now, under the ceasefire agreement, Israel has opened its border with Gaza to allow for fuel shipments. The re-entering of fuel supplies has improved Gazas electricity supply from four to eight hours. Israel will also remove its maritime blockade and allow Palestinian fishermen to fish in the waters up to 25 kilometers off the Gaza coast. As part of the agreement, Qatar whose envoy to Gaza al-Emadi helped to broker the ceasefire will increase its monthly aid by $30 million. On its part, Hamas has to prevent the launching of incendiary of balloons and suspend its operations at the Israel-Gaza border. The Brutal BlockadeWhile the ceasefire agreement has stopped significant escalation, the brutal blockade of Gaza continues. In the words of Michael Lynk, special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Gaza has been reduced to a humanitarian whisper,; Behind the current hostilities the launching of rockets and incendiary balloons by Palestinian armed groups and the disproportionate use of targeted missile strikes by Israel is the long-term impoverishment of Gaza by Israels 13-year-old comprehensive blockade. This amounts to collective punishment of the entire civilian population in Gaza, which adds immeasurably to the suffering of Gazans and wider tensions in the region. Echoing Lynks views, Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masry – on 30 August, 2020 stated: Palestinian factions do not accept that the residents of the Gaza Strip be subjected to gradual death as a result of the continued [Israeli] siege and aggression.; We have nothing to lose, and the enemy’s effort to exploit the humanitarian situation [in Gaza] and the coronavirus pandemic to advance its own policies and extend the blockade imposed on our Palestinian nation will not succeed,. In the current Coronavirus conjuncture, Gaza is being subjected to slow death as the impact of Israeli blockade manifests itself in the form of an epidemiological-economic crisis. With more than 500 confirmed Covid-19 cases, Gazas woefully underequipped healthcare is rapidly reaching it limits. In the besieged enclave, there are only 3.5 doctors for every 100,000 people and only 1.4 beds for 1,000 persons. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), hospitals in Gaza have shortages of specialized staff in intensive care units and the laboratory infrastructure urgently requires upgrade to conform with strict biosafety standards. This inadequate healthcare system, too, is systematically destroyed by Israel which – between 30 March 2018 and 31 December 2019 killed 3 health workers, injured 845 health professionals and damaged 112 ambulances and 7 health facilities. Israeli blockade of Gaza has pushed up medicinal shortages dramatically, reaching more than 52% by January 2020. Furthermore, 71% of the needed medications that are vital for children and their mothers are not available. In addition to a largely crumbling healthcare, Gaza has a severe water crisis, reducing access to clean water and making it difficult for families to wash their hands a crucial step in halting the spread of Coronavirus. The coastal aquifer of the region which provides 98% of water supply – has been polluted by over-pumping and wastewater contamination. As a result, 96.2% of water from the aquifer is undrinkable. 40% of the domestic water supply is lost on the way to consumers because of Gazas outdated infrastructure. Due to the deficiencies of the water supply network, 95% of the population has to rely on desalinated water which costs five times more than network water and is qualitatively unreliable, being prone to faecal contamination. As a consequence of an inefficient water system, it is estimated that 28% of childrens diseases are due to contaminated water and polluted water is a leading cause of child mortality in Gaza. In spite of that, Israel has restricted the imports of 70% of the technical equipments such as pumps and water purification chemicals which are direly needed to maintain water supply in the region. The siege has allowed only 16% of the materials needed to construct vital water infrastructure to reach the Palestinian region. Water crisis-caused insanitary conditions are compounded by the fact that most Palestinians in Gaza cannot afford sanitizers, gloves and masks. Some families have bought single masks and gloves for repeated use, thereby rendering them ineffective. This is a direct corollary of the Israeli blockade which has initiated a process of immiseration. In 2002, before the blockade, only 10% of Gazans were dependent on aid. In 2018, 11 years after the blockade was first enforced, 80% of Gazans were dependent on aid. The unemployment rate in Gaza is above 50% (one of the highest in the world), the poverty level is 53% and 70% of the population of the Gaza Strip is food insecure. While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread in Gaza, the Israeli permit system is making matters worse for patients in need of medical care. In the Gaza Strip, all Palestinians require Israeli-issued permits to exit via Erez crossing. In the current period, Coronavirus-caused movement restrictions, the Palestinian Authoritys (PA) halt in coordination due to Israels annexation plan and the latters refusal to process permit applications besides urgent medical cases, have resulted in a 98.5% drop in the number of exits from Gaza via the Erez Crossing in June 2020. Commenting on this pressing issue, the NGOs Al-Haq, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures in June 2020 wherein they stated: The current situation is a desperate one for Gaza patients, who face no avenue to access health services needed outside the Gaza Strip. Israels permit system, an integral part of the illegal closure of Gaza, is an arbitrary and unnecessary measure that unlawfully preconditions urgent and lifesaving care for thousands of Palestinians. The Israeli permit regime has particularly impacted children who have again got caught in the barbarity of a blockade. Jeremy Stoner, Save the Childrens Regional Director for the Middle East, says that desperately sick children need to leave Gaza to survive – there is simply no other option. Its cruel that children are dying or suffering extreme pain when they can receive treatment just beyond the checkpoints. With every day that passes, the window to help these children closes further. Suffocating GazaThe implementation of a ceasefire agreement and the perpetuation of blockade is a reflection of Israels long-standing policy toward Gaza: maintain the region on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. For Israel, the preferred policy would have been to eliminate Palestinians. This sentiment was expressed by Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who referring to Gaza – once said, If only it would just sink into the sea. Unable to commit a downright genocide, Israel has optimized violence: inflict suffering but avoid its extremes. Currently, we are witnessing the effective implementation of this strategy as Israel bombs and strangulates Gaza during the Covid-19 pandemic yet allows insufficient humanitarian aid to enter the region after the ceasefire agreement. Through this strategy, Israel is engulfing Gaza in a mist of slow violence where oppressive conditions have left the region in a death-like state. In the contemporary period of Covid-19 pandemic, the Zionist strategy of slow violence against Gazans has accelerated. About 20,000 workers have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic in the Gaza Strip and around 50,000 families in the region are expected to become food insecure after losing their daily income. These economic losses are intimately interconnected with Israels Gaza blueprint which consists of destroying the enclaves internal productive base through a paradigm of unending siege and de-development. As the Covid-19 pandemic in Gaza intensifies due to Israels policy of institutionalized impoverishment and blockade, the possibility of a change is increasing. An article published by the Institute for Palestine Studies acknowledges that the most powerful challenge to the status quo in Gaza is the regions steady and heart-wrenching collapse. It further states, A widespread humanitarian catastrophe, in the form of a famine or an outbreak of cholera, would swiftly turn the world’s attention toward Gaza. Presently, the Covid-19 pandemic has the capacity to turn the worlds attention toward Gazas slow death and give an international impetus to the Palestinian liberation movement. The article The Slow Death Of Gaza OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review. | |||||||||||
| 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): Eurasia Review: Are Black Lives Matter Protests Being Politicized By Democrats? OpEd | |||||||||||
 Race relations is known to be a sensitive issue in the American political discourse, particularly the discrimination against Afro-Americans since the time of Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s has gained special significance not just in America but across the world. But it’s also a known fact that gun culture and police brutality are quite prevalent in rural America. Every year, hundreds of Americans die at the hands of trigger-happy cops, and a preponderant number of such fatalities are, of course, Afro-Americans, which belong to the lower strata of the stratified capitalist society. The Democrats, specifically the Clinton and Obama administrations, are as much guilty of not doing enough to curb racial discrimination, gun violence and the use of excessive force by the law enforcement, besides taking cosmetic steps and paying lip service to the critical issues, as the Republican Bush and Trump administrations. A question needs to be asked, however, that why these consequential issues were not raised during the eight-year tenure of Barack Obama, despite being an Afro-American himself, and also during the first three years of the Trump administration, and why in the run-up to the American presidential elections in November, the mainstream media spotlight has focused on race relations. Since the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police Department in May, a number of victims’ families have come forward to register their complaints, whose family members suffered police brutality months and, in some cases, years ago. The family of Daniel Prude, for instance, who died of asphyxiation in March after the New York police put a spit-hood on his face, came forward five months later in September, and the story was immediately picked up by the mainstream media and triumphantly publicized across its gullible viewership. Clearly, the “Black Lives Matter” protests aren’t spontaneous demonstrations, the family members of the victims of police brutality and community leaders of Afro-Americans across America are being contacted by the Democratic Party whips and being instigated to go public with their stories in the run-up to the US presidential elections in November. It’s not a coincidence that Donald Trump’s ratings are plummeting since the BLM protests broke out in May. Here let me clarify that I’m not suggesting that race relations is an insignificant issue, but like the abortion debate in the Western discourse, the issue of racial discrimination has been politicized by the vested interests to the extent that instead redressing the grievances of non-white races, it has further polarized the society in which cosmopolitan liberal and rural conservative camps are adopting extreme stances, consequently creating a civil war-like scenario across America simply to make a political rival lose a presidential election. Using the BLM protests as an electoral stratagem isn’t the first time the mainstream media has unleashed a smear campaign against Donald Trump’s conservative political base. Similarly, in the run-up to the US midterm elections in November 2018, the American media, the Washington Post and New York Times in particular, took the lead in publicizing the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi who was brutally murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. One apparent reason the mainstream media took morbid interest in the gory details of the grisly assassination could be that Khashoggi was a columnist for The Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man with $200 billion net worth and the owner of Amazon. Bezos had a score to settle [1] with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Mohammad bin Salman hacked Bezos’ phone in May 2018 and sent the details of Bezos’ extramarital affair to the National Enquirer in January 2019, leading to Bezos’ wife divorcing him and taking a significant portion of Bezos’ obscene wealth as alimony. Nevertheless, the Washington Post has a history of working in close collaboration with the CIA, as Bezos won a $600 million contract [2] in 2013 to host the CIA’s database on the Amazon’s web-hosting service. It bears mentioning that despite Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman being primarily responsible for the war in Yemen that has claimed over hundred thousand lives and created a famine in the impoverished country, the mainstream media hailed him as a “moderate reformer” who brought radical reforms to the conservative Saudi society by permitting women to drive and allowing cinemas to screen Hollywood movies. So what prompted the sudden change of heart in the mainstream media that the purported “moderate reformer” was all of a sudden reviled as a brutal murderer? More than anything, it was the timing of the assassination and the political mileage that could be obtained from the Khashoggi murder in the domestic politics of the United States that prompted the mainstream media to take advantage of the opportunity and mount a smear campaign against the Trump administration by publicizing the assassination. Jamal Khashoggi was murdered on October 2, 2018, when the US midterm elections in November were only a few weeks away. Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in particular are known to have forged close business relations with the Saudi royal family. It doesn’t come as a surprise that Donald Trump chose Saudi Arabia and Israel for his maiden overseas visit in May 2017. Thus, the corporate media’s campaign to seek justice for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 was actually a smear campaign against Donald Trump and his conservative political base, which became obvious after the US midterm election results were tallied. Even though the Republicans retained their 51-seat majority in the Senate, the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives following midterms by gaining 39 additional seats and brought impeachment charges against Donald Trump, though he was acquitted by the Republican majority in the Senate. Clearly, two factors were responsible for the surprising defeat of the Republicans in the US midterm elections. Firstly, the Khashoggi murder and the smear campaign unleashed against the Trump administration by the neoliberal media, which Donald Trump often pejoratively derides as “Fake News” on social media. Secondly, and more importantly, the parcel bombs sent to the residences of George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, several other Democratic Congressmen and The New York Times New York office by Cesar Sayoc in October, 2018, on the eve of the midterm elections in November. Although the suspect turned out to be a mentally ill Trump supporter, he was likely instigated by shady hands in the American deep state, which is wary of the anti-establishment rhetoric and non-interventionist tendencies of the so-called “alt-right” administration. That the accused had a history of mental illness [3], childhood sexual abuse, substance abuse, including anabolic steroids and cognitive difficulties, including dyslexia, doesn’t come as a surprise because it’s always easy to manipulate and trap such gullible patsies into perpetrating heinous crimes. In fact, the case of Cesar Sayoc can be compared to another iconic “patsy” in the American political history, Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy, who was picked up as a scapegoat because he had visited Russia and Cuba before the hit-job in order to put the blame for the high-profile political assassination on the communists. Not surprisingly, he was silenced by Jack Ruby before he could open his mouth and prove innocence in the courts of law. The cold-blooded murder of the only other non-interventionist American president, besides Donald Trump, was obviously perpetrated by a professional sniper on the payroll of the American deep state. It was not a coincidence that Kennedy was killed in November 1963, and months later, the Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorized Lyndon B. Johnson to directly engage in the Vietnam conflict in August 1964 on the basis of a false flag naval engagement. It’s obvious that the American deep state, comprising the State and Defense department bureaucracies, the Democratic and Republican Party establishments and the mainstream media, was responsible for the assassination of Kennedy. Most likely, the deep state turned against Kennedy after the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis and Kennedy’s pacifist rhetoric and conciliatory approach toward Washington’s arch-rival, the former Soviet Union, in the backdrop of the Cold War. The article Are Black Lives Matter Protests Being Politicized By Democrats? OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review. | |||||||||||
| Cambridge Analytica from Michael_Novakhov (4 sites): cambridge analytica Google News: How Facebook, Google algorithms feed on hate speech, rage New Zealand Herald | |||||||||||
How Facebook, Google algorithms feed on hate speech, rage New Zealand Herald
The post Cambridge Analytica from Michael_Novakhov (4 sites): "cambridge analytica" - Google News: How Facebook, Google algorithms feed on hate speech, rage - New Zealand Herald first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org. | |||||||||||
| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: 27 arrested as Portland reaches 100 days of protests | |||||||||||
Protests continue in Portland, Ore. with the 100th day of unrest since demonstrations began following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in May.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: 27 arrested as Portland reaches 100 days of protests first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.  | |||||||||||
| 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America English: Amazon Bans Foreign Sales of Seeds in US Amid Mystery Packages | |||||||||||
Amazon.com Inc said it has banned foreign sales of seeds in the United States after thousands of Americans received unsolicited packages of seeds in their mailboxes, mostly postmarked from China.
The post 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America - English: Amazon Bans Foreign Sales of Seeds in US Amid Mystery Packages first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in July identified more than a dozen plant species ranging from morning glories to mustard in the bags of unsolicited seeds. It warned Americans not to plant the seeds. According to plant experts, seeds from other parts of the world could be non-native varieties that harm commodity crops. “Moving forward, we are only permitting the sale of seeds by sellers who are based in the U.S.,” Amazon said in an emailed statement on Saturday. The company changed its policy on seed sales on Wednesday. The policy change was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company added that sellers who do not follow its guidelines will be subject to action, including potential removal of their accounts. According to Amazon’s policy webpage, the ban extends to plants and plant products. The USDA in July said the packages were most likely part of a “brushing” scam, in which people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false positive customer reviews to boost sales. In an update on August 11, Osama El-Lissy, a deputy administrator for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), said the experts analyzing some of the seeds from China found very few problems. El-Lissy added that the two countries were working jointly on the investigation.  | |||||||||||
| Top stories Google News: At least 150 people trapped near reservoir by fast-growing Creek Fire in Sierra National Forest San Francisco Chronicle | |||||||||||
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| Trump Investigations from Michael_Novakhov (124 sites): realDonaldTrump on Twitter: Congratulations to the U.S. Marshals on a job well done in Portland. LAW & ORDER! | |||||||||||
Congratulations to the U.S. Marshals on a job well done in Portland. LAW & ORDER!
9102 likes, 2226 retweets
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| 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America English: N. Koreas Kim Orders Thousands to Help Typhoon Recovery | |||||||||||
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered 12,000 elite members of his ruling party based in Pyongyang to help with recovery efforts in two rural provinces lashed by a powerful typhoon, state media reported Sunday.
The post 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America - English: N. Korea's Kim Orders Thousands to Help Typhoon Recovery first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.Typhoon Maysak brought days of heavy downpours to the country’s east coast earlier this week even as the North was still reeling from earlier flooding and typhoon damage, and another storm is forecast to barrel through the peninsula by Tuesday. Natural disasters tend to have a greater impact in the North due to its creaking infrastructure, and the country is vulnerable to flooding as many mountains and hills have long been deforested. More than 1,000 homes were destroyed by Maysak and public buildings and farmland were inundated with floodwater across North and South Hamgyong provinces, the official KCNA news agency reported. Kim inspected the damage on Saturday and held a policy meeting on disaster relief efforts, KCNA said. He also dismissed the chairman of the South Hamgyong provincial party committee, the report added. Photos carried by Sunday’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim standing in front of destroyed homes and toppled trees as he discussed the situation with officials. In a two-page handwritten open letter to members of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, Kim said around 12,000 members from the capital will be sent to the two provinces to help with the recovery ahead of a key holiday next month. North Korea will mark the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the party on October 10. “We cannot let a lot of people in South Hamgyong Province and North Hamgyong Province who newly suffered damage spend the holiday homeless,” Kim was quoted as saying in the letter, which was carried by the Rodong Sinmun. The damage was an “urgent situation which needs to be tackled without even a moment’s delay”, he added. The report did not say how many were injured, missing or dead. In 2016 at least 138 North Koreans died after torrential rain triggered major floods, the United Nations said at the time. In the summer of 2012 more than 160 people were killed by a massive rainstorm.  | |||||||||||
| 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): The National Interest: Taiwans Supersonic Land-Attack Cruise Missile Will Go Far To Deterring China | |||||||||||
David Axe
The post 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): The National Interest: Taiwan's Supersonic Land-Attack Cruise Missile Will Go Far To Deterring China first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.Security,  China’s military has become increasingly aggressive against Taiwan.Here’s What You Need To Remember: an invasion of Taiwan would be a daunting challenge for China. Beijing would have to win quickly or risk political and military retaliation by the United States that could doom the attack.Taiwan has begun production of a new land-attack cruise missile. But the island country still is badly outgunned by Chinas own, much larger missile arsenal. Taiwanese media on Aug. 4, 2019 reported that the countrys National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology had cleared the Yun Feng cruise missile for mass production. The supersonic land-attack missile has been under development since the 1990s. It can fly as far as 1,200 miles, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. That range could allow Taiwan to threaten many of the airbases, ports and other facilities from which China likely would stage any attempt to invade Taiwan. Taipei reportedly is building an initial 20 Yun Feng missiles as well as 10 truck-based launchers. Taiwans Up Media described the missiles as the top priority of the various studios of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Taiwan also is developing a new air-launched cruise missile — and reportedly has attempted to reverse-engineer old, U.S.-made J85 engines apparently to power the munition. According to a local media report, the Taiwanese air force and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are collaborating on the reverse-engineering of the General Electric J85 engine, two of which power each of Taiwan’s roughly two-dozen F-5 fighters. The Taiwanese air force operated more than 300 F-5s before replacing most of them with American-made F-16s, French Mirage 2000s and locally-built F-CKs, leaving the country with a large stock of excess J85s. The J85 is a versatile motor. Compact at just four feet long and capable of producing 3,000 pounds of thrust, the engine powers F-5s, T-38 training jets, A-37 light attack aircraft and other types. According to local media, the same Chinese Academy of Sciences that’s tearing down the J85 is also developing a cruise missile with a 750-mile range. The Taiwanese arsenal includes hundreds of ground-launched ballistic missiles with sufficient range to strike the Chinese mainland. The Taiwanese air force has modified its 127 F-CK fighters to carry another cruise-missile type, the Wan Chien. The Wan Chien with its 150-mile range bolsters the fighter fleet by “increase[ing] combat effectiveness and [providing] the capability to strike airports, harbors and missile and radar positions,” according to Jane’s. Taiwan also has received two sets of Mk. 41 vertical missile-launchers from the United States, Up Media reported in January 2019. Taipei has acquired the license locally to produce additional launchers. The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology is modifying its Hai Kung 3 surface-to-air missile to fit the launchers, according to Up Media. The Republic of China government plans to integrate the VLS and Hai Kung 3 with the Taiwanese navy’s new Hsun Lien naval combat system, which is similar to the U.S. Navy’s own Aegis system. The Mk. 41 can launch anti-air, anti-ship and land-attack missiles. The ROC fleet possesses at least 14 warships that could be compatible with the Mk. 41. The four Kee Lung-class destroyers are ex-U.S. Navy Kidd-class destroyers. In the 1990s the Americans fitted VLS to Spruance-class destroyers that are roughly similar to the Kidds. The ROC navy also operates 10 Cheng Kung-class frigates that are identical to American Perry-class frigates. The Perrys never had VLS while in U.S. service, but the Australian navy modified three Perry-class vessels with the Mk. 41 system. If American and Australian experience is any indication, Taiwan’s destroyers each could fit 61 launch cells. The frigates each could fit eight. But all these new missiles do little to correct the cross-strait military imbalance In a couple of decades, Chinas economy has grown to a size 20 times the size of Taiwans own economy. All that new wealth has fueled rapid military modernization. China reportedly has deployed more than 1,000 land-attack missiles within range of Taiwan. Still, an invasion of Taiwan would be a daunting challenge for China. Beijing would have to win quickly or risk political and military retaliation by the United States that could doom the attack. David Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad. This article first appeared last year. Image: Reuters. | |||||||||||
| 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): The National Interest: America Ended in 1999And You Missed It | |||||||||||
James Pethokoukis
The post 1. US Security from Michael_Novakhov (87 sites): The National Interest: America Ended in 1999And You Missed It first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.Security, Economy  What might America a decade or two from now look like if we could return to a period of fast growth driven by big gains in productivity and tech progress?Consider: What was Americas last good year? Its a common Twitter question that pops up from time to time. And one common answer is the year 1999. Why not? Unemployment was low, the stock market was high, and there was a new Star Wars film for the first time since 1983.Yet from one perspective, thats an awfully odd answer and not just because The Phantom Menace turned out to be just OK. After all, the 1990s were a decade of fast-rising economic inequality. The share of pre-tax national income going to the top 1 percent rose from 14.8 percent in 1990 to 18.4 percent in 2000. And the share of wealth going to the top 1 percent rose from 26.4 percent in 1990 to 31.9 percent in 2000. Clearly it was yet another one of Americas occasional Ages of Greed, yes? Yet Vice President Al Gore, the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, did not face a democratic socialist challenger in the 2000 primaries. Oh, he did have a challenger: Bill Bradley, a former US senator from New Jersey and NBA star. But Bradley, the original Senate sponsor of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, was no hardcore lefty. And in the general election, neither Gore nor Republican nominee George W. Bush questioned the basic quality of the 1990s economic boom. Gore wanted to extend it, while Bush wanted to give it a purpose. And most Americans agreed. Despite those inequality stats I just quoted, the share of Americans who told pollsters that money and wealth should be more evenly distributed declined sharply during the 1990s. In January 2000, 69 percent of Americans said they approved of the countrys direction. And 76 percent in 2001 said they were satisfied with their ability to get ahead.  One might consider what America 2020 might be like today had there been no Great Recession followed by a Not-So-Great Recovery. And what if the productivity boom that started in the mid-1990s and ended in the mid-2000s had kept on going? And what might America a decade or two from now look like if we could return to a period of fast growth driven by big gains in productivity and tech progress? See you later to talk of late capitalism, I think. Much of our occasional impetuous desire to smash the whole entangling machinery of civilization is due to this inability of man to understand what he is doing, writes Friedrich Hayek in The Constitution of Liberty. I interpret that statement in two ways. First, many of us do not understand how America, and the West more broadly, was built. Second, many of us do not understand how our current actions or the latest calls for change might undermine what we have achieved. Which leads me to a second quote, one that expands nicely on Hayek. This is from Mass Flourishing, written by Nobel laureate economist Edmund Phelps in 2013: The present crisis of the West can be laid to its leaders unawareness of the importance of dynamism: A breadth of dynamism is the main source of innovative activity and its engaging jobs, and this activityits extent, insights, and luckis the main source of growth in productivity and income. Thus grassroots dynamism was crucial to the good economy of the past: to material progress, inclusion, and job satisfaction. And restoration of that dynamism will be crucial to the rebirth of the good economy.Scientific discovery, technological progress, and economic growth require a society that is open to creative destruction and the disruption of the status quo. And when a society allows such unsettling dynamism or churn, it can grow. And growth is good. Yep, it really is. This article was first published by the America Enterprise Institute in September. Image: Reuters | |||||||||||
| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Portlands Antifa gunman appeared to target victim, police say | |||||||||||
The avowed Antifa supporter who was a suspect in the killing of a Patriot Prayer member during a clash of opposing groups in Portland, Ore., last Saturday appeared to be targeting the victim prior to the shooting, according to court documents unsealed Friday.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): FOX News: Portland's Antifa gunman appeared to target victim, police say first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.  | |||||||||||
| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): BBC News World: Coronavirus: Melbourne lockdown extended by two weeks | |||||||||||
The rate of new Covid-19 cases has not dropped enough for restrictions to be eased, officials say.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): BBC News - World: Coronavirus: Melbourne lockdown extended by two weeks first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org. | |||||||||||
| 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): BBC News World: Belarus: Large crowds expected in protests against Lukashenko | |||||||||||
An opposition activist says she was forced to leave the country as dozens of protesters are detained.
The post 1. World from Michael_Novakhov (27 sites): BBC News - World: Belarus: Large crowds expected in protests against Lukashenko first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org. | |||||||||||
| 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America English: Summer Without Fairs Leaves Farm Kids Heartbroken | |||||||||||
Well before the sun rises and then again after school, Arrissa Swails feeds and waters her goats, fancy chickens and three dairy cows. Theres another trip to the barn at night to hustle the chickens into their coop.
The post 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America - English: Summer Without Fairs Leaves Farm Kids Heartbroken first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.Its a daily routine that typically takes the high school senior at least three hours. This week, shed be parading her livestock at the Hancock County Fair, hoping to win a grand champion ribbon during her last turn in the show ring. But there is no fair this year for her or anyone else, another tradition wiped away from the 2020 calendar by the coronavirus. I bawled my eyes out, she said about the fairs first cancellation since World War Two. Honestly, it means everything to me. Its definitely weird this year without it. Not many county or state fairs in the U.S. are continuing on without major changes, about 80% have been called off or drastically scaled down by eliminating carnival rides, concerts and tractor pulls, according to the International Association of Fairs and Expositions. Some are only allowing youth livestock competitions and auctions or opening for fair food drive-thrus. To make up some of the difference, a group of Republicans and Democrats in Congress are backing legislation introduced in July that would direct $500 million to agricultural fairs across the nation. But for those who have spent the past year feeding, cleaning and working with their animals in hopes of winning a blue ribbon and maybe some money for college, there is no replacing the missed experiences of the fair. I just love walking the goats in, theyre so happy in the show ring, said Swails, who has been in 4-H the past eight years. We have this one, she looks forward to the fair, shes happy and content at the fair. Just like at home, she stays with her animals during fair week from morning until late at night. Hanging out in the barns, camping at the fairgrounds and competing in the judging allowed her to come out of her shell at a young age and meet many new people, said the 18-year-old who lives near the village of Jenera in northwestern Ohio. This was my last chance, she said. I call it the farmers family reunion, said Jacki Johnson, who has spent 41 years volunteering as a 4-H adviser in Hancock County, one of Ohios top crop-producing regions. It was hardly a surprise, though, when fair organizers decided in mid-July to scrap this years event for only the second time since it began in 1938. The decision came just a few weeks after the countys fair board said it needed to raise $80,000 because the pandemic caused some businesses to limit their donations and forced the cancellations of other money-making events at the fairgrounds. Its so frustrating to see the sadness on the kids faces, Johnson said. Volunteers in the county did manage to pull together a makeshift livestock competition and alternative auction. But not everyone participated for a number of reasons, including because some had already sold their animals months ago when it became apparent there would be no fair. Still, he understands why holding a fair this year with crowds wouldnt be a good look and that it wouldnt be the same no matter what. Its a shame. You do all that and theres no payoff, but I know theres going to be a fair next year, he said. Eleven-year-old Payne Steffan has plenty more fairs ahead too, but hes still sad he wont get to show off his ducks or get to impress the judges with how much he knows. When you get to take them in the ring, you really get to know if your bird is any good, he said. His mom, Brynne Steffan, maybe even more disappointed. She grew up taking dairy cows to the fair and has never missed one, not even last year when she was pregnant and due on opening day. She and her family managed to get to the fair each day and then on the final day Labor Day we packed up, got our ducks out, and went to the hospital and had a baby.  | |||||||||||
| 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America English: NY Attorney General to Form Grand Jury after Prude Death | |||||||||||
New York’s attorney general on Saturday moved to form a grand jury to investigate the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died earlier this year after Rochester police placed a hood over his head and held him down.
The post 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): Voice of America - English: NY Attorney General to Form Grand Jury after Prude Death first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org.The Prude family and the Rochester community have been through great pain and anguish, Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement about Prude’s death, which has sparked nightly protests and calls for reform. She said the grand jury would be part of an exhaustive investigation. Prude’s death after his brother called for help for his erratic behavior in March has roiled New York’s third-largest city since video of the encounter was made public earlier this week, with protesters demanding more accountability for how it happened and legislation to change how authorities respond to mental health emergencies. This is just the beginning, Ashley Gantt, a protest organizer, said by email after James’ announcement. We will not be stopped in our quest for truth and justice. Protesters gathered Saturday for a fourth night on the street where Prude, naked and handcuffed, was held face-down as snow fell. Policy body camera video shows officers covering Prude’s head with a spit hood, designed to protect police from bodily fluids, then pressing his face into the pavement for two minutes. Prude died March 30 after he was taken off life support. A police internal affairs investigation cleared the officers involved of any wrongdoing, concluding in April that their actions and conduct displayed when dealing with Prude appear to be appropriate and consistent with their training. James’ office opened its investigation the same month. Under New York law, deaths of unarmed people in police custody are often turned over to the attorney general’s office, rather than handled by local officials. Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this week called on James to expedite the probe. Today, I applaud Attorney General Tish James for taking swift, decisive action in empaneling a grand jury, Cuomo said in a statement. Justice delayed is justice denied and the people of New York deserve the truth. Advocates say Prude’s death and the actions of the seven now-suspended Rochester police officers demonstrate how police are ill-equipped to deal with people suffering mental problems. Having police respond can be a recipe for disaster, The National Alliance on Mental Illness said in a statement Friday. Prude’s death is yet another harrowing tragedy, but a story not unfamiliar to us, the advocacy group said. People in crisis deserve help, not handcuffs. Stanley Martin, an organizer of Free the People Rochester, told reporters: We do not need violent workers with guns to respond to mental health crises. Activists have marched nightly in the city of 210,000 on Lake Ontario since the police body camera footage of the encounter with Prude were released by his family Wednesday. Friday night’s protest resulted in 11 arrests, police said. As they had the night before, officers doused activists at police headquarters with a chemical spray to drive them from barricades around the building. As the night wore on, demonstrators were pushed further back, as police fired what appeared to be pepper balls. Fireworks were shot off and a bus stop was set on fire. Prude’s family has said he appeared to be spiraling into crisis in the hours before his encounter with police. You’re trying to kill me! the 41-year-old man is heard saying. A police union has defended the officers involved in the encounter, saying they were strictly following department training and protocols, including using the mesh hood.  | |||||||||||
| 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): News: German foreign minister threatens sanctions over Alexei Navalny poisoning | |||||||||||
| 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): shoigu Google News: Shoigu promised to improve all T-72 tanks Pledge Times | |||||||||||
Shoigu promised to improve all T-72 tanks Pledge Times
The post 1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): "shoigu" - Google News: Shoigu promised to improve all T-72 tanks - Pledge Times first appeared on Global Security News - globalsecuritynews.org. |
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