The same citizen virus-tracing corps the New York Times decried in China as Maoism incarnate is being tried in Massachusetts and San Francisco, and the outlet has decided that what's bad for Beijing is good for democracies.

Massachusetts and San Francisco - as well as the Republic of Ireland - are deputizing citizens to track down contacts of people infected with coronavirus, the Times reported on Thursday, describing the programs in glowing terms. After a blow-by-blow of a phone call between one of the newly-hired Massachusetts virus-trackers and her target, who gratefully gives up a file's worth of data, we learn that the state plans to hire 1,000 caring professionals just like her to fill out its "fleet of contact tracers, charged with tracking down people who have been exposed to the coronavirus, as soon as possible, and warning them."

The article emphasizes the bonds of "trust" between contract-tracer and coronavirus victim. There's no talk of imprisoning people in their homes, of "keeping away outsiders" or of "arbitrary" enforcement. Indeed, one has to read to the end of the article to find out that the Massachusetts program was heavily informed by data from Wuhan and techniques from South Korea.

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS CLAIMED THAT THE U.S. NO LONGER NEEDS FOREIGN OIL AND IS "ENERGY INDEPENDENT." YET, NOW THE U.S. SHALE OIL INDUSTRY FACES NEAR TOTAL RUIN, MEANING THAT ANOTHER "WAR FOR OIL" COULD BE IN OUR FUTURE. WITH TRUMP AGAIN TAKING AIM AT VENEZUELA, WE MAY BE CLOSER TO WAR THAN WE THINK.

On Sunday, President Trump praised a deal reached largely by Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the top oil producers in the world who together dominate the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), saying that the agreed upon production cuts would "save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States."

Despite the president's rosy tone, most analysts have called the agreement - which presumably will freeze the Saudi-Russian oil price war that broke out last month - "too little too late" and have noted that a slew of bankruptcies from the U.S. shale oil industry are inevitable, despite the actions that have been taken. Even the Federal Reserve has stated that around 40% of domestic shale companies now face bankruptcy in just a few months if the price of oil remains under $30, a figure it is unlikely to pass for some time due to slumping demand caused by global lockdowns, among other factors that have emerged as the current coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis has played out. Trump has since fielded the possibility of imposing tariffs on oil imports to drive up oil prices and favor the domestic consumption of U.S. shale oil, but it remains to be seen if that policy will materialize.

Despite thousands of Americans out of work and tens of millions impacted by coronavirus cutbacks, experts expect that Israel will get its full massive aid package. Administration official says Israelis don't have to worry "even if there is a depression"... and even though the aid is damaging to Americans...

Israel's Jerusalem Post newspaper reports that "nearly all the experts" it consulted believe that Israel will get at least $3.8 billion from the U.S. in the coming year despite economic devastation to the U.S. economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

JP notes that the aid is expected even though "American economic activity has declined in recent weeks at a rate not seen since the Great Depression." Barron's similarly reports that the entire U.S. economy "has been brutalized" by the coronavirus pandemic. It predicts:

"Whatever happens next, the events of the past six weeks will scar the U.S. economy well into the 2030s, if not beyond. Tens of millions of Americans are already paying the price, and they will continue to do so for a long time."

Nevertheless, the Jerusalem Post reports, a "Trump administration source" said that Israel would not need to worry about getting the money "even if there is a depression" in the U.S.

American intelligence passed an early warning about the coronavirus to Tel Aviv and NATO as far back as November, Israel's Channel 12 claims, even after a top US medical intel officer dismissed a similar report just last week.

The broadcaster aired a story on Thursday alleging that the US intelligence community shared classified information about a new viral outbreak in China with the Israeli military and senior NATO officials. With nobody willing to go on record to confirm the report, however, the story is based on murky anonymous sourcing, leaving it a mystery where the claim originated. The Channel 12 broadcast said, as cited by i24 News:

"Still in November, the IDF held a first discussion regarding what impact this unknown disease would have were it to reach the Middle East. How would we be affected? How would it affect our neighbors?"

A similar report from ABC last week stated that the Pentagon's National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI) warned that an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan could become a "cataclysmic event" in a document compiled last November. But the story was swiftly shot down by NCMI director Colonel R. Shane Day, who insisted "No such NCMI product exists" and that the report was simply "not correct."

China has revised its coronavirus death toll after much speculation from around the world that the country had suppressed its numbers of confirmed cases and fatalities."

Wuhan, in the Chinese province of Hubei and ground zero for the deadly pandemic, has had its death toll increased by 1290 to 3869, according to China Central Television (CCTV), a state owned network.

The total number of confirmed cases in Wuhan was also revised up by 325 to 50,333.

The new numbers take China's national death toll to 4632 - an increase of 39 per cent.

CCTV attributed a few reasons as to why the numbers were so far off, citing pressure on hospitals and their staff:

"In the early stage of the epidemic, due to insufficient capacity for admission and treatment, a small number of medical institutions failed to connect with the disease prevention and control information system in a timely manner, the hospital was overloaded, and medical staff were busy with treatment. Objectively, there were late reports, missed reports, and false positives."

Tehran is considering the construction of nuclear-powered submarines, Iran's navy chief has revealed. The development would greatly expand the state's capabilities to operate in the seas beyond its home waters.

"It would be negligence on the part of Iran if it fails to consider using submarines with nuclear propulsion," Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said on Thursday. "Therefore, we are thinking about it."

Iran boasts a fleet of various submarines, ranging from midget-subs to some capable of carrying over 50 crew and traversing rough waters. All of its vessels, however, use conventional means of propulsion.

The naval chief gave no timeframe on when exactly a nuclear-powered vessel might emerge, stating only that Iran already has "domestic capacity" to build ships larger than the homegrown Fateh-class "semi-heavy" submarines.

Former US Attorney Joe diGenova was on the radio earlier this week and he dropped some bombshells when discussing the ongoing work related to the crimes committed by Obama's Deep State actors.

Here is a section of what diGenova said early in the interview:

Bill Barr announced there are going to be indictments in this case. When he went on the Laura Ingraham Show the other night, and gave an amazing interview for an Attorney General of the United States.

He said, yeah sure John Durham could write a report but that's not what he's doing. He's getting ready to bring indictments if he has the evidence, quote unquote. But if he has the evidence is like a passe footnote. What the Attorney General was saying after saying that Crossfire Hurricane was one of the greatest travesties in American history, and that he was deeply disturbed about the evidence that he had seen. I think it's pretty clear that John Brennan, if he doesn't have a lawyer now then he better get one because the indictments are coming.

As we have discussed on this program for a long time. This was never about John Durham writing a report. He can do that if he wants to but the most important thing is to bring indictments and the Attorney General just said to us, that's exactly what he's doing.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he wasn't thinking about the Bill of Rights when he issued social distancing orders to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

"That's above my pay grade, Tucker," Murphy said Wednesday on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "So, I wasn't thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this. We went to all — first of all — we went to the scientists who said people have to stay away from each other."

Carlson pressed the Democratic governor on where he got the authority to contravene the Constitution.

"Well, here's the thing," Murphy responded. "We know we need to stay away from each other, number one. Number two, we do have broad authority within the state. And number three, we would never do that without coordinating, discussing, and hashing it out with the variety of the leaders of the faiths of New Jersey."

On 4 March 2018, both Sergei Skripal and his daughter who was visiting from their shared home country of Russia, Yulia Skripal, were poisoned in Salisbury England, and — though both survived — neither of them has been allowed to communicate to the public except under the watch of their British court-appointed 'guardians'. They also have been prohibited to communicate with any Russians. Repeated efforts by the Russian Embassy to be allowed to communicate with them have been rejected by the UK Government. The BBC reported on 18 May 2018, that, "Ms Skripal was released on 9 April and was moved to a secure location. It is not known whether Mr Skripal has been taken to the same location as his daughter." UK's National Health Service issued a news-release that same day headlined "Sergei Skripal discharged from Salisbury District Hospital". Efforts by (at least) Ms. Skripal, to communicate with members of her family in Russia, and also with her fiancé, also in Russia, have been blocked by the UK Government. No legal charges have been filed against either of the Skripals.

The move comes after President Donald Trump promised to help families, who accuse Saudi Arabia of complicity in the attacks. Barr says he cannot even explain why the material must stay secret without putting national security at risk.

Months after President Donald Trump promised to open FBI files to help families of the 9/11 victims in a civil lawsuit against the Saudi government, the Justice Department has doubled down on its claim that the information is a state secret.

In a series of filings just before a midnight court deadline on Monday, the attorney general, William Barr; the acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell; and other senior officials insisted to a federal judge in the civil case that further disclosures about Saudi connections to the 9/11 plot would imperil national security.

But the administration insisted in court filings that even its justification for that secrecy needed to remain secret. Four statements to the court by FBI and Justice Department officials were filed under seal so they could not be seen by the public. An additional five, including one from the CIA, were shared only with the judge and cannot be read even by the plaintiffs' lawyers.

Barr insisted to the court that public discussion of the issue "would reveal information that could cause the very harms my assertion of the state secrets privilege is intended to prevent."