Puppet Masters

Anti-China hawks risk isolating Britain

Tom Fowdy
chinadaily.com.cn
Sun, 12 Apr 2020 21:57 UTC

As the COVID-19 pandemic has gathered pace in the United Kingdom, it has come with increasing calls from some individuals and media outlets situated on the political right to pursue a politics of blame and retaliation against China over the outbreak.

Starting with an editorial in The Mail on Sunday two weeks ago, officials in the Conservative Party including former Party leader Ian Duncan Smith, called for a "reckoning" against China and demanded the UK "re-think" its relationship with Beijing. The paper falsely claimed that China's case numbers were 40 times higher than reported, and whipped up racist imagery of animal markets, which was in fact taken in Vietnam, to further vilify the country.

The succeeding week, the newspaper proceeded to whip up a figure from the Neoconservative Think Tank the Henry Jackson Society, stating that "China owes Britain £351 billion". In the meanwhile, these anti-China individuals including also parliamentary select committee on Foreign Affairs Leader Tom Tugenhadt, have been appearing more prominently in a variety of right wing outlets also making this call.

The same political faction within the Conservative Party sought to ban Huawei's participation in Britain's 5G network back in January and rebel against Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government. With the UK government having typically pursued good relations with Beijing, this faction is now weaponizing the crisis to push its agenda into the mainstream.

#FireFauci Now! A rallying cry for a generation

Tom Luongo
Gold Goats 'N Guns
Tue, 14 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC

I'm done mincing words. I'm done giving people the benefit of the doubt. Whenever I do that The Davos Crowd and their highly placed agents make me look like a virtue-signaling fool.

Fire Anthony Fauci now.

For weeks I've been careful to separate the threat of the disease, COVID-19, from the political response. I've felt strongly that one can respect the virus while at the same time be wary of the political response and the panic engineered over it. But that's come to an end.

It's clear that the plan from the beginning was to allow this virus to run wild in high profile places like New York and Italy to create fear. It is also clear that people like Dr. Anthony Fauci were activated to ensure the worst possible response to the crisis would be implemented in the U.S.

And now, after more than a month after shutting down whole swaths of our economy and locking people in their homes under effective house arrest it's also clear that most of this response was overblown and unnecessary.

And here in the U.S. the point man on this insanity has been Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) whose ties to all the worst people you can imagine run very, very deep.

Lastly, it's also very clear that President Trump was the target the entire time. He finally hit his breaking point yesterday because he realizes that he was advised poorly.

Comment: See also:

How Trump adapts as realities collide

Thierry Meyssan
Voltairenet.org
Tue, 14 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC

While most people are absorbed by the time-distribution measures of the epidemic, the Saudis are questioning the power of their American protector. A showdown between Riyadh and Washington, which was already disrupting the world economy before the spread of Covid-19. President Trump considered taking control of Saudi and Venezuelan oil, which apparently led him to forge new alliances.

For the past three years, President Trump and his CIA director and then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been trying to abandon their country's imperialism and replace it with an economic strategy. This supposes that Washington can still be the world leader provided it has a powerful army and energy autonomy.

Donald Trump has authorized the exploitation of protected areas, has relaunched the construction of pipelines and has continued the shale adventure even though it is by nature ephemeral. The political evolution of Saudi Arabia with the megalomania of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman was first managed by extorting as much money as possible from him at each of his follies, then turned to clash. Finally, MBS opened an oil war, not against Russia, but against the US shale industry. It deliberately caused the price to plummet from $70 a barrel to under $30. However, this showdown unexpectedly coincided with the Covid-19 epidemic and the dizzying drop in global energy consumption. The epidemic is also affecting the United States, where some of the senior officers intend to proclaim improved martial law and put an end to the Trump experiment.

These three realities (President Trump's economic strategy, the Saudi rebellion and the coronavirus epidemic) are colliding. To analyse them, we will arbitrarily dissociate them while keeping in mind that each logic can suddenly be disrupted by the other two.

Stanford U. epidemiologist John Ioannidis lambasts the media for panicking the public over Covid-19

Charles Smith
The Georgia Straight
Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:39 UTC

© Stanford University
Epidemiologist and professor of medicine John Ionnadis relies on data to challenge misconceptions about the novel coronavirus.

John Ioannidis, a professor of medicine, epidemiology, and population health at Stanford University, says he's "perfectly happy" to be under virtual lockdown in California due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And he readily acknowledges the importance of sensitizing the public to following instructions to shelter in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. In addition, Ioannidis recognizes that a large number of people may die from COVID-19.

But in a video posted on YouTube, the codirector of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford said he worries that media outlets are "falling into a trap of sensationalism". And he suggested that this is making the situation worse for people.

"We don't want to get them into panic," Ioannidis said. "This doesn't really help."

As of today, there are more than 100,000 deaths that have been attributed to the novel coronavirus. Leading the list is Italy at 18,849, followed by the United States at 18,016.

Pushback: Governors defy Trump who cries 'mutiny'

Quint Forgey, Caitlin Oprysko
Politico
Tue, 14 Apr 2020 08:48 UTC

A day after the president asserted sweeping powers to lift local lockdowns, a number of states said they would go their own way.

The governors of several states hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic defiantly proclaimed dominion over their own affairs Tuesday, pushing back against President Donald Trump's declaration of "total" power as he seeks to revive the cratering American economy.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York was perhaps the most vocal in his rebuke, starkly warning Tuesday that he and Trump "would have a problem" if the White House ordered the state be reopened absent Albany's approval. Cuomo, a Democrat, told NBC's Today show:

"If he thinks he's going to force this state or any state, for that matter, to do something that is reckless or irresponsible, that could endanger human life, literally. Because if we don't reopen correctly, you will see those virus numbers go up again, and more people will die."

Cuomo even threatened legal action in a separate interview on CNN's New Day: If Trump

"ordered me to reopen in a way that would endanger the public health, we would have a constitutional challenge between the state and the federal government, and that would go into the courts, and that would be the worst possible thing he could do at this moment."

Comment: A Twitter Skirmish!

Global battle erupts as Trump pulls WHO funding over coronavirus response

Brooke Singman
Fox News
Wed, 15 Apr 2020 19:16 UTC

Comment: Kudos to Trump. Let this be the beginning of some serious PUSHBACK...

President Trump's decision to suspend funding to the World Health Organization amid the coronavirus crisis touched off an international war of words overnight as Democratic lawmakers in Washington as well as international bodies like the European Union condemned the move.

The president announced Tuesday that the United States would immediately halt funding for the health organization, saying it had put "political correctness over lifesaving measures," noting that the U.S. would undertake a 60-to-90 day investigation into why the "China-centric" WHO had caused "so much death" by "severely mismanaging and covering up" the coronavirus spread.

Republicans on Capitol Hill, many of whom have been sharply critical of the World Health Organization and calling for weeks to get tough on the organization for allegedly helping China suppress information about the outbreak in the early stages, cheered the president's decision.

Comment: When this is said and done, the WHO brass needs to be interrogated and charged with crimes against humanity.

Russia says it uncovered a Ukrainian terrorist cell in Crimea

RFE/RL
Wed, 15 Apr 2020 19:06 UTC

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claims to have uncovered a Ukrainian intelligence "sabotage and terrorism" group in annexed Crimea that included a female Russian military officer who allegedly divulged "state secrets."

The FSB said on April 15 that the Russian servicewoman had handed state secrets to Ukraine's military intelligence in 2017-18, and that a Ukrainian national also allegedly spied on orders from Kyiv.

Both suspects are being investigated for treason and espionage. The Ukrainian national has been detained, while the Russian military officer was put under house arrest because she has a child, the FSB said.

Comment: Sigh. Once again:

Taiwan releases December email to WHO showing unheeded warning about coronavirus

Vandana Rambaran
Fox News
Tue, 14 Apr 2020 18:27 UTC

The World Health Organization is under fire after Taiwan released the contents of a December email inquiring about the person-to-person spread of COVID-19, which it says was ignored by the organization and further denied to provide adequate information about how to fight the virus.

Taiwan is accusing WHO of downplaying the severity and spread of the coronavirus in an attempt to pander to China, even after Taiwan sounded the alarm about at least seven cases of atypical pneumonia that they were aware of in Wuhan, where the virus originated.

When asked about the cases by the media, Taiwan said China's health authorities said, "The cases were believed not SARS; however samples are still under examination, and cases have been isolated for treatment," according to the contents of an email sent by Taiwan's Center for Disease Control and Prevention to WHO on Dec. 31.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you have relevant information to share with us," the email said.

Report of Israeli drone targeting alleged Hezbollah vehicle in Syria

Tim Korso
Sputnik
Wed, 15 Apr 2020 18:10 UTC

© AFP 2020 / Ahmad Gharabli
An Israeli Heron military drone flies over the southern Israeli city of Ashdod near the border with Gaza on November 13, 2019

Damascus has repeatedly accused Israel of conducting illegal airstrikes on Syrian territory. Tel Aviv has indeed claimed responsibility for some of those strikes, insisting that it targeted alleged Iranian forces or its proxies in the Arab Republic, despite Tehran denying their presence in Syria.

A drone, allegedly belonging to the Israeli Air Force has carried out an attack against a vehicle in Syria near the country's border with Lebanon, Reuters reported citing an anonymous security source. According to the media's sources, the car was carrying Hezbollah forces, who managed to escape the vehicle before it was hit with the attack reportedly resulting in no casualties.

At the same time, Lebanese broadcaster LBC has reported that the vehicle could have been blown up and not attacked from the air. Photos allegedly depicting the site of the incident have emerged on Twitter.

Comment: Israel will continue to violate the sovereign territory of its neighbors unless there is some serious pushback. Sow the wind, and eventually Israel will reap the whirlwind. .

Reactions to the corona virus hint of a wider agenda

James ONeill
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 14 Apr 2020 17:29 UTC

The western world has gone into a phase of unprecedented lockdown. Major airlines have ceased international operations. It is an open question is to whether or not they will be able to resume operations when and if the current draconian restrictions are lifted. In Australia, the Federal government has ceased to sit and the government has announced that this parliamentary closure will extend until at least August.

Quite why such a lockdown is necessary is unclear. No convincing explanation has been offered by the government and it is an extreme step that comparable nations in North America, the United Kingdom and all of Europe have found unnecessary. One of the most alarming consequences of this fundamental attack on the notion of Parliamentary accountability is that the decision was met with acceptance by the official Opposition and muted negative comment, if at all, by the major mainstream media.

Media coverage of the pandemic has been extraordinary. At least half of the nightly main television news bulletins have been devoted to coverage of the pandemic, although whether it actually adds to our degree of knowledge is at best debatable.

JP Sears - Why two classes of citizens is a GREAT idea: [Link]

Animanarchy

Is this not a case of, The pot calling the kettle black.

Winternights3

Here's a Mandela Effect for you. I swear I read more than one article saying she died about 4 months ago. 4 Months later I read this - at least I...

scrutinizer

Wait!.. WHAT?! Agents de Surete Ferroviaire with Service Weapon?!? I know I left france a while back, but back then even cops were not allowed...

tof

US politics is as complex as the money supply issue One big scam hidden under layers of deception Tbh..I could care less if she drops down dead...

LMAO

Puppet Masters

Anti-China hawks risk isolating Britain

#FireFauci Now! A rallying cry for a generation

How Trump adapts as realities collide

Stanford U. epidemiologist John Ioannidis lambasts the media for panicking the public over Covid-19

Pushback: Governors defy Trump who cries 'mutiny'

Global battle erupts as Trump pulls WHO funding over coronavirus response

Russia says it uncovered a Ukrainian terrorist cell in Crimea

Taiwan releases December email to WHO showing unheeded warning about coronavirus

Report of Israeli drone targeting alleged Hezbollah vehicle in Syria

Reactions to the corona virus hint of a wider agenda

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