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Vader

Kamala Harris was not a 'progressive prosecutor'

kamala
© Damon Winter/The New York Times
Before she was a senator, Kamala Harris was an attorney general and district attorney who acted in ways that could hardly be described as "progressive," Lara Bazelon writes
With the growing recognition that prosecutors hold the keys to a fairer criminal justice system, the term "progressive prosecutor" has almost become trendy. This is how Senator Kamala Harris of California, a likely presidential candidate and a former prosecutor, describes herself.

But she's not.

Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the state's attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent. Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors.

Star of David

Biden (or someone) bucks progressives, won't denounce Israeli Occupation

biden israel occupation policy democrats
© Carlos Latuff/Mondoweiss
The Sanders wing has scored a lot of victories in the Democratic platform — but didn't get all it wanted on Israel.

In early July, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and other influential progressives were convinced that they had secured a critical concession from Joe Biden's campaign: For the first time, the Democratic Party platform would assert that Palestinians had a right to live free of foreign "occupation," a scarcely veiled reference to Israel.

But days before a draft platform was released on July 15, the presumptive Democratic nominee personally weighed in, according to three sources familiar with the discussion, ordering his advisors not to include any reference to Israeli "occupation." The decision, according to these sources, followed heavy last-minute lobbying by pro-Israel advocacy groups. Biden aides subsequently phoned progressive leaders and urged them to drop their demand to declare Israel an occupying power, arguing that the inclusion of the phrase threatened to undermine unity within the Democratic Party.

Bad Guys

New Zealand's fanatical PM shuts down Auckland for THREE DAYS because of FOUR 'cases'!

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
© Getty
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Auckland will go into lockdown and the rest of the country will go into level 2.

It comes after four cases of community transmission from the same family were confirmed - after 102 days without any.

Ardern and director general of health Ashley Bloomfield announced the news tonight and an alert was sent to New Zealanders' phones.

As of noon tomorrow, Auckland will move to level 3 for three days until midnight on Friday.

The rest of the country will move to alert level 2 at midday tomorrow - until midnight on Friday.

Magnify

Western media's favorite Hong Kong 'freedom struggle writer' is American ex-Amnesty staffer in yellowface

Kong Tsung-gan, Brian Kern
© yellowface media
Kong Tsung-gan is Brian Kern
A prominent Hong Kong pundit and anti-China activist named Kong Tsung-gan has become a go-to source for Western media. An investigation by The Grayzone confirms Kong as a fake identity employed by an American teacher who's a ubiquitous figure at local protests.

An American man with ties to Amnesty International and key Hong Kong separatist figures has been posing online as a Hong Kong native named Kong Tsung-gan. Routinely cited as a grassroots activist and writer by major media organizations and published in English-language media, the fictitious character Kong appears to have been concocted to disseminate anti-China propaganda behind the cover of yellowface.

Through Kong Tsung-gan's prolific digital presence and uninterrogated reputation in mainstream Western media, he disseminates a constant stream of content hyping up the Hong Kong "freedom struggle" while clamoring for the US to turn up the heat on China.

Whispers about Kong's true identity have been circulating on social media among Hong Kong residents, and was even mentioned in a brief account last December by The Standard.


Comment: Super Dupers: A well-propagandized mindset tends not to scratch the surface to discover what lies beneath a news story. False loyalty is purposed to be the stronger conviction, remaining firm even after a supported reveal. The Kern tool has played this deceit to the hilt. Even if exposure brings his 'run' to an end, propaganda damage has been done and can't be retracted.

See also:


Propaganda

Pompeo denounces proposed Russian law as 'burdensome' limitation on US propaganda outlets

Pompeo
© Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool via Reuters
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has voiced a protest over a proposed Russian rule that would require labeling of propaganda content, saying it would burden "independent" information work of outlets such as Voice of America.

"This decree will impose new burdensome requirements that will further inhibit RFE/RL's and VOA's ability to operate within Russia," Pompeo said Monday, commenting on the draft rule published by the media regulator Roskomnadzor.

Pompeo called VOA and its sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty "vital sources of independent news and information for the people of Russia" for "more than 70 years."

Far from independent, however, they were both established as US propaganda outlets at the dawn of the Cold War. They are fully funded by the government, and the charter of their parent organization - now known as US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) - mandates they
"be consistent with the broad foreign policy objectives of the United States" and "provide a surge capacity to support United States foreign policy objectives during crises abroad."
The 1948 law that established these outlets outright prohibited their content from being broadcast in the US itself, until the Obama administration amended it in 2013.

Comment: Russia is leveling the playing field with similar measures while calling out the US on its disrespect and manipulation.


Brain

Losing it: Biden seems to suggest Michael Brown was a victim on anniversary of death. Obama-Biden DOJ said officer acted in 'self-defence'

Biden
© Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Former VP and presidential candidate Joe Biden
Presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden portrayed Michael Brown as the victim of a police shooting on Sunday — the sixth anniversary of Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri — despite the fact that the Obama-Biden Department of Justice determined that officer Darren Wilson had acted out of "self-defense."

"It's been six years since Michael Brown's life was taken in Ferguson — reigniting a movement," Biden tweeted. "We must continue the work of tackling systemic racism and reforming policing."

Comment: There was, actually, eye-witness testimony and evidence to the contrary in the Brown-Wilson tragedy. Biden's confusion may be a conflation of the two versions. His cognitive decline suggests he is unable to sort his facts nor filter his memories.

See also:


Bad Guys

Intel drama queens say Iran seeking to 'undermine' Trump, Russia working to 'denigrate' Biden in election

American Intelligence Community
The intelligence community warned Friday that rival nations once again are attempting to influence U.S. policy and elections in a variety of ways, declaring that Iran wants to "undermine" President Trump while Russia is working to "primarily denigrate" former Vice President Joe Biden.

In the latest election threat update, officials also said China "prefers" that Trump "does not win reelection" in November.

Last month, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was "primarily concerned" with China, Russia and Iran "seeking to compromise" the 2020 presidential election.

Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center Bill Evanina on Friday revealed additional information on those threats.

Oscar

In the Pentagon and China's propaganda wars, greedy Hollywood is a happy helper for both - the people and art are the victims

tom cruise top gun
© Global Look Press/Paramount Pictures/ZUMAPRESS.com
Top Gun (1986) Dir: Tony Scott
Hollywood won't choose between the totalitarian Sauron of China and the authoritarian Darth Vader of the US military, but instead will support both evils, and the people of the world and the art of cinema will suffer greatly.

A propaganda war is being waged by China and the US military for control of Hollywood, and therefore the minds of the public, for their own nefarious purposes.

Not surprisingly, like whores at a battlefield brothel, the morally ambiguous harlots of Hollywood are trying to profit from servicing both combatants. PEN America, a group championing free expression, recently released an exhaustive report detailing how China has taken control of Hollywood.

The report states: "The Chinese government, under Xi Jinping especially, has heavily emphasized its desire to ensure that Hollywood filmmakers - to use their preferred phrase - 'tell China's story well.'"

China strictly controls films released in its own market, which is soon to become the largest box office in the world, and Hollywood wants in on that lucrative action. So, it appeases its Chinese overlords by obeying censorial demands, like whitewashing a Tibetan character from Marvel's 'Dr. Strange', and strenuously self-censoring, like when it canceled a planned sequel to 'World War Z'.

This Orwellian sentiment of controlled storytelling to fit a government-approved narrative is not limited to the communists of China, however. The US military has long had a very fruitful arrangement with Hollywood in which it exchanges free military equipment, expertise, personnel and locations in exchange for ultimate control over scripts. Capt. Russell Coons, Director of Navy Office of Information West, sounded like Xi when he described Pentagon expectations while cooperating with a movie. "We're not going to support a program that ... presents us in a compromising way."

Comment: For more on China's role in Hollywood:

As for the Pentagon's influence, Tom Secker's work at Spy Culture is essential.


Star of David

Israeli occupation forces kill young Palestinian woman - 24th this year

jenin idf
© ODAY DAIBES/APA IMAGES
ISRAELI FORCES ON PATROL NEAR THE WEST BANK CITY OF JENIN IN MAY 2020.
A young Palestinian woman was pronounced dead on Friday afternoon after she succumbed to wounds sustained by Israeli military gunfire early Friday morning before dawn.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that 23-year-old Dalia Samoudi died of a gunshot wound to her chest that punctured her aorta, liver, and pancreas, leaving her in critical condition.

After undergoing several surgeries, doctors were unable to save her, and she passed away.

Local media reported that Samoudi was injured during a violent Israeli search and arrest raid in the city of Jenin in the early hours of Friday morning.

According to reports from Wafa, the official news agency of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israeli forces raided the al-Jaberiyyat neighborhood of Jenin where they "interrogated and threatened to re-arrest a former prisoner after breaking into his house."

In response to the army's raid, local youth clashed with the soldiers and reportedly attempted to block the army's passage further into the city, causing the soldiers to open fire on protesters.

Palestinian media said Israeli forces fired tear gas, sound bomb, and live ammunition during the raid.

X

Chinese firms that fail US accounting standards to be delisted from stock exchange as of 2022

Masked people in Shanghai
© Reuters / Aly Song
People wearing protective face masks in Shanghai, China March 10, 2020
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said companies from China and other countries that do not comply with accounting standards will be delisted from U.S. stock exchanges as of the end of 2021.

Mnuchin and other officials recommended the move to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week to ensure that Chinese firms are held to the same standards as U.S. companies, prompting China to call for frank dialogue.

Mnuchin told a White House briefing the SEC was expected to adopt the recommendations. "As of the end of next year ... they all have to comply with the same exact accounting, or they will be delisted on the exchanges," he said.

The recommendation is part of a push by the Trump administration to correct what it calls major imbalances in ties between the world's two largest economies. Tensions between the two countries have flared in past months over China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Hong Kong and human rights.