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Heart - Black

Harvard refuses calls to return $8.6mn bailout money, despite sitting on endowment worth more than 100 COUNTRIES' GDP - UPDATE: Harvard relents after Trump threatens endowment fund audit


RT
Wed, 22 Apr 2020 15:30 UTC
harvard students
© Reuters / Brian Snyder
Harvard University has refused a call from President Donald Trump to return millions in coronavirus bailout money, insisting it needs it for financial aid. Trump has threatened to "look at" Harvard's fat $41-billion endowment.

The deep-pocketed Ivy League school stated on Tuesday that it would not return $8.6 million in 'emergency' funding allotted as part of last month's $2.2 trillion CARES Act, despite pleas from several politicians, including Trump and some members of Congress. The generous bailout package showered cash on educational institutions of all stripes without regard for their existing financial reserves, only stipulating that at least half the money go to financial aid for students.

Harvard's refusal followed a press briefing in which Trump called on Harvard, with one of the largest endowments "in the country, maybe in the world," to pay back the government's largesse. "Harvard is going to pay the money back and they shouldn't be taking it," Trump had told reporters on Tuesday.

Comment: Nothing like a little time in the presidential spotlight to bring about a change of heart.

UPDATE 22/04/2020: Harvard reverses course on taking coronavirus bailout money.
The Ivy League university revealed on Wednesday that it would refuse the money it had been allotted under last month's $2.2 trillion coronavirus bailout, complaining in a statement about being singled out for "intense focus by politicians and others."

Despite having the world's largest university endowment, valued at $41 billion as of June, Harvard had just the previous day defied Trump's request that it return the money, claiming it planned to use 100 percent of the funds for student financial assistance.

Trump was far from alone in highlighting the unfairness of an elite university, with more wealth than many countries, receiving emergency funding while Americans struggled to keep small businesses afloat. Several members of Congress had also protested the "obscene" giveaway.

It's not clear what really triggered Harvard's change of heart, given that circumstances cited in its statement - political scrutiny and "evolving guidance" regarding the use of the bailout money - already existed on Tuesday, when the school vowed to keep the money. However, its about-face came less than 24 hours after Trump threatened via Twitter to have the school's "whole 'endowment' system...looked at" if it did not give the money back "now."


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Birthday Cake

NY Governor Cuomo snaps: 'You want to go to work? Go take a job as an essential worker.'

Hank Berrien
The Daily Wire
Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
Governor Andrew Cuomo
© Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty ImagesGovernor Andrew Cuomo
On Wednesday at a briefing to give an update on the response of his state government to the coronavirus crisis, New York governor Andrew Cuomo stated that economic hardship was "not death." He also snapped at a reporter who asked if there was a fundamental right to work if the government couldn't get a person the money when they needed it, "By the way, you want to go to work? Go take a job as an essential worker. Do it tomorrow."

Comment: Sounds a bit like Cuomo just had his "let them eat cake" moment. Some reactions were forthcoming:
The incongruity of the perfectly groomed governor wearing a pressed shirt with french cufflinks telling millions of New Yorkers to suck it up and deal with not being able to pay rent or feed their families did not escape Cuomo's critics, who were quick to describe his comments as evil or a "slap in the face."

"Which essential worker cut his hair?" wondered journalist Greg Pollowitz.

Many others chimed in accusing Cuomo of saying what amounted to "let them eat cake," the comment long attributed to French Queen Marie Antoinette as proof of her indifference to the plight of the starving peasants - before they revolted and had her executed on the guillotine.

More charitable ones compared Cuomo to fellow Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who recently boasted on a comedy show about a freezer stocked with ice cream while holding up relief funding for small businesses.
See also: Let them eat ice-cream!

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Brick Wall

Israel: The number of Palestinian child prisoners increases during COVID-19

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
File photo of a Palestinian child being arrested in Jerusalem
File photo of a Palestinian child being arrested in Jerusalem, from the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association site.
There has been a six percent increase in the number of child prisoners since January

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, Israel has stepped its arrest of Palestinian children in the occupied territories, a new report from Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) says.

According to the report, released on Tuesday, 194 Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons and detention centers, marking a six percent increase from January.

Using data released by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), DCIP found that as of March 31 only 28 percent of Palestinian child detainees were actually serving out sentences, while the rest, over 60 percent of them (117 out of 194) were being held in pretrial custodial detention.

The data also indicated that the majority of the detainees were ages 16-17, while 30 were ages 14-15. Israeli forces have been documented as arresting Palestinian children as young as 12 years old.

Comment: These horrific types of stories never seem to stop coming out of Israel. See also:

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Attention

Best of the Web: Nobel-winning scientist who discovered HIV claims SARS-CoV-2 virus 'contains HIV genetic sequence', likely 'leaked from a lab'


Livemint
Sun, 19 Apr 2020 19:15 UTC

Comment: Of course, he gets the source wrong (Wuhan, China), but still, what a bombshell if true that this thing has been genetically modified by mad scientists. Even IF this came out of the Wuhan BSL-4 bio-lab, that's a WHO-accredited facility with heavy academic and govt links to US and European bio-weapons labs...


laboratory
© ANIFile Photo
French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier has sparked a fresh controversy by claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from a lab, and is the result of an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against the AIDS virus.

In an interview given to French CNews channel and during a podcast by Pourquoi Docteur, professor Montagnier, who co-discovered HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), claimed the presence of elements of HIV in the genome of the coronavirus and even elements of the "germ of malaria" are highly suspect, according to a report in Asia Times.

"The Wuhan city laboratory has specialized in these coronaviruses since the early 2000s. They have expertise in this area," he was quoted as saying.

The theory that Covid-19 virus originated in the lab is making rounds for quite some time.


Comment: See also: Coronavirus now has thousands of strains and mutations, some rare, some more pathogenic

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Broom

Harry & Megan tell British tabloids to get lost

Barbara McCarthy
RT
Wed, 22 Apr 2020 07:01 UTC
Harry Meghan
© Getty Images / Chris JacksonPrince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, March 09, 2020, London, England
It may have come 23 years too late, but finally the British gutter press is getting its well deserved comeuppance from a member of the royal family. This week, royal renegades Meghan and Harry did the unthinkable.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wrote to four British tabloid newspapers stating they would no longer deal with them, because the outlets had run stories that were "distorted, false, or invasive beyond reason."

Their letter - to The Sun, The Mirror, The Daily Mail and Daily Express - stated that "there will be no corroboration and zero engagement" with the publications, their websites or their Sunday counterparts.

The couple said in no uncertain terms that they will not "offer themselves up as currency for an economy of click bait and distortion."

Comment: In general, the Royals don't really directly engage with much of press anyway, their PR may but it's usually with specific outlets and they tend to only do it when it's of benefit to them, and this isn't going to stop the named outlets reporting on their lives.

Yes, the press is intrusive and needs reforming, but what's more concerning, and affects the nation, not just Harry and Megan, is that there is no mainstream British 'free press'. For anyone paying attention it's obvious the British press is owned and directed by the few, for the agendas of those few; now that's a story and that's important. It's telling and is typical of the royals that they have little to say on this matter.

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Handcuffs

Return to sender? Mayor de Blasio astounded his freed criminals committed new crimes

M. Dowling
Independent Sentinel
Tue, 21 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
Rikers Island
© APRikers Island, New York City's main jail
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, née Warren Wilhelm, is shocked that the criminals he released over virus concerns committed new crimes and are back in the slammer. He said Monday it is "unconscionable" that criminals released early from prison over coronavirus fears would commit new crimes.

"I think it's unconscionable just on a human level that folks were shown mercy and this is what some of them have done," de Blasio told reporters during a briefing Monday.

Yes, imagine criminals behaving unconscionably? Who would have seen that coming? Everyone will just keep doing what they're doing, he confirmed.


Despite assurances from Mayor de Blasio that only nonviolent, elderly or chronically ill inmates would be sprung, 329 prisoners accused of violent felonies were released from city jails in the three weeks up to April 6, at least some under age 30.
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Handcuffs

'Americans won't stand for it': Outrage and protests as Idaho mother arrested for letting children play in park


RT
Wed, 22 Apr 2020 19:35 UTC
Sara Brady
© Main image: Idaho Freedom Foundation; inset: Ada County Sheriff's OfficeSara Brady's arrest prompted outcry in Idaho and online.
The case of a mother in Meridian, Idaho, who was arrested after police say she violated a city order by letting her children play in a playground has sparked a furious backlash and protests against Covid-19 restrictions.

Sara Brady was arrested and charged with one count of misdemeanor trespassing, following the incident at Kleiner Park in Meridian on Tuesday.

Video footage shows Brady being led away from the scene in handcuffs as several other women with young children plead with the police officers for an explanation for the arrest.


"As a person, does this make sense to you? As a person, not as a police officer," one can be heard asking as the mother is perp-walked out of the park on the sunny afternoon.
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Calendar

Santa Clara Co., CA confirms Feb. 6 coronavirus victim, three weeks earlier than previous official report

Rosie Perper
Business Insider
Tue, 21 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
Wall CA flag/Virus
© Unknown
California's Santa Clara County on Tuesday announced that two people who died in their homes in February later tested positive for the new coronavirus, suggesting that the first COVID-19 death in the US occurred weeks earlier than previously thought.

In a statement Tuesday, officials from Santa Clara County said the medical examiner tested three people who died in their homes for coronavirus. One person died February 6, another February 17, and a third on March 6.

According to the statement, the tests were sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which confirmed on Tuesday that all three patients tested positive for coronavirus.

The US recorded its first official death from COVID-19 on February 28 — a man in his 50s in Washington state. The new data suggests the country's first death occurred at least three weeks prior.

California confirmed its first coronavirus death on March 4 — an elderly patient in Placer County, near Sacramento. Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose in the Bay Area, initially recorded its first death on March 9 — a woman in her 60s.
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Clipboard

Michigan's Gov. Whitmer hires a far-left political group to collect Michigan residents' medical data

M. Dowling
Independent Sentinel
Tue, 21 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
Whitmer
© APMichigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Whitmer has teamed up with a progressive data mining activist group tied to socialist Democrats to gather medical information on Michigan residents throughout the state. The purpose is to set up contact tracing. The far-left politically-tied group will have detailed medical information of residents all across the state.

Whitmer announced Monday the voter/individual contact platform Every Action VAN had been selected to help track information and contacts and organize phone banking related to coronavirus research and response. EveryAction had been contracted with the state through a third party called Great Lakes Community Engagement, which specializes in outreach campaigns, The Detroit News reported.

Comment: See also:

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Dollar Gold

Best of the Web: Millionaire 'Democrat' Nancy Pelosi 'relates to the suffering masses' by showing off $24,000 dollar fridge stocked with $13 pots of ice cream

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Wed, 22 Apr 2020 19:20 UTC
Marie Antoinette didn't actually say "Let them eat cake" but you won't believe who is saying "Let them eat ice cream." Join James for this edition of #PropagandaWatch as he explores the latest fad among the celebrities and political puppets: Shaming poor people!
Queen Pelosi
© CDN
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