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Farage criticizes Bojo's handling of the coronavirus, some compare his lack of expertise to Greta Thunberg

Nigel Farage
Newsweek
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 14:07 UTC
Farage
© AFP / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Samuel Corum / AFP / CARL COURT
(L) Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage; (R) A BBC logo inside Broadcasting House
The first duty of any government is to protect the wellbeing of its citizens and their country. In times of crisis, the economy must always come second.

Last week, Boris Johnson shambolically contradicted Professor Chris Whitty, the UK government's chief medical adviser, about whether Britain was still in the so-called "containment" phase of the coronavirus disease or had moved on to the "delay" phase. Johnson said that dealing with coronavirus was all about timing.

Now, Britain's premier is following events rather than leading them. By continuing to allow dozens of airplanes from areas of Italy which have been affected by the disease to land on British soil without even bothering to check those arriving for signs of illness, he and his government are being negligent. They are not carrying out their principal responsibility of keeping their people safe.

Comment: RT reports on the public's response to Farage voicing his opinions on the coronavirus hysteria:
[...]

Many critics laid into the public broadcaster for giving a platform to a divisive figure with no medical expertise. One person sarcastically asked: "Would that be the internationally renowned and respected infectious disease expert Nigel Farage?"

There were those who slammed the social media outrage over Farage's appearance, however, with some suggesting people were guilty of operating in an echo chamber - hitting back at those who suggested the Brexit Party leader's opinions had no value due to his lack of expertise on the matter.

Asked whether Farage was a doctor or scientist, one person fired back: "Is Greta [Thunberg]? Yet everyone bows down to her opinion and she's on stages with world leaders."

[...]
See also: Panicked politicians making a show of 'doing something' are the real danger of the coronavirus outbreak

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Fire

Explosion at chemical plant in Barcelona kills 1, injures 13


Reuters
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:20 UTC
Ambulance
© AP Photo / Emilio Morenatti
One person died and 13 others were injured in an explosion on Tuesday at a small chemical plant in Barcelona, local emergency services in Catalonia's regional capital said.

There was no health risk to the residents of La Verneda neighborhood where the plant was located, said a Barcelona city government spokeswoman.

Officials were checking with the plant owners to determine what type of products exploded. Debris from the blast, including bolts, was visible on a nearby street, footage from local channel Beteve showed.

Comment: As mentioned above, it was only 2 months ago that a similar explosion occurred in Spain: Huge explosion rocks chemical plant in Spain, multiple casualties reported

And it's not just in Spain, see below for a list of just some of the other recent explosions at industrial plants: See also: SOTT Exclusive: The growing threat of underground fires and explosions

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X

University of Victoria de-platforms conservative speaker after threats of left-wing violence

Nico Johnson
The Post Millennial
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 00:01 UTC
university of victoria Aaron Gunn

U Vic has cancelled a conservative from speaking because there were "considerable concerns around safety and security for this event.”
The University of Victoria has cancelled a conservative activist from speaking at a "free speech club," because there were "considerable concerns around safety and security for this event."

As a result of this, the university would only allow the event to continue if the undergraduate student who organized the event paid for a security detail in order to guarantee the protection of both the speaker and the university's property.

The event in question was organized so that students could hear a conservative perspective over the recent #ShutDownCanada protests, which led to key areas of Canada's infrastructure being blockaded. Aaron Gunn, a mainstream conservative commentator with a large online following, was given the opportunity to express this perspective by the university's free speech club.

Comment: See also:

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Blue Pill

Corporations and military powers are selling phony "wokeness" on International Women's Day

Alan Macleod
Mint Press News
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
International Women’s Day at Washington Square Park
© Eduardo Munoz Alvarez | AP
Women cover their faces as they take part in a rally celebrating International Women’s Day at Washington Square Park in New York, March 8, 2020.
From Raytheon to the IDF, "woke" corporations and military powers are using International Women's Day to shore up their "social justice" credentials.

It was a familiar site yesterday on International Women's Day, as military contractors and other giant corporations used the holiday to attempt to associate themselves with progressive causes and agendas. Weapons manufacturer Raytheon positioned itself as a feminist brand on Twitter. The United States Air Force - currently bombing seven countries simultaneously - announced that "On International Women's Day, we celebrate the women that lead the defense of our nation throughout our service. An equal world is an enabled world," sharing pictures of women in uniform. Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) created an "inspirational" video of its inclusive history, tweeting: "Here's to their risk-taking, barrier-breaking, history-making. Here's to their glass-ceiling-smashing, odds-defying, limits-pushing. Here's to the women of the IDF."


Comment: See also: International Women's Day was conceived as a celebration of women's rights, but its turned into a pseudo-feminist nightmare

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Stop

Mistrial declared at federal trial of accused CIA leaker Joshua Schulte

Ben Feuerherd and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
The New York Post
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 15:50 UTC
A courtroom sketch of Joshua Schulte.
© AP
A courtroom sketch of Joshua Schulte.
A Manhattan federal jury on Monday found a former CIA programmer guilty of lying to the FBI and of contempt — but failed to reach a verdict on the far more serious charges that he turned a trove of secret documents from the spy agency over to Wikileaks.

US District Judge Paul Crotty declared a mistrial in the case of accused leaker Joshua Schulte after the jury declared itself "extremely deadlocked" on the eight most serious charges at the trial — including illegal gathering and transmission of national defense information.

Schulte, 31, still faces up to five years on the lesser counts.

Prosecutors accused the onetime programmer of pulling off the largest breach of classified information in the history of the CIA when he allegedly gave hackers access to the agency's top-secret hacking tools.

At his four-week trial, federal prosecutors portrayed Schulte as a vindictive and disgruntled employee who put US security at risk by leaking information on how the CIA spied on foreign adversaries.

"These leaks were devastating to national security," Assistant US Attorney Matthew Laroche said during closing arguments last week. "The CIA's cyber tools were gone in an instant. Intelligence gathering operations around the world stopped immediately."

Comment:



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NPC

Cancel culture comes for Woody Allen (again)


Quillette
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 23:36 UTC
woody allen
In 2003, a 19-year-old worker at a Colorado resort accused NBA basketball star Kobe Bryant of raping her in his hotel room. Bryant's endorsement deals were canceled, and it looked like this might be the end of his career. But prosecutors dropped the case when the alleged victim decided not to testify. Bryant, who admitted that he had engaged in adulterous sex with his accuser, argued that the liaison had been consensual, apologized publicly, and settled a subsequent civil suit on undisclosed terms.

By the time Bryant died in a helicopter crash earlier this year, his public image had been restored, and Bryant received the NBA's equivalent of a state funeral. When Washington Post writer Felicia Sonmez tweeted out a reference to the sexual-assault allegation amidst the grieving, she was suspended from work, and chastised by the Post's executive editor, who told her, "A real lack of judgment to tweet this. Please stop. You're hurting this institution."
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Bullseye

Money for wars but not vaccines? Bernie panel ladles harsh truths as Americans face paying out-of-pocket for coronavirus treatment


RT
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 23:19 UTC
US soldiers
© REUTERS/Spc. Robert Woodward; REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A panelist who took part in a coronavirus roundtable hosted by presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders scoffed at the idea that free vaccines to combat the illness would be untenable, noting that there's always cash to fund US wars.

The Vermont senator assembled a group of medical professionals in Detroit on Tuesday to discuss how the United States could best deal with the ongoing health crisis.

During the question and answer session, one audience member highlighted how Sanders has promised to provide free vaccines against the illness, and asked how the self-described democratic-socialist plans to pay for it.

Sanders chuckled, and then yielded to a member of his panel, Deborah Burger, who serves as the president of National Nurses United, the country's largest nurses' union.
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Health

Coronavirus death toll in Italy jumps to 631 from 463 in a day, 10,000+ cases throughout the country, plus other COVID-19 updates


RT
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 17:35 UTC
italy rome mask
© REUTERS/Remo Casilli
A delivery man wears a protective face mask as he rides a bicycle at Campo de Fiori, in Rome, Italy, March 10, 2020.
Another 168 people in Italy have died of the COVID-19 coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 631, while the total number of cases rose by over ten percent to 10,149. The entire country is locked down in quarantine.

Tuesday's jump in the deaths, from the previous record of 463, represents a 36 percent rise and the largest in absolute numbers since the infection was first noticed on February 21, the Civil Protection Agency said.

Some 877 patients were in intensive care, up from 733 on Monday. The number of patients who recovered has also risen, however, and stood at 1,004 on Tuesday as opposed to 724 the day before.

The rising numbers come on the day the nation-wide quarantine imposed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte went into effect, closing off Italy's borders. All public gatherings, including sporting events, have been banned and civilian movement has been restricted. Schools and universities have been shuttered through April 3.

Comment: Spain's parliament has been suspended for at least one week after a lawmaker tested positive. Israel has introduced mandatory quarantine for all visitors coming from abroad. Saudi Arabia will impose a $133k fine on any visitor providing inaccurate health or travel history disclosures. Iran's leader Khamenei cancelled his traditional New Year's speech in Mashhad. Iraqi authorities have closed the holy city of Najaf. And while cases are exploding in Iran and Italy, China continues to see their own numbers going down - all temporary hospitals in Wuhan have now been shut down. (See more updates and stats here.)

For an idea of what Italian hospitals and doctors are going experiencing, here are some accounts. The biggest issue is that the hospitals are not equipped for the number of serious cases requiring intensive care. Doctors are having to choose who gets a spot in the ICU, and who doesn't. These are cases over and above their regular workload. So while numbers in absolute terms are not yet very high - hospitals are already working at or above their capacity to treat serious cases coming in. If China could reverse the exponential spread of its own cases, other countries should be able to do the same. In the meantime, the medical system will be struggling to keep up in countries where that has yet to happen and spread of cases is still growing exponentially.

See also:

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Bug

Black Widow: Now that female superheroes are mainstream, are people ready for a RUSSIAN one?

Matthew Kadish
RT
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 09:44 UTC
Scarlett Johansson
© Marvel Studios
Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow (2020) Dir: Cate Shortland
Black Widow is a movie about a female superhero - supposedly a big selling point in the #MeToo era. The problem is she is also Russian, a risky label in these politically charged times. Or are Americans too jaded to even care?

Much is being made in the media about Marvel Studio's female-led superhero movie Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, the highly trained superspy who has been a mainstay in many Marvel films, dating back to her debut in Iron Man 2 in 2010. Though Johansson's portrayal of the character has been extremely popular among audiences, Marvel has been slow to give the character her own movie, until now.

This snail's pace of development for such a high-profile female superhero has drawn much criticism from both the media and fandom alike, along with controversies surrounding Johansson being paid less than her male counterparts in the Avengers films. With the success of female-led films such as Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, many who support women's representation are eyeing Black Widow to help elevate the role of women in the superhero genre - a movie genre that has traditionally been dominated by male characters.

But the real question when it comes to the Black Widow film isn't so much 'are audiences ready for a female superhero?' After all, the success of recent female-led superhero movies and characters proves that they are. No, in this politically charged time period during an election year, the better question is, 'are audiences ready for a Russian superhero?'
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Passport

Sanity prevails: UK appeals court rules people cannot define themselves as gender neutral on passports

Maya Oppenheim
The Independent
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 17:06 UTC
uk british blue passport
© Shutterstock
A campaigner who wants passports to include a category for those who do not identify as male or female has lost a Court of Appeal challenge over gender neutral passports.

Christie Elan-Cane, who wants passports to include an "X" category for such individuals, believes the current UK passport policy infringes the right to privacy. But senior judges dismissed the appeal, a decision Elan-Cane described as "devastating".

The campaigner, who has been fighting for legal and social recognition for non-gendered identity for more than 25 years, added: "It is bad news for everyone who cannot obtain a passport without the requirement imposed by the UK government that they should collude in their own social invisibility.

Comment: Non-binary people may have an 'identity', but their DNA still has an immutable gender. No piece of paper can undo that. What will the activist do if/when passports include biometic data? Some have already succumbed to the madness:

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