Off to punish China with a spanking:
Bending to White House pressure, U.S. board delays Federal pension fund investments in Chinese stocks
be careful of the consequences.

Posted by: Likklemore | May 13 2020 15:31 utc | 3

b noted I’m partially guilt my views and opinions still remain the same. Thanks JC

Posted by: JC | May 13 2020 15:33 utc | 5

Many signs that ‘leaders’ knew something was up and/or coming in January 2020 exist— news etc. was pretty public
(25 jan – about 2.7 K were infected, 80 died in Wuhan, it was later reported..)
– Several reports of Trump being warned of a dangerous disease etc. which he ignored
– Agnes Buzyn, the then F Min. of Health has admitted that in Jan “she foresaw the tsunami that was to come” – she lied to the public, was reassuring
– Shi Zengli (the Bat Lady, expert on viruses) published ‘the’ paper detailing the genome sequence of the 2019-nCoV (published 3 Feb, it must have been submitted in Jan.)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2012-7
– News about a novel corona virus was common
Contagion Live News (USA) lists it in top news on 12 Jan, at no. 4.
https://www.contagionlive.com/news/top-infectious-disease-news-of-the-weekjanuary-12-2019
The genome sequence was lodged with GenBank on 11 Jan.
http://virological.org/t/novel-2019-coronavirus-genome/319
What does all this mean? One possible answer is that the virus has been ‘active’ since, say, March 2019, or even earlier (see previous thread), but was not identified as a cause (confused with flu, pneumonia, vaping, old age co-morbidities, etc.) until ppl started falling down in Wuhan, and only the Chinese, in the shape of Bat Lady and her team, were capable of realising and detailing what was happening. Maybe. Maybe not.

Posted by: Noirette | May 13 2020 16:32 utc | 7

So, the Russia collusion scandal is an empty shell after it was exposed in Congressional testimony that Crowdstrike had found no evidence of Russia hacking the DNC. Its odd that no one asks the question behind the reason for the ruse or demanding someone be prosecuted for inflicting us with the most misguided accusation against a world nuclear power. I don’t think the axiom of ‘the cover up was worse than the crime’ applies here. The admission to Congress caps a long string of events that make our democracy appear the sham it is. I think the overall timeline goes like this; Hillary buys the DNC, Bernie Sanders runs, no one in power thinks he has a chance and ignores his campaign, since Hillary had already acquired the nomination through contract deceit and connections, the Sanders campaign grows and makes Hillary’s coronation not a done deal, someone at the DNC feels that what Hillary is doing is wrong for democracy and despises the cheating against the Sanders campaign and proceeds to leak the communications of the DNC to expose the charade, Hillary’s scheme is so complete she even manages to get her favored opponent to win the Republican nomination, the leak is identified through channels(probably an intelligence professional exposed the leak to HRC through privileged information ) but the person in question is not known yet, In response to the growing popularity Sanders campaign the blame is focused onto the Sanders campaign to try to score a primary shift and dent the Sanders campaign, the charge doesn’t work, but the media and the DNC proceeds to snuff out the Sanders campaign, Crowdstrike identifies the leaker, but doesn’t disclose the information to the public, Wikileaks notifies the public that they have acquired a trove of leaked emails from the DNC, Guccifer 2.0(CIA or Atlantic Council fake hacker) releases a bunch of nonsense useless information claiming that they had hacked the DNC front running the Wikileaks email release while Wikileaks was still screening the emails for private information, thus putting the concept of an international hack into play to cover up the malfeasance exposed in the emails, Seth Rich is assassinated eliminating the actual leaker and leaving a void to be filled by the Hillary campaign, Trump touts the release of the DNC emails by Wikileaks, even though he had nothing to do with it in the first place, but the HRC campaign uses the announcement to claim that Wikileaks and Trump are in collusion with Russia to steal the nomination, Trump unexpectedly pulls off the win over the HRC campaign, HRC and company try to paint Trump as a traitor to hamper his administration by deeming him illegitimate due to the fake Russian hacking scandal. I don’t know if the timeline I’m putting out here is right since I’m pulling from Memory regarding the 2016 campaign, but I feel that since they crammed that crap into our faces 24-7 for almost 3 years, these conspirators should be facing justice, every last one of them.

Posted by: ET | May 13 2020 16:40 utc | 9

Given the dominance of The Rona in the news media, many other important topics have been eclipsed.
As one who has been following the conflist in and around Syria, I wonder just what is happening in the north west and along the Turkish border. Is al-Tanf still in US control? What about other border crossings with Iraq? Are the recent upticks in ISIS attecks in Iraq an indication that the USA is flexing to maintain control as they have been asked to leave?
R&U viseo has continued to post footage from these areas. Syper has slowed down to standstill. ANNA news has some very good documenting. I wonder what the SAA and Tiger Forces are doing as the global supply chain slows down. This is probably a good time to assess, move assets around and get ready for a final push.

Posted by: Chevrus | May 13 2020 16:43 utc | 11

There’s a thing called paragraphs. Use them.

Posted by: occupatio | May 13 2020 16:56 utc | 13

“The US military is hell-bent on trying to overpower China”
link

Posted by: arby | May 13 2020 17:12 utc | 15

Michael Hudson has a new (Sunday) post: Dollar Recycling and Military Encirclement

More and more of the U.S. federal debt has been owed to foreign central banks. That means that foreign countries are, in effect, financing the costs of surrounding them(selves) with the 800 U.S. military bases. This enables the United States to make military threats, in case they cannot conquer you intellectually by making you follow the University of Chicago and IMF financialization policy.

This transcript is from last November’s “International Seminar on Land, Finance, and De-dollarization”, which was held in Macau, China. De-dollarization is happening. When the Fed holds all the dollars and the rest of the world has none, that will be the end of Federal Reserve Notes.

Posted by: Trailer Trash | May 13 2020 17:25 utc | 17

A vaccine for the coronavirus is expected to take years to develop, if it’s developed at all. Is it really possible that one can be ready by the end of July as the Russian Health Minister reportedly claimed today?
https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/68670/

Posted by: Brendan | May 13 2020 17:48 utc | 19

Trailer Trash @ 17.  Great article
Unfortunately the US Treasury has become a dangerous substitute for gold as a global standard.  Through the IMF and World Bank the US has pillaged many countries.  Also the US Treasury is currently considered as the best collateral backing the crazy derivatives market.
As Hudson mentions the way out is being shown by China, Russian and Iran trying to come up with their own currency space that becomes large enough to be used as a more reliable, multipolar global standard through efforts such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Posted by: financial matters | May 13 2020 18:04 utc | 21

@ 16 mina… not surprising – princess cruise ships are owned by a british-american corp – carnaval corporation and plc… they are the biggest and wealthiest… why is it they can’t afford to pay to get their slave labourers back home and instead are content to let them die of causes like suicide and etc?? what does that say about this corporation, or the oversight bodies governing such corporations?? their stock price is presently back to 1995 levels… i hope they die but knowing how the system works, they will probably get a federal reserve bailout..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Corporation_%26_plc

Posted by: james | May 13 2020 18:16 utc | 23

While we are buried under the ‘Rona, there is just as important news. Democratic Party may need to switch out the Biden horse.
Biden has been named in the Russiagate plot – He knew.
Unmasking The Unmaskers: Biden, Brennan, Clapper, & Powers Named In DNI Just-Released List
LINK

A list of Obama administration officials who participated in the ‘unmasking’ of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has been released by Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley. The names include former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former Vice President Joe Biden.[.]
The revelation comes after Biden was caught trying to lie about his knowledge of the Flynn investigation during a Tuesday morning interview – changing course after host George Stephanopoulos pointed out his documented attendance at a January 5 Oval Office meeting in which key members of the Obama administration discussed the ongoing investigation into Flynn’s intercepted contacts with the Russian ambassador.[.]

to be fair, Biden frequently displays bouts of “senior moments” —–
And before the unmasking details came to the light of day, Wall Street analyst, Charles Ortel asks ‘The Biggest Political Crime’: Does Obamagate Mean Treason, Sedition or Both?

Posted by: Likklemore | May 13 2020 19:46 utc | 25

James @ 23:
Unfortunately there are very few oversight or other regulation entities for the passenger cruise industry. The various subsidiary companies owned by Carnival Corporation usually register the ships in such countries like Liberia and Panama which need their money and have poor oversight legislation in areas such as worker health and safety and other areas relevant to COVID-19 discussion. Registering ships in Panama is a common practice throughout the shipping industry and the passenger cruise industry is a subset of that.
This helps to perpetuate a colonial hierarchy on ships including cruise ships where the officers and navigators are from First World nations, the technicians are from Third World nations like India where a sizeable percentage of people know English and can obtain some qualifications, and the people who work in the kitchens and clean cabins come from more desperately poor countries.

Posted by: Jen | May 13 2020 20:42 utc | 27

Financial Matters @ 18:
Thanks for raising the issue of cytokine storms caused by COVID-19
In Australian MSM a current media obsession has been Kawasaki syndrome observed in children who have tested positive for COVID-19. Kawasaki syndrome refers to a suite of inflammatory symptoms in children’s digestive systems. It seems possible that this syndrome is the child’s immune response to the SARS-COV-2 virus working its way through the gut.
In 1918 young people in the West were generally less healthy than they are now and many of them were soldiers in various stages of recovery from injuries (some of them permanent) both physical and psychological. Young women were probably just as vulnerable for various reasons, perhaps being more malnourished than men, perhaps having worked as nurses in crowded and unsanitary conditions, and living in societies where it was common for women to have their first child in their late teens or early 20s before they were fully mature. One hundred years ago nutrition was still poorly understood and the hygiene practices we take for granted were either slowly being accepted or still regarded with suspicion or derision.

Posted by: Jen | May 13 2020 20:58 utc | 29

juliania @28–
Thanks for the above and previous replies. The previous days of fewer events that made responding easier are over for now. This op/ed makes similar points but is framed more as a warning:
“But now governments across the world are faced with the US as a centre of disease threatening the health of their country. There is also the prospect of the Americans resisting measures to block transport from the US which threatens to spread the virus.”
“The implications are not only medical, but political. Any government failing to get coronavirus under control, due to US pressure, faces the threat of being destabilised by the social consequences. The emergence of the US as the main coronavirus disease centre in the world will therefore politically affect every country.”

Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2020 21:41 utc | 31

@ 27 jen… it is true what you say.. in a fair world – not the corporate one we live in – this would be addressed immediately.. instead all the bozos who go on these cruise ships contribute to it.. i don’t blame the workers or my friends who have played music on cruise ships.. i blame the general consumer who is oblivious to the pain they continue to inflict on others.. same deal with the mutual fund holders of stuff like this.. most people have no clue what their money is ”invested” in… they are all unethical and immoral and oblivious to all of it… i would never go on a cruise ship, especially with all i know about how their business is run and the exploitative nature of the business… a day will come when this will all change.. it can’t happen soon enough.. i hope their business literally sinks..
regarding princess cruises… “The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California.[3] As of 2018, it is the second largest cruise line by net revenue.[1] It was previously a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises, and is currently under Holland America Group within Carnival Corporation & plc, which holds executive control over the Princess Cruises brand. The line has 18 ships cruising global itineraries that are marketed to both American and international passengers.”

Posted by: james | May 13 2020 22:16 utc | 33

Peter AU1 @ 33
I was referring to this paper in JAMA where the 5 critically ill patients who recovered were all on methylprednisolone.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763983
A cytokine storm is actually a severe over reaction of the immune system.
https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/797584

Posted by: financial matters | May 13 2020 22:37 utc | 35

James @ 32:
You may be interested in this article about the Ruby Princess, one of the ships operated by Princess Lines (owned by Carnival Corporation). The Ruby Princess is at the centre of a current criminal investigation into why a number of passengers were allowed to leave the ship in Sydney back in March despite the fact that their COVID-19 test results were still being processed. The company’s conduct in allowing the disembarkation is at the centre of the investigation.
A choice section from the article:

… [In early April 2020], NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said of the gathering cruise ships off the coast: “They don’t pay taxes in Australia, they don’t park their boats in Australia, their primary flags are often in the Caribbean in different islands. [It’s] time to go home.”
Commissioner Fuller has since launched a criminal investigation into the 15 coronavirus deaths stemming from the Ruby Princess, after almost 2700 passengers were allowed to disembark the cruise ship without health checks on March 19. It has been docked at Port Kembla since Monday.
Australian Border Force boss Michael Outram is overseeing a push to remove foreign cruise ships from local waters, emphasising the risk that “it’s a big strain on the Australian health system.”
Professor Joseph Cheer from the Centre for Tourism Research at Japan’s Wakayama University said cruise ships were often registered in countries with favourable tax regimes, known as “flags of convenience”.
The Ruby Princess, registered in tax haven Bermuda, appears to be one such ship. Professor Cheer said cruise companies paid “very little tax” in Australia.
“If I bought a cruise holiday my payment doesn’t end up with the Australian company, it gets paid into the account based in the Bahamas or Panama,” he said.
“Which is why they’re able to offer a cheaper holiday, because they don’t have the same obligations that other tourism organisations in Australia would have.”
While Carnival has pointed to figures which show the cruising industry injects $2.9 billion into the Australian economy and generates 18,000 jobs, Professor Cheer said it was in the interests of cruise companies to keep people spending their money on the ship rather than the shore.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund last week emerged with an 8 per cent stake in Carnival Corporation & PLC after a $US6 billion emergency recapitalisation due to the coronavirus.

Places that are tax havens are also very often places where worker health and safety regulations are very lax.

Posted by: Jen | May 14 2020 0:07 utc | 37

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 13 2020 22:17 utc | 33 China found early use of steroids gave poorer outcomes, but did use anti inflammatories after the virus had been eliminated.
I just read some of the early papers by Chinese from February and April. The assessment on steroids was contradictory. One paper said it was useless – but based on an extremely low patient counts (31). Others said there was a couple papers that said it worked to some degree.
This paper, which was cited by the FLCCC Web site, suggests it depends on *when*, i.e., at what stage of disease progression, the steroids are administered.
PulmCrit- Timed & titrated use of steroid in COVID-19?
https://tinyurl.com/ya2og29y

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2020 0:45 utc | 39

Posted by: William Gruff | May 13 2020 16:54 utc | 12 Once people end up in the hospital then it is too late for that treatment.
I don’t think it’s so much ending up in the hospital as it is the degree of disease progression in terms of hypoxia. What I’ve seen doctors say is that you go to the hospital when you have “shortness of breath”, but they don’t actually do much for you until that “shortness” is such that you can’t walk to the john. That’s too late, apparently.
The EVMS/FLCCC people say their treatment needs to start within *six hours* of admission to the hospital – before extreme shortness of breath. They recommend people use a pulse oxymeter at home and go to the hospital when it shows less than 94%.
“if low daily doses of quinine and zinc increase resistance to infection.”
That’s exactly what the EVMS/FLCCC people recommend for home treatment of mild cases and for “floor treatment” in the hospital (i.e., before going to ICU in later stages.) Read the protocol document linked elsewhere here for their precise recommendations.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2020 0:54 utc | 41

Richard Steven Hack @ 38:
I have to say that studies of the kind you advocate using samples of patients in the early stage of COVID-19, in which some patients are given the HCQ treatment (including azithromycin, zinc and Vitamin C) and some are not, would be difficult to carry out.
For one thing, for many if not most people, the early stage of COVID-19 may be entirely asymptomatic. By the time they develop symptoms, they are already past the stage where HCQ would benefit them at all. You would have to capture those people as soon as they test positive, or even before.
Secondly very few COVID-19 patients in the early stage of the disease would agree to be part of a control group and not receive HCQ treratment or any treatment and just wait out the disease on their own, especially if the samples are controlled for age and all the people participating in the studies are in the high-risk age demographic groups.
There are surely ethics issues involved in such studies and many if not most researchers would refuse to carry out studies in which a control group of COVID-19 patients would be asked or required to give up any treatment at all and just be expected to recover on their own. Would such patients consent to be part of a control group and risk their lives?
The design of the study becomes crucial in experiments that involve COVID-19 because of the peculiar characteristics of this disease.

Posted by: Jen | May 14 2020 1:27 utc | 43

I Feel Strongly’: Trump Says US Should Implement Negative Interest Rates

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated his support for the nation’s Federal Reserve to adopt negative interest rates – a move that has been opposed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
“I know there are fans of the policy, but for now it’s not something that we’re considering,” Powell noted, as reported by CNBC. “We think we have a good toolkit, and that’s the one that we will be using.”[.]

Incredible. Whose idea is this? Jared or Kudlow? Negative rates! Watch gold gallop to USD$3,000. Why will anyone hold USTs at negative rates? There goes the dollar reserve currency status; especially in the current anti-China climate..an added incentive not to hold.
“Popular opinion is that since America controls its own currency and able to borrow to infinity, they can always print more money to solve their financing problem. To date, foreigners have financed up to a third of America’s debt but given an “America First” stance and the current climate of “beggar thy neighbor” policies, America’s creditors, specifically, China is not so anxious to finance America given the new Cold War and when the level of trust between the superpowers are at an all time low…” – John Ing.

Posted by: Likklemore | May 14 2020 1:57 utc | 45

James joseph
US is nothing like Troy. More akin to the Trojans with blowback. US sent in their Trojan thinking that would conquer China. Read the shit the US put out at the time. They were gonna defeat China with big macs and jeans.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 14 2020 2:04 utc | 47

@36 jen… well they have some brighter politicians in australia then they do in canada!!! smart move.. i hope they succeed in banning the cruise ships into australia.. italy – venice in particular – would be well advised to do the same… same here on vancouver island… they should pay their way or not be allowed into other countries.. give the labourers proper pay and etc. they are another byproduct of the stock market and corporate culture.. it is very ugly…

Posted by: james | May 14 2020 2:50 utc | 49

Joe Biden fell asleep during his town hall with Hillary Clinton. To be fair, everyone else watching was also asleep.
https://twitter.com/thejtlewis/status/1255219826605334528

Posted by: Mao | May 14 2020 3:11 utc | 51

@ 53 peter… i think canada is stuck in this 5 eyes bullshit for the present as well… crystia freeland – a soros backed neoliberal neocon is aiming for the pms job.. that has been obvious to anyone from day 1… you know it is the politically correct thing because she is a she and all the crap… sometimes i resent what i see unfolding and wish that people would wake up, but it seems they have to be clobbered over the head really really hard, to wake up… it hasn’t happened yet here in canada…

Posted by: james | May 14 2020 4:05 utc | 53

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 14 2020 3:34 utc | 53
Yeah sure, chestbeating Australia can decouple from China all they want, when their industrial sector is so laughably pathetic that they have to put import tariffs on steel not only from major industrial nations like China and SK but also fucking Singapore out of all places.

Posted by: JW | May 14 2020 5:42 utc | 55

This blog has a large comments section, a reflection of its success, excellence, and popularity. However, it is hard to read all these comments in the current list form. This blog might want to consider presenting the comments in tree form, as is done with blogs like Naked Capitalism. I find this a more readable format myself. Thanks for you efforts.

Posted by: Edward | May 14 2020 11:55 utc | 57

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.
https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1258750892448387074

Posted by: Mao | May 14 2020 14:02 utc | 59

JOE BIDEN: “The pandemic is that this President has no intercourse whatsoever with the rest of the world.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltP1UHSp9kU

Posted by: Mao | May 14 2020 15:07 utc | 61

A small part of the 5 eyes delusion apparatus. A mix of facts and spin. A history of broadcaster/interviewer Kathryn Ryan’s contacts and grooming would be interesting … She seems to be a very active participant in spreading the message.
Kilcullen attempts to resell the Russian US 2016 election meddling story with his “liminal warfare” theory.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018746433/snakes-and-dragons-modern-conflict-s-dangerous-evolution
In his latest book, ‘The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West’, modern warfare expert, David Kilcullen has put forward a theory of how state threats, (like Russia and China) and non-state threats (like terrorist organisations) now overlap and intersect. What’s more, they’ve learnt from each other, enabling them to out manoeuvre conventional military tactics, with new methods like political manipulation and cyber militias.
David Kilcullen, was a senior counterinsurgency adviser to General David Petraeus during 2007 ‘surge’ in Iraq and counterinsurgency adviser to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. He was previously an infantry officer in the Australian army for 22 years.

Posted by: tucenz | May 14 2020 16:15 utc | 63

>The design of the study becomes crucial in experiments that
>involve COVID-19 because of the peculiar characteristics of this disease.
>Posted by: Jen | May 14 2020 1:27 utc | 43
One possible solution is to design a “dose-ranging study”, also known as “dose-response study”, and omit the placebo cohort. From Wiki:

Typically a dose ranging study will include a placebo group of subjects, and a few groups that receive different doses of the test drug. For instance, a typical dose-ranging study may include four groups: a placebo group, low-dose group, medium-dose group and a high-dose group.

Posted by: Trailer Trash | May 14 2020 17:57 utc | 65

karlof1 @ 64
I posted on another thread Obama was in on the plot to frame Flynn Biden too
Today Flynn’s Attorney, Sidney Powell responded to Obama’s criticism of the DOJ dropping the case. Powell lays down a yuuuge rebuke.
LINK
a snippet from 3 pages of rebuke –

To: Barack Hussein Obama
From: Sidney Powell
http://www.SidneyPowell.com
Date: May 13, 2020
Re: Your Failure to Find Precedent for Flynn Dismissal
Regarding the decision of the Department of Justice to dismiss charges against General Flynn, in your recent call with your alumni, you expressed great concern: “there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.”
Here is some help—if truth and precedent represent your true concern. Your statement is entirely false. However, it does explain the damage to the Rule of Law throughout your administration.
First, General Flynn was not charged with perjury—which requires a material false statement made under oath with intent to deceive.1 A perjury prosecution would have been appropriate and the Rule of Law applied if the Justice Department prosecuted your former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for his multiple lies under oath in an investigation of a leak only he knew he caused.
McCabe lied under oath in fully recorded and transcribed interviews with the Inspector General for the DOJ. He was informed of the purpose of the interview, and he had had the benefit of counsel. He knew he was the leaker. McCabe even lied about lying. He lied to his own agents—which sent them on a “wild-goose-chase”—thereby making his lies “material” and an obstruction of justice. Yet, remarkably, Attorney General Barr declined to prosecute McCabe for these offenses.
Applying the Rule of Law, after declining McCabe’s perjury prosecution, required the Justice Department to dismiss the prosecution of General Flynn who was not warned, not under oath, had no counsel, and whose statements were not only not recorded, but were created as false by FBI agents who falsified the 302.
Second, it would seem your “wingman” Eric Holder is missing a step these days at Covington & Burling LLP. Indelibly marked in his memory (and one might think, yours) should be his Motion to Dismiss the multi-count jury verdict of guilty and the entire case against former United States Senator Ted Stevens. Within weeks of Mr. Holder becoming Attorney General, he moved to dismiss the Stevens prosecution in the interest of justice for the same reasons the Justice Department did against General Flynn—egregious misconduct by prosecutors who hid exculpatory evidence and concocted purported crimes.[.]
and the Footnote 1: Powell schools Obama –
As a “constitutional lawyer,” surely you recall that perjury (or false statements) also requires intent to deceive. In Bronston v. United States, 409 U.S. 352 (1973), the Supreme Court reversed a conviction of perjury. In Bronston, the defendant’s answer was a truthful statement, but not directly responsive to the question and ultimately misled federal authorities. The Court determined: “A jury should not be permitted to engage in conjecture whether an unresponsive answer, true and complete on its face, was intended to mislead or divert the examiner; the state of mind of the witness is relevant only to the extent that it bears on whether “he does not believe [his answer] to be true.” To hold otherwise would be to inject a new and confusing element into the adversary testimonial system we know.” Id. at 359. The FBI agents who interviewed General Flynn specifically noted that his answers were true or he believed his answers to be true—completely defeating criminal intent. Furthermore, General Flynn knew and remarked they had transcripts of his conversations.

This gang, including the judge, have no understanding who they are up against. Powell is a brilliant Attorney. When she is done, John Durham’s inquiry will end with bringing indictments.

Posted by: Likklemore | May 15 2020 2:11 utc | 67

Get ready for the Hothouse COV generation. What do you suppose will happen when hot 15 to 25 year old boys and girls get ‘locked down’ together in little rooms for a couple months? Come January there will be a sudden outburst of unexpected humanity!

Posted by: blues | May 15 2020 2:24 utc | 69

This might interest some, and especially, I think, Herr ‘b’
“The anatomy of a STRATCOM disinfographic” “United States Strategic Command, the branch of the US military responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons, recently released an imperially misleading infographic on Twitter. The graphic is confused—not only about when to use bold typeface, but also about the facts….”
thebulletin[dot]org
Geewhiz, I wonder why they would do such a thing. Another coincidence perhaps…

Posted by: Walter | May 15 2020 4:49 utc | 71

125 kids in France, mainly Paris area, have contracted Kawasaki and K-like syndroms, between 1st March and 11 May.1 eight-y old is dead. The peak seems to have been observed mid-April. Could it be related to the more lethal strain?
http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/coronavirus-lien-etabli-entre-le-covid-19-et-la-maladie-de-kawasaki-125-cas-recenses-en-france-15-05-2020-8317671.php

Posted by: Mina | May 15 2020 10:08 utc | 73

From the BBC and more available in the Belgian press: “Researchers say Belgium has seen its highest April mortality rate since World War Two. The team at Vrije Universiteit Brussel say the southern city of Mons and Brussels itself were hit particularly hard.”
EU and NATO headquarters. Why don’t they ask Trump how to sue than and get juicy compensations?

Posted by: Mina | May 15 2020 10:56 utc | 75

Sorry, that should say 25% of UK, not just Manchester.

Posted by: fairleft | May 15 2020 11:16 utc | 77

Mina | May 15 2020 10:56 utc | 75 (Belgium W2 deaths.)
Based on the total civilian and military deaths in 6 years and a day of official ww2, the average daily deaths run to something approximating 33 thousand deaths per day, according to my arithmetic.
Of course the number of persons “available” in w2, available for dying, was far smaller.
Thus, if we-all are in WW3 (which may be, some say) the daily dying number would have to also be much bigger now, eh?
Wally might bet on the number, if he trusted the suits, which he does not.

Posted by: Walter | May 15 2020 11:39 utc | 79

@fairleft @76/77
So, lockdown enthusiasts need to pseudo-debunk another set of professionally developed statistics.
That Manchester study (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijcp.13528) has two main authors from a consultant company called Res Consortium (https://www.resconsortium.com/main.team).
Dr Mark Davies: Previous experience working in the marketing sector
Mike Stedman: Previously supply chain director for large FMCG company
Plus a few medics who read the study.
Seems no epidemiologist among them.
The math used is totally inappropriate.
The conclusions are bunk.

Posted by: b | May 15 2020 13:44 utc | 81

Walter, I don’t think these kind of stats shld be applied evenly to all corners. Countries with a lighter population density (think Australia, Slovakia) have had very small figures for mortality.
Countries with the highest numbers of expats/frequent travelers per m2 are taking the highest toll.I also believe like Noirette that there might be something with air circuits (legionella-type viruses). Singapore had to evacuate buildings very early in the crisis (end of January? February?).

Posted by: Mina | May 15 2020 14:00 utc | 83

EU and NATO headquarters. Why don’t they ask Trump how to sue than and get juicy compensations?
Posted by: Mina | May 15 2020 10:56 utc | 75
NATO headquarters presumably has quite a few military types from quite a few different countries. Perhaps it should be asked how many of them participated in the international military games in Wuhan in October? After all, it is known that 6 US participants were suddenly and urgently evacuated due to some unidentified serious infection. It is also known that the US refused to answer Chinese (i.e. host) requests for information what they were infected with, which is rather impolite and uncooperative to say the least. Is it of paramount risk to US national security to disclose what infection the 6 participants might have transmitted to the host country before their evacuation? Or, is it of paramount importance to Chinese national security to know what infection the 6 might have transmitted to the host country?
Presumably participants from other countries taking part in the games in Wuhan are likely to have caught it from the infected US participants. It is also known that many (10 if I remember correctly) staff members of the hotel where the Americans stayed got infected – might be connected, one would think.
If one were to plot all the most serious clusters of Covid infections around the world, and in each case measure the distance to the nearest US/NATO military base, would there be any correlation between the size of the cluster and the distance to the base?

Posted by: BM | May 15 2020 14:54 utc | 85

To correlate the toll among the poor with the frequent travelers ones, think about who is cleaning the offices at dawn. Not to say that the poor don’t have a weakened immunity largely caused by cheap industrial food.

Posted by: Mina | May 15 2020 15:32 utc | 87

@ 87 mina… that is a good way to put it..
@ 88 walter – that story has been developing the past 3 or 4 days…
“BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:30 P.M.) – A senior official the Trump administration told Reuters on Thursday that the United States is considering measures that it can take in response to a fuel shipment that Iran is sending to crisis-stricken Venezuela.
The official, who asked not to be named, said that Washington is “with a great degree of certainty” that the government of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro pays Iran with tons of gold.”
US considers taking measures against Iranian ships heading to Venezuela

Posted by: james | May 15 2020 16:50 utc | 89

Likklemore @67–
Thanks for that!! What an excellent skewering. One wonders what she’d write about Obama’s refusal to indict the fraudulent banksters in 2009 for it was certainly obstruction of justice at least, treason at worst.
IMO, we need to start using the Treason Card when the general interests of the USA’s populace is worked against as with 2009, 2019, 2020, 2016, and virtually every year the MIC gets its unwarranted Hundreds of Billions. IMO, the gloves must come off in this Class War as the Enemy is oh so clearly Domestic.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 15 2020 17:53 utc | 91

Likklemore #67

When she is done, John Durham’s inquiry will end with bringing indictments.

Thank you Likklemore. Sidney Powell is brilliant and clearly committed but ultimately she is up against Barr, Trumps wasted years with the deep state moron as AG, and, in a few months another president and congress and senate. Time will tell whether Durham will produce anything other than recommendations to prosecute.
Me, I would not trust Barr any more than his predecessor.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2020 21:25 utc | 93

H.Schmatz @ 92 Hello, Rosneft have sold their stake in Venezuelan oil to a company wholly owned by the Russian Government. I remember the original announcement in March of this year, but I won’t be posting any links. I have no desire to send the board into a “loooong” script. The US sanctions only delayed nordstream 2. An alternative method was found. IMO I think the Russian Government has this covered. I’m sure we will hear soon.

Posted by: jasmin | May 16 2020 0:59 utc | 95

That should read @86 not 98..

Posted by: Lozion | May 16 2020 2:44 utc | 97

Richard Silverstein still a Zionist affiliated with a non-existent interpretation of Zionism and on the path of Recovering Zionist (snark!) has some pretty good articles advancing the theory that Israel meddled in the U.S. election of Donald J. Trump.
https://www.richardsilverstein.com/
In other words, Trump is the Chosen One, as I stated from day one.
But now can Silverstein investigate how many Members of Congress are on the Zionist payroll and what roll Israel played in their election and how all this really defines what Zionism stands for (hint: Power) aside from a desert state for Jews to worship in, I mean a golden calf to worship and commit crimes against the Occupied in?
So let’s keep on pretending that under that pile of manure one day he’ll find a pony.

Posted by: Circe | May 16 2020 9:52 utc | 99