Daily Archives: March 29, 2020

2020-03-29: News Headlines

RT (2020-03-29). China resumes domestic passenger flights in Hubei after easing quarantine restrictions against Covid-19. rt.com Beijing has allowed civilian air travel in its Hubei region, where the Covid-19 outbreak originally began, after a strict lockdown was lifted in all of its major cities except for Wuhan. | The first domestic passenger flight took off at midnight on Sunday as all cities in China's central Hubei Province, with the exception for Wuhan, resumed regular civilian air travel, local media reported. Officials earlier said that airports in the major cities of Xiangyang, Enshi and Shennongjia — all of which had been quarantined in January — are among those to reopen for domestic flights this week. | Wuhan's Tia…

RT (2020-03-28). He betrayed Maduro to be busted by America? Venezuela's ex-spy chief 'to turn himself in' to US to face 'narco-terrorism' charges. rt.com The former head of Venezuela's military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal, has reportedly offered to turn himself in to American authorities. Despite denouncing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Carvajal was too indicted by the US. | Carvajal, who has been in hiding since Spanish authorities green-lit his extradition to the US on drug-trafficking charges earlier this month, now wants to surrender, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing anonymous sources. According to the news agency, the Americans have been in touch with the former spy chief through a "non-governmental intermediary." | Though US authorities have lo…

Binoy Kampmark (2020-03-28). Barbaric Decisions: Coronavirus, Refusing Bail and Julian Assange. dissidentvoice.org To expose another human being to serious illness, and to the threat of losing their life, is grotesque and quite unnecessary. This is not justice, it is a barbaric decision. — Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, March 26, 2020 Social distancing is not a word that seems to have reached certain parts of the British …

Alan Macleod (2020-03-27). Doctors "Strongly Condemn" UK Decision to Keep Assange Imprisoned During COVID-19 Pandemic. mintpressnews.com Assange's treatment in the UK's Belmarsh Prison has been so poor that convicted murderers and other high-security inmates had to stage a mass protest to secure his transfer to the hospital wing.

Jefferson Morley (2020-03-27). Could the Death of the National Security State be a Silver Lining of COVID-19? counterpunch.org Could something good come from the catastrophe of COVID-19? Might the epic insecurity of a plague teach us something about national security? Political scientist Micah Zenko calls the current pandemic "the worst intelligence failure in U.S. history." Former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman sees "the urgent need to redefine national security." Ilan Goldenberg, a former defense

teleSUR (2020-03-27). US Senators Request to Ease Sanctions Against Venezuela, Iran. telesurenglish.net U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy and 10 other lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin urging them to alleviate the RELATED: | "We are writing to express…

Richard Moser (2020-03-27). Russia-gate: the Dead But Undead. counterpunch.org Attention all Russia-gaters! Under the cover of pandemic, the US finally dropped charges against those dastardly Russian meme-bombers! Just in case you think this is yet another conspiracy led by Trump's Department of Justice to hide something, the case against the troll farm fell apart 2 years ago when Mueller was still in charge. It's

Elie Mystal (2020-03-26). The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Get Away With Discrimination. thenation.com The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Get Away With Discrimination…

Zero Hedge (2020-03-26). US Propaganda: Iran Rounding Up Whistleblowers Trying To Expose Real COVID-19 Death Toll. iranian.com The State Department now seems to be leveling new accusations against Iran and China on a near-daily basis related to their role in facilitating the spread of the deadly coronavirus. On Monday Mike Pompeo issued '5 facts' detailing Iran's recklessness regarding the virus, including the charge Tehran spread it "to at least five countries," and on Wednesday …

Brian Cloughley (2020-03-26). Now Is the Time to Cancel Sanctions on Iran. iranian.com U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has often declared that he considers himself to be a devout evangelical Christian, and in November 2019 told the New York Times Magazine that the Bible "informs everything I do." Given that his religious convictions are based on the Bible, he is doubtless familiar with the command from Philippians 2: 4 that everyone should "look not …

Staff (2020-03-25). Calls Grow for Sen. Burr to Resign After He Sold $1.7 Million in Stocks & Downplayed COVID-19 Risks. democracynow.org Calls are growing for Republican Senator Richard Burr to resign after he reportedly sold up to $1.7 million worth of stocks after receiving privileged briefings about the coronavirus's threat to the global economy. ProPublica reports Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, unloaded his holdings on February 13 in 33 separate transactions. At the time, he had access to classified information about the coronavirus and was receiving daily intelligence briefings. The stock market began plummeting a week after Burr's sales and has since lost about 30% of its value. We speak with Derek Willis of ProPublica…

Zero Hedge (2020-03-25). Deflection: Pompeo Issues '5 Facts' Claiming Iran Exported COVID-19 To "At Least 5 Countries" iranian.com As even Britain is urging its close US ally to moderate its stance on Iran sanctions as the Mideast country's death toll surges from the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington-Tehran tit-for-tat exchanges and blame game over Covid-19 continues unabated. Yesterday Pompeo issued a new list of five allegations of how Iran's leaders have handled the outbreak. Notably, this featured the …

Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker (2020-03-24). Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama. splcenter.org Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.

Ben Norton (2020-03-20). US government threatens families of Int'l Criminal Court staff if they try Americans for war crimes. thegrayzone.com The International Criminal Court approved an investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by…

Staff (2020-03-20). Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness. truthdig.com Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions. As the head of the intelligence …

Marjorie Cohn (2020-03-02). Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent. zcomm.org The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…

Justin Stebbing, Anne Phelan, Ivan Griffin, Catherine Tucker, Olly Oechsle, Dan Smith, Peter Richardson (2020-02-27). [Comment] COVID-19: combining antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments. thelancet.com Both coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are characterised by an overexuberant inflammatory response and, for SARS, viral load is not correlated with the worsening of symptoms.1,2 In our previous Correspondence to The Lancet,3 we described how BenevolentAI's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI)-derived knowledge graph,4 queried by a suite of algorithms, enabled identification of a target and a potential therapeutic against SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; the causative organism in COVID-19).

2020-03-29: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

China resumes domestic passenger flights in Hubei after easing quarantine restrictions against Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-03-29
Beijing has allowed civilian air travel in its Hubei region, where the Covid-19 outbreak originally began, after a strict lockdown was lifted in all of its major cities except for Wuhan. | The first domestic passenger flight took off at midnight on Sunday as all cities in China's central Hubei Province, with the exception for Wuhan, resumed regular civilian air travel, local media reported. Officials earlier said that airports in the major cities of Xiangyang, Enshi and Shennongjia

Barbaric Decisions: Coronavirus, Refusing Bail and Julian Assange
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-28
To expose another human being to serious illness, and to the threat of losing their life, is grotesque and quite unnecessary. This is not justice, it is a barbaric decision.

He betrayed Maduro to be busted by America? Venezuela's ex-spy chief 'to turn himself in' to US to face 'narco-terrorism' charges
rt.com | 2020-03-28
The former head of Venezuela's military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal, has reportedly offered to turn himself in to American authorities. Despite denouncing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Carvajal was too indicted by the US. | Carvajal, who has been in hiding since Spanish authorities green-lit his extradition to the US on drug-trafficking charges earlier this month, now wants to surrender, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing anonymous sources. According to the news agency, the Americans have been in touch with the former spy chief through a "non-governmental intermediary." | Though US authorities have lo…
rt.com/news/484392-venezuela-spy-surrender-maduro/

Doctors "Strongly Condemn" UK Decision to Keep Assange Imprisoned During COVID-19 Pandemic
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-27
Assange's treatment in the UK's Belmarsh Prison has been so poor that convicted murderers and other high-security inmates had to stage a mass protest to secure his transfer to the hospital wing.
mintpressnews.com/doctors-condemn-uk-decision-keep-assange-imprisoned-during-coronavirus/266112/

Russia-gate: the Dead But Undead
Richard Moser | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-27
Attention all Russia-gaters! Under the cover of pandemic, the US finally dropped charges against those dastardly Russian meme-bombers! Just in case you think this is yet another conspiracy led by Trump's Department of Justice to hide something, the case against the troll farm fell apart 2 years ago when Mueller was still in charge. It's…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/27/russia-gate-the-dead-but-undead/

Could the Death of the National Security State be a Silver Lining of COVID-19?
Jefferson Morley | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-27
Could something good come from the catastrophe of COVID-19? Might the epic insecurity of a plague teach us something about national security? Political scientist Micah Zenko calls the current pandemic "the worst intelligence failure in U.S. history." Former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman sees "the urgent need to redefine national security." Ilan Goldenberg, a former defense…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/27/could-the-death-of-the-national-security-state-be-a-silver-lining-of-covid-19/

US Senators Request to Ease Sanctions Against Venezuela, Iran
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-27
U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy and 10 other lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin urging them to alleviate the sanctions that the U.S. keeps against Iran and Venezuela amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | The U.S. Harasses Venezuela Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic | "We are writing to express…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Senators-Request-to-Ease-Sanctions-Against-Venezuela-Iran-20200327-0002.html

The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Get Away With Discrimination
Elie Mystal | thenation.com | 2020-03-26
The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Get Away With Discrimination…
thenation.com/article/society/scotus-comcast-discrimination/

US Propaganda: Iran Rounding Up Whistleblowers Trying To Expose Real COVID-19 Death Toll
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-03-26
The State Department now seems to be leveling new accusations against Iran and China on a near-daily basis related to their role in facilitating the spread of the deadly coronavirus. On Monday Mike Pompeo issued '5 facts' detailing Iran's recklessness regarding the virus, including the charge Tehran spread it "to at least five countries," and on Wednesday …
iranian.com/2020/03/25/us-propaganda-iran-rounding-up-whistleblowers-trying-to-expose-real-covid-19-death-toll/

Now Is the Time to Cancel Sanctions on Iran
Brian Cloughley | iranian.com | 2020-03-26
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has often declared that he considers himself to be a devout evangelical Christian, and in November 2019 told the New York Times Magazine that the Bible "informs everything I do." Given that his religious convictions are based on the Bible, he is doubtless familiar with the command from Philippians 2: 4 that everyone should "look not …
iranian.com/2020/03/25/now-is-the-time-to-cancel-sanctions-on-iran/

Calls Grow for Sen. Burr to Resign After He Sold $1.7 Million in Stocks & Downplayed COVID-19 Risks
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-25
Calls are growing for Republican Senator Richard Burr to resign after he reportedly sold up to $1.7 million worth of stocks after receiving privileged briefings about the coronavirus's threat to the global economy. ProPublica reports Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, unloaded his holdings on February 13 in 33 separate transactions. At the time, he had access to classified information about the coronavirus and was receiving daily intelligence briefings. The stock market began plummeting a week after Burr's sales and has since lost about 30% of its value. We speak with Derek Willis of ProPublica…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/25/senator_richard_burr_stocks_coronavirus

Deflection: Pompeo Issues '5 Facts' Claiming Iran Exported COVID-19 To "At Least 5 Countries"
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-03-25
As even Britain is urging its close US ally to moderate its stance on Iran sanctions as the Mideast country's death toll surges from the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington-Tehran tit-for-tat exchanges and blame game over Covid-19 continues unabated. Yesterday Pompeo issued a new list of five allegations of how Iran's leaders have handled the outbreak. Notably, this featured the …
iranian.com/2020/03/24/deflection-pompeo-issues-5-facts-claiming-iran-exported-covid-19-to-at-least-5-countries/

Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-03-24
Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/28/arbitrary-excessive-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-alabama

US government threatens families of Int'l Criminal Court staff if they try Americans for war crimes
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-20
The International Criminal Court approved an investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/20/us-threatens-families-international-criminal-court/

Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-03-20
Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions. As the head of the intelligence …
truthdig.com/articles/senator-dumped-up-to-1-7-million-of-stock-after-reassuring-public-about-coronavirus-preparedness/

Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent
Marjorie Cohn | zcomm.org | 2020-03-02
The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/extradition-of-assange-would-set-a-dangerous-precedent/

[Comment] COVID-19: combining antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments
Justin Stebbing, Anne Phelan, Ivan Griffin, Catherine Tucker, Olly Oechsle, Dan Smith, Peter Richardson | thelancet.com | 2020-02-27
Both coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are characterised by an overexuberant inflammatory response and, for SARS, viral load is not correlated with the worsening of symptoms.1,2 In our previous Correspondence to The Lancet,3 we described how BenevolentAI's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI)-derived knowledge graph,4 queried by a suite of algorithms, enabled identification of a target and a potential therapeutic against SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; the causative organism in COVID-19).
thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30132-8/fulltext?rss=yes