activistpost--2020-08-16--What is the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED)?

When US-backed regime change begins in a targeted nation , many – particularly those supporting protests – will deny the US is involved .
When US involvement is no longer deniable – many will finally admit it – but backpedal and claim there is nothing wrong with the US supporting “ freedom ” and “ democracy ” abroad .
With virtually every aspect of ongoing protests in Thailand funded by the US – from the leaders like Anon Nampa of the US government-funded “ Thai Lawyers for Human Rights , ” to fronts like US government-funded iLaw petitioning to rewrite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like US government-funded Prachatai attempting to control the narrative regarding the protests – this process of denial and backpedaling has already begun .
The protests in Thailand are mainly funded through the US National Endowment for Democracy ( NED ) with all of this funding appearing on the US NED ’ s official website as well as in admissions from these groups themselves during previous interviews , and occasionally featured on their own websites when and if they make financial disclosures .
The NED and the fronts they are funding all claim to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expose this funding claim it represents political interference and is a bad thing .
But what is the NED and how could the US promoting democracy be a bad thing ?
It is Bad – Because the US NED Isn ’ t Really Promoting Democracy The US has openly invaded nations , murdered sitting governments , killed hundreds of thousands of people in the process , before hand-picking favorable client regimes .
The US NED is simply a subtler way of achieving regime change – but often also helps pave the way for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as was the case during the 2011 “ Arab Spring.
” In fact , many of the people sitting on the US NED board of directors have signed their names to documents , op-eds , and essays calling for the invasion and regime change by force of other nations including Afghanistan in 2001 , Iraq in 2003 , Libya and Syria in 2011 , and Ukraine in 2013-2014 .
Some of them even participated directly .
This includes Neo-Conservatives like Elliot Abrams who is currently the US envoy to Iran after openly attempting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The London Guardian in an article titled , “ US diplomat convicted over Iran-Contra appointed special envoy for Venezuela : Elliott Abrams , who was linked to failed coup against Chávez , to join Pompeo to urge security council to recognize Guaidó as head , ” would report ( emphasis added ) : CBS News in a much more recent August 2020 article , “ Elliott Abrams , convicted of lying about Iran-Contra , named special representative for Iran , ” would report ( emphasis added ) : Anyone of good conscience approached @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directors including Elliot Abrams alone would be unable to reconcile what NED claims to stand for and what it – through leadership like Abrams – is actually doing .
But the NED board of directors includes many , many other characters with open ties to corrupt corporate-financier interests and proven track records of eagerly promoting war and enabling US-backed regime change around the globe .
This includes Victoria Nuland who played a key role in leading US regime change efforts in Ukraine in 2013-2014 .
Reuters in its article , “ Leaked audio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EU , ” would admit ( emphasis added ) : Nuland was also the CEO of the Center for a New American Security ( CNAS ) – a pro-war policy think tank funded by big-defense corporations including Northrop Grumman , Boeing , Lockheed Martin , BAE Systems , Raytheon , General Dynamics , DynCorp – all alongside big-oil corporations like BP , Chevron , and Exxon – fronts posing as “ liberal ” and “ opposed ” to such interests including convicted financial criminal George Soros ’ Open Society Foundation – and big-banks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security crisis US intervention in Ukraine created alone – and the subsequent deployment of US missiles to Europe made millions for CNAS sponsors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon .
And while chaos NED director Victoria Nuland helped create is filling the accounts of US defense contractors – Ukraine remains an undemocratic , dysfunctional nation like all other targets of US regime change .
Another member of NED ’ s board of directors is Neo-Conservative George Weigel – who like Elliot Abrams – is an enthusiastic supporter of US military aggression abroad and US-backed regime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2003 article titled , “ The Just War Case for the War , ” Weigel would help repeat and amplify deliberate lies regarding “ weapons of mass destruction ” in an attempt to build justification for an otherwise unjust war .
Virtually every point Weigel made was built on deliberate lies – lies many attempted to expose before the 2003 invasion and lies now exposed to the world in the wake of the disastrous invasion and – nearly 2 decades later – an Iraq still laid waste , divided , and in chaos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to install a client regime , and its punitive military , political , and economic campaigns following its failure to do so .
And this is just a small sample of what sits on the NED ’ s board of directors .
Pro-War Corporate Interests Using the Smokescreen of “ Promoting Democracy ” The rest of the NED ’ s board of directors is no better .
There is Scott Carpenter – now at Google – who participated directly in the US invasion and occupation of Iraq as a member of the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April 2003 to July 2004 .
He is also a member of the pro-war Washington Institute for Near East Policy .
NED board member and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik – Republican – belonged to the rabid pro-war Neo-Conservative Foreign Policy Initiative which played a key role in promoting conflict with Iran .
She also participated in Defending Defense which lobbied to maintain Washington ’ s astronomical defense budget .
US Senator Ben Sasse – Republican – is also an NED board member .
He is openly anti-Chinese – blaming China for COVID-19 and praising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meng Wanzhou .
US Senator Tim Kaine – Republican – had been an advocate for much wider US military intervention in Syria including calls for a no-fly-zone .
It is now revealed that Washington ’ s so-called “ freedom fighters ” were in fact extremists fighting under the banners of terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda , its Syrian franchise Al Nusra , and even the self-proclaimed “ Islamic State.
” Ambassador Daniel Fried was one of the central architects of NATO ’ s enlargement after the Cold War – a chief factor driving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ member Michele Dunne is the director of Carnegie ’ s Middle East Program and the pro-war NATO-centric Atlantic Council – both funded by big-defense , big-oil , and big-banks .
Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post takes disinformation created by fronts funded by the US NED she chairs as a director and amplifies it in the columns of the Washington Post .
She also is an adviser for the disinformation outlet Coda Story which serves as yet another element in Washington and Wall Street ’ s echo chamber – buttressing narratives promoted by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington Post .
Andrew Card Jr. served in the administrations of George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr .
He was US ambassador to Afghanistan , chairs the US Chamber of Commerce , and held various senior positions at General Motors and the Automobile Manufacturers Association which included GM , Ford , and Chrysler .
Other board members including Kenneth Wollack , Melanne Verveer , Nadia Schadlow , and the above mentioned Victoria Nuland are also all members of pro-war corporate-financier funded policy think tanks including the Brookings Institution and the Council on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short-circuit the democratic processes in the United States by funneling corporate money into the creation of policy , the mounting of lobbying campaigns for corporate-funded policy to be adopted into law by the US Congress , and the creation of media campaigns to sell these policies to a public that does not benefit from them and would otherwise oppose them .
Thus the vast majority of NED ’ s board of directors are pro-war and represent the largest , most corrupt corporations in the United States – not to mention on Earth .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ denying the American people themselves of democracy at home – and so certainly are not involved in promoting genuine democracy abroad .
They are , however , in great need of a smokescreen behind which to advance their agenda .
The National Endowment for Democracy is using the “ promotion of democracy ” as that smokescreen while engaged in political interference and regime change abroad in the pursuit of serving the corporate interests represented by the board of directors and those who fund NED directly .
For our example of Thailand – the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and institutions from power and replace them with those beholden to Washington .
This is part of a wider effort to remove pro-Beijing governments from across the region in a bid to isolate and contain China itself .
As mentioned – one US NED-funded front – iLaw – created a petition to rewrite Thailand ’ s entire constitution .
One can only imagine the backlash and response by the US should Russia or China fund organizations inside the US to call for the rewriting of the US Constitution .
The documented political interference @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interference the US itself would never tolerate any nation imposing upon it .
Such irony and hypocrisy is perhaps the best way of all to highlight just how dubious NED ’ s work actually is .
The only way to claim the NED is engaged in supporting good around the globe is to completely ignore who funds it , who runs it , why , and what they ’ ve actually done and are currently doing .
Or to ignore the fact that if any other nation did likewise to the US it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
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By Tony Cartalucci
When US-backed regime change begins in a targeted nation, many – particularly those supporting protests – will deny the US is involved.
When US involvement is no longer deniable – many will finally admit it – but backpedal and claim there is nothing wrong with the US supporting “freedom” and “democracy” abroad.
With virtually every aspect of ongoing protests in Thailand funded by the US – from the leaders like Anon Nampa of the US government-funded “Thai Lawyers for Human Rights,” to fronts like US government-funded iLaw petitioning to rewrite the Thai constitution, to media fronts like US government-funded Prachatai attempting to control the narrative regarding the protests – this process of denial and backpedaling has already begun.
The protests in Thailand are mainly funded through the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) with all of this funding appearing on the US NED’s official website as well as in admissions from these groups themselves during previous interviews, and occasionally featured on their own websites when and if they make financial disclosures.
The NED and the fronts they are funding all claim to be promoting democracy. Others attempting to expose this funding claim it represents political interference and is a bad thing.
But what is the NED and how could the US promoting democracy be a bad thing?
It is Bad – Because the US NED Isn’t Really Promoting Democracy
The US has openly invaded nations, murdered sitting governments, killed hundreds of thousands of people in the process, before hand-picking favorable client regimes. The US NED is simply a subtler way of achieving regime change – but often also helps pave the way for destabilization leading to direct US military intervention as was the case during the 2011 “Arab Spring.”
In fact, many of the people sitting on the US NED board of directors have signed their names to documents, op-eds, and essays calling for the invasion and regime change by force of other nations including Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003, Libya and Syria in 2011, and Ukraine in 2013-2014.
Some of them even participated directly.
This includes Neo-Conservatives like Elliot Abrams who is currently the US envoy to Iran after openly attempting to overthrow the government of Venezuela.
The London Guardian in an article titled, “US diplomat convicted over Iran-Contra appointed special envoy for Venezuela: Elliott Abrams, who was linked to failed coup against Chávez, to join Pompeo to urge security council to recognize Guaidó as head,” would report (emphasis added):
Elliott Abrams was appointed US special envoy for Venezuela on Friday, as Donald Trump’s administration and European leaders on Saturday further increase the pressure on the socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, to step aside from leading the country he has taken into a deepening crisis. Abrams will accompany the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to a meeting of the UN security council in New York on Saturday, during which Pompeo will urge members to join the US in declaring Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate head of state.
The Guardian also notes (emphasis added):
Abrams is widely remembered in Central America, but particularly from his time in the Reagan administration, when he tried to whitewash a massacre of a thousand men, women and children by US-funded death squads in El Salvador, when he was assistant secretary of state for human rights.
CBS News in a much more recent August 2020 article, “Elliott Abrams, convicted of lying about Iran-Contra, named special representative for Iran,” would report (emphasis added):
Brian Hook, the administration’s special representative for Iran, is leaving and will be replaced by Elliott Abrams, convicted of misleading Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. Abrams, who has been serving as the special representative for Venezuela, will continue in that position in addition to his new role.
Anyone of good conscience approached by NED to join a board of directors including Elliot Abrams alone would be unable to reconcile what NED claims to stand for and what it – through leadership like Abrams – is actually doing.
But the NED board of directors includes many, many other characters with open ties to corrupt corporate-financier interests and proven track records of eagerly promoting war and enabling US-backed regime change around the globe.
This includes Victoria Nuland who played a key role in leading US regime change efforts in Ukraine in 2013-2014.
Reuters in its article, “Leaked audio reveals embarrassing U.S. exchange on Ukraine, EU,” would admit (emphasis added):
A conversation between a State Department official and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine that was posted on YouTube revealed an embarrassing exchange on U.S. strategy for a political transition in that country, including a crude American swipe at the European Union.
The article also admitted (emphasis added):
The audio clip, which was posted on Tuesday but gained wide circulation on Thursday, appears to show the official, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, weighing in on the make-up of the next Ukrainian government.
Nuland was also the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) – a pro-war policy think tank funded by big-defense corporations including Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Raytheon, General Dynamics, DynCorp – all alongside big-oil corporations like BP, Chevron, and Exxon – fronts posing as “liberal” and “opposed” to such interests including convicted financial criminal George Soros’ Open Society Foundation – and big-banks including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.
The security crisis US intervention in Ukraine created alone – and the subsequent deployment of US missiles to Europe made millions for CNAS sponsors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. And while chaos NED director Victoria Nuland helped create is filling the accounts of US defense contractors – Ukraine remains an undemocratic, dysfunctional nation like all other targets of US regime change.
Another member of NED’s board of directors is Neo-Conservative George Weigel – who like Elliot Abrams – is an enthusiastic supporter of US military aggression abroad and US-backed regime change.
In American Magazine in a 2003 article titled, “The Just War Case for the War,” Weigel would help repeat and amplify deliberate lies regarding “weapons of mass destruction” in an attempt to build justification for an otherwise unjust war.
Virtually every point Weigel made was built on deliberate lies – lies many attempted to expose before the 2003 invasion and lies now exposed to the world in the wake of the disastrous invasion and – nearly 2 decades later – an Iraq still laid waste, divided, and in chaos because of US aggression, its attempts to install a client regime, and its punitive military, political, and economic campaigns following its failure to do so.
And this is just a small sample of what sits on the NED’s board of directors.
Pro-War Corporate Interests Using the Smokescreen of “Promoting Democracy”
The rest of the NED’s board of directors is no better.
There is Scott Carpenter – now at Google – who participated directly in the US invasion and occupation of Iraq as a member of the “Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq” from April 2003 to July 2004. He is also a member of the pro-war Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
NED board member and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik – Republican – belonged to the rabid pro-war Neo-Conservative Foreign Policy Initiative which played a key role in promoting conflict with Iran. She also participated in Defending Defense which lobbied to maintain Washington’s astronomical defense budget.
US Senator Ben Sasse – Republican – is also an NED board member. He is openly anti-Chinese – blaming China for COVID-19 and praising Canada for the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
US Senator Tim Kaine – Republican – had been an advocate for much wider US military intervention in Syria including calls for a no-fly-zone. It is now revealed that Washington’s so-called “freedom fighters” were in fact extremists fighting under the banners of terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda, its Syrian franchise Al Nusra, and even the self-proclaimed “Islamic State.”
Ambassador Daniel Fried was one of the central architects of NATO’s enlargement after the Cold War – a chief factor driving unprecedented US-Russian tensions today.
NED board member Michele Dunne is the director of Carnegie’s Middle East Program and the pro-war NATO-centric Atlantic Council – both funded by big-defense, big-oil, and big-banks.
Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post takes disinformation created by fronts funded by the US NED she chairs as a director and amplifies it in the columns of the Washington Post. She also is an adviser for the disinformation outlet Coda Story which serves as yet another element in Washington and Wall Street’s echo chamber – buttressing narratives promoted by the NED and prominent papers like the Washington Post.
Andrew Card Jr. served in the administrations of George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr. He was US ambassador to Afghanistan, chairs the US Chamber of Commerce, and held various senior positions at General Motors and the Automobile Manufacturers Association which included GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
Other board members including Kenneth Wollack, Melanne Verveer, Nadia Schadlow, and the above mentioned Victoria Nuland are also all members of pro-war corporate-financier funded policy think tanks including the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations.
These policy think tanks short-circuit the democratic processes in the United States by funneling corporate money into the creation of policy, the mounting of lobbying campaigns for corporate-funded policy to be adopted into law by the US Congress, and the creation of media campaigns to sell these policies to a public that does not benefit from them and would otherwise oppose them.
Thus the vast majority of NED’s board of directors are pro-war and represent the largest, most corrupt corporations in the United States – not to mention on Earth. They are involved in a process of denying the American people themselves of democracy at home – and so certainly are not involved in promoting genuine democracy abroad.
They are, however, in great need of a smokescreen behind which to advance their agenda.
The National Endowment for Democracy is using the “promotion of democracy” as that smokescreen while engaged in political interference and regime change abroad in the pursuit of serving the corporate interests represented by the board of directors and those who fund NED directly.
For our example of Thailand – the US seeks to remove the current government and institutions from power and replace them with those beholden to Washington. This is part of a wider effort to remove pro-Beijing governments from across the region in a bid to isolate and contain China itself.
As mentioned – one US NED-funded front – iLaw – created a petition to rewrite Thailand’s entire constitution. One can only imagine the backlash and response by the US should Russia or China fund organizations inside the US to call for the rewriting of the US Constitution.
The documented political interference carried out by NED against others is interference the US itself would never tolerate any nation imposing upon it. Such irony and hypocrisy is perhaps the best way of all to highlight just how dubious NED’s work actually is.
The only way to claim the NED is engaged in supporting good around the globe is to completely ignore who funds it, who runs it, why, and what they’ve actually done and are currently doing. Or to ignore the fact that if any other nation did likewise to the US it would be considered an act of war.
Source: Land Destroyer
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activistpost--2020-08-16--More Utility Corruption: Senior CA Commission Official Says She’s Being Ousted After Whistleblowing

There has been extensive news coverage of the massive ongoing and sometimes deadly problems created by California utility company , Pacific Gas & Electric ( PG & E ) ( see 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) .
More corruption has been exposed and it ’ s not isolated to PG & E .
UTILITIES : Senior CPUC official claims she ’ s being ousted after whistle-blowing One of the highest-ranking officials at the California agency that regulates private utilities says she is being forced out of her job after she sought to recover $ 200 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Alice Stebbins , who has been executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission since February 2018 , was placed on administrative time off and believes her employer is preparing to fire her .
Stebbins ’ attorney sent a letter Tuesday to her bosses , the five commissioners who govern the agency , claiming she was being retaliated against for trying to “ clean up a broken CPUC.
” The letter says Commission President Marybel Batjer told Stebbins that she would be ousted because of ethical concerns about a handful of hires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chronicle that she suspects the real reason has something to do with about $ 200 million in outstanding fees that the agency has not collected .
Stebbins said the fees were owed by a range of utilities , including water companies that the commission did not collect from for many years .
She said some of the officials working under her identified the issue after reviewing a state report , that she promptly raised the matter to the governing commissioners and that their reaction was “ not much really.
” Utility scandals in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well ( see 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ) .
Many Americans still don ’ t know that utility corruption has actually been rampant for the last several years with the introduction , promotion , and installation of “ Smart ” Grids and millions of utility “ Smart ” Meters – electric , gas , and water .
People worldwide have been opposed to these meters since they started being deployed – especially in California .
These meters DO NOT save meaningful amounts of energy – as originally promised .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , explosions , increased bills , health issues ( see 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ) and more .
Since utility companies have installed tens of millions of “ Smart ” Meters – it ’ s likely that you already have them installed on your home and throughout your community .
If you don ’ t – tens of millions more are currently being deployed .
Activist Post reports regularly about utility “ Smart ” Meters and other unsafe technology .
For more information , visit our archives and the following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth , peace , and freedom news .
Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE !
Follow us on SoMee , HIVE , Parler , Flote , Minds , and Twitter .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ s coming !
Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By B.N. Frank
There has been extensive news coverage of the massive ongoing and sometimes deadly problems created by California utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). More corruption has been exposed and it’s not isolated to PG&E.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
UTILITIES: Senior CPUC official claims she’s being ousted after whistle-blowing One of the highest-ranking officials at the California agency that regulates private utilities says she is being forced out of her job after she sought to recover $200 million in fees owed to the agency. Alice Stebbins, who has been executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission since February 2018, was placed on administrative time off and believes her employer is preparing to fire her. Stebbins’ attorney sent a letter Tuesday to her bosses, the five commissioners who govern the agency, claiming she was being retaliated against for trying to “clean up a broken CPUC.” The letter says Commission President Marybel Batjer told Stebbins that she would be ousted because of ethical concerns about a handful of hires she allowed. But Stebbins told The Chronicle that she suspects the real reason has something to do with about $200 million in outstanding fees that the agency has not collected. Stebbins said the fees were owed by a range of utilities, including water companies that the commission did not collect from for many years. She said some of the officials working under her identified the issue after reviewing a state report, that she promptly raised the matter to the governing commissioners and that their reaction was “not much really.” Read full article
Utility scandals in Ohio and Illinois have recently been exposed as well (see 1, 2, 3, 4). Many Americans still don’t know that utility corruption has actually been rampant for the last several years with the introduction, promotion, and installation of “Smart” Grids and millions of utility “Smart” Meters – electric, gas, and water.
People worldwide have been opposed to these meters since they started being deployed – especially in California. These meters DO NOT save meaningful amounts of energy – as originally promised. Their installation has also led to fires, explosions, increased bills, health issues (see 1, 2, 3, 4) and more.
Since utility companies have installed tens of millions of “Smart” Meters – it’s likely that you already have them installed on your home and throughout your community. If you don’t – tens of millions more are currently being deployed.
Activist Post reports regularly about utility “Smart” Meters and other unsafe technology. For more information, visit our archives and the following websites:
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Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE! Follow us on SoMee, HIVE, Parler, Flote, Minds, and Twitter.
Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.


activistpost--2020-08-16--Federal Judge Makes Radical Move to End Qualified Immunity for Bad Cops, Nationally

When George Floyd was killed in May , the nation was shaken out of its slumber in regard to police brutality in this country .
Cities quite literally burned over the anger that has been boiling up over decades as cops kill people — who are often innocent , unarmed , and even children — and get away with it .
Sadly , however , the organized groups behind the protests only appear to be pushing a single , partial solution of “ defunding ” the police .
While this is certainly something to be considered , it is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To strike the root of the problem , we need bad cops held accountable .
One major way to do this is by ending qualified immunity .
Luckily , this idea is now picking up steam .
This month , U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves filed a 72-page opinion blasting qualified immunity which has given countless bad cops a pass all based on a severely flawed doctrine .
Jamison was entirely innocent , but police lied , manipulated , and violated his rights in a futile search for non-existent drugs .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even ended over the false allegations which is why he filed a lawsuit afterward .
But thanks to the doctrine of qualified immunity , Jamison was told to kick rocks .
This is in spite of the fact that McClendon was found to have actually violated the man ’ s rights .
Reeves determined that McClendon ’ s search of Jamison ’ s car violated the Fourth Amendment , which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures .
Nevertheless , Reeves was legally bound to rule against Jamison because of the qualified immunity defense .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a legal doctrine to protect law enforcement officers from having to face any consequences for wrongdoing , ” Reeves wrote .
“ The doctrine is called ‘ qualified immunity.
’ In real life it operates like absolute immunity.
” However , he added , “ [ i ] mmunity is not exoneration .
And the harm in this case to one man sheds light on the harm done to the nation by this manufactured doctrine.
” Now , Reeves has made it is personal mission to abolish this tyrannical doctrine .
“ [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ streets remind us today , some have always stood up to face our nation ’ s failings and remind us that ‘ we can not be patient , ’ ” he wrote .
“ Through their efforts we become ever more perfect.
” Reeves cited Congressman John Lewis , who “ stared down the racists of his era when he marched over the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
” He mentioned the Supreme Court ’ s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education , which abolished the doctrine of “ separate but equal.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ today is whether the Supreme Court will rise to the occasion and do the same with qualified immunity.
” Truthout explains that since qualified immunity is a court-made rule , the courts could abolish it .
Although the Supreme Court declined to review the doctrine in the last term , the abolition of qualified immunity in Colorado state courts , together with Reeves ’ s comprehensive condemnation of it , may well lead the high court to reconsider the endurance of qualified immunity in its next term .
Become an Activist Post Patron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As TFTP has reported , when it comes to police accountability , one overarching question remains : Do we want to live in a society whereby law enforcement officials can completely violate a person ’ s constitutional rights and get away with it ?
For our society to be free , the answer to that question must be a resounding , powerful , unwavering , Hell No !
Unfortunately , however , this is the case most of the time thanks to law enforcement personnel ’ s use and abuse of qualified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immunity in 1982 .
With that novel invention , the court granted all government officials immunity for violating constitutional and civil rights unless the victims of those violations can show that the rights were “ clearly established.
” As Anya Bidwell points out , although innocuous sounding , the clearly established test is a legal obstacle nearly impossible to overcome .
It requires a victim to identify an earlier decision by the Supreme Court , or a federal appeals court in the same jurisdiction holding that precisely the same conduct under the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ none exists , the official is immune .
Whether the official ’ s actions are unconstitutional , intentional or malicious is irrelevant to the test .
On top of the case above , another example of this would be the family of George Floyd attempting to seek compensation for his death .
Because there has never been a “ clearly established ” case of a cop kneeling on a man ’ s neck until he dies being declared unconstitutional , a judge in Minnesota could easily dismiss their case .
It is essentially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for cops and it perpetuates the problem of police violence by giving bad cops a free pass .
Steps like this in Mississippi are essential to reining in the terror of bad cops .
This is why everyone needs to call their representatives and tell them to support the bill proposed by Libertarian Congressman Justin Amash ( L-Michigan ) , H.R .
7085 which will end qualified immunity on a national level .
“ Qualified immunity protects police and other officials from consequences even for horrific rights abuses , ” said Amash .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ bad apples ’ and undermines the public ’ s faith in law enforcement .
It ’ s at odds with the text of the law and the intent of Congress , and it ultimately leaves Americans ’ rights without appropriate protection .
Members of Congress have a duty to ensure government officials can be held accountable for violating Americans ’ rights , and ending qualified immunity is a crucial part of that.
” If you are interested in the other paradigm-shifting solutions into quelling police brutality and Americans ’ deprivation of rights , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ending qualified immunity , that will have drastic changes .
You can read that here .
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA .
This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state .
Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world .
Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project .
Follow @ MattAgorist on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Minds .
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE !
Follow us on SoMee , HIVE , Parler , Flote , Minds , and Twitter .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ s coming !
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By Matt Agorist
When George Floyd was killed in May, the nation was shaken out of its slumber in regard to police brutality in this country. Cities quite literally burned over the anger that has been boiling up over decades as cops kill people — who are often innocent, unarmed, and even children — and get away with it. Sadly, however, the organized groups behind the protests only appear to be pushing a single, partial solution of “defunding” the police. While this is certainly something to be considered, it is a bandaid on a sucking chest wound. To strike the root of the problem, we need bad cops held accountable. One major way to do this is by ending qualified immunity. Luckily, this idea is now picking up steam.
This month, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves filed a 72-page opinion blasting qualified immunity which has given countless bad cops a pass all based on a severely flawed doctrine.
As Truthout reports:
In Jamison v. McClendon, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves recently concluded that Officer Nick McClendon violated Clarence Jamison’s Fourth Amendment rights when he subjected Jamison to a nearly two-hour ordeal that included badgering, pressuring, lying and intrusively searching his car. But the judge’s hands were tied by the qualified immunity doctrine so he was forced to deny Jamison’s legal claim. Reeves, an African American man, traced the development of the law and the institutional racism and police brutality that continue to plague our society. “Black people in this country are acutely aware of the danger traffic stops pose to Black lives,” the judge wrote.
Jamison was entirely innocent, but police lied, manipulated, and violated his rights in a futile search for non-existent drugs. His life could’ve been ruined or even ended over the false allegations which is why he filed a lawsuit afterward.
But thanks to the doctrine of qualified immunity, Jamison was told to kick rocks. This is in spite of the fact that McClendon was found to have actually violated the man’s rights.
Reeves determined that McClendon’s search of Jamison’s car violated the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. Nevertheless, Reeves was legally bound to rule against Jamison because of the qualified immunity defense.
“[J]udges have invented a legal doctrine to protect law enforcement officers from having to face any consequences for wrongdoing,” Reeves wrote. “The doctrine is called ‘qualified immunity.’ In real life it operates like absolute immunity.” However, he added, “[i]mmunity is not exoneration. And the harm in this case to one man sheds light on the harm done to the nation by this manufactured doctrine.”
Now, Reeves has made it is personal mission to abolish this tyrannical doctrine.
“[A]s people marching in the streets remind us today, some have always stood up to face our nation’s failings and remind us that ‘we cannot be patient,’” he wrote. “Through their efforts we become ever more perfect.” Reeves cited Congressman John Lewis, who “stared down the racists of his era when he marched over the Edmund Pettus Bridge.” He mentioned the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which abolished the doctrine of “separate but equal.” Reeves wrote, “The question of today is whether the Supreme Court will rise to the occasion and do the same with qualified immunity.”
Truthout explains that since qualified immunity is a court-made rule, the courts could abolish it. Although the Supreme Court declined to review the doctrine in the last term, the abolition of qualified immunity in Colorado state courts, together with Reeves’s comprehensive condemnation of it, may well lead the high court to reconsider the endurance of qualified immunity in its next term.
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As TFTP has reported, when it comes to police accountability, one overarching question remains: Do we want to live in a society whereby law enforcement officials can completely violate a person’s constitutional rights and get away with it? For our society to be free, the answer to that question must be a resounding, powerful, unwavering, Hell No!
Unfortunately, however, this is the case most of the time thanks to law enforcement personnel’s use and abuse of qualified immunity.
The Supreme Court created qualified immunity in 1982. With that novel invention, the court granted all government officials immunity for violating constitutional and civil rights unless the victims of those violations can show that the rights were “clearly established.”
As Anya Bidwell points out, although innocuous sounding, the clearly established test is a legal obstacle nearly impossible to overcome. It requires a victim to identify an earlier decision by the Supreme Court, or a federal appeals court in the same jurisdiction holding that precisely the same conduct under the same circumstances is illegal or unconstitutional. If none exists, the official is immune. Whether the official’s actions are unconstitutional, intentional or malicious is irrelevant to the test.
On top of the case above, another example of this would be the family of George Floyd attempting to seek compensation for his death. Because there has never been a “clearly established” case of a cop kneeling on a man’s neck until he dies being declared unconstitutional, a judge in Minnesota could easily dismiss their case.
It is essentially a get out of jail free card for cops and it perpetuates the problem of police violence by giving bad cops a free pass.
Steps like this in Mississippi are essential to reining in the terror of bad cops. This is why everyone needs to call their representatives and tell them to support the bill proposed by Libertarian Congressman Justin Amash (L-Michigan), H.R. 7085 which will end qualified immunity on a national level.
“Qualified immunity protects police and other officials from consequences even for horrific rights abuses,” said Amash. “It prevents accountability for the ‘bad apples’ and undermines the public’s faith in law enforcement. It’s at odds with the text of the law and the intent of Congress, and it ultimately leaves Americans’ rights without appropriate protection. Members of Congress have a duty to ensure government officials can be held accountable for violating Americans’ rights, and ending qualified immunity is a crucial part of that.”
If you are interested in the other paradigm-shifting solutions into quelling police brutality and Americans’ deprivation of rights, we propose five major solutions, including ending qualified immunity, that will have drastic changes. You can read that here.
Source: The Free Thought Project
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Minds.
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activistpost--2020-08-17--More Utility Corruption: Senior CA Commission Official Says She’s Being Ousted After Whistleblowing


activistpost--2020-08-17--With Remote Learning, Schools Are Watching and Reporting Parents at Alarming Rates

As remote learning creates more distance between school districts and students , school and state officials are clinging to control however they can .
From sending Child Protective Services ( CPS ) agents to investigate charges of neglect in homes where children missed Zoom classes last spring , to proposing “ child wellbeing checks ” in homes this fall , government schools and related agencies are panicking over parents having increased influence over their children ’ s care and education during the pandemic .
A front page article in yesterday ’ s Boston Sunday Globe describes the experiences of several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last spring when their children missed remote classes or failed to submit homework assignments amidst pandemic-related school shutdowns .
Some parents didn ’ t have Internet access and were blindsided by the CPS investigations of “ virtual truancy.
” One Latina mother featured in the Globe story is Em Quiles , who , like many parents last spring , scrambled to care for her children and continue to work during tremendous upheaval and uncertainty .
According to the Globe : Then in June , Quiles was stunned to receive a call from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Families .
The school had accused Quiles of neglect , she was told , because the 7-year-old missed class and homework assignments .
“ I couldn ’ t believe it , ” she said .
Quiles lived one of the worst nightmares for a parent : A neglect charge , if substantiated , can lead to removing a child from their home .
While most of the parents featured in the Globe story were ultimately exonerated , previous interaction with CPS , even if unfounded , can act as a Scarlet Letter for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come .
More troubling , parents singled out for CPS enforcement are disproportionately low-income and minority , often lacking the resources to defend themselves against government overreach .
According to the Globe : “ Most of the families caught up in remote learning allegations are Latino or Black , groups that are likely to be overrepresented in state foster care at all times.
” School districts across the country have a history of activating CPS against parents who stray from a district ’ s command and control .
An in-depth 2018 investigative report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that schools increasingly use child protective services as a “ weapon against parents ” —especially parents who lack the means to fight back .
Truancy has long been a trigger for CPS investigations , and now virtual truancy seems poised to accelerate these practices during the pandemic .
This is particularly concerning because , just as in typical truancy cases , virtual truancy is often prompted by factors other than parental neglect .
Special needs students and students with disabilities or health conditions may have more school absences , and they may find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A 2019 HuffPost article entitled The Human Costs of Kamala Harris ’ War on Truancy , found that strict truancy laws and enforcement terrorized families , with parents being pulled out of their homes in handcuffs and sent to jail .
Cheree Peoples , one of the parents spotlighted in the HuffPot piece , whose daughter missed school frequently due to sickle cell anemia , was awakened in the early hours by police officers who arrested her for truancy .
She told the HuffPost : “ You would swear I had killed somebody.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ then Democratic presidential candidate and now the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee , Kamala Harris , was responsible for much of the heightened aggression toward parents regarding truancy .
As California ’ s attorney general , Harris was a crusader against truancy and was instrumental in toughening criminal prosecution of parents whose children missed too much school .
According to HuffPost , Harris “ persuaded the state legislature to adopt harsher penalties for truancy .
Under the new law , the parent or guardian of a young , truant child could face a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or one year in jail .
Harris pushed hard for the law as she was running for attorney general , and it passed just as she won the election .
‘ We are putting parents on notice , ’ Harris said at her 2011 inauguration.
” Criminal investigations of child neglect tied to virtual truancy are set to skyrocket this fall , as school districts across the country adopt remote learning plans .
Worried that parents can ’ t be trusted to care for their own children , some education officials have proposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” by government agents .
Last week , the Tennessee Department of Education announced that it would be performing these wellbeing checks on children across the state .
This plan created such an uproar among Tennessee parents and conservative lawmakers that the proposed initiative was withdrawn and its guidelines removed from the education department ’ s website .
Despite this immediate victory , all parents should remain on alert .
School and state officials , aided by high-profile academics , will likely seek to increase CPS involvement in family affairs during remote learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harvard Law School professor who made headlines last spring when she called for a presumptive ban on homeschooling , spoke out last week in favor of increased CPS action this fall .
In an interview with Harvard Law Today , Bartholet said : “ My overall general recommendation is that educators and CPS agencies need to recognize the level of problems that kids at home are now facing in terms of risk of both education and maltreatment , and come up with some creative new solutions.
” In the interview , Bartholet acknowledged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as more parents choose to forgo district learning this fall and consider separating from their school district going forward .
According to Bartholet : “ Roughly three percent of the population is now homeschooled .
Let ’ s say that increases to six percent post-COVID .
Legislators and other policymakers may look at that and say , ‘ Wow , now this is a big phenomenon , it may continue to grow .
Of course , it shouldn ’ t be just this lawless world out there with no rules and regulations and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be part of our overall regulated educational system.
’ ” As I ’ ve written previously , homeschooling should not be part of the overall regulated education system .
It is a form of private education that is separate and distinct from state schooling , and many parents are now finding that they prefer homeschooling over other education options .
Parents are pulling their children out of school this fall in record numbers , dissatisfied with school reopening plans and aiming for greater educational freedom and flexibility .
So many parents submitted online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last month that it crashed the state ’ s nonpublic education website .
Perhaps not surprisingly , a recent report by a law professor at North Carolina ’ s Duke University called for greater regulation and oversight of the state ’ s growing ranks of homeschoolers .
As parents pull away from state-controlled education and assume greater responsibility for their children ’ s learning , the state will hasten efforts to maintain and expand its authority through its monopoly on the use of force .
From virtual truancy claims and increased CPS investigations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of color , to calls for child wellbeing checks and more homeschooling regulations , the state will not willingly yield control of children ’ s education to parents .
Parents should strongly reject these heavy-handed efforts to interfere with family life during and after the pandemic , and be especially vigilant about helping low-income and minority parents to resist as well .
Minimizing state power while maximizing individual liberty is the hallmark of a free society .
Now more than ever , parents are exercising and securing their freedom to raise and educate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may have been put on notice , but they are pushing back and opting out .

By Kerry McDonald
As remote learning creates more distance between school districts and students, school and state officials are clinging to control however they can. From sending Child Protective Services (CPS) agents to investigate charges of neglect in homes where children missed Zoom classes last spring, to proposing “child wellbeing checks” in homes this fall, government schools and related agencies are panicking over parents having increased influence over their children’s care and education during the pandemic.
A front page article in yesterday’s Boston Sunday Globe describes the experiences of several parents who were interrogated by CPS agents last spring when their children missed remote classes or failed to submit homework assignments amidst pandemic-related school shutdowns. Some parents didn’t have Internet access and were blindsided by the CPS investigations of “virtual truancy.” One Latina mother featured in the Globe story is Em Quiles, who, like many parents last spring, scrambled to care for her children and continue to work during tremendous upheaval and uncertainty. According to the Globe:
Then in June, Quiles was stunned to receive a call from the state’s Department of Children and Families. The school had accused Quiles of neglect, she was told, because the 7-year-old missed class and homework assignments. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said. Quiles lived one of the worst nightmares for a parent: A neglect charge, if substantiated, can lead to removing a child from their home.
While most of the parents featured in the Globe story were ultimately exonerated, previous interaction with CPS, even if unfounded, can act as a Scarlet Letter for parents, haunting them for years to come. More troubling, parents singled out for CPS enforcement are disproportionately low-income and minority, often lacking the resources to defend themselves against government overreach. According to the Globe: “Most of the families caught up in remote learning allegations are Latino or Black, groups that are likely to be overrepresented in state foster care at all times.”
School districts across the country have a history of activating CPS against parents who stray from a district’s command and control. An in-depth 2018 investigative report by The Hechinger Report and HuffPost revealed that schools increasingly use child protective services as a “weapon against parents”—especially parents who lack the means to fight back.
Kamala Harris: “We Are Putting Parents On Notice”
Truancy has long been a trigger for CPS investigations, and now virtual truancy seems poised to accelerate these practices during the pandemic. This is particularly concerning because, just as in typical truancy cases, virtual truancy is often prompted by factors other than parental neglect. Special needs students and students with disabilities or health conditions may have more school absences, and they may find virtual learning to be uniquely challenging. A 2019 HuffPost article entitled The Human Costs of Kamala Harris’ War on Truancy, found that strict truancy laws and enforcement terrorized families, with parents being pulled out of their homes in handcuffs and sent to jail.
Cheree Peoples, one of the parents spotlighted in the HuffPot piece, whose daughter missed school frequently due to sickle cell anemia, was awakened in the early hours by police officers who arrested her for truancy. She told the HuffPost: “You would swear I had killed somebody.”
The HuffPost article, revealed that then Democratic presidential candidate and now the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, was responsible for much of the heightened aggression toward parents regarding truancy. As California’s attorney general, Harris was a crusader against truancy and was instrumental in toughening criminal prosecution of parents whose children missed too much school. According to HuffPost, Harris “persuaded the state legislature to adopt harsher penalties for truancy. Under the new law, the parent or guardian of a young, truant child could face a fine of $2,500 or more — or one year in jail. Harris pushed hard for the law as she was running for attorney general, and it passed just as she won the election. ‘We are putting parents on notice,’ Harris said at her 2011 inauguration.”
Proposed Child Wellbeing Checks During COVID-19
Criminal investigations of child neglect tied to virtual truancy are set to skyrocket this fall, as school districts across the country adopt remote learning plans. Worried that parents can’t be trusted to care for their own children, some education officials have proposed large scale “child wellbeing checks,” by government agents. Last week, the Tennessee Department of Education announced that it would be performing these wellbeing checks on children across the state. This plan created such an uproar among Tennessee parents and conservative lawmakers that the proposed initiative was withdrawn and its guidelines removed from the education department’s website.
Despite this immediate victory, all parents should remain on alert. School and state officials, aided by high-profile academics, will likely seek to increase CPS involvement in family affairs during remote learning and beyond. Elizabeth Bartholet, the Harvard Law School professor who made headlines last spring when she called for a presumptive ban on homeschooling, spoke out last week in favor of increased CPS action this fall. In an interview with Harvard Law Today, Bartholet said: “My overall general recommendation is that educators and CPS agencies need to recognize the level of problems that kids at home are now facing in terms of risk of both education and maltreatment, and come up with some creative new solutions.”
Sign up for Kerry’s weekly LiberatED email newsletter!
In the interview, Bartholet acknowledged the heightened interest in independent homeschooling, as more parents choose to forgo district learning this fall and consider separating from their school district going forward. According to Bartholet: “Roughly three percent of the population is now homeschooled. Let’s say that increases to six percent post-COVID. Legislators and other policymakers may look at that and say, ‘Wow, now this is a big phenomenon, it may continue to grow. Of course, it shouldn’t be just this lawless world out there with no rules and regulations and oversight. Of course, this should be part of our overall regulated educational system.’”
As I’ve written previously, homeschooling should not be part of the overall regulated education system. It is a form of private education that is separate and distinct from state schooling, and many parents are now finding that they prefer homeschooling over other education options. Parents are pulling their children out of school this fall in record numbers, dissatisfied with school reopening plans and aiming for greater educational freedom and flexibility. So many parents submitted online intent to homeschool forms in North Carolina last month that it crashed the state’s nonpublic education website. Perhaps not surprisingly, a recent report by a law professor at North Carolina’s Duke University called for greater regulation and oversight of the state’s growing ranks of homeschoolers.
As parents pull away from state-controlled education and assume greater responsibility for their children’s learning, the state will hasten efforts to maintain and expand its authority through its monopoly on the use of force. From virtual truancy claims and increased CPS investigations that disproportionately target poor parents and families of color, to calls for child wellbeing checks and more homeschooling regulations, the state will not willingly yield control of children’s education to parents.
Parents should strongly reject these heavy-handed efforts to interfere with family life during and after the pandemic, and be especially vigilant about helping low-income and minority parents to resist as well. Minimizing state power while maximizing individual liberty is the hallmark of a free society. Now more than ever, parents are exercising and securing their freedom to raise and educate their children as they choose. Parents may have been put on notice, but they are pushing back and opting out.


activistpost--2020-08-17--Universities Ask Students to Play “Coronavirus Police,” Report Peers Who Might Have COVID-19

As colleges across America reopen for in-person learning this fall , some are asking students to report peers who might not be following guidelines that universities have set up to prevent the spread of COVID-19 .
For example , the University of Miami has set up a system where “ students are encouraged to report concerns about unsafe behaviors ” of their peers , and administrators will review the concern .
Texas A & M University has a similar system where faculty members and administrators can file a report if they are concerned someone else on campus has COVID-19 or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Tulane University also has a system where university members can report “ problematic behavior ” related to COVID-19 , and depending on the circumstance , are asked to call the university police .
“ Do you really want to be the reason that Tulane and New Orleans have to shut down again ?
” Tulane Dean of Students Erica Woodly wrote on the reporting page announcement .
Yale University is even encouraging students to “ make reports concerning COVID-19 ” to the university hotline .
The University of North Georgia has set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Others Form , ” which prompted a letter to the university from the Southeastern Legal Foundation , which claims that the form may violate students ’ right to privacy and could possibly censor speech .
“ Colleges have a duty to protect student health and safety , especially during uncertain times like these .
However , even in unprecedented times , students ’ First Amendment rights remain unchanged .
That means colleges and universities can not engage in viewpoint or content-based discrimination , can not enact vague and overbroad policies , and can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ letter stated .
“ With a Concern Form at students ’ fingertips , students wishing to prevent a controversial speaker from visiting campus or to stop a student organization from garnering interest in their cause can simply report members of that organization as symptomatic .
Without stricter reporting guidelines and limits , it appears that such events could be shut down entirely with the press of a button .
This may sound unlikely , but then again , who would have predicted 2020 to turn out as it has ?
” the letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the form could violate students ’ Fourth Amendment rights by forcing students to get tested for COVID-19 , even when there is no cause .
Activist Post Recommended Book : Snitch Culture : How Citizens Are Turned Into The Eyes And Ears Of The State “ Under the Fourth Amendment , individuals can not be subject to unreasonable searches and seizures .
The Supreme Court has even considered that right in the context of cheek swabs .
The Court has held that a criminal arrested and charged with a serious crime can be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so long as the charges are supported by probable cause , meaning there must be sufficient likelihood that the crime occurred .
However , a swab is unconstitutional if there is no probable cause , the charge is not criminal , or if the DNA is used to gather medical information about the criminal , ” SLF explained .
“ Will UNG , upon receiving a report of a symptomatic student , subject that student to an invasive COVID-19 swab ?
Surely the university understands that this action would violate the Fourth Amendment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ addition to encouraging other students to report their peers if they have concerns about their possible exposure to COVID-19 , other schools are implementing different student volunteer programs to reduce the spread of the virus .
Columbia University , for example , is implementing a “ Student Ambassador ” program , where students will become a “ peer leader ” and “ expert ” on “ COVID-19 prevention , the Columbia Community Health Compact and resources for students.
” The University of Denver is taking things a step further and is requiring students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mobile devices ” that will track their location to aid with contact tracing efforts , as Campus Reform previously reported .
While universities across the country are involving students in their COVID-19 prevention plans , two Ivy League academics urged universities to not make students “ the coronavirus police ” in a New York Times op-ed .
Karen Levy , an assistant professor at Cornell University and Lauren Kilgour , a doctoral candidate at Cornell both agree that involving students “ makes sense , ” but that the systems may not be very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tough positions.
” “ Of course , many students understand the high stakes of a coronavirus outbreak and have a desire to help keep their communities safe .
Some students may feel a sense of civic duty to participate in policing their classmates ’ behavior , ” they wrote .
“ But others may be loath to report on their friends , especially when doing so could result in harsh penalties.
” “ People report on one another ( truthfully or falsely ) for a number of personal reasons , including competition , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There ’ s every reason to assume that these motivations will bubble up in the college context , too .
Students have their own loyalties , broken hearts , rocky roommate relationships and fraternity codes of silence , ” Levy and Kilgour added .
Follow the author of this article on Twitter : @ asabes10 Adam Sabes is the Assistant Editor reporting on liberal bias and abuse on campus for Campus Reform .
Adam was previously the Mississippi Senior Campus Correspondent for Campus Reform .
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE !
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Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By Adam Sabes
As colleges across America reopen for in-person learning this fall, some are asking students to report peers who might not be following guidelines that universities have set up to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
For example, the University of Miami has set up a system where “students are encouraged to report concerns about unsafe behaviors” of their peers, and administrators will review the concern.
Texas A&M University has a similar system where faculty members and administrators can file a report if they are concerned someone else on campus has COVID-19 or has come into contact with the virus.
Tulane University also has a system where university members can report “problematic behavior” related to COVID-19, and depending on the circumstance, are asked to call the university police.
“Do you really want to be the reason that Tulane and New Orleans have to shut down again?” Tulane Dean of Students Erica Woodly wrote on the reporting page announcement.
Yale University is even encouraging students to “make reports concerning COVID-19” to the university hotline.
The University of North Georgia has set up a similar “COVID-19 Concern for Others Form,” which prompted a letter to the university from the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which claims that the form may violate students’ right to privacy and could possibly censor speech.
“Colleges have a duty to protect student health and safety, especially during uncertain times like these. However, even in unprecedented times, students’ First Amendment rights remain unchanged. That means colleges and universities cannot engage in viewpoint or content-based discrimination, cannot enact vague and overbroad policies, and cannot chill student expression,” the letter stated.
“With a Concern Form at students’ fingertips, students wishing to prevent a controversial speaker from visiting campus or to stop a student organization from garnering interest in their cause can simply report members of that organization as symptomatic. Without stricter reporting guidelines and limits, it appears that such events could be shut down entirely with the press of a button. This may sound unlikely, but then again, who would have predicted 2020 to turn out as it has?” the letter added.
The SLF also said that the form could violate students’ Fourth Amendment rights by forcing students to get tested for COVID-19, even when there is no cause.
Activist Post Recommended Book: Snitch Culture: How Citizens Are Turned Into The Eyes And Ears Of The State
“Under the Fourth Amendment, individuals cannot be subject to unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court has even considered that right in the context of cheek swabs. The Court has held that a criminal arrested and charged with a serious crime can be subjected to a DNA cheek swab, so long as the charges are supported by probable cause, meaning there must be sufficient likelihood that the crime occurred. However, a swab is unconstitutional if there is no probable cause, the charge is not criminal, or if the DNA is used to gather medical information about the criminal,” SLF explained.
“Will UNG, upon receiving a report of a symptomatic student, subject that student to an invasive COVID-19 swab? Surely the university understands that this action would violate the Fourth Amendment,” the group adds.
In addition to encouraging other students to report their peers if they have concerns about their possible exposure to COVID-19, other schools are implementing different student volunteer programs to reduce the spread of the virus.
Columbia University, for example, is implementing a “Student Ambassador” program, where students will become a “peer leader” and “expert” on “COVID-19 prevention, the Columbia Community Health Compact and resources for students.”
The University of Denver is taking things a step further and is requiring students to “install an application on their mobile devices” that will track their location to aid with contact tracing efforts, as Campus Reform previously reported.
While universities across the country are involving students in their COVID-19 prevention plans, two Ivy League academics urged universities to not make students “the coronavirus police” in a New York Times op-ed.
Karen Levy, an assistant professor at Cornell University and Lauren Kilgour, a doctoral candidate at Cornell both agree that involving students “makes sense,” but that the systems may not be very effective and “put students in very tough positions.”
“Of course, many students understand the high stakes of a coronavirus outbreak and have a desire to help keep their communities safe. Some students may feel a sense of civic duty to participate in policing their classmates’ behavior,” they wrote. “But others may be loath to report on their friends, especially when doing so could result in harsh penalties.”
“People report on one another (truthfully or falsely) for a number of personal reasons, including competition, revenge, leverage and everyday aggravations. There’s every reason to assume that these motivations will bubble up in the college context, too. Students have their own loyalties, broken hearts, rocky roommate relationships and fraternity codes of silence,” Levy and Kilgour added.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @asabes10
Adam Sabes is the Assistant Editor reporting on liberal bias and abuse on campus for Campus Reform. Adam was previously the Mississippi Senior Campus Correspondent for Campus Reform.
Source: Campus Reform
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Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE! Follow us on SoMee, HIVE, Parler, Flote, Minds, and Twitter.
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activistpost--2020-08-17--Countries Are Using Border Surveillance Systems Against Their Own Citizens

Hamdi was just an infant when his relatives first brought him to the Dadaab refugee camp in north-eastern Kenya to be registered as a refugee – despite the fact he was a Kenyan citizen .
Like many ethnic Somali citizens of Kenya living in the vicinity of the camp , they were drawn to the prospect of obtaining food aid for their family .
Since the outbreak of the Somali civil war in the early 1990s , north-eastern Kenya has experienced periodic droughts , propelling many Kenyan Somalis to slip into the refugee system .
At Dadaab , they could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services that , as citizens of one of the country ’ s most neglected and marginalised regions , were often out of their reach .
Hamdi ’ s relatives did not anticipate that a seemingly harmless lie would hound him for almost half a decade .
Over the last few years , tens of thousands of Kenyan citizens like Hamdi who have tried to obtain a Kenyan national ID have been turned away because their fingerprints are captured in the refugee database .
I met many of these people last December while conducting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the eastern part of the country .
This was part of an ongoing project into the troubled history of biometrics and identification in Kenya .
I then returned to London to news of a newly published inquiry into the Windrush scandal .
It detailed how hundreds of British Commonwealth citizens had been wrongly detained , deported and mistreated under the government ’ s harsh , data-driven immigration rules .
I was struck by the similarities between the UK and Kenya ( two countries bound together by colonial history ) .
The Windrush scandal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 , has attracted comparatively more attention than the plight faced by victims of double registration in Kenya .
However , both cases reveal the harms caused by data-driven technologies in the service of anti-immigrant and exclusionary policies .
Migrant surveillance systems affect citizens and residents , particularly those who do not fit neatly into legal categories or typical ideas of who “ belongs ” .
Civil rights activists have been raising alarms for years about the impacts of data-driven and biometric surveillance on irregular migrants .
But it ’ s equally important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mind when we think about the risks of increasingly digitised border-control regimes .
Hamdi ’ s troubles can be traced to the growing use of biometric data ( such as fingerprint and iris scanning ) within the humanitarian sector .
In the years after 9/11 , the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) began experimenting with iris scans along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier .
With the backing of the US , the agency developed a standardised biometric registration system , now in use in Kenya and over 50 host countries worldwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , building its own biometric refugee database with support from the UNHCR .
Today , Kenyan officials are able to cross-check the fingerprints of those who apply for a national ID , effectively shutting the door of citizenship to anyone found on the refugee database .
Without a national ID in Kenya , many basic political and economic rights are out of reach .
These developments in Kenya mirror broader global trends .
States , refugee aid organisations , and international border-control agencies increasingly rely upon centralised biometric databases to better track migration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the value of interoperability , which is the ability to exchange and make use of data across different systems .
EU member states , for example , use EURODAC , an asylum fingerprint database , when processing the applications of asylum seekers .
Beginning in 2008 , migrants in the UK who originate from outside the European Economic Area have been required to carry biometric residence permits .
The gathering and indefinite storage of biometric data has gone hand in hand with other forms of data collection .
In 2012 , the UK @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which put in place measures designed to make life more challenging for irregular migrants .
Under this new regime , the Home Office can access data from hospitals , banks , employers and landlords .
Though intended to root out “ illegal ” immigrants , these policies punished many legal migrants of Caribbean descent and their children .
Known collectively as the Windrush generation ( after the celebrated ship that carried Caribbean people to Britain in 1948 ) , Commonwealth citizens who immigrated before 1973 have the legal right to live in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families were nevertheless harassed by Home Office staff , denied services , illegally detained and , in extreme cases , deported to countries they barely knew .
Michael Braithwaite , who had lived in the UK for over 55 years , lost his job when a routine immigration check revealed that he did not have a biometric residence permit .
While scholars and privacy advocates are rightly concerned about big data expanding the scope of government oversight , we should also consider the blindness built into many data-heavy surveillance systems .
Collecting ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give states or international bodies a more accurate picture of individuals ’ lives .
Trust in automated decision-making can also lead to blunt , inaccurate assessments of people ’ s legal status .
Growing demands for identification can increase opportunities for gatekeeping , which may exclude those whose legal documents or biometric data do not tell the “ correct ” bureaucratic story .
In addition , officials frequently privilege easily accessible digital records and biometric data over older , often more straightforward paper documents .
Many Kenyans denied IDs had ample proof of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from local chiefs attesting to their parentage and school records .
In 2010 , the Home Office negligently destroyed the paper landing cards of Windrush migrants , which had been used in deciding immigration cases .
Proponents of enhanced border security often argue that technologies like biometrics are more objective , neutral , and non-discriminatory .
The hardships faced by thousands of British Caribbeans and Kenyan Somalis , however , tell a different story .
Individuals and groups who share the same ethnic or national background as targeted migrants may find themselves the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A callous , shortsighted faith in digital border controls has rendered many ethnic-minority citizens and legal migrants effectively stateless .
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .
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By Keren Weitzberg, UCL
Hamdi was just an infant when his relatives first brought him to the Dadaab refugee camp in north-eastern Kenya to be registered as a refugee – despite the fact he was a Kenyan citizen. Like many ethnic Somali citizens of Kenya living in the vicinity of the camp, they were drawn to the prospect of obtaining food aid for their family.
Since the outbreak of the Somali civil war in the early 1990s, north-eastern Kenya has experienced periodic droughts, propelling many Kenyan Somalis to slip into the refugee system. At Dadaab, they could access free education, food and medical services that, as citizens of one of the country’s most neglected and marginalised regions, were often out of their reach.
Hamdi’s relatives did not anticipate that a seemingly harmless lie would hound him for almost half a decade. Over the last few years, tens of thousands of Kenyan citizens like Hamdi who have tried to obtain a Kenyan national ID have been turned away because their fingerprints are captured in the refugee database.
I met many of these people last December while conducting research in the town of Garissa in the eastern part of the country. This was part of an ongoing project into the troubled history of biometrics and identification in Kenya. I then returned to London to news of a newly published inquiry into the Windrush scandal. It detailed how hundreds of British Commonwealth citizens had been wrongly detained, deported and mistreated under the government’s harsh, data-driven immigration rules.
I was struck by the similarities between the UK and Kenya (two countries bound together by colonial history). The Windrush scandal, which came to public light in 2017, has attracted comparatively more attention than the plight faced by victims of double registration in Kenya. However, both cases reveal the harms caused by data-driven technologies in the service of anti-immigrant and exclusionary policies.
Migrant surveillance systems affect citizens and residents, particularly those who do not fit neatly into legal categories or typical ideas of who “belongs”. Civil rights activists have been raising alarms for years about the impacts of data-driven and biometric surveillance on irregular migrants. But it’s equally important to keep citizens and legal migrants in mind when we think about the risks of increasingly digitised border-control regimes.
Reliance on biometrics
Hamdi’s troubles can be traced to the growing use of biometric data (such as fingerprint and iris scanning) within the humanitarian sector. In the years after 9/11, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began experimenting with iris scans along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier. With the backing of the US, the agency developed a standardised biometric registration system, now in use in Kenya and over 50 host countries worldwide.
The Kenyan government soon followed suit, building its own biometric refugee database with support from the UNHCR. Today, Kenyan officials are able to cross-check the fingerprints of those who apply for a national ID, effectively shutting the door of citizenship to anyone found on the refugee database. Without a national ID in Kenya, many basic political and economic rights are out of reach.
These developments in Kenya mirror broader global trends. States, refugee aid organisations, and international border-control agencies increasingly rely upon centralised biometric databases to better track migration. States and intergovernmental bodies also stress the value of interoperability, which is the ability to exchange and make use of data across different systems.
EU member states, for example, use EURODAC, an asylum fingerprint database, when processing the applications of asylum seekers. Beginning in 2008, migrants in the UK who originate from outside the European Economic Area have been required to carry biometric residence permits.
Hostile environment
The gathering and indefinite storage of biometric data has gone hand in hand with other forms of data collection. In 2012, the UK government launched its hostile environment policy, which put in place measures designed to make life more challenging for irregular migrants. Under this new regime, the Home Office can access data from hospitals, banks, employers and landlords.
Though intended to root out “illegal” immigrants, these policies punished many legal migrants of Caribbean descent and their children. Known collectively as the Windrush generation (after the celebrated ship that carried Caribbean people to Britain in 1948), Commonwealth citizens who immigrated before 1973 have the legal right to live in the UK.
Many members of such British-Caribbean families were nevertheless harassed by Home Office staff, denied services, illegally detained and, in extreme cases, deported to countries they barely knew. Michael Braithwaite, who had lived in the UK for over 55 years, lost his job when a routine immigration check revealed that he did not have a biometric residence permit.
Data dangers
While scholars and privacy advocates are rightly concerned about big data expanding the scope of government oversight, we should also consider the blindness built into many data-heavy surveillance systems. Collecting ever more fine-grained sensitive data does not necessarily give states or international bodies a more accurate picture of individuals’ lives.
Trust in automated decision-making can also lead to blunt, inaccurate assessments of people’s legal status. Growing demands for identification can increase opportunities for gatekeeping, which may exclude those whose legal documents or biometric data do not tell the “correct” bureaucratic story.
In addition, officials frequently privilege easily accessible digital records and biometric data over older, often more straightforward paper documents. Many Kenyans denied IDs had ample proof of citizenship, including birth certificates, letters from local chiefs attesting to their parentage and school records. In 2010, the Home Office negligently destroyed the paper landing cards of Windrush migrants, which had been used in deciding immigration cases.
Proponents of enhanced border security often argue that technologies like biometrics are more objective, neutral, and non-discriminatory. The hardships faced by thousands of British Caribbeans and Kenyan Somalis, however, tell a different story.
Individuals and groups who share the same ethnic or national background as targeted migrants may find themselves the unwitting victims of data-driven border enforcement. A callous, shortsighted faith in digital border controls has rendered many ethnic-minority citizens and legal migrants effectively stateless.
Keren Weitzberg, Teaching Fellow in History, UCL
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Top image: Klein Ongaki
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activistpost--2020-08-18--VICTORY! $16.5M Settlement Reached In Class-Action Lawsuit Over MASS ARRESTS During 2010 G20 Summit

This is a huge win for the people vs the state !
A $ 16.5M settlement has been reached in @ @ @ @ @ the over 1,100 people wrongfully arrested at the G20 summit in Toronto in 2010 .
@ @ @ @ @ award winning film Into The Fire documented the event and called for a public inquiry @ @ @ @ @ and it has taken 10 years but the moment has finally arrived !
In this @ @ @ @ @ For Truth expresses his joy over this excellent news which in 2020 is extremely rare @ @ @ @ @ the good guys !
!
Into The Fire – Behind The Music https : //www.bitchute.com/video/DDxVA9vX1Q1b/ @ @ @ @ @ Dan Dicks of Press For Truth HERE ➜ https : //pressfortruth.ca/press-for-truth-banned-on-youtube/ Subscribe to Activist Post @ @ @ @ @ and freedom news .
Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE @ @ @ @ @ , HIVE , Parler , Flote , Minds , and Twitter .
Provide , Protect @ @ @ @ @ s coming !
Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By Press For Truth
This is a huge win for the people vs the state! A $16.5M settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit for the over 1,100 people wrongfully arrested at the G20 summit in Toronto in 2010.
Press For Truth’s award winning film Into The Fire documented the event and called for a public inquiry and justice for the victims and it has taken 10 years but the moment has finally arrived!
In this video Dan Dicks of Press For Truth expresses his joy over this excellent news which in 2020 is extremely rare! Chalk one up for the good guys!!
?
Sources:
Into The Fire – Full Film
https://www.altcensored.com/watch?v=zejD0UkMGGY
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/settlement-class-action-g20-summit-1.5689329
Into The Fire – Behind The Music
https://www.bitchute.com/video/DDxVA9vX1Q1b/
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/06/27/adam-nobody-and-the-video-clip-that-changed-everything.html
https://www.patreon.com/PressForTruth
Stay Up To Date With Dan Dicks of Press For Truth HERE ➜ https://pressfortruth.ca/press-for-truth-banned-on-youtube/
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activistpost--2020-08-18--Delinquent FHA Mortgages Soar By Record 60% To All Time High, As Homeowner Budgets Implode

Last month we quoted from Wolf Richter to remind readers of something we discussed several months ago when we went over the details of the forbearance process and why so many banks have chosen to use it instead of rushing to admit their balance sheets are hammered with a record surge in delinquencies and defaults .
As a reminder , “ mortgages that are in forbearance and have not missed a payment before going into forbearance don ’ t count as delinquent .
They ’ re reported as ‘ current.
’ And 8.2 % of all mortgages in the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ currently in forbearance according to the Mortgage Bankers Association .
But if they did not miss a payment before entering forbearance , they don ’ t count in the suddenly spiking delinquency data.
” Everything changed in April when there was a sudden onslaught of delinquencies according to CoreLogic , which came after 27 months in a row of declining delinquency rates .
These delinquency rates move in stages – and the early stages are now getting hit , with the transition from “ Current ” to 30-days past due suddenly soaring .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ share of all mortgages that were past due , but less than 30 days , soared to 3.4 % of all mortgages , the highest in the data going back to 1999 .
This was up from 0.7 % in April last year .
During the Housing Bust , this rate peaked in November 2008 at 2 % ( chart via CoreLogic ) .
Fast forward to today , when the dam of pent up mortgage delinquencies cracked some more , with the Federal Housing Administration reporting that its mortgages which represent the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buyers , minorities and low-income Americans , now have the highest delinquency rate in at least four decades .
The share of delinquent FHA loans rose to 15.7 % in the second quarter , up a whopping 60 % from about 9.7 % in the previous three months and the highest level in records dating back to 1979 , the Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday .
The delinquency rate for conventional loans , by comparison , was 6.7 % .
With million of Americans losing their jobs due to the covid shutdowns , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ checks which continue thanks to Trump ’ s executive orders but were notably slashed .
It is those Americans on the lower end of the income scale are most likely to have FHA loans , which allow borrowers with shaky credit to buy homes with small down payments .
Still , despite their inability to pay , most remain protected from foreclosure by the federal forbearance program , in which borrowers with pandemic-related hardships can delay payments for as much as a year without penalty .
What happens when the program ends finally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( or more ) are due at once is a world which few want to even imagine .
According to Bloomberg , New Jersey had the highest FHA delinquency rate , at 20 % .
See : 177 Different Ways to Generate Extra Income At the same time , the delinquency rate for all mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties soared to 8.22 % of all loans outstanding at the end of the second quarter of 2020 , according to the Mortgage Bankers Association ’ s National Delinquency Survey .
The delinquency rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basis points , from the first quarter of 2020 and was up 369 basis points from one year ago .
For the purposes of the survey , MBA asks servicers to report loans in forbearance as delinquent if the payment was not made based on the original terms of the mortgage .
“ The COVID-19 pandemic ’ s effects on some homeowners ’ ability to make their mortgage payments could not be more apparent .
The nearly 4 percentage point jump in the delinquency rate was the biggest quarterly rise in the history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Marina Walsh , MBA ’ s Vice President of Industry Analysis .
“ The second quarter results also mark the highest overall delinquency rate in nine years , and a survey-high delinquency rate for FHA loans.
” What ’ s even more ominous is that while millions of “ forbeared ” loans remain delayed from entering the delinquency pipeline , Walsh said that “ there was also a movement of loans to later stages of delinquency , with the 60-day delinquency rate reaching a new survey-high , and the 90+-day delinquency rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ third quarter of 2010.
” Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE !
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By Tyler Durden
Last month we quoted from Wolf Richter to remind readers of something we discussed several months ago when we went over the details of the forbearance process and why so many banks have chosen to use it instead of rushing to admit their balance sheets are hammered with a record surge in delinquencies and defaults. As a reminder, “mortgages that are in forbearance and have not missed a payment before going into forbearance don’t count as delinquent. They’re reported as ‘current.’ And 8.2% of all mortgages in the US, some 4.1 million loans, are currently in forbearance according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But if they did not miss a payment before entering forbearance, they don’t count in the suddenly spiking delinquency data.”
Everything changed in April when there was a sudden onslaught of delinquencies according to CoreLogic, which came after 27 months in a row of declining delinquency rates. These delinquency rates move in stages – and the early stages are now getting hit, with the transition from “Current” to 30-days past due suddenly soaring.
To wit, in April, the share of all mortgages that were past due, but less than 30 days, soared to 3.4% of all mortgages, the highest in the data going back to 1999. This was up from 0.7% in April last year. During the Housing Bust, this rate peaked in November 2008 at 2% (chart via CoreLogic).
Fast forward to today, when the dam of pent up mortgage delinquencies cracked some more, with the Federal Housing Administration reporting that its mortgages which represent the affordable path to homeownership for many first-time buyers, minorities and low-income Americans, now have the highest delinquency rate in at least four decades.
The share of delinquent FHA loans rose to 15.7% in the second quarter, up a whopping 60% from about 9.7% in the previous three months and the highest level in records dating back to 1979, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday. The delinquency rate for conventional loans, by comparison, was 6.7%.
With million of Americans losing their jobs due to the covid shutdowns, they have become reliant on government stimulus checks which continue thanks to Trump’s executive orders but were notably slashed. It is those Americans on the lower end of the income scale are most likely to have FHA loans, which allow borrowers with shaky credit to buy homes with small down payments.
Still, despite their inability to pay, most remain protected from foreclosure by the federal forbearance program, in which borrowers with pandemic-related hardships can delay payments for as much as a year without penalty. What happens when the program ends finally ends and when several months of payments (or more) are due at once is a world which few want to even imagine.
According to Bloomberg, New Jersey had the highest FHA delinquency rate, at 20%.
The state also had the biggest increase in the overall late-payment rate, jumping to 11% in the second quarter from 4.7%. Following were Nevada, New York, Florida and Hawaii — all states with a high proportion of leisure and hospitality jobs that were especially hard-hit by the pandemic, the MBA said.
At the same time, the delinquency rate for all mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties soared to 8.22% of all loans outstanding at the end of the second quarter of 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey.
The delinquency rate increased nearly 4%, or 386 basis points, from the first quarter of 2020 and was up 369 basis points from one year ago. For the purposes of the survey, MBA asks servicers to report loans in forbearance as delinquent if the payment was not made based on the original terms of the mortgage.
“The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on some homeowners’ ability to make their mortgage payments could not be more apparent. The nearly 4 percentage point jump in the delinquency rate was the biggest quarterly rise in the history of MBA’s survey,” said Marina Walsh, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis. “The second quarter results also mark the highest overall delinquency rate in nine years, and a survey-high delinquency rate for FHA loans.”
What’s even more ominous is that while millions of “forbeared” loans remain delayed from entering the delinquency pipeline, Walsh said that “there was also a movement of loans to later stages of delinquency, with the 60-day delinquency rate reaching a new survey-high, and the 90+-day delinquency rate climbing to its highest level since the third quarter of 2010.”
Source: Zerohedge
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