thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-06--More Australia Con-Vid Tyranny:  Mom Arrested At Beach For Traveling “Outside Her Permitted 5km Radi

More Australia Con-Vid Tyranny:  Mom Arrested At Beach For Traveling “Outside Her Permitted 5km Radius”

More Australia Con-Vid Tyranny : Mom Arrested At Beach For Traveling “ Outside Her Permitted 5km Radius ” Australia is undoubtedly one of the most tyrannical places on the planet , especially Melbourne , and the latest incident where a mother was arrested for traveling “ outside her permitted 5km radius ” while at the beach is just another example of how government is ignoring law and engaging in lawlessness under the color of law .
We ’ ve previously detailed protests that have sprung up in various major cities across the Australian continent over authorities ’ ultra-restrictive coronavirus lockdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far-reaching in the southeast state of Victoria .
There ’ s been multiple instances caught on video of police cracking down on elderly people and even pregnant women for merely resting outside on park benches , supposedly in “ violation ” of coronavirus social distancing measures , even as case numbers have significantly dropped since August .
And now here ’ s the latest incident to go viral as citizens flock to newly reopened beaches , after Victoria slightly relaxed some of its more severe lockdown restrictions : Video has emerged of police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrest of a woman at a Melbourne beach as hordes of residents headed outdoors to enjoy the good weather over the weekend .
Officers approached a group of people at Altona Beach , in the city ’ s southwest , on Saturday evening after noticing they weren ’ t wearing masks , Victoria Police said .
And here ’ s a description of how this “ mask enforcement ” unfolded , in which the police claim the group that included a pregnant woman acted “ aggressively ” : “ She ’ s taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ f***ing arrest her for what ?
” one person says .
One of the group then alleges an officer pushed a pregnant woman in the group as they try to control the volatile situation .
It also comes as Aussies are growing sick and tired of essentially being locked indoors and confined to their local areas under tight regulations , even as cases drop and the weather grows better .
Police were out in force this weekend looking for ‘ excessive crowds ’ and ‘ mask rules violators ’ .
And more outrageous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law that says citizens can not venture five kilometers from their home .
Victoria Police confirmed the arrested woman was further than five kilometres from her home and was issued with three infringement notices .
Other members of the group also received fines while police will continue investigations into activities to determine whether others had breached current coronavirus restrictions .
The detained woman received multiple citations and fines , according to Australian media .
Local Channel 7 News Australia also confirmed that “ Police took the woman into custody at Altona Beach on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mask and travelled outside her permitted 5km radius.
” And there you have it , these cops get right in your personal space , not social distancing , arresting people who aren ’ t committing a crime and assault them .
If you don ’ t think that ’ s what this is , then just wait for your turn because you are of a statist mindset .
This is ridiculous over what can only be described as the greatest hoax ever perpetrated upon the world , and we know the devil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permission from Sons of Liberty Media

Australia is undoubtedly one of the most tyrannical places on the planet, especially Melbourne, and the latest incident where a mother was arrested for traveling “outside her permitted 5km radius” while at the beach is just another example of how government is ignoring law and engaging in lawlessness under the color of law.
Tyler Durden has the story.
We’ve previously detailed protests that have sprung up in various major cities across the Australian continent over authorities’ ultra-restrictive coronavirus lockdown measures, which are especially stringent and far-reaching in the southeast state of Victoria.
There’s been multiple instances caught on video of police cracking down on elderly people and even pregnant women for merely resting outside on park benches, supposedly in “violation” of coronavirus social distancing measures, even as case numbers have significantly dropped since August. And now here’s the latest incident to go viral as citizens flock to newly reopened beaches, after Victoria slightly relaxed some of its more severe lockdown restrictions:
Video has emerged of police officers clashing with beachgoers in a dramatic arrest of a woman at a Melbourne beach as hordes of residents headed outdoors to enjoy the good weather over the weekend.
Officers approached a group of people at Altona Beach, in the city’s southwest, on Saturday evening after noticing they weren’t wearing masks, Victoria Police said.
And here’s a description of how this “mask enforcement” unfolded, in which the police claim the group that included a pregnant woman acted “aggressively”:
“She’s taken her kids for a swim and you f***ing arrest her for what?” one person says.
“You’re f***ing pussies,” a man can be heard shouting.
One of the group then alleges an officer pushed a pregnant woman in the group as they try to control the volatile situation.
It also comes as Aussies are growing sick and tired of essentially being locked indoors and confined to their local areas under tight regulations, even as cases drop and the weather grows better.
Police were out in force this weekend looking for ‘excessive crowds’ and ‘mask rules violators’. And more outrageous is that Victoria is currently enforcing a law that says citizens cannot venture five kilometers from their home.
Police in Melbourne have been accused of pushing a “pregnant” woman while arresting another woman who was allegedly breaching coronavirus rules. https://t.co/mvZRlkIyat — Sunrise (@sunriseon7) October 4, 2020
According to Yahoo News Australia:
Victoria Police confirmed the arrested woman was further than five kilometres from her home and was issued with three infringement notices.
Other members of the group also received fines while police will continue investigations into activities to determine whether others had breached current coronavirus restrictions.
The detained woman received multiple citations and fines, according to Australian media.
Local Channel 7 News Australia also confirmed that “Police took the woman into custody at Altona Beach on Saturday after she allegedly failed to wear a mask and travelled outside her permitted 5km radius.”
And there you have it, these cops get right in your personal space, not social distancing, arresting people who aren’t committing a crime and assault them. If you don’t think that’s what this is, then just wait for your turn because you are of a statist mindset.
This is ridiculous over what can only be described as the greatest hoax ever perpetrated upon the world, and we know the devil behind it too.
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-06--4 Million Acres Burned In California

4 Million Acres Burned In California

A record 4 million acres have burned in California this year .
Fire officials said that more than 8,200 fires have consumed more than double the previous record .
The exact amount of land burned is still unknown , and rising , however , annual statistics from the department dating to 1987 show that 2020 has more than doubled the previous record .
Firefighters , totaling more than 20,000 , some coming from as far away as Israel , have responded to scores of major fires across the state this year .
Thirty-one people have died in blazes in so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most destructive blazes have occurred since mid-August , when thousands of lightning strikes sparked dozens of fires in Northern California , including the largest wildfire in state history , the nearly 1 million-acre August Complex fire , which is burning across six counties .
Cal Fire said Sunday that the fire has killed one person and destroyed 159 structures .
It was 51 percent contained .
–NBC News The Glass fire also created a major problem for those north of San Francisco .
Thousands of firefighters continue battling the fire that roared through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 36,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders in Sonoma and Napa counties Sunday , Cal Fire Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox said .
As 12 teams continued surveying damage from the Glass Fire , the number of homes and businesses that have been destroyed rose to 564 , Cox said .
The teams have surveyed about 50 percent of the area , he said .
These fires have been devastating to those living in California and the smoke has traveled far .
The grey smoky haze coating much of the west – from Portland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California , has created hazardous conditions that public health officials are concerned will have an impact even after the smoke clears .
Researchers at Stanford University attributed roughly up to 3,000 additional deaths in California to just one month of the wildfire smoke , especially for at-risk or elderly people , according to The Guardian .

A record 4 million acres have burned in California this year. Fire officials said that more than 8,200 fires have consumed more than double the previous record.
The exact amount of land burned is still unknown, and rising, however, annual statistics from the department dating to 1987 show that 2020 has more than doubled the previous record. Firefighters, totaling more than 20,000, some coming from as far away as Israel, have responded to scores of major fires across the state this year. Thirty-one people have died in blazes in so far this year.
The largest, most destructive blazes have occurred since mid-August, when thousands of lightning strikes sparked dozens of fires in Northern California, including the largest wildfire in state history, the nearly 1 million-acre August Complex fire, which is burning across six counties. Cal Fire said Sunday that the fire has killed one person and destroyed 159 structures. It was 51 percent contained. –NBC News
The Glass fire also created a major problem for those north of San Francisco. Thousands of firefighters continue battling the fire that roared through wine country September 27. More than 36,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders in Sonoma and Napa counties Sunday, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox said. As 12 teams continued surveying damage from the Glass Fire, the number of homes and businesses that have been destroyed rose to 564, Cox said. The teams have surveyed about 50 percent of the area, he said.
These fires have been devastating to those living in California and the smoke has traveled far. The grey smoky haze coating much of the west – from Portland, Oregon, to Santa Barbara, California, has created hazardous conditions that public health officials are concerned will have an impact even after the smoke clears. Researchers at Stanford University attributed roughly up to 3,000 additional deaths in California to just one month of the wildfire smoke, especially for at-risk or elderly people, according to The Guardian.
Article posted with permission from Mac Slavo


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-06--UK: Cops ‘May Never Know’ Why 14-Year-Old Convert to Islam Turned to Terror

According to the UK ’ s Daily Echo last week , “ a 14-year-old boy developed extreme views influenced by the so-called Islamic State and attempted to make homemade bombs during the coronavirus lockdown.
” Apparently the precocious lad had “ filmed homemade videos telling viewers how he would ‘ carry out Jihad ’ and ‘ become a martyr ’ , as well as creating notes on his iPhone which said ‘ women are tools , an object to be used… a sex slave.
’ ” Faced with all this , Prosecutor Anne Whyte QC scratched her head .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absorbed this offensive and hateful type of message from somewhere… but it is quite possible that we will never know from precisely where .
The important point is that he seems to have responded to it and , in his own youthful way , to have embraced it.
” Well , yes , that is important , but why is it not also important to know where he picked up these ideas ?
Is it because it would be impossible to find out what turned him in this direction , or because it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to find out ?
It is virtually certain that no one has investigated what is being taught at the mosque this young man attended , or questioned those who converted him to Islam .
The British establishment doesn ’ t want to face the possibility that this “ extremism ” is widespread and deeply rooted in mosques in Britain , precisely because the “ extremists ” present themselves as the exponents of authentic Islam .
And so yes indeed , we may never know where this boy got these ideas , and so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideas from the same place , while British officials pretend that all is well or turn the other way for fear of appearing “ Islamophobic.
” The consequences of this denial and willful ignorance could be lethal .
Whyte “ told the jury how the defendant had added ‘ rusty screws ’ and ‘ shrapnel ’ to his homemade bottle bombs – the result of which had made burn marks in his wardrobe.
” She explained : “ He had researched how to make devices which were designed to harm or kill other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the idea of using shrapnel in such devices.
” What ’ s more , “ he had made a series of videos about the construction of basic devices using the context of his faith and beliefs .
He made a video setting out his wish to be a martyr , again , we say , influenced by propaganda from Islamic State.
” Among the notes on his phone was this : “ The extinction of the western race and ethnic cleansing of the colonised land stolen by the western plague.
” Why isn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this kid got the idea that his new religion commanded him to commit treason and mass murder ?
And he is by no means the only one .
Recently , another convert to Islam in Texas , Jaylyn Christopher Molina , wrote : “ Let it be clear , I am against America .
America is my enemy.
” Molina has been charged with conspiring with another American , Kristopher Sean Matthews ( pictured above ) of Elgin , South Carolina , to commit “ Netflix worthy ” terror attacks at Trump Tower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which they thought would gain them “ rock star status.
” Post-conversion , Molina began calling himself “ Abdur Rahim ” and Matthews went by “ Ali Jibreel.
” They both pledged allegiance to the Islamic State ( ISIS ) , discussed traveling to Syria to join up with the jihad group , and even tried to make contact with an ISIS operative who would help them get there .
Molina pursued his jihad online , posting instructions on how to train to handle an AK-47 , as well as directions on how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet again the question that has come up many times before , but has never been answered : why do so many converts to Islam come to hate their own country ?
Nor are Matthews and Molina by any means the first American converted to Islam to try to join ISIS .
Spc .
Hasan Edmonds , a Muslim member of the U.S. Army National Guard , was arrested in 2015 at Chicago ’ s Midway Airport ; he had been planning to join the Islamic State .
His cousin , Jonas “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well .
They had allegedly been plotting a jihad attack against a U.S. military facility – making Hasan Edmonds the latest in a long line of people who convert to Islam and then turn traitor .
Is it just a coincidence that so many converts to Islam come to regard the country in which they were born and raised , the land of the families and forefathers , as an enemy ?
Or is there some connection ?
Other American converts to Islam who have turned traitor include Sgt .
Hasan Akbar , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Division , who murdered Captain Christopher Scott Seifert , Major Gregory Stone , and wounded fifteen others in a grenade and small-arms attack in northern Kuwait on March 22 , 2003 .
As he committed his murders , he yelled : “ You guys are coming into our countries , and you ’ re going to rape our women and kill our children.
” Yet Akbar was not Iraqi or Kuwaiti .
He was an American from Los Angeles .
But when he became a Muslim , any allegiance he may have had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesman Adam Gadahn and the Marin County Mujahid , John Walker Lindh , both of whom converted to Islam and ended up waging war against the country of their birth , on behalf of its enemies .
All the major Muslim organizations in the U.S. condemn ISIS , as do all the major Muslim organizations in Britain .
So why , when the 14-year old in Britain and Jaylyn Molina and Kristopher Matthews in the U.S. converted to Islam , did they fall prey to its supposedly twisted and hijacked understanding of Islam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , tolerant , true Islam that everyone assumes converts to Islam are taught in mosques in the U.K. and U.S. able to withstand challenge from the supposedly un-Islamic vision of ISIS ?
Why aren ’ t the mosques they attended being investigated ?
Why am I the only person in the country asking these questions ?

According to the UK’s Daily Echo last week, “a 14-year-old boy developed extreme views influenced by the so-called Islamic State and attempted to make homemade bombs during the coronavirus lockdown.” Apparently the precocious lad had “filmed homemade videos telling viewers how he would ‘carry out Jihad’ and ‘become a martyr’, as well as creating notes on his iPhone which said ‘women are tools, an object to be used… a sex slave.’” Faced with all this, Prosecutor Anne Whyte QC scratched her head. She said that the boy “had plainly absorbed this offensive and hateful type of message from somewhere… but it is quite possible that we will never know from precisely where. The important point is that he seems to have responded to it and, in his own youthful way, to have embraced it.”
Well, yes, that is important, but why is it not also important to know where he picked up these ideas? Is it because it would be impossible to find out what turned him in this direction, or because it would be too inconvenient for British authorities to find out?
It is virtually certain that no one has investigated what is being taught at the mosque this young man attended, or questioned those who converted him to Islam. The British establishment doesn’t want to face the possibility that this “extremism” is widespread and deeply rooted in mosques in Britain, precisely because the “extremists” present themselves as the exponents of authentic Islam. And so yes indeed, we may never know where this boy got these ideas, and so many others will also get the same ideas from the same place, while British officials pretend that all is well or turn the other way for fear of appearing “Islamophobic.”
The consequences of this denial and willful ignorance could be lethal. Whyte “told the jury how the defendant had added ‘rusty screws’ and ‘shrapnel’ to his homemade bottle bombs – the result of which had made burn marks in his wardrobe.” She explained: “He had researched how to make devices which were designed to harm or kill other people and had evidently been experimenting with the idea of using shrapnel in such devices.”
What’s more, “he had made a series of videos about the construction of basic devices using the context of his faith and beliefs. He made a video setting out his wish to be a martyr, again, we say, influenced by propaganda from Islamic State.” Among the notes on his phone was this: “The extinction of the western race and ethnic cleansing of the colonised land stolen by the western plague.”
Why isn’t it important to know where this kid got the idea that his new religion commanded him to commit treason and mass murder? And he is by no means the only one. Recently, another convert to Islam in Texas, Jaylyn Christopher Molina, wrote: “Let it be clear, I am against America. America is my enemy.”
Molina has been charged with conspiring with another American, Kristopher Sean Matthews (pictured above) of Elgin, South Carolina, to commit “Netflix worthy” terror attacks at Trump Tower and the New York Stock Exchange, which they thought would gain them “rock star status.”
Post-conversion, Molina began calling himself “Abdur Rahim” and Matthews went by “Ali Jibreel.” They both pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), discussed traveling to Syria to join up with the jihad group, and even tried to make contact with an ISIS operative who would help them get there. Molina pursued his jihad online, posting instructions on how to train to handle an AK-47, as well as directions on how to build a bomb.
This raises yet again the question that has come up many times before, but has never been answered: why do so many converts to Islam come to hate their own country? Nor are Matthews and Molina by any means the first American converted to Islam to try to join ISIS. Spc. Hasan Edmonds, a Muslim member of the U.S. Army National Guard, was arrested in 2015 at Chicago’s Midway Airport; he had been planning to join the Islamic State. His cousin, Jonas “Yunus” Edmonds, was arrested as well. They had allegedly been plotting a jihad attack against a U.S. military facility – making Hasan Edmonds the latest in a long line of people who convert to Islam and then turn traitor.
Is it just a coincidence that so many converts to Islam come to regard the country in which they were born and raised, the land of the families and forefathers, as an enemy? Or is there some connection?
Other American converts to Islam who have turned traitor include Sgt. Hasan Akbar, an American engineer from the 101st Airborne Division, who murdered Captain Christopher Scott Seifert, Major Gregory Stone, and wounded fifteen others in a grenade and small-arms attack in northern Kuwait on March 22, 2003. As he committed his murders, he yelled: “You guys are coming into our countries, and you’re going to rape our women and kill our children.”
Yet Akbar was not Iraqi or Kuwaiti. He was an American from Los Angeles. But when he became a Muslim, any allegiance he may have had to America was gone. Likewise al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn and the Marin County Mujahid, John Walker Lindh, both of whom converted to Islam and ended up waging war against the country of their birth, on behalf of its enemies.
All the major Muslim organizations in the U.S. condemn ISIS, as do all the major Muslim organizations in Britain. So why, when the 14-year old in Britain and Jaylyn Molina and Kristopher Matthews in the U.S. converted to Islam, did they fall prey to its supposedly twisted and hijacked understanding of Islam? Why wasn’t the peaceful, tolerant, true Islam that everyone assumes converts to Islam are taught in mosques in the U.K. and U.S. able to withstand challenge from the supposedly un-Islamic vision of ISIS? Why aren’t the mosques they attended being investigated?
Why am I the only person in the country asking these questions?
Article posted with permission from Daniel Greenfield


Celebrating Columbus

He ventured where no other man of his age dared to go .
He saw things no other man of his age had ever seen .
He discovered a New World .
For centuries , he was universally admired as a hero .
Now he ’ s widely considered to be a despoiler of paradise , an enslaver , and a genocidal maniac .
I ’ m talking , of course , about Christopher Columbus .
So which is true ?
Is he a hero—or a villain ?
The truth is complicated , as the truth often is—especially when you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find it .
But let ’ s try to get as close as we can .
Columbus was born in 1451 in the port city of Genoa , Italy .
At a time when birth often determined destiny , his origins were entirely unremarkable .
His father was a middle-class wool weaver who expected his son to follow the same path .
But Columbus had different plans .
The Age of Discovery was dawning .
The future belonged to the bold .
And the bold went to sea .
By the time he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iceland , Ireland , and Africa .
Somewhere on his many voyages , he became obsessed with the idea that there was a westward sea route from Europe to India .
But there were no maps to consult , only wild rumors of sea monsters and endless ocean .
He put together the 15th-century version of a PowerPoint presentation for the king of Portugal , then the world ’ s leading sea power .
But the king , heeding the advice of his experts , turned him down .
It simply couldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the king .
It was pure speculation , and an expensive one at that .
So Columbus took his plans to Spain .
But King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella weren ’ t interested either—at least , not at first .
Columbus persevered .
After eight years , they finally relented .
They gave the explorer three small ships .
There was a time when every schoolkid knew their names—the Niña , the Pinta , and the Santa Maria—and the year in which Columbus set sail : 1492 .
Except for a compass and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ navigation tools at his disposal .
He was , to mix metaphors , flying blind .
He was heading west .
That ’ s about all he knew .
Once the ships left the Canary Islands , they were on their own .
His crews stayed loyal for the first week , but by the third week , they had lost their nerve .
Columbus , however , never lost his .
By sheer force of will , he kept his men in line .
Finally , after 10 long weeks at sea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Columbus spotted land .
He called it San Salvador .
Today we know it as the Bahamas .
There Columbus and his men encountered the Taino tribe .
The first encounter between Europe and the Americas went well .
The Taino were curious and helpful .
Columbus was emphatic that his crew treat them with kindness and respect .
Lest you think that Columbus stumbled on the Garden of Eden , the islands were also inhabited by the Caribs , a tribe of cannibals for whom , according to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delicacy—or , in Morison ’ s words , “ a…toothsome morsel.
” Like every place else on Earth , in every time in history , the local peoples were a mixed bag .
Some good , some not so good .
Upon his return to Spain , word of the Italian explorer ’ s successful voyage quickly spread throughout Europe .
A New World had been discovered , and the Old World would never be the same .
Columbus was a man meant for the sea .
On land , he was easily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bureaucrats .
It is on their dubious , self-serving accounts that modern attacks on Columbus ’ s reputation are based .
In his own day , these attacks made the explorer ’ s life a misery .
Columbus was not blameless .
He sold natives into slavery .
But the explorer did not invent slavery , which was common around the world long before and long after Columbus ’ s time .
As for the charge of genocide , there was no genocide .
There were atrocities—most occurring after Columbus was dead and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between the Spaniards and the natives , which eventually led to the people we now call Hispanic or Latino .
You don ’ t marry people you seek to destroy .
It ’ s unfair to focus only on Columbus ’ s sins .
It ’ s also unfair to judge someone who lived 500 years ago by today ’ s standards .
His own assessment of his actions is much more revealing : “ Let those who are fond of blaming and finding fault , while they sit safely at home , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do thus and so ?
’ ” There ’ s a reason why Columbus has so long been celebrated—why so many statues , schools , towns , cities , a national holiday , an Ivy League university , and even a country bear his name .
When we celebrate Columbus , we celebrate the arrival of Western Civilization to the Western Hemisphere .
And if you can ’ t celebrate that , it says much more about your moral compass than about history ’ s greatest explorer .
Michael Knowles is host of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permission , Prager University .
The Language of Liberty series is an outreach project of Center for Self Governance to educate citizens in the principles of liberty .
The views expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect the views of CSG .

He ventured where no other man of his age dared to go. He saw things no other man of his age had ever seen. He discovered a New World.
For centuries, he was universally admired as a hero. Now he’s widely considered to be a despoiler of paradise, an enslaver, and a genocidal maniac.
I’m talking, of course, about Christopher Columbus. So which is true? Is he a hero—or a villain?
The truth is complicated, as the truth often is—especially when you have to go back 500 years to find it. But let’s try to get as close as we can.
Columbus was born in 1451 in the port city of Genoa, Italy. At a time when birth often determined destiny, his origins were entirely unremarkable. His father was a middle-class wool weaver who expected his son to follow the same path. But Columbus had different plans. The Age of Discovery was dawning. The future belonged to the bold. And the bold went to sea.
By the time he turned 30, Columbus had sailed to Iceland, Ireland, and Africa. Somewhere on his many voyages, he became obsessed with the idea that there was a westward sea route from Europe to India. But there were no maps to consult, only wild rumors of sea monsters and endless ocean.
He put together the 15th-century version of a PowerPoint presentation for the king of Portugal, then the world’s leading sea power. But the king, heeding the advice of his experts, turned him down. It simply couldn’t be done, the experts told the king. It was pure speculation, and an expensive one at that.
So Columbus took his plans to Spain. But King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella weren’t interested either—at least, not at first.
Columbus persevered. After eight years, they finally relented. They gave the explorer three small ships. There was a time when every schoolkid knew their names—the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria—and the year in which Columbus set sail: 1492.
Except for a compass and the stars, Columbus had virtually no navigation tools at his disposal. He was, to mix metaphors, flying blind. He was heading west. That’s about all he knew.
Once the ships left the Canary Islands, they were on their own. His crews stayed loyal for the first week, but by the third week, they had lost their nerve. Columbus, however, never lost his. By sheer force of will, he kept his men in line.
Finally, after 10 long weeks at sea, on the night of October 11, Columbus spotted land. He called it San Salvador. Today we know it as the Bahamas.
There Columbus and his men encountered the Taino tribe. The first encounter between Europe and the Americas went well. The Taino were curious and helpful. Columbus was emphatic that his crew treat them with kindness and respect.
Lest you think that Columbus stumbled on the Garden of Eden, the islands were also inhabited by the Caribs, a tribe of cannibals for whom, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Samuel Eliot Morison, babies were a delicacy—or, in Morison’s words, “a…toothsome morsel.” Like every place else on Earth, in every time in history, the local peoples were a mixed bag. Some good, some not so good.
Upon his return to Spain, word of the Italian explorer’s successful voyage quickly spread throughout Europe. A New World had been discovered, and the Old World would never be the same.
Columbus was a man meant for the sea. On land, he was easily outmaneuvered and betrayed by professional politicians and bureaucrats. It is on their dubious, self-serving accounts that modern attacks on Columbus’s reputation are based. In his own day, these attacks made the explorer’s life a misery.
Columbus was not blameless. He sold natives into slavery. But the explorer did not invent slavery, which was common around the world long before and long after Columbus’s time.
As for the charge of genocide, there was no genocide. There were atrocities—most occurring after Columbus was dead and gone. There was also widespread intermarriage between the Spaniards and the natives, which eventually led to the people we now call Hispanic or Latino. You don’t marry people you seek to destroy.
It’s unfair to focus only on Columbus’s sins. It’s also unfair to judge someone who lived 500 years ago by today’s standards.
His own assessment of his actions is much more revealing: “Let those who are fond of blaming and finding fault, while they sit safely at home, ask, ‘Why did you not do thus and so?’”
There’s a reason why Columbus has so long been celebrated—why so many statues, schools, towns, cities, a national holiday, an Ivy League university, and even a country bear his name.
It’s this simple fact:
When we celebrate Columbus, we celebrate the arrival of Western Civilization to the Western Hemisphere. And if you can’t celebrate that, it says much more about your moral compass than about history’s greatest explorer.
Michael Knowles is host of The Michael Knowles Show. Published with permission, Prager University.
The Language of Liberty series is an outreach project of Center for Self Governance to educate citizens in the principles of liberty. The views expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect the views of CSG.


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-06--List Of Major US Corporate Media’s Business Ties To China

The Democrat media axis is the enemy of the people .
A Rundown Of Major U.S. Corporate Media ’ s Business Ties To China It seems a number of major US media outlets have financial ties to the Chinese Communist Party , and it shows in their coverage .
Despite the Chinese Communist Party ’ s ( CCP ) record of oppression , corporate media outlets are parroting the authoritarian government ’ s propaganda , even in the midst of an outbreak the CCP worsened through a cover-up .
Many of those media outlets have financial ties to Chinese companies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ You often see representatives from American companies with financial ties to China naturally become defenders of the CCP ’ s policies and spreading the CCP ’ s propaganda , ” said Helen Raleigh , an author and senior contributor at The Federalist who emigrated from China .
“ The financial tie means these Americans will be much less likely to challenge China ’ s human rights record or unacceptable demand such as technology transfer.
” We do not know the extent of editorial oversight from corporations and individuals with financial incentives to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But we know the incentives exist , and that ’ s worth understanding .
Below is a breakdown of financial ties between major U.S. media organizations and the CCP .
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim owns 17.4 percent of The New York Times through the company ’ s Class A shares .
As the largest shareholder , his investment allows him to vote for approximately one-third of the company ’ s board .
In 2009 , Slim loaned $ 250 million to The New York Times Company , the parent company of the New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Slim purchased 15.9 million Class A shares of the company .
Slim has regularly conducted business with Chinese companies with overt ties to the CCP .
In 2017 , Slim ’ s Giant Motors joined ventures with China ’ s JAC Motors and began manufacturing cars in Mexico to sell in the Latin America Market .
According to Forbes , the goal of selling to Latin America was to circumvent the Trump administration ’ s trade policies aimed at protecting American jobs — a move that benefited the Beijing in the Chinese-American trade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Slim ’ s company America Movil is teaming up with CCP telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies to pitch a 5G pilot project to the Colombian government this year .
Huawei is actively working to undermine American security interests by overturning legislation in the United States that bans the use of Huawei ’ s 5G network .
“ Huawei seeks to overturn U.S. legislation that prohibits our federal government from using its equipment .
This is a blatant attempt by an allegedly vital cog in the Chinese Communist Party ’ s ( CCP ) intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would never confer on U.S. corporations––let alone its own citizens––in a bid to thwart America ’ s national security interests , ” writes The Federalist ’ s Ben Weingarten .
Slim is making all kinds of lucrative business deals with the Chinese government while influencing the buiness side of The New York Times .
He may not sit in on editorial meetings , but all the paper ’ s leaders certainly know who is funding their salaries .
In 2013 , Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post for $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Bezos laid out a new business plan for the Post aimed at incorporating more technology .
Bezos has direct ties to the Chinese business market , which is regulated by the CCP .
The production of Amazon ’ s most popular products—including the Amazon Echo and Kindle e-reader— take place almost exclusively in Chinese factories .
According to Newsweek , Amazon ’ s products are produced by Chinese laborers who work long hours with low pay and little safety training .
Bezos has long tried to expand Amazon in the Chinese market @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well-positioned to serve [ China . ]
” Bezos also backed a treaty between the United States and China allowed technology companies to increase business with China and provided a framework for U.S. tech companies to invest more in the Chinese economy .
After years of business in the Chinese market , Bezo ’ s ties with China are now evident in the Washington Post ’ s “ advertisement ” section .
When you purchase a Washington Post subscription , it comes with an advertising supplement called “ China Watch.
” According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post ’ s “ China Watch ” supplement is courtesy of China Daily , a Chinese state-run media organization .
The Washington Post openly accepts money for advertisements from the CCP and distributes Chinese propaganda .
CNN is owned and operated by WarnerMedia , which has significant financial and institutional ties to the CCP .
In June 2013 , WarnerMedia announced it had forged a partnership with a Chinese investment fund to the tune of $ 50 million .
The funding would directly invest in the China Media Capital ( CMC ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CCP , meaning it is subject to censorship and other demands to push Chinese propaganda .
WarnerMedia considers China a “ partner ” in their economic and cinematic ventures .
“ Increasing our global presence is one of Time Warner ’ s strategic priorities and China is one of the most attractive territories in which we operate , but it ’ s complex .
This alliance will give all our businesses a savvy and accomplished partner , ” said WarnerMedia Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes .
According to Raleigh , when American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they are subject to China ’ s use of its laws to advance its global objectives , including their cyber security law .
This includes forced technology transfers , leaving companies and data subject to random searches from the CCP .
Companies are also forced to build data centers in China , where the CCP can observe the data directly .
All of this poses a national security risk for the United States .
CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker also has a connection with China .
According to CNN , Zucker works @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for programming acquisitions , production , marketing , league relations , and sports advertisement sales .
Turner Sports works directly with the NBA to broadcast games in China , meaning Zucker has ample business in the Middle Kingdom , where American businessmen seek to keep the CCP happy so the money keeps rolling .
A Fox News “ Tucker Carlson Tonight ” clip shows CNN singing praise for China over the coronavirus pandemic .
In the clip , CNN anchors praise China for sending ventilators and masks to Europe while blaming the Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic — the pandemic China allowed to spread worldwide .
Last week , CNN published a story praising China ’ s “ model of control.
” The Federalist ’ s Kylee Zempel writes that CNN is “ parroting Chinese media ’ s duplicitous claims that the country sufficiently control of the virus , while downplaying the CCP ’ s role in spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world.
” Both MSNBC and NBC News are operated by NBC Universal , a company with extensive financial ties to the CCP .
In November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China ’ s state-run media organization , Xinhua , to establish a business cooperation in international broadcast news .
This was the latest market expansion by the CCP into American media .
Since the signing of the business deal , the U.S. State Department identified Xinhua and five other Chinese state-run media organizations as “ foreign missions.
” They have been identified as direct CCP operations and do not function as independent news outlets .
In 2015 , NBC Universal agreed to license the Chinese tech company Baidu ’ s new video network @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the NASDAQ and , thanks to NBC , advertises in Times Square in New York City .
Finally , CMC Capital Partners—a Beijing investment group with financial and technological oversight from the CCP—acquired full ownership of NBC Universal ’ s Oriental DreamWorks , according to the Hollywood Reporter .
NBC Universal gained a 45 percent stake for a steep $ 3.8 billion .
The most obvious business ties between the American Broadcast Company ( ABC ) and China are through their ventures with Walt Disney and ESPN .
Both companies have deep-rooted financial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the CCP .
In November 2009 , the Chinese government approved plans to create a Disney World theme park in Shanghai .
The project cost approximately $ 3.6 trillion , with financial help from several large Chinese state-owned enterprises .
After construction was completed , Disney only retained 43 percent of the property , while the Communist Party-controlled Shanghai Shendi Group took the remaining 57 percent .
ESPN , another entity of ABC , was caught doing the bidding of the Chinese government in October 2019 .
When the NBA controversially refused to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ESPN stood with the NBA to keep financial revenue on track for the 2019 fiscal year .
ESPN bowed to the Chinese government for profit motives when the network ’ s senior news director reportedly instructed staff to avoid discussing Chinese politics if they were asked about Chinese politics or Daryl Morey ’ s pro-Hong Kong tweet .
According to Raleigh , American companies establish these financial ties with Chinese companies to gain access to China ’ s massive consumer market of 1.4 billion people .
ABC subsidiaries such as ESPN and ABC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether it be via positive news coverage or complying with cyber security laws , to keep their programs on Chinese screens and thus make money in the Chinese market .
Per Emily Jashinsky at The Federalist , ABC ’ s cozy relationship with China also translates to the way China is portrayed in the American box office .
This is best exemplified by Disney ’ s relatively new release of “ Mulan.
” To maintain access to the Chinese market , where profits are huge , American film companies like Disney censor their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to appease the CCP .
Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas , introduced legislation which cuts off Department of Defense assistance to any U.S. movie studio that allows China to censor their content .
The bill is called the “ Stopping Censorship , Restoring Integrity , Protecting Talkies , ” Act .
Hollywood films commonly work with the Pentagon and Defense Department to use American assets for props such as jets , tanks , and naval bases .
Cruz ’ s SCRIPT legislation would only allow the Defense Department to contract with companies that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ content .
These same organizations work directly with ABC News abroad .
According to veteran ABC correspondent David Wright , ABC and its affiliates are inextricably linked .
In an investigative report by Project Veritas , Wright admitted ABC was a profit center , not a beacon of truthful journalism .
“ [ ABC ] became a profit center , a promotion center .
Like now , you can ’ t watch ‘ Good Morning America ’ without there being a Disney princess or a Marvel Avenger appearing .
It ’ s all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Wright said .
What benefits ABC ’ s company is bending a knee to the CCP in exchange for more money , despite the price it puts on journalist ’ s ability to report truth and hold those in power to account .
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his company Bloomberg LP are heavily invested in China .
Bloomberg LP sells terminals to their website through the Chinese market and helps finance Chinese companies by sending billions of dollars from U.S. investors to the Chinese bond market .
Bloomberg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approximately $ 150 billion into their bond offerings .
Of these companies , 159 were controlled directly by the CCP .
An newly released exposé from NPR shows the depths Bloomberg News dove to appease the CCP .
In 2014 , Bloomberg killed an investigation into the wealth of CCP elites .
The company used a non-disclosure agreement ( NDA ) to not only silence the Beijing-based reporter , but also his wife , who never worked for Bloomberg .
Correspondent Mike Forsythe focused on exposing Chinese President Xi Jinping ’ s ties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Wang Jianlin .
When the story was ready for publication , founding editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler told Forsythe he was crushing the story to avoid angering the CCP .
“ It is for sure going to , you know , invite the Communist Party to , you know , completely shut us down and kick us out of the country .
So , I just don ’ t see that as a story that is justified , ” Winkler said .
After the story was squashed , the company threatened to sue Forsythe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about Winkler killing the story .
Mike Bloomberg himself has been a CCP apologist .
He ’ s personally lobbied against President Trump ’ s trade negotiations with China and applauds the CCP .
Bloomberg claims Xi Jinping is not a dictator .
“ The Communist Party wants to stay in power in China and they listen to the public , ” Bloomberg said .
“ Xi Jinping is not a dictator .
He has to satisfy his constituents or he ’ s not going to survive.
” According to a new Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Associated Press , Beijing hid the severity of the coronavirus to hoard protective medical supplies in early January and February .
Yet , corporate media are bending over backwards to avoid negative press coverage of China during the coronavirus pandemic .
Examining these financial ties may explain why China is receiving such glowing coverage during a pandemic of their own making .

Has China compromised every major mainstream media entity?
The Democrat media axis is the enemy of the people.
A Rundown Of Major U.S. Corporate Media’s Business Ties To China
It seems a number of major US media outlets have financial ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and it shows in their coverage.
By Chrissy Clark, The Federalist, October 6, 2020:
Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) record of oppression, corporate media outlets are parroting the authoritarian government’s propaganda, even in the midst of an outbreak the CCP worsened through a cover-up. Many of those media outlets have financial ties to Chinese companies with intense oversight from the CCP.
“You often see representatives from American companies with financial ties to China naturally become defenders of the CCP’s policies and spreading the CCP’s propaganda,” said Helen Raleigh, an author and senior contributor at The Federalist who emigrated from China. “The financial tie means these Americans will be much less likely to challenge China’s human rights record or unacceptable demand such as technology transfer.”
We do not know the extent of editorial oversight from corporations and individuals with financial incentives to placate the CCP, if any. But we know the incentives exist, and that’s worth understanding. Below is a breakdown of financial ties between major U.S. media organizations and the CCP.
The New York Times
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim owns 17.4 percent of The New York Times through the company’s Class A shares. As the largest shareholder, his investment allows him to vote for approximately one-third of the company’s board.
In 2009, Slim loaned $250 million to The New York Times Company, the parent company of the New York Times. That same year, Slim purchased 15.9 million Class A shares of the company.
Slim has regularly conducted business with Chinese companies with overt ties to the CCP. In 2017, Slim’s Giant Motors joined ventures with China’s JAC Motors and began manufacturing cars in Mexico to sell in the Latin America Market. According to Forbes, the goal of selling to Latin America was to circumvent the Trump administration’s trade policies aimed at protecting American jobs — a move that benefited the Beijing in the Chinese-American trade wars.
According to Bloomberg Law, Slim’s company America Movil is teaming up with CCP telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies to pitch a 5G pilot project to the Colombian government this year. Huawei is actively working to undermine American security interests by overturning legislation in the United States that bans the use of Huawei’s 5G network.
“Huawei seeks to overturn U.S. legislation that prohibits our federal government from using its equipment. This is a blatant attempt by an allegedly vital cog in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intelligence apparatus to avail itself of rights China would never confer on U.S. corporations––let alone its own citizens––in a bid to thwart America’s national security interests,” writes The Federalist’s Ben Weingarten.
Slim is making all kinds of lucrative business deals with the Chinese government while influencing the buiness side of The New York Times. He may not sit in on editorial meetings, but all the paper’s leaders certainly know who is funding their salaries.
The Washington Post
In 2013, Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post for $250 million cash. In January 2016, Bezos laid out a new business plan for the Post aimed at incorporating more technology.
Bezos has direct ties to the Chinese business market, which is regulated by the CCP. The production of Amazon’s most popular products—including the Amazon Echo and Kindle e-reader— take place almost exclusively in Chinese factories. According to Newsweek, Amazon’s products are produced by Chinese laborers who work long hours with low pay and little safety training.
Bezos has long tried to expand Amazon in the Chinese market as well, saying “Amazon is well-positioned to serve [China.]” Bezos also backed a treaty between the United States and China allowed technology companies to increase business with China and provided a framework for U.S. tech companies to invest more in the Chinese economy.
After years of business in the Chinese market, Bezo’s ties with China are now evident in the Washington Post’s “advertisement” section.
When you purchase a Washington Post subscription, it comes with an advertising supplement called “China Watch.” According to Mark Hemingway at The Federalist, the Post’s “China Watch” supplement is courtesy of China Daily, a Chinese state-run media organization. The Washington Post openly accepts money for advertisements from the CCP and distributes Chinese propaganda.
CNN
CNN is owned and operated by WarnerMedia, which has significant financial and institutional ties to the CCP. In June 2013, WarnerMedia announced it had forged a partnership with a Chinese investment fund to the tune of $50 million. The funding would directly invest in the China Media Capital (CMC), a media company with oversight from the CCP, meaning it is subject to censorship and other demands to push Chinese propaganda.
WarnerMedia considers China a “partner” in their economic and cinematic ventures.
“Increasing our global presence is one of Time Warner’s strategic priorities and China is one of the most attractive territories in which we operate, but it’s complex. This alliance will give all our businesses a savvy and accomplished partner,” said WarnerMedia Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes.
According to Raleigh, when American companies work with organizations such as CMC, they are subject to China’s use of its laws to advance its global objectives, including their cyber security law. This includes forced technology transfers, leaving companies and data subject to random searches from the CCP. Companies are also forced to build data centers in China, where the CCP can observe the data directly. All of this poses a national security risk for the United States.
CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker also has a connection with China. According to CNN, Zucker works internally with Turner Sports and is responsible for programming acquisitions, production, marketing, league relations, and sports advertisement sales. Turner Sports works directly with the NBA to broadcast games in China, meaning Zucker has ample business in the Middle Kingdom, where American businessmen seek to keep the CCP happy so the money keeps rolling.
A Fox News “Tucker Carlson Tonight” clip shows CNN singing praise for China over the coronavirus pandemic. In the clip, CNN anchors praise China for sending ventilators and masks to Europe while blaming the Trump administration for alleged poor leadership over the pandemic — the pandemic China allowed to spread worldwide.
Last week, CNN published a story praising China’s “model of control.” The Federalist’s Kylee Zempel writes that CNN is “parroting Chinese media’s duplicitous claims that the country sufficiently control of the virus, while downplaying the CCP’s role in spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world.”
MSNBC & NBC
Both MSNBC and NBC News are operated by NBC Universal, a company with extensive financial ties to the CCP. In November 2010, NBC signed an agreement with China’s state-run media organization, Xinhua, to establish a business cooperation in international broadcast news. This was the latest market expansion by the CCP into American media.
Since the signing of the business deal, the U.S. State Department identified Xinhua and five other Chinese state-run media organizations as “foreign missions.” They have been identified as direct CCP operations and do not function as independent news outlets.
In 2015, NBC Universal agreed to license the Chinese tech company Baidu’s new video network platform iQIYI, which is listed on the NASDAQ and, thanks to NBC, advertises in Times Square in New York City.
Finally, CMC Capital Partners—a Beijing investment group with financial and technological oversight from the CCP—acquired full ownership of NBC Universal’s Oriental DreamWorks, according to the Hollywood Reporter. NBC Universal gained a 45 percent stake for a steep $3.8 billion.
ABC
The most obvious business ties between the American Broadcast Company (ABC) and China are through their ventures with Walt Disney and ESPN. Both companies have deep-rooted financial stakes in the Chinese economy controlled by the CCP.
In November 2009, the Chinese government approved plans to create a Disney World theme park in Shanghai. The project cost approximately $3.6 trillion, with financial help from several large Chinese state-owned enterprises. After construction was completed, Disney only retained 43 percent of the property, while the Communist Party-controlled Shanghai Shendi Group took the remaining 57 percent.
ESPN, another entity of ABC, was caught doing the bidding of the Chinese government in October 2019. When the NBA controversially refused to denounce the CCP for financial benefit, ESPN stood with the NBA to keep financial revenue on track for the 2019 fiscal year. ESPN bowed to the Chinese government for profit motives when the network’s senior news director reportedly instructed staff to avoid discussing Chinese politics if they were asked about Chinese politics or Daryl Morey’s pro-Hong Kong tweet.
According to Raleigh, American companies establish these financial ties with Chinese companies to gain access to China’s massive consumer market of 1.4 billion people. ABC subsidiaries such as ESPN and ABC News need to appease the CCP, whether it be via positive news coverage or complying with cyber security laws, to keep their programs on Chinese screens and thus make money in the Chinese market.
Per Emily Jashinsky at The Federalist, ABC’s cozy relationship with China also translates to the way China is portrayed in the American box office. This is best exemplified by Disney’s relatively new release of “Mulan.” To maintain access to the Chinese market, where profits are huge, American film companies like Disney censor their work, before or after production, to appease the CCP.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced legislation which cuts off Department of Defense assistance to any U.S. movie studio that allows China to censor their content. The bill is called the “Stopping Censorship, Restoring Integrity, Protecting Talkies,” Act.
Hollywood films commonly work with the Pentagon and Defense Department to use American assets for props such as jets, tanks, and naval bases. Cruz’s SCRIPT legislation would only allow the Defense Department to contract with companies that do not allow China to censor their content.
These same organizations work directly with ABC News abroad. According to veteran ABC correspondent David Wright, ABC and its affiliates are inextricably linked. In an investigative report by Project Veritas, Wright admitted ABC was a profit center, not a beacon of truthful journalism.
“[ABC] became a profit center, a promotion center. Like now, you can’t watch ‘Good Morning America’ without there being a Disney princess or a Marvel Avenger appearing. It’s all self-promotional and promotion of the company,” Wright said.
What benefits ABC’s company is bending a knee to the CCP in exchange for more money, despite the price it puts on journalist’s ability to report truth and hold those in power to account.
Bloomberg
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his company Bloomberg LP are heavily invested in China. Bloomberg LP sells terminals to their website through the Chinese market and helps finance Chinese companies by sending billions of dollars from U.S. investors to the Chinese bond market.
Bloomberg LP supported 364 Chinese firms and directed approximately $150 billion into their bond offerings. Of these companies, 159 were controlled directly by the CCP.
An newly released exposé from NPR shows the depths Bloomberg News dove to appease the CCP. In 2014, Bloomberg killed an investigation into the wealth of CCP elites. The company used a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to not only silence the Beijing-based reporter, but also his wife, who never worked for Bloomberg.
Correspondent Mike Forsythe focused on exposing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ties to the country’s richest man, Wang Jianlin. When the story was ready for publication, founding editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler told Forsythe he was crushing the story to avoid angering the CCP.
“It is for sure going to, you know, invite the Communist Party to, you know, completely shut us down and kick us out of the country. So, I just don’t see that as a story that is justified,” Winkler said.
After the story was squashed, the company threatened to sue Forsythe and his wife if they spoke out about Winkler killing the story.
Mike Bloomberg himself has been a CCP apologist. He’s personally lobbied against President Trump’s trade negotiations with China and applauds the CCP. Bloomberg claims Xi Jinping is not a dictator.
“The Communist Party wants to stay in power in China and they listen to the public,” Bloomberg said. “Xi Jinping is not a dictator. He has to satisfy his constituents or he’s not going to survive.”
According to a new Department of Homeland Security report obtained by the Associated Press, Beijing hid the severity of the coronavirus to hoard protective medical supplies in early January and February. Yet, corporate media are bending over backwards to avoid negative press coverage of China during the coronavirus pandemic.
Examining these financial ties may explain why China is receiving such glowing coverage during a pandemic of their own making.
Article posted with permission from Pamela Geller


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-06--One Man Against the Deep State ‘Monster’

John Lennon , born 80 years ago on October 9 , 1940 , was a musical genius and pop cultural icon .
He was also a vocal peace protester and anti-war activist , and a high-profile example of the lengths to which the Deep State will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority .
Long before Julian Assange , Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning were being castigated for blowing the whistle on the government ’ s war crimes and the National Security Agency ’ s abuse of its surveillance powers , it was Lennon who was being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to power about the government ’ s warmongering , his phone calls monitored and data files illegally collected on his activities and associations .
For a while , at least , Lennon became enemy number one in the eyes of the U.S. government .
Years after Lennon ’ s assassination it would be revealed that the FBI had collected 281 pages of files on him , including song lyrics .
J. Edgar Hoover , head of the FBI at the time , directed the agency to spy on the musician .
There were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agents to frame Lennon for a drug bust .
“ The FBI ’ s files on Lennon … read like the writings of a paranoid goody-two-shoes , ” observed reporter Jonathan Curiel .
As the New York Times notes , “ Critics of today ’ s domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds .
They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power .
‘ The U.S. vs. John Lennon ’ … is the story not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but of a democracy being undermined.
” Indeed , all of the many complaints we have about government today—surveillance , militarism , corruption , harassment , SWAT team raids , political persecution , spying , overcriminalization , etc.—were present in Lennon ’ s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice , peace and a populist revolution .
For all of these reasons , the U.S. government was obsessed with Lennon , who had learned early on that rock music could serve a political end by proclaiming a radical message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his music could mobilize the public and help to bring about change .
Lennon believed in the power of the people .
Unfortunately , as Lennon recognized : “ The trouble with government as it is , is that it doesn ’ t represent the people .
It controls them.
” However , as Martin Lewis writing for Time notes : “ John Lennon was not God .
But he earned the love and admiration of his generation by creating a huge body of work that inspired and led .
The appreciation for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to use his celebrity as a bully pulpit for causes greater than his own enrichment or self-aggrandizement.
” For instance , in December 1971 at a concert in Ann Arbor , Mich. , Lennon took to the stage and in his usual confrontational style belted out “ John Sinclair , ” a song he had written about a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes .
Within days of Lennon ’ s call for action , the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Sinclair released .
What Lennon did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials had been keeping strict tabs on the ex-Beatle they referred to as “ Mr .
Lennon.
” Incredibly , FBI agents were in the audience at the Ann Arbor concert , “ taking notes on everything from the attendance ( 15,000 ) to the artistic merits of his new song.
” The U.S. government , steeped in paranoia , was spying on Lennon .
By March 1971 , when his “ Power to the People ” single was released , it was clear where Lennon stood .
Having moved to New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ready to participate in political activism against the U. S. government , the “ monster ” that was financing the war in Vietnam .
The release of Lennon ’ s Sometime in New York City album , which contained a radical anti-government message in virtually every song and depicted President Richard Nixon and Chinese Chairman Mao Tse-tung dancing together nude on the cover , only fanned the flames of the conflict to come .
The official U.S. war against Lennon began in earnest in 1972 after rumors surfaced that Lennon planned to embark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ combine rock music with antiwar organizing and voter registration .
Nixon , fearing Lennon ’ s influence on about 11 million new voters ( 1972 was the first year that 18-year-olds could vote ) , had the ex-Beatle served with deportation orders “ in an effort to silence him as a voice of the peace movement.
” Then again , the FBI has had a long history of persecuting , prosecuting and generally harassing activists , politicians , and cultural figures .
Most notably among the latter are such celebrated names as folk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , comic actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin , comedian Lenny Bruce and poet Allen Ginsberg .
Among those most closely watched by the FBI was Martin Luther King Jr. , a man labeled by the FBI as “ the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country.
” With wiretaps and electronic bugs planted in his home and office , King was kept under constant surveillance by the FBI with the aim of “ neutralizing ” him .
He even received letters written by FBI agents suggesting that he either commit suicide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be revealed to the public .
The FBI kept up its pursuit of King until he was felled by a hollow-point bullet to the head in 1968 .
While Lennon was not—as far as we know—being blackmailed into suicide , he was the subject of a four-year campaign of surveillance and harassment by the U.S. government ( spearheaded by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ) , an attempt by President Richard Nixon to have him “ neutralized ” and deported .
As Adam Cohen of the New York Times points out , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law enforcement purpose .
What is more surprising , and ultimately more unsettling , is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics.
” As Lennon ’ s FBI file shows , memos and reports about the FBI ’ s surveillance of the anti-war activist had been flying back and forth between Hoover , the Nixon White House , various senators , the FBI and the U.S. Immigration Office .
Nixon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and in large part based on the misperception that Lennon and his comrades were planning to disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention .
The government ’ s paranoia , however , was misplaced .
Left-wing activists who were on government watch lists and who shared an interest in bringing down the Nixon Administration had been congregating at Lennon ’ s New York apartment .
But when they revealed that they were planning to cause a riot , Lennon balked .
As he recounted in a 1980 interview , “ We said , We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re not going to draw children into a situation to create violence so you can overthrow what ?
And replace it with what ?
.
.
.
It was all based on this illusion , that you can create violence and overthrow what is , and get communism or get some right-wing lunatic or a left-wing lunatic .
They ’ re all lunatics.
” Despite the fact that Lennon was not part of the “ lunatic ” plot , the government persisted in its efforts to have him deported .
Equally determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fought back .
Every time he was ordered out of the country , his lawyers delayed the process by filing an appeal .
Finally , in 1976 , Lennon won the battle to stay in the country when he was granted a green card .
As he said afterwards , “ I have a love for this country… .
This is where the action is .
I think we ’ ll just go home , open a tea bag , and look at each other.
” Lennon ’ s time of repose didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ By 1980 , he had re-emerged with a new album and plans to become politically active again .
The old radical was back and ready to cause trouble .
In his final interview on Dec. 8 , 1980 , Lennon mused , “ The whole map ’ s changed and we ’ re going into an unknown future , but we ’ re still all here , and while there ’ s life there ’ s hope.
” The Deep State has a way of dealing with troublemakers , unfortunately .
On Dec. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was waiting in the shadows when Lennon returned to his New York apartment building .
As Lennon stepped outside the car to greet the fans congregating outside , Chapman , in an eerie echo of the FBI ’ s moniker for Lennon , called out , “ Mr .
Lennon !
” Lennon turned and was met with a barrage of gunfire as Chapman—dropping into a two-handed combat stance—emptied his .38-caliber pistol and pumped four hollow-point bullets into his back and left arm .
Lennon stumbled , staggered forward and , with blood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collapsed to the ground .
John Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital .
He had finally been “ neutralized.
” Yet where those who neutralized the likes of John Lennon , Martin Luther King Jr. , John F. Kennedy , Malcolm X , Robert Kennedy and others go wrong is in believing that you can murder a movement with a bullet and a madman .
Thankfully , Lennon ’ s legacy lives on in his words , his music and his efforts to speak truth to power .
As Yoko @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the parole board tasked with determining whether Chapman should be released : “ A man of humble origin , [ John Lennon ] brought light and hope to the whole world with his words and music .
He tried to be a good power for the world , and he was .
He gave encouragement , inspiration and dreams to people regardless of their race , creed and gender.
” Sadly , not much has changed for the better in the world since Lennon walked among us .
Peace remains out of reach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prosecuted for challenging the government ’ s authority .
Militarism is on the rise , with local police dressed like the military , all the while the governmental war machine continues to wreak havoc on innocent lives across the globe .
For those of us who joined with John Lennon to imagine a world of peace , it ’ s getting harder to reconcile that dream with the reality of the American police state .
Meanwhile , as I point out in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are labeled dissidents , troublemakers , terrorists , lunatics , or mentally ill and tagged for surveillance , censorship , involuntary detention or , worse , even shot and killed in their own homes by militarized police .
“ If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set , then there ’ d be peace.
” “ War is over if you want it.
” “ Produce your own dream… .
It ’ s quite possible to do anything , but not to put it on the leaders… .
You have to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began .
They can point the way , leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshipped for the cover of the book and not for what it says , but the instructions are all there for all to see , have always been and always will be .
There ’ s nothing new under the sun .
All the roads lead to Rome .
And people can not provide it for you .
I can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can wake you up .
I can ’ t cure you .
You can cure you.
” “ Peace is not something you wish for ; It ’ s something you make , Something you do , Something you are , And something you give away.
” “ If you want peace , you won ’ t get it with violence.
” And my favorite advice of all : “ Say you want a revolution / We better get on right away / Well you get on your feet / And out on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
”

“You gotta remember, establishment, it’s just a name for evil. The monster doesn’t care whether it kills all the students or whether there’s a revolution. It’s not thinking logically, it’s out of control.”—John Lennon (1969)
John Lennon, born 80 years ago on October 9, 1940, was a musical genius and pop cultural icon.
He was also a vocal peace protester and anti-war activist, and a high-profile example of the lengths to which the Deep State will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority.
Long before Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning were being castigated for blowing the whistle on the government’s war crimes and the National Security Agency’s abuse of its surveillance powers, it was Lennon who was being singled out for daring to speak truth to power about the government’s warmongering, his phone calls monitored and data files illegally collected on his activities and associations.
For a while, at least, Lennon became enemy number one in the eyes of the U.S. government.
Years after Lennon’s assassination it would be revealed that the FBI had collected 281 pages of files on him, including song lyrics. J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI at the time, directed the agency to spy on the musician. There were also various written orders calling on government agents to frame Lennon for a drug bust. “The FBI’s files on Lennon … read like the writings of a paranoid goody-two-shoes,” observed reporter Jonathan Curiel.
As the New York Times notes, “Critics of today’s domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds. They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power. ‘The U.S. vs. John Lennon’ … is the story not only of one man being harassed, but of a democracy being undermined.”
Indeed, all of the many complaints we have about government today—surveillance, militarism, corruption, harassment, SWAT team raids, political persecution, spying, overcriminalization, etc.—were present in Lennon’s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice, peace and a populist revolution.
For all of these reasons, the U.S. government was obsessed with Lennon, who had learned early on that rock music could serve a political end by proclaiming a radical message. More importantly, Lennon saw that his music could mobilize the public and help to bring about change. Lennon believed in the power of the people. Unfortunately, as Lennon recognized: “The trouble with government as it is, is that it doesn’t represent the people. It controls them.”
However, as Martin Lewis writing for Time notes: “John Lennon was not God. But he earned the love and admiration of his generation by creating a huge body of work that inspired and led. The appreciation for him deepened because he then instinctively decided to use his celebrity as a bully pulpit for causes greater than his own enrichment or self-aggrandizement.”
For instance, in December 1971 at a concert in Ann Arbor, Mich., Lennon took to the stage and in his usual confrontational style belted out “John Sinclair,” a song he had written about a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. Within days of Lennon’s call for action, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Sinclair released.
What Lennon did not know at the time was that government officials had been keeping strict tabs on the ex-Beatle they referred to as “Mr. Lennon.” Incredibly, FBI agents were in the audience at the Ann Arbor concert, “taking notes on everything from the attendance (15,000) to the artistic merits of his new song.”
The U.S. government, steeped in paranoia, was spying on Lennon.
By March 1971, when his “Power to the People” single was released, it was clear where Lennon stood. Having moved to New York City that same year, Lennon was ready to participate in political activism against the U. S. government, the “monster” that was financing the war in Vietnam.
The release of Lennon’s Sometime in New York City album, which contained a radical anti-government message in virtually every song and depicted President Richard Nixon and Chinese Chairman Mao Tse-tung dancing together nude on the cover, only fanned the flames of the conflict to come.
The official U.S. war against Lennon began in earnest in 1972 after rumors surfaced that Lennon planned to embark on a U.S. concert tour that would combine rock music with antiwar organizing and voter registration. Nixon, fearing Lennon’s influence on about 11 million new voters (1972 was the first year that 18-year-olds could vote), had the ex-Beatle served with deportation orders “in an effort to silence him as a voice of the peace movement.”
Then again, the FBI has had a long history of persecuting, prosecuting and generally harassing activists, politicians, and cultural figures. Most notably among the latter are such celebrated names as folk singer Pete Seeger, painter Pablo Picasso, comic actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, comedian Lenny Bruce and poet Allen Ginsberg.
Among those most closely watched by the FBI was Martin Luther King Jr., a man labeled by the FBI as “the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country.” With wiretaps and electronic bugs planted in his home and office, King was kept under constant surveillance by the FBI with the aim of “neutralizing” him. He even received letters written by FBI agents suggesting that he either commit suicide or the details of his private life would be revealed to the public. The FBI kept up its pursuit of King until he was felled by a hollow-point bullet to the head in 1968.
While Lennon was not—as far as we know—being blackmailed into suicide, he was the subject of a four-year campaign of surveillance and harassment by the U.S. government (spearheaded by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover), an attempt by President Richard Nixon to have him “neutralized” and deported. As Adam Cohen of the New York Times points out, “The F.B.I.’s surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law enforcement purpose. What is more surprising, and ultimately more unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics.”
As Lennon’s FBI file shows, memos and reports about the FBI’s surveillance of the anti-war activist had been flying back and forth between Hoover, the Nixon White House, various senators, the FBI and the U.S. Immigration Office.
Nixon’s pursuit of Lennon was relentless and in large part based on the misperception that Lennon and his comrades were planning to disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention. The government’s paranoia, however, was misplaced.
Left-wing activists who were on government watch lists and who shared an interest in bringing down the Nixon Administration had been congregating at Lennon’s New York apartment. But when they revealed that they were planning to cause a riot, Lennon balked. As he recounted in a 1980 interview, “We said, We ain’t buying this. We’re not going to draw children into a situation to create violence so you can overthrow what? And replace it with what? . . . It was all based on this illusion, that you can create violence and overthrow what is, and get communism or get some right-wing lunatic or a left-wing lunatic. They’re all lunatics.”
Despite the fact that Lennon was not part of the “lunatic” plot, the government persisted in its efforts to have him deported. Equally determined to resist, Lennon dug in and fought back. Every time he was ordered out of the country, his lawyers delayed the process by filing an appeal. Finally, in 1976, Lennon won the battle to stay in the country when he was granted a green card. As he said afterwards, “I have a love for this country…. This is where the action is. I think we’ll just go home, open a tea bag, and look at each other.”
Lennon’s time of repose didn’t last long, however. By 1980, he had re-emerged with a new album and plans to become politically active again.
The old radical was back and ready to cause trouble. In his final interview on Dec. 8, 1980, Lennon mused, “The whole map’s changed and we’re going into an unknown future, but we’re still all here, and while there’s life there’s hope.”
The Deep State has a way of dealing with troublemakers, unfortunately. On Dec. 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman was waiting in the shadows when Lennon returned to his New York apartment building. As Lennon stepped outside the car to greet the fans congregating outside, Chapman, in an eerie echo of the FBI’s moniker for Lennon, called out, “Mr. Lennon!”
Lennon turned and was met with a barrage of gunfire as Chapman—dropping into a two-handed combat stance—emptied his .38-caliber pistol and pumped four hollow-point bullets into his back and left arm. Lennon stumbled, staggered forward and, with blood pouring from his mouth and chest, collapsed to the ground.
John Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He had finally been “neutralized.”
Yet where those who neutralized the likes of John Lennon, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy and others go wrong is in believing that you can murder a movement with a bullet and a madman.
Thankfully, Lennon’s legacy lives on in his words, his music and his efforts to speak truth to power. As Yoko Ono shared in a 2014 letter to the parole board tasked with determining whether Chapman should be released: “A man of humble origin, [John Lennon] brought light and hope to the whole world with his words and music. He tried to be a good power for the world, and he was. He gave encouragement, inspiration and dreams to people regardless of their race, creed and gender.”
Sadly, not much has changed for the better in the world since Lennon walked among us.
Peace remains out of reach. Activism and whistleblowers continue to be prosecuted for challenging the government’s authority. Militarism is on the rise, with local police dressed like the military, all the while the governmental war machine continues to wreak havoc on innocent lives across the globe.
For those of us who joined with John Lennon to imagine a world of peace, it’s getting harder to reconcile that dream with the reality of the American police state.
Meanwhile, as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People , those who dare to speak up are labeled dissidents, troublemakers, terrorists, lunatics, or mentally ill and tagged for surveillance, censorship, involuntary detention or, worse, even shot and killed in their own homes by militarized police.
As Lennon shared in a 1968 interview:
“I think all our society is run by insane people for insane objectives… I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal means. If anybody can put on paper what our government and the American government and the Russian… Chinese… what they are actually trying to do, and what they think they’re doing, I’d be very pleased to know what they think they’re doing. I think they’re all insane. But I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.”
So what’s the answer?
Lennon had a multitude of suggestions.
“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
“War is over if you want it.”
“Produce your own dream…. It’s quite possible to do anything, but not to put it on the leaders…. You have to do it yourself. That’s what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshipped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be. There’s nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can’t wake you up. You can wake you up. I can’t cure you. You can cure you.”
“Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.”
“If you want peace, you won’t get it with violence.”
And my favorite advice of all: “Say you want a revolution / We better get on right away / Well you get on your feet / And out on the street / Singing power to the people.”
Article posted with permission from John Whitehead


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-07--Maryland:  Cop Was Not Fired After First Arrest – Arrested For Child Rape, Still Not Fired

Maryland : Cop Was Not Fired After First Arrest – Arrested For Child Rape , Still Not Fired Clinton , MD — It is an unfortunate reality in the land of the free that police officers commit crimes against children .
In case after case , the Free Thought Project has reported on countless officers who have been arrested for preying on society ’ s most vulnerable .
While there is certainly no shortage of non-cops who abuse children , being a police officer gives many cops the ability to cover their crimes or puts them in positions of authority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on children .
All too often , even when they are caught , cops receive special treatment under the law and in their employment .
If your job is to arrest people for DUI and you get a DUI , you should be fired and stripped of your law enforcement license for betraying the trust of the community you serve .
Yes , everyone is innocent until proven guilty , but if your job is to enforce the law and you are recorded on another police officer ’ s dash camera , driving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fired .
But that did not happen when officer Tristan Thigpen got his DUI in 2018 .
Instead , he ’ s been on paid vacation ever since .
And , while he was on paid vacation — for violating his oath and betraying the community — he has since allegedly raped a child .
While on paid vacation , Thigpen is accused of sexually abusing a “ young child.
” During a press conference this week , State ’ s Attorney Aisha Braveboy announced multiple charges against Thigpen for the alleged repeated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thigpen knew .
According to prosecutors , the victim was a household member , meaning it could have even been his own child .
While they haven ’ t provided specifics of how they learned of the abuse , officials noted they found out about it through “ various law enforcement agencies.
” Braveboy encouraged anyone else who has been a victim of Thigpen to come forward .
Braveboy said that when a case like such involves an officer , “ it ’ s particularly egregious.
” We agree .
“ Any case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serious .
When the allegations are made against an officer , it ’ s particularly egregious , ” she said .
The interim police chief also weighed in but stopped short of apologizing for not firing Thigpen in the first place .
“ The fact the allegations against this officer involve a child make them all the more troubling .
The officer had already been on suspension when our department was made aware of this allegation , ” Interim Police Chief Hector Velez said .
“ We immediately opened an investigation and brought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Attorney ’ s Office for possible prosecution.
” Thigpen is still with the department , but has been suspended without pay this time .
If he is found guilty of the charges , Thigpen would face the possibility of up to 35 years behind bars .
Unfortunately , however , even if he is found guilty on all counts , child-raping cops rarely do any significant time behind bars .
Sadly , there is a pattern of police officers getting caught preying on children , raping women , and committing other unspeakable crimes—and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many examples is the case of California Highway Patrol lieutenant Stephen Robert Deck who was given probation for attempting to have sex with a 13-year-old .
The officer was caught in an undercover sting operation set up by police to catch pedophiles in the act of trying to have sex with kids .
Unlike most of the other 12 defendants in the case , who were sentenced to at least one year in prison , Deck was afforded probation last year simply because he wore a badge .
Although every other person caught @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Deck ’ s badge apparently granted him special privilege .
What ’ s more , this child predator was allowed to keep his taxpayer-funded medical retirement .
And we call this “ justice ” in the land of the free .

Maryland: Cop Was Not Fired After First Arrest – Arrested For Child Rape, Still Not Fired
Clinton, MD — It is an unfortunate reality in the land of the free that police officers commit crimes against children. In case after case, the Free Thought Project has reported on countless officers who have been arrested for preying on society’s most vulnerable. While there is certainly no shortage of non-cops who abuse children, being a police officer gives many cops the ability to cover their crimes or puts them in positions of authority and trust that allow them to prey on children. All too often, even when they are caught, cops receive special treatment under the law and in their employment.
If your job is to arrest people for DUI and you get a DUI, you should be fired and stripped of your law enforcement license for betraying the trust of the community you serve. Yes, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but if your job is to enforce the law and you are recorded on another police officer’s dash camera, driving while intoxicated, you need to be fired.
But that did not happen when officer Tristan Thigpen got his DUI in 2018. Instead, he’s been on paid vacation ever since. And, while he was on paid vacation — for violating his oath and betraying the community — he has since allegedly raped a child.
While on paid vacation, Thigpen is accused of sexually abusing a “young child.” During a press conference this week, State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy announced multiple charges against Thigpen for the alleged repeated sex abuse of a child, who Thigpen knew.
The charges that Thigpen face include:
Sex abuse of a minor
Third-degree sex offense
Second-degree assault
Fourth-degree sex offense
According to prosecutors, the victim was a household member, meaning it could have even been his own child. While they haven’t provided specifics of how they learned of the abuse, officials noted they found out about it through “various law enforcement agencies.”
Braveboy encouraged anyone else who has been a victim of Thigpen to come forward.
Braveboy said that when a case like such involves an officer, “it’s particularly egregious.” We agree.
“Any case involving sex abuse of a minor is serious. When the allegations are made against an officer, it’s particularly egregious,” she said.
The interim police chief also weighed in but stopped short of apologizing for not firing Thigpen in the first place.
“The fact the allegations against this officer involve a child make them all the more troubling. The officer had already been on suspension when our department was made aware of this allegation,” Interim Police Chief Hector Velez said. “We immediately opened an investigation and brought this case to the State’s Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.”
Thigpen is still with the department, but has been suspended without pay this time.
If he is found guilty of the charges, Thigpen would face the possibility of up to 35 years behind bars.
Unfortunately, however, even if he is found guilty on all counts, child-raping cops rarely do any significant time behind bars. Sadly, there is a pattern of police officers getting caught preying on children, raping women, and committing other unspeakable crimes—and never going to jail.
One of many examples is the case of California Highway Patrol lieutenant Stephen Robert Deck who was given probation for attempting to have sex with a 13-year-old. The officer was caught in an undercover sting operation set up by police to catch pedophiles in the act of trying to have sex with kids. Unlike most of the other 12 defendants in the case, who were sentenced to at least one year in prison, Deck was afforded probation last year simply because he wore a badge.
Although every other person caught in the same sting received jail time, Deck’s badge apparently granted him special privilege. What’s more, this child predator was allowed to keep his taxpayer-funded medical retirement. And we call this “justice” in the land of the free.
Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist