wearechange--2020-11-21--New York Times Job Listing Shows How Western Propaganda Operates

People who are only just beginning to research what ’ s wrong with the world often hold an assumption that mainstream news reporters are just knowingly propagandizing people all the time .
That they sit around scheming up ways to deceive their audiences into supporting war , oligarchy and oppression for the benefit of their plutocratic masters .
Once you ’ ve learned a bit more you realize it ’ s not quite happening that way .
Most mainstream news reporters are not really witting propagandists–those are to be found more in plutocrat-funded think tanks and other narrative management firms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which feed news media outlets information designed to advance their interests .
The predominant reason mainstream news reporters say things that aren ’ t true is because in order to be hired by mainstream news outlets , you need to jack your mind into a power-serving worldview that is not based in truth .
A recent job listing for a New York Times Russia Correspondent which was flagged by Russia-based journalist Bryan MacDonald illustrates this dynamic perfectly .
The listing reads as follows : Vladimir Putin ’ s Russia remains one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sends out hit squads armed with nerve agents against its enemies , most recently the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny .
It has its cyber agents sow chaos and disharmony in the West to tarnish its democratic systems , while promoting its faux version of democracy .
It has deployed private military contractors around the globe to secretly spread its influence .
At home , its hospitals are filling up fast with Covid patients as its president hides out in his villa .
If that sounds like a place you want to cover , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will have an opening for a new correspondent as Andy Higgins takes over as our next Eastern Europe Bureau Chief early next year .
Does this sound like the sort of job someone with a less than hostile attitude toward the Russian government would apply to ?
Is it a job listing that indicates it might welcome someone who sees mainstream Russia hysteria as cartoonish hyperbole designed to advance the longstanding geostrategic interests of western power structures against a government which has long resisted bowing to the dictates of those power structures ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ establishment narratives of Russian election meddling and Novichokassassinations ?
Someone who , as Moon of Alabama notes , might point out that Putin is in fact at work in the Kremlin right now and not “ hiding out ” in a “ villa ” ?
Of course not .
In order to get a job at the New York Times , you need to demonstrate that you subscribe to the mainstream oligarchic imperialist worldview which forms the entirety of western mass media output .
You need to demonstrate that you have been properly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guided into toeing the imperial line with simple attaboys and tisk-tisks from your superiors rather than being explicitly told to knowingly lie .
Because if they did tell you to knowingly lie to the public to advance the interests of the powerful , that would be propaganda .
And propaganda is what what happens in evil backwards countries like Russia .
Mainstream establishment orthodoxy is essentially a religion , as fake and power-serving as any other , and if you want to work in mainstream politics or media you need to demonstrate that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That ’ s all you ’ re ever seeing when you notice blue-checkmarked reporters tweeting in promotion of imperialist interests and status quo politics .
They are not laboring under the delusion that they are saying anything new or insightful that a hundred other people aren ’ t saying at the exact same time ; they are signaling .
They are letting current and prospective peers and employers know , “ I am a believer .
I am a member of the faith.
” This way they are ensured the continued advancement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is why you have labels for anyone expressing skepticism of establishment narratives like “ conspiracy theorist ” , “ useful idiot ” , “ Russian asset ” or “ Assadist ” ; the powerful people who understand that whoever controls the narrative controls the world need labels to separate the faithful from the heathens .
It means the same thing as “ heretic ” .
The fast and easy way to get rich and famous has always been to promote the interests of the powerful .
This is as true in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media .
For this reason , those who pour their energy into criticizing existing power structures and shining a bright light on their dynamics aren ’ t likely to be living in fancy mansions or going to ritzy parties any time soon , while those who do the opposite actually will .
And yet when someone sets up a Substack or a Patreon account to make criticizing the powerful their life ’ s work , it is they who will get called money-grubbing grifters by the propagandized .
The faces you see thrust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not spouting falsehoods while being aware of their deception , any more than any preacher is knowingly lying when they say you ’ ll burn for eternity if you don ’ t accept the gospel .
Most of them believe everything they are saying , because they have been propagandized into becoming good acolytes and proselytizers of the faith .
The most propagandized people on earth are those who are responsible for promulgating propaganda .

People who are only just beginning to research what’s wrong with the world often hold an assumption that mainstream news reporters are just knowingly propagandizing people all the time. That they sit around scheming up ways to deceive their audiences into supporting war, oligarchy and oppression for the benefit of their plutocratic masters.
Once you’ve learned a bit more you realize it’s not quite happening that way. Most mainstream news reporters are not really witting propagandists–those are to be found more in plutocrat-funded think tanks and other narrative management firms, and in the opaque government agencies which feed news media outlets information designed to advance their interests. The predominant reason mainstream news reporters say things that aren’t true is because in order to be hired by mainstream news outlets, you need to jack your mind into a power-serving worldview that is not based in truth.
If you ever wondered why most US/UK media coverage of Russia is garbage, take a look at this job advert from @nytimes. Pretty clear that any applicants who would like to cover Russia objectively & fairly won't be considered. And that's partially why things are as they are… pic.twitter.com/M7IXdnSafW — Bryan MacDonald (@27khv) November 20, 2020
A recent job listing for a New York Times Russia Correspondent which was flagged by Russia-based journalist Bryan MacDonald illustrates this dynamic perfectly. The listing reads as follows:
Vladimir Putin’s Russia remains one of the biggest stories in the world. It sends out hit squads armed with nerve agents against its enemies, most recently the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. It has its cyber agents sow chaos and disharmony in the West to tarnish its democratic systems, while promoting its faux version of democracy. It has deployed private military contractors around the globe to secretly spread its influence. At home, its hospitals are filling up fast with Covid patients as its president hides out in his villa. If that sounds like a place you want to cover, then we have good news: We will have an opening for a new correspondent as Andy Higgins takes over as our next Eastern Europe Bureau Chief early next year.
Does this sound like the sort of job someone with a less than hostile attitude toward the Russian government would apply to? Is it a job listing that indicates it might welcome someone who sees mainstream Russia hysteria as cartoonish hyperbole designed to advance the longstanding geostrategic interests of western power structures against a government which has long resisted bowing to the dictates of those power structures? Someone who voices skepticism about the plothole–riddled establishment narratives of Russian election meddling and Novichokassassinations? Someone who, as Moon of Alabama notes, might point out that Putin is in fact at work in the Kremlin right now and not “hiding out” in a “villa”?
Of course not. In order to get a job at the New York Times, you need to demonstrate that you subscribe to the mainstream oligarchic imperialist worldview which forms the entirety of western mass media output. You need to demonstrate that you have been properly indoctrinated, and that you can be guided into toeing the imperial line with simple attaboys and tisk-tisks from your superiors rather than being explicitly told to knowingly lie.
Because if they did tell you to knowingly lie to the public to advance the interests of the powerful, that would be propaganda. And propaganda is what what happens in evil backwards countries like Russia.
New on MoA:
How 'Western' Media Select Their Foreign Correspondentshttps://t.co/xHgBZFBTZd pic.twitter.com/fQzdvfA1On — Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) November 20, 2020
Mainstream establishment orthodoxy is essentially a religion, as fake and power-serving as any other, and if you want to work in mainstream politics or media you need to demonstrate that you are a member of that religion.
That’s all you’re ever seeing when you notice blue-checkmarked reporters tweeting in promotion of imperialist interests and status quo politics. They are not laboring under the delusion that they are saying anything new or insightful that a hundred other people aren’t saying at the exact same time; they are signaling. They are letting current and prospective peers and employers know, “I am a believer. I am a member of the faith.” This way they are ensured the continued advancement of their careers in mainstream news media.
This is why you have labels for anyone expressing skepticism of establishment narratives like “conspiracy theorist”, “useful idiot”, “Russian asset” or “Assadist”; the powerful people who understand that whoever controls the narrative controls the world need labels to separate the faithful from the heathens. It means the same thing as “heretic”.
The fast and easy way to get rich and famous has always been to promote the interests of the powerful. This is as true in every other sector as it is in media. For this reason, those who pour their energy into criticizing existing power structures and shining a bright light on their dynamics aren’t likely to be living in fancy mansions or going to ritzy parties any time soon, while those who do the opposite actually will. And yet when someone sets up a Substack or a Patreon account to make criticizing the powerful their life’s work, it is they who will get called money-grubbing grifters by the propagandized.
The faces you see thrust onto screens by the plutocratic media are not spouting falsehoods while being aware of their deception, any more than any preacher is knowingly lying when they say you’ll burn for eternity if you don’t accept the gospel. Most of them believe everything they are saying, because they have been propagandized into becoming good acolytes and proselytizers of the faith.
The most propagandized people on earth are those who are responsible for promulgating propaganda.
Republished from CaitlinJohnstone.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-21--Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog Starts New Work on BP Oil Rig

The virus pandemic is accelerating the trend of robots replacing humans in the workplace .
One robot that is quickly being adopted by mega-corporations is Boston Dynamics ’ compact four-legged robot , called Spot .
June was the month when Boston Dynamics began selling Spot .
By July , Ford Motor Company received the robot dog , equipped with five cameras to survey its Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Michigan .
Ford employed the four-legged robot over human surveyors to save money and time .
The Michigan-based automobile manufacture isn ’ t the only company embracing robot dogs to complete @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reuters notes BP Plc has programed Spot to “ read gauges , look for corrosion , map out the facility , and even sniff out methane on its Mad Dog rig.
” Adam Ballard , BP ’ s facilities technology manager , said the robot dog would make working on an offshore oil rig safer by reducing the number of people .
He said the tasks Spot would be assigned will free up personnel to focus on other mission-critical assignments .
“ Several hours a day , several operators will walk the facility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that doesn ’ t sound right ; look out at the horizon for anomalies , boats that may not be caught on radar ; look for sheens .
“ What we ’ re doing with Spot is really trying to replicate that observation piece , ” Ballard said , adding that an operator could then review the information from a central location .
“ We believe a lot of that up-front , remote work preparation can be done with a remotely-controlled robot… being able to pan , tilt , zoom and really understand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real-time , ” he said .
BP hopes Spot ’ s ability to gather data on oil rigs will cut down human personnel throughout rigs located in the Gulf of Mexico .
We ’ re sure other companies will follow Ford or BP in the rush to automate their workforce under the cover of the virus pandemic .
This comes as SoftBank Group Corp. , the owner of Boston Dynamics , is exploring a sale of the company to Hyundai Motor Co. , according to Bloomberg , suggesting upon the sale , Spot @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The virus pandemic is accelerating the trend of robots replacing humans in the workplace. One robot that is quickly being adopted by mega-corporations is Boston Dynamics’ compact four-legged robot, called Spot.
June was the month when Boston Dynamics began selling Spot. By July, Ford Motor Company received the robot dog, equipped with five cameras to survey its Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Michigan.
Ford employed the four-legged robot over human surveyors to save money and time. The Michigan-based automobile manufacture isn’t the only company embracing robot dogs to complete mundane tasks generally performed by humans. Reuters notes BP Plc has programed Spot to “read gauges, look for corrosion, map out the facility, and even sniff out methane on its Mad Dog rig.”
Adam Ballard, BP’s facilities technology manager, said the robot dog would make working on an offshore oil rig safer by reducing the number of people. He said the tasks Spot would be assigned will free up personnel to focus on other mission-critical assignments. “Several hours a day, several operators will walk the facility; read gauges; listen for noise that doesn’t sound right; look out at the horizon for anomalies, boats that may not be caught on radar; look for sheens. “What we’re doing with Spot is really trying to replicate that observation piece,” Ballard said, adding that an operator could then review the information from a central location. “We believe a lot of that up-front, remote work preparation can be done with a remotely-controlled robot… being able to pan, tilt, zoom and really understand the entire area in real conditions, real-time,” he said. Watch: Spot Learns New Tricks On Oil Rig BP hopes Spot’s ability to gather data on oil rigs will cut down human personnel throughout rigs located in the Gulf of Mexico. We’re sure other companies will follow Ford or BP in the rush to automate their workforce under the cover of the virus pandemic. This comes as SoftBank Group Corp., the owner of Boston Dynamics, is exploring a sale of the company to Hyundai Motor Co., according to Bloomberg, suggesting upon the sale, Spot could be slated for mass production. Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-21--One in Five US Hospitals Are on the Verge of a Staffing Crisis

As COVID-19 cases surge pushing hospitalizations to levels unseen since the start of the pandemic , hospitals around the country are facing a staffing crisis .
According to Bloomberg , 1 in 5 American hospitals anticipates a “ critical staffing shortage ” within a week ’ s time , according to DHHS .
Midwestern states like Missouri , Wisconsin and North Dakota have reported the highest share of hospitals worried about staffing shortages as deaths and hospitalizations soar .
In a phrase that ’ s reminiscent of coverage from back in the spring , when hospital workers in some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wearing trash bags instead of PPE , Bloomberg warned that a dearth of doctors and nurses could risk pushing the mortality rate even higher .
Frontline workers are “ vulnerable to the consequences of overwork ” , Bloomberg reported .
In an example of just how bad it can get , readers might remember a rash of doctor suicides in NYC , and in other places as well .
What ’ s more , given the staffing issues , hospitals around the country are bracing for a “ holiday spike ” , forcing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ holiday away from their families .
The biggest problem this time around is that rural areas in the Midwest and elsewhere that were largely spared earlier in the year are now seeing outbreaks in their communities , which have in some cases badly strained the more threadbare facilities available in these areas .
Here ’ s an example : Sprawling , sparsely populated Siskiyou County along California ’ s northern border hit a milestone this week .
After months of dodging a major COVID-19 outbreak , seven people were hospitalized with coronavirus infections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the county briefly dropped to zero , which sent local public health officials into a full-blown panic .
Management at the hospital pleaded with the townspeople to wear their masks and wash their hands , advising that more infections would inevitably lead to a surge in deaths .
Another major difference this time around : During the spring and summer , the outbreaks were largely confined to a specific region of the country , allowing resources and staff to be ‘ spread around ’ from states with low numbers to states with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right now , all 50 states are seeing their outbreaks accelerate .
While the Midwest has been battered , Chicago hasn ’ t benefited from the federal resources or the help from nearby states that New York did back in the spring .
That ’ s one reason that makes the recent increase in deaths more concerning , since if the numbers continue to rise , there won ’ t be any ‘ cavalry ’ for struggling states to call .
Fortunately , Pfizer confirmed on Friday that it has submitted its paperwork @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which should be administered to the first non-trial patients by mid-December , the company said .

As COVID-19 cases surge pushing hospitalizations to levels unseen since the start of the pandemic, hospitals around the country are facing a staffing crisis. According to Bloomberg, 1 in 5 American hospitals anticipates a “critical staffing shortage” within a week’s time, according to DHHS.
Midwestern states like Missouri, Wisconsin and North Dakota have reported the highest share of hospitals worried about staffing shortages as deaths and hospitalizations soar.
In a phrase that’s reminiscent of coverage from back in the spring, when hospital workers in some of NYC’s most unloved neighborhoods were wearing trash bags instead of PPE, Bloomberg warned that a dearth of doctors and nurses could risk pushing the mortality rate even higher. Frontline workers are “vulnerable to the consequences of overwork”, Bloomberg reported. In an example of just how bad it can get, readers might remember a rash of doctor suicides in NYC, and in other places as well.
What’s more, given the staffing issues, hospitals around the country are bracing for a “holiday spike”, forcing health care workers to spend yet another holiday away from their families.
The biggest problem this time around is that rural areas in the Midwest and elsewhere that were largely spared earlier in the year are now seeing outbreaks in their communities, which have in some cases badly strained the more threadbare facilities available in these areas.
Here’s an example: Sprawling, sparsely populated Siskiyou County along California’s northern border hit a milestone this week. After months of dodging a major COVID-19 outbreak, seven people were hospitalized with coronavirus infections and the number of available ICU beds in the county briefly dropped to zero, which sent local public health officials into a full-blown panic.
Management at the hospital pleaded with the townspeople to wear their masks and wash their hands, advising that more infections would inevitably lead to a surge in deaths.
Another major difference this time around: During the spring and summer, the outbreaks were largely confined to a specific region of the country, allowing resources and staff to be ‘spread around’ from states with low numbers to states with high numbers. The problem is that right now, all 50 states are seeing their outbreaks accelerate. While the Midwest has been battered, Chicago hasn’t benefited from the federal resources or the help from nearby states that New York did back in the spring.
That’s one reason that makes the recent increase in deaths more concerning, since if the numbers continue to rise, there won’t be any ‘cavalry’ for struggling states to call.
“Earlier in the year, we were able to redeploy staff and resources to these hot spots,” one official said. “We really were talking about hot spots. The problem now is when every place is a hot spot, you lose the ability to redeploy. And that’s as simple as that.”
Fortunately, Pfizer confirmed on Friday that it has submitted its paperwork for an emergency-use authorization for its vaccine, which should be administered to the first non-trial patients by mid-December, the company said.
Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-21--Frustrated Biden Snaps at Reporter for Shouting Question About Coronavirus

Is it just us , or do members of the Democratic Party ’ s leadership seem more stressed out than usual lately ?
Joe Biden snapped at a reporter on Friday after he asked a question about Biden ’ s plans for responding to the coronavirus .
CBS News reporter Bo Erickson asked : “ Mr .
Biden , the Covid Task Force said it ’ s safe for students to be in class .
Are you going to encourage unions to cooperate more to bring kids back to classroom , sir ?
” For whatever reason , Biden wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are you the only guy that always shouts out questions ?
” Biden shot back .
At that moment , Biden ’ s staffers sprung into action : “ Guys , let ’ s go !
Move !
Let ’ s go !
Out !
” From Biden ’ s response , to his staff ’ s move to clear the room of reporters before things could get out of hand , it was an altogether Trumpian performance from a man who has gone to great lengths to try to define himself in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticized Biden for losing his cool , arguing that Erickson ’ s question was valid .
Indeed , many conservatives have slammed NYC ’ s teachers ’ unions for effectively forcing city hall to close the schools despite new research showing that schools aren ’ t a major contributor to infection rates .
CDC Director Robert Redfield said during the most recent WH task force briefing that all schools should remain open .
Will MSM reporters now meekly accept the fact that shouting questions will again be deemed a bad , disrespectful thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking the reins ?
That ’ s ironic , since White House reporters like Kaitlan Collins and Playboy ’ s Brian Karem were widely praised for doing the same during briefings with Trump and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany .
Washington Examiner politics reporter Emily Larsen encouraged journalists to not let the tradition of shouting questions at the president ( or “ President-elect ” ) die with Trump .
And the Daily Wire ’ s Ryan Saavedra mused that Biden “ wouldn ’ t last a day ” if he had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scrutiny as Trump .
Of course , Biden isn ’ t the only Democratic politician to suddenly snap at reporters in a moment of frustration this past week .
NY Gov Andrew Cuomo , who has been awarded an Emmy for his “ masterful ” press briefings during the coronavirus outbreak , snapped at some local reporters during a press briefing this week when they demanded more clarity on whether NYC schools would be closing , or not .
Cuomo emerged from that incident with egg on his face , because moments after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools would remain open , news hit that the 3 % 7-day positivity rate threshold had been reached , and that NYC schools would return to all-remote learning the following morning .

Is it just us, or do members of the Democratic Party’s leadership seem more stressed out than usual lately?
Joe Biden snapped at a reporter on Friday after he asked a question about Biden’s plans for responding to the coronavirus. CBS News reporter Bo Erickson asked: “Mr. Biden, the Covid Task Force said it’s safe for students to be in class. Are you going to encourage unions to cooperate more to bring kids back to classroom, sir?”
For whatever reason, Biden wasn’t having it: “Why are you the only guy that always shouts out questions?” Biden shot back.
Asked Biden if he will encourage teacher unions to cooperate to get kids back in school because the COVID task force said it is safe to be in the classroom. He didn't answer. “Why are you the only guy that always shouts out questions?” he said. pic.twitter.com/x2DsG5Fmgo — Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) November 20, 2020
At that moment, Biden’s staffers sprung into action: “Guys, let’s go! Move! Let’s go! Out!”
From Biden’s response, to his staff’s move to clear the room of reporters before things could get out of hand, it was an altogether Trumpian performance from a man who has gone to great lengths to try to define himself in opposition to his rival.
Other journalists criticized Biden for losing his cool, arguing that Erickson’s question was valid. Indeed, many conservatives have slammed NYC’s teachers’ unions for effectively forcing city hall to close the schools despite new research showing that schools aren’t a major contributor to infection rates. CDC Director Robert Redfield said during the most recent WH task force briefing that all schools should remain open.
Will MSM reporters now meekly accept the fact that shouting questions will again be deemed a bad, disrespectful thing now that Biden is expected to be taking the reins? That’s ironic, since White House reporters like Kaitlan Collins and Playboy’s Brian Karem were widely praised for doing the same during briefings with Trump and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
Washington Examiner politics reporter Emily Larsen encouraged journalists to not let the tradition of shouting questions at the president (or “President-elect”) die with Trump. And the Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra mused that Biden “wouldn’t last a day” if he had to deal with the same level of media scrutiny as Trump.
How is that "shouting"? This reporter is about as respectful as you can get https://t.co/M9tWZelSrP — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 21, 2020
Biden would not last a day if he had to deal with the same media that Trump has to deal with — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 21, 2020
Of course, Biden isn’t the only Democratic politician to suddenly snap at reporters in a moment of frustration this past week. NY Gov Andrew Cuomo, who has been awarded an Emmy for his “masterful” press briefings during the coronavirus outbreak, snapped at some local reporters during a press briefing this week when they demanded more clarity on whether NYC schools would be closing, or not.
Cuomo emerged from that incident with egg on his face, because moments after he made a big show about saying schools would remain open, news hit that the 3% 7-day positivity rate threshold had been reached, and that NYC schools would return to all-remote learning the following morning.
Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-23--Toilet Paper Shortages Erupt Again as Americans ‘Panic Hoard’ Ahead of Dark Winter

America is transforming into a nation of preppers as COVID winter sets in .
We outlined weeks ago ( see : here & here ) , round two of panic hoarding was well underway if that was for toilet paper , non-perishable food , and or ammunition .
Bloomberg is only now reporting , “ households across the US are once again filling grocery carts brimful in the second round of panic buying as the virus surges and states clamp down on economic activity .
Defensive purchasing is affecting everything from paper towels to bacon .
Even the world ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-demand items , including cleaning supplies , breakfast foods — and the most important commodity in any bathroom.
” Several executives from major corporations are warning about supply chain stress as consumers gobble up high-demand items as the second virus wave spirals out of control .
“ It really does have everything to do with what ’ s happening with Covid cases in any particular community , ” Walmart ’ s chief executive officer , Doug McMillon , said on an earnings call last week .
According to Centricity Inc. , a firm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for non-perishable items has skyrocketed 60-70 % in the last several weeks .
Mike Brackett , Centricity ’ s chief executive officer , said the recent surge in panic hoarding trends is on top of the “ meteoric ” year-over-year increases for pantry staples .
Jim Dudlicek , a spokesman for the National Grocers Association , said consumers would start to see purchase limits again as the COVID winter has led to another surge in high-demand items at supermarkets nationwide .
Kraft Heinz Co. chief executive officer Miguel Patricio said investing in product @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the shelves .
Mark Schiller , chief executive officer of Hain Celestial Group Inc. , said his company has been ready for the next round of buying panic – during the pandemic , he said his Terra vegetable chips and plant-based Dream milk were hot items among consumers .
And now for the toilet paper shortage , we alerted readers as supermarkets were placing limits on rolls , outlining weeks ago how internet searches for “ where can I buy toilet paper online ” and “ toilet paper shortage ” were beginning to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cottonelle toilet paper makers , told Bloomberg that production has been “ accelerated ” since March .
Procter & Gamble Co. spokeswoman Jennifer Corso said the maker of Charmin continues “ to work around the clock to produce the product as quickly as possible.
” We also pointed out the toilet paper shortage , and resulting purchase limits at supermarkets have led to the increased search activity of “ best bidet.
” Panic hoarding 2.0 comes as searches across the country for “ panic attacks ” and “ night terror ” have soared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases across the US .
A nation of panic hoarders is indicative of an uncertain future as cases , hospitalizations , and deaths are climbing into the holiday season as the economy risks a double-dip recession .
Somehow the stock market , at all-time highs , misses the fact the nation is still in an economic and health crisis .

America is transforming into a nation of preppers as COVID winter sets in. We outlined weeks ago (see: here & here), round two of panic hoarding was well underway if that was for toilet paper, non-perishable food, and or ammunition.
Bloomberg is only now reporting, “households across the US are once again filling grocery carts brimful in the second round of panic buying as the virus surges and states clamp down on economic activity. Defensive purchasing is affecting everything from paper towels to bacon. Even the world’s biggest retailer is reporting shortages of high-demand items, including cleaning supplies, breakfast foods — and the most important commodity in any bathroom.”
Several executives from major corporations are warning about supply chain stress as consumers gobble up high-demand items as the second virus wave spirals out of control.
“It really does have everything to do with what’s happening with Covid cases in any particular community,” Walmart’s chief executive officer, Doug McMillon, said on an earnings call last week.
“We’re going to be able to respond in this instance better than we did in the first half of the year, although we’re still — as a total supply chain — stressed in some places,” McMillon said.
According to Centricity Inc., a firm that tracks online search activity, demand for non-perishable items has skyrocketed 60-70% in the last several weeks.
Mike Brackett, Centricity’s chief executive officer, said the recent surge in panic hoarding trends is on top of the “meteoric” year-over-year increases for pantry staples.
Jim Dudlicek, a spokesman for the National Grocers Association, said consumers would start to see purchase limits again as the COVID winter has led to another surge in high-demand items at supermarkets nationwide.
Kraft Heinz Co. chief executive officer Miguel Patricio said investing in product lines comes as high-demand items fly off the shelves.
“New machinery, or even bringing back to lifelines that we considered in the past as obsolete,” Patricio said, adding that the company is “increasing capacity of products like Philadelphia Cream Cheese or macaroni and cheese.”
Mark Schiller, chief executive officer of Hain Celestial Group Inc., said his company has been ready for the next round of buying panic – during the pandemic, he said his Terra vegetable chips and plant-based Dream milk were hot items among consumers.
“We are far better prepared,” Schiller said. “We have about 50 million more dollars of inventory on hand, of all the things that have the longest supply chain and the least amount of backups.”
And now for the toilet paper shortage, we alerted readers as supermarkets were placing limits on rolls, outlining weeks ago how internet searches for “where can I buy toilet paper online” and “toilet paper shortage” were beginning to rise.
Kimberly-Clark Corp., Scott and Cottonelle toilet paper makers, told Bloomberg that production has been “accelerated” since March.
Procter & Gamble Co. spokeswoman Jennifer Corso said the maker of Charmin continues “to work around the clock to produce the product as quickly as possible.”
“Paper towel consumption is related to increased cleaning situations, as consumers are cleaning more frequently,” Corso said. “Toilet paper consumption is tied to the increased amount of time consumers are spending at home. For both, people are consuming more and stocking their pantries at a higher level than before the pandemic.”
We also pointed out the toilet paper shortage, and resulting purchase limits at supermarkets have led to the increased search activity of “best bidet.”
Panic hoarding 2.0 comes as searches across the country for “panic attacks” and “night terror” have soared, coinciding with the rise of virus cases across the US.
A nation of panic hoarders is indicative of an uncertain future as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are climbing into the holiday season as the economy risks a double-dip recession. Somehow the stock market, at all-time highs, misses the fact the nation is still in an economic and health crisis.
Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-23--How Joe Biden Plans to Make The American Empire Great Again

Throughout his campaign , Joe Biden railed against Donald Trump ’ s ‘ America First ’ foreign policy , claiming it weakened the United States and left the world in disarray .
He pledged to reverse this decline and recover the damage Trump did to America ’ s reputation .
While Donald Trump called to make America Great Again , Biden seeks to Make the American Empire Great Again .
Among the president-elect ’ s pledges is to end the so-called forever wars – the decades-long imperial projects in Afghanistan and Iraq that began under the Bush administration .
Yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wars – will task ending them to the most neoconservative elements of the Democratic party and ideologues of permanent war .
Michele Flournoy and Tony Blinken sit atop Biden ’ s thousands-strong foreign policy brain trust and have played central roles in every U.S. war going back to the Clinton administration .
In the Trump era , they ’ ve cashed in , founding Westexec Advisors – a corporate consulting firm that has become home for Obama administration officials awaiting a return to government .
Flournoy is Biden ’ s leading pick for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be national security advisor .
Since the 1990s , Flournoy and Blinken have steadily risen through the ranks of the military-industrial complex , shuffling back and forth between the Pentagon and hawkish think-tanks funded by the U.S. government , weapons companies , and oil giants .
Under Bill Clinton , Flournoy was the principal author of the 1996 Quadrinellial Defense Review , the document that outlined the U.S. military ’ s doctrine of permanent war – what it called “ full spectrum dominance.
” Flournoy called for “ unilateral use of military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to key markets , energy supplies , and strategic resources.
” As Bush administration officials lied to the world about Saddam Hussein ’ s supposed WMD ’ s , Flournoy remarked that “ In some cases , preemptive strikes against an adversary ’ s [ weapons of mass destruction ] capabilities may be the best or only option we have to avert a catastrophic attack against the United States.
” Tony Blinken was a top advisor to then-Senate foreign relations committee chair Joe Biden , who played a key role in shoring up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s illegal invasion of Iraq .
As Iraq was plunged into chaos and bloodshed , Flournoy was among the authors of a paper titled “ Progressive Internationalism ” that called for a “ smarter and better ” style of permanent war .
The paper chastised the anti-war left and stated that “ Democrats will maintain the world ’ s most capable and technologically advanced military , and we will not flinch from using it to defend our interests anywhere in the world.
” With Bush winning a second term , Flournoy advocated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In 2005 , Flournoy signed onto a letter from the neoconservative think tank Project for a New American Century , asking Congress to “ increase substantially the size of the active duty Army and Marine Corps ( by ) at least 25,000 troops each year over the next several years.
” In 2007 , she leveraged her Pentagon experience and contacts to found what would become one of the premier Washington think tanks advocating endless war across the globe : the Center for a New American Security ( CNAS ) .
CNAS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arms manufacturers , oil giants , Silicon Valley tech giants , billionaire-funded foundations , and big banks .
Flournoy joined the Obama administration and was appointed as under secretary of defense for policy , the position considered the “ brains ” of the Pentagon .
She was keenly aware that the public was wary of more quagmires .
In the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review , she crafted a new concept of warfare that would expand the permanent war state while giving the appearance of a drawdown .
Flournoy wrote that “ unmanned systems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the CIA ’ s drone assassination program .
This was the Obama-era military doctrine of hybrid war .
It called for the U.S. to be able to simultaneously wage war on numerous fronts through secret warfare , clandestine weapons transfers to proxies , drone strikes , and cyber-attacks – all buttressed with propaganda campaigns targeting the American public through the internet and corporate news media .
Flournoy continued to champion the endless wars that began in the Bush-era and was a key architect of Obama ’ s disastrous troop surge in Afghanistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bags and insurgent attacks and suicide bombings increased some 65 % from 2009 and 2010 , she deceived the Senate Armed Services Committee , claiming that the U.S. was beginning to turn the tide against the Taliban .
Even with her lie that the U.S. and Afghan government were starting to beat the Taliban back , Flournoy assured the senate that the U.S. would have to remain in Afghanistan long into the future .
Ten years later – as the Afghan death toll passed 150,000 – Flournoy continued to argue against a U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Biden has tasked with ending the forever war in Afghanistan .
But in Biden ’ s own words , he ’ ll “ bring the vast majority of our troops home from Afghanistan ” implying some number of American troops will remain , and the forever war will be just that .
Michele Flournoy explained that even if a political settlement were reached , the U.S. would maintain a presence .
In 2011 , the Obama-era doctrine of smart and sophisticated warfare was unveiled in the NATO regime-change war on Libya .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sought warm relations with the U.S. and had given up his nuclear weapons program – was deposed and sodomized with a bayonet .
Flournoy , Hillary Clinton ’ s State Department , and corporate media were in lockstep as they waged an extensive propaganda campaign to deceive the U.S. public that Gadaffi ’ s soldiers were on a Viagra-fueled rape and murder spree that demanded a U.S. intervention .
All of this was based on a report from Al Jazeera – the media outlet owned by the Qatari monarchy that was arming extremist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an investigation by the United Nations called the rape claims “ hysteria.
” Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found no credible evidence of even a single rape .
Even after Libya was descended into strife and the deception of Gadaffi ’ s forces committing rape was debunked , Michele Flournoy stood by her support for the war .
Tony Blinken , then Obama ’ s deputy national security advisor , also pushed for regime change in Libya .
He became Obama ’ s point man on Syria , pushed to arm the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS , and designed the red line strategy to trigger a full-on U.S. intervention .
Syria , he told the public , wasn ’ t anything like the other wars the U.S. had waging for more than a decade .
Despite Blinken ’ s promises that it would be a short affair , the war on Syria is now in its ninth year .
An estimated half a million people have been killed as a result and the country is facing famine , Largely thanks to the policy of using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a recommendation of Flournoy and Blinken ’ s CNAS think tank .
When the Trump administration launched airstrikes on Syria based on mere accusations of a chemical attack , Tony Blinken praised the bombing , claiming Assad had used the weapon of mass destruction sarin .
Yet there was no evidence for this claim , something even then-secretary of Defense James Mattis admitted .
While jihadist mercenaries armed with U..S-supplied weapons took over large swaths of Syria , Tony Blinken played a central role in a coup d ’ etat in Ukraine that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S.-orchestrated color revolution with neo-fascist elements agitating on the ground .
At the time , he was ambivalent about sending lethal weapons to Ukraine , instead opting for economic pressure .
Since then , fascist militias have been incorporated into Ukraine ’ s armed forces .
And Tony Blinken urged Trump to send them deadly weapons – something Obama had declined to do .
While the U.S. fuelled wars in Syria and Ukraine , the Pentagon announced a major shift called the Third Offset strategy – a reference to the cold war era @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military supremacy over the Soviet Union .
The Third Offset strategy shifted the focus from counterinsurgency and the war on terror to great power competition against China and Russia , seeking to ensure that the U.S. could win a war against China in Asia .
It called for a technological revolution in warfighting capabilities , development of futuristic and autonomous weapons , swarms of undersea and airborne drones , hypersonic weapons , cyber warfare , machine-enhanced soldiers , and artificial intelligence making unimaginably complex battlefield decisions at speeds incomprehensible to the human mind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the Pentagon deepening its relationship with Silicon Valley giants that it birthed decades before : Google and Facebook .
The author of the Third Offset , former undersecretary of defense Robert Work , is a partner of Flournoy and Blinken ’ s at WestExec Advisors .
And Flournoy has been a leading proponent of this dangerous new escalation .
In June , Flournoy published a lengthy commentary laying out her strategy called “ Sharpening the U.S. Military ’ s Edge : Critical Steps for the Next Administration ” .
She warned that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technological advantage and reversing that must be the Pentagon ’ s priority .
Without it , Flournoy warned that the U.S. might not be able to defeat China in Asia .
While Flournoy has called for ramping up U.S. military presence and exercises with allied forces in the region , she went so far as to call for the U.S. to increase its destructive capabilities so much that it could launch a blitzkrieg style-attack that would wipe out the entire Chinese navy and all civilian merchant ships in the South China Sea .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a direct attack on a nuclear power that would spell the third world war .
At the same time , Biden has announced he ’ ll take an even more aggressive and confrontational stance against Russia , a position Flournoy shares .
As for ending the forever wars , Tony Blinken says not so fast .
So Biden will end the forever wars , but not really end them .
Secret wars that the public doesn ’ t even know the U.S. is involved in – those are here to stay .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in place throughout the Middle East is part and parcel of the Pentagon ’ s shift away from counterinsurgency and towards great power competition .
The 2018 National Defense Strategy explains that “ Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities ” and the U.S. will “ consolidate gains in Iraq and Afghanistan while moving to a more resource-sustainable approach.
” As for the catastrophic war on Yemen , Biden has said he ’ ll end U.S. support , but in 2019 , Michele Flournoy argued against ending arms sales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will rejoin the Iran deal as a starting point for new negotiations .
However , Trump ’ s withdrawal from the deal discredited the Iranian reformists who seek engagement with the west and empowered the principlists who see the JCPOA as a deal with the devil .
In Latin America , Biden will revive the so-called anti-corruption campaigns that were used as a cover to oust the popular social democrat Brazilian president Lula da Silva .
His Venezuela policy will be almost identical to Trump ’ s – sanctions and regime change .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 4 billion dollar package to support corrupt right-wing governments and neoliberal privatization projects that create even more destabilization and send vulnerable masses fleeing north to the United States .
Behind their rhetoric , Biden , Flournoy , and Blinken will seek nothing less than global supremacy , escalating a new and even more dangerous arms race that risks the destruction of humanity .
That ’ s what Joe Biden calls “ decency ” and “ normalcy .
”

Throughout his campaign, Joe Biden railed against Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy, claiming it weakened the United States and left the world in disarray.
He pledged to reverse this decline and recover the damage Trump did to America’s reputation. While Donald Trump called to make America Great Again, Biden seeks to Make the American Empire Great Again.
Among the president-elect’s pledges is to end the so-called forever wars – the decades-long imperial projects in Afghanistan and Iraq that began under the Bush administration.
Yet Biden – a fervent supporter of those wars – will task ending them to the most neoconservative elements of the Democratic party and ideologues of permanent war.
Michele Flournoy and Tony Blinken sit atop Biden’s thousands-strong foreign policy brain trust and have played central roles in every U.S. war going back to the Clinton administration.
In the Trump era, they’ve cashed in, founding Westexec Advisors – a corporate consulting firm that has become home for Obama administration officials awaiting a return to government.
Flournoy is Biden’s leading pick for secretary of defense and Blinken is expected to be national security advisor.
Biden’s foxes guard the henhouse
Since the 1990s, Flournoy and Blinken have steadily risen through the ranks of the military-industrial complex, shuffling back and forth between the Pentagon and hawkish think-tanks funded by the U.S. government, weapons companies, and oil giants.
Under Bill Clinton, Flournoy was the principal author of the 1996 Quadrinellial Defense Review, the document that outlined the U.S. military’s doctrine of permanent war – what it called “full spectrum dominance.”
Flournoy called for “unilateral use of military power” to ensure “uninhibited access to key markets, energy supplies, and strategic resources.”
As Bush administration officials lied to the world about Saddam Hussein’s supposed WMD’s, Flournoy remarked that “In some cases, preemptive strikes against an adversary’s [weapons of mass destruction] capabilities may be the best or only option we have to avert a catastrophic attack against the United States.”
Tony Blinken was a top advisor to then-Senate foreign relations committee chair Joe Biden, who played a key role in shoring up support among the Democrat-controlled Senate for Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq.
As Iraq was plunged into chaos and bloodshed, Flournoy was among the authors of a paper titled “Progressive Internationalism” that called for a “smarter and better” style of permanent war. The paper chastised the anti-war left and stated that “Democrats will maintain the world’s most capable and technologically advanced military, and we will not flinch from using it to defend our interests anywhere in the world.”
With Bush winning a second term, Flournoy advocated for more troop deployments from the sidelines.
In 2005, Flournoy signed onto a letter from the neoconservative think tank Project for a New American Century, asking Congress to “increase substantially the size of the active duty Army and Marine Corps (by) at least 25,000 troops each year over the next several years.”
In 2007, she leveraged her Pentagon experience and contacts to found what would become one of the premier Washington think tanks advocating endless war across the globe: the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
CNAS is funded by the U.S. government, arms manufacturers, oil giants, Silicon Valley tech giants, billionaire-funded foundations, and big banks.
Flournoy joined the Obama administration and was appointed as under secretary of defense for policy, the position considered the “brains” of the Pentagon.
She was keenly aware that the public was wary of more quagmires. In the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, she crafted a new concept of warfare that would expand the permanent war state while giving the appearance of a drawdown.
Flournoy wrote that “unmanned systems hold great promise” – a reference to the CIA’s drone assassination program.
This was the Obama-era military doctrine of hybrid war. It called for the U.S. to be able to simultaneously wage war on numerous fronts through secret warfare, clandestine weapons transfers to proxies, drone strikes, and cyber-attacks – all buttressed with propaganda campaigns targeting the American public through the internet and corporate news media.
Architects of America’s Hybrid wars
Flournoy continued to champion the endless wars that began in the Bush-era and was a key architect of Obama’s disastrous troop surge in Afghanistan. As U.S. soldiers returned in body bags and insurgent attacks and suicide bombings increased some 65% from 2009 and 2010, she deceived the Senate Armed Services Committee, claiming that the U.S. was beginning to turn the tide against the Taliban.
Even with her lie that the U.S. and Afghan government were starting to beat the Taliban back, Flournoy assured the senate that the U.S. would have to remain in Afghanistan long into the future.
Ten years later – as the Afghan death toll passed 150,000 – Flournoy continued to argue against a U.S. withdrawal.
That’s the person Joe Biden has tasked with ending the forever war in Afghanistan. But in Biden’s own words, he’ll “bring the vast majority of our troops home from Afghanistan” implying some number of American troops will remain, and the forever war will be just that. Michele Flournoy explained that even if a political settlement were reached, the U.S. would maintain a presence.
In 2011, the Obama-era doctrine of smart and sophisticated warfare was unveiled in the NATO regime-change war on Libya.
Moammar Gaddafi – the former adversary who sought warm relations with the U.S. and had given up his nuclear weapons program – was deposed and sodomized with a bayonet.
Flournoy, Hillary Clinton’s State Department, and corporate media were in lockstep as they waged an extensive propaganda campaign to deceive the U.S. public that Gadaffi’s soldiers were on a Viagra-fueled rape and murder spree that demanded a U.S. intervention.
All of this was based on a report from Al Jazeera – the media outlet owned by the Qatari monarchy that was arming extremist militias to overthrow the government.
Yet an investigation by the United Nations called the rape claims “hysteria.” Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found no credible evidence of even a single rape.
Even after Libya was descended into strife and the deception of Gadaffi’s forces committing rape was debunked, Michele Flournoy stood by her support for the war.
Tony Blinken, then Obama’s deputy national security advisor, also pushed for regime change in Libya. He became Obama’s point man on Syria, pushed to arm the so-called “moderate rebels” that fought alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS, and designed the red line strategy to trigger a full-on U.S. intervention. Syria, he told the public, wasn’t anything like the other wars the U.S. had waging for more than a decade.
Despite Blinken’s promises that it would be a short affair, the war on Syria is now in its ninth year. An estimated half a million people have been killed as a result and the country is facing famine,
Largely thanks to the policy of using “wheat to apply pressure” – a recommendation of Flournoy and Blinken’s CNAS think tank.
When the Trump administration launched airstrikes on Syria based on mere accusations of a chemical attack, Tony Blinken praised the bombing, claiming Assad had used the weapon of mass destruction sarin. Yet there was no evidence for this claim, something even then-secretary of Defense James Mattis admitted.
While jihadist mercenaries armed with U..S-supplied weapons took over large swaths of Syria, Tony Blinken played a central role in a coup d’etat in Ukraine that saw a pro-Russia government overthrown in a U.S.-orchestrated color revolution with neo-fascist elements agitating on the ground.
At the time, he was ambivalent about sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, instead opting for economic pressure.
Since then, fascist militias have been incorporated into Ukraine’s armed forces. And Tony Blinken urged Trump to send them deadly weapons – something Obama had declined to do.
Trump obliged.
The Third Offset
While the U.S. fuelled wars in Syria and Ukraine, the Pentagon announced a major shift called the Third Offset strategy – a reference to the cold war era strategies the U.S. used to maintain its military supremacy over the Soviet Union.
The Third Offset strategy shifted the focus from counterinsurgency and the war on terror to great power competition against China and Russia, seeking to ensure that the U.S. could win a war against China in Asia. It called for a technological revolution in warfighting capabilities, development of futuristic and autonomous weapons, swarms of undersea and airborne drones, hypersonic weapons, cyber warfare, machine-enhanced soldiers, and artificial intelligence making unimaginably complex battlefield decisions at speeds incomprehensible to the human mind. All of this would be predicated on the Pentagon deepening its relationship with Silicon Valley giants that it birthed decades before: Google and Facebook.
The author of the Third Offset, former undersecretary of defense Robert Work, is a partner of Flournoy and Blinken’s at WestExec Advisors. And Flournoy has been a leading proponent of this dangerous new escalation.
In June, Flournoy published a lengthy commentary laying out her strategy called “Sharpening the U.S. Military’s Edge: Critical Steps for the Next Administration”.
She warned that the United States is losing its military technological advantage and reversing that must be the Pentagon’s priority. Without it, Flournoy warned that the U.S. might not be able to defeat China in Asia.
While Flournoy has called for ramping up U.S. military presence and exercises with allied forces in the region, she went so far as to call for the U.S. to increase its destructive capabilities so much that it could launch a blitzkrieg style-attack that would wipe out the entire Chinese navy and all civilian merchant ships in the South China Sea. Not only a blatant war crime but a direct attack on a nuclear power that would spell the third world war.
At the same time, Biden has announced he’ll take an even more aggressive and confrontational stance against Russia, a position Flournoy shares.
As for ending the forever wars, Tony Blinken says not so fast.
The end of forever wars?
So Biden will end the forever wars, but not really end them. Secret wars that the public doesn’t even know the U.S. is involved in – those are here to stay.
In fact, leaving teams of special forces in place throughout the Middle East is part and parcel of the Pentagon’s shift away from counterinsurgency and towards great power competition.
The 2018 National Defense Strategy explains that “Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities” and the U.S. will “consolidate gains in Iraq and Afghanistan while moving to a more resource-sustainable approach.”
As for the catastrophic war on Yemen, Biden has said he’ll end U.S. support, but in 2019, Michele Flournoy argued against ending arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Biden pledged he will rejoin the Iran deal as a starting point for new negotiations. However, Trump’s withdrawal from the deal discredited the Iranian reformists who seek engagement with the west and empowered the principlists who see the JCPOA as a deal with the devil.
In Latin America, Biden will revive the so-called anti-corruption campaigns that were used as a cover to oust the popular social democrat Brazilian president Lula da Silva.
His Venezuela policy will be almost identical to Trump’s – sanctions and regime change.
In Central America, Biden has proposed a 4 billion dollar package to support corrupt right-wing governments and neoliberal privatization projects that create even more destabilization and send vulnerable masses fleeing north to the United States.
Behind their rhetoric, Biden, Flournoy, and Blinken will seek nothing less than global supremacy, escalating a new and even more dangerous arms race that risks the destruction of humanity. That’s what Joe Biden calls “decency” and “normalcy.”
Republished from MintPressNews.com under Creative Commons


wearechange--2020-11-23--MSM Already Helping Next Administration Hide Corruption Under ‘Diversity’ Banner

There has never been a better time to be a woman , minority or member of the LGBT community who works in the DC establishment and thinks the poor should be made into pet food .
The New York Times has published an article titled “ Could Limiting Corporate Candidates Hurt Biden ’ s Diversity Push ?
” , for the benefit of all those normal everyday readers who ’ ve been lying awake at night wondering if limiting corporate candidates might hurt Biden ’ s diversity push .
The article ’ s authors warn against the nonexistent , completely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rejecting corporatists for cabinet positions to appease the Democratic Party ’ s progressive wing , claiming that doing so would be “ narrowing the candidate pool ” in a way that hurts Biden ’ s stated aim of creating an administration that is as diverse as America .
Because apparently executive positions in the corporate and financial sector are the only place you can find ethnic minorities in America .
“ Groups from the far left throw out edicts , but these don ’ t reflect the realities of the American experience or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and may prove counterproductive to diversify the administration and to implement policies that work for all Americans , ” NYT is told by a member of the influential DC lobbying firm Mehlman Castagnetti .
The New York Times is warning of the pressing danger of the Biden administration conceding too much to “ the far left ” at a time when progressive politicians have reportedly already been ruled out as candidates for cabinet positions due to concerns of appearing to be too far left , and when members of the Biden camp are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the phrase “ we don ’ t negotiate with terrorists “ .
Vox has also put out an article celebrating diversity without regard to policies or behavior titled “ President-elect Joe Biden ’ s transition team is one of the most diverse ever “ , subtitled “ Biden wants his administration to ‘ look like America.
’ His transition team is a start.
” “ Thus far , 46 percent of Biden ’ s transition staff are people of color and 41 percent of senior staff are people of color , ” Vox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the transition staff — 52 percent — are women , and 53 percent of senior staff are women.
” Meanwhile exactly zero percent of them oppose war , nuclear brinkmanship , starvation sanctions and imperialism .
Zero percent oppose US oligarchy or its sociopathic intelligence agencies .
Zero percent support universal healthcare or redistributing the nation ’ s immense wealth to end poverty in the United States .
Zero percent support ending the drug war , ending the prison-industrial complex , ending the US police state , ending mass surveillance .
Zero percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , oppose mass media propaganda via US plutocracy .
Real diversity in any government is of course important .
But what you don ’ t see Vox reporting on is the fact that Biden ’ s transition and advisory teams are packed to the gills with corporate cronies and war whores , and that the women he ’ s eyeing for key foreign policy positions are as murderous and depraved as any man anywhere on earth .
They might be diverse in gender , skin color and sexual orientation , but in terms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ couldn ’ t be more homogeneous .
They are all devout acolytes of the murderous , imperialist , oligarchic religion that is the mainstream consensus of the US political/media class .
But that ’ s all you ’ re ever going to get out of the Democratic establishment .
Taking away power from the warmongers and plutocrats in any way , shape or form has been completely ruled out as a possibility , so all they have to offer in terms of “ progress ” is giving prominent positions to those few women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be fine with choking people to death with neoliberal austerity at home and dropping cluster munitions on children abroad .
That ’ s what “ progress ” looks like in a power establishment that is built on a foundation of violence , oppression and theft .
And of course the people who will be hurt worst by it are members of those very same marginalized communities you ’ re supposed to get excited about being elevated to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy or whatever under the Biden administration .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they are hurt by the authoritarian police state policies , they are hurt by the fact that they ’ re the ones getting bombs dropped on them overseas , and they are hurt by the fact that there is still so very far to go in terms of racial and sexual equality yet the thrust toward getting there is being diverted into a pussyhat parade for Susan Rice as Secretary of State .
The most influential news reporting should be that which holds power to account and draws attention to its most malignant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most malignant aspects of power and hiding them under the banner of “ diversity ” .

There has never been a better time to be a woman, minority or member of the LGBT community who works in the DC establishment and thinks the poor should be made into pet food.
The New York Times has published an article titled “Could Limiting Corporate Candidates Hurt Biden’s Diversity Push?”, for the benefit of all those normal everyday readers who’ve been lying awake at night wondering if limiting corporate candidates might hurt Biden’s diversity push.
The article’s authors warn against the nonexistent, completely imaginary threat of the next presidential administration rejecting corporatists for cabinet positions to appease the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, claiming that doing so would be “narrowing the candidate pool” in a way that hurts Biden’s stated aim of creating an administration that is as diverse as America. Because apparently executive positions in the corporate and financial sector are the only place you can find ethnic minorities in America.
“Groups from the far left throw out edicts, but these don’t reflect the realities of the American experience or inequality, the racial wealth gap, and may prove counterproductive to diversify the administration and to implement policies that work for all Americans,” NYT is told by a member of the influential DC lobbying firm Mehlman Castagnetti.
The New York Times just published an article insinuating that the government can only find qualified people of color on Wall Street, but not elsewhere https://t.co/1wmeGX85yf — David Sirota (@davidsirota) November 20, 2020
The New York Times is warning of the pressing danger of the Biden administration conceding too much to “the far left” at a time when progressive politicians have reportedly already been ruled out as candidates for cabinet positions due to concerns of appearing to be too far left, and when members of the Biden camp are already waving off demands from progressives using the phrase “we don’t negotiate with terrorists“.
Vox has also put out an article celebrating diversity without regard to policies or behavior titled “President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is one of the most diverse ever“, subtitled “Biden wants his administration to ‘look like America.’ His transition team is a start.”
“Thus far, 46 percent of Biden’s transition staff are people of color and 41 percent of senior staff are people of color,” Vox reports. “More than half of the transition staff — 52 percent — are women, and 53 percent of senior staff are women.”
Meanwhile exactly zero percent of them oppose war, nuclear brinkmanship, starvation sanctions and imperialism. Zero percent oppose US oligarchy or its sociopathic intelligence agencies. Zero percent support universal healthcare or redistributing the nation’s immense wealth to end poverty in the United States. Zero percent support ending the drug war, ending the prison-industrial complex, ending the US police state, ending mass surveillance. Zero percent oppose Israeli apartheid, oppose internet censorship, oppose mass media propaganda via US plutocracy.
Real diversity in any government is of course important. But what you don’t see Vox reporting on is the fact that Biden’s transition and advisory teams are packed to the gills with corporate cronies and war whores, and that the women he’s eyeing for key foreign policy positions are as murderous and depraved as any man anywhere on earth. They might be diverse in gender, skin color and sexual orientation, but in terms of bloodshed, exploitation and oppression they couldn’t be more homogeneous. They are all devout acolytes of the murderous, imperialist, oligarchic religion that is the mainstream consensus of the US political/media class.
• 0% oppose war
• 0% oppose oligarchy
• 0% oppose sociopathic intelligence agencies
• 0% oppose internet censorship
• 0% oppose the drug war
• 0% oppose the police state
• 0% oppose mass surveillance
• 0% oppose the prison-industrial complex
• 0% oppose Israeli apartheid https://t.co/8noL4ZR8Ps — Caitlin Johnstone ? (@caitoz) November 21, 2020
But that’s all you’re ever going to get out of the Democratic establishment. Taking away power from the warmongers and plutocrats in any way, shape or form has been completely ruled out as a possibility, so all they have to offer in terms of “progress” is giving prominent positions to those few women, minorities and LGBT individuals who happen to be fine with choking people to death with neoliberal austerity at home and dropping cluster munitions on children abroad. That’s what “progress” looks like in a power establishment that is built on a foundation of violence, oppression and theft.
And of course the people who will be hurt worst by it are members of those very same marginalized communities you’re supposed to get excited about being elevated to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy or whatever under the Biden administration. They are hurt by the austerity policies, they are hurt by the authoritarian police state policies, they are hurt by the fact that they’re the ones getting bombs dropped on them overseas, and they are hurt by the fact that there is still so very far to go in terms of racial and sexual equality yet the thrust toward getting there is being diverted into a pussyhat parade for Susan Rice as Secretary of State.
The most influential news reporting should be that which holds power to account and draws attention to its most malignant aspects. Instead it is actively facilitating the most malignant aspects of power and hiding them under the banner of “diversity”.
Republished from CaitlinJohnstone.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-23--AstraZeneca Credits “Dosing Error” for Boosting COVID Vaccine Trial Outcome

Bloomberg beat out CNBC for an interview Monday with the analyst of the day , SVB Leerink ’ s Geoffrey Porges , who was the first on Wall Street to highlight the shortcomings from Monday ’ s AstraZeneca data , which Leerink criticized as hopelessly incomplete .
AstraZeneca-Oxford , which said earlier this month that it would share information with regulators including the FDA in real time to try and accelerate the approval process , had tried to “ embellish ” the data from a too-small sample of infected patients .
Other details released by AZ puzzled the market , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an initial half-dose have seen 90 % efficacy , while a larger group that received two full doses saw efficacy of just 62 % .
In an interview with Reuters , Mene Pangalos , the head of AstraZeneca ’ s non-oncology research and development and a frequent voice in the press commenting on the AstraZeneca project through its ups and downs , explained that the half-dose group occurred as a “ serendipitous ” accident during the study , something Pangalos described as a “ stroke of good fortune ” .
Around the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oxford at the end of April , university researchers were administering doses to trial participants in Britain , but they noticed that patients who received two full doses sometimes demonstrated symptoms like fatigue .
But researchers soon noticed a few patients who saw notably milder symptoms , and when they checked their charts , they discovered that they had accidentally been administered a half-dose instead of a full dose .
Well , if a mistake had to be made , at least nobody was harmed .
As for those trial halts , AstraZeneca @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received the placebo , not the vaccine .
The leaders of the trial decided to continue with the half dose followed by a full “ booster ” dose .

Bloomberg beat out CNBC for an interview Monday with the analyst of the day, SVB Leerink’s Geoffrey Porges, who was the first on Wall Street to highlight the shortcomings from Monday’s AstraZeneca data, which Leerink criticized as hopelessly incomplete.
AstraZeneca-Oxford, which said earlier this month that it would share information with regulators including the FDA in real time to try and accelerate the approval process, had tried to “embellish” the data from a too-small sample of infected patients.
Other details released by AZ puzzled the market, including a finding that patients who received an initial half-dose have seen 90% efficacy, while a larger group that received two full doses saw efficacy of just 62%.
In an interview with Reuters, Mene Pangalos, the head of AstraZeneca’s non-oncology research and development and a frequent voice in the press commenting on the AstraZeneca project through its ups and downs, explained that the half-dose group occurred as a “serendipitous” accident during the study, something Pangalos described as a “stroke of good fortune”.
“The reason we had the half-dose is serendipity,” Mene Pangalos, the head of AstraZeneca’s non-oncology research and development, told Reuters.
Around the time when Astra was initiating its partnership with Oxford at the end of April, university researchers were administering doses to trial participants in Britain, but they noticed that patients who received two full doses sometimes demonstrated symptoms like fatigue. But researchers soon noticed a few patients who saw notably milder symptoms, and when they checked their charts, they discovered that they had accidentally been administered a half-dose instead of a full dose.
“So we went back and checked…and we found out that they had underpredicted the dose of the vaccine by half,” said Pangalos.
Well, if a mistake had to be made, at least nobody was harmed. As for those trial halts, AstraZeneca has insisted that all seriously sickened patients received the placebo, not the vaccine. The leaders of the trial decided to continue with the half dose followed by a full “booster” dose.
Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-23--“They Could Not Have Chosen Better”: Hillary Clinton Endorses Biden’s Foreign Policy Team

Update ( 1600ET ) : Hillary Clinton has spoken out to deliver a ringing endorsement to Biden ’ s “ national security ” team .
The architect of Obama ’ s interventionist foreign policy approach has spoken : expect the Biden team to undo any last-minute Trump orders to lower American troop totals in the MENA region .
Update ( 1310ET ) : Charles Gasparino , Fox Business ’ s senior correspondent , has just reported that LA Mayor Eric Garcetti , the Democratic mayor of America ’ s most infamously traffic-clogged metropolis , is the front-runner to serve as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking over from Elaine Chao , wife of Senate leader Mitch McConnell .
But even more interesting than Gaspo ’ s tweet about Garcetti was his follow-up , where he reported that Yellen has leap-frogged Brainard and Roger Ferguson to become the front-runner to lead Biden ’ s Treasury Department .
The logic makes sense : “ Shes liked by banks , OK with progressives and easily confirmed .
Plus we keep Lael at the Fed where she can replace Powell at some point ” .
To be sure , considering the source @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a grain of salt .
Though it ’ s certainly not much of a departure from what has already been reported .
Joe Biden and his team have just confirmed a series of staff picks including some that were telegraphed ahead of time ( John Kerry , the one-time Democratic presidential nominee back in 2004 , to serve as Climate envoy ) though none of the picks were really a surprise , as Biden has shown a preference for lobbyists and established Democratic players .
Another former Obama Administration player , Avril Haines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ female deputy Director of the CIA , and later as Obama ’ s Deputy Director of National Intelligence , will serve as Biden ’ s Director of National Intelligence .
In that role , Haines will share responsibility for the president ’ s daily intelligence briefings .
Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the US Department of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield , also a longtime Obama administration official , is likely to become the new US ambassador to the United Nations .
In another major “ first ” , Alejandro Mayorkas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Homeland Security , after serving in a deputy role during the Obama Administration .
Mayorkas isn ’ t widely known to the public , but he did play a key role in one Obama-era scandal , when he was implicated for exerting “ improper influence ” over granting immigration benefits to politically connected individuals .
Perhaps the most high-profile choice might surprise many Americans : Antony Blinken , a top advisor who has advised Biden on foreign policy since 2002 , will serve as Secretary of State ( he also once served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Obama-Biden days ) .
Though Blinken was rumored to be a top contender , his is hardly a household name in the US .
However , we have discussed ‘ deep state ’ Blinken in detail previously , and for those hoping for an end to endless wars , Blinken says not so fast : “ Large scale , open-ended deployment of large standing US forces in conflict zones with no clear strategy should end and will end under his watch… .
But we also need to distinguish between , for example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scale open ended deployment of US forces with , for example , discreet , small-scale sustainable operations , maybe led by special forces , to support local actors… In ending the endless wars I think we have to be careful to not paint with too broad a brush stroke.
” Additionally , while Blinken has been a critic of Trump ’ s tariffs on China and has previously stated that full decoupling from China is unrealistic , he has also made hawkish statements about the need for a more comprehensive US response to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoken about the need to utilize the tool of the recent Hong Kong Autonomy Act ( HKAA ) to impose sanctions as needed .
Finally , Jake Sullivan , an established Democratic player and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Clinton , will serve as Biden ’ s National Security Advisor .
All six of Biden ’ s national security picks held senior roles in the Obama administration , The biggest unanswered question so far is whether Janet Yellen ( former Fed chair ) or Lael Brainard ( a member of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) will be selected to serve as Secretary of the Treasury over Elizabeth Warren .
Though , at this point , with the central bank pivoting toward pursuing racial and economic equality , whether the truly ‘ progressive ’ candidate gets in or not is almost a moot point .
Clearly , as Axios ’ Margaret Talev notes : The list is a deliberate effort to package nominees in a way that suggests diversity – a “ first ” for women and Latinos , a Black woman , and a white man .

Update (1600ET): Hillary Clinton has spoken out to deliver a ringing endorsement to Biden’s “national security” team.
The incoming administration could not have chosen better personnel for the foreign policy and national security teams. Tony Blinken is a dedicated public servant who will make an incredibly effective secretary of state. — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 23, 2020
And I'm thrilled that @JohnKerry, one of our country's foremost public servants, will serve as an official advisor on one of the greatest national security threats America faces: climate change. — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 23, 2020
The architect of Obama’s interventionist foreign policy approach has spoken: expect the Biden team to undo any last-minute Trump orders to lower American troop totals in the MENA region.
* * *
Update (1310ET): Charles Gasparino, Fox Business’s senior correspondent, has just reported that LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Democratic mayor of America’s most infamously traffic-clogged metropolis, is the front-runner to serve as Biden’s secretary of transportation, taking over from Elaine Chao, wife of Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
SCOOP via @LJMoynihan: @MayorOfLA Eric Garcetti is front runner for Secretary of Transportation under @JoeBiden. — Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) November 23, 2020
But even more interesting than Gaspo’s tweet about Garcetti was his follow-up, where he reported that Yellen has leap-frogged Brainard and Roger Ferguson to become the front-runner to lead Biden’s Treasury Department.
The logic makes sense: “Shes liked by banks, OK with progressives and easily confirmed. Plus we keep Lael at the Fed where she can replace Powell at some point”.
BREAKING from top Wall Street @JoeBiden adviser on how Janet Yellen leapfrogged Lael Brainard, Roger Ferguson to likely run Biden's @USTreasury: "Shes liked by banks, OK with progressives and easily confirmed. Plus we keep Lael at the Fed where she can replace Powell at some pt." — Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) November 23, 2020
To be sure, considering the source, investors should take this all with a grain of salt. Though it’s certainly not much of a departure from what has already been reported.
* * *
Joe Biden and his team have just confirmed a series of staff picks including some that were telegraphed ahead of time (John Kerry, the one-time Democratic presidential nominee back in 2004, to serve as Climate envoy) though none of the picks were really a surprise, as Biden has shown a preference for lobbyists and established Democratic players.
Another former Obama Administration player, Avril Haines, who notably served as the first female deputy Director of the CIA, and later as Obama’s Deputy Director of National Intelligence, will serve as Biden’s Director of National Intelligence. In that role, Haines will share responsibility for the president’s daily intelligence briefings.
Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the US Department of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also a longtime Obama administration official, is likely to become the new US ambassador to the United Nations.
In another major “first”, Alejandro Mayorkas will serve as the first latino Secretary of Homeland Security, after serving in a deputy role during the Obama Administration. Mayorkas isn’t widely known to the public, but he did play a key role in one Obama-era scandal, when he was implicated for exerting “improper influence” over granting immigration benefits to politically connected individuals.
Perhaps the most high-profile choice might surprise many Americans: Antony Blinken, a top advisor who has advised Biden on foreign policy since 2002, will serve as Secretary of State (he also once served as a deputy secretary of state during the Obama-Biden days). Though Blinken was rumored to be a top contender, his is hardly a household name in the US. However,we have discussed ‘deep state’ Blinken in detail previously, and for those hoping for an end to endless wars, Blinken says not so fast:
“Large scale, open-ended deployment of large standing US forces in conflict zones with no clear strategy should end and will end under his watch…. But we also need to distinguish between, for example, these endless wars with the large scale open ended deployment of US forces with, for example, discreet, small-scale sustainable operations, maybe led by special forces, to support local actors… In ending the endless wars I think we have to be careful to not paint with too broad a brush stroke.”
Additionally, while Blinken has been a critic of Trump’s tariffs on China and has previously stated that full decoupling from China is unrealistic, he has also made hawkish statements about the need for a more comprehensive US response to Beijing. Indeed, he has specifically spoken about the need to utilize the tool of the recent Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA) to impose sanctions as needed.
Finally, Jake Sullivan, an established Democratic player and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Clinton, will serve as Biden’s National Security Advisor.
All six of Biden’s national security picks held senior roles in the Obama administration,
The biggest unanswered question so far is whether Janet Yellen (former Fed chair) or Lael Brainard (a member of the Fed’s board of governors) will be selected to serve as Secretary of the Treasury over Elizabeth Warren. Though, at this point, with the central bank pivoting toward pursuing racial and economic equality, whether the truly ‘progressive’ candidate gets in or not is almost a moot point.
Clearly, as Axios’ Margaret Talev notes: The list is a deliberate effort to package nominees in a way that suggests diversity – a “first” for women and Latinos, a Black woman, and a white man.
Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-23--HOLY COW! They’re Going For TOTAL Control!

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In this video, we cover how China and multinational corporations are trying to achieve a total track, trace and database world.
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wearechange--2020-11-23--Israel’s Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Secretly Hold First-Ever Known Meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly met with Saudi Arabia ’ s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday , which would be the first known meeting between senior Israeli and Saudi officials amid a push by the Trump administration to normalize ties between the longtime adversaries , according to A.P .
News , citing Hebrew-language media .
Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen , head of Israel ’ s Mossad spy agency , took a rare flight to the city of Neom , located in the Tabuk Province of northwestern Saudi Arabia , on Sunday , where they met with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mike Pompeo .
Sources told WSJ that senior officials from both countries discussed a wide range of issues , including the normalization of ties between both countries , along with other topics concerning Iran – no agreements were reached at the meeting , the sources added .
The meeting , possibly orchestrated by the Trump administration to isolate Iran and advance Israel ’ s status in the Middle East , could suggest direct diplomatic relations may improve if an agreement is reached and result in a regional realignment , ultimately benefiting the U.S @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ignored calls to normalize ties with Israel as long as its conflict with the Palestinians remains unresolved .
In recent months , Israel has already made normalization deals with Bahrain , the United Arab Emirates , and Sudan .
Saudi state media did not report on the meeting .
However , flight tracking data showed an “ absolutely rare Israeli flight direct to new Saudi mega-city Neom on Red Sea shore It was Bibi ’ s ex-fav bizjet t7-cpx .
Back to Tel Aviv after 5 hours on the ground , ” tweeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between Saudi Arabia and Israel before resolving Palestinian statehood would be a major power shift in the region , upending a decades-old pan-Arab position .
As WSJ points out , Saudi Arabia ’ s king has had disagreements with his son for embracing Israel .
As explained by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , formalizing Saudi-Israeli relations would help each country achieve several strategic and military goals : Saudi Arabia and Israel want to see the United States use its military might to defeat , not just contain , the threat from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an all-encompassing and hard-to-get U.S.-Iran deal that conflates the U.S. priorities of halting Iran ’ s nuclear program and attacks on U.S. interests with countering Iran ’ s broader geopolitical expansion across the region .
Israel , Saudi Arabia , and the United States all want Washington to remain actively invested in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East .
So is the rush by the Trump administration to normalize relations with the Israeli-Gulf States a sign that war with Iran is on the horizon ?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, which would be the first known meeting between senior Israeli and Saudi officials amid a push by the Trump administration to normalize ties between the longtime adversaries, according to A.P. News, citing Hebrew-language media.
Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, took a rare flight to the city of Neom, located in the Tabuk Province of northwestern Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Constructive visit with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in NEOM today. The United States and Saudi Arabia have come a long way since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and King Abdul Aziz Al Saud first laid the foundation for our ties 75 years ago. pic.twitter.com/KZ4XMkah03 — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 23, 2020
Sources told WSJ that senior officials from both countries discussed a wide range of issues, including the normalization of ties between both countries, along with other topics concerning Iran – no agreements were reached at the meeting, the sources added.
The meeting, possibly orchestrated by the Trump administration to isolate Iran and advance Israel’s status in the Middle East, could suggest direct diplomatic relations may improve if an agreement is reached and result in a regional realignment, ultimately benefiting the U.S. However, the Saudi government has ignored calls to normalize ties with Israel as long as its conflict with the Palestinians remains unresolved.
In recent months, Israel has already made normalization deals with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan.
Saudi state media did not report on the meeting.
However, flight tracking data showed an “absolutely rare Israeli flight direct to new Saudi mega-city Neom on Red Sea shore It was Bibi’s ex-fav bizjet t7-cpx. Back to Tel Aviv after 5 hours on the ground,” tweeted the editor of Haaretz.
ABSOLUTELY rare Israeli flight direct to new Saudi mega-city Neom on Red Sea shore It was Bibi's ex-fav bizjet t7-cpx. Back to Tel Aviv after 5 hours on ground pic.twitter.com/Ty9aedYbsK — avi scharf (@avischarf) November 23, 2020
Normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel before resolving Palestinian statehood would be a major power shift in the region, upending a decades-old pan-Arab position. As WSJ points out, Saudi Arabia’s king has had disagreements with his son for embracing Israel.
As explained by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, formalizing Saudi-Israeli relations would help each country achieve several strategic and military goals:
Saudi Arabia and Israel want to see the United States use its military might to defeat, not just contain, the threat from Iran. They both actively push for an all-encompassing and hard-to-get U.S.-Iran deal that conflates the U.S. priorities of halting Iran’s nuclear program and attacks on U.S. interests with countering Iran’s broader geopolitical expansion across the region. Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States all want Washington to remain actively invested in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East.
So is the rush by the Trump administration to normalize relations with the Israeli-Gulf States a sign that war with Iran is on the horizon?
Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission


wearechange--2020-11-24--Ghislaine Maxwell Quarantined After Potential COVID Exposure in Jail

To keep him quiet , Jeffrey Epstein was “ suicided ” last summer .
A little over a year later , Ghislaine Maxwell may get the COVID treatment .
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York reported on Monday that Epstein ’ s girlfriend and madam , Ghislaine Maxwell , 58 , who faces criminal charges of sex trafficking and is being held in a federal lockup in Brooklyn , is in quarantine after a staffer working in her area of pre-trial lockup in the Metropolitan Detention Center ( MDC ) contracted the coronavirus , the Law & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tested negative and is not exhibiting symptoms , for now .
“ Last week , a staff member who was assigned to work in the area of the MDC where the defendant is housed tested positive for COVID-19 , ” Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey wrote in a two-page letter .
“ In response , the MDC implemented the same quarantine protocols that apply whenever an inmate has potentially been exposed to the virus .
Specifically , on November 18 , 2020 , the defendant was tested for COVID-19 using a rapid test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day , the defendant was placed in quarantine.
” “ As with any other quarantined inmate , the defendant will remain in quarantine for fourteen days , at which point she will be tested again for COVID-19 , ” the letter went on .
“ If that test is negative , she will then be released from quarantine .
To date , the defendant has not exhibited any symptoms of COVID-19.
” The Bureau of Prisons reports that Brooklyn ’ s Metropolitan Detention Center currently has six active COVID-19 cases among staff and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trial there following her federal indictment for allegedly grooming underaged girls for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends .
Epstein was found dead in a different prison — Manhattan ’ s Metropolitan Correctional Center — in August 2019 , after he reportedly killed himself .
Since Ghislaine remains the last surviving link to exposing an underworld of powerful and connected pedophiles , jailhouse authorities in Brooklyn are reportedly taking no chances to avoid the same fate as Epstein ’ s accused confederate , although if indeed Epstein did not kill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely numbered .
“ During her time in quarantine , the defendant will be housed in the same cell where she was already housed before she was placed in quarantine , and medical staff and psychology staff will continue to check on the defendant every day , ” the letter states .
Still , since allowances must be made for her pre-trial preparations , Ghislaine – who has been held without bail since her July arrest – will have ample opportunities to catch the virus before her day in court .
“ Like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the defendant will be permitted out of her cell three days per week for thirty minutes , ” prosecutors wrote .
“ During that time , the defendant may shower , make personal phone calls , and use the CorrLinks email system .
In addition , the defendant will continue to be permitted to make legal calls every day for up to three hours per day .
These calls will take place in a room where the defendant is alone and where no MDC staff can hear her communications with counsel.
” Maxwell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a different press inquiry earlier today , in response to the release of deposition excerpts by Epstein ’ s former house manager John Alessi who testified that Maxwell “ constantly ” took photographs of topless girls brought to his boss ’ s pool .
The worker , John Alessi , told lawyers for one of Maxwell ’ s accusers , Virginia Giuffre , in a June 2016 deposition that Maxwell had a “ high-tech ” camera and was constantly taking photographs by the money manager ’ s pool of European and American girls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maxwell , who was Epstein ’ s girlfriend and close aide , kept the photographs in an album on her desk , said Alessi , who said he last spoke to Epstein in 2014 .
A partial transcript of the deposition was unsealed in federal court in New York after failed efforts by the former socialite to keep it secret .

To keep him quiet, Jeffrey Epstein was “suicided” last summer. A little over a year later, Ghislaine Maxwell may get the COVID treatment.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York reported on Monday that Epstein’s girlfriend and madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, who faces criminal charges of sex trafficking and is being held in a federal lockup in Brooklyn, is in quarantine after a staffer working in her area of pre-trial lockup in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) contracted the coronavirus, the Law & Crime blog reported. Maxwell herself has tested negative and is not exhibiting symptoms, for now.
“Last week, a staff member who was assigned to work in the area of the MDC where the defendant is housed tested positive for COVID-19,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey wrote in a two-page letter. “In response, the MDC implemented the same quarantine protocols that apply whenever an inmate has potentially been exposed to the virus. Specifically, on November 18, 2020, the defendant was tested for COVID-19 using a rapid test, which was negative. That same day, the defendant was placed in quarantine.”
“As with any other quarantined inmate, the defendant will remain in quarantine for fourteen days, at which point she will be tested again for COVID-19,” the letter went on. “If that test is negative, she will then be released from quarantine. To date, the defendant has not exhibited any symptoms of COVID-19.”
The Bureau of Prisons reports that Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center currently has six active COVID-19 cases among staff and one inmate infection. Maxwell is awaiting trial there following her federal indictment for allegedly grooming underaged girls for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends. Epstein was found dead in a different prison — Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center — in August 2019, after he reportedly killed himself.
Since Ghislaine remains the last surviving link to exposing an underworld of powerful and connected pedophiles, jailhouse authorities in Brooklyn are reportedly taking no chances to avoid the same fate as Epstein’s accused confederate, although if indeed Epstein did not kill himself, Ghislaine’s days are likely numbered.
“During her time in quarantine, the defendant will be housed in the same cell where she was already housed before she was placed in quarantine, and medical staff and psychology staff will continue to check on the defendant every day,” the letter states.
Still, since allowances must be made for her pre-trial preparations, Ghislaine – who has been held without bail since her July arrest – will have ample opportunities to catch the virus before her day in court.
“Like all other MDC inmates in quarantine, the defendant will be permitted out of her cell three days per week for thirty minutes,” prosecutors wrote. “During that time, the defendant may shower, make personal phone calls, and use the CorrLinks email system. In addition, the defendant will continue to be permitted to make legal calls every day for up to three hours per day. These calls will take place in a room where the defendant is alone and where no MDC staff can hear her communications with counsel.”
Maxwell’s attorneys did not respond to a different press inquiry earlier today, in response to the release of deposition excerpts by Epstein’s former house manager John Alessi who testified that Maxwell “constantly” took photographs of topless girls brought to his boss’s pool.
The worker, John Alessi, told lawyers for one of Maxwell’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, in a June 2016 deposition that Maxwell had a “high-tech” camera and was constantly taking photographs by the money manager’s pool of European and American girls, most of whom were topless.
Maxwell, who was Epstein’s girlfriend and close aide, kept the photographs in an album on her desk, said Alessi, who said he last spoke to Epstein in 2014. A partial transcript of the deposition was unsealed in federal court in New York after failed efforts by the former socialite to keep it secret.
Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission