They’re clear plastic or plexiglass shields that cover the entire face, from the forehead down to the chin or lower. An elastic headband holds the shield in place.
By: Dennis Thompson
Face masks help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but some people find them awkward, uncomfortable or downright unbearable to wear.
There’s another good option available for people who just can’t get used to strapping on a face mask while out in public, experts say.
Plastic face shields offer another means of deterring COVID-19 that some might find easier, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, in Baltimore.
They’re clear plastic or plexiglass shields that cover the entire face, from the forehead down to the chin or lower. An elastic headband holds the shield in place.
Face shields have been shown to reduce viral exposure by 96% when worn within 18 inches of a cough, and by 92% at the currently recommended 6 feet of social distancing, according to a recent editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Face shields may supplant these masks, eventually,” Adalja said. “I think there’s much more evidence supporting their use.”
While not as popularly promoted as face masks, face shields are available for purchase online. Amazon offers many different brands of face shields, including one developed by its own engineers.
Shields offer a number of benefits over masks, but also a few drawbacks, experts said.
Because they extend down from the forehead, shields protect the eyes as well as the nose and mouth, said Dr. Frank Esper, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Center. Viruses can enter the body through the eyes.
Adalja noted that face shields also can be more comfortable for people to wear. “It feels less obstructive on their mouth and nose than a mask,” he said.
Esper pointed out that “you don’t get to feel the breeze on your face, but you do get some fresh air, rather than trying to breathe through a cloth mask.”
Person-to-person communication is better with a face shield. People can see your whole face through the shield, making it easier for folks to talk, Adalja said.
“Many people when they’re talking to people will take off their mask or bring it down. People reflexively do that because their voice is muffled by the mask,” Adalja said. “You can see people’s facial expressions much better with a face shield.”
The shields are relatively lightweight and comfortable to wear. They’re also reusable, if a person takes the time to clean them with an antibacterial wipe or soap and water after an outing, Adalja and Esper said.
Esper stressed that regular cleaning will be necessary because one drawback of the shields is that they provide an apt surface upon which the virus can survive.
“We know this virus likes to live on plastic a lot better than it likes to live on porous materials like cloth, paper or cardboard,” he explained.
The type of protection a face shield provides is also very different from that of face masks, the experts said.
Masks protect others around you from germs you are carrying. Face shields do the opposite, protecting you from being infected by the people around you.
Although your contact with other people may be limited, your pet can provide some of that missing emotional and mental support that can keep you healthy.
Edited by: JV Staff
June is time for people to bond with their pets, the American Heart Association says.
Throughout the month, the AHA encourages people to make pets part of their workday as routines shift during the coronavirus pandemic.
Although your contact with other people may be limited, your pet can provide some of that missing emotional and mental support that can keep you healthy.
Here, the association offers five reasons pets can help mental health:
Pets help lower work-related stress. For 2 out of 3 employees, work stresses them out, and for 40% their job affects their health. Pets at work may help reduce stress, increase productivity and boost employee satisfaction.
Pets can help increase productivity. A dog in a meeting increases trust, team cohesion and camaraderie.
Pets help manage anxiety. They provide companionship and unconditional love.
Pets keep pet people active. Dog owners are likely to be more fit than those who don’t have a dog. Social distancing keeps people at home all day, but pets and their need for regular walks and exercise get owners outside for fresh air and activity.
Pets give a sense of togetherness. Bonding with a pet helps you not to feel alone. Seeing, touching, hearing or talking to animals can bring a sense of goodwill, joy, nurturing and happiness.
“Cardiovascular disease remains the No. 1 killer of all Americans. To turn the tide, we must tackle the problem in innovative ways,” said Dr. Glenn Levine, a volunteer medical expert for the American Heart Association’s Healthy Bond for Life.
Last year, the AHA began a campaign to bring your pet to work once a week, called “Best Friend Fridays.”
“The Best Friend Fridays concept is simple — human and pet interaction can lead to better physical and mental health,” Levine said in an AHA news release. “Studies have shown that pet ownership is associated with increased exercise and fitness levels, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, decreased stress and greater overall happiness and well-being.”
Pets give a sense of togetherness. Bonding with a pet helps you not to feel alone. Seeing, touching, hearing or talking to animals can bring a sense of goodwill, joy, nurturing and happiness
“If you’re feeling down or struggling with your mental health, your pet companion can help,” Levine said. “Spend some time with them playing or just petting them. You may find that you feel better, and your pet will love the bonding time, too.”
In a related development, Health Day News reported that COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll on Americans’ mental health, a new nationwide survey shows.
Overall, psychological distress more than tripled between 2018 and this spring — from 4% of U.S. adults in 2018 to 14% in April.
Beth McGinty, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said the findings, from a survey of 1,500 adults, suggest the need to prepare for a wave of mental illness once the pandemic passes.
“It is especially important to identify mental illness treatment needs and connect people to services, with a focus on groups with high psychological distress including young adults, adults in low-income households, and Hispanics,” McGinty said in a university news release.
The survey used a scale to gauge feelings of emotional suffering as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression.
It found that distress was especially acute among younger adults. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, 24% reported feelings of distress this spring, compared to 4% in 2018, researchers found.
Lower-income households also were keenly feeling the impact of the pandemic. Distress rose from less than 8% in 2018 to 19% in homes with a yearly income of less than $35,000, the survey found.
And 18% of Hispanics reported psychological distress in 2020, up from 4% in 2018.
Among Americans age 55 and older, psychological distress nearly doubled between 2018 and April — rising from nearly 4% to over 7%.
“The study suggests that the distress experienced during COVID-19 may transfer to longer-term psychiatric disorders requiring clinical care,” McGinty said.
The shocking news arrived via Harvard Medical School on Monday June 8th that satellite images of Wuhan indicate the coronavirus was spreading as early as August 2019. The ramifications of this discovery are astounding. The perfidiousness of the Chinese government in suppressing this information for five months is more deliberate than previously thought. The new study cited by CNN reveals a significantly higher number of parked cars in Wuhan hospitals in the late summer of 2019 as compared to a year earlier. Researchers led by Boston Hospital’s chief innovation officer, Josh Brownstein, counted 171 cars in one of Wuhan’s largest hospitals, Tianyou Hospital, in October 2018 as compared to 285 vehicles in the same spot a year later-an increase of 67%. Other Wuhan hospitals showed an increase in volume of 90%.
During September and October of 2019 the explosion of cases in China was accompanied by a sharp increase in China’s Baidu search engine of terms “diarrhea” and “cough”- symptoms associated with coronavirus. China originally misled the globe into believing the virus was a zoonotic spillover from Wuhan’s Seafood market in December 2019. It only notified the world of the pandemic on December 31st and waited until January 20th to confirm human-to-human transmission. China recently acknowledged that early samples of the virus were destroyed and they were unable to identify Patient Zero. They delayed releasing the genome sequence of the virus for weeks and shut down a Shanghai laboratory for publicly sharing this information. This new data reveals that China has continued to blame others in one of the largest cover-ups in history.
Firstly, it is impossible that China only became aware of clusters at the end of December since they heavily monitor hospitals and patients as well as their own search engines. They unequivocally knew in August that hundreds of patients were coming down with unusual pneumonia-like symptoms. They hid this information for nearly half a year, allowing millions of Wuhan residents to flood the globe with this highly contagious disease. Had they locked down Wuhan in August there would have been no pandemic. In fact, a University of Southampton study found that 95% of coronavirus infections could have been prevented if China instituted containment measures three weeks earlier than late January. If implemented in late August the term coronavirus would be nonexistent. Moreover, if publicized in the summer, a vaccine would currently be available, along with accurate testing early on, completed clinical trials on effective therapeutics and proper protective equipment distributed to all. It is highly unlikely, the WHO was equally ignorant of these developments until January 20th when they declared human-to-human transmission possible.
China obfuscated the identity of Patient Zero in order to conceal their malicious malfeasance in denying the disease for months. It is rational to conclude that they purposely waited until the Chinese New Year in late January to notify the world- after millions of Wuhan residents had fled to the United States. This resulted in devastating consequences to the health and economic well being of the United States in previously unimaginable ways. During August through November they were able to hide the severity of the virus since the warmer weather masked its lethality. They only came forward the last day in December when the virus had spilled into the halls of the hospitals. The Chinese government is hiding its origination for inexplicable reasons. It is doubtful it derived from the wet markets which were undoubtedly a convenient breeding ground due to their filth and lack of oversight. Perhaps it originated in an insufficiently secured Wuhan laboratory. The possibility has even been raised that China deliberately unleashed the virus to inflict severe economic damage on the United States; ensuring nemesis President Trump’s chances for re-election would be obliterated. Some researchers have raised the possibility that the virus began outside Wuhan. However, unless the pathogen’s origins are adequately identified our society is in danger of another pandemic with consequences potentially far more devastating.
Over 50% of New York City workers take public transportation to work (AP image)
By: Walter Sorensteen
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has unveiled a 13-Point Action Plan for a Safe Return as New York City begins Phase 1 reopening on Monday, June 8.
The MTA moved more than 8.3 million riders prior to the pandemic across New York City Transit, Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. Since dropping more than 90 percent systemwide – ridership has started to return in advance of Phase 1 with subways and buses now moving 1.5 million customers.
To continue moving essential workers, welcome back additional riders and invest in the future of the system, the MTA is reimagining operations with one core mission: doing everything possible to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers. Its 13-Point Action Plan for A Safe Return includes:
Increased Service
Unprecedented Cleaning & Disinfecting
Mandatory Face Coverings
Enhanced Safety & Security
Nation-Leading Employee Safety Initiatives
Innovative Cleaning Solutions
Hand Sanitizer
Floor Markings, Directional Arrows and New Signage
Staggered Business Hours
2 Million Mask Contribution from State & City
Contactless Payments
New Partnership & Technology to Make System Safer
Data Dashboard
“The MTA, a global leader among transportation agencies and the largest in North America, has acted expeditiously since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic’s arrival in New York,” officials said in a release. “To date, the agency has distributed 2.6 million masks, 5.1 million pairs of gloves, 35,000 gallons of hand sanitizer and 112,000 gallons of cleaning solutions to its heroic frontline employees and implemented an unprecedented cleaning and disinfecting regimen across subways, buses, commuter rails and stations.”
“As more New Yorkers return to work, the MTA continues to lead the nation in customer and employee safety and we are doing everything possible to transform our system and operations for the future,” said Patrick J. Foye, Chairman and CEO of the MTA. “This aggressive plan includes global best practices, input from the business and labor communities and public health officials, and is the product of months of work from the talented team at the MTA. We thank our frontline employees – the heroes moving heroes – whose dedication has been unwavering.”
“We understand our critical duty to provide safe and reliable transportation to our customers and help the New York metropolitan region get back on its feet,” said Mario Peloquin, MTA Chief Operating Officer. “A lot of planning and careful attention to detail went into figuring out how to strategically reopen the MTA for Phase 1, and our top priority remains the same: to continue to be the vehicle by which the entire region not only recovers, but thrives once again.”
“Safety is our north star and will always be the top priority for all of us at the MTA,” said Sarah Feinberg, Interim President of New York City Transit. “We’re ramping up service as we head into Phase 1, and we’ll be there every step of the way to ensure customer and employee safety going forward. We’ve been working closely with our partners in labor and I thank the incredible 54,000 men and women of NYC Transit for their unwavering dedication.”
Israelis shop at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, June 3, 2020. Some wear masks, some don't. (Flash90/Olivier Fitoussi)
A report by Israel Hayom revealed Monday that some Israeli retail chains and shopping centers aren’t maintaining health guidelines, like checking customers’ temperatures, enforcing mask wearing, and social distancing.
In the central city of Kfar Saba, Israel Hayom observed that everything appeared to be pre-coronavirus business as usual, with lax enforcement of the health guidelines. At the local branch of a national fast food chain restaurant, nobody checked customers’ temperatures.
A branch of a chain home goods store offered hand sanitizer at the entrance to the store, but no temperature checks took place. Employees wore masks dangling from their ears, not covering their noses and mouths. No one was counting the number of customers inside the store at one time or enforcing social distancing.
Inside a Kfar Saba mall, many customers were unmasked or improperly wore their masks, not covering their noses and mouths. Some employees followed suit, wearing masks under their chins.
Within the stores and common areas in the mall, there appeared to be no limit to the number of customers in one place and no social distancing.
Israel Hayom contacted the retail chains’ and mall’s management for comment, who all said something like, “This is an exceptional case, which we’ll deal with shortly.”
In the southern city of Beer Sheva, customers streamed in and out of the municipal post office without having their temperatures checked. There was no enforcement of social distancing inside the post office, and customers were not required to wear masks. Post office employees wore masks, but under their chins.
Security guards in Beer Sheva’s central bus station, which sees tens of thousands of passengers transiting through the desert hub daily, did not check temperatures of those entering the station.
Passengers weren’t required to wear masks and there was no hand-sanitizer available. When an Israel Hayom reporter asked a security officer why the health guidelines weren’t being enforced, he said, “We are under no commitment to follow them.”
The report comes on the heels of a spike in new coronavirus infections, which some experts have called the beginning of a “second wave” of infections. The uptick in cases should mean that businesses strictly commit to health guidelines, but Israel Hayom found the opposite to be true.
In May, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that businesses would need to participate in the Purple Badge program in order to reopen.
The Purple Badge standard means that businesses commit to abiding by Ministry of Health guidelines, such as checking customers’ temperatures at the door, enforcing the wearing of masks, having alcohol-based hand sanitizer available, and limiting the number of people inside a store so that social distancing can be maintained. (World Israel News)
Attorneys representing Britain’s Prince Andrew have lambasted U.S. justice authorities, Monday June 8, 2020, for what they described as a violation of commitments to confidentiality in their discussions with him about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, FILE)
By: Arthur Popowitz
Prince Andrew’s life will apparently never be the same in the wake of revelations of his friendship with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The latest involves an important federal prosecutor basically suggesting the prince doesn’t always tell the truth.
Attorneys for the royal family member say he’ll be glad to answer questions relating to an investigation into sex trafficking – in writing. But the prosecutors insist they need an in-person interview.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the US attorney in Manhattan, said during a press conference three months ago that the prince had “completely shut the door” on assisting his office with the investigation. In fact, he used the phrase “zero cooperation.”
Now, the prince’s representatives are claiming that’s a lie – that the price is happy to help, but in writing. Next came dueling statements.
AP reported that Andrew’s lawyers said in a statement that he has offered three times this year to speak with U.S. investigators after being assured that he “is not and has never been a ‘target’ of their criminal investigations into Epstein.”
That offer, though, came with a request that “our co-operation and any interview arrangements would remain confidential,” said the firm Blackfords LLP in London.
“Unfortunately, the DOJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the Duke has offered zero cooperation. In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered,” the lawyers said.
Berman noted in his statement: “Today, Prince Andrew yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate with an ongoing federal criminal investigation into sex trafficking and related offenses. If Prince Andrew is, in fact, serious about cooperating with the ongoing federal investigation. Our doors remain open, and we await word of when we should expect him.”
“Under mutual legal assistance treaties, the British government could compel the prince to submit to an interview with its own officials if he were to persist in refusing to grant one to the federal prosecutors in New York,” the New York Times reported.
AP reported that Attorney General William Barr told Fox News on Monday that prosecutors are not seeking to extradite Andrew.
“I don’t think it’s a question of handing him over,” Barr said. “I think it’s just a question of having him provide some evidence, but beyond that I’m not going to comment.”
The world got even more complicated for the royal today when it was learned that a charitable trust supporting his work must give back in excess of $445,314 (£350,000) in payments made to a trustee after a public watchdog intervened.
“The Charity Commission has revealed the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust broke the law by handing over large sums to the prince’s household to compensate for time spent on other activities by one of his employees,” reported The Guardian. “The Charity Commission has revealed the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust broke the law by handing over large sums to the prince’s household to compensate for time spent on other activities by one of his employees.”
The problem, the piece continued, “emerged last year following publicity over the prince’s interview on BBC Newsnight about his friendship with the disgraced financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The highly critical report is a further blow to his position.”
Gunfire went off like firecrackers in Brooklyn during the nighttime hours. The body count: at least eight people wounded, the not-yet-defunded police said. Photo Credit: YouTube
By: Chaim Relsky
It just might be possible that defunding the NYPD is not the wisest choice that New York City could make.
At least, it looks that way in the wake of eight shootings in a period of just three hours.
Gunfire went off like firecrackers in Brooklyn during the nighttime hours. The body count: at least eight people wounded, the not-yet-defunded police said.
Unperturbed by the bloodshed, Democratic Mayor Bill DeBlasio continues to bow before Black Lives Matter leaders and promise to downsize the police force.
Among the victims of de Blasio’s enlightened leadership were a 23-year-old woman, a 17-year-old man, a 35-year-old man and 50-year-old man on Bristol Street in Brownsville. Next came a pair of men who were reportedly shot in the leg on Bainbridge Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. A 35-year-old man was shot in the back at the corner of Ditmas and Flatbush avenues in Flatbush. Yet another fellow was shot in his leg and stomach around 2 a.m. near Avenue K and East 36th Street in Flatlands.
New Yorkers may be getting shot down like dogs in the streets, but de Blasio has more important things to think of. Just two days ago he announced a series of new reforms to the New York City Police Department to “strengthen trust between New Yorkers and officers.” The City will shift funding from the NYPD to youth and social services for communities of color, move vendor enforcement out of the NYPD, and establish a community ambassadors program within the NYPD. The Mayor also announced his support of the new 50-A reform bill introduced in Albany. The Mayor also lifted the citywide curfew effective immediately.
“While we have taken many steps to reform policing in this city, there is clearly more work to do to strengthen trust between officers and the New Yorkers they serve,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “These will be the first of many steps my Administration will take over the next 18 months to rebuild a fairer City that profoundly addresses injustice and disparity.”
Other steps include;
Shifting funding from NYPD to Youth and Social Services. The City will find significant savings in the NYPD budget. This funding will go towards youth development and social services for communities of color. The amount will be finalized with the City Council during the budget process.
50-A Reform: The Mayor announced that he supports the State Legislature’s efforts to take away the provisions in 50-A that prevent transparency while still protecting the personal information of police officers. The Mayor also commended the Legislature for taking this step to ensure more accountability in the Department’s disciplinary system and give the public confidence.
Move Vendor Enforcement Out of NYPD: The City will shift enforcement for street vending out of NYPD so our officers can focus on the real drivers of crime instead of administrative infractions. This will further the Administration’s de-escalation agenda by reducing interactions between uniform officers and New Yorkers, particularly immigrant communities and communities of color.
- In this June 3, 2020, photo, protesters rally Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Phoenix, demanding that the Phoenix City Council defund the Phoenix Police Department. Key Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are rejecting liberal calls to “defund the police” as President Donald Trump and his allies point to the movement as a dangerous example of Democratic overreach.(AP Photo/Matt York)
Edited by: Fern Sidman
President Donald Trump and his allies have seized on calls to “defund the police” as a dangerous example of Democratic overreach as he fights for momentum amid crises that threaten his reelection, as was reported by the AP.
Key Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are distancing themselves from the “defund” push, which some supporters say is a symbolic commitment to end systemic racism and shift policing priorities rather than an actual plan to eliminate law enforcement agencies.
But confusion over the proposal’s intent has created an opportunity for the Republican president, who has struggled to navigate the delicate debate over racial justice, risking support from people of color, suburban women and independents less than five months before Election Day.
In this June 7, 2020, photo, people walk on the words ‘defund the police’ that was painted in bright yellow letters on 16th Street as demonstrators protest Sunday, June 7, 2020, near the White House in Washington, over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Key Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are rejecting liberal calls to “defund the police” as President Donald Trump and his allies point to the movement as a dangerous example of Democratic overreach. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Facing increasing pressure to weigh in, Biden addressed the issue Monday in an interview with “CBS Evening News.”
“I don’t support defunding the police. I support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency, honorableness and, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community, everybody in the community,” Biden said.
AP reported that other opponents of the movement include Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a former presidential candidate and one of two black Democratic senators, and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., head of the Congressional Black Caucus.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson, in an interview, also declined to endorse calls to defund the police.
“I support the energy behind it. I don’t know what that substantively means. As I’m talking to people about the concept, I’ve gotten three different explanations,” said Johnson, who has criticized Trump. “We know there has to be a change in the culture of policing in this country.”
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press conference Sunday that the city would move funding from the New York Police Department to youth initiatives and social services in its next budget, according to a report on The Hill web site. He did not say how much he plans to divert from the police department, which has an annual budget of $6 billion, or more than 6 percent of de Blasio’s proposed fiscal 2021 budget, The New York Times noted.
“The details will be worked out in the budget process in the weeks ahead,” de Blasio said. “But I want people to understand that we are committed to shifting resources to ensure that the focus is on our young people.”
– On Monday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said that he is “1000 percent” behind a proposal to shift police department funds to city youth groups. “To help the kids of our city, I’m 1000 percent behind shifting some funding from the police to youth programs,” Shea said on Twitter. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to dig down and do what’s needed.” Photo Credit: AP
“I also will affirm, while doing that we will only do it in a way that we are certain continues to ensure that this city will be safe,” he added.
The Hill reported that the announcement came just hours after de Blasio said a citywide curfew would no longer be in effect. The mayor said the end to the policy stemmed from protests being largely peaceful in the city over the weekend.
A group of social justice anti-police activists compromised of allegedly city hall workers appeared on the Instagram social media platform and announced their intentions to rally against the mayor Monday morning.
Identifying themselves as the City Workers for Justice Group, they laid out their demands on Instagram.
They wrote: “Police exacerbate systemic failures, they don’t resolve them. Our communities need investment & support, not overpolicing. #DefundNYPD & reallocate funds to housing support, rental relief, food assistance, education & healthcare.
We are outraged by the NYPD’s rampant violence against black & brown communities, protesters, bystanders, essential workers, medics & legal observers. These officers are a danger to the communities they claim to serve. Each of them must go.
For far too long, police have abused our communities and violated the rights of New Yorkers with near-impunity and little public accountability. This changes now. #Repeal50a and release all disciplinary records for public review.”
On Sunday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo also weighed in on the issue of defunding the police and his opinion was in stark contrast to that of the mayor. Speaking to reporters in Albany, the governor said: “You have New York City, that is still reeling from the COVID virus, and now you have this night of looting, that I’m telling you shook people in the city to the core. You don’t need police? You don’t need police? That’s what happens when you don’t have effective policing.”
On Monday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said that he is “1000 percent” behind a proposal to shift police department funds to city youth groups. “To help the kids of our city, I’m 1000 percent behind shifting some funding from the police to youth programs,” Shea said on Twitter. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to dig down and do what’s needed.”
In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to cut as much as $150 million that was part of a planned increase in the police department’s budget. Photo Credit: AP
In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to cut as much as $150 million that was part of a planned increase in the police department’s budget, as was reported by the AP.
In a recently published op-ed piece on the subject of defunding the police that appeared on the JNS.org web site, editor and columnist Jonathan S. Tobin wrote:
“While some will cheer if this money is diverted to programs to benefit the African-American community, it may not sound like such a good idea to some of the city’s citizens who want more security, rather than less, after this week’s protests led to rioting and looting. Among them are the LA Jews who were cleaning up the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel graffiti on one synagogue, as well as the owners of Jewish businesses that were attacked and looted.
In the wake of increased incidents of anti-Semitic violence in the last two years, including two murderous shooting attacks inside synagogues, American Jews have been rightly focused on providing greater security for their institutions. This has meant communities and Jewish organizations have been relying on greater cooperation with law-enforcement agencies and seeking a greater police presence at potential Jewish targets.”
A Minneapolis city councilmember said in a tweet on Thursday that the city would “dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response.”
“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department,” Jeremiah Ellison wrote. “And when we’re done, we’re not simply gonna glue it back together.” He did not explain what would replace the police department.
AP reported that a majority of the members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they support disbanding the city’s police department. Nine of the council’s 12 members appeared with activists at a rally in a city park Sunday afternoon and vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it.
“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” Lisa Bender, the council president, said. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”
Disbanding an entire department has happened before. In 2012, with crime rampant in Camden, New Jersey, the city disbanded its police department and replaced it with a new force that covered Camden County. Compton, California, took the same step in 2000, shifting its policing to Los Angeles County.
AP reported that Democrats are well-positioned to win over the political center this fall, according to Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who said Trump’s uneven actions and rhetoric at a time of sweeping social unrest are “killing him.”
Luntz added, however, that Democrats risk their advantage by embracing policies viewed as radical following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The handcuffed black man died after a white officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.
Municipal officials in Minneapolis have endorsed the “defund the police” language backed by some civil rights activists and a handful of progressive House Democrats. Protesters over the weekend also painted “DEFUND THE POLICE” in large yellow letters on a street close to the White House.
But there was little evidence that the effort was gaining momentum in Congress. Some Democrats described it as bad politics, even if most Democrats shared the desire to overhaul policing.
AP reported that former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., a white moderate who lost her 2018 reelection bid, said “defund the police” is “a horrible name” that misconstrues the goal.
“By starting with the word ‘defund,’ you’ve left the impression that you are doing something much more radical than what needs to be done,” said Heitkamp, a leader of the One Country Project, which is trying to help Democrats connect better with rural voters.
She said the term left her frustrated that “there’s going to be somebody who’s going to try to find an opportunity in this, especially among the Republican Party, and use it now as an excuse not to address what is a very real problem in America.”
That’s largely what played out as the Trump campaign and congressional Republicans sought to link Democrats to the defund effort.
“This year has seen the lowest crime numbers in our Country’s recorded history, and now the Radical Left Democrats want to Defund and Abandon our Police,” Trump declared on social media. “Sorry, I want LAW & ORDER!”
AP reported that the House GOP campaign arm sent out emails condemning “defund the police” and connecting it to Democratic candidates.
“No industry is safe from Democrats’ abolish culture,” said Michael McAdams, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “First they wanted to abolish private health insurance, then it was capitalism and now it’s the police. What’s next, the fire department?”
Democrats on Capitol Hill unveiled a sweeping proposal Monday to address police brutality that did not include plans to strip funding from the police. The Justice in Policing Act would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban chokeholds, among other changes, as was reported by the AP.
Rep. Greg Meeks, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and a group of moderate House Democrats called the New Democrat Coalition, said Trump’s tweets accusing Democrats of seeking to abolish the police are a diversion.
“It sounds like the guy that’s the 45th president is trying to distract from what the real issue is, the brutality and the murder of George Floyd,” said Meeks, who represents New York. “And we’re not going to allow them to do that.”
Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright, who is white and represents a Trump-leaning district in northeastern Pennsylvania, rejected calls to defund the police outright.
“I don’t care how it’s named, I’m not for that,” he said, while noting he’s joined protest marches in his district.
Asked if GOP use of the term “defund the police” might erode his support, Cartwright said, “If they can get voters to believe that lie about me, I suppose. Am I afraid of it? No.”
AP reported that Trump, meanwhile, is grasping for a strategy that might generate some momentum. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll this weekend found that 80% of Americans believe the country is out of control.
Some Trump advisers have considered having the president deliver an address on police-community relations and racial injustice, while others believe it would do little good, according to two White House officials and Republicans close to the White House. They also discussed creating a task force featuring Housing Secretary Ben Carson, the only black member of Trump’s Cabinet, but that has yet to get off the ground, according to the AP report.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Before the pandemic, Trump advisers believed the president had a real chance of making inroads with black voters, given his support for criminal justice reform and the strength of the economy. They’re less confident now. (AP)
A mural is seen on a boarded up business as a Los Angeles Police Department car drives by, Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Many businesses were boarded up during protests over the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
(AP) After 33 seasons on the air, “Cops” has been dropped by the Paramount Network as protests against police proliferate around the world.
“Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a spokesperson for the cable channel said in a statement Tuesday.
The show had been pulled temporarily from the air in late May, when protests aimed at police over the death of George Floyd began to gain momentum. That move was made permanent Tuesday.
It’s not clear whether the company that makes the show, Langley Productions, would try to find a new home for it. A voicemail at a company phone number was not accepting messages.
The reality show, with its widely known reggae theme song “Bad Boys,” allowed viewers to ride along with police officers on patrol in various cities.
It ran on the Fox network for 25 years until 2013, when Viacom-owned Spike TV picked it up. The show remained on the air after Spike was re-branded as the Paramount Network in 2018.
This May 14, 2020, photo shows an AMC theater sign at a nearly empty parking lot for the theater in Londonderry, N.H. After three months of near total blackout of cinemas nationwide, movie theaters are preparing to reopen - even if it means only a few titles on the marquee and showings limited to as little as 25% capacity. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
By JAKE COYLE (AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — After three months of near total blackout of cinemas nationwide, movie theaters are preparing to reopen — even if it means only a few titles on the marquee and showings limited to as little as 25% capacity.
AMC Theaters, the world’s largest theater operator, said Tuesday that it expects to have 97-98% of its theaters worldwide reopened by mid-July. The National Association of Theater Owners, the trade group that represents exhibitors, expects some 90-95% of cinemas around the world will be opened by mid-July.
A lot is still “fluid,” as AMC Entertainment’s chief executive, Adam Aron, said in a call Tuesday with investors. But provided flare ups of the coronavirus don’t unmake plans, the industry is gearing up for a dramatic resumption of widespread business just in time for Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” The Warner Bros. thriller, the latest from arguably Hollywood’s most passionate defender of the big-screen experience, is slated for release July 17.
Warner Bros. didn’t comment late Tuesday, and the most recent trailer for “Tenet” was notably vague on its release date. But theater owners are cautiously optimistic that “Tenet” will hold where it is. Aron said that AMC’s conversations as recent as Monday with Warner Bros. and Disney, which has “Mulan” slated for July 24, have been reassuring.
The larger question might be whether moviegoers feel safe returning to theaters. Health officials have warned that large indoor gatherings are risky. Broadway theaters will remain dark through at least early September. It will be up to movie theater operators to convince moviegoers that it’s safe to once again sit in the dark among strangers.
Warner Bros. didn’t comment late Tuesday, and the most recent trailer for “Tenet” was notably vague on its release date. But theater owners are cautiously optimistic that “Tenet” will hold where it is. Aron said that AMC’s conversations as recent as Monday with Warner Bros. and Disney, which has “Mulan” slated for July 24, have been reassuring.
The larger question might be whether moviegoers feel safe returning to theaters. Health officials have warned that large indoor gatherings are risky. Broadway theaters will remain dark through at least early September. It will be up to movie theater operators to convince moviegoers that it’s safe to once again sit in the dark among strangers.
“We have faith in a theatrical rebound, and we look forward to being there right out of the gate with our exhibition partners’ anticipated reemergence, as — and when — state-by-state safety guidelines are met,” said Josh Greenstein, president of Sony’s Motion Picture Group.
The prolonged closure has had a crushing effect on theater chains, forcing the furloughing and firing of tens of thousands of workers. Rumors of bankruptcy have swirled around AMC. On Tuesday, it said it lost $2.18 billion in the second quarter. Ticket sales have overall been on a slow decline. Aron acknowledged some cinemas will stay shut.
Though a handful of movies have been steered to streaming or on-demand platforms during the pandemic, most studio films have been postponed until theaters reopen. Universal Pictures has moved more aggressively to put digitally distribute some of its films, drawing the fury of theater owners. AMC, which previously said it would cease playing Universal releases, said Tuesday that it remains in “active negotiations” with the studio but that no Universal movies “are currently on our docket.”
The lawyer representing the family of George Floyd is calling for UN intervene in American ourts and our policing, according to a report from The Daily Mail
Attorney Ben Crump has written an ‘urgent appeal’, asking the UN to encourage the US to press federal criminal charges against four Minneapolis officers involved when Floyd, 46, was killed while being arrested for allegedly trying to pass a fake $20 bill on Memorial Day, the UK media giant Daily Mail reported.
Crump says he wants the UN to make recommendations for systematic police reforms, including a de-escalating techniques, independent prosecutors and autopsies for every extrajudicial police killing, ‘in an effort to stop further human rights abuses.’
These are incredible appeal and it’s coinciding with the “end the police movement”.
Ben Crump is no stranger to high profile , media fueled trials. Crump is an American civil rights attorney and founder of the Tallahassee, Florida-based law firm Ben Crump Law. Crump is known for taking on cases that garner widespread media attention and civil rights implications. He is known for his association with the 2012/2013 George Zimmerman case, and for representing the family of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American male shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, as per CNN.
Is this the incremental change the “defend the police” advocates are calling for? UN takeover of American law enforcement?
The president of New York’s police union demanded respect for police officers protecting Americans on Tuesday afternoon.
New York police officers have about 375 million “overwhelmingly positive” interactions each year, New York Police Benevolent Association president Mike O’Meara said, adding that politicians are “failing” them and the media is “vilifying” them.
He continued: “Stop treating us like animals and thugs, and start treating us with some respect. That’s what we’re here today to say. We’ve been left out of the conversation. We’ve been vilified. It’s disgusting.”
New York police boss Mike O’Meara:
“Stop treating us like animals and thugs and start treating us with some respect … Our legislators abandoned us. The press is vilifying us. It’s disgusting.”pic.twitter.com/iI3eN0VVgO
His comments came in the midst of riots and protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, video of the incident showed. Derek Chauvin, the officer, has been fired and arrested on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Most police officers “roundly reject” what Chauvin did “as disgusting,” O’Meara said.
“I am not Derek Chauvin, they are not him. He killed someone, we didn’t. We are restrained,” O’Meara said. “We roundly reject what he did as disgusting, it’s not what we do.”
He added: “But what we read in the papers all week is that in the black community, mothers are worried about their children getting home from school without being killed by a cop. What world are we living in? That doesn’t happen.”
“I’m proud to be a cop,” he said. “And I’m going to continue to be proud to be a cop until the day I retire.”
The New York Police Benevolent Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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A man walks past a closed business, Wednesday, April 29, 2020, in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Toward the end of the longest economic expansion in the history of the United States, workers were finally starting to gain enough of a foothold to see real benefits from economic growth. Unemployment was at a record low, long-stagnant wages were moving up while inflation was low, consumer confidence was sky-high, and more workers felt confident enough about the economy to quit their jobs in pursuit of better work.
The coronavirus pandemic, social distancing, and government-ordered shutdowns brought an end to all of that. The economy entered a recession in March, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday. The labor market underwent an unprecedented shock, something akin to a heart attack, suddenly shedding millions of jobs.
Data released by the Department of Labor on Tuesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, provide a kind of cardiogram to the sudden collapse in the functioning of the labor market. Nearly all of the economy went into cardiac arrest, with the notable exceptions of the federal government and the financial sector.
In April of 2019, six million workers were hired into new jobs in a single month, including 5.6 million private-sector jobs. Both were record-highs in data stretching back to the turn of the century. There were 7.2 million job openings and the economy added an additional 263,000 jobs in the month.
The Labor Department counted just 5.8 million Americans as unemployed, producing an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, the lowest rate since 1969. Weekly jobless claims averaged 215,500, the lowest since 1969. The private-sector quits rates, the percentage of workers voluntarily leaving their job, was at the highest rate since 2005, indicating more workers were moving into better jobs.
In March of this year, the hires figure dropped to 5.1 million, just 4.8 million in the private sector. But at that point many businesses were still operating, at least during the early part of the month, and sales had not yet plummeted. By April, private-sector hires fell to just 3.3 million, the lowest level recorded in a data set going back to December 2000. Even at the depths of the Great Recession, hires never sunk that low.
Openings fell to six million in March and then near five million in April. Nonfarm payrolls dropped 700,000 in March and plunged 20.5 million in April. Jobless claims jumped to an average of 2.7 million a week in March and then to five million in April. The worst came in the final week of March and first week in April, when more than six million Americans per week applied for unemployment benefits. Nearly 11.5 million Americans were laid off in March and another 7.5 in April. By April, more than 23 million Americans counted as unemployed, producing an unemployment rate of 14.7 percent. The quits rate fell to the lowest level since 2011.
Layoffs devastated employment in hotels, restaurants, and bars. In March, 4.2 million workers in the category of “leisure and accommodation” lost their jobs, 30.4 percent of the sector’s workforce. In April, an additional 1.5 million lost their jobs, or 19.8 percent of the remaining workforce. Prior to the shutdown, layoffs in the sector typically ran between 200,000 and 250,000 per month.
Entertainment and recreation were similarly smashed. In March, the sector laid off 545,000 workers, or 22.3 percent of its workforce, up from just 77,000 in February. In April, another 259,000 were laid off, 23 percent of the remaining workforce. The workforce percentages can rise even as the number of layoffs shrink because the base shrinks with each successive month of employment contraction.
The catch-all category of “other services”—which includes dry-cleaners, barbers, nail salon workers, groundskeepers, and countless other services that do not get counted elsewhere—saw 884,000 layoffs in March, a 15 percent layoff rate. April saw this come in at 822,000, a 17.7 percent rate.
The real estate and building sectors also suffered deep cuts. Unlike hospitality and leisure—where the deepest job cuts came in March—April was the cruelest month. Six hundred and four thousand construction workers were laid off in March, 7.9 percent of the construction workforce, followed by 689,000 in April, 10.4 percent of the workforce. Real estate laid off 151,000, or 6.4 percent, in March and 200,000, 9.4 percent, in April.layoffs
Retail shops laid off 1.2 million workers in March, 7.8 percent of workers, and 888,000 in April, another 6.6 percent. Normally, this would run between 200,000 and 225,000 per month.
Education and health care saw big layoffs. Layoffs in education services were 272,000 in March and 246,000 in April, 7.2 and 7.4 percent. Back in February, there had been just 30,000 layoffs. Healthcare layoffs rose from 136,000 in February, a pretty typical month, to over one million in March and 790,000 in April.
The “mining and logging” sector, which includes oil and natural gas drilling, laid off 4.5 percent of its workers in March and another 9.3 percent in April.
Manufacturing layoffs hit 4.9 percent in March and 5.1 percent in April, showing more stability than many other sectors of the economy.
The two least impacted sectors were finance and the federal government. The financial sector laid off 1.2 percent of its workers in March and 0.9 percent in April, about twice the rate of normal layoffs. The federal government laid off 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, about the normal level in any given month.
But the economy is a dynamic process. Looking at only layoffs and jobless claims can paint an exaggerated picture of the impact of the shutdown. Some workers found jobs in March and April, even in hard hit sectors. The food and accommodations sector hired 845,000 in March and April. Over a million workers were hired in health care. Mining and manufacturing each hired around 600,000 workers each.
Last week, the Labor Department said that the economy added over two million jobs in May and the unemployment rate declined, upending expectations for additional job losses and a further rise in employment. But it will take another month before the May JOLTs report shows us how these jobs rippled though the various sectors of the U.S. economy—which sectors continued to bleed jobs and which added.
Protesters kneel in front of a police officer during a demonstration Monday, June 1, 2020, in Salt Lake City. As police lined up in riot gear, hundreds crowded onto the common area between the Salt Lake City-County Building and the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building and eventually began asking police to join them on their knees. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Edited by TJV News
The media continues to bury the victims of the George Floyd protests. TJV researched the death toll thus far from the protests which most media entities refer to as “largely peaceful”. As of June 9th 17 people have died as a result of the protests, including innocent people and several looters.
A Kansas City photographer was shot and killed after Sunday night’s protest. Police say three men were trying to steal his Jeep.
His family and Mayor Quinton Lucas want people to know his life was more than his death.
The photographs 50-year-old Marvin Francois took are moments captured in time. Francois loved his family his city, and the art of photography.
The husband and father of four was a software engineer. His son, 18-year-old Jayden Francois, said his true creative passion was taking pictures.
“He could capture life. A moment. A person. An event. Anything in that split second,” Jayden said. “To make it beautiful and to show the world that this is what life is. It is a life worth living.”
Jayden said he’s heartbroken at the loss of his father after Sunday night’s protest. Police said Francois was murdered when three black males tried to carjack him at 46th and Warwick. He was shot three times and died at the scene.
This murder of an innocent by 4 African American men who were drawn to the “cause” did not receive hours of coverage from national media, his death apparently was only worth a single local news report. Meanwhile, the media has covered the pushing of a elderly protester in Buffalo, wall-to-wall for over a week.
Mr. Marvin Francois death is an after thought, when the media is in the business of creating a narrative and not actually reporting.
Below are capsules of several other victims of this movement which has swept the nation.
You must all pause to ask yourselves, why is national media downplaying or outright ignoring these people’s deaths?
David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired St. Louis police captain was shot and killed on June 2 by looters who broke into a pawn shop. Dorn went to the pawn shop to check on a burglar alarm. The shooting apparently was streamed on Facebook Live but has been taken down. It came on a violent night in St. Louis, which saw four officers shot, businesses burned and ransacked, and people pelting officers with rocks hours following a peaceful protest. Stephan Cannon, 24, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, felon in possession of a firearm, St. Louis police said on June 7, Fox news reported
David McAtee, the 53-year-old owner of a barbecue restaurant was shot and killed on June 1 in Louisville. Police and the National Guard troops were trying to clear a crowd when they heard gunshots and returned fire.The mayor fired the police chief after finding out officers did not turn on their body-worn cameras. State police and the U.S. attorney also are investigating.Police say a surveillance camera captured McAtee firing a gun as officers approached. “This video does not provide all the answers. But we are releasing it to provide transparency. It does not answer every question, including why did he fire and where were police at the time he fired,” acting Police Chief Robert Schroeder said.
Chris Beaty, 38, who played football for Indiana University and was known as “Mr. Indianapolis,” was shot and killed on the street in downtown Indianapolis on May 30 during a protest. Cops haven’t released information about Beaty’s death.
Dorian Murrell, 18, was fatally shot in Indianapolis the same night as Beaty. Cops say the man who shot him, Tyler Newby, 29, told police the shooting happened after he and friend found a gas canister on the ground as they were walking around downtown after the protests. They said after picking it up they were approached by a group of about 10 males who asked them what they found. According to the court documents, Newby claimed he was pushed to the ground and saw Murrell standing over him, so he shot Murrell one time, Fox 59 Indianapolis reported. Newby has been charged with murder.
Italia Kelly, 22, was shot and killed June 1 in Davenport, Iowa, as she was leaving a protest outside a Walmart. Kelly and a friend were getting in a vehicle to leave because a protest had turned unruly when she was struck in the back by a bullet, said her aunt, Amy Hale of Atchison, Kansas. No arrests have been made, Fox reported
Patrick Underwood, 53, a federal officer, died as he was providing security at a U.S. courthouse in Oakland, Calif., during a protest when someone fired shots from a vehicle. Another officer was critically wounded. It wasn’t immediately clear if the drive-by shooting was related to the protests, though the federal building’s glass doors were smashed and the front entrance was sprayed with anti-police graffiti. No one has been arrested. Underwood, who was black, and the other officer were contracted security officers employed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service. They were monitoring a nearby protest, Fox News reported.
Javar Harrell, a 21-year-old man, was killed in downtown Detroit on June 5 after someone fired shots into a vehicle during a protest. According to a police report, Harrell, of Eastpointe, Mich., was sitting in the driver’s seat of a car in a parking lot with two others when someone opened fire and then ran away. Detroit police have released photos of Harrell’s suspected killer, a man in a surgical mask, and a dark hooded sweater.
Jose Gutierrez, 28, of Chicago, was fatally shot during unrest following a protest in Cicero on June 1, according to reports. He was shot as people were breaking into businesses in the neighborhood and taking whatever they could carry, police said. They said Gutierrez was a bystander, not involved in any looting. Zion Haygood of Chicago has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting.
According to deep searches an additional 7 people were killed , who were involved with looting or attacking police officers
Protesters hold signs and shout slogans during a protest to decry the killing of George Floyd in front of the American embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 2, 2020. Ariel Schalit / The Associated Press
(TPS) Anti-Israel activists on social media have recently launched a campaign that attempts to draw parallels between police violence in the US against African Americans and the alleged violence against Arabs by the Israel Police and the IDF in.
Following the police’s killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, anti-Israel activists immediately began drawing comparisons with what they describe as systematic and deadly Israeli brutality against Palestinians., and that in some cases, Israeli policemen trained the US cops to be employ brutality.
One image, typifying the campaign, depicts a photoshopped image of George Floyd on the security barrier between Israel and parts of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The anti-Israel German Das Palästina Portal published an article titled “Gaza is everywhere! What the current unrest and protest in the US have to do with Israel,” arguing that police brutality can be attributed to an “ongoing Israelization of the world.”
Several groups have applied violent terms such as “Intifada” (Arabic for uprising) to the current eruption of protests in the wake of Floyd’s death.
The term Intifada was the name given to the first and second Palestinian violent riots in the late 1980s and early 2000s, which saw daily terror attacks, including suicide bombings, stabbings and shootings against Israeli civilians that claimed thousands of lives.
By describing the current wave of protests as a “black intifada”, the groups’ statements appear to constitute an incitement to violence and terrorism.
Samidoun, a global delegitimization organization with close ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a US-designated terror organization, released a statement titled “From Gaza to Minneapolis, one struggle for justice and liberation!” in which it called the protests an “intifada.”
The statement declared: “We support the uprising in Minneapolis, the intifada of people subjected to an ongoing, vicious and structural racism, inheriting a lengthy and rich tradition of Black resistance, organizing and struggle.”
The PFLP itself published a statement in Arabic in solidarity with protestors, stating that “it is not surprising for a country like the United States, which has a strategic alliance with the Zionist entity [Israel], to intersect with it in the discrimination, racism and repression that embodies its treatment of Palestinians.”
The BDS National Committee (BNC) stated that “as long as this system of oppression continues, it is up to our grassroots movements to work collectively and intersectionally to dismantle it, from the US to Palestine.”
BDS US group Adalah Justice Project linked white supremacy and Zionism, accusing them of being “underpinned by anti-Blackness.”
The hashtag #PalestinianLivesMatter, inspired by #BlackLivesMatter, has been used
on Twitter since at least 2015. However, the hashtag’s popularity surged following the killing of George Floyd as BLM protests gained momentum in the US. Many activists campaigned to highlight intersectional parallels between African American and Palestinian causes, once again reviving this hashtag.
Usage of #PalestinianLivesMatter on Twitter grew exponentially from May 28-30, and was also highly visible to Twitter users from June 2-3, reaching an estimated 29.4 million users in this 24-hour period
This exploitation of the tragedy in the US is a strategic attempt by delegitimization groups to entrench themselves and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as a focal point of the progressive Movement. (TPS)
We don’t want to unnecessarily scare you, but America is going to the dogs. In other words, the future of this nation, for our kids and their kids, is bleak. We are now in a state of national rioting that borders on revolution. Throughout the nation, shopping centers, Mom and Pop shops, churches, the CNN headquarters in NYC, Macy’s in Herald Square were broken into, vandalized, torched and many totally destroyed. They may never re-open. Just an aside…..notice there were no libraries looted of their contents.
The streets, controlled by the likes of radical revolutionary groups such as ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter, initiate and inflame not only the street mayhem, but are positively reported on and openly supported by nearly all the mainstream media. These mobs are now considered by such as Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and others on her side of the aisle, to be true “freedom fighters.” From the non-stop reporting and videos of the rioting, it appears that the willing participants rampaging through the streets are kids in their late teens. Their youth sadly brings to mind this past week’s June 6th commemoration of the 76th anniversary of D Day and the landings on the shores of Normandy by our troops and allies that helped defeat Nazi Germany. On that hallowed day, over 3,000 of our young men, the same age as the current street thugs, gave their lives or were listed as missing in action. What a difference 76 years make in the quality of our youth and their commitment to freedom. We are losing the battle to remain a free society.
It’s almost incredible that this violent, national uprising, where there is no regard for officially pronounced curfews, has spawned the call for police departments all over the country to be either dissolved or defunded. A colossal disaster in the making. Our own Mayor DeBlasio has called for a reduction in the NYPD budget and for those “saved” funds to go to youth programs and other such “social justice” bottomless pits, that are staffed by political appointees. This Sunday he said: “We are committed to shifting resources to ensure that the focus is on our young people.”
On Monday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said that he is “1000 percent” behind a proposal to shift police department funds to city youth groups. “To help the kids of our city, I’m 1000 percent behind shifting some funding from the police to youth programs,” Shea said on Twitter. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to dig down and do what’s needed.”
On Sunday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo also weighed in on the issue of defunding the police and his opinion was in stark contrast to that of the mayor. Speaking to reporters in Albany, the governor said: “You have New York City, that is still reeling from the COVID virus, and now you have this night of looting, that I’m telling you shook people in the city to the core. You don’t need police? You don’t need police? That’s what happens when you don’t have effective policing.”
The country is still reeling from the effects of the Chinese virus. The outrageous killing of George Floyd by rogue Minneapolis cops has inflamed a damaged nation to the point where law and order has virtually vanished. Cities across the nation are in danger of going broke. Tax income has virtually ground to a halt. Businesses are shut down. People are unemployed. There is mayhem in the streets. People are antsy. Politicians are running in circles spooked by unchecked, criminal mobs that seem to be unrestrained. We’ll end where we began…the nation is going to the dogs.
