[ZeroHedge] ....Like other EU members, Ireland's strict response to the virus suppressed cases quickly after an initial outbreak, but as life begins the steady return to normal, cases have bounced back slightly, reviving the public's fervent support for the rules, and their fury with anybody - particularly those in positions of power - who flouts what is widely seen as a patriotic duty, although it probably wasn't masks alone that helped Ireland overcome the first wave.
In keeping with that spirit, a major political scandal in Ireland erupted this week when the country's top government officials was outed for attending a formal dinner where social distancing rules - including mask wearing and restrictions on crowd sizes - weren't enforced.
But the issue continues to escalate. Ireland's national police force confirmed Friday night that it was "investigating an event" held in the city of Galway on Wednesday evening that may have breached coronavirus-related health laws - an obvious reference to the parliamentary Oireachtas Golf Society dinner which was held at a hotel in Galway.
Minister for Agriculture Dara Calleary - who was in his job barely a month - has resigned, as has the vice chair of Ireland's upper house, Jerry Buttimer.
The day before the dinner, the government ratcheted up the restrictions on indoor gatherings to just six people, while Weddings and some cultural events, including plays and concerts, could be attended by up to 50 people. The rules created some confusion, but there was little doubt that the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner was in poor taste.
My father died from cancer during lock down. Visiting him in hospital with any regularity was VERY difficult. We were allowed no more than TEN people at his funeral. The attendees of #golfgate dinner make a mockery of the sacrifices made during the pandemic.
— Will Murphy (@Yuphrum) August 22, 2020
Per local media reports, the event space originally included a partition to separate the group and keep numbers in each section to below 50, but they were apparently removed for the speeches at the event, resulting in the rules being broken. 81 people reportedly attended the dinner.
Dara Calleary has resigned as agriculture minister after only a month in the job.....
#1
It's good to know they have something important to worry about.
The protocol should be, have a oversize gathering? Test everybody.
If you have positives, isolate them.
Other than that, get a life.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/23/2020 13:07 Comments ||
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[HotAir] Tennessee Governor Bill Lee quietly signed into law increased penalties for protesters. Lee, a former businessman, was elected in 2018. The bill signed into law is a no-nonsense response to two months of frequent protests outside the Capitol. The increased penalties include losing the right to vote for breaking certain laws while protesting.
Instead of looking the other way or encouraging and supporting protests that often turn violent or destroy property, like blue state governors and lawmakers are doing, this red state’s General Assembly held a special three-day legislative session last week to pass bills on COVID-19 liability immunity and telemedicine and included this bill to address protests. The Tennessee General Assembly is a majority Republican body. Governor Lee said there are some portions of the bill that he “would have done differently” but agreed to make the proposal law effective immediately with his signature.
The bill specifically addresses illegally camping on state property (like at the Capitol) and aggravated rioting.
Most notably, the new law now states that those who illegally camp on state property would now face a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison, rather than a misdemeanor. Felony convictions in Tennessee result in the revocation of an individual’s right to vote.
The bill also imposes a mandatory minimum 45-day hold if convicted of aggravated rioting; enhances the fine for obstructing emergency vehicles from accessing highways; requires a court to order restitution for damaging state property; and creates a Class C felony offense for aggravated assault against a first responder — which carries a $15,000 fine and mandatory minimum 90-day prison sentence.
The governor said a provision requiring a warning to those camping illegally strengthened the bill, and cited the discretion of prosecutors and judges.
[California Globe] California is rich in natural resources which once powered the state: natural gas deposits in the Monterey Shale formation; geothermal energy, abundant rivers and waterways such as the San Joaquin River Delta and hydroelectric dams; the Pacific coastline; 85 million acres of wildlands with 17 million of those used as commercial timberland; mines and mineral resources, vast farming and agricultural lands, and hunting and fishing.
But California politicians and appointed agency officials, under pressure from radical environmental organizations and lobbyists, decided to ignore the energy producing natural resources, and instead move to an all-electric grid, and the only approved “renewable energy:” solar and wind energy.
A meteorologist friend, Anthony Watts, said Tuesday, “we are on the cusp of a massive failure of the electricity grid in California.” Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at The Heartland Institute, and has been in the weather business both in front of, and behind the camera as an on-air television meteorologist since 1978, and currently does daily radio forecasts. Watts is also proprietor of the award-winning website, Watts Up With That?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/23/2020 09:40 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#12
Ever notice how places that go all in on green power end up with shortages and unreliable, expensive electricity? South Australia (which is in Australia) is a most excellent example.
[YNet] - White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a press conference revealing a significant breakthrough in the treatment of COVID-19.
She noted that the press conference will also be attended by U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn.
The press conference will be held at 1am Israel time [1800 DC]. A bit early for October Surprise?
#2
Hmmm, just a few days after not one but two vaccines were developed in Russia. In any case, I hope Fauxi & Scarf Lady are no where near this press conference.
And who knows? It may be a nothing burger. Stock futures on alert.
Not even BLM/Antifa, but just nice Democrat girls being violent meangirls. Videos at the link.
[PJMedia] The viral video is disturbing. In it, a seven-year-old boy and his mom chase a woman and her friend to retrieve the boy’s Trump hat that she’s just stolen off his head. The hateful woman mocks and toys with the boy. It is by any definition a gratuitous act of hate.
Now 21-year-old Oliva Winslow is arrested and charged by the Wilmington, Delaware police department for second-degree robbery, second-degree conspiracy, and endangering the welfare of a child.
The incident captured on tape happened outside the Chase Center in Wilmington on Thursday night, the last night of the Democratic National Convention.
A group of pro-Trump folks gathered outside of the venue where Biden was honored with the Democratic nomination.
Then came Winslow and her friend, who destroyed some of the group members’ signs and snatched the Trump hat away from the seven-year-old boy.
WDEL TV reports the perpetrator’s friend began to stomp on the boy’s hat. When the boy reached down to grab it, she stomped on his hand. Police are still looking for her.
Two other Trump supporters were struck by the closed fists of two other anti-Trump people who came to shut down the peaceful gathering.
#2
Though nobody knows the criteria,
Some victims are clearly inferior.
"What makes ya say that?"
Asks a weary gray cat
From his scratching post out in Siberia.
[ol' Colin's bewhiskered puss here]
#3
Although... heard a few minutes of a fairly recent podcast the other day, and damned if he didn't sound grrrreat. First time I'd tuned in since YT zapped him, and for a disconcerting moment wondered -- totally serious here -- whether it was himself or some youngster to whom he'd passed the mantle. Nice to hear someone (apparently) thriving during all this mess. Inspirational, almost.
[SEATTLETIMES] Seattle Mayor Jenny Summer of Love Durkan ...Democrat Maress of Seattle, who allowed a chunk of the downtown of her city to be turned into an autonomous combat zone... , after vetoing Friday the revised 2020 budget approved last week by the City Council, called for new collaboration with council members, with whom she’s often been at odds."The people of Seattle expect us to work together," Durkan said during a Friday afternoon news conference, adding that she had spoken to Council President M. Lorena González on how to "make changes in a more thoughtful, deliberate way."
The council’s adjustments to the budget would have cut up to 100 coppers, slashed the salaries of police command staff and also scrapped the city’s Navigation Team, which performs outreach to people experiencing homelessness and clears encampments. Durkan strongly opposed those measures. Seattle Police Department Chief Carmen Best retired in objection to them.
Durkan described the council’s cuts to police as imprudent, saying they had "no plan for how the city will bridge gaps in the police response that will be caused if we lose 100 coppers" and "no plans for how the city will address encampments or RVs that pose a public safety risk."
She also objected to cutting the salaries of SPD’s command staff.
The mayoral veto will also stop some $14 million in additional funding the council had intended for community organizations.
"Look, it’s a loan I’m not sure we can repay," Durkan said, adding that she did not think the city could get money out of the door by year’s end and that the city faced a challenging budget shortfall.
The money would have been loaned between city departments and could have been accounted for in future budget cuts to the police department or elsewhere. Durkan said she is concerned about funding and continuing core city services during the next budget cycle.
Best’s resignation from the top post at SPD, for the moment, seems to have forced a detente in the frosty relationship openly acknowledged by both the mayor and many city council members.
Council members will have 30 days to reconsider the vetoed legislation, negotiate and then vote again. The council needs a two-thirds vote to override the mayor’s veto.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2020 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM
[Red State] ...conducting the interview at the CIA facility is an interesting decision. Why not question him at DOJ or FBI HQ? The CIA is not a law enforcement agency. John Brennan no longer works for the CIA. Any CIA records that may have been needed over the course of the interview could have been made available in a secured facility at both those locations.
But that "records" excuse may have been the very justification given for the selection of the CIA HQ as the location for the interview.
DOJ and the FBI HQ are in Washington DC. CIA Headquarters is in Langley, Virginia.
If you are geographically challenged, you can read the distinction as "United States District Court for the District of Columbia" v. "United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia." If John Brennan offered any false answers to the investigators during the interview, the venue for that "false statement" crime is in the EDVA, not in DC federal court.
Guilty Lawyer Sent Anti-Trump Texts To A 'Lover' Too
Kevin Clinesmith was referred to as 'Attorney 2' in a 2018 Inspector General report, which described in detail anti-Trump text messages he sent to an unnamed lover while the campaign was in full swing.
Clinesmith in the 2018 report expressed his disdain for the incoming President Trump with the phrase 'Viva le resistance' and opined that then-Vice President-Elect Mike Pence was 'stupid.'
His lover texted back: 'Screw you Trump,' and added that Hillary Clinton 'better win ... otherwise i'm gonna be walking around with both of my guns.'
She also labeled Trump's supporters in Ohio 'retarded,' and in a fit of pique over being asked to work on Inauguration Day, she added: 'F*** Trump.'
Special Counsel Robert Mueller later fired Clinesmith for his anti-Trump bias, citing the lawyer's comment to another official after the 2016 that 'the crazies won finally.'
#4
Brennan might be smart enough to have never sent email or texts to the operatives.
I wonder whether there are tapes of phone conversations.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/23/2020 12:25 Comments ||
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#5
/\ Assuming conversations in a SCIF, not so sure about that. But, we do have those "national-technical" means...same gang that has Hillary's e-mails.
#6
Durham bowing to Brennan's obvious (home team advantage) venue in McLean set a very poor visual as well as precedent. He should have made the SOB come downtown.
What little confidence I had in the Durham effort continues to ebb away.
[BREITBART] A judge ordered a do-over election held in November for a city council seat in Paterson, New Jersey, due to the apparent winner and a sitting councilman being charged with voter fraud.State Superior Court Judge Ernest Caposela issued the ruling on Wednesday, according to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named (AP).
"It was the right ruling. That past election was fraught with fraud," Mayor Andre Sayegh remarked, according to CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... "The City will comply with the judge’s decision and we created the Mayor’s Election Awareness Team to preserve the value of the vote in Paterson," he noted.
The AP article continued:
Alex Mendez had won a special election on May 12 to fill the seat, but claims of voter fraud were soon raised. An investigation was then launched after the U.S. Postal Service’s law enforcement arm told the state attorney general’s office about hundreds of mail-in ballots located in a mailbox in Paterson, along with more found in nearby Haledon.
In June, Breitbart News reported that election fraud charges were announced against Paterson City Councilman Michael Jackson (D), Councilman-elect Alex Mendez (D), Shelim Khalique, and Abu Razyen:
Mendez, 45-years-old, has been charged with second-degree election fraud, third-degree fraud in casting mail-in votes, third-degree unauthorized possession of ballots, third-degree false registration or transfer, third-degree tampering with public records, and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2020 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
Forget about live debates
[Breitbart] The Democrat nominee for president is living up to his "Basement Joe Biden" nickname as his campaign says he may never work for votes in person before the election.
CNN reporter MJ Lee cited a campaign aide, who said that Biden may never appear at a rally this fall.
"It is just entirely not clear that we are ever going to see either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris participate in a traditional campaign rally," she said. this is worse than animatronic Ginsburg
As Lee spoke, the banner below her read, "Campaign aide: Not sure if Biden will hit campaign trail this fall."
CNN reported that the Biden campaign has "new confidence" that he can effectively reach voters by conducting live streams from his basement or back porch.
The news seems to buttress a report that Biden will not be leasing a campaign plane to conveniently shuttle him to appearances.
Citing Axios, Breitbart News reported this week that Biden has not traveled by air for some time "and thus has no need to lease an aircraft with the Democratic nominee's name and logo emblazoned on the side, a candidate tradition for decades, people familiar with the plans tell Axios."
"Biden aides say he hasn't completely ruled out flying between now and November ‐ and that the campaign could change course if individual states change their guidelines," Axios reported.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/23/2020 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
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Donald Trump’s march through the institutions continues.
[Al Ahram] More than a dozen journalists with the U.S. government's premier international broadcaster may soon be forced to leave the United States as their visas expire with no action from the agency's new leadership.
Some 16 Voice of America journalists will have to return to their native countries in the coming weeks unless the government agrees to either renew their visas or extend grace periods for them to depart, according to congressional aides. Several of the journalists, from China and Indonesia notably, could face difficulties at home because of their work for VOA, the aides said.
Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, complained Friday that the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA and its sister outlets, had ignored congressional requests for an explanation as to why the usually routine visa renewals had not been processed. Shut up, LOSER. Engel (D-Unemployed Jan 2021)
In addition, he said not even the affected journalists had been given details of their status. There are roughly 80 foreign VOA employees in the United States, but the documents of the 16 are among the first to come up for renewal, according to congressional aides who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Engel, D-N.Y., also appealed to the departments of State and Homeland Security to extend grace periods for those journalists whose visas have already expired so they are not forced to leave without having the time to make adequate arrangements.
``It's unconscionable that a U.S. government agency would create such fear and uncertainty for people whom we asked to do a job,`` Engel said in a statement. ``Congress's attempts to seek answers from USAGM on this matter have been met with silence. It's clear that the agency is just trying to run out the clock until these journalists are forced to leave.``
Engel blamed USAGM's new chief, conservative filmmaker Michael Pack, for the situation. Pack, an associate of President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... 's former political strategist Steve Bannon, has come under fire from both Democrats and Republicans for major changes he has made to the agency since he took over in June following a contentious confirmation process in the Senate.
``Michael Pack's failure to seek visa extensions for these journalists means that they must leave the country, some of them going home to nations where governments regularly silence and harass journalists,'' Engel said. ``Mr. Pack still has time to act to resolve this situation, but make no mistake, he is accountable for what comes next. Any harm that comes to these brave individuals will be a direct result of Michael Pack's inaction.''
#4
... to nations where governments regularly silence and harass journalists
They could 'learn to code', right? Isn't what they told all the blue-collar workers?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[California Globe] California is rich in natural resources which once powered the state: natural gas deposits in the Monterey Shale formation; geothermal energy, abundant rivers and waterways such as the San Joaquin River Delta and hydroelectric dams; the Pacific coastline; 85 million acres of wildlands with 17 million of those used as commercial timberland; mines and mineral resources, vast farming and agricultural lands, and hunting and fishing.
...Democrat Maress of Seattle, who allowed a chunk of the downtown of her city to be turned into an autonomous combat zone...
[BREITBART] A judge ordered a do-over election held in November for a city council seat in Paterson, New Jersey, due to the apparent winner and a sitting councilman being charged with voter fraud.State Superior Court Judge Ernest Caposela issued the ruling on Wednesday, according to the 
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
