demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalTIL Mark Halperin is charging $500 a year for his newsletter. Not sure how that's going...
https://twitter.com/benyt/status/1265666622913732609
New Zealand officials report no current coronavirus patients in country's hospitals
Source: The Hill
Health officials in New Zealand announced this week that currently, there are no COVID-19 patients in its hospitals.
Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, the country’s director-general of health, said during a press briefing on Wednesday that "there is nobody in hospital with COVID-19" following the recent discharge of a patient that had been treated at a hospital in Auckland.
Pressed during the briefing about whether this was an accurate assessment of hospital coronavirus statistics, Bloomfield answered: “I think it is, absolutely, yes.”
“We've had a number of people in hospital,” he went on. “Never a big number but I think this is the first time in a couple of months we haven't had someone in hospital. That's another good position to be in.”
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/499756-new-zealand-officials-say-country-has-discharged-last-hospitalized-covid
Mike Pompeo's CIA advisory board rankled agency veterans
Source: Politico
Mike Pompeo put together an undisclosed board of outside advisers while he was director of CIA that some at the agency viewed as inappropriately weighted toward wealthy individuals and well-connected political figures, according to four current and former officials.
The advisers were often treated to elaborate multiday experiences that included “lavish” dinners, classified briefings, and at least one trip to the CIA’s secret training facilities, the sources said.
The events planned for Pompeo’s external advisory board, billed as “senior leadership conferences,” didn’t run afoul of any laws — previous CIA director advisory board members, provided with interim clearances, were also given classified briefings, and directors can visit the Farm, as the CIA’s training site is known, at their discretion.
But several former senior CIA officials who were at the agency under Pompeo’s leadership, from January 2017 to April 2018, said they thought the then-director “crossed a line” in his use of the external advisory board to charm business leaders and influential political figures. And those who served on similar advisory boards under other directors said Pompeo’s panel differed from theirs in key respects, from the makeup of the advisers themselves to the nature of their interactions with the agency.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/27/mike-pompeos-cia-advisory-board-rankled-agency-veterans-283350
https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1265647003322724360
U.S. Says Hong Kong's China Autonomy Is Gone, Sowing Trade Doubt
Source: Bloomberg
The U.S. has certified that Hong Kong is no longer politically autonomous from China, a move that could have far-reaching consequences on the special trading status the former British colony has with the U.S., Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said.
“Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as U.S. laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1997,” Pompeo said in a statement. “No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground.”
The move on Wednesday was taken under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that President Donald Trump signed last year. It comes as China’s National People’s Congress is preparing to pass a national security law curtailing the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens.
Pompeo’s decision opens the door for a range of options, from visa restrictions and asset freezes for top officials to possibly imposing tariffs on goods coming from the former colony. Other measures could include visa restrictions for Chinese Communist Party officials.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-27/pompeo-finds-hong-kong-is-no-longer-autonomous-from-china-kapiu0a2?sref=eN0VlxpF&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-bus
BIRD BRAINED: Dad spends lockdown building giant kookaburra.
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1265668623554797569
A Closer Look at Federal COVID Contractors Reveals Inexperience, Fraud Accusations, and a Weapons...
The Trump administration has promised at least $1.8 billion to 335 first-time contractors, often without competitive bidding or thorough vetting of their backgrounds.
A firm set up by a former telemarketer who once settled federal fraud charges for $2.7 million. A vodka distributor accused in a pending lawsuit of overstating its projected sales. An aspiring weapons dealer operating out of a single-family home.
These three privately held companies are part of the new medical supply chain, offered a total of almost $74 million by the federal government to find and rapidly deliver vital protective equipment and COVID-19 testing supplies across the U.S. While there’s no evidence that they obtained their deals through political connections, none of the three had to bid against competing firms. One has already lost its contract for lack of performance; it’s unclear if the other two can fulfill their orders on time, or at all.
They are among about 345 first-time federal contractors promised at least $1.8 billion in deals by the Trump administration since March, representing about 13% of total government spending on pandemic-related contracts of $13.8 billion, a ProPublica analysis of federal procurement data found. Like the three companies, many of the new contractors have no experience acquiring medical products.
Some of them, including the ex-telemarketer’s company and another firm established by a former White House aide, formed only days or weeks before landing multimillion-dollar government contracts. The U.S. government’s reliance on them, with what appears to be scant vetting of their credentials, represents a major gamble whose outcome could affect how many Americans are infected by the coronavirus and how quickly the U.S. economy recovers.
https://www.propublica.org/article/a-closer-look-at-federal-covid-contractors-reveals-inexperience-fraud-accusations-and-a-weapons-dealer-operating-out-of-someones-house?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social#958554
Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)
Seems appropriate to repost this video.
Maria DeCotis: Breaking News from @NYGovCuomo ! The boyfriend has left the premises.
https://twitter.com/MariaDeCotis/status/1265266844342026240
NEW: The Navy is accusing two Russian Su-35s of conducting "an unsafe and unprofessional" intercept
https://twitter.com/dave_brown24/status/1265407382974345216
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