The Mexican government announced the major fentanyl seizure of initially reported by local media outlets to be approximately 25.75 tons (23,368 kilograms or 51,517 pounds) of powdered fentanyl that originated in Shanghai China and was headed to Culiacán, Sinaloa, the home base for the Sinaloa Cartel. According to a government spokesperson, the seizure was a result of a joint operation led by the Mexican naval elements of the 10th naval zone and Lázaro Cárdenas customs enforcement personnel as reported by local media. Michoacán is located in western Mexico and has a stretch of coastline along the Pacific Ocean.
According to government authorities, investigators found the cargo inside a container of a Danish flagged vessel with a cargo manifest indicating that the contents consisted of Calcium Chloride. Authorities took a random sampling of the powdered substance to a specialized laboratory of Mexican Customs and the substance later tested positive for fentanyl. Officials seized a total of 931 sacks of the substance for a total weight of 23,368 kilograms. Government officials indicated that the weight of the suspected fentanyl is still being determined since the investigation is ongoing and later reports indicated that an official weight would be reported at a later date.
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/08/25/25-tons-of-fentanyl-from-china-seized-in-mexico/
As noted by an observer at Voat:
"This was so much it couldn't be for trafficking purposes...not enough junkies here in the US to kill...hell not enough people in North America to keep addicted full-time 24-7 for this to be a trafficking operation, also the Communist party has 24-7 surveillance, of the entirety of China, it's how they implement the social credit score, so even if it is trafficking this is still state sponsored and an act of War.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/879198/china-number-of-installed-surveillance-cameras/
They seized 23,368 kg
As little as 2-3 milligrams is lethal...so theoretically that could kill...well math... 23,368/.000000003 = wait for it....7,789,333,333.333 people or the entire world 🌎,
But it was just for druggies? Come on.."
https://voat.co/v/QRV/3402066
Dagny Comment:
Rather than kill the Americans with smallpox or other means (and destroy America's market value as well) the Chinese would prefer to keep America intact but under their control.
Biden has been the candidate of choice for China and the bought off MSM has been backing him with bogus polls etc. Nevertheless, Biden is going down due to his creepy behavior toward women and girls, as well as his China bribery with his son Hunter. Now Biden seems to have mental frailty on top of everything else. He’s not going to work as a strategy for the Chinese. They need an alternative on a short timescale to avert exposure of all their dirty dealings.
Trickling in small amounts of fentanyl would not have the impact needed. People would just blame it on the addicts, and not use it for political change. It also would produce watered down results much too slowly. They need to derail Trump in the next 9 months.
I suspect it was intended for blackmail, or failing that, assassination. I wonder if there were a way to distribute it by air over a rally. Frankly, these rallies seem so open I have wondered how they have been able to protect President Trump. I presume they have some defenses somehow. I hope so.
Blackmail would take the form of a demonstration on a small target that was thought to be secure - one small enough to be missed by the media and secure enough to make the point to the authorities. This may have already been done.
Xi might say to Trump that they would do more as a friend to block the shipment of fentanyl for friendly trade concessions. That would sound innocent enough on the face of it, but imply far worse threats. They didn’t get the tariff concessions, so the fentanyl was allowed to leave Shanghai for Sinaloa.
Sinaloa would be the smuggling organization to deliver it into the US. The Chinese have the means to do deviltry in the US:
From Bill Gertz in 2017:
"Beijing's spy networks in the United States include up to 25,000 Chinese intelligence officers and more than 15,000 recruited agents who have stepped up offensive spying activities since 2012, according to a Chinese dissident with close ties to Beijing's military and intelligence establishment.
"Before 2012, cumulatively China had around 10,000 to 20,000 agents working in the United States," he said. "These agents had been sent to work in the United States over a 50 year period of time, and they were working in a defensive mode."
According to the businessman, defensive intelligence was mainly focused on learning about the United States. The operations then shifted in 2012 to "offensive" spying, he said.
"By offensive [operations], I mean to be ready to destroy the U.S. in ways they can," Guo said.
China's budget for intelligence gathering before 2012 was around $600 million annually.
Around 2012, a decision was made by Chinese leaders to dispatch another 5,000 spies to the United States. "Some of them were sent as students, some as businessmen, and some as immigrants, but all together, 5,000," Guo said.
"In addition to that, they developed between 15,000 to 18,000 other spies, and these are not directly sent but these are developed within the United States."
The recruited agents are not limited to Asians and Chinese-Americans but include all ethnic groups, including Hispanics, Blacks, and Caucasians.
"And now the budget is between $3 billion to $4 billion annually, and this is information up to one month ago," he said.
"Remember their cyber theft of some 22 million personnel files from the Office of Personnel Management?" she said. "The Chinese now have a detailed roster of most if not all American contractors and government employees who have access to classified information, plus a roster of their friends, colleagues, or coworkers who may be useful conduits or potential assets in their own right."
Van Cleave said the OPM data likely will be used by Chinese intelligence to coerce, blackmail, or recruit new sources for an already extensive espionage infrastructure.
"Cyber and human espionage go hand in hand—and the Chinese excel at both," she said. "We urgently need a better understanding of what they are doing and how they are doing it—and a strategy to stop them—because China’s intelligence operations in the U.S. are poised to get much worse.""
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinas-spy-network-united-states-includes-25000-intelligence-officers/
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issues policy guidance on “residence” requirements for acquiring citizenship
Coming over the border and giving birth is no longer a passport to citizenship for the infant! The USCIS Policy Manual has been updated to define “residence” versus physical presence. This is Important!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3775105/posts
Some highlights:
The updates to the USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Citizenship and Naturalization, and Part H, Children of U.S. Citizens:
Clarify that temporary visits to the U.S. do not establish U.S. residence;
Explain the distinction between residence and physical presence in the United States; and
Explain that USCIS no longer considers children who are living abroad with a parent who is a U.S. government employee or U.S. service member as “residing in the United States” for purposes of acquiring citizenship under INA 320.
Military bases outside of the United States are not considered “in the United States” in relation to birthright citizenship. Therefore, the only way children born abroad can acquire citizenship at birth is through their parents.
If you were a U.S. citizen when you gave birth to your child while outside the United States on military orders, your child is most likely a U.S. citizen. As long as you met certain physical presence or residence requirements before your child’s birth, this policy update does not affect you, and you can apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) for your child at a U.S. Consulate and/or a Certificate of Citizenship from USCIS using Form N-600.
Military members stationed outside the United States who file a Form N-600K on behalf of their child will not need to travel to the United States to get a Certificate of Citizenship for their child.
Stepchildren cannot acquire U.S. citizenship through a U.S. citizen stepparent. A stepchild is ineligible for citizenship or naturalization through the U.S. citizen stepparent, unless the stepchild is adopted and the adoption meets certain requirements.
Despite Media's Recession Chatter, US Economic Confidence Soars to 19-Year High
Townhall ^ | 08/28/2019 | Guy Benson
Unemployment has been quite low, the job market has been quite robust, and wage growth has broken free from years of frustrating stagnation. We also recently received positive news on other indicators, including productivity, retail sales, and overall consumer spending:
U.S. consumers spent more in July than economists expected, the federal government said on Thursday, as retail sales rose 0.7% vs. the 0.3% estimated. Excluding automobile sales, a more volatile component, retail sales rose 1% — double what economists anticipated. Why it matters: Consumers were largely unfazed by the increasing economic uncertainty in July, defying other indicators that point to a global slowdown or recession. The data also comes as Walmart, one of the world’s biggest retailers, posted strong financials for its most recent quarter.
Americans' confidence in the U.S. economy has climbed to the highest levels in nearly 19 years - the highest since November 2000!
"Hiring and income gains are keeping consumers upbeat."
https://t.co/lYCHHswvfR— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) August 27, 2019
The reading shows hiring and income gains are keeping consumers upbeat and assuaging concerns about the economy’s prospects in light of slowing global growth, volatile financial markets and escalating U.S.-China trade tensions. The level of confidence could allow for sustained household spending that remains a mainstay of the economy. The share of respondents who say jobs are currently plentiful jumped to 51.2%, the highest since September 2000, while the share saying jobs are hard to get declined to the lowest in three months.
In spite of the global slowdown and an escalating trade war with China (which may be slightly de-escalating), Americans feel good about their job prospects and income games.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2019/08/28/boom-despite-medias-recession-talk-us-consumer-confidence-soars-to-19year-high-n2552247
Trans rights are not protected by the Civil Rights Act. Sex and the basis for sexual civil rights is based on chromosomes - not what a person “identifies" as.
The Trump administration’s Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to rule that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on “sex,” does not include “gender identity.”
The DOJ’s brief filed Friday in the R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission case contended it is the role of Congress, not the courts, to amend the law to include gender identity, if it chooses to do so.
Aimee Stephens, a biological man who identifies as a woman, filed a complaint with the EEOC in 2014 for wrongful termination against R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, claiming unlawful discrimination based on sexual identity.
The funeral home dress code has certain requirements in accordance with industry standards for men and women. Nevertheless, the EEOC determined the funeral home discriminated against Stephens by requiring its employee to dress as a man.
Law.com reported that the EEOC did not sign on to the Trump DOJ’s brief appealing that ruling to the Supreme Court last week, indicating the agency does not support the administration’s position.
U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued in the government’s brief that the language in the Civil Rights Act is clear.
“In 1964, the ordinary public meaning of ‘sex’ was biological sex,” he wrote. “It did not encompass transgender status, which Stephens and the Sixth Circuit describe as a disconnect between an individual’s biological sex and gender identity.”
“In the particular context of Title VII — legislation originally designed to eliminate employment discrimination against racial and other minorities — it was especially clear that the prohibition on discrimination because of ‘sex’ referred to unequal treatment of men and women in the workplace,” added Francisco.
The solicitor general went on to note that thus far, Congress has “consistently declined” to expand the Civil Rights Act to include gender identity.
https://www.westernjournal.com/doj-takes-stand-sex-purely-biological-civil-rights-act-doesnt-protect-transgenders/
The Office of Inspector General reported on Comey and found he committed ethical lapses and intentionally leaked classified documents.
Here is the report: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2019/o1902.pdf
Rumor is that Attorney General Barr is still putting together the case for far greater charges (such as obstruction of justice for example) and it would be counterproductive to indict on these lesser ones in advance of the greater ones which are imminent.
From John Soloman, great investigative reporter:
"My sources tell me President Trump is putting the finishing touches on a White House initiative to declassify documents that have remained hidden from the public for far too long."
"Uranium One, the Iran deal, Clinton’s emails — all have dominated headlines for many years without a full public accounting."
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/459197-trump-can-change-history-by-declassifying-three-obama-era-documents
Biden Doctor Insists: Former VP ‘Has a Brain That Is Functioning’
freebeacon ^ | AUGUST 20, 2019 | Andrew Stiles
Team Biden is on the defensive, and has even wheeled out the former Veep's brain surgeon to reassure skeptics that he's totally fine and definitely doesn't have brain damage. It's not the most reassuring claim to have to make about a presidential candidate, but here we are. Politico reports:
The two brain aneurysms Biden suffered in 1988 were fully treated and he showed no signs of mental trouble as a result, said Dr. Neal Kassell, who performed the surgery on Biden three decades ago. Nor did Biden suffer any brain damage that could come back to haunt him in old age, Kassell said.
"He is every bit as sharp as he was 31 years ago. I haven’t seen any change," Kassell said. "I can tell you with absolute certainty that he had no brain damage, either from the hemorrhage or from the operations that he had. There was no damage whatsoever."
Kassell went on to say that he planned to vote for "the candidate who I am absolutely certain has a brain that is functioning. And that narrows it down exactly to one." It is assumed, but not entirely clear, that he was referring to Biden.
Nevertheless, Biden allies remain wary and are said to be considering a scaled-back campaign schedule in an effort to limit the candidate's gaffes, which risk undermining his new campaign slogan about the country's need for "strong, steady, stable leadership."
Elizabeth Harrington ✔ @LizRNC Biden's new slogan is he's "strong, steady, and stable"
Seriously.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3773407/posts
Biden wife: “… maybe you have to swallow a little bit” and vote for him anyway"
For the list of fails on Biden see here:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/bidens-campaign-now-so-weak-even-his-wife-says-other-candidates-might-be-better/
… The third big development came just last week and quickly got swept under the rug. Biden’s wife, Jill, said her husband might not be the best candidate, but hey, she told voters, “maybe you have to swallow a little bit” and vote for him anyway.
“Your candidate might be better on, I don’t know, health care, than Joe is,” Jill Biden said on MSNBC, “but you’ve got to look at who’s going to win this election, and maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, ‘OK, I personally like so-and-so better,’ but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat Trump.”
During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, she said: “I know that not all of you are committed to my husband, and I respect that. But I want you to think about your candidate, his or her electability, and who’s going to win this race. So I think if your goal — I know my goal — is to beat Donald Trump, we have to have someone who can beat him,” she said.
Biden has been painted as the inevitable candidate since before he even entered the race. That inevitability is long gone. And as the list of gaffes keeps growing, his fundraising is falling off — the biggest danger in what will be the most expensive campaign in history.
The fact that Obama tried to dissuade Biden from running and won’t endorse him hurts — a lot.
But when you’re not wowing your own wife with your incredible campaign speeches, you’ve got a problem. And when you’re wife goes out there and tells Democrats that they just have to hold their noses when they vote for her husband, you’ve got a really big problem.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/bidens-campaign-now-so-weak-even-his-wife-says-other-candidates-might-be-better/