China Has Been ‘Taking Advantage’ of the WTO for 20 Years: Experts
Epoch Times – China has not lived up to its commitments on fair trade in the past two decades, and has little will to do so, despite the world looking to its transition toward free-market capitalism, experts said. “China has never really observed the rules of the World Trade Organization. It has taken advantage of the World Trade Organization [WTO],” Clyde Prestowitz, president and founder of the Economic Strategy Institute, told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times. Prestowitz is also the author of “The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership.” “If you just look at what China has been doing in its trade with Australia, It’s actually, sadly, halting Australian imports,” he said. “Of course, China is making some excuses.” Over the past 18 months, Beijing has limited imports of Australian beef, coal, and grapes as part of its economic coercion, besides tariffs on Australian wine
Video: Facts Matter (Oct. 27): 3 Counties Start Process to Secede From Maryland; 7 Counties in Oregon Vote to Secede
Epoch Times – In Maryland, three conservative counties in the western part of the state have gotten so tired of getting overlooked by the Democrats who control state politics that they have started the process of secession. These three counties sent a letter to West Virginia, asking whether they can join.
And actually, this type of thing is not only happening in Maryland.
Several counties in Oregon similarly voted to secede and join the state of Idaho. They essentially don’t like Portland politicians running the state so much that they’re voting with their feet.
Lastly, the Illinois Supreme Court recently unanimously ruled that a tax on guns and ammo that was being levied against Americans living in Cook County was unconstitutional.
Poll: 61 Percent of Registered Voters Say America Has ‘Seriously Gotten Off on the Wrong Track’
Breitbart – Sixty-one percent of registered voters say America has “seriously gotten off on the wrong track,” a Politico/Morning Consult poll revealed Wednesday.
“Now, generally speaking, would you say that things in the country are going in the right direction, or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?” the poll asked respondents.
While 39 percent say the country is headed in the “right direction,” 61 percent say the country is going down the “wrong track.”
The poll also asked respondents if they approve or disapprove of President Joe Biden’s job performance. Thirty-nine percent “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s performance and 12 percent “somewhat disapprove,” totaling 51 percent.
Twenty-three percent “strongly approve” and another 23 percent said they “somewhat approve” of Biden’s performance. A total of 46 percent approve of Biden’s performance.
Among those surveyed, economic issues like taxes, wages, jobs, unemployment, and spending were the most important issues to registered voters at 38 percent.
Security Issues, which include terrorism, foreign policy, and border security, ranked second most important to voters at 16 percent.
The far-left agenda item of climate change ranked last at 5 percent.
The polling comes as Biden is suffering setbacks in all directions. After the collapse of Afghanistan, Biden’s average polling numbers turned upside down and has increasingly sunk to new lows as the economy deteriorates. According to Gallup, Biden has dropped in the average approval ratings faster than any president since 1953 over the first three quarters in office.
Prices consumers are paying for food, gas, and nearly every household good have increased. The New York Times has even taken note Monday, writing the 2021 Thanksgiving could “be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday.”
Fueled by a supply chain crisis, the price of food has increased by 4.6 percent since Donald Trump was president. More specifically, prices for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 10.5 percent.
5 Percent of Unvaccinated Workers Have Left Job Over Vaccine Mandate: Survey
Epoch Times – Five percent of unvaccinated workers have left their jobs over workplace vaccine mandates, while 37 percent say they plan to do so if their employers impose such requirements, according to a new poll, which provides an early indication of labor market impacts of mandates. The survey, carried out by the Kaiser Family Foundation on a nationwide representative sample of 1,519 adults and published on Oct. 28, showed that one in four workers said their employer has required them to get the COVID-19 vaccine—up 16 percentage points from June. And while 25 percent of all adults polled said they know someone who has left their job due to a vaccine mandate, 5 percent of unvaccinated workers—or 1 percent of all adults—have done so personally. At the same time, around 50 percent of workers said they’re against their employer imposing a vaccine requirement and 37 percent of unvaccinated workers—5 percent of adults overall
NYC Firefighters Union Tells Firefighters to Report for Duty, Defying Vaccine Mandate
Epoch Times – The head of Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA), a New-York based firefighter union, told its members on Wednesday to report for duty despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s order to place city workers on unpaid leave if they remain unvaccinated. UFA president Andrew Ansbro told Reuters that firefighters, who now face suspension unless they get the COVID-19 vaccine, are feeling “insulted” after having risked their own health to save lives during the pandemic. “I have told my members that if they choose to remain unvaccinated, they must still report for duty,” said Ansbro at a news conference according to Reuters. “If they are told they cannot work, it will be the department and city of New York that sends them home. And it will be the department and the
US State Department issues first passport with X gender marker
CNN – The State Department has issued the first US passport with an “X” gender marker as it seeks to implement gender-inclusive polices, the department announced Wednesday.
The department announced in June it would update its procedures to allow applicants to self-select their sex marker for passports and that it “will no longer require medical certification” if an applicant’s self-selected sex marker doesn’t match the sex listed on other official identity documents.
“As the Secretary announced in June, the Department is moving towards adding an X gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a U.S. passport or CRBA,” State spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “I want to reiterate, on the occasion of this passport issuance, the Department of State’s commitment to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people — including LGBTQI+ persons.”
The option with the new marker will be offered to routine passport applicants after the department finishes system and form updates in early 2022, Price also said.
Judge allows men Rittenhouse shot to be called ‘rioters’ or ‘looters’ — but not ‘victim’
CNN – The men shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in August 2020 can potentially be referred to at his trial as “rioters” or “looters,” a Wisconsin judge said Monday while reiterating his long-held view that attorneys should not use the word “victim.”
Defense lawyers maintain the young man acted in self-defense when he fatally shot two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The protesters were shot during a demonstration against the police shooting of a Black man. Rittenhouse was among armed civilians who said they were there to protect businesses after nights of arson and looting.
“Let the evidence show what the evidence shows, that any or one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting or looting, then I’m not going to tell the defense they can’t call them that,” Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder said during the pretrial hearing.
Schroeder has had a longstanding rule of not allowing prosecutors to refer to people as “victims” at trial.
Illinois Day Care Worker Vaccine Mandate Could Lead to Staffing Shortages
Epoch Times – Illinois day care centers are concerned whether they will be able to staff locations after Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order requiring day care center workers statewide to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Pritzker issued the order (pdf) Friday for the state’s more than 55,000 day care workers. The deadline for the first shot of coronavirus vaccination is Dec. 3. The second shot deadline is Jan. 3, 2022. “Vaccinations offer life-saving protection for the people who receive them and make the community safer for the people who can’t—including the babies, toddlers, and young children not yet eligible for the vaccine,” the governor said in a statement. “By extending vaccine-or-test requirements to those who work at licensed day care centers, we are adding another level of protection for our youngest residents and preventing outbreaks in day care centers as more and more parents return to work,” Pritzker added.
Service at McDonald’s Slows as Company Feels ‘Pressure’ on Operating Hours Amid Labor Shortages: CEO
Epoch Times – Service at McDonald’s is getting slower while the company is feeling the pressure on its operating hours as it struggles to fully staff its restaurants, CEO Chris Kempczinski said. Speaking at the company’s third-quarter 2021 investor call on Wednesday, Kempczinski noted that McDonald’s is finding it “very challenging right now” to find skilled workers for jobs in its restaurants. “Certainly, it’s a very challenging staffing environment in the U.S., a little bit less so in Europe, but still challenging in Europe. In the U.S. for us, we are seeing … that there is wage inflation. Our franchisees are increasing wages there over 10 percent wage inflation year-to-date that we’re seeing in our McOpCo (McDonald’s Operated Company) restaurants were up over 15 percent on wages, and that is having some helpful benefits, certainly, the higher wages that you pay it allows you to stay competitive,” Kempczinski said. “But we’re also seeing is that it’s just, it’s very challenging right now
FDA Committee Members Reviewing Pfizer Vaccine For Children Have Worked For Pfizer, Have Big Pfizer Connections
National File – he FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is holding a virtual meeting Tuesday October 26 to discuss authorizing a Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 5 to 11 years old.
This committee has a lot of sway with the FDA and their findings will be relevant, considering the Biden administration is getting ready to ship vaccines to elementary schools and California has already mandated the vaccine for schoolchildren pending federal authorization.
But the meeting roster shows that numerous members of the committee and temporary voting members have worked for Pfizer or have major connections to Pfizer.
Members include a former vice president of Pfizer Vaccines, a recent Pfizer consultant, a recent Pfizer research grant recipient, a man who mentored a current top Pfizer vaccine executive, a man who runs a center that gives out Pfizer vaccines, the chair of a Pfizer data group, a guy who was proudly photographed taking a Pfizer vaccine, and numerous people who are already on the record supporting Coronavirus vaccines for children. Meanwhile, recent FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is on Pfizer’s board of directors.
HERE’S THE MEETING ROSTER: Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee October 26, 2021 Meeting Draft Roster.
Acting Chair Arnold S. Monto was a paid Pfizer consultant as recently as 2018.
Steven Pergam got the Pfizer vaccine: Building trust in safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines (fredhutch.org)
Committee member Archana Chatterjee worked on a research project related to vaccines for infants between 2018-2020, and the research project was sponsored by Pfizer.
Myron Levine has mentored some U.S. post-doctoral fellows, and one of his proteges happens to be Raphael Simon, the senior director of vaccine research and development at Pfizer.
James Hildreth, temporary voting member, made a financial interest disclosure for this meeting in which he disclosed more than $1.5 million in relevant financial interests, including his work as president of Meharry Medical College, which administers Pfizer Coronavirus vaccines.
Geeta K. Swamy is listed as the chair of the “Independent Data Monitoring Committee for the Pfizer Group B Streptococcus Vaccine Program,” a committee sponsored by Pfizer. Duke University states that “Dr. Swamy serves as a co-investigator for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial.”
Gregg Sylvester previously served as a vice president for Pfizer Vaccines, where he launched Pfizer vaccines including one for children.
Among the meeting’s “temporary voting members,” Ofer Levy, Boston Children’s Hospital, is for the Pfizer vaccine for children, Eric Rubin is pro-vaccine for children, Jay Portnoy supports authorizing Coronavirus vaccines for kids, and Melinda Wharton complained over the summer about how orders for the CDC’s “Vaccines For Children” program dropped.
FDANews stated last December: “FDA advisory committee members in the past have frequently been the target of heavy politicking by industry representatives of whatever drug they were considering for a recommendation at in-person meetings. That process has been somewhat altered by the fact that during COVID-19, meetings are being held virtually. But it’s likely that behind-the-scenes pressuring still goes on. The industry defends the attempts to influence committee members as simply efforts to best present their case.”
Rapper Bryson Gray’s ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Anthem Mocking Biden Soars Past Adele to #1 on iTunes Charts
Breitbart- Rapper Bryson Gray’s “Let’s Go Brandon” song mocking President Joe Biden has soared to #1 on the iTunes Charts, ranking above pop superstar Adele’s latest single.
“Look at Australia, that’s what coming if we don’t stand up, stop complying with them taking our rights, it’s time to man up,” Gray raps in the hit song.
Dems Reportedly Scrap IRS Bank Reporting Plan After Manchin Slams “Screwed Up” Surveillance Scheme
ZeroHedge – Score one for freedom and privacy (for now) as Democratic lawmakers have scrapped their plans for a dragnet-style IRS surveillance across Americans’ bank accounts.
The original proposal would have required financial institutions to report on any account (be it a checking account, savings account, stock portfolio, etc.) which handled more than $600 in inflows and outflows in a given year, practically implicating every bank account holder.
Bowing to pressure from banks and taxpayers, Democrats have attempted to quell concerns by raising the threshold. Unfortunately, even the raised threshold was still laughably low to accomplish Democrats’ stated purpose of cracking down on wealthy tax cheats.
But, now, that is all gone.. thanks, reportedly, to Senator Manchin (again), as AP reports, Manchin said he told Biden the idea was “screwed up” and that the president concurred.
“I said, ‘Mr. President, I don’t know what happened. This cannot happen. This is screwed up,’” the Democratic senator told listeners at the Economic Club of Washington.
“I said, do you understand how messed up that is, to think that Uncle Sam is going to be watching… and what it does for bankers and this and that?”
“So, I think that one is going to be gone,” the West Virginia Democrat said.
CNBC’s Kayla Tausche has more…
Los Angeles Launches Largest Universal Basic Income Pilot
Activist Post – Los Angeles is launching a universal-basic income (UBI) pilot program, set to be the biggest in the US so far.
The scheme will give about 3,000 families in poverty $1,000 a month for a year, and there are no rules for how the families spend the money.
To be eligible, applicants need to live in the City of Los Angeles, be at least 18 years old, have an income at or below the federal poverty level, have at least one dependent minor or be pregnant, and have experienced either financial or medical hardships related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal poverty level depends on the size of a household. For a four-person household, a family earning less than $26,500 would fall under the federal poverty line. Poverty affects two out of every 10 residents in the City of Los Angeles – most of them people of color, according to a website for the program.
The program is called the Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot (BIG LEAP).
It has nearly $40 million in funding, South LA Councilman Curren Price said at a City Council meeting Tuesday, where council members approved the program.
Price said that the program would be “the largest guaranteed income economic assistance pilot program in our nation’s history,” and called it a “life-changing initiative.”
The city said that the program would consist of “unconditional, regular, and direct cash payments,” with “no restrictions on how the money can be spent.” The payments would supplement existing welfare programs, the city said.
The concept of UBI dates back to at least the 16th century, when Spanish-born humanist Juan Luis Vives advocated for a system of unconditional welfare. Since then, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has declared his support for the concept, and it went on to become a cornerstone of Andrew Yang’s run in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
More economists and lawmakers, including a coalition of US mayors, have been calling for the introduction of UBI schemes as the pandemic both exacerbated and exposed huge income inequalities.
“The idea of a guaranteed pilot program is one my office has been following for some time, and it gained momentum as we witnessed our country examine the racial disparities and social injustices during the COVID pandemic,” Price said on Tuesday.
Other cities across the US have trialed UBI programs.
Chicago To Launch Huge Universal Basic Income Program
Activist Post – The Chicago City Council is poised to vote this week on what would be one of the nation’s largest basic income programs, giving 5,000 low-income households $500 per month each using federal funding from the pandemic stimulus package enacted this year.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has proposed the more than $31 million program as part of her 2022 budget, which the city council is scheduled to consider on Wednesday. The one-year pilot program, funded by the nearly $2 billion Chicago received from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, is supported by most of city’s 50 aldermen. But it has received pushback from the 20-member Black Caucus, which has urged Lightfoot to redirect the money to violence prevention programs.
Lightfoot has said the pilot program is motivated by her own childhood memories of hardship while growing up in Ohio. “I knew what it felt like to live check to check. When you’re in need, every bit of income helps,” she wrote in a tweet announcing the plan earlier this month.
Basic income programs have been spreading across the country since Stockton, Calif., started providing monthly stipends with no strings attached to 125 of its residents in 2019. Those stipends resulted in more full-time employment and improved mental and emotional well-being among recipients, according to preliminary findings reported earlier this year by researchers who helped design the program.
Michael Tubbs, who implemented the program as then-mayor of Stockton, noted that recipients’ largest expenditure was food, making up at least a third of spending each month, according to the report. “I had no idea so many people in my area were hungry,” Tubbs said.
Since Stockton’s program launched, about 40 other cities have considered or started on similar efforts to target economic insecurity within their boundaries, according to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, including Denver, Newark, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, New Orleans and Compton, Calif. A program in Los Angeles will provide 2,000 residents with a guaranteed income of $1,000 a month for a year.
The surge of interest in basic income has been fueled in part by the influx of money that cities have received from the coronavirus stimulus package and the formation of Mayors for Universal Basic Income, an advocacy coalition that Tubbs founded last year.
US “Assures” London Court That Assange Can Serve All Prison Time In Australia
Activist Post – US prosecutors who are on Wednesday arguing for the London High Court to overturn a prior January ruling by Judge Baraitser banning WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the US on the basis that he would face cruel punishment in a US federal “supermax” prison, are now offering multiple “assurances” in order to get that ruling overturned.
Most importantly, the US side says it will allow Assange to serve any prison time stemming from US charges – which include 18 criminal counts related to espionage – in his native Australia. Lawyer for the US DOJ James Lewis filed a document with the court promising the following:
“The United States has also provided an assurance that the United States will consent to Mr Assange being transferred to Australia to serve any custodial sentence imposed on him.”
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