President-elect Joe Biden’s first picks for senior national security posts — Antony Blinken as secretary of state, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, and Avril Haines as director of national intelligence — served in the Obama administration and are now being hailed as the sort of steady hands that America needs after the chaotic Trump administration. But that’s not the good news it seems to be. The Biden plan, outlined on his presidential transition website, suggests a “normal” version of national security that includes the deep flaws of the centrist-liberal approach. There is a call for continued mammoth Pentagon budgets (“the investments necessary to equip our troops for the challenges of the next century”) with an emphasis on emerging battlespaces (“cyberwarfare … new challenges in space”), the endorsement of ossified Cold War-era security partnerships (“keeping NATO’s military capabilities sharp”), and veiled references to confronting China (“strengthen our alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and other Asian democracies”), as well as business as usual in the Middle East (“ironclad commitment to Israel’s security”).
Author: HP McLovincraft
Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.
De Blasio Unleashes ‘COVID Checkpoints’ To Catch & Fine NYC Travelers Who Violate Holiday Quarantine
As millions of Americans defy the CDC’s warning not to travel for the holiday season, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has once again dispatched police to key traffic chokepoints where his quarantine rules will be strictly enforced.
New York City Sheriff Joseph Fucito said the sheriff’s office (a separate entity from the NYPD) will conduct spot checks when out-of-state buses drop riders off at the curb, and will also check cars will out of state and New York licenses plates. Test-and-trace teams will also be on the ground to help direct people to testing sites while providing “education” about quarantine.
New York’s statewide 14-day holiday quarantine mandates that travelers quarantine, or take a test showing they’re negative. Violations of self-quarantine will be enforced, and may carry fines of $1,000 to $2,000, the mayor’s office has said.
Around the US, few jurisdictions have actually enforced quarantine and social distancing rules, though people have been killed in fights spurred by mandatory mask requirements. Some governors, including Kristi Noem in South Dakota, have refused to make wearing masks and other social distancing measures mandatory.
Republican Maryland governor says no one has a ‘constitutional right to walk around without a mask’
The dubious claim was made by Hogan while he announced further coronavirus pandemic restrictions on Monday.
“It’s sort of like saying I have a constitutional right to drive drunk. I have a constitutional right to not wear a seat belt, or to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, or to not follow the speed limit,” Hogan said.
“We’re talking about a quarter of a million people dying already. You know, more than, you know, the Korean War, the Gulf War and the Vietnam War added together. Which part don’t you understand?” he asked rhetorically.
“There’s no constitutional right to walk around without a mask,” Hogan added, “this is, we did it in 1918, I don’t know why we can’t do it now. Wear the mask.”
Conspiracy fact!
New Mexico governor shuts down grocery stores for two weeks
A dozen grocery stores around the state have been forced to close for two weeks because of a public health order issued by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham at a time when the state’s residents are suffering from record high unemployment and food insecurity, critics say.
The order requires businesses with four or more rapid responses of COVID-19 cases reported within in a 14-day period to close for two weeks.
More than 25 essential businesses were shut down as of Monday afternoon, including a number of grocery stores and major retailers.
The closures include two Walmarts in Albuquerque and one in Santa Fe, an Albertson’s in Roswell, a Smiths Food & Drug Center in Albuquerque and New Mexico Food Distribution Center in Albuquerque.
The state’s environment department has published a complete list of businesses that have been closed due to employees testing positive for COVID-19, as well as a watch list, and FAQ about the watch list.
Access to purchase food is now limited because of another order issued by the governor requiring capacity limitations at all stores. New Mexicans are now waiting outside, standing in line for up to two hours, local news reports indicate, which the governor’s office has disputed.
CIA Partners with Google, Amazon and IBM in Latest Big Tech Procurement Drive
The vaunted “17 intelligence agencies” that comprise the U.S. intel community will be sharing a network of private-sector cloud computing service providers which includes Microsoft, Google, Oracle, IBM, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) as part of a 15-year contract said to be worth tens of billions of dollars.
AWS currently holds the sole contract to provide cloud computing services to a number of intelligence agencies, including the FBI and the NSA. That contract is set to expire in 2023 and this new award – managed by the CIA – will further weaken Amazon’s once privileged position in the federal money sweepstakes, which had already taken a hard hit when Microsoft was unexpectedly chosen over Bezos’ company for the Department of Defense’s own cloud services contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) program.
The Central Intelligence Agency will take full advantage of its access to money without oversight to disburse the government funds at the agency’s discretion. Although speculated to rise into the tens of billions, the CIA has no plans to disclose the real value of the C2E contracts. The Commercial Cloud Enterprise (C2E) procurement program was unveiled in February by the premier U.S. spy agency in a bid to establish a cloud computing service platform for the country’s intelligence agencies separate from JEDI, which remains enmeshed in a protracted legal contest with AWS and is two years behind implementation.
Mark Zuckerberg on privacy…
Oregon Governor: Snitch On Your Neighbors For Violating Thanksgiving COVID Orders
This Thanksgiving, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is encouraging citizens to call the police on their neighbors who violate her latest executive order, which includes a six-person limit from two households maximum on in-home gatherings.
“Look, this is no different than what happens if there’s a party down the street and it’s keeping everyone awake. What do neighbors do? They call law enforcement because it’s too noisy,” the Democratic governor explained. “This is just like that. It’s like a violation of a noise ordinance.”
Anonymous reporting systems have been implemented across U.S. county health departments and on college campuses where students are encouraged to turn in fellow classmates who violate university COVID rules.
C.S.Lewis on tyranny…
Hey, rube…
Hellbound and Down 
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