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Oliver Stone rejects Bill Maher’s Russia concerns, claims US intel ‘not reliable’

Liberal filmmaker Oliver Stone took “Real Time” host Bill Maher by surprise with his dismissal of the recently released Senate Intelligence Committee report outlining Russia‘s interference in the 2016 election.

Maher highlighted from the report, which was released earlier this week, that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had “directly and indirectly communicated” with Russian national Konstantin Kilimnik and other pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine during the election — in addition to Trump ally Roger Stone being linked to the WikiLeaks dump of Clinton emails.

But that prompted a dismissive wave of the hand from Stone, the 73-year-old director of “JFK,” “Platoon,” and other films.

“You can’t really think that a Russian president … should be able to rat-f— our elections like this, can you?” Maher asked.

“Oh Bill, I’ve known you all too long and I think you’re sophisticated enough to know — we have to question everything that comes out of our intelligence agencies,” Stone responded. “If you haven’t learned that by now, you’ve got a long way to go still.”

“So they’re lying?” Maher asked.

“Intelligence agencies are not reliable. They’ve been screwing with America going back to the Vietnam War, going back to the Iraq Wars, the Afghanistani wars,” Stone continued. “It’s very hard to find out the truth from them. Everything they publish — the rumors, the anonymous sources, the think tanks, the anti-Russia — it all adds up into this ball of wax that becomes enormous. And then they have people like you, who are skeptical generally, believing it. I would really triple-check everything, every one of those sources.”

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Tennessee governor signs bill increasing punishments for certain protests

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) quietly signed a bill into law ramping up punishments for certain kinds of protests, including losing the right to vote.

The GOP-controlled state General Assembly passed the measure last week during a three-day special legislative session and was signed without an announcement earlier this week.

Among other things, the new law stipulates that people who illegally camp on state property will face a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison. People found guilty of a felony in Tennessee lose the right to vote. 

The new law also slaps a mandatory 45-day sentence for aggravated rioting, boosts the fine for blocking highway access to emergency vehicles and enhances the punishment for aggravated assault against a first responder to a Class C felony. 

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Scientists warn it may be years before students can return to school without masks, social distancing

Experts say it may take a couple of years before students can resume classes without the risk of an outbreak,especially among grade-school children. They say a combination of herd immunity, a coronavirus vaccine and hygienic practices are needed to bring the virus down to low enough levels and allow schools to safely return to normal.

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750 million genetically engineered mosquitoes approved for release in Florida Keys

Approved by the Environment Protection Agency in May, the pilot project is designed to test if a genetically modified mosquito is a viable alternative to spraying insecticides to control the Aedes aegypti. It’s a species of mosquito that carries several deadly diseases, such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.The mosquito, named OX5034, has been altered to produce female offspring that die in the larval stage, well before hatching and growing large enough to bite and spread disease. Only the female mosquito bites for blood, which she needs to mature her eggs. Males feed only on nectar, and are thus not a carrier for disease.The mosquito also won federal approval to be released into Harris County, Texas, beginning in 2021, according to Oxitec, the US-owned, British-based company that developed the genetically modified organism (GMO).The Environmental Protection Agency granted Oxitec’s request after years of investigating the impact of the genetically altered mosquito on human and environmental health.

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Utah students and staff who don’t wear masks in schools can be charged with a misdemeanor

Students and staff in Utah who don’t wear a mask in K-12 schools in accordance with the governor’s mandate can be charged with a misdemeanor.

The potential criminal penalty for violating the order was confirmed by Gov. Gary Herbert’s office late Wednesday. Spokeswoman Anna Lehnardt said it’s up to leaders of schools and charters to decide whether they want to seek charges as they respond to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

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Cops Brag About Forcing Lies About Marijuana on School Children Using Bogus “Weed Googles”

As the following example shows, even in Illinois where it is legal, police are still devoting resources — using scare tactics and propaganda — to deter its use. The Moline police department took to Facebook this week to brag about AAA giving them a grant to propagandize school children with false information about marijuana.

“These goggles model the effects of recreational marijuana, so the user can experience the impact of what it’s like to be under the influence of marijuana while driving,” police said in the Facebook post. “Marijuana affects the brain differently than alcohol, and the goggles simulate marijuana’s true effects — they diminish the participant’s capacity to make quick, accurate decisions, and that causes a driver to miss important external cues that could lead to a crash.”

Police said in their Facebook post that these “kits will be brought to area schools and community events as a way to educate people about the effects marijuana impaired driving.”

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